Cao Ang blinked his eyes and took back his mood. He had long had questions about this matter, but he had never dared to ask.

Last New Year's Eve, Cao Cao personally entered Chang'an. He was originally planning to join forces with the old ministers of Guandong and the Liu clan to establish a new emperor to control the situation in Guanzhong. Unexpectedly, Yang Xiu and Jia Xu fought back with a blow and failed. He brought Fu Guiren and the eldest son of the emperor back to Yizhou, but he never announced the new emperor ascended the throne. He just said that the eldest son of the emperor was young and had to take a long time to ride and need rest.

This is half a year, and no one knows what Cao Cao plans to do.

"Please give advice from your father."

Cao Cao leaned on the podium, clenched his fist, held his forehead, and squeezed his eyes hard. The situation was critical recently, and the headache was off again. Seeing this, Cao Ang got up and moved behind Cao Cao, held Cao Cao's shoulder, and slowly put it on his legs to massage Cao Cao's head. He had asked Hua Tuo before, but Hua Tuo said that Cao Cao's headache was caused by a wind in his mind and could not be cured. Massage could relieve the symptoms, so he carefully learned the massage techniques.

Cao Cao was laid on Cao Ang's legs and Cao Ang massaged his head. The headache felt much better. He folded his hands, placed his chest, and tapped his fingers. "Zi Xiu, you shouldn't have come to Yizhou at the beginning."

Cao Ang was embarrassed. "The son minister was incompetent, which disappointed his father."

"No, I don't mean that." Cao Cao raised his hand and shook it. "You are kind by nature, a good son, a good husband, and a good father in the future. If you are the monarch, you will be a kind king, maybe you are not as capable as Sun Ce, but your character is not inferior to Sun Ce. But you can maintain your achievements and cannot compete for hegemony. Now this chaotic time is not suitable for you. If you did not come to Yizhou, you would pay tribute to Sun Ce. Because of your in-laws, Sun Ce would not treat you badly, at least you can be a marquis like Yuan Xiansi. Now it is difficult. If you arrive in Yizhou, this prince will have to do it. If you are defeated and surrendered in the future, it is hard to say whether you can be a marquis."

Cao Ang did not think. "The righteousness of father and son is not easy to be rich or noble."

Cao Cao sighed and said, "Zi Xiu, for you, of course, is unrestrained, but for the Cao family, it cannot tolerate such a rashness. For example, the eldest son of the emperor is the only descendant of the late emperor. Can he be granted the title of marquis or even live? Isn't it his own business?"

Cao Ang suddenly realized. "It turns out that my father left blood for the late emperor, so..."

"It's not the case." Cao Cao showed a sly smile. "It's not enough to attract him but not to be released. The reason why he didn't support him ascend the throne immediately was to wait for a suitable opportunity. The time was not right, the effect was not good, and it might even backfire."

Cao Ang opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back. He knew very well that although Cao Cao loved him, he was the King of Shu after all, and he was not an ordinary father. Otherwise, he would not have refused to surrender even when his younger brothers were captured.

"Zi Xiu, do you know when a tree grows the fastest?"

Cao Cao's thinking was too leaping, and Cao Ang didn't react for a while. After thinking for a while, he shook his head. His life in the past twenty years is not short, but he has never really observed when the tree grows the fastest. Seeing that Cao Ang didn't react, Cao Cao explained quietly.

"A tree species may be buried in the soil for many years. When there is a suitable opportunity, it will sprout and break into the soil and become a seedling. It will grow the fastest at this time, almost the same as it will be every day. But no matter what tree, it will not continue to grow so much. When it reaches a certain height, it will slow down. Different trees have different growth times, but one thing is that when it begins to have more branches and leaves, its fastest growth period will pass."

While massaging Cao Cao, Cao Ang thought, thinking, thinking that Cao Cao was right. "Did your father say that the expansion of Wu will slow down?"

"According to common sense, it should be like this. Sometimes we can't rely too much on common sense for Sun Ce." Cao Cao gently tapped his belly, his eyes a little confused. "For example, many people misjudged the money and food matters, including me. We have forgotten one thing. If the strength of the two sides is very different, when facing Sun Ce and Wu's army, we may not be able to support the moment when he lost food. The invincibility lies in me, but the enemy is not a vain statement."

Cao Ang nodded repeatedly and agreed with Cao Cao's opinion. He carefully studied Sun Ce's record. Except for the longer delay in the Battle of Guandu, Sun Ce and his generals almost all won quickly in other battles, leaving no time for the opponent.

Sun Ce carried out elite military strategies, and the Wu army was a professional soldier who did not cultivate land, and had martial arts halls and wooden school assistants. Both the abilities and military equipment of generals at all levels were far superior to those of their opponents. Even if the troops on both sides were equal, they could crush their opponents and even achieved a record of winning with less. Many people were confused by their forces, thinking that they had the power to fight, but they were about to collapse and had no chance to regret.

"The situation has changed now, and there may be a turning point." Cao Cao sighed softly. "If even Taihang Mountain can't stop him, there is nothing to expect. Zixiu, maybe in a few months, you, my father and I will go to Jianye to be rich families."

Cao Ang was sad. Cao Cao spoke easily, but he couldn't hear any relaxation, but instead felt a little despair. This made his heart tingle until it was unbearable.

"Zi Xiu, for the last try, are you willing to help me?" At some point, Cao Cao opened his eyes, but did not look at Cao Ang, but just looked at the dark roof and said quietly.

"Father..." Cao Ang gritted his teeth, stopped massage, helped Cao Cao up and sat down, walked to Cao Cao's knees, and touched the mat with his head. "My son is willing to be the driving force and decide the outcome."

Cao Cao sat cross-legged on the mat, reached out to help Cao Ang, pinched his sleeves, wiped away the tears from Cao Ang's face, and looked apologetic.

"Zi Xiu, thank you for your hard work."

Cao Cao and Chen Gong and Fa Zheng discussed and sent Cao Ang to Hanzhong to lead the army and prepare for the Northern Expedition, but this journey was just suspicious of troops, making a big splash, and just sending troops to Guanzhong. The real attack would be launched by Liu Yao and entered Jingnan from Jiaozhou.

The four counties in Jiangnan in Jingzhou are where Zhou Yu's troops are located, and their troops are limited. More importantly, there is no famous general to guard them. It is a weak link, with little difficulty and great benefits. Once you succeed, it will be enough to affect the situation in the Central Plains.

Cao Ang accepted the order and set off with Peng Li and Zhang Song.

Then, Cao Cao wrote another letter to Feng Ji and Liu Yao.

Cao Cao and Feng Ji are old acquaintances. They had dated when they were under Yuan Shao's tent, but Feng Ji didn't like him very much at that time. Cao Cao told Feng Ji that he would send troops from Hanzhong and Sanxia to restrain Sun Ce's troops. At the same time, he invited Liu Yao to enter Jingzhou and do everything possible to share the pressure for Feng Ji. Please Feng Ji must persevere and never give up. Although the situation is difficult, the opportunity may be right in front of you. The earnest feelings are beyond words.

Cao Cao's letter to Liu Yao was in another tone. He told Liu Yao that the eldest son of the emperor was in Yizhou, but the situation was critical. Although he was the King of Shu, he was a vassal minister from other surnames. He did not dare to easily support the new emperor and wanted to discuss with Liu Yao. If Liu Yao felt that the world was still possible, he would be willing to work with Liu Yao to support the new emperor and reorganize the country. If Liu Yao felt hopeless, he would not want to make things difficult for the eldest son of the emperor, a child, and only wanted to protect the eldest son of the emperor and retain a trace of blood for the late emperor. As for the Han Dynasty, let him become history.

Both letters were drafted by Chen Gong, with concise words and sincere feelings, which made people unbearable to refuse.

While dispatching troops, Fa Zheng directed a detailed operation of spies to search for spies and began to identify them throughout Yizhou. For a moment, the wind and storm were coming. The spies on both sides fought in detail, and they didn't know how many conflicts and battles occurred, and how many people died quietly. How many unjust souls were added in the darkness.

Fa Zheng was so busy that he was overwhelmed, but he did not gain anything. One of them was related to his work. In order to strengthen intelligence work, King Sun Ce of Wu set up a new Military Intelligence Office, which was specifically responsible for intelligence collection, and dispatched a large number of craftsmen to enrich it and develop various new equipment. After hearing this news, Fa Zheng felt the pressure, and he immediately reported to Cao Cao, hoping to follow up and ensure the smooth progress of intelligence collection.

Cao Cao was a little troubled. He knew that Fazheng's requirements were not excessive. Intelligence was the top priority, which was related to the success or failure of the war, especially for them. If there was no accurate and timely intelligence, it was unrealistic to defeat the strong with the weak. But he knew better that training, dispatching spies, and doing things in detail was very costly. Using the expenses of a spy, it was an unbearable burden for Yizhou.

To take a step back, even if he could pay, he could not find so many excellent craftsmen. Over the years, he implemented the new policy in Yizhou and built many wooden schools. However, the people of Yizhou could not agree with the concept of the new policy, believing that craftsmen are cheap business, and sayings like craftsmen are simply nonsense, and the resistance is very serious. Some people even say that if everything is imitated by Wu, then why do we support the King of Shu? Wouldn't it be better to be a minister of Wu?

Based on such concerns, Cao Cao naturally did not dare to force him too hard. The Mu Academy was built, but the craftsmen's salary could not keep up, and they were not very motivated. The craftsmen with good skills were counted. They were all regarded as money trees by various families, so they were strictly guarded. Not to mention calling, they could not borrow them to help. Cao Cao didn't have to think too much, and he could guess how those aristocratic families would make profits from it. As for the rise and fall of Shu Kingdom and even the Han Dynasty, there were actually not many people who were concerned about it.

Facing Cao Cao's helplessness, Fa Zheng was also very depressed and regretted his mistakes. Jia Xu took advantage of the loopholes and failed to successfully take Guanzhong. If Guanzhong was in hand, why would Cao Cao be so influenced by the Yizhou family? He had a feeling that unless the Wu State was in trouble, even if Feng Ji could defend Bingzhou, the world would be the Wu State in the end, sooner or later.

Fa Zheng thought about it for a long time and had a plan. He told Cao Cao that the rise and fall of the Wu Kingdom was all due to Sun Ce. If he wanted to reverse the situation, there was only one way: assassinate Sun Ce. Once Sun Ce died, neither Sun Ce's younger brother succeeded to the throne or Sun Ce's youngest son succeeded to the throne, he could not maintain the current situation.
Chapter completed!