Cao Cao gently pushed open the door and looked at it.

Xi Zhicai sat in front of the desk and drank alone, the meat and vegetables on the case did not move much, but only a small half of the wine was left. Xi Zhicai's pale face was also flushed unhealthily, and his eyes were bloodshot. Hearing the door open, he glanced up and poured another glass of wine into his mouth. He fell so quickly that half of it spilled on his chest, and some rushed into his nose, choking him and coughing loudly.

Cao Cao hurriedly rushed in, snatched the wine glass from Xi Zhicai's hand with one hand, stroked Xi Zhicai's back with the other, and comforted him repeatedly.

"Zhicai, it's me who is wrong, you must not hurt your body."

Xi Zhicai coughed violently, panting and crying. Cao Cao was embarrassed, so he had to silently stroke his back until he calmed down. Xi Zhicai took out a handkerchief, wiped his face, pinched the handkerchief into a ball, held it in his heart, and said with a cold face: "A momentary gaffe made the general smile." ”

Cao Cao moved to sit down opposite Xi Zhicai, and said with a smile: "Zhicai, you have been in poor health recently, and you can't drink so much wine." Drunk and hurt. ”

Xi Zhicai lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "The general came to me at this time, is there anything wrong?" ”

"There is a big drought in Guanzhong, can Zhicai have a countermeasure?"

Xi Zhicai's eyelids trembled, raised his hand, picked up the wine spoon, scooped up a glass of wine, drank half a sip, and slowly calmed down. "Does the general want to help Yuan Shao, or does he want to use the grain delivery Guanzhong as an excuse to avoid going to Jingzhou?"

Cao Cao laughed twice, turned around and secretly glanced at Ren Jun outside the door. He thought he had a very thoughtful plan, but he was broken by Xi Zhicai, and he clearly disagreed with Xi Zhicai's tone. It seems that it is not Xi Zhicai who is drunk, but himself.

"Zhicai thought ...... Inappropriate? ”

Xi Zhicai slowly sipped his wine and was silent for a long time. "The grain is supposed to be in Guanzhong, and the difference is only in the motive, which is related to Guanzhong's status in the general's strategy. Those who fight for the world must first understand the general trend, and those who make good use of their potential will be like a bamboo. Those who do not make good use of their momentum will be difficult step by step. Yuan Shao's predicament today, Sun Ce's embarrassment today, it is all the same. ”

Cao Cao moved forward and crouched on the desk. "Zhicai, I would like to hear about it."

Yuan Shao wanted to emulate Emperor Guangwu, based on the manpower and material resources of Jizhou, backed by the annexation of You, and encompassed the Central Plains with Qingzhou and Sili. This strategy is not a big problem, but it is a pity that he has his shape, not his god. Why? In the past, Guangwu met the difficulties of Bosheng, avoided disasters and went to Hebei, wanted to get the help of Hebei, bowed his head, and married Guo Shengtong as his wife, which was the power of Hebei. Now Yuan Shao is in Hebei with the capital of the fourth and third princes, and wants to take Hebei Haojie as a part to transpose the strength and weakness. So far, he has not married the Hebei people, and his ambition is unyielding, which can be known. In this way, how can the people of Hebei fully support it? ”

Cao Cao's eyebrows frowned slightly, and he nodded lightly. Yuan Shao has fallen to this point, and the people of Hebei are indeed an important factor. In the confrontation with Gongsun Zhan, there was the full support of the Hebei people, so Yuan Shao was able to defeat Gongsun Chan one after another under unfavorable circumstances. On the battlefield of Yanzhou, Yuan Tan was defeated again and again, which was not only related to Yuan Shao's own thoughts, but also related to the inability of Hebei people to stand by.

As Xi Zhicai said, Yuan Shao learned the form of Guangwu, but did not learn God, and his alliance with the Hebei people was not reliable.

"What about Sun Ce?"

"Sun was born in a humble background, Sun Jian started with military merits, brave and good at fighting, but he lacked knowledge and was originally not enough to suffer. However, Sun Ce first collected Nanyang, and then took Yuzhou, using Jingyu as a fence to build the foundation of Jiangdong, which can be said to be a person who knows the situation. Yuzhou is conducive to the galloping of cavalry, and it is a place where the party people live, Sun Ce is not psychologically natural, he must not have expected that he could occupy Yuzhou, and now he suffers from gains and losses, Yuzhou has become his weakness, and he has the embarrassment of being stretched thin today. ”

Cao Cao tugged at his beard, his eyes flickering. After a while, he asked again: "Then can Yuan Benchu recapture Yuzhou?" ”

"Originally, it could, but now, it's not easy."

"Why?"

"First, Yuan Benchu killed Han Fu and blamed Zhang Miao, which was unpopular, and the Ruying people scattered, and the Hebei people had little interest in occupying Yanyu, so I am afraid they would not go all out. Second, Sun Ce's clever means of overcoming rigidity with softness gradually divided the Yuzhou family, Zhang Chi has a degree, and the initial results have been achieved. Now there are many people who have abandoned their families in Yuzhou and fled, and the land property has fallen into the hands of Sun Ce and is divided by him with the common people. The people who won the land would not want Yuan Benchu to win, Sun Ce and Tun and defended, he could fight for a long time, and no matter how bad he was, he could abandon Yuzhou and retreat to Jiangdong, without hurting the roots. Compared with the two, the people of Hebei refused to stop the army and fortify the city, wasting money and food. Therefore, even if Yuan Benchu could have a small victory, once Sun Ce held the city, it would be difficult for him to besiege the city. ”

Cao Cao exhaled softly and didn't speak for a long time.

Xi Zhicai didn't speak, slowly sipped the wine, and squinted at Cao Cao. Cao Cao thought for a while, his face relaxed, and said: "Yuan Benchu is difficult to win quickly, and Sun Ce can only maintain his undefeated, so they should not be able to free up their hands to move west." Isn't that my chance? ”

Xi Zhicai still didn't speak.

Cao Cao glanced at him and changed his smile again. "Zhicai, you say, can I take the opportunity to take the opportunity to take Guanzhong into my pocket?"

"You're not afraid of turning your face with Yuan Benchu? Once the two sides find that they cannot decide the winner in the Central Plains, they will inevitably turn their attention elsewhere. Yuan Benchu will go west and merge with the state. There is Huang Ziyan (Huang Wan) sitting in Luoyang, and the land of three rivers is at your fingertips. Sun Ce will march into Yizhou, one is to use Yizhou as a barrier to seize the upper reaches, and the other is to take the manpower and material resources of Yizhou. ”

"Yizhou isn't that easy to take, right?" Cao Cao laughed twice.

"That's right, Yizhou is not a merger state, nor is it a land of three rivers, so it is not so easy to take. But don't forget, Yuan Benchu was only one person, and his only available son, Yuan Tan, was captured by Sun Ce. Sun Ce has Zhou Yu's help, he doesn't need to recruit in person at all, he just needs to appoint Zhou Yu. ”

Cao Cao frowned and bowed slightly. He understood Xi Zhicai's worries. Yuan Shao is wide on the outside and jealous on the inside, he will not delegate military power to others, and he will definitely go out in person. In this way, Sun Ce would be able to attack Hebei while he was on his westward expedition and force him to withdraw his troops. A few times, Yuan Shaohui worked in vain, but Zhou Yu would not have such worries, and he could go west wholeheartedly.

"Zhicai, am I not Zhou Yu's opponent and can't hold Yizhou?" Cao Cao laughed twice, a little disappreciative between his eyebrows. Yizhou and Jingzhou's household registration is about the same, but he is in the upper reaches, in the Xiongguan Dangerous Gorge, and the initiative to attack may be insufficient, and it should be more than enough to defend the pass. Xi Zhicai was frightened by Zhou Yu, or did he look down on me?

Xi Zhicai raised his wine glass, put it to his lips, and took a sip slowly.

"General, in terms of household registration, the two states are comparable, but Nanyang is a big county that Sun Ce personally manages, and now it seems to be the world's business association. Zhou Yu has been operating in Jingzhou for three years, and the people of Jingzhou are eager to use it, and the people are happy to use it. The general is in Yizhou, how many Yizhou scholars are attached? Zhou Yu used the Yellow Turban Yu to Tuntian, but you regarded the Heavenly Master Dao as the main force, and the Lu family as the guest of honor, do you want to win with the Dao method of the Heavenly Master? ”

Xi Zhicai sneered: "If the Dao method is really useful, how can the yellow scarf be defeated?" ”