Chapter 7 Second, the situation is pressing, Cao Cao has to make a quick decision

The gentle evening wind blows sparkling ripples, and the afterglow floats on the surface of Yunmengze Lake. The golden glow seems to meander to the end of the water and sky. On the surface of the water in the distance, there are some small islands that are looming, like some decorations between the sky and the earth, so that the clear water and blue sky are separated here.Rows of tall warships of Jingzhou were covered with brilliant sunset glow, quietly moored in the harbor of Yunmengze like golden toads. Jia Xu stepped onto the command platform of the Jingzhou flagship, and saw Cao Cao was holding a book slip in one hand, and writing and drawing on it with a brush in the other.

Cao Cao loves books and loves to learn, which is well known in Cao Ying.He often claims to be "never put the scroll in his hand, never leave the way in his thinking, he talks about martial arts during the day, and studies the scriptures at night".Although Jia Xu doesn't like to study classics and talk, he also admires his diligent style of "studying tirelessly, and going out at night with candles". "Wenhe, come and take a look." Catching a glimpse of Jia Xu coming up to the stage, Cao Cao hurriedly turned to look at him, and waved at him with his right hand holding the brush, splashing a few drops of ink onto the stage. A few "ink flowers" were stained on the armor he was wearing, but he didn't seem to notice, "This is a commentary on "Sun Tzu's Art of War". Please also ask Wen He to pick out any wording in this book Improper."

"Hehehe... I can enjoy the wonderful brushwork of the prime minister again. I must feast my eyes today." Jia Xu nodded and smiled, and took a look at the scroll of bamboo slips he handed over. There is such a passage in the original works of "Fictity and Reality" and "Profit and Loss": "A soldier has no momentum, no constant shape, and he who can transform the enemy is called a god." Cao Cao commented on the left side of it and explained: "Possession is strong. It must decline, and its appearance must be defeated, so it can change with the enemy and win like a god." There is a passage at the end of the original work: "The worries of a wise man must be mixed with interests." Cao Cao commented on the left side: "Think of harm when benefiting Think of benefit when it is harmful, and exercise power when it is difficult." Jia Xu read it paragraph by paragraph, nodding his head in praise.

"Wenhe, don't just say 'hmmm', you need to give more opinions, some words and sentences can't be modified." Cao Cao stretched his head over to Jia Xu's shoulder blades, and followed his scroll I read it all the time, and suddenly saw something inappropriate, so I took up the pen again and scribbled and corrected the letter Jia Xu was holding, "Look, this' thinks about harm when it is beneficial, and thinks about harm when it is harmful." Li, when it is difficult to exercise power, is the word "and" used too much? These are dispensable and useless characters. It is better to delete them, and you can save more paper and bamboo slips—— If you look at it now, 'When Li Si is harmed, it is difficult to exercise power', isn't it much more condensed than before?"

"Your Prime Minister is meticulous in writing, meticulous in every word, and strives for perfection. Xu is really admirable." Seeing this, Jia Xu couldn't help but praise deeply. Cao Cao just laughed, and reviewed it several times. After he felt that there were no mistakes to correct, he just put down his pen and put the manuscript that he had commented on "The Art of War" on several tables.Then, he stroked the beard under his chin slowly, looked straight into the distance, and said leisurely: "Everyone says that the martial arts strategy of the truth is rare in the world, but in fact, according to the truth, the writing style of the truth It will not be inferior to any high-ranking scholars and scholars in the world today! Even the articles of Cai Yong and Kong Rong seem to be very common in the truth!"

"Prime Minister, your literary talent is not only "not inferior to any high-ranking scholars and scholars in the world today"-who can surpass you with your simplicity, toughness, quaintness and vigor in your writing? Cai Yong, Kong Rong I can't do it myself." Jia Xu nodded in admiration again and again. But obviously, Cao Cao never summoned him to discuss how to annotate "Sun Tzu's Art of War".Sure enough, it didn't take long for Cao Cao to get straight to the point: "Wenhe, Changsha County has surrendered without a fight, and Xiakou City's last barrier in Jingzhou has been removed... Also, today Yizhou The child Liu Zhang also sent a "respect table" and Shu brocade tribute to the truth with a low eyebrow, which implied a sincere donation. Next, this Liu Xuande should also be afraid of difficulties, and surrender with his arms tied? "

Jia Xu looked at the naval ships made up of mixed northern infantry who were still shuttled back and forth on the lake in the distance, groaning and did not answer. Cao Cao looked at Jia Xu's appearance, pondered for a while, and asked slowly: "The truth is that we have decided to divide our troops into two groups, attacking Xiakou City from the north to the south from the Han River and the Yangtze River. What else does Wenhe have at this time?" Suggestion?" When Jia Xu heard this, he thought about it for a while, and couldn't help frowning, and was about to answer.Suddenly a wave hit the surface of Yunmengze Lake, with a "wow", the hull of the boat swayed for a while, and the tables on the platform were shaken to move a few feet.

Several personal guards rushed forward to help Cao Cao——Cao Cao staggered and quickly stood up, and stopped them with a wave of his hand: "Go and help Military Master Jia Xu!" Jia Xu had already fallen down and sat on the board of the boat, looking at Cao Cao and laughing loudly: "The boat wants to be calm but the waves don't stop, the mind has to be still and the body will not fall - how difficult it is!" Cao Cao bowed and stretched out his hand to help him: "Junshi Jia suffered this bump just now, are you seasick? Can you take it?" Seeing Cao Cao reaching out to help him, Jia Xu didn't dare to do anything wrong, but he couldn't accept Cao Cao's hand. He stood up and jumped up, his face full of emotion: "Thank you, Prime Minister, for your concern! Above the Yangtze River, there are really strong winds and waves. The ship is very high, and the ship is pitching and shaking very badly. Although Jia is not seasick, his footing is still a little unstable. If an enemy ship comes head-on, he may be a little difficult to parry for a while. Jia has been used to military life since he was a child. I'm afraid that other northern boys are not much better than Jia..."

When Cao Cao heard what Jia Xu said, he immediately understood what he meant.Recently, the reorganization and integration of the Jiangling navy has not been completely completed, and the northern soldiers who joined the navy are not good at sailing. How could he jump into actual combat right away... His face froze slightly, and his voice suddenly became hard: "Alas... What Junshi Jia said is indeed true. The ship's hull is bumpy, the Beibing soldiers are seasick, and they are not familiar with water warfare, etc. Truth is also well aware of it. But now I don’t care much about it. The key to using troops lies in the horoscope of "vigorous and resolute, quick battle". Truth does not want any unexpected changes to occur suddenly in the midst of the excellent internal and external situation in front of me. Come."

Jia Xu looked at Cao Cao in astonishment, not understanding why he suddenly became so irritable.In fact, he didn't know that last night, Cao Cao received a secret report from Cao Pi who rode six hundred miles fast - Zhao Yan, Emperor Xian Liu Xie's inner court attendant and counselor, actually used a "bamboo sword" to assassinate him!This news made Cao Cao furious. It seems that the loyalists of the Han Dynasty who were dormant in the dark at the rear of Xudu finally couldn't hold back. They took advantage of the time when they were resting and resting in Jiangling City and jumped out to plot chaos. up!This also reminded myself - Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang must be wiped out as soon as possible, so as to completely cut off the hope of the hidden enemy in Xudu in the rear. This important event cannot be delayed for a day!

After calming down, considering that it is not appropriate to continue to stimulate the "royalists" of the Han Dynasty who were lurking behind Xudu, Cao Cao circled one of the several countermeasures published by Cao Pi with a brush: "For Zhao Yan, "If you are guilty of this crime, you will be punished. , Steal the beam and change the post, so as to avoid side effects."According to the "eyeliner" secret report, didn't Zhao Yan once lecture on "Warring States Policy" to Emperor Xian Liu Xiekai?He was charged with "disturbing the audience with fallacies and heresies" and he was cut off from the market.In this way, those loyal relatives of the Han Dynasty will temporarily have no "excuse" to fan the flames and cause chaos. Suppressing these distracting thoughts in his mind, Cao Cao raised his head, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the sun that was about to set in the western sky. Seeing it slowly shrinking and falling like a ball of red flames, he said leisurely: "For Quick battle and quick success, this time the eastward expedition to Xiakou City, besides Mao Jie and Sima Yi, other than Mao Jie and Sima Yi in the military headquarters under Zhen Xiang's command, please drive Wen He to accompany him on the journey!" "Where's Master Xun?" Jia Xu's heart tightened suddenly, he hesitated for a while, and then asked directly. "Both he and Yang Xiu are staying in Jiangling." Cao Cao turned around abruptly and said loudly, "Wenhe—this time an army of more than 200,000 troops is marching eastward against Liu Bei, everything depends on you!" Jia Xu slowly bent her knees, and hot flashes immediately appeared in her eyes: "Xu will definitely do my best, and I will never hesitate to die!" Cao Cao's principle of employing talents and talents has always been "do not doubt people when they are employed, and do not use people who are suspicious".Since Zhao Yan was a disciple of the Xun family in Yingchuan, he didn't dare to trust the Xun family members too much before he found out the truth of the matter, even Xun You, whom he had always relied on as his confidant and think tank.The purpose of keeping Xun You and Yang Xiu behind is to prevent them from playing any negative role in my side. The "quack quack quack" of wild ducks broke the silence in the arena.Cao Cao's gaze turned to the gray-blue sky in the east again: "Before this expedition to Xiakou City, the truth is, I should write a letter to that boy Sun Quan in the east of the Jiang... Considering the words and sentences, the draft of this letter is like this - "The Prime Minister has recently accepted the holy order and punished crimes with words. The flag is pointed south, and Liu Cong has tied his hands; the people of Jingxiang, look forward to submitting. Now I personally lead the eight soldiers. Hundreds of thousands, more than a thousand generals, want to hunt with Sun Julu in Jiangxia, and together they will defeat the traitor Liu Bei, defend Wang Gang, and their names will go down in history. Fortunately, don't wait and see, and I will reply soon.'”