Chapter 232: Plotting against Liu Bei Although Ju Su didn't know what actions Cao Cao and Liu Bei would take, he believed that the two would never sit idly by and wait for death. Because of the loss of Xuzhou and the fact that all the states in the world had their own affiliations, Cao Cao and Liu Bei had lost the space to develop peacefully and could only expand their power through war. As long as the two of them take action, it will be a good thing for Yuan Shao. Again, the party that takes the initiative to attack is often at a disadvantage. Otherwise, there would not be a three-kingdoms situation. After taking stock of the surrounding situation, Cao Cao's advisers had to admit the fact that they seemed to have lost the possibility of external expansion. To the north and east are Tian Ze and Yuan Shao, two living fathers, who should not be provoked. To the west are Li Jue and Guo Si. If we attack these two brothers, Tian Ze will easily take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the situation. To the south is Liu Bei. Although his subordinates are weaker than theirs, they are no pushovers. They have more money, food and soldiers than them. If they want to attack, they must go all out. It is easy for them to be attacked or Yuan Shao to take advantage of them again. Once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. The lesson of Xuzhou was a painful one for Cao Cao's camp. But being trapped and dying in Yanzhou is not a good thing.
Yuan Shao had people and land, so he could develop his army with peace of mind and wait for the right opportunity. But Cao Cao only had less than one state and a population of more than two million, so he could not compete with him in terms of development. Xi Zhicai, Xun Yu and Mao Jie thought about it and finally set their sights on Yuzhou where Liu Bei was. "This is almost the only option." Mao Jie said in a deep voice. "But Liu Xuande is not easy to deal with. He has a wise counselor like Chen Qun under his command, as well as brave generals like Zhang Fei and Chen Dao. Our strength is too weak. Even if we can defeat him, I am afraid we will become a dowry for others." Xun Yu frowned. "Then weaken Liu Xuande." A gleam of light flashed in Xi Zhicai's eyes. "How to weaken it? It is impossible for Liu Xuande to devote all of his more than 200,000 troops to external attacks. Even if only 100,000 are left, I am afraid we will find it difficult to defeat them." Mao Jie asked. "The temptation of benefits is huge enough and the enemy's invasion is strong enough to make Liu Xuande give up these troops on his own." Xi Zhicai said with a sharp look. "Zhicai, what do you want to do?" Xun Yu couldn't help but ask as he looked at Xi Zhicai's slightly crazy look. "Xiaoxian, what is Liu Biao's current situation?" Xi Zhicai stared at the location of Jingzhou on the map and asked in a deep voice. After experiencing many situations where he was plotted against, Xi Zhicai gradually began to prefer Mao Jie to lead intelligence matters. Because of his talent, he would not be influenced or misjudged. "Still suppressing the rebellion in Jingzhou." Mao Jie replied. The South was developed later than the Central Plains, and the emperor was far away. The local aristocratic families not only had stronger control over the local area, but were also relatively conservative in their thinking, with a narrow vision, and only cared about their own small piece of land. There were many aristocratic families and powerful people who refused to obey the management and pretended to obey but actually disobeyed the management. With the instigation of Jia Xu, Gan Ning and others, the rebellion in southern Jing was really massive. Not only in southern Jing, but also in Yangzhou and Yizhou, there were rebellions. Even a powerful man like Sun Ce was deeply involved. Liu Biao's suppression of the rebellion would probably take at least two years to achieve significant results. Xun Yu seemed to have guessed something, and asked solemnly: "Zhicai, what do you want?" "If something happens to Liu Biao, with such a big Jingzhou in front of him, can Liu Bei bear it?" Xi Zhicai asked with a gleam in his eyes. "But Runan is still in the hands of Yuan Gonglu. Even if Liu Bei is interested in Jingzhou, he..." Mao Jie paused as he spoke. "Liu Bei will soon take action against Runan." Xun Yu, who is good at grasping the general situation, affirmed. Just as Ju Su said, Liu Bei would never sit and wait for death.
After so much preparation, the three pieces of fat meat at their mouths, one was snatched by Yuan Shao, one had not been eaten and had become a hard bone, and only the last piece of fat meat was left. The three of them stared at the map, each deducing and predicting the possibility of what Xi Zhicai said, and finally came to the same conclusion. This plan works! Xi Zhicai's strategy was both a conspiracy and an open plot. Jingzhou now has a large population and is even richer than Yuzhou. Even though it has been robbed of its population by Tianze over the years, it still has at least four million people. Moreover, the human trade made the local wealthy families, pirates and bandits extremely wealthy, and even the common people became much richer. It has a vast territory, fertile fields, and is located in a strategic location. There are no strong enemies around it. It is truly a perfect place to start a business. Although Liu Bei now claims to have occupied Yuzhou, the actual most important Runan County is still in the hands of Yuan Shu. The overall situation under his rule is only slightly better than that of Cao Cao. Even though he knew that Yuzhou was at risk of being lost, he would probably not be able to resist wanting to take Jingzhou. “It’s a pity that Yanzhou is too far away from Jingzhou, otherwise we might have the opportunity to span the two states and achieve great things.” Xi Zhicai said with some regret. "Can we take advantage of this opportunity to destroy Liu Bei and seize Yuzhou and Jingzhou in one fell swoop?" Mao Jie suddenly asked. Compared with the so-called alliance cooperation, Mao Jie is more inclined to enhance his own hard power. "Impossible. We don't have the strength and capital to do this. Moreover, Liu Bei may not be able to fall for the time being." Xun Yu said. Tian Ze's existence is like a sword hanging over the heads of the princes in the Central Plains, making them dare not act recklessly. Therefore, Xun Yu was very clear that the war in the Central Plains could be fought, but it must not be fought recklessly and must be controlled within a certain scale. This was the consensus of Yuan, Cao and Liu. This was the main reason why Yuan Shao was confident in occupying Xuzhou. Moreover, after the battle in Hebei, both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao realized that they needed more allies. They did not have enough civil and military forces to deal with Tian Ze, who had many civil and military forces and a strong army. If Gao Lan's army had two or three more first-class generals in the decisive battle, they would not have won, but at least they would not have been defeated so miserably. It was basically hopeless for them to destroy Tian Ze by just relying on their alliance. At this time, Liu Bei naturally came into their sight. Although there are many princes in the world, at present, only Tian Ze, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Liu Bei can really come up with and use a team well. At this time, Sun Ce was still starting a business in Jiangdong and was not taken seriously by Cao Cao. Among them, even Liu Bei, who had the relatively weakest lineup, had no problem commanding an army of more than 100,000 and governing several states. "On the one hand, they are scheming against each other, and on the other hand, they are trusting the alliance. What we, the princes in the Central Plains, are doing now is really ridiculous." Mao Jie shook his head with a slightly complicated expression. Being suppressed by others is such a uncomfortable feeling. Every step you take, you have to constantly consider and take all parties into consideration, for fear that a wrong step will destroy the balance and lead to a dead end. "Zhicai's plan should be feasible. But the key issue is whether Liu Biao can really get into trouble at the right time." Xun Yu stared at Xi Zhicai and said in a deep voice. "Yes." Xi Zhicai's face showed an unhealthy flush, and his eyes were full of madness and determination. Xun Yu and Mao Jie couldn't help but sigh when they saw this scene. Ultimately, he had to use Xi Zhicai's talent. There was no other way. (End of this chapter)