Fuji [Four Beauties]

During the years when Liu Xie grew stronger, the land of the Central Plains has also undergone tremendous changes.The scramble among the princes is like a big wave washing the sand, gradually eliminating those who cannot stand the test one by one.There are only a few outstanding talents who can run across the world and talk and laugh about ancient and modern times.

Now the world is roughly divided into five parts. Sizhou and Yizhou in the west belong to the Han Dynasty. The four prefectures of Hebei, You and Qing in the north still belong to Yuan Shao. Yanxu and Yuzhou in the middle and east are under the control of Cao Cao. Most of Yangzhou fell into the hands of Sun Quan, and Jingzhou was still in the hands of Liu Biao.

The princes competed for the throne, and the flames of war were everywhere.Nanyang County, which was taken over by Zhang Ji's nephew Zhang Xiu at the beginning, has become a crucial place to contend for because it is located in a place extending in all directions.If the princes of all walks of life want to take over the world at the same time, they must take Nanyang, and then seize Xiangyang, so that it is possible to open up multiple main roads connecting the north and the south.

It can be said that whoever wins this place wins the world.

In this case, Cao Cao, who has always been ambitious, took the lead.He personally led the army, known as a million soldiers, and went south to conquer Zhang Xiu.In order to achieve his goal, he did not hesitate to forget the disagreement between face and heart for many years.He sent envoys traveling thousands of miles to Luoyang City to play the Son of Heaven with many tributes and memorials written by himself.It shows that Zhang Xiu, who wants to fight for the emperor and separatizes Nanyang, has the heart of disobedience.

After seeing the memorial, Liu Xie smiled.He could tell Cao Cao's intentions at a glance. He was still using the emperor to order the princes. He wanted to use his name to do his own business.It's just that nowadays, this "holding the emperor to order the princes" has become "serving the master to beg for disobedience", and it's just changing the soup without changing the medicine.

After Cao Cao's emissary retreated, ministers immediately went up to play Liu Xie.Nanyang County is very important, and it is the only way for Guanzhong to go south from Wuguan to other areas.It was also what the princes wanted to go north to attack the important military fortress in Guanzhong.If Nanyang County is lost, Guanzhong will be in danger, and if Guanzhong is not protected, Luoyang will be in danger.Never miss Nanyang.

Of course Liu Xie knew the importance of Nanyang County.However, Cao Cao is not Yuan Shao's kind of person, and his camp is not as mixed as Yuan Shao's camp.If you want to deal with him, the old tactic of dividing and melting without bloodshed may not be of much use.

As for Zhang Xiu, his attitude has been very ambiguous over the years.Let's say that he has evil intentions, and he follows the rules and etiquette every year, sending people to the court to make offerings, and there is nothing out of the ordinary.Let's say he is loyal to the court, but he still refuses to send his family members to Luoyang as hostages.

In short, in Liu Xie's eyes, he is a speculator who sits on the fence, and will fall wherever the wind blows.Even if he wants to dominate the side, he is unwilling to submit to the court, and I am afraid he will also be unwilling to surrender to Cao Cao.For a while, Liu Xie didn't think about what to do with Zhang Xiu.

After leaving court, Liu Xie went to find Song Ci as usual.Over the years, Song Ci has not changed much, she still looks the same as Liu Xie first saw.It's just that her body has some very worrying symptoms.Song Ci would always faint without warning, and no one could find out the reason for her fainting.For this reason, Liu Xie has been worried all year round.

Song Ci himself didn't take it seriously, anyway, it's already like this, so what else?If something really happens, even if you are in constant panic all day long, it cannot be avoided.That being the case, it's better to relax and live a good life, every day counts as a day, and you are earning money.

When Song Ci arrived, she and Xun Yu were making maps.This map is not a traditional topographic map of mountains and rivers, but was dictated by Song Ci and drawn by Xun Yu, which is similar to the comprehensive maps of population, economy, climate, etc. of later generations.

They drew this map as a plan for the future.It is impossible for Liu Xie to stay in Sizhou all his life, even if he wanted to, the tigers and wolves around him would not allow it.One day he will go out to conquer the world and conquer all directions.That being the case, such a map is essential.

In the past, Song Ci had translated "Shui Jing Zhu" in detail because of his mentor.At that time, this great book, which had a lot to do with the geography of mountains and rivers, tortured her to death, but she didn't expect it to be of great use now.

Liu Xie saw Song Ci and Xun Yu from a long distance.Looking at it from a distance, Xun Yu is like a jade tree in the courtyard, delicate and elegant.Song Ci is as beautiful as the morning clouds and as colorful as flowers.When these two stand together, no blind person will think that they are unsuitable.Seeing this scene, Liu Xie couldn't help but sigh.Over the years, it's not that he doesn't have the heart to make a match. Liu Xie has tried his best and tried every means to achieve good things.

It's a pity that Luo Hua wanted to be ruthless, and he was enthusiastic on the sidelines, but the two protagonists didn't show the slightest sign.They seemed to be completely unaware of Liu Xie's painstaking efforts, and very tacitly ignored his unilateral efforts.A twisted melon is not sweet, and after several struggles, the helpless Liu Xie had no choice but to give up.

Seeing Liu Xie coming, Song Ci looked very excited.She pulled Liu Xie to the map, and excitedly showed him the strangely shaped map.Liu Xie was confused, he had never seen this type of map.Of course Song Ci knew that he couldn't understand, and explained to him while pointing to the things on the map.

Liu Xie was very excited and nodded repeatedly.This is a good thing. He never thought that the map could be drawn in this way.

Song Ci pointed to the Yangzhou area on the map and said: "Now our economy here has returned to normal, but other places are still in chaos. After the five baht money leaves the place under your jurisdiction, it will no longer work. Yes. I heard that Sun Quan has started to make large coins now, and this guy is blatantly trying to steal money from the common people. If he messes around like this, other people will follow suit, and we will also be affected."

Hearing this, Liu Xie was also a little exhausted.Over the years, it took him a lot of effort to gradually stabilize the price and barely restore the circulation of five baht coins.If the vassals mess around like this, the economies of regions other than Sizhou may fall into even greater chaos.At that time, it will be another mess that is difficult to clean up.But it's useless for Liu Xie to worry about it now. Those places are now beyond his reach, and he can't control them even if he wants to.He has more problems to worry about now.

Liu Xie talked about the problem in Nanyang.

After listening, Xun Yu thought for a while, and suggested that Liu Xie should not take care of Nanyang's affairs for the time being.

Nowadays, there are many forces standing on top of each other, and everyone wants Nanyang County.If anyone takes the lead, let's not talk about whether the acquisition of Nanyang County will be successful or not, and how much it will cost.Only talk about the issue of whether you can keep it after you get it.

Nanyang County is not just the main road to enter Guanzhong, it is the main road to all regions.It is very important for Liu Biao, Sun Quan, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.Whoever seizes Nanyang County will threaten everyone's territory.Now the world is in a stalemate, and no one family can dominate and swallow up other families in one fell swoop.See-saw stalemate has become an inevitable trend. If anyone dares to rush to capture such a sensitive place, I am afraid that none of the princes will be able to sit still.

If Cao Cao dared to do this, he committed public outrage.You must know where his territory is, but it is an out-and-out place of the Fourth World War.There is Yuan Shao in the north, Sun Quan and Liu Biao in the south, and the imperial court in the west.As long as he dares to win Nanyang County, then when he gets Nanyang County, he will become the target of public criticism, and the princes will attack him together.

Regardless of whether Cao Cao won or lost Nanyang County, it was actually not a good thing for him.

Among several forces, the imperial court is still at a relatively weak level.Although Yizhou and Hanzhong were won, Yizhou Hanzhong is now undecided, and Liu Xie is not absolutely in control.In fact, Liu Xie can only control the land of Sizhou. If Sizhou is lost, Yizhou and Hanzhong will also rebel.

One hair can move the whole body, absolutely not to act rashly.We should still concentrate all our energy on internal economic development.Consolidate city defenses, build water conservancy, encourage farming and weaving, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and fill the treasury for a long-term plan.

After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Xie still adopted Xun Yu's suggestion.Focus on stability and development, and do not use foreign troops for the time being.

For Cao Cao's above table, Liu Xie adopted a strategy of neither encouraging nor preventing.He accepted everything that Cao Cao sent people to offer.Liu Xie ignored Cao Cao's request to attack Nanyang County.Liu Xie also issued an edict, asking him to develop more agricultural production and spend his mind on making the common people have enough to eat.

After receiving the emperor's edict, Cao Cao didn't care what the emperor said.He just wants the edict of the emperor, as long as there is an edict.No matter what Liu Xie's order is, he can understand Liu Xie's order as the emperor asking him to attack Nanyang.He finally wiped out Lu Bu, and brought Yu, Yan, and Xu three states into his territory.He will never let go of such an important place in Nanyang County.

Cao Cao's advantages and disadvantages are equally prominent.He is never discouraged when he encounters setbacks, and he never finds faults in others. He always sums up experience and lessons from himself, which enables him to grow rapidly.However, he also has a big problem, once the wind is smooth, he will easily swell and become dizzy.

In history, he went to attack Wancheng, an important town in Nanyang County.Zhang Xiu directly surrendered, which made Cao Cao ecstatic. He thought he was great, relaxed his vigilance, and even messed with Zhang Xiu's aunt.Then he was disgraced by Zhang Xiu's rebellion, and even his son, nephew and favorite general were killed.

The same is true of the Battle of Chibi. As soon as Liu Biao died, he went to attack Jingzhou. As a result, Liu Biao's youngest son surrendered directly.Cao Cao drifted away again, trying to get rid of Sun Quan.As a result, Sun Quan and Liu Bei joined forces, which severely dampened his spirit.

This shortcoming of his was pinned down by Xun Yu.That's why Xun Yu dared to tell Liu Xie to stand by and ignore the affairs of Nanyang County for the time being.

Soon, Cao Cao sent troops to Nanyang, Zhang Xiu surrendered without any fight.Boss Cao actually drifted away again, and the tragedy repeated itself.Not only that, when Cao Cao retreated in a panic, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao attacked Cao Cao's territory at the same time, which made Cao Cao very embarrassed.

After returning to the base camp, Cao Cao learned from the painful experience and decided not to drift anymore and to be a good man.He teamed up with Sun Quan to attack Liu Biao and divided up many territories in Jingzhou.Yuan Shao was not idle either, and kept making sneak attacks behind Cao Cao.Cao Cao was very troubled, but because of his own strength, he was far from being Yuan Shao's opponent, so he endured it all the time.

When dealing with Yuan Shao, he mainly appeases and deceives.To deal with Liu Biao, Cao Cao adopted the method of fighting and fighting.Liu Biao felt that certain territories were good, so he fought them, and after grabbing the territory, he deliberately wooed him.For Sun Quan, Cao Cao also adopted the same method.In this regard, Liu Biao and Sun Quan had nothing to do.Because with their current strength, it is impossible to get rid of Cao Cao, even if the two join forces.

Yuan Shao, who has the ability to deal with Cao Cao, has always been hesitant.Many of his advisers have been persuading Yuan Shao not to let Cao Cao become bigger.However, with Yuan Shao, on the one hand, he always looked down on Cao Cao.He felt that Cao Cao had been relying on him all the time, he was his little brother.No matter how hard the little brother struggles, he won't be able to become a master. His big brother will always be the big brother.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao was very upset and had no time to manage Cao Cao.Of course, what he is bothered about is his sons. Now his sons have gone their own way, and no one obeys the other.If it weren't for him, this old man, who was still alive, I'm afraid they would have been beaten to death.He is almost bored to death, how can he have time to manage Cao Cao?

In a word, the current situation is that the princes dislike each other, but no one can completely kill the other, they can only confront each other.This situation has been maintained for several years, and a major event that can change the situation of the world happened.It was this incident that completely changed the status quo of the separatist rule of the princes, and also changed the fate of everyone.