Chapter 382

Xun Yu also said,

"Liu Bei vigorously encourages childbirth, talents are also springing up, he has opened the Western Regions trade route, south to Luzon, commerce is prosperous, grain production is abundant. He doesn't need to attack us; in less than ten years, his strength will far exceed our army."

The current situation is exactly the opposite of what Zhuge Zhang Liang encountered in history.

Zhuge Zhang Liang does not need to write the Chu Shi Biao with painstaking effort and lead an expedition against Cao Wei from Qishan.

Military Sima Yi does not just need to hold the Yong and Zhang Liang lands to be invincible.

Now,

Liu Bei only needs to develop with peace of mind, and the strength of the two sides will become wider and wider, and the Cao army will collapse without being attacked.

I fear that in the future, it will be Military Sima Yi who will have to write the Chu Shi Biao with painstaking effort!

Cao Cao looked at the map.

"Where do you think our army should start?"

Cheng Yu pointed to the west of Ye City.

"My lord, Bingzhou is closest to Ye City. If we take it, we can take Hedong Commandery, or even Chang'an, and if we go north, we can occupy the Hetao Plain and take Liu Bei's big granary."

"Once our army occupies the Guanzhong land and relies on natural barriers to defend, Liu Bei will lose the Western Regions trade route, and if our army then goes south to Hanzhong and Yizhou, we may not be able to turn the tables!"

Cao Cao nodded.

"I have already secretly contacted allies, but that Zhuge villager stationed in Taiyuan is not easy to deal with."

Cheng Yu cupped his hands.

"My lord, the Zhuge villager has no strength to truss a chicken; even Wang Lang could kill this thief with his own hands. We can send men to assassinate him. If successful, it will be like cutting off one of Liu Bei's arms!"

Although Wang Lang was a civil official, he had once fought Taishi Ci for dozens of moves without being killed; his martial arts were obviously enough to kill Zhuge Zhang Liang in seconds dozens of times!

Cao Cao pondered for a while and could only send out his secret organization.

Military Sima Yi in Puyang City, however, submitted a memorial, using a trick to lure the snake out of its hole for Cao Cao, turning passive into active and luring Liu Bei to attack on his own initiative.

Zhao Yun returned to Xu County with part of the gains.

Liu Bei personally went ten miles out of the city to welcome them.

"Zhao Zilong, Zhang Wenyuan, Taishi Ziyi, Pang De, Fa Xiaozhi, Ziyang... you have made great contributions this time and expanded the territory for our Great Han. I am very gratified!"

Zhao Yun, however, said,

"My lord, I was just a personal guard in the past. If not for your heavy use..."

Liu Bei took Zhao Yun's hand and entered Xu County with him.

Liu Bei appointed Zhao Yun as General Who Conquers the East, Zhang Zhang Liao as General Who Pacifies the North, Taishi Ci as General Who Pacifies the West, and all the other generals were rewarded.

The women brought back by Zhao Yun were also rewarded by Liu Bei to the meritorious soldiers, and he naturally chose some for himself.

The next few days were naturally filled with grand banquets.

The gentry from the Central Plains, Jingzhou, Guanzhong, and other places came to congratulate him one after another. This great victory further raised Liu Bei's prestige.

Many gentry had already begun to urge him to ascend the throne.

Liu Bei naturally refused; it was still a bit too early to declare himself emperor.

Liu Bei generously sent each of the gentry who came to congratulate him two Goguryeo beauties, so they did not make the trip in vain.

Liu Bei remembered Cao Cao's kindness and sent him three daughters, so he naturally returned the favor, directly sending Cao Cao one hundred Goguryeo and Three Han beauties.

He also sent Cao Cao quite a lot of Changbai Mountain wild ginseng, letting Cao Cao use it while he replenished himself!

Netizens sighed that Liu Bei was trying to exhaust Cao Cao to death and inherit his legacy by the way.

Cao Cao received Liu Bei's gift and knew that Liu Bei was showing off his wealth to him.

He cursed that Liu Bei was trying to exhaust him to death, but accepted it happily while cursing.

Not long after,

Cao Cao was promoted to the King of Wei under the enfeoffment of the pseudo-emperor, the Prince of Hejian!

He broke the rule set by Liu Bang that "only those of the Liu family can be kings"!

This move was very provocative.

Cao Cao wanted Liu Bei to take the initiative to attack him, and then he would use the advantages of supplies and defense to find an opportunity for victory.

In Xu County,

Liu Bei summoned everyone to discuss.

"Everyone, Cao Cao has defied the world and declared himself King of Wei. What should our army do?"

Ma Chao cupped his hands.

"My lord, Cao Cao dares to be so rebellious. I suggest a full-scale expedition against him!"

Zhang Fei also shouted loudly.

"Big brother, that old guy Cao Cao is going to declare himself emperor next. We must suppress him!"

Many generals expressed that they wanted to teach Cao Cao a lesson he would never forget.

Liu Bei looked at the group of strategists.

"Wenhe, what is your opinion?"

Jia Xu cupped his hands.

"My lord, Cao Cao is using a strategy of killing two birds with one stone. By becoming the King of Wei, he can increase his prestige and give his civil and military officials hope; he can also stimulate our army, make you send troops to conquer him, and find an opportunity through defensive counterattacks."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Wenhe is quite right. That old guy Cao Cao has no good intentions."

Pang Tong also cupped his hands.

"My lord, our army rashly conquering Hebei has no certainty of victory. Even if we don't fail, it will increase the confidence of the Cao army."

Guo Jia also stepped out.

"My lord, our army should develop with peace of mind. In less than five years, we will leave the Cao army far behind, and there is no need to fight a decisive battle with them at all."

Everyone nodded. Now most people in the Great Han felt that Liu Bei would definitely defeat Cao Cao.

If Liu Bei failed to conquer Cao Cao, it would inevitably damage everyone's confidence.

"Then how should our army respond?"

Fa Zheng stepped out.

"My lord is the Imperial Uncle of the Great Han, has expanded the territory, and has made immortal achievements. Cao Cao dares to declare himself king, so you naturally have enough reasons to declare yourself king."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Zhang Fei laughed loudly.

"Right, my big brother should declare himself king!"

Guo Jia, Liu Ye, Taishi Ci, and others supported him one after another.

Liu Bei also had this intention, and he agreed half-heartedly.

As for what king to declare himself, everyone studied it and collectively felt that King of Hanzhong was the most appropriate.

If you remove the middle character from King of Hanzhong, it is King of Han.

Declaring himself any other king was not appropriate. King of Zhang Liang? King of Shu? King of Yu were all inappropriate.

King of Chu and King of Qin went without saying; this was trying to put eye drops on Liu Bang...

After everyone discussed it,

Three days later, Liu Bei announced to the world that he was the King of Hanzhong!

Liu Bei declared himself king, and naturally there was another round of congratulations from all over the place.

The Western Regions, Nanzhong, Jiaozhou, Liaodong, etc., all offered rare treasures, which was much livelier than Cao Cao's King of Wei.

Cao Cao not only failed to lure Liu Bei to attack but also got a belly full of anger and was very annoyed, so he could only vent his anger on the Goguryeo beauties Liu Bei had sent him last time.

Since Liu Bei would not attack him, Cao Cao could only find a way to attack Liu Bei.

Just after midsummer,

Zhuge Zhang Liang, who was guarding Bingzhou in place of Zhao Yun, received secret reports from Yu Du and Yang Chou.

Yu Yu Digen, Li Li Damu, and others in the Black Mountain Army had been bought by Cao Cao and intended to work from the inside with Cao Cao to seize Henei Commandery and Shangdang Commandery.

Zhuge Zhang Liang naturally attached great importance to this, and while sending an urgent report to Liu Bei, he led men to Shanyang County near Mount Taihang.

This place was Yu Du's garrison.