Chapter 385

Only Cao Pi, who played the filial son, lay down and won, and was established as the heir by Cao Cao!

Cao Pi received the news and was so happy that he lost his composure, hugging Xin Pi's neck.

"Xin Jun, do you know how happy I am?"

Xin Pi went home and told his daughter, Xin Xin Xianying, about this.

The talented woman sighed.

"Father, now that the Duke of Wei is seriously ill, the heir should act on behalf of the Duke of Wei with a heart of worry, but he is so happy; this is not the behavior of a wise master..."

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Once Xin Pi heard this, he sighed that his daughter had better insight than he did, but unfortunately, she was a woman!

"Daughter, the heir's wife, Lady Ren, lacks patience, is not gentle enough, and often quarrels with the heir. The heir intends to divorce his wife, and regarding you..."

Xin Xin Xianying hurriedly waved her hand and said in a low voice,

"Father, you must not. You are a famous scholar with an excellent reputation. Even if Liu Liu Xuande comes in the future, you will be reused, and our Xin family will be worry-free. If I become the heir's consort, I will inevitably be pulled into the vortex."

Xin Pi sighed.

"Daughter, you are not young anymore; it is time to find a husband."

Xin Xin Xianying, however, had many thoughts in her heart.

"I intend to write a biography for Liu Liu Xuande; naturally, I should ask him for advice personally, right?"

In Xu County,

Liu Bei listened to the recent intelligence from Ye City.

"Everyone, I didn't expect so many things to happen in Ye City in such a short time."

"Cao Ang actually used Guo Tu's plan? Didn't this kid see how much Ding Yuan Shao suffered?"

"I didn't expect that I cured Cao Chong once, but he fell victim to poison again."

Liu Ye cupped his hands.

"My lord, Cao Cao has lost the Dao. Now that he is seriously ill, the previous hidden dangers will all be exposed."

Guo Jia stepped out.

"My lord, Cao Cao is seriously ill, and Cao Ang has been deposed. Hebei is in a precarious situation; it is time to move troops against Hebei!"

Jia Xu, Pang Tong, and others supported him one after another.

"My lord, now the gentry in Hebei have not made up their minds. If our army moves, there will be many who intend to surrender. If we make good use of this, we will get twice the result with half the effort!"

Liu Bei nodded. Strike while the iron is hot; everyone understands this principle.

Originally, Liu Bei wanted to wait a few more years.

Plans cannot keep up with changes.

Within the Cao army, because Cao Cao was seriously ill, so many things happened; now it is time to give it a push!

Liu Bei gathered his group of strategists to begin an all-night discussion on the plan to conquer the Hebei region.

Jia Xu cupped his hands and said,

"My lord, after consecutive defeats, the Cao Army has fewer than one hundred thousand elite troops left. The other hundred thousand are basically farmers who were just forcibly conscripted and trained. The people of Hebei are already full of grievances over this."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Excluding the troops left behind to garrison various locations, our army can mobilize over four hundred thousand soldiers. We are already far superior to the Cao Army, and we have many elites."

"Where do you all think the difficulties in conquering Hebei lie?"

Guo Jia looked at the map.

"My lord, the most difficult part of conquering Hebei is naturally taking Ye City, followed by the Pingyuan State and Bohai Commandery garrisoned by Xia Xia Houyuan, and finally, the Youzhou region guarded by Cao Hong."

Liu Bei smiled.

"Then should our army start with the easy and move to the difficult, or start with the difficult and move to the easy?"

Jia Xu cupped his hands.

"My lord, the battle for Ye City will inevitably be extremely brutal and cannot be taken in a short time. I believe we should start with the easy and move to the difficult, eliminating Youzhou, Qingzhou, and the other commanderies of Jizhou. Once Ye City becomes an isolated city, the morale of the Cao Army will inevitably suffer, and perhaps there will be flaws to exploit."

Liu Bei nodded; he also intended to take Qingzhou and Youzhou first.

Pang Tong cupped his hands.

"My lord, with our army's current strength, we can fully march to Wei Commandery while simultaneously attacking at multiple points, sending great generals to strike Youzhou and Qingzhou."

"With our massive army pressing down on the border, Cao Cao will certainly not dare to send troops from Ye City to rescue Qingzhou or Youzhou, making those two provinces easier to attack."

Liu Ye frowned as he looked at the map.

"There is another difficulty in attacking Ye City: the army has not yet moved, but the grain and fodder must go first. If we besiege Ye City for a long time, the amount of grain required will be enormous. If we rely on human labor to push carts, I fear the burden on the people will be too heavy."

Everyone felt that what Liu Ye said made a lot of sense. If the burden on the people was too heavy, the rear would become unstable, and if the siege failed, they would have to retreat, which would mean all their previous efforts would be wasted.

Liu Bei smiled.

"Everyone, Kongming, who is in Henei Commandery, has already thought of this."

Liu Bei handed Zhuge Zhang Liang's suggestion to the others to read.

"Kongming has been surveying Henei Commandery. The Qi River originates in the Taixing Mountains; its current is swift and its volume is quite large. It flows through Zhaoge and merges into the Yellow River."

Liu Bei pointed at the map.

"As long as we divert the Qi River and channel the water into the White Ditch, our army can directly utilize the waterway to transport grain deep into the heart of Wei Commandery."

"If we then dig a small canal starting from the Zhang River in the west and reaching the White Ditch in the east, our army can directly transport grain from the Central Plains to the foot of Ye City."

Everyone was overjoyed.

"My lord, if we can do this, our army will have no worries about grain, and our chances of victory will greatly increase!"

Liu Bei smiled.

"Not only that, this waterway can also serve as a water trade route in the future, greatly promoting the commercial prosperity of Hebei."

Everyone bowed in admiration.

"My lord is wise!"

Having solved the problem of grain transport, everyone was in high spirits and continued to discuss the details of the campaign.

The live stream chat was also exploding.

"Brother Bei is awesome! While others are fighting a war, he's started acting like a construction foreman!"

"He's actually starting to dig a canal? Have you thought about how Boss Cao feels?"

"Boss Cao's side is a bit chaotic right now; Liu Bei's chances of winning are quite high."

Liu Bei's side was busy preparing for the expedition to Hebei.

Preparing grain, mobilizing troops, adjusting generals, and conscripting laborers—such a massive movement naturally could not be hidden from Cao Cao.

"Cough, cough."

Cao Cao, suffering from illness, looked at the intelligence on the bamboo slips, his brows tightly furrowed.

"It seems Liu Bei is going to launch a full-scale conquest of Hebei this time. What do you think?"

Cheng Yu's eyes were filled with worry.

"My lord, Liu Bei is attacking with all his might this time. Our army can only focus on holding our ground."

Xun Yu also indicated that they had lost the strength to leave the city and fight a decisive battle with Liu Bei.

Military Sima Yi cupped his hands.

"My lord, Liu Bei has mobilized over four hundred thousand troops, and the laborers transporting grain number at least a million. The people's resentment is boiling. As long as our army holds the fortified cities, Liu Bei's rear will be unstable, and he will inevitably be forced to retreat."

Cao Cao nodded.

"It seems your views are all to focus on holding our ground. Then notify Zhong Yao, Xia Xia Houyuan, and Cao Hong to hold out until Liu Bei retreats."

Everyone understood; Cao Cao was abandoning all the small cities to protect only a few major ones.

Cao Pi felt somewhat heavy-hearted. He had just become the heir, and before he had enjoyed a single day of comfort, Liu Bei was coming!

Two months later,

Liu Bei held a swearing-in ceremony in Xuxian, sending out 480,000 troops—claiming a million—to conquer Hebei and unify the Great Han!

In total, the army was divided into four routes.

The first route was naturally led by Liu Bei himself with 180,000 troops, accompanied by generals Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Gao Shun, Ju Yi, and others, setting out from the Central Plains and heading straight for Liyang City!

The second route was led by Zhuge Zhang Liang with 100,000 troops, accompanied by generals Xu Rong, Xu Huang, E Huan, Wang Ping, Guo Huai, Yan Xing, Yu Du, and others, setting out from Henei Commandery, passing through Zhaoge to attack from the west of Wei Commandery, and heading straight for the strategic town of Dangyin.

The third route was led by Lu Xun with 100,000 troops, accompanied by generals Huang Zhong, Zhang He, Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, Ling Cao, Ling Tong, Chen Wu, and others, to attack Qingzhou and march north to Bohai Commandery to besiege Nanpi City!