Chapter 554

Military Sima Yi was suddenly shocked and hurriedly cupped his hands.

"The Second Young Master and I just get along well."

Cao Cao laughed.

"Getting along well is also a good thing."

With a few words, Military Sima Yi was already breaking out in a cold sweat.

Zhang Xiu had been killed by Liu Bei, and Lady Zou had long been taken by Liu Bei as a concubine, so naturally, the Wancheng incident did not happen.

His eldest son, Cao Ang, was naturally fine.

The candidates for heir in Cao Cao's view were now only two: Cao Ang and the child prodigy Cao Chong.

Cao Pi and Cao Zhi could not yet catch his eye.

Cao Cao looked at the others again.

"What do you think of the current situation?"

Xun Yu cupped his hands.

"My lord, Liu Bei's great victory this time is equivalent to announcing to the whole world that he, Liu Bei, is already the strongest among all the warlords."

Cao Cao felt a pain in his heart, but he had to admit that this was the truth.

Xun Yu continued.

"My lord, there are several things of vital importance for our army now: first, stabilize the existing territory to avoid a rebellion like this one."

"Second, train elite military units; from Liu Bei's great battle this time, we can see that troops should be elite, not numerous."

Cao Cao nodded; he had suffered a great loss from the vine-armored soldiers this time.

"Third, Yuan Shao's illness is worsening; my lord must be prepared at any time to enter Hebei and contend with Liu Bei in Hebei! Also, strengthen the infiltration of Jingzhou; these two places are the key points of our future contention."

"Good, Wenruo is very right; Zhongda, what are your thoughts?"

"My lord, your subordinate believes that our army can win over Sun Ce of Jiangdong; the future contention for Jingzhou will require him to divert Liu Bei's military strength. Your subordinate believes we can appoint Sun Ce as the Inspector of Yangzhou."

"Inspector of Yangzhou?"

Cao Cao hesitated; Yangzhou also included the Jiujiang and Huainan areas.

Military Sima Yi bowed.

"My lord, as the Military Advisor Xun said, our future focus is on Hebei and Jingzhou; Jiujiang Commandery is now rampant with bandits, and most of the population has long been taken away by Liu Bei, so it doesn't have much value."

Cao Cao stood up.

"Good, I will appoint Sun Ce as the Inspector of Yangzhou and also appoint Zhou Gongjin as the Governor of Jiangxia!"

"My lord is wise!"

Cao Cao felt unhappy again; if he had welcomed Liu Xie to Xuxian back then, how could it be so difficult now?

"Could it be that the Emperor was really killed by Liu Bei? To avoid being constrained, he disguised himself as rogue soldiers and killed the Emperor?"

The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more he felt it was possible.

"That Liu Bei is truly ruthless, to have planned so deeply?"