Just when Yuan Shao was restless and afraid of Zhao Xing, Cao Cao was separated by a river and was not having a good time. If we talk about this time, Cao Heizi's losses were not much higher than that of Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao was captured two generals, but they were just third-rate players. Cao Cao lost Cao Hong, who was not only a confidant general, but also a second-rate general. Yuan Shao lost a total of 10,000 soldiers, which was one-sixth of the total number of troops compared to his total number of troops of 60,000. Cao Cao lost a total of 5,000 soldiers, which was also one-sixth of the total number of troops of 30,000.

Cao Cao recalled that when he was the governor of Yanzhou, he had only 10,000 troops under his command, but he was able to sweep the Yellow Turban Army of a state within ten months. This time, he followed more than 400,000 coalition forces to Bingzhou to fight Qiufeng, but he was shocked. This incident was really atrocity, and this tone was really hard to swallow!

Shortly after Cao Cao returned to Chenliu, the news of the establishment of Jin State came, which made him even more worried and entangled. Compared with Bingzhou, although Yanzhou is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, the land is fertile and the population is concentrated. After eight years of governance by Cao Cao, he was also full of vitality. Unfortunately, the territory is too small, and close to the Sili area, whenever there is any disturbance, the central army of the court can leave Hulao Pass and keep an eye on Yanzhou's every move.

So far, Cao Cao has not shown the essence of a hero, but has left a good image of a capable minister to the court and all forces. In fact, Lao Cao has forced him to do this. Who is willing to be a puppet at the mercy of others? But the reality forces him to hold his tail and be a human being.

The example of Bingzhou is there. Before Zhao Xing completely turned against the court, he only expressed some ambitions and disobedience, and was surrounded by nearly 500,000 troops of the court and the state forces. If it were Cao Heizi, he would have done this, it would probably not take long to completely wipe out.

Compared with Bingzhou, Yanzhou is really without any danger to defend. It is a typical four-war place, that is, the "grass belly" on the military terrain. Cao Cao has been jealous of Xuzhou and Qingzhou in the east of Yanzhou for a long time, but he has no excuse to launch a war. When attacking Zhao Xing in Bingzhou, Lao Cao thought he was not an opponent, but he was still very confident in dealing with Tao Qian and Kong Rong in the east of Yanzhou.

The besiege of Bingzhou caused Lao Cao to suffer considerable losses. Now how to deal with the aftermath has become the first problem to face. Cao Heizi knew Zhao Xing's character of "you can squeeze oil out of stones". When he thought of his cousin and thousands of soldiers still holding them in Zhao Xing's hands, his heart twitched involuntarily. This time, without bleeding, it was impossible to exchange Cao Hong and thousands of soldiers from Zhao Xing.

It is still tolerant of Cao Cao's blood. What Cao Cao is really worried about is his judgment of the general trend of the world. Cao Cao's vision is not bad at all, and he is even an outstanding politician and military strategist. He has clearly foreseen that the Han Dynasty has come to this day, but it is just a hard support. In fact, it is not far from the collapse. Although there are knowledgeable people such as Lu Zhi, Zhong Yao, Chen Qun, and Liu Bei in the court, in the past, the Han Dynasty has reached the point where it is terminally ill, and it is not a skillful way to make the world come to a few people.

The strong rise of Jin State is tantamount to a heavy rock on the decaying house of the Han Dynasty, which was originally broken. However, as long as Zhao Xing did not push hard, no one dared to act wildly on the roof of the Han Dynasty. Anyone who takes action will give Zhao Xing an excuse and reason to take action. Cao Cao believes that as long as Zhao Xing is recruited by the court, he will definitely defeat all other forces that dare to jump out and become king.

Only Zhao Xing is allowed to prevent fire and no one is allowed to light the lamp. This is the situation of the great man today...

Cao Cao's top strategists are only a lot more than Yuan Shao, so naturally he can't watch his lord sigh all the time. Faced with the current chaotic situation, what are their vision and opinions?

Wang Zuo's talent Xun Yu believes that Yanzhou must be patient and wait at present. On the one hand, it must maintain good relations with the central court, but on the other hand, it must speed up the accumulation of strength and wait for the changes in the world to occur. Xun Yu is very sure that Zhao Xing will never be at peace in Jin State for too long. Even if other forces do not take action, he will launch an attack on the surrounding forces after completely controlling Jin State, especially Yuan Shao in Jizhou and Dong Zhuo in Liangzhou will be the first to bear the brunt.

Cheng Yu and Xun You both supported and affirmed Xun Yu's judgment. Cheng Yu added: "The failure of the Eastern Front coalition forces to make progress is not unrelated to the rebellion of Taishi Ci, the general commanded by Kong Rong of Qingzhou. This matter can be put down for the time being. Once Zhao Xing takes action to attack other forces, we can take advantage of the situation and launch an attack on Qingzhou with thunder."

Xun Youze said: "Tao Qian in Xuzhou is old and corrupt, and half his foot has stepped into the tomb. Once Tao Qian dies, the court will inevitably appoint a new provincial governor to Xuzhou. It is better to make plans early and secretly bribe some of the forces of the court and recommend Liu Ye, a descendant of the Han Dynasty, to go to Xuzhou, and you can take Xuzhou without any effort."

Xi Zhicai said: "The one who is most anxious now is Yuan Shao, Jizhou. It is estimated that there will be an envoy from Hebei to contact Cao Gong. I might as well follow the flow and agree to Yuan Shao's request for the time being, and make him allies, so that he feels a little relied on it. Once Zhao Xing takes action against Yuan Shao, he will send troops to capture Qingxu or go north to compete for the land of Hebei."

Xun Yu also advised Cao Cao that Yanzhou could send a group of craftsmen to Jin State to learn art and send some scholars to Taihang Academy to study. Although they may not be able to learn all the strategies of Jin State, as long as there are people coming and going, it can promote the continuous improvement of some industries in Yanzhou. Xun Yu specifically reminded Cao Cao to pay attention to strengthening the collection and sorting of various information about Jin State, especially to prevent the business trips sent by Jin State to various places. There must be a lot of detailed works here.

Cao Cao not only listened carefully to the opinions put forward by these advisers, but also added his own analysis and thinking. He carefully recalled the changes in Bingzhou since he first met Zhao Xing and the various important events that Zhao Xing had participated in.

In the end, Cao Cao concluded that Zhao Xing had a very sharp and long-term vision. He did nothing but only care about immediate interests. Sometimes he could dig a pit for many years before pushing people into it. For example, when he asked Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo to make trouble, he used a trick of surrendering until seven years later, and he suddenly crippled the arrogant Dong Zhuo.

Cao Cao also felt that Zhao Xing had superb methods far beyond the times in forming and training the army. He was almost not as evil as the people of this era, as if he could see through the historical trends. Even if others could see the elite soldiers' routes proposed by Zhao Xing, they could not learn them even if they could not learn them at a glance.

Cao Cao felt a little powerless from the bottom of his heart for this almost evil opponent. Now he had to endure the restlessness and anxiety in his heart, quietly wait for Zhao Xing's next possible action, and then make a decision that suits the Yanzhou power.
Chapter completed!