Chapter 463: In Cao's Camp

After careful calculation, Xiahou Ba realized that he had been with his father in Guanzhong for nearly two years.

However, after two years, he felt more and more unfamiliar with the current Prime Minister Cao.

Just like this old friend Wei Huang, who came to visit him not to reminisce about the past, but to take out a notebook to record his words and deeds after he fell into Liu Bei's hands.

After patiently speaking, Wei Huang took out a thinly cut bamboo slip and said seriously:

"Please Zhongquan tell us the hometowns of the people who returned with us this time, so that we can verify each other."

Xiahou Ba finally couldn't stand it anymore, and slapped the bamboo slip in Wei Huang's hand and said angrily:

"Do you suspect that I, Xiahou Ba, will surrender to Liu?"

Wei Huang didn't get angry, but bent down to pick up the bamboo slip, and said with an unchanged expression:

"Now Anping Qian Zhao and Yuyang Tian Yu are all jealous because of their old relationship with Liu Bei."

"Please Zhongquan follow the law."

Finally, driven by sleepiness and hunger, Xiahou Ba still honestly followed Wei Huang's instructions and reported the names and hometowns of the people who returned to the east this time.

I just don't know if it was an illusion, but the look Wei Huang gave him when he left seemed to have a deeper meaning.

But Xiahou Ba no longer had the energy to care so much, so he called the servants to prepare hot food, and planned to sleep until dark after eating.

But before the food was served, the door of the temporary residence was knocked again:

"Is Zhongquan here? Where is Zhongquan? The sun is already high in the sky, why don't you go out of the city to travel with me!"

Then pain quickly climbed onto Xiahou Ba's face.

Fortunately, the visitor was quite reasonable this time. After knowing Xiahou Ba's situation, he patted his shoulder and laughed:

"No hurry, no hurry, then we can go out together after noon."

"It just so happens that I am hungry too, bring another set of bowls and chopsticks!"

"Zhang Quan!"

Xiahou Ba pretended to be angry and said:

"Why don't you leave? Can you sleep with me later?"

But he laughed before he finished speaking.

In the 12th year of Jian'an, Zhang Xiu, the general who defeated the Qiang, followed Prime Minister Cao to conquer Liucheng and died of illness. His daughter married Cao Jun, the son of Prime Minister Cao.

The only son Zhang Quan inherited the title and quickly became a new noble among the younger generation in Yecheng. He also had a good relationship with Xiahou Ba.

Zhang Quan's visit at this time also quickly eliminated the slight unhappiness in Xiahou Ba's heart caused by Wei Huang.

When they had dinner together, Xiahou Ba didn't care about much. While eating, he listened to Zhang Quan's brief account of the various changes in Yecheng and the Central Plains over the past year.

At the same time, it can be heard that Zhang Quan was also very curious about the clash between Guanzhong and Liu Bei's army:

"Then Liu Bei defeated General Xiahou, did he really only lose more than a thousand people?"

Recalling this for the third time in a day, Xiahou Ba was not surprised, and nodded:

"Not more than a thousand people, Liu Bei's losses may be less than a thousand people."

So Xiahou Ba was very satisfied to hear Zhang Quan's gasp:

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Did Zhongquan see Liu Bei in person?" Zhang Quan asked.

Xiahou Ba felt a sense of familiarity again, and it seemed that both his father and Wei Huang had asked this question.

Shaking his head and focusing his attention on the present, Xiahou Ba simply took the initiative to pick out the things he had said to his father and told Zhang Quan, so the old friend soon showed a satisfied expression on his face.

The meal was quickly finished, but Zhang Quan was still full of interest, until he saw Xiahou Ba yawning three times, and then he said apologetically:

"Then wait until tomorrow Zhongquan will go with me again."

"Oh, right."

Before leaving, Zhang Quan suddenly remembered something:

"When the war here is over, I will definitely introduce a strange man to Zhongquan when I return to Yecheng!"

Although he was exhausted, Xiahou Ba also became interested after hearing what Zhang Quan said:

"Where is the strange man? What is his name? What is strange about him?"

Zhang Quan waved his hand and smiled:

"A person from Jiyin, Wei Feng Wei Zijing."

"As for the strangeness, you will know it when you see it."

After that, Zhang Quan nodded and left with his head held high.

Although Xiahou Ba was curious, he had not slept all night and had eaten and drunk enough. He was too sleepy to think about it.

Just as Xiahou Ba fell asleep, Wei Huang, who had been running around, returned to his residence.

In front of him were seven similar bamboo slips. Except for Xiahou Ba, the people Liu Bei allowed to return to the east were randomly selected, so their opinions on Liu Bei were different.

But in fact, Wei Huang didn't care about these opinions. He valued the same parts described in these records:

Guanzhong Yongliang was reunited, Han Sui was expelled, Ma Chao surrendered, canals were repaired, houses were repaired, and fields were cultivated. The people who saw it were content with their customs and happy with their work.

What impressed Wei Huang even more was the victory of Liu Huangshu in this battle. The main force acted as a slow-moving force, while the elite cavalry circled around Jieting for thousands of miles to attack and cut off the firewood from the bottom of the pot.

In the end, the enemy's morale was broken and they won without fighting. It can be said to be a good military operation.

After walking around the room twice, Wei Huang sat down impatiently, carefully and cherishingly took out a piece of Jiangdong paper, and wrote down the opening without thinking:

"I hope your Majesty Jiping is well..."

But Wei Huang stopped writing soon, and then took out a one-inch blade, carefully cut off the written opening, and stuffed the ink-stained paper into his mouth, swallowing it with a normal expression as if he was eating.

As the Sizhi of the Prime Minister's Office, he was responsible for supervising all officials on behalf of Prime Minister Cao, so Wei Huang knew very well how dangerous his subconscious action was in his excitement just now.

After trying to calm down, Wei Huang put on his normal expression again, sorted and filed the records in front of him, and put them on the shelf behind him, as if he was handling the most ordinary government affairs.

But in the afternoon, this record was taken away by Cao Cao from the Prime Minister's Mansion and presented to Cao Cao again.

"Just wait and see."

After resting for a long time, Cao Cao's complexion improved a lot, and he even smiled when he said:

"The defeat in the battle of Chibi actually made this thief a true hero."

Now that Xun You is in charge of the government affairs of the Prime Minister's Office, he has already known about the defeat of Guanzhong through other directions. What he knows now is just a verification of what he knows.

And not to mention anything else, it was like an iron nail wedged firmly in Duyang City on the main road into Jingzhou, which is enough for people to understand Liu Bei's strength.

At this time, when he heard his lord laugh and sigh, he also echoed:

"The only person in the world who can recognize a hero is the Lord."

But after laughing, we still need to face more practical problems:

"What do you think Gongda is doing now?"

This question is quite broad, but having met Master Ming for nearly twenty years, there is no lack of tacit understanding.

After only a moment of silence, Xun You said to himself:

"Now that new grains are in storage, our army can attack Jingbei from three sides to break it."

"As long as Guan Yunchang is ordered to retreat to Xiangyang, the crisis in Jiangdong can be solved. If Shangyong is achieved, the connection between Hanzhong and Jingzhou can be cut off, so that Jiangdong can be at peace."

"In this way, Jingzhou Guanzhong can be described as a stranger, and Liu Bei's power ends here."

So Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction and said: "This is how it should be!"

Now that the old grain aided by Jiangdong has not been eaten up, and the new grain has been harvested in Yecheng, if only the four directions of Du Yang Wu Yin Bi Yang Yi Yang come out, Guan Yunchang will surely fall into a situation where he is surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Just thinking about it for a moment, Cao Cao will inevitably be worried about Lu Meng's defeat and death in Jiangling:

At that time, Duke Jin of Zhou Dynasty was famous in the world of Chibi for his unparalleled magnificence.

How could one hundred thousand mercenaries be trapped in an isolated city and still be killed and defeated?

After all, Xun Gongda also said just now that one of the purposes of attacking Jingzhou now is to aid Jiangdong and prevent it from being taken advantage of by Liu Bei.

Can this ally work?