Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Nanzheng County, Hanzhong Prefecture.

Zhong Hui stationed here with 10,000 men.

This is the city in Hanzhong County, closest to Ba County, with the highest city walls. It can be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As for the Xiahou brothers, if they want to take over Hanzhong County, Nanzheng County is the first step.

However, the Xiahou brothers attacked for a whole day but they couldn't even climb up the city wall.

After Cao Ren learned about the plight of the Xiahou brothers in Hanzhong County, he directly ordered Xu Huang and his own army to attack Jiangzhou City.

In Jiang Wei's opinion, by taking two approaches at the same time, one of the cities will eventually be able to open a gap.

However, after several days, neither Jiangzhou City nor Nanzheng County could be broken through.

However, Jiang Wei's method was not completely ineffective.

As Nanzheng County was under siege, Gu Rubing's baggage camp had no way to safely transport grain and fodder to Jiangzhou City. Grain transport teams were often robbed by the Xiahou brothers, and less than half of the grain and fodder could be transported into Jiangzhou City.

For Gu Rubing, this did not turn out to be what he had expected, and it was not good news either.

During these few days, Gu Rubing discovered that he had lost as many as 10,000 troops, and now there were less than 20,000 defenders in the city.

Jiangzhou City is in this state, and Nanzheng City is probably even worse off than it.

Gu Rubing looked at the map and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

According to the latest intelligence, it will take at least two months for Youzhou's troops to arrive here, but the current situation does not allow them to hold out for two months.

Compared to Gu Rubing's situation, Jiang Wei and the others were much more relaxed at that time.

The casualties were not heavy, but the battle was delayed for a lot of time, and a lot of food and grass in Jiangzhou City had been consumed.

Gu Rubing stood in front of the map and couldn't help but frown, thinking in his mind about how to break the current impasse.

Deng Ai walked up to Gu Rubing.

"My Lord, from our current perspective, we cannot hold out for two months, so the best way is to retreat, leave Yizhou, and enter Sili from Hanzhong County. Cao Cao has limited troops, so he will not dare to expand outward."

Gu Rubing also thought about what Deng Ai said, but Yizhou was easy to defend but difficult to attack. The city was tall and large, and there were many mountains and rivers, making it difficult to transport food and grass. The previous evacuations were all due to some special circumstances. But this time, it was clear that reinforcements would arrive if he held on for a while, but now he couldn't even hold on for two months.

No matter how he looked at it, Gu Rubing felt somewhat unwilling.

Two months, how can we last for two months?

Thinking of this, Gu Rubing had an idea in his mind.

"Go contact Cao Cao and tell him I want to negotiate with him."

"Negotiation? My Lord, there is no need for us to negotiate. We can withdraw and wait for reinforcements to arrive, then fight back..."

Deng Ai wanted to say something, but was stopped by Gu Rubing with a wave of his hand.

"It's easy to withdraw, but it's hard to fight back. Now we only need two months for reinforcements to arrive. Cao Cao doesn't know that we have reinforcements yet, otherwise, their siege wouldn't be so slow. This is an advantage for us."

Upon hearing this, Deng Ai said nothing more and could only go to deliver the letter to Cao Cao.

Looking at Deng Ai's back, Gu Rubing clenched his fists. The current situation was entirely due to Sun Jian's entry, which led to his lack of troops. Sun Jian would definitely pay the price for this.

Gu Rubing had thought about all-out war many times before, and had speculated with Zhuge Liang about his chances of winning in an all-out war. But no matter what method they used, the result they calculated was a small defeat. After all, the battle line was too long, and the burden of consumption of food and fodder was too heavy.

Now, the war has really begun, and a one-on-four situation has emerged. It has just begun, but Gu Rubing already feels quite exhausted.

Of course, this was also due to being too hasty.

Yizhou Chengdu.

Cao Cao received a letter of ceasefire from Gu Rubing.

Cao Cao was also somewhat surprised that Gu Rubing suddenly wanted to cease fire.

Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao summoned Xun Yu and Xun You.

The two were somewhat surprised that Gu Rubing wanted to stop the war.

"My lord, I suggest that we cannot cease fire. Once we cease fire, Liu Bei will have time. Without us to hold them back, all the parties will probably fail in their battles. The other forces will not let us go."

Cao Cao nodded. He also felt that it made sense. He then directly sent Gu Rubing's messenger back and refused to negotiate.

However, Gu Rubing was well prepared for this situation and told the messenger how to deal with it.

"Since the King of Wei doesn't want to negotiate, then forget it. My King Lie said that if the King of Wei doesn't want to negotiate, then we will go to Sun Jian or Liu Zhang. One of them will agree."

Hearing this, Xun You, who came to deliver the message to the messenger, immediately stopped him.

"Messenger, please wait a moment. I will go talk to the King of Wei."

After saying this, Xun You asked the guards to stop the messenger, and at the same time immediately came to Cao Cao and Xun Yu.

Xun You told Cao Cao what the messenger said.

Cao Cao was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

If this messenger really went to find Sun Jian or Liu Zhang, would they agree to a ceasefire?
Cao Cao instigated Sun Jian to rebel because Sun Jian did not trust Gu Rubing, but was he not like that too? When did he ever trust Sun Jian? Or Liu Zhang?

Xun Yu looked at Cao Cao. Although he wanted to dissuade him, after all, not negotiating now was the best choice, but Xun Yu could not guarantee whether the other two families thought the same way.

Cao Cao was silent for a long time and then gave the order directly.

"Tell the messenger that I will go to Jiangzhou."

"Yes!"

After Xun You left, Xun Yu opened his mouth, but then closed it after a long time.

Ten days later.

Cao Cao appeared in Jiangzhou.

Gu Rubing was not at all surprised that Cao Cao appeared.

The two met outside Jiangzhou City.

In preparation for this meeting, all of Gu Rubing and Cao Cao's legendary generals near Jiangzhou appeared behind the two of them.

"Liu Bei, you really have a good way of playing it."

"Cao Cao, we are the same. If you hadn't knocked Sun Jian sideways, why would I have rushed into battle so hastily?"

After they finished speaking, they looked at each other.

"Tell me, you can call a truce, but you can't just give nothing, right? I won't make it difficult for you. Just give Bajun back to me. That's my bottom line."

"Cao Cao, are you kidding me? If I was willing to give up Ba County, why would I be here talking nonsense with you? Do you think I can't leave? Don't forget that Guanghan County is still in my hands. If I want, I can retreat to Sili at any time. Once I get to Sili, can you still control me?"

Hearing this, Cao Cao's face turned red and he looked at Gu Rubing.

"I can give you Jiangzhou and Linjiang City, but don't even think about other places. This is my bottom line."

"Linjiang City originally belonged to me. I don't believe that you can take Linjiang City back. You are using what originally belonged to me to negotiate business with me. Is this how you, Liu Bei, do business? I don't think you have any sincerity. I think we don't need to talk. If you can leave, then leave. Anyway, the result will not change anything." "Oh, okay, I didn't expect to talk to you in the first place. Fortunately, Sun Jian is willing to talk to me. I'll go see Sun Jian."

After saying this, Gu Rubing stood up, turned around and left without any reluctance.

"Wait a minute!"

Cao Cao immediately stopped Gu Rubing.

"Oh? What's wrong? Is there anything else? You don't want to keep me here, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Pang De, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun stood up immediately.

"No, I think we can talk."

Gu Rubing pretended to be impatient and waved his hand.

"Let's not talk about it. It's troublesome."

"Well, I agree with what you just said, but you have to return Guanghan County to me. Otherwise, the result of the war will be the same as the result of the peace talks. Then wouldn't so many of my men have died in vain?"

Gu Rubing did not say anything, but simply pondered for a moment.

If Jiangzhou City and Linjiang City were given away, half of the entire Ba County would be given away.

Adding Guanghan County, this time it is equivalent to giving away one and a half counties.

However, Gu Rubing was satisfied with the overall result.

Guanghan County seems to be in the hands of Gu Rubing, but with only more than 10,000 soldiers, it is impossible to withstand the attack of 30,000 Xiahou brothers. Zhong Hui can only hold on with difficulty, and it is unknown how long he can last.

If Zhong Hui failed, Guanghan County would return to Cao Cao's hands in minutes.

Judging from the current situation, it can be said that we are exchanging Cao Cao's things with Cao Cao.

"Okay, Guanghan County is yours, as are Linjiang City and Jiangzhou City. All of them are yours. Except for these two places in Ba County, the rest is mine."

With Cao Cao's nod, Gu Rubing turned around and left with satisfaction.

The melee in Yizhou ended here, with Gu Rubing suffering a small loss.

Soon, the two sides exchanged territories.

However, before leaving, Gu Rubing and his companions took away everything they could in the city.

It is equivalent to Gu Rubing leaving an empty city for Cao Cao.

Seeing these empty cities in front of him, Cao Cao was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he also knew that this was the best outcome at the moment.

The news of the peace talks between Gu Rubing and Cao Cao spread quickly.

Sun Jian and Liu Zhang soon found out.

The two of them had originally prepared a complete plan to attack Gu Rubing, but they had to stop.

After all, without the help of Yizhou, they were not sure they could defeat Gu Rubing.

However, the two of them did not intend to let Cao Cao off for this loss.

Especially Sun Jian, he is in big trouble this time.

He had betrayed Gu Rubing, and Gu Rubing would never let him go. Kuaiji County could not be saved, and he didn't know what losses he would suffer in the future.

The more Sun Jian thought about it, the more scared he became, and the angrier he became. Unable to contain his anger, Sun Jian went straight to find Liu Zhang.

After the two of them discussed it, they went straight to Chengdu, Yizhou.

Cao Cao guessed that his alliance with Gu Rubing this time would definitely be due to their dissatisfaction, but Cao Cao did not expect that the two would come so quickly.

Looking at the angry Sun Jian and Liu Zhang, Cao Cao smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Why are you two so angry?"

"Cao Cao, you are such a villain. You asked us to take action, but you were the first to negotiate with Liu Bei and abandoned us. How dare you laugh?"

After hearing what Sun Jian said, Cao Cao didn't know what to do except to smile apologetically. Was he supposed to say that he negotiated with Gu Rubing because he didn't trust them, and then abandoned them?
Looking at Cao Cao's expression, Sun Jian snorted coldly.

"Why are you not clear about your discussion with Liu Bei? Our losses this time are not small. You can't just ignore everything, right? You have to compensate us, right?"

"Okay, I don't know what compensation you need."

In Cao Cao's view, the so-called compensation was nothing more than money, food, or weapons and supplies. Cao Cao had already prepared these things and was just waiting for them to make a huge demand.

But soon, Cao Cao discovered that he was wrong.

He underestimated the appetites of these two men.

"Well, I don't ask for much. Is it too much to ask for a Xiangke County from you?"

When Cao Cao heard Liu Zhang's words, he almost vomited blood.

In comparison, Sun Jian asked for less, just food and fodder, but the amount of food and fodder also shocked Cao Cao.

An army of two hundred thousand and half a year's supply of food and fodder.

Cao Cao looked at the two people in front of him and almost cursed.

But in the end Cao Cao endured it.

"Please calm down, both of you. We are allies. We should face the outside world with one voice and not quarrel among ourselves."

"Oh my god, Cao Cao you are such a dog! How dare you say that now? You know we are allies, but you betrayed us first. Do you know how much we will lose if you negotiate with Liu Bei? If Liu Bei comes looking for me later, how much will I have to pay? How much will it take to appease Liu Bei's anger?"

Looking at the excited Sun Jian, Cao Cao frowned.

Xun Yu, who was standing by, saw this and immediately had some ideas.

Then Xun Yu gave Cao Cao a wink.

Cao Cao immediately understood what Xun Yu meant.

"You two, I was wrong this time. I apologize to you here, but you two are asking for too much. We in Yizhou really can't afford it. How about this, you two go and have a rest first, and we can discuss the compensation later?"

"Humph, Cao Cao, remember this, if you don't compensate us, we won't leave. We will come to you every day."

After saying that, the two of them turned around and left.

After they left, Cao Cao smashed the teacup in his hand, and then kicked the residue on the ground away out of anger.

"These two guys are too much of a bully. Do they really think that I, Cao Cao, am afraid of them? If it weren't for Liu Bei, I would have destroyed them long ago."

Looking at the angry Cao Cao, Xun Yu could only smile bitterly.

The moment Cao Cao agreed to negotiate with Gu Rubing, Xun Yu knew that the current situation would occur, but this time what the two wanted was indeed beyond his imagination.

"My Lord, please be patient. This incident may be an opportunity for us."

"Chance? What chance? They're already riding on my neck, what kind of chance is this?" (End of this chapter)