Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

At nightfall, inside the Qin camp.

Cao Cao was dressed in casual clothes and inspected the camps.

He naturally knew that the morale of the soldiers was low after the long siege on Jieting.

He wanted to see with his own eyes to what extent the morale of the army had fallen, so as to use this as a basis for judging whether to continue attacking Jieting.

"The morale of the army has dropped to such a low point. It seems that it is hopeless to capture Jieting..."

Cao Cao sighed softly, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

Obviously, he was inclined to retreat.

Before they knew it, they had reached Xu Huang's camp, and the unusual behavior of the soldiers made Cao Cao alert.

In each tent, Qin soldiers were packing their luggage, as if preparing for evacuation.

Cao Cao hurriedly ordered Dian Wei to go and inquire.

The results of Dian Wei's investigation surprised him.

This morning, Xu Huang actually issued an order, asking his soldiers to pack up Li Xing in advance to avoid evacuating Jieting too hastily.

"When did I issue an imperial decree to evacuate Jieting?"

"What does Xu Huang want to do?"

Cao Cao's face suddenly turned pale and he shouted:

"Someone, bring Xu Huang here for questioning!"

The Imperial Guards galloped away, and soon Xu Huang rode his horse to meet them.

"I didn't know that Your Majesty was inspecting my camp, so I was unable to come to greet you. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Xu Huang half-knelt on the ground and bowed.

Cao Cao did not let him get up, and asked coldly:

"Xu Gongming, I want to ask you, why did you order the soldiers in your camp to pack their bags and prepare to evacuate Jieting?"

"When did I issue such an edict? When did I say that we should evacuate Jieting?"

It was dark, and Xu Huang did not notice the change in Cao Cao's expression, so he did not take it seriously.

Hearing Cao Cao's question, he answered without hesitation:

"Reporting to your Majesty, after today's military meeting, Lord Guo said that your Majesty will order the evacuation of Jieting in a few days."

"I am afraid that it will be too hasty, so I will gather my soldiers in advance and let them prepare in advance."

Guo Jia?

Cao Cao's eyes became more suspicious, and he asked again:

"Why did Fengxiao conclude that I was going to evacuate Jieting? I never mentioned to him whether to evacuate or not."

Xu Huang raised his head and glanced at Cao Cao.

I could vaguely sense something was wrong from his tone, and I suddenly had a bad feeling.

Xu Huang did not dare to hide it, so he continued to answer:

"Guo Lingjun said that today His Majesty used chicken ribs as the pass code, which means that chicken ribs are tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away, which means that he has given up on attacking Jieting."

Cao Cao suddenly came to his senses and turned back to look at Dian Wei.

Dian Wei coughed dryly and nodded:
"I asked your majesty for the pass, and your majesty really responded with a useless answer."

Cao Cao frowned and remained silent, with a hint of displeasure in his dark eyes.

“Useless, useless…”

"He dared to guess what I was thinking just based on a few words I said. Does he really think he understands me?"

After some playful words, Cao Cao snorted coldly, turned around and walked away.

He did not respond to Xu Huang's answer and just left it behind.

Xu Huang looked at Cao Cao's back, trying to figure out what he said before he left, and suddenly his expression changed.

Cao Cao was dissatisfied with Guo Jia.

To put it in a positive way, Guo Jia's interpretation of chicken ribs is to understand the emperor's intention.

To put it in a bad way, it is called making irresponsible remarks about the Holy Spirit.

To put it more seriously, it can also be called false imperial edicts to disrupt military morale.

Whether it is to discuss the emperor's mind or to understand the emperor's intention depends on what Cao Cao thinks.

If Cao Cao was like that back then, he would probably say with satisfaction, "Feng Xiao still understands me the best!"

Unfortunately, Cao Cao is no longer the Cao Cao of the past.

When people reach old age, they inevitably become senile and foolish, and no longer have the wisdom and intelligence they had in their prime.

Coupled with the double effects of successive defeats and the repeated loss of relatives, it is clear that Cao Cao no longer has the fortitude he once had.

"Guo Lingjun, I'm afraid your life will become increasingly difficult in the future, alas..." Xu Huang shook his head and sighed.

...

The next day, at dawn.

The Qin army, which had been attacking for two months, made an exception and did not launch an attack on Jieting.

Cao Cao then issued an edict, and all the counselors and generals in the Qin camp gathered in the imperial tent.

In the big tent, the ministers were whispering and speculating on what important news Cao Cao would announce at this military meeting.

"You don't have to guess. Didn't your Lord Guo Lingjun already announce what I am going to announce today?"

Cao Cao's voice sounded outside the tent.

The ministers were shocked and fell silent, bowing to greet him.

However, Guo Jia heard a hint of sarcasm in Cao Cao's words, and his heart suddenly tightened.

Cao Cao walked into the tent slowly, sat down on the throne slowly, and glanced at Guo Jia with a sneer.

"Fengxiao, didn't you guess from my useless words that I was going to give up the attack on Jieting and withdraw my troops to Jicheng?"

"I have said it before, the person who understands me best in the world is you, Guo Fengxiao."

Cao Cao's words were apparently a compliment and approval, but anyone with a discerning eye could hear that they contained a hidden sarcasm.

Guo Jia felt a chill in his heart, and he quickly bowed his hands to apologize:

"I have wrongly criticized the emperor's will. I beg your Majesty to forgive me."

"Forgive me? What crime have you committed?"

Cao Cao sneered again, and then glanced at the ministers:

"I know that you have all lost confidence in retaking Jieting, and you are all eager to return to Jicheng as soon as possible."

"I know that the war has reached such a stage that it is impossible to recover Jieting. Continuing the war will only lead to the loss of soldiers and money, and consume the already limited national strength of the Great Qin."

"Today I will fulfill your wishes. Pass on my order and return to the south immediately. The entire army will retreat to Jicheng."

All the generals were delighted, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off their shoulders.

"Father, I think it won't be long before Liu Bei leads his army across Longshan and invades Longxi."

"Their troops will head straight for Tianshui County where Jicheng is located!"

"I request to go north to Liangzhou to control the Wuwei and Jincheng counties, forming a pincer attack with my father's main force and responding to Longxi from the south."

Cao Zhang remembered the escape strategy taught by Guo Jia, and immediately seized the opportunity of the military meeting to ask Cao Cao for orders.

Cao Cao did not think too much, and after weighing the pros and cons, he nodded and said:
"Zhang'er is right. The Liangbei counties do need a royal family member to guard them. You are the most suitable person to go there."

"I am very pleased that you took the initiative to volunteer."

Cao Zhang was secretly delighted and immediately expressed his determination. He then looked at Guo Jia with gratitude.

Zhang Song rolled his eyes a few times and suddenly a plan came to his mind.

So he took a step forward, bowed solemnly and said:

"Your Majesty, I think we should send a wise and resourceful person to accompany you to Liangbei to assist King Rencheng."

"In my opinion, Lord Guo is extremely intelligent and is the most suitable candidate."

Zhang Song is so smart.

I could already tell from Cao Cao's words that he was dissatisfied with Guo Jia.

That's why he took advantage of the situation and used the excuse of assisting Cao Zhang to justify driving Guo Jia away from Cao Cao.

Going to Liangzhou is equivalent to being kicked out of the decision-making level.

In this way, he could naturally replace Guo Jia and become the first strategist of Qin State.

Zhang Song's abacus beads all fell on his face, and Guo Jia couldn't help but frown.

Who would have guessed.

Without waiting for him to express his opinion, Cao Cao waved his hand without hesitation:

"Just as Yongnian said, Fengxiao, you should go north to Liangzhou to assist Zhang'er."

Guo Jia was stunned and looked up at Cao Cao in disbelief.

He obviously did not expect that Cao Cao knew Zhang Song's plan but still approved his request.

This meant that Cao Cao had lost trust in him and intended to drive him away.

A chill came over my heart.

"Ugh…"

After sighing inwardly, Guo Jia had no choice but to accept the order silently.

Looking at the desolate Guo Jia, Zhang Song's mouth curled up with a hint of self-satisfaction. (End of this chapter)