My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Southern Xiongnu!
Upon hearing these three words, Cao Cao immediately understood Sima Yi's meaning.

Back then, the Xiongnu people split into two branches, the Northern Xiongnu and the Southern Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu migrated westward, while the Southern Xiongnu moved south and surrendered to the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, the Han court divided the Southern Xiongnu into five tribes and ordered them to relocate inland, settling them in the border area of ​​Bingzhou.

For more than a hundred years, the Southern Xiongnu rebelled at times and surrendered at other times. Overall, they submitted to the Han Dynasty, but in reality, they continued to encroach on the heartland of Bingzhou and migrate inward.

During the chaos caused by Dong Zhuo, Yufuluo, the Great Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu, took the opportunity to lead his army to invade the south. His power once expanded to Hedong Commandery, and he even crossed the Yellow River to form an alliance with Yuan Shu. He also fought against Cao Cao, who occupied Yanzhou at the time.

Although Yufuluo was defeated by Cao Cao and retreated to the north of the Yellow River, his sphere of influence expanded rapidly, and Hedong, Taiyuan, Yanmen and Daijun were all under the iron hooves of the Xiongnu.

It wasn't until Yuan Shao unified Hebei and then Cao Cao seized Hebei, and they successively attacked the Xiongnu, that the Southern Xiongnu were driven out of Hedong, Taiyuan and other parts of Bingzhou.

The five tribes of the Southern Xiongnu now occupy most of Xihe Commandery, the northern part of Shang Commandery, and parts of Wuyuan and Shuofang Commandery in Bingbei.

The court of the Chanyu was located in Xihe Commandery.

The Xihe prefecture is separated from the Taiyuan prefecture by the Yellow River, located to the east and west respectively.

Sima Yi's so-called plan to turn the tide was clearly intended to emulate the strategy of allying with the Wuhuan people, inducing the Southern Xiongnu to send troops from Xihe Commandery into Taiyuan Commandery to help them resist the Han army.

"The Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan has more than 40,000 infantry and cavalry under his command. If we can use them, we may be able to reverse the passive situation in Bingzhou."

Sima Yi personally revealed the entire plan, then paused for a moment, before changing the subject:
"Of course, I only said there is a chance, not that I can definitely turn the tide."

Sima Yi patched up his own plan, not daring to guarantee its success.

After all, there was the example of the Karasuma people.

Back then, the Wuhuan cavalry seemed unstoppable, but in the end, they were easily defeated by Xiao He with his repeating crossbows.

The fighting strength of the Xiongnu army may not have been higher than that of the Wuhuan people, but the number of Han troops they faced was far greater than that of the Han army commanded by Xiao He at the time.

Moreover, if he were to make a definitive statement and the Xiongnu were to be defeated, wouldn't he end up in the same situation as Jia Xu?

Sima Yi was incredibly cunning; naturally, he would leave himself enough room to retreat.

"Zhongda, do you mean I should grovel and beg that scoundrel Huchuquan for help, so that I can bear the infamy of colluding with the Xiongnu?"

Cao Cao's reproachful gaze turned to Sima Yi.

Sima Yi frowned slightly.

At this point, Cao Cao is still clinging to his pride?
If Bingzhou is lost, Wei is finished. What use is face to you then?
The same thing happened with the Wuhuan people back then. We could have put aside our pride and directly invited them to form an alliance, using their iron cavalry to fight against Liu Bei.

As a result, you were so concerned about saving face that you forced Tian Yu to come up with a plan to forge an imperial edict in order to trick the Wuhuan people into making a move.

Everyone knows that you're just fooling yourself.

People aren't fools. Don't they know that Tian Yu only dared to resort to this desperate measure with your tacit approval?

"Your Majesty, our Great Wei is now at a critical juncture of survival, and this is no time to worry about empty fame."

"The saying goes, 'The victor is king, the loser is villain.' Since ancient times, history has always been written by the victors."

"Even if Your Majesty does not employ the Xiongnu today, if our Great Wei perishes in the future, how will Liu Bei slander and defame Your Majesty when he writes history?"

"Your Majesty, please consider the survival of the Great Wei Dynasty."

Sima Yi had no choice but to bluntly expose Cao Cao's concern for empty fame.

Cao Cao's expression changed, and he frowned.

"Your Majesty, Sima Shizhong's words are reasonable. At present, survival is the most important thing. We must not disregard the survival of the country for the sake of empty fame!"

Yang Fu also stepped forward and earnestly tried to persuade him.

Seeing this, Jia Xu coughed a few times and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, advising:

"Your Majesty, I agree with Sima Zhongda's plan." "If Your Majesty is unwilling to abandon Bingzhou, then forming an alliance with the Xiongnu is the only chance to defend Bingzhou."

"If Your Majesty is unwilling to join forces with the Xiongnu, then Your Majesty should quickly order the Grand General to abandon Bingzhou and preserve the troops."

Sima Yi, the leader of the Hebei scholars, was unusually aligned with the Guanzhong scholars like Jia Xu and Yang Fu at this time.

Cao Cao had a lot of complaints, but he was persuaded by his ministers to swallow them back.

Seeing his ministers united in their stance and pressing him relentlessly, Cao Cao clenched his fists, finding himself in a dilemma.

Using Sima Yi's plan would be too much of a loss of face.

If we don't use it, then Bingzhou will definitely be difficult to defend.

Moreover, the officials, regardless of their region, were collectively pressuring him, a pressure he could hardly withstand.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Cao Cao could only pace back and forth with his cane, caught in a dilemma and weighing his options.

After pondering for a long time, Cao Cao finally stopped and looked back at his ministers.

"Yang Fu, I hereby order you to depart immediately for Bingzhou and deliver the imperial decree to Yuan Rang."

"After you meet Yuan Rang, relay the contents of today's military meeting to him word for word."

"Tell him that from now on, all military and political affairs in Bingzhou will be decided by him alone, and he will no longer need to consult me."

"Whether he chooses to continue defending Bingzhou, abandon Bingzhou and retreat to Guanzhong, or has other good strategies to defend against the enemy, he can decide for himself."

"Whatever decision he makes, whatever the outcome, I will not interfere, nor will I blame him."

Cao Cao pointed his cane at Yang Fu and explained his decision in a long and eloquent manner.

Yang Fu was startled and looked at Cao Cao with astonishment.

Sima Yi and Jia Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

Cao Cao still harbored a lingering hope of holding Bingzhou, and decided to borrow troops from the Xiongnu.

However, just like in Youzhou, he still had to take on both roles.

They wanted to borrow troops from the Xiongnu, but didn't want to bear the infamy and be blamed.

Then naturally someone else has to take the blame.

Xiahou Dun was the one who took the blame.

Sending Yang Fu to deliver the imperial edict, and instructing him to truthfully relay the contents of the military discussion to Xiahou Dun, was an implication that Xiahou Dun should act on his own initiative and borrow troops from the Xiongnu.

Granting Xiahou Dun the power to act unilaterally without prior approval was meant to tell the world that Xiahou Dun had acted on his own initiative in colluding with the Xiongnu, and that Cao Cao was completely unaware of it.

If you want to criticize, go criticize Xiahou Dun, don't criticize me, Cao Cao!
Sima Yi and Jia Xu were both pragmatists, and they had no objection to Cao Cao's move.

Yang Fu understood the hypocrisy of Cao Cao's actions, but his brows furrowed and a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.

Despite his disdain, he dared not point it out to his face, and could only sigh inwardly and silently accept the order.

Immediately, Yang Fu, carrying Cao Cao's decree, set off north, detouring through Xihe County to Bingzhou to deliver the edict to Xiahou Dun.

Cao Cao stood atop the city wall, watching Yang Fu's figure disappear into the distance.

"I never imagined that I, Cao Cao, a hero of my generation, would be forced to such a shameless state by a mere weaver of mats and seller of shoes!"

"Cao Cao, Cao Cao, if you had seen yourself today, you would surely have despised me..."

Cao Cao looked up at the heavens, a profound sense of melancholy welling up within him. (End of Chapter)