A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Although the feudal lords were engaged in chaotic warfare, the order of the world did not completely collapse because the Wei family was keeping things in check.

Even the feudal lords dared not arbitrarily levy taxes on the people, and official positions and titles still held considerable value.

Admittedly, because the world was constantly at war, there were many opportunities to earn military merits, and a considerable number of generals and marquises were produced.

However, those who can obtain marquis and general titles are still the high-ranking members of various factions.

Even among Cao Cao's clan generals, not everyone held the rank of general.

Not to mention the rank of marquis, which is even rarer than that of a general.

Only when Cao Cao truly unified the world and began to bestow rewards would a large number of positions and titles be granted, all of which were for the merits of following the emperor.

Therefore, Cao Cao's reward was already extremely high!

Even those who had already obtained the rank of general in the camp were extremely envious and determined to fight bravely to earn a marquisate.

"..."

Xi Zhicai and Xun You exchanged glances, their hearts filled with worry.

Even Wei Xue's words were ignored by Cao Cao, so it was even more difficult to persuade them.

Moreover, they felt that Wei Xue's words were very likely to come true. If there were not enough defensive forces around Luoyang and Liu Bei captured it, then things would get really messy.

"My lord, although Liu Bei is only a minor threat and not worth worrying about."

"But since Brother Bojing has brought it up, it would be disheartening for a loyal minister not to show any appreciation. General Wenyuan and General Zixiao will join us soon. Why would we need such a large army for a mere city like Ye?!"

"Yuan Shao is nothing but a defeated general. His army has long been terrified by you, my lord. With Mr. Ziyuan, who is familiar with the details of Ye City and has exceptional strategic skills, here, there is no need for so many generals and soldiers. In that case, why not allocate 30 troops to Brother Bojing? This would not only demonstrate your humility and open-mindedness, but also allow you to capture the important city of Ye City with fewer troops, thus showcasing your abilities."

Xun You stepped forward. He had already realized that if they stubbornly opposed Cao Cao's proposal now, they would certainly not achieve their goal.

Then we can only treat it with respect.

When Xu You heard Xun You praising him, he felt extremely pleased.

He attributed all the credit for Cao Cao's victory over Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu to himself, believing that even Sun Bin and Zhang Liang were no match for him.

"Brother Gongda is absolutely right. With me here, there's no need to worry about this mere city of Ye!"

"This city of Ye can be taken with just 30 troops!"

Cao Cao thought about it and felt that Xun You's words made sense. He was able to do it today without Wei Xue's help. Even if he felt that Wei Xue was overly worried, he still had to give him face.

"Gongming, Wenze, since Brother Bojing has invited you, then you should take 30 troops back to Luoyang and follow his orders."

"Yes, sir!" X2.

Although Xu Huang and Yu Jin felt it was a pity, military orders were paramount, and they also vaguely felt that Wei Xue's considerations made a lot of sense.

If they manage to defend Luoyang, it will be a great achievement, and they won't have to compete with so many generals in the camp. They will also teach Wei Xue well, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

Xu Huang and Yu Jin had only been heading south for half a month when the outcome of the Jiangdong war was already in Cao Cao's hands.

Cao Cao gripped the letter in his hand; the letter was like a club, striking him awake with a thud.

The situation unfolded exactly as Wei Xue had predicted. With the help of many powerful families, Liu Bei quickly seized Jiangdong and now intended to lead his troops north to attack Nanyang and covet Luoyang.

If he had not heeded Wei Xue and Xun You's advice and allowed Xu Huang and Yu Jin to lead 30 troops south, he could have protected Luoyang city alone, but the surrounding counties would have been in grave danger.

His most prosperous and valuable area may have been completely looted by Liu Bei!

His plan to attack Ye City would also be abandoned. This time he failed to defeat Yuan Shao in one fell swoop. If he wanted to go north again in the future, Yuan Shao would definitely be cautious. Liu Bei would also respond in the south. He would have to fight against two powerful warlords at the same time.

Unifying the world seems a distant dream.

"How dare Liu Bei, that shoe-selling brat, act like this?!"

Cao Cao cursed angrily, then mistook the table in front of him for Liu Bei and chopped it into several pieces.

"My lord, do not worry. Brother Bojing now commands an army of 30, and with the garrisons of Luoyang and other regions, we will surely be able to withstand Liu Bei. The most important thing now is to take Ye City first and unify the entire Hebei region!"

"Delay may lead to unforeseen changes!"

"This news must be kept strictly confidential and must not be known to the soldiers."

"Most of the soldiers in the army come from Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou, but about 20% are from good families in Luoyang and the surrounding counties. If the news leaks out, the morale of the army will definitely waver."

After calming down, Cao Cao regained his intellectual prowess.

"Zhicai is right. Pass on my orders: prepare plenty of torches, divide the troops into three squads, and attack the city day and night!"

"The first unit to storm Ye City, from ordinary soldiers to captains, all received three promotions in rank and three ranks in noble title!"

Cao Cao also went all out. After this order was issued, the generals were excited before, but now the whole army was invigorated and fought bravely, regardless of their own lives.

Within a single day, the Qi army repeatedly scaled the city walls, only to be driven back by the Jin army each time.

"Have the Qi army gone mad today?"

Yuan Shao felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at today's battle report.

At this rate of loss, it won't be long before both he and Cao Cao's forces are wiped out.

"This shows that Liu Bei has successfully unified the area south of the Yangtze River and has launched an army northward, threatening Luoyang."

"Cao Cao was anxious to capture Ye City and then head south to reinforce it."

Wei Wu glanced at the battle report and astutely judged the reason for Cao Cao's madness.

Hearing Wei Wu's explanation, Yuan Shao breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems Cao Cao will be retreating soon."

"uncertain."

Wei Wu's expression remained solemn. "I've been observing the battlefield these past few days and I've noticed that the Qi army's forces are significantly fewer."

"The number of troops is insufficient? No, according to the reports from the scouts at the front, the number of Qi army camps and the amount of cooking smoke are both fine."

Yuan Shao took out the intelligence from this period and carefully compared it, and found that the amount of smoke reduced matched the number of Qi army casualties.

"It's not just the troops; two of Qi's generals are also missing. I haven't seen Xu Huang and Yu Jin for some time now."

"Cao Cao must have already sent some of his troops south, and they're probably already in Luoyang."

"This part of the troops should be around 30, which is consistent with the increase in the Qi army's casualty ratio."

Wei Xue's expression grew increasingly grave. With Xu Huang and Yu Jin leading 30 troops to garrison the fortified city, there was no need to even garrison Luoyang; Nanyang alone would be enough to make it difficult for Liu Bei to advance an inch.

"How did you determine that?"

Yuan Shao flipped through the intelligence report again and again. How could he not see that the Qi army was 30 men short?