At this moment, Liu Bei wasn't strong enough.
If Lu Bu couldn't win, he couldn't threaten Cao Ang.
However, Liu Bei was blessed with luck. If he was lucky in the future, there was a possibility that he would rise up. Therefore, even though he was not eye-catching now, Cao Ang still wanted to pay attention to him.
In the end.
Regarding Liu Bei's whereabouts...
Cao Yi couldn't explain it clearly.
He explained," After Liu Bei was defeated, he did not bring any troops with him. He was only escorted by Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and a few other trusted aides, so his whereabouts are still unclear.”
Cao Ang frowned.”
Cao Yi quickly knelt on one knee and said," I'm short on spies. I can't grasp all the information. This is my fault. Please punish me, my lord!"”
After Cao Ang summoned Cao Yi.
He handed Cao Cao's previous intelligence network to Cao Yi to manage.
Cao Yi had used these spies and secret agents to do many things in the past, such as inciting riots in Liangzhou and the pass, creating friction between Lu Bu and Liu Bei, and spreading negative rumors about Yuan Shu in the Jianghuai area.
To be fair.
Xuchang in this period.
The intelligence network was not complete.
It was already very good that Cao Yi could use it to this extent.
"From now on, no matter what method you use, no matter how much money and manpower you spend, you have to train a group of elite spies and death warriors as soon as possible to fully improve Xuchang's intelligence network. I don't want such mistakes to happen again.”
"Yes, sir!" Cao Yi respectfully accepted the order and heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. He paused for a moment before continuing,"Regarding Liu Bei's whereabouts, I have a few guesses.”
"Tell me."
"Liu Bei was able to develop his power in Xiaopei mainly because of Cao Gong's support. Pei City is nominally a vassal of Xuchang. After Liu Bei was defeated, he might rely on Xuchang and seek help again.”
Cao Ang said," If my father was still alive, Liu Bei might have done so. But unfortunately, my father died in Wancheng. Liu Bei and I don't know each other, and we have no friendship. We have mutual suspicions. Now that we have lost Pei City, he might not come to Xuchang to seek refuge with me.”
"There are two other possibilities.”Cao Yi added,"The first is to join Yuan Shao in Hebei, and the second is to join Liu Biao in Jingzhou.”
The two possibilities that Cao Yi mentioned existed.
In history, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Biao had followed Liu Bei for a period of time.
If he ran to join Liu Biao, it would be fine, but if Liu Bei ran to Yuan Shao's side, it would probably cause some trouble for him.
Of course.
Cao Ang was not worried.
Yuan Shao was headstrong.
He could also see Liu Bei's ambition.
Therefore, he did not trust Liu Bei at all.
Even if Liu Bei joined Yuan Shao, he would not be taken seriously.
As long as Liu Bei did not obtain the Crouching Dragon Phoenix and establish his own sect, his growth limit would at most be a warlord like Lu Bu. He would not have the ability to rule over a region and settle down in a corner.
Next.
Cao Ang continued with the logistics work.
On one hand, he supervised the supply of rations at the front line.
On the other hand, he actively participated in the relief of the Jianghuai disaster victims.
Cao Ang had always attached great importance to the disaster victims. Directional migration and guidance of a large number of people could obtain enough labor force to expand production capacity. At the same time, this was also a great opportunity to quickly accumulate reputation, improve public praise, and earn enough political capital.
However, during this process.
Cao Ang was still in trouble.
The Jianghuai region was dominated by Yangzhou. Yangzhou was a densely populated and relatively wealthy place, so there was quite a bit of clan power.
As the saying goes, imperial power does not go to the countryside.
Clans had always been a management problem for the rulers.
What they followed internally was not the laws issued by the local regime, but the family laws of the clan's strength. Therefore, they were often very united and had a complicated network of relationships. They could also form groups for benefits and openly oppose the ruler.
After Cheng Yu, the prefect of Yangzhou, took office.
He had dealt with many of the Jianghuai clans who had committed crimes.
Cheng Yu was a shrewd old man. If the soft approach did not work, he would use force. If the hard approach did not work, he would use Cao Yi. And every time Cao Yi made a move, he would always cause the troublemaker's family to be destroyed and torn apart.
But recently.
Cheng Yu had encountered quite a bit of trouble.
He felt that this was a matter of great importance, so he specially reported it to Cao Ang.
"In the area between Huai and Ru, there is a Xu Village. The recent drought has caused water to be scarce. The Xu Village has set up a water gate without authorization, causing the downstream villages to have no water to use.”
"Is this matter very difficult to resolve?" Cao Ang asked in confusion.”
"If it was just a common conflict, this old minister would not dare to disturb my lord, but this Xu Village is not simple.”Cheng Yu introduced," A few years ago, there was a strong warrior who could tear apart tigers and leopards. It was said that this person had the courage to fight ten thousand men!”
Next.
Cheng Yu told the story of this warrior.
In the past ten years, the world had been in chaos and bandits had risen everywhere.
With his prestige, this warrior Xu gathered thousands of able-bodied men and clansmen to build defensive facilities to resist the invasion of the bandits.
Runan Gebei, there is a thief army, more than ten thousand people!
Strong man Xu was outnumbered and exhausted in the face of the invasion of the rebel soldiers. He also ran out of arrows, so he ordered men and women to look for big stones. Whenever the enemy soldiers rushed up, he would throw big stones to beat them back, so that the rebel soldiers could not enter until the village ran out of food.
He had no choice.
Xu Zhuangshi pretended to make peace with the bandits and discussed exchanging cattle for food.
After the rebel soldiers moved the cow away, they ran back by themselves. Xu Chu went to the front of the battle and pulled the cow's tail with his bare hands. He actually walked more than a hundred steps. The rebel soldiers were so shocked that they did not dare to take the cow.
From then on, Hero Xu became famous in Huai, Ru, Chen, and Liang.
Everyone knew that Xu Village had a true warrior.
Therefore, he didn't dare to make a move on it.
This warrior had gathered thousands of strong clans and able-bodied men. Now, he was entrenched in Xu Village and had become a tyrant. He could be called a small warlord. He was completely different from ordinary clans, so it was quite difficult to deal with him.
"Could it be him?"
Cao Ang stroked his chin with interest.
From the description, the other party was indeed very brave.
There were not many people like this in the world, and there was only one with the surname Xu.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。