Before Cao Zhi could finish, Jia Xu stood up and looked at Cao Zhi in agreement. He bowed to Cao Cao and said,"This one also agrees with Young Master Zhi.”
"On the surface, although the victory of the Battle of Red Cliff gave the Sun and Liu families a chance to rise, in reality, the resources they could plunder were very limited. Especially the Eastern Wu, as the faction that contributed the most in this war, they were restricted by the river and natural moat, making it difficult for them to launch a more effective attack. Therefore, we don't need to be afraid, because time is still on our side. Just as Young Master said, we can lose, but they can't afford to lose! Thus, as long as we work hard and consolidate the border defense, we will definitely win!”
"Young Master Zhi is right, we haven't lost yet!”
Jia Xu stood beside Cao Zhi and said this. Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Good!" Cao Cao couldn't help but applaud. He looked at Cao Zhi and Jia Xu with deep admiration and said excitedly,""With Wen He and Zi Jian's words, so what if we lose another 800,000 troops? I have Wen He and Zi Jian, why worry about the world is difficult to unify!”
"Congratulations, Prime Minister!" The crowd cheered.
When Cao Zhi saw this scene, he only smiled.
He knew very well that after this Battle of Red Cliff, Cao Wei definitely did not have the strength to fight Sun Liu again. They could not afford to suffer another defeat of such a scale. The nine counties of Jing and Xiang were most likely going to be lost just like in history.
Saying that they were trying to sow discord between them was just a comforting remark. After all, Sun Quan and Liu Bei were both considered geniuses. The two of them were not easy to deal with. They would not be like Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, who were trash and did not care about the big picture. Even if Cao Cao withdrew his troops and gave up the nine counties of Jing and Xiang for the two of them to fight over, Liu Bei and Sun Quan would still manage their relationship.
History was the best proof of this. Liu Bei had taken advantage of the battle between Sun Quan and Cao Cao to take down Jingzhou. This was enough to prove that Sun Quan and Liu Bei had not fallen out.
However, now that the morale of the army had been stabilized, it was up to Liu Bei and Sun Quan to decide what to do next!
Cao Zhi thought slowly in his heart.
......
As for Liu Bei, Guan Yu had originally made a military pledge that he would pay with his life if he did not behead Cao Cao. In the end, he really didn't manage to cut it down.
After Guan Yu returned, Zhuge Liang insisted on killing Guan Yu. However, under Liu Bei's bitter advice of " sharing life and death together " and " I will not be alone when my brother dies ", Zhuge Liang temporarily avoided Guan Yu's death sentence and allowed him to redeem himself in the future. Just like in history, he had done Liu Bei a favor and established his dignity. At the same time, he had also established a system and image of the military that did not tolerate any mercy. It was killing three birds with one stone.
However, the reason for Guan Yu's failure attracted Zhuge Liang's attention.
In reality, Zhuge Liang had originally sent Guan Yu over with no intention of killing Cao Cao. He had only sent Guan Yu over as an act to confuse Sun Quan.
If he really killed Cao Cao, wouldn't the Cao army fight Liu Bei to the death?
With Liu Bei's current military strength, how could he resist the massive Cao Cao army?
Zhuge Liang did not intend to lose his last stronghold in Jiangxia! Otherwise, at that time, he and Liu Bei would probably only have the option of seeking refuge with Sun Quan.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang had originally sent Guan Yu to intercept and kill Cao Cao. He had already calculated that it was absolutely impossible for him to kill Cao Cao, so he was assured to let Guan Yu go.
As for the military pledge, it was just for show so that Guan Yu could return Cao Cao's favor with a peace of mind. From then on, Cao Cao and Guan Yu were even. Guan Yu no longer had to worry about their previous friendship and had become a real ruthless butcher's knife in Liu Bei's hands. Furthermore, it had established Guan Yu's image of unparalleled loyalty.
However, Zhuge Liang had never expected that Guan Yu would not let Cao Cao go during the battle at Huarong Dao. Instead, Guan Yu was forced to retreat!
When this news came out of Guan Yu's mouth, not only did Guan Yu feel humiliated, even Zhuge Liang was shocked!
As a result, there was actually such a wise man in the Cao army who saw through Cao Cao's plan to take the Huarong Road and that he would set up an ambush for Guan Yu at the Huarong Road. This kind of intelligence that predicted the enemy and grasped the pearl of wisdom in advance really shocked Zhuge Liang.
Furthermore, Zhuge Liang also learned that the person who defeated Guan Yu was the rumored Cao family's young master who only knew how to recite poems to wine and compose poems-Cao Zhi!
Since Guan Yu had said it himself, it could not be faked. After all, Guan Yu had stayed in Cao's camp before, so he naturally recognized this young master of the Cao family.
Looking at the shocking scar on Guan Yu's shoulder, Zhuge Liang began to ponder.
Cao Zhi?
What a terrifying figure who knew how to hide himself!
Zhuge Liang had subconsciously identified Cao Zhi as a very shrewd and scheming person. Otherwise, how could he hide his powerful martial arts for so many years and only give the world the image of a weak scholar and a talented scholar?
Furthermore, according to Guan Yu, Cao Zhi was the only one who had come to rescue them.
If that was the case, if the person who saw through his ambush at Huarong Road was also Cao Zhi, then he would be in too much danger!
Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang decisively pointed out to Liu Bei that this Cao Zhi could not be underestimated. He had a feeling that this Cao Zhi, who had suddenly appeared, would very likely become the biggest stumbling block on the road to the revival of the Great Han Dynasty.
Zhuge Liang's unprecedented cautious attitude also gained Liu Bei's attention. When Liu Bei found out that his second brother was injured by Cao Zhi, he had already keenly sensed that Cao Zhi was definitely not an ordinary person.
Ever since Lu Bu's death, Guan Yu's martial prowess had been unrivalled. The only people who could exchange a few blows with him were Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, Xu Chu, Zhang Liao, and a few others from the Cao army. However, even these people could only fight Guan Yu to a draw or barely hold on. Up until now, no one had ever injured his second brother!
It could be said that Guan Yu had inherited Lu Bu's position as the number one general in the world.
However, this Cao Zhi was able to fight evenly with his second brother and even hurt his second brother!
How could Liu Bei not be shocked?
Even if Zhuge Liang did not mention this person, Liu Bei's respect for Cao Zhi would not be reduced.
"Cao Zhi?"
Liu Bei, who was sitting on the throne, repeated this name in his heart. His eyes became sharper and sharper, and his pupils flickered with fear and viciousness.
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