Chapter 413: Getting Something for Nothing, Cao Cao’s Plan
After this battle, all five parties suffered heavy losses, and the most serious losses among them were undoubtedly the five major political powers in the Western Regions. At this moment, Liuzhu Bodhisattva was waiting for Cao Cao in Cao Cao's mansion. In this battle, their Western Regions invested a total of twenty-two Ten thousand troops, almost all the troops of the five major political powers in the entire Western Region were invested. Even the eighteen golden arhats who were only responsible for protecting the five kings were mobilized.
However, this battle was a complete defeat. This made the Western Region, which was already relatively weak in combat and had relatively few people, even more vulnerable. Now let alone which prince led the army, maybe a stronger family gathered some stray soldiers. Even a casual warrior can defeat them.
"It's already noon, hasn't the Prime Minister gotten up yet?"
Liuzhu Bodhisattva has been meditating in the courtyard all morning. She came to Cao Cao early in the morning and wanted to give an explanation. However, she has waited from morning until now and has not seen Cao Cao. In this hot summer, she just Being exposed to the sun like this was unbearable for people like Liuzhu Bodhisattva, who lived in the Western Regions all year round, so he could only meditate in the courtyard to calm his mind.
Outside the door of Cao Cao's house, in the corridor, a man with a big knife in his hand was sitting there, chewing on half a watermelon, with a pile of ice cubes beside him to cool down. He was sitting outside the door and quietly watching the people meditating in the courtyard. Liuzhu Bodhisattva took a bite of watermelon from time to time, and then rested his arms on the huge ice cube beside him, so that his armor-clad body could feel some coolness.
"The Prime Minister has been mentally exhausted recently and needs more rest. It is normal to sleep until evening."
"Then I have to wait here until evening?"
Six-Jead Bodhisattva clenched his fists, and his eyes were about to burst out with fire. If he couldn't defeat Xiahou Dun, Six-Jead Bodhisattva would probably take action now. Xiahou Dun ignored Six-Jead Bodhisattva's anger and just said what the Weng Weng said.
"You can wait here if you want. If not, you can come back at night. Maybe the Prime Minister will be awake by then."
Liuzhu Bodhisattva stopped talking, closed his eyes, and continued to sit there and wait. She still didn't believe it. How could Cao Cao stay home all day?
The scorching sun shone on Liuzhu Bodhisattva's body, making Liuzhu Bodhisattva's originally bronze skin appear even darker. In this way, Liuzhu Bodhisattva stayed under the scorching sun for another half an hour. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and finally got up. Leave. After leaving, she turned to Xiahou Dun and gave instructions.
"After your prime minister wakes up, please tell me that I have been here."
After saying that, the Six-Jead Bodhisattva appeared without looking back. After Xiahoudun confirmed that the Six-Jead Bodhisattva had gone away, he turned around and opened the door and walked into the room.
"Prime Minister, the Six-Jead Bodhisattva has left."
Cao Cao in the room was lying on the ice padded with a thick quilt at the moment. Xiahou Dun felt a little cold in the hot summer. Cao Cao waved his hand to Xiahou Dun, then called Xiahou Dun over and pointed at the ice cube that was placed on the ice. There was a hot pot next to the bed, with mutton flying up and down in the pot.
"Just go, don't worry about him, come on, sit down."
Cao Cao kept using his chopsticks and picked up two pieces of mutton, only dipped in some salt water and crushed dogwood. Cao Cao had searched all over the country for peppers, but in the end he couldn't find them. He only had dogwood as a substitute, but it was always better than nothing. .
Xiahou Dun sat opposite Cao Cao, but he did not eat, but looked at Cao Cao solemnly.
"This time, almost all the troops of the five major political powers in the Western Region are dead, and there are only more than 10,000 people left. I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to those political powers."
Cao Cao had already swallowed the two pieces of mutton and kept rummaging around in the pot. Then he picked up two more pieces of mutton and put them in his bowl.
"Explain? My majestic prime minister, who do I need to explain to?"
As Cao Cao spoke, he flipped the mutton in the dogwood a few times and put it into his mouth. A spicy taste exploded in Cao Cao's mouth. Cao Cao quickly took a bowl of ice water next to him and drank it.
"If they can still produce more troops, then promise to give them Jiaozhou again. If they can't produce any more troops, you can take money. If they can't produce anything or don't want to take it, let them go." Let’s go back to the Western Region. I really thought I wanted to cooperate with them, but I was just borrowing their power.”
After saying that, the two pieces of meat were eaten again. Cao Cao picked up a pile of meat slices from the plate on the side and put them into the pot. These were all freshly cut from the slaughtered sheep. They were the most delicious, although there was nothing special about them. seasoning, but Cao Cao still ate it with gusto.
After listening to Cao Cao's words, Xiahou Dun realized belatedly, isn't this just a waste of money? Not only did they not pay anything, but they also got a lot of things for nothing. Not to mention anything else, the special weapons specifically targeted at cavalry in the Western Regions were a huge gain for them. Where have they seen this before? A magical weapon that is so effective against cavalry.
Moreover, after this battle, the military strength of the Western Regions was almost completely lost. However, Ma Chao of Liangzhou, Guan Yu of Bingzhou, Zhang He of Jizhou, Zhang Liao of Xuzhou, and Zhang Fei of Yanzhou, these first-rate generals under Gu Rubing, were all because of these two men of the Western Regions. The 120,000 troops were greatly reduced, which greatly weakened Gu Rubing's effective strength and caused Gu Rubing to lose a lot of troops.
At first Xiahou Dun really thought that Cao Cao really wanted to take Yizhou in exchange for help from the Western Regions, but in the end he realized that he had been overly worried. Cao Cao probably never wanted to take Yizhou from the beginning. The exchange was nothing more than deception and tricking, so that the Western Regions would send troops to help them.
"Cao Zhonger! Lao Cao! I knew you were not the kind of person who would sell out his country for personal gain. I knew I was right about you. What about those who scolded Cao Zhonger? Do you want to slap them in the face? I know that although our Cao Zhonger is a little bit immature, he will never be a traitor, Lao Cao, man!"
"Wow, Cao Zhonger was so good at getting something for nothing. Not only did he trap the Western Regions, but he also caused Liu Caoxie to lose a large number of people. Moreover, Cao Zhonger has been training soldiers since the last Xudu incident. And it seems that Cao Zhonger is the only one who has no losses in this station, right? Those who died were the people brought by Liuzhu Bodhisattva from the Western Regions, and he reaped the benefits!"
"I knew, Lao Cao, you are not You will disappoint me. I have supported you all this time!"
"This move is so wonderful. It is effortless. It not only weakened the strength of all the princes, but also solved the foreign threat. I can only say that Cao Cao is still very capable."
After seeing that Cao Cao did not really sell out the Central Plains, the netizens in the live broadcast room changed their reputation of Cao Cao. After all, they were disappointed with Cao Cao before, only because Cao Cao colluded with the Western Regions and exchanged Yizhou, so they lost interest in Cao Cao. But now, the misunderstanding has been resolved. Cao Cao's fans have returned to Cao Cao's live broadcast room and posted comments about Cao Cao's pure manliness on the barrage.
Xiahou Dun, who was sitting in the room with Cao Cao, also picked up the bowl and chopsticks and began to eat heartily. Cao Cao looked at Xiahou Dun's appearance and couldn't help but smile slightly. He naturally knew that Xiahou Dun and the others had some opinions about him because of his alliance with the Western Regions, but they didn't say anything because they were under his command and were his relatives.
But this does not mean that they agree with everything they have done. For things like betraying their own country, they must have some resistance in their hearts, because Xu Chu and Dian Wei have repeatedly expressed to Cao Cao their unwillingness to cooperate with the Western Regions.
Cao Cao did not explain to them before, because there are many people and many things to say. If he let it slip, how can he use the good knife of the Western Regions to stab Liu Bei? Although many things unexpected to Cao Cao happened at this point, fortunately, the final results were all good.
Xu Chu was promoted to a famous general, Xiahou Dun was promoted to a famous general, and Xiahou Yuan was also promoted to a famous general when the war was about to end. In addition, the seriously injured Xu Chu and Dian Wei were also cured by Wu Pu, and Cao Cao also obtained Wu Pu, a capable doctor. Not only did Gu Rubing have a doctor, but Cao Cao also had one.
Moreover, Wu Pu's ability also provided Cao Cao with a lot of combat power bonuses, especially Wu Pu's characteristic Wu Pu herbal medicine, which can increase the corresponding attribute bonus by taking the corresponding herbal medicine. It can be said that he is a walking energy agent.
Sun Jian of Yangzhou, Shi Xie of Jiaozhou, Liu Zhang of Yizhou, including Gu Rubing, all suffered different degrees of damage. Only he himself not only did not suffer any losses, but also achieved rapid development during this period of time, because there was no battlefield in the territory of Yuzhou or Silizhou, and he did not have so many messes to clean up. With the rapid development during this period of time, the troops under Cao Cao's command have increased from 150,000 troops to a full 250,000 troops.
Originally, there were not so many, but after Xiahou Yuan was promoted to a famous general, he obtained a training feature, which allowed Xiahou Yuan to achieve twice the result with half the effort when training troops, and allowed soldiers to quickly transfer to regular troops. Therefore, in the past few days, Xiahou Yuan was stuffed into the barracks to train new soldiers.
As one of the most populous states, Yuzhou is not large in area, but its population is larger than that of Yizhou, Liangzhou, and Youzhou. Therefore, when Cao Cao used the gold and silver treasures that should have been spent on soldiers in the Western Regions to recruit soldiers, as Cao Cao expected, many young and middle-aged people in the entire Yuzhou, including Silizhou, and surrounding counties, all came to join the army.
Because Cao Cao gave too much, so much that as long as one person could enlist, a family of four could have enough food. In this land of Zhongzhou where wars were raging and famine was everywhere, being able to feed a family of four was a temptation that almost everyone could not refuse.
Although Gu Rubing made a lot of money from fine salt in this short period of time, he also had nine states to support, so he needed more soldiers and gold and silver treasures. Therefore, although there were also many people who joined Gu Rubing because of his benevolence, there were more people who joined Cao Cao for survival.
In terms of financial resources, Gu Rubing is not as fast as the special troops who specialize in collecting money from the dead. After all, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, plus the accumulation of the Han Dynasty's 400 years of heritage, there are too many ancient tombs, and Cao Cao makes money too fast to give such a salary that allows the whole family to afford food, which also attracts countless soldiers who can't afford food to come and surrender.
It can be said that Cao Cao may be the one with the most troops under his command now. Although his combat power is not the first, his number must be the first.
Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun sat opposite each other and ate a lot. The ice bed was under Cao Cao's buttocks, but Cao Cao still sweated profusely. After eating, Cao Cao ordered his servants to pack up everything and then opened the door.
"If the Six-Pearl Bodhisattva comes again, tell her that we need more troops to start a war, otherwise Liu Zhang has nowhere to go, how can he give up Yizhou? Hahahaha..."
Cao Cao laughed and left, and Xiahou Dun behind him showed a mysterious smile.
As the sky gradually darkened, Liuzhu Bodhisattva came to Cao Cao's courtyard again. Xiahou Dun was still the same as when Liuzhu Bodhisattva left in the afternoon, but there was no big ice cube beside him, only a small ice cube that was more than half melted.
"Is the Prime Minister not up yet?"
The veins on Liuzhu Bodhisattva's forehead were throbbing. She tried her best to restrain her anger and tried to speak to Xiahou Dun in a peaceful way. Xiahou Dun waved his hand and said indifferently.
"The Prime Minister got up a long time ago. He got up after you left."
After the voice fell, Liuzhu Bodhisattva frowned, but she still restrained herself.
"Can I go in to see the Prime Minister now? I have something very important to report to the Prime Minister."
At this moment, Liuzhu Bodhisattva's tone was still calm, but Xiahou Dun's next words made Liuzhu Bodhisattva fall into a state of rampage.
"The prime minister went out as soon as he got up. Oh, yes, I told the prime minister that the Bodhisattva was waiting for him, so the prime minister waited here for more than an hour before going out."
"What does Cao Cao mean by this? Does she want to tear up our alliance? Could it be that Cao Cao wants to make enemies again? We are not easy to mess with."
The six-bead Bodhisattva almost gritted her teeth and squeezed out these words from her teeth, but what responded to her was Xiahou Dun's still indifferent attitude.
"What you said doesn't matter, but what do you think your identity is? You dare to call my prime minister by his name? Are you worthy? Let your so-called kings come to talk to my master, and send you a little girl for nothing."
"You are looking for death!"
The six-bead Bodhisattva shouted angrily, and the two rope darts that had been wrapped around his hands for a long time were thrown out. The rope darts flew straight forward, trying to take Xiahou Dun's head, but Xiahou Dun was not the Xiahou Dun who went to the Western Regions before. The current Xiahou Dun has been promoted to a famous general.
Xiahou Dun stood up suddenly and kicked the big knife placed diagonally on the wall. The big knife rolled and turned and came into Xiahou Dun's hand. Xiahou Dun also stood up with the force of stepping on the handle of the knife. With one strike of the knife, he knocked away the two rope darts thrown by the six-bead Bodhisattva.
"How dare you! You dare to fight in the prime minister's yard! You are looking for death!"
Xiahou Dun immediately pulled a big hat and put it on the head of the six-bead Bodhisattva, then bent his legs, gathered strength and jumped up, ready to kill the six-bead Bodhisattva with one blow.