Cao Cao's situation was worse than Fang Zhiwen imagined.

The grain base calculated by Fang Zhiwen and others is calculated based on the cultivated area of ​​the land, but these lands do not belong to Cao Cao. No matter how cruel Cao Cao is, he would not dare to really rob all the grains belonging to the aristocratic people on his land. Then no one needs to fight, and his internal internal division will be directly divided.

What's more, in Qiao County, most of the land actually belongs to the generals and officials under the Cao family and Cao Cao. Therefore, even if Cao Cao was greedy for the food, he could only watch it, and he could not move.

However, during this crisis, Cao Cao still had good things to comfort his miserable heart. Xun You and Cheng Yu finally joined him, which made Cao Cao have strong assistants in politics and military strategy, which has completed the establishment of a high-end civil service system.

Xun You was appointed as the prefect of the prefect, Cheng Yu was appointed as the military, one in charge of the government and the other in charge of the army. With the strategic master Xi Zhicai, Cao Cao's three chariots were alive, which can be said to be Cao Cao's biggest gain in this period.

However, a good harvest of talents does not mean a good harvest of food. Therefore, after some careful discussion, Cao Cao decided to take action against Xuzhou. Historically, when Cao Cao took action against Xuzhou, he found a reason for his father being killed by Tao Qian.

Speaking of which, the reason is somewhat controversial. Tao Qian had no reason to provoke Cao Cao at that time. Besides, killing Cao Cao's father had no effect on Cao Cao at all. If it was said that it was done by a small military academy, he would dare to move Cao Cao's father with his identity. It would be strange if there was no insider information here. Of course, it would be too shocking to say that Cao Cao's own attack was obviously too shocking, but there were more people like Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, etc. who would use this to provoke conflicts between Cao Cao and Tao Qian, and Cao Cao was just taking advantage of the situation to show his power.

Now Cao Cao also needs an excuse, of course he cannot send his father to someone to kill him, so Cao Cao wrote a letter to borrow grain from Tao Qian, which is a very large loan. Cao Cao doesn't know whether Tao Qian can take it out. If Tao Qian can really take it out, then Cao Cao may not have to start a war now. Now this time is obviously not the best time. If Tao Qian can lose money and eliminate disasters, Cao Cao can also do favors. Anyway, Cao Cao has no plans to repay these loans, and he can even continue to borrow next year.

If Tao Qian refuses to borrow the situation, then Cao Cao has an excuse. If the food is ugly, just fight directly. If you want to have a better food, you can start with border friction and let your cavalry cross the border and rob, and there will inevitably be conflicts. It is Tao Qian's fault to seize the conflict and bite it tightly, and it will be natural to launch an army to attack.

Besides, Tao Qian, after receiving Cao Cao's letter, Tao Qian immediately became irritated. Tao Qian was just not wary and was not a fool. He could still see Cao Cao's trick. The problem was that it was one thing, but it was another to be able to deal with it. So Tao Qian, who was a little panicked, summoned his subordinates to a meeting.

Tao Qian still has capable people under him. The famous scholars Zhao Yu, Xu Fang and Wang Lang are all trusted subordinates of Tao Qian, and the famous person of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Rong, is also Tao Qian's subordinate.

Then there are Chen Gui, the head of the Chen family in Xia Pi and his son Chen Deng. Both of them are known for their wisdom in Xia Pi City. Chen Deng is still a lieutenant of Tao Qian, so Tao Qian is still very optimistic about Chen Deng. As for Chen Gui, he has always been unwilling to become an official and is a rich man at home.

In addition, Mi Zhu, who was not engaged in the business, naturally could not leave the capital, so many officials were gathered in Tao Qian's mansion. Tao Qian's two sons were not interested in the career, so they were not present.

"Everyone. What is the purpose of Cao Cao's letter? You can tell if you don't ask. Don't say that Xuzhou can't afford such a large sum of money and grain now. Even if it can be taken out, it will not be able to withstand Cao Cao's years of demand. If you don't give it, Cao Cao will definitely raise troops to rob him. Do you have any good solutions to this dilemma?"

Tao Qian looked at the subordinates sitting down with a little eager look. Tao Qian was very confused now and could not think of any good way to avoid the disaster in Xuzhou. He could only rely on them.

"Sir, the so-called generals come to block the water and soil, and Cao Cao is just fighting. Are you afraid of them?" Cao Bao said carelessly, and Zu Rong looked a little convinced and nodded slightly.

Tao Qian naturally knew the nature of these two people. One was that he didn't know that he was arrogant and had a prominent family background and did not take the world seriously. The other was that he was brave and fearless. Both of them could only do things and could not let them come up with ideas. The ideas they could come up with were basically bad ideas.

Tao Qian ignored Cao Bao, turned his gaze to Zhao Yu and asked, "Zhengqing, what do you think?"

Zhao Yu frowned and pondered for a moment, "As the lord said, Cao Cao is here now. If you want to avoid this disaster, you must ask Cao Cao to take it and defeat it. In addition, your subordinates cannot think of other good methods. But if you use the military strength of Xuzhou, it may not be that easy to defeat Cao Cao!"

"Why did Lord Zhao say this? Is my Xuzhou army so unbearable?" Zurong looked at Zhao Yu with a slanted look. Zhao Yu was upright and often reported some of his shameful behaviors to Tao Qian. Therefore, Zurong has always disliked Zhao Yu. Moreover, as a military figure, Zurong still needs to maintain the reputation of his army.

"If the general is ok or not, he knows that if the general thinks that he can resist Cao Cao's army, then there is nothing to say. We will unanimously support the general to repel Cao's army!"

"snort!...."

"Shut up!" Tao Qian stopped Zu Rong without hesitation. Zu Rong did not dare to make any noise in front of Tao Qian. He closed his mouth honestly, but still glared at Zhao Yu with dissatisfaction.

"Where is Yuanlong? What are your thoughts?"

Chen Deng was a little hesitant. In fact, the Chen family's interests in Xuzhou are very heavy. If Cao Cao was snatched back like this, it would be very hurt. However, relying on these veteran soldiers in Xuzhou now, it is not realistic to resist Cao Cao. After thinking about it, he had to invite foreign players. But as the saying goes, it is easy to invite gods and it is difficult to send gods! If the person who invited them is not a god or a ghost, it would be even worse. Therefore, Chen Deng was a little conflicted now, but Tao Qian asked, and Chen Deng had to express his unripe ideas. Perhaps everyone would discuss it together and get a better solution.

"Sir, my subordinates think that it is definitely not OK to send food to Cao Cao. There are one or two things like this, and then it will be endless again and again. Even if our Xuzhou is stable and prosperous under the rule of the adults over the years, we can't stand Cao Cao's mouth of swallowing elephant. Therefore, this is absolutely not advisable!"

Tao Qian nodded and signaled Chen Deng to continue.

"As for resistance, although our Xuzhou army is not unable to fight, the number is really limited. Moreover, our Xuzhou army has never participated in actual combat, and at most it is to wipe out some bandits. The biggest battle is just fighting against the mobs of the Yellow Turban Army. However, Cao Cao's army has fought in the north and south, and has fought against the strongest troops of the entire Han Dynasty. If we rely solely on our Xuzhou army, we may not be able to match our strength!"

"What Yuan Long said is mainly because our army is insufficient in number and there is a gap in military equipment!" Zu Rong quickly patched up. In fact, everyone here knew that Chen Deng said so because he gave the military a face. The focus of Chen Deng's words was that the Xuzhou army could not stop Cao Cao's strong army!

"Yuanlong, do you mean to invite foreign aid?" Wang Lang raised the sedan chair to Chen Deng with understanding. Chen Deng smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yes, but it's a bit of a point to whom you invite to be this foreign aid. Don't block the wolf at the front door and put a tiger in the back door. That's too late. I'm just hesitating for this!"

Tao Qian stroked his beard and thought silently. He had thought about asking for help. When he saw this letter, his first thought was to find someone to ask for help, and this person could only be Sun Jian, who had a very good relationship with him.

However, Sun Jian is now busy dealing with Liu Yao, obviously he is unable to get out of his way. Moreover, Sun Jian had fought a battle with Cao Cao before, but it was invincible. If Sun Jian sends troops to help Tao Qian again, it is very likely that Cao Cao will go south to Lujiang to take revenge on Sun Jian. With this in mind, Sun Jian may not most of the time to help.

Looking at the surrounding area, it seems that only Yuan Shao can help, but Tao Qian hates Yuan Shao very much and thinks that this person's ambition is too great. After all, the current situation of the Han Dynasty is inseparable from the Yuan family, so Tao Qian, who has a round personality on the outside and square on the inside, will not recognize Yuan Shao.

Apart from these two people, Tao Qian really couldn't imagine who could help him.

"Yuan Long first talk about where he wants to invite foreign aid."

"This... was the best place to invite Sun Wentai, but Lord Sun probably has no time to get out now. As for Yuan Shao in the north... this person may not really help us. When Cao Cao and Yuan Shu were fighting, Yuan Shao would still sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight. Moreover, now, Yuan Shao is more likely to take the lead in the weak when we are fighting with Cao Cao."

Everyone nodded and admitted that Chen Deng's statement was reasonable. Unless Xuzhou changed its flag, Yuan Shao would not have come to help Xuzhou with such kindness.

"What if we provide Yuan Shao with money and food?" Mi Zhu asked in anger. In Mi Zhu's opinion, if we can use money and food to invite mercenaries to block Cao Cao and spend less than Cao Cao asked for, then it would be worth it. This is the vision of the businessman.

Everyone looked at Chen Deng again, and Chen Deng frowned and shook his head: "It's the same for giving Yuan Shao and giving Cao Cao. Yuan Shao's greed is not less than Cao Cao at all. He can protect Xuzhou for several years with Cao Cao. If he gives Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's army would probably stay in Xuzhou and not leave."

Mi Zhu moved the corners of his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything. It was obviously not possible to let Tao Qian surrender to Yuan Shao. Besides, Mi Zhu didn't know how Yuan Shao would treat him. If he could maintain Xuzhou's current situation, don't take the risk of betting on Yuan Shao.

Chen Deng glanced at Mi Zhu and could see Mi Zhu clearly.
Chapter completed!