Peek at my diary, Cao Cao dominates the Three Kingdoms

After the Li Jue and Guo Si Rebellion, and the Southern Huns ravaging Guanzhong, the population of Guanzhong was even less than 50, that is, less than [-] households!

Similarly, Yanzhou, which is located in the Central Plains, has also dropped from a million households to 60 households.

When Boss Cao first took over Yanzhou, he still benefited from the surrender of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban, so the population was a little more substantial.

And Xuzhou has a small population, only about 40 households.

When Cao Cao annexed Xuzhou, the number of private households was even more miserable, with less than 20 households left...

Lu Yan vigorously rectified the tyrants, opened farms to attract refugees, and developed people's livelihood.

Yanzhou and Xuzhou imitated the successful case of Chenliu County one after another, so the population of Yanzhou and Xuzhou was able to recover slowly.

However, even so, the population of Yanxu and Xuzhou, plus half of Yuzhou, under Cao Cao's rule is only comparable to that of Yuan Shao.

However, under Yuan Shao's rule, there were many noble families and noble gentry, and they themselves had a lot of capital; while under Cao Cao's rule, ordinary people accounted for the vast majority, almost all of them were naked...

Therefore, in terms of quality, under Yuan Shao's rule, it is undoubtedly much better than Cao Cao, so from the perspective of overall strength, Cao Cao is still far behind Yuan Shao.

Improving the people's livelihood and economy is to make the people rich. Only when the overall wealth increases, the strength of the Cao family will be enhanced.

While developing commerce and agriculture, increasing the population is also the fastest way to develop.

The first factor restricting the development of population is food.

Now that Lu Yan has produced potatoes with an yield of 400 shi per mu, that is, more than [-] catties of grain, it is foreseeable that under Cao Cao's rule, there will be another wave of explosive population growth!

Not only will the number of newborns increase sharply, but people and refugees in other places will also regard Cao Cao's rule as one of the first places to migrate.

If Cao Cao is really given more time to develop quietly, then in the future, Cao Cao will probably be invincible in the whole big man in the future.

Therefore, the news of the magical food potatoes under Cao Cao's rule made Sun Ce in the southeast and Yuan Shao in the north a little bit impatient.

The mobilization of soldiers and horses in Yuan Shao's various places became more and more frequent.The Yingwei Bingziying, which is in charge of monitoring Hebei, sent back frequent warning messages.Due to the frequent sending of messages, a lot of eyeliners and shadow guards were lost.

Sun Ce, on the other hand, began to assemble an army, preparing to take Lujiang, the hub of the west and north, and his ambition to spy on Jingzhou and the Central Plains was fully revealed!

Chapter 1 Eighty: Zhao Xueyue "Interviews" Liu Ye at Night

After Sun Ce took part in the crusade against Yuan Shu, the imperial court awarded Sun Ce the General of Rebellion and made him Marquis of Wu in recognition of his achievements.

After being recognized by the Han court, Sun Ce finally settled in Jiangdong.

In addition, Sun Ce put down his dignity and often visited in person to seek talented people, so children from aristocratic families gradually came to help him.

After nearly a year of painstaking development, Sun Ce's power has gradually become stronger.

Recently, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu came to Wancheng, and Duke Qiao (surnamed Qiao, later shortened to Qiao) and his two beautiful daughters are now living in a remote bamboo house in the eastern suburbs of Wancheng.

Sun Ce is "beautiful" and Zhou Yu is "good-looking". Both of them are first-class handsome guys, and they are young and promising young men.

The two came here with the fame of defeating Yuan Shu in order to marry Qiao Xuan's two daughters, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao.

After successfully embracing the beauty, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were in high spirits. At this moment, news came from the Central Plains that Cao Cao had obtained the sacred potato. Sun Ce immediately discussed with Zhou Yu, intending to send troops to seize Lujiang County.

Lujiang County has the danger of the Yangtze River in the south and the Huai River in the north, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Moreover, Liu Xun, the prince who occupied Lujiang, was powerful and ambitious because he had received many soldiers under Yuan Shu's command.

Xiahoudun, who was guarding Huainan, sent people to test him several times, but they were all defeated by Liu Xun's generals relying on the geographical advantage, so that Xiahoudun could only deal with internal affairs with peace of mind.

However, it is more difficult for Jiangdong Sun Ce to attack Lujiang than Xiahoudun. Therefore, a strong attack is not the solution, and only outsmarting is the ultimate way out.

Wu Jun, in the General's Mansion.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu sat facing each other, accompanied by Xiao Qiao, pouring tea and wine, like a picture of a hero and beauty.

"Gong Jin, have you thought of a plan to capture Lujiang?" Sun Ce asked without hesitation.

Zhou Yu picked up the "valuable" glass teacup and took a sip of the latest tea from Chen Liuchuan. He first sighed at Lu Yan's whimsical idea, and then replied to Sun Ce's question: "I got some money yesterday. But the idea is not mature yet.”

Sun Ce's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Speak out and listen!"

Zhou Yu watched Xiao Qiao fill his teacup with tea, thanked him tenderly, and then replied: "Liu Xun has two weaknesses, that is, he is arrogant and greedy for money, and he is extremely greedy for money!"

"Hmm..." Sun Ce nodded, and after thinking for a while, asked, "And then?"

"Hasn't Liu Xun always coveted Shang Liao?

We can then show him weakness, saying that Shangliao often sends troops to harass us, and we are too weak to go on an expedition...

At the same time, give him another generous gift, asking him to send troops to surrender Shangliao. "Speaking of this, Zhou Yu revealed a confident smile, and said: "As long as Liu Xun leaves Lujiang, then Lujiang will be in my pocket and on my plate!" "

"Good!" After listening to Zhou Yu's strategy, Sun Ce couldn't help clapping his hands and praised: "It's a good trick of 'showing the enemy's weakness and diverting the tiger away from the mountain'!"

The area around Shangliao is very prosperous, and the food in the city is piled up like a mountain.

In fact, Liu Xun has long wanted to seize Shangliao Shangliao, but because he was concerned about Sun Ce behind him, he kept holding back and dared not act.

If Sun Ce behaved weak and incompetent and saved Liu Xun from worrying about the future, maybe he would really send troops to the front, eat the fat that he had been coveting for a long time, and look down on the whole Yuzhang County.

Zhou Yu was handsome and resourceful, and Xiao Qiao couldn't help showing admiration in his eyes at this moment.

Da Qiao is also very satisfied with Sun Ce, his eyes are full of admiration, after all, he is really fierce who is known as the Little Overlord of Jiangdong.

......

After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu made up their plan to seize Lujiang, Zhao Xue, the captain of the Shadow Guard Dingzi Battalion, came to Luyang City alone.

She came here to meet a person, Liu Ye who was mentioned by Lu Yan inadvertently, known as the "talent of the world"!

Liu Ye, courtesy name Ziyang, was born in Chengde, Huainan. He was a descendant of Fuling King Liu Yan, the son of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, and a descendant of the orthodox Han Dynasty.

Liu Ye has been very courageous since he was a child. He obeyed his mother's dying words, and at the age of 13, beheaded the servant who was trusted by his father.

Later, when he was 20 years old, there were many tyrants in Yangzhou supporting their own troops, most of them were cunning and cruel, and they were fish and meat.

At that time, there was a powerful man named Zheng Bao, who wanted to rob people and cross the Yangtze River to the Jiangnan area.Because he took a fancy to Liu Ye's reputation, he wanted to force him to advocate this strategy and persuade the people to cross the river.

But Liu Ye set up an ambush and cut off Zheng Bao's head with a saber at the banquet, and then went to Zheng Bao's camp alone to report the misfortunes and disadvantages to some leaders.In the end, Liu Ye succeeded in persuading Zheng Bao's subordinates, and everyone surrendered and elected Liu Ye as the new leader.

But Liu Ye saw the decline of the Han Dynasty, and he was a royal family who didn't want to fight against the Han Dynasty, so he handed over those parts to Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang.

From all these, it can be seen that Liu Ye is a very important person in Lujiang.

Liu Ye was appraised by Xu Shao as a "talent of the world", and what impressed Zhao Xue most about him was Lu Yan's words: "Liu Ye of Yangzhou knows things like a god, he has insight into the world situation, and his heart is for Cao camp."

Although it was a random sentence that Lu Yan said in the chat with Guo Jia at the time, it was remembered by Zhao Xue who was with them at that time.

You must know that the people who can be favored by Lu Yan are all famous talents in the world, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, Dian Wei, Tai Shici, Huang Zhong... I can vividly remember them.

What Zhao Xue didn't expect was that she happened to use this piece of information when she came to Jiangdong to act this time.

Zhao Xue and his party secretly contacted many aristocratic families who opposed Sun Ce, bandits, and even assassins such as Xu Gongmenke in Jiangdong.

But they have been lacking a good opportunity to do it, so they have been dormant in secret.

A few days ago, Zhao Xue learned from a bribed servant of the Sun family that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu intended to seize Lujiang County, and she was keenly aware that this was a good opportunity.

Therefore, Zhao Xue left Ding San, Ding Si and others to stay in Jiangdong, secretly leading the opposition forces; she herself went to Lujiang alone, intending to disclose the news to Liu Ye, so that he could remind Liu Xun and contain Sun Ce.

As long as Liu Xun can fight Sun Ce, then Jiangdong will be empty in the rear, and the long-dormant opposition forces will have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

......

It was a cloudless night, with a bright moon hanging high.

The evening breeze is mixed with a trace of coolness, blowing away the lingering heat in the summer night.

Liu Ye was reading at night while holding a candle in the study, but suddenly felt a gust of cool wind blowing in.

Before Liu Ye raised his head, a clear and sharp female voice came: "Zhao Xue, Prime Minister Cao's envoy, is here to visit Liu Ye and Liu Ziyang!"

Liu Ye murdered at the age of 13 and cut off the head at the age of 20. It can be said that he is very courageous.

At this moment, someone broke into his home suddenly, and his life was in danger at any moment, yet he was able to keep his mind still.

Slowly put down the "Dream of Red Mansions" produced by Chenliu Workshop,

Liu Ye looked calmly at Zhao Xue, who had a cold demeanor, and asked, "Are all Prime Minister Cao's envoys so independent?"

Chapter 181 Liu Ye's Choice

"Are Prime Minister Cao's envoys so unique?"

Liu Ye said this half-jokingly, which made Zhao Xue agree with his courage a little bit.

Zhao Xue didn't answer Liu Ye's words, but said straightforwardly: "I'm here to discuss something important."

"Hehe..." Liu Ye couldn't help smiling, and said, "Since there is something important to discuss, it's better for Ye to advise the girl to close the door of the study first."

Liu Ye is a scholar, although he can also learn swordsmanship for self-defense, but facing a quasi-first-class master like Zhao Xue, what he knows is nothing more than three-legged cat kung fu.

I'm not afraid that Liu Ye will do something,

Zhao Xue turned around and swung the long sword in her hand. The half door of the study that she had opened earlier was closed in response.

The moment Zhao Xue turned to close the door, Liu Ye stood up abruptly, trying to walk to and remove the long sword hanging beside the bookshelf.

But after being stared at by Zhao Xue's murderous eyes, Liu Ye obediently sat back in his seat, and even said calmly: "I just want to try... It seems that It really doesn't work, Tongha..."

Zhao Xue stared at Liu Ye coldly, and said, "If I want to kill you, your body will probably be cold by now."

"Yes, I'm messing with Meng Lang." Liu Ye replied generously, as if admitting a small mistake.

After waiting for a while, seeing that Zhao Xue did not continue to speak, Liu Ye took the initiative to ask: "In my opinion, the girl is probably not the envoy of Prime Minister Cao?"

Zhao Xue remained silent, so Liu Ye continued: "Young girl is extremely skilled in martial arts, with a murderous aura, she is more like an assassin or killer than a messenger.

Let me venture a guess...

Every time Prime Minister Cao acts, he can always anticipate the enemy's opportunities, so he should have a very powerful intelligence organization under his command.

Generally, those who are in charge of collecting intelligence in these organizations have good skills. Presumably, the girl should be the best in Prime Minister Cao's organization, right? "

"Sometimes if you know too much, you will die faster!" Zhao Xue replied in a cold tone.

Liu Ye breathed a sigh of relief, and said in his heart: "It's fine if you speak, but I'm afraid you'll kill me without saying a word..."

But Zhao Xue continued, "But you're only half right."

"Eh?" Liu Ye was taken aback when he heard the words, and when he guessed wrong?

Liu Ye came here as soon as he was interested, pointed to the cushions and tables not far away and said, "I know what the girl is here for, if you don't mind, please sit down and talk..."

Zhao Xue was not polite either, she really had nothing to be afraid of facing a literati.

"Please tell me, girl, where did you guess wrong?"

"I am indeed a member of a special organization, but I am not under the command of Prime Minister Cao, but under the current hussar general Lu Yan."

"Isn't Lu Hussar also under Prime Minister Cao's command? Why..." Liu Ye's heart suddenly moved when he said this, "Could it be..."

"Sir and Prime Minister Cao are close friends. They are friends, they are cooperation, not a master-slave relationship." Although he hesitated, Zhao Xue still revealed the relationship between Lu Yan and Cao Cao.

The main reason was that Lu Yan once said that Liu Ye's heart was for Cao Ying, and she was very confident that she could win Liu Ye over, so she didn't have too much reservations about him.

After hearing Zhao Xue mention the relationship between Lu Yan and Cao Cao, Liu Ye couldn't help being a little surprised, "As far as I know, when Prime Minister Cao started his army from Chenliu, Lu Hussars have been following around... If they are not master-slave, Then why did Lu Hussar help Prime Minister Cao with all his strength? You know, with Lu Hussar's strength, even if he is self-reliant..."

It's not easy to continue talking later, it will appear that Liu Ye is trying to sow discord.

"Actually, we have asked similar questions before..."

"How would Lu Huqi answer?" Liu Ye felt his gossip soul burning.

"The master said that the person who can calm the world the fastest, Cao Cheng should be the number one; and the one who has the courage and ability to break the monopoly of the family, I am afraid that there is only Cao Cheng in the world."

Liu Ye was stunned...he was optimistic about Cao Cao, but it was because Cao Cao welcomed the emperor and grasped the final initiative.

And what about Lu Yan?When he got together with Cao Cao, that was when Cao Cao had just raised his army!At the beginning of the army, Lu Yan had already seen the extraordinaryness of Cao Cao...Compared with himself, Liu Ye shook his head and sighed: "I am not as good as Lu Huqi, I am far away..."

Zhao Xue saw that Liu Ye was a little disappointed, so she comforted her, "You don't have to be disappointed, there is no one in this world who can compare with Mr.

"..." Liu Ye laughed dumbfounded, and said in his heart, "Your consolation is a bit interesting..."

After the two talked, the atmosphere was finally not as tense as before.

Zhao Xue returned to the topic and told Liu Ye her ultimate goal: "I am here to invite you to join us." At the end, Zhao Xue added: "Mr. camp..."

"It's hit again! This Lu Yan shouldn't be too scary!" Liu Ye sighed inwardly.

However, he was really optimistic about Cao Cao very early on, and joining Cao Ying was something he had always wanted to do but was unable to do for the time being.

"I'm flattered by Lu Hussar's praise...!" After pondering for a moment, Liu Ye suddenly asked teasingly, "I'm just a little confused. I don't know whether I should join Lu Hussar or Prime Minister Cao?"