Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

“This is too much!! This is simply too much!!!”

In Caicheng, under the Jiujiang Commandery of Yangzhou, Cao Cao heard that Dongjun had been repeatedly plundered by Lü Bu's army. He could not help but feel furious. "Using the looted money and food to recruit the looted people, I have never seen such a shameless person in my entire life!"

He was so angry that he paced back and forth in the hall, "Don't these two always pride themselves on being benevolent and righteous? How could they do such a shameless thing!!"

Xun Youyan, who came to report the news, said, "These two people claim to be benevolent and righteous, but they are not benevolent and righteous without any bottom line!"

"Furthermore, the one who proposed this plan must be an old friend of yours, Xu Ziyuan. According to spies, he's staying in Liyang City on the other side of the river, dispatching boats along the coast to pick up the people who want to seek refuge. If they're willing to go to Jizhou to farm, not only will their property be returned and they'll be given land, but most importantly, the taxes in Tang are lower than in Yanzhou, and there's no need for corvée labor. If they have extra labor at home, they can work in factories to earn money. Furthermore, the officials in Dongjun County were unable to provide assistance to the people who were kidnapped, leaving them with no choice but to seek refuge with... the 'robbers.'"

Xun You paused for a moment before continuing to break the bad news to Cao Cao, "Also, Zang Xuangao of Mount Tai has also surrendered to Lü Bu!"

Cao Cao was stunned for a long moment after hearing this. His anger gradually subsided, replaced by a look of dejection. With his Yanzhou stronghold surrounded on three sides by Lü Bu, what else could he do? How could he possibly win against Lü Bu? Even if he successfully eliminated Yuan Shu and annexed all his forces, would that win him over?

Liu Xuande of Hanzhong was too weak, Liu Boxi of Yizhou was short-sighted, Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou was too old and had no ambition at all, and there was also a little tyrant Sun Ce in Dongwu who was competing with him for Yangzhou. The key was that Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou had no strategic locations to defend, and Lu Bu would recuperate for two or three years before sending his army south, and he would not be able to resist at all.

Xun You was silent for a moment. The speed at which the Tang Kingdom pacified the various parties was too fast. It took only one year to stabilize Liang Province, which had been in chaos for many years. Cao Gong and Lu Bu sent troops almost at the same time. Because Sun Ce showed up halfway, they have not been able to deal with Yuan Shu, the fool. Zang Ba must have chosen to surrender to Lu Bu because he saw that Cao Gong could not take care of him at the moment.

With the fall of Qingzhou and the surrender of Zang Ba, Yanzhou was completely at a disadvantage in terms of geographical location.

The two were silent for a long time. Cao Cao sighed and said to Xun You, "Send an envoy to Dongwu. I want to see Sun Bofu."

"My lord, do you want to negotiate with him?"

Cao Cao nodded. "There's nothing I can do. Among the southern princes, only Sun Bofu can be considered a hero. If I continue to fight him for Yangzhou, I'll only play into Lü Bu's hands!"

At this time, Sun Ce, with the support of the Jiangdong gentry, had already occupied Danyang County in Yangzhou. His next plan was to send troops to Jiujiang to compete with Cao Mengde for the ruling right of Yangzhou.

In Liyang City, Jiujiang County, after Sun Ce met with Cao Cao's envoy, he sought out his best friend Zhou Yu and his greatest supporter Lu Su to inquire about Cao Cao's intentions.

"Cao Mengde is being forced into a corner by Lu Bu in the north, so he must want to form an alliance with our Eastern Wu. If he is willing to give all of Yangzhou to you, we don't have to fight for his Guangling County anymore. You can just go up the river to take Jingzhou and let Cao Mengde and Lu Bu fight it out!" Zhou Yu, who was only 24 years old at the time, smiled happily after hearing Sun Ce's question.

Lu Su said, "If he really gives up Yangzhou, he must want us to help him deal with Lu Bu. Zang Xuangao has surrendered to Lu Bu, and his Yanzhou is already in danger!"

"What does that have to do with us?" Zhou Yu chuckled.

Lu Su said, "My Dongwu and Cao Gong are both competitors for interests, but we are also closely tied to each other. If he gets rid of Lü Bu, the Tang army will march south, and Dongwu will be unable to resist!"

Zhou Yu shrugged, "Lü Bu's strength lies in his cavalry. The south is densely networked with rivers and swamps, so cavalry is useless. We only need to take advantage of the natural barrier of the rivers. It won't be that easy for him to conquer Dongwu."

"Don't they know how to train the navy?"

"How can it be that easy?"

Zhou Yu still looked indifferent, but seeing Lu Su frowning, he patiently explained, "Lü Bu is really not as formidable as we imagine. Even if he really did train a navy of 50,000 to 60,000 men in three to five years, the southern climate is humid and rainy, and his northern soldiers simply cannot adapt. As long as our army seizes Jingzhou while he's attacking Cao Mengde, we can establish a strong presence in Jiangdong and then ally with Liu Boxi in the west. We won't have to fear him at all. Moreover, his navy can only sail south from Qingzhou along the Yellow River. To enter the Yangtze River, it must pass through the mouth of our Wu Commandery. With our navy stationed there, what else can he do?"

Lu Su thought about it and thought what Zhou Gongjin said made sense. But Sun Ce asked again, "If he takes Yuzhou, he can also go south from the Han River to the Yangtze River. He doesn't have to go through Wujun."

Zhou Yu said, "Below the Han River is the vast Yunmeng Swamp. His soldiers can only reach Jiangxia Commandery to disembark. Wu is an expert in naval warfare. If Lü Bu dares to march south within five years, I guarantee he will never return. In short, my opinion is that we can form an alliance with Cao Mengde, but we must not help him resist Lü Bu. We should focus on Jing Province."

"What if Cao Gong disagrees?" Sun Ce asked. Compared to competing with Lu Bu, he wanted to take Jingzhou more. Firstly, because Jingzhou was rich, and secondly, he wanted to kill Liu Jingsheng to avenge his father.

"If you don't agree, then continue fighting. Given his current situation, if he really fights with my Dongwu, he will be destroyed in a snap of a finger. Cao Mengde will not and dare not do so!"

"What do you think, Zi Jing?" Sun Ce looked at Lu Su again!

Lu Su said, "Listen to Gongjin's words. Considering how powerful Lü Bu is now, it's unlikely that Cao Gong will be saved!"

The three masters and ministers discussed an idea and met with Cao Cao in Liyang City on the third day. After some greetings, Cao Cao told them the purpose of this meeting. As Zhou Yu had guessed, he was willing to give up the fight for Yangzhou and only asked Dongwu to send an army north by sea to help him capture Qingzhou.

"Lord Cao, you are joking. My Eastern Wu has just started. How can we have the ability to fight against Lu Bu?" Sun Ce said with a wry smile.

Cao Cao sneered in his heart and couldn't help but think of Guo Jia again. He had told him early on to pay attention to Sun Bofu, but he didn't take this young boy seriously. Unexpectedly, in just three years, the boy, with the support of the Jiangdong gentry, became a local lord and now has the ability to compete with him for Yangzhou.

He looked at Zhou Yu and Lu Su who were following Sun Ce. Both of them were talented, especially Zhou Yu, who was strategic, good at water battles, and had outstanding military capabilities.

In fact, Cao Cao knew what Sun Ce was planning. The reason why this guy insisted on competing with him for Jiujiang was simply because he wanted to attack Jingzhou by following the river.

Cao Cao didn't bother beating around the bush and threatened directly, "Since my dear nephew Bofu is unable to help, I can't defeat Lü Fengxian on my own anyway. Instead of making a meaningless sacrifice in the north, it's better to shift our focus to Yangzhou. Once I capture Jiujiang and Lujiang, I can hold on to the rivers and lakes and survive for another ten or twenty years."