Since becoming prime minister, Cao Cao's eyes were not only focused on Hebei and the Central Plains, but on Jingzhou, Bashu, Hanzhong and Jiangdong. He summoned Xun Yu's uncle and nephew, Cheng Yu, and Jia Xu, recommended by Guo Jia before his death, to discuss the next plan.

Jia Xu, who entered the core level of Cao Cao's strategist for the first time, still realized that Zhang Xiu's death had nothing to do with Cao Pi, and he was not sure whether Cao Cao was involved in it, so he did not want to attract Cao Cao's attention.

But what Jia Xu didn't expect was that the first person Cao Cao asked for advice was not Xun Yu and Cheng Yu who he trusted the most, but he actually himself: "Although I have pacified Hebei today and achieved an absolute victory in the war against the Yuan family, the separatist forces such as Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Sun Quan in Jiangdong, Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, and Liu Zhang in Xichuan still occupy half of the territory. I still dare not slacken any. I wonder what kind of advice can the sir give me about this situation?"

Jia Xu pondered for a moment and replied: "Report to the Prime Minister, the West Expedition to Bashu must first take Hanzhong. If so many of them may inevitably cause Ma Teng and Han Sui's panic. The situation will be unfavorable to you, so it is the best way to go south."

Xun Yu and others agreed with Jia Xu's opinion, and Cao Cao nodded with approval:

"In this way, there will be only Jingzhou under Liu Biao's rule and Jiangdong under Sun Quan's control. Which side should I target first?"

At this time, everyone's eyes were gathered on Jia Xu, and he bowed and said to Cao Cao:

"I am a little confused and knowledgeable, and my thoughts are limited to this. There are many advisers under the rule of the Prime Minister, so they will definitely have better opinions."

Cao Cao stared at Jia Xu for a while, then turned to laugh and said, "Wenhe is too humble. Zhang Xiu was the one who almost killed me when he was in Wancheng. I still need to rely on you more in the future."

Listening to every word Cao Cao said about the Battle of Wancheng made Jia Xu nervous. Naturally, he would not forget that Cao Cao lost his beloved eldest son Cao Ang and his general Dian Wei when he was in Wancheng.

Whether or not Cao Cao's instructions were given to the death of Hu Cheer and Zhang Xiu, he did not investigate the matter strictly afterwards. He just buried Zhang Xiu well. This alone can be seen that Cao Cao is an ordinary person and did not completely abandon the hatred of destroying his son and killing his generals.

At this time, Cheng Yu, who was sitting next to Jia Xu, saw his concerns, so he took the initiative to talk and distract the topic:

"Prime Minister Jingzhou is connected to Jiangdong in the east, Sili Yuzhou in the north, and Bashu in the west, Hanzhong in the west, which is an absolute strategic impetus. Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are just self-protection, while Sun Quan is ambitious. If we take down Jingzhou, we can not only seize this wealthy land, but also isolate Sun Quan in Jiangdong. In the future, we will seize the 81 states in Jiangdong. "

Cheng Yu's point of view was discussed by Xun Yu and Xun You, but Cao Cao was thinking about another question:

"I wonder if you have thought about it. Our old friend Liu Bei is under Liu Biao's command at this moment. This person will not get rid of the future and will be endless. Therefore, we have only one goal next, that is, to seize Jingzhou and capture Liu Bei!"

After determining the strategic goal of going south to Jingzhou, Cao Cao ordered Cao Hong and Cao Ren to dig Xuanwu Pond in the Zhang River and train the navy on a large scale.

In addition, Cao Cao also ordered Zhang Liao, Yu Jin and Lejin to guard Yu Xu Du Yinan Xiangcheng, Dingling and Kunyang to make military preparations for the southern expedition. In order to consolidate the stability of the Western Liang army, Cao Cao adopted Xun Yu's suggestion to send Zhong Yao to reconcile the conflict between Ma Teng and Han Sui, and moved Ma Teng and his family to Yecheng for house arrest on the grounds of protecting security, and led his son Ma Chao.

With Ma Teng in his hands, Cao Cao relieved the worries of Xiliang and Guanzhong.

After all the preparations were made, Cao Cao had already begun to plan to lead his troops to fight.

Cao Cao, standing in front of the map, thought his deployment was already very comprehensive, but Cao Hong beside him said to him:

"Brother, don't forget that there is another Sima Yi."

When Cao Cao heard Sima Yi's name, he suddenly recalled the prophecy in the tomb passage and the nightmare of the four horses in the same groove. He looked at Cao Hong: "What do you mean? Isn't Sima Yi being newly married at home with his wife?"

Cao Hong continued, "Brother, do you still remember the northern expedition to Youzhou? It was because Sima Yi gave Yuan Xi's advice that our attacks were blocked by this person several times. If we went to Jingzhou when we started a war with Liu Biao and Liu Bei..."

Although Cao Cao, who was suspicious, did not mention his concerns about Sima Yi on the surface, Cao Hong's words did express his thoughts. He asked Cao Hong:

"When I asked you to congratulate you before, I conveyed to Sima Yi that he would come to Yecheng to serve me as soon as possible, but so long has passed, his newlyweds should be over, right?"

Cao Hong bowed and replied, "What my brother said is very much. If Sima Yi doesn't come again, it means he has no intention of seeking refuge with us at all. Keeping such a dangerous person will only be a disaster, and it is better to..."

Although it was not stated clearly, Cao Hong stretched out his palm to make a cut shape. Cao Cao also squinted his eyes and looked at the map: "I have already arranged this matter long ago. I will send someone to Tangyang to invite Sima Yi tomorrow. If he really dares to have any strange intentions, then I have to bear the pain and give up..."

After hearing Cao Cao's determination, Cao Hong smiled with satisfaction, but unexpectedly, Cao Cao suddenly brought the topic to Cao Hong: "Huh? Zi Lian, why didn't I find you targeting Sima Yi like this before? Do you have any holiday with him?"

Cao Hong quickly knelt on the ground and bowed his head and explained:

"I will only consider your great cause for your elder brother, and have no selfish intentions. If Sima Yi is willing to submit sincerely, you will certainly have a strong help, but if such a person is an enemy of you, it will be very difficult."

Cao Cao stepped forward and helped Cao Hong up: "Don't be nervous, I'm just joking."

Just as Cao Hong was relieved about this, Cao Cao patted the dust stained on his body meaningfully:

"But you are really getting smarter..."

Since getting married, Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua have a harmonious relationship and respect each other, but this apparent calm did not make Sima Yi feel alert. He knew that Cao Cao would not let him go easily, especially when he launched a large-scale southern expedition.

A month later, Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua learned about the huge changes in Guo Fengxiao's family from Chen Qun's letter again. At that time, the couple had dinner with Sima Lang and other brothers. After reading the letter, Sima Yi fainted on the ground for some reason.

Everyone was frightened by this scene. Zhang Chunhua hurriedly lifted Sima Yi's upper body and put it on his legs, calling his name repeatedly, but received no response from Sima Yi.

After Sima Lang and Sima Fu came up, Sima Yi had already foamed at the mouth and twitched all over.

Everyone was frightened. Sima Lang quickly took Sima Yi back to the room and asked Sima Fu to quickly ask the doctor to come for treatment.

After several doctors came to treat Sima Yi in succession, they were helpless and their caliber was surprisingly consistent. That is, Sima Yi's disease has no worries about life for the time being, but he can only cultivate well at home, which is not suitable for long journeys and excessive fatigue.

For more than ten days afterward, Sima Yi lies on the bed, feeding and scrubbing all the tasks such as Zhang Chunhua takes care of.

After the news reached Yecheng, Cao Cao was furious. He threw the secret report from Tangyang to the ground and slapped the table:

"It's this happening again! Does Sima Yi really treat me, Cao Cao, like a fool?"

Cao Hong bowed the fire and said, "Brother, in my opinion, Sima Yi has no intention of being loyal to you at all. This person is not inclined to be loyal to you."

Chen Qun, who was standing opposite Cao Hong, saw that the situation was not good for Sima Yi, quickly stood up and said to Cao Cao:

"The Prime Minister calms down. Whether Sima Yi pretends to be sick has not been confirmed yet. It is better to have someone investigate it in detail. If you find that Sima Yi really dares to deceive you, it will not be too late to punish him."

After calmly thinking, Cao Cao felt that Chen Qun's words made sense, so he temporarily put away his murderous intention toward Sima Yi.

After leaving the conference hall, Cao Hong called Chen Qun who was about to go back:

"Mr. Chen..."

Chen Qun bowed to Cao Hong and saluted: "Is there anything wrong with the general looking for me?"

Cao Hong grinned slightly and said with a smile:

"It's nothing, I just want to ask you what kind of friendship you have with Sima Yi, and he actually pleads for him in front of the Prime Minister."

Chen Qun was prepared for Cao Hong's suspicion, so he cleverly avoided Cao Hong's question and asked:

"I also want to ask the general what deep hatred and Sima Yi have with him, and why do he repeatedly kill him?"

The plain dialogue was secretly filled with fierce confrontation. Perhaps Chen Qun was speechless when he asked, Cao Hong could only forcefully squeeze out his dry smile and turned around and left.
Chapter completed!