The pursuit of Cao Cao was completely delayed because of this bamboo note. When Taishici and Tao Qian reached an agreement, they had missed the best time to pursue.

When Tao Qian reacted, Cao Cao's army had withdrawn from Pengcheng County and retreated to Yanzhou. It would be difficult to pursue him at this moment.

Taishi Ci started packing his luggage and traveling in a large army, so naturally there were some trivial matters to deal with, and the food and grass that had to be consumed on the road needed to be escorted. In order to avoid leaving too much food and grass for Cao Cao after breaking the city, the food and grass in Pengcheng had been emptied. He needed Tao Qian to allocate enough food and grass for him to go back. Although it was not far from Qingzhou, it would take a few days to go. This time, Taishi Ci brought 12,000 troops to support him. Although he had a lot of battle with Cao Cao, there were not too many losses. There are still more than 10,000 people, so many people, people eat and chew, even in a few days, they needed a lot of food and grass.

Tao Qian was not stingy. Xuzhou was a grain-producing resort, and the most in short supply was food and grass. In addition to the food and grass needed for marching, Tao Qian also gave another 100,000 stones of food and grass as a gift. No matter how he suspected it before, now Taishi Ci was patting his butt and was about to leave, which means that the previous suspicions were self-defeating. Tao Qian already understood in his heart that he was probably caught by Lao Cao's plan of discord. However, he was a prince of one side, so naturally he could not apologize. He could only ease the conflict between the two sides in this way.

In fact, Tao Qian wanted to fight for Zang Ba. After this battle, he could see that even if there were many soldiers, if there were no one or two powerful generals in charge, he would still not be considered strong. Although he was a little dirty with Zang Ba, he was in troubled times. As a prince, he had no even a single general who could take action and had to ask for help from outside, which made Tao Qian very uncomfortable.

It’s a pity that Zang Ba was obviously not very good at Tao Qian. No matter how he could win over him, Taishi Ci summoned him, Zang Ba immediately packed up his luggage and took his men and left with Taishi Ci. Tao Qian could only sigh with regret when he saw it.

Looking at the vast grain team, Zang Ba couldn't help but grin and looked at Taishi Ci and said, "This time Tao Qian is generous, one hundred thousand stones of grain!"

Taishi Ci nodded and looked at the mountain road in the distance. After passing this mountain road, it was within Taishan County. When he got there, he and Zang Ba were about to part ways and turned to look at Zang Badao: "Xuan Gao, I have something to say to you."

"Please tell me, General." Zang Ba sat on the horse's back, looking at Taishi Ci, and probably knew what the other party was going to say.

"Xuan Gao's martial arts and military skills are not inferior to me, so he is rare to be a general. Now the court is employed. Your Majesty sent me out to Qingzhou. However, Cao Cao, Tao Qian and Yuan Shao are all heroes. Ci is alone and unable to support me. I want to ask Xuan Gao to help me. In the future, Your Majesty will reward you according to your merits. Ci Ding recommends you to your Majesty with all your strength." Taishi Ci said solemnly.

Although Zang Ba is now entrenched in Taishan County, his reputation is not right, but he has many soldiers and horses. Moreover, when he is invited to resist Cao Cao, the combat power of Taishan bandits also makes Taishi Ci look at him with admiration and deserves to be known as an elite soldier. In addition, Zang Ba's own ability shows, Taishi Ci can't help but feel the desire to recruit.

He was entrusted by Liu Xie to help Kong Rong sort out the military affairs of Qingzhou and at the same time assisted Gan Ning in establishing the Henghai Navy. He was considered to be independent. He was very grateful for Liu Xie's trust. However, when he really came to this point, he could feel how heavy the burden on his shoulders was.

Yuan Shao from the north is worried that Cao Cao from the Central Plains has also been lobbying Qingzhou generals recently. Tao Qian is considered an alliance, but this alliance really doesn't count on anything. Many times, he is asked to help in reverse.

It is said that Tao Qian is a pure and thick-skinned person, but when he saw him today, he was disappointed. Thinking about it, the princes in the country have not paid tribute for a long time and have killed their father for no reason. How could such a person be really a kind gentleman?

The Ganning Navy was newly built. This navy was different from infantry. It took a long time to form its combat power and could not be counted for a short period of time. Taishi Ci had only one person. Even with Li Ru's help, facing this chaotic situation, there were still many things and no one was in hand. He could only find a way to recruit him.

Zang Ba is a good general. The friendship and perception established by the joint efforts of several months made Taishi Ci very optimistic about Zang Ba. Now that he saw that the separation was about to happen, he finally couldn't help but invite him.

No matter whether it can be accomplished or not, he must do his best to complete the tasks assigned by His Majesty. Even if he fails in the end, there will be an explanation before His Majesty.

"This..." Zang Ba couldn't help but remain silent when he heard this. Qingzhou was a place of four battles and surrounded by enemies on three sides. If it were not for Taishi Ci's appointment, in addition to Qingzhou, there would be the support of the court. He would never have been involved in supporting Xuzhou this time.

But he was just helping and making a good relationship. That's all. Although he was not a prince, he was entrenched in Taishan County and had tens of thousands of Taishan bandits under his command. He also had the hope of 100,000 Taishan people. Now the situation in the Central Plains is chaotic, and until the situation is clear, he will not take all his belongings.

Although the court has mastered the great power, it is too far away after all. The far water cannot save the nearby fire. If one day Qingzhou is captured by other princes, Taishi Ci can pat his butt and leave. When he returns to the court, he is still a general, but he cannot move with him along with Taishan County.

Therefore, facing Taishi Ci's invitation, Zang Ba could only smile bitterly and shook his head: "General Ziyi, don't force me, there is something useful in the future. Just a letter is needed to go through fire and water. Zang Ba is unavoidable, but..."

"I understand." Taishici sighed when they saw this. After all, they met each other and fought side by side. Seeing that Zang Ba was unwilling to bring Taishan County into Qingzhou, Taishici could only nod helplessly.

"Then Ci will leave first, but..." Looking at Zang Ba, Taishi Ci shook his head and smiled bitterly: "But I don't want to meet Xuan Gao on the battlefield."

"Don't worry, General Ziyi, Qingzhou has a general for one day, and Ba will never be touched by him." Zang Ba said in a stern manner.

As for the future, if Taishi Ci is no longer in Qingzhou one day, then this promise will be useless.

Taishici didn't say anything else. After the two armies arrived in Taishan County, they parted ways. Taishici left Zang Ba with 20,000 shi of military pay. Although this was a gift to Kong Rong, as the highest general in Qingzhou, Taishici still had this power.

...

Yanzhou, Chengyang.

In a villa located west of Chengyang, Liu Bei was sitting opposite Chen Gong, with a small table in the middle and a pot of wine cooking. Chen Gong was still very satisfied with Liu Bei and had some skills, but this was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that this person could tell the matter clearly and quickly judge the direction that was most beneficial to him when facing problems, and was quite decisive.

Decisiveness is often the most important ability for the superiors, and this person has some means. Just looking at the few talents Chen Gong helped Liu Bei recruit in just half a year, he was convinced by Liu Bei, and it can be seen that this person has some talent in the way of governing the poor.

"Brother!" With a burst of rapid footsteps, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei came in from outside the courtyard and came straight to the two of them. Without looking at Chen Gong, they bowed directly to Liu Bei.

"Yunchang, Yide, why don't you greet the official station?" Liu Bei's face darkened and he was a little unhappy.

"He?" Zhang Fei glanced at Chen Gong and snorted coldly, "Cao Cao has withdrawn his troops. If we had attacked before, we still have a chance to win, but now, Cao Cao will be back soon, how can we still have a chance?"

"The public platform has its own reason." Liu Bei glared at Zhang Fei helplessly, turned his head to look at Chen Gong and said, "Don't blame the public platform, Yide is impatient, it's not intentional collision."

"It's okay." Chen Gong waved his hand, turned his head to look at Zhang Fei and said, "I know Yide blamed me for dissuading my lord to delay the use of troops. I missed this opportunity, but Yide could tell that it is not a good opportunity now."

"Why is it that Cao Cao sent troops to Xuzhou, and his internal emptiness is not a good opportunity?" Zhang Fei said dissatisfied.

"Cao Cao lacked enough food and grass. Long before he went to war, I expected that he would return in vain in this battle." Chen Gong said with a smile.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Zhang Fei felt a little confused when he heard it.

"For Tao Gongzu, it is naturally a good thing, but for us, Cao Cao lacks enough food and grass, but it is not a good thing." Chen Gong shook his head and smiled.

"Can you finish the words at once?" Zhang Fei glared. Every time he talked to Chen Gong, he could get sick.

"Cao Cao is powerful and Tao Qian is defeated. If he finds that there is insufficient food and grass, he will withdraw his troops." Chen Gong smiled and said, "The vitality has not been damaged and the morale is high. If our army attacks at this time, wouldn't it be against Cao Cao, who is in full force? Yide thinks, what chance of winning are we going to win?"

"Why can't you win?" Zhang Fei said dissatisfied: "Sir, do you look down on my brother?"

"The two generals have the courage of ten thousand men, so the palace would not have the intention." Chen Gong shook his head helplessly: "It is only General Yide that Cao Cao has 50,000 troops under his command, and our army has collected only 8,000 troops, and without training, and without a battle, the two generals have the courage of ten thousand men. With these troops, how can they resist Cao Cao's 50,000 troops?"

"But if you recruit troops again, you will inevitably be noticed by Cao Cao." Guan Yu frowned. Cao Cao could not detect these 8,000 troops scattered everywhere. If you recruit them again, you will inevitably reveal your traces. If you don't try this at this time, as long as you can block Cao Cao's attack, after Cao Cao's food is exhausted, the 50,000 tiger and wolf army will naturally collapse without fighting.

"The palace estimates that Cao Cao's army can maintain food and grass for at least half a month." Chen Gong shook his head: "Eight thousand soldiers and horses cannot be stationed in all cities. If Cao Cao gathers in one place and avoids fighting and instead subdue other counties, the total food and grass will not be a problem. If the eight thousand soldiers and horses are dispersed, how can he stop Cao Cao from attacking?"

"Don't worry, everyone." Chen Gong smiled and said, "Although this battle is retreating, after Cao Cao raised enough food and grass, he will definitely attack Xuzhou again. This period of time is enough for us to make enough preparations. At that time, it will be the best time for us to occupy this place."

"That army..." Guan Yu asked with a frown.
Chapter completed!