Chapter 409: You have a big trick? It turns out that you are not useless, you have hidden it well enough! As long as I am here, you will become the prince!
The Nine-Rank System, the imperial examination system, and the battle for people's hearts, these are all long-term battles.

The reality is that Liu Bei's attack is imminent.

How to resist the attack of hundreds of thousands of Han troops is the top priority at this moment!
"Bring me the map!"

Cao Cao picked up the information and shouted.

Dian Wei hurriedly ordered the Yulin Guards to bring the map and spread it out in the hall.

Cao Cao studied the information while examining the map.

The nerves of the Qin ministers were also tense. They gathered in front of the map, pointing and talking.

"Fengxiao, in your opinion..."

Cao Cao was just about to ask Guo Jia for countermeasures.

Cao Zhi on the side took the lead and pointed at the map and said:
"Father, I think that Liu Bei will use a strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west when he attacks our Great Qin this time!"

Cao Cao's heart trembled slightly, and his slightly curious gaze immediately shifted from Guo Jia to Cao Zhi.

My son is a man of extraordinary literary talent and is an excellent writer of poetry and prose. Even I feel inferior to him.

Originally, in his opinion, Cao Zhi's talent was limited to poetry and prose, and he knew nothing about military affairs or state affairs.

Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Cao Zhi, who had always been a layman, suddenly spoke.

"How is the big-eared thief going to make a feint to the east and attack in the west? Zijian, tell me."

Cao Cao became interested and waved his hand to give the order.

Cao Zhi then calmly stepped forward and pointed at the map and said:
"The heart of our Great Qin lies in Guanzhong, and the heart of Guanzhong lies in Chang'an. If Liu Bei wants to destroy our Great Qin, he will certainly point his troops to Chang'an."

"The frontal barrier to protect Guanzhong and Chang'an is the natural barrier of Tongguan!"

"Although Liu Bei's national strength and military force are superior to our Great Qin, our Great Qin has Tongguan, a world-famous pass. The geographical advantage is enough to make up for the gap in national strength and military force."

"As long as we hold on to Tongguan and don't go out, Liu Bei will have no chance of breaking through the pass even if he has a million-strong army."

"I can see this, and with Liu Bei's heroic strategy and Xiao Fang's wisdom, how could they not see it?"

Hearing this, the curiosity in Cao Cao's eyes gradually turned into admiration.

Obviously, he never expected that his son would have such a broad perspective, which really surprised him.

There was also a hint of approval in the ministers' eyes towards Cao Zhi.

Only Cao Pi frowned secretly.

"Go on, Zijian!"

Cao Cao waved his hand and continued to urge.

Cao Zhi swallowed his saliva and pointed north of the Yellow River:
"So I speculate that Liu Bei will use his main force to feint an attack on Tongguan in order to draw the main force of the Qin Empire to defend Tongguan."

"In fact, Liu Bei will definitely send another general from Jizhou to the west to attack our Jingxing Pass, Hu and other passes."

"The purpose is naturally to break our Taihang Mountain defense line, directly capture Jinyang, seize Bingzhou, and cut off our Guanzhong arm."

"Once the big-eared thieves take over Bingzhou, the army can move to Hedong, cross the Yellow River to the west, and attack Guanzhong from the northern Puban line!"

“Hedong and Guanzhong were originally one. Although they were separated by the Yellow River, they were far less strategic than Tongguan. It was naturally much less difficult for the Han army to attack Guanzhong from Hedong than from Tongguan.”

"I think that with Liu Bei's heroic strategy and Xiao Fang's wisdom, this is the military strategy they should use to attack our Great Qin and seize our Guanzhong!"

Cao Zhi was spitting saliva and became more and more excited as he spoke, and his words and expression showed a sense of having a plan.

Cao Cao was shocked and suddenly realized.

He suddenly turned around and looked at Cao Zhi with disbelief.

The shocked look in his eyes clearly showed that he couldn't believe that Cao Zhi could be so secretive. He usually seemed to be indifferent to military strategies and wars, but he actually had such a strategy in his mind.

All the ministers were also surprised. In addition to admiration, there was also a bit of respect in their eyes.

Even Cao Pi was so surprised that his mouth opened slightly. Looking at his younger brother who was in the spotlight, he clenched his fists quietly and suddenly felt angry as if he had been deceived.

My younger brother usually looks uninhibited and has no good qualities except drinking, writing poetry and pretending to be cultured.

I didn't expect this guy to be so smart. He actually chose the eve of the Han army's massive attack to come up with such a big move, which instantly impressed Cao Cao and his ministers.

"Zijian, it seems that you are more cunning than I thought..."

Cao Pi glanced at Cao Zhi with a sinister look, and his fists were clenched until they crackled.

"Okay, okay, Zijian, I only knew that you were brilliant in writing, but I didn't expect that you were also well versed in military tactics and could actually see through the Big Eared Thief's military strategy."

"Very good, very good, you are worthy of being my son!"

Cao Cao was naturally very pleased and patted Cao Zhi on the shoulder and praised him repeatedly.

Seeing this scene, Cao Pi gritted his teeth secretly, his heart burning with jealousy.

I first forced Liu Xie to write the edict of abdication, and then offered the Nine-Rank Official System. My contribution was enormous, but you, Cao Cao, only gave me a few symbolic praises.

Now Cao Zhi is just bragging, and whether it is really Liu Bei's strategy has not yet been proven, but you are so happy that you can't stop smiling and praise Cao Zhi to the sky!
How biased!
"Father, you still like Zijian more after all..."

Cao Pi took a deep breath and felt resentful.

"Fengxiao, do you think that what Zijian said was Liu Bei's plan?"

After praising his son, Cao Cao turned his attention to Guo Jia and other counselors.

Guo Jia came back to his senses and hurriedly bowed:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that the Prince of Chenliu has a sharp vision. Bingzhou must be Liu Bei's real main attack direction. We should prepare early to avoid falling into his plan of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west!" Xun You, Zhang Song, Liu Ye and other counselors all agreed with Guo Jia.

"Wenhe, you never say anything unless I ask you."

"Then I will ask you now, what do you think of what Zijian said?"

Cao Cao's gaze shot towards Jia Xu who was hiding behind someone, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.

"Ahem, I think..."

Jia Xu glanced at Cao Zhi, who was in high spirits, and after a moment's hesitation, he said:

"I think what the Prince of Chenliu said makes sense. Liu Bei is indeed very likely to take Bingzhou as the main direction of attack."

His answer was cunning.

On the surface, it seems that he is following the crowd, but in fact, he did not make a final statement and left room for himself.

It makes sense and is very likely...that is, there are other possibilities.

If an accident really happens, it's none of his business.

Cao Cao had no more worries, so he slapped the dragon case:
"In that case, then pass on my order to immediately send another 20,000 troops to Zixiao, and order him to closely monitor the movements of the Han army in Hebei and strictly guard Jingxing Pass and Huguan Pass. Do not let the big-eared thieves break through the Taihang Mountain defense line and endanger Jinyang City!"

"Also, send an order to Miaocai in Yizhou, telling him to prepare himself to prevent the big-eared thief from making a feint attack on Yizhou with a small army."

"From now on, we will gather food and grass at the Tongguan and Wuguan fronts. Chinese and foreign troops will begin to gather and stand by to prepare to fight against the pseudo-Han invasion!"

All the ministers stood up suddenly and accepted the order solemnly.

"Father, I would like to ask for permission to go to Bingzhou to help the General of the Cavalry fight against Liu Bei. I will do my part for the country of Great Qin!"

Cao Zhi knelt on the ground and volunteered to Cao Cao with a righteous look on his face.

Cao Cao was surprised again. He obviously didn't expect that his son was not only a strategic man, but also had a heart to serve his country!
Now is the time when a powerful enemy is invading and the country is in danger. The emperor's son did not hide in the rear to enjoy himself, but went to the front line to fight the enemy side by side with the soldiers. What a great encouragement this will be to the morale of the troops on the front line.

"Well, Zijian, you are really great, you are worthy of being a descendant of the Cao family!"

"I will appoint you as the General of the Central Army and order you to lead 3,000 soldiers to Bingzhou to help your son Xiaoshu fight against Liu Bei and protect Bingzhou!"

Cao Cao stood up and walked down the stairs, helped Cao Zhi up, and gladly agreed to his request.

Cao Zhi was overjoyed and said:

"Don't worry, Father. I will do my best to assist Uncle Zixiao in defending the Taihang line of defense and will never let even a single soldier of the Great Eared Bandits enter Bingzhou!"

Hearing his son's bold words, Cao Cao felt more gratified and couldn't help but pat Cao Zhi's shoulder and laugh.

"Okay, okay, father and son fight together in battle, brothers fight together to kill tigers. We are united as father and son, so why should we worry about not being able to defeat that big-eared thief and retreat!"

Cao Cao's heroic and domineering laughter rang out in the hall.

All the ministers looked at Cao Zhi with admiration and respect.

Only Cao Pi frowned, looking at his younger brother who was in the limelight, a sense of crisis quietly arose in his heart.

He naturally knew that Cao Zhi had volunteered to go to Bingzhou in order to gain military merit and add a few bargaining chips to his fight with him for the position of crown prince.

"Cao Zhi~~"

...

Half an hour later.

Chenliu Palace, a secret room.

"My Lord Dezu, you are indeed as good as a god. Father is indeed discussing how to deal with the invasion of the pseudo-Han at the court meeting today."

"I followed the strategy you taught me in advance and took the initiative to make suggestions to the emperor. As expected, the emperor looked at me with new eyes and praised me highly."

"I stole the show at today's court meeting!"

"You didn't see how ugly Second Brother's face was, hahahaha——"

Cao Zhi talked incessantly about the court meeting, and when he talked about the proud parts, he couldn't help laughing out loud.

Opposite the kneeling young scholar, he just smiled faintly and took a sip of the wine in the glass, as if he had expected it.

The young Confucian scholar was named Yang Xiu.

The Yang family is a prominent family in Hongnong, and its family heritage can be compared with that of the former Yuan family. The head of the family, Yang Biao, is a famous scholar of the time and the Grand Marshal of the former Han Dynasty.

Although most of Hongnong County was occupied by the Han Dynasty, Huayin, where the Yang family was located, was located west of Tongguan and within the territory of the Qin State.

Therefore, Yang Biao and his son followed Cao Cao and moved west to Guanzhong. Later, Cao Cao abolished the Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor, and the father and son became ministers of Qin.

Yang Xiu was gifted since childhood and was praised as a child prodigy. He and Cao Zhi, who also had unparalleled talent, had a deep friendship and a mutual admiration for each other.

Now that Cao Zhi saw that Cao Pi had made successive achievements and was in the limelight, and that he had lost the battle for the throne, he had no choice but to secretly recruit Yang Xiu as his aide to give him advice behind the scenes.

All of Cao Zhi's amazing performances in the court today were merely instructed by Yang Xiu behind the scenes.

Seeing Cao Zhi's smug look, Yang Xiu knew that his plan had worked.

In the battle for the position of crown prince, Cao Zhi, who was originally at a disadvantage, finally turned the tables.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. With me, Yang Xiu, here, the position of Crown Prince will be yours!"

After drinking the whole glass of wine, Yang Xiu made a promise with great confidence.

(End of this chapter)