Jia Xu and Guo Jia's words could be considered a different form of approval for Chen Xi's approach, and Liu Bei was able to understand Chen Xi's actions, but he was not here to discuss this matter; instead, he planned to proceed to the next step.

Xuu Zijiang's official announcement also served as a warning to all the Feudal Lords of the current world that it's time to suppress the Outer Barbarians.

In Shouchun, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu left their respective places of comfort and journeyed together to Eastern Wu. There were matters that needed resolving— the Eastern Wu War should end; continuing any longer would mark them both as incompetent.

In Chang'an, Cao Cao gently burned the official announcement. Just as Liu Bei and Sun Ce had come to realizations, Cao Cao also understood what issues needed to be addressed openly now; other matters needed to be postponed.

"Zhongde, have you figured out the military establishment of the Xiliang Army yet?" After Cao Cao burned the announcement, he went out to find Cheng Yu. If Dong Zhuo's Army had anything worth learning, it would undoubtedly be its military establishment, truly a formidable force.

"It's a very simple military establishment, but it doesn't suit us," Cheng Yu said with a wry smile. He was half Commander-in-chief, half strategist, so he had a deep understanding of military establishments; this was why Cao Cao had him analyze the core strength of Dong Zhuo's Army.

"Why?" Cao Cao asked, puzzled.

Cheng Yu wryly explained the pyramid structure of the strong Xiliang Army to Cao Cao, whose face twisted into a knot.

"That's not right! If that's the case, when we captured Uncle Zhang, the Xiliang Army should have been fighting desperately. Another Chief General should have immediately replaced him!" Cao Cao suddenly realized and asked.

According to Cheng Yu's explanation, unless such an army as the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was entirely destroyed in its establishment, it should be a classic example of fighting to the bitter end.

"If other soldiers are the strongest of the Officers' Headquarters Personal Guard Corps, then if the Xiliang Army appears with personal guards, it would definitely be psychologically the weakest of the Xiliang Army," Cheng Yu said with a wry smile, "Logically speaking, Xiliang Soldiers should not have personal guards within the establishment. The so-called leader's personal guards are actually the officer group of the Xiliang Army establishment, which can assume the position of Chief General and continue to fight immediately after the Chief General falls."

Cao Cao was clearly bewildered at the idea of a military where personal guards are the weakest. What kind of situation was this?

"The presence of personal guards is to protect the leaders, but if the Chief General is captured, the personal guards naturally become hesitant. If it were the original military establishment of the Xiliang Army, a second-tier, top-ranked successor would directly assume the position," Cheng Yu explained helplessly, "So, for the Xiliang Army, taking down the Chief General isn't significantly impactful."

"So you're saying that the only reason we were able to absorb the entire Iron Cavalry guarding Boyuan was due to Zhang Ji's indulgence?" Cao Cao suddenly felt a cold sweat on his back, truly one step away from death.

"That's the only explanation," Cheng Yu said helplessly, "and only someone like Zhang Ji, standing at the second sequence of the entire Xiliang Iron Cavalry group, could change the entire group's military structure. People say Zhang Ji indulged Zhang Xiu; today, it seems the words were not wrong!"

"What about our military establishment?" Cao Cao asked helplessly. The fastest way to form combat power in the world is definitely the Xiliang Army's establishment, but such an establishment represents the most extreme exploitation of the lowest ranks!

"The twenty ranks of Qin Nobility, as Changwen suggests; only such a system could ignite the fighting spirit of the Guanzhong people," Cheng Yu sighed.

"It can only be done this way. I'm planning to take action against the Qiang and Hu this winter," Cao Cao sighed, saying that Xuu Zijiang's announcement, aside from anything else, had pushed Cao Cao to where he couldn't retreat. After all, Liu Bei and others did not speak of anything else; at least they were still working practically, whereas he had some other sins in his practical work.

According to Xuu Zijiang's announcement, someone like Cao Cao was not only failing in his duties but also harming the nation...

In desperation, Cao Cao planned to carry out some substantial actions first. Since the Qiang and Hu could not wait any longer, taking advantage of the situation also counted as expanding territory.

"This winter?" Cheng Yu felt exceedingly troubled.

Cao Cao's biggest issue is with veterans; although after two years, some veterans have been trained, to be honest, these veterans are substandard, and their Essence, Qi, and Spirit are nowhere near those who have experienced large corps warfare or those who emerged from the Yuan Liu battle.

"We can no longer retreat. If I'm not mistaken, the Qiang and Hu will certainly come to plunder this winter; Yongzhou is already affluent enough to be called prosperous," Cao Cao said, looking at the cold gleam in Cheng Yu's eyes, clear to see. Since he had to fight, why not take the initiative?

"If so, after forming an alliance with Yuan Tan, we won't have enough troops to receive Bingzhou's forces," Cheng Yu asked with a furrowed brow.

"We can only cover one side with our current forces," Cao Cao said coldly, "The Northern Xianbei's military edge is still far from Yongzhou, while Liangzhou's Qiang and Hu have already pointed their swords at Chang'an. In such circumstances, we have no choice."

"However, given the current situation, Yuan Tan will definitely withdraw the defensive forces from Bingzhou. At that time, if the Xianbei invade, Bingzhou will certainly be in chaos. Even if Lyu Bu guards Bingzhou's frontier, without a stable rear and sufficient grain supplies, repelling the Xianbei will be extremely difficult," Cheng Yu pondered for a while before speaking. Unless absolutely necessary, Cheng Yu would maintain humanity.

"Write to Lyu Bu, tell him to guard Jiuyuan and Wuyuan, have Gongtai, Kongming (Hu Zhao), Ziyuan move as many people to Jiuyuan and Wuyuan as possible, and ignore other places. After Yuan Tan withdraws, I will provide grain from Yongzhou, and it's enough to guard those two places!" Cao Cao thought for a moment before slowly speaking.

Yongzhou has now also been restored to a scene of vast farmland, and food is not particularly scarce. Cao Cao hesitated for a moment and still decided to wash himself clean.

Of course, Yongzhou is currently not lacking in grain, assuming the aristocratic families of Yongzhou do not reclaim the fertile lands there. Previously, when Li Jue fought, although the relationship with aristocratic families was later eased, during the initial chaos, all the aristocratic families were deterred by force, enabling several million people to directly be given land.

Naturally, since there was nobody to dredge Yongzhou's water network in the past, much of these distributed lands were abandoned, but abandonment does not imply these places were ownerless; on the contrary, 90% of these places were properties of local tyrants and aristocratic families.

While Li Jue was still present, even after the water network was completed and Guanzhong was restored to its pastoral glory, nobody dared suggest to Li Jue to return these places. But now that Cao Cao is in power, the aristocratic families of Yongzhou are eager to reclaim these fertile lands, with even the Yang Family already overstepping and beginning to reclaim.

Cao Cao has also paid attention to this aspect, but now is not the time to clash with the aristocratic families; he needs to wait for an opportunity.

If these lands were truly reclaimed by the aristocratic families, everything that Cao Cao currently possessed would become fleeting; the aristocratic families' attachment to land has not changed for thousands of years. It can be a basis for prosperity and also the root of destruction. (To be continued. If you like this work, please support it by voting on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)