After hearing what Yuan Xi said, Guo Jia asked, "Excuse me, sir, if we send all our troops to Yangzhou, can we defeat Sun Ce?"
Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "No."
Guo Jia asked again, "If Liu Yao gives Wu County to you, can you keep it?"
Yuan Xi felt a little hurt, but still shook his head and said, "No."
He understood that his strength was still too weak, and he could not swallow up all the territories in front of him.
Guo Jia sneered, "Only the three parties joined forces, plus Cao's army, to finally force Sun Ce to retreat. Now, we cannot defeat Sun Ce with our own strength."
"Besides, he has Yuan Shu's other troops to help him."
"Young Master, you are a ten-year-old child. You want to lift a hundred-jin stone. If you still want to take over Yangzhou, you are overestimating your own abilities."
Yuan Xi agreed deeply and said, "If that's the case, then what about Liu Yao's proposal?"
Guo Jia said: "Just delay and deal with it."
"Liu Yao is the ruler of a state with tens of thousands of soldiers. You, with only thousands of soldiers from Guangling Army, cannot be compared with him. Naturally, he will look down on you and we cannot have a dialogue on an equal footing."
"Your advantage is that you can transport troops back and forth between Youzhou and Guangling, but your disadvantage is also obvious. Guangling City is not yet firmly established, and the people in the surrounding cities are even more uneasy."
"My Lord, using the Chen Deng family system to gather the local nobles is indeed a brilliant idea, but within a year or so, I'm afraid you can only keep a low profile and gradually stabilize the situation in Guangling County."
"Although we cannot cross the river, we can make some promises. If Liu Yao is in trouble, Guangling will be happy to accept them."
Yuan Xi thought to himself that this was indeed the case. Without relying on Chen Deng to buy off the local forces, he would have difficulty recruiting soldiers.
He said, "After we take control of Guangling, what should we do?"
Guo Jia said, "We still have to control Jiangbei first."
"When we can take Hefei, we can then plot our way to Jiangdong."
Yuan Xi turned to Taishi Ci and asked, "What do you think, Ziyi?"
Taishi Ci listened and said, "I agree with your idea. Our army is strong in cavalry and heavy infantry, which is not suitable for fighting on the river."
"It is best to recruit soldiers locally and focus on training naval forces now."
Yuan Xi nodded, "That's settled then. We want to help Liu Yao but we are powerless. We can only clean up our own house first."
"Since Liu Yao's envoy is so rude, let him wait for a few days."
Several people laughed at the same time. Taishi Ci saw that the matter was settled, so he stood up and said goodbye. Yuan Xi stopped him and said, "I have already made an appointment with Mr. Yuan Hua. Ziyi will go to see him when he is free."
Taishi Ci listened and said nonchalantly: "Ci is in good health, what's there to see?"
Yuan Xi thought to himself, you are in good health, how could you die so early? He said, "Mr. Yuan Hua is not an ordinary doctor, Ziyi should take a look."
Seeing that Yuan Xi insisted, Taishi Ci had no choice but to agree.
He turned to Guo Jia, "Sir, remember to go too."
Yuan Xi was still worried that the two would just evade the issue, so he said, "I will personally take you two to see Mr. Yuan Hua tomorrow."
After hearing this, Guo Jia said angrily, "Life and death are determined by fate. If he really finds out something, wouldn't it affect my mood?"
Taishi Ci and Guo Jia didn't take it seriously. They were in their prime and had lived better than most people over the years. What could be a problem?
However, the next day, after Hua Tuo examined the two, he looked a little serious and said, "Neither of you will live long."
Taishi Ci and Guo Jia showed disbelief on their faces after hearing this. They had always felt full of energy and showed no signs of discomfort, so how could they die so young?
If Yuan Xi had not been there, they would have raised doubts long ago.
Yuan Xi sighed inwardly, as he expected, there was indeed a problem.
Seeing the two men's doubtful expressions, Hua Tuo turned to Taishi Ci and said, "General, you have been in battle and your body has been damaged a lot."
"Especially between the chest and lungs, there are many blood clots that block the meridians. If this continues for a long time, it will definitely shorten your life."
Taishi Ci was puzzled and asked, "I have never been injured, how can there be blood clots?"
Hua Tuo thought for a while, "General, can you let me see how you attack and kill the enemy in battle?"
After hearing this, Taishi Ci stood up, picked up the double halberds he carried with him, and walked to the courtyard.
Each of his two short spears weighs more than ten pounds, which is quite heavy for a one-handed weapon.
Yuan Xi watched intently. He hadn't seen Taishi Ci take action for a long time. Today was a good opportunity!
Taishi Ci pointed one halberd to the sky and the other to the horizon, and then he took a stance. Suddenly, he spread his arms apart and the two short halberds leaped up like dragons.
In the first few moves, Yuan Xi could still see the trajectory of the short spear, but when Taishi Ci shook his arms, all the trajectories instantly exploded into silver light in the sky.
Accompanied by the whistling sound of the wind, two short spears suddenly appeared on all sides of Taishi Ci's body, appearing and disappearing, seeming to disappear in an instant and appearing in another place the next moment!
Yuan Xi stared at Taishi Ci's arm and found that his muscles were knotted and seemed about to burst his robe. It was obvious that he had used his real strength.
But he also discovered that Taishi Ci's face was flushed abnormally, and his chest kept rising and falling, and when he took a deep breath, the sound was like a bellows.
As the sound of the wind became increasingly shrill, the silver light formed by the tip of the halberd had enveloped Taishi Ci's entire body like a cover.
Just when Yuan Xi thought it was about to end, the next moment the cover suddenly shattered, and the whistling wind stopped instantly!
Yuan Xi was facing Taishi Ci at this time, and found that at this moment, the surrounding scenery seemed to be dark, and only Taishi Ci was left in front of him.
This is an illusion because Taishi Ci is too conspicuous.
His arms grew a little bigger, and his chest rose and fell several times in an instant. He was obviously breathing rapidly. The sound coming out of his mouth was like a whistle, and his face turned purple.
The shield formed by the halberd tips in his hands exploded. Yuan Xi couldn't see where the halberd tips were, as if they had disappeared!
But Yuan Xi knew that at this moment, Taishi Ci increased the speed of the short spear several times, so much so that it exceeded the limit of his vision!
With a thunderous explosion, strong winds appeared around Taishi Ci, spreading out with his body as the center and blowing on everyone's faces, stinging like a winter wind knife, forcing everyone to retreat.
Taishi Ci then put away his halberd and stood still, his chest rising and falling. At this moment, his body was a little hunched, as if he had lost his strength.
Even those present who did not know martial arts burst into thunderous cheers at the same time. Taishi Ci's power made everyone feel the same!
Yuan Xi was dumbfounded and shocked. Is this Taishi Ci's true strength?
It seems that after the battle with Sun Ce, Taishi Ci's martial arts have improved a lot!
However, he also noticed that Taishi Ci's face was red and the color did not fade for a long time.
At this time, Hua Tuo said, "This is it."
"The general's breathing method is extremely unique. It can quickly inhale and exhale a large amount of heaven and earth energy in a short period of time, which can increase strength and make movements faster."
"But the price is that the general's body can bear it, but his internal organs can't. After this set of attacks, he has already suffered a lot of hidden injuries."
Hua Tuo asked Taishi Ci to take off his shirt and sit down, and ordered his disciples to bring a set of golden needles. While speaking, he inserted more than a dozen needles into the acupuncture points on Taishi Ci's chest, and then pulled them all out with a shake of his hands.
Taishi Ci only felt a sweetness in his throat and then he spat out a mouthful of blood. Suddenly he felt his chest lighten and his feeling of depression disappeared.
Hua Tuo saw it and said, "If you don't spit it out in time, it will turn into blood stasis, stagnate in the heart and lungs, and damage your body."
"I'll prescribe some medicine for you. Go back and recuperate. Don't use your energy like this again for ten days or half a month."
Taishi Ci said respectfully: "Sir, your medical skills are indeed extraordinary!"
Hua Tuo sighed and said, "The way to keep healthy is to be moderate and peaceful, but fighting is about killing and bloodshed. The two are diametrically opposed."
When Yuan Xi saw the blush on Taishi Ci's face slowly fading away, he seemed to realize something. He suddenly remembered that although Guan Yu blushed in this life, his face was far from being as red as a date.
However, based on his memory of meeting Guan Yu several times, Guan Yu's face seemed to be getting darker and redder?
If, as Hua Tuo said, Guan Yu might also have a breathing method similar to Taishi Ci's, which could suddenly increase his combat effectiveness.
Taishi Ci's method of suddenly inhaling and exhaling is extremely damaging to the heart and lungs, and his face turns red when doing so. This may be the reason for his untimely death.
As for Guan Yu's method, although the congestion on his face was more obvious, perhaps the damage to his heart and lungs was less than that of Taishi Ci, so he could live longer?
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi advised Taishi Ci: "Ziyi should be more careful in the future. Don't use this method unless it is absolutely necessary."
Taishi Ci lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head and smiled: "A real man should carry a seven-foot sword in his life to ascend to the throne of the emperor. Now that my ambition has not been fulfilled, how can I hesitate?"
After hearing this, Hua Tuo sighed and said, "Everyone has his own aspirations. Since the general has realized this, I will not say anything."
"But you can take medicine to regulate your body and practice the Five Animal Exercises to alleviate some of the hidden injuries in your body."
Taishi Ci heard this and clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, sir."
Yuan Xi sighed inwardly, it seemed that Taishi Ci had made up his mind. Given his character, he would never be timid in the face of the enemy on the battlefield because of his physical condition.
Hua Tuo called Guo Jia over to take his pulse again. Guo Jia saw that Hua Tuo was really capable, so he became a little uneasy.
As a result, Hua Tuo took Guo Jia's pulse on both hands in turn, looked at his tongue and pinched his body, asked Guo Jia about his daily diet and daily habits, and asked Guo Jia to stand up and do a few exercises. This was actually much more troublesome than when he diagnosed Taishi Ci just now.
After working for a long time, Hua Tuo finally returned to his seat, closed his eyes and remained silent.
After a long time, he let out a long breath and said, "You"
"That's amazing."
Everyone was stunned. What did Hua Tuo mean by this?
Hua Tuo then said, "Your physical condition has deteriorated even more than General Taishi's."
"If you continue like this, you'll probably die soon."
Taishi Ci heard this and said in a lost voice: "How is this possible? Could it be that Mr. Fengxiao also injured his body while practicing martial arts?"
Hua Tuo sighed: "Of course not, he knows nothing about martial arts."
"What I admire is that just from indulging in lust, his physical damage far exceeds that of General Taishi who went to the battlefield. He is really amazing."
When these words were spoken, everyone was dumbfounded.