When facing Liu Bei's question, civil officials with more righteous thoughts generally felt that Cao Cao might really not be able to fight and had to seek peace.

These staff members, including Lu Su and Ju Su, made suggestions, hoping that Liu Bei would carefully consider how to design negotiation conditions so that Cao Cao could believe in the court's sincerity in accepting the negotiations.

Even if you get one or two points to get the opponent to put down your weapon, it is good.

Of course, if there is a "king faction" there will be "scepticism in all factions". In this regard, Fa Zheng is the representative. He did not believe Cao Cao's willingness to believe in the court no matter how he said that. He felt that Cao Cao was so suspicious that there would be no chance unless Cao Cao died!

Both civil servants briefly explained their views and had a brief debate in front of the imperial court.

Fa Zheng even said in the end: He was not advocating killing and did not like peaceful reunification, but felt that Cao Cao was helpless, and suspected that he would become stronger as everyone betrayed their relatives.

If you really want to be peacefully reunified, it is better to expect Cao Cao to be killed in a dignified manner on the battlefield and then show your sincerity. Even if you promise to confer a title of marquis to Cao Ang, who inherited Cao Cao's remaining territory, in exchange for peaceful acceptance of the last two states, it is more reliable than now.

Fa Zheng felt that at least Cao Ang was still young and had little experience and was not contaminated by Cao Cao's suspicion. To establish mutual trust, he could only start a new business.

Liu Bei listened to the discussions of the five civil servants under the tent, pondering for a while.

However, in the end, everyone gave a very useful consensus conclusion: that is, both parties think that tomorrow's negotiations should be bargained, regardless of whether the negotiation is finally completed, whether the other party is sincere or whether it is fraudulent.

When this conclusion was just thrown out, Liu Bei was still surprised. He couldn't help but ask Lu Su and Fa Zheng at the same time:

"Your faction has just supported the peace talks, but the other faction feels that peace talks are hopeless. Why do you finally have such a unified opinion on this issue?"

Fa Zheng glanced at Lu Su, and saw that Lu Su had no intention of answering, he bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, no matter whether the negotiation is completed or not, it is because Cao Cao is suspicious that he cannot directly agree to the conditions he has issued. Otherwise, it would not seem that the court is kind and tolerant, but it seems like it is fake and has no intention of fulfilling the contract."

Liu Bei also immediately understood that he still understood this kind of human nature and worldly manners.

However, in the past one or two years, he has been asking himself to study "Confucianism and Law" written by Li Su, and has already made the world more imaginative and relied on credit, which is a bit idealistic.

Fa Zheng and Lu Su's persuasion quickly restored Liu Bei to the cognitive unity of ideals and reality.

He immediately admitted his mistake to Fa Zheng Lu Su: "It was my negligence for a moment, and I just thought that Cao Cao sent someone to discuss. There must be many internal obstacles and looking forward to the front and back, so the court should try its best to appease and show kindness. But if I forget not to bargain, it would be like a fake."

Liu Bei was simply, after accepting advice humbly, he quickly asked the ministers to discuss the specific details of tomorrow's negotiations, and decided to take the opportunity of court discussions to meet Xun Yu, so that all the civil officials in front of him would attend.

...

The next morning, at 3 o'clock, Xun Yu and Sima brothers were summoned and arrived in Ruyang to visit.

After passing the third floor gate and entering the main hall, the house where I was walking was not big and the county government changed it, so the main hall could not have the temperament of the main hall. It would be nice to have dozens of people standing there.

There were ten Tiger guards wearing white helmets standing on both sides of the hall, and there were ten on the left and right under the door corridor, only forty in total, plus Chen Dao stood at the steps to command these people.

Chen arrived next to him, and three civil officials stood on each side. The left head was Lu Su, Ju Su, Huang Quan, and the right head was Fa Zheng, Zhuge Jin, and Xu Shu.

Before Xun Yu came in, he got a list and clearly told him which court officials attended today and how to schedule the shifts. He would not have to introduce him to him before the matter was serious.

So Xun Yu knew that in today's occasion, Li Su and Zhuge Liang were not there, and even Zhong Yao and Xun You were in the rear.

Maybe there is a chance to take advantage of the absence of several of the most intelligent civil officials under Liu Bei's command to win a relatively better condition for Cao Cao.

After Xun Yu stood still and expressed his intentions, he was interrupted by Chen Dao before he could get to the point. Why didn't he bow to him?

Of course, bowing does not mean kneeling, but at least a bow of more than 90 degrees, you must straighten your arms and bow.

No matter what, the Han Dynasty ministers should definitely worship the king, unless there is an additional gift of not worshiping or seeking.

Of course, Chen Dao's reprimand was not his own intention. He was also explained in advance. Xun Yu came to see him this time and asked for peace. The legal characterization should be "begging for surrender".

If Liu Bei agreed to the conditions offered by the other party, it would be a favor to reward Cao Cao with a chance to exempt him from punishment and retain his title, so that Cao Cao himself could figure it out, no longer respect the hypocrite, and change his family to respect the true emperor.

Of course, the two sides are not negotiating equally, one is the king and the other is the minister.

Xun Yu hesitated for a few seconds and felt that it was not too much. Indeed, if you want to negotiate, the premise is that Cao Cao recognizes Liu Bei as Zhengshuo, just worship him.

Xun Yu respectfully followed the most complete etiquette, and then the two sides began negotiations.

To be precise, it was Xun Yu who represented Cao Cao's "disclosure".

The specific wording is of course a bit of a touch of writing, and there is no need to elaborate it all. The general idea is nothing more than Cao Cao's hope to retain the rule of Yan and Qing prefectures, but he did not dare to seek hereditary power. He asked His Majesty to approve him to the east of the court until the end of his life.

In addition, Cao Cao prayed to retain the county duke whom Liu He gave him, or asked Liu Bei to recognize the county duke as well.

Finally, I hope to recommend his son Cao Ang to be appointed as the governor of Qingzhou or Qingzhou defense envoy for life

This is different from hereditary, because Cao Cao only requires two generations of wealth. Cao Ang is over 25 years old and has an official position. In Liu He's puppet dynasty in Guandong, with Cao Cao helping him. Cao Ang's political achievements seemed good and he was promoted very quickly. Cao Cao asked Cao Ang for an official position, so he could not be considered a pursuit of hereditary.

If all this is done, Cao Cao was willing to disband the stern men and the newly expanded army of Gangla, and only retained one troops garrisoning Yan and Qingzhou, and this garrison was nominally the troops of the Han court.

As for Cao Cao's change of flag, it was originally the most basic prerequisite.

But it is obvious that Cao Cao's offer is still relatively high, and Xun Yu felt it was a bit unlikely when he retelled it.

Who made Cao Cao not actually plan to get a deal? All he thought about was to use negotiations to pretend to be cowardly and let Liu Bei underestimate the enemy and advance rashly.

Liu Bei did not want to force Cao Cao to continue to resist, but both sides felt that they had to bargain to appear real, and the court did not intend to agree easily, but agreed to be prepared to do it.

Therefore, Fa Zheng quickly acted as a villain on behalf of the court and rebuked Xun Yu's offer with righteousness:

"Mr. Xun, is it because Cao Cao is too insincere to have such conditions! And it is inconsistent! He wants his father and son to be the governor of Yanzhou for two generations, so it is still possible to discuss. After all, when the late emperor was still alive, he was appointed as General Zhendong and the governor of Yanzhou.

Your Majesty only punished him for not knowing the true crime after he was divided into two parts of the world. This can be discussed. But even in the Liu He puppet dynasty, the previous Qingzhou master was Yuan Tan, and Yuan Tan was not dead yet. Why did Cao Cao ask for such conditions? Could it be that he did not help Yuan Tan attack Yuan Shang, but had already puppet Yuan Tan?"

Cao Cao was the prime minister in the pseudo-dynasty of Kanto. He could indeed propose to Liu Bei on behalf of the Kanto bureaucratic group to reconcile the formality of surrender, but in terms of law, he could not have any conditions.

Especially Cao Cao has not smashed Yuan Shao's sign yet, and he has always played the role of "helping Brother Benchu ​​to clean up his door and helping his eldest son deal with the rebellious thief brother". As for Yuan Tan being undermined by him and Zhang He being attracted by him, it is just a fact, not a law.

The title of great righteousness cannot be wrong!

Of course, Liu Bei could severely punish the remaining people of the Yuan family, but the heavenly punishment came from above. If it was punished, it was Liu Bei's punishment. Cao Cao didn't need to help him with punishment first!

Xun Yu was also a little speechless. He did not expect that Liu Bei's court was so open-minded, not afraid of dirting his hands or causing hatred. He had to make a strict judgment in person. How should the Yuan family decide the capital by themselves?

"I thought that Cao Gong had offended the Jizhou clan. After Liu Bei pacified Ji, he would want to win over the hearts of the gentry in Jizhou, so he was unwilling to personally judge the remnants of the Yuan family.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei was so upright and did not rely on "pretending to stop calculating the dead" to win over the remaining relatives of the Yuan Shi family. Cao Gong miscalculated this time..."

Xun Yu felt a little powerless, but he actually felt a little admiration for Liu Bei.

He had previously suspected that Li Su had taught Liu Bei to take the right path and reshape the court's loyalty. However, after hearing this today, he felt that this was really credible, at least 20%.

However, Xun Yu still fought for Cao Cao again, and emphasized that Cao Cao had made contributions to expanding territory for the Han Dynasty. He once relied on Guangying and Hai Trade in Donghai County, Xuzhou to develop the three Han, Danluo, Tsuma, etc.

Now Cao Cao has the sincerity to surrender and is willing to give up Xuzhou. If he fails to obtain the coastal ports along Qingzhou, he will not be able to serve the Han Dynasty in the east. Please consider promising the title of emperor.

At the cost, Cao Cao would hand over all the newly conquered Dongyi lands such as the Three Hans, Danluo, and Ma to the Han Dynasty in the future.

After the negotiations, Liu Bei naturally could not agree. At most, he would only give the governor and defensive envoy of one state to retain Cao Cao's ranks of General Cao's expedition and the Duke of the County.

Moreover, the governor and defense envoy of a state were also held by Cao Cao, Cao Ang and his son at the same time. There is no problem of father's death and son's succession. There will be no source of the bad habit of "the court allows hereditary to be passed down", and both sides will save face.

If you don’t give up any concessions in matters involving status, you will be given any kindness and punishment in the future. Cao Cao does not need to help punish Yuan Tan. Liu Bei also believes that if Cao Cao truly surrenders and is willing to trust the court, he should accept this condition.

If you don’t accept it, it’s not that the actual benefits are too little, but that Cao Cao doesn’t believe in the court!

It was Cao Cao who felt that the court was vain and would settle the score sooner or later!

The envoys from both sides returned two or three times, and they talked for seven or eight days. In the end, Cao Cao killed himself and wanted to keep Qingzhou, go to the sea port, and personally control overseas territory for life.

Finally, Cao Cao also proposed that if he was allowed to surrender, the court would first release the sea blockade and let his children of the Cao family lead some of the army to Danluo and Sanhan to maintain the place so that he could feel at ease.

After all, the power of the sea ships under Cao Cao was made by Zhao Yun in the Battle of Yishui last year. The remaining ships were small and there was no time for big ships to be built, so even if there were naval generals like Lu Xun, they could not cross the sea.

Outside the sea of ​​Qingzhou, there have been a large number of Taishici's fleets patrolling the net!

Liu Bei certainly refused to agree to this condition. If Cao Cao escaped to the Three Hans or even brought in a match, even if he only brought tens of thousands of elite soldiers, it would spread to the point where he could not be dealt with in the future.

As for those barbarian areas, will Liu Bei not fight after he handles Cao Cao? Cao Cao is not needed at all.

Finally, Cao Cao pretended to be worried about the personal safety of his and his tribe members, and did not dare to believe Liu Bei. On the 17th day of the twelfth lunar month, he began to choose to withdraw his troops from Chen County.

Obviously, Cao Cao realized that the negotiations had broken down and took the attitude of "forced self-defense" and wanted to gradually move closer to the rear of Qingzhou.

Qingzhou also has the danger of Mount Tai Mengshan (Yimengshan), which is no better than the other four plain states in the five prefectures of Kanto. Therefore, if Cao Cao gathers troops to defend Qingzhou, it is possible to delay it for another two years.

When I arrived in Qingzhou, I just didn't think about anything, so I focused on building ships and wanted to go to sea to transfer, and escaped the lives of the whole family.

This attitude is very reasonable. No matter how you look at it, it was Cao Cao's fear and disbelief that led to the breakdown of the negotiations and had to shrink.

Chen County was soon abandoned, and the remaining half of the eastern part of Chen County was gradually withdrawn under the destruction of Cao's army's strong walls and clearance.
Chapter completed!