The land of Jingzhou is calm, and Liu Chan and the others are taking advantage of this opportunity to pursue great development.

But Yecheng is different.

Ever since Cao Cao returned from Guanzhong, there has been an undercurrent surging in Yecheng, and the tense atmosphere lingers.

As the news of Xiahou Yuan's suppression of various rebellions in Guanzhong spread to Yecheng, Cao Cao's self-confidence began to expand unprecedentedly.

He has completely smoothed away the scars left in the Battle of Chibi, and his powerful strength has been witnessed once again.

Although Ma Chao still holds Jicheng, Liang Xing is still resisting.

But in his opinion, it was just the end of his efforts and he no longer needed to worry.

The only thing he worries about is that time waits for no one.

He is already fifty-eight years old, less than two years away from sixty.

His gout problem has been increasingly tormenting his body recently.

He was not sure whether he could live to be seventy years old or whether he would have the chance to become one of the "ancient rare people".

He has already begun to plan what will happen after his death.

He is now the prime minister of the Han Dynasty and has absolute power except Yangzhou, southern Jingzhou, Yizhou and Liangzhou.

He is not even one person below ten thousand people, but holds great power. Although he is not an emperor, he is actually an emperor.

But what happens once he "comes a hundred years later"? Will he die like Huo Guang and his family is wiped out?

He didn't know whether Liu Xie had the political ability of Han Xuan Emperor Liu Xun, but he couldn't gamble.

Therefore, he cannot just be the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, he must pave the way for future generations, so that a hundred years from now, the Cao family can still control the destiny of the world.

Therefore, a plan to "confer a king" has been quietly brewed.

The Han Dynasty has an ancestral system: "Anyone who is not named Liu but is a king will be punished by the whole world."

Although this "iron law" has been broken many times in history, it was eventually corrected.

Although they were as strong as "Lü's relatives" and "Wang's relatives", in the end, all of them were spared the fate of being infamous for thousands of years, and their bodies and families were annihilated.

Therefore, when the world has not yet been calmed down, he cannot be radical, so before "making the king", he decided to take the step of "making the prince" first.

Once the "gong" was completed, he could legitimately classify Jizhou, which was now under his control, as his independent kingdom.

And in this way, after two years, he has made a few more great achievements on the battlefield, defeated a few "rebels", and when the court has no reward, it will be logical for him to "make the king"

.

Under this background, Dong Zhao became his pawn and began to discuss with the ministers of the court to invite him to be the Duke of the country, and asked the court to grant him nine tins to show his outstanding achievements.

To implement such a major event, it naturally requires the support of a large number of important officials in the DPRK.

However, Cao Cao himself also knew that the reason why a large number of people in the court took refuge in him was not because they valued the name Cao Cao.

Instead, he valued the royal family's orthodox brand owned by Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty. Following Cao Cao meant following the Han Dynasty, which was his destiny.

And Xun Yu is the representative of this group of people.

Among this group of people, most of them were either recommended by Xun Yu or recommended by people recommended by Xun Yu.

Almost all of them followed Xun Yu's lead.

Xun Yu, on the other hand, was highly valued by Cao Cao and was compared to the contemporary Zhang Liang.

However, in Cao Cao's mind, this Zhang Liang was not following the Han Emperor Liu Xie, but following him, Cao Cao.

He is Cao Cao's "staff".

Although Xun Yu had completely different ideas from Cao Cao in his heart, when the world was in chaos, Cao Cao had the talent to be a hero. He hoped that Cao Cao could put down the rebellion, help the world, and become the Yin Huo of the contemporary era.

Therefore, he treated Cao Cao with all his heart and helped him wholeheartedly.

Even after Red Cliff, Cao Cao was rude to the Han Emperor many times, but Xun Yu did not change his original intention and was still very respectful to Cao Cao.

But this time, when Dong Zhao went to discuss with Xun Yu about asking Cao Cao to be granted the title of "Gong", he changed his attitude.

He began to doubt whether his original choice was correct, and whether Cao Cao wanted to be the second "Wang Mang".

However, he did not say this to Dong Zhao. Instead, he rejected Dong Zhao's proposal on the grounds that Cao Cao "inclined to be a righteous soldier and an important minister of the country should be loyal and loyal to the Ning Kingdom."

Dong Zhao had a bad experience with Xun Yu. His first attempt at persuading him was about to be ruined by Xun Yu. How could he be willing to accept it?

So, one day later, Cao Cao had just finished discussing with his ministers and generals the matter of launching an army to attack Jiangdong.

Dong Zhao came to Cao Cao alone.

When Cao Cao saw Dong Zhao asking for an audience alone, he thought that his request for "gong" had been settled, and he was full of expectations, so he summoned Dong Zhao.

"Gongren, you came here alone today, but do you have anything important to report?"

Cao Cao got straight to the point and got to the point.

He couldn't wait to know the good news.

However, Dong Zhao said with a sad look on his face: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to accomplish what Duke Ming hopes for!"

When Cao Cao heard this, he frowned suddenly. He had not heard such words for a long time.

In today's Han Dynasty, north of the Yangtze River, he believed that no one could stop him from accomplishing what he wanted to do!

"Could it be..."

He already had some ideas in his mind, but he still asked: "What difficulties have you encountered?"

Dong Zhao said seriously: "Xun Lingjun believes that Duke Ming is the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. He should be loyal to the country and chase down the remaining thieves. He should not blindly pursue fame and fortune."

"Um?"

When Cao Cao heard this, he glared at Dong Zhao and made a heavy nasal sound.

He didn't want to believe that this was what Xun Yu said, but he was worried that it was really what Xun Yu said.

When Dong Zhao saw this, he quickly bowed his hands and said, "My Lord, I have learned from you. Dong Zhao does not dare to talk nonsense."

"Okay, I understand, just go down..."

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he waved his hand to signal Dong Zhao to leave.

Dong Zhao stood up after hearing this, took two steps back, turned and left.

After he turned around, he couldn't help but raise an evil smile at the corner of his mouth, and he was feeling proud in his heart: "Xun Yu, let's see if you can still pass this test!"

When Cao Cao looked at Dong Zhao's figure, he couldn't help but murmured: "Xun Yu... Xun Yu..."

His tone was full of disappointment, and he knew that Xun Yu had gradually started to take a different path from him.

In his mind, he also began to plan another thing.

However, Xun Yu did not know that Dong Zhao had already met Cao Cao, nor did he know that Dong Zhao had "paraphrased" his words to Cao Cao with added embellishments.

Cao Cao also had a knot in his heart because of this.

He was still busy with logistics for Cao Cao's southern expedition, and he still hoped that Cao Cao could defeat Sun Quan and bring shame to Red Cliff with one blood.

At this time, he had been busy all day. After dinner, he came to the study alone with a candle, ready to read for a while before going to bed.

When he lit the candle, he saw two figures appearing on the wall.
Chapter completed!