An analysis of the social structure of the Han Dynasty, the thoughts of wealthy families, and considerations of the overall class.
This allowed him to see the truth about those so-called aristocratic families in more detail.
For him, it was like an enlightenment and was very beneficial.
Time flies by quickly, and it’s the end of the year in a blink of an eye.
Deng Hong took Shen Chen north to Huangmenting and returned to his hometown to celebrate the New Year.
For Cao Cao, he had many things to do during the New Year and had no time to have a good New Year.
The first is the issue of food and grass. Historically, at the beginning of the first year of Jian'an, before welcoming Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao defeated the Yingchuan Runan Yellow Turbans and obtained a large number of cattle, farm tools and labor force.
At that time, Cao Cao had two generals, one named Zao Zhi and the other named Han Hao. They suggested to Cao Cao that they could solve the food problem in Yingchuan.
As a result, in the first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao used the power of the Runan Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan, that is, He Yi and He Man's gang, to farm in Yingchuan. In one year, he obtained millions of dendrobium of grain and grass, which initially solved the food crisis.
But now He Yi and He Man's gang have been deceived into Nanyang, and they are still farming in Nanyang under the control of Liu Biao. Even the grain produced belongs to Liu Biao and has nothing to do with Cao Cao.
Therefore, although Cao Cao used the original million Qingzhou Yellow Turbans as his team and still carried out farming work at the suggestion of Zao Zhi and Han Hao, the harvest was far from what he imagined.
Secondly, there are political issues. Cao Cao has not yet completely controlled Liu Xie, and the power of the royalists is still very strong.
Now there are a group of veterans in the court, such as Yang Biao, Zhao Wen, Zhang Xi, Fu Wan, etc., as well as a large number of middle and lower-level officials, such as Kong Rong, Wang Yi, Zhong Ji, Wu Shuo, Wang Zifu, Liu Bei, Wu Zilan and others. They are all supporters of the Han Dynasty.
These people formed Liu Xie's loyal team, many of whom had military power. Now there are a certain number of troops protecting him, including the palace gate guards and the outside.
For example, Liu Bei.
Yes, Liu Bei is in Xudu now.
At the end of this year, Liu Bei and Lu Bu fought again and were defeated by Lu Bu. When he heard that Liu Xie had arrived in Xuchang, he went west to Xudu to defect to the emperor. Liu Xie followed the genealogy and recognized Liu Bei as his uncle, and treated him very well.
Cao Cao then represented Liu Bei as the shepherd of Yuzhou and asked him to bring some troops to Runan to defend Yuan Shu, taking the opportunity to transfer him away from the emperor.
However, although Liu Bei was transferred away, the palace guards were still loyal to Liu Xie and there were not many of them. Cao Cao did not dare to do anything to Liu Xie, so now his attitude towards Liu Xie was superficially very respectful and he did not dare to do anything. Too many threats and compulsions.
Regarding these two problems, Cao Cao still struggled to find some ways to solve them.
Food and grass issues.
There is still a shortage of food and grass. For this reason, his choice is that since there are no prisoners of the Yellow Turbans to farm, he will find another way and send people to Runan, Chen, Liang and other places to move the people to Xudu and turn these people into farm households. , barely getting through this crisis.
In fact, there are two advantages to doing this. First, the areas of Chen and Liang in Runan have been occupied by Yuan Shu since the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Later, a large number of Yellow Turbans settled here, making the Henan area very desolate and dilapidated, and the population dropped sharply.
In this case, the land is vast and sparsely populated. Although Cao Cao currently occupies these places, it is almost difficult to manage the people here. It is better to move all the scattered people in this area to Yingchuan and centralize them for unified production. This solves the management problem.
Second, Yuan Shu's strength is still there, and he does not dare to take it lightly in the face of the threat that Yuan Shu may come at any time, so he moved the people in Henan to Yingchuan, creating an isolation zone in disguise, so that Yuan Shu could attack over a long distance, with thousands of miles of food and grass in between.
Without replenishment, his supply line would be lengthened and his march would be difficult.
Therefore, although the process was difficult, Cao Cao still solved the food problem with great difficulty. At least his army no longer had to live a precarious life like before, and even the food was mixed with human breasts.
As for the political issues, he transferred Liu Bei to Runan in order to weaken Liu Xie's foreign aid, and secretly inserted his cronies into the palace guards, hoping to slowly infiltrate him.
When one of his men becomes the leader of the palace guards in the future, Liu Xie will be completely reduced to a puppet in his hands, controlled by him.
However, these things cannot be solved overnight, so he can only be patient and take it step by step.
At this moment, at the end of December of the first year of Jian'an, Sikong Mansion, Xudu.
Cao Cao was handling some official business in the backyard study. He looked very unhappy. Last month, his important adviser Xi Zhicai died of illness. He lost someone who could advise him, which made him feel like he was missing a right-hand man.
a feeling of.
"Oh, Zhicai."
Thinking of this close comrade-in-arms, Cao Cao felt very painful. He threw the brush in his hand on the pen holder and had no intention of dealing with government affairs. When he walked out of the door, he saw five-year-old Cao Zhi endorsement in the yard from a distance, and he felt a little better.
My fourth son has been extremely intelligent since he was a child. He is already familiar with scriptures at the age of five and can even write his own articles. With such intelligence, he at least does not have to worry about having no successors in the future.
Just as he was thinking about it, little Cao Zhi had already jumped across the yard. A young man of about twenty years old walked out of the stone arch on the right.
He came to the study and said, "Father."
"It's Zixiu."
Cao Cao was even more satisfied when he saw Cao Ang. He stroked his beard and said, "What's the matter?"
Cao Ang said: "Mr. Wen Ruo wants to see you."
"Is he alone?"
"I also brought another gentleman."
"Let them in."
Cao Cao turned around and returned to the study, sitting on the banquet and waiting for Xun Yu.
His relationship with Xun Yu was actually more like a cooperative relationship than a superior-subordinate relationship. For example, Xun Yu's address to Cao Cao was more official and formal, and he would never call him "Ming Gong" as a subordinate official responds to his superiors.
Therefore, when Xun Yu entered Cao Cao's residence, it would be more formal. He would have to notify Cao Cao first and wait for Cao Cao's approval before he could enter.
On the other hand, Xi Zhicai often went in directly without anyone stopping him.
When Xun Yu came in, he also brought a young man in his twenties with him. After entering the study, he first bowed his hand to Cao Cao: "Sikong."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded and said, "Sit down."
Xun Yu and the young man sat on a table next to Cao Cao.
After they sat down, Cao Cao asked: "Wen Ruo, it's almost the end of the year, what do you want from me?"
Xun Yu said: "After Zhicai died of illness, Sikong wrote to me and asked me to recommend a person who can replace Zhicai. Won't I bring him here?"
The young man smiled and saluted Cao Cao and said, "Guo Jia pays homage to Sikong."
"oh?"
Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia very surprised and saw that he was about twenty-five or six years old, with a thin face and good appearance, and he felt very fond of him.
But in this era, there are countless people with good looks. Being handsome does not necessarily mean being talented. Therefore, Cao Cao pondered for a moment and asked: "Since Wen Ruo recommended him, he must be a great talent. I wonder if he can handle national affairs?"
Guo Jia smiled and said, "What does Sikong mean?"
Cao Cao thought for a while and said: "Now that the world is in chaos, I am planning to send troops from all directions. How should I do this?"
Guo Jia pondered for a moment and replied: "Sikong serves the emperor to fight against his enemies, so he should use troops from all over the world. But Yuan Shao in the north is very powerful, so it is not suitable to be hostile to him for the time being. He should be friends with him. Therefore, Sikong's main use of troops should be to occupy Henan first.
Look in all directions again."
Cao Cao said: "What do you mean?"
Guo Jia said: "Sikong must first deal with all enemies that can threaten Xudu, such as Zhang Xiu in Nanyang, Lu Bu in Xuzhou, and Yuan Shu in Huainan. After obtaining the land in Henan and accumulating strength, he can attack Yuan Shao in the north.
.”
Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "This is exactly the talent I am looking for. You have the same idea as me. I also plan to defeat Zhang Xiu in Nanyang first, and then conquer Lu Bu, Yuan Shu and others."
Xun Yu was surprised and said: "Is Sikong going to send troops again so soon? Frequent campaigns may be detrimental to the country and the country."
Cao Cao sighed: "Time has not waited for me, and I don't know that years of war will destabilize the morale of the army and the people. However, there are many thieves and bandits from all over the world, and they all have a disobedient heart. If they want to help the Han Dynasty, they can only send troops to fight against them.
I plan to go to Zhangxiu in the next year, and I will be relying on you in the rear."
In fact, he had already thought about the expedition against Zhang Xiu as early as last month. Nanyang was too close to Yingchuan. If Zhang Xiu was not dealt with first, there would be a risk that his hometown would be stolen once he attacked Xuzhou eastward.
Therefore, adopting the principle of making friends from far away and attacking closely, he must eliminate the forces surrounding his lair one by one.
This is what he did historically.
Zhang Xiu was the closest, so he attacked Zhang Xiu first and eliminated the forces entrenched in Nanyang.
Then Yuan Shu from Huainan suddenly went north and killed Chen King Liu Chong, occupied the Chen Kingdom, and threatened Yingchuan. He immediately conquered Yuan Shu personally and defeated Yuan Shu back to Shouchun.
Later, Lu Bu's power bordered on his, so he personally conquered Lu Bu.
Anyway, Cao Cao would beat anyone who was close to him.
It was necessary to deal with all the people around him who could threaten him, and then after occupying the entire Henan, he had a decisive battle with Yuan Shao who occupied Hebei.
It seems that there is nothing new in the strategy. Isn't it just the rest of the Warring States Period involving distant relations and close attacks?
But this was already the best path at that time.
After all, you can't ignore the threats around you and attack the enemies far away from you first.
So at this point, Cao Cao has a very clear mind and knows very well what he should and should not do at this stage.
Guo Jia was able to have the same knowledge as him, which gave Cao Cao the feeling of meeting a confidant.
Next, Cao Cao and Guo Jia discussed many important national affairs. Both of them were very happy. One felt that he had found someone who could help him achieve his great cause, and the other thought that he had met a wise master.
However, although the two had a pleasant conversation when they first met, Cao Cao did not immediately include him in his core circle of advisers at first.
It took until next year, 197 AD, because Cao Cao was defeated in Nanyang, and Yuan Shao wrote a letter to humiliate him. Guo Jia proposed a theory of ten victories and ten defeats against Yuan Shao, which gave Cao Cao great confidence, and he was promoted to military advisor by Cao Cao.
, officially entering the core layer.
Therefore, Cao Cao did not immediately let Guo Jia take up a high-level position. Instead, he asked him to serve as Sikong Caoyu first and wait to see if he has actual ability in the future.