Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other and could see the confusion in each other's eyes.
What is Xu You doing here?
According to common sense, there are only two possibilities.
One is to abandon Yuan Shao and join Cao Cao.
The second is to be a lobbyist for Yuan Shao and ask Cao Cao to send troops to help.
But both scenarios are unrealistic.
Because the former clearly has a better choice, while the latter is impossible to think of with your toes.
Rather than defecting to Cao Cao, isn't it better to defect to Liu Bei who is at the height of his power?
As for asking Cao Cao to send troops, Cao Cao didn't even capture Xuzhou. How powerful could he be with Yanzhou alone?
To put it bluntly, in history, Cao Cao captured almost four states including Sili, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou, and was almost defeated by Yuan Shao who only unified Hebei.
Especially now.
Anyone with any brains should understand the consequences of sending troops to help Yuan Shao now.
It just so happened that Liu Bei couldn't find an excuse to deal with him, Cao Cao. Didn't he come up with an excuse?
So when they suddenly heard Xu You's visit, Guo Jia and Cao Cao felt a little strange and didn't understand what he was doing.
"Fengxiao, what do you think Xu You is doing here?"
Cao Cao couldn't help but ask.
Guo Jia narrowed his eyes: "I'm afraid Xu Ziyuan came to seek refuge with Duke Ming."
Cao Cao was confused and said: "Even if you want to defect, you should defect to Liu Bei. Why do you want to defect to me?"
Guo Jia thought for a while and analyzed: "There are three reasons. First, Xu You is arrogant and would rather be a chicken head than an ox tail. Liu Bei has a cloud of fierce generals and a rain of counselors. When he goes to Liu Bei, he doesn't
It will definitely be reused.”
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded, he still understood his young character very well.
Guo Jia continued: "Second, if he is not familiar with Liu Bei and goes there rashly, Liu Bei may suspect that he is Yuan Shao's internal agent and must be suspicious of him. With Xu You's character, I am afraid it will be unbearable."
"That's true."
Cao Cao smiled, Xu You was indeed like this.
"Three, and the most important point."
Guo Jia said seriously: "I have been to Wang Wenzu's place. Does Ming Gong know that Wang Fen is good at establishing an emperor, and who is giving him advice behind his back?"
"Could it be Xu You?"
Cao Cao was shocked. When Wang Fen suddenly established a puppet emperor, everyone in the world was shocked. It turned out that there was something inside.
Guo Jia nodded and said: "It was Xu You and Zhou Jing who instigated it. Wang Fen happened to have the same intention, so he followed the trend, but he was too impatient. If he had waited another year and a half, the world might be in serious trouble now.
Same."
"No wonder, since Xu You is involved, with his resourcefulness, he shouldn't be so stupid. I'm afraid Yuan Shao is also instigating it."
Cao Cao sneered. Wang Fen's move to establish the puppet emperor was actually a good move, but the bad thing was that he did it at the wrong time.
If it had been a year later, when Liu Bian died and the world would be left without a master, it would be more justifiable to establish another emperor.
It happened that he established him half a year earlier, when Liu Bian was still there. Although he fell to Dong Zhuo, Liu Bian was still alive, and the emperor he established was a false emperor, and everyone in the world would punish him.
Now it seems that there may be a shadow of Yuan Shao in it, which makes Wang Fen the target of public criticism. Because Wang Fen does not cultivate military skills, if he is accused by the people of the world and conquered, Wang Fen will have to rely on Yuan Shao.
Guo Jia said: "This is natural."
After a while, Xu You came in from the front door. Before he entered the hall, he saw Cao Cao coming out of the yard in the atrium. He laughed and said to him: "Hahahahaha, Ziyuan, I didn't expect you to come. I'm sorry.
Welcome from afar."
His attitude wasn't too cold, but he couldn't say that he was so enthusiastic. During the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao asked Xu You for help, so his attitude was so good. Later, when he captured Jizhou, Xu You repeatedly called him by his nickname.
, when he was slashed, he showed no mercy.
Xu You said with a smile: "Aha, it's disrespectful to come to the door suddenly and make trouble. I hope you won't blame me."
When Cao Cao heard him calling him by his nickname in public, the corners of his eyes twitched slightly, but his face remained calm. He kept a smile and went up to hold his hand affectionately: "Zi Yuan, we have been together since childhood.
, we are as close as brothers, you can come here whenever you want, just like your own home."
"Ha ha ha ha."
Xu You also put his arm around his shoulders and said, "It's better for you to treat me well."
Guo Jia on the side watched the two of them enter the hall together, arms around each other's shoulders, and the corners of his eyes also twitched slightly.
I had long heard that Xu You was informal, but now it seems that it is not just a matter of informality, but simply lawlessness.
Even though Cao Cao was not as powerful as Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, his status was still that of Yanzhou Mu, a prince of one side, with several counties under his command, and 50,000 to 60,000 elite men under his command.
You, Xu You, were just a counselor under Yuan Shao before. You once led troops to invade Yanzhou and crossed the river from Dongjun to attack Jibei. Now you come here without asking for forgiveness first, but you are so rude to the Lord of Yanzhou. It is true.
It's arrogance.
However, Guo Jia also knew that Cao Cao was in conflict with Xu Youxu. If Xu You came over and could not bring any benefits to Cao Cao, I am afraid that the old and new accounts would be settled together and Xu You would not be able to leave Yanzhou.
The three of them entered the hall. Cao Ang naturally knew Xu You, so he stepped forward and saluted: "I have met my uncle."
Xu You was surprised and said: "Are you Zixiu? Are you so old?"
Cao Cao smiled and said: "The last time you came to my house was seven or eight years ago. Naturally, my son has grown up."
Xu You smiled bitterly and said, "I blame me for not walking around more with Meng De."
After Cao Cao sat down, he waited for the servant to serve the wine before he started to get down to business. He raised his glass and said, "Ziyuan, old friends are getting together and I want to have a drink."
"Come on, do it!"
Xu You also picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
After everyone had finished drinking, Cao Cao wiped the corners of his mouth and said, "By the way, Ziyuan, you didn't stay well at Benchu's place, so why did you suddenly come to me?"
Xu You said angrily: "Meng De, the three of us have known each other since childhood. Our friendship for many years should have been deep. But at first, we listened to outsiders, Guo Tu from Yingchuan, a foolish man, but he listened to his slander.
, which led to the great defeat of Jieqiao, I hated it deeply, so I had no choice but to come here to seek refuge, hoping that Mengde would take him in."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Cao Cao pretended not to know: "Zi Yuan, I really shouldn't have reused you at the beginning. But now he has been defeated and can't hold on for long. Even if you
If you want to defect, you should defect to Liu Xuande. I have few soldiers and few generals, so I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve success. When Hebei is occupied by Liu Bei and the army moves south, I will have to surrender myself. Ziyuan came to join me. I am afraid I have found the wrong person.
.”
Xu You said with a smile: "Mengde, please don't say these words between us again. We have known each other for many years. I naturally know who you are and you will not be willing to be inferior to others. Liu Xuande is just a mat weaver and shoe seller. He got it by luck."
How can the high position be compared to the Yuan family and the Cao family? I don't believe it. When Liu Xuande takes Hebei, will Mengde surrender to him?"
Guo Jia and Cao Cao looked at each other and said nothing. This is the reason why many people are unwilling to defect to Liu Bei because their background is not good.
Although Cao Cao was not born well, he was an eunuch, but he had been a high official in the court for generations, and his father had even held the position of three princes. The Yuan family was even more remarkable.
And what about Liu Bei?
Before being admitted into the clan by Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty, he was essentially just a commoner in Guizhou.
The so-called Han clan clan members in the Han Dynasty did not look at whether you were a descendant of Liu Bang, but whether you were admitted to the clan and granted a title.
Without a title, he is just an ordinary citizen, from a lower class background.
Many people in later generations said that Zhu Yuanzhang had the undisputed worst background among emperors in the past, but the three founding emperors of the Han Dynasty were not much better.
The Western Han Dynasty, Eastern Han Dynasty, and Ji Han Dynasty were the three Liu family Han dynasties, each with a worse life background than the last.
Needless to say, Liu Bang was born as a pavilion chief, while Liu Xiu was slightly stronger. His father was a county magistrate, and his family was also a wealthy family in Nanyang. With a little wealth, he and his brother Liu Yan could go to Chang'an Imperial College to study, and they could also make friends with heroes and subordinates everywhere.
Have some guests.
As for Liu Bei, he is not as good as Liu Bang and Liu Xiu. He is just an unemployed vagrant. His father is also a county magistrate. But he died too early and Mao didn't leave him any money. He relies on his uncle's support to go to school. When the army started, he closed the country. Compared with Liu Bang
Liu Xiu is too different.
Therefore, for those rich people with family background, such a life experience is the same as the nobles who have looked down on the rural upstarts for generations. They are respectful on the surface, but very contemptuous on the inside, thinking that he just made a fortune in one day.
Although times have changed now, and Liu Bei is also in a high position, people from aristocratic families, such as the Yuan family, the Yang family, and the Cao family, still look down on people like Liu Bei from the bottom of their hearts and despise his background.
Therefore, asking Cao Cao to surrender to Liu Bei in the future would be more uncomfortable than death for him, who was proud of his heart. That's why he was so anxious to find a way out.
certainly.
The main reason is that Cao Cao himself has ambitions, but since he is ambitious, he will naturally not be willing to be subordinated to others, especially to someone with a low-level background like Liu Bei!
"If Ziyuan didn't go to Liu Bei, could it be that he looked down on his background?"
Cao Cao asked tentatively.
Xu You said proudly: "Of course, like Liu Bei and Sun Jian, a common man in Guizhou and a local wealthy family is worthy of fighting for the world? Now everyone knows that after Liu Bei defeated Ben Chu, the next step is to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
The way to death is always Meng De's opportunity!"
Cao Cao was noncommittal. Although he looked down on Liu Bei's background like Xu You in his heart, the situation was better than the others. Now he was strong. If he really regained Hebei and developed in a few years, with hundreds of thousands of troops, he would be able to become emperor.
Guo Jia and Cao Ang were silent. Cao Cao thought for a while and then said slowly: "Ziyuan, don't make fun of me. I am only half a country in the country and have only 20,000 to 30,000 troops. How can I compete with Liu Xuande?"
Xu You stared at him, which made Cao Cao feel scared. After looking at it for a long time, he said with a smile: "The Cao Mengde I know is not so unambitious. If Mengde wants to submit to Liu Bei, then naturally he will treat me as if he has never come.
But anyway, Liu Jingsheng and I are considered old friends, so the worst we can do is go to Jingzhou and join him."
Cao Cao glanced at Guo Jia, saw Guo Jia nodded slightly, and said softly: "No one in the world knows that Chen Zigui wants to support his brother to become emperor. It's a pity. I also want to help the Han Dynasty, but I am unable to do so and there are few people.
There is nothing you can do. I don’t know what Ziyuan has to say.”
Xu You burst out laughing: "I know that Mengde is not a person who is willing to surrender. Don't worry, Mengde, I have a way. Now that the original destruction is a foregone conclusion, if Mengde wants to make a difference, he can only develop to the south, but
Why doesn’t Meng De go?”
Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said: "Lü Bu in Xuzhou is quite difficult to deal with. I have not been able to eliminate him in several campaigns. He has blocked the way south. If it weren't for this beast, I would have won the land of Xuzhou long ago."
If Xuzhou can be obtained, Cao Cao's strength will increase a lot. Because Xuzhou was not massacred in this life, the existing population is still as many as two million.
It's a pity that the north of Xuzhou was acquired by Qingzhou, and only Pengcheng in Xiapi of Guangling is still there. However, these three places together have more than one million people. For Cao Cao, who has a small population and a small territory, it is already a big piece of fat.
The most important thing is that Xuzhou is connected to Yangzhou, so that he can go south through Xuzhou. Liu Yuan is fighting for hegemony in the north. Now he can only go south.
However, Xu You said: "Why is Meng Deguang staring at Xuzhou? What about Yuzhou? If he can get Yuzhou and Xuzhou and take the land of Henan into it, he will have the capital to compete with the north. Now he is still trapped in Yanzhou, Meng De will
Don’t you want to think about why this happens?”
Cao Cao said angrily: "Zi Yuan should understand that if I send troops to Yuzhou, let alone Sun Wentai, who is not so easy to deal with. From a moral point of view, the court will definitely regard me as a bandit. I don't have Yuan Shao's family background. Once the court
Defined as traitors, Liu Bei, Sun Jian, and Liu Biao will definitely attack me. Don't forget, there is Lu Bu watching from my side."
"Meng De still looks at the problem too superficially."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Xu You laughed: "These are indeed facts. Once Meng De attacks Yuzhou, everything will be over. But Meng De doesn't know that the key to this problem lies with Liu Bei.
If Liu Bei can be prevented from sending troops to Mengde, then Mengde can unscrupulously conquer the land of Henan without worrying about being besieged from all sides."
"What does this mean?"
Cao Cao couldn't help but wonder.
Only Guo Jia seemed to have some understanding, and his eyes suddenly flickered.
Xu You said: "The only thing Meng De is afraid of is the alliance between the Sun family and the Liu family. Once they attack Sun Jian, they will be attacked by Liu Bei and Sun Jian together. If you add Lu Bu, are you afraid that you will be attacked from both sides?"
"good."
Cao Cao nodded.
He had also considered taking action against Sun Jian.
But when we were at the same table in Luoyang, everyone formed an alliance and formed an alliance, which made it difficult for him to betray.
Of course, with Cao Cao's moral standards, betraying the alliance was only a trivial matter.
The key lies in the same problem. Now he has not threatened the emperor to order the princes, so he has lost the righteousness of attacking Yuzhou.
Once Luoyang defines him as a rebel, the situation will be different, because unlike Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who had a large family background from the beginning, his foundation is too weak and can be easily broken.
Moreover, when attacking Yuzhou at that time, he could only form an alliance with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Yuan Shao was trapped by Chen Mu's three-sided encirclement strategy and could not send troops to help at all.
If Yuan Shao didn't help, Cao Cao and Sun Jian would be fighting at a 50-50 draw. Tao Qian was still there at that time, and Lu Bu stabbed him in the back. If he had fallen out with Sun Jian and Liu Bei at that time, the grass on his grave would be three feet high today.
.
As for Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu was indeed strong in the early stage, but his ability was too poor, and Yuzhou was also eyeing him, so Cao Cao was afraid of him.
If he formed an alliance with Yuan Shu, even if he conquered Yuzhou, he would probably only be making clothes for Yuan Shu, so he could only attack Xuzhou at that time.
So all things considered, it's not that Cao Cao doesn't want to capture Yuzhou, it's just that Sun Jian is not weak, and secondly, he is trying to survive in the cracks, and it's not easy to survive. If he falls out with Sun Jian and Liu Bei again, he will embrace Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.
It's impossible for my thighs to hold on until now.
However, Xu You said: "On the surface, this is indeed the case, but has Meng De ever thought about it. If Liu Bei did not send troops, Meng Den would join Yuan Shu in the south and the Northern Alliance would be at the beginning. The land of Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Henan would have been destroyed earlier."
Just got it?"
Cao Cao laughed and said: "How could Liu Bei not send troops? When Sun Jian was in trouble and was attacked by Yuan Shu, he personally led the troops south. Liu Bei had the support of the imperial court and great righteousness. He had been running Qingzhou for more than ten years and had many soldiers and generals.
The food and grass were piled up like mountains, and even Benchu was almost destroyed by the joint efforts of Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan, let alone me."
"But Liu Bei has a fatal weakness."
Xu Youdao.
"oh?"
Cao Cao was surprised and asked: "What weakness?"
"Care too much about your own reputation."
Xu You said: "He started from a young age and has shared weal and woe with his three sworn brothers for more than ten years. They have deep feelings. If Meng De can seize one of them as a hostage and throw him into a trap, Liu Bei will not dare to attack Meng De."
"How do you know he doesn't dare?"
Cao Cao frowned. This was a very risky thing. To arrest Zhang and Chen would offend Liu Bei to death.
"Ming Gong, he really doesn't dare."
At this moment, Guo Jia suddenly stood up and said: "Liu Bei is famous for his benevolence and righteousness. His three brothers are closer than his real brothers, and he treats his subordinates like spring breeze. If he ignores one of his sworn brothers,
I'm afraid the other two will be disappointed, their reputations will be ruined, and their subordinates will be disloyal. Ming Gong thinks, will he dare?"
"this......"
Cao Cao still doesn't quite understand Liu Bei. What's the point? They're just sworn brothers. How can he compare to a great cause?
However, if he knew about the Battle of Yiling that happened in history, he would not have any doubts.
At that critical moment, all fools should understand that from a strategic point of view, avenging Guan Yu is not a good choice. The best strategy is to unite Soochow to defeat the most powerful Wei State first.
But Liu Bei wanted to avenge Guan Yu, and used his whole country to attack Soochow, which led to the Battle of Yiling and burned away Ji Han's last hope.
Liu Bei doesn't even care about the fate of the country, which proves that he cares about those brothers the most.
"Ming Gong."
Guo Jia continued: "Liu Bei gained his reputation through benevolence and righteousness. If he does not care about his brothers, that would be unbenevolence and unrighteousness. He would not destroy his reputation like this."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded slightly, looked at Xu You and said: "Zi Yuan asked me to kidnap one of the three people, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Chen Mu, as a hostage. Who do you think I should kidnap?"
Xu You glanced at Guo Jia, and Guo Jia glanced at him. They understood each other and spoke almost at the same time.