Taking important figures of the enemy hostage was actually not uncommon in ancient times. The more peaceful ones include proton diplomacy and fraternal diplomacy.
Everyone exchanged hostages or married each other's princesses to achieve the goal of harmonious coexistence between the two countries.
There are also some that are not so peaceful.
King Huai of Chu and Liu Bang's father Liu Xuan were captured by King Zhao of Qin and the other was captured by Xiang Yu.
As a result, everyone knew that neither Chu State nor Liu Bang harmed the interests of the country or the group because of their personal affairs, and they sternly rejected the other party's request.
However, there was another plan in Xu You's plan, which was to use the kidnapping of Chen Mu to damage Liu Bei's reputation.
Liu Bei's starting point was actually very poor, his family background was not good, and he suppressed local powerful people in Qingzhou, which made him have a very bad impression among wealthy families. He was barely supported by the name of benevolence and righteousness.
Chen Mu was an important planner and participant in Liu Bei's rise. Among the four brothers and all Liu Bei's subordinates, he had extremely high prestige and was the second-largest figure after Liu Bei.
It can be said that without Chen Mu, Liu Bei would not have the status and strength he has today.
Among the entire Liu Bei group, Chen Mu's personal prestige is also very high. In addition to the lower-level soldiers, Guan Zhang and other tribesmen are convinced by him. Sometimes, even Liu Bei's own words are not as effective as Chen Mu's.
So Xu You tried to weaken Liu Bei by capturing Chen Mu.
In layman's terms, it is moral kidnapping.
Don’t you have a deep love for each other? Don’t you live by benevolence?
Okay, then I will kidnap your fourth brother Chen Mu, firstly to weaken your strength, and secondly to damage your reputation. Let’s see how you choose.
Send troops to attack?
That means you don't care about your brother's life or death.
Did Guan Yu and Zhang Fei feel cold when they saw them? Did Han, the civil and military ministers under his command, feel cold?
Everyone follows you because you are loyal, but in the end you abandon your brother's life for your own benefit.
The people under your command will inevitably feel the sorrow of the rabbit's death and the fox's death. From then on, the monarch and his ministers will be alienated from morality, which will also take a blow to your prestige and reputation.
If you don't care about brotherhood and can't attack, that would be better.
Cao Cao can completely let go of his hands and feet to attack Sun Jian and Lu Bu, seize Yuzhou and Xuzhou as soon as possible, and then he will have the strength to compete with the north.
Essentially, this is the same as when Qin State captured King Huai of Chu and Xiang Yu captured Liu Xuan.
The only difference is that neither Chu State nor Liu Bang compromised. As for Liu Bei, it would be better if he compromised, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't compromise.
His personality is fixed, and the result of not compromising is the collapse of his personality and the decline in his reputation.
Although in a sense, this idea is naive.
Because even if he catches Chen Mu, as long as Liu Bei is ruthless, he will only lose a little reputation.
Compared to the great cause of the world, what is the loss of this little reputation?
Just like Liu Bang and Chu State, the most it can do is make his subordinates less united than before, and let Guan Zhang and many of his subordinates see Liu Bei's character clearly and have a grudge against Liu Bei.
But it is actually very difficult to shake the foundation. After all, the family business has already been earned, and it will not collapse directly because of the absence of Chen Mu.
But after Cao Cao listened to Xu You's suggestion, he had other considerations.
That is Chen Mu.
Cao Cao knew that this man was a man of extraordinary talent. If he could use this to drive a wedge between Liu Bei and Chen Mu, and get Chen Mu under his command...
With his help, he might not be able to create a career like Liu Bei.
After all, although Cao Cao had people like Guo Jia, Chen Gong, and Cheng Yu, they were only capable of judging people's hearts and military tactics, and they were really unable to plan strategies.
Thinking of this, both Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked thoughtful for a moment.
Of course, some people may ask, since they followed the example of Qin and Xiang Yu in taking hostages in exchange for benefits, why must it be Chen Mu?
Can't Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei do it?
Of course not.
It is too difficult to catch Liu Bei. He has been in the Qingzhou Army all year round. He is not only protected by Xuanjia heavy cavalry, but also has tens of thousands of troops. How to catch him?
It is even more difficult to capture Guan Yu. He also has tens of thousands of troops around him, and he is so powerful that even if he wants to capture Lu Bu alive, he cannot.
In addition, even if Guan Yu is captured, given Guan Yu's temperament, he would rather commit suicide than be used as a threat to his elder brother, which would make things worse.
The same goes for Zhang Fei, who is very powerful and has tens of thousands of cavalry at his side.
Therefore, it would be extremely difficult to capture Liu Guan and Zhang.
Unless they were defeated and happened to be met by Cao Cao, it would be basically impossible to achieve this.
So the last and most likely person is Chen Mu.
Because Chen Mu often traveled between Luoyang and Qingzhou, he only passed through Cao Cao's territory with his Xuanjia heavy cavalry.
The most important thing is that Chen Mu has low force value and is greedy for life and afraid of death. He is the only one who does not have to worry about Liu Bei committing suicide when he is used to threaten him.
So after Xu You figured out the relationship, Cao Cao and Guo Jia understood that only Chen Mu could take action.
In fact, Xu You's strategy and Guo Jia once thought that if they could catch Chen Mu, they might be able to use this to break Cao Cao's current predicament.
But he has the pride of a wise man. If you want to send someone to assassinate him, Guo Jia doesn't care, because this method is not despicable in the first place. Not to mention that assassinations became common during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the story of the four assassins was a good talk.
In the turbulent last years of the Han Dynasty, too many people had done this. Even Guo Jia himself was already planning to find assassins to kill the unprepared Sun Ce to prevent him from extending his tentacles to the Huaibei area.
However, catching hostages is different. Firstly, the method is not very honorable. Secondly, if Liu Bei is really cruel, it will be a matter of betrayal. It is easy for both the good and the bad to be destroyed. Chen Mu's life is exchanged for Cao Cao's entire family fortune.
Some are not worth it.
After all, following the examples of King Chu Huai and Liu Bang's father, Guo Jia was not sure whether Liu Bei would harm the interests of the group because of his personal interests. It would be too risky to do so.
But now, as the battle between Yuan and Liu is coming to an end, Yuan Shao is defeated and Liu Bei is about to win the final victory, Cao Cao is in a very embarrassing situation because he has not found a way to break the situation until now.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Lu Bu is like an invincible Xiaoqiang. The Huaibei area cannot be taken, and Sun Jian cannot attack. Wait until Liu Bei stabilizes Hebei, or Liu Bei becomes emperor.
, what should Cao Cao do?
Do you really want him to surrender to Liu Bei?
Of course Cao Cao couldn't bear it.
So at this critical juncture, Xu You's seemingly innocent idea of capturing hostages might actually have the potential to help him break the situation.
After thinking about this, Cao Cao breathed out slowly, looked at Xu You and said softly: "Ziyuan, what you said is indeed reasonable. For the current plan, we may only be able to break through the current dilemma by catching Chen Zigui.
Bureau, just..."
"Just what?"
Xu You asked.
Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said: "It's just that you can't use this trick unless it's a last resort. If you're not careful, it will cause fire in Kungang, and everyone will be burned."
Xu You chuckled and said: "Don't worry, Ah Man. I guess the imperial court is also wary of Liu Bei. If Chen Mu can be captured, the imperial court's attitude will definitely be to calm things down and not let Liu Bei take action against us. Not to mention there is another point, that is Liu Bei
After winning Hebei, the imperial court will definitely send someone to serve as the shepherd of Jizhou, but what if Liu Bei is unwilling to let go?"
Cao Cao's narrow Danfeng eyes narrowed and he nodded slightly: "If Liu Bei is unwilling to hand over Hebei, he must be at odds with the imperial court. The imperial court currently lacks soldiers and horses, but has great righteousness. I kidnapped Chen Mu to be on good terms with the imperial court.
Then in the future..."
"good."
Guo Jia said: "For Liu Bei to be able to gain momentum, in addition to proper planning, it is also very important to have the support of the court's righteousness. As the saying goes, where the Tao is, the world will return to it. The emperor is king, and if he obeys the emperor's orders and does not submit, then the morale of the military and the people will be available.
, Liu Bei is feared by the imperial court. Even if he annexes Hebei, even if there are hundreds of thousands of people, there is nothing to fear. When the imperial court gives an order, the whole world will attack him, and then Ming Gong's great cause will be accomplished."
Everyone, including Cao Cao, had actually guessed that the imperial court was afraid of Liu Bei.
If Liu Bei completely defeated Yuan Shao and annexed Hebei, he would have only two options. One is to surrender to the Luoyang court, hand over Hebei, and let the court send a Jizhou shepherd there. The other is to establish himself as king and follow Yuan Shao's example.
Go against the imperial court.
And according to Cao Cao's analysis, the second possibility is very high.
Because Jizhou and Qingzhou have been in the governance stage after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they have become the two richest states in the world. On the contrary, Yuzhou in Henan should have been the richest place, but it has not been governed.
Relatively depressed.
Therefore, Cao Cao felt that if he were in Liu Bei's position and occupied the two most prosperous states in the world, he should stand on his own feet.
Once that time comes, the Luoyang court will definitely turn against Liu Bei, and Sun Jian believes in the court. If it comes to that point, Sun Jian will definitely turn against Liu Bei.
There is still Xian Yufu in the north and Liu Biao in the south. Considering the general trend of the entire Guandong region, all the princes should unite together to deal with Liu Bei.
And he can also take advantage of the situation to capture Xuzhou and find a way to break through.
I have to say that this is indeed a move that can be made.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao muttered: "Ziyuan, you came up with this plan. Can you teach me how to catch Chen Zigui?"
"this......."
Xu You said awkwardly: "This matter can only be handled by Meng De himself."
Cao Cao frowned and said, "Zi Yuan came all the way to join me and planned to make me offend Liu Xuande. I thought Zi Yuan had already thought of everything."
Xu You shook his head: "It's not that easy to catch Chen Zigui. I'm just here to give Meng De a way to break the situation. As for whether and how to catch him, it all depends on Meng De's luck."
Cao Cao remained silent.
If it had been in earlier years, it would have been possible, because Chen Mu often traveled between Luoyang and Qingzhou, whether he was doing calculations mentally or not, or simply having a Hongmen Banquet, it was not impossible to bring him over.
But the problem is that now that Chen Mu has entered the battlefield in Hebei, Yuan Shao has been forced to only the two counties of Zhao and Wei. Seeing that the whole of Hebei is about to fall into Liu Bei's hands, Chen Mu naturally does not need to go back and forth from Luoyang to Qingzhou.
East County.
Chen Mu is now surrounded by tens of thousands of troops at any time. If he goes north to find Liu Bei's trouble, he will risk his death. Therefore, Xu You's so-called plan to kidnap Chen Mu is no different if it is brought up or not.
In summary, Xu You came over and at most gave them a strategic direction that was difficult to achieve, but there was no actual operation.
It's like a person comes over and tells you that we are going to make a lot of money, but without even mentioning the specific plan, what industry we are going to be in, what preparations we need to make in the early stages, or even whether it is illegal or not, it is of no use.
Cao Cao just felt a little headache, covered his head and said: "I understand, I will think about this more carefully. Zi came from a far distance, covered with dust. He must be tired. Zixiu, take your uncle to have a rest. Later
I'll come up with an idea and discuss it with Ziyuan."
"Then I'll take my leave first."
Xu You also knew how screwed up his plan was. He came to defect to Cao Cao because he actually wanted to help Cao Cao break the situation so that he could be reused. However, it took him a long time to come up with such a bad idea. He also felt embarrassed, so he didn't say more.
What's the matter? Follow Cao Ang and settle down first.
After he left, Guo Jia stepped forward and asked, "Ming Gong, are you okay?"
"It doesn't matter."
At this time, Cao Cao's headache was not too serious, so he waved his hands and said with some self-deprecation: "I thought Xu You came from Hebei and could help me think of ideas, but I didn't expect that it was just a pedantic opinion and some practical strategies.
None, do you want me to lead the troops north to capture Chen Zigui now?"
Guo Jia said with a smile: "Actually, what Xu Youzhi said is not completely unreasonable. If you can capture Chen Zigui, you can please the imperial court from afar, and intimidate Liu Bei from afar. This is a good strategy, but the possibility of capturing Chen Zigui is too low."
"What's the difference between not saying anything?"
Cao Cao shook his head, thought for a moment and said, "Fengxiao, what do you think if I write to the imperial court now and ask the imperial court to immediately send someone to Hebei to serve as the shepherd of Jizhou?"
Guo Jia said: "It's too early now. The imperial court won't be relieved if Yuan Shao is not dead. Moreover, the imperial court still relies on Liu Bei in many ways. They don't dare to force Liu Bei too much immediately. It will be bad if they offend Liu Bei.
Things should slow down a bit."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded: "Then just wait."
Submitting a letter to the imperial court now is actually to comply with the imperial court's wishes, and it is also a way of expressing goodwill to the imperial court.
If Liu Bei really turns against Luoyang, with the current strength of the imperial court, it will be difficult to compete with Liu Bei, so it must win over other princes.
Among them, Sun Jian and Cao Cao are the two best choices. Their combined strength is nearly 100,000. Although they cannot compete with Liu Bei, don't forget that the ethnic minorities in Youzhou in the north listen to Liu Yu's orders.
Therefore, if Liu Bei immediately falls out with the court, Sun Jian and Cao Cao can protect Luoyang and the Northern Rangers go south. It is impossible for the two sides to start a war immediately. Cao Cao will be free to deal with Cai Yang and Lu Bu in Xuzhou. He may not be able to seize the land of Xuzhou and expand his territory.
strength.
When Xuzhou is obtained, with the combined population of Yanzhou and Xuzhou of more than 4 million, we can still develop a little and expand some of our troops. In three to five years, perhaps the current Liu Bei will be the next Yuan Shao.
It's just that the foundation of all this is based on the fact that Liu Bei will turn against the imperial court, but what if Liu Bei really endures the humiliation, obeys the imperial court's arrangements, and gives up Jizhou to the imperial court?
Therefore, Cao Cao could not write a letter to make his position clear immediately, as this would offend Liu Bei, so he had to endure it a little longer and wait and see the situation before deciding.
And just when Cao Cao was struggling with the future.
Far away in Jizhou, Liu Bei's army took advantage of their victory in the Battle of Jieqiao to pursue the victory and sweep across the entire Hebei Province!