Three Kingdoms: I, the eldest son of Cao, a loving father of a great man!

Cao Ang continued, "Cao Ang spared Liu Zhang's life for another purpose. Cao Ang wanted to use Liu Zhang's power to fight against Yuan Shu."

"My lord, Liu Zhang is a greedy man and I'm afraid he is not easy to control," said Tian Feng.

"I know. But Liu Zhang has three states in his hands, with abundant food and grass. In addition, he also has the support of aristocratic families in Yanzhou and Qingzhou, so his power is huge.

As long as I can recover Hebei, I can then completely solve the problem of Liu Zhang." Cao Ang said confidently.

"In that case, we are willing to assist our lord in destroying Yuan Shu!" Guo Jia shouted.

The other counselors responded one after another, saying that Cao Ang was now the only one who could deal with Yuan Shu.

Cao Ang smiled and said, "Okay, since you are so confident, I will leave it all to you."

"We swear to be loyal to our lord until death, even if it means sacrificing our lives!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Okay, you are all the pillars of our Han Dynasty. I hope you can work harder in the future and create a better future together." Cao Ang stood up and said to everyone with a fist salute.

Everyone returned the greeting respectfully.

When Liu Zhang received the news that Cao Cao had retreated, he breathed a sigh of relief and secretly rejoiced.

Liu Bei said nothing. He didn't expect that Cao Ang would actually let Cao Cao go. This was beyond his expectations.

Liu Bei's advisers all advised Liu Bei to follow Cao Ang, otherwise even if he surrendered to Yuan Shao, he would not have a good future.

Liu Bei finally decided to surrender to Cao Ang. The battles during this period had made him realize the temptation of power. He wanted to own the country and enjoy countless glory.

Shortly after Cao Cao retreated, Liu Bei went to Cao Ang's imperial study to ask for an audience with Cao Ang.

When Cao Ang met Liu Bei, he felt a little strange. He thought, could it be that this guy has figured it out?

"Xuan De is here, please take a seat." Cao Ang warmly entertained Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei expressed his gratitude, he got straight to the point and said, "When will the lord mobilize his troops?"

Cao Ang was stunned. He didn't expect Liu Bei to remind him directly.

"Xuan De, this expedition to Jizhou is a battle for the fate of our country.

The winner will rule the Central Plains, and the loser will become a slave of a conquered country. I want to personally lead an expedition to Jizhou, what does Xuande think? " Cao Ang asked.

"My lord, you are worth a fortune. How can you take risks so easily? Besides, you have just pacified Liangzhou and need to rest and recuperate. It is not appropriate to start a war again.

If Yuan Shu takes advantage of the situation and invades, the lord will be in danger." Liu Bei said hastily. He did not dare to let Cao Ang take the risk.

Cao Ang waved his hand and said, "Xuan De, don't worry. Yuan Shu is a man with evil ambitions. I will never let him dominate the Central Plains."

Liu Bei felt depressed. Was he being fooled again?
"But I am not here just to defeat Yuan Shu." Cao Ang showed a sinister expression and continued.

"Yuan Shu has evil ambitions. I cannot just ignore them. I plan to cede the five counties of southern Jing to Yuan Shu to weaken his power."

Liu Bei took a deep breath after hearing what Cao Ang said. What is the concept of the five counties in southern Jing? It is equivalent to the size of Yuzhou.

What Cao Ang did was crazy. No wonder he spared Liu Zhang's life.

"My lord, the five counties in southern Jing are too important. Once they are given to Yuan Shu, our dynasty's strength will be greatly reduced, and Yuan Shu will be able to wreak havoc in all directions.

If you can give us half of Jingzhou, we will be able to conquer the world in the future." Liu Bei said tentatively.

The importance of Jingzhou was not only clear to Liu Bei, but also to Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao was a tyrant, his ambition was to establish a great cause that would last for thousands of years.

After Cao Cao established a base in Yanzhou, he immediately sent envoys to Xuzhou, hoping that Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian could help him seize the entire Jingzhou.

Thereby consolidating the foundation of Yanzhou. Unfortunately, Tao Qian did not buy it and rejected Cao Cao's request.

After Cao Cao encountered setbacks in Yanzhou, he fled to Xuzhou. The governor of Xuzhou, Xiahou Yuan, also rejected Cao Cao's request.

Xiahou Yuan thought Cao Cao was not a good person. If he sold Xuzhou to Cao Cao, Cao Cao would definitely annex Xuzhou. Rather than handing Xuzhou over to others, it would be better to retain his own strength.

Cao Cao felt humiliated by the rejection of so many people, so he decided to take a gamble and send his elite troops to attack Yanzhou.

Han Fu, the governor of Yanzhou, had long been on guard against a surprise attack by Cao Cao, but Cao's army had not yet entered Yanzhou.

The Cao army was ambushed by Han Fu and suffered heavy losses. They had no choice but to flee Yanzhou.

Upon seeing this, Xiahou Yuan immediately led the Yanzhou troops back to Xu Du. He wanted to protect Xu Du to prevent Cao Cao from making a comeback.

Cao Cao knew that Xiahou Yuan wanted to monopolize Xuzhou, and he also understood that he had no way of capturing Xuzhou.

Cao Cao originally wanted to discuss the matter with Liu Biao, after all, Cao Cao was unwilling to lose Xuzhou.

However, Liu Biao's attitude towards Cao Cao made Cao Cao realize that he would not get any benefits in Xuzhou, and Liu Biao might even take action against him.

Cao Cao had to return to Yanzhou in disgrace.

When Cao Cao left, he mobilized all the troops in Yanzhou to Xu County, and almost emptied the county.

Xiahou Yuan watched Cao Cao leave in a hurry and sighed, "My lord, my lord, how did you become like this?"

Liu Bei also shook his head and sighed. He thought that this situation was difficult for him to control.

"My lord, I think Cao Mengde's failure this time may become a big problem in the future. My lord, please don't be merciful." Liu Bei pleaded.

"Don't worry, Xuande. I will never show mercy. Yuan Shu has evil ambitions and he will not stop until we are destroyed. What I lack now is talent." Cao Ang said with emotion.

Liu Bei's eyes lit up. In this way, he might be able to take the opportunity to win over some of Cao Ang's confidants and use them for his own purposes.

Liu Bei's mind became active, and he kept thinking about how to please Cao Ang.

Cao Ang didn't care what Liu Bei thought. The most important thing now was to take action against Yuan Shu.

The next day, Cao Ang ordered Liu Bei to lead his troops to attack Youzhou and to capture Xuzhou Dongjun. Cao Ang also promised to rush to Dongjun as soon as possible to assist Liu Bei in the battle.

Liu Bei was ecstatic. This was simply an opportunity sent to him by God.

Afterwards, Liu Bei set out with his army and had smooth sailing along the way.

Xu Shu, Zhuge Jin and others did not try to stop him. They knew that Liu Bei was here to get a piece of the pie. Since the battle was already over, they might as well take the opportunity to let Liu Bei profit.

Liu Bei had a smooth journey and after arriving in Dongjun, he led his troops to capture cities.

Generals Cao Ren and Dian Wei led their cavalry and broke through the major passes in the northern part of Dongjun overnight.

Xu Shu, Zhuge Jin and others were dumbfounded. They did not expect such a reversal on Liu Bei's side.

"Yuanhao, Zhongde, you should think of a countermeasure quickly. If Liu Bei breaks into Dongjun, we will be finished." Chen Deng said anxiously.

Xu Shu and Zhuge Jin looked solemn. Liu Bei was holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and was so powerful that their armies could not stop him.

"Kong Ming, what do you think?" Chen Gong asked Xu Shu.

"Liu Bei is an extremely brave man, and he has the help of Lu Bu and Dian Wei behind him. This battle will be difficult." Xu Shu said with a wry smile.

"Then we need to see how many cards we have. If our army can capture Xuchang tonight, then our situation will be different," Chen Gong suggested.

Xu Shu and Zhuge Jin's eyes lit up; the meaning of Chen Gong's words was very clear.

The two of them immediately contacted the army, arranged supplies for defending the city, and prepared for battle.

Liu Bei led his army into Dongjun and plundered the people's wealth. (End of this chapter)