Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1191 Weakness
Guo Jia was leaning against the window, drinking wine leisurely. After leaving the harsh winter in Youzhou, he had been wandering in the much milder climate of Jianghuai, and seemed to be reluctant to return home.

He had done almost nothing this year. Although he was still a military advisor in name only, all matters were handed over to Lu Xun, the governor-general.

Last year, after Yuan Xi learned about Guo Jia's situation, he was quite speechless, so he asked Guo Jia's original wife Dong, who was in Jicheng, to bring her son Guo Yi south to Shouchun to reunite with Guo Jia.

At that time, Guo Jia thought that he did not have much time left, so he bought seven or eight prostitutes to have fun with him day and night. When he was having fun, he was caught by his wife who came to live with him. The scene was extremely embarrassing and awkward.

After that, he finally restrained himself and was able to spare some time to accompany Mrs. Dong and teach his son. When Yuan Xi learned about this, he was quite relieved.

But Guo Jia continued to muddle through as usual. According to him, Lu Xun's battle skills were far superior to his, and there was nothing more for him to teach.

Yuan Xi understood that this was half true and half false. The real situation was that Guo Jia's strategies were often quite extreme. Not only could Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun and others not accept them, but even Tian Feng, Ju Su and other people from the Jizhou faction who had a grudge against Cao Cao had some complaints.

For example, before the Battle of Jizhou, Guo Jia suggested that Yuan Xi break into Yuzhou and adopt the same strategy as Cao Cao, such as digging the Huai River to completely submerge Runan, drive out the people, and thus deal a heavy blow to Cao Cao's forces.

Naturally, Yuan Xi did not adopt such a strategy.

He knew that Guo Jia was a person who liked to go to extremes, so most of his strategies were unconventional. Although such strategies could maximize the benefits in the short term, the follow-up work would be very troublesome. If Yuan Xi wanted to take over the world, he would definitely consider such extreme measures with great caution.

Therefore, there are many reasons why Guo Jia is giving up now. Although he understands Yuan Xi's approach, it is impossible to say that he has no grudges in his heart.

At this time, he called Guo Yi who was beside him and asked a few questions casually. Guo Yi answered honestly. Guo Jia was not very satisfied after listening to him. He said: "These statements are all old-fashioned and have no new ideas. There is really no original idea."

"With your current abilities, I'm afraid you can only be a clerk for the rest of your life."

"You don't have enough understanding. Go back and read the books I mentioned yesterday a few more times and think about it again."

Guo Yi listened and went obediently. Guo Jia drank two sips of wine and felt a little sleepy. He just yawned and saw Guo Yi running over. He asked unhappily: "Why did you change back again?"

Guo Yi stopped and said, "The king is outside the door and wants to see my father."

Guo Jia was startled, and quickly sat up and said, "Isn't the king attacking Jingzhou?"

"Why are you back here?"

He hurried to the door in his slippers and saw Yuan Xi and Lu Lingqi standing there. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Greetings, my lord."

Yuan Xi returned the greeting and said with a smile: "Looking at the military advisor's complexion, you have been doing well recently."

Guo Jia replied: "Thanks to the king, I have lived a peaceful life."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "The military advisor has improved his mind and temper. When you and I met, the military advisor was not like this."

Guo Jia was ashamed, "Yuan Hua said that my anger is harmful to my health, so I have restrained my temper a lot in the past two years."

"Has the king already pacified Jingzhou?"

Yuan Xi said, "I have pacified most of it. I have no interest in the remaining Jingnan area, so I will give it to Lord Xuande."

When Guo Jia heard this, he became unhappy again and said, "Your Majesty is confused!"

"Liu Bei is very ambitious, and his ambitions are different from ours. If we allow him to grow in power, there will be disaster in the future."

Yuan Xi knew that Guo Jia had always insisted on suppressing Liu Bei as much as possible, because in Guo Jia's view, Liu Bei was just a man who had not met the right time. If he had the same strength as the Wu State, he would pose a much greater threat to Yuan Xi in the future than Sun Quan.

Yuan Xi took Guo Jia's hand and walked into the courtyard, saying with a smile: "Military Advisor, I have too many enemies in my quest for the world, so I need a few friends anyway."

"Lord Xuande is already a kind man. I can't be friends with Cao Cao and Sun Quan."

Guo Jia said seriously: "Why not?"

"You are now Sun Quan's nominal adoptive father. If you marry Cao Cao's daughter and wait for Cao Cao to die, and then show goodwill to the Cao family, you can gain the support of the Cao family without bloodshed."

"Isn't this better than fighting to the death?"

Lu Lingqi laughed and said, "If we count the generations this way, then my husband is one generation lower than Cao Cao, so Sun Quan has to call Cao Cao grandpa?"

Guo Jia said solemnly, "In the past, Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng was a regular attendant. When he was at the peak of his power, half of the three dukes and nine ministers were recommended by him. At that time, there were countless scholars who secretly called him grandpa, but everyone denied it on the surface, but privately they all knew it."

"People who conquer the world don't care about face at all, they only care about practical benefits. Isn't Emperor Gaozu the same?"

"That's why Emperor Gaozu was able to conquer the world in seven years. Although your age is unprecedented, in Jia's opinion, your instincts are faster, and you were delayed by your womanly kindness."

Yuan Xi was ashamed, "The military advisor is right, but I am now fighting Cao Cao to the death, and both sides have hundreds of thousands of lives on their hands. There is no turning back."

Guo Jia entered the house and asked Dong to come out and meet Yuan Xi. Dong served Yuan Xi tea and bowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for allowing me to follow my husband and taking care of him all these years. I am very grateful." Yuan Xi smiled and said, "We are not the kind of people who are unkind. Besides, Feng Xiao is a dissolute poet and wine lover who doesn't take care of his body. Madam should also take care of him."

Mrs. Dong blushed slightly. Seeing that Yuan Xi and Guo Jia wanted to talk about serious matters, Lu Lingqi pulled Mrs. Dong out to talk in private. When Guo Jia saw the two women leave, he continued the previous topic and said, "Your Majesty may not accept Jia's words, but Jia still has to say it."

"Your Majesty governs the world with benevolence and justice, and you put the people first. Naturally, you will not be willing to reconcile with Cao Cao who behaves in this way or that way."

"Jia has no objection to this, and even thinks that the lord is following the path of a wise ruler. If he changes dynasties at the same time, his achievements will certainly be far greater than Cao Cao's."

"But my lord probably thinks that he must completely defeat Cao Cao and give an explanation to the people of the world. This is actually a misunderstanding."

"If the people of the world could choose to have peace immediately, I'm afraid they would immediately abandon their hatred. After all, the dead are gone, and the living are the most important."

"Not to mention that Cao Cao's starting point is completely different from that of the lord."

"My Lord, have you ever thought about what Cao Cao wants to do?"

Yuan Xi was startled, then he began to ponder. After thinking for a while, he hesitated and said, "Isn't it to take over the world?"

Guo Jia nodded and said, "Indeed, this is also a goal."

"But Jia thinks that Cao Cao may attach far more importance to the clan identity of the Cao and Xiahou clans than is common sense."

"The extent to which he placed importance on the Cao and Xiahou clans, as well as his vigilance against outsiders, far surpassed other princes in the world. Even Benchu ​​Gong and Yuan Gonglu could not match him."

"From this point of view, Cao Cao is more like the patriarch of a large family rather than a usurper prince with ambitions to rule the world."

"Otherwise, if he gets into this situation now, the whole world will know that he is holding the emperor hostage. It would be better for him to make the emperor abdicate and directly seize the throne, so as not to leave hidden dangers for future generations."

"It is better to usurp the throne early than late. He will leave this troublesome matter to the next generation, which is extremely dangerous."

Yuan Xi thought about it carefully and found that it was true. He asked in confusion: "Why is it so?"

Guo Jia shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but I guess it's possible that he wasn't well-received by his family when he was young, so after he became rich, he wanted to make up for it."

Yuan Xi thought that although Guo Jia didn't know about the compensation effect in psychology, he seemed to have found some correct directions. He couldn't help but admire him and said, "Will Cao Cao's psychology also determine his future actions?"

Guo Jia said: "That's right. Jia believes that although Cao Cao has the idea of ​​usurping the throne, his emphasis on his family sometimes exceeds his desire for the throne."

"It's possible that when it comes to the throne, he would be more inclined to preserve his family."

"This may explain why he, who once tried to kill Sun Ce, did not take extreme action against Jicheng."

"I guess a considerable part of the reason lies with Madam Ding and Cao Ang."

"The fact that the lord has many wives and concubines is actually a ruthless act in Cao Cao's eyes. He thinks that killing the lord's wives and concubines will not be a blow to the lord, but will instead lead to revenge from the lord, threatening the lives of Madam Ding and Cao Ang."

"It's ridiculous that a tyrant with ambitions to rule the world and who would do anything to achieve his goal would be afraid to act because of his family and clan. These weaknesses should not exist for a man like Cao Cao."

"I am not saying that you should compromise with Cao Cao, but I think you have overlooked Cao Cao's hidden weaknesses, which could have been exploited."

Yuan Xi listened, thought about it, nodded and said: "Sir, you are right. I only considered Cao Cao's strategy before, but ignored that he is also a human being."

"If we can make good use of his mentality, maybe in the next duel, we will be able to predict his next move!"

Guo Jia looked at Yuan Xi approvingly, "My lord, you have a high level of understanding. If you were not so obsessed with benevolence and righteousness, you would be more successful in the art of war."

"But my lord is not as good as Kong Mingbo Yan now."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Sir, you are praising me. I can't compare with them, so I am relieved to hand over Jizhou and Jianghuai to them. I can only defend the city, but they are much more reliable than me in marching and fighting."

"But now Jiang Huai is fighting on both sides, especially Wen Chang is fighting Runan, sir, don't you have any interest in helping him?"

Guo Jia said angrily: "Using troops in battle is not my forte."

"And I heard that Wei Yan, who was just an ordinary officer in the army before, is now fighting back and forth with the generals in Cao's camp, and even has the upper hand."

"Any young man under the lord is so capable. Sometimes I wonder if the lord is really the one chosen by God."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said solemnly: "Everything depends on human effort. God favors those who keep striving. Even if it is a person who is destined by heaven, if he is complacent and does not make progress, he will be abandoned by heaven."

"So I came here this time to ask you to help me attack north, break through Yuzhou and Yanzhou, and then fight a decisive battle with Cao Cao in Jizhou!"

(End of this chapter)