Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 738

After hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Jia Xu said with disdain: "I wonder what Kong Ming has to say?"

He was a little unhappy. The other party came to visit in a hurry. He thought he had something important to do. However, the other party came up and said that he wanted to give advice. Are young people nowadays so careless?

Zhuge Liang saw that Jia Xu looked impatient, but he still said bravely: "Liang heard that Wancheng had defected to Cao Cao, and he guessed that it was probably Fu Jun's idea."

"Liang Jin would like to give you a piece of advice, and this is what he says from the bottom of his heart."

"Cao Mengde is not trustworthy."

"His grandfather, Cao Teng, was the initiator of treacherous and sycophantic lies, slandered Huan Ling, and caused the disaster of being imprisoned by the party."

"Since Cao Cao raised his army, he has acted unscrupulously. Although he accepted the Yellow Turban soldiers, he did not restrain them. Instead, he intensified his tactics and massacred cities. The world hated them with hatred."

"He even held the emperor hostage, killed ministers indiscriminately, and the prince persuaded the general to defect to this man. He was acting as an aid to a tiger. Do you know that he will be criticized by the world?"

When Jia Xu saw what Zhuge Liang said, he felt a little unhappy. After all, he was already fifty years old and had known his destiny. He had been famous for a long time and once held a high position. But now he was criticized by a young man like this. He said coldly: "How much does the Zhuge Liang weigh?" A few taels, how dare you talk about world affairs!"

"Nowadays, the trend of the times is that a gentleman moves with the times, does not understand wise strategies to protect himself, and often dies unexpectedly. If life and death are not in his own hands, how can he be qualified to talk about anything else?"

"Young master, you have nothing to do. You don't know how difficult it is to survive in this world, and I don't want you to care about it. Please retreat quickly!"

After Zhuge Liang heard this, he couldn't help but retorted: "Liang once fled from Langya to Yuzhang with his uncle. What he saw and heard during the thousand-mile journey was not enough, but it was not nothing."

"During the war, the people were displaced, hungry and sick, and their cries were endless. The tragedy was unbearable to see."

"The Lord Fu is right. The life and death of people in this world are not in their own hands, but whose hands are their lives and deaths?"

"Who is causing the current chaos?"

"We scholars are still working hard every day. You can only imagine what kind of life the people in the world are living."

"Such troubled times should be ended as soon as possible, but there are differences in ending troubled times in the same way."

"Cao Cao will be massacred when he goes to the city, and mourners will be everywhere wherever his troops pass. With your advice, the general surrenders to Cao Cao. How much disaster will it cause to the world in the future?"

Jia Xu was surprised when he saw Zhuge Liang's words, but he was even more unhappy in his heart. He sneered and said, "You also know that he will be slaughtered when he goes to the city, so you still don't understand my painstaking efforts?"

"If they capture Wancheng, how many people in the city will survive? How can you still stand in front of me and talk like this?"

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "When Cao's army attacked Langya, they had already massacred Xuzhou once before."

"In the second attack on Xuzhou, although the troops stopped midway, the massacre was even worse. Corpses were scattered all over the fields, the Si River was cut off, the stench was soaring into the sky, and human habitation was cut off for hundreds of miles."

"Even so, Langya cities still tried their best to resist. Don't you know why, sir?"

"Because after being beaten down, the whole family has been working in the fields for generations. Life is worse than death, and they are no different from slaves."

"Although Wancheng is not like this now, it is just because of his plot in Jingzhou to temporarily appease people's hearts. What will happen in the future, do you know?"

"Don't you hear how miserable the people of Yanzhou and Yuzhou are living now?"

"Liang is arrogantly assuming that by using Wancheng as a gift, sir, he is trading for his own safety, right?"

"How are the people of Luoyang, Chang'an, doing today?"

Jia Xu was furious, slapped the table and said angrily: "Shu Zi is so rude!"

"Believe it or not, I will kill you with just one word!"

Zhuge Liang was unafraid, "Sir, you can threaten me, but the moment Cao Cao entered the city, Liang had already put his life and death at risk!"

"Today Liang seems to be admonishing Mr. Wangfu. He wants to rein in his life and save the lives of the common people. If people like Mr. still regard the people as pawns and ignore their life and death, who in the world can save them?"

Jia Xu sneered and said: "You are so proud of saving the common people!"

"I just want to live, that's all!"

"Everyone in this world is trying to protect themselves. There are no more people like you mentioned!"

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "No, Liang believes that there will definitely be people. For thousands of years, there will never be a shortage of such people!"

Jia Xu laughed dumbly, "Okay, okay, then I'll watch carefully."

"I don't want to argue with you, just step back!"

Zhuge Liang sighed in his heart, knowing that his last effort had failed. He sat up straight and said, "In that case, I hope you will let me and my wife go out of the city."

Jia Xu smiled and said, "That's not possible."

"Now that Duke Cao is planning to plot in Jingzhou, the status of you and your wife is of some use." Zhuge Liang was furious, "The prince is so shameless, aren't you afraid of damaging your status?"

Jia Xu laughed, "What shamelessness? When you reach my age, you will know that people will do anything to survive."

"Don't even think about escaping. I heard that your wife is young and Duke Cao likes women from the gentry clan, which offends me. Don't blame me for using tricks."

Zhuge Liang was stunned for a moment, then clenched his fists inside his sleeves.

Jia Xu, however, drank tea leisurely and turned a blind eye to Zhuge Liang. He had already been searched when he came in and was unarmed. What was he afraid of?

Moreover, the other party also has family members under control, so what can he use to fight against him?

Zhuge Liang stood blankly for a moment, his face gradually calmed down, he slowly stood up and bowed to Jia Xu: "I have benefited a lot today, thank you so much, envoy."

"Farewell."

Looking at Zhuge Liang striding out, Jia Xu sneered and shook his head. This young man has never suffered any setbacks and has experienced hardships. In a few years, he will know that he is right.

Zhuge Liang returned to his small courtyard, and Huang Yueying came out to welcome him. Seeing Zhuge Liang's face with a dejected look, knowing that the matter could not be done, she comforted him: "The matter is over now, husband, please feel at ease. At worst, we and I will just leave it to fate."

Zhuge Liang sighed; "It's my fault. No matter in terms of intelligence or strength, I am far inferior to the other party. I can only be at the mercy of others."

"But I don't want to leave it to fate. Things may not turn around."

Huang Yueying asked curiously: "My husband, don't you believe in the art of stargazing?"

"I thought your husband believed in destiny."

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "The art of stargazing is not destiny, it is only used to observe what will happen in the world."

"Everyone in the world thinks that the stars are just a reflection of people's behavior. As long as they are people, their behavior has the possibility of changing."

"For thousands of years, the history of this world has been written by people, so I believe that as long as we find the right way, we will be able to change things in the world."

Huang Yueying covered her mouth and said with a smile: "This is the husband I know so well. He will never give up."

"For a man like my husband, it's not easy for a concubine to compile an unofficial history."

Zhuge Liang knew that Huang Yueying was trying to make excuses for himself, but he still couldn't help but said: "Don't think about your messy things. I packed up my things a few days ago and found that your writing was getting more and more excessive, and there were two men fighting with bare hands... ….”

Huang Yueying screamed and ran inside in a panic, "My husband is so annoying, and I peeked again. I will have to hide somewhere else next time!"

Zhuge Liang looked at Huang Yueying's back and couldn't help but become speechless. Suddenly he was startled slightly, and then he became thoughtful.

In another mansion in Wancheng, there was singing and dancing in the hall, and singers and dancers performed side by side. Cao Cao shook the wine in his hand and looked quite contented.

He had to admit that Jingzhou was indeed a prosperous place. Even the fine wine and delicacies in Nanyang were much better than those in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, which had experienced many wars.

Thinking that if he captures Jingzhou again, further plots against Yizhou, uses this important area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack as his backup, and then seizes the opportunity to encroach on Jianghuai, his strength will greatly increase. By then, even if the four northern states of the Yuan family join forces, they will not be able to defeat him. You can’t use yourself up!

Thinking of this, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel a little elated. He took a big gulp of wine. After suppressing it for several years, it was finally his turn to feel proud!

The only fly in the ointment was that all the singers and dancers in front of him were mediocre in appearance, which made Cao Cao extremely suspicious that Zhang Xiu was hiding his secrets and kept all the beauties!

He drank a few more drinks, thinking that Zhang Xiu was sent out to fight Liu Bei, which would weaken the strength of his direct troops and at the same time dig out Zhang Xiu's foundation from Yecheng.

Cao Cao had already had several private connections with Jia Xu, and the only one left was Zhang Xiu's deputy general Hu Che'er, who was stationed in Wancheng. In order to win over him, Cao Cao also spent a lot of money and sent several kilograms of gold over.

This gold is real gold, not brass. Such a large amount is rare. It was found by Cao Cao's gold-touching school captain after groping more than a dozen tombs. It is a huge profit without any capital.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao felt more relaxed. When Zhang Xiu came back after defeating Liu Bei, he would find that everything in Wancheng had fallen into his hands. Zhang Xiu would only have an empty position and no longer have the strength to occupy Wancheng.

For such an important Jingzhou portal, it is better to rest assured that it is in the hands of our own people.

Cao Cao was already tipsy, and the more he thought about it, the happier he became. He turned to ask Cao Ang beside him: "Is there any beautiful woman in the city?"

After hearing this, Cao Ang shook his head and said, "My child has been following my father to deal with internal affairs these days and has not gone to the city to investigate."

Seeing the disappointment on Cao Cao's face, Cao Ang breathed a sigh of relief. His adoptive mother, Mrs. Ding, was now Cao Cao's wife and raised Cao Ang. The two had a deep relationship.

Mrs. Ding also knew privately that Cao Cao liked to find women when he was away from home, so she secretly asked Cao Ang to find a way to persuade him. So Cao Ang pretended to be stupid at this time because of Mrs. Ding.

As a result, someone next to me said, "I heard that there is a woman in Wancheng who is famous for her beauty."

Cao Ang turned around and couldn't help but curse in his heart. The person speaking was Cao Cao's nephew Cao Anmin. He served Cao Cao around and didn't do much. The most important thing he did was to scout out beautiful women for Cao Cao. When Cao Cao conquered Yanzhou Later, Cao Anmin informed Cao Cao after inquiring about the beauty of Bian Rang's wife Huan.

After hearing this, Cao Cao became interested. He first looked at Cao Ang reproachfully and said, "Look, you still have the intention of reassuring the people. Learn more in the future!"

He turned to Cao Anmin, "Who is that beautiful woman you are talking about?"

Cao Anmin came closer and whispered: "That woman is Zhang Ji's widow and Zhang Xiu's aunt."

(End of this chapter)