Ji Han Liu Zhang

"Accept it!"

Shangshu Ling Xun Yu looked slightly surprised. Previously, the Grand Marshal Liu Zhang who lived in Guanzhong had repeatedly refused the reward of being made king, but now he accepted it calmly and accepted the title of King of Qin.

Was it because the previous "King of Shu" did not meet the expectations of Grand Marshal Liu Zhang? Or was it because the drama of three refusal and three decline was over, so Grand Marshal Liu Zhang accepted the reward of being crowned king?
Xun Yu frowned, and he pondered the reason carefully. As the saying goes, there must be something wrong when things go against the grain. The behavior of Grand Marshal Liu Zhang was different from before, which made him suspicious. He squinted his eyes and began to guess.

"hiss……"

After a while, Xun Yu seemed to have thought of a possible reason. He seemed to understand why Grand Marshal Liu Zhang accepted the reward from the King of Qin so openly this time.

Liu Jiyu is indeed not an ordinary person!
Xun Yu praised in his heart. If his speculation was true, the first person in the Liu clan - Liu Zhang Liu Jiyu, did have some extraordinary qualities and should not be taken lightly.

Xun Yu was moved by this thought, and he stood up, ready to go meet his master. At this time, an envoy from the Sikong Mansion came to the door and asked for an audience, conveying the invitation from Sikong Cao Cao.

'It's a coincidence.'

Following the footsteps of the messenger from Sikong Mansion, Xun Yu arrived outside the meeting hall of Sikong Mansion and met Sikong Cao Cao who was waiting for him.

Cao Cao, who was short in stature but a sturdy man, waved his hand to stop Xun Yu from bowing when he saw him. He said, "Wenruo, there is no need to be polite. Please take a seat. I have a question in my mind, and I hope you can help me solve it."

"But has Liu Jiyu accepted the King of Qin's order?" Xun Yu asked Cao Cao as he slowly walked in and took his seat.

"That's right." Cao Cao nodded, his tone full of hesitation: "Before, Liu Jiyu was conferred the title of King of Shu, but Liu Jiyu refused it repeatedly. Now he has accepted the title of 'King of Qin'. Although it is what I want, I feel something is wrong in my heart. I just don't understand the reason."

At this time, Xun Yu, who was sitting in his seat, turned slightly and bowed to Cao Cao, who was sitting in the main seat, and said, "In my humble opinion, Liu Jiyu's move is just to go with the flow."

Hearing this, Cao Cao leaned forward slightly, pretending to listen attentively. He was also confused and urgently needed Xun Yu to clear up his confusion, otherwise he would inevitably feel uneasy.

Xun Yu bowed his hands and spoke slowly, "People have been discussing that Yuan Shao and Liu Zhang are the biggest enemies. They each occupy a strategic location, blocking three sides and defending one side. Hebei is only an enemy in the south, and Guanzhong only needs to defend the east... But you live in the Central Plains, which is well connected. Your army can be easily attacked from all directions, but it can also be attacked by others."

"So we should borrow the emperor's order to stir up disputes in Hebei and Guanzhong, so as to prevent Yuan Shao and Liu Zhang from coveting the Central Plains and spying on the royal family... Because Yuan Shao is jealous and has the intention of usurping the throne, the people decided to confer the title of king on Liu Zhang, so as to induce Yuan Shao to move westward and fight with Liu Zhang in Hedong."

“But…” Xun Yu sighed and said, “Liu Jiyu must have known your intention, so Liu Jiyu accepted it generously to show his friendship and collusion with you…”

By the time Xun Yu had said this, Cao Cao, with his intelligence, had already understood the reason: "Wen Ruo's words helped me to see the blue sky through the clouds."

After praising Xun Yu, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh in his heart. This time he had actually backfired.

Cao Cao's original intention was the same as what Xun Yu said, to confer the title of king on Liu Zhang in order to draw Yuan Shao's attention to Guanzhong, so that he could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight and profit from it. But now Liu Zhang was conferred the title and sent an envoy to express his gratitude, showing that Chang'an and Xudu had a deep friendship and lived in harmony. This scene, in the eyes of Yuan Shao in Hebei, might bring disaster.

Moreover, we must know that ever since Dong Zhuo caused trouble, the emperor was exiled, the government was weakened, and the states and counties acted on their own, Yuan Shao, as the leader of the princes of the universe, held the righteousness in his hands and could endorse the appointment and removal of the state and county officials.

As for Cao Cao himself, he was previously under Yuan Shao's command and was appointed as the governor of Dongjun and later as the governor of Yanzhou. Although Cao Cao did not send his family members as hostages to Yecheng, in the eyes of outsiders and Yuan Shao, he was a member of Yuan Shao's faction and a loyal follower of Yuan Shao.

However, ever since Cao Cao welcomed the emperor to Xu and rejected Yuan Shao's proposal to move the emperor to Yecheng, a rift between him and Yuan Shao gradually developed, and the two sides had a conflict of interest, unlike the earlier harmonious scene when they were enemies of Yuan Shu.

Until now, in the fifth year of Jian'an, Yuan Shao sent troops to Hedong, but was stopped at Yubi City and returned to Ye City without success. He was already upset. But Cao Cao was in a hurry to confer the title of king on Liu Zhang, which was a clear indication that he intended to be an enemy of Yuan Shao.

Given Yuan Shao's temperament, he would definitely resent Xu Du and be jealous of Cao Cao. He might even lead his army south to Yanyu to engage in a earth-shaking battle with him.

Therefore, suspicion has arisen between Yecheng and Xudu, and I am afraid that there will be no peace!
"Wen Ruo." Cao Cao turned his gaze to his assistant Xun Yu and asked, "The mistake has been made today. Yuan Shao must be resentful. Do you have any plan to resolve it?"

"It can be balanced." Xun Yu responded and gave his plan: "You can use the emperor's order to make Yuan Shao the Duke of Wei for his merit in killing Gongsun and conquering Heishan... Yuan Shao is greedy for profit and forgets his loyalty, which will ease your knot."

“Duke Wei…” Cao Cao stroked his long beard, revealing a thoughtful look. After a moment, he clapped his hands and exclaimed: “Wonderful, it should be done like this, it should be done like this.”

Cao Cao approved of Xun Yu's strategy and immediately implemented it. He sent the chief architect Kong Rong as an angel to go to Yecheng to announce the decree to make Yuan Shao the Duke of Wei.

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With Yuan Shao in the north, Liu Zhang in the west, Liu Biao and Sun Ce in the south, Cao Cao, who was surrounded by enemies on all sides in the Central Plains, had a hard time. After all, he had to deal with enemies on all sides, unlike Yuan Shao and Liu Zhang, who only had to deal with enemies on one side.

"Fortunately, the emperor is in my hands, and justice is in my grasp."

For Cao Cao, what he was most grateful for was that he could control the emperor in his hands, conquer the four directions in the name of the emperor, and use official titles to mobilize and control the princes in all directions, thereby gaining some peace for himself and avoiding the situation of being attacked on two sides or even three sides.

Just like now, Cao Cao can use the emperor's order to confer the title of Duke of Wei on Yuan Shao, and use rewards to ease Yuan Shao's hatred towards him, and try to eliminate the possible war between Yecheng and Xudu.

However, even though Cao Cao saw Kong Rong off and went to Yecheng to confer the title of Duke of Wei on Yuan Shao, he was still uneasy. What he was worried about was that Yuan Shao was blocked in Hedong. Even if he was granted the title of Duke of Wei, he would still look south and eye the land of Yan and Yu where there were no dangers and roads were accessible.

"We must prepare early." Cao Cao thought to himself and decided that no matter whether Yuan Shao would give up his intention to go south because of his title of Duke of Wei, he must make preparations early to prevent the troops from Hebei from going south.

If you are prepared, you will not be in trouble. (End of this chapter)