I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Now that the Northern Army has occupied most of Yanzhou's territory, it is impossible for them to give up halfway and stop their efforts to unify the entire territory.

Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao were both hoping for luck. They clearly did not have the strength to engage in a head-on confrontation, yet they refused to surrender and attempted to raise an army to establish their own regime. This was a way to their death.

After a little thought, Wang Jing made a decision and ordered Guo Jia and Xun You: "First use courtesy, then use force. While preparing for war, send envoys to inform Zhang Chao and Zhang Miao that if they don't surrender, they will die."

"Yes."

In the eastern part of Yanzhou, Mount Tai is Fenggao.

The Wenshui River is the place where three rivers meet.

A large number of broken rocks protrude from the surface, forming an endless series of majestic mountains. Its magnificent scenery makes it the first of the Five Sacred Mountains and the most majestic of all mountains.

Fenggao City is the seat of Taishan County. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

However, no matter how solid the defense was, it was difficult to relieve Zhang Miao's worries. Ever since the envoy of the Northern Army came to visit him, he had been unable to sleep or eat.

Even the towering mountains and mighty rivers could not give him the slightest sense of security.

His younger brother Zhang Chao rushed over and asked as soon as he saw him: "Brother, I heard that Marquis Qi sent an envoy. Where is he?"

Zhang Miao was in low spirits: "I have arranged for him to stay at the post station in the city."

Seeing that his brother's expression seemed a little strange, Zhang Chao suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart and asked anxiously: "Brother, what happened?"

Zhang Miao sighed: "Wang Yuanxu has issued an ultimatum to my brother and me. If we don't surrender, we will die."

Just a few simple sentences, but they displayed unparalleled dominance, an irresistible will, and boundless murderous intent.

Just because Wang Jing can do it.

"Wang Yuanxu, you are really going too far!"

Zhang Chao had never been humiliated like this before, and he shouted angrily, "Both you and I have been driven from Chenliu City to Mount Tai and Jibei, why is he still pressing us?"

But this anger is nothing but impotent rage.

What’s the use of the weak shouting their resentment no matter how loudly?

Who will hear?
Who would care?

As for a strong man like Wang Jing, there is no need to get angry at all. Even if he says a few words or even a single word, the whole world must listen carefully and remember them carefully, otherwise you will be torn to pieces.

The weight of words is never determined by their volume, but by the strength of their power.

Zhang Miao was extremely terrified, but he could not accept giving up the power and the interests of his family.

After Wang Jing's series of turmoil, the aristocratic families in the capital have now been completely marginalized.

Although Wang Jing also provided many new benefits, those commercial benefits only earned money. What the aristocratic families and wealthy families lost was the control over the entire society.

Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao were fighting desperately at this moment because they didn't want to become prey.

Money means nothing. What they want is for their family to always be above the people and have the power of life and death.

Therefore, the two brothers, like Chen Gong, are staunch conservative forces within the aristocratic family.

Among the aristocratic families, most of the prominent families with a large number of officials in office are conservatives. The biggest characteristic of this faction is that they oppose all forms of reform, believing that reform will only make things worse, and that the only best outcome is to maintain the status quo and "not disturb the people."

Of course, the common people are not considered “people”.

When they said "not disturbing the people", they meant the central government, which wanted the local families to not interfere with their control over power, resources and promotion channels, so that they would always be in the upper class and block the channels for class advancement.

This kind of stability is what they call "the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed."

In the minds of Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others, the emperor is only capable of fooling around. Only Confucian scholars like them who care about the world are the ones who truly care about the people and are capable of governing the country.

To put it bluntly, they still don't want to give up the family's monopoly privileges.

In order to strengthen the imperial power, Emperor Wu of Han abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone. However, only three hundred years later, a monster like Confucianism was born, which in turn threatened the imperial power.

Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, did not hesitate to launch the Party Factions and Factions Persecution and sell official positions and titles just to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families and powerful clans over the local areas.

Unfortunately, he failed in the end. Even as an emperor, he encountered mutiny and assassination. This shows how terrifying the power of the aristocratic families had expanded to.

Confucianism has become a cancer.

A group of so-called celebrities who had read the books of sages, led their respective families to lie on the body of the Yanhan Empire and suck the blood and flesh of the people, constantly expanding until the arrival of self-collapse and destruction, and finally ushered in a civilizational catastrophe such as the Five Barbarians Invasion.

However, Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao could not see these things. They still stubbornly believed that everything they did was right.

And the person who is wrong is always someone else.

The previous emperor was Liu Hong, so he was criticized and even given an evil posthumous title "Ling", which shows how much the ministers hated and loathed him.

Now, the person who is "bringing trouble to the world" has become Wang Jing. He is promoting new policies, implementing land measurement and inheritance laws, and damaging the foundations of aristocratic families and wealthy clans. This is simply treason and unforgivable.

"Brother, what should we do now?"

"The Zhang family of Dongping alone cannot stop the northern army. Wang Yuanxu is a tyrannical man who treats the noble families like pigs and dogs. For now, we must seek external help to overcome the crisis."

Zhang Miao's assessment of the situation did have some insight.

Although Zhang Chao was very dissatisfied with Wang Jing, he also knew that the Northern Army was extremely powerful and was definitely not something that the two brothers could defeat.

Even if they had the support of Kong Rong and Tao Qian, a head-on confrontation would be a dead end.

Zhang Miao was troubled by this: "Kong Wenju and Tao Gongzu dare not offend Wang Yuanxu too much, so it may be difficult for them to send troops to help directly."

In fact, Kong Rong wanted to find someone for help himself, let alone send troops to help.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou has always been a big problem, but Kong Rong himself is simply unable to handle it. Especially recently, a Taoist priest named Laoxian appeared among the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou. His magical powers are so profound that they are said to be no less powerful than those of the former Heavenly General Zhang Jue.

Kong Rong was good at composing poems and writing essays.

Let Kong Rong govern the local area or lead troops to quell rebellion, he would be a complete waste of time.

As for Tao Qian, he was considered to have some abilities among the princes, but unfortunately he did not have first-class generals. He had the ability to defend the territory but not the ability to advance.

Therefore, both Kong and Tao can be regarded as external aid, but cannot be relied upon as backers.

Zhang Chao thought about it and suggested seriously: "Brother, you have always been on good terms with Meng De, why don't you ask him to send troops?"

Cao Cao's troops are currently stationed in the base camp in Xu County. As long as he sends out troops, he will be able to reach the city of Chenliu within a few days. By then, he will be able to threaten Wang Jing's core hinterland and force Wang Jing's army to retreat.

At least in Zhang Chao's opinion, this strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao is absolutely feasible.

Zhang Miao heard this and thought his brother Zhang Chao's words made sense, so he agreed immediately: "Okay, I will set out immediately to ask Meng De to send troops to help."

The military situation was urgent, the northern army had already reached Wenyang and would attack Taishan at any time. So Zhang Miao did not dare to hesitate at all, he personally led the team out of the city and galloped towards Xu County without stopping.

However, what upset Zhang Miao was that in Xu County, he met someone he really didn't want to meet.

Guo Jia was wearing brocade clothes, with a jade pendant and a sachet on his waist. On his handsome face, there was a smile as warm as the morning breeze: "Brother Meng Zhuo, I haven't seen you for a long time. I hope you are well."

"Guo Fengxiao, what brings you to Xu County?"

When Zhang Miao saw Guo Jia, his heart sank to the bottom.

He didn't expect that after rushing all the way, he didn't see Cao Cao, the person he wanted to see the most, but met the person he least wanted to see.

You know, Guo Jia had been on a diplomatic mission to Jizhou before, and he was the one who caused the current chaos in Jizhou. Even Yuan Shao was played around by him.

No matter how confident Zhang Miao was, he did not think he was stronger than Yuan Shao, so he was very uneasy and doubted Guo Jia's purpose of coming to Xu County.

Guo Jia was too lazy to hide his thoughts. When he looked at Zhang Miao, the smile on his face became more and more obvious: "Brother Meng Zhuo knows it very well, so why bother asking? The purpose of my coming here is, of course, to give you a ride."

Giving you a ride is a courtesy between friends.

Unfortunately, Guo Jia wanted Zhang Miao to go down a dead end. Zhang Miao felt cold all over when he heard such undisguised malice, and then he glared at Guo Jia with a sullen face: "You are so confident, be careful not to capsize in the ditch."

Guo Jia was not impressed by Zhang Miao's anger and said, "Then we'll just have to wait and see."

Shortly afterwards, Guo Jia and Zhang Miao were invited into Cao Cao's mansion together.

Because of their personal relationship, Zhang Miao was the first to be received by Cao Cao.

For this, Zhang Miao looked at Guo Jia proudly, as if he was showing off: See, Cao Cao, my beloved relative, brother!
Guo Jia didn't care about this. The corners of his mouth were still raised in a confident arc, and his expression was calm and composed.

After being received by Cao Cao, Zhang Miao could not help but ask him for help: "Meng De, you must save me this time!"

Because of Wang Jing's intervention, Cao Cao and Zhang Miao did not fall out with each other because of Chen Gong's instigation, and the two remained close friends who had known each other for many years.

Taishan County was in danger right now, and Zhang Miao had no time to bother with etiquette or greetings, which showed how anxious he was.

Cao Cao could also understand Zhang Miao's feelings at the time, so he did not blame him for his rudeness. Moreover, Wang Jing's strength was itself a great threat to Yuzhou.

Therefore, Cao Cao said to Zhang Miao without hesitation: "Don't worry, Meng Zhuo. You and I are close friends. I will definitely help you."

"Meng De, good brother, I feel relieved with your words."

Zhang Miao was very moved, and the two of them began to talk for a long time, recalling every detail of the past.

Back then, Zhang Miao, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were all close friends, and they all shared the same ambition to change the world.

In the history of the Three Kingdoms, before Cao Cao conquered Tao Qian, he said to his family: "If I can't come back, you can go to Meng Zhuo."

In the end, Cao Cao returned victoriously and met Zhang Miao. The two looked at each other and cried. This shows how close their relationship was.

It’s a pity that how much weight does a mere friendship have in the fight for world domination?

In front of Zhang Miao, Cao Cao repeatedly promised that he would never meet Guo Jia. However, that night, he secretly sent someone to invite Guo Jia to his study, and the two had a candlelight chat.

Guo Jia walked into the study and casually admired the silk paintings hanging on the wall: "The sacred Fusang tree, the three-legged golden crow, and the nine suns in the sky. Such exquisite paintings must have been created by a famous artist. General Fenwu has a refined taste and great spirit."

"If Fengxiao likes this painting, I can give it to you."

Cao Cao was very generous. For him, if a silk painting could win over a talented person like Guo Jia, it would be greatly worth it.

Of course, treasures can be given away, but wives are out of the question.

Guo Jia smiled and waved his hand: "Forget it, no merit, no reward. Moreover, a gentleman does not take away what others like. General Fenwu hung this painting in his study. He must be very fond of it and want to enjoy it every day. Moreover, he uses the painting to express his aspirations. I believe that General Fenwu is also a man with the world in his heart. The red sun is in the sky, illuminating the world. I am just a counselor, and I can't afford such a boldness."

Just these few words made Cao Cao attach great importance to Guo Jia.

After only a brief contact, Cao Cao felt as if Guo Jia had seen through him.

In front of this man, there are probably few people in the world who can keep their emotions and secrets hidden in their hearts.

Therefore, Cao Cao restrained his smile and became more serious about Guo Jia: "Feng Xiao, please sit down."

Guo Jia sat down calmly: "General Fenwu, you are too polite."

After the host and the guest sat down, the secret conversation officially began.

Seeing Guo Jia's calm expression, Cao Cao couldn't help but ask curiously, "When I sent someone to invite you, you didn't seem surprised at all?"

Hearing this, Guo Jia smiled calmly. His bright eyes were like a deep pool, deep and clear, flowing with the light of wisdom: "Because I know the general will definitely want to see me."

"Why are you so confident, sir?"

"Because of my identity and my deeds, as a top strategist like me, any hero with ambitions for the world would want to see me and not meet me."

Guo Jia smiled very confidently.

Every word uttered seemed so natural.

In Cao Cao's mind, the feeling of being seen through by someone once again emerged.

He finally confirmed that the person in front of him was indeed the genius who was good at observing people's hearts.

Cao Cao was not angry when his thoughts were guessed. Instead, he sighed: "A piece of paper can take Yecheng and a word can cause chaos in Jizhou. With your great talent, it would be a great pity if you could not see it with your own eyes."

At this point, Cao Cao still didn't understand why the envoy sent by Wang Jing this time was Guo Jia and not someone else.

It’s because if it was someone else besides Guo Jia who came, Cao Cao might not necessarily be willing to meet him.

Now that they met, Cao Cao was sure that the genius Guo Jia was worthy of his reputation.

Cao Cao's compliment made Guo Jia laugh out loud, and he was not modest at all: "I gladly accept the praise from General Fenwu."

This made Cao Cao laugh and cry. After all, he had seen many crazy people who did not understand the ways of the world. For example, Bian Rang was much crazier than Guo Jia and could scold him in person until you wanted to kill him.

However, Guo Jia's madness is accompanied by a kind of freedom and ease that is not bound by worldly rules, and is carefree and unrestrained.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this personality that he can become a genius and come up with many fantastic "ghost ideas".

Cao Cao made no secret of his love for talent. He really admired Guo Jia and was even thinking about how to poach Wang Jing's talents.

However, after several attempts, he found that Guo Jia was unmoved and could only sigh helplessly.

When it comes to business, Cao Cao was not vague and directly told Guo Jia his attitude: "Simple curiosity cannot change my attitude. Fengxiao should know that Meng Zhuo is my beloved relative, brother and kin."

There is no doubt that Cao Cao intended to join forces with Zhang Miao.

In other words, the alliance to fight against the king had already been established quietly in secret, and it had become an unspoken consensus among the princes in the Central Plains south of the Yellow River.

After all, the Northern Army is powerful, and if we don’t join forces to fight them, we will be defeated one by one.

In the area south of the Yellow River, there are the brothers Zhang Chao and Zhang Miao trapped in the northeast corner of Yanzhou, Kong Rong living alone in Beihai, Tao Qian sitting in Xuzhou, Yuan Shu in Runan, and Cao Cao retreating to southern Henan.

Every one of them secretly put aside their past grudges and joined hands tacitly, hoping to compete with Wang Jing and avoid being constantly eroded by the Northern Army.

Even Liu Biao, who was competing with Yuan Shu for Nanyang County, stopped his offensive and secretly watched the situation in the north.

The fact that Wang Jing used Guo Jia's strategy to trap Yuan Shao to the point where he was half dead was really too terrifying.

Liu Biao didn't know whether he could withstand such a ordeal if he were in Yuan Shao's position.

Wang Jing had already foreseen such a situation when he took action against Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao. That is why he sent Guo Jia to Xu County in order to divide and disintegrate Cao Cao, a potential opponent.

Guo Jia had already made up his mind, so even though Cao Cao showed a firm stance, he was not panicked at all. He smiled calmly and said, "Zhang Mengzhuo is the general's best friend. This is no secret. How could Jia not know?"

"Since you know this, sir, you should understand that it is impossible for you to convince me."

"It's better not to be too confident. If the general is convinced by me in the end, wouldn't it be very embarrassing?"

Guo Jia's teasing and slightly mocking look made Cao Cao's eyelids twitch.

cheap!
This smile is so mean!

For some reason, Cao Cao's palms felt a little itchy.

I really want to slap him in the face.

But he still held back. After all, beating the messenger would give him a bad reputation if it got out.

Cao Cao finally chose to remain silent and even planned to serve tea to see the guest off.

Guo Jia smiled and began to lobby: "My master once said that deep friendship can only be broken by deeper interests. There are no eternal friends in this world, only eternal interests. The words are rough but the truth is true. I agree with this. What do you think, General?"

Cao Cao was a treacherous hero in troubled times, so he naturally understood these words very well.

Cao Mengde is a man with great ambitions. How could he easily betray his loved ones, friends, brothers and sisters?

You have to pay more! (End of this chapter)