Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 268

In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Jun's [-] troops defeated Yuan Shao's [-], beheaded generals Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Han Meng, Jiang Qi, and Touch Jiao, surrendered Gao Lan, and Xu You, and harvested countless military resources, making Cao Cao's prestige unparalleled, and his military power rose rapidly .The only thing that troubled Cao Cao was the problem of food and grass, but there was no war in Henan, and Runan was recovered. Cao Cao firmly believed that it would be resolved in two or three years, and then he could go north to Hebei.

Whenever he thought of this, Cao Cao couldn't suppress the joy in his heart.At the celebration banquet, everyone in Cao Ying sang praises for Cao Cao, including Zhou Cang, an outsider.There are often exceptions to things, Xu You acts like no one else, and pretends to be the number one hero, flaunting everywhere that without him, how can he break the Wuchao, how can he defeat Yuan Shao?
No one paid any attention to Xu You, so he ran to Cao Cao to show his merits.Xu You's behavior aroused public anger again. The generals didn't go up to beat him because of Cao Cao's face. Xu Chu had been specially ordered by Cao Cao, so he could only stare angrily.This is what Zhou Cang likes to hear. Some people divert their attention so that they will not be noticed.

Cao Cao couldn't stand Xu You, and he couldn't show himself, so he gave his subordinates winks, and the generals understood that they would drink to Xu You one after another, and soon confused Xu You.Just because Xu You got drunk, it doesn't mean that these people will let him go. Some people directly held Xu You's ears, pinched his nose and continued to drink until Xu You got down and was dragged back to the big tent to sleep.For this, everyone turned a blind eye.

At last the flies were driven away, and Cao Cao drank with his men.Zhou Cang made a toast to Cao Cao at this time, "Congratulations to Duke Cao, and I wish Duke Cao will conquer the princes as soon as possible and rule the world."

"Hahaha, okay, with Wei Guo's auspicious words, let's drink this cup to the brim."

"Mr. Cao, please ask Mr. Cao to arrange to take over the front line of the Yellow River." Zhou Cang continued.

"Alright. Gongda, you write a letter to Mao Jie and ask him to go north to receive it immediately. In addition, write to Zhong De and ask him to return directly to Xudu." Cao Cao decided on a good candidate after a little thought, and Mao Jie was offended in Xudu. There are too many people, and I have long wanted to send him abroad, and Man Chong has offended many people, so I have to put Man Chong somewhere, but I can't be too hasty, or I think Cao Cao is showing weakness.

Zhou Cang said again: "I will return to Xuzhou in a few days. In order to guard against Sun Ce, I sent troops to take down Lujiang. Now that Sun Quan has just come to Jiangdong, he will not do anything in a few years. Therefore, I want to hand over Lujiang to Duke Cao."

When the civil and military people around Cao Cao heard this, they put down their cups and chopsticks one after another, and looked at Cao Cao together, and the entire big tent fell silent.

What's happening here?Now who is not fighting for territory and pulling teams, lest they fall behind.Lujiang, that is a fat piece of meat. Not to mention the excellent geographical location, it is also a land of high grain production and dense population. Zhou Cang is just let out like this?Is Zhou Cang crazy?Does Zhou Cang have any plans?

"Why is Weiguo?" Cao Cao was taken aback.

"Lujiang is not under the rule of Xuzhou. I temporarily occupy Lujiang just to guard against Jingzhou and Jiangdong. Now that the war is over, I should retreat back to Xuzhou."

"My lord, don't reject Wei Guo's kind intentions." Guo Jia said suddenly.In his opinion, Zhou Cang gave up the Lujiang River, five parts unexpected, five parts reasonable.

The so-called accident is that Zhou Cang is really willing to give up the capital to let Lujiang out, he has courage, determination, and scheming.In the so-called reason, Zhou Cang's staying in Lujiang is to bring disaster to himself. How could Cao Cao allow him to become bigger and stronger?Regardless of whether Zhou Cang has ambitions or not, he should not continue to control Lujiang.Unless Zhou Cang turns his back on Cao Cao and turns to alliance with Yuan Shao.

In Guo Jia's view, whether Zhou Cang is ambitious or not, as long as he can control you and use him only for me, he can keep it.And Xun You's idea is that Zhou Cang has repeatedly made military exploits, so far he has been loyal to Cao Cao and the Han Dynasty, and there is nothing out of the ordinary or inappropriate, even if there is a slight sign, then he should win over and appease him.

"In that case, I'll accept it." Cao Cao began to think again.

The generals looked at Cao Cao anxiously, were they considering the candidates for the guard?I don't know who this good thing will fall on?Is it Cao Hong and Cao Xiu of the Cao family, civil servants such as Man Chong and Liu Ye, or military generals such as Zhang Liao and Zhu Ling?

"Cao Xiu, I will make you the prefect of Lujiang and general Pingnan to guard Lujiang." Cao Cao decided on a candidate.As soon as Cao Xiu left, Cao Chun became the sole leader of the tiger and leopard cavalry.

The generals breathed a sigh of relief, and all the good things fell on the Cao family's own heads, and they all lowered their heads.Zhang Liao concealed his frustration, Jia Xu closed his eyes slightly, Guo Jia sipped his wine, Xun You straightened his clothes, as if he didn't hear them.

Cao Cao was surprised when he saw the performance of his subordinates: Xiahouyuan was in Chang'an, Cao Ren was in Wancheng, Xiahoudun was in Yanzhou, and now Cao Xiu occupied Lujiang, and the Cao brothers controlled various places.There's no other way, the border officials who hold the military power don't feel at ease if they don't hand it over to their brothers.But if these generals feel that they have no future, they will inevitably lose their hearts.Cao Cao suddenly realized: Why did Guan Yu leave?It is because he thinks that he will not be able to be reused by himself, or that he will never be able to surpass the Cao brothers, so he defected to Liu Bei who is in decline. Then Guan Yu's status is second only to Liu Bei. If Liu Bei develops, Guan Yu will become a person Below ten thousand people.

Let's gradually promote these generals in the future.In order to ease the atmosphere, Cao Cao decided to carry Zhou Cang out, so that everyone can see that non-Cao clan members will be reused.

"Wei Guo has made remarkable achievements in battle. I am going to recommend Wei Guo as Xuzhou Mu." This is the strategy that Cao Cao, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu have already decided. "The State of Wei attacked Qingzhou and captured the two counties of Donglai and Chengyang, so please ask the State of Wei to take care of it temporarily."

This is Zhou Cang's decision to withdraw from Lujiang overnight, just to show his favor to Cao Cao.I thought that Cao Cao would not mention Donglai and Chengyang, and put these two places on hold for the time being. I didn't expect Cao Cao to hand them over to himself. This kind of exchange will be difficult in the future.Zhou Cang is very contradictory. It is a good thing to get the two counties, but the expansion of his own power has also planted hidden dangers, so it is better to shelve it.It seems that after going back, they have to plan carefully with Zhou Wen and Zhang Jiong.

"Thank you Duke Cao, Zhou Cang will live up to the expectations of Duke Cao and the court."

Xun You's eyes twitched, Donglai and Chengyang were in Zhou Cang's hands, separated by Qingzhou and Xuzhou, Cao Cao couldn't cross over and send people to guard them, and he couldn't provide food and grass, but Zhou Cang could just give it to Zhou Cang?The lord is wrong, it's easy to give it out, but it's hard to get it back.

"Wei Guo, don't thank me first, I still have something to discuss with you. This time when Yuan Shao besieged Guandu, General Zhang Jaw was calm in the face of danger, commanded well, and was quite a famous general. Zixiao's letter once said that Xuzhou's army is well-organized. I will follow suit, so I would like to ask Wei Guo to give up his love and transfer General Zhang Jaw to Xudu to help me train my troops."

(End of this chapter)