Chapter 14: A Capable Minister and a Treacherous Hero

Cao Cao chased Dong Zhuo and fought in Xingyang, but was defeated. Shao sent someone to the camp to entertain Cao. Cao Cao saw that Shao and others had different intentions and thought that they could not accomplish anything. His army was exhausted, so he led his army to Yangzhou to recruit new soldiers.

It was only one day's journey to Yangzhou. Cao Cao was riding slowly when he heard a commotion in front of him. He looked up and saw that the vanguard Cao Ren and Li Dian were surrounded by a person coming towards him. It was not someone else, but me - Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao.

Cao Cao jumped off his horse and shouted, "Mr. Fengxiao, you want to kill Meng De!"

I hurriedly walked a few steps and bowed to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was shocked and hurriedly stopped me, saying, "Mr., why are you doing this?"

"The princes met to fight against Dong, and saw that Dong the thief had kidnapped the emperor and all the officials and fled west without thinking of chasing him. Only you were eager for justice and led more than 10,000 troops to chase him. I deeply feel that there is only one hero in the world, Cao Gong!" I had thought of these words a few days ago, including bowing, and I practiced it many times. At this time, Cao Cao was very upset about the unsuccessful war, and he must have been frustrated. I took the opportunity to flatter him and not only helped him to cheer up quickly, but also made him regard me as a soulmate. The ancients emphasized that it is difficult to find a soulmate. Once you are positioned in the position of a soulmate, you will never leave each other in wealth or death. But I knew that Cao Cao was suspicious, so I didn't expect him to be completely reassured about me all at once. After saying these words, I was waiting for Cao Cao to make a move.

Sure enough! Cao Cao bowed to me as I thought and said, "Sir, you are a great talent. I regret not following your advice now. I would like to become your brother and help the Han Dynasty together."

I had expected Cao Cao's behavior. After all, he has only six generals and a thousand soldiers. He has no territory, so he doesn't dare to have too much hope to recruit talents like me as his subordinates. Instead, he uses sworn brotherhood to form a relatively equal identity for his use. Just like the owner of a small handicraft workshop in the 21st century, if you tell him that a graduate student or a doctor wants to work here, will he believe it? Even if he believes it, will he dare to use it? But if this graduate student or doctor signs a contract that is in line with the interests of this small owner or pays a high deposit, then the situation is different.

In addition to strengthening the sense of closeness, sworn brotherhood is also one of the necessary means for various monarchs in ancient times to start their careers. In my opinion, the reason why Liu Huangshu wanted to swear brotherhood with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei was just a means for him to win over people when he started from scratch. Of course, this method is only suitable for the initial stage and cannot be used too much. Otherwise, once the lord sits on the throne, how can everyone below discuss matters if they are all brothers with the lord?

Cao Cao's ancestors were officials for generations. If other poor children could become sworn brothers with people of such status, it would be a very honorable thing at the time. However, if you become sworn brothers with the lord, you will have an equal status with the lord under certain circumstances. And the risk factor of being killed is at least five to ten times higher than that of others, so I, who am familiar with human psychology, will never do it.

I helped Cao Cao up first and then said, "Lord Cao has shown great love, but I dare not accept it. I am willing to serve you as a counselor in the future!" At this point, I bowed and said, "Guo Jia greets the lord!"

Cao Cao is indeed a hero of his generation. Seeing that I insisted on not becoming sworn brothers with him and treated him as a master and a servant, he immediately understood what I meant and was overjoyed. After accepting my greeting, he supported me with both hands and said, "Being able to be filial is like adding wings to a tiger!"

Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Le Jin, and Li Dian all came to congratulate him. Cao Cao ordered to set up camp and buy cattle, sheep, wine and water.

After drinking three cups of wine in the big tent, Cao Cao said, "Now that Benchu ​​is not making progress, all the princes are wasting money and food on sour jujubes. Can Fengxiao teach me?"

I said, "My lord, do you know why Yuan Shao is not making progress?"

Cao Cao said, "I would like to hear about it."

I sighed and said, "Yuan Shao is not making progress because of Dong Zhuo, but because of the court!"

Cao Cao was surprised and said, "The court?"

"Yes, it is the court! The Yuan family has three officials in four generations, and their students and former officials are all over the world. Now that the elders of the Yuan family have been killed by the thief Dong, Yuan Shao is the natural patriarch of the Yuan family, and the power of the Yuan family is under his control. Dong Zhuo has the strongest military power in the world, but Yuan Shao has the most reputation. Is Yuan Shao devoted to the Han Dynasty? Of course not. Just look at his generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou, who were left in Hebei did not join Yuan Shao in the crusade, which is evident! If Yuan Shao was truly for the Han Dynasty, he would have only needed to raise his arm and call for the Yuan family's disciples and old officials to respond. As long as they exerted their full strength, they would have been able to destroy Dong. However, after destroying Dong, the court was afraid that Yuan Shao would become the next Dong Zhuo, so they would certainly suppress the Yuan family in many ways. If he wanted to fight against the court, the Yuan family's power would be insufficient after the consumption with Dong Zhuo, and if he did not fight, he would surely die at the hands of the court. Now that Yuan Shao has the status of the leader of the alliance, he can appoint and dismiss officials on behalf of the court. Maintaining the status quo is precisely the greatest guarantee for the interests of the Yuan family. Therefore, as the leader of the alliance, Yuan Shao would definitely not send troops to destroy Dong. "

All the people in the big tent opened their mouths and eyes wide when they heard my slanderous remarks about the court and the leader of the alliance, Yuan Shao, as if they were looking at a monster. I ignored him and continued to talk to myself: "The princes who are currently meeting in Suanzao will return to their own places after their food and grass are exhausted. Seeing that there is no war, Dong Zhuo will indulge in extravagant desires, and his arrogance will also make his subordinates alienated from him. At that time, there will be wise ministers in the court who will kill Dong Zhuo by means of alienation. Whether the world can be won and the Han Dynasty can be revived depends on whether the court officials who are at the right time can seize the opportunity!"

That's enough. If there are any more forbidden words, they can only be said in private. I raised my cup and invited the people in the tent to drink with me. Cao Cao also recovered from the shock and drank with everyone.

That night, I lit a candle in my tent and waited for Cao Cao to come. Through this stage of observation, I found that Cao Cao, or at least the current Cao Cao, was not a suspicious person at all. Although he did not adopt the three strategies I set for him, I think no one would listen to such a general strategy. Cao Cao was able to assassinate Dong Zhuo without caring about his own life, and not long ago, he pursued Dong Zhuo who held the emperor hostage despite his obviously insufficient military strength. These two things can fully prove that Cao Cao should not be a person who always thinks about himself. Even in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" where Liu Bei is respected and Cao Cao is suppressed, Cao Cao also tried every means to maintain the stability of the alliance in this plot of the princes' alliance. What exactly can make a person change so much?

At three o'clock in the morning, a man lifted the curtain and entered. It was Cao Cao. Cao Cao saw me sitting high in the tent and smiled knowingly, "Feng Xiao has a good taste, but he is reading by lamplight at night."

I stared and lied, "Jia is reading, and he can't fall asleep because he has a lot of feelings!"

Cao Cao said, "Oh! What book is Feng Xiao reading? Can you explain it?"

I shook my head and said, "The book has no name, and the words have no meaning, how can I explain it!"

Cao Cao looked inside the tent and ordered Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan outside the tent to step back a few steps, and told them not to let anyone approach the tent before saying seriously, "During the banquet, Feng Xiao seemed to have something to say."

I said, "My lord is very observant, Jia did have something to say. But Yuan Shao may have the intention of holding his own army and dominating one side, and his brother Yuan "The country is in so much trouble!" Cao Cao had already realized it under my guidance, "Is it impossible to save it?" I said, "I heard that Xu Zijiang once commented on the lord as: a capable minister in a peaceful era, a treacherous hero in a chaotic era. I wonder if this is true?" Cao Cao was very puzzled by my sudden change of topic, but still nodded and said, "Yes!" I touched my forehead and asked word by word, "Then the lord wants to be a capable minister in a peaceful era admired by thousands of people? Or a treacherous hero in a chaotic era who can help the country in times of trouble but will be cursed for thousands of years?" Cao Cao shuddered and said, "Fengxiao... this..." What did the ancients pay attention to? They paid attention to being recorded in history, and now Cao Cao should still be a loyal minister with loyalty as the top priority. But loyal ministers can't help but have some concerns when doing things, and since Cao Cao will inevitably become a treacherous hero in the future, let me speed up this process! I said loudly: "If you want to be a capable minister who is admired by all, you can try to sneak into Chang'an in the near future to contact loyal and righteous people to kill Dong Zhuo, and then recruit the Xiliang Army and order the princes to disband their private soldiers, cultivate benevolence and reduce taxes, and the world will be at peace. This is a bad strategy, because the court officials may not pardon their subordinates after killing Dong Zhuo, and the Xiliang Army generals will use the excuse of revenge for Dong Zhuo as an excuse to invade Chang'an if they are not pardoned. The court is probably not a match for the Xiliang Army, and mobilizing the princes to serve the king is not enough. Second, the consequences of He Jin's invitation to the princes are in sight, and the court will be worried about missing opportunities again and again. Once such an incident occurs, I am afraid that the emperor's life will be in danger. Bao, the world will fall apart, so it is the worst strategy! "

At this point, I looked at Cao Cao's wooden expression and continued: "Jia has another middle strategy, that is, the lord should do nothing, just wait for Dong Zhuo's death, and then contact the princes to take the opportunity to march into Chang'an to annihilate the Xiliang army, and then try to make the princes check each other and not let one person monopolize power. However, the princes will definitely ask for rewards for their great achievements, and the court can only reward them with land and population. Although it can also make the world temporarily stable, the court has lost its prestige in front of the princes. In the near future, the world will inevitably return to the situation of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period when the princes competed for hegemony! This is the middle strategy! "

After saying so much, I stopped and drank a sip of water and stopped talking