Chapter 183 is here, and I have gained a lot [Subscribe]

Lu Bu ran away again.

He escaped from Yuan Shao's camp in Jizhou.

Cao Cao was shocked because this matter cannot be viewed in isolation. There is a series of complex relationships involved that will have an impact on multiple forces.

Cao Cao saw the beneficial side of this.

Lu Bu's loyalty duration has always been very low.

When he surrendered to Yuan Shao, he did so because of his concubine Zhen Xin, whose ancestral home was in Jizhou and Youzhou.

Moreover, the Zhen and Yuan families were very close and had formed a marriage relationship more than once.

As we all know, Zhen Mi was Yuan Shao's daughter-in-law in history.

The Zhen and Yuan families have many interests connected.

Including Zhen's unique Youzhou horse breeding method, a large number of horse craftsmen, horse training techniques and so on.

Given the friendly relationship between the Yuan and Zhen families, everyone thought that Lu Bu would be more obedient under Yuan Shao after learning from his previous lessons.

However, it does not.

Yuan Shao was also very wary of Lu Bu, so he left him in Jizhou without any power to mobilize any soldiers.

When Lu Bu found out that Jizhou wanted to win over his direct troops and horses he brought from Chang'an.

Lu Bu chose to leave again.

According to the historical plot, Lu Bu left Yuan Shao and wanted to join Zhang Yang, the governor of Henei.

When passing through Yanzhou, with the support of local gentry such as Chen Gong, he fought with Cao Cao for two years for Yanzhou.

But at present, Yanzhou’s power is strong and cannot be shaken.

How could Lu Bu dare to go to Yanzhou easily?

Zhang Yang of Hanoi was also under attack from Yanzhou and could not protect himself.

After thinking about it, Lu Bu felt that he had no place to stay.

The news sent to Cao Cao showed that Lu Bu had nowhere to go and drifted to Qingzhou.

He is currently looking around in confusion, anxious to find a place to stay.

When Cao Cao saw the news, a plan came to his mind.

There was a plan that had been conceived for a long time, and the time had come.

He took out the message bead and sent a message to Huang Zhong:
"Han Sheng, we will fight on the western front next, and managing Sili is the top priority. You should withdraw some of the troops back."

Cao Cao intended to recall Huang Zhong and fully control Sili and the western front.

There will be a series of strategic adjustments next, withdrawing some troops from Xuzhou and increasing defenses in Chang'an.

Cao Cao drew troops from Yanzhou and moved them to the western front. In everyone's opinion, he was preparing to protect Chang'an and engage in a full-scale confrontation with Jizhou and Liangzhou further west.

It is normal to postpone the attack on Xuzhou, which is a more advantageous option for Yanzhou.

However, Cao Cao knew that the most exciting scene would happen in Xuzhou next because of the gap he left.

He put aside his contact with Huang Zhong and took out a scroll of bamboo slips.

The names of the civil and military officials in Cao Ying were written on the bamboo slips.

Cao Cao was ranking his civil and military officers.

Preparing to enthrone them, appointing them as generals, and giving them official titles can also improve the fortunes of Cao's camp.

My Cao Ying already has five outstanding generals, and this time I will appoint six tiger generals, so that Liu Bei will not be able to appoint five tiger generals in the future... Cao Cao thought sarcastically.

He looked at the names of the civil and military officials in Cao Ying.

If a force wants to dominate the world, it needs to have a balanced structure and has its own options in all aspects.

Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang was able to gain the world because of Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Han Xin and other civil and military figures.

Under Cao Cao, Xun Yu was a talented assistant to the king, and his outstanding administrative ability was comparable to Xiao He under Emperor Gaozu.

Guo Jia, Jia Xu and Xun You were all wise men with brilliant plans, just like Zhang Liang.

Cheng Yu and Dong Zhao were both extremely intelligent and could probably compete with Chen Ping.

There are also relatives like Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun who can also stand on their own.

Cao Cao himself was a political strongman and a talented military officer.

He made a careful comparison and found that Cao Ying now had a balance between civil and military affairs, a stable structure, and a gathering of talented people.

When conquering the world, we should move forward boldly and expand.

From that day on, Cao Cao stayed in Nanyang to stabilize all parties and wait for the troops from Yanzhou to arrive and take over the defense of Nanyang.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Two things happened in the past half month.

First, Nanyang was occupied by Yanzhou, and the news spread to all sides.

The other one is about Xuzhou.

Tao Qian was seriously ill and had been bedridden for months. When he woke up on his deathbed, he heard that Cao's army was retreating and slowing down its offensive against Xuzhou. He was so delighted that he actually chose Liu Bei as his successor.

Outsiders don’t know the specific reason.

But it is said that the trusted generals of Xuzhou who were beside his bed at the time saw him call Liu Bei to the side of the bed, and gave him earnest instructions, asking him to take charge of Xuzhou.

Liu Bei declined many times before finally agreeing to Tao Qian's request and taking over Xuzhou at this critical moment.

Thus, Liu Bei suddenly went from being an unknown and wandering person to becoming the ruler of a state and a frontier official.

Although the conditions in Xuzhou were difficult, with internal and external difficulties, it was defeated under the offensive of Cao's army and its morale was low.

But Liu Bei did gain his first piece of territory and became famous throughout the world.

In the past half month, the changes in Xuzhou have been even more sensational than the change caused by Yanzhou's occupation of Nanyang.

When Liu Bei took over Xuzhou, Cao's army was retreating, so he withdrew his troops and went to Sili Prefecture.

Liu Bei thought he had found a chance to catch his breath, and he became ambitious and wanted to manage Xuzhou well.

But he never expected that before the joy of taking over Xuzhou had worn off, he would suffer a heavy blow.

The reason is that Master Yuan took action again.

He thought of a plan that could restrict Yanzhou, and wrote a letter to persuade Yuan Shu to send troops.

The year before last, Yuan Shu was driven away to the south of Jiujiang by Cao Cao.

He has not yet recovered from the severe blow he received. He does not have the courage or strength to fight Cao Cao and counterattack Yuzhou.

But Yuan Wei considered another route.

After he discussed it with Yuan Shu, the two hit it off.

The eastern side of Yuan Shu's territory borders the southern end of Xuzhou.

Yuan Shu moved up from the south, and after Cao's army retreated and temporarily suspended its offensive in Xuzhou, he resolutely declared war and began to attack Xuzhou, which was just under Liu Bei's control.

The goal of Yuan Wei and Yuan Shu was to seize Xuzhou so that they could encircle Yanzhou and Yuzhou together with Jizhou to gain a strategic advantage.

Not only that, Yuan Shu and Yuan Kui also wrote letters to Lü Bu. Yuan Kui said in the letter that it was okay for you to leave Benchu, and we in the Yuan family would not bear grudges.

If you have no place to stay now, you can go to Xuzhou.

Liu Bei was in charge of Xuzhou, and the situation was unstable, which was a good opportunity to establish a career in troubled times.

Among all parties, Liu Bei was the weakest and was immediately targeted as a fat piece of meat.

Yuan Shu's letter to Lu Bu was more straightforward, inviting him to join forces to attack Xuzhou.

Yuan Shu was very contemptuous of Liu Bei and said bluntly:
"I have never heard of a person like Liu Bei in the world. He is a nobody, and he wants to occupy a state. It is ridiculous that he is not worthy of his position. Let's attack together and take Xuzhou and divide it."

Lu Bu had nowhere to go, and so he took advantage of this rare opportunity and quickly responded to Yuan Shu's call.

Yuan Shu and Liu Bei went to war south of Xuzhou, leaving Zhang Fei to guard the rear.

And Lu Bu marched from Qingzhou, from north to south, along the border and fought his way into Xuzhou.

Yuan Wei and Yuan Shu wanted to use Lu Bu's military force to cooperate in capturing Xuzhou.

So Yuan Wei provided Lu Bu with a batch of supplies from Jizhou and sent an elite force from Qingzhou, led by Lu Bu.

Zhang Fei, who stayed behind, was taken advantage of by Lu Bu, who killed him and forced him to flee in defeat.

It took Lu Bu half a month to capture seven cities in Xuzhou and even reached Xia Pi, the capital of Xuzhou.

Xuzhou was handed over to Liu Bei, but he lost it before he could even warm his arms, and even his family was captured by Lu Bu.

With Yuan Shu in front and Lu Bu behind, Liu Bei was badly beaten and almost out of ammunition and food.

He had no choice but to turn back and surrender to Lu Bu, hoping that Lu Bu would take him in and be willing to serve him.

At this time, Cao Cao wrote a letter to stir up the situation and acted as the mastermind behind the subsequent changes in Xuzhou.

At that time, Cao Cao controlled the emperor and held the title of righteousness and orthodoxy.

He wrote a letter to Lu Bu, saying that the country was in danger and needed a hero like Lu Bu to quell the chaos. The emperor personally issued an order to recruit Lu Bu and appointed him as a general.

Cao Cao's move was to alienate Lu Bu and Yuan Shu to prevent them from joining together and forming resistance.

Lu Bu gladly accepted the order and the reward from the general. He then turned around and regarded himself as the legitimate heir, overturning his previous alliance with Yuan Shu.

When Liu Bei came to ask Lu Bu for help, he took advantage of the power of Liu Bei's brothers and went to the front to fight against Yuan Shu.

Lu Bu returned all of Liu Bei's family members and relatives to Liu Bei.

On the surface, the two of them became as close as brothers.

The situation in Xuzhou afterwards was extremely exciting, like a simplified version of the Three Kingdoms war.

Yuan Shu and Liu Bei fought on the southern front of Xuzhou.

Liu Bei was defeated by Yuan Shu again.

When he was surrounded, Lu Bu led his troops over, joined forces with him, and forced Yuan Shu to retreat.

The dispute between the three parties intensified.

However, Liu Bei was unwilling to be inferior to others.

He compromised in order to obtain everything, but in fact he was secretly accumulating strength.

He inherited Tao Qian's network of contacts in Xuzhou, so he had a good foundation and his strength grew slowly.

At this time, Lu Bu felt the threat from Liu Bei again and began to feel wary.

In Xuzhou, three parties were fighting for it and checking each other, and no one could do anything to anyone else.

This situation is similar to history. For example, Liu Bei, just like in history, took Xuzhou but quickly lost it and was unable to defend it.

But there are also many differences.

For example, Yuan Wei, Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao's behind-the-scenes push and game led to the current situation in Xuzhou.

Regarding Liu Bei, many people say that Cao Cao is very ambitious.

In fact, Liu Bei had greater ambitions.

Cao Cao's original wish was to make achievements on the battlefield. He hoped to become a general who conquered the west and expand the territory. If the words "Tomb of the Former General Cao Hou of the Han Dynasty" could be written on his tombstone after his death, it would be his lifelong wish.

Cao Cao's gradual rise to the top of the country was a result of a combination of factors, including changes in the world situation and the gathering of power under his command.

Of course, with the foresight of time travel, Cao Cao is different now.

However, Liu Bei had great ambitions since he was a child.

It is said that Lu Bu was a rebellious person. He rebelled many times and specifically stabbed his adoptive father.

But if you look at Liu Bei's resume, you will know that he served under Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, and Liu Biao.

But every time he worked for a period of time and then left. He always wanted to accumulate and build up his own power and never really assisted anyone.

Lu Bu is a man who forgets righteousness when he sees profit and has no loyalty or righteousness in his heart. He will follow whoever offers him the greatest benefit.

This is the norm in troubled times.

Liu Bei is very different from Lu Bu.

He is not a mean person who forgets his principles and is greedy for money. He has lived under someone else's roof for half his life, but he always wants to be the king and the master of a place.

His cunning is far beyond that of Lu Bu and others.

Cao Cao was studious since childhood and had a wide range of interests. With his amazing talent and ability in both civil and military affairs, he stood out from the crowd, gathered talented people and led the people.

Liu Bei's interest was not in studying. He liked fancy clothes, walking the dog, riding horses, music and beautiful girls.

Don’t say that Liu Bei didn’t like studying because he had no conditions. He wanted to weave straw sandals when he was a child.

This is a matter of character.

He was defeated in every battle and his ability level was far behind Cao Cao.

But to be fair, he has his own outstanding advantages, which is that he is very handsome and always keeps a low profile and humble towards the people around him.

This became his unique character charm in the late Han Dynasty when family background was extremely important, and attracted many people to sincerely join him.

Liu Bei may be the most charming person in the entire late Han Dynasty.

His charm attribute is full and he is popular wherever he goes. This in itself is a super ability.

To sum up, Liu Bei was a hero in troubled times who was shrewd, ambitious, and handsome.

But we cannot say that he came from a grassroots background and grew up to become a local overlord through hard work.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao have their own advantages in background, and so does Liu Bei.

The Liu surname of the Han Dynasty was an important magic weapon for him to win the hearts of the people, as well as an indispensable political resource.

While the situation in Xuzhou was in chaos and people were fighting each other, Cao Cao was leisurely riding in his carriage, wandering around outside, robbing Zhang Xiu's Nanyang and his aunt, and then returning to Changyi.

Xun Yu brought people twenty miles out of the city to pick him up. After getting on the car, the two of them whispered to each other.

"Have those nobles left?" asked Cao Cao.

"No, not only did they not leave, but they gathered more and more, especially after you got Nanyang. We gained a lot."

Xun Yu smiled and said, "There is another particularly interesting thing."

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(End of this chapter)