Chapter 235 Who can compete with me! [Subscribe]

The breeze is warm and gentle.

Cao Cao lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked out.

The midday sun made him squint his eyes out of habit.

Outside Yecheng, there were more people waiting than last time. Ten miles out of the city, there were people standing on both sides of the official road.

If it weren't for the Cao army in distinctive armor and martial law around the area, someone would have rushed up to pay their respects.

"Wenhe, how many of these people do you think are truly willing to serve us?"

"Two or three."

Jia Xu didn't look outside, hiding in the darkness inside the car.

There is a certain chance of being assassinated if you lift the car curtain, although the probability is very small.

But now that the Yuan family has just been wiped out, the Yuan family's assassins and spies have not yet been eliminated.

Jia Xu habitually dodged.

Cao Cao was speechless and said, "Outside Yecheng right now, there are at least seven or eight hundred noble families, but are there only two or three who are truly willing to join us?"

Jia Xu said: "The main branch of the Yu family, the Yingchuan Xun family, and the Chen family are deeply tied to our interests and support us.

The Wang family of Bingzhou counts as half, but the others are nothing."

Cao Cao went from laughing to laughing out loud.

Even after defeating the Yuan family and achieving a great victory, Jia Xu remained terrifyingly calm.

All war can conquer is superficial obedience.

These nobles who originally stood on Yuan Shao's side switched to Yanzhou for the sake of survival and benefits.

In fact, if Cao Cao had not made early arrangements, the Jizhou gentry represented by You Yu clan, Gao Lan, Zhang He and others would have been the first to surrender and lobby.

Cao’s army will never be able to take over Jizhou and enter Yecheng so easily.

Defeating the Yuan family was only a victory in terms of military force.

What happens next is more complicated.

"What should we do next to make these nobles truly obey us? Wenhe, you should think about it carefully. We will gather together to discuss it in the evening, and you should come up with feasible suggestions." Cao Cao said.

Jia Xu secretly rolled his eyes in his heart.

He had been considering Cao Cao's order for a long time.

He believed that Cao Cao had already thought about it, and asked him and other advisers for their opinions to see if there was a better solution.

Before the imperial carriage entered the city, Cao Cao saw another carriage coming towards him from the city.

Yu Qing lifted the car curtain, and someone got out of the opposite car with a bang and ran towards her.

"lady!"

Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and a group of his personal soldiers greeted him in unison.

"Everyone has worked hard in the battle, no need to be polite."

Yu Qing waved her snow-white little hands and walked happily towards Cao Cao's carriage.

She was wearing a light apricot silk skirt with a delicate ribbon tied around her waist. The elegance of the dress matched her delicate and beautiful appearance perfectly.

Above the white collar is a neck that is whiter than the clothes, with graceful lines, a black bun tied up lightly, and surrounded by pearls and jade.

The whole person is delicate and charming.

Before Yu Qing got on the car, Jia Xu got off first, then activated the Dunjia map and disappeared without a trace.

Yu Qing got on the carriage, her eyes full of joy at seeing Cao Cao, and she bowed: "I greet your Majesty, may your Majesty be well."

She still remembered the joke the two of them played half a year ago, when Cao Cao did not shy away from saying that he wanted to be the emperor.

At that time, Yu Qing changed his address to "Your Majesty".

"My beloved concubine is flat."

Yu Qing was dressed up carefully and exuded a faint fragrance.

It must be admitted that Cao Cao had a nature of liking beautiful women.

This time he fought for more than half a year.

Seeing his beautiful daughter-in-law, his heart was burning.

He reached out and pulled Yu Qing over.

Yu Qing approached with a smile and whispered in his ear: "It has been more than half a year since we last met. I miss you so much, Your Majesty."

Cao Cao was overjoyed and adjusted his position... Without further delay, he said:

"At this time, the war has just ended, and Jizhou is not as safe as Yanzhou. I originally wanted to wait for a few months, and then let you guys come over after things stabilize."

"Ah."

Yu Qing said softly with a nasal tone: "I think about Your Majesty all the time. How can I wait for a few more months?"

Cao Cao thought that his female fairy was knowledgeable and interesting, and really interesting.

"My father said that our Yu family has been operating in Ye City for hundreds of years, and we definitely won't be unable to protect your Majesty's woman."

"We are all here, and the family's secret guards have also followed us. It is still safe."

Cao Cao asked, "What else did Mr. Yue say?"

"Father didn't say anything."

"But my second uncle said that you are very thoughtful. When you robbed me in Luoyang, you might have been thinking about the future. If it weren't for my Yu family, Yecheng would never open the city to welcome His Majesty so easily."

"My second uncle also said that without the Yu clan, Your Majesty, it would take at least a year or two to occupy Jizhou."

"If that day ever comes in the future, I should be the queen. I added the last sentence myself." Yu Qing said.

Cao Cao smiled.

The father-in-law deliberately discussed the relevant topic with Yu Qi from the second house in front of Yu Qing. One was a white-cop and the other was a red-cop. He used Yu Qing to convey the message and make requests to himself.

The carriage stopped at the city gate and Cao Cao got off the carriage as if nothing had happened.

But Yu Qing stayed in the car and didn't dare to come out.

The car drove into the city and returned to the Yu mansion.

Yu Wen also came to the door to greet him personally.

He was the head of the local gentry in Jizhou.

After a campaign that lasted for more than half a year, Xun Yu set out from Changyi after making sure that the war was won and there would be no recurrence.

After all, we had just occupied Jizhou and there were many things to do.

Xun Yu would bring the people who stayed behind here and start working immediately, which could reduce the resistance to controlling Jizhou.

After Cao Cao got off the car, he moved his ears slightly and immediately heard the many voices of people far and near.

Including some people who use secret language to secretly pass messages and communicate.

"This is Cao Mengde, the man with the greatest power in the world!"

"Well, he defeated the Yuan family and occupied Jizhou, Youzhou and other places. This achievement is hard to find in a hundred years."

"No one in the world today can compete with him."

"I don't know what his attitude towards us is. Xu said that he is weak and wants to unite with us..."

"Hush...Cao Mengde is very powerful. In my opinion, you should observe first and don't act rashly." "..."

Cao Cao listened to all sides, kept a calm face, and surrounded by people, he changed horses and entered the city together.

The Yu family had several mansions in Yecheng.

Yu Wen gave Cao Cao the best courtyard in the north of the city.

The group walked along the road.

The streets of Yecheng are wide and straight, comparable to those in Luoyang.

The ground is paved with bluestone, neat and clean.

The soldiers led the way and everyone came to a century-old mansion with a profound ancient charm.

The gate of the house is high and the inner courtyards are layered. It is more than twice as large as the governor's mansion in Changyi and can be used as a royal villa.

The royal army had already searched the mansion thoroughly inside and out several times to ensure its safety.

Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao this time, and the main branch of the Yu family gained great benefits.

Yu Wen took out the house and gave it to Cao Cao, who accepted it calmly and entered the house.

People from the Xun family and the Chen family of Yingchuan came to Yecheng and accompanied him.

Yu Wen followed beside him and began to introduce some important Jizhou nobles to Cao Cao.

There is a lot of excitement in the meantime.

By the time I met everyone, it was already evening.

Cao Cao came to the new study to discuss matters with his civil and military officials.

The study in the new house is antique and looks like a library.

The wooden shelves on both sides of the study, which were as high as the walls, were filled with books. The bookcases behind the main seat were arranged in a zigzag shape. Deep in the study, there was an inner room.

If you finish your work too late and don't want to move around, you can stay in the inner room and rest.

Yu Wen went to Changyi many times and saw the official study in Changyi.

The layout of the inner lake can be seen from the window, which was preserved by him.

Looking out from this study, there are also green trees and a small lake with rippling blue waves outside the window.

There are lotus flowers planted in the lake, which is a beautiful sight.

“We will discuss two matters. The first is the ceremony of sealing the altar and enshrining the generals. We need to hurry up with the preparations.

The other is how to further control Jizhou and other places?"

"Let's talk about the situation of each party first."

Cao Cao took the main seat.

Two rows of civil and military officials gathered together.

"Yuan Shu in Huainan went to fight Sun Ce, but was defeated in several battles. Our army also attacked Yuan Shu from the north to the south."

Prime Minister Xun Yu reported to all parties first:
"Yuan Shu ruled less than three counties in total. During the time when the governor was fighting in Jizhou, Yuan Shu lost a county. He was frightened and wrote to me in Yanzhou, requesting a ceasefire."

"He said in the letter that he was deceived by Yuan Shao and used his troops to attack Xuzhou."

“In addition, when Liu Bei learned that the battle between us and Jizhou had been decided, he immediately gave up on continuing to operate in Xuzhou.

He took with him some of the people that Tao Qian had left for him, and now had about five to six thousand soldiers and horses.

"Where did Liu Bei go now? From Yuan Shu's territory to the west to join Liu Biao?" Cao Cao guessed.

Liu Bei actually had nowhere to go.

He successively served Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, and Liu Biao was his fifth master.

According to traditional history, he also surrendered to Cao Cao six times.

"Liu Bei did flee westward along the border of Yuan Shu's region. When he approached Jingzhou, he suddenly attacked Cao Ren's troops, helping Liu Biao's troops escape, and returned to Xiangyang together, where they surrendered to Liu Biao."

"Liu Biao was in need of people, so he welcomed Liu Bei's surrender."

"Before this, Cao Ren had already used his troops to capture the southern county of Jingzhou."

Nanjun of Jingzhou is another county adjacent to Nanyang County. The two counties have similar names, but they are not the same place.

In other words, two of the nine counties in Jingzhou have fallen into the hands of Cao Cao.

The remaining three counties of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang were in rebellion, and only four were still in Liu Biao's hands.

Cao Cao curled the corners of his mouth.

"After the governor of the state and Jizhou decided the winner, Zhong Yuanchang wrote letters to Ma Teng and Han Sui of Liangzhou, trying to persuade them to surrender. The emperor also issued an imperial decree. Ma Teng and Han Sui have agreed to surrender to the court and sent people to come as hostages to show their loyalty to the governor."

Xun Yu briefly explained the situation in various parts of the world after Yuan Shao's death.

Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Lu Bu are somewhat similar. They will cooperate with whoever offers the greatest benefits. They are professional "warlords".

Before that, they wanted to cooperate with Liu Yan of Yizhou to seize Luoyang.

Cao Cao is now powerful.

They wanted to use hostages, temporarily surrender, and gain some time for buffering and observation.

Cao Cao: "Our defeat of Yuan is only the beginning of our occupation of Jizhou."

"The Yuan family left Runan many years ago, but before the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao sent a secret letter to contact the Runan nobles. Immediately, many nobles returned to the Yuan family and secretly colluded to plot against Yanzhou. By the same token, we can imagine what the Jizhou nobles' attitude towards us is now."

The current Jizhou situation seems to be stable on the surface, but in fact, it is fraught with uncertainties.

You must know that the forces under Yuan Shao are composed of various aristocratic families.

The nobles gathered around him and helped him accomplish his goals.

Yuan Shao naturally had to give these nobles sufficient rewards.

Therefore, the economic policies in Jizhou, Youzhou, and all areas controlled by Yuan Shao were particularly relaxed.

The purpose is to allow these wealthy and powerful families to annex land, buy and sell people, and obtain huge returns.

This has caused two inevitable problems. One is that the economy in Jizhou, Youzhou and other places is a mess and the gentry has serious control.

If Cao Cao wanted to rectify the economy, he had to confront the gentry who occupied large amounts of land and made private profits by buying and selling people.

Yuan Shao's policies allowed the gentry to take full advantage, so naturally some people remembered his kindness.

Although he is dead, he still has a certain foundation in Jizhou.

How to quickly disintegrate these aristocratic families while minimizing the risk of causing major turmoil?

This is a problem that must be solved before one can truly control Jizhou.

Cao Cao looked at Jia Xu. He had assigned him homework before, so he asked him to hand it in first.

"Wenhe, you speak first."

"First, we must divide the Jizhou nobles who secretly united and advanced and retreated, and then make them go from being divided to waiting and watching, and from waiting and watching to betraying the Yuan family."

Everyone pricked up their ears, waiting for Jia Xu to further express his ideas.

Guo Jia's mind raced. The war was over, and he was going to fight Jia Xu again.

When it comes to giving advice, he also wants to outdo Jia Xu and quickly come up with his own suggestions.

Jia Xu said: "My suggestion is on Yuan Shao's son."

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(End of this chapter)