Chapter 48 Harvest [Seeking follow-up reading]

Jia Xu wanted to find an excuse, but after thinking about it, he wisely chose to tell the truth: "Li Ru gave Dong Zhuo advice..."

Cao Cao interrupted, "It wasn't Li Ru who offered it, it was you. Tell me directly, what strategy did you offer to Dong Zhuo?"

"Telling the truth is wrong..."

Jia Xu pondered secretly, quickly adjusted his strategy, and prepared to tell the truth again.

He habitually wanted to step back and transfer the responsibility of offering advice to Dong Zhuo to Li Ru.

But he was exposed as soon as he opened his mouth.

Cao Cao said: "Li Ru is good at accumulating momentum and taking advantage of it, so he can help Dong Zhuo, gather forces from all sides for his own use, and use Yuan's schemes, and even the Qiang, Di and other tribes, to strengthen himself."

"But Li Ru was not good at handling interpersonal relationships or sorting out complex issues. His arrival in Luoyang was the beginning of his and Dong Zhuo's downfall."

Li Ru's strengths can be seen by looking at the process of Dong Zhuo's rise.

He helped Dong Zhuo accumulate wealth secretly, and quickly became a high-ranking official with his own army.

But whether it was Li Ru or Dong Zhuo, after coming to Luoyang, they were faced with Luoyang's complex interpersonal relationships and the intricate power of the aristocratic families.

When the fundamental interests of the clan were impacted, resistance came from all sides.

The defeat of Dong Zhuo and Li Ru was inevitable.

"Jia Xu, you are very good at understanding and using people's hearts, and mediating between the parties. Li Ru's failure to handle Dong Zhuo's current predicament must be your idea."

Cao Cao's calm tone caused quite a stir in Jia Xu's heart.

He swallowed again.

Cao Cao's understanding of Li Ru, Dong Zhuo, and even Jia Xu, made him shocked again.

"I... just told Dong Zhuo about the character of Queen Mother He."

Jia Xu glanced at Cao Cao's back, who was walking forward without looking back, and considered what to say:
"When Empress Dowager He encounters trouble, she will only use brutality to eliminate dissidents."

"When the external pressure is great enough, she will do something almost frantically, trying to grab something to relieve her panic."

"She came from a butcher's family and ascended to the position of Queen Mother as a palace maid. She was not confident in her heart and did not have the confidence and stability to sit in such a position."

Jia Xu finally took out some real stuff.

Cao Cao in front raised the corner of his mouth.

Jia Xu's words made him understand what Dong Zhuo was planning.

They used the violent attacks on the palace to create pressure and force the Queen Mother to make mistakes herself.

"When the emperor was born, the late emperor sent him to be taken care of by a Taoist priest named Shi Zimiao."

"Shi Zimiao is the leader of the Taoist alchemy school. This is all I know. The specific implementation will be arranged by Li Ru." Jia Xu added.

His consistent style is to use strategies accurately and his plans will always succeed.

But after offering the suggestion, he immediately began to avoid risks and tried to participate as little as possible, which was very Jia Xu.

"Is Shi Zimiao, who entered the palace, Dong Zhuo's man?" Cao Cao asked.

Jia Xu shook his head: "I don't know."

Cao Cao thought: The Queen Mother contacted Shi Zimiao when she was in danger, she regarded him as her trump card, she must have trusted him absolutely, and the possibility that there was something wrong with his identity should be very small.

Moreover, Shi Zimiao had raised Liu Bian for many years, so if there was any problem, it shouldn't be now.

It seems unreasonable to say that Shi Zimi was Dong Zhuo's man.

Two hours ago, precisely because Shi Zimiao's identity should not be a problem, Lu Zhi did not stop it when he saw the empress dowager ordering people to bring him into the palace.

Later, Cao Cao also entered the palace and went outside the palace with Lu Zhi to ask for an audience.

However, after Shi Zimi entered the palace, the empress dowager felt much more at ease and even refused a request to see Lu Zhi, the man she relied on most during that time, and Cao Cao.

Cao Cao sorted out the matter and had a big question mark about Shi Zimiao's identity and the timing of his appearance.

He took out a communication bead and wrote on it: "Tell Huangfu Song about the changes in Luoyang."

One of the communication pearls obtained from Concubine Yu was carried by Xun Yu, and the other one was sent back to Qiao County by Cao Cao.

At this time, he was sending a message to Xun Yu.

A little further away, Zhang Liao rode out of the mansion after a fierce battle.

After the battle, he showed his sharp edge and murderous look on his face, and rode his horse towards us: "General."

Cao Cao asked, "How is the battle going?"

Zhang Liao dismounted and said: "If we take advantage of the surprise attack and still cannot defeat them by attacking their weak defenses, how can we face the enemy again?"

Cao Cao asked: "What do you want to do next?"

Zhang Liao pointed to the city gate a little further away and said, "Dong Zhuo must have deployed scouts outside the city to respond to changes inside and outside at any time. If I break through the north gate and kill his way out, it will be a big blow to his morale.

And sweep along the city to attack Dong Zhuo's scouts scattered outside the city, and let the news get to Dong Zhuo to see how he responds!"

Zhang Liao also had the intention of besieging Wei to save Zhao.

With the retreat route behind the north gate cut off, should Dong Zhuo rush out of the palace or take a gamble?
Cao Cao nodded and said, "You go ahead. We will say goodbye now. If there are any other changes in the city, please contact us for support."

Zhang Liao bowed and climbed back onto the horse.

The soldiers behind him rushed out of the mansion one after another, and their momentum remained undiminished.

On the top of the city wall, Dong Zhuo's men who were on duty stood solemnly.

You have to know that defending the city gate is a death order. So because of Zhang Liao's surprise attack on the mansion, the surrounding troops were mobilized one after another and rushed over to join the battle, but the troops on the top of the city did not come down.

They were looking at Zhang Liao's troops from afar, ready for battle.

The sound of hooves suddenly rose!

Zhang Liao rode his horse towards the city gate, leading the way.

Cao Cao pursed his lips and asked Dian Wei to go and help.

Dian Wei received the order, turned around and joined Zhang Liao's troops, striding towards the city gate.

When the group approached the city gate, Dian Wei suddenly exerted force.

boom--

The momentum of his running was like that of an elephant. His feet stomped on the ground, causing it to crack. His step was three or four feet, six or seven feet. The distance between them changed so rapidly that all the arrows shot from the top of the city wall fell into the air.

In a flash, Dian Wei rushed forward with his shoulders, and his whole body emitted a sharp force that whistled like thunder.

One man charging a city is like a mighty army.

boom! !

The north gate, which was made of huge wood and covered with cast iron, was slammed by Dian Wei.

The entire city defense was shaking, and cracks appeared on the heavy city gate.

Rumble!
Dian Wei pounded the city gate with his fists.

My God, this general is not brave enough to be a human being... Jia Xu was shocked.

He was most afraid of this kind of rough man, because it would be difficult to convince him with reason, and his tricks might not work. The saying "one force can defeat ten skills" refers to this kind of person, and the saying "a wise man does not fight with a bull" also means this.

Zhang Liao also led his troops to the city, ushering in a new round of fighting.

After a while, Dian Wei came back alone, with half of his clothes torn. He had used too much force and shattered his clothes.

"Let's go back home." said Cao Cao.

----

Wang Yun was awakened by his attendants in the middle of the night and learned that Dong Zhuo had led his troops into the palace again.

He had been worried about the situation in Luoyang in recent days and always felt that something was going to happen. He immediately picked up his outer robe and ordered his servants to prepare the car.

He walked to the door and heard a pleasant voice calling, "Godfather."

Diao Chan, wearing a light smoke-colored Han skirt, holding a cloak in her hand, walked over quickly, "Godfather went out late at night, did something happen?"

"Dong Zhuo has entered the palace again. I have to go to the Grand Tutor."

Wang Yun took the cloak and walked away. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back:

"Diao Chan, go find Cao Shangjun again. He has a large army under his command, and he is jointly defending the city gate with Ding Yuan. How he responds to Dong Zhuo's entry into the palace is crucial."

"If he's not at the palace gate, he's at the city gate... Well, it's also possible that he's at home making the arrangements. If you go to Cao's mansion first, you'll know where he's going..."

Diao Chan agreed quietly, asked the mansion to prepare the carriage, and went to Cao's mansion.

Cao Cao brought the captured Jia Xu back home and saw Diao Chan at the door.

"Go up to the army."

Diao Chan, accompanied by a maid, was standing there with a lantern in her hand, looking pretty.

The flickering light fell on her face, and it seemed that even the silence of the night was dispelled a little.

Cao Cao got off his horse.

"My foster father said that Dong Zhuo has entered the palace." Diao Chan took two steps forward, closing her black and white eyes.

Cao Cao nodded and said, "Go to the study first. I'll talk to you later."

Diao Chan agreed and followed the attendant leading the way to the inner quarters of Cao's mansion with graceful steps.

Cao Cao brought Jia Xu into the house and sat him in the main hall.

Jia Xu sat opposite him, feeling secretly uneasy.

He couldn't quite see through Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's reaction to Dong Zhuo's entry into the palace was very calm. He did not show any of the panic or fear that other people showed.

Dian Wei stepped forward and handed Jia Xu's ink bag to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao took it in his hand and said, "This ink bag was made by Mozi himself. There is only one of its kind in the world."

Cao Cao read the classics thoroughly, learned from many sources, and could tell the origins of things at one go.

Jia Xu thought to himself, it's over. If he knows about this ink bag, there's no way he'll return it to me. I hope he doesn't know how to open it...

Then he saw Cao Cao touching the seal characters on the ink bag.

As soon as the mouth of the bag loosened, the contents inside, all of Jia Xu's wealth, were poured onto the low mat.

Cao Cao looked at a few things and a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.

The harvest this time was somewhat unexpected.

He picked up one of the palm-sized, bird-shaped wooden objects and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Ps: I heard that I don’t ask for votes at the beginning of the month, but I will ask for votes and follow-up reading. Thank you
(End of this chapter)