My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 331: Lord Benchu’s body is still warm, why is this happening?

To be fair, the strategy that Guo Jia came up with for Cao Cao last winter to sow infighting between the two Yuans was indeed not perfect at the beginning.

Guo Jia is too theoretical and tends to generalize.

They did not take into account that as the war progresses and their side gains more and more, when they finally want to provoke the enemy and then pretend to be "harmless", the chips they need to give up as bait will become bigger and bigger.

In the end, whether Cao Cao is willing to do this because of loss aversion and weighing the pros and cons is a big question.

Fortunately, the atmosphere among Cao Cao's advisers was relatively good. Everyone dealt with the matter rather than the person, and the two Xuns did not make trouble for Guo Jia and compete for the right to speak.

After the two Xuns worked together sincerely and helped Guo Jia to refute and improve the strategy, Guo Jia's improved strategy could finally be put into practice.

He did not dare to say that he could definitely trick the two Yuans into a civil war, but at least he could ensure that Cao Cao's side would not suffer unnecessary losses during the "baiting and nesting" stage.

In each stage of baiting, the eagle will not be released until the rabbit is seen. The second step will follow only after the enemy takes the bait in the first step.

Even if either party goes back on their word and takes the bait and runs away, the only loss would be Hejian County - the "bait" in the first step.

The Xudu court acted quickly. Time waits for no one. Just over ten days later, the two envoys sent by Cao Cao arrived in Yecheng and Linzi respectively.

Considering that the envoy might fail to complete his mission, or even anger the Yuan family and be killed.

The envoys sent by Cao Cao this time were all of noble status and prominent family background, but they were not appreciated by Cao Cao for their talents.

On the one hand, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan might not dare to kill or detain such people, but on the other hand, it would not be a pity if they were consumed.

The person who was sent to Yecheng was Yang Xiu, a 27-year-old official in the Sikong Mansion.

The person who was sent to Linzi was Wang Ling, another Cao official of the Sikong Mansion, who was 31 years old at the time.

Yang Xiu was the son of the former Grand Marshal Yang Biao, and Yang Biao married the cousin of Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, so Yang Xiu and Yuan Shang were distant cousins. No matter how cruel Yuan Shang was, he would never kill his cousin just because of a few words.

Wang Ling was the nephew of the late Prime Minister Wang Yun. During the rebellion of Li Jue and Guo Si, most of Wang Yun's relatives were killed, but Wang Ling and his brother, who were in their early twenties at the time, jumped over the Chang'an city wall and escaped. Wang Yun had a good relationship with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu when they were fighting against Dong Zhuo, and Yuan Tan would not have harmed Wang Yun's relatives.

……

Because of the difference in distance, Yang Xiu, who was going to Yecheng, would naturally arrive three to five days earlier than Wang Ling.

Looking at the gate of Yecheng appearing on the horizon, Yang Xiu felt a little complicated.

He was confident in his eloquence and ability, and firmly believed that he could complete the task this time. But he felt a little reluctant to see the Yuan family decline in his hands.

"Don't think too much about it. At this point, Cao Gong is destined to unify the north. General Yuan is ambitious but incompetent. He doesn't know how to choose and is indecisive. That's why we are in trouble today. Yuan Shang is perverse and kills innocent people. It would be a good thing to end the suffering of the people of Jizhou as soon as possible."

Yang Xiu thought so in his heart, took a deep breath, suppressed the guilt of harming his cousin, and then asked his servant to go forward with a token of authority and knock on the door.

Apart from dozens of cavalry guards, there were no other soldiers and horses approaching. The defenders confirmed that there was no trap, so they opened the city gate and let the court envoy in.

The general guarding the gate sent people to keep a close eye on Yang Xiu, and sent soldiers to escort him to the post station while notifying his superiors.

Yang Xiu had just arrived at the posthouse to rest, and within two cups of tea, officials from Hebei came to contact him.

The first to come was the general's chief clerk and famous scholar Chen Lin. Perhaps the powerful advisers around Yuan Shang did not want to negotiate with the court in Xudu and were not interested, so they sent a moral scholar to explore the way first.

Yang Xiu also knew Chen Lin. As soon as they met, he immediately stood up respectfully and showed great courtesy to this literary senior.

In fact, Chen Lin has been working in the same position for many years. "I just want to be the chief clerk of the general. I don't care who the general is."

Since He Jin was the general, he served as his chief clerk. When Yuan Shao became the general, he served as his chief clerk. Now Yuan Shang has usurped the title of general from his father and still uses Chen Lin as his chief clerk.

After the greetings, Chen Lin asked Yang Xiu about his purpose, and Yang Xiu told him that the court wanted to negotiate peace with the Yuan family.

Chen Lin was shocked when he first heard this and felt that this was not feasible.

The two sides have been fighting each other for two whole years, and Yuan Shao is already dead. How could they possibly ask for peace while Yuan Shao is dead?

Although Cao's army had encountered some tough situations in Weijun in the past few months, Cao's army had come close to Yecheng and launched an offensive against the east side of Yecheng, but they had never been able to completely surround Yecheng, and those offensives had all hit a wall, causing many casualties and achieving nothing.

Even though Cao Cao in this life has already mastered the siege weapon called Ge Gongche, among the Yuan family, only Yuan Tan's forces have fully mastered the city defense tactics to break the Ge Gongche and have built corresponding weapons, while Yuan Shang's forces have not mastered it.

However, the butterfly effect brought about by this small change still cannot make up for the fact that Yecheng is the strongest city in the world and is difficult to conquer.

But it was not the case that Cao Cao would retreat and negotiate peace just because of this setback. For Cao Cao, if he could not attack by force, he could still besiege the city. As long as he worked hard for another six months or three months, he could slowly erode other parts of Wei County and besiege Yecheng. Sooner or later, he would break the city. If he retreated now and waited for Yecheng to be restocked with food, he would have to start all over again.

With Chen Lin's simple military wisdom, he thought of this, so he felt: there must be a conspiracy.

Fortunately, Yang Xiu was good at speaking and he quickly found a way out for both parties.

He truthfully revealed some of Cao Cao's demands, which made Chen Lin feel that Cao Cao's intentions were not so hypocritical.

The most difficult thing to distinguish in the world is truth mixed with lies, especially the kind that is nine truths and one lie.

Yang Xiu said sincerely: "Lord Cao is willing to negotiate peace with the third son of Yuan. Of course, he does not want to withdraw his troops directly. He is willing to give up the counties in Jizhou that he has occupied, but the Yuan family must also give up the counties in Sili that they originally occupied and are located north of the Yellow River.

In terms of territory, Duke Cao gave up four counties in Jizhou in exchange for only Hedong and Henei counties of Sili. This was a loss for the court, and it was also a goodwill gesture of the court towards the reconciliation with the Yuan family.

But the court was the court after all, and the truce must reflect the dignity of the court. When General Yuan was alive, he was arrogant and refused to give in, which led to the fierce fighting in Henan and Hebei, the decline of the people, and the suffering of the people for two or three years.

Now that the third son of Yuan has inherited his father's real power and is not burdened by his title, if he could submit a petition on behalf of his father, repent to the court and admit that his father was deceived by the treacherous villains around him and misled by the rumors about Dong Cheng and Lu Bu, he mistakenly believed in Dong Cheng's forged imperial edict.

Then, the imperial court will be willing to bear the actual loss of these two counties. As long as the Yuan family has two counties, we will return the Yuan family with four counties. The imperial court will make up for the rest based on the righteousness of the cause. "

After listening to this analysis, Chen Lin felt that this seemed to be a condition put forward by Cao Cao.

What Cao Cao wanted was the dignity of the court and his personal prestige. Even if he took Hebei, he would still have to appoint a large number of local officials in Hebei in the future. If he could soften Yuan Shang, or even make him a puppet, Cao Cao would certainly be willing to retain more of Yuan Shang's people.

For Cao Cao, as long as he had a righteous cause and made the people of the world believe again that he was fighting against the rebels on behalf of the emperor, this gain would definitely be greater than the difference in territory between the two counties.

Moreover, as long as Yuan Shang said, "My father trusted the wrong person and believed the forged edict," what would Liu Bei do? Although Liu Bei and Yuan Tan could still insist that the Yidaizhao was not a forged edict, the fence-sitters and wavering factions in the world would have an extra step to retreat, which would also be a blow to the alliance and unity of the anti-Cao camp.

Don't underestimate the gains in people's hearts and reputation. The struggle for the world is ultimately about the people's hearts. Even if it is a deceptive means, it is very valuable to win more people's hearts at a certain time and place.

After finding out Cao Cao's true attitude, Chen Lin asked people to treat Yang Xiu well and let him stay in the inn for a few more days, and then went back to report what he had learned.

……

The next morning, at the General’s Mansion.

Yuan Shang, along with Feng Ji and Shen Pei, met with Chen Lin, and listened to Chen Lin's account of Cao Cao's plot in person.

Yuan Shang was still young and did not quite understand the importance of justice and integrity, so at first glance, he felt that he had not suffered any loss in the territory exchange in the armistice agreement.

"Will Cao Cao be willing to exchange the four counties of Jizhou that he has captured for the two counties of Sili in Hebei that our army has previously occupied?

Hmm... Among the four counties of Jizhou, Qinghe County and Hejian County have a large population and fertile land, but the remaining two counties have large swamps and small land areas, and are definitely not as important as Henei and Hedong of Sili.

By this calculation, the four counties are equivalent to three counties as large as Hedong and Henei, and we have only gained one more county. Cao Cao's conditions are not very generous.

Besides, how can we guarantee that Cao Cao will not cheat? What if he does not withdraw his troops? "

Chen Lin did not expect that Yuan Shang's first concern was how to fulfill the contract. She was also confused and paused for a while before quickly answering:

"There's no need to worry about that... Yang Xiu said that Cao Gong is willing to withdraw his troops from Hejian County first to show his sincerity. After he returns a piece of land to us, he needs us to hand it over piece by piece and withdraw our troops from Hedong.

Then he will return the two central counties, in exchange for our withdrawal from Hanoi south of the Qinshui River in batches. He will then return the Qing River, and we will finally withdraw from the rest of Hanoi.”

Before Chen Lin could finish his words, Feng Ji and Shen Pei beside him interrupted him impatiently.

Feng Ji pointed out anxiously: "My Lord! You are focusing on the wrong point! These are all insignificant matters. Even if Cao Cao returns Hejian to us directly, it is no big deal. Hejian is not well defended and is surrounded by our army on three sides. These territories were just conquered by him last year. He has not yet established a firm foothold, so he will not feel bad if he loses them to Cao Cao.

In contrast, our army has controlled Hedong and Hanoi for many years. Since Your Majesty moved east, Yang Feng and Han Xian withdrew from the area, and Hedong has been gradually taken over by us for six years.

The time in Hanoi was shorter, but Zhang Yang had always relied on our army before that. It was only during the Yang Chou Rebellion that he was briefly controlled by Cao Cao for half a year. Later, before the Battle of Guandu, our army killed Yang Chou and took back Hanoi.

If we give up Hedong and Henei now, it would be equivalent to giving up a piece of land that we have managed for six years and where the people are loyal to us, in exchange for Cao Cao withdrawing from the land he just occupied. Although Cao Cao gave up more people and land on paper, in fact he did not suffer any loss at all! "

As soon as Feng Ji finished speaking, Shen Pei was impatient to criticize him: "In my opinion, these are still trivial matters. The key is that Cao the thief wants the lord to submit a petition and admit his father's fault! Our Han Dynasty governs the world with filial piety. The so-called three years without changing the way of the father can be called filial piety.

"The body of Lord Benchu is still warm, and the seven-day mourning period has not yet passed. If you now submit a petition to admit that Lord Benchu was deceived by Dong Cheng and Lu Bu's forged imperial edicts before he went to war with Cao Cao, how will the people of the world view you?!"

(End of this chapter)