Tiger Guards

Chapter 202 Xun Yu Selects Scholars

In the fifth month of summer, Cao Cao inspected the military camp in Yingchuan.

The fields under Xu are irrigated with the Yingshui River. Since the military settlement in February, the fields under Xu have been lush and green.

Cao Cao sat in the carriage, gazing at the fields in the distance and near, feeling greatly relieved.

But there are also many troublesome things. News from the court comes in intermittently, and everything is developing in a bad direction.

The Zhao family held the emperor hostage and killed the pillars of the court one after another.

First, his fellow townsman, General Long Kang Huan Dian of the Imperial Guards, had his legs broken by the treacherous minister Zhao Yan's grandson, openly trampling on the face of the Liangpei scholars.

Soon after, Dong Zhao of Jiyin was burned to death, and Zhong Yao and his nephew Guo Yuan were also killed for offending the Zhao family.

His childhood friend and cousin, the Minister of the Interior Ding Chong, wanted to kill Zhao, but was killed by Zhao's tiger guards instead.

More importantly, the Zhao family took the imperial court hostage and fled north to Taiyuan, intending to make Taiyuan the capital.

Cao Cao was somewhat panicked. He was not afraid of anything else now, but he was afraid that Yuan Shao would send troops through Jingxing Road, defeat the treacherous minister Zhao, and welcome the emperor to Hebei.

By that time, Yuan Shao would hold the imperial court hostage and issue an imperial edict to summon him to the court to assist in the administration. What would he do then?
Whether it is himself or his civil and military subordinates, they will all be within the scope of the imperial court's recruitment.

The Yanyu forces are very likely to be easily disintegrated by Yuan Shao; even if the resistance is successful, at least enough hostages must be paid.

It is not unacceptable for him to pay the hostages himself. Given Yuan Shao's methods, everyone from top to bottom would have to send hostages, otherwise Yuan Shao would not give up easily.

Previously, troops were divided to send Cao Hong to Luoyang, but he was stopped by Dong Cheng and Zhang Yang.

At that time, he was also mentally unstable, fearing that he would be confronted by the imperial court and unable to support himself.

Now that he had seen the effect of promising military settlements, Cao Cao had the confidence to support the imperial court.

I'm afraid that if it is delayed, it will cause other accidents.

Imperial edicts can sometimes play an extraordinary role.

For example, two years ago, under the control of Li Jue, the court issued an edict appointing Guo Gong as the governor of Yuzhou and Liu Yao as the governor of Yangzhou.

At that time, Yuan Shu appointed Sun Jian's nephew Sun Ben as the governor of Yuzhou, and Cao Cao had just finished his first expedition to Xuzhou. Tao Qian recommended Liu Bei as the governor of Yuzhou.

The Prime Minister of Pei State was Chen Gui from Tao Qian's side, and the Prime Minister of Chen State was a member of the same clan as Yuan Shu.

As a result, Guo Gongben had taken refuge in Liang State, but after receiving the imperial edict, he immediately gained the support of the people of Liang State, Lu State, and the eastern part of Pei State.

Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and Tao Qian were fighting each other endlessly. Yuan Shu replaced Sun Ben as the commander of Danyang and asked Guo Gong to fight with Liu Bei for the eastern part of Yuzhou.

Having lost Sun Ben's support, Yuan Shu's fellow clansman Chen Guoxiang was also defeated by Cao Cao.

At the same time, Yuan Shu also sent people to welcome Liu Yao to Qu'a, Jiangdong. Unexpectedly, Liu Yao immediately gained the support of various counties in Jiangdong, and soon the two sides became hostile.

When Zhang Miao and Chen Gong led the people of Yanzhou to welcome Lu Bu, Guo Gong gathered more than 20,000 people and went up the Sishui and Bianshui rivers from Liang State. If he had not been persuaded to retreat by Xun Yu, these 20,000 people could have defeated the three cities of Dong'a.

In February of this year, Cao Cao pacified Runan and seized a large number of people and farming equipment, so he set up military camp in Yingchuan.

From March to May, he was not idle. He made a gesture to threaten Jingzhou and advance to Nanyang, trapping Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu in place, while dividing his troops to attack Liang State.

Guo Gong, the Yuzhou governor appointed by the imperial court two years ago, just disappeared.

The main force attacking Guo Gong came from the Qingzhou soldiers stationed in the Jishui River basin.

When these people crossed the border, Liang State and the neighboring Lu State were both severely damaged.

Even Chen Gui, the prime minister of Pei State in the eastern part of Pei State, voluntarily gave up his official position and retreated to Xuzhou during this round of attack.

Therefore, within half a year, except for Chen Wang Liu Chong, Cao Cao swept through Yuzhou and forced the scholars of Liangpei to gather into one group.

However, when the Qingzhou troops passed through the border, the prominent families of Liang and Lu suffered heavy losses. The hatred could no longer be resolved and could only be suppressed.

So if it goes on any longer, Zhao Qi won't be able to fool people anymore.

As long as the imperial court still had a little bit of courage, they would definitely use some means to deal with Guo Gong, the Yuzhou governor appointed two years ago, when they learned that he had been killed.

Cao Cao had a history of this. Jin Shang, the Yanzhou governor appointed by the court, was defeated and expelled by Cao Cao as soon as he arrived. Jin Shang had no choice but to go south to seek refuge with Yuan Shu.

If Cao Cao's envoys had not entered Guanzhong last year and offered all kinds of money to beg for the position of Governor of Yanzhou, Yuan Shu would still be the legal governor of Yanzhou.

When the imperial court learned about Guo Gong's incident, it did not dare to use any tricks against Yuan Shao, but dared to do the same to Cao Cao.

For example, if we recruit the backbone and core soldiers in Cao Cao's Zhendong General's office, we can put Cao Cao in a difficult position.

Or if he went a step further and recruited Cao Hong, Cao Ren or Cao Bin to serve as officials in the court, it would be very difficult for Cao Cao.

Therefore, if we want to solve these hidden dangers, we must welcome the imperial court.

However, there was also strong opposition within the party, because Xuzhou in the east had not yet been pacified, and they were afraid that this would lead to attacks from both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu always managed to pull troops out from inexplicable places. For example, when Cao Hong marched into Luoyang at the beginning of the year, Yuan Shu sent General Chang Nu to lead troops to assist Dong Cheng in resisting Cao Hong across the two counties of Ru and Ying.

Cao Hong did not dare to attack aggressively and draw blood, so he could only retreat. Just as Cao Cao was inspecting the situation, a rider came with a message: "Mingshang, there is a letter from Sima Xun."

Cao Cao was shocked and took the letter from Dian Wei.

Spreading out the silk book and looking at the words on it, Cao Cao's face was filled with grief. His trusted adviser, Xi Zhicai, who was recuperating at home due to illness, died last night.

He suspected that Xi Zhicai was poisoned and murdered by the people of Runan, but he had no evidence and it was not easy for him to start a war again.

Xi Zhicai was dead, and he didn't even have the time to hear Xi Zhicai's last words. He couldn't help but feel regretful.

It is normal to get sick on a daily basis, but Xi Zhicai is only 36 years old, five years younger than herself.

Xi Zhicai was the chief strategist and had a high prestige. He also wanted to wait until Xi Zhicai recovered from his illness before making a decision and lobbying others to support him in welcoming the court.

Thinking of his age, Cao Cao's expression became more solemn.

Apart from my father's accidental death, few of the elders in the family in recent generations could live to the age of 65.

Folding the silk book and putting it away, Cao Cao said to the imperial servant, "Return to the city."

"Here."

The driver turned the horse's head, and dozens of riders lined up on both sides of the road to make way.

Cao Cao's chariot turned around, and these cavalrymen followed one after another, moving in a line.

Most of the cavalry were tiger warriors, all of whom were brave and fierce, and most of them were equipped with horses.

Even in the suburbs of Xu County, Cao Cao did not dare to be careless.

Yuan Shu was not very good at fighting, but he enjoyed high prestige among the young knights.

From time to time, people would appear to intercept and assassinate Cao Cao. After suffering losses a few times, Cao Cao became on guard.

Xun Yu had made preparations and came to meet Cao Cao.

Cao Cao washed off the dust and dryness and sat down at the main seat, his expression downcast. "The army is now arguing endlessly over the issue of welcoming the imperial court. Since the death of our leader, there's no one to discuss matters with. Ru and Ying are full of talented people, but who can succeed them?"

"There is a man I would like to recommend to you, my lord. He is Guo Jia, a native of Yangdi, Yingchuan."

Xun Yu sat upright, his face handsome and his tone gentle: "I have sent a letter to Yang Di, and Feng Xiao has obtained it. He will come to the army. My lord, please ask her. If she is not worthy, I will find another good man."

"good."

After discussing official matters, Cao Cao said, "Zhicai, I'd like to ask Wenruo to pay attention to your affairs after your death. Your son hasn't even reached the age of coming of age yet, so he shouldn't neglect his studies. After the funeral, please wear mourning clothes and come to my house to study with Zixiu. If your studies are ruined because of filial piety, that's not what Zhicai wants."

"Well, Ming Gong is kind-hearted."

Xun Yu bowed again, and since Cao Cao had spoken, Xi Zhicai's son no longer needed to go to the cemetery to build a hut and observe mourning.

Living in a hut to observe mourning and eat cold food for two or three years is something that even a strong man cannot bear, let alone a teenager.

There are many examples of people dying from illness. Xi Zhicai only has this one son, so he has to take good care of him.

As for giving rewards such as money for funeral expenses, there is no need for that.

Xi Zhicai was a man of flexible principles. In the wars to pacify the Yellow Turban rebels in Yingchuan and Runan, Xi Zhicai was allocated a considerable amount of property and farmland.

The worry is not that Xi Zhicai's family has no money to hold a funeral, but that the orphan is young and will be plotted against by his clansmen.

If something like this really happened, for the sake of the reputation of the Xi Zhicai family and for the sake of our collective reputation, we would have no choice but to accept it.

It was to punish Xi Zhicai's clansmen by not allowing them to serve as officials. These short-sighted people didn't care whether they served as officials or not.

Seeing that Xun Yu had nothing else to say, Cao Cao didn't dare to bring it up again.

He really wanted to pull Xun You over, but the court was not in his hands and he lacked the authority.

Cao Cao had a good impression of Xun You because Xun You dared to assassinate Dong Zhuo under his nose.

He was a bit conservative in character and left the court early after asking for the position of prefect of Shu County.

If it were not for the court envoy Zhao Qi traveling back and forth between Jing and Yu, and Xun You coming forward in Xiangyang to speak well of Cao Cao, it would have been difficult for Cao Cao to know Xun You's whereabouts.

Xun Yu was Xun You's uncle. If Xun Yu didn't speak up, it would be difficult for Cao Cao to bypass Xun Yu and attack Xun You.

Cao Cao was from Pei, Yuzhou, and could not serve as the governor or governor of Yuzhou, so naturally he could not recruit Xun You to work in Yuzhou.

Considering the situation in Yanzhou, if he recruits a person from Yuzhou to serve as a deputy governor in Yanzhou, what do you think Cheng Yu and other people from Yanzhou will think?
Only after welcoming the imperial court will the Xun family continue to increase their investment.

Otherwise, he would never be able to recruit Xun You in this lifetime.

As for Yangdi Guojia... Sorry, Cao Cao had never heard of this man's reputation before.

(End of this chapter)