My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 208: You have no merit in unifying the country, and you have the nerve to usurp the throne? I only ask one question: do you want to be the second Wang Mang?
Zhang Fei was really anxious.

Looking at this, he wished that his brother would become a duke tomorrow, a king the day after tomorrow, and the emperor the day after that.

"General Yide, we can't just submit this petition by the two of us. We have to bring in my father-in-law, Zhuge Kongming, Wei Wenchang, Mi Zizhong, and even Kong Wenju."

"The more people there are, the greater the momentum, which further proves that the general is the popular choice and the people's support!"

Hearing what Xiao He said, Zhang Fei nodded continuously.

"With so many people signing the petition, it would take some time for us to organize privately. We definitely can't rush it."

"Besides, this isn't like being the first to go. The general doesn't need to be the first. He can just let Cao Cao go first."

Xiao He raised a playful smile at the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Fei was stunned, and his eyes became confused again.

"Let Cao Cao go first?"

Zhang Fei rolled his eyes and suddenly shouted:

"Bo Wen, are you saying that Cao Cao also wants to be promoted to Duke?"

Xiao He smiled.

He didn't make a conclusion, just a guess.

Back then, after Cao Cao suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Chibi and several unsuccessful expeditions to Jiangdong, he began to tinker with the idea of ​​becoming a duke or king.

The reason is simple: to pave the way for future generations.

Several failed southern expeditions made Cao Cao realize that it was impossible for him to unify the world in his lifetime.

If he had the extraordinary achievement of unifying the world, then Cao Cao would be the chosen one by heaven and the people's choice. He would not need to create any fig leaf by claiming to be a duke or a king. He could just do it in one go and change the dynasty.

If the world cannot be unified, do you, Cao Cao, have the nerve to overthrow the Han Dynasty and establish your own regime?
If you have no face, then you can only be a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty during your lifetime, and work out the process of being called a duke or a king, paving the way for your sons and grandsons to replace the Han Dynasty in a gradual manner.

The situation Cao Cao is facing now is even worse than before.

Not only was the south not pacified, but even Wancheng, Xiangyang, Shouchun and Hefei were lost, and the territory shrank to the line from Nanyang to Huaibei.

In this situation, although Cao Cao didn't say it, he must have known it clearly in his heart that it was hopeless for him to destroy Liu Bang and unify the world in his lifetime.

Under such circumstances, it was natural for Cao Cao to make the same choice.

"That traitor Cao Cao has always harbored ambitions to usurp the Han dynasty. It makes sense that he would want to be crowned duke and king!"

Zhang Fei turned around, nodded repeatedly, and then said:

"Even if that old scoundrel wants to be called the Duke or the King, he can have his say and we can have ours. Why should we fall behind him?"

Xiao He shook his head and sighed.

Zhang Fei still doesn't understand the principle that the first tree to stick its head out gets shot down.

Whether you are called a duke or a king, if you are the first person to try something new, you will be the target of public criticism.

Yuan Shu is the best example.

Once someone takes the lead, attracts all the attention, and makes everyone in the world accept this process, then you can follow up without any pressure.

People would say, look, it was Cao Cao who started a bad precedent by claiming to be a duke and a king with a surname other than his own. Liu Bei was a member of the royal family Liu, so why couldn't he be called a duke and a king?
"I have my reasons. General Yide, there's no need to overthink it. Just listen to me."

Xiao He was too lazy to explain any further, otherwise Zhang Fei would keep asking questions and it would be like he was getting to the bottom of it.

Zhang Fei naturally believed in Xiao He. After hearing what he said, he said "Oh" and did not ask any further questions.

The two of them immediately made a plan and contacted their colleagues in private to prepare for a joint memorial to the emperor.

After dealing with Zhang Fei, the slightly drunk Xiao He returned to his residence with the help of Deng Ai.

Although today was the first day in the city, Liu Bei had taken time out of his busy schedule to specifically instruct his subordinates to clean up the most luxurious mansion in Shouchun City, except for the provincial capital, and give it to Xiao He in advance.

When the moon was at the top of his eyebrows, Xiao He stepped into the East Palace, which was originally the residence of Yuan Yao, the son of Yuan Shu.

"Military Advisor Bowen, you're back. Meet the Military Advisor~~"

As soon as Xiao He entered the door, a young woman came forward to greet him and bowed with a smile.

"Trainer?"

Xiao He's eyes lit up and he asked curiously:

"Aren't you in Yingtian, helping Hua Tuo build a medical school? Why are you here?"

The beauty in front of me is none other than Master Bu Lian.

Earlier, after Liu Bei was promoted to the rank of general, Xiao He had suggested to Liu Bei that Hua Tuo be the leader in establishing a medical school similar to the Imperial Academy, specifically to train medical talents for the Han Dynasty in an assembly line manner.

As Hua Tuo's direct disciple, Bu Lianshi naturally stayed in Yingtian to assist her master in setting up a medical school.

I didn't expect that she would appear in front of me today when Shouchun City was broken.

It looks like he's been waiting here for a long time.

"It looks like Military Advisor Bowen drank quite a bit today. Master Lian has already prepared some hangover soup. Military Advisor Bowen, drink it while it's still hot."

Bu Lianshi did not explain, but just smiled and walked forward to help Xiao He sit down, and served him a bowl of still warm hangover soup.

When Deng Ai saw the situation, he immediately retreated and closed the door.

There were only the two of them left in the room with flickering candlelight.

After Xiao He drank the sobering soup, he asked the trainer why he came to Shouchun.

Bu Lianshi's face flushed slightly, as if she was too embarrassed to say something.

After hesitating for a moment, Fang said with a slightly red face:

"Master Lian was originally assisting Master in setting up the medical school in Yingtian. Madam Guan summoned Master Lian, saying that you, Military Advisor Bowen, were at the front without anyone to take care of your daily needs, and she was truly worried."

"Madam Guan said that Master Lian had served Military Advisor Bo Wen and was knowledgeable in medicine. She felt at ease knowing Master Lian was taking care of him, so she sent Master Lian to serve him."

Bu Lianshi lowered her head shyly and told the whole story.

Xiao He's eyes turned a few times, and suddenly they lit up, and he understood Guan Yinping's intention.

What kind of woman would take care of a man's daily life?

They are nothing more than maids and concubines.

Bu Lianshi's identity has long been exposed. She is the sister of the current Wujun prefect Bu Zhi. How could she come to take care of him as a maid?
If she is not a maid, she will be a wife or concubine.

In this way, Guan Yinping tactfully expressed her attitude and was willing to facilitate his taking Bu Lianshi as his concubine.

Obviously, Guan Yinping already knew about Lu Su's suggestion that day, knew that Xiao He had personally said that he wanted to recruit a Bu Lianshi, and also knew that his father Guan Yu had warned Xiao He that a real man should keep his word.

Guan Yinping didn't want people to talk about her husband, who was a man of his word, and laugh at her for being a fierce wife who didn't allow her husband to take a concubine.

After thinking it over and weighing the pros and cons, she decided to take the initiative and urged Xiao Hena to become a trainer.

After figuring this out, Xiao He couldn't help but feel impressed by Guan Yinping's magnanimity and understanding.

"Military Advisor Bowen, it's getting late, and I think you're tired. Master Lian will help you back to the couch to rest."

When Bu Lianshi saw Xiao He staring at her in a trance, she felt uncomfortable and quickly changed the subject.

Xiao He came to his senses, smiled, and let her help him onto the bed.

Bu Lianshi helped him undress, knelt down and took off his boots personally, being extremely considerate and attentive.

Just as she stood up, Xiao He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her into his arms.

"Military Advisor Bowen~~"

Bu Lianshi let out a soft moan, her face suddenly flushed like a rosy cloud. She placed her bare hands on his chest, but did not push him away.

"We are all family. Calling me Military Advisor is too formal. Just call me Bowen."

Xiao He put his arm around her slender waist and smiled.

Bu Lianshi's heart skipped a beat, she bit her lips with her pearly teeth and called out softly, "Bo Wen~~"

Xiao He was satisfied then, and then he put away his smile and his expression became serious.

"That day in Xiakou, I said in person that I would take you as my wife. I, Xiao He, always keep my word."

Xiao He finally brought up the idea of ​​marrying her.

Bu Lianshi's heart suddenly started beating wildly, and her bright eyes were filled with surprise, even a little glistening.

After waiting for so many years, she finally got this moment.

Xiao He changed the subject and said:

"But I'm not the kind of person who forces you to do things against your will. If you don't want to, I won't force you—"

"The trainer is willing!"

Without waiting for Xiao He to finish his words, Bu Lianshi blurted out without thinking.

As soon as she said this, Bu Lianshi suddenly realized that for a girl like her, agreeing so readily seemed rather unreserved. For a moment, she felt both shy and delighted, turning her pretty face away, not daring to meet Xiao He's wanton gaze.

After getting the expected answer, Xiao He looked at the shy, smiling, and beautiful face in front of him. Under the influence of alcohol, his blood vessels gradually expanded.

Then he flicked his sleeve and the candle in the room was extinguished.

"Bo Wen, the wedding hasn't taken place yet, and the trainer still has no name or status. This is not good~~"

Bu Lianshi's shy and nervous voice rang out in the darkness.

"The Battle of Huainan is over. The general will return to Yingtian in a few days. When he returns, I will welcome you home in style."

"Well, let's get on the bus now. It's not too late to buy the ticket later!"

"Get on the bus first, then buy...buy the ticket later? What does that mean?"

"You'll know soon, hehe!"

"Xiao Lang~~"

Outside the window, the night is getting dark.

...

Thousands of miles away, Guanzhong, Chencang.

A few days ago, Cao Cao used a strategy of sowing discord to defeat Ma Han one by one.

The 50,000-strong coalition army from Liangzhou was defeated, and they abandoned Huaili and retreated westward all the way to Longxi in one breath.

Cao Cao led his victorious army to Chencang, intending to cross the Long Mountains in one go and take Liangzhou.

Just as Cao Cao's army was setting out, urgent news of the fall of Huainan arrived in Chencang.

"Liu Bei flooded Shouchun, and our army's morale collapsed. General Zhendong had no choice but to lead his troops to break out, but they were ambushed by Liu Bei."

"Our army was completely annihilated. Liu Ye, Zhou Tai, Zhang Zhao and others were killed by the enemy. Zhang Liao, Li Dian, Yang Xiu, Wen Ji and more than ten others were captured by Liu Bei. The General Zhendong managed to break through with only twenty cavalrymen."

"Everyone in Huainan, upon hearing the news of Shouchun's fall, surrendered to Liu..."

Inside the central army tent, Mao Jie was reading the military report in a serious tone.

There was a state of shock in the tent. Cao Chun, Le Jin, Cheng Yu and other generals and counselors were all shocked.

Cao Cao's face turned ashen, veins bulged on his forehead, and his fists were clenched so tightly that they crackled. He tried his best to suppress the anger that was burning in his heart.

"A filial son is ruining the country! A filial son is ruining the country!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Cao Cao finally slammed his fist on the table and shouted angrily in disappointment.

Cheng Yu sighed helplessly and said,
"Liu Bei was able to pull off such a diabolical scheme as flooding Shouchun with water. I think it must have been the work of Xiao He. General Zhendong's defeat was not his fault. There is nothing we can do about it."

"Prime Minister, the fall of Huainan is now a foregone conclusion. Xuchang has been exposed to Liu Bei's army, and the Central Plains is in great shock."

"Yu believes that our Western Expedition can only end here. We must quickly return to Henan."

Cao Cao was gritting his teeth.

The situation of the Western Expedition was very good. It seemed that we could recapture Liangzhou in one go and completely pacify Guanlong.

Who could have thought that at this critical juncture, Cao Ren failed and lost Huainan, forcing him to give up halfway and return to the Central Plains.

This departure gave Ma Chao and Han Sui, the remnants of Liang Province, a chance to catch their breath, leaving a huge hidden danger in Guanzhong.

The North was ultimately not unified!
Cao Cao was unwilling to accept this.

After gritting his teeth for a long time, he could only sigh and waved his hands weakly:
"It is God's will. I can only temporarily send the heads of Ma Chao and Han Sui to them, so that they can live a few more days."

"Send the order, the entire army will return eastward."

So, after leaving Zhang He, Zhong Yao, Han Hao, Du Ji and other civil and military officials to guard Guanzhong with tens of thousands of soldiers, Cao Cao led more than 100,000 main forces and returned to the Central Plains overnight.

A few days later, the army arrived in Xuchang.

At this time, the armies of Xu Huang and Xiahou Shang in Nanyang had been ordered to retreat northward first, back to the Ye County area, and withdraw troops to the south to support Cao Ren.

After Cao Ren obtained more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, he retreated to the Xiangcheng line to prevent Liu Bei from taking advantage of the situation and heading north.

Zang Ba's army, which had attacked Xuyi, also retreated northward upon hearing the news and withdrew back to Xuzhou.

All Cao troops retreated and switched from offense to defense.

As for Liu Bei, the strategic goal of his Northern Expedition was only to capture Shouchun and Hefei.

Now that the strategic goal has been achieved, the depletion of food and fodder and the physical strength of the soldiers are no longer enough to support the continued advance northward, and the troops on all fronts have stopped their attacks.

The armies of Cao and Liu tacitly entered a state of suspension at the dividing line from Wancheng in the west to Xuyi in the east.

On the third day after Cao Cao returned to Xudu, Sun Qian arrived in Xudu.

Exchange the families of Zhang Liao and Zhang Yan for Cao Zhi, Yang Xiu, Li Dian and other Cao army prisoners!
Sun Qian made clear to Cao Cao the exchange conditions offered by Liu Bei.

This condition made Cao Cao very uncomfortable.

If he agreed, it would be equivalent to handing over Zhang Liao and Zhang Yan, two powerful generals, to Liu Bei.

Especially Zhang Liao, he was a famous general of the time who defeated 100,000 Jiangdong troops with 800 tiger guards and killed the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun in a single battle at Bailang Mountain.

It really hurts to give such a general to Liu Bei for nothing!
Besides, if you give it away like this, some people will think, we work hard for your Cao family, but you say you will sell me to Liu Bei, aren’t you, Cao Cao, too unkind?
But if you don't agree, your son Cao Zhi will never see you again, and some people will scold you for not caring about the father-son relationship.

Some people will blame you for not saving Li Dian and Yang Xiu and other ministers who fought for you and were captured, which will still chill people's hearts.

Whether he agreed or not, Cao Cao would be in a difficult position.

"Never mind. Zhang Liao has always had a close relationship with the Big Ear Bandits, and Zhang Yan is just a bandit from the Black Mountains. I'm afraid these two have always wanted to join the Big Ear Bandits. I'll just let them go."

After weighing the pros and cons, Cao Cao finally agreed, but he still had to find a way out.

Xiahou Dun, Cao Chun and others all knew Cao Cao's difficulties and could only sigh inwardly, not daring to raise any objections.

"Prime Minister, Liu Bei boasts that he has enthroned the bloodline of the previous emperor as the legitimate emperor. Now he has captured Huainan, greatly boosting his military might. This has caused unrest among the officials and people of Henan."

"In recent months, dozens of officials have gone south to join Liu Bei."

"Zhao believes that the Prime Minister's support for the young emperor's son alone is not enough to compete with Liu Bei for the hearts and minds of the people. He needs to use other means."

Amidst sighs, Dong Zhao stood up and spoke.

Cao Cao looked at this meritorious official who had helped him welcome the emperor and motioned him to continue.

"Zhao believes that the Prime Minister should speed up the process of conferring titles and establishing a nation, so as to compete with Liu Bei for the hearts and minds of the people!"

Dong Zhao spoke out his plan in a stern voice.

Cao Cao was shocked.

Dong Zhao can be said to have brought up old matters again.

In fact, he had this idea after the failure of the expedition to Jingzhou.

However, Liu Bei had not yet completely occupied Jingzhou at that time, and he was still very confident in pacifying the south and unifying the world. Therefore, he only gave a slight hint to Dong Zhao and others, and did not formally put it on the agenda.

Now that Huainan had fallen and Liu Bei had taken control of the three southern states, the situation was irrelevant. However, the reappearance of Dong Zhao's old story made him feel a sense of urgency.

"Feng Gong builds the country, Feng Gong builds the country..."

Cao Cao stroked his beard and pondered for a long time. Then he sighed softly, stood up without saying a word and went into the back hall.

Dong Zhao, Xiahou Dun and others looked at each other and immediately understood each other.

Not making any statement means tacit approval.

Everyone understood Cao Cao's attitude and immediately took action.

Led by Dong Zhao, generals of the royal family such as Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren, counselors such as Dong Zhao, Cheng Yu, Jia Xu and Xun You, and officials such as Wang Lang, Hua Xin and Zhong Yao, all began to submit petitions to the "Son of Heaven", requesting the Emperor to confer the title of Duke on Cao Cao, claiming that his merits were so great that only the rank of Duke would be enough to honor his achievements.

Once the three dukes and nine ministers of Xudu took the lead, the inspectors and county governors below naturally followed suit and submitted petitions one after another.

For a time, countless petitions from the seven states of Yan, Yu, Qing, Xu, Si, Ji and You flew to Xudu like snowflakes.

It seems that the promotion of Han Prime Minister Cao to a duke is the will of the people and the general trend...

It was late at night, in the main hall of the prime minister's residence.

Xun Yu, who had been silent for many days, finally lost his patience and came to visit Cao Cao late at night and stood in front of him.

"Wenruo, you are finally here. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"It's been ages since you and I sat down late into the night to chat and discuss the world over a glass of wine. Today we should have a few drinks and have a good chat."

Cao Cao stood up, walked down the stairs, and greeted him with a smile.

Xun Yu's face was as hard as steel. He took a deep breath and bowed to Cao Cao:
"I have not come here today to drink and chat with the Prime Minister and discuss the world."

"I came here just to ask the Prime Minister a question!"

"Does today's Prime Minister want to be the second Wang Mang?"

(End of this chapter)