The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 252 Cao Cao Appoints Yuan Shang as General, Guo Jia Offers a Plan to Suppress Liu Bei (4th Update)
“What Fengxiao said is absolutely right.”

Cao Cao nodded slightly, his eyes burning.

Most of the heroes and outstanding figures of Cao Cao's era have perished in the chaos of the times.

Of the heroes who still survive today, only Liu Bei caught Cao Cao's eye.

The rest, such as Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, Zhang Lu, Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Sun Quan, were all mediocre and not worth mentioning.

Only Liu Bei could be called a hero, capable of gathering outstanding people.

In the past two years, Cao Cao's spies targeting Liu Bei have never stopped, and they have brought back a lot of intelligence about Liu Bei for Cao Cao.

Although Liu Bei appeared to be dependent on Yuan Shao, he had actually already gathered a large number of talented and ambitious people. He had gained two more men who could be compared to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. In addition, Zhuge Liang, with whom he had a brief correspondence in Xiaopei, also rose to fame after entering Hebei.

Ju Shou, who originally oversaw Yuan Shao's internal and external affairs, was now working as a literary official in Zhuojun. Tian Feng, who was dissatisfied with Shen Pei's monopolization of power and had a grudge against Feng Ji, also went to Zhuojun after Yuan Shang officially started fighting Yuan Tan. Ostensibly, he went to visit his old friend Ju Shou, but in reality, he went to Liu Bei's territory to avoid trouble.

Furthermore, there are reports that Xin Zhe, the son of Xin Ping from Yingchuan who is affiliated with Yuan Tan, is now highly regarded by Liu Bei. Yan Liang and Wen Chou, who originally assassinated Liu Bei, have also become extremely respectful to him. Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan, generals under Yuan Xi, are full of praise for Liu Bei and wish they had met him sooner.

Some time ago, Cao Cao learned that Cai Wenji, who had been captured by the Xiongnu, had also been sent to Zhuojun, which made Cao Cao subconsciously feel a bit jealous and envious.

Furthermore, Zhang Yan, a bandit from the Black Mountain, also had a great relationship with Liu Bei, and the 100,000 Black Mountain people of Changshan Kingdom were directly under the jurisdiction of the Left General's Office and were not subject to local control.

Liu Bei's power in Hebei is now vastly different from what it used to be. If it weren't for General Yuan Shao keeping him in check, Liu Bei would probably have already begun his campaigns in the north and south.

And now.

Yuan Shao voluntarily resigned and stepped down, but Yuan Shang disagreed with Yuan Shao's decision and wanted to compete with Liu Bei. This was tantamount to completely tearing away the fig leaf covering the various forces in Hebei.

Liu Bei can no longer remain in hiding!
If Liu Bei were a lurking hare, unable to remain hidden, he would only be able to flee in all directions; but Liu Bei was a lurking tiger, unable to remain hidden, he would only be able to devour the enemies who disturbed him.

Yuan Shang, who was the first to alarm Liu Bei, was the first to be affected, and if he was not careful, he would become Liu Bei's food.

Guo Jia understood these insights and reasoning, and so did Cao Cao.

With a cold look in his eyes, Cao Cao had a plan: "We can send Xiahou Yuan to Hanoi quickly to cooperate with Zhong Yao in containing Liu Bei, but we must not directly clash with Liu Bei, so as to give Yuan Shang more time to prepare."

Guo Jia cupped his hands and praised, “My lord is wise. Liu Bei is far away in Hedong, and Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others have already followed him. If Yuan Shang can cut off Liu Bei’s way back to Youzhou, the two will surely fight to the death. Gao Gan is a powerful clan in Chenliu and is not Yuan Shao’s son. My lord can also write to Gao Gan and persuade him to submit to the court. Yuan Tan always thought that Liu Bei could help him compete for the heir, but now he has been betrayed by Liu Bei. He must be resentful. At present, Yuan Tan’s army has penetrated deep into Xuzhou. If my lord can use elite troops to outflank Yuan Tan’s rear, and then reason with him and offer him benefits, he may be able to persuade Yuan Tan to submit. Even if Yuan Tan is not sincere, it can still incite him to fight against Liu Bei.”

"Yuan Xi often thought that Liu Bei would help him seize the throne, but now he has not gained any benefit and will surely harbor resentment. My lord, you can write to Zhong Yao and ask him to sow discord between Yuan Xi and Liu Bei. One Yuan Shang cannot deal with Liu Bei, so if you add Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Gao Gan, even if Liu Bei has capable and righteous people to help him, he will find it difficult to escape safely. After the five of them have fought each other, my lord, you can then lead a large army north, first take Ye City, then take Nanpi, and then enter Zhongshan to threaten Zhuojun. In this way, you can pacify the land of Hebei."

First, praise Cao Cao's wisdom, then follow Cao Cao's line of thinking to propose strategies for dealing with the enemy. This will not only make Cao Cao feel accomplished, but also allow you to show your wisdom and strategy in front of Cao Cao. If Ju Shou and Tian Feng could learn this method of offering advice, Cao Cao would have no chance.

Cao Cao was extremely pleased with Guo Jia's words.

"Fengxiao's plan is very much to my liking," Cao Cao laughed. "In this way, I won't have to confront Liu Bei directly, and I can keep Liu Bei restrained. When Liu Bei is crippled by Yuan Shao's three sons and one nephew, that will be my time to reap the benefits. So, as Fengxiao wishes, quickly send an envoy to inform him." Then...

Cao Cao then summoned five generals—Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Gao Lan—and ordered them to select elite troops to flank Yuan Tan from the rear. In order to intimidate Yuan Tan and force him to surrender, Cao Cao was going to personally lead the troops this time.

This wasn't the first time Cao Cao had traveled from Yanzhou to Langya.

When they launched their surprise attack on Tao Qian, they traveled through Yanzhou, crossed Mount Tai, and then headed south to the East China Sea, catching Tao Qian completely off guard.

For Cao Cao, launching a surprise attack on Yuan Tan outside Langya was a familiar and easy task.

Cao Cao did not bring Guo Jia with him, but left him in Puyang. He then instructed Guo Jia, "Fengxiao, you can monitor intelligence in all directions for me. If there is any emergency, send someone to report it immediately."

Guo Jia did not hesitate and immediately accepted Cao Cao's military order to stay in Puyang and employ spies and agents.

And in Ye City.

Yuan Shang was overjoyed to receive Cao Cao's reply. He was even more delighted to learn that Xiahou Yuan had already broken camp and retreated to the south bank: "Just as I expected, Cao Cao is hoping that I will compete with Liu Bei. He not only promised me the position of Grand General, but also made Xiahou Yuan leave Liyang."

Immediately, Yuan Shang's voice turned cold: "Now that I am the Grand General, my father's seal of office should be handed over to me! Commander, immediately muster your troops and follow me to Zhongshan to investigate the military supervisor. You will be responsible for guarding Ye City. Also, quickly dispatch a force to go to Shangdang with Guo Yuan. We must seize control of Shangdang before Liu Bei returns and keep Liu Bei in Hedong! After I obtain the seal of Grand General, I will personally fight Liu Bei."

Although there was no official imperial edict appointing him as Grand General, Yuan Shang already considered himself Grand General and in formal occasions, he no longer addressed Yuan Shao as Grand General, but instead directly referred to him as "my father."

Shen Pei nodded in agreement, and added, "We also need to be wary of Zhuge Liang of Youzhou sending troops to support us. We can send Yuan Chunqing, the prefect of Wei Commandery, to Hejian to set up defenses."

Yuan Chunqing was Yuan Rong, a relative of Yuan Shao. Although he also shared the surname Yuan, he was not related to Yuan Shao by three generations. He was appointed as the governor of Wei Commandery because he supported Yuan Shang as the heir apparent.

Yuan Shang also acknowledged Yuan Rong's talent, and thus agreed to Shen Pei's suggestion, saying, "To avoid any unforeseen complications, we can proceed with everything simultaneously."

After discussing it for a while, Yuan Shang led Feng Ji and eight hundred cavalrymen straight to Zhongshan.

The rumors that suddenly spread in Hebei shocked and angered Yuan Shao of Lunu. In particular, when he learned that it was his wife, Lady Liu, who had leaked the information, Yuan Shao felt a sense of unease.

My wife is secretly monitoring and eavesdropping on me every day?

In the past, when his concubines complained about Liu, Yuan Shao would simply ignore them, as he clearly understood the difference in status between his wife and concubine.

Now, Yuan Shao felt the same way as the beautiful concubine who had been humiliated by Lady Liu.

"How dare you, you wicked woman!"

　Chapter 4 is here! Please vote with your monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)