I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 169 Liu Miao: Trying to trick me?

"Does Cao Cao truly fail to see Yuan Shao's intentions?"

Standing behind Cao Cao was a young strategist with handsome features, dressed in a deep blue robe.

"Fengxiao, you should explain it more clearly."

Guo Jia's thin lips curled up slightly. He held a handful of Huaiyuan pomegranates, a specialty of the Huai River region, in his hand, put them in his mouth and chewed. Then, he spat out the seeds one by one, sending them into the Huai River.

"Has Your Excellency not yet realized Yuan Shao's intentions?"

"The two Yuans have always been birds of a feather. Yuan Shu obtained the imperial seal and declared himself emperor, but didn't Geng Bao, the chief clerk under Yuan Shao, often say: 'The red virtue is waning, Yuan is the offspring of the yellow emperor, it is appropriate to follow the will of Heaven and the hearts of the people'?"

"If Yuan Shao doesn't let you kill Yuan Shu now, he's probably just waiting for Yuan Shu to bestow the imperial title upon him."

Guo Jia was extremely certain of Yuan Shao's intentions. Someone who didn't know better might have thought that it was Guo Jia, not Cao Cao, who grew up with Yuan Shao!
"My lord, everyone knows Yuan Shao's intentions. Right now, he is openly asking you to make way for Yuan Shu, and he's not even bothering to put on an act."

"How was it? Did you make a wasted trip, my lord? If you ask me, it would have been more important to take Nanyang as soon as possible and stabilize the rear."

Guo Jia's tone and expression were nonchalant, as if he didn't see Cao Cao's beard and hair gradually standing on end!

"Should we really spare Yuan Shu's life? He's a traitor to the Han!"

Cao Cao was unwilling to accept this!

"I have always considered it my duty to restore the Han Dynasty! Now that I have finally saved the Emperor from danger and am about to save the dynasty from collapse, how can I do such a disgraceful thing!"

Guo Jia laughed and said, "Does Your Excellency really not want to let Yuan Shu go?"

"If I let the Han traitor go, how can I answer to the Emperor? How can I answer to the officials? And how can I answer to Wenruo?"

When Cao Cao thought of Xun Yu's sincere eyes, he felt even more that Yuan Shao's order at this moment was an insult to him!
"But if you kill Yuan Shu and cause Yuan Shao to lose his position as emperor, I'm afraid he will completely break with you!"

"If Yuan Shao were to attack now, would you be able to lead your troops to resist?"

Cao Cao was eager to serve his country, but when he heard Guo Jia say that he wanted to go to war with Yuan Shao, he instantly lost his confidence.

"If we can pacify Zhang Xiu in Nanyang and Lü Bu in Xuzhou, and then establish alliances with Liu Miao in Yangzhou and Liu Biao in Jingzhou, thus completely securing our rear, we might still have a glimmer of hope of victory against Yuan Shao!"

"But right now... ha!"

The wealth of the world is no greater than that of the Central Plains.

However, Cao Cao's occupation of the Central Plains also came at a price: he was surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Especially Zhang Xiu and Lü Bu.

One was a remnant of the Western Liang regime, whose backer Liu Biao was even closer to Yuan Shao. If Cao Cao were to go to war with Yuan Shao, Zhang Xiu of Nanyang would undoubtedly become a fatal threat to Cao Cao!

As for Lü Bu, needless to say, both of them wished they could get rid of him as soon as possible. If one of them changed, the other would definitely kick him while he was down, as if they were afraid that the other's death was not thorough enough.

In this precarious situation, besieged on all sides, Cao Cao would lose every ten battles against Yuan Shao. He would lose every hundred battles, with absolutely no chance of victory.

Cao Cao was utterly despondent: "Should we really let Yuan Shu leave?"

Unexpectedly, just as Cao Cao looked up, he saw Guo Jia looking at him with a half-smile.

Cao Cao immediately realized what was going on, and stepped forward, laughing and scolding, "You, Guo Fengxiao! Since you have a plan, just tell me quickly, why make me so upset!"

Guo Jia spat out the last pomegranate seed before allowing Cao Cao to look east.

"Yuan Shao asked you, my lord, to spare Yuan Shu's life, but how can you possibly control others?"

"Liu Miao was close to Yuan Shu before, and it is said that Yuan Shu even married his niece to Liu Miao. So after Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, Liu Miao tried his best to get rid of Yuan Shu's influence, and even went so far as to issue a proclamation to summon the lords to attack Yuan Shu."

"Right now, Liu Miao desires Yuan Shu's death even more than you, my lord. In that case, why don't you grant Liu Miao's wish and let him kill Yuan Shu? That way, even if Yuan Shao blames you, he probably won't be able to hold you accountable, will he?"

Kill with a borrowed knife!
Cao Cao immediately understood Guo Jia's plan.

Cao Cao was somewhat reluctant to part with it.

If Guo Jia's plan were followed, Cao Cao would probably have to give up the "Huainan" sword as well, along with Liu Miao.

Although Yuan Shao is powerful now, Cao Cao, for some reason, always feels that Liu Miao is the one who is difficult to control. Otherwise, he would not have personally led his troops to Xia Cai to try to stop Liu Miao from getting Huainan.

Guo Jia noticed Cao Cao's hesitation and immediately asked, "Does Your Excellency think Huainan is important to Jiangdong?"

"Nature is important!"

To defend the Yangtze River, one must also defend the Huai River!
Huainan is the gateway to the north of Jiangdong! Without Huainan, even with the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, Jiangdong would not escape destruction.

Guo Jia then asked, "Since you, my lord, know that Huainan is extremely important to Jiangdong, how could Liu Miao not know that?"

Cao Cao was speechless.

“If you kill Yuan Shu and seize Huainan now, you will not only offend Yuan Shao, but you will also make Liu Miao hate you. In this way, you will have two more enemies.”

"On the contrary, if you give up Huainan and let Liu Miao kill Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao will not hold a grudge against you, and Liu Miao will thank you for it. Wouldn't that eliminate two enemies?"

"With this addition and subtraction, isn't the current situation completely stable, allowing you to send troops to attack Zhang Xiu and Lü Bu?"

"I hope you understand, my lord, that the current struggle is not about the gain or loss of a single city or territory, but about the fate of the entire world!"

Upon hearing Guo Jia's advice, Cao Cao's initial reluctance to part with Huainan and Liu Miao lessened somewhat.

Huainan.

It’s tasteless to eat, it’s a pity to throw it away!
If that's the case, why not throw him out, divert the trouble eastward, and at the same time befriend Liu Miao?
"It seems so."

Cao Cao was not in a hurry. He directly stationed his troops at Xia Cai and watched as the plan to use someone else to kill him was devised in the south!
------

Upon arriving in Yinling, Liu Miao learned that Yuan Shu had rallied and returned to Shouchun. He sighed, "We're too late!" If Yuan Shu could be captured alive in this battle, the war in Huainan would be over! The catastrophe that Yuan Shu brought to the people of Huainan would also come to a complete end.

But Yuan Shu actually fled at this time! Doesn't that mean I still have to lead a large army to endlessly attack the fortified city of Shouchun?

Liu Miao went to Shouchun when he was rescuing Chen Yu.

As the capital of Yangzhou, its scale was as magnificent as any famous city in the Central Plains!
Furthermore, Yuan Shu later built palaces on its foundation. Liu Miao could easily imagine how long it would take to take down such a city!

So when Liu Miao heard that Cao Cao had come to Xia Cai, he stopped worrying and waited in Yinling for Cao Cao to attack Shouchun!

After waiting for several days without seeing Cao Cao attack Shouchun, Liu Miao began to wonder, "Could it be that Cao Cao has seen through my intentions?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cao Cao and Guo Jia were also puzzled: "Could it be that Liu Miao saw through our intentions?"

After waiting a few more days, both sides, impatient to wait any longer, sent scouts to communicate. Once they confirmed that neither side intended to attack, they both cursed in unison—

"Cao Mengde (Liu Zhongshan), you shameless scoundrel! What happened to your promise to restore the Han Dynasty and punish the traitors? Why don't you just attack already?!"

Cao Cao was ultimately more proactive, sending his envoy to inquire about Liu Miao's whereabouts.

Liu Miao told the envoy frankly, "Yuan Shu previously breached the Huai River and flooded the downstream areas, causing a shortage of grain and supplies, which is why we were unable to attack the city."

"If General Liu is willing, the Minister of Works is willing to provide the provisions he needs!"

"Oh?"

Liu Miao looked astonished when he heard the news.

What deep-seated hatred did Cao Cao have for Yuan Shu? He was willing to spend money to have himself kill Yuan Shu.

But Liu Miao soon realized something was wrong.

If Cao Cao truly hated Yuan Shu so much, wouldn't it have been better for him to cross the river and attack Yuan Shu himself? Why did he have to rely on someone else?

Could it be that Cao Cao still harbored feelings for Yuan Shu?

Liu Miao immediately shook his head, banishing the absurd idea from his mind.

If Cao Cao were to remember past favors, then there would be no one in this world who would be indifferent!

Liu Miao couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it, so he called Lu Su over and asked him if he could see the clues.

"It's impossible that Cao Cao wouldn't want to kill Yuan Shu."

"Then why doesn't he attack Shouchun now?"

After hesitating for a while, Lu Su offered a guess: "Is it possible that Yuan Shao intervened to prevent Cao Cao from killing Yuan Shu?"

Liu Miao immediately shook his head: "How could that be? How badly are those two brothers, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu? How could they... um?"

Liu Miao suddenly became alert!

He remembered that there was indeed a historical event in which Yuan Shu sought refuge with Yuan Shao.

It was along this route that Yuan Shu left behind the timeless message of "honey water," so it's unlikely he would have misremembered it.

"Zijing, are you saying that Yuan Shu wanted to surrender to Yuan Shao, and that Yuan Shao accepted Yuan Shu and even sent a letter to Cao Cao, his follower, asking him to spare Yuan Shu's life?"

Liu Miao was startled: "How is this possible? Yuan Shu is now a traitor to the Han Dynasty who has declared himself emperor! How could Yuan Shao possibly protect Yuan Shu at this time?"

Lu Su then asked, "What if it's because of the imperial title?"

"..."

Once he realized what was happening, Liu Miao immediately spat!
"What kind of feudal lord alliance leader! Isn't that blatant nonsense?"

At the same time, Liu Miao also figured out why Cao Cao was so generous, willing to go without food himself to supply him so that he could attack Shouchun.

Is he waiting here, trying to make me incur Yuan Shao's hatred?
"Snapped!"

Liu Miao slammed his fist down hard!

pass!

Everything is connected!

Historically, Cao Cao did not personally pursue Yuan Shu, who was going to join Yuan Shao, but instead sent Liu Bei to lead troops to hunt him down.

As a result, Liu Bei regained control of Xuzhou, making it a major threat to Cao Cao before the Battle of Guandu!

Looking back now, Cao Cao probably wanted to use Liu Bei to kill Yuan Shu, so as not to completely offend Yuan Shao.

"That old bastard Cao Cao is so cunning, he actually wanted to trick me?"

Liu Miao clenched his fists.

Since his debut, Liu Miao has always been the one to trick others; it's never his turn to trick others.

"Cao Mengde is no good person!"

However, Liu Miao subconsciously touched the tip of his nose and grinned mischievously.

You want me to be the villain who offends Yuan Shao? Dream on!
"Zijing, immediately order all troops to pretend they are about to withdraw!"

"I refuse to believe that Cao Cao could just stand by and watch Yuan Shu escape to Hebei right under his nose! Ha!"

(End of this chapter)