Tiger Owl

Chapter 62 Cao Cao's Choice
In the study, Xu Zhen read his nephew Xu Qiu's letter, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Gan Ning's recruitment notice dared to use the slogan 'regardless of social status, only the talented will be selected.' Isn't he afraid of offending the gentry of the world?"

Xu Kun smiled and said, "Actually, I can understand. If he tries to recruit the gentry, who will pay attention to him? If he can't recruit the gentry, he will try to recruit the commoners. That's also a solution. My cousin said he is very pragmatic, and I agree with that."

Xu Zhen's heart stirred; he suddenly realized that this was actually an opportunity for the Xu family as well.

Xu Zhen was a member of the gentry, but not all members of the Xu clan were gentry. On the contrary, the gentry were only a very small minority, and most of the Xu family members came from humble backgrounds.

What is a poor family? A declining noble family is called a poor family. Distant relatives of noble families beyond five degrees of kinship are called commoners. The middle class with houses and land are called commoners.

Therefore, many members of the Xu family were from humble backgrounds. Xu Sheng was not even from a humble background; he could only be called a commoner. As a result, Xu Sheng was not valued by Sun Ben. After joining Gan Ning, he was appointed as a Commandant and a Separate Commander. This was clearly a good thing, so why was he not happy?
Xu Zhen's only unresolved issue was that Xu Sheng had surrendered to Gan Ning without his consent. However, he had now come to terms with it: if Xu Sheng hadn't surrendered, he would have died, and there was no time for him to ask for permission.

Once this knot was untied, Xu Zhen's thinking became clear: if Gan Ning's development went well, the Xu family could also invest in Gan Ning.

"You're right, let Xu Qiu keep a close eye on Gan Ning."

The reason why aristocratic families are called aristocratic families is that they are stable over a long period of time. No matter how the world changes, they remain steadfast. One of the most important means is to be good at investment. This investment does not refer to monetary investment, but rather to investment in talent and multiple bets.

They won't choose between bear's paw and fish; instead, they'll use both for their own purposes.

Xu Zhen immediately sent someone to take Xu Sheng's mother, brother and sister-in-law to Nanchang County. At the same time, he wrote a letter to Gan Ning in his own hand. Xu Sheng was the first investment the Xu family made in Gan Ning.

Cao Cao received a letter from Gan Ning explaining why he had seized Pengze: Chen Lan and Lei Bo hated Cao Cao for breaking his promise and refusing to grant them titles, and they were already showing signs of surrendering to Sun Ce.

"We would rather protect ourselves than send troops to Pengze as a last resort to eliminate the two traitors, so as not to affect Cao Cao's grand plan."

In his letter, Gan Ning continued, “I have heard that Lord Wu has stationed a large army in Jingkou, training day and night, ready to launch a northern expedition at any time. If I had selfish motives, I could have waited until the Jiangdong army launched its northern expedition before taking Yuzhang. However, for the sake of Lord Cao’s overall interests, I am willing to risk the danger of the Jiangdong army pressing on our borders and resolutely attack Haihun, marching towards Nanchang, and launching the campaign to capture Yuzhang. This is all to hold back the Jiangdong army’s northern expedition. My sincerity is clear. How can you ignore it?”

After reading Gan Ning's letter, Cao Cao truly felt Gan Ning's sincerity. Although attacking Chen Lan and Lei Bo was obviously a pretext, Cao Cao could also see that Chen Lan and Lei Bo, despite their complaints, would not dare to surrender to Sun Ce.

However, Gan Ning could have chosen to seize Yuzhang Commandery after Sun Ce's army launched a northern expedition. Instead, he initiated the battle to seize Yuzhang Commandery ahead of time, which indeed restrained Sun Ce. Cao Cao could appreciate Gan Ning's sincerity in taking this risk, and he must have been thinking about the overall situation.

In fact, Gan Ning was worried that Sun Ce would wipe him out before his northern expedition to avenge the loss of his life, so he took advantage of the winter to seize Yuzhang first.

Gan Ning, of course, would not tell Cao Cao the truth. Instead, he insisted that he was doing it for the greater good, and that his reasoning was perfectly reasonable.

Cao Cao decided to keep his promise and arranged for the court to appoint Gan Ning as the governor of Yuzhang. But at this time, Cao Cao received a memorial from Sun Quan. Sun Quan was willing to submit to the court and promised never to launch a northern expedition, but hoped that the court could appoint him as the governor of Yangzhou and give him control of the six counties of Jiangdong.

Cao Cao hesitated. Sun Quan's promise never to launch a northern expedition was very attractive to him, and Sun Quan's willingness to submit to the court would also be beneficial for him to intervene in Jiangdong.

In contrast, Gan Ning's sincerity appeared very weak, and Cao Cao immediately withheld the imperial edict appointing Gan Ning as the governor of Yuzhang Commandery.

Cao Cao immediately summoned Guo Jia and Jia Xu to discuss countermeasures. Guo Jia smiled slightly and said, "Sun Ce has just died, and Sun Quan's position as Marquis of Wu is not secure. At this time, he is certainly powerless to launch a northern expedition. In fact, he has not even considered launching a northern expedition. He is just using it as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Sikong. Sikong, you don't need to take Sun Quan's promise of never launching a northern expedition too seriously."

Jia Xu also said, "This humble servant guesses that he does not want Gan Ning's occupation of Yuzhang to be legitimized, so he rushed to submit the memorial at this time, actually in order to prevent the lord from appointing Gan Ning as the governor of Yuzhang."

Cao Cao nodded, “What you all say makes sense, but in my heart, Sun Quan is much more important than Gan Ning. I would rather sacrifice Gan Ning than lose Sun Quan.”

At this moment, a guard at the door reported, "Reporting to the Minister of Works, the Second Young Master requests an audience!"

Cao Cao knew perfectly well that Cao Pi had come for Gan Ning, so he smiled and nodded, "Let him in!"

A moment later, Cao Pi hurriedly entered, knelt down and bowed deeply to his father, saying, "Your son greets Father!"

"Speak! What do you want?"

Cao Pi stood up and said, "I heard that Father has withheld the edict appointing Gan Ning, and I am very anxious. Gan Ning put the overall situation first and held off Sun Ce for Father, which is a great service to Father. Moreover, he presented the imperial seal to Father, and Father promised to support him. I implore Father to issue the edict as soon as possible, so that those who have made contributions will not go unrewarded and the loyal will not be disheartened!"

Cao Cao said calmly, "It seems my son cherishes old friendships very much!"

"No! I value my father's reputation more. I hope my father will keep his word."

Cao Cao sighed inwardly, thinking that his son was too naive and completely ignorant of political tactics.

At this moment, Guo Jia smiled and said, "This humble servant has a way that can satisfy both of us."

Cao Cao's eyes lit up. "Military Advisor Guo, please speak!"

Guo Jia smiled slightly and said, "We can appoint Sun Quan as the governor of Yangzhou, and at the same time, the court can appoint Gan Ning as the prefect of Yuzhang Commandery. There is no conflict between them! In addition, Sun Quan's offer is too little. If he wants to recommend the prefects of various commanderies in Yangzhou, he must at least show greater sincerity. For example, he could send his brother to Xuchang as a hostage. Only then can we believe his promise not to launch a northern expedition. In fact, once he seizes the opportunity, he will definitely launch a northern expedition to take Guangling Commandery."

Jia Xu also said, "My lord's use of Gan Ning is not merely to restrain Sun Ce's northern expedition, but more importantly, to restrain Jiangdong and Jingzhou. Gan Ning was able to capture Yuzhang Commandery in half a year, which shows that he is useful to my lord. Therefore, my lord appointed Gan Ning as the Prefect of Yuzhang, with the aim of continuing to support Gan Ning in restraining Jiangdong and Liu Biao, just as my lord supported Zhang Jin of Jiaozhou."

Cao Cao immediately realized his mistake and nodded, saying, "You're right to remind me; I almost made a mistake!"

Cao Cao then smiled at Cao Pi and said, "I also thank my son for reminding me. I have decided to keep my word and not only appoint Gan Ning as the Prefect of Yuzhang, but also promote him to the position of General of Jianwu and Marquis of Guannei, with a fief of three hundred households."

Cao Pi was overjoyed, "Thank you for your kindness, Father!"

The following day, Cao Cao sent an envoy to Wu Commandery to continue negotiating with Sun Quan, demanding that Sun Quan hostage his brother in Xuchang.

(End of this chapter)