The Three Kingdoms: The entire Cao Cao camp thought I was weak and frail.

"Eight or nine out of ten scholars in the world come from prominent families. In fact, the examinations still select people from among them." Even his Guo family, although they can be called poor families now, had wealthy ancestors.

Xun Hao nodded. "I don't intend to make enemies of all the gentry. We can distinguish these true scholarly families from those nouveau riche who only know how to hoard grain. We can win over some and suppress others. It's always better to select those who are better at governing the country than to hold positions without doing any work."

Guo Jia slowly exhaled.

"I understand." Guo Jia held his shoulder. "I will help you with this."

Xun Hao raised his eyes and looked at him.

Guo Jia's eyes were more serious than ever before. "Yanruo, remember this: whatever you want to do in the future, I will help you."

So this is what it feels like to be completely understood and accepted. How could anyone not be moved by Guo Fengxiao like this?

The next day, the sky brightened.

Puyang City seemed to have become joyful and harmonious overnight.

Inside the council hall, Cao Cao, who had been gloomy the day before, wore a warm smile and personally welcomed Chen Gong to the head seat.

"Gongtai, the three strategies you presented yesterday, Wenruo, Gongda, and I discussed them all night, and we all believe they are excellent plans for securing the country and stabilizing the region!"

Chen Gong, dressed in a brand-new Confucian robe, looked radiant. He stroked his short beard and bowed slightly: "Your Highness flatters me. I am merely echoing others' words, acting as a go-between for Your Highness and the scholars of Yanzhou."

Behind him stood several aristocratic representatives who had come to pay their respects, each impeccably dressed and with an arrogant expression.

"My lord," Chen Gong took out a list he had prepared beforehand from his sleeve and presented it with both hands, "This is a list of the sons recommended by the Cheng, Bi, and Xue families. They are all well-read and of good character, and are suitable for the positions of 'Accountant' and 'Merit Officer'."

Cao Cao took the list, glanced at it, and handed it directly to Xun Yu beside him: "Wenruo, take a look."

Xun Yu accepted the bamboo slips expressionlessly, his gaze sweeping over the unfamiliar names on them, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Pure and virtuous? They're nothing but a bunch of spoiled brats who can't distinguish between grains and are lazy in their physical labor.

But he remained expressionless, simply nodding and saying, "Yu, as you command, my lord."

A tacit political deal seems to have been reached.

For the next two days, Puyang City was peaceful and tranquil.

Cao Cao frequently hosted banquets to entertain Chen Gong and representatives of various aristocratic families. During the banquets, they drank and chatted amiably, as if he had already accepted the idea of ​​"ruling the world together with the scholar-officials."

On the afternoon of the third day, dust filled the air outside the south gate of Puyang City.

An army is slowly approaching the city gate.

Leading the group was Xiahou Dun. The soldiers behind him were all spirited, though each of them bore the marks of dust and blood. Most striking was the seemingly endless supply train in the middle of the column, its wheels rolling and leaving deep ruts in the ground.

The news reached the hall where the banquet was being held immediately.

"Report—"

A messenger rushed in, knelt on one knee, and said in a loud voice, "Reporting to the lord! General Xiahou Dun has returned from suppressing the bandits and is already outside the city!"

The hall fell silent instantly.

Chen Gong's hand, stroking his beard, froze in mid-air. He exchanged glances with several representatives of the gentry, all of whom saw a hint of doubt in each other's eyes.

Suppressing bandits? Weren't the biggest Yellow Turban rebels in Yanzhou already quelled? Where are there still bandits?

Cao Cao slammed down his wine cup, a perfectly timed look of surprise on his face: "Yuan Rang is back? Quick! Let him in!"

As he spoke, he stood up and warmly invited Chen Gong and the others, "Gentlemen, come with me to see the illustrious achievements of our soldiers!"

Although Chen Gong and the others had their doubts, seeing Cao Cao's open and honest demeanor, they could only suppress their thoughts and get up as well.

As soon as the group reached the entrance of the government office, they saw six generals, including Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren, stride in. They were still in their armor, their bodies covered in the smoke and dust of battle. The aura they exuded, as if they had fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, caused the pampered aristocratic representatives to instinctively take a half-step back.

"This humble general has not failed in his mission!" Xiahou Dun clasped his hands in a fist salute to Cao Cao, his voice booming like a bell.

"Good! Excellent!" Cao Cao laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Yuanrang, you've worked hard! How was the battle?"

"Reporting to my lord!" Xiahou Dun pulled a bamboo scroll from his robes and held it high. "This time, we were ordered by my lord to separately wipe out the remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels entrenched in Mengshan, Jibei, Rencheng, and other places, and we achieved a great victory! We seized countless stolen goods from the bandits, and the list is here!"

Cao Cao took the bamboo slips, unfolded them, glanced at them, and then handed them back to Xiahou Dun, saying loudly, "Yuanrang, read them! Let Master Gongtai and all the local worthies hear them! Look at how much wealth these bandits have plundered from the people!"

"Here you go!"

Xiahou Dun cleared his throat, his single eye gleaming with excitement.

"In the battle of Mengshan in Dongping County, 300 bandits were killed, and 13,000 shi of grain, 3,000 bolts of silk, and 500 pieces of ironware were seized!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a representative from the Bi family of Dongping behind Chen Gong turned pale instantly.

Mount Meng...wasn't that his family's secret granary? How did it become a den of Yellow Turban rebels?

Before he could speak, Xiahou Dun's voice rang out again.

"In the battle at the manor outside Rencheng, we defeated 500 enemy soldiers, captured 30,000 shi of rice, 500 shi of salt, and 100 taels of gold!"

"boom!"

Another representative of the Cheng family felt his mind go blank, stumbled, and almost fell.

The manor guards are all family henchmen, how could that be...?

"Shanyang County..."

"Jibei County..."

Xiahou Dun's voice was like a series of heavy hammer blows, striking hard into the hearts of Chen Gong and the representatives of the aristocratic families.

With each place name uttered, each string of numbers recited, their faces paled a little more. They knew those numbers, those locations better than anyone! They represented the wealth their families had accumulated over generations, the foundation of their livelihood!

When Xiahou Dun finished reading the last word, the entire entrance to the government office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The representatives of the aristocratic families, their lips trembling and their faces ashen, looked at Cao Cao with eyes filled with horror and disbelief.

"My lord!"

Chen Gong finally recovered from his shock. He took a step forward, his voice trembling, "This... there must be a misunderstanding! Mengshan is the ancestral property of the Bi family, and Rencheng Manor is the property of the Cheng family. How could it be a den of Yellow Turban rebels?"

Chen Gong's voice was sharp with excitement, no longer as composed as before.

The smile on Cao Cao's face had vanished completely at some point.

He turned his head and looked silently at Chen Gong, his eyes devoid of any smile. "Gongtai, are you sure?"

The question, though not harsh, weighed heavily on Chen Gong's heart like a boulder.

Xiahou Dun and the others took a step forward in unison. Six pairs of murderous gazes, like six unsheathed blades, were all locked onto Chen Gong.