With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 111, Sending Troops to Xuzhou

After the year-end was over, Cao Cao began a new round of plans. On this day, Cao Cao gathered together his most important civil and military officials.

At the beginning, Xun Yu mentioned, "My lord, at the end of the year, the generals in Guanzhong basically sent envoys to Xuchang to offer congratulations. This is a very good sign, indicating that many people in Guanzhong have already acknowledged the fact that the court is in Xuchang. Only Li Jue and Guo Si have not yet expressed their opinions."

Cao Cao snorted coldly, his eyes narrowed slightly, flashing with an unfriendly cold light, "These two have usurped the throne and bullied the emperor. Even if I could forgive everyone in the world, I would not forgive these two traitors. To be honest, I am planning to send a general to Guanzhong to quell the two traitors, Li and Guo."

As the group was discussing the matter, Guo Jia arrived late.

Cao Cao feigned anger, gave him a cold look, and scolded, "Fengxiao, why are you late?"

Guo Jia chuckled and quickly apologized, "My lord, I was busy with some personal matters last night, so I'm late. Please don't do it again."

Cao Cao had no way to deal with him. Every time Guo Jia admitted his mistakes, his attitude was better than anyone else's. But if you hoped that he could really be strict with himself and abide by the rules, he would repeatedly disappoint Cao Cao.

"Private matters? It's not like what you said last time, it's some kind of physical private matter, is it?"

Guo Jia replied with a knowing smiley face, and then confidently added, "A beautiful lady is sought after by a gentleman; you, my lord, understand me!"

After they sat down, Guo Jia nudged Man Chong, who then quietly repeated what everyone had just been discussing.

Guo Jia behaved like a late, problem student who, after sneaking into the classroom, hurriedly asked, "Where did the teacher leave off to?"

Upon hearing that Li Jue and Guo Si were to be dealt with, Guo Jia hurriedly shook his head and stood up again. "My lord, there is no need to send anyone to Guanzhong. If you were to attack these generals in Guanzhong, they would surely unite to fight against the court, which would be detrimental to us."

"So, what do you mean by how to deal with this?"

Guo Jia confidently said, "We can ignore them for now. The more we do this, the more uneasy they will become. Some will actively align themselves with the court, while others, even if they still want to maintain their military power, will gradually lose their confidence. Haven't we seen many envoys from Guanzhong this year? Let's let them see who is good and who is bad, who is loyal and who is treacherous. Over time, they will naturally come to light. Then we can select trustworthy people from among them and use their own weapons against them, letting the people of Guanzhong fight among themselves. We just need to observe and wait."

Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed, praising repeatedly, "Good! With Guo Fengxiao, what worries do we have about the stability of Guanzhong!"

Even though Guo Jia was often unruly, frequently arriving late or leaving early, and often making mistakes in his conduct, Cao Cao genuinely admired his abilities.

Throughout Cao Cao's camp, there was no shortage of wise and shrewd ministers and strategists, but Guo Jia was the one who best suited Cao Cao's taste.

Next, Cao Cao turned his attention to Xuzhou. "As the saying goes, how can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's bed? Liu Bei surrendered last year, and Yuan Shu is also declining day by day. What worries me the most is Lü Bu."

Whenever Cao Cao thought of Lü Bu, an image would instantly flash through his mind: eight years ago, when Cao Cao borrowed the Seven Treasures Sword from Wang Yun to assassinate Dong Zhuo at the Prime Minister's residence.

At the time, Lü Bu was Dong Zhuo's close general, and Cao Cao was most afraid of Lü Bu. He was stared at by Lü Bu several times, and the feeling of being treated like prey still makes Cao Cao feel a chill down his spine when he thinks about it.

Lu Bu had long left an indelible and terrifying shadow in Cao Cao's heart.

Lu Bu was arrogant and unparalleled in skill. Before Hulao Pass, he regarded all the heroes of the world as nothing more than weeds.

The two had previously fought for control of Yan Province, and Lü Bu almost managed to destroy Cao Cao's stronghold.

As long as Lü Bu was not completely defeated, Cao Cao would be restless and unable to sleep soundly.

Cao Cao stood up with a worried expression, paced around the room with his hands behind his back, looked at everyone, and said, "At present, Yuan Shao has a complete advantage in the war in Hebei. I'm afraid he will be able to completely defeat Gongsun Zan in no time. Once Gongsun Zan is destroyed, Yuan Shao will turn his attention to us. So we don't have much time left."

In the past few years, Cao Cao had been under the protection of Yuan Shao. Even when he sent troops to attack Tao Qian, Yuan Shao sent troops to help him.

Although Cao Cao and Yuan Shao did not publicly form an alliance at the time, they were actually united against external threats.

Yuan Shu and Gongsun Zan formed an alliance, one in the south and one in the north, to attack Yuan Shao and Cao Cao from both sides.

On many occasions, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were in sync, practically inseparable.

However, now that Yuan Shao is growing stronger and his army is powerful, Cao Cao knows very well that in the future, the northern lands will not be able to accommodate two tigers on one mountain.

He and Yuan Shao were ultimately destined for war.

"Now it's up to me and Yuan Shao. Whoever can eliminate their enemies first will have time to prepare for the upcoming battle."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and it seemed they were about to launch a military attack against Lü Bu. But at that very moment, Lü Bu struck first.

A junior officer rushed in from outside, panicked. "Reporting, Your Excellency, something terrible has happened! General Jianwu, he..."

"What did Yuan do to him?"

Upon learning that General Jianwu was Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao immediately tensed up and pressed for an answer.

Among Cao Cao's many generals, Xiahou Dun was undoubtedly ranked first in terms of prestige and status.

The junior officer seemed to have witnessed something horrifying, and he almost bit his tongue as he spoke, "General Jianwu, he... he has an arrow in his left eye."

"Huh?" Not only was Cao Cao taken aback, but everyone else also stared wide-eyed.

"Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?"

"Lu Bu sent Gao Shun to launch a sneak attack on Xiaopei. General Jianwu... encountered Lu Bu's soldiers and was shot in the left eye by the enemy general... Cao Xing." The news came too suddenly, and Cao Cao was stunned and did not react for a moment.

Guo Jia stood up and said, "I'm afraid Xiaopei has already been lost by now."

Guo Jia knew very well that Liu Bei had not gained the upper hand in his previous encounters with Lü Bu. Not to mention Lü Bu, Gao Shun alone had defeated Liu Bei several times.

Cao Cao was furious, his eyes almost red, and he gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Fine, I haven't even dealt with Lü Bu yet, and he's already made his move. Come on, immediately issue the order to march on Xuzhou!"

With a single command, the mountains trembled. In the early spring of the third year of Jian'an, Cao Cao's campaign against Lü Bu officially began.

Liu Xie was not surprised at all. Halfway there, the group encountered Liu Bei.

Even Liu Xie found it hard to believe. Liu Bei looked so disheveled, with his hair and clothes in disarray. He only had a few hundred men with him, as if he had just fled from somewhere.

Upon seeing Cao Cao and Liu Xie, Liu Bei immediately bowed.

Cao Cao asked in disbelief, "Xuande, why are you in such a sorry state? Didn't I order you to garrison Xiaopei? Where is Xiaopei?"

Liu Bei shook his head and sighed heavily, "Reporting to Your Excellency, Xiaopei has been lost and captured by Gao Shun."

As for the specific reason, Liu Bei was somewhat embarrassed. It turned out that Zhang Fei had stolen Lü Bu's warhorse, and Lü Bu had discovered that Liu Bei had been secretly expanding and training his army, which aroused his dissatisfaction. That's why he sent Gao Shun to attack Xiaopei.

Cao Cao shook his head repeatedly, raised his hand, pointed at Liu Bei, as if to reprimand him, but hesitated for a moment and then lowered his hand.

Liu Xie understood that Cao Cao had to appear magnanimous in front of so many people.

Therefore, Cao Cao not only did not reprimand Liu Bei, but also comforted him.

Logically speaking, Liu Bei was Cao Cao's subordinate, so no amount of reprimanding him would be excessive.

Liu Xie was also somewhat disappointed. He had secretly reminded Liu Bei many times to stay put and behave himself.

They had to recruit soldiers and do it right under Lü Bu's nose. It's no wonder Lü Bu was unhappy; anyone would be.

Liu Biao, wasn't he the most docile person around?

After Liu Bei went to rely on Liu Biao, he also recruited soldiers and horses, which eventually aroused Liu Biao's suspicion, and Liu Bei was transferred from Xinye back to Fancheng.

Liu Bei glanced at Liu Xie furtively. Liu Xie had a sullen face and was staring at him coldly. Liu Bei quickly lowered his head, like a naughty child caught by his parents.

Liu Xie snorted and finally couldn't help but step forward to reprimand him: "Xuande, look at the mess you've made! I told you to stay in Xiaopei in peace, but you insisted on provoking Lü Bu. Now look what's happened! Not only have you lost Xiaopei, but you've also injured General Xiahou's left eye. What can I say about you? If General Xiahou loses his life, can you afford to pay for it?"

Even Xiahou Yuan was moved by these words, and Cao Cao also looked at Liu Xie with gratitude, but still tried to smooth things over by saying, "Your Majesty, please calm down. We just received news that Yuan Rang is not in any danger, and Xuande did not do it on purpose."

Everyone knew that the emperor disliked Liu Bei, so no one thought much of Liu Xie's reprimand of Liu Bei to his face.

Liu Bei felt extremely bitter, even though he knew it was all an act, he still felt uneasy.

"By the way, where are Guan Yu and Zhang Fei?" Cao Cao's eyes quickly scanned the area, but he couldn't find the two fierce generals who haunted his dreams.

Liu Bei sighed, "After Xiaopei was lost, my two brothers and I were separated by enemy troops."

Liu Xie rolled his eyes at him and said with dissatisfaction, "Your two brothers are currently missing, but you, as the eldest brother, are safe and sound."

Although it was just acting, this wasn't the first time Liu Bei and his two brothers had acted like this, and Liu Xie simply couldn't appreciate it.

Everyone says they would share weal and woe, but whenever trouble came, Liu Bei would always be the first to leave, leaving the danger to his two brothers.

This kind of thing always feels strange, even if Liu Bei is the master and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are the subjects.

Just like when Cao Ang gave his warhorse to Cao Cao, Cao Cao ran away. Even today, Liu Xie finds it hard to resonate with this.

Whether they were brothers or father and son, Liu Xie, who had traveled through time, was ultimately not as ruthless as Liu Bei and Cao Cao.

They can comfortably let their brothers or close relatives cover their retreat, even if it means others lose their lives.

Liu Xie would never do such a thing.

If one day Liu Xie's son were to cover his own death, Liu Xie would certainly not agree to it.

Of course, this kind of thing can probably only exist in the realm of hypothesis.

Even if a modern person were to travel back to ancient times, no matter how ruthless they are, they would still have a bottom line!

Modern people's mindset is hard to completely erase, no matter what they experience!

I'm a little late updating today, and I sincerely apologize to everyone.

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(End of this chapter)