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

Chapter 173, White Horse City is given to Yuan Shao
Not only did Cao Cao's soldiers ridicule him, but even many of Yuan Shao's soldiers thought he was dreaming.

Yuan Bing was quickly surrounded by countless jeers, making him blush and feel extremely embarrassed. He stood there, biting his lip, a rare stubbornness on his face.

Suddenly a voice rang out, "Who says that surrendered soldiers can't be my guards?"

Liu Xie deftly helped Dian Wei remove the arrow, then stood up and walked over.

He walked straight up to the soldier who had just spoken and asked him kindly, "Tell me your name."

Liu Xie's voice was clear and approachable. The Yuan soldier mustered his courage and replied, "Your Majesty, my name is Wang Tong!"

Wang Tong had been stabbed in the left arm, and it had already been bandaged.

Liu Xie looked him up and down a few times, patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, and announced to the public: "From today onwards, you will be one of my personal guards."

"..."

A deathly silence fell over the surroundings, and everyone stared wide-eyed at Liu Xie in disbelief.

Those who had just mocked Wang Tong were instantly proven wrong, and now looked at him with envy.

"Your Majesty, I also wish to be your personal guard."

"I do too!"

"Me too!"

After a while, the crowd suddenly erupted, with soldiers speaking up one after another, vying to be the first to speak, their enthusiasm extremely high.

Liu Xie smiled and waved his hand, "I will only accept one today, but as long as you are loyal and brave enough, you will definitely have another chance in the future."

This incident also served as a reminder to Liu Xie that he should indeed establish a proper personal guard around him.

Cao Cao had Tiger Guards by his side, commanded by Xu Chu and Dian Wei.

However, Liu Xie had only had people like Zhao Yun and Wang Yue by his side all along. In order to save face for Cao Cao, he never formed a personal guard.

But now, the opportunity has arrived.

Liu Xie left everyone with hope: as long as they performed well, they would have a chance to join. This made even the surrendered soldiers eager to try and full of hope.

Because Wang Tong was a surrendered soldier!
Seeing the crowd's high spirits, Liu Xie continued, "From now on, every ten days, I will personally select a personal guard. Cao Cao's personal guards are called the Tiger Guards, so my personal guards will be the Dragon Guards!"

"Dragon Guard?"

Even Zhao Yun smiled excitedly when he heard this title.

Zhao Yun knew very well what this meant. Cao Cao was the Tiger Guard, and the Emperor was the Dragon Guard. It made perfect sense and was reasonable.

The dragon is naturally more powerful than the tiger, and rightfully overpowers Cao Cao, since Cao Cao was a subject while Liu Xie was the emperor.

Not only is the name imposing, but the selection of Dragon Guards is also destined to be very strict, with only one new person allowed to join every ten days. It is conceivable that the difficulty will not be small.

Turning to Zhao Yun, Liu Xie said with great expectation, "Zilong, from today onwards, the Dragon Guard will be under your command. You will be the commander of the Dragon Guard, and Wang Yue will be the deputy commander."

Zhao Yun hurriedly clasped his hands in a fist salute, bowed, and said, "This subordinate obeys the order!"

Every ten days, one person was selected to join. With so many people present, whether they were Cao Cao's soldiers or surrendered soldiers, their minds began to stir.

After a while, Dian Wei took his leave and went back to see Cao Cao, where he also told Cao Cao about the matter.

"What? His Majesty wants to establish the Dragon Guard?"

Cao Cao stood up with wide eyes, looking suspicious. He paced back and forth in the room, repeating the name of the Dragon Guard over and over again. "I am the Tiger Guard, and Your Majesty is the Dragon Guard? Well, Your Majesty is clearly trying to suppress me and leave me helpless."

Xun You said, "His Majesty is doing this in order to exercise the emperor's power legitimately. Once something happens, it will inevitably happen again. This time His Majesty has established the Dragon Guard, so what about next time? You must be on guard, my lord. Perhaps soon His Majesty will assume personal rule."

Cao Cao sneered, "Yes, it's getting more and more interesting. His Majesty is constantly reminding me that he is the ruler and I am the subject, and that I should abide by the distinction between ruler and subject, so that I can be a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty and do my best to assist him. He really has good intentions."

Guo Jia spread his hands and smiled, "This is the brilliance of His Majesty. His open strategies are invincible. If you, my lord, dare to oppose or neglect His Majesty, you will give His Majesty a pretext to retaliate. Therefore, my lord, there is no need to be anxious. In any case, His Majesty is measured in his actions. No matter what he does, at least he has no ill intentions towards you!"

"Oh? His Majesty is already setting up the Dragon Guard? How can you be so sure that he has no ill intentions towards me? Even if he has no ill intentions today, it doesn't mean he won't have them in the future."

The emperor grew more and more powerful every day, and the speed of his rise surprised even Cao Cao.

For this military expedition, everyone suggested that Cao Cao take the emperor with him, so that Liu Xie and Yuan Shao would wear each other down.

But now, Cao Cao increasingly feels that this decision is not quite right.

Guo Jia explained, "My lord, don't forget that His Majesty has recognized you as the most loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. As long as you don't do anything too outrageous, His Majesty will continue to trust and value you!"

Cao Cao held the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords, which meant he could not easily harm the emperor.

Similarly, Liu Xie cultivated a positive image of Cao Cao, portraying him as the most loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, so Liu Xie would not easily harm Cao Cao.

Guo Jia saw things very clearly. Liu Xie had created such a good persona for Cao Cao, which, while limiting Cao Cao, also limited Liu Xie himself.

Guo Jia said, "The relationship between you and His Majesty is unprecedented in history. You cannot easily touch him, and he dares not easily touch you. His Majesty's present situation is inseparable from you, and you are inseparable from His Majesty. Moreover, there is probably a long road ahead where the two of you will be closely bound together!"

Cao Cao remained silent for a while, then had to admit that Guo Jia had indeed been right.

It seems that we can only wait until we have completely defeated Yuan Shao and unified the north before we can impose certain restrictions on Liu Xie.

Several people were talking about Liu Xie. They said, "Liu Xie has arrived!"

Cao Anmin rushed in from outside, "Uncle, His Majesty has arrived!"

Cao Cao nodded and hurried out to greet them. Liu Xie saw that Guo Jia and Xun You were both there, and smiled and nodded at them as a greeting. He did not show any wariness or dissatisfaction.

Someone else might have thought that Guo Jia and Xun You were both Cao Cao's trusted advisors and that they needed to be careful and wary of them. But Liu Xie was already used to it.

In front of these people, Liu Xie was completely at ease and appeared very composed. "Lord Cao, I have come here today to discuss two matters with you."

Guo Jia winked at Cao Cao, implying that the Dragon Guard incident must have been one of them.

As expected, Liu Xie did not hide anything and mentioned it briefly. Cao Cao smiled, naturally indicating his agreement.

Besides, Liu Xie had already announced it publicly, so even if Cao Cao wanted to object, he couldn't change anything. On the contrary, it would only cause discord between the two, the ruler and his minister.

Cao Cao said, "Your Majesty, your safety is of utmost importance, especially when you are on a military campaign. You must have capable guards by your side. How about I help Your Majesty select some?"

Liu Xie shook his head. "Lord Cao is too kind. I can handle this matter myself."

If Cao Cao were to choose for him, the Dragon Guard would lose its true purpose, and Cao Cao would definitely take the opportunity to plant his trusted spies, making it very troublesome to eliminate them later.

"And what is the second thing?"

"Lord Cao, Yan Liang has been killed. Yuan Shao's vanguard general is dead. It won't be long before Yuan Shao sends someone. Moreover, Yuan Shao probably already knows about my situation at Baima. Therefore, Yuan Shao's forces will definitely increase. According to my calculations, Wen Chou is second only to Yan Liang among Yuan Shao's generals. So, the one coming next will definitely be Wen Chou, with a force of around 50,000."

Cao Cao nodded, but smiled dismissively, "Even if Wen Chou comes, we can defend the city and fight him. It won't be so easy for Wen Chou to break through the city."

Liu Xie shook his head. “Lord Cao, our total strength is only 50,000 men. We have over 30,000 at Baima City, 10,000 at Yanjin, and 3,000 at Guandu. Even if we have cities to rely on, I think we should try to avoid unnecessary losses. Lord Cao probably doesn’t know that Liu Bei is currently by Yuan Shao’s side.”

"What? Liu Bei actually went to join Yuan Shao?" Cao Cao was indeed somewhat surprised, staring at Liu Xie with wide eyes.

If Liu Xie hadn't told him, he would still have been kept in the dark. Ever since Liu Bei escaped during the hunt at Xutian, Cao Cao had no idea of ​​Liu Bei's whereabouts.

Upon hearing news of Liu Bei, Cao Cao was surprised, but also taken aback by Liu Xie's frankness.

In fact, Liu Xie shouldn't have told him this secret. If the two had switched places, Cao Cao wouldn't have said it.

Because Liu Bei was Liu Xie's secret weapon, the fewer people who knew about him, the more unexpected and powerful he could be. They could even use Liu Bei to deal with Cao Cao.

With Liu Bei by Yuan Shao's side, Liu Xie had every opportunity to use Liu Bei to deal with Cao Cao.

Even Xun You stared wide-eyed. It was unbelievable that His Majesty had revealed such a secret without reservation.

Cao Cao said, "Your Majesty, do you already have a plan?"

Liu Xie said, "If Wen Chou comes, Liu Bei will probably come along as well. Even if Liu Bei doesn't come, it doesn't matter. Everyone knows that Liu, Guan, and Zhang are deeply loyal and share a bond of life and death. I want Guan Yu to go and join Liu Bei. Of course, before leaving, I want to give Yuan Shao a generous gift."

"Send Yuan Shao a generous gift?" Cao Cao was taken aback.

Guo Jia's eyes lit up, and he said, "Your Majesty intends to have Guan Yu act as an inside agent to present the white horse to Yuan Shao."

Liu Xie nodded. "As expected of a genius, that's exactly what I was thinking."

Xun You shook his head repeatedly, "White Horse City is clearly in our hands. It is a crucial fortress to resist Yuan Shao. It is truly incomprehensible that Your Majesty would hand it over to Yuan Shao so easily."

There were some things that Xun You dared not say openly in front of Liu Xie.

He really wanted to say, "Your Majesty, whose side are you really on? Do you also want to leave and join Yuan Shao?"

Cao Cao pondered for a long time and said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid your intention is not only to make Liu Bei more valued by Yuan Shao, but also to send Liu Bei an ally."

"Indeed, Yan Liang's skills are unparalleled, but he is still no match for Guan Yu. If Guan Yu goes to Liu Bei's side, he will definitely be of great use when necessary."

Liu Bei currently only has Zhang Fei by his side, which ultimately seems somewhat lacking.

If Liu Bei were merely a guest of Yuan Shao, whether Guan Yu was present or not would not have mattered. However, Emperor Xie placed high hopes on Liu Bei and wanted him to play a significant role. With Guan Yu by his side, the power of Liu Bei, the sword hidden beside Yuan Shao, was obviously greatly enhanced.

In the future, even if Liu Bei wanted to leave, having Guan Yu and Zhang Fei by his side would provide him with an extra layer of protection.

Cao Cao hesitated somewhat, but Guo Jia smiled and said, "My lord, I don't think there's anything wrong with doing this. Anyway, we can't hold onto Baima City for long. Even if we don't lose it now, we'll still lose it when Yuan Shao's army comes. Why not send Yuan Shao a generous gift and have Liu Bei and the other two act as His Majesty's inside agents? Perhaps it can serve as a decapitation strike."

Cao Cao pondered for a while, then finally nodded, "Very well, in that case, I am willing to cede Baima City!"

Liu Xie said, "Alright, it's settled then. I'll go back and discuss it with Yun Chang again, and make preparations in advance."

After Liu Xie left, Xun You said, "Liu Bei must have been forced to seek refuge with Yuan Shao because he had nowhere else to turn. But now, it seems as if His Majesty deliberately sent him there. If this continues, His Majesty will not only continue to perform outstandingly, but Liu Bei will also become very famous."

Guo Jia waved his hand, "That's not important. Liu Bei only has Guan Yu and Zhang Fei by his side. His family and old subordinates are still with us. His Majesty only sent Guan Yu. Don't worry too much. After defeating Yuan Shao, Liu Bei will still have nowhere to go and will have to obediently come back."

Cao Cao glanced at Guo Jia and nodded. "It's rare for Your Majesty to be so frank, so let's not be too concerned. Even if Liu Bei can gain the limelight, he will still have to be mindful of my feelings in the future. However, I can give up the city, but there's no need to leave the people in the city to Yuan Shao!"

"What does Your Excellency mean?"

A shrewd glint flashed in Cao Cao's eyes as he said, "Starting tomorrow, quickly relocate the people in the city. I want to give Yuan Shao an empty city!"

Guo Jia and Xun You nodded quickly, "Rest assured, my lord, we will do as you say immediately."

Meanwhile, on Yuan Shao's side, upon learning that the emperor had also arrived at Baima, Yuan Shao hurriedly gathered everyone together.

"Gentlemen, now that His Majesty has arrived in White Horse City, how should we respond?"

Ju Shou became extremely excited and was the first to stand up, saying, "This is Heaven's help to our lord."

Yuan Shao hurriedly asked, "Oh? How do you know?"

Ju Shouyan said, "In the past, I advised my lord to send troops to welcome the emperor to Ye City, but Cao Cao beat us to it. It was precisely because he had the emperor as a trump card that Cao Cao was able to rise rapidly. He could use the emperor to bestow titles and rewards upon the world and command his ministers. Now that His Majesty has come to the front lines, as long as we rescue the emperor from Cao Cao, my lord can rightfully conquer the world. Cao Cao will have to submit to my lord's decree."

Although the intention was clearly to seize the emperor from Cao Cao, Ju Shou phrased it elegantly as rescuing the emperor.

To try and seize the emperor, making Yuan Shao look like a thief, is clearly inappropriate.

Yuan Shao immediately clapped his hands and laughed, as if he could already see Cao Cao groveling at his feet.

Yuan Shao loved to hear flattery, and Ju Shou's words pleased him greatly, making his wrinkles beam with joy.

(End of this chapter)