Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

"why?"

Liu Ye rode forward and looked down at Cao Hong with resentment on his face:

"In the Battle of Guandu, if I hadn't offered the Thunderbolt Chariot, how could Cao Cao have broken through Yuan Shao's earthen mountain, and how could he have won the Battle of Guandu?"

"I, Liu Ye, consider myself to have made contributions to your Cao family."

"But your brother Cao Cao ignored my contributions and abandoned me just because my last name is Liu, and he was on guard against me everywhere."

"Cao Hong, use your not-so-bright brain to think carefully about why I would rebel against your Cao family?"

Cao Hong, who was originally filled with grief and anger, was speechless when asked by Liu Ye and had no words to refute.

There is no way. Cao Cao was indeed in the wrong in this matter.

It is a well-known fact that Liu Ye made great contributions in the Battle of Guandu.

Afterwards, even though Liu Bei unified the south and seemed to be able to swallow up the world, Liu Ye was not moved and still did his best to give advice to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was able to secure his control of Guanzhong, take over Liangzhou, and even capture Yizhou, all of which was due to Liu Ye's contribution.

But Cao Cao kicked Liu Ye out of the group of advisers after Liu Bei became emperor, and even wanted to follow the example of Xun Yu and suggest that Liu Ye commit suicide by taking poison.

If Liu Ye had not lived in seclusion and had almost no contact with outsiders, which had slightly dispelled Cao Cao's doubts, he would probably have followed in Xun Yu's footsteps by now.

Facing Cao Cao's "ingratitude", isn't it natural for Liu Ye to feel resentful?

Based on this deduction, isn't it reasonable for Liu Ye to participate in the anti-Qin rebellion at this moment and deal a fatal blow to the Cao family at the most critical moment?
"Jia Xu, your Majesty has treated you well and never let you down. Why do you want to join the rebels and betray our Great Qin?"

Cao Hong was unable to refute Liu Ye, so he had to turn to Jia Xu and ask angrily.

Jia Xu's expression was as calm as water, and he did not have the same resentment as Liu Ye. He just replied calmly:
"Cao Gong and I were brought together by profit. I persuaded Ma to surrender for Cao Gong, and Cao Gong kept me safe."

"Now that Cao Gong is about to fall, he can no longer guarantee my safety. The benefits have been exhausted."

"People gather because of profit, and naturally they disperse because of profit."

Cao Hong was speechless again.

Jia Xu doesn't care about friendship or loyalty, he only cares about profit.

Abandon any high-sounding pretenses and all hypocritical disguises, and get straight to the essence.

"Jia Xu, you, you——"

"You bunch of traitors, you betrayed my Cao family, I will kill you--"

Cao Hong, who was furious and humiliated, let out a roar like a trapped beast, and suddenly he leaped up with strength he didn't know where he got it from. He picked up the bloody knife on the ground with one arm and rushed towards Liu Ye and Jia Xu.

Pang De frowned and swung the bloody knife in his hand down without hesitation.

"Crack!"

Cao Hong's head flew out, and the headless corpse spurted blood and fell to the ground with a bang.

The second most powerful general of the Cao clan died in this way.

Pang De put away his sword and looked at Jia Xu:
"Mr. Wenhe, now that the granary has burned down, what else should we do?"

Jia Xu did not answer, but turned his gaze to Liu Ye:
"Zi Yang, the fire has been lit on our side, it's time for you to add some fuel to the fire."

Liu Ye smiled and raised his hand to point around:
"Brother Wenhe, the flower you asked for is already in full bloom."

Jia Xu raised his head and looked around, only to see dozens of thick smoke rising into the sky from inside Chang'an City.

It seemed that at the same time as the granary was burned, fires broke out everywhere in Chang'an City and the city fell into chaos.

Jia Xu's mouth corners slightly raised.

This was the plan he and Liu Ye had agreed upon.

Pang De led the Xiliang Army as the main force to break through the granary, burning all the food in the city, and at the same time attracting the remaining Qin army reserves to rescue the granary.

Liu Ye and other anti-Qin officials from Guandong gathered their own soldiers and private troops to attack from the north and south to defeat Cao Hong's reserve. At the same time, they burned a firewood room in their own mansion to create the illusion that there was chaos everywhere in Chang'an and that the rebels were setting fires everywhere, in order to break the morale of the Qin soldiers.

"Sir, we have completed our mission as promised. Now it's your turn."

Jia Xu stroked his half-white beard and looked towards the east gate of Chang'an with a calm gaze.

East Gate Line.

The fierce fighting continues.

The Han army's offensive was like a tide, one round more fierce than the other, and the Qin army was stretched to its limit and gradually became unable to hold on.

Cao Cao frowned, anxiety written all over his face. He looked towards the city from time to time, eagerly hoping that Cao Hong would come with the reserve troops to reinforce him.

After waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the preparations coming, only a messenger came.

"Your Majesty, Pang De has rebelled and taken control of the Xiliang Army. He is now leading his troops to attack the granary!"

"General Wei is leading the remaining reserve troops to rescue the granary. Your Majesty, please send reinforcements as soon as possible!"

Thunder exploded.

On the top of the city wall, there was a moment of shock.

Cao Cao was so frightened that his legs went weak and he staggered back half a step, almost falling down.

Zhang Song, Guo Jia, Yu Jin and other counselors and generals were all shocked and dismayed, and their expressions changed drastically.

"What did you say? Say it again?"

Cao Cao pushed away the ministers who were supporting him, grabbed the messenger, and asked angrily with an excited roar.

"Your Majesty, Pang De has rebelled. Li Kan and his Xiliang officers simply don't listen to General Wei's orders. They have all followed Pang De in the rebellion. They are going to burn our food supplies!"

The messenger cried out in panic.

Cao Cao felt as if he had been hit on the head with a club. His body was as stiff as ice, his mouth was wide open, and his eyes were bulging as if they were about to explode.

He never expected that Pound would rebel!
Moreover, it was at this critical moment when the Han army was attacking the city and Chang'an was in danger.

Also instigated the Xiliang Legion?

Shouldn't they attack each gate, attacking from both inside and outside to force the Han army to break through, but instead they directly burn his food supplies and cut off his fuel supply?

Cao Cao felt as if he was struck by thunder and his head was buzzing. For a moment he lost his mind and stood frozen in place, not knowing what was going on.

"Your Majesty, I have already said that Pang De secretly communicated with Liu Bei and is a traitor to the country!"

"If Your Majesty had listened to my advice and gotten rid of the traitor Pang De earlier, how could such a disaster have happened today?"

Zhang Song came to his senses and brought up the past events that made him angry and angry.

Cao Cao was startled, and suddenly recalled the accusation Zhang Song had made against Pang De during the Battle of Weishui.

Endless regret and endless anger instantly engulfed his whole body.

"Guo Fengxiao, if you hadn't spoken for Pang De, how could His Majesty be so soft-hearted and leave such a hidden danger?"

"If Pang De burns our granary, my 90,000-man army will be out of food today and will fall into chaos without a fight!"

"Guo Fengxiao, if Chang'an cannot be defended, it's all your fault—"

Zhang Song turned his attention to Guo Jia again, angrily pointing his finger at the Qin strategist and scolding him.

He has always been dissatisfied with Guo Jia, and boasts that he is extremely wise and that only he is worthy of being the chief strategist for the Qin State.

Seeing this godsend opportunity of Pang De's rebellion, he naturally decided to take a gamble, and simply tore his face off and accused Guo Jia of harming the country.

This trick really works.

Cao Cao felt as if a needle was stabbing his heart. He turned around suddenly and shot a fierce look of anger and disappointment at Guo Jia. (End of this chapter)