Three Kingdoms: Madam, I am a decent person

Chapter 413 Xun You: I feel that Chen Deng is not a reliable person

When the figure heard Cao Cao's question, his brows furrowed slightly.

Cao Cao looked at the figure in confusion.

The figure is named Xun You, Xun Yu's nephew, and he hates evil.

Before, Cao Cao moved the capital to Xu County with the emperor, and felt that there were not enough talents, so he asked Xun Yu, one of his earliest advisers and his most respected adviser today, to recommend some talents.

Xun Yu recommended two people: Zhong Yao and Xun You.

Cao Cao tested Xun You and was quite confident in his abilities.

However, there is a problem with Xun You.

After he came under his command, he was quite dissatisfied with Xi Zhicai and Zhong Yao.

Especially Xi Zhicai.

Cao Cao asked Xun You for the specific reason, but Xun You refused to tell him.

If it were any other strategist, Cao Cao would most likely doubt the other party's ability.

But Xi Zhicai was the one who followed Xun Yu to join him.

Over the years, Xi Zhicai has also offered advice and made many useful suggestions.

Although in the past two years, he also felt that Xi Zhicai's mentality seemed to have changed and he was no longer as obedient to him as before.

Especially the way he looked at himself, it no longer had the same spirit as before.

However, when it came time to offer advice, Xi Zhicai never failed to do so.

As for Zhong Yao, after Xun Yu recommended him, he planned to let the latter go to Chang'an to serve as the Inspector of the Imperial Guards and deal with the problems of the princes in Guanzhong.

It was Zhong Yao who provided the key strategy for the encirclement and suppression of Guo Yuan's 3,000 cavalry.

Because Guo Yuan is Zhong Yao’s nephew!

In order to help him, Zhong Yao even treated his nephew the same way. How could Cao Cao dare to disappoint such a Zhong Yao?

Therefore, Cao Cao had mixed feelings about Xun You's hostile attitude towards Xi Zhicai and Zhong Yao.

He didn't want his civil and military officials to be divided like Yuan Shao.

Seeing that Xun You didn't want to say anything, Cao Cao sighed and signaled others to leave.

Even the burly man Zhang Xuchu, his personal guard whom he had just recruited, was the same.

After everyone had gone far away, Cao Cao said to Xun You: "Gongda, although you have only been with me for a short time, you know my attitude towards you."

"You and Wen Ruo are my right arms."

"I know you don't like to speak ill of others behind their backs, but if it is for the sake of victory in the war, why not?"

"and--"

Cao Cao jokingly said, "Gongda, do you think that I am like that fool Yuan Benchu, who can't tell right from wrong and can only seek so-called balance?"

Xun You then glanced at Cao Cao, and after a moment's silence, he said, "Xi Zhicai provided the latest information, and there is no problem."

Cao Cao smiled and said, "That's good. Why are you so sad?"

Xun You still frowned and said, "The biggest problem is that there is no problem at all."

"Xi Zhicai's intelligence earlier showed that Yuan Shao divided his army into two groups and marched southwards."

"All the way there is Guo Yuan's 3,000 cavalry."

"The other route is from Xuzhou, where Yuan Shao's son-in-law came from."

"The intelligence provided by Xi Zhicai earlier said that Yuan Shao's son-in-law crushed the enemy with ease and directly destroyed Langya Zang Ba."

Cao Cao nodded.

Xun You continued: "Although Lu Bu seems to be more powerful."

"But, in the past few years, I have also analyzed Lu Bu and Zang Ba."

"Zang Ba's strength may seem inferior to Lu Bu's, but in fact, their strengths are almost the same."

"The reason is that Zang Ba was born in Mount Tai and was well-known in the Xuzhou area for his brotherly loyalty."

"Moreover, this man served as a cavalry commander in Xuzhou for many years during the reign of Tao Qian."

"Zang Ba is a very good person and is very popular among the aristocratic families in Xuzhou."

"Therefore, his rule over Langya County can be said to have won the support of all the people."

"Previously, Qingzhou Mu Yuan Tan led his army to attack Langya County but failed. This is proof of this." "Comparatively speaking, Lu Bu seems to have a larger territory and has many aristocratic families under his command."

"But Lu Bu didn't know how to do it."

"He was born in the countryside, and betrayed Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo successively, and was despised by the aristocratic families."

"Didn't Liu Bei say this before? His advisers Chen Gong and Chen Deng often clashed with each other."

"It seems unrelated, but it just shows that neither of them takes Lu Bu seriously."

"Chen Gong and Chen Deng are both extraordinary people in terms of their abilities."

"But they don't care about Lu Bu at all, which shows that Lu Bu's situation in Xuzhou has no foundation."

"Therefore, although Lu Bu has a larger territory and more troops, his strength is actually not much higher than Zang Ba."

"Under such circumstances, why was it that Yuan Shao's son-in-law was able to easily capture Zang Ba, but there was not much movement when he went south to Xia Pi?"

Cao Cao also frowned at this time.

What Xun You said makes a lot of sense.

Xun You continued, "Besides that, my lord, I think Chen Deng is unreliable."

"Before Tao Qian, the former governor of Xuzhou, died, he strongly recommended Liu Bei to take over."

"Lü Bu was driven out of Yanzhou by Ming Gong and came to Xuzhou. The Xuzhou nobles opened the city gates and surrendered to Lü Bu."

"As the young master of the Xiapi Chen family, Chen Deng is famous in Xuzhou. How could the Xuzhou gentry's actions bypass him?"

"Many things show that Chen Deng is a mean person who goes with the flow."

"Now, Yuan Shao's son-in-law has come south, and his strength is so great."

"I strongly suspect that Chen Deng has already contacted Yuan Shao's son-in-law and is waiting for us to take the bait!"

Cao Cao's face darkened.

After a while, Cao Cao spoke again and asked, "Then what should we do?"

Xun You twisted his beard and looked down at the corpses in the distance. After a while, he said, "I think we should split our troops into three groups now."

"The first route is to capture the princes in Guanzhong as quickly as possible, then move on to Liangzhou, then south to Hanzhong, and finally Yizhou."

"This journey is mainly based on inducement."

"The princes in Guanzhong could neither retreat back to Liangzhou nor advance eastward. They were stuck there and felt extremely uncomfortable."

"The greatest princes among them were Han Sui and Ma Teng."

"These two, Han Sui, were originally the staff of General He Jin."

"Ma Teng is a descendant of General Ma Yuan, the Fubo General."

"Their persistence in submitting to the imperial court far exceeds that of others."

"Send envoys over there, give them high positions and generous salaries, and then let them serve me."

"For the second route, send one person as the commander to lead the main force to the Puyang area of ​​Yanzhou to prepare for defense."

"This time, you have surrounded and suppressed Guo Yuan's 3,000 cavalrymen, and have completely torn your relationship with Yuan Shao."

"Yuan Shao is likely to attack soon."

"In addition to Yuan Shao, Yuan Tan, the eldest son of Yuan Shao in Qingzhou, is definitely also eyeing him covetously."

"Xi Zhicai's intelligence earlier showed that after Yuan Shao's son-in-law defeated Langya Zang Ba, Yuan Tan took 60,000 elite troops back to Qingzhou."

"Why does Qingzhou need 60,000 elite troops?"

"With so many soldiers and horses, if we just defend Qingzhou, it will not only be a waste, but also consume too much food and fodder."

"This is not something Qingzhou can afford."

"Hebei is still strong, and there is no sign of a fallout between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shao. Therefore, the most likely possibility is that Yuan Tan is waiting for an opportunity to advance westward into Yanzhou."

"For the third route, you personally lead some troops north to Xiaopei, but do not enter the city."

"If Chen Deng has indeed betrayed us, then, most likely, there is a large army waiting for us there."

"Mingsong, you can try to fight it and see its strength."

"If the other party is strong, then let's arrange a marriage!"

"If the enemy is not strong enough, then you can attack directly, enter from Xiaopei, attack Qingzhou from Langya County, and attack Yuan Tan's army in Qingzhou with the second army."

(End of this chapter)