Han officials

Chapter 274 Cao Cao's Humiliation
Xun Yu did not receive an immediate answer regarding how to handle the Yanzhou issue.

Others may not know, but doesn't Wei Zhe know?
Given Cao Cao's temperament, let alone taking Cao Ang as a hostage, even if he sent his wife, children, and even his parents to Ye City as hostages, he would still stab him in the back when the time was right.

In this respect, Cao Cao is absolutely trustworthy.

However, Cao Cao may be Liu Bang, but Wei Zhe is definitely not Xiang Yu!

Therefore, after giving him a perfunctory reply, Wei Zhe dismissed him, which did not surprise Xun Yu.

After all, the public visits are just a formality; the real lobbying mostly happens in private.

……

The next day, the Prefectural Mufu
Just after breakfast, Wei Zhe summoned a group of his staff to his study for a small meeting.

However, this time Wei Zhe did not ask Xi Zhicai first, but turned to look at the second seat on the left:

"Youruo, what do you think of this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai and the others became interested and immediately looked at Xun Chen with different expressions.

It's important to know that Xun Yu and Xun Chen were not just relatives, but brothers born of the same father and mother.

Now that they are each serving their own masters, how they handle their relationship will be a true test of their wisdom.

Fortunately, Xun Chen was prepared for this situation, and he had even become accustomed to it during Yuan Shao's reign.

Therefore, when faced with Wei Zhe's question, Xun Chen calmly and frankly replied:
“Yanzhou, the ancient land of three dynasties, is the heart of the Central Plains. It has been developed over a long period of time and is truly the foundation for a king. Cao Mengde is a hero of a chaotic era. I personally believe that we should not be deceived by Cao Mengde. This man appears humble, but he harbors the heart of a tiger and wolf. Given time, he will surely become a great threat.”

Since the Xun family of Yingchuan dared to take such a risky gamble, they must have already considered many possibilities.

The current scene is one example.

There is only one way to deal with this: stick to the facts and don't show any leniency.

It's not that Xun Chen was heartless, but rather that in this situation, showing no mercy was the most humane approach.

Therefore, he never discussed official matters with his elder brother Xun Yu in private, and even forbade his wife from talking about such topics.

Xun Yu was the same; he never asked him for news about Ji Province.

To put it simply, even knowing that Xun Chen was in the know, Xun Yu preferred to ask Guo Tu and Xin Ping indirectly.

After all, the two were blood relatives, and Xun Yu couldn't possibly harm his own brother!

Upon hearing Xun Chen's words, everyone except Tian Feng and Xi Zhicai couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Wei Zhe also showed an approving expression, but didn't say anything more.

However, upon hearing this, Tian Feng frowned slightly and immediately couldn't help but offer his advice:
“Since the first year of the Chuping era, the four prefectures of Ji, You, Bing, and Qing have suffered from war. Last year, the army marched five thousand li beyond the Great Wall to sweep away the various Hu tribes and subdue the Xianbei tribes. This year, another major battle has lasted for several months, and the people of Hebei are exhausted.”

"Currently, Cao Mengde occupies a province, and his troops are veterans who have fought countless battles. If war breaks out again, it will be difficult to win quickly! If the war drags on, the land of Hebei will be filled with starving corpses, and the people will suffer greatly."

"I urge you, my lord, to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages involved!"

Tian Feng did not oppose Xun Chen's opinion; in fact, he thought Xun Chen's words made a lot of sense.

But everything has its priorities and urgency; some things cannot be rushed, nor should they be rushed.

Otherwise, given the strength of the General of the Flying Cavalry's current administration over the four prefectures of Hebei, it wouldn't be impossible for them to raise an army of a million.

Even if the army is divided into five routes, each route will have 200,000 troops to conquer all directions.

However, matters of state and military affairs are not business transactions; the accounts are not calculated that way!

It was already clearly stated in Sun Tzu's Art of War:

War is a matter of vital importance to the state; it is a matter of life and death, a road to survival or ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected!

This is not a matter of one person doing the work and taking the blame; rather, the slightest mistake could lead to death and the extermination of one's entire clan.

In this situation, why add huge risks to a situation that is clearly a sure win?
Anyone who has been on the battlefield knows that sometimes victory or defeat is decided in the blink of an eye.

Even if you had the upper hand and victory in your grasp just moments before, one rash move can be enough to shatter you and leave you with no chance of recovery.

Xun Chen may have done so to avoid suspicion, or perhaps he was eager to make a name for himself in the new shogunate.

But whatever the reason, his words were more or less tainted by personal motives.

After all, there are many kinds of favoritism, not just colluding with Xun Yu.

As soon as Tian Feng finished speaking, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but nod slightly.

"Yuan Hao is absolutely right!"

Xi Zhicai bowed slightly to Wei Zhe and said:

"Although the Cao family were remnants of Yuan Shao, the troubles in Yan Province were truly a superficial disease. Although they controlled a province, Yan Province had been repeatedly ravaged by war, all industries were in decline, the common people were scattered and displaced, and it was already devastated."

"Now that you, my lord, hold the four provinces of Hebei, your foundation is far superior to others. Once you integrate and digest them, you will be able to sweep across the world and restore the Han Dynasty. This is the way of the righteous!"

"In contrast, Cao Mengde, though a ruthless and ambitious man, ultimately lost the initiative. As he grew stronger each day, Your Excellency grew tenfold; over time, the gap widened, and this was beyond human control!"

"Even if Cao Mengde is aggressive and warlike, the people's strength cannot be created out of thin air, so what is there to fear?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly.

In other words, Xi Zhicai was unaware of the historical context of the Battle of Guandu; otherwise, he might have been driven to his death by Yuan Shao's wrath.

After all, as he said, Yuan Shao's chances of winning were far too great at the time.

He didn't even need to rush south; he could simply wait three to five years to sweep across the Central Plains.

Unfortunately, Yuan Shao hesitated when he should have been decisive and acted rashly when he should have been cautious, which ultimately led to his downfall! Of course, while there is the example of Yuan Shao, it cannot be said that Xi Zhicai's ideas were wrong.

In fact, Wei Zhe's attitude was basically the same as that of Tian Feng and Xi Zhicai.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have decided to clear out the fields in Jizhou after eliminating the Black Mountain bandits.

The process of clearing out the fields and promoting the settlement of farmers was a process of digesting and integrating the human resources of Jizhou.

It's no exaggeration to say that once he completes this step, his overall strength will definitely leap to another level.

No matter how fast Cao Cao conquered cities and territories, his growth rate of strength could never catch up with Wei Zhe's.

Under these circumstances, Wei Zhe indeed has no plans to launch any military campaigns this year.

However, on the other hand, Xun Chen's words also resonated with him deeply.

As the saying goes: "How can one tolerate another snoring beside one's bed?"

What's more, the person sleeping next to him was Cao Cao!

It's no wonder Wei Zhe couldn't rest easy; he was already being rational by not immediately launching a war of aggression.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe stroked his beard and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, Wei Zhe finally spoke slowly:

"What you all say makes sense."

"In that case, let's not launch a large-scale attack on Yanzhou for now, but instead use a strategy!"

As he spoke, Wei Zhe looked at Xi Zhicai beside him and chuckled:

"Zhicai, I'm leaving this matter to you. You'll have to figure out the right balance yourself."

Don't be fooled by Xi Zhicai's handsome appearance; he's actually full of scheming and treacherous schemes.

Wei Zhe couldn't be more at ease letting that heartless bastard scheme against Cao Cao.

"Understood!" Xi Zhicai immediately laughed.

In fact, Xi Zhicai already had several insidious ideas in mind at this moment, but he just needed to plot them in secret.

On the other hand, when Xun Yu learned that Xi Zhicai was in charge of the matter, he immediately had a bad feeling.

And indeed, things turned out just as he thought.

When Xi Zhicai spoke, the gentle and refined Xun Yu was almost so angry that he lost his composure on the spot.

After suppressing his anger with great effort, Xun Yu finally said with a stiff expression:

"This is not a matter I can decide; let's discuss it another day!"

After saying this, Xun Yu left without hesitation and immediately sent a letter to Cao Cao in Puyang to inform him.

……

Because Puyang, the seat of the governor of Yanzhou, was located on the banks of the Yellow River, adjacent to Jizhou, and only about two hundred li away from Yecheng.

Therefore, Cao Cao received Xun Yu's urgent letter that very night.

However, it would have been better if he hadn't read it. After reading it, Cao Cao was so angry that he almost blew smoke from his seven orifices.

He immediately kicked over the table in front of him in a fit of rage and cursed, "You scoundrel, you've gone too far!"

Xiahou Yuan and Cheng Yu, who came upon hearing the sound, were immediately taken aback by what they saw.

They had followed Cao Cao for quite some time, and this was the first time they had ever seen him lose his composure like this.

However, after the two picked up the letters from the ground and read them, they instantly understood.

In his letter, Xun Yu wrote that Xi Zhicai had demanded the city of Yanzhou north of the Yellow River under the pretext of flood control.

Of course, Xi Zhicai's statement was not so explicit; he only said that he hoped to station troops in various counties to assist in flood control.

However, since the Wei family has stationed troops here, is it even necessary to say who this land belongs to?
Therefore, after reading the letter, Xiahou Yuan immediately and firmly objected:
“Brother, this condition must not be agreed to. As Sima Qian said, ‘To appease Qin with land is like carrying firewood to put out a fire.’”

"Now, Duke Wei of Wei possesses the strategic advantage of mountains and rivers, and controls the lands of You and Ji. Clearly, he harbors ambitions to sweep across the land and encompass the four seas. Judging from this, the Wei family will certainly not let us go."

"Even if we cede territory today, it will only bring temporary peace. Once their greed returns, we will still face the risk of destruction."

However, after a moment of silence, Cheng Yu slowly folded the letter and put it back.

Seeing Cao Cao's lingering anger, Cheng Yu thought for a moment and then spoke frankly:
"My lord, it's only seven counties. What harm would it do to give it to us? Don't let a small matter cause you to lose a greater one!"

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Yuan glared at him angrily, wishing he could tear him apart on the spot.

However, Cao Cao, who was furious, gradually calmed down after listening to Cheng Yu's words.

Indeed, the territory Xi Zhicai demanded only occupied one-third of Dongjun, which was incomparable to the eight commanderies and kingdoms of Yanzhou.

Moreover, these seven counties are the only ones in the entire Yanzhou region located north of the Yellow River, making it difficult for the Wei army to defend them if they were to capture them.

In that case, it would be better to temporarily shed these burdens and buy time for development.

Cao Cao was a decisive man, and upon thinking of this, he immediately gritted his teeth and wrote a reply to Xun Yu.

However, after the messenger left, Cao Cao, still seething with anger, finally drew his sword and chopped off a corner of the table, swearing an oath through gritted teeth:

"The humiliation of ceding territory will be avenged in the future!"

(End of this chapter)