A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Then let's do as you say."

Dong Zhuo patted Wei Ya on the shoulder, his tone extremely carefree.

Wei Ya's eyes were filled with complex emotions. He knew that Dong Zhuo, the powerful and valiant general of Xiliang, had returned, or rather, he had never left, but had simply concealed his brilliance.

"Yes."

Wei Ya meticulously analyzed all of Dong Zhuo's plans, constantly reviewing them to find the best course of action.

He also sought out Li Ru and Jia Xu to help him identify and fill in any gaps in his knowledge.

"Who do you think will win in the Central Plains?"

Li Ru suddenly asked.

"Cao Cao, perhaps."

After thinking for a moment, Wei Ya concluded that, apart from Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao was the most favored among all the warlords in the land.

It's just that Dong Zhuo's personality was too stubborn, and he was unwilling to bow down to the powerful families. Otherwise, he would have thought that Dong Zhuo was the most likely to unify the world.

Before the real warlords of the chaotic world could emerge, Dong Zhuo had already seized a large amount of land and soldiers, possessing the most elite army, strategists, and generals.

They could seize the opportunity to capture the entire world in one fell swoop.

"Cao Cao is indeed good. His ambition and vision are similar to those of the Chancellor. With the things the Chancellor has done before him, he might be able to succeed the Chancellor."

Li Ru looked eastward and muttered to himself.

"Several feudal lords have members from your Wei family around them. Given the status of the Wei family, you shouldn't need to do things like other aristocratic families, such as not putting all your eggs in one basket."

Jia Xu looked at Wei Ya with curiosity. Could this be a struggle between the various branches and the main branch of the Wei family?

"This is not the family's idea. Whether to choose to serve a feudal lord, and which feudal lord to serve, is one's own choice."

"There is only one thing we need to do, which is to select enough outstanding lords. The victors will unify the Central Plains, and the losers will take their troops abroad to expand their territory."

"Those who can fight their way out from the heroes of the Central Plains are no ordinary people, and they will surely be able to quickly carve out a niche for themselves abroad."

"With the accumulation of power over so many years, the Han Dynasty is already capable of swallowing up the entire Parthian Empire."

"But it was once a powerful empire, with a complex web of various forces that only a true ruler could suppress."

"It's also a selection process to choose those qualified to go to the Parthian Empire to be enfeoffed as kings and establish their own kingdoms."

Wei Ya revealed the Wei family's plans, which was no secret. Li Ru and Jia Xu, as the most important strategists in Dong Zhuo's camp, would be the most important basis for Dong Zhuo's future foothold.

Letting them know in advance and prepare early will also help them carry out their plans.

"Is this the Wei family, the most transcendent aristocratic family in the world?"

Li Ru was somewhat shocked. He had always thought that those who could strategize for the country were the most outstanding strategists in the world, so he had always assisted Dong Zhuo and climbed to the top step by step.

However, when it comes to the Wei family's plans for the world, his vision is so narrow that even his idea of ​​unifying the world is just one part of the Wei family's plan.

The gap was enough to suffocate a wise man like him.

Jia Xu didn't care at all; the only thing he cared about was his own survival.

The fact that the Wei family had such a plan also served as a guarantee of his safety.

Regardless of whether Dong Zhuo wins or loses, he will live a good life.

This is incredibly comfortable.

"Since we're destined to leave the Central Plains, let's go all the way!"

"This can also be considered as befriending Cao Mengde, the future ruler of the land!"

The murderous glint in Li Ru's eyes could no longer be concealed, and his refined demeanor turned sinister.

The future world belongs to Cao Mengde. As his assistants who helped them eliminate the powerful clans, Cao Cao, out of gratitude, also had to provide them with some support after unifying the world.

"What do you want to do?"

Wei Ya raised an eyebrow and asked.

People have been slaughtered in Chang'an, and the city's population has dropped by 30%. This is the capital of the Han Dynasty for 400 years!

This guy Li Ru actually thinks he held back?!

Is this really the kind of heart a carbon-based life form could have?!

"During the recent house raid, they found the family genealogies of several families."

"Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free!"

Li Ru's words made Wei Ya and Jia Xu gasp in shock. So ruthless!

"No, please don't!"

"It seems we still need the support of these powerful families to gain a foothold. If we really go that far, they might stab us in the back in the future."

Wei Ya quickly stopped him, as it was thousands of kilometers from here to the fiefdom he had prepared for Dong Zhuo.

Supply lines to the Han mainland are difficult to reach.

Most of the fiefdoms abroad were granted to royal relatives, nobles, and top aristocratic families. Even though the Wei family held a superior position in each country, they couldn't withstand Dong Zhuo's relentless efforts to offend all the aristocratic families in the land.

"All right."

After much deliberation, and with the persuasion of Wei Ya and Jia Xu, Li Ru finally gave up this excellent idea.

"When we leave in the future, we will definitely need to cultivate enough talents and have enough resources. It shouldn't be a problem to borrow some from them."

Li Ru looked at Jia Xu and Wei Ya, who nodded silently. It was just a few resources, far less important than the survival of their families.

These aristocratic families should be grateful to Li Ru, this ruthless fellow, for letting them off the hook.

Wei Ya looked at Li Ru with a strange expression. He had never seen such a ruthless character before. He was amazed that Li Ru could even kill someone according to the family genealogy.

You really live a long time; you see all sorts of people.

……

Several months later, in order to resist Cao Cao's army, Tao Qian gathered the troops from the entire Xu Province and held off Cao Cao's army at Pei State.

While everyone's attention was focused on Pei State, Gan Ning led the navy to land on the coast and launched a surprise attack on Donghai County.

Most of the troops from Donghai Commandery were sent to the battlefield in Pei County. Given the strength of Xuzhou, it would have been necessary to exert all its strength to resist Cao Cao, who occupied Qing and Yan provinces.

The defenses of Donghai Commandery were extremely weak, with only a few thousand soldiers and no generals. Gan Ning moved through it as if it were empty.

The walls of Donghai County were breached in just a few days, and at this time, the Xuzhou army on the front line of Pei State had not yet received news of the attack on Donghai County.

Tao Qian was captured alive by Gan Ning, and all the high-ranking officials in Xuzhou, except for the two generals at the front, were wiped out.

Gan Ning, carrying the seal of the governor of Xuzhou and Tao Qian, went to the front line. Seeing that all of his leaders had been captured, the morale of the Xuzhou army plummeted, and Cao Bao led the Xuzhou army to surrender directly.

The other counties and prefectures of Xuzhou were also pacified by Cao Cao's proclamation.

Cao Cao officially became a super warlord spanning three ancient Nine Provinces, shaking the world.

Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, who were engaged in a fierce battle in Ji Province, subconsciously stopped their attack upon hearing this news.

"Brother Wei, please go to Gongsun Zan's camp in person and ask the two sides to cease hostilities and make peace so that they can jointly resist Cao Cao."

Yuan Shao never expected that his former little brother could develop so quickly. Before he knew it, Cao Cao had occupied three entire prefectures. This speed was simply unbelievable.

Backed by the prestige of the Yuan family, which had produced four generations of high-ranking officials, his development was already quite rapid. As the most prestigious province in the entire Han Dynasty, Ji Province was completely conquered by him in less than a year.

After taking control, he did not slack off and began to expand his territory.

But he hadn't even managed to take Youzhou yet, while Cao Cao already possessed Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou.

Yuan Shao, who had always looked down on Cao Cao, felt somewhat melancholy.

For this reason, he was even willing to be the first to bow down to Gongsun Zan.