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

"Then do you believe that if I kill you, those powerful families behind you won't dare to utter a single word?"

Cao Cao's hand gripped the man's neck, and he began to slowly increase the pressure, causing the man's face to turn purplish-blue.

His hands and feet struck Cao Cao weakly, unable to even make Cao Cao sway.

The surrounding feudal lords all watched helplessly, and not a single one stood up to speak for him.

It wasn't until the man was almost strangled to death that Yuan Shao stepped forward and persuaded Cao Cao to let go.

"Remember this: I, Cao Cao, am not a pawn to be manipulated at will."

"If you want to destroy me, Cao Cao, then don't blame me for siding with Dong Zhuo. Just guess how your powerful families will treat you after you've forced me to Dong Zhuo's side?"

Cao Cao released the man from his grasp, wiped him off, and then washed his hands with the wine on the table.

"you!"

This powerful family representative dared not speak out against their anger. They had gathered the strength of half the world but still failed to defeat Dong Zhuo. If Cao Cao were to lead three entire ancient provinces to surrender to Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo might actually have a chance to wipe out all of them.

Even if the possibility is very small, the powerful families would never gamble on it.

Yang Hao will definitely be brought out to appease Cao Cao's anger.

Being chosen as a representative of a powerful family, Yang Hao is definitely not stupid. Now is definitely not the time to clash with Cao Cao.

Even with the alliance of powerful families behind him, they dared not humiliate a feudal lord like Cao Cao.

The wheel of fortune turns, and now it's the time for the aristocratic alliance to beg these powerful princes with their own armies and generals to attack Dong Zhuo.

Once Dong Zhuo is eliminated, in order to prevent these warlords from becoming the next Dong Zhuo, the powerful families will definitely support their own people and take action against other warlords.

Warlords like Cao Cao, who rose to power on their own and whose families were not particularly powerful, would all be wiped out.

The power of the realm can only belong to aristocratic families!

When the time comes, we can settle grievances and avenge our grudges; that will be the time to kill Cao Cao.

He remembered this grudge.

"It will be soon. His Majesty in Chang'an has agreed to our conditions. According to the agreement, seven days later, His Majesty will issue an edict to strip Dong Zhuo of all his power, official positions, and titles. He will also order the Imperial Guards to seal off the palace and, taking advantage of the weakness of Dong Zhuo's army in Chang'an, capture Dong Zhuo's entire clan and cut off his army's food supplies."

"At that time, Dong Zhuo's army will surely fall into chaos and its morale will collapse."

"Dong Zhuo would also be disoriented and fearful of the lives of his family members after his entire family was arrested, and would become timid and hesitant."

"Given these advantages, if the allied forces launched a full-scale attack, they were able to defeat Dong Zhuo in one fell swoop and establish an immortal legacy."

Yang Hao finally revealed their plan, realizing that the price they would have to pay to defeat Dong Zhuo on the battlefield was far too high.

Even though the powerful families of the world joined forces, each family hoped to contribute less and other families more, making it difficult to truly exert their full strength.

So many powerful families were dragged down by this, that some people suggested that even the bravest and most skilled generals would die in the struggles of the court.

Even a figure as powerful as Bai Qi was undefeated in his life, rising from an ordinary soldier to a feudal lord, slaughtering countless people, and his fame was enough to stop children from crying at night.

He died at the hands of the King of Qin because his achievements overshadowed the king's.

Li Mu of Zhao, known as one of the four great generals of the Warring States period, was also undefeated in his life. He annihilated hundreds of thousands of Xiongnu and repelled the Qin Dynasty's attacks three times with inferior forces.

Such a general, a pillar of the nation, was also put to death because of Guo Kai's slander.

These aristocratic families are not good at fighting; what they excel at is intrigue and scheming.

Using underhanded tactics to defeat these generals outside the battlefield is what they excel at.

Without the emperor's support, Dong Zhuo lost his righteous cause, and an unjust army is bound to fail!

After hearing Yang Hao's words, Cao Cao felt even more disgusted with the aristocratic families.

Although they were enemies, he still greatly admired Dong Zhuo, who did things he dared not do.

"I hope so."

Cao Cao's expression softened somewhat, and he returned to his seat.

"Then everyone go back and rest up, and launch the general offensive in 7 days."

"This time, we must defeat Dong Zhuo in one fell swoop!"

……

That night, in Cao Cao's camp.

Cao Cao tapped lightly on his table, and a man in black suddenly emerged from the shadows.

Cao Cao handed him a small note, "Send this message to Chancellor Dong as quickly as possible."

The man in black took the note without saying a word and disappeared into the shadows again.

Cao Cao walked out of his tent with his hands behind his back, looked at the stars in the sky and couldn't help but wonder how many warlords would send messages to Dong Zhuo tonight.

A matter is accomplished in secrecy, and ruined by leaks.

Do these aristocratic families not even understand this simple principle?

Or did the powerful families want this news to spread, creating a rift between Dong Zhuo and Emperor Xian of Han, and thus facilitating this event?

But it doesn't matter. After such a long battle, everyone in the allied forces has their own agenda.

No one would fight to the death for the benefit of a powerful family.

With their cooperation, Dong Zhuo might lose, but he would definitely not suffer a major defeat.

Dong Zhuo will definitely survive and continue to put pressure on the world, helping them to restrain the powerful families and allowing these vassal kings to fleece them even more.

The family had accumulated wealth for 400 years, and it was indeed incredibly rich.

Even if Dong Zhuo only obtained a small portion of it, it would be enough for him to fight against the entire world on his own, which is simply terrifying.

These feudal lords have repeatedly exploited them, wave after wave, and the bottom remains unfathomable.

This was truly terrifying. All the warlords unanimously chose to form an alliance with Dong Zhuo, weakening the power of the aristocratic families and using this war to continuously expand their own influence and strength.

At the same time, it strengthens control over those under one's command.

Even if the aristocratic families discover it, it doesn't matter. With Dong Zhuo in front of them, the aristocratic families will definitely turn a blind eye in order to get them to help deal with Dong Zhuo.

Not to mention, compared to Dong Zhuo's actions, their petty tricks don't even amount to an offense.

Dong Zhuo was serious; if he said he would exterminate your entire family, he would do it.

The powerful families of Chang'an were terrified of being killed.

With so many unfilial children in the family, and the family willing to do anything to climb the social ladder in order to maintain its power and status, the family will naturally do anything.

None of those who rise to high positions have clean hands.

Therefore, the aristocratic alliance turned a blind eye to these matters, since these feudal lords needed the help of these aristocratic families to rule and govern the world.

Otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to gather enough officials to govern the country.

It's simply a matter of relinquishing some power to the rulers of these regimes; historically, any strong emperor would have done the same.

Noble families do not care about power for a short period of time. When they encounter a powerful emperor, they will lie low and wait until the emperor grows old, a new emperor ascends the throne, and their power weakens. Then they will settle scores and grievances, and seize power if they have the right.