The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

"Lord Xu, this...?"

After Li Jing left, only Yuan Tan and two others remained in the military tent. Moreover, Yuan Tan no longer had the same attitude as before. Instead, he whispered to Xu You, asking him for advice.

As for Wen Chou, he ignored him, thinking that a crude and uncouth warrior could not possibly make any decisions.

However, Xu You did not reply to the other party immediately. Instead, he made a shushing gesture to Yuan Tan, signaling him to shut up, and continued to think of a countermeasure.

After an unknown amount of time, Xu You suddenly spoke:

"My lord, General Wen, the situation is critical. We have no choice but to swallow our pride and agree to their demands. As long as Pingyuan is still here, everything is worthwhile. But if we lose Pingyuan, everything else is meaningless."

"We can deal with Qin Xuan after we've eliminated Gongsun Zan, so my idea is to agree to their demands first. What do you two think?"

Xu You's words were mainly directed at Yuan Tan, and he also ignored Wen Chou.

"Alright, let's do as Lord Xu suggests. We'll settle this score with Qin Xuan later!"

Yuan Tan said fiercely that he would be stripped of his right to be the heir and lose the opportunity to inherit the Yuan family business when he returned this time.

All of this was thanks to Qin Xuan; if it weren't for him, he wouldn't have ended up in such a state.

After the three reached an agreement, they informed Li Jing of the results of their discussion, agreed to the conditions proposed by the other party, and requested that the other party withdraw from the plain as agreed.

They also promised to gather 100,000 dan of grain and deliver it within three days.

Upon learning this news, Li Jing confidently assured that once the supplies arrived, his army would definitely retreat to the county area as agreed, and a treaty was signed to prevent either side from going back on their word.

Thus, a successful but unequal negotiation came to an end.

Three days later, with the next batch of grain being transported away, Li Jing led his army to retreat to the vicinity of Zhuo County, keeping his word. Both sides quickly relayed the current situation back to their rear, awaiting the latest instructions.

···········

Just as the confrontation between Qin and Yuan ended in a dramatic negotiation, Guo Jia, who was responsible for persuading Zhang Xiu to surrender, finally returned to Chang'an and reported the situation to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao, who had been eagerly awaiting news from Guo Jia day and night, was overjoyed to learn that the latter had brought good news. His weathered face broke into a beaming smile, and without even letting Guo Jia rest, he summoned him to his residence to report the situation.

When the guards brought the weary and travel-worn Guo Jia to the main hall, Cao Cao immediately put down the book he was holding, stood up, and strode over to him. After looking him up and down, he asked very urgently:

"Fengxiao, you're finally back! Tell me quickly, how did it go? Does Zhang Xiu agree to submit?"

Seeing Cao Cao's urgency, Guo Jia dared not delay and immediately recounted the results of his mission:

"My lord, I have analyzed the current situation with Zhang Xiu and made promises to him. It wasn't until four or five days later that he formally agreed to surrender, but he also put forward a condition, otherwise he..."

"Oh, what are the conditions?" Cao Cao interrupted Guo Jia before he could finish speaking, asking curiously.

As long as Zhang Xiu can offer conditions, there is a possibility of surrendering. Once I occupy Nanyang, my power will increase significantly, and I can firmly rank among the top three among all the warlords.

"Zhang Xiu's only condition is that you personally go to Nanyang to meet with him and discuss some details; otherwise, there's no point in talking about anything else."

"This~~~~"

After hearing Guo Jia's account, Cao Cao hesitated.

Going to Nanyang carries enormous risks. Zhang Xiu commands tens of thousands of troops. If this is a trap, I could find myself in dire straits.

"Fengxiao, do you think this might be a trap?" Cao Cao pondered for a moment, staring intently at Guo Jia before asking in a cold voice.

Hearing this, Guo Jia naturally understood what Cao Cao was worried about. Although he had not followed Cao Cao for long, he understood him best. He smiled slightly and explained:

Book lovers are all in the discussion area, chatting about the charm of historical novels.

"My lord, rest assured there is absolutely no trap here. Before visiting Zhang Xiu, I specifically investigated his whereabouts over the past period and found no trace of other lords, especially Qin Xuan."

"Furthermore, after the visit, we sent people to monitor the other party day and night, but we did not find any abnormal signs, so there should be no trap involved."

Guo Jia made thorough preparations to ensure that Zhang Xiu showed no signs of colluding with other warlords, and that they all infiltrated secretly in disguise, so that they would not be discovered by the spies of the various warlords.

After hearing Guo Jia's explanation, Cao Cao's worries vanished instantly. He then agreed to Zhang Xiu's conditions and went to Nanyang to meet with him and discuss the details.

"My lord, if you are worried that there may be a trap, you can mobilize a large number of troops to gather in the Shang County and Wuguan area. This way, you can provide support as quickly as possible."

Guo Jia added one more point, completely dispelling any remaining concerns in his mind.

"Alright, everything will be done as you say. Let Cao Ren lead 20,000 elite troops to the Wuguan area. With Dian Wei, a valiant general, protecting us, what can Zhang Xiu do to me?"

Cao Cao said smugly that Dian Wei was the most powerful general under his command, but unfortunately he was not very bright. Otherwise, he could have become a general who commanded troops and was now serving as the commander of his personal guards to protect his safety.

He also trained a 3,000-strong guard who were extremely loyal to him, which can be said to be the last line of defense for Cao Cao's personal safety.

Several days later, Cao Ren led 20,000 elite troops to Wuguan, while waiting in the Shangxian area for orders.

In order to help his eldest son Cao Ang grow up faster, Cao Cao took him with him to Nanyang, hoping that he would take control of Nanyang after Zhang Xiu surrendered.

To coordinate everything, Guo Jia returned to Nanyang two days before the main force set off to prepare the way.

Just as Cao Cao's army was heading to Nanyang, Jia Xu had already learned of their specific movements through the spies of the Black Ice Guard. When Guo Jia returned to Nanyang, he had already relayed the enemy's movements to Jia Xu.

"Mr. Wenhe, now that Cao Cao has truly arrived, what should we do?"

"In my opinion, Cao Cao must be heavily guarded; killing him will not be easy."

Inside the county government office of Li Kingdom, Zhang Xiu frowned and said with great concern.

Cao Cao's arrival in Nanyang this time must have been heavily guarded; they simply couldn't possibly have succeeded in killing him.

"Hehe!" Jia Xu smiled faintly when he saw Zhang Xiu's appearance.

"Youwei, have you done what I asked you to do?"

"It's done, but can you tell me why?" Zhang Xiu asked, puzzled. "We weren't supposed to kill Cao Cao, so why did you withdraw my main force to the Jiangxia region?"

It turns out that after Guo Jia left Nanyang, Jia Xu ordered him to withdraw his main force to the area adjacent to Jiangxia County, and to have the refugees of Nanyang County disguise themselves as his main force.

"Because we only have one chance. Once we make a move, Cao Cao's reinforcements will arrive in Nanyang in a short time, and we will not be able to resist them. This is to preserve our strength."

Jia Xu explained the reason calmly and slowly.

"Strategist, what will happen to those refugees if you do this?"

"They might not survive."

Zhao Yun, who had been silent in the hall, suddenly questioned Jia Xu, expressing his objection to Jia Xu's actions. He argued that the refugees were innocent and that Jia Xu's actions were undoubtedly costing them their lives.

Even Zhang Xiu looked at Jia Xu, wanting to hear his explanation.

"We had no choice, and they would be our enemies sooner or later. We can only blame this cruel, cannibalistic era!"

After a long silence, Jia Xu uttered a sentence that sent chills down their spines.

After they defeated Cao Cao, they could no longer stay in Nanyang and had to retreat to Xuzhou. The fate of these cannon fodder was already sealed. Based on the previous behavior of Cao Cao's army, they were unlikely to survive.