After listening to Cao Cao's words, all the counselors and generals were really high-minded, really high-minded.
To take Grand Duke Cao as a hostage would be treason. No matter how thick-skinned Cao Cao is, it is hard to use it as an excuse.
Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty did something similar. Although Xiang Yu did not kill Liu Taigong and Lu Pheasant in the end, it was really difficult to publicize it.
However, he was the founding emperor after all, and no one dared to openly criticize him.
Now is the time for the Cao family to recruit nobles from all over the world, so they always have to do things to save face.
But to put it another way, it is justifiable to say that Juancheng is in danger and let Cao Taigong take his family to take refuge in Yecheng!
Cao Cao handed over his family members, Yuan Shao got the hostages he wanted, and each side got what they needed!
Ming Gong Gao Ming!
Xi Zhicai coughed twice and said: "Yecheng and Juancheng are only a few hundred miles away. If we agree, Yuan will send someone to send money and food, and we can arrive within ten days."
Cao Cao looked around at the generals: "The situation is so difficult and it is really Cao Cao's fault."
"If it were not a matter of life and death, I would have committed myself to thank you all."
Everyone was shocked and hurriedly stood up and left their seats. They knelt down and said with tears: "We are incompetent and will bring trouble to the Lord!"
Cao Cao suddenly stood up and drew out the sword from his waist with a clang, "The humiliation we have suffered today will be repaid a hundred times in the future!"
Everyone shouted at the same time: "I will follow Duke Ming to the death!"
If Yuan Xi had been present, he would have lamented that no matter what Cao Cao was like, at least his subordinates had a way of doing things, and they were much more united than Yuan Shao.
Of course, Cao Cao is not without problems. He controls people largely with power rather than benevolence.
Power can overwhelm everyone, but it can also easily backfire. Unless someone is extremely trustworthy, it can easily make his subordinates have different intentions.
This can be seen in the fact that many noble generals who took refuge with Cao Cao rebelled one after another.
It stands to reason that Cao Cao also has a reputation for being courteous and virtuous, and that he values talent over virtue. However, the rebellion rate of his generals is surprisingly high.
Chen Gong, Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao, Wei Zhong, Bi Zhan, Yu Jin, Zhang Xiu, Guan Yu, Yuan Tan, Gao Gan, Chang Xin... It can be said that they did not follow Cao Cao to conquer the world at the beginning. In the end, they either betrayed or became like Xu
You were killed like that.
This shows that Cao Cao's subordinates were also fighting among themselves, but because of Cao Cao's own strong abilities, they were all temporarily suppressed.
Yuan Shao adopted a benevolent approach at the beginning. When he made his fortune, he mainly bribed the nobles. Although he recruited many talents, it also led to the tyranny of his noble advisers and endless internal fighting.
By the time Yuan Shao came to his senses and wanted to imitate Cao Cao's use of power, the nobles under his command had already become powerful. It was too late and he could only attack the generals who had no background.
To be fair, both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were lords with strong personal abilities, which also led to the hidden danger of infighting among their subordinates not emerging until after their deaths.
However, Yuan Shao's luck was even worse. His death was so untimely that his two sons fought and the north collapsed.
When Cao Cao died, he was defeated in the Battle of Chibi, there was great chaos in the north, rebellion in Liangzhou, famine in the Central Plains, and the situation was in danger. Cao Pi once wanted to move the capital.
However, before Cao Cao died, Guan Yu, who could seriously threaten Cao Wei, was killed by Soochow in a sneak attack. Therefore, Liu Bei went to attack Sun Quan. Both sides suffered losses in the fight. Sun Quan directly surrendered to Cao Wei to suppress Shu.
The situation changed from Shu and Wu resisting Wei to Wei and Wu conquering Shu. As a result, Shu and Wu missed the best window of opportunity to conquer Wei.
On the other hand, Cao Cao had conquered a vast territory before and left a large number of forces loyal to the Cao family, so he was able to survive the crisis with difficulty.
Yuan Xi was thinking as he sat in the carriage and looked at the heavy snow falling outside.
Not far from the carriage, Zhao Yun has a silver helmet and a white horse. His figure is upright and his heroic spirit is impressive.
After the Battle of Juancheng broke out, Cao Cao agreed to send his family members, and Yuan Shao sent Yuan Xi as envoy to Dongwu Yangcheng in Dongjun.
At first, Cao Cao wanted Yuan Xi to go directly to Juancheng. Yuan Xi considered crossing the Yellow River because there were many variables, so he finally chose Dongwu Yangcheng, which is adjacent to Wei County and only a few hundred miles away from Yecheng.
Anyway, his mission was to bring back Cao Cao's family. As for how Cao Cao's army would cross the Yellow River with soldiers, horses, food and fodder, it was not an issue he considered.
The initiative is on his side. If Cao Cao wants to interfere with his family members, he doesn't mind depriving his troops of food and grass.
He said to Wu Zhao beside him: "Guess what family members Cao Cao will send over."
Wu Zhao thought for a while and said: "It is definitely impossible for a legitimate wife to be a legitimate son, and other concubines cannot guess it."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "The ones sent this time should be his concubines, concubines, and even adopted sons and daughters, and there are very few concubines."
Wu Zhaoqi asked: "What's the reason? Is it the art of stargazing?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Just based on my feeling, Cao Cao is so lustful that he will definitely not be able to let go of his concubines."
Wu Zhao shook his head and said, "I don't believe he would just send his heir here."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I'll make a bet with you."
A few days later, when Yuan Xi was waiting outside the gate of Dongwuyang City, leading troops to welcome him into the city due to the ban, when he heard about the family members sent by Cao Cao on the way, he immediately vomited three liters of blood.
He lost.
Indeed, Cao Cao not only sent his own children, he also sent Cao Song and his entire family.
Yuan Xi felt it was ridiculous. He had worked so hard to save Cao Song's family in Feixian County, but now he wanted to take them back to Yecheng. What did he want?
His face was a little gloomy, and he said to Jin: "Did Mr. Meng De deceive me into not knowing what's going on?"
Yu Jin felt bitter in his mouth, this time he was the one to take the blame!
That was enough for him. Every time Cao Song stared at him, his eyes were full of resentment, and he obviously suspected that Cao De was killed by himself.
The key is that you really didn’t do it yourself!
Yu Jin had no choice but to clasp his fists and say: "Master, please calm down. For the reason, please come to the city to talk."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "General, you are too polite. This time I won't count."
"I'm just here to assist Mr. Yuan Hao."
Facing the bargaining with Cao Cao's counselors, Yuan Xi felt that he was still too green, so he directly requested Yuan Shao and brought Tian Feng, a big troll, over to see how the top counselors negotiated terms with others.
The two sides are personable, quarrelsome, pointing out the country while talking and laughing, and deciding the world's major events with just a few gestures. This kind of scene must be very interesting, right?
With a bang, Tian Feng slammed the table, "Why did Mr. Cao send you a butcher to kill all the elders in his hometown? You must be very happy, right?"
Cheng Yu was not angry at all, and said with a smile: "Yuan Hao is so angry, does he have a family in Dong'a?"
Tian Feng snorted angrily: "For doing such an unjust thing, Zhong Deqian will be punished by God and his whole family will die."
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "I have not been condemned by God so far and am living a good life. As for what will happen in the future, who can say for sure."
"Yuan Hao is so close to me, isn't he afraid that thunder will strike him and affect him?"
Tian Feng spat on the ground, "If you only use your words, I'm afraid you won't even take away a grain of rice from me."
"See for yourself, what kind of family members are you sending to Yecheng as pledges, and you don't even want to lose face?"
Cheng Yu said calmly: "It's not a pledge, but because of the good relationship between the Cao and Yuan families for generations, Duke Ming asked Yuanzhou Mu to protect his family on his behalf. Duke Ming is very grateful."
Tian Feng burst out laughing: "Ming Gong, Ming Gong, you really have the nerve to say that!"
"I think Puyang is not bad. Why doesn't Cao Cao give his family to Marquis Wen for protection?"
"Maybe the food exchanged will be more."
Yuan Xi turned around, feeling that not a single trace of the so-called noble character in his mind was left.
It turns out that for thousands of years, there has been no difference in bargaining whether in the court or in the vegetable market.
Over there, Tian Feng and Cheng Yu were still fighting each other. They were going back and forth, but they couldn't tell the winner for a while. Yuan Xi turned to Yu Jin, who was also bored, and said: "Brother Wen Ze..."
Yu Jin hurriedly said: "Jin is too frightened to address me as a young master, so just call me Yu Jin."
"Okay, brother Wen Ze, I said goodbye to Fei County the day before yesterday. I didn't expect that we would see each other again."
Yu Jin didn't know that Yuan Xi was trying to poach someone again, so he quickly said: "Young Master is so heroic, Yu Jin admires him greatly."
This is half true and half false, Yu Jin really values Yuan Xi very much.
Yuan Xi actually didn't know that he was already very famous among the Jiyan gentry.
Whether it was Feixian who killed Zhang Kai and retreated from Liu Bei, or the three battles in Qingzhou where he defeated Tian Kai, Kong and Liu Bei with consecutive skills, Yuan Xi became famous under the strong encouragement of Yuan Tan's group.
Cao Cao's counselors and generals are all proficient in battle formations. They naturally know the value of these battles, and they can see from them Yuan Xi's decisiveness and proficiency in battle formations.
Coupled with the intelligence from Jizhou Xizuo, Yuan Xi and Tian Feng were both hardliners who advocated suppressing the Cao family, which made Cao Cao's faction even more afraid.
Therefore, when Yu Jin was talking to Yuan Xi, he was already on guard, fearing that Yuan Xi would cause some trouble for him.
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Brother Wen Ze, are you doing well with Meng Degong?"
Yu Jin quickly clasped his fists and said, "Ming Gong showed his kindness to Jin and I will never forget it!"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "That's true. I heard that Brother Wen Ze was once a subordinate of Bao Gong, the Prime Minister of Jibei. He said that Bao Gong was strict in running the army and his sergeants were well-behaved. I heard that Brother Wen Ze also gained the essence of his military leadership."
Yu Jin hurriedly said: "Young Master praised me so much that I feel ashamed."
Yuan Xi changed the topic: "But the Qingzhou soldiers are not easy to control, right?"
"Brother Wen Ze, although Meng Degong's side is good, my Yuan family is also good. If brother comes to apply, the position I will give you will only be higher, not lower, how about it?"
Yu Jin almost vomited blood, how could you talk like this?
The two sides are negotiating, and there are dozens of pairs of ears around them listening, so you just openly start a quarrel?
He hurriedly said: "Young master is joking, I have no qualms with Ming Gong."
Yuan Xi chuckled: "Brother Wen Ze, I'm optimistic about you."
The people on Cao Cao's side are not easy to find, but Yu Jin is quite possible, after all, the other party really rebelled in the end.
It is unlikely that Yu Jin will betray the ban at this time, but if you don’t try, who knows?
Yuan Xi was a very bad person, so he decided to do the opposite. If it didn't work in private, he would poach him openly. If Yu Jin was really suspected and excluded because of this, then his goal would have been achieved.
Yu Jin wasn't a fool either. When he saw Yuan Xi's careless solicitation, he knew something was wrong, but unfortunately he couldn't stop him.
Over there, Tian Feng and Cheng Yu were still spitting and exchanging passionate blows. Over here, Yuan Xi and Yu Jin were also going back and forth.
One is aggressive, one is flattering, one is deliberately trying to undercut someone, one is blocking and resisting, one is full of bad intentions, and the other is filled with bitterness and has no one to complain about.