Ma Chao did not refute again. If we only look at his performance, Liu Zhang is undoubtedly stronger.
"I didn't say that General Wei was inferior to Cao Cao, I just said that Cao Cao was also a wise master."
Ma Chao considers himself a man, so naturally he will not forcefully quibble.
"Okay, let's not talk about Cao Cao's character anymore!"
Liu Zhang knew that Ma Chao was still being tough. He had no intention of seeking refuge with Cao Cao. He was just using Cao Cao to attack him.
"Since you are interested in Cao Cao, do you know who controls Cao Cao's troops and horses?"
Ma Chao shook his head, how could he know this?
Of Cao Cao's entire power, he only knew Cao Cao.
"All Cao Cao's troops are concentrated in the hands of two forces, one is the clan and the other is the family."
"Among them, the clans are headed by the Cao family and the Xiahou family. Xiahou Dun, Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong control almost all the elite forces under Cao Cao."
"The aristocratic families are headed by the aristocratic families from various states and counties, and they control the soldiers of each state and county."
Liu Zhang was completely aware of the distribution of Cao's power.
Even until the time when Cao Pi became emperor, the generals in all major military regions were controlled by clan members.
There is a very obvious example, that is Zhang Liao in history.
Zhang Liao defeated Sun Quan's 100,000 troops with 800 men, and the battle shocked Xiaoyaojin!
However, Zhang Liao, who fought so hard, had to succumb to Cao Cao's clan kinsman Xiahou Dun, who suffered repeated defeats and defeats.
Even if Zhang Liao eventually became a former general, he could mobilize only 3,000 troops!
You must know that Cao Wei's Huainan War Zone has no less than 100,000 troops!
In history, among the five great generals of Cao Wei, which one was the most idle one?
Although it is not better than Ma Chao, it is not much different!
However, all the five good generals finally succumbed to the Cao Wei clan.
Even if Ma Chao decided to defect to Cao Cao, Liu Zhang could see through his outcome at a glance.
"Nowadays, the aristocratic family is able to control the county soldiers because of the rebellion of the Yanzhou clan and Cao Cao's compromise with the clan after Zhang Miao introduced Lu Bu to Yanzhou."
"If you go to defect to Cao Cao in your current situation, how do you think Cao Cao will treat you?"
Liu Zhang's further analysis left Ma Chao even more speechless.
Cao Cao needed to rely on the noble clans, so he had to make compromises with them.
But what does Ma Chao mean to him?
No matter how you look at it, Liu Zhang's men are defeated, and they are defeated repeatedly!
Established forces like Cao Cao and Yuan Shao did not have much room for Ma Chao to develop.
Ma Chao knew very well in his heart that Liu Zhang was the best, the best, the best choice, but he held on to his last breath and refused to admit it.
"Where is Sun Ce? As far as I know, he is only in his weak years! Now that he occupies the six counties in Jiangdong, he must be able to do something great!"
Liu Zhang shook his head helplessly. It seemed that Sun Ce was Ma Chao's last bit of stubbornness.
"Jiangdong Jiangdong, east of the river!"
"Are you accustomed to water? What would happen if I threw you into the Yangtze River?"
"Don't you know that Southerners are only good at water fighting? Do you think you have something to show for yourself?"
Ma Chao was speechless again. As a man from Liangzhou, how could he know the nature of water!
Not to mention throwing him into the Yangtze River or finding a slightly deeper puddle would choke him to death.
"The world is so big that there is no place for me, Ma Chao! What a pity for my martial arts skills!"
Ma Chao sighed in despair, and he did not shamelessly mention Liu Biao again.
"You are really stubborn!"
No matter how good-tempered Liu Zhang was, he would still feel angry after hearing Ma Chao's words.
"Ma Chao, how much do you weigh? You know how you feel!"
"To tell you the truth, no one in the world except me and Yuan Shao can organize a large-scale cavalry!"
The source of all war horses in the world is at the border.
The two prefectures of Yongliang were under Liu Zhang's command, and the two prefectures were Youbian under Yuan Shao's command.
In addition, other princes who want to obtain war horses can only buy them at extremely high prices!
For example, secretly trading with foreigners, or relying on merchants.
For Ma Chao, the cavalry is his final destination.
He never wanted to see the scene of riding a sandy horse while stopping to wait for the infantry behind him!
Liu Zhang stared intently into Ma Chao's eyes. Every time he flashed a compromising look, he was immediately suppressed.
It seems that Ma Chao still can’t lose face and admit defeat to himself!
Liu Zhang felt helpless. He didn't expect that Ma Chao, at such a young age, wanted to save face to the point of risking his life.
"The generals under my command, Huang Zhong, Dian Wei, Tai Shi Ci, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others, were all unknown before they surrendered to me."
"There are farmers, murderers, county officials, military officials, etc., but in just a few years, they are all generals who control more than ten thousand elite soldiers!"
"Your ability is not weaker than theirs, and your future achievements will be more than this. Which one is more important, you choose for yourself!"
Since he succeeded General Wei, Liu Zhang has not felt that recruiting talents has been so difficult for a long time.
This seemed to take him back to the time when he tried so hard to persuade Tian Feng more than ten years ago. How similar was his helplessness at that time to now?
Thinking of Tian Feng, Liu Zhang felt even more regretful.
When Yuan Shao fled back to Yecheng, Tian Feng's head fell to the ground!
It is a pity that a generation of wise men died at the hands of mediocrity before they could use their talents.
Today's Ma Chao is just like Tian Feng in the past. If he makes one mistake, he may make mistakes every step of the way.
If Tian Feng had resolutely followed Liu Zhang, perhaps Jia Xu's position today would belong to Tian Feng!
Thinking of Tian Feng's fate, Liu Zhang was even more unwilling to give up on Ma Chao easily. He didn't want a generation of generals to be buried.
"General Wei, what will happen if I don't surrender?"
"you!"
Liu Zhang was really furious, and his hand trembling while pointing at Ma Chao.
Even though I was talking a lot, I didn't expect Ma Chao to remain indifferent!
Just as the old saying goes, it’s hard to persuade a damn ghost with good words!
"My lord, I have never seen such a wicked person! Let me kill him with one shot, so that my lord doesn't have to worry about him!"
Even Tai Shi Ci couldn't stand it, with a look of resentment on his face.
You, Ma Chao, are nothing, you are just a defeated general at the end of your rope!
My lord is willing to put down his dignity to recruit you, not to mention that your father, friends, soldiers, etc. have all surrendered, but Ma Chao still refuses to surrender!
In Tai Shici's view, this was clearly a sign of disrespect!
To deal with such a person, you should shoot him to death!
Pang De's eyes were very anxious and his face was red from holding back, but he still couldn't say a word.
Even he felt that Liu Zhang had done his best to Ma Chaoren. Even if he ordered him to be executed, Pang De would not be able to say a word "no"!
Liu Zhang's face was gloomy and his eyes gradually narrowed.
"You would rather die than surrender, right?"
I thought that seeing Liu Zhang like this, Ma Chao would think carefully about it.
Unexpectedly, Ma Chao answered Liu Zhang with certainty without even thinking.
"That's right! Ma Chao would rather die than surrender!"