On the second day after entering Xuchang, Chu Nan received news that there would be a court meeting tomorrow, and Chu Nan was ordered to attend. At the same time, he also received an invitation from Cao Cao, inviting Chu Nan to go to Sikong Mansion today.
"Sure enough, the speed of Lao Cao's change of attitude is unmatched by ordinary people." Chu Nan sighed and shook his head. Cao Cao probably wanted to lure Lu Bu here before. Although he didn't use any extraordinary means against him as an envoy, he was still very angry.
Now that Nanyang was defeated, the treatment was immediately different.
"Sir, are we going?" Wei Yue looked at Chu Nan and asked.
"Of course I want to go." Chu Nan said with a smile. He had seen Cao Cao's talent before, but this was his first official meeting. He also wanted to see what this troubled hero was like: "By the way, in order to avoid
Let Cao Cao recognize him and you don't have to go today.'
Although Lu Lingqi had already said that other than her, there were not many opportunities for others to meet Cao Cao, but after all, they had hunted down Lao Cao. If they were recognized, it would be dangerous, so to be on the safe side, Wei Yue still stayed.
In the post house, Mantis was being taught how to read. "General, take your orders!" Wei Yue agreed.
At that moment, Chu Nan changed into a Confucian robe, ordered two personal guards to travel with him, and went straight to Sikong Mansion under the leadership of the servants of Sikong Mansion.
The weather is good. As the capital of Xuchang today, although it is not as prosperous as Luoyang in the past, order has basically been restored. The passers-by on the street have a sense of leisure that ordinary people in different places cannot experience. However, in this city of Xuchang, almost
I can't feel the atmosphere of troubled times.
In terms of governance, Xuchang is the best-governed city Chu Nan has ever seen so far. Of course, he has not seen many cities.
Sikong Mansion is not far from the imperial palace. It is an independent mansion. There are sentry guards all around. On the watchtower in the distance, there are soldiers carrying bows and arrows. Their sharp eyes will not let go of every pedestrian passing by here, and they will guard the power.
Yan, this place is probably better than the current palace.
After all, Chu Nan is not a famous person, and his importance is not very high. Naturally, he is not qualified to let Lao Cao greet him barefoot. According to the procedure, the servant informed him. After being allowed, he stepped into the Sikong Mansion under the leadership of the servant. Two personal guards were stopped.
Outside the door.
"Chu Nan has met Sikong." Stepping into the main hall, Cao Cao was sitting on the main throne, with a scribe sitting next to him. Chu Nan made the smile on his face more friendly and saluted Cao Cao.
"What a rebellious young man!" Cao Cao seemed to have noticed Chu Nan at this moment. When he saw Chu Nan looking at him without fear, he couldn't help but smile: "As expected of Fengxian's son-in-law."
Unruly?
Well, Chu Nan does lack a sense of awe for Cao Cao. It’s not that Cao Cao doesn’t have majesty. In fact, although Cao Cao is not tall, he has a majestic air sitting there. But the first time Chu Nan saw Cao Cao,
What comes to mind is the embarrassment of escaping in Nanyang, and the tragic past of almost being killed by his own wife.
Facing such a person, no matter how respectful he is on the surface, it is difficult to be in awe. Moreover, Chu Nan knows that he is here to negotiate this time. If he shows too much humility, he will be considered easy to bully, so even a salute is just
After half a salute, my neck seemed to have become rigid and it just sank slightly along the length of my spine, and my head was even kept raised.
In Cao Cao's opinion, his eyes were looking at him unscrupulously. Who was Cao Cao? Even a reckless man like Xu Chu behaved well when he saw Cao Cao. At most, he looked stupid. Who has ever seen his head pointed upwards when he bowed his head in salute?
On? It felt like it was just a provocation.
"Sikong conquered the riots, saved the court from fire and water, rescued the people from hanging, and brought great righteousness to the world. How can I dare to be disrespectful to a hero like Sikong?" Chu Nan said with a smile.
This sounds pleasant to the ears, but
Cao Cao raised his neck, pointed helplessly at the seat and said, "Sit down, Zi Yan."
Cao Cao is not tall, but Chu Nan is a standard handsome guy, tall and long. Now Chu Nan is occupying it, and Cao Cao is sitting. Although the distance is far, Chu Nan's waist is straight, which makes Cao Cao always have the feeling that the opponent is grabbing his nostrils.
'See' how you feel.
"Thank you Sikong!" Chu Nan followed the words and came to the left of Cao Cao and sat down. He nodded slightly to the scribe sitting opposite. Although he didn't know who the other person was, none of the scribes around Cao Cao were simple. They should be respectful but careful.
That's right.
"Zi Yan came to Xuchang for the first time, are you still getting used to it?" Cao Cao asked with a smile as he asked the servants to serve Chu Nan cakes and drinks.
"Xuchang is now the capital. Although it is not as prosperous as Luoyang, nor as grand as Chang'an, in these troubled times, it still has a sense of prosperity and vitality. I have traveled all over the world, but in these troubled times, no one can compare with Xuchang.
"More." Chu Nan nodded.
Not much, that is, there are some.
"Ziyan, don't tell me, Xiapi can be compared with Xuchang." Cao Cao chuckled.
"Thanks to Sikong, the population in Xuzhou is now thin, so Xiapi is not as prosperous as the population in Xuchang." Chu Nan said lightly.
Xuzhou people's hatred for Cao Cao is engraved in their bones. Hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered and hundreds of thousands of families were broken. No matter how highly Cao Cao was praised by later generations, as a Xuzhou native, even if Chu Nan did not experience it personally,
The resentment left behind by his predecessor made him feel the same way.
Of course, this kind of hatred is limited to people like him. When Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, he did not do much harm to the wealthy families and local powerful people. These people may have pity in their hearts, but it is difficult for them to hate Cao Cao like the common people at the bottom.
"In troubled times, many things have to be done, and a woman's benevolence cannot smooth the troubled times." The scribe sitting opposite Chu Nan sighed slightly: "My Lord, he also had no choice but to do this.
"But Nan only sees personal grudges." Chu Nan picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "Maybe it's because he was born in a humble background and cannot see the so-called overall situation.
"It seems that Ziyan has a deep prejudice against Sikong." The scribe raised his mouth and smiled.
"My body is like an ant, my life is like a piece of grass. There is no prejudice. When a person steps on an ant to death, most likely he won't feel anything. I'm just expressing my feelings. I don't mean any disrespect. Please don't blame me." Chu Nan took a drink.
He smiled and said to Cao Cao.
"Zi Yan is really a man of good temper." Cao Cao also raised his wine glass. He obviously didn't want to talk about the massacre of the city. He looked at Chu Nan and said, "I won't talk about the past. I wrote to your majesty before.
Fengxian was appointed General Pingdong in recognition of his achievements, but I don’t know why Fengxian wanted to station troops in Xiaopei instead? Could it be that he was dissatisfied with the imperial reward?"
"How dare you?" Chu Nan shook his head and said solemnly: "Although my father-in-law is a martial artist, he may be considered vulgar to Sikong, but my father-in-law has always cherished the Han Dynasty. Recently I heard that Sikong was defeated in Nanyang and was insulted by Zhang Xiu, and he was deeply moved.
I was afraid that Zhang Xiu would be in trouble, so I stationed troops in Xiaopei. Not because I was dissatisfied with the imperial court, but I was really worried that the imperial court would be unable to cope with it. Once the imperial court was in trouble, we could always provide support. Although Xuzhou is thousands of miles away, as long as Sikong says a word,
My father-in-law can bring 100,000 Xuzhou righteous troops to help Xuzhou. With my father-in-law's ability, I can reach Xuchang in one day and help Sikong put down the rebellion!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao turned to look at Chu Nan, who smiled in return.
"Haha, Fengxian is loyal and brave, Cao Cao knows it well. Although Zhang Xiu has occupied Nanyang, there is nothing to fear. Although there was a slight victory before, there were many flukes. I can tell Fengxian that there is no need to worry." Cao Cao looked at Chu Nan deeply.
One glance.
"How can the affairs of the imperial court be a trivial matter? Although Sikong is strong, there will be defeats in Puyang and Nanyang. There is still room for maneuver in the defeats of Puyang and Nanyang. But if the imperial court fails, it will be the danger of instability in the country. Sikong must investigate!
"Chun Nan shook his head and said seriously.
This kid is really annoying, his words are full of thorns and he just wants to poke people's hearts.
"That's all, these matters will be discussed in court tomorrow. I'm recruiting Ziyan here today. It's not for official business, so I won't mention these things." Cao Cao finally figured it out. Chu Nan wouldn't let go without seeing any benefits this time, and he couldn't really take it.
How about Chu Nan, reputation aside, as Chu Nan said, Lu Bu is really capable of attacking Xuchang one day. This thorn must be removed as soon as possible!
Chu Nan held up his wine glass and responded with a smile.
Next, Cao Cao didn't mention Xiaopei's matter, and Chu Nan didn't feel uncomfortable anymore. He also knew that the scribe in front of him was Cheng Yu. The rest of the exchange was mainly about academics, but in fact, the other party was trying to find out his background.
After they stopped talking about political affairs, the atmosphere between the two parties became much more relaxed. It was not until the afternoon that Chu Nan saw that it was getting late and he stood up to leave. "What does Zhongde think of this person?" Cao Cao asked Cheng Yu after sending Chu Nan off.
"There are some talented people, but they are not wise. What they have learned is limited." Cheng Yu said with a smile: "What I have learned is quite complex, but I have some insights into business, and the rest is just mediocre."
No matter how good a person pretends to be, in front of real professionals, the secret will be exposed after just a few words. Judging from today's exchange, in addition to Chu Nan's extraordinary knowledge in business, his views and performance in governance and military matters are also outstanding.
It's quite naive, and it has something to do with his background. According to Chen Deng, Chu Nan was just a traveling businessman before he became Lu Bu's son-in-law. The so-called traveling businessman, to put it bluntly, means buying high and selling low, making small profits, although this is generally the case for businessmen.
, but the real wealthy businessmen are playing monopoly and do not look down upon the petty profits of upstream merchants.
"What a pity." Cao Cao sighed. Some of Chu Nan's opinions made him feel enlightened, but they were all fragmented and unsystematic. Maybe Chu Nan really had talent, but his background limited him.
He has no systematic knowledge and knowledge, and no experience in governing, which prevents him from truly turning those things into his own: "If this person was born into a noble family, he might not be weaker than Yuan Long.
"Everything is determined by fate, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to recruit this person." Cheng Yu said with a smile.
Judging from Chu Nan's previous performance, he has a strong sense of rejection towards Cao Cao. This is related to his background, and he is Lu Bu's son-in-law. It is not impossible for Cao Cao to recruit Chu Nan, but the cost is too high and it is not worth it. At least Chu Nan is not worth it.
.
Cao Cao nodded. He naturally cherished his talents. Judging from Chu Nan's conversation today, he was more eloquent, but he didn't have much real talent. He was most proficient in business matters, which may be very good.
Potential, but before potential is transformed into ability, it is just potential. Coupled with the irreconcilable conflicts due to the Xuzhou incident, this talent who may have some achievements in the future is destined to be impossible to use for himself. Thinking of this, Cao Cao also felt a little regretful,
As for regret, even if there is regret, it is not because of Chu Nan.
"It seems that this time, Lu Bu won't give up unless he gives some benefits." Cao Cao looked at the door and sighed. He really regretted this matter. If he hadn't been so blind when he was in Nanyang
, why is he now being manipulated by a reckless man like Lu Bu?
"My lord, have you got any countermeasures?" Cheng Yu asked with a smile.
"What do you think, how about making Chu Nan the governor of Xiapi?" Cao Cao looked at Cheng Yu and also smiled.
"Hello, my lord!" Hearing this, Cheng Yu showed a knowing smile on his face.