The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 49 The longest road is your routine (please read it!)

Cao Bao's psychological transformation actually utilized the psychological effects of whip and candy.

"Thanks to the recommendation, sir. I am very grateful!"

Cao Bao bowed his hands, he knew too well the value of the position of Xia Pi Xiang.

Don't underestimate him as the General of the Central Army and the Prime Minister of Xia Pi, both of whom are high-ranking officials with a salary of 2,000 stones.

But strictly speaking, the title of General of the Central Army can only be appointed by the central government.

Lu Zhi was appointed General of the Central Army only after he put down the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Tao Qian conferred the title of General of the Central Army on Cao Bao for his own amusement.

It's just like appointing Liu Bei as the Governor of Yuzhou. Apart from the loud title, it has no real power.

The Xiang of Xia Pi was a real high-ranking official.

"General Zhonglang, don't thank me yet. These four thousand troops..."

"Give!"

Since Cao Bao had gained some benefits, he naturally felt much better.

"Since it is the order of the Lord, there is no reason for Leopard to disobey it."

"Later, I will order Xu Dan to personally select 4,000 elite Danyang soldiers and send them to the envoy!"

For him, it was quite uncomfortable to be neither up nor down, so he might as well follow Li Yi's advice and take the initiative to "show weakness" to protect himself.

By handing over half of the Danyang soldiers, he could show his loyalty and at the same time prevent himself from becoming a complete lamb to be slaughtered.

In fact, even if Cao Bao handed over all his military power, Liu Bei would not touch him.

From a political perspective, Cao Bao was an old minister of Tao Qian. If Liu Bei killed him right after he came to power, it would definitely cause unrest among the people in Xuzhou.

Everyone is suspicious of each other and does not trust each other.

At the same time, considering Cao Bao's influence in the Danyang faction, touching him would also disrupt the morale of the army to a certain extent.

Therefore, it was a good thing for both parties that Cao Bao took the initiative to hand over half of the military power.

good!
Li Yi clapped his hands, walked forward and put his arm around Cao Bao's shoulders, acting like a good friend.

"The General of the Central Army is the pillar of Xuzhou, and he is also the right-hand man of the envoy."

"Now the envoy has an important matter to deal with, and he still needs the help of the General."

Cao Bao didn't hesitate, "Sir, please speak frankly. As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it."

"Good!" Li Yi said seriously, "Does the General know the benefits and disadvantages of Xuzhou?"

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Xuzhou?
Cao Bao's face tensed, as if he was being questioned by his boss and was afraid that he would give the wrong answer.

"Xuzhou has a wise ruler above it and loyal ministers and good generals below it, what harm can there be?"

Li Yi burst out laughing. This Cao Bao is really a seasoned official. He couldn't help laughing and said:
"The Zhonglang General's answer was smooth and not what Yi wanted to hear."

"In this case, Yi will come to answer for the General of the Central Army."

"Among the five counties of Xuzhou, only Langya refuses to obey your orders. If you can recover Langya and unify Xuzhou, you can achieve the goal of becoming one of the Five Hegemons."

hiss……

Cao Bao took a deep breath and asked, "Your Excellency, are you going to attack Zang Ba?"

hmm~
Li Yi nodded, his face unusually calm.

But Cao Bao was not calm:

"Back then, Zang Ba led hundreds of warriors to join Lord Tao. Because he fought bravely and won every battle, Lord Tao appointed him as the Cavalry Commandant and designated Kaiyang as the boundary where he stationed his troops."

"His generals Sun Guan, Wu Dun, and Yin Li are all good fighters, and each of them has a thousand elite soldiers under their command."

"Several years ago, he already had 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers and horses. Now, after so many years of operation, he probably has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses."

"Besides, he has the support of the Taishan people. The Taishan soldiers are all extremely brave and will never be easily defeated!"

Li Yi smiled and said:

"It is precisely because I know that Zang Ba is difficult to capture that I came to discuss this matter with the General of the Central Army."

What I mean is, without you we can't deal with Zang Ba, you see how important you are to us.

This advice was indeed useful, and Cao Bao really started to think seriously about countermeasures.

"Zang Ba is quite prestigious in Mount Tai because he is loyal and values friendship. I think he only wants to establish his own regime, but has no ambition to dominate." "Your Excellency has just taken over Xuzhou, why are you in such a hurry to start a war?"

Cao Bao and Zang Ba had worked together for a period of time. He knew that Zang Ba was just sitting on the fence and watching. As long as Liu Bei could stabilize Xuzhou, he would definitely turn around.

After all, he is a man of the world, he doesn't follow the ways of scholars and he doesn't have any big ambitions.

He just wants to live a good life with his brothers in the Taishan Gang.

The fact that Cao Bao could say this at least proves that he is truly thinking about Liu Bei.

Xuzhou had experienced two years of war and a change of political power. It was a period of great public unrest and mutual suspicion.

It is indeed not appropriate to start a war now.

Li Yi nodded slightly and said seriously:
"Yi also understands the intention of the General of the Central Army."

"But Zang Ba is entrenched in Langya, which is a strategic location. Such a strategic location must not be handed over to someone who cannot be trusted."

What this means is that Langya must be commanded by someone Liu Bei can mobilize.

Otherwise, Langya would be a powder keg that could explode at any time.

"Have you forgotten that when Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou for the second time, he entered from Langya, then conquered the East China Sea and headed west?"

Li Yi reminded Cao Bao.

Zang Ba was nominally a vassal of Xuzhou, but he did not play a real protective role.

Cao Cao was powerful, so Zang Ba let him in and watched coldly from the sidelines. In the end, it was old man Tao Qian who suffered.

Now that Old Liu has taken over Xuzhou, do you think he would hand over Langya to someone who could let people in at any time?

Cao Bao frowned:

"Last year, when Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou, he entered from Langya, and Zang Ba took advantage of the situation and swept through all the counties in Xuzhou."

"Most of the counties in Langya have fallen into their hands, and the soldiers of Mount Tai are brave and good at fighting. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to take it by force."

Zang Ba originally stationed his troops in Kaiyang, but when Cao Cao and Tao Qian fought a great battle, he took the opportunity to expand his influence to Langya and even Donghai counties.

Chang Xi even captured Pengcheng State at one point and drove King Pengcheng Liu He directly to Yanzhou.

What is a hero? Zang Ba is a typical hero.

When two heroes fight, the fisherman wins.

"Don't worry, General Zhonglang. Don't I know that the situation in Xuzhou is unstable and it's not appropriate to start a war?"

"So after the envoy and I discussed it, we decided to use the strategy of using the enemy as a transit point to destroy Guo and remove Zang Ba's military power."

"Sun Tzu said, 'To conquer the enemy without fighting is the best of all virtues.' If we can really recapture Langya without having to fight a single soldier, wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Asking the Zhonglang General to cooperate with us in sending out troops is just to boost our morale."

After all, even if you are setting up a Hongmen Banquet, you still need soldiers at your disposal to be able to scare people.

Cao Bao nodded. If they could avoid fighting, everyone would be happy.

But if...

"If Zang Ba refuses to comply, what will you do, sir?"

"...Haha, then we can only fight."

I go!

Do we still have to fight in the end?
Cao Bao suffered heavy casualties in his troops after the Battle of Pengcheng, and now half of his troops have been taken away by Li Yi. He really doesn't want to start another major war.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell the Zhonglang General."

Li Yi pretended to come back to his senses, "We have to wait until Langya is recovered before we can let the General of the Central Army take office."

six!!

Cao Bao's eyes almost popped out of his head, "Sir, this seems to be different from what we just said!"

"General, don't worry."

Li Yi touched Cao Bao's chest and comforted him softly:
"Of course the envoy has his reasons for doing this."

……

　Thanks to Chunjian Bailan and the Italian Cannon of the Independent Group for their monthly tickets. Thank you! By the way, I would like to ask my brothers to read it. This is really important. Thank you very much!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)