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

Chapter 61 Cao Cao: "How can Liu Bei, a common man, have the courage to take advantage of me for free!" (Please read on)
Cao Cao was furious and slammed the table.

"I have not yet avenged my great vengeance, and yet Liu Bei, a mere weaver of mats and shoe sellers, has seized Xuzhou without firing a single arrow!"

"If it weren't for my two expeditions the other day, how could they have taken possession of this great state?"

During this period, Cao Cao was extremely irritable and his emotions were very unstable.

Xun Yu and Cheng Yu both lowered their heads and allowed Cao Cao to vent his emotions.

"After I have destroyed Lu Bu, I will first kill Liu Bei and then slay Qian's corpse to avenge my ancestors!"

Xun Yu and Cheng Yu both knew that this was Cao Cao's angry words. Xun Yu was the first to speak up and persuade him:
"Cao Gong, please calm down. In the past, Emperor Gaozu protected Guanzhong, and Emperor Guangwu occupied Henei. They all had deep roots and a solid foundation to control the world. They were able to defeat the enemy when advancing and hold their ground when retreating."

“Thus, although there are difficulties, we will eventually accomplish our great cause.”

"Mingsong originally focused on Yanzhou. If you take Xuzhou now, if you leave too many troops, they will not be enough. If you leave too few troops, Lu Bu will take advantage of the opportunity to attack."

"This is to abandon the essentials and pursue the trivial, to abandon the great for the small, to exchange danger for safety. I hope you will consider this carefully."

Xun Yu is worthy of being a talent to assist the king, and he analyzed the problem very thoroughly.

I advise Cao Cao to distinguish between primary and secondary contradictions. Although Liu Bei got Xuzhou for free, he is not our enemy.

On the contrary, he must want to ease relations with us, and we should not make enemies at this time.

The correct thing to do is to seize the time to destroy Lu Bu and stabilize our Yanzhou base.

"Humph, if it weren't for the shortage of food this year, why would the soldiers have to look at Liu Bei's face if they were stationed here?"

As a great hero, Cao Cao quickly calmed down after venting his emotions.

"However, when our army attacked Xuzhou, we had already massacred everyone in Pengcheng, Xiaqiu, Suiling and other places."

"Liu Bei has only been in charge of Xuzhou for a year, but he has been able to usher in a good harvest. This is truly a blessing from heaven."

This was indeed beyond Cao Cao's expectations.

When Cao Cao first conquered Tao Qian, Tao was actually strong and Cao was weak, as Tao Qian was a powerful prince at the time.

Cao Cao himself was not sure he could defeat Tao Qian, so he entrusted his wife and children to Zhang Miao before going on the expedition.

But I didn't expect Tao Qian to be so weak and was totally no match for Cao Cao.

So, Cao Cao began to implement his "Three Lights" policy, reducing Xuzhou's productivity and manpower destruction to zero.

This will destroy Xuzhou's war potential.

In this way, even if others take over Xuzhou in the future, it will be difficult for them to pose a threat to Yanzhou.

But no one expected that Liu Bei, maybe because he was really lucky, would reap a good harvest after taking over Xuzhou, which had been ravaged by wars.

Cheng Yu said:
"I heard that Liu Bei started farming in Xuzhou. Maybe it was thanks to this that he was able to avoid the famine."

"Tuntian?"

Cao Cao frowned, "Where does Liu Bei get so much money? Many fields in Xuzhou are owned by scholars and nobles. How can Liu Bei touch their land?"

Although Xuzhou was massacred, most of those killed were ordinary people.

The real scholars and nobles in Xuzhou were able to move their families and escape disaster.

For example, Lu Su and Xu Sheng were recruited by Liu Bei.

There were also earlier ones, such as Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Bu Zhi, and the famous Zhuge family of Langya.

Logically speaking, the decrease in the number of ordinary people should intensify land annexation in Xuzhou.

How can Liu Bei convince these powerful people to give up their land?
"I heard that it was Liu Bei's military advisor Li Yi who came forward and persuaded the two great families in Xuzhou, the Chen family and the Mi family."

"The Mi family donated hundreds of thousands of dan of grain and millions of dollars in currency. Even their sister wanted to marry him."

"...Li Yi." Cao Cao's eyes narrowed. "But he is the Li Ziyu who advised Liu Bei to pursue our army last year."

"It's this person." Xun Yu nodded.

hiss……

Cao Cao's expression became more serious. "Mi Zizhong is a man of great courage. It's okay for him to come forward to support Liu Bei."

"But Chen Yuanlong is a man of great arrogance. How could Li Yi convince him?"

"Not only that, Chen Yuanlong was not only persuaded by Li Yi, but he even became close friends with him. He is now the governor of Guangling and is threatening Yuan Shu's flank in the south."

The person who said this was Xi Zhicai, the military advisor and chief priest. He walked in with a scroll.

The military advisor is actually a nominal position and strictly speaking does not have much real power.

It was not until the third year of Jian'an that Cao Cao established it as an official position.

But it does not mean that the person holding this position is of low status.

He is more like a secretary to a company boss.

The official position may not sound important, but its influence is considerable.

Xi Zhicai was in charge of Cao Ying's intelligence system, and Li Yi's identity came from the fact that he was in charge of investigating.

"Li Ziyu is a native of Xuzhou. He studied under a hermit master. Because Liu Bei saved him, he was appointed as a military advisor."

"Prior to this, Liu Bei pursued our army, attacked the various factions in Xuzhou, subdued Zang Ba in Langya, rescued Kong Rong in Beihai, and even cultivated land in Xuzhou to avoid famine. All of these were the plans of this man."

Xi Zhicai recounted Li Yi's deeds of the past year in detail.

Not to mention Cao Cao, even Xun Yu, who was known as a talented assistant to the king, couldn't help but gasp after hearing this.

Judging from the information sent back by Xi Zhicai, Li Yi was not even thirty years old yet, but he had done so many things in one year.

Who wouldn’t be shocked after hearing this?
"I didn't expect there would be such a person in Xuzhou..."

Cao Cao stood up, put his hands behind his back, and took a deep breath.

"Such a genius was actually found by Liu Bei."

"...Tsk tsk, God helps Liu but not Cao."

After a brief moment of anger, Cao Cao calmed down and gave the order:
"Keep watching Xuzhou. Report any actions taken by Li Yi to me."

"Here!"

……

Xuzhou, Xiapi.

Liu Bei and Li Yi were watching fish together by the lake.

They seldom have free time and usually spend most of their time working.

Even though we had some time today to enjoy the fish together and relax, we were still talking about Xuzhou's government affairs.

"Sir, your strategy of establishing military farms has begun to show results. Last year, all counties in Xuzhou had a good harvest," Liu Bei praised.

"This is also thanks to the efforts of the Mi family, as well as Zijing and Zilong, and the country's unremitting efforts."

"But we should return some of the harvested grain to the local tyrants."

Li Yi did not forget to remind them that their ability to develop military farming in Xuzhou so smoothly was inseparable from the support of local scholars and powerful people.

They gave up their land, helped gather the refugees, and provided seeds and tools. Some of them volunteered, while others involved the mediation of the Mi and Chen families.

But these benefits are certainly not free. The government promised that as long as there is a good harvest, it will distribute a portion of the harvested grain to them.

It is like the government lends you your land and helps you cultivate it.

If there is war or famine in the meantime, these risks will be borne by the government.

Thanks to this good strategy, the scholars and powerful people in Xuzhou began to support Liu Bei's military farming.

In fact, according to Liu Bei's character, he was unwilling to bow his head and compromise.

But Li Yi told Liu Bei that the local powerful people in Xuzhou had been entrenched for a hundred years and could not be eliminated overnight.

Temporary tolerance is not a compromise, but a way to unfold greater ambitions in the future.

Liu Bei naturally had unconditional trust in Li Yi, and the military farming finally showed initial results, proving that Li Yi's original suggestion was correct.

but……

"Xuzhou has been hit by wars, the people have been displaced, and the people are trapped in dire straits."

"Now that we have finally collected some grain, we still have to return part of it to the local tyrants. It's really lamentable."

……

　Brothers, this book may be put on the shelves on the 1st. When it is put on the shelves, Hua Mou will definitely update it! By the way, I have set up a book club. There is no threshold now. I will set a threshold when it is put on the shelves. Brothers who join the group now will be veterans. The author will send red envelopes in the group from time to time. Of course, it may not be much in the early stage, but as long as it is put on the shelves and makes money, the author will definitely give back to the brothers, because the brothers have made me successful. I really treat you as brothers. By the way, I ask the brothers to read it. This is really important, please!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)