Your Majesty, please spare Diao Chan; your yang energy is too strong.

"Your Majesty, it's not a matter of whether we dare to or not, but that Cao Cao has no choice but to do it."

“If he doesn’t do this, then the emperor in his hands will be worthless.”

Yan Xiang was speechless.

However, he still tried to persuade her earnestly.

As the second-in-command under Yuan Shu, the possibility of Yuan Shu's defeat and death would not be good news for him.

"Moreover, Cao Cao had previously fought a major battle with us in Yanzhou to seize control of the province, which created enmity between us."

"Now we defy the world and ascend the throne as emperor."

"How could Cao Cao possibly let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and not eliminate us?"

"You must know that in the world today, my lord and Yuan Shao are arguably the two most powerful warlords in the entire land."

"Now it is our lord and Yuan Shao who are at odds."

"This is what led to the current situation of warlordism."

"If our lord were to ally with Yuan Shao, then the world would belong to Yuan. There would be no further objections."

Cao Cao had always been worried that such a thing would happen.

"Now we suddenly declare ourselves emperors, defying the world's will."

"Cao Cao must be laughing so hard his teeth are falling out. How could he possibly let such an opportunity slip by?"

"My lord, please reconsider."

Yan Xiang said.

"So you mean the Zhong family has been completely fooled by him, and we can't do anything to him yet?"

Yuan Shu was very unhappy.

As the number one skeleton king in the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shu never thought before he acted; he only cared about whether he was happy or not.

What's happening now makes him very unhappy.

"Your Majesty, it's only a temporary inaction, not a permanent inaction."

"As long as we get through this difficult time."

"Zhou Heng is nothing but a commoner. No matter how much he tries to cause trouble, he is nothing more than a bandit."

"They pose no threat to us whatsoever."

"Cao Cao was completely different; he had the emperor in his hands."

"Once the payment order is issued..."

"The world will surely respond."

"After all, no matter what, the current emperor of the Han Dynasty is still the legitimate ruler."

"But we are nothing but traitors and rebels."

"There are still many warlords in the world whose hearts are with the Han Dynasty."

"The people's hearts are still with the Han Dynasty."

"Our attack on Xuzhou at this time would only give the other warlords in the land an opportunity to take advantage of us."

"By the time the enemy is at the gates, it will be too late to save the city."

"Moreover, even if we attack Xuzhou now, we may not be able to capture Zhou Heng immediately."

“Zhou Heng is a smart man; he won’t confront us head-on.”

"So he specifically sent Lü Bu to be stationed in Xiaopei."

"Their purpose is to stop us."

"If we attack Xuzhou now, it's hard to say whether we'll even be able to see Zhou Heng."

"We will definitely have to fight Lu Bu, and we will also have to face Cao Cao and launch a siege against all the warlords in the world."

"It's really not worth the loss."

"Please think carefully before you act, my lord."

It must be said that although the Skeleton King may lack intelligence, it doesn't mean his subordinates are without brains.

Basically, it provides a very thorough analysis of the current global situation.

"So what you mean is?"

Although Yuan Shu lacked intelligence, he wasn't truly stupid.

He also knew that declaring himself emperor at this time would be going against the will of the world.

He asked immediately.

"Not only should we not touch Zhou Heng, we should also try our best to win him over."

"It's not just Zhou Heng, but also Lü Bu, and we try our best to win over other warlords."

"Only in this way can we avoid falling into a situation where we are surrounded by enemies like Dong Zhuo did back then."

"Zhou Heng is just a commoner and has not yet obtained an official position."

"This is his biggest weakness."

"Cao Cao also looked down on Zhou Heng, so he never granted Zhou Heng an official position."

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us."

"If we grant Zhou Heng an official position now, we can certainly win him over quickly."

"This man is resourceful and clever, and he was able to outwit both Liu Bei and Lü Bu in a short period of time."

"Their strength should not be underestimated."

"As long as the Lord offers a sufficient price, we will definitely be able to win him over to our side."

"In this way..."

"At that time, even if Cao Cao really mobilizes all the warlords in the world to attack us."

"At least we are not alone."

"At that time, with Zhou Heng holding back Cao Cao and Lü Bu in Xuzhou, it was not impossible to defeat the alliance of warlords."

"And as long as we can defeat the alliance of feudal lords, then we will be the true emperor in name and in fact."

"No one dares to bring up our ascension to the throne and our becoming emperor."

Yang Hong thought for a moment and said.

It must be said that Yang Hong truly deserves to be Yuan Shu's top strategist; he analyzed the current state of the world with remarkable simplicity.

And timely remedial measures were taken.

"The other party schemed against the Zhong family, yet the Zhong family not only couldn't retaliate against him, but also offered him official titles and honors, trying to win him over at every turn?"

The veins on Yuan Shu's forehead bulged.

He has never felt so frustrated since his debut.

After all that, it turns out they outsmarted them and completely fooled themselves.

Not only should you not be angry, you should also thank the other person.

Are you kidding me?

Yuan Shu looked at Yang Hong as if he were a fool.

"Indeed, my lord, Yang Hong is right."

"We are in a very dangerous situation right now, and we must win over all the forces around us that we can."

"Only in this way can we contend with the feudal lords of the world."

"If we declare ourselves emperors now, it would be tantamount to offending all the major feudal lords in the land at the same time."

"Most people would never accept our kindness at this time."

"Only Zhou Heng has the potential."

"Because his men were originally from the Yellow Turban Army, and that's what they did all along, they didn't care whether it was a rebellion or not."

"So he is the person we are most likely to win over."

"Even simply offering official positions and gifts is not enough for me."

“Zhou Heng is a smart man. He naturally knows that our claim to the throne at this time is a huge risk to the world, and cooperating with us carries enormous risks.”

"It's difficult to cooperate with us unless there are huge benefits involved."

"Therefore, I suggest that we should not only use official positions and gifts to win them over, but also offer deeper benefits."

"Ideally, we could form a marriage alliance with the other party."

"Only in this way will he be willing to form an alliance with us."

"In this way... with the help of our allies, the pressure will surely be greatly reduced."

"His Majesty........"

Yan Xiang nodded as well.

Although he and Yang Hong did not get along, they were both intelligent people.

Everyone knows that Yuan Shu's declaration of himself as emperor at this time was tantamount to courting his own destruction.

However, they couldn't persuade Yuan Shu.

All we can do is try our best to protect Yuan Shu.

Otherwise, it would be a pipe dream for Yuan Shu to stand against all the warlords in the land on his own.

And the only person in the entire world most likely to be won over is Zhou Heng.