The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

“The content of the imperial edict is not important; what is important is the negotiation with Gongsun Zan,” Chen Er said.

Upon hearing this, Xun Yu immediately understood that his lord was about to ask for benefits. After Chen Er whispered a simple sentence in Xun Yu's ear, Xun Yu's face went from red to white, and then from white to red again. He had been struggling with this dilemma countless times.

Finally, Xun Yu said to Chen Er, "Your subordinate understands."

Seeing Xun Yu's departing figure, Chen Er's lips moved slightly, as if he were saying something.

A few days later, a memorial from the north arrived at Liu Xie's desk in the Chang'an palace. It was a memorial from Chen Er celebrating Gongsun Zan's victory, and also a memorial from Chen Er expressing his loyalty. Of course, the memorial also vaguely mentioned a few points about the governance of the north.

"Minister Gongsun, what do you think?" Liu Xie turned to ask Gongsun Zan. At this time, Gongsun Zan had already taken control of the elite troops originally under Lu Zhi and Dian Wei. Gongsun Zan did not interfere with the city guards of Chang'an and some miscellaneous troops. In any case, those troops were not strong in combat, and controlling them would easily give others a pretext to criticize them. So Gongsun Zan simply abandoned all of these troops.

The other officials in Chang'an and Liu Xie certainly understood this principle, but what they valued was Gongsun Zan's attitude. Gongsun Zan, who knew how to make choices and maintain balance, was the ideal commander for them.

"Your Majesty," Gongsun Zan said, "I won't dwell on my insignificant contributions, but I believe we should accept General Cao's suggestion. Regardless of whether General Cao is truly loyal to the Empire, as long as he has made his stance clear, all the lords of the land will have no reservations when facing the central government." Of course, Gongsun Zan was still mindful of the face of the court officials and Emperor Liu Xie, and continued, "I know this will damage the imperial dignity, but just as Goujian endured hardship and humiliation in the past, Your Majesty only needs to be more patient today. Using General Cao's intimidation is only a temporary measure. The most important thing for the court is to restore its strength and strengthen its control. As long as the imperial army has sufficient fighting power, then all the lords of the land, no matter who they are, will only serve Your Majesty wholeheartedly. As for General Cao, with all the lords of the land submitting, it doesn't matter whether he is truly loyal to the Empire or not."

Hearing Gongsun Zan speak so eloquently, all the ministers in the court understood his plan: to devour the tiger while quietly making a fortune in the background.

"Even more so, the imperial court could use the pretext of righteousness to incite war between the feudal lords and weaken their power," Gongsun Zan said.

"It's just that the common people are suffering," Liu Xie said hypocritically. Gongsun Zan cooperated and said, "For the sake of more people in the world, sacrificing a small number of people is something we can only endure the pain of. I believe those people will forgive Your Majesty."

"General Gongsun, how should I win over General Cao?" Liu Xie asked Gongsun Zan. The real show was about to begin, Gongsun Zan thought to himself.

"Well, Your Majesty, I suggest that General Cao be made King of Wei!" Suddenly, Gongsun Zan knelt down and said to Liu Xie, "If Your Majesty makes General Cao King of Wei, no matter how powerful Chen Er becomes in the future, he can only be a king. He is a king personally granted by Your Majesty. If Chen Er disregards the world and rebels, no one in the world will be willing to follow him."

Gongsun Zan talked at length, but in reality, he was just fulfilling his conditions for Chen Er. Chen Er's messenger promised that as long as Chen Er was granted a fief, the Northern Autonomous Region would unconditionally provide Gongsun Zan with 30,000 matchlock guns and share gunpowder technology with him.

Faced with such temptation, how could Gongsun Zan not be tempted? However, he still made an outrageous demand for thirty more Shenwu cannons. The messenger agreed to this condition without a second thought. Gongsun Zan was still wondering if he had asked for too few, but he didn't know that for Chen Er, the Shenwu cannons were already obsolete. Giving them to Gongsun Zan wouldn't be a bad deal. On the contrary, the matchlock muskets would take up production lines in the arsenal. Fortunately, there was no war at the moment, and the arsenal's production tasks were not heavy, so it didn't matter. Moreover, the matchlock muskets sent to Gongsun Zan all had unrifled barrels, which was too easy for the Yuyang arsenal at present.

"How dare you, Gongsun Zan!" One minister after another stood up to refute him, directly rebuking Gongsun Zan and unscrupulously cursing him for betraying his master and ancestors. In reality, it was far from that exaggerated, and they all subconsciously overlooked one thing: Gongsun Zan was a military general, a pure military man. Although he was a disciple of Lu Zhi, Gongsun Zan was truly just a simple military general.

"Your Majesty, please be wise! Gongsun Zan is a traitor!" An old minister knelt dramatically in the hall, weeping and wailing before Liu Xie. Watching the old man's performance, Liu Xie almost vomited. What kind of person was this? If he hadn't received royal etiquette training from childhood, Liu Xie would have kicked the old man out of the room.

Seeing that the fermentation was almost complete, Gongsun Zan stepped forward and addressed the crowd, saying, "Since you ministers are so confident, I will say no more. Your Majesty, when the court is in trouble, and I am about to die, you ministers should think more about what to do."

"This..." Upon hearing Gongsun Zan's words, everyone finally realized that Gongsun Zan was a man of absolute power. More importantly, what right did the court have to win over a regional governor, let alone someone like Chen Er? Gongsun Zan's suggestion was the most appropriate. Conferring the title of king would not only make Chen Er feel the sincerity, but more importantly, it would also restrain him. As long as Chen Er accepted the title, Liu Xie would have a moral authority over him. No matter how strong Chen Er was, he could not rebel. If he did, all the Confucian scholars in the world would be able to overwhelm him.

However, this will likely remain wishful thinking on the part of the court officials. Only those officials and Liu Xiehui will believe this claim. Even Gongsun Zan, who made the suggestion, doesn't believe it. He simply doesn't believe that Chen Er, who took the initiative to negotiate with him and made this request, would be suppressed by such a so-called righteous cause.

If that's really the case, Gongsun Zan should wonder if he's idolizing the wrong person.

"General Gongsun, please wait! Please wait!" Liu Xie panicked when he saw Gongsun Zan actually starting to leave. What would he do if Gongsun Zan really left? He was the only pillar of the court right now! He had to persuade him to stay!

Gongsun Zan was just putting on an act. Upon hearing Liu Xie's summons, Gongsun Zan stopped and turned to Liu Xie, saying, "Your Majesty, is there anything else you need? I must hurry back to reorganize the army. Without General Cao's support, my current force of thirty to forty thousand men cannot hold out for long."