"Is this Cao Cao... He's a little darker and shorter than the one played by Bao Guoan in the TV series, but his muscles are quite developed."
After being pulled to Sikong Mansion by a carriage, after a lot of twists and turns, Zhuge Jin finally saw Cao Cao with his own eyes, and his heart was somewhat turbulent.
He knew very well that since this was the first time he saw Cao Cao after coming to this world, it would most likely be the last time.
Strictly speaking, Cao Cao is not a Han traitor now, but when he kills Zhao Yan, the Yilang who wanted to help Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to govern, and further triggers the incident of the Clothes and Belt Edict, he will step by step become a Han traitor.
Zhuge Jin will assist the Han Dynasty in the future, so this is the critical moment to win every vote. All the official positions I get today may follow Liu Bei, Guan Yu and himself for a long, long time in the future.
Just like Liu Bei in history, before he was persuaded to become the King of Hanzhong and declare himself the Grand Sima, he lived around with the title of General Zuo for nearly twenty years.
…
While Zhuge Jin saluted and observed secretly, Cao Cao was of course also observing him and Chen Deng.
Regarding Chen Deng, Cao Cao had long known his talent. He had been fighting with Tao Qian for many years, and Chen Deng was Tao Qian's mastermind.
So relatively speaking, Cao Cao was more curious about Zhuge Jin, who had just appeared and was only in his early twenties.
This man was erudite and ingenious, and could silence madmen like Mi Heng. He could also help Kong Rong with his overall planning, and he seemed to have contributed to Liu Bei turning defeat into victory in the Battle of Guangling.
It means that he has made achievements in four aspects: classics and meaning, eloquence, engineering, money and food coordination, and military tactics.
He is so knowledgeable and versatile at such a young age. Even if he is not specialized enough in every field, he will definitely not be underestimated in time.
Cao Cao could not judge with limited information whether the other party would have the talent of the Three Lords in the future, but at least he would have the talent of the Nine Lords.
"Being from the Langya Zhuge family...why were you recruited by Xuande and how long have you been working for him?" Cao Cao asked the first question condescendingly after observing for a long time.
His original intention was to find out whether the other party was willing to abandon Liu Bei and vote for him, but he knew that asking directly might not necessarily lead to a true answer.
So it's better to take a sideways look first and see how the other party got together with Liu Bei.
If Zhuge Jin didn't lie about these minor issues, he would be more sure of subsequent recruitment.
Zhuge Jin did not hesitate at all: "I have fled south since the chaos in Xuzhou last year. I originally intended to go straight to Yangzhou, but I encountered Yuan's rebel general Sun Ce who caused trouble in Dan and Wu, so I was forced to stay in Guangling.
A few months ago, I found out that my uncle was forced by the Danyang thief Zuo Rong and wanted to go to visit relatives and rescue him. I didn't want to be besieged by the Yuan thief again in Guangling. In order to escape, he had no choice but to take risks to help General Zhendong and protect himself from thieves. "
Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this. He originally planned to directly solicit him if the other party's answer was true.
But hearing that Zhuge Jin still had an uncle to save, this matter was more difficult to handle.
The Han Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. If nothing else, let's talk about the Yangzhou shepherd Liu Yao who was beaten to the point where only Dantu County was left. When he first promoted Xiaolian to the official position, he relied on his righteous deed to save his uncle.
When the imperial court wants to employ people, it should wait until they have fulfilled their filial piety and saved their relatives before recruiting them by force. Otherwise, it will damage the reputation of the imperial court and make more children of aristocratic families who care about the family suspicious and dare not come, which will be self-defeating.
Although Cao Cao felt that Zhuge Jin was talented, he did not understand him well enough and did not think it was worth damaging the court's dignity.
He hesitated for a moment, and had no choice but to hint to Sima Lang next to him with a reluctant look.
Sima Lang understood and knew that Sikong wanted to keep someone, but he was embarrassed to ask "How close are you and your uncle?", so he needed him to ask this unfilial question.
Sima Lang cleared his throat: "Master Zhuge, your uncle has no heirs, do you have to go and rescue him personally? As far as I know, didn't your uncle once serve as a subordinate of Yuan Shu, and was later appointed as the prefect of Yuzhang by Yuan Shu? Yuan Shu Why not send troops across the river to protect him?”
Sima Lang asked more implicitly, but Zhuge Jin knew what he meant and answered truthfully:
"Among my peers in the lower clan, I am the only one who has reached the crown. Moreover, I lost my mother when I was nine years old and my father when I was fourteen. In the next five years, I relied on my uncle's support and upbringing to be where I am today.
Moreover, although my uncle had been Yuan Shu's former official, he had already seen clearly Yuan Shu's disobedience and wanted to draw a clear line between him. Yuan Shu never expressed his position as the governor of Yuzhang, it was Liu Jingzhou who expressed it. "
Sima Lang had nothing to do when he heard this: This is not an ordinary uncle, but the uncle who has raised you for five years after your biological father died!
According to the filial piety standards of a man, even if he protects the other person as his biological father, it is appropriate.
As an aside, Sun Ce used similar filial piety reasons to escape from Yuan Shu's actual control two years ago. At that time, Sun Ce took out the jade seal and said to Uncle Yuan: "Father's revenge cannot be avenged, and his mother-in-law Wu Jing was forced by Liu Yao to ask for help to save his relatives."
It can be seen that such excuses were really useful in the Han Dynasty.
And Cao Cao also captured an important message from Zhuge Jin's reply: Zhuge Xuan intended to escape Yuan Shu's broken ship!
As mentioned before, Cao Cao, Xun Yu and others actually knew that the last watch indicating Zhuge Xuan as the prefect of Yuzhang was made by Liu Biao, not Yuan Shu.
Just because Zhuge Xuan had served as a subordinate of Yuan Shu in his early years, even if this list was not written by Yuan Shu, Cao Cao still assumed that it was a fig leaf for another transaction between Yuan Shu and Liu Biao. Therefore, the imperial court never approved this performance.
Cao Cao secretly thought: "It seems that it is true that Liu Bei said that during his attack on Yuan Shu, he saw many disobedient behaviors in Yuan's army.
Yuan Shu has long regarded me and Benchu as mortal enemies. Now that the emperor is in my hands, Yuan Shu is targeted by the imperial court's orders everywhere. With his arrogance, he won't be able to tolerate it for a long time. It's only a matter of time.
Liu Bei must have seen this clearly. On the one hand, he sincerely contributed to the court, and on the other hand, he also hoped to get an extra share of the pie in the joint effort to deal with Yuan Shu.
The Langya Zhuge family also saw that Yuan Shu would be forced to become a traitor in the long run. On the one hand, they wanted to protect their own family interests, and on the other hand, they wanted to break with their status as "former Yuan Shu's official". Liu Bei and the Zhuge family each had their own interests, so they joined forces by chance. "
In history, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor only four months later.
With Cao Cao's political wisdom and vision, how could he not see that Yuan Shu had a tendency to do this.
It can even be said that in the more than three months after Cao Cao took the Emperor hostage, he continued to use the name of the imperial court to call on all forces to create obstacles for Yuan Shu.
He was the trader who personally added fuel to the fire. He wished that Yuan Shu would rebel soon, and then he could uproot Yuan Shu by relying on the righteousness of the world and punishing rebellion with obedience.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao already knew how to deal with it.
He put away the majestic expression he had at the beginning and switched to the kind posture of a polite corporal:
"It turns out that the Zhuge family has been willing to break with Yuan's thieves for a long time, and they are indeed loyal people. In this case, if you want to save your uncle, the court will naturally not stop you. I just don't know where you want to borrow troops and how to save your uncle. It will be done. After that, are you willing to serve the imperial court?"
Zhuge Jin bowed respectfully: "Who among the talented and ambitious people doesn't want to contribute to the imperial court, stabilize the world, and save the people? I am no exception. I am not sure about saving my uncle this time, but it depends on manpower, so I can only do my best." Fortunately, in the previous battle of Guangling, I gave advice to General Zhendong, so I am a little gracious, and I may be able to borrow thousands of troops."
Cao Cao raised his eyebrows: "You just said that you met and joined Liu Bei when Yuan Shu was besieging Huaiyin. What kind of favor can you do to him, so that Liu Bei can borrow thousands of troops?"
Zhuge Jin originally wanted to answer truthfully, but when the words came to his lips, he changed his mind and changed to a more credit-accusing posture, telling him his main contribution to Liu Bei's military strategy.
Specifically, he hid all the luck in gaining Liu Bei's trust, and said all his achievements were "all the tricks, I deserve this victory."
Especially when Zhuge Jin mentioned how he gained Liu Bei's trust in the first place, he directly said, "I just expected that after Yuan Shu and Liu Bei had a stalemate for a long time, Yuan Shu's temper would definitely make some dirty tricks against Liu Bei's rear."
As for his contributions other than military strategy, Zhuge Jin was not stupid, so of course he kept silent about it and did not reveal a single word.
Cao Cao listened very carefully. With his intelligence, he could certainly tell that Zhuge Jin was boasting and exaggerating the role of his strategy.
But Cao Cao did not intend to expose the other party, but was secretly relieved.
"Yes, this person is a person who is greedy for fame. When talking, he is afraid that others will underestimate his achievements, so he tries his best to take credit and exaggerate his own contributions.
This kind of person only has common interests with Liu Bei. And how much benefit can Liu Bei give him? As long as he is obsessed with officialdom, he will be able to be used by me sooner or later.
Although Liu Bei knew this son several months before me, I only need to seduce him with high-ranking officials, so why worry about not being able to control the Zhuge family in the future. "
Cao Cao had a faint love for talents, and he knew that the other party did have important things that had to be done, so he would not force the other party to leave Xu Du immediately.
Put it in Yuzhang for a year and a half, maybe it will be more useful to the court.
Cao Cao was very tolerant and able to take the long term to catch the big fish.
Historically, when he first captured Guan Yu, he did not immediately want Guan Yu to surrender. Instead, he listened to Xun Yu's "Liu Bei treated Guan Yu with kindness, but he should be more kind to his heart."
Now Zhuge Jin has been met by Liu Bei first, which is not a big deal.
It is said that if you want to take something, you must give it first. First make a condition that is several times higher than Liu Bei's and let the other party see his sincerity with the world in mind!
Thinking of this, Cao Cao finally had a solution.
He asked kindly: "Since your filial piety is commendable, I will not stop you from going to Yuzhang to rescue your uncle. Now there is a Danyang thief Zuo Rong in Yuzhang who is causing trouble and has killed Zhu Hao, the governor of the imperial court.
That being the case, I will inform your majesty and allow Liu Biao to preface this by granting your uncle the post of governor of Yuzhang. I will also grant you a military post to defeat Zuo Rong. But I don’t know how you will serve the imperial court after you defeat the traitor? "
Zhuge Jin originally wanted to give an answer directly, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't want to appear too smart, so he tentatively asked:
"I once said that Yuan Shu will definitely disobey him in the long run... After I and my uncle have established a foothold in Yuzhang, do I need to contain Yuan Shu from behind for the court?"
After hearing this, Cao Cao finally let go of his last trace of vigilance and laughed loudly: "That's too cool! How can you expect to flank Yuan Shu with so little strength?"
Let's do this. After your uncle officially takes office, he should first make peace with Yuan Shuxu and pretend to talk about the feelings of the old officials, so that Yuan Shu will think that the land of Yuzhang has fallen into his hands, so as to make him arrogant. Once something changes..."
Zhuge Jin then pretended to be enlightened: "Sikong Yingming! I know what to do!"
Of course, before Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he coaxed and supported him, making him mistakenly believe that "I have another large piece of territory in the south that listens to my orders."
In this way, Yuan Shu's speed of making up his mind will definitely become faster.
And when he really made that treasonous decision, Yuan Shu would realize that everything he relied on was an illusion.
Whether it is Zhuge Xuan or Sun Ce, they may have made false promises of loyalty to him one day, but they may break with him the next day and denounce him as a national traitor!
Cao Cao saw that Zhuge Jin was so virtuous, and finally let go of the eagle after seeing a rabbit, and ordered Sima Lang on the side to record: Tomorrow, I will ask Your Majesty to approve the memorial declaring Zhuge Xuan as the prefect of Yuzhang, and then grant Zhuge Jin the post of captain.
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