Li Jin was extremely grateful after hearing Cao Zhang's appointment. He knelt down in front of Cao Zhang again and kowtowed in thanks.
Cao Zhang hurriedly stretched out his hand to help Li Jin up, then took his hand and said sincerely: "Jiji, there is no need to be so polite. From now on, my safety will all depend on you."
Li Jin raised his head and said something vaguely while making gestures.
After Xu Shu understood it, he stepped forward to "translate" Li Jin's meaning: "Master, Ji Ji said, I am grateful for your kindness in knowing me and I will definitely swear allegiance to you and repay you with my life!"
Cao Zhang nodded with satisfaction, patted Li Jin on the shoulder, and then said: "Tomorrow is the hunting competition. Gongming, you go and prepare horses, bows and arrows and weapons for Ji Ji, and ask him to go with me."
Xu Huang agreed: "Yes!"
Cao Zhang said to everyone ambitiously: "Tomorrow's hunting competition, we must go all out to win the first place and let everyone see my strength, Cao Zhang."
Xu Huang, Xiahou Ba and Li Jin bowed their hands together, with ambitious expressions on their faces.
Only Xu Shu looked at Cao Zhang, frowning slightly and lost in thought.
Cao Zhang did not notice the subtle change in Xu Shu's expression, turned around and said to him: "Yuanzhi, it's already late today. When the hunting is over tomorrow, I will recommend you to my father and ask him to arrange an official position for you."
Xu Shu did not show excessive excitement or expectation. Instead, he waved his hand to stop Cao Zhang: "Master, there is no need to rush to ask Sikong for an official position for me. I want to be your retainer first."
Cao Zhang didn't understand what Xu Shu meant and looked at him doubtfully, worried that he still had concerns about Cao Cao.
Xu Shu saw Cao Zhang's thoughts and knew that he had misunderstood him, so he quickly explained: "Young master, don't worry too much. I just don't want to expose myself too early. In this way, I can help you observe everything and make suggestions, and it will not easily attract the attention of others." .”
Cao Zhang understood Xu Shu's intention and nodded slowly: "Yuan Zhi has thought carefully, but this would be too unfair to you."
"If you don't feel wronged, great things will happen overnight, and how can I care about my temporary status?" Xu Shu responded sincerely.
Then, he earnestly advised Cao Zhang: "In addition, Master, I have something to say, I don't know whether I should say it or not."
After hearing this, Cao Zhang muttered in his heart: Why do the ancients like to say this sentence? Could it be that if I said I shouldn't say it, you really just hold it back and stop saying it?
Cao Zhang hurriedly said: "In front of me, there is nothing that should be said or not. Speak freely."
Xu Shu said seriously: "I just heard the young master say that in tomorrow's hunting competition, we must strive for first place with all our strength. I think it is a little inappropriate. I hope the young master can restrain himself a little and only take the middle rank."
Cao Zhang didn't fully understand what Xu Shu meant, and asked in surprise: "Yuanzhi, why is this? Shouldn't I show my full strength in front of my father now? If I can't attract my father's attention, how can I win the position of heir apparent?"
Xu Shu did not respond directly to Cao Zhang, but asked in a calm tone: "Master, what do you think of Sikong's physical condition?"
Cao Zhang responded: "My father is in his prime and in extremely good health. He just has occasional headaches and discomfort..."
When Cao Zhang said this, he suddenly woke up and understood what Xu Shu meant: "I understand, Yuan Zhi, what you mean is that my father's health is very good, and there is no time to worry about establishing a heir apparent?"
Xu Shu didn't speak, just smiled and nodded.
Cao Zhang suddenly realized that after he traveled through time, he was framed, and then he unconsciously entered into a fight with Cao Pi.
In fact, he ignored that he was traveling through a semi-imaginary world, especially the changes in age, which were hugely different from real history.
According to real history, the brothers are still young and have not reached the time to establish a heir apparent.
Especially now, Cao Cao is only in his forties, in his prime, and is ambitiously thinking about pacifying the northern world. Establishing a prince is not a top priority. He still has a lot of time to observe and consider a few people before making a decision.
"Sir, don't you think that your recent performance has been too popular? As the saying goes, things will turn upside down when they reach their extremes, and losses will happen when they gain even more!"
"It's natural to attract Sikong's attention, but if the tree is big and attracts attention, and the young master is too eye-catching and outstanding, he will inevitably arouse many jealousies and put himself in danger at all times."
"So, my suggestion is that the young master should temporarily restrain his sharpness. Don't worry too much about these false reputations. Instead, he should grasp more real things in his hands."
Xu Shu looked at Cao Zhang's expression and knew that he had understood what he meant, so he reminded him again.
After hearing Xu Shu's words, Cao Zhang nodded repeatedly and had to admit that Xu Shu's reminder was right.
I am trapped in a situation, and I just want to be competitive and express myself, but I ignore the principle of shooting first.
It can be seen from the arrangements for Yang Xiu that Cao Cao still favors Cao Zhi. This shows that his attitude towards his sons cannot be completely reversed in a short time.
His recent performance has been enough to attract Cao Cao's attention, but as Xu Shu said, it is more of a false reputation than a real one.
Moreover, although he gained a good reputation by recruiting Xu Huang and punishing Dong Cheng's nephew, he also offended the Cao family and the Han Dynasty ministers in disguise, which was actually detrimental to him.
"Yuan Zhi's words were like an enlightenment and a wake-up call. They woke me up from my dream. My ideas were indeed too radical. Thank you Yuan Zhi for reminding me." Cao Zhang expressed his gratitude to Xu Shu sincerely.
Xu Shu said humbly: "It is my duty to make suggestions for you, you don't have to be polite."
"I dare to ask Yuan Zhi, what do you think I should do next to gain more benefits?" Cao Zhang humbly asked Xu Shu for advice.
"I believe that if the young master wants to strive for the position of heir apparent, the following points are indispensable."
"The first thing is to have enough prestige. The young master's Yuedan evaluation is a blockbuster, which is enough if he is in a time of governance; but now we are in troubled times, with constant wars, the young master needs to make more military exploits to establish prestige in the army."
"The young master's martial arts has long been famous throughout the world, and now with the help of General Gongming, it will not be difficult to achieve this as long as he gets the right opportunity to show it in the future." Xu Shu first proposed that Cao Zhang should establish military merit.
After hearing this, Cao Zhang strongly agreed. Political power comes from the barrel of a gun. This is an eternal truth!
Cao Zhang nodded slowly: "This is indeed not difficult. My father will definitely use troops against Zhang Xiu, Lu Bu, and Yuan Shu in the future. I should be able to get opportunities in these battles."
Xu Shu nodded and continued: "In addition to military achievements, the young master must also try his best to win the support of the Cao family, Han Dynasty ministers and various noble families!"
"After all, the young master has an inherent disadvantage, that is, he is not the eldest son of Sikong. The idea of respecting the eldest son has been deeply ingrained in the hearts of most people."
"Only by constantly getting close to each other, gaining the support of more people and quelling the opposition, can the prince obtain the position of prince as he wishes."
Cao Zhang frowned slightly. He had actually thought of what Xu Shu said, but it was also the most difficult thing for him to do, and even had some negative consequences.
"Does Yuan Zhi have any good suggestions?" Cao Zhang asked Xu Shu with some embarrassment.
"A gentleman promises righteousness, and a villain promises benefit! A gentleman builds friendship with virtue, and a villain seeks friendship with benefit!" Xu Shu gave his advice in a calm tone.
