"No!"
Whether Lu Bu could compete with Cao Cao during this period, Lin Mo gave a positive answer without even thinking about it.
Seeing his disappointed father-in-law gradually covering his face, Lin Mo felt that he really needed to analyze this issue with him carefully, so as to stop him from thinking of turning to Lu.
"There are many reasons, but I will mention three fatal ones."
Lin Mo grabbed a piece of meat and shook it, "First, the military gap. The total number of available forces at Lu Bu's hands should be around 30,000, right?"
Where is Cao Cao? It is said that there are 200,000 Qingzhou troops, and there must be something to it. Even if he cuts 30% of the old, weak, sick and disabled, there must be 140,000 soldiers and horses. This kind of gap cannot be achieved by just one sentence. reverse. "
Lu Bu has always been aware of the issue of the gap in military strength.
Indeed, he couldn't change this, at least not in a short period of time.
"The second point is that the aristocratic family is not attached to the powerful. Just now my father-in-law said that the Lu family has planned to take refuge with Lu Bu, and the Chen family is also wavering. I have no doubt about this, but there are many ways to take refuge.
If it is just a simple entry, talking about words will be of no use. The support Cao Cao received from the aristocratic families in Yan and Hezhou were real troops, food, grass and talents.
Judging from the current situation, Lu Bu is still unable to obtain the full support of the powerful local families in Xuzhou. "
When he said this, Lu Bu's shoulders visibly slumped.
He was also quite curious. He clearly defeated Cao Cao, and at the celebration banquet, these aristocratic families did come to congratulate him, but they never mentioned their support in the true sense.
This is also the question that Lin Mo must find out today.
He took a long breath and looked at Lin Mo, "The third point."
"The third point is that there is a huge difference in logistics support and development momentum. Both Yanzhou and Yuzhou can be regarded as the places of the Four War. In recent years, bandits have been everywhere and refugees have fled, leaving the population of each county withered. However, millions of Qingzhou moth thieves have gone south. At that time, hundreds of thousands of the people were transferred to various counties by Cao Cao, which allowed farming to recover and taxes to a certain extent.
Looking back at Lu Bu, among the six counties in Xuzhou, Langya, Dongguan and Donghai were all massacred by Cao Cao. Only ten of the people were left, leaving only the nominal management of powerful families. These three counties were unable to provide taxes for Lu Bu at all.
In addition, Guangling was in the hands of Yuan Shu, so Lu Bu, the lord of Xuzhou, actually only effectively controlled Pengcheng and Xiapi counties.
With the power of two counties competing against two states, do I need to say more about the outcome? "
Lin Mo finished speaking in one breath and looked at his father-in-law quietly, hoping that he would find his way back.
Lu Bu, who had a droopy face just now, was now uglier than dried pork.
In the past, Lu Bu simply weighed the gap between himself and Cao Cao militarily, and made rough efforts in terms of food, grass, soldiers and horses.
After being nudged by Lin Mo, he felt that if he wanted to survive in this confrontation, he had to do too many things and it was too difficult.
"Actually, the main problem lies with the Chen family. If the Chen family is willing to take refuge with Lu Bu, other powerful families will probably take notice."
Lu Bu no longer had the boldness to drink from the whole bowl at the beginning. He picked up the small bowl next to him, filled it up, and drank it in small sips like a cup of tea.
"Usually powerful families in a state have alliances. The Chen family is indeed the banner bearer of the Xuzhou family. It's difficult to get them to give up on Cao Cao." Lin Mo sneered.
"If..."
Lu Bu's eyes darkened slightly, "Where is the evidence of Chen Jiatong and Cao in Lu Bu's hands? I remember what you said last time, even if there are some, don't kill them all, but be open-minded and show your generosity, so that other powerful families will be impressed by this Vigor.
Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem very reliable. "
What he said last time was very good, so Lu Bu did as he was told. He didn't settle the score with the Chen family since Xiao Pei came back, but they dared to pretend that nothing happened. The more Lu Bu thought about it, the angrier he became.
Lin Mo raised his eyes and recalled the last conversation between Weng and his son-in-law. It took him a while to remember it, and he immediately smiled and said:
"There is a way to open up the net. Lord Yue Zhang, just imagine that if Lu Bu really kills the Chen family with thunderbolts, he will get nothing except making other powerful families more inclined to Cao Cao. If he is not careful, he may also cause them to unite. confrontation."
Sun Ce is the best example.
The way to deal with the powerful Jiangdong family is to use thunderbolt means, one word, kill!
The deterrent effect was indeed effective, but the negative impact lasted for decades, so much so that even after Sun Quan came to power, he was still wiping his butt.
Sun Ce himself was killed by Xu Gong's disciples because of this simple and crude method, which is simply ironic.
"Then tell me, how can we restrain the Chen family?" This was the main purpose of Lu Bu's visit today. He put down his wine bowl and looked at Lin Mo seriously.
"What my father-in-law said is that if Lu Bu has evidence of the Chen family's access to Cao Cao, it will actually be easy to handle. If you want to arrest someone, you don't have to kill him. Putting a knife on his neck is the most effective."
Lin Mo was already a little tipsy, and his initial attempt to persuade his father-in-law to defect to Cao turned into an academic discussion, "Put this evidence on the table, but don't ask for accountability.
In other words, if the Chen family sees that Lu Bu could kill them at any time but did not do it, they will understand that Lu Bu is giving them a chance to atone for their sins. "
This was a bit awkward to say, and Lu Bu wouldn't be able to digest it for a while, so he calmed down and sorted it out carefully.
The reason why Chen Deng pretended that nothing happened was because he insisted that I had no evidence that he was communicating with Cao Cao. After all, the letter he wrote had been delivered to Cao Cao. If he was killed just based on the time when Cao Jun appeared, he would definitely not accept it.
Maybe the Chen family will fight back and even unite with other powerful families.
Therefore, I need to show him the evidence and let him know that this matter has not changed...
This can be done!
Lu Bu's solemn eyes slowly cleared, as if he had figured something out.
People are involved, well done, son-in-law!
After a moment, he started laughing loudly.
"I understand, I understand."
"so..."
Lu Bu pressed his hand and directly interrupted what Lin Mo was about to say, 'So let's go vote for Cao Cao. of.
Cao Cao was so vicious that he slaughtered all the people. "
A trace of sadness appeared on Lu Bu's face.
His hatred for powerful people from aristocratic families was not simply because these people did not support him, but also because he himself was born as a commoner.
He hated Cao Cao's outrageous behavior.
"To be honest, I despise Cao Cao's behavior." Lin Mo sneered.
Lu Bu looked at Lin Mo, feeling moved in his heart.
Well, we, Mr. Son-in-law, finally have the same opinion.
You said, why did these people provoke him? Do they need to kill them all? They are simply worse than the barbarians I killed in those years!
"But..."
Lin Mo shook his head helplessly, "I hate it, but I don't agree with what my father-in-law said just now that the people in the three counties are empty and no one can change it."
"Why?"
"Because, I have prepared a big gift for Cao Cao."
Lin Mo raised his eyebrows pretending to be mysterious, "This gift is enough to restore people's livelihood in the three declining counties in a short time."
