At present, except for the vacant prefect of Langya, the five counties of Xuzhou have arranged their own people.
Considering the merits of the Chen family and the fact that Chen Deng also offered suggestions several times, it is indeed not too much to give it to a prefect.
But Lin Mo shook his head, "Langya can't do it."
Lu Bu sneered, "What's the matter? You really plan to give it to Zhe Rong. I'm just confused. How can that flatterer please you so much?"
His son-in-law was good at everything, but he just couldn't stand the fact that he liked Zuo Rong. Before Lin Mo could respond, he snorted coldly: "I'll make it clear to you today, there's no way I can let him." Zuo Rong takes the position of prefect."
Rong, I have tried my best, but the cake I drew was eaten by my father-in-law again.
Lin Mo chuckled, "Even if you don't give it to Zuo Rong, you can't give it to Chen Deng."
"Why?" Lu Bu became interested this time.
"The Chen family has too much power in Xuzhou. As the first family here, its appeal and influence are not small. If he becomes the prefect of Langya, there is a risk of losing control over time."
This is not an alarmist statement by Lin Mo. The power of a prefect is beyond imagination. How many princes have come out of the position of prefect?
Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha, Cao Cao, the governor of Dongjun, and Yuan Shao, the governor of Bohai
Liu Ye can do this position, but Chen Deng cannot.
"Are you worried that the Chen family will rebel in the future?" Lu Bu asked tentatively.
"The power of Governor Langya, coupled with the Chen family's influence in Xuzhou, it doesn't matter whether he rebels or not. What matters is that the Chen family can rebel at any time if they want to. This is equivalent to removing the Chen family from our control. Control, how can I make him the governor?"
Lu Bu recalled that when they were making curved shaft plows and keel waterwheels, the Chen family had indeed brought all eight aristocratic families in Xuzhou to the Chen Mansion overnight, and even Lu Wentao had to give him some thin noodles.
In Xuzhou, the energy of the Chen family is indeed great.
Analyzed from this perspective, my son-in-law's worries are not unreasonable.
Especially since he had secretly communicated with Cao Cao before, Lu Bu was not a clean person in his heart. He just said that he should be given to a prefect, but because the territory was so large, he didn't go into the details of it.
After being prompted by Lin Mo, he immediately gave up this thought and frowned, "You still see clearly."
Then, he asked in a deep voice: "But in the final analysis, the Chen family's contribution cannot be ignored. Some feedback must be given."
You have to be careful when giving this thing, and you have to be careful when not giving it.
Lin Mo thought for a moment and then nodded and said: "You can be a prefect, but Langya can't do it. Let's Anfeng. Doesn't Anfeng not have a prefect?"
"How about that?"
Lu Bu leaned back a little when he heard this, "At that time, I agreed to Zi Yang. The important officials in Anfeng counties were appointed by scholars from Yangzhou. He was responsible for lobbying the powerful families to spend money and efforts to restore order in Anfeng." , including your poetry meeting, is also included in this transaction."
"Yes, we promised Ziyang, isn't that what we are doing now?"
There was a sly look on Lin Mo's lips, and he said with a mean smile: "But, we did not agree to let him take the position of prefect and let a scholar from Huainan take the post. If one Huainan walks out and two prefects come out, that situation will not be what we want to see." .”
Indeed, Lu Bu leaned his whole back against the handsome chair and looked up at the dome, feeling his headache getting worse.
As the plate continues to grow, there are more and more things to worry about.
When he calmed down and thought about Lin Mo's considerations seriously, the melancholy in his eyes slowly dissipated, replaced by a radiance, "I understand, you asked Chen Deng to be the prefect, but the people below are all Huainan scholars. There will be a delicate balance between the two.
It is not easy for Huainan scholars to ignore the Chen family. Xuzhou scholars will also be excluded if they want to enter Anfeng, right? "
Lin Mo held the back of his head with both hands, leaned against the pillar, and sighed: "Actually, I don't like this method, it only increases internal friction, but there is no suitable choice at the moment.
Just wait, wait for the scholars from Ziyang Academy to come out and slowly penetrate into the states and counties, and this situation will get better. "
In fact, this road is very far away, and it may not even reach the end.
Because this meant a head-on confrontation with the currents of the secular world. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of Xia, Shang and Zhou, Qin, Han, Wu, Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties all failed to escape the situation where the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats ruled the world together. It is conceivable how powerful the aristocratic family was.
Facing such a ferocious beast of the times, how can you, just Ziyang Academy, defeat it?
Lin Mo has a clear understanding of this point, and also understands that if he wants to win this game of chess, he needs to make many moves.
"The position of Langya cannot remain empty, otherwise the Chen family will have another idea sooner or later." Lu Bu said this, obviously agreeing with Lin Mo's concept just now.
"Zei Rong." Lin Mo once again firmly said this name that Lu Bu hated.
"You have always been very smart. Why are you so confused about this person? Did he give you some medicine?" Lu Bu lost his patience and his words became sharp.
Lin Mo sighed, "How can I not know what kind of person he is, but he is not deaf or blind and is not worthy of being a leader. Only if I support him all the way to the top will the scholars of Xu and Yangzhou believe that I am also capable." Even though I'm weak, I also like to listen to flattery.
In this way, they would not feel like a formidable enemy when facing the poor students from Ziyang Academy.
Moreover, it is time to change the situation of Xuzhou being the only one. "
This time Lu Bu was a little confused.
It sounded like a balancing act, but he couldn't get into it. In this day, he had accepted too many ideas that he had never heard of before, and his brain was a little cloudy.
It is enough to just know that his son-in-law is not confused by Zuo Rong, but is actually taking advantage of him.
He nodded heavily, "I don't understand these aspects either, and besides you, I can't believe it when other outsiders mention it, so just go ahead and do it."
After saying that, he didn't forget to laugh at himself and looked at Zhao Yun, "To be honest, without this guy by my side, I probably wouldn't be able to take care of the territory no matter how big it is."
"Marquis Wen has such a good son-in-law, and it will surely become a good story."
Are you complaining? You are obviously showing off, which means Zilong is just sincere.
No, he is not sincere, he is still moved and cannot extricate himself.
After Cao Cao from Xiang County received Lu Bu's letter, he laughed surprisingly, with contempt and disdain on his face, and threw the letter to Xun You.
This made both the Xiahou brothers confused. What did Lu Bu say? He was so happy that they couldn't help but come over to take a look.
When they first saw the battle report about Zhang Liao's victory over Jiangdong, they were all dumbfounded and their expressions were stiff.
Both of them are veterans on the battlefield. They know very well how difficult it is for Zhang Liao to do this and how courageous it takes to do it. It is really amazing.
However, he was a little confused about the following content and could only look at Xun You.
"Jiangdong's defeat will definitely lead to a longer period of dormancy. The purpose of Lu Bu's edict is also very clear. He wants to prevent the fire in the backyard from happening again in the next battle with Yuan Shao. It's not simple. .”
Cao Cao leaned on the handsome chair and glanced at Xun You, and said slowly: "How can Lu Bu have such a brain? It's not Lin Yunwen who gave him the idea. This kid is not bad at military strategy, vertical and horizontal maneuvers, he is really a troublesome problem.
How is Zhang and Wang doing? "
Xun You shook his head, "He said that he had never even met Lin Mo. I'm afraid it's simply not possible to show him emotion and reason."
"This thief has done me a lot of harm. If we can't get anything done, there is no need to go back to Wen County." Cao Cao felt heartbroken every time he thought of Lin Mo who tried so hard to defect to him but ended up becoming the most terrifying opponent.
In the final analysis, this matter was caused by Zhang Wang. If he could go as scheduled, there would be no such trouble at all.
Xun You smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid it won't be easy to kill."
Cao Cao's eyes turned cold. Is there anyone I can't kill?
Seeing this, Xun You sighed and said in a deep voice: "There is a letter from Sima Jiangong, isn't Sikong?"
Hearing Sima Jiangong's name, Cao Cao sat upright reflexively and wiped away his casual look.
Sima Jiangong is also Sima Yi's father Sima Fang. As the contemporary head of the Sima family, five of his eight sons work under him.
Moreover, the Sima family is also a famous family in the north, with countless disciples and former officials. The energy of the Sima family can be said to be second only to the Yuan family and the Hongnong Yang family of the fourth generation and three fathers.
Of course, it was not the background and heritage of the Sima family that made Cao Cao so awe-inspiring, but Sima Fang himself.
Because strictly speaking, Cao Cao is Sima Fang's disciple and former official.
Cao Cao's first official position as Luoyang Beiwei was recommended by Sima Fang.
Therefore, Cao Cao still respects the recommenders in the past.
"The Sima family personally came forward to protect him?"
Cao Cao was a little surprised. After seeing the affirmative look in Xun You's eyes, he nodded, "Let him find a way to see if he can trick Lin Yunwen into going to Wen County."
"Here."
After Xun You responded, he raised his head and looked at Cao Cao, "Sikong, how do you reply to Lu Bu's reply letter?"
Cao Cao stretched out and breathed a long sigh of relief, "What can we do now? The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. If you lose, you have to admit it. The morale of the 30,000-strong army was shaken by the charge of 800 people. Sun Jian really refuses to die with his eyes in peace."
"Yes, Lu Bu still has more than 8,000 prisoners of war from our army in his hands. What's more, we need to join forces to fight against Yuan. If we don't cut off their worries, there will be no peace talks." Xun You also sighed.
"Demoted to the title of Marquis of Yong'an, Zhang Liao will also be given the title of Marquis."
Cao Cao lost his patience, it was so useless, and he couldn't expect help in the future. There was no need to worry about Sun Ce's feelings, and he immediately waved his hand, "Back off."
When the three of them were about to leave, Cao Cao winked at Xiahou Dun, who understood and stayed.
When they were the only two people left in the hall, Cao Cao frowned and asked, "How are Cao Ren, Cao Hong and the others?"
"Captain Mojin led his men to dig almost all of Nanyang. The artifacts were sold for more than 40,000 gold. Zixiao wrote a letter saying that they were going to continue the search in the direction of Hanoi.
Zi Lian searched all over Runan and got more than 30,000 gold. He was going to Lu and Chen to have another look. "
Touching gold is not a glorious thing, so not many people know about it, except for the Xiahou brothers, Cao Ren and Cao Hong.
More than 70,000 gold is not a large sum of money, but it can be of great help to Cao Cao, who is currently poor.
You must know that this Eastern Expedition failed to get any support from the family. It was a forced war. In the end, he had to swallow this bitter pill, which was enough for him.
Next, there was a period of more than half a year to rest and prepare to deal with Yuan Shao. However, the cost of expanding the armaments was astronomical, and it would not be possible without the support of the noble family.
He knew very well that Yuan Shao's army, not to mention cavalry and heavy armor, would be a headache to deal with more than a thousand chariots.
In addition, we don’t know how long this battle will last, and all of this requires money.
In addition, he is also worried that successive defeats may cause many people in the rear to start to flatter Yuan Shao. How much strength can these people count on to support him.
The biggest crisis comes from the generals. Yuan Shao now claims to have three to four hundred thousand armor and no less than a thousand generals, but he has lost too many powerful generals under his command.
Even Yu Jin was involved in the battle in Guangling. He exhaled weakly and murmured: "Yuan Rang, why did Wen Ze betray me?"
"People's hearts are unpredictable, brother, don't be sad."
Xiahou Dun didn't know how to comfort Cao Cao, but his sigh reminded him. I remembered something."
Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiahou Dun, waiting for him to continue.
"I passed through Runan when I came here. I heard from Zi Lian that there was a man with strong martial arts among the newly recruited soldiers in the city. Zi Lian asked him to become a garrison commander."
That's it?
Cao Cao looked disappointed and asked what good news it was, but Xiahou Dun continued: "Zi Lian told me that what he admires most about this man is not his martial arts, but the fact that the tribe he led has grown by leaps and bounds. He is obviously from the same group. New recruits, the soldiers he brings are elite in appearance and training."
Cao Cao let out a light sigh and immediately became interested. He knew Cao Hong, and the person who could give him such a high evaluation must be someone with real talent.
Moreover, it is not easy to take a new soldier and show him an elite appearance after a period of time.
"What's the name of that person who has such a strange thing happening?"
Um. Xiahou Dun scratched his head and said with a smile: "At that time, I just asked about touching Captain Jin. I didn't pay much attention to this person."
Cao Cao couldn't help but roll his eyes at him, you really don't know what the situation is now.
He took a deep breath, and there was a trace of sadness in his eyes, "There are so many people who can lead soldiers in the military camp. It is really necessary for someone new to take over. Write this person to see me immediately."
"Here!"
After Xiahou Dun responded, he was stopped by Cao Cao before he could walk out of the door of the council hall, "Forget it, Lu Bu will release him soon anyway. I'll take a detour to take a look when I return."
Cao Cao felt that at this time, it was still necessary to show the attitude of a polite corporal.
A genius in military training. Cao Cao murmured and repeated these words with excitement in his eyes.
(End of chapter)
