After three days, Cao Cao buried Lu Boxe's family. He also collected all the assets of Lu Boshe's family and used them as funds for his own rebellion against Dong Zhuo.
But he clearly knew that if he only relied on these funds. The soldiers and horses he recruited were not enough to compete with Dong Zhuo, and he had to be famous.
Then Cao Cao found his father again and said, "Father, now I want to fight against thieves."
"So I want to spend all my wealth and recruit volunteers to attack Dong Zhuo."
"I hope father can help me!"
Cao Song was not an indecisive person, so he said to Cao Cao: "In that case, then just do it."
"It's just that if you want to raise an army to fight against thieves, your family's assets alone are far from enough to compete with Dong Zhuo."
"Father, I have two suggestions here. The first is that you issue a corrective edict. Call on all the princes and ministers in the world to attack Dong Zhuo together."
"And the second one, we have a family here. The owner's surname is Wei Minghong. This man is generous with his wealth. The family's assets are more than ten thousand yuan. If you can get his support."
"If you do these two things together, your crusade against Dong Zhuo will be more effective with less effort."
Perhaps, Cao Song had expected such a day. That's why he helped Cao Cao think of a way out, but at this moment, Cao Song no longer had the glory of being the head of the family in his eyes.
Perhaps it was because his adopted brother Lu Boshe died, and the person who killed his adopted brother happened to be his favorite son.
So not being able to avenge his sworn brother may be Cao Song's biggest regret in his life.
Cao Cao also saw his father's exhaustion, but he could not regret it. After all, everything has happened, and it is destined to be irreversible.
But at this moment, Cao Cao no longer cares so much. If he doesn't raise troops to fight against the thieves as soon as possible. Then his family would be threatened, so Cao Cao said to his father: "My son, thank you for your help!"
He immediately withdrew, and then began to prepare a banquet at his home. After all these things are ready, go to Wei Hong's house in person.
After inviting Wei Hong to his home, Cao Cao, who had been drinking for three rounds, said to Wei Hong: "Now the world will be in chaos, and the country of Han Dynasty is in danger."
"Grand Master Dong Zhuo's dictatorship has brought disaster to the country and the people, and he has deceived the emperor and ignored his superiors."
"People all over the world are complaining about this and are dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo. Although I am willing to punish thieves, I have insufficient financial resources."
"It's not enough to recruit righteous soldiers. I heard that you are a loyal and righteous man. So today Cao Cao boldly asks Duke Wei to help me!"
Cao Cao finished speaking, in order to make Wei Hong believe in him. He even knelt down, and Wei Hong was indeed a loyal person. After seeing Cao Cao kneel down, he immediately pulled him up and said, "Although I am not talented, Meng De, you have this intention today."
"Then I am willing to support you with half of my family wealth. I hope Mengde will not forget his original intention and defeat the Dong thief. Return the country to a bright and prosperous world, so that the people will no longer be displaced."
Cao Cao originally thought that it would be a good thing for the other party to use part of his money to support him, but what he didn't expect was that Wei Hong would use half of his family wealth as soon as he took action.
This also made Cao Cao overjoyed, and he thought that his recruitment of volunteers would be smoother in the future, so he said: "Duke Wei is truly a righteous man. I would like to express my gratitude to you."
And this was indeed the case. After Wei Hong returned home, he asked someone to give half of his assets to Cao Cao. As an asset for him to raise troops to recruit volunteers, Cao Cao lived up to expectations and started recruiting volunteers with a piece of white cloth at the gate of Chenliu City with the word "loyalty and righteousness" written on it.
In just a few days, thousands of people were willing to be recruited. This also made Cao Cao very happy, and his family members, led by Cao Hong and Cao Ren, brought thousands of troops to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao's father's family was from Xiahou's family. Therefore, Xiahou Yuan and his brother Xiahou Dun also came after hearing the news, and helped Cao Cao recruit more than 2,000 volunteers on the way.
In the past few days, what made Cao Cao most happy was that Cao Cao had recruited two generals here. One person's name is Li Dian, whose courtesy name is Mancheng. He is a Confucian general, and Cao Cao currently lacks such talents.
The other one was from the former Yangping Wei Kingdom, with a surname of Le and a given name of Jin and Wenqian. Although this person is not as good as Li Dian, he is also very skilled in martial arts.
Cao Cao also gave each of them a general position, which is also Cao Cao's biggest capital at present.
On the other side, Yuan Shao, who was far away in Jizhou, learned that Cao Cao had issued a false edict to attack Dong Zhuo. He immediately called together the civil servants and generals under his command and said: "Now Cao Cao is recruiting rebels in Chenliu to attack Dong Zhuo, and I also want to go with him."
"Do you have any suggestions?"
At this time, Ju Shou came under Yuan Shao's command without any surprise. This is also the person Yuan Wei sent to Yuan Shao. Of course, this is the reason why Yuan Shu does not want to compete with Yuan Shao.
Jushou said: "My lord, in my opinion, Cao Cao issued a false edict to punish the thieves, dividing the territory of the Han Dynasty into towns."
"So, this time the lord only needs to lead an army of 30,000 people to the place where the alliance will be held."
"Furthermore, in order to preserve the combat effectiveness of the army, the lord only needs to lead 10,000 elite soldiers and 20,000 new soldiers, even if the pursuit of thieves fails."
"My lord's power here will not be damaged. As long as he returns to Jizhou and develops steadily for a period of time, he can make up for the losses."
And Yuan Shao did exactly what Ju Shou said, and he didn't even take the general in his hand with him.
Moreover, the corrective edict issued by Cao Cao also arrived in various states and counties during this period. It read: Cao Cao and others would like to declare to the world with great righteousness that Dong Zhuo despised heaven and earth, destroyed the country and killed the king. They messed up the harem and harmed the living beings. Cruel and unkind, full of sins. Today, according to a secret edict from the emperor, a large number of righteous soldiers have been gathered, vowing to wipe out the Central Plains and slay the evil forces. Hope Xingyishi will vent public anger. Support the royal family and save the people. When the document is paid, it can be implemented quickly.
And this payment document was now on Yuan Shu's desk. And the people sitting on the right below are Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xu Chu, and Dian Wei.
Sitting on the left are Jia Xu and Cheng Yu.
They were discussing this matter at the moment, and everything they had discussed before had been overturned. Yuan Shu knew that he also knew from the news from his dead soldiers that Cao Cao had summoned at least twice as many soldiers as before in history.
In the novel and history, Cao Cao's troops originally only numbered about five thousand, but now they have at least fifteen thousand, which greatly exceeded Yuan Shu's expectations. In other words, this time the eighteen princes will gather together, except for Liu Bei, he may have only two thousand troops.
The rest of the princes have at least 10,000 soldiers and horses. If the dignified Nanyang Prefecture Mu only leads 2,000 troops, it is inevitable that he will be criticized.
And among them, he also planned the jade seal that passed down the country. No one would refuse to accept the eight characters of longevity and longevity.
Therefore, there is no room for mistakes this time.
Yuan Shu: "Everyone, please share your opinions. We are all our own people here."
"There's no need to be too formal, just say whatever comes to mind."
Yuan Shu has spoken, so they don't have so many worries. Cheng Yu immediately spoke: "Dong Zhuo's army only has 150,000 troops, but Hulao Pass has been easy to defend and difficult to attack since ancient times."
"Moreover, the army gathered by the heroes of the world this time includes eighteen princes. Not counting the lord himself, there are seventeen more."
"With an army of nearly 400,000, this is nearly three times the strength of Dong Zhuo. If nothing unexpected happens, it will only be a matter of time before Hulao Pass is breached, and Dong Zhuo will definitely escape with the Young Emperor and leave Luoyang."
"So, I think the lord should lead 10,000 elite troops. Five hundred iron pagoda cavalry is enough. When Hulao Pass is broken, Dong Zhuo will definitely burn Luoyang."
"And this is my lord's opportunity. When everyone else goes to hunt down Dong Zhuo, most likely what my lord wants will be in Luoyang City."
"In this way, everything can basically be guaranteed."
After hearing what Cheng Yu said, Yuan Shu felt that it was outrageous. Because Cheng Yu's analysis was not wrong at all. Dong Zhuo in history was indeed defeated and fled.
Moreover, Luoyang was burned down, and the rumored jade seal was also obtained by Gongsun Zan. Yuan Shu's goal this time was also the imperial seal. As for Dong Zhuo's life and death, he had nothing to do with it.
Yuan Shu: "In addition to what Cheng Yu said, does anyone have any better ideas?"
Jia Xu didn't want to say anything because he knew Cheng Yu's method was already very good. If you want to kill them all, you can only mobilize more troops. If you don't want to, 10,000 elite soldiers will be enough.
And there are five hundred iron pagodas, so basically there will be no mistakes. Only Jia Xu was more worried about things in Nanyang, even though he said he wouldn't be attacked by surprise.
But during this period, many noble families appeared in Nanyang. It was these noble people that Jia Xu was worried about, and he didn't know what to do.
After all, without Yuan Shu's approval, who would dare to punish these people privately.
While Jia Xu was still thinking, Yuan Shu suddenly said: "Jia Xu, after I leave, Nanyang will leave it to you and Xu Chudianwei."
"During this period, many nobles have come to the city. Those who don't follow the rules should be dealt with."
"Those who are willing to abide by the rules, as long as they do not break the law, let them go. Some time ago, my wife, maid Xiaocui, went out to buy items and was almost forcibly abducted by a member of the family."
"When I come back, I don't want any earthworm in this family to be alive."
After Yuan Shu finished speaking, he took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with him. And Cheng Yu went out to organize his troops and set off for the place of alliance, and Jia Xu also got to know his lord again.
It turns out that he is as ruthless as ever. Although everyone usually talks and laughs together, once the bottom line is touched. He will not give in at all, and this is what he wants.
