In addition to Yuan Shao in the north, Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha in the south, also did two major things.
First, troops entered Jingzhou and forced Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, to death.
Later, soldiers arrived in Nanyang and held a Hongmen banquet to trap and kill Zhang Zi, the prefect of Nanyang.
These two things are both extremely unethical things for Yuezu agents, but they are the norm in today's troubled times in the late Han Dynasty.
Nanyang is Yuan Shu's territory, with a household registration of one million, plus his background of four generations and three princes.
Sun Jian led his troops to join Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu also knew that Sun Jian was brave and brave, and wanted to use him to guard the door for himself.
So the two hit it off and joined forces in Nanyang, becoming the dominant force in the south.
While the Yuan brothers in the north and south were making great plans for their hegemony, Cao Cao in the Central Plains was not idle either.
He was originally one of the eight captains of Xiyuan under Emperor Ling. Because he did not want to join forces with Dong Zhuo, he changed his name and fled Luoyang.
When he arrived at Chenliu, he spent all his wealth and recruited volunteers to expand his strength.
Because Cao Cao raised the white flag of "loyalty", countless days——
The candidates gathered like rain.
Among them were Li Dian and Le Jin.
In addition, brothers Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan of the Xiahou clan each led more than a thousand soldiers to surrender.
Cao Ren and Cao Hong from the Cao clan also led more than a thousand soldiers to surrender.
For a time, Cao Cao's strength gradually grew.
On this day, Cao Cao was handling government affairs in the palace.
Xiahou Dun came to the door.
"Mengde, the filial and honest Weihong from my hometown used his family wealth to buy clothes, armor, flags and banners for our army, and also sent some food."
Cao Cao put down his brush and rubbed his eyebrows.
"There are indeed many loyal and righteous people in this world."
"Mengde, we gathered volunteers in the village originally to attack the traitor Dong Zhuo, but now Sun Yu comes out of the blue and kills the traitor Dong first."
"Now that the imperial court has decided, we are still gathering troops here. What if we are accused by the imperial court of being a rebel?"
Xiahou Dun said worriedly.
"Nowadays, thieves are swarming, treacherous eagles are flying, and I, Cao Cao, am not the only one who has soldiers everywhere and respects himself?"
Cao Cao raised the corners of his lips slightly and laughed softly.
He stood up and took the letter on the table into his hands.
Taking a deep breath, he put his hands behind his hands and sighed:
"Besides, Sun Yu is extremely vicious and evil. He is not necessarily better than Dong Zhuo and his like."
"He has monopolized power in the court, acted arbitrarily and independently, deceived the superiors and deceived the emperor, and deceived the emperor."
"Do you think we should issue a corrective edict, gather the heroes of the world, and raise an army to attack Sun Yu?"
Xiahou Dun frowned slightly, thinking that Sun Yu was becoming more and more powerful in the court, and he had achieved the position of Yafu at a young age.
If you wait a little longer, it is not impossible to become the second Wang Mang.
"What Meng De said is not unreasonable, but Sun Yu is not as violent as Dong Zhuo, and he also has the merits of supporting the royal family."
"Even if we issue a corrective edict, the heroes of the world may not respond."
"No, you don't understand Sun Yu very well!"
Cao Cao curled his lips and said coldly:
"Although Cao has never met Sun Yu, I know very well that this person is extremely cunning, with a kind face and an evil heart!"
"If we don't pay attention to it, the Han Dynasty will definitely change its surname to Sun in the future."
"And if I, Cao Cao, have been living in Han Dynasty for a long time and don't think about serving the country, how am I different from an animal?"
"How do you say this?" Xiahou Dun asked quickly.
"Haven't you heard the rumors?"
Cao Cao's eyes widened, his eyebrows stood up, and he became angrier as he spoke.
"There are rumors in the market that this Sun Yu actually included all the daughters of civil and military officials in his palace as maids."
"What's even more hateful is that Sun Yu not only coerced the emperor, but also bullied the queen mother and occupied the Tang concubine!"
"He has a hand in the emperor's harem!"
"Do you think he is hateful? Ah? He is hateful!"
boom!
Cao Cao yelled loudly and punched the desk hard.
The pen and paper on the table fell to the floor.
In a moment,
Cao Cao's face returned to calmness, and he knelt down to pick up the papers and pens on the ground one by one.
Then he looked at Xiahou Dun and said calmly:
"Yuan Rang, do you know?"
"I, Cao Cao, hate most in my life those who seduce other people's wives!"
"So today I will issue a corrective edict no matter what, gather the righteous soldiers, and attack the Sun traitors!"
With that said, he handed the letter in his arms to Xiahou Dun.
Xiahou Dun browsed quickly.
"It's just that Sun Yu has not made any serious mistakes since he took office. We have issued a corrective edict. How many princes in the world will respond?"
"Hahaha."
Cao Cao raised his head and laughed, "Yuan Rang, you are too naive."
He clasped his hands behind his back and looked toward the sky:
"No matter whether it is Dong Zhuo or Sun Yu who is in power in the court now, all the princes in the world will respond."
"They just need an excuse to raise troops."
"However, what you said is not entirely unreasonable. We do need a sufficient reason to attack Thief Sun."
Xiahou Dun hurriedly asked Cao Cao what he thought.
Cao Cao pondered for a long time and raised his head:
"In terms of public morality, Sun Yu acted arbitrarily and independently. He bullied the emperor at the top and the ministers at the bottom."
"In terms of personal ethics, Sun Yu liked other people's wives, interfered with the emperor's harem, and occupied the queen mother of the dynasty."
"In this case, there should be sufficient reason for the heroes of the world to gather as volunteers to punish his unkindness."
Xiahou Dun nodded, but still hesitated:
"It's just that these two items are written by our wishful thinking, and the world may not be willing to believe it."
"The people are ignorant after all. The truth is not in the hands of the masses, but in the hands of a few people, that is, those in power."
Cao Cao replied.
The common people have information cocoons, and the sources of information they receive can be completely controlled by those in power.
"If it doesn't work, let's make up some more dirty stuff for Sun Yu."
"For example, he was wanted by the court in his early years. During his escape, he fled to the house of his father's best friend. The old man gave him food and drink. Not only did he not thank him, but he also had the old man's family exterminated because he suspected that others might report him to the government."
"For another example, Sun Yu did not hesitate to dig and rob graves in order to raise military funds."
"Also, when he was fighting, there was not enough food and grass, and his morale was low. In order to calm his morale, he framed the grain transport officer and killed him."
"The most shameless thing is that in order to vent his personal anger, Sun Yu often massacres the city, resulting in ten houses in the local area being empty, which simply destroys humanity."
"Do you think this dirty information is enough for the heroes of the world to rise up and fight against the Sun thief?"
Xiahou Dun was dumbfounded when he heard this. He didn't expect Meng De to be so good at compiling dirty information.
"That's enough, that's enough, no matter if it's true or not."
"I'm going to go find the copyist in the village right now and ask him to make thousands of copies of Sun Yu's dark history, and then publish them to the world."
"Not urgent."
Cao Cao shouted to Xiahou Dun to stop him.
"It's only right to publish this memorandum against thieves first."
"Here."
Xiahou Dun took the message prepared by Cao Cao and conveyed it to all counties.
His message read:
"I would like to declare to the world with great righteousness——"
"Sun Yu despised heaven and earth, acted arbitrarily and arbitrarily; he defiled the harem, and his crime should not be punished."
"Today, according to the emperor's secret edict, we have gathered a large number of righteous soldiers, vowing to drive away the traitors and vent public anger together."
"Support the Han Dynasty and save the Li Shu."
"When the message arrives, it can be implemented quickly!"
