Reborn in the Three Kingdoms, I stole Liu Bei's uncle

Yuan Shao had seen Liu Yu's insidious and cunning appearance. It was thanks to Liu Yu's tricks that the allied forces were able to not lose the upper hand in the battle in front of Hulao Pass.

Yuan Shao had no interest in Xu You's plan. On the one hand, as Ju Su had said, the thought of attacking Luoyang and rescuing the emperor was not very promising.

Alone and deep in the enemy's territory, facing a monster like Liu Yu, it was difficult for Yuan Shao to have confidence in winning.

A more important aspect is that Yuan Shao was not interested in the emperor at all.

When Liu Yu led his troops to attack Yuzhou, Ju Su advised him to send someone to lead the troops to attack Luoyang directly and bring back the emperor.

Yuan Shao disagreed with this proposal from the bottom of his heart.

Emperor Liu Xie was established by Dong Zhuo. Who was Dong Zhuo? A traitor to the state. How could an emperor established by such a traitor count?

The Han Dynasty had existed for four hundred years and was already on its deathbed. Even if Yuan Shao recognized the legitimacy of the emperor, how much influence could he have?

In Yuan Shao's opinion, the reputation of the Yuan family, with three officials in four generations, seems to be no weaker than that of the current Han Dynasty.

"A wise man would not risk his life alone. Ziyuan's plan is too risky and cannot be implemented. The key to this battle is Uncle Liu. As long as we capture him, we can win without fighting. Between the emperor and Uncle Liu, I think we should capture Uncle Liu first."

This sentence gave the final say to Xu You's strategy.

Xu You felt somewhat unhappy. Uncle Liu was a very important figure. Whenever he went out to fight, he was surrounded by brave generals and soldiers like clouds and rain. How could you catch him easily?

Yuan Shao is a good person in every way except for the arrogance hidden in his bones that makes people helpless.

The basis of this arrogance is the Yuan family's background, which makes him unconsciously ignore the Han Dynasty.

"My lord, even if we have decided to attack Uncle Liu in the spring, there are two things that must be done as a matter of urgency."

"Ziyuan, please tell me about it."

"Cao Cao in Yanzhou has a force of 100,000 soldiers. His soldiers are skilled and brave. If we can win him over and make him serve the Lord, we will have a better chance of defeating Uncle Liu."

Yuan Shao had been thinking about the problem of Cao Cao. He had an indescribable feeling towards this former childhood friend.

Perhaps it was because they were too familiar with each other. Although Cao Cao was always very polite when he saw him, Yuan Shao always sensed, intentionally or unintentionally, that Cao Cao despised him.

It was this feeling that made Yuan Shao unable to figure out Cao Cao's true thoughts. From a personal perspective, Yuan Shao was confident that he could get Cao Cao to join him, but Cao Cao was a man with great ambitions, so Yuan Shao was not sure whether he would have other ideas.

"Ziyuan, Mengde, the three of us are old friends. It is up to you to persuade Cao Cao to surrender. Do you have the confidence, Ziyuan?"

Xu You laughed and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely fulfill my mission."

"This matter has been settled. I wonder what the other thing Ziyuan mentioned is?"

Xu You bowed and said, "My lord, any war must have a legitimate reason. Now that the war is imminent, you can arrange for the talented people in Jizhou to write a punitive manifesto. As long as the manifesto is well written, it can be worth 100,000 soldiers."

"Ziyuan, although we have agreed to attack Emperor Liu when the spring comes, it is still some time away. It is too early to issue a proclamation to suppress the rebellion."

Xu You said: "My lord, Uncle Liu is quite famous in the world, and is known as a man of great talent. If you want this manifesto to work, you must have a great talent to write it. The most urgent task is to find this great talent among the scholars, so as not to delay the war in the future."

Xu You's meaning was very clear, that is, to let Yuan Shao select talents from among the scholars to prepare for the future release of the manifesto. Yuan Shao pondered for a moment and felt that there was some truth in it. He turned to Ju Su and asked: "Gong Lu, you are mature and prudent, what do you think about this matter?"

Ju Su bowed and said calmly: "My Lord, Jizhou has been full of talented people since ancient times. Why do we need to select talents in advance for a mere proclamation?"

"Gong Lu seems to have a good plan. He must have the answer in his mind."

"Chen Lin, Chen Kongzhang is extremely talented. The brush in his hand is like a long sword. Whenever he strikes, there will definitely be an effect."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded and smiled.

"Kong Zhang's talent is more than enough for his use."

Xu You's face looked a little gloomy. He had been in Jizhou for a long time, so he knew that Kong Chenlin was capable of doing this job. The reason why he brought it up at this time was to influence the scholars for Yuan Shao's plan to attack Luoyang.

The people discussing matters today are all Yuan Shao's trusted ministers. Even though Yuan Shao agreed today with certainty, it is possible that after a few days, Yuan Shao will feel that the situation is not right and change his mind, deciding to stick to Jizhou.

But now that Yuan Shao's plan to attack Luoyang has been made public among the scholars, the outcome will be different.

Faced with the huge aristocratic families in Jizhou, no matter how fickle Yuan Shao was, he could not just sit there and watch.

Ju Su knew Xu You's thoughts clearly.

Unfortunately, he couldn't say it clearly, and could only speak out to defuse Xu You's attack.

Although Xu You's plan was temporarily disrupted by Ju Shou, he did not feel any joy in his heart.

There are too many treacherous ministers around my lord. Not only do I have to deal with military and political matters, but I also need to cope with the attacks of these treacherous ministers. It's so tiring!

After this meeting, Xu You rode in a carriage to Yanzhou despite the cold weather. His purpose this time was very simple, which was to persuade Cao Cao to surrender.

After traveling for several days, the carriage finally arrived at Cao Cao's mansion.

Xu You ordered someone to deliver a visiting card, and not long after, Cao Cao hurried over there.

He walked forward, took Xu You's hand, and said calmly: "Ziyuan, I haven't seen you for a long time. You are still as charming as ever. Today, let's get drunk and not go home to express the feelings in our hearts."

Xu You felt a little warm in his heart. He didn't expect that Cao Cao could still clearly remember their friendship after so many years.

After three rounds of drinks, Xu You directly stated the purpose of this trip.

"Meng De, the situation in the world is becoming clearer now. My master and Uncle Liu will have to fight. Meng De is a hero of the time. My master has specially ordered me to come and invite him."

Cao Cao's face remained expressionless, but he was very happy in his heart. According to his plan, he had originally planned to go and join Yuan Shao, but now Yuan Shao lost his patience and took the initiative to come to him.

In this situation, if Cao Cao does not raise the price, is he still Cao Cao?

"Ziyuan, you and I are close friends, so I won't hide it from you. Two days ago, Emperor Liu sent someone to persuade me to submit to him. The conditions he brought were high positions and generous salaries, ten thousand dan of food and grass, a thousand sets of armor, and a number of horses and weapons. As long as I can defeat Benchu, he will share the four northern states with me.

I am very touched by the sincerity of Emperor Liu. If it were not for the friendship between you and me that day, I would have led my troops to Luoyang City by now."