Chapter 370 Each side

Zhong Yao, courtesy name Yuanchang, was born into the Zhong family of Yingchuan. He was selected as a filial and honest official and served as the Chief Justice and the Imperial Court Assistant Minister.

In the third year of Chuping, Cao Cao sent an envoy to Chang'an to submit a letter. At that time, Li Jue and Guo Si held the emperor hostage. They believed that Cao Cao belonged to the Guandong coalition and was an enemy of Dong Zhuo, so they discussed detaining the envoy.

At this time Zhong Yao advised, saying that now all the princes in the world have different intentions, only Cao Cao is loyal to the Han Dynasty. If you reject his kindness, who else in the world will dare to follow the emperor?

After hearing this, Li Jue and Guo Si thought it made sense, so they treated the envoy well, and Cao Cao was able to establish contact with the Emperor Liu Xie.

After hearing about this, Cao Cao asked Xun Yu about Zhong Yao's character. Xun Yu praised Zhong Yao highly, so Cao Cao began to make friends with Zhong Yao privately.

Cao Cao was very eager for talents. At that time, most of the nobles in the world attached themselves to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, resulting in relatively few talents under Cao Cao. Therefore, he had to act like a thirsty person and try to contact as many people as possible who were worth making friends with.

It has to be said that Cao Cao had a very sharp eye for people. Many of his subordinates later became successful and famous.

Two years ago, Cao Cao had tried to win over Yuan Xi, but Yuan Xi did not show any extraordinary strengths at that time, and Yuan Xi casually dismissed the two concubines sent by Cao Cao, and the matter was never resolved.

When Liu Xie saw Zhong Yao speaking, he asked, "What is your plan, my dear minister?"

Zhong Yao looked around and said, "Your Majesty, General Dong is loyal and devoted. The Baibo bandits are just taking this opportunity to eliminate dissidents."

"Without the general, the royal family and the ministers will all be on the chopping block!"

"But there is always a way out. Although the enemy army is powerful now, there are loyal officials of the Han Dynasty outside the city, waiting to come to the rescue!"

"Yanzhou Mu Cao Mengde!"

"If the emperor issues an edict ordering them to expel the Baibo bandits, then the emperor's carriage will be safe!"

Liu Xie heard this and thought of how Cao Cao had sent people to make friends with him a few years ago, so he nodded and said, "My dear minister, what you said makes sense."

He turned to the others and asked, "What do you think?"

Several people present were Liu Xie's trusted confidants, one of whom had just defected to Liu Xie a few months ago.

Dong Zhao.

After he left Yuan Xi and defected to Zhang Yang, he returned the seal and ribbon to the court through Zhang Yang and was granted the title of Cavalry Commandant. When Emperor Xian of Han returned east and arrived in Anyi, Dong Zhao followed Zhang Yang to greet him and was appointed as Counselor.

The reason why he was valued by Liu Xie was that when he was in Henei, he persuaded Zhang Yang to make friends with the Han court. Zhang Yang's bringing food and clothing to welcome the emperor this time was also facilitated by Dong Zhao.

So Liu Xie returned the favor by treating Dong Zhao as his confidant and making important use of him.

Dong Zhao was now feeling conflicted. The only request Yuan Xi gave him was to disrupt Cao Cao's plan to some extent without being exposed.

But in this situation, if he opposed Zhong Yao, he would definitely be suspected, and Dong Zhao also had his own ideas.

Because Cao Cao also made friends with him privately!

The reason why Dong Zhao was so hesitant was that he was still wavering in choosing between Cao Cao and the Yuan family.

After all, Yuan Xi kept him for a year and treated him very well, but in Dong Zhao's view, there was something he valued more.

The rise and fall of the Han Dynasty.

Now that he is a Han minister, he naturally has to give priority to the Han Dynasty. What he has to weigh now is which one of Cao Cao and Yuan Xi is more loyal to the emperor.

Thinking of this, he said, "Minister Zhong's words make sense."

"No matter what Cao Gong is like, his ancestors were all loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty. He is definitely much better than the Baibo generals who ignore the majesty of the emperor."

Liu Xie listened and nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone below him say, "I heard that Cao Cao was good friends with Li Jue and Guo Si?"

"If that is the case, what should we do if they drive away the Baibo bandits, turn around and open the city gates to welcome Li Jue and Guo Si into the city?"

"He and Yuan Shu are both in Yuzhou, but there have been very few conflicts in the past two years. Is there any collusion?"

"If he holds the emperor hostage and hands him over to Yuan Shu, who can save the emperor's safety?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this and looked at the person who spoke.

Kong Rong.

After he left Liu Bei, he took the route through Jizhou and headed west with his family to seek refuge with Emperor Liu Xie.

He was originally going to Chang'an, but he got the news that the emperor was going back to Luoyang, so he went to Luoyang in advance to wait, but halfway there he received the news that the emperor's carriage was being chased.

Seeing that waiting was no use, he headed north from Luoyang and rushed to Anyi to meet Liu Xie.

Kong Rong was a famous scholar of the time. His arrival was a timely help to the declining reputation of the Han Dynasty. Liu Xie was delighted and appointed him as the General of Craftsmen, and later promoted him to the position of Shaofu.

Kong Rong was a man of profound knowledge. Whenever Liu Xie visited or summoned him for an interview at a court meeting, Kong Rong would cite evidence and make decisions. Most of the ministers and officials were unable to get a word in. The contrast was very clear.

When everyone heard Kong Rong say this, they all felt that it was natural, because when it came to Kong Rong, he had many grievances with Cao Cao.

It was certainly the Yuan family who caused his loss of Beihai, but Liu Bei's subsequent loss of Xia Pi was a tacit agreement between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, which made Kong Rong very resentful.

Of course, a more important reason may be that Bian Rang, a famous scholar from Yanzhou who was killed by Cao Cao, was as famous as Kong Rong, and the two were good friends. Bian Rang's killing made Kong Rong extremely hostile to Cao Cao, and he opposed him in every way.

Seeing Kong Rong criticizing Cao Cao, Zhong Yao said, "While what Lord Wen Ju said makes sense, who else can save the current situation except Lord Cao?"

At this time, Dong Cheng, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head and said, "I have something to say."

"We got the news yesterday that Marquis Wen and the Youzhou Army have joined forces to welcome the emperor's carriage. They will arrive within three to five days!"

"What!" Liu Xie was shocked. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

To Liu Xie, Lu Bu was still very loyal. Due to his character of being content with a small fortune, he never thought of monopolizing power and never interfered with any of Liu Xie's power to act.

Now that he heard that Lu Bu was coming to help, he was both happy and angry. He was happy that Lu Bu would be a capable assistant, but he was angry that Dong Cheng had kept the secret from him. What did that mean?

Dong Cheng hesitated and said, "It would be fine if it was just Marquis Wen, but the Youzhou Army also came with him!"

Liu Xie didn't react for a moment and asked in confusion: "What Youzhou Army?"

Dong Cheng said, "He was originally the second son of Yuan Shao, and is now the head of a branch of Yuan Ji, a fierce tiger of the Yuan family!"

"He teamed up with Wen Hou!"

Liu Xie was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head when he heard this. "The fierce tiger of the Yuan family who drove away Liu Yuzhou, killed Gongsun Zan, defeated the Black Mountain Army, and repelled Yuan Shu's army, Yuan Xi?"

"I didn't give him an edict, what is he doing here?"

Dong Cheng could only say: "I really don't know, so I didn't dare to tell the emperor in time."

When Liu Xie said Yuan Xi's name, everyone in the hall had different expressions, especially Kong Rong, whose face turned red instantly, as if he remembered something unpleasant.

Even Fu Shou, who was sitting nearby, had a gleam of curiosity in his eyes. It was because Yuan Xi's reputation as a fierce tiger had been growing over the past two years, and stories about him were widely circulated among the nobles. Among the younger generation, no one could overshadow him.

Of course, many of the rumors about this person are negative. It is said that this person is ruthless, scheming, and especially lustful!

Fu Shou thought about those true and false rumors and was quite curious about what kind of person this person was.

Zhong Yao suddenly found that the situation was somewhat out of control. As far as he knew, Cao Cao had bribed Dong Zhao and Dong Cheng privately, but now these two people were not speaking clearly and it was obvious that their attitude was not firm.

He knew he had no choice but to speak, so he said, "Heavenly Family!"

"The Yuan family has done something very illegal!"

"Yuan Shao is trying to establish another emperor, and Yuan Shu wants to establish himself. How can we trust this son of the Yuan family?"

He fully expected Kong Rong to refute, but to his great surprise, Kong Rong showed an expression of approval, "That fierce tiger of the Yuan family is indeed a piece of shit."

"To me, Yuan Xi and Cao Cao are equally untrustworthy!"

After hearing this, Zhong Yao felt a little dizzy. Why did Kong Rong bite everyone he saw? Which side was he on?

At this moment, a strange thought arose in Zhong Yao's mind. Could it be that Kong Rong just wanted to scold someone?

Otherwise, how could we kill one thousand enemies but lose eight hundred of our own?

Liu Xie was thinking about something else at this time. A hint of sarcasm appeared on his face. "My dear ministers are much more informed than I am."

"Anyi is a remote place, but you are able to know the news from hundreds of miles away. It's really not easy."

After these words were spoken, everyone in the audience looked embarrassed. Liu Xie was not stupid, so he naturally saw that they had all taken sides early on.

Liu Xie's meaning is very clear. You can have your own selfish desires, but it's better for everyone to say it openly. Don't use me as a gift to please the princes for your own selfish reasons!

Except for Kong Rong, everyone had their own ulterior motives. After a heated debate, it was decided that Dong Cheng would lead his troops out of the city to the south, taking the emperor's edict to meet Cao Cao, waiting for an opportunity to deal with the Baibo Army.

Kong Rong went out of the city to the east, carrying the emperor's edict to meet Lu Bu's troops, ordering them to rush to Anyi to stop Li Jue and Guo Si.

On the surface, it seems that everyone is treated equally, but in reality, those who stand on Cao Cao's side overwhelm Lu Bu!

Because the Baibo Army was in the city, and Li Jue and Guo Si were outside the city, it was very likely that Lu Bu would not be able to fight well and was taken advantage of by Cao Cao!

When Dong Zhao saw this result, he felt a little guilty, but there was nothing he could do. Among the officials around the emperor today, their impressions of Lu Bu and Yuan were far worse than those of Cao Cao.

On the one hand, this is due to Yuan's Lu Bu himself, but another important factor is that the power cultivated by Cao Teng in the past cannot be underestimated in the current Han court.

Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng was a eunuch. He had a good relationship with Emperor Shun of Han and served as a eunuch. He also successfully supported Emperor Huan of Han, thus ushering in an era of eunuch group's monopoly. They also controlled the selection of officials and became the sponsor of almost most of the scholars in the world.

Although it was quite shameful for scholars that their sponsor was a eunuch, what did face matter when it came to becoming an official?

In this way, Cao Teng made almost all the scholars in the world owe him a favor. If the father could not repay the favor, his son would repay it. This is why Cao Cao had someone to rely on in the future.

In contrast, Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji were originally powerful, but were killed by Dong Zhuo. After Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu fled, they wanted to establish their own independence. Even if the Yuan family disciples had this intention, they did not dare to express it openly.

Kong Rong left the palace and went home and said to his wife, "I am going to leave the city now."