Yingchuan County, Xuchang. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

This obscure and inconspicuous small city, which originally belonged to Yingchuan County, has now become the new political center of the Han Empire.

About less than a year ago, Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty finally escaped from the control of Li Guo and other Xiliang princes, and took the children of the concubines and hundreds of civil and military officials, and after a lot of hardships, it was easy to return to Luoyang and return to the former capital of the Han Empire.

Who would have thought that at this time, Luoyang was barren, sparsely populated, and the palace was broken, and the Son of Heaven and a large group of concubines and courtiers, not to mention having enough to eat, even a house that could shelter from the wind and rain and was intact could not be lived.

Most of the princes around Luoyang are busy fighting for territory, even if they are only separated by a river from Luoyang, according to Jizhou, the most generous prince in the world, Yuan Shao, also ignores this down-and-out son of heaven, and does not even give a stone of grain.

Only Cao Cao of Yanzhou, under the persuasion of the strategists, led his troops into Luoyang to meet the Son of Heaven and sent a large amount of grain and grass.

Cao Cao's charcoal in the snow moved the Son of Heaven greatly, and he personally praised Cao Cao as a true loyal minister of the Han family.

Cao Cao's grain was not given in vain, and he took advantage of the trust of the Son of Heaven in him and used Dong Zhao's strategy to move the Son of Heaven to Xuchang, and the banner of righteousness of the successful Son of Heaven was moved to his ruling area.

After mastering the political trump card of the Son of Heaven, talents from all over the world flocked to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao came out with a large number of talents, under the banner of the Son of Heaven, using these talents to invest, decisively developing their own territory, in just less than a year, most of Yuzhou, the eastern part of Sizhou into their own territory, the strength can be said to have increased dramatically.

Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and his strength grew rapidly, which soon caused Yuan Shao's dissatisfaction.

In order to stabilize Yuan Shao, Cao Cao had to give up the official position of general to Yuan Shao, and he himself took charge of the government in the name of Sikong.

On this day, five days after arriving in Xuchang, Mi Zhu went to Sikong Mansion to visit Cao Cao with rich gifts and handwritten letters from pottery merchants.

According to the strategy given by the pottery merchants, Mi Zhu not only spread the news that Lu Bu was powerful and was about to annex Xuzhou in Xuchang, but also publicized Lu Bu's prestige when he passed through Yanzhou on the way to Xuchang.

Mi Zhu's approach quickly paid off, and soon, not only Xuchang, but also most of Yanzhou were spreading, and everyone thought that Lu Bu would take Xuzhou, and then he would return to the Central Plains to seek revenge from Cao Cao.

In view of the fact that more than a year ago, Lu Bu and Cao Cao were inseparable in Yanzhou, and that war almost forced Cao Cao to a dead end, so the rumor that Lu Bu will win Xuzhou naturally cannot but arouse Cao Cao's attention.

Therefore, Cao Cao warmly met with Mi Zhu, praised the importance and respect of the pottery merchant to the imperial court, as for Mi Zhu's request to be named the pottery merchant for Xuzhou, Cao Cao was very calm, did not agree or refuse, just prevaricated under the pretext of asking the Son of Heaven, and then sent Mi Zhu back to the pavilion to rest, waiting for the reply of the Son of Heaven.

As soon as Mi Zhu left, the kind smile on Cao Cao's face disappeared, and Xun Yu and Guo Jia and other confidants and strategists were ordered to come to discuss.

The main hall of Sikong House.

"Fengxiao, you have the world's fine net, but you can tell me, what kind of character is this potter, how Gu has never heard of it before, but he became half of the master of Xuzhou overnight." Cao Cao's scorched face showed strong interest.

The expressions of everyone were equally curious, and they looked at the young man one by one.

He was a little thin, he looked a little weak, his face was white and scary, he was coughing from time to time, and he looked sick.

"Speaking of this potter, it's really interesting, ahem......"

Guo Jia stood up while coughing, wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief, took a deep breath, and said slowly: "This pottery merchant was originally Tao Qian's eldest son, and it was originally rumored that he was mediocre and incompetent, just an idle gentleman, otherwise Tao Qian would not pass on the position of state pastor to Liu Bei, an outsider, before he died, not his own son." ”

At the mention of the potter, Cao Cao secretly clenched his fists, and a trace of hatred burst out of his slightly narrowed eyes.

He will never forget that his father Cao Song was killed by Tao Qian's subordinates, and it was under this pretext that he sent troops to attack Xuzhou several times, killing Xuzhou with a river of blood, Tao Qian was terrified, if it wasn't for Chen Gong's collusion with Lu Bu to attack Yanzhou, maybe he would have taken Xuzhou and killed Tao Qian with his own hands.

"Tao Qian, this old horseman, let him die is really cheap, he ......" Cao Cao scolded regretfully, motioning for Guo Jia to continue.

Guo Jia coughed for a while, calmed down, and Fang continued: "But this potter is not a waste, all kinds of evidence show that he secretly recruited some capable people to be his disciples a long time ago, and when needed, he changed the names of these disciples to the ancients, so that these people could work for him. ”

After a pause, Guo Jia continued: "He was able to capture half of Xuzhou and fight against Lu Bu, it was thanks to him that Liu Bei, who came to Xu Du to defect to Sikong not long ago, and his second brother Guan Yu, it is said that he was also injured by a disciple named Li Guang, a disciple named Li Guang. ”

Guo Jia's words surprised all the Cao Ying strategists present, and there was a lot of discussion for a while, all of them were surprised by this newly emerging potter.

"So, this son of Tao Qian is not a waste?" Cao Cao's fingertips tapped on the desk, and his eyebrows revealed a little disgust.

With Cao Cao's open-mindedness, if it were someone else, he would definitely appreciate it, even if it was an enemy.

Tao Shang was an exception, because he was the son of Cao Cao's enemy who killed his father, and Cao Cao had made a heavy oath to destroy Tao Qian's nine clans to comfort his father's spirit in heaven.

As the so-called father's debt is repaid, Cao Cao failed to kill Tao Qian with his own hands, so he naturally transferred his hatred for Tao Qian to the pottery merchant.

"Not only is he not a waste, but in Jiazhi's opinion, he is also a figure that should not be underestimated."

Guo Jia gave the potters a high evaluation, he has always been very accurate in looking at people, which makes Cao Cao a little ashamed, and now he evaluates the potters like this, naturally he can't help but arouse Cao Cao's attention.

Cao Cao's thick eyebrows condensed slightly, the disgust in his eyes was heavier, and he said coldly: "Since this kid is so good, if Gu Ruo gives him the official position of Xuzhou Mu again, wouldn't it help him to strengthen his wings." ”

"No, Jia thinks that Sikong should give him the position of Xuzhou pastor." Guo Jia's opinion was diametrically opposed to Cao Cao's.

Cao Cao's expression moved, and he raised his hand to Guo Jia, motioning for him to explain his reasons.

Guo Jia's reasons are also very sufficient, he believes that although the potter is a figure, but compared with Lu Bu's strength is still inferior by three points, if he turns a blind eye to the potter's request, it is equivalent to the imperial court acquiescing to Lü Bu's legitimacy of expressing Xuzhou Mu, and indirectly helping Lü Bu increase the weight of annexing Xuzhou.

Therefore, Guo Jia proposed, on the one hand, to accept the request of the pottery merchant, to make him the pastor of Xuzhou, and on the other hand, to make Lu Bu the Taishou of the East China Sea, so that the two of them could kill each other, and Cao operated on the wall to watch, and when they were both defeated, they would reap the benefits of the fisherman.

Cao Cao was originally reluctant to give the potter Xuzhou Mu the position, but after listening to Guo Jia's words, he changed his mind, and even a trace of excitement appeared on his originally gloomy face.

The pottery merchant is Xuzhou Mu, and the governance of Xuzhou is under Pi, but now it is occupied by Lu Bu.

Lu Bu was given the post of Taishou of Donghai, and the county of Donghai County was now in the hands of potters.

"Wonderful, Fengxiao's trick is very clever to add fuel to the fire, just let Lone's two enemies kill each other, and Lone and Er sit and watch a good show." Cao Cao patted the case excitedly, and the corners of his mouth hooked up a mysterious sneer.