Xu Du, Prime Minister's Mansion.

Cao Cao passed the letter written by Cai Mao to the strategists, and couldn't help but sneer: "Xiangyang Cai Mao wrote a letter to Benxiang, recommending Lai Gong to Benxiang as the assassin of Jiaozhou, and vaguely promised Benxiang in the letter that he would definitely defect to Benxiang in the future, but how dare Cai Deqi deceive Benxiang?" Do you think that you do not know your calculations? Hmph, you vainly try to use the power of the true phase to fight the Kuai heterogeneity, so that the Ru Cai family will be dominant, and even if you return to the original phase, the true phase will have to rely on you, and it is inevitable to give you the position of Jingzhou assassin. But the prime minister can watch the Ru family grow and be indifferent? This is not what you want. ”

But he saw Cheng Yu and said: "Prime Minister, this matter must not be, then Cai Mao asks the Prime Minister in times of crisis, if the Prime Minister does not, I am afraid that Cai Mao will definitely be suspicious in his heart, and it may be difficult to return to the Prime Minister in the future." For the sake of a state and the loss of a Jingzhou, the subordinates thought it was not worth stealing. ”

Cao Cao laughed and said, "Zhongde's words are wrong. Cai Mao is now conspiring to abolish Chang Liyoung, and he has long been incompatible with Liu Qi, but he didn't expect Liu Qi to turn into a phoenix now, establish prestige in Jingzhou, and have a different degree of help, Cai Mao is difficult to shake his status, and he sees Liu Qi's strength in his heart, and his heart is more and more uneasy, and finally he can only helplessly defect to his own appearance, since Cai Mao is the general under the account of this prime minister sooner or later, why should this minister sit back and watch Cai's dominance, so that it will be difficult for me to control it in the future? ”

But the prime minister should not refuse Cai Mao so much, now Cai Mao is lost, and he is worried that Liu Qi will be difficult to control, so he proposed that Lai Gong should be appointed as the assassin of Jiaozhou, in order to join forces with him to fight against Liu Qi. As for Cai Mao, a trivial matter, once he returns to the prime minister and has his own strategy to control him, why should the prime minister worry? Cheng Yu arched his hand and said again.

But Cao Cao still didn't think so, and said with a smile: "Although Lai Gong is loyal and brave, he may not be Liu Qi's opponent, even if he does the history of Jiaozhou's assassination, he will definitely fail in the end, why should he be so troublesome?" The prime minister directly appointed Jiaozhi Taishou Shixie as the pastor of Jiaozhou, wouldn't it be more able to contain Liu Qi? Jiaozhi is remote, and there are alpine jungles as natural barriers, Shixie has won the hearts of the people of Jiaozhi, and all the southern scholars have taken refuge in Jiaozhi, Shixie's tent can be said to be full of talents, Liu Qi wants to use soldiers to Jiaozhi, how easy is it to talk about? ”

"But in this way, the two counties of Nanhai and Cangwu will be lost to Liu Biao in vain?" Cheng Yu was still unconvinced and asked.

But I heard Cao Cao sigh: "Now that the South China Sea and Cangwu have been occupied by Liu Qi, even if Lai Gong is sent to go, it will not help, not to mention, Liu Qi occupies the South China Sea and has been connected with Yangzhou Sun Ce, Jiangdong Sun has a big enmity with Liu Biao, and now seeing Liu Qi's army entering the South China Sea, he will definitely compete with it, and he is just using Sun Ce to contain Liu Qi, isn't it good?" ”

"But ......" Cheng Yu still felt in his heart that Cao Cao should not refuse to let Lai Gong serve as the assassin of Jiaozhou, but now he didn't know how to persuade him.

At this moment, I saw a scribe with a thin figure and a slightly pale face suddenly stood up and saluted: "Prime Minister, the lower officials think that what Zhongde said is very reasonable, and the Prime Minister should invite the Son of Heaven to set up Lai Gong as the assassin of Jiaozhou." ”

"Oh? Bonghyo thinks so too? Cao Cao glanced at Guo Jia, the strategist he admired and relied on the most, with a strange expression, and then asked.

"Exactly." I saw Guo Jia bow down and said: "Prime Minister Bai Lai Gong for Jiaozhou Assassin History, can provoke the conflict between Jiaozhou and Jingnan, and even provoke the Cai family and the Kuai family two major families to fight, the two males fight, there must be an injury, since it can make Jingzhou's vitality greatly injured, and the prime minister can take this opportunity to seize Hanoi, until he holds with Hebei Yuan Shao, although Lai Gong is weak, but it is the Jiaozhou Assassin appointed by the imperial court, and the Cai family has to help, although it will eventually be defeated, but it will not be too fast, after Lai Gong's failure, the prime minister will not be too late to show Shixie. ”

Guo Jia paused, and then said: "Once Lai Gong fails, the prime minister will immediately order people to Jingxiang to spread rumors, saying that Cai Mao privately changed Liu Biao's performance, and expressed Lai Gong as the assassin of Jiaozhou, Cai Mao was frightened, and he would inevitably rebel, and Cai Mao was not the only one in Xiangyang City who had the intention of surrendering, and the prime minister took the opportunity to buy Cai Mao, and promised to be a high-ranking official, Cai Mao will definitely connect with the people who want to surrender, so that the minister expects that the land of Jingxiang will be owned by the Ming Duke without a fight, and at that time Nanyang Zhang Xiu was isolated and helpless, and he will also surrender, In this way, our army does not spend a single soldier and a clan, and it sits on the three counties of Jingzhou, isn't it better than Liu Qi's half-year conquest? ”

Cao Cao's eyes couldn't help but light up when he heard this, and a pair of eyes shot out a fine light, but then he said hesitantly: "But Liu Biao is very popular with the people in Jingxiang, his prestige is well-known, and he has a different degree of support, I really don't know what chance Cai Mao can have?" Also, Zhang Xiu killed Dian Wei and Benxiang's nephew, even if Benxiang is willing to accept it regardless of his previous suspicions, will Zhang Xiu be suspicious of Benxiang because of this, so he will not dare to return to his prime? ”

When Guo Jia heard this, he smiled and said: "Prime Minister don't have to worry about this, now Liu Qi is preparing to attack Changsha, Liu Biao will definitely send troops to support, so it will lead to the emptiness of the Xiangyang garrison, which is convenient for Cai Mao to act. As for Zhang Xiu, the prime minister doesn't have to worry, because Jia Xu is the one who knows the times the most, and he is very good at protecting himself. ”

When Cao Cao heard this, he couldn't help but stroke his palms and laugh, and said with admiration: "A word of filial piety is enough to be a hundred thousand male soldiers." Haha, it's really a clever plan, if he gets Jingxiang one day, Feng Xiao should be the first merit, but I heard that the land of Jing Xiang is beautiful, prolific beauties, and then the prime minister will choose a good woman and reward filial piety. ”

Guo Jia bowed slightly, smiled knowingly, and then thanked Cao Cao.

Cao Cao discussed a few more things with everyone, then dissolved the meeting, and then played to the Son of Heaven, protecting Lai Gong as the assassin of Jiaozhou and acting as the agent for Jiaozhou's military and political affairs.

After the fold was sent to the inner court, it was quickly approved, and its realization was now Cao Cao is the prime minister of the Han Empire, and the power to choose people and appoint people belongs to himself, although the Son of Heaven has the right to approve the fold, but it is just pretending, only the right to sign, and there is no right to question and refuse, so after Cao Cao's fold arrived, he didn't even look at it and directly approved.

The order of the Son of Heaven soon reached Xiangyang, and because of Cao Cao's instructions, the envoys of the Son of Heaven spread the news that Lai Gong was about to take over the assassination of Jiaozhou, so as soon as the envoys of the Son of Heaven arrived in Xiangyang City, Liu Biao knew the news that shocked him.

"Why did the Son of Heaven still appoint Lai Gong as the assassin of Jiaozhou? What the hell is going on? Liu Biao forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a deep voice to the civil and military forces in the hall.

These civil and military officials were also silent, and everyone thought in their hearts that this should be Cao Cao's conspiracy. Although Kuai Yue also thinks so, he also has doubts about Cai Mao in his heart, he thinks that Cai Mao should have sent someone to Xu Du to write a secret letter to Cao Cao, asking Cao Cao to recommend Lai Gong, but this is just his speculation, there is no evidence at all, even if he says it rashly, I am afraid that other people will not accept it, let alone Cai Mao.

And as a wise man, Kuai Yue will never casually frame his colleagues without any factual evidence, which will only put himself in a more passive situation.

So Kuai Yue didn't speak, he just secretly made up his mind that he must be more careful with Cai Mao in the future, this person is now in order to help his son-in-law Liu Cong, he actually began to secretly connect with Cao Cao, it seems that this time it must have cost a lot of money, he must not be idle in the future, and he must be strictly guarded against in the future.

Even Kuai Yue didn't speak, and Cai Mao naturally wouldn't speak at this time, because he also knew that Kuai Yue would definitely have doubts about himself, and it would be okay if he didn't speak, but once he spoke, he might be more likely to expose himself.

So, the atmosphere at that time was very oppressive and dreary.

After a while, Don't drive Liu Xian took the lead in breaking the silence and slowly persuaded: "It's useless to talk more, my lord, let's greet the angel first, no matter what, Lai Gong is also from my Jingzhou, and he was appointed as the assassin of Jiaozhou, which means that Jiaozhou is still controllable, and my lord should be happy." ”

When Liu Biao heard this, his heart was really much more comfortable, so he ordered all the civil and military officers to line up at the gate of the official office to greet the angel.

Not long after, the angel came, saw Liu Biao, and ordered Lai Gong to be summoned.

At that time, Lai Gong was in the country of Ying, and he was already on the way to Xiangyang, and soon arrived in Xiangyang. When he heard the news that he had been appointed as the assassin of Jiaozhou, he couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly prepared to resign, but when he looked up, he saw Cai Mao looking at him, so he had no choice but to agree and accept the appointment.

After Lai Gong accepted the appointment, he decided to take office immediately in view of the fact that there was no one in Jiaozhou, so he explained his ideas to Liu Biao and received Liu Biao's support.

And in order to win over Lai Gong, Liu Biao naturally spared no effort to give money and grain, carriages and horses, slaves, maids, etc., Lai Gong hurriedly thanked him, except for the carriages and horses.

Cai Mao also stood with a smile, personally sent it out of Xiangyang City, and then whispered in his ear: "Please don't forget what I asked for before." ”

Lai Gong said solemnly: "The general treats the last general with great courtesy, and the last general feels heartfelt, how dare he not repay it wholeheartedly?" Please rest assured that even if the last general is crushed, he will repay the general. ”

Cai Mao said with a smile: "Lord Assassin Yan zhòng, you are now the governor of a state, and you have surpassed the last general in terms of power, and you are also the last general, wouldn't you kill the old man?" ”

"Hehe, why should the general be humble? The imperial court ordered the governor of Jingzhou, Jiaozhou, and Yangzhou to be the military, although the last general is a thorn in history, but also only in charge of administration and supervision, and he is still a subordinate of the state pastor, and the general is not only a relative of the state pastor, but also a confidant, and the general needs to take care of the general in the future, how dare the general not be respectful? ”

Lai Gong smiled with a smile on his face, and talked to Cai Mao for another time, before leaving with his resignation.

Cai Mao naturally gave Lai Gong some items and slaves, Lai Gong said bitterly, but in the end it was difficult to accept it, and after thanking him, he went directly to Jiaozhou to take office.