In order to gradually achieve his goal of expanding outward, Yanzhou Mu Cao Cao did many things openly and secretly.

First of all, Cao Cao found a way to get the Chang'an court to make himself a military attaché, so that he could justifiably launch military attacks on Qing, Xu and other prefectures in the future.

When Cao Cao first participated in the discussion of the Dong Hui League, Yuan Shao appointed him as the general of Fenwu, and he himself was the general of the chariot cavalry, obviously treating Cao Heizi as a little brother, so the position of military attache was not too high. Now several generals promoted in Youzhou and Jizhou, such as Pingbei General Xu Rong and Pingnan General Zhang He, are higher in rank than the Fenwei general above Cao Cao's head, and the military positions of Xiaocai General Zhao Yun, Duliao General Xian Yuyin, Zhenwei General Tai Shici, Zhenwu General Xian Yufu, Xuanwei General Fu and others are also on par with General Fenwei.

Yuan Shao's self-proclaimed cavalry general is only one position behind Liu Yu's hussar general, and Yuan Shu also has the title of a rear general on his head, which is only one Wei general behind his brother Yuan Shao's cavalry general.

According to the official system of the Han Dynasty, the highest position of the permanent military general of the imperial court is the general, sometimes called the great Sima, followed by the hussar general, the chariot general, the Wei general and the four generals in the front, left and right, and then there are the sixteen heavy generals of the four marches, the four towns, the four an, and the four pings, and then the Zhonglang generals and miscellaneous generals of various titles.

He Jin served as a general during his lifetime, holding the military power of the Han Dynasty, and his younger brother He Miao served as a general of the chariot cavalry. After Dong Zhuo's troubles in Luoyang, the position of the general was vacant, and the hussar general was given the title to Liu Yu, and the title of the general was occupied by Yuan Shao, and the title of the general was occupied by Yuan Shu. After Dong Zhuo's death, the position of general was still vacant, and the veteran general Zhu Jun was listed by Liu Yu as General Wei, Li Dao and Guo Yan were awarded the title of General Zhenbei and General Zhenxi, Duan Xuan was awarded the title of General Zhendong, and Zhang Ji was awarded the title of General Anbei. Fan Chou was given the title of General Anxi, and Wang Fang was given the title of General Pingxi.

In this way, Cao Cao wanted the imperial court to improve his military power, so he could only choose one of the three general titles of former general, left general, and right general, or one of the four titles of general of Zhengdong, general of Zhengnan, general of Zhengxi, and general of Zhengbei. The title of general has been hanging empty for many years, and it is indeed very tempting to look at, but if Liu Yu does not fight, no one dares to covet this position, otherwise it will be humiliating for himself.

Cao Cao repeatedly discussed with several confidants and strategists, and finally decided to work hard for the position of the right general, and to win the general Zhengdong. General Zhengdong is the first of the heavy generals. According to the regulations of the Han Dynasty, he commanded the four prefectures of Qing, Yan, Xu, and Yang, and stationed in Yangzhou, which was just in line with Cao Cao's next offensive direction. Of course, it would be better if he could win the position of General You, which was one higher than General Yuan.

After setting this goal, Cao Cao immediately sent someone to Chang'an secretly to contact his friend Zhong Xuan in Luoyang back then, and asked Zhong Xuan to help plan.

Zhong Miao is four years older than Cao Cao and was born in a famous family in Yingchuan. He is the grandson of Zhong Hao, the head of the four chiefs of Yingchuan. In the official history, Zhong Xuan is the first master of internal affairs in Cao Wei's camp, and the official is the Taifu. When he was young, Zhong Xuan served in the palace as a court lieutenant and a waiter at the Yellow Gate, as an attendant to the emperor. He had more contact with Cao Cao, one of the eight captains of the West Garden at that time, and felt that Cao Cao was very talented, so he admired it very much.

When Dong Zhuo held the young emperor Liu Xie hostage and moved the capital to Chang'an, Zhong Xuan accompanied him. continued to serve as the squire of the Yellow Gate, accompanying the emperor. Although the Huangmen Shilang belonged to Shangshu Province, he was a close attendant of the emperor. can enter and exit the forbidden middle, so the status is special, the status is noble, and there is the function of supervising the affairs of the emperor for the emperor. The biggest difference between the Yellow Gate Squire and the Little Yellow Gate is that the Yellow Gate Squire is a foreign official, while the Little Yellow Gate is a eunuch, and the Yellow Gate Squire is not with the emperor all the time, but only during the period when the palace door is opened and closed in the forbidden period.

After Zhong Yu saw the secret envoy Xun You sent by Cao Cao, he attached great importance to this matter, and he told Xun You that the Chang'an Imperial Palace is now very poor, the imperial treasury is empty, and the states have used various reasons and excuses not to pay the annual annual tax to the central government, if Cao Cao can take the lead in paying the annual tax to Chang'an, even if the number is insufficient, he can win the favor of the ministers of the court, so that he can operate this matter for Cao Cao.

Xun You and Zhong Xuan are fellow villagers in Yingchuan, when He Jin was in charge of the government, Xun You had served as a waiter of the Yellow Gate, so he was familiar with the internal affairs of the imperial court, he felt that Zhong Xuan's proposal was feasible, so he hurriedly sent someone back to Yanzhou to tell Cao Cao.

After Cao Cao received Xun You's secret report, he was a little hesitant, because he was now at a critical moment when he urgently needed to spend money and grain, and if he took out a part of it and shipped it to Chang'an, although he gained fame, the price was really a bit high.

The strategist Cheng Yu then suggested that Cao Cao follow the example of Liu He in Youzhou and attack the gate lords in Yanzhou, which could not only save a lot of money and grain, but also increase the income, and also weaken the power of these gate valves in disguise, so as to facilitate stable rule.

When Cao Cao first embarked on his official career, he tried to use stricter laws to change the situation of the rampant power and tyrants in the late Han Dynasty, so he agreed with Cheng Yu's proposal very much, so he used Sima Zhi, Yang Pei, Lu Qian, Man Chong and other subordinates to fully implement the rule of law policy of suppressing the powerful in Yanzhou.

When Cao Cao did these things, Liu He was on his way back to Youzhou, and by the time Liu He formed and expanded the army in Youzhou this year, Yanzhou had already picked up a lot of "wool" from many powerful people in the territory. Cao Cao saw that Yuan Shao had already moved, not only expanded the armament and warfare, but also divided the army into three routes, each appointed a governor, so he sent his subordinate Xiahou Yuan to lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to escort a batch of money and grain to the direction of Chang'an.

Yanzhou took the lead in paying taxes to the central court, and Luoyang, the "companion capital" stuck between Yanzhou and Chang'an, would naturally not stop it, let alone secretly make a stumbling block, otherwise it would be criticized and blamed by the world. Not only could it not be stopped, but Zhu Jun, the guard general who stayed in the eastern capital, also sent 2,000 soldiers and horses to escort Xiahou Yuan all the way to Chang'an.

Wang Yun, who was trapped in Chang'an, and the princes of the court, who were in the middle of the court, were naturally very happy to learn that Yanzhou and Luoyang had sent people to send money and grain. Wang Yun then asked Lü Bu to send his cavalry commander Zhang Liao to lead the army out of Chang'an and personally go to Tongguan to greet him.

There is a saying that "if you eat other people's soft mouths, you will take other people's hands short", and the Chang'an Imperial Court finally saw the local "filial piety", so it was natural for Cao Cao to be endless. Cao Cao did not show credit for himself in the table to the imperial court, but explained in a guilty tone that the reason why Yanzhou sent insufficient annual endowment was mainly because Qingzhou and Xuzhou Yellow Turbans were in turmoil for many years, and a large number of displaced people broke into Yanzhou from time to time. As a result, it has affected Yanzhou's annual income.

The court officials trapped in Chang'an have had a very hard time in recent years, and they can only rely on the money and grain collected by warlords such as Duan Xuan, Li Dao, Guo Yan and Zhang Ji from nearby areas to survive.

Zhong Xuan then took this opportunity to contact some officials from Yingchuan and wrote to the emperor together, asking for praise for the actions of Yanzhou Mu Cao Cao for his loyalty to the monarchy. The ministers of the DPRK and China also supported it one after another, and felt that Cao Cao should be crowned so that he could make more contributions in the future.

In the beginning. Many people suggested that Cao Cao be given the post of right general, but Wang Yun and Ma Riyan jointly opposed it, because these two bigwigs felt that such a reward was too high, and Cao Cao's contribution was not to this point. Although Yanzhou was the first to send the New Year's endowment, the Luoyang area also followed up synchronously, so if Cao Cao was given the post of General Zuo, then as the nominal highest official in the Luoyang area, would Liu Yu, the imperial prince and hussar general, still have to move forward? Even if Liu Yu is not crowned a general, what about his son Liu He?

After some haggling. The imperial court finally crowned Cao Cao, the pastor of Yanzhou, as the general of the expedition to the east, and was responsible for the conquest of the four prefectures of Qing, Xu, Yan and Yang in the future.

As soon as the officials sent by the imperial court to deliver the decree were on the road, several warlords in Guanzhong immediately made a fuss, thinking that the imperial court was unfair in rewarding. I didn't see the exploits they had made in Guanzhong in the past few years. Wang Yun was persecuted by Li Dao, Guo Yan and others, and had no choice but to give Li Dao, Guo Yan and others official titles again.

The Zhenbei general Li Wei was crowned as the general of Zhengbei by the imperial court, the Zhenxi general Guo Yan was crowned as the general of Zhengxi by the imperial court, and Zhang Ji, the general of Anbei, succeeded Li Dao as the general of Zhenbei. Anxi general Fan Chou took over the post of Zhenxi general vacated by Guo Yan, and Pingxi general Wang Fang replaced Fan Chouvac as general Anxi. Zhendong General Duan Xuan has now been driven to Hedong by several warlords, so he has no chance to participate in this feast of dividing up the official positions of military generals this time. The original position remains unchanged.

Several warlords outside Chang'an City were given official positions by the imperial court, and Lu Bu, who was guarding Chang'an, immediately quit, and he directly came to Wang Yun to ask for a reward, claiming that the generals under his command heard that the thieves Li Dao and Guo Yan and others could be sealed and rewarded, and the brothers died to protect Chang'an from being controlled by traitors, so it was even more necessary to seal and reward. In order to let Lu Bu continue to work hard for himself, Wang Yun was rare and generous this time, and directly assigned the title of the former general to Lu Bu, and at the same time allocated a lot of money and grain sent by Yanzhou and Luoyang to Lu Bu as food and salary for the troops in the city.

After such a circle of rewards from the imperial court, only General Zhengnan was left hanging among the four generals; Among the four town generals, only General Zhennan remains; Among the four generals, only General Anxi was occupied by Wang Fang, and there were three other vacant seats; Among the Siping generals, General Pingbei and General Pingnan have been occupied by Xu Rong and Zhang He, and the imperial court is not easy to refute Liu Yu's face, so only General Pingdong and General Pingxi remain.

In this way, there are still three permanent generals left in the military generals that can be divided into feudal positions in the imperial court, namely: the great general, the left general, the right general, and the six heavy generals, namely: Zhengnan general, Zhennan general, Andong general, Annan general, Anbei general, Pingdong general and Pingxi general.

Now the Han warlords are everywhere, Liangzhou has Ma Teng and Han Sui eyeing each other, Yizhou has Liu Yan with the advantage of the terrain to divide Shuzhong, Jingzhou has Liu Biao sitting on the land of three thousand miles, Changsha has Sun Jian and his son Taoguang Yang, Yangzhou has Yuan Shu who vainly tries to be the emperor, Xuzhou has Tao Qian and Liu Bei, Chen Qi father and son eyebrows, Yanzhou has Cao Cao hesitant ambition, Qingzhou has Kong Rong, Tian Kai, Gongsun Du and other forces and dogs and teeth are staggered, Jizhou and Bingzhou have Yuan Shao entrenched, Liaodong has Gongsun Du partial to a corner, Jiaozhou has Shixie family for generations to operate......

Cao Cao used money and food to exchange himself for the title of general of Zhengdong this time, which immediately provoked the warlords in Guanzhong to make a fuss, and when other forces that were a little farther away got the news, they were afraid that there would be another open and secret fight. (To be continued......)