At the beginning of the summer of 205 AD, Zhang Bai's intelligence that Zhang Bai had burned Chang'an arrived at the front line of Yangping Pass. Ma Chao also joined Zhang Lu in Hanzhong and united some Qiang forces to resist Cao's army. Cao Junguanzhong's baggage had been destroyed and he was unable to go south, so Cao Cao sent Lu Rui as an envoy to negotiate peace with Zhang Lu.

In order to resist Liu Zhang in Shuzhong, Zhang Lu agreed to negotiate peace, with Yangping Pass as the boundary, with Cao Cao in the north and Zhang Lu in the south. Cao Cao took Xiahou Yuan as the general of the expedition to the west, Jia Xu as the Taishou of Chang'an, and Yang Fu and Jiang Jian as the army to guard Xiliang.

On the mansion of the general of Xu Du's expedition to the north, Lu Rui was sitting in his garden, looking at the carp in the fish pond, fighting in Xiliang for many days, and now he can finally take a good rest.

Lu Rui looked at the beautiful scenery, and his heart was filled with thousands of thoughts, he has been in the Three Kingdoms era for 20 years, and in the past 20 years, Lu Rui has participated in many major events of the Three Kingdoms as Cao Cao's adopted son, and has also changed some history, but some historical inertia is not something that will be changed if it is changed.

After Cao Cao pacified Xiliang, he owned several states in the world. Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Qingzhou, Sili, Yongzhou, Liangzhou, Yangzhou's richest Huiji and Wu counties all fell under Cao Cao's rule, and now Cao Cao is the real first prince in the world.

The difference with history is that the four states of Hebei are still under the control of Yuan, but after the battle of Guandu and Cangting, the main force of the four states of Hebei has been completely wiped out by Cao Cao, and it will take decades to recover its strength.

"Master Hou!" While Lu Rui was pondering, a literati came to Lu Rui's side, and this person was Xu Shu. Lü Rui handed over the affairs of Fan County to Xin Bi and transferred Xu Shu to Xu Du. Give yourself advice. Now Lu Rui is an adult. Participating in government politics is not like being a carefree marquis before, and there are many things that require your own resourcefulness.

"Yuan Zhi is here, what's the matter?"

"Hebei sent an urgent military situation, and Lord Sikong sent someone to send the engraved copy to Master Hou."

"Yuan Zhi, what military intelligence? You say let's hear it, and by the way, let's also refer to it. ”

"Yes, Master Hou!"

"Master Hou, the intelligence said that Zhang Yan of Montenegro has been defeated. Went south along Hedong County to serve Lord Sikong. Hedong Taishou Du Ji has settled Zhang Yan's subordinates, stationed troops in Hedong, Zhang Yan will soon lead his cronies to Xu Du to serve. Xu Shu reported the content of the information to Lu Rui.

"Zhang Yan surrendered?"

"Exactly, Master Hou, the intelligence shows that Du Ji has long been ready for Zhang Yan to surrender, and sabotaged Tian Feng's plan to stop Zhang Yan from going south, which made Zhang Yan grateful and served Lord Sikong."

Du Qi? Dawei Shenji is really not simple, not only has a strategic vision. There is also the ability to command the army, and there are not many literati in the Cao Wei regime who can command the army alone. Du Pre became the general of the Western Jin Dynasty to destroy Wu, which was inseparable from Du Ji's education.

"Yuan Zhi, what do you think about the general trend of the world?"

"Master Hou, now that the general trend of the world is clear, Duke Cao is already the first prince in the world, with hundreds of thousands of male soldiers. Sun Quan, who originally had the strength to fight against Cao Gong, has been seized from the second county of Jiangdong, and it will take time to rise again. The vitality of the Yuan clan in the north has not yet recovered, and there is no need to be afraid in the short term. Xinye Liu Bei, the world's hero, but unfortunately there are only a few cities, if there is no good opportunity, it can't be a big thing, let alone threaten Lord Sikong. ”

"But?"

"But what, Yuan Zhi, just say it."

"Master Hou, Duke Cao has become the first prince in the world, if the princes of the world unite to fight against Duke Cao, the situation of our army is not optimistic."

"Ben Hou also knows about this matter, but now even if the princes of the world do not fight against our army, they will guard against our army, and it is a matter of time before they jointly resist Cao, and our army must also be prepared." Lu Rui nodded, what Xu Shu thought in his heart coincided with his own thoughts.

"What Hou Ye said is very true, but now it is too early for the world to resist Cao, Xichuan Liu Zhang and Jingzhou Liu Biao are the masters of the defense, and will not take the initiative to attack, only Sun Quan and Liu Bei are left in the south, with a few counties, without the support of the Yuan clan in the north, they will not easily send troops. Now the first task of our army should be to appease the internal affairs and recruit talents. ”

"Appeasement of the Interior?" Lu Rui was stunned for a moment, how could Xu Shu get involved in this.

"Master Hou, you have been fighting on the battlefield for a long time with Lord Sikong, I don't know the situation under Lord Sikong's rule, now that the Shi clan has slowly recovered its strength, I am afraid that it will be Lord Sikong's great enemy for a long time."

"Oh? Yuan Zhi, let's talk about it in detail for Ben Hou. ”

"No!" Subsequently, Xu Shu told Lu Rui in detail about the situation of the Shi clan under Cao Cao, which is also the general situation of the Shi clan today.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Eastern Han Dynasty has now entered a relatively stable period, and the rule of all the princes in the world is relatively stable, and the family that was slaughtered by the Yellow Turban Army has gradually regained its vitality.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion greatly damaged the vitality of the major families, many family fortresses were captured, a large number of materials and baggage were plundered, and all the land became ownerless land. But the family has a deep foundation, moved the family business to the barren mountains, and now the world is a little peaceful, and the family has begun to make waves again.

"Master Hou, there have been several cases of families and Hou Mansion grabbing land near Fan County, but they have passed it on to us at a low price because of the identity of Lord Hou. Now the generals under Lord Sikong are also buying land and property everywhere, and the scholars generally don't dare to mess with it, but the scholars will not let go of those idle lands. ”

Xu Shu told Lu Rui a phenomenon, and now the family has come out of the barren mountains and started to annex the land with the money in their hands. However, in the face of the wealthy family in Cao Wei, the generals and officials who hold real power, the family still does not dare to be presumptuous, after all, they have military power in their hands, and if they are not careful, they may also be the end of the extermination.

"According to Yuan, how long will it take for the family to recover its strength?"

"According to the subordinates, it must be three generations!"

"Three generations?"

"Yes, Hou Ye, when Emperor Guangwu was in the middle of the reign and divided the vassals, the real re-emergence of the scholar clan in this dynasty was also the period of Emperor Ling, in which relatives and eunuchs were in power, constantly fighting against the scholar clan. According to the experience of Emperor Guangwu, if the scholar clan wants to be revived, it must be three generations! Xu Shu arched his hand and told his analysis.

Lu Rui nodded, Xu Shu's analysis was very reasonable. Three generations, it was the time when the Sima clan usurped the throne, but the strength of the Sima clan was insufficient, and it only replaced Cao Wei as the emperor, and it did not affect the descendants of the Cao family, who were still very powerful in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. On the one hand, it is the lack of strength of the scholars, and on the other hand, it is the internal cause of the Jiupin Zhongzheng system.

"Master Hou, Sikong Mansion sent someone to pass the word, Lord Sikong has something important to ask Master Hou to go." Before Lu Rui had time to discuss with Xu Shu, Cao Cao sent someone to find Lu Rui.

"Yuan Zhi, that's all for today, you go down first, I'll go to Sikong Mansion." Cao Cao's summoning must be an important matter, Lu Rui changed his clothes and went to Sikong Mansion.

"The child has seen the middle father!" As soon as Lu Rui arrived at Sikong Mansion, he was led by the housekeeper to Cao Cao's study.

"Hehe, Rui'er is here, hurry up, don't be polite." Cao Cao saw Lu Rui coming, and asked Lu Rui to get up with a smile.

"Father Xie Zhong!" Lu Rui got up and saw that in addition to Cao Cao, Cao Jie was standing beside Cao Cao in a gorgeous costume, smiling.

Yes! Lu Rui knew that Cao Cao recruited Lu Rui this time, definitely for his marriage to Cao Jie. In addition to the problem of age, Xu Shu asserted that Cao Cao wanted to strengthen internal governance, so he must use his own people, and Lu Rui's wedding was urgent. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for your great support!!