Chapter 31: Cao Cao in the Struggle of Ideas

  Liu, Guan and Zhang brothers have recently been in high spirits. After their battle with Lü Bu, they gained great fame and became sought after. That's Lü Bu! To be able to fight him for 50 rounds is absolutely a rare feat of bravery. All the lords want to recruit them under their command.

  Liu Bei had always been ambitious, and he was not willing to be a subordinate. He considered his own future; among the various lords, the most worthwhile to rely on were the Yuan brothers - Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

  Yuan Shu's character is really despicable, he is not a decent person, and his vision is shallow. Following him will lead to no good future. He has always considered himself as benevolent and righteous, but even he looks down on Yuan Shu.

  What about Yuan Shao? This guy is now so powerful that he doesn't even take him seriously, thinking that with just one letter and a hundred taels of gold, he can bring him under his command. The treatment is not in place, even if he really wants to surrender to him, he will not be reused. Other warlords have no great talents, Sun Jian and Cao Cao are the only ones who do, but they are inferior to Yuan Shao in terms of status and strength, and are just slightly stronger than him.

  Liu Bei did not take any action, and was therefore praised by Gongsun Zan as a man of benevolence and righteousness. Gongsun Zan, who had been wounded, hoped that Liu Bei could help him out, so he said whatever sounded good.

  Liu Bei is now thinking about how to let the vassals break Luoyang, behead Dong Zhuo, and welcome back the Emperor. If they welcome back the Emperor, his so-called imperial clan's name can be solidified, plus their merits in fighting against Lü Bu, the court will definitely push him to the forefront to counter these emerging vassals, at least he will be appointed as the Governor of Xiliang or the Shepherd of Bingzhou, from which he can lay the foundation for his great cause!

  According to his thinking, it's absolutely not bad, but he overestimated the cohesion of the vassals and underestimated their ambition! The world is already in chaos, no one wants to welcome back the emperor, they want to be the emperor themselves!

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  For two consecutive days, Cao Cao's eyes were dim and he didn't sleep well at night. He was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle: whether to become the revitalizing minister of the great Han or to become a powerful and overbearing hero in this chaotic world. After much thought, he still felt that the Han Dynasty had a glimmer of hope for survival, hoping that things could take a turn for the better. What he wanted to do even more was to be the Western Expedition General of the Han!

  But this "seed of ambition" has slowly sprouted, and it's not that easy to wear away! The seed with the strongest vitality is none other than the "seed of ambition"!

  Cao Cao's eyes were wide with anger, his voice hoarse as he let out a long sigh: "Enough! Enough! Cao has some strength, but it's not enough to overcome the enemy. It's really a case of the arm being twisted by the thigh!"

  "Humming... humming...!" Cao Cao looked at Li Yu, who was snoring like a pig not far away, with a black face. He actually slept so soundly and didn't consider his master's worries at all! Let's find something for him to do!

  "Mr. Wei, how about visiting Liu Bei with me?", Cao Cao asked Li Yu, pushing him awake;

  "Oh!", the dazed Li Yu didn't even hear who it was, and he vaguely followed Cao Cao away. He had actually forgotten that Liu Bei was his enemy, and if it weren't for him, Liu Bei would have already solidified his position as a member of the imperial family of Han, and could have occupied a place among the lords.

  Liu Bei's relationship with Gongsun Zan is now merely a cooperative one, and nominally he is just under Gongsun Zan. In reality, the 500 troops led by him are stationed separately from Gongsun Zan, giving off an air of being a regional lord in his own right. This is also due to the backing of his two sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who are both mighty generals capable of taking on ten thousand enemies, which fills him with confidence.

  Cao Cao, who knew Yuan Shu's character, brought many things when he visited Liu Bei this time, including wine, water and grain. It is worth noting that Yuan Shu even dared to kill the various lords who came to respond to his call, let alone their small army of several hundred soldiers. Liu Bei's five hundred soldiers were starving, with no food or grass, and they were almost unable to survive.

  They all started to retreat together;

  "Big brother! These birds are not enough to make things happen! Yuan Shu is even more useless! In my opinion, we should withdraw!" Zhang Fei slammed his fist on the long table in the tent, saying angrily; just two days ago, Yuan Shu sent someone to recruit them, but Liu Bei refused, and as a result, their grain and fodder were all confiscated, leaving them without supplies for two days.

  "Yes! Elder brother! If it goes on like this, the soldiers under our command will be gone!", Guan Yu also echoed, his naturally proud temperament really couldn't stand those feudal lords' hypocritical faces, seeing their condescending expressions towards him, he was like wielding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade to chop them down.

  Liu Bei sighed: "How could I not know these things?! But this heart of loyalty has not been extinguished, the blood of integrity has not cooled down. How can I put all this aside and stay out of it?" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also turned their heads and let out a deep sigh, on one hand admiring Liu Bei even more, on the other hand hating the cruel lords even more.

  "Is the big brother going to recruit Liu Bei?" Cao Ren asked in confusion. "Haha! It can't be said that I'm recruiting him, even Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao couldn't recruit this person, what virtue or ability do I have to recruit him?" Cao Cao laughed: "I think he has an extraordinary appearance and a strong temperament, I just want to have a good talk with him! Do you know what surprised me most about Liu Bei?"

  "This... end will be unknown!", Cao Ren shook his head, "What surprised me the most was his demeanor! Earlier he claimed to be a relative of the Han imperial family, Mr. Huai De refuted him, his two brothers glared at him with anger, but he didn't even bat an eyelid! This kind of person can remain calm even if Mount Tai were to crumble in front of them! He's really impressive!"

  "After all, Elder Brother still wants to win them over!" Cao Ren muttered under his breath. "Heh heh! I too have had such thoughts! A hero in a desperate situation - giving him an advantage now is better than ten times the usual! Maybe I'll succeed, who knows?"

  "Hey! Sir! We've arrived!", the attendant, Qu Jiang, supported Li Yu, who was walking in a daze under his assistance.

  "Ah! — Ha! —", after a big yawn, Li Yu stretched his waist and moved his body, walking forward, "Master is well!"

  "Thank you, sir!", Cao Cao also turned around and returned the courtesy, "Just in time, sir, you've woken up, we've arrived at our destination!"

  "What? Where?", Li Yu asked. "Liu Bei's big camp!", Cao Ren interrupted: "Don't you know, sir?"

  "Huh... slept too dead, don't know yet!", Li Yu could only rub his nose and answer awkwardly;

  The three brothers Liu Bei went out to meet him, "Brother Meng De! With respect!", "Xuan De sees you from afar!", Liu Bei welcomed with a smile, Cao Cao also responded with courtesy and smiled in return.

  "Hum! That scoundrel is here again!" Seeing Li Yu had also arrived, Zhang Fei puffed out his chest and glared at him with discontent; "Third brother, don't speak nonsense!", Guan Yu rebuked him from the side, Liu Bei also gave him a stern look, signaling him not to talk nonsense.

  "Hum! Don't be ungrateful! My master heard that the three heroes were being bullied by the Yuan brothers, so he brought my master here to help you! Is this how you treat your guests?!", Cao Ren was also unhappy. I came to give you a gift, and you still have this attitude, as if I owed you thousands of dollars! What's wrong with you? Can't we even gang up on Lü Bu once? Are we not capable?! Who can't gang up on someone?!

  "Haha! I heard that Xuande was being bullied by Yuan Shu, so I took out 100 catties of cooked meat, 1,000 catties of grain and 10 jars of fine wine from my own storage to show my goodwill! Not to boast, but these 10 jars of fine wine are all top-grade wines from Pei Guo that have been aged for a hundred years! Fine wine is not only for heroes to drink, but also their good fortune! Come on, Xuande, Huai De, let's chat, you two go together!" Cao Cao's skills in mediating conflicts were getting better and better, all thanks to his experience as a peacemaker among the lords.

  As soon as they heard it was a hundred-year-old fine wine, Zhang Fei's mouth began to water, and Xu Chu and Dian Wei were also experts in this field. They naturally went to drink together with great eagerness. Meanwhile, Li Yu, Liu Bei, and Cao Cao sat around the stove, chatting freely.

  PS: Regarding the lazy thief Jibuge's remarks, you're absolutely right! I like to browse some forums and hope to find some inspiration to write a unique Three Kingdoms novel. It's just that sometimes my transitions are not smooth, making people laugh!

  I hope you will forgive me! You can also vent freely! I heard that a book grows up in the midst of friends' venting! Hope everyone will actively vent!

  Also... I'd like to ask for collection, recommendation, and whatever comes next!