Chapter Fifty-One: Seizing Military Power

  On a large stone, Cao Cao looked at the army camp with more than 40,000 people in it. Half of them were joyful but the other half were depressed. Why? The joyful ones were that the army of more than 40,000 people came into his hands without any effort. In this chaotic world, having a territory and an army made one's backbone strong, and only then could one dare to speak loudly to others;

  It's depressing to think that the Zhang brothers' standard for recruiting soldiers is unknown, and how they dare to claim they have tens of thousands of strong troops! What kind of "strong troops" are these? Look at this one, holding a long spear like it's a shovel; and that one, leaning on his spear with his nose scrunched up, looking like he just woke up.

  Careless and sloppy, clothes are not tidy, eyes are dull, let alone the morale of the army, even the whole person looks lacking in spirit, what a motley crew!

  Cao Cao jumped down with a somewhat disappointed look, and smiled at Xiahou Dun beside him: "I just realized why Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao surrendered to me so easily! Haha! Select the elite among them, and disperse the rest!"

  "This matter will be led by you, and after selecting the personnel, you, Miao Cai, and Zi Xiao will train them to carry out the task!" "Yes!", perhaps when you see Xiahou Dun, you will understand what a true professional soldier should be like, that spirit is not something ordinary people can compare with.

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  "Zhang Kang! Don't be too hard on yourself, try to relax!" Li Yu treated Xu Chu's wounds as he lay on the couch. The battle of Xinye had left over half of the 500-strong Xu clan troops dead or injured, which was unbearable for Xu Chu. On one hand, his body was wounded by Lü Bu, and on the other hand, he was grieving for his deceased relatives. Xu Chu looked much more haggard than before;

  "If one doesn't sacrifice something, he won't get anything. To get anything, one must pay the same price, this is the principle of equivalent exchange! Zhong Kang, remember these words well! In this chaotic world, no one can control their own destiny, those who have gone are gone, it's heaven's will, the deceased are gone, and the living are like this!" Li Yu sighed and advised Xu Zhu.

  Even an iron man can't bear the pain of losing loved ones, Xu Chu's tears welled up in his eyes, those people were mostly brothers who grew up with him, how could he bear it? A man should not shed tears, this is not yet the saddest part;

  "Teacher!", Xu Chu's tears flowed non-stop, choking with sobs, unable to speak. Li Yu's heart was also filled with sorrow. People are not made of wood or stone, who can be without emotions? Even after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when Li Yu had hardened his heart, he still couldn't help but feel deep sadness;

  Those people were also his students, and they had heard him lecture. Over the course of three years, everyone had become quite familiar with each other. Suddenly, they left, their young lives taken away by this chaotic world. Before that, Li Yu had used the excuse of sacrificing himself to create opportunities for his juniors to deceive them. Regardless of whether it was out of selfishness or something else, Li Yu felt uneasy about it.

  "Alas! I shouldn't have brought you guys out here!", Li Yu sighed incessantly. If he didn't have ambition in his heart, he wouldn't have brought Xu Chu and the others out to follow Cao Cao; if he didn't have personal motives, he wouldn't have let them lose their lives.

  Like coaxing a child, Li Yu patted Xu Chu's back to calm him down. "If you don't want to... then just send them back!" With just Xu Chu and Li Yu, the Xu family clan could still live well; Li Yu didn't want them to make sacrifices.

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  Zang Hong woke up in a daze, and was attended to by the maid as she washed and dressed. "Where's General Cao?" she asked. The maid replied, "He left early this morning, I heard he went to the military camp. It seems that the Huang family in the city has been executed!" The maid looked frightened.

  Zang Hong's heart skipped a beat, and he didn't even bother to tie his hair, hastily putting on his clothes and rushing out with his hair disheveled. Cao Cao indeed had a good strategy, taking advantage of our unpreparedness to seize control of the army with lightning speed. From now on, we will have to rely on him. This man is both treacherous and cunning. If Meng Xian and Meng Zhuo are content with being wealthy gentlemen, that's fine, but if...

  Zang Hong thought to himself as he arrived at the Zhang brothers' residence, only to find that they were still asleep! No matter how loudly he called out to them, they didn't wake up. Zang Hong was anxious and stomped his feet in frustration, but there was nothing he could do, so he decided to go to the military camp himself to investigate, holding onto the hope that Cao Cao hadn't completely taken control of the military power.

  There were 10,000 elite troops of the Zhang brothers who were screened out in just a few hours, and only 20,000 people were left, which was enough to get rid of half of them. These people were then disrupted by Cao Cao, who merged his own troops with these people, dividing them into three parts.

  Xiahou Dun led 10,000 men with Cao Hong and Li Dian as his generals. Cao Ren led another unit with Yue Jin as his general. Xiahou Yuan also led 10,000 men with Hua Xiong and Wei Hong as his generals. The three units then formed a battle array and began to drill. Their training grounds were divided into three locations - east, west and central - forming a straight line that completely covered the city of Chenliu.

  "Ah! Zi Yuan! Did you sleep well?" Seeing Zang Hong hurrying over, Cao Cao smiled and greeted him with a relaxed expression.

  Watching the empty military camp, Zang Hong let out a sigh. The big thing is gone, and from now on, the Zhang brothers will have to be careful not to die unjustly. Zang Hong also had some regrets in his heart. From his own perspective, Cao Cao's actions were swift and decisive, an absolutely reliable person who could get things done; it was definitely not wrong to follow such a person.

  From Zhang Chao's point of view, Cao Cao is a wolf in sheep's clothing. They have invited the wolf into their home! Zang Hong secretly scolded Li Yu, saying he was worthless. If it weren't for his reckless boasting that confused himself, he wouldn't have been so eager to welcome Cao Cao into the city, and the current situation wouldn't have arisen.

  "I also hope that Lord Cao will take care of my master in the future!", Zang Hong sighed and fell to the ground; "Hehe! Sir, please get up quickly!", Cao Cao smiled but didn't speak, he just helped Zang Hong up.

  Zang Hong knew that Cao Cao was forcing him again. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao valued his talent equally, and if he were to leave Zhang Chao now and join Yuan Shao, it's likely that Zhang Chao, this unwise person, would be swayed by something without his guidance and do something rash; Cao Cao, the fierce hero, would not show mercy. This was also what Zang Hong worried about.

  If Zang Hong himself stayed, on the one hand, he could give Zhang Chao a boost, and if Zhang Chao really made a mistake, he could also ask for mercy. Moreover, in Cao Cao's place, he could fully display his talents. After some thought, Zang Hong knelt down: "I want to acknowledge you as my master, but I have one condition!"

  It's exactly what you said! Cao Cao was overjoyed: "Sir, you speak the truth!"

  "If in the future my former masters, the two gentlemen of the Zhang family, commit any fault, I hope you can forgive them this once! Can you?" Zang Hong said firmly.

  Cao Cao liked this tune the most, it was also the one that Zhongyiyiren's old master disliked. Cao Cao immediately said: "According to your words! If I go back on my word, may thunder from heaven strike me!"

  "At your service, milord!"