Chapter 42: The Cao Family's Swindling Group Was Exactly What Had Been

  Fengqiu, Cao Cao's headquarters, the main tent gathered the leaders of the Cao group;

  "Cough, cough!", Li Yu coughed and drew everyone's attention to him before speaking: "Since we've been assisting Duke Cao in the righteous cause, we've all spent some time together. Now I'd like to express my views, starting with the discussion about attacking Dong. After thinking it over for a whole night, I've summarized six points of experience, lessons and opinions!"

  "Firstly, if the alliance is not of one mind, it will inevitably fail. To say nothing of pulling a great Han dynasty, even a single pig would be a laborious task!"

  "Secondly, our Lord Cao has wisdom, courage, charisma, knows how to identify people and use them. Where can we find such a great lord in this world?! From the collapse of the Allied Forces, it is clear that - a snake cannot move without its head. Since we have seen that the Allied Forces are beyond salvation, we should assist Lord Cao in achieving great things!"

  "Thirdly, I know that all the lords are stronger than us, with chariots, houses and land, but in my observation, they are all mediocre masters who are not enough to achieve great things. From now on, those who have different minds should not have different minds! Either roll away now! Or honestly serve Lord Cao, don't learn from the allied army's various lords having different minds!"

  "Fourthly, the various lords are extremely powerful, and neither side has a small number of troops. From now on, we must pretend to be weak, hold our breath, and develop slowly! If not, we will suffer greatly, and if we are lucky, we might escape with our lives; if not, we will be finished!"

  "Fifth, without money, house or land, one is always inferior. Even when speaking, it's as if having a broken throat, no one will listen! We also need to plan for a place to settle down, so don't worry about this matter, Li will take care of it!"

  "Sixth, the chaotic era is really not easy to mix in, and it's hard to become a hero if it's not a chaotic era! So! From now on, before anyone becomes a hero, take care of your own temper, mouth, hands and feet, don't make any trouble!"

  "What I said, do any of you have any objections?" Li Yu narrowed his eyes to observe the expressions of the various generals. Xiahou brothers and Cao brothers naturally had no objections, Yue Jin had been instructed by Li Yu before, Wu An Guo and Hua Xiong were not people who thought deeply, Xu Chu and Dian Wei were naturally loyal and righteous men, at this time all of them had no objections;

  "Since that's the case! Then! --- Pay respects to the lord!", Li Yu was the first to fall to his knees, and the rest of them didn't need to be told, they all said in unison: "Pay respects to the lord!". From now on, they had transformed from a group of bandits into Cao Cao's private army; the Cao Group was formally established.

  Cao Cao was naturally delighted and hurriedly helped Li Yu and the others up, "Since that's the case, I, Cao Cao, will also make a statement! Are kings, dukes, generals, and ministers born with noble blood? In chaotic times, heroes should emerge in large numbers! We must also achieve great things! With your help, I, Cao Cao, am truly fortunate!"

  Li Yu, who was closest to Cao Cao, saw that the pimple on Cao Cao's face had turned bright red and was shining. This guy was extremely happy today, from now on he, Cao Mengde, would also start to pursue a life of comfort; this also marked that Cao Cao was taking a step forward on the path from being a capable minister in peacetime to becoming a heroic outlaw in times of chaos.

  Everyone knows that Cao Cao is going to start seeking the world, and those who have been assimilated into Li Yu's "treacherous minister" ideology are also starting to plan for their own future. The day of building merit and establishing achievements has arrived, which is naturally something that these fierce generals cannot get enough of!

  When a minister chooses a lord, the lord also chooses a minister. Cao Cao dares to reveal his ambition today, which proves that he has fully trusted these people; it proves that Li Yu's constant temptation is still useful.

  "We are all people who have been trusted by the lord, but as for the words of kings and generals, it's better if the lord doesn't mention them in front of others. After all, we still need to rely on the reputation of being loyal ministers of the Han dynasty!" Li Yu reminded Cao Cao in a low voice;

  Li Yu considered the personnel composition of Cao Cao's group afterwards, which was indeed very mixed, with his relatives, truly loyal confidants, such as Xiahou brothers, Cao brothers, Xu Chu, Dian Wei and so on.

  There were also loyal ministers of the Han dynasty, such as Xun Yu and others, who only saw that Cao Cao could accomplish things and therefore assisted him, merely wanting to borrow Cao Cao's power to serve the great Han.

  Moreover, Cao Cao's current reputation is that of a loyal minister of the great Han, which is an advantage. It is only with this reputation that Cao Cao can attract good ministers and brave generals to come under his command. If Cao Cao had revealed his extremely ambitious intentions from the start, it would have produced an unfavorable effect.

  Cao Cao also knew that he had spoken impulsively and misspoken, but he said loudly: "Everyone present is someone I trust, what's there to fear?" The crowd was even more moved, Li Yu smiled, knowing that Cao Cao wasn't the kind of person who would admit his mistakes, otherwise he wouldn't have killed Lü Boshe when he did.

  "Haha! What is a master? Knowing mistakes, correcting mistakes! Not admitting mistakes! Master Cao is indeed a genius among men!" Flatterer Li Yu started flattering again. It was pleasant for Cao Cao to hear this, and he thought that flattery should be directed at someone who is feared. In his opinion, Li Yu was a rare talent, and it was not easy to get his recognition, let alone flattery.

  What was Li Yu thinking in his heart? He thought: This Cao Taigong, once he gets excited, will not let him go to Zhang Miao's place to persuade him to surrender. Although he said it with great fanfare and a "I'll take care of it" attitude earlier, if something unexpected happens, wouldn't he be the first to die before achieving his goal? What a pity! Old Cao was too caught up in his excitement and forgot about this possibility.

  "But... we don't even have a place to settle down now, how can we contend with the various lords?" Cao Ren asked. "Alright! This time Cao Cao remembered this matter," "Don't worry, Zihao, this matter will be handled by Mr. Huai De, we just need to wait and see what happens!"

  "Sir, you must be careful this time! My friendship with Zhang Jiao is not small, he won't harm you, but his subordinates are hard to say. Let's put it this way... bring Tianwei along..." Cao Taigong said deeply and sincerely to Li Yu.

  Li Yu's inner cow is full, I really don't want to go! Life! He's like a coffee table, filled with tragedies on it! If only he hadn't surrendered to Cao Cao so early!

  Now he can only grit his teeth: "I am willing to go through this for my lord!"

  "What does this have to do with Zhang Miao? Are you going to take his city?" Xiahou Dun also suddenly had many questions, just like Cao Ren.

  "Because among the various lords, only Zhang Miao is the softest and easiest to bully. He's a timid person who fears trouble, and his brother Zhang Chao is of the same kind. We just need to station troops outside Chenliu to intimidate him, and I can persuade him to surrender without any effort. His 30,000 to 50,000 troops will be a gift to our lord! Our lord can also gain control of Chenliu without damaging his reputation!"

  "Our army has Chenliu as its foundation, and scholars from all over the world will surely flock to us. At that time... Hmph! Li Yu seems very confident, with a sly smile on his face, he can't afford to lose momentum now, this is what Li Yu is thinking."

  "Does Mr. Cao have confidence?" "This... should... probably... may... possibly... maybe...", Li Yu said uncertainly;

  Just then, a man came. Who is it? Chen Liu Wei Hong, this guy has to thank Li Yu's "bat" for the "moth effect" it caused, otherwise he would be dead by now;

  It is indeed the birth of a wealthy family, and as soon as it comes, it presents Cao Cao with 10,000 stones of grain and grass. One Han stone is equal to 120 Han catties, which is about 15 kilograms. This is enough for 30,000 catties of grain and grass. On average, one catty of rice per person per day, and horses are calculated separately, which is enough for Cao Cao to use for more than 20 days, really solving Cao Cao's biggest problem at present.

  As soon as Wei entered the city of Fu, he found that Cao Cao's troops had actually increased, and after his defeat in Xiangyang, Cao Cao's military strength was not reduced but increased. Moreover, it seemed that these were the surrendered Western Liang elite cavalry. What does this imply? This Cao Cao is indeed worthy of Wei Hong's allegiance!

  When the vassals were discussing Dong, Wei Hong looked at all of them and thought that Cao Cao was the most valuable to invest in. Why? The Yuan brothers' momentum is overwhelming, and now joining forces with them would be like adding flowers to brocade; as a merchant by birth, he understands maximizing profits, so he doesn't invest.

  The rest of the people are either incompetent or powerless, and it won't work; only Cao Cao has exceptional bravery and wisdom, with many talented generals under his command, and also has the strategist Li Yu to assist him, so great things can be expected. After the vassals defeated Dong, he decided to use all his family's strength to help Cao Cao!