gnovel Chapter 81 Cao Cao Takes the Blame!
Chapter 81 Cao Cao Takes the Blame!
As Li Zhao and others had predicted, Yuan Shao was furious upon hearing the news.
He quickly summoned all his advisors to discuss and reach a conclusion immediately.
Li Zhao must be punished, otherwise where will he put his face in the future?
What angered him even more was...
He had stated more than once before that Li Zhao was a member of the Yuan family.
He used his family's reputation to protect him, only to have his general killed in return?
If this isn't dealt with, the family's reputation will be ruined!
At the beginning, most of the people, led by Xu You, stood up indignantly and said that this matter was absolutely intolerable.
We must make Li Zhao pay the most painful price in the most direct and decisive way.
At the same time, Cao Cao cannot let them go either, but this matter cannot be rushed; we must torment them little by little!
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xu You immediately began to implement his plan.
The idea was to slowly torment Cao Cao, because they had a lot of resources.
However, this time, not only Li Zhao was excluded, but he too will be dealt with!
This plan was initially proposed by Tian Feng, but he later angered Yuan Shao and is still imprisoned.
Xu You took the opportunity to make some improvements and put it forward again.
He just wanted to show off in front of Yuan Shao and outshine Guo Tu!
This kid has been taking advantage of everything for a long time, it's time for him to give some back!
At this moment, Guo Tu, contrary to his usual behavior, remained silent, allowing him to describe his suggestions.
As time went by, Yuan Shao's anger subsided, and his patience gradually reached its limit.
What he wanted was not torture, but to make them pay a visible price with swift and decisive action.
We must let the whole world know what the consequences will be if we go against the Yuan family.
As for the rest, they are completely unimportant!
"Enough!" Yuan Shao stopped Xu You from speaking further and turned his gaze to Guo Tu.
Why have you remained silent today?
All the previous silence was for this moment!
Guo Tu stepped forward calmly, first bowing respectfully before speaking softly, "My lord..."
"I believe what Xu You just said is utter nonsense. It sounds reasonable at first glance, but it's completely meaningless!"
"I wonder if my lord has noticed, but I think someone has said something like this before!"
Where is that person now?
"You...!" Xu You wanted to retort, but dared not continue.
Yuan Shao ignored him and gestured for Guo Tu to continue, "What do you want to say?"
"In my opinion, we absolutely must not take action this time. Instead, we should strengthen our relationship with Li Zhao and let the whole world know that our relationship has progressed further!"
These words caused an uproar in the hall.
Yuan Shao's face immediately darkened...
Even if you can't offer any real insights, you don't have to say such nonsense, do you?
His men killed his general, yet they still wanted to get along better with him?
Isn't this just being a jerk?
Xu You sneered, "This is the plan you came up with? It's utterly foolish!"
"If what you say is true, then wouldn't anyone be able to attack us at will from now on?"
"Look at you, you're in such a hurry again!"
Guo Tu gave him a disdainful look, then turned to Yuan Shao and said, "My lord, please think carefully about whether we should immediately take action against Li Zhao!"
"So how will Cao Cao react? He'll immediately use this as an excuse to confirm our status as rebels!"
"Then at that point, not only will we be in a passive position, but the Yuan family's reputation will also be damaged!"
"Those who were originally on our side will all drift away one by one; this is exactly what Cao Cao wants to see!"
"Although I don't know why Guan Yu intervened, one thing is certain: this matter is definitely related to Cao Cao!"
"It's not difficult to find out; a simple investigation will reveal the answer!"
Xu You burst into laughter, preparing to continue his mockery.
Before he could speak, Yuan Shao interrupted him, "Shut up..."
"Guo Tu's words make perfect sense. We absolutely cannot give Cao Cao the opportunity to confirm our status as rebels!"
"If we attack Li Zhao now, it will give others grounds for criticism. But if we improve our relationship with him and explain that it was Cao Cao who provoked us!"
"Then... the situation will completely reverse!"
Guo Tu immediately bowed with his hands clasped, saying, "My lord is wise!"
Seeing Guo Tu's smug look, Xu You couldn't help but snort softly.
This is a case of a petty person getting their way!
He retorted irritably, "So, General Yan Liang was killed, are we just going to let it go like that?"
"Of course not!"
Guo Tu seemed to have been waiting for him to say this: "My lord can take this opportunity to ask Li Zhao for more."
"He is responsible for providing the army with all the necessary provisions, and he also needs to supply the large army currently operating on the Kaiyang front!"
"In this way, he'll be brought to our side, and we'll reap all the fame and benefits!"
After hearing these analyses, Yuan Shao couldn't help but laugh!
That actually makes sense!
It's a bit of a pity about Yan Liang, who was one of the few capable and skilled generals under his command!
"You handle this matter, and no one else is allowed to interfere!" Yuan Shao said to Guo Tu.
"My lord is wise..."
……
Guo Tu not only solved the practical problems, but also exceeded his targets.
Yuan Shao did not pursue Yan Liang's death. Instead, he announced to the world that Guan Yu, who served under Li Zhao, deserved praise for his actions.
Because he was kept in the dark, he did this in order to serve the imperial court.
Although he mistakenly killed one of his generals this time, he was still a good person at heart!
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yuan Shao also greatly enhanced Guan Yu's reputation.
They even said they would give him even more rewards!
This was to prove that they were not rebels, but rather that their actions were provoked by Cao Cao.
On the contrary, Cao Cao, who held the emperor and the court in his hands, was the real traitor!
Furthermore, he reminded the warlords of the world, citing the fact that the Yuan family had held high office for four generations, that Cao Cao was very likely to become the second Dong Zhuo.
This series of actions left many people completely bewildered!
Given Yuan Shao's past character, how could he possibly let such a huge loss go so easily?
Could there really be some hidden story behind this?
By a twist of fate, Yuan Shao's tactics actually worked.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, he ostentatiously reinforced his troops in Kaiyang.
Under the pretext of rescuing the court and the emperor, they directly announced an attack on Cao Cao!
Simultaneously.
Yuan Shao requested a reward from the court in his own name, directly revealing that Li Zhao had provided them with provisions to fight against Cao Cao.
After Cao Cao and Yuan Shao made their moves one after the other, Li Zhao had fully emerged before the eyes of all the warlords, including his strength.
The current situation is unclear, but many people understand one thing: Li Zhao has become the object of contention between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao...
……