Chapter 475: Knowing Destiny
Donglai, Huangxian.

Thirty thousand Cao troops had already surrounded the place, and more than ten thousand recruited pirates had blocked the sea.

At night, the sea breeze howls and the waves crash against the rocks on the shore.

The boats from Liaodong docked and were washed onto the mudflats by the waves.

The people on the boat quickly grabbed the hemp ropes and slid to the ground, carrying their personal belongings, and quickly moved towards the Liaodong military camp outside Huangxian City.

Soon, Yingzhou Governor Liu Yi met the leader of this group of people and also received the secret letter from Liaodong.

Previously, Cao's army's ships had blockaded Bohai Sea. With Cao Cao's support, these ships were very active in blockading and looting.

Although the information exchanges between Liu Yi and Liaodong were cut off for a long time, Liu Yi still sent people to mix in the fleeing fleet of Qingzhou heroes and successfully arrived in Liaodong.

After many twists and turns, I finally brought you the bad news from Liaodong.

The former lord Gongsun Du died of a spring cold, and his successor Gongsun Kang was busy stabilizing the internal situation and had no energy to rescue Liu Yi.

However, Gongsun Kang allowed Liu Yi to negotiate surrender in a letter, and he would send an envoy to Cao Cao to discuss the redemption.

On the next day, Gongsun Kang's envoy arrived in Penglai.

After witnessing the mirage, Cao Cao built the Penglai Pavilion on the coast of Penglai.

Penglai Pavilion is built on the seaside, with a stone foundation layered in layers and connected to the coastal reefs.

At present, Penglai Pavilion is still in the stage of laying the foundation.

In the military camp on the shore, Cao Cao sat in the main seat.

After repeatedly reading Gongsun Kang's silk book, he still could not recognize the words on it.

A few days ago, Cao Zhi returned to Qingzhou and brought him two fairy peaches.

There were originally three pills. After Ren Jun took one, his symptoms immediately subsided and he recovered.

Cao Zhi brought back two, and Cao Cao had Ren Jun as an example of tasting, so he decisively ate one.

My body has indeed returned to its youthful state, and even the occasional headaches have been effectively curbed and have not recurred in recent times.

However, the inability to recognize words did not improve, and he began to suspect that he had injured his soul.

So at this moment he read the silk book seriously, and then handed it to Cao Zhang: "Ziwen, take a look too."

"Here."

Cao Zhang stood up and took it with both hands. He sat down and read it. After reading it, he said, "Father, Gongsun Kang wants to form an alliance with you, but this is just a humiliating alliance. I doubt his sincerity."

Cao Cao raised his hand and stroked his beard. "Yes, Liu Yi has about 7,000 men surrounded. Now Gongsun Kang has just been established, Liaodong is unstable, Guanzhong and Liu Xuande are lurking in the west, and the barbarians are everywhere in the east. If we lose Liu Yi's 7,000 men, Gongsun Kang will not be able to stabilize, and there will be chaos in his area."

For Gongsun Kang, it is not important whether to form an alliance or not. The most important thing is how to safely redeem Liu Yi's 7,000 men.

Whether it is spending money or making empty promises about forming an alliance, these are all means, and the goal is Liu Yi's seven thousand men.

Alliance is just a means, not an end, so it naturally lacks sincerity.

Cao Zhang heard this and asked in confusion, "Father, will Gongsun Kang make alliances with both sides and do something like being loyal to both Qin and Chu?"

Cao Cao nodded slowly, but said: "This is a minor matter. Gongsun Kang is not my mortal enemy. It is Liu Xuande who benefited from his death, not me."

Cao Zhang thought it was a reminder and thought for a while: "Yes, now it is our army's top priority to eliminate Huang County and expel Liu Yi. Now 50,000 troops are gathered in Donglai, and the heartland is unstable. If we reach an agreement with them and let Liu Yi return to Liaodong, it will be a bargain for him."

If Liu Yi is released to evacuate, it is natural that Liu Yi cannot be allowed to evacuate with his men, horses and equipment intact.

Letting Liu Yi take the person back is a loss in itself.

More than 7,000 slaves can do a lot of things.

Cao Zhang thought for a moment and said, "If we can establish a friendly relationship with Gongsun Kang and trade with him, it will be helpful."

Cao Cao pondered, turned his head and stared at Cao Zhang: "Ziwen, are you saying to emulate the Hebei Commercial House?" Cao Zhang nodded slightly. Although the Hebei Commercial House had not been built yet, Cao Zhi had visited it when he went to Chang'an University City and praised it very much.

The trading house had not been established yet, but stalls and shops had already been planned. These stalls had already been distributed within Hebei, and there were also premium transactions. Yuan Shang also earned some cash from this. The most important thing was that the trend of Hebei scholars and people migrating out had finally stopped.

After hearing this, Cao Cao took a sip of the tea. Seeing that the tea had cooled down, he skimmed it away. Cao Zhang stood up and poured hot water for him.

Cao Cao sat in deep thought, pondering the interests before and after, and said: "I thought Yuan Shang was young and energetic, and would raise an army when I attacked Donglai. I never thought that the Grand Marshal was far away in Guanzhong, but he had no intention of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight. This is very puzzling to me and I can't figure it out."

When two enemies go to war, one should watch the battle quietly and then prepare to take advantage.

As a result, the Grand Marshal of Guanzhong mediated the war and opposed them going to war.

From the beginning to the end, Cao Cao had no intention of luring the enemy deep into his territory, defending and counterattacking, and then sweeping across Hebei... Such a strategy is indeed grand, but it will inevitably lead to a full-scale counterattack from Guanzhong.

Trying hard to swallow a piece of food that big, then getting hit hard and spitting it out violently could result in instant death.

Therefore, Cao Cao just wanted to lure Yuan Shang to attack and recover the morale loss from the defeat in Liyang through defensive counterattack.

Even such a small plan was interrupted by Guanzhong.

This made Cao Cao very unhappy, but he also felt that the overlord of the world should have such a broad mind and have the obligation to avoid meaningless wars and killings.

For the hegemon of the world, all parties in the world are food on the table, just like sheep in a stable. If the sheep fight and hurt each other, isn’t that the shepherd’s loss?

Although he is now down and out and no longer the shepherd of the world, there is still a fair side in Cao Cao's thinking. He naturally understands the underlying logic of all Guanzhong's actions.

Mediating wars to avoid unnecessary killings is itself an act of displaying power and is also an act of benevolence.

The effect was also obvious. The mediation in Guanzhong and the construction of the Hebei trading house directly stopped the collapse of Hebei.

Now, whoever dares to go to war will suffer a blow from Guanzhong.

This kind of attack is obviously a just act and will be supported by the middle and lower class people from all sides.

If there is any intention to start a war in the future, Guanzhong will mediate... What kind of life is this?
Cao Cao thought about it, and said to Cao Zhang: "At present, Liu Yi's 7,000 men are stationed in Huang County. Whether to fight or make peace is up to me. From now on, whether to fight or make peace in the north and south of the Yellow River is also determined by Guanzhong. I can control others, but I can also be controlled by others. Therefore, we should think about a long-term retreat. Liaodong is bitterly cold, but to the east there are indeed the Yingzhou Islands. The islands are vast and are said to be able to give birth to millions of men and women."

Cao Cao said as he took a sip of tea: "You go and talk to Liu Yi. I can let them go and take their armor and equipment with them. It's not a bad price to pay for being his friend."

Cao Zhang didn't like letting the enemy in the cage go for nothing, but he still cupped his hands and said, "Yes, I will send an envoy to meet Liu Yi right away."

"Well, tell Zhongde when you go out. I want to see him."

"Here."

Cao Zhang bowed, picked up the forehead guard and put it on before leaving.

Cao Cao in the barracks took out a cowhide map from under the low table and spread it out, looking at the Liaodong area. There were many specialties marked here, the most important of which were ginseng and Korean ginseng.

Cao Cao was very familiar with Codonopsis pilosula, but nowadays doctors from different places lack a common understanding of the medicinal uses of ginseng.

Looking at the Jiaodong Peninsula in Donglai, it is marked as a specialty called gold, but the word "gold" is obviously smaller than that of ginseng.

If we can obtain ginseng and Korean ginseng from Liaodong through Gongsun Kang and then sell them to Jiangdong; then we can sell the goods from Jiangdong to Liaodong, Liaoxi and Hebei.

In this way, he can control the profits of trafficking and resale in Bohai and Donghai. As long as he has a monopoly, the profit will be more than hundreds of millions.
Since the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, war has become the norm in life, but life cannot be filled with war.

If we can manage to settle down and all parties can make profits from business, then it would be a good life without fighting for the time being.

Only by managing and expanding maritime trade can we accumulate and train sailing fleets and talents.

Guanzhong mediated the war in the hope that he would concentrate on going out to sea.

If he doesn't leave, he will probably be driven into the sea sooner or later.

If you don't want to drown, build a ship early and adapt to the life of sailing and trade early.

While thinking, Cao Cao rolled up the cowhide map.

(End of this chapter)