Chapter 260 I, Liu Bei, am the great general, the head of all civil and military officials! Old Liu, whoever controls the Central Plains controls the world!

Cao Cao raised his head tremblingly and looked at Cheng Yu in disbelief.

"Lu...Lu Bu is really dead?"

Cao Cao uttered these words with difficulty in a trembling tone.

After the previous surprise attack on Yangquan failed and his eldest son Cao Ang was killed by Liu Bei, he realized that the fall of Shouchun and the capture of Huainan by Liu Bei were inevitable.

What shocked him at this time was not the fall of Shouchun, but the killing of Lu Bu.

That’s Lu Bu!

The best general in the world, with extraordinary martial arts!
With a Fang Tian painted halberd and a red rabbit horse, he roams the world, who can stop him?
In the battle of Yanzhou, he failed to kill Lu Bu, and in the battle of Xuzhou, he still failed to kill Lu Bu.

He even thought that as long as Lu Bu wanted to leave, no one could stop him, let alone kill him, even if he was defeated and had nothing.

But now, such an immortal being is actually dead?

Died in Shouchun, died under the blade of Liu Bei!
Cao Cao was greatly shocked and found it difficult to accept this fact which was beyond his understanding.

"Sikong, Lu Bu is indeed dead."

"He failed to break out and was captured alive by Guan Yu, and then beheaded by Liu Bei!"

Cheng Yu answered silently.

Cao Cao's face changed again and he exclaimed:
"What did you say? Lu Bu was killed by Guan Yu?"

Cao Cao's eyes showed even more disbelief.

He was of course aware that Guan Yu was brave enough to fight against ten thousand enemies, but in his impression, Guan Yu's martial arts were almost the same as Dian Wei's, and definitely inferior to Lu Bu's.

Otherwise, in the battle of Hulao Pass, the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang would not have been unable to defeat Lu Bu even after joining forces.

But Cheng Yu claimed that Lu Bu was actually captured by Guan Yu!
Unbelievable...

"Sikong, the detailed information is here, please take a look."

Cheng Yu then presented the information on the silk book.

Cao Cao took it hurriedly and returned to the tent.

Guo Jia, Cao Hong and others in the tent were all shocked when they learned that Lu Bu was executed.

Cao Cao simply returned the silk book to Cheng Yu and asked him to read it aloud in public to allay everyone's doubts.

Liu Bei used Xiao Fang's plan to flood Shouchun. Lu Bu led his army to break out. Xiao Fang determined the direction of the breakout. Liu Bei deployed heavy troops to encircle and kill Lu Bu. Lu Bu was finally blocked from breaking out to the east.

And Lü Bu lost his Red Hare and his Fang Tian Hua Ji, was defeated by Guan Yu, and was eventually captured alive by him...

Cheng Yu silently read out the proceedings of the Battle of Shouchun.

Inside the big tent, everyone in Cao's camp went from being shocked and confused to gasping for air, and there was horror in their eyes as they looked at each other.

"Guan Yu's martial arts are even better than Lu Bu's!"

"The best general in the world is Liu Bei!"

"Hateful, hateful~~"

Veins bulged on Cao Cao's face, he kept hitting the table with his fists, and gritted his teeth.

Guo Jia sighed and said helplessly:
"It's not surprising that Lu Bu lost his Red Hare and his painted halberd and was defeated by Guan Yu."

"It was just that Xiao Fang, with a few clever plots, broke through Shouchun in a snap of his fingers and sent Lü Bu to his doom."

"This man's threat to us is ten times greater than Guan Yu's..."

Guo Jia did not conceal the deep fear in his heart when he spoke.

Cao Cao froze and fell into silence.

Inside the big tent, the generals were discussing the matter, and all of them were shocked by Liu Bei's capture of Huainan.

"Liu Bei has pacified Huainan today. If he marches north along the Yingshui River, he will be able to reach Xudu in a few days."

"We are now running out of food and supplies, and we are being oppressed by Yuan Shao to the point of being unable to breathe. If we are attacked from behind by Liu Bei, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"Sikong, we must do something!"

Liu Ye bowed and reminded with a serious expression.

Cao Cao shuddered, a chill ran down his back, and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Zi Yang's words make sense. If the big-eared thief stabs me in the back right now, how can I fight back?"

"Do you have any countermeasures? Tell us quickly!"

Cao Cao was also confused and looked at his advisers.

The counselors frowned and looked at each other, all at a loss for a moment.

"Sikong, Jia believes that, in the current situation, we have no choice but to make peace with Liu Bei and lure him with benefits."

After being silent for a long time, Guo Jia finally spoke quietly, with a heavy tone in his voice.

The four words "shake hands and make peace" stabbed Cao Cao's heart like a knife, causing him to suddenly feel a pain in his heart.

Of course, he knew the meaning of these four words by Guo Jia very well.

He asked for peace with Liu Bei, hoping that Liu Bei would not send troops to stab him in the back, thus putting him in a situation where he was attacked from both sides.

But that big-eared thief killed his beloved eldest son!
The hatred of killing a son is irreconcilable!

Now you want me to humble myself and take the initiative to ask for peace with the enemy who killed my son?
This is like tearing my face off and throwing it on the ground, stomping on it hard a few times, and then stabbing me in the heart a dozen times!
Cao Cao clenched his fists suddenly, and bloodshot eyes began to form.

"Jia knew that Liu Bei and Sikong had a feud over the murder of their son, so naturally they would fight to the death."

"But the situation has come to this point. We can only ask Sikong to put the overall situation first, put aside this hatred temporarily, and pretend to shake hands and talk with Liu Bei in exchange for us not having to face enemies from two sides."

"As long as we get through this, when Sikong defeats Yuan Shao in the future, he will have time to deal with Liu Bei. It won't be too late to avenge the eldest son."

Guo Jia persuaded Cao Cao earnestly and gave him a way out. Cao Cao fell silent again.

Weighing the pros and cons in his mind, the bloodshot in his eyes gradually disappeared and his clenched fists slowly loosened.

After a long time.

Cao Cao sighed and waved his hands helplessly:
"Forget it. For the sake of the country and the Han Dynasty, I can only put aside my personal honor and disgrace for the time being."

"Let's follow Feng Xiao's advice and make peace with that big-eared thief first."

Guo Jia breathed a sigh of relief and immediately complimented and praised Cao Cao.

Cao Cao smiled bitterly and waved his hand:
"Okay, Fengxiao, you don't have to say anything to comfort me. You tell me, how can I make peace with that big-eared thief?"

Guo Jia cleared his throat, with a somewhat strange look on his face, and said slowly:

"Eight words: lure people with benefits and divert disasters away!"

A gleam of light flashed in Cao Cao's eyes.

...

Seven days later.

The emperor's envoy Dong Zhao once again arrived in Shouchun City with the emperor's reward decree.

General!
This time, the emperor issued an edict, appointing Liu Bei as the general!

The general, the chief of the Han military generals, nominally commands all the troops in the world and ranks above the three dukes.

This position can be said to be second only to one person and above ten thousand people!
In addition to rewarding Liu Bei, the emperor also issued an edict, ordering Zhang Fei to concurrently serve as the governor of Xuzhou and the commander-in-chief of the troops in Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

When the imperial edict arrived, the generals were naturally surprised and excited.

The position of general is separated from Lao Liu's current position of left general by the positions of General of Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and General of Guards.

The emperor's decree was to promote Old Liu to several positions, making him the head of all civil and military officials, and his power was even higher than that of Cao Cao!

When Liu Bei was promoted to general, the official ranks of the other generals naturally rose as well. How could they not be overjoyed?

Zhang Fei, in particular, was ecstatic.

Xuzhou is his sad place. It was in Xuzhou that he fell and he blamed himself for many years.

Now that he has been appointed as the governor of Xuzhou, he can be said to have gotten up again where he fell. What a glorious moment it is.

The palace was immersed in joy.

Liu Bei looked at the imperial edict in his hand. Although he could not hide his joy on his face, there was doubt in his eyes.

"In the battle of Yangquan, Cao Ang died at my hands. Logically speaking, Cao Cao and I have a grudge for killing each other's sons."

"How could Cao Cao ask the emperor to appoint me as a general?"

"Jinglue, I'm afraid you have other intentions behind this reward."

Liu Bei saw the clue and looked at Xiao Fang with suspicion.

However, Xiao Fang's eyes were calm as usual, without any suspicion or surprise.

This is Cao Cao's style.

Although Cao Cao was also a man of sentimentality, his sentimentality was more about his talent.

Once in history, Cao Cao forced Zhang Xiu to rebel in Wancheng, which caused his own son Cao Ang to die at the hands of Zhang Xiu. It can be said that the hatred of killing one's son is irreconcilable.

But on the eve of the Battle of Guandu, in order to consider the overall situation, he accepted Zhang Xiu's surrender again and gave him unprecedented rewards to show his magnanimity.

Lao Liu is a man of sentimental temperament, and the word "sentiment" here refers more to friendship and loyalty.

So after Sun Quan attacked Jingzhou and killed Guan Yu, although Liu Bang asked for peace several times, he remained unmoved and was determined to mobilize the entire country's army to destroy Wu and avenge Guan Yu.

Well, it is understandable that Cao Cao, for the sake of the so-called overall situation, would temporarily put aside the hatred for his son's death, use the emperor's reward, and take the initiative to show goodwill to Old Liu and win him over.

"Cao Cao is a great hero of the time. To him, enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens is just a piece of cake."

"When Cao Cao saw that the lord had taken Huainan, he was afraid that the lord would lead his troops north to attack Xudu, which would cause him to be attacked from all sides and collapse. Therefore, he used the name of the emperor to give rewards in exchange for shaking hands with the lord and making peace."

"The position of the general originally belonged to Yuan Shao. Cao Cao gave it to you, my lord, in order to stir up Yuan Shao's anger towards you and make Yuan Tan lead his troops to attack Huainan."

"And he appointed General Yide as the governor of Xuzhou, just to induce General Yide to incite the lord to attack Xuzhou in the east and start a large-scale war with the Yuan family!"

"If the lord goes to war with Yuan Shao, it will not only divide Yuan Shao's forces, but also make him unable to attack Xu Du again. This is what he wants to see."

Xiao Fang slowly exposed Cao Cao's true intentions, then sneered:
"This tactic of using benefits to lure people and diverting disaster to the east, if Fang's guess is correct, must have been the work of Guo Jia."

The truth came out.

Liu Bei suddenly realized and couldn't help but take a breath.

All the generals came to their senses and the laughter and discussions immediately died down.

"No wonder I felt uneasy. It turns out there is something fishy going on!"

"Cao is trying to repeat his old tricks, trying to imitate the time when I was in charge of Xuzhou and forced me to go to war with Yuan Shu, but he just sat on the mountain and watched the fight!"

"How can I be fooled by him again this time!"

Liu Bei's face flashed with annoyance, and he said:
"Jinglue, since you have seen through Cao's tricks, I naturally cannot be used by him."

"I plan to keep my troops in place and watch Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fight to the death at Guandu. I will make plans after they decide the winner. What do you think?"

Xiao Fang put away his sneer and shook his head:
"My lord, you are wrong. If you do not take action and wait and see, you will miss the golden opportunity to drive a nail into the Central Plains!"

"My lord, you should take advantage of the situation to seize Xuzhou and advance into the Central Plains!"

"Only those who control the Central Plains can control the world!"

(End of this chapter)