Yizhou, a guest house.

Cao Zhang just arrived in Yizhou yesterday, and Lu Ren couldn't take care of Cao Zhang for the time being because of "something at hand", so he just met with Cao Zhang in a hurry, and asked Cao Zhang to rest in the Yizhou Hotel for two days first, and then come back to talk to Cao Zhang when Lu Ren was busy with the things at hand. Although Cao Zhang has a stomach full of things to say, he has to wait for Lu Ren to finish his work. It's just that after a few days, Lu Ren hasn't come over yet, but Cao Chong and Cao Cangshu came over first with some wine and food.

is different from Cao Pi, Cao Zhang doesn't have so many fancy intestines, and Cao Zhang's personality is straightforward, so in terms of his attitude towards Cao Chong, if Cao Pi belongs to the category of hiding knives in laughter, Cao Zhangzhi is more like a big brother who cares about his younger brother:

"Cangshu, how have you been in Yizhou in the past two years?"

Cao Chong filled Cao Zhangman with wine and smiled: "Free and unrestrained." Eat when you want, sleep when you sleep. ”

Hearing this, Cao Zhang couldn't help frowning, and there was a bit of reprimand in his tone: "Cangshu, you are the smartest among our Cao family's sons, and your father also had high hopes for you when he was alive. But now you'......"

Cao Chongma interrupted Cao Zhang's words: "Brother, I am not afraid to say some things so far. Do you know why my father asked me to study in Yizhou in the first place? ”

Cao Zhang was stunned, although he had some thoughts, Cao Zhang couldn't speak.

Cao Chong shook his head a little bitterly: "Brother, my father's thoughts are far-reaching, and I can't understand them by unscrupulous children like you and me. If I hadn't been by Lu Zhengnan's side for the past two years and learned a lot from him, it might have been difficult for me to understand some of my father's thoughts. ”

This is actually a bit too much, to be precise, Cao Chong is actually pouring dirty water on Lu Ren's body. You must know that with Cao Chong's intelligence, he has long figured out many things, and it has nothing to do with Lu Ren. However, on such an occasion, Cao Chong had to pour dirty water into Lu Ren's body, otherwise if he really told Cao Zhang that he figured it out by himself, God knows if Cao Zhang would be angry and turn his face.

Of course, Cao Chang would not understand this, and in his opinion, the current Cao Chong is only twenty-six years old, although he is smart, he should not have so many fancy intestines, so he should have heard something from Lu Ren. After a pause, Cao Zhang asked, "Cangshu, what have you figured out?" ”

Cao Chong raised his glass and sighed lightly: "In terms of great cause, the eldest brother is the eldest son, and it is natural for the son to inherit his father's business. And I have always been clever and won my father's wrong love, and even had the intention of establishing an heir, which is contrary to human ethics. If my father really did that, wouldn't it be similar to Yuan Shao and Liu Biao in the past? There will definitely be people in the group who oppose it, and there will even be people with bad intentions who take the opportunity to make trouble. If we, the children of the Cao family, cause any chaos in order to compete for the heir, then won't our foundation be in danger? So my father asked me to come to Yizhou to study at that time, and even when I died, I was not allowed to go back to the funeral, because he didn't want us to have civil strife. ”

Cao Zhang was speechless. He had the idea of competing with Cao Pi at the beginning, and in the original history, Cao Zhang even directly led troops to Cao Pi to ask for Lao Cao's seal. Of course, the current pattern is that Lao Cao handed over the seat to Cao Pi by hand, and even pulled Lu Ren to escort Cao Pi, so Cao Pi's succession was much smoother than the original history, and Cao Zhang didn't think much about it.

Besides, Cao Chang is not stupid, he still understands some things, which is why Cao Pi will honestly hide in his fiefdom when Cao Pi takes away Cao Zhang's military power. And now that Cao Chong is talking about this, it has somewhat resonated with Cao Zhang, at least he feels that Cao Chong is indeed much smarter and more sensible than him.

At this time, Cao Chong's words changed slightly: "In fact, my father asked me to come to Yizhou to study at that time, and he was also trying to protect my integrity. Brother, don't blame me for speaking badly, I'll just say that...... If my father died and I remained in the territory of our Wei Kingdom, do you think that with my eldest brother's character, he would let me go? ”

“……”

Cao Chang was a little unable to answer this question. To say that Cao Zhang didn't know that Cao Pi was ruthless was obviously a little unrealistic, but with Cao Zhang's temper, he would be reluctant to think about that aspect.

Cao Chong drank all the wine in the cup, and then shook his head helplessly at Cao Zhang: "So brother, do you think I don't want to rely on my intelligence to do something?" It's just that where do I have that opportunity? If I stay in the territory of Wei, I am afraid that the more I show my wisdom, the faster I will die. Even if I deliberately look like I'm playful and useless, my eldest brother won't worry about me. And I will come to Yizhou, it is really a helpless move. ”

After pouring another glass of wine, Cao Chong then smiled bitterly: "If I am just an ordinary scholar, after I come to Yizhou, I can still rely on my own talents to find an opportunity to enter Lu Zhengnan, but I am a child of the Cao family, who dares to entrust me with a heavy responsibility?" In contrast, Lu Zhengnan treated me well, at least he never missed me in terms of food and clothing, and allowed me to read literature and write books in Yizhou College. Brother, this is fate, I can't blame others. And in my capacity, if I want to...... Forget it, I don't want to talk about it, anyway, I probably don't have much chance to accomplish anything, and it's good to be able to live freely like this, at least I don't have to worry about anyone trying to kill me. Brother, I've made it so clear, do you still blame me for not being motivated? ”

Cao Zhang has no temper. In fact, in a sense, Cao Zhang's and Cao Chong's situations are similar. Cao Chong doesn't have much opportunity to show his talent, so why isn't Cao Zhang? Could it be that he still expects Cao Pi to give Cao Zhang military power? It's unrealistic to think about it on your toes.

Because of this bit of sympathy, Cao Zhang, who was still a little restrained, simply let go of the drink. At first, I could talk to Cao Chong in an orderly manner, but later...... It's okay not to talk nonsense about the two drunks.

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"What? These two brothers are drunk after eating and drinking? And it's all sorts of nonsense? ”

Lu Ren, who was playing chess with Xun Yu in the office, was happy when he heard the news, and under this joy, the "car" in his hand was directly sent to Xun Yu's trap, and Xun Yu unceremoniously stepped on the "car" that was sent into his mouth.

"Hey, Xun Gong, this step is not a ha!"

Xun Yu leisurely removed Lu Ren's "car" from the chessboard, and said with a smile: "You have no regrets, who made Yihao get carried away?" ”

Lu Ren laughed twice and said, "Okay, okay, I'm getting carried away." I knew that these two brothers were actually very unhappy, and if I found an opportunity for these two brothers to meet, I would definitely vent bitterness on each other. ”

Xun Yu said: "Then next?" ”

Lu Ren looked at the chessboard, but sent one of his own pawns who crossed the river into Xun Yu's mouth: "The more unwilling people are, the more they will hope to get a chance." And if I give a chance to these two brothers now, Xun Gong, do you think they will fall into the trap I set again? ”

Xun Yu was about to laugh at the river crosser sent by Lu Ren, after listening to Lu Ren's words, Xun Yu's chess hand hesitated for a moment, and then looked at the situation on the chessboard very carefully, and then smiled and ate the river crosser: "According to the conditions you are going to hand over to their brothers, it doesn't look like there is any trap, so I should accept your proposal, right?" ”

Lu Ren sent another "horse" to Xun Yu's mouth: "There is a saying that 'suffering a loss is actually taking advantage', I seem to have suffered a big loss on the surface, but in fact I can earn more." ”

Xun Yu looked at the chessboard again, shook his head and said, "Maybe...... Yoshiho, you lost this game of chess. ”

Lu Ren smiled and pulled aside a bunch of chess pieces that were eaten by Xun Yu: "On the surface, I lost, and Xun Gong's chess pieces occupied this chessboard." But in fact, if you jump out of the chessboard, Xun Gong, do you think you can use more chess pieces, or I can use more chess pieces? ”

Xun Yu looked at the two rooks, one horse, one cannon and three soldiers he left on the chessboard, and then looked at Lu Renba's rook, two horses, two cannons and four pawns on the edge of the chessboard, and couldn't help but smile and said, "What are you?" Are you making excuses for your lack of chess skills? ”

Lu Ren smiled: "The chess pieces left on the chessboard are only useful on this chessboard. But my removed chess pieces can be put on another chessboard. Okay, I have to go see Cao Ziwen tomorrow, I can't do anything if I hang him like this. ”

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The next evening, Lu Ren brought some snacks from Yizhou to see Cao Zhang. After arranging the table and the dishes, Lu Ren asked his entourage to retreat, but he was just face-to-face with Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhang also had some admiration for this...... You must know that Cao Zhang's force value was ranked best in the middle and late stages of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, and Lu Ren was alone with him like this, at least it must show how relieved Lu Ren was about Cao Zhang. However, this is also the reason why Cao Zhang doesn't know how powerful Lu Ren is.

There is no nonsense, only that after some polite words have passed, Cao Zhang asked Lu Ren what the arrangements were. And Lu Ren just smiled and gave Cao Zhang a dish of chopsticks, and then said slowly: "Ziwen, I want to ask you first, what do you think of Cao Zihuan's previous incident of not saving my Yizhou disciples?" ”

Cao Zhang sighed: "Ungrateful and disadvantaged!" Lu Zhengnan, it's not me pretending to be a gesture, I really think that my eldest brother did such a thing, which really made me shameless to face Lu Zhengnan. Shame on you! ”

Lu Ren nodded: "As far as I know, many of your Cao Wei's disciples and soldiers feel disgraced because of this incident, and they want to do something to earn this face back, Ziwen, you should have a similar idea, right?" ”

Cao Zhang nodded. A hot-blooded Bali like him, what he wants to do most after encountering such a thing is to get his face back.

Lu Ren smiled again, and casually served Cao Zhangman wine: "I really have something I want Ziwen to do now." ”

Cao Zhang hurriedly said: "Lu Zhengnan, but it doesn't hurt to say it!" ”

Lu Ren didn't rush to say, but looked at Cao Zhang for a while before saying, "I remember that at the beginning, I was also one of Ling Zun's staff, and I had a good relationship with Ling Zun. And now in you, I see a heroic aura like Ling Zun. In contrast, your eldest brother is less heroic, but more inherited Ling Zun's scheming. ”

Cao Zhang didn't know if Lu Ren was praising or scolding him, so he chose not to reply.

Lu Ren took a sip of wine to himself, and said with a straight face: "Cao Ziwen, how many people are still in the righteous army under your command now?" ”

Cao Zhangdao: "About four thousand, and now they are stationed in Liaoxi. ”

Lu Ren said lightly: "Only four thousand people? It's a little less! ”

Cao Zhang was stunned: "What does Lu Zhengnan mean by this?" ”

Lu Ren said: "At present, the war in Liangzhou and the Youkou in the north, as long as your eldest brother doesn't make any mistakes, there should be no problem in thinking about it, so you Cao Ziwen has no place to use in these two battlefields." Even if you go back now, most of the time you can only honestly disband the rebel army, and then go back to your fiefdom to continue your idle life, right? ”

Cao Zhang had nothing to say, because Lu Ren was telling the truth.

Lu Ren said: "There's nothing going on over there, but I still have a large battlefield here, and there will be a lot of battles to fight, so I want to ask you if you are interested in these battlefields." ”

Cao Zhang was stunned: "Lu Zhengnan, what do you mean?" ”

Lu Ren summoned his hand, and then an attendant sent a map. This is a map of Central Asia, Lu Ren spread it out on the ground and pointed to the area on the east coast of the Indian Ocean and said, "Ziwen, do you know these places?" ”

Cao Zhang only knew very little about these things, after all, he didn't have much contact with certain things, and he didn't have much opportunity to contact them, so when he saw this map, Cao Zhang was a little confused.

Lu Ren pointed a few times around the area, and after making some general introductions, he said, "This is Guishuang. This time, the Western Regions Alliance invaded our Han border, in fact, Guishan was behind the instigation, and my purpose was to attack Guishan by sea and avenge Guishuang's revenge on our Han border. It's just that now you have also seen that if I want to fight Guishan, this long strip of seaside land is my navy food route, and nothing can go wrong. It's just that my own troops are a little insufficient, so ......"

Cao Zhang understood: "Lu Zhengnan wants to let Zai Xia lead troops to this area?" ”

Lu Ren nodded: "That's it." It's just such a narrow coastal area, Ziwen, do you think you can beat it with your 4,000 righteous army? If you can beat it, can you manage it again? ”

Cao Zhang's egg hurts. From Malacca to Yangon, there are thousands of miles of coastline, and if 4,000 people want to fight it, they have to manage it, which is obviously unrealistic, okay? But immediately, Cao Zhang realized that Lu Ren must have an idea, so he turned his eyes to Lu Ren.

Lu Ren no longer sold Guanzi, but raised his glass to Cao Zhang and said, "I'll give you enough money and food, and you will go back to Wei to recruit troops and sell horses." You can command as many soldiers and horses as you can summon......"