C158

"What did you say?" Cao Cao Cao fiercely slapped the table, stared at Xun You and bellowed: "Gongsun Xu actually wants me to use ten thousand stones worth of food in exchange for Cao Zi He! Why didn't he just directly come and snatch it! The prick had gone too far! This is going too far! "

In the great hall of Henei County, Cao Cao Cao was seated at the seat of honor, while Xun Yu and, as well as Xu Huang and were all accompanying him.

"Yuan Jean, sit down!" Xiahou Yuan glared at Xiahou Dun.

Cao Cao Cao waved his hand, "Yuanyu, Gongsun kid is well-versed in military strategy, how can they not guard against us going to rob their camps? Sit down first, we'll discuss this later! "

Xiahou Dun sat down bitterly, and punched the table a few times with his fists, to vent the discontent in his heart.

"Master" Xun You laughed bitterly: "This is Gongsun Xu's excuse, he purposefully offered a price that the lord cannot bear, but actually, he did not want General Cao Chun to come back. But Master need not worry, according to this subordinate's view, Gongsun Xu does not have any intentions of harming General Cao Chun, and furthermore, he fully appreciates General Cao Chun, if not … "

Xun You stopped here, but everyone present, other than Xiahou Dun, knew what he intended to do. If Gongsun Xu wanted to kill Cao Chun, he would have done so earlier, but not only did he keep him alive, he even intentionally gave him a price tag that he could not trade with Cao Chun. No matter what, they felt that Gongsun Xu had intentions of recruiting Cao Chun. However, everyone present knew that this was impossible. Cao Chun was Cao Cao's younger cousin and was completely loyal to Cao Cao;

'What exactly does Gongsun Xu want to do? ' The few of them were pondering this question in their hearts.

"My lord, how should Gongsun Xu reply?" Xun You asked Cao Cao Cao embarrassedly. He felt that he had failed to bring Cao Chun back because of his degrading mission, and he couldn't persuade Gongsun Xu to lower his conditions to redeem Cao Chun.

"Refuse him!" Cao Cao Cao snorted in anger: "Since this child is not in any life-threatening danger, let him stay at Gongsun Xu's side for now, waiting for a suitable opportunity to rescue him back."

Xun You nodded his head, although in his heart he knew that Cao Cao was saying it like that, but he had already given up on negotiating to return to Cao Chun, otherwise, he would think of ways to discuss this matter with Gongsun Xu.

At this time, Xu Huang suddenly stood up and cupped his fists: "Master, how about we have Gao Gang gather some food from the Henei County's treasury to redeem General Cao Chun?"

Xu Huang's name was public, and he had followed Chariot General Yang Feng back in the day. After Cao Cao defeated Yang Feng, he used all his heart to call Xu Huang over to his side. This person had a grand appearance and was nine feet tall. He was good at using a Xuanhua axe. He was very skilled in martial arts and was also proficient in military strategies. He was also very open-minded and had a good relationship with the generals under Cao Cao.

"What Gong Ming said is a good idea." Cao Cao nodded in agreement, then shook his head and said, "It's a pity that this old man can't do this!" Gao Gang has already given us food that we can use for two months in full. If you want to redeem us and ask for ten thousand more stones, it will definitely arouse the displeasure of Gao Gang and the others.

"Yes, this lowly general's consideration is insufficient. Please forgive me, sir!" Xu Huang turned around and sat down, not the slightest bit dissatisfied at Cao Cao Cao's rejection of his suggestion.

Xun Yu cupped his hands across his chest and said: "Master, General Gong Ming's words just now did remind this subordinate that we cannot transfer the rations from the Henei County's treasury. In that case, we might as well borrow the rations from the rich families in the city! Even if they did not redeem General Cao Chun now, they could still do this. Actually, it did not matter how much food they borrowed. It must be known that every rich family has countless slaves and guards. If they can agree to contribute men, the casualties in our Yanzhou Army will be reduced by a lot! "This way, we can build a relationship with the local rich and powerful families. If the situation changes in the future …"

Hearing that, Cao Cao's eyes lit up, Xun Yu's intention was clear, he wanted to tie the rich and powerful families in the city onto his chariot. If Yuan Shao lost, Cao Cao Cao could rely on his relationship with these people to directly occupy or secretly control the Henei County. If he was able to do this, not only would he be able to increase his own strength, he would also be able to pin a nail in Gongsun Zanfuzi's side, and at that time, he would be able to walk away with ease.

Cao Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu and asked: "How many families in the city are worth winning over?"

Every time Cao Cao entered into a new place, Xun Yu would immediately find a way to obtain the household registration documents, and carefully search for objects that Cao Cao could find that he could understand or win over. Every time Xun Yu recommended Cao Cao, he would be a useful person. For example, when he first occupied the Yanzhou, Xun Yu would personally negotiate with a few wealthy families, and in the end, let them choose to support Cao Cao according to the will of the people, allowing Cao Cao to successfully take over the Yanzhou. When Xun Yu just arrived at Henei County, he immediately asked Gao Gang about the situation of the local Wealthy Class families.

"There are two big families in Henei County, the Sima's and the Zhang family. The current Patriarch Sima Fang has once served as the head of the capital, and his father, Sima Jun, has been the Yingchuan prefecture chief for many years, so he has a very deep relationship with the Xun's Clan. Now that Sima Fang was free and at home, he was respected by the people of the Henei County, as he nurtured and taught his children and grandchildren. Sima Fang has eight sons, who are respectively Sima Lang, Sima Yi, Sima Fu, Sima Kui, Sima Qian, Sima Xian, Sima Jin, Sima Tong and Sima Min. These eight sons all carry the word "Da" in their words, for example, Sima Lang's "Bo Da" in his form and Sima Yi's "Zhong Da" in his form.

Cao Cao Cao said joyfully: "I have met Sima Fang a few times and admired his talent and character. If I knew that he had returned to the Henei County, I would have gone to pay my respects to him a long time ago! Wen Ruo, I have heard of Sima Zhongda's name a few times, I heard that he is intelligent, intelligent, and skilled in all arts, is there such a thing? "

"The lord is right!" Xun Yu nodded and laughed, "Sima Zhongda has been clever since a young age and has many talents. When he was young, he had close contact with the hermit Hu Zhao and the others, and his reputation was extremely resounding in the stronghold. He had learned a lot of things from Hu Zhao, and after returning home, he had always been helping Sima Fang with the clan's affairs. Currently, among the Sima's Clans, Sima Yi's status was only second to his father, Sima Fang, and many of the clan's matters were handled by him personally. If my lord can persuade this person to come and seek refuge, the entire Sima Family will support my lord and the chances of defending the Henei County will increase greatly! "

Cao Cao Cao loved talents as if they were his own life. Hearing these words, Cao Cao Cao was overjoyed, and carefully asked about the matters of the Sima Family, which Xun Yu answered one by one. He even mentioned some interesting things about Sima Yi, making Cao Cao even more tempted to recruit Sima Yi as his subordinate. Fortunately, Cao Cao Cao was able to quickly adjust his attitude. After hearing about the Sima's, he started to ask about the other big families' situation.

"The Zhang family has lived in Hanoi for hundreds of years, and in the history of the Xuanyuan family, there have never been any major figures, but they were kind and merciful, spending all their efforts to help the victims in those years of calamity, thus their reputation in the Henei County was not one bit weaker than that of the Sima's. The current patriarch's name was Zhang Wang, he was once a county magistrate, and after the war he left to return home, and now lived in the city. Oh right, this Zhang Wang has a girl named Zhang Chunhua, she is 1 year old and is able to read and write poems at the age of 3. Although she is only around 7 years old, but she is known by others as the little talented girl. It was rumored that Sima Fang had intentionally wanted to marry Zhang Wang, and it was said that he had rejected her offer himself. " "Xun Yu, that little girl, is very interesting. She said that only those who have more literary skills than her can be her husband, and if she can't compose a poem in ten steps, then she will scram as far away as possible!"

"Oh? "Then, you should at least bring it over for us to take a look!" This was the first time he saw a girl with such a distinctive personality. Of course, Cao Cao Cao would definitely not have any intentions of seeing Zhang Chunhua, he wanted to personally see Zhang Chunhua, and also wanted to arrange a marriage for his own son, Cao Pi. Cao Cao has always acted in a casual manner, not only will he not reprimand or oppose such independent and extraordinary actions, but he will also enthusiastically support them.

Xun Yu laughed: "Master, if you meet the Zhang father and daughter, just send someone to invite them, but if you meet Sima Fang and his son, you need to personally pay respects!"

"Of course!" Cao Cao Cao nodded his head, "Old Mr. Sima Fang is of noble character and has some friendship with his father. How about this, we will pay a visit to the Sima's first, and then we will conveniently pay a visit to Zhang Wang. "

Xun Yu nodded his head and laughed: "Master is right, this subordinate will send someone to inform Sir Sima Fang right away, and ask him to prepare."

"There's no need for that!" Cao Cao shook his head and refused, "If we were to be notified in advance, old mister Sima Fang would definitely hold back and entertain us with great ceremony, it would be troublesome for us, why not pay a visit later."

"Master is right, but this subordinate has not thought it through properly." Master, when are you planning to go? "

"Since Gong Da has already talked with Gongsun Xu, there's no need for this old man to waste his breath on him after going to the city wall! Let's go visit the Sima's. Miao Cai, I shall leave the matter of the city defense to you, if the Gongsun kid attacks, immediately come forward to report! "

"Here!" "Please rest assured, my lord!"

"Let's go meet the famous Sima Zhongda!"