For Boss Cao, there are several very key figures in the Battle of Guandu:

One is Zang Ba who is sitting in front of Wu Liang at the moment.

As Wu Liang said before, Zang Ba was stationed in Xuzhou to contain Yuan Tan's troops in Qingzhou, so that Boss Cao did not have to worry about the Eastern Front;

One is Guo Jia.

Before, during, and after the war, Guo Jia repeatedly provided ingenuity for Boss Cao. He properly dealt with the pincer attacks of Liu Bei and Sun Ce who were cooperating with Yuan Shao, and defeated them one by one. After Yuan Shao died of illness, Boss Cao prepared to take advantage of the victory to pursue Yuan Shao.

When the two sons of Yuan Shao were fighting for power, they tried their best to dissuade Boss Cao from retreating. He waited for Yuan Shao's two sons to fight for power and then went north again. The ending was completed in a relaxed and happy manner. It can be said that he became a prince in one battle.

Another one is Zhang Xiu who killed Cao Ang, Cao Zhen and Dian Wei in history.

Zhang Xiu stationed his troops in Wancheng. Wancheng is an important military location and a thorn in the flesh for Boss Cao. If he cannot be removed or surrendered as soon as possible, he can also be used to kill Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu.

The boss brought a lot of trouble and made it difficult for him to deal with the situation.

Therefore, if we want to start a relationship with Yuan Shao, we must first solve the problem of Zhang Xiu.

At this moment, Boss Cao is still at an absolute disadvantage when facing Yuan Shao, who has strong soldiers and horses, so he will definitely try his best to attract all the forces that can be attracted. This is why in history, although Zhang Xiu rebelled and killed Cao Ang, Cao Zhen and Dian Wei, but later

Following the advice of the poisonous scholar Jia Xu, he surrendered to Boss Cao again on the eve of the Battle of Guandu. Instead of killing him to avenge Cao Ang, Boss Cao treated him with courtesy and made him General Yangwu.

The last one is Xu You.

This person was the one who passed on the most critical military information to Boss Cao. Without him, Boss Cao would not have known that Yuan Shao's grain and grass were stored in Wuchao and there was not much defense. Naturally, there would be no complete turnaround in history.

The situation of the Battle of Guandu was "burning the black nest".

"It seems that Guo Jia is indeed a strange person."

Wu Liang took advantage of the situation and pretended to sigh in front of Zang Ba. In fact, there was no need for him to say it. If people in later generations who have seen this period of history hear Wu Liang say this, they will only think that he is talking nonsense without any nutrition.

But it must not be said that Boss Cao's mind has been verified in this matter.

After all, Guo Jia was introduced by Xun Yu. To some extent, he could be said to be Xun Yu's disciple, and Xun Yu had already been placed under house arrest by Boss Cao in advance of the incident.

If it were Wu Liang, he might never see Guo Jia again.

But Boss Cao was able to let go of his prejudices and act on merit. Based on this alone, Wu Liang could not catch up even if he rode a red rabbit. No wonder he can achieve great things.

"That's exactly the case, but many people around Duke Ming are dissatisfied with it."

Zang Ba lowered his voice and said, "They all say that Guo Jia is still young, and his words and deeds are a bit exaggerated, so he may be unreliable. If Ming Gong relies on him, he may suffer big losses in future wars.

"

"How can the short-sighted people understand what Mr. Ming is doing now that he is here today?"

Wu Liang snorted and laughed.

These people are just jealous and competing for favor. Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

When Wu Liang was just hired by Boss Cao, many people in Cao's camp were hostile. However, Wu Liang was different from those counselors and generals. Although he was a popular figure around Boss Cao, he rarely appeared in Boss Cao's presence.

They rarely show up in Cao's camp, so it is extremely difficult for them to find a breakthrough when they want to criticize. Even more often, people forget that there is such a number one figure as Wu Liang beside Boss Cao. After all, he leads the Hu people.

The army went on an expedition for at least a few months or at most half a year, and there was no news at all. Even Boss Cao didn't know where he was.

And the most untrustworthy people are exactly those who are surrounding Boss Cao now.

The records in the history books are very clear. When Boss Cao and Yuan Shao were in a stalemate in Guandu, because Boss Cao's power was at an absolute disadvantage, many people became vacillating. One side was obedient to Boss Cao, and the other side secretly asked Boss Cao.

Yuan Shao showed favor and left a way out for himself in advance.

Later, Boss Cao defeated Yuan Shao and found many collaborating bamboo tubes in Yuan Shao's mansion, which involved all kinds of big shots, which would not be obvious at ordinary times.

For a moment, people in Cao camp were panicked.

If ordinary people were to deal with this matter, they would definitely find out and get rid of these people who betrayed them in private in order to relieve their hatred. How could these people not be afraid?

But Boss Cao’s approach is unique.

He knew in his heart the contents of these bamboo tubes that collaborated with the enemy, but he did not even look at them, nor did he intend to investigate. Instead, he specially summoned everyone over and burned these bamboo tubes in front of everyone.

Clean and tidy.

This is Boss Cao’s pattern.

In an instant, everyone felt at ease. Those who planned to flee stopped running away, and those who planned to rebel stopped rebelling. Everyone tacitly agreed to stay under Boss Cao for his own use. A serious political crisis had already begun before it even started.

it's over.

certainly.

It's hard to say whether Boss Cao really didn't look at those bamboo tubes, and whether the counselors and generals who were later eliminated for various reasons were collaborators with the enemy at that time... It's not written in the history books, so naturally Wu Liang

There is no way to know, but he privately believes that although Boss Cao has a big pattern, he is by no means the kind of person who does not hold grudges. It is just that sometimes his revenge methods are more sophisticated and he pays more attention to the overall situation.

"Hahaha, Wu Taishi is indeed as aloof as the rumors say... This is true. Since Mr. Ming is here today, his ability to judge people is naturally very comparable to others."

Zang Ba pointed out something but laughed vaguely.

This guy's thoughts are also extremely delicate. His words just now were meant to test Wu Liang, but also meant to flatter Wu Liang.

After all, he had long known that Wu Liang was a popular person around Boss Cao.

Now that Boss Cao has a famous person like Guo Jia who came from the air, Zang Ba has reason to think that there is a natural conflict between Wu Liang and Guo Jia, and just now Wu Liang took the initiative to ask Guo Jia for no reason, in Zang Ba

It seems that this may be the beginning of the "War of the Reds".

That's why he deliberately told Wu Liang about others' criticisms of Guo Jia.

As a result, Wu Liang's performance was beyond Zang Ba's expectations. Instead of echoing the criticism, he actually laughed at the short-sightedness of those who criticized him.

Wu Liang did not dwell on the matter, and then asked: "General Zang left Chenliu recently. I wonder if Duke Ming has launched any wars in the past few months since I was away?"

"When I led the army to leave Chenliu, Ming Gong seemed to be planning to personally conquer Zhangxiu south, and had already begun to mobilize soldiers, horses and food."

Zang Ba said seriously.

"Why is this?"

Wu Liang frowned.

The original words about this incident in the history books are "Taizu marched south, and his troops conquered the rivers, and Xiu and others surrendered in large numbers." It did not state the reason why Boss Cao wanted to conquer Zhang Xiu just after welcoming Emperor Xian.

It was also because of this seemingly sudden decision that it ended up costing the lives of Cao Ang, Cao Zhen and Dian Wei.

Now that he had the opportunity, Wu Liang naturally wanted to ask clearly.

"It seems that it was because Emperor Xian issued an edict asking Zhang Xiu to surrender, but Zhang Xiu refused and killed the envoy, so Duke Ming decided to lead his army to personally attack this traitor."

Zang Ba said thoughtfully.

The edict was obviously from Boss Cao, who wanted Zhang Xiu to surrender.

But this still cannot explain the reason why Boss Cao is eager to get rid of Zhang Xiu. Logically speaking, Zhang Xiu and Boss Cao have not had any conflicts before, and they have always had a good relationship. If there is not enough benefit, Boss Cao should

You won't be in such a hurry.

Just as Wu Liang was thinking this, Zang Ba continued: "However, Zang also believed that Ming Gong's move was imperative. After all, Nanyang was only five hundred miles away from Chenliu, and the road during this period was flat. If we marched in a hurry, it would only take two miles."

A gentleman will not stand under a dangerous wall for a long journey. If Ming Gong succeeds in this battle, he can take Nanyang into his pocket, and Chen Liu will no longer have to worry about anything."

I see!

Wu Liang suddenly realized.

This is the time when Boss Cao welcomes Emperor Xian back to Chenliu. If he welcomes Xu Du like in history, he will be closer to Chengdu and Rangcheng where Nanyang and Zhang Xiu's headquarters are located.

With Boss Cao's character, it was naturally impossible for him to sleep peacefully with someone standing behind him who could attack him at any time.

Therefore, Zhang Xiu had only two options, either to change places and escape far away, handing over the entire Nanyang to Boss Cao, or to surrender honestly and become a vassal of Boss Cao.

In this way, Boss Cao’s motivation is very sufficient!

Wu Liang figured out the matter, but another layer of worry arose in his heart: Boss Cao is going to Wancheng. This time is different from history. Without Dian Wei's protection, will Boss Cao be killed by Zhang Xiu's sneak attack?

What about an accident?

As for Cao Ang and Cao Zhen.

Wu Liangze was just more concerned about Cao Zhen. If this bad friend who always wanted to buy his distilled wine for free died like this and he did nothing, he would feel a little guilty in his heart.

"General Zang is right, thank you for your advice."

Thinking of this, Wu Liang thanked him sincerely.

"Wu Taishi is too polite. Zang is just a reckless man. How can he be worthy of the word 'advice'? It's just a few nonsense words. If there is anything wrong in what he said, please forgive Wu Taishi."

Zang Ba saluted with a rather humble smile.

"Otherwise, in my opinion, General Zang is also a man of extraordinary talent and intelligence. Confucius said, 'When three people walk together, there must be my teacher.' General Zang knows things that I don't know, so he is qualified to teach me."

Wu Liang also stood up and returned the courtesy.

"Hahaha, Wu Taishi is indeed extraordinary. Talking to Wu Taishi really makes people feel happy. Being able to make friends with Wu Taishi is a great blessing in Zang's life."

Zang Ba laughed even louder.

"I also hit it off with General Zang!"

Wu Liang was even more excited. He actually picked up the tea cup and saluted, "If General Zang doesn't give up, from now on I will call General Zang my eldest brother, and General Zang will also call me my dear brother, okay?"
To be continued...