Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

“A tiger I cannot dismount…”

Xun Yu sighed, his expression gradually returning to calm.

Just then, a steward from within the residence stood outside the door and reported in a low voice.

“General Cao Ren has arrived.”

Hearing this, Xun Yu tidied his clothes before going to meet Cao Ren.

Arriving in the reception hall, Xun Yu spoke with a hint of apology.

“General Zixiao, I have kept you waiting.”

“Master Wenruo.”

Cao Ren quickly stood up and returned the greeting, not daring to act presumptuously in front of Xun Yu.

Besides Cao Cao’s high regard for Xun Yu, more importantly, the administrative abilities displayed by Xun Yu were truly astonishing.

After a few polite words with Cao Ren, Xun Yu went straight to the point.

“General Zixiao, how many usable troops can be prepared within three days?”

Cao Ren was slightly taken aback, then replied, “Is this for defending the city, or for fighting outside the city?”

“For fighting outside the city, of course,” Xun Yu replied.

This made Cao Ren’s expression somewhat troubled, and then he held up three fingers.

“Counting the young and strong men that this humble general has been urgently training recently, there are at most only three thousand.”

After a pause, Cao Ren frankly said, “This is already the limit of troops that can be drawn out to fight outside the city. Perhaps even the guards protecting the Governor’s mansion will have to be reduced.”

“That should be enough,” Xun Yu smiled, not questioning Cao Ren.

Although Cao Cao had left Xun Yu in Qingzhou to oversee matters, he also had Cao Ren check and balance Xun Yu on military matters. If Xun Yu wanted to deploy troops, he would have to go through Cao Ren no matter what.

Hearing this, Cao Ren couldn’t help but ask, “May I ask where Master Wenruo plans to use these troops?”

“Jinan State.”

Xun Yu’s light and airy words caused Cao Ren’s face to change, and he said with difficulty, “In that case, I’m afraid I cannot accept the order.”

“If I had about five thousand elite troops, and could rely on the terrain to defend, I am confident that I could hold off Sun Ce for a while. But with only three thousand soldiers who can’t be considered elite, it would be like hitting a stone with an egg, and might even cause more internal turmoil in Qingzhou.”

In the end, Cao Ren’s words contained some explanation and advice.

The reason why Cao Ren could gain Cao Cao’s trust was largely due to the fact that they were relatives, but in fact, Cao Ren’s abilities were also quite good, with involvement in both civil and military affairs, and governance.

Therefore, Cao Ren understood the predicament Qingzhou was facing, and he understood even more that once these last three thousand soldiers who could fight outside the city were lost, the situation in Qingzhou would only become more difficult.

Xun Yu explained calmly, “General Zixiao, rest assured, I am not doing something like hitting a stone with an egg, but rather I want to ask General Zixiao to move his troops to Zouping to guard against Sun Ce.”

Hearing this, Cao Ren felt much relieved.

Although Zouping City was a small city, its terrain was high, located on the western border of Jinan State, and it was also backed by Le’an Commandery.

If the aim was to guard against Sun Ce seizing Dongchao Ford and then taking the opportunity to attack Le’an Commandery and Qi State, Zouping City was indeed a very important and strategic location.

Therefore, after a little thought, Cao Ren readily accepted the order.

However, as Cao Ren left Xun’s residence, a sense of confusion inexplicably rose in his heart.

Since Xun Wenruo had already decided to abandon Dongchao Ford to delay time, then even stationing troops in Zouping City seemed a bit superfluous. It would be better to retreat completely to Le’an Commandery or a more defensible city within Qi State.

What Cao Ren didn’t know was that after he left, Xun Yu also wrote a secret letter and handed it to his confidant, who sent it to Jinan State day and night.

The one who received this secret letter… was Cheng Yu.

Under Cao Cao, Xun Yu and Cheng Yu had little contact in private except for official business.

Apart from a few people, no one knew that Xun Yu and Cheng Yu had a very close personal relationship in their early years. Even Cheng Yu’s joining Cao Cao’s command was also secretly recommended and promoted by Xun Yu.

Even Cheng Yu's suggestion to Cao Cao to attack Xu Province...

When Cheng Yu opened the secret letter, only one word was reflected in his eyes—"Flood"!

Cheng Yu burned the secret letter expressionlessly, and had already made a decision in his heart.

Unlike Xun Yu, who came from a noble family, Cheng Yu was a true commoner.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the magistrate of Dong’a County abandoned the people and fled, but Cheng Yu stepped forward and used a plan to defeat the Yellow Turbans, preserving Dong’a County.

However, after the war, Cheng Yu, who was of humble origin and had no connections, did not receive any rewards, and even suffered criticism from the people of Dong’a County for some reason.

From then on, Cheng Yu understood that origin and status were everything.

As a commoner, Cheng Yu also knew that if he wanted to be in a high position under Cao Cao, he had to be a lone minister and be willing to get his hands dirty.

Cheng Yu watched the secret letter turn to ashes bit by bit, and then stood up and walked out of the tent.

Suddenly, a large amount of noisy sounds entered Cheng Yu’s mind, and what he saw… were all fellow villagers whom Cheng Yu had recruited from Dong’a County.

Looking at those fellow villagers who were working enthusiastically, Cheng Yu couldn’t help but smile.

As the saying goes, wealth and honor should be shared with one's hometown, otherwise it's like wearing brocade at night.

Cheng Yu could be considered a high-ranking official in Qingzhou, and undoubtedly became the pride of the entire Dong’a County.

For the common people in the countryside, the biggest official they might have ever seen in their lives was the county magistrate.

Even though Cao Cao’s reputation was extremely bad in the eyes of all the feudal lords and aristocratic families, and countless people in Xu Province hated Cao Cao so much that they wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood, the ordinary people far away in Dong’a, Yan Province, obviously didn’t know this.

What they knew was only that Cheng Yu’s current position was many levels higher than that of the county magistrate, and even the county magistrate was not qualified to meet Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu didn’t even need to personally return to Dong’a County. Just sending a trusted confidant back to his hometown would cause countless villagers who had once criticized Cheng Yu to take the initiative to curry favor.

This also allowed Cheng Yu to easily bring thousands of young and strong fellow villagers from his hometown to dig the river embankment.

As Cheng Yu smiled, his eyes couldn’t help but reveal a hint of sinister and joyful intent, and he murmured.

“Ignorant, ignorant, ugly…”

In the eyes of these fellow villagers, they were following Cheng Yu to seek wealth and honor. The work of digging the river embankment was a bit hard, but there was meat to eat every day, which was enough to make these Dong’a villagers loyal to Cheng Yu.

Unfortunately, what these Dong’a villagers didn’t know was that Cheng Yu never thought of letting these fellow villagers leave alive from the beginning.

Breaching the Yellow River embankment would inevitably incur eternal infamy and be spurned by countless people.

Cheng Yu might not care about reputation, but he also understood that he couldn’t bear this reputation either, otherwise Cao Cao might take his head to appease the anger of the world.

Therefore, the fate of these Dong’a young men who participated in the breach was already destined in Cheng Yu’s eyes.

What was ridiculous was that these Dong’a young men didn’t even realize that their constant digging was gradually destroying the Yellow River embankment, and they firmly believed in what Cheng Yu said about reinforcing the embankment.