Chapter 418

"Understood!"

Chen Deng did not say anything more upon hearing this.

Another few days passed,

Cao Ren finally led his troops back and reported to Cao Cao: "My lord! This time we intercepted Liu Bei and the others halfway, defeated their army, killed over ten thousand enemies, and captured tens of thousands, but ultimately Liu Bei escaped!"

"However, the troops they had with them at that time were no more than 2,000!"

Cao Cao rubbed his temples with a headache upon hearing this, looked at Cao Ren, who had a look of seeking credit, and could not help but scold angrily: "Do you think you did a good job? Should I praise you? Hmm?"

Cao Ren: "..."

He had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the next moment Cao Cao slammed the table, stood up angrily, and reprimanded: "I told you long ago! I want to capture Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu alive, capture Zhang Fei and Guan Yu alive. You completely treated my words as wind in the ear, didn't you?"

"Don't you know that our army currently lacks peerless fierce generals or Heaven-Human divine generals who can settle the outcome?"

Cao Ren replied helplessly: "My lord! I naturally know this, but you also know the strength of Zhang Fei and Guan Yu!"

"They are already powerful enough, and on top of that, they formed a military formation to launch a surprise attack. How could we stop them?"

"It is already not bad that we were able to keep most of their troops!"

"If you are not satisfied, I am willing to accept punishment."

He felt that his big brother was making things difficult for him.

Since you know the power of Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, and you also know that our strength is far inferior to theirs,

yet you still want us to capture them alive. Isn't this making things difficult for an honest man?

If they could capture them alive, wouldn't they be even more powerful than them?

This is not a matter of having more people being stronger or more useful, is it?

Once personal martial arts reach a certain level, if others are determined to leave, human wave tactics simply cannot keep them.

Not to mention that others can also form military formations to launch surprise attacks.

"You..."

Cao Cao’s expression stalled upon hearing Cao Ren’s complaints and rebuttals. He had the heart to continue getting angry, but ultimately sighed and waved his hand: "Forget it! Let’s not talk about this! It is indeed difficult for you!"

"I was just angry and lamenting for a moment!"

"Without top-tier Gang-Qi fierce generals or Heaven-Human divine generals, we will always lack confidence when facing Su Boyuan in the future!"

"Do you know where Liu Bei and the others finally fled to?"

Sure enough, such things cannot be forced.

Cao Ren felt much better upon hearing this: "Big Brother, you are being too serious! We indeed failed to complete your mission!"

"As for Liu Bei and the others? We pursued them all the way until we saw them flee into the depths of the Taishan mountain range, and we had to retreat!"

"With their strength, the poisonous insects and fierce beasts in this mountain range obviously cannot do anything to them. Judging by the direction, I estimate they should eventually appear in Qingzhou."

Cao Cao frowned slightly upon hearing this: "Qingzhou? I heard that Lord Yuan Shao’s troops are already attacking Qingzhou! Won't this Liu Bei run to defect to Lord Yuan Shao?"

Cao Ren was also stunned, cold sweat dripping from his forehead: "No way? Liu Bei was once the King of Qi, wouldn't he be that spineless, would he?"

Does he have any demeanor of a king left?

"That is not necessarily true!"

Cao Cao shook his head: "That is Liu Bei! This person is extremely good at enduring; he might not be unable to do such a thing!"

Liu Bei has done even more shameless things; what is this?

"If that’s the case, we will have trouble when we go to war with Lord Yuan Shao in the future!"

Cao Ren twisted his brows and said with annoyance.

He hated himself for not being able to take down Liu Bei and the others.

This is simply letting a tiger return to the mountains!

"Forget it!"

Cao Cao finally shook his head and comforted: "Getting it is my luck, losing it is my fate! Since things have come to this, there is nothing to struggle with!"

"Cao Ren! Next, I want to leave you in Xuzhou to reorganize the military equipment, and at the same time, cooperate with Changwen to govern and stabilize Xuzhou. Any problems?"

He still felt uneasy without leaving one of his own people.

Even for Chen Qun, he never considered him one of his own.

Chen Qun and the others are just employees.

People who prioritize family interests like this can only be used, not fully trusted.

Only the people of his Cao and Xiahou clans can be fully trusted.

Hmm! Old Cao’s full trust is only ninety percent; the remaining ten percent is the final stubbornness of his suspicious nature.

"Yes!"

Cao Ren bowed and took the order: "Please rest assured, Big Brother, I will manage Xuzhou well!"

"By the way! Big Brother! What are you going to do about Chen Deng?"

Cao Cao glanced at Cao Ren and said irritably: "Don't worry about this matter!"

"This person did have merit in helping me take Xuzhou, so he cannot be moved lightly;"

"I plan to leave him to continue assisting Chen Qun in governing Xuzhou."

"Ah?"

Cao Ren was stunned: "Why? You shouldn't trust him, Big Brother, right?"

"That’s right!"

Cao Cao nodded affirmatively: "But what does that have to do with me employing him?"

"This person never truly pledged allegiance to Liu Bei from beginning to end; he has always only cared about the interests of his own family!"

"Although he cannot be heavily used or trusted, his ability is not a problem!"

"How can I let such a great talent go unused?"

"In addition, his Xuzhou Chen clan has deep roots in Xuzhou; with his help, we can stabilize and control Xuzhou as quickly as possible;"

"I will instruct Chen Qun to guard against him, and with you leading the army to watch over here, what could go wrong?"

One cannot give up eating for fear of choking, right?

The talent he can use under his command is also limited.

"To not be restricted by these scholar-official clans in the future, I still have to learn from Su Boyuan to cultivate my own talent!"

"After I defeat Su Boyuan and take the whole world, perhaps I can use Su Boyuan’s hands to cultivate talent, suppress these scholar-official clans, and complete the New Policy purge!"

Cao Cao thought to himself.

The more he secretly competes with these scholar-official clans, and the more he understands the results of Su Xuan’s New Policies, the more he feels that the scholar-official clans are a tumor that must be restricted.

Su Xuan’s New Policies are very good.

Of course, the premise of everything is that he can defeat Lord Yuan Shao and Su Xuan later.

Otherwise, he would never reach this step!

"That is true!"

Cao Ren suddenly realized: "You are still the best, Big Brother! You have thought everything through clearly! Hehe!"

— Author's Notes —

PS: Seeking first subscriptions, custom subscriptions, and support!

PS: Seeking first subscriptions, custom subscriptions, and support!