Chapter 465

Dong Commandery Governor's Mansion,

Cao Cao, having received news that Yuan Shu had been captured alive, was speechless: "This Yuan Gonglu really is a piece of trash! To suffer such a loss for the second time and still not learn his lesson!"

"Can he not see the gap in strength between himself and Boyuan?"

"If it were me, I would have abandoned Nanyang long ago!"

"I just don't know if Boyuan will kill Yuan Shu directly this time?"

"Wenruo, what do you think?"

As Cao Cao spoke, he looked toward Xun Yu, who was standing to the side.

That's right! Xun Yu had indeed joined Cao Cao's ranks.

It had only happened in the last few days.

Previously, Xun Yu had observed Yuan Shao and ultimately reached a conclusion.

That is, Yuan Shao is a person who appears magnanimous but is calculating within, who cherishes his own life while pursuing great deeds, and who forgets righteousness when faced with petty gains.

He is not an enlightened lord!

At the same time, there were too many gentry factions under Yuan Shao; while this gave him numerous supporters, it also caused internal contradictions to be riddled throughout, which was unfavorable for future development.

Moreover, Yuan Shao already had Xun Kan serving him, so naturally, Xun Yu had no need to choose Yuan Shao.

In truth, by now, he also understood that the best choice was actually Su Xuan.

But he was stubborn in his heart, unable to overcome this hurdle within himself, and at the same time, he found it difficult to lower his pride to defect to Su Xuan.

After all, he had previously been very hostile and exclusionary toward Su Xuan, and had even spoken righteously before Xun You and Confucian Xun Shuang Shuang, declaring that he could never defect to Su Xuan.

If he were to go back on his word now, wouldn't he become a laughingstock?

Furthermore, Su Xuan did not lack top-tier strategists under his command, and if he went over, he might not necessarily be able to fully display his talents.

It was better to defect to Cao Cao, whom he favored.

Although this man was equally deep in his schemes, judging by his previous actions, he seemed to still harbor a certain loyalty to the Great Han.

Plus, this man was currently in the stage of a hidden dragon in the abyss; if he could rely on his own abilities to support this man in becoming a powerful warlord, wouldn't that better prove his own talent?

He wanted to prove his talent to the world, to Confucian Xun Shuang Shuang, and to Su Xuan, to prove that his choice was not wrong.

So, you see! Once a scholar becomes stubborn, they are equally difficult to awaken.

Facing Cao Cao's question, Xun Yu immediately pondered: "Based on my deductions and the Governor of Jingzhou's past methods of operation, there is a high probability he will not kill Yuan Shu at this point in time;"

"Perhaps he will still choose to demand a large amount of money and grain as ransom!"

"Otherwise, he would not have chosen to capture Yuan Shu alive in the first place, but would have killed him directly on the battlefield!"

"The nature of the two is completely different!"

"In this day and age, the Yuan clan's influence in the world is still very great and has not dissipated much; killing Yuan Shu at this time would bring Su Xuan no great benefit, but would instead create numerous enemies, doing more harm than good!"

"Plus, having only just taken Jingzhou, he needs more time to sort out the internal affairs of Jingzhou, thoroughly digest it, and convert it into strength; at this time, keeping Yuan Shu is far better than killing him!"

"Since Su Xuan could easily capture Yuan Shu alive once, capturing him a second time presumably would not be difficult for him;"

"Keeping this trashy opponent, who can be dealt with at any time, to temporarily occupy Yuzhou and other places is more advantageous for Su Xuan;"

"Therefore, I conclude that Su Xuan will not kill Yuan Shu; he might even end up selling back all the captured troops to Yuan Shu as well!"

"Not only that, a Yuan Shu who is too weak cannot stabilize Yuzhou and would easily be taken advantage of by other warlords;"

"For example, the Tiger of Jiangdong, Sun Jian, or for that matter, you, my lord."

As for Tao Qian and Liu Biao?

Xun Yu did not even hold them in his eyes.

These two can't even sort out their internal affairs in the short term, yet they want to expand outward?

A fool's dream.

"Haha!"

Cao Cao heard this and immediately laughed aloud: "Wenruo sees things clearly indeed!"

"My judgment is the same as yours; based on my understanding of Boyuan, he absolutely will not kill Yuan Shu this time;"

"It does not conform to his interests;"

"This guy is someone who never gets up early unless there is profit to be made!"

"What he likes most is maximizing his interests!"

"If you study him carefully from the time he rose to power, you will find that he seems to have the ability to foresee the future, with every step he takes on the correct path;"

"Every step is taken very steadily;"

"There has never been a time when he miscalculated, and every time he is able to maximize his interests;"

"And troubles are also coincidentally avoided by him;"

"It's just that once or twice is a coincidence, but too many times, and I feel this is not a coincidence, but his intentional calculation!"

"I can only say that he is the greatest opponent I have felt so far!"

"Between him and me, I fear a battle is inevitable in the future!"

"Unless I have already lost to Yuan Shao before then!"

"Therefore, Wenruo! I need your help, I need you to help me plan ahead and lay out a strategy so that I can deal with Boyuan more calmly in the future; what do you think?"

Relying on himself to achieve perfection is too difficult and too exhausting.

He needs top-tier help.

Currently, among his subordinates, only Xun Yu has this ability.

Speaking of talents, Cao Cao only just realized that under Su Xuan's command, not only are there fierce generals like clouds, but strategists are like rain!

It made him very envious.

He deeply regretted not realizing the importance of talent earlier and not recruiting more top-tier talent sooner.

He had missed the best opportunity for development!

It is too late for regrets!

"I would not dare refuse! Xun Yu is willing to plan for my lord!"

Xun Yu heard this and immediately bowed solemnly.

Even if Cao Cao hadn't said it, he was prepared to have a good fight with Su Xuan.

"Haha! Good!"

Cao Cao was very happy to see this.

In Changancheng,

"Father-in-law! News has come from Nanyang that Yuan Shu has been captured alive by Su Xuan, and along with him, his tens of thousands of troops have also been captured by Su Xuan!"

"I heard it didn't even take a day."

Li Ru reported to Dong Zhuo.

"Oh?"

Dong Zhuo heard this, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said happily: "Isn't this a good thing? The Yuan clan dared to oppose me, and now they are facing retribution, aren't they?"

"It would be best if Su Xuan killed this thief directly for me; that would truly relieve the hatred in my heart! Hehe!"

He wished all the warlords would die and hand this world directly to him.

Unfortunately, he knew this was impossible.

Although he hadn't been in Changancheng for long, Dong Zhuo had actually already sensed it.

The gentry's rejection of him had become even more severe.

It was now impossible for him to ease the situation.

These people were outwardly submissive, but behind his back, they resisted his various policies at every level, making it impossible for him to implement them.

The taxes collected were also becoming less and less; this situation made him very stifled and irritable.

Whenever he got irritable, he wanted to kill people.

But the more he killed, the more these people resisted him.

It made him increasingly violent.

Now, he had finally heard a piece of good news.

It made him feel much more at ease.

However, Li Ru saw this and frowned slightly: "Father-in-law! Actually, this is not a good thing at all!"

"Yuan Shu is merely a playboy, a piece of trash, and will perish sooner or later;"

"On the contrary, that Su Xuan is our true great enemy and threat!"

"This man is skilled in both civil and military affairs, his military strength is terrifying, and his mind is also sharp!"