Cao Cao spoke to his sons Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and Cao Chong in a fatherly tone, saying that Liu Wu was the real traitor to the country and a big thief, and that they must study hard and bring honor to their father in the future.

Showed expectations and helplessness.

Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and Cao Chong were all moved.

In their hearts, Cao Cao has always been a strong and majestic father figure.

But today, Cao Cao actually looked like an old man in front of them.

In an instant, they felt that their father Cao Cao had aged a lot.

Cao Pi hurriedly said to Cao Cao: “Father, we will definitely help you defeat Liu Wu. Father, please don’t be too sad. Take care of your health.”

Cao Pi said to Cao Cao with a worried look on his face. Cao Zhi and Cao Chong beside him also said:
“Yes, father. Lü Bu and Yuan Shao were not your opponents at the beginning. Liu Wu will definitely not be your opponent either.”

“Father, Chong’er is almost ten years old. When Chong’er grows up, he will definitely help you defeat Liu Wu.”

His three sons tried to comfort him, but Cao Cao felt a great warmth and happiness.

“Hahaha, good, my sons are all talented sons. Even if Liu Wu has the talent of a hero, he will not be able to compete with my sons!” Cao Cao hugged Cao Chong in his arms and laughed heartily, as if having so many outstanding sons gave him confidence in the future.

Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Chong all smiled. However, Cao Cao did not notice. Cao Pi looked at him holding little Cao Chong, with a doting expression on his face, and deep in Cao Pi’s eyes appeared deep envy and jealousy.

In the hall, Guo Jia walked in slowly. Looking at the warm scene between Cao Cao and his son, he also had some expectations for the future of the Cao family.

“Ahem, my lord, Jia has something to report. With Liu Wu’s recent victory in Puyang and his recent title as King of Chu, many places have been designated as Chu territory, and many of the noble families and officials we brought from Guandong have fled back.”

Guo Jia coughed and said, his face was pale, and his complexion turned a little red when he talked about this matter.

Cao Cao frowned as he listened to Guo Jia’s words and said:

“Fengxiao, who has defected to Liu Wu? Tell me.”

Cao Cao took a deep breath and asked.

If an ordinary family had fled back to Guandong, Guo Jia would definitely not come to report in person.

However, Guo Jia is now very weak, yet he still comes to report. Obviously, the matter is very serious.

This made Cao Cao, who had just calmed down, feel a little angry again.

Because he was defeated by Liu Wu, and because he was getting older, many of his subordinates had become unmotivated.

“Ahem, my lord, it’s Dong Zhao! The Dong family left without saying goodbye, and the house is empty.”

Guo Jia coughed and finally said helplessly to Cao Cao.

“What? Dong Zhao? Dong Zhao actually abandoned Cao?”

In the hall, Cao Cao cried out in surprise when he heard that Dong Zhao had left without saying goodbye and the room was empty. His face instantly became extremely embarrassed.

Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and Cao Chong standing by also blushed.

They seemed unable to accept that Dong Zhao had abandoned them.

Dong Zhao was one of the important advisers under Cao Cao.

Dong Zhao, courtesy name Gongren, was a native of Dingtao, Jiyin. When he was young, he was selected as a filial and honest official and entered the official career. He served as the county magistrate of Yingtao and the county magistrate of Bairen. At the beginning, he became a military officer under Yuan Shao, giving advice to Yuan Shao and was appreciated for his outstanding military exploits. However, because Yuan Shao believed in slander, Dong Zhao had to leave Yuan Shao and defect to Zhang Yang.

Under Zhang Yang, Dong Zhao accompanied Zhang Yang to welcome Emperor Liu Xie and was appointed as a counselor. After that, he met Cao Cao in Luoyang and suggested that Cao Cao welcome the emperor to Xu County. This suggestion had a profound impact on Cao Cao’s later political status. From then on, Dong Zhao became an important adviser to Cao Cao.

Under his command, Dong Zhao served successively as the Yin of Henan, the Mu of Jizhou, the Mu of Xuzhou, the Taishou of Weijun, etc. He made many contributions and was highly regarded by Cao Cao.

It can be said that Dong Zhao’s status before him is comparable to that of Cheng Yu.

And today, Dong Zhao actually left without saying goodbye and abandoned him?
“Dong Zhao, Dong Zhao, don’t you know that victory and defeat are common in the military? How can you bear to abandon Cao Cao?”

Cao Cao slammed the table and said with great sorrow.

“Alas, my lord, the current situation is not good. You should take good care of yourself and wait for the right opportunity. Guanzhong and Hanzhong are both protected by strong passes and dangerous fortresses. In fact, compared with Liu Wu, we have a strategic advantage, and it may not be impossible to defeat Liu Wu.”

Guo Jia tried to comfort Cao Cao, but he was afraid that Cao Cao could not endure this series of blows.

Hearing this, Cao Cao raised his head and looked at Guo Jia. Seeing Guo Jia’s pale and weak face, Cao Cao felt distressed and said:

“Fengxiao, you must take good care of yourself. I will not be defeated by these things, but you must always stay by my side and give me advice. I, Cao Cao, can do without anyone, but not you. Don’t worry, I have already ordered the search for the miracle doctors and famous doctors in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, and they will definitely be able to take care of your body and make you strong.”

Cao Cao quickly recovered from the loss of Dong Zhao, and turned his attention to Guo Jia’s health.

Guo Jia was born with a weak constitution, and after he came to Guanzhong, he had some difficulty acclimatizing to the climate there, which made him even weaker. Cao Cao could see that something was wrong, so in order to prevent his favorite counselor from getting hurt, Cao Cao ordered a search for miracle doctors and famous doctors in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, in order to heal Guo Jia’s health.

“Thank you, my lord. Jiading, take care of your health.” Guo Jia looked at Cao Cao’s deep concern, a smile appeared on his pale face, and he said with a forced smile.

In the Han Dynasty, many doctors could only treat a few diseases, and a cold could even be fatal. His health was getting worse and worse. Guo Jia actually did not hold out much hope that Cao Cao would be able to find some famous or miracle doctor for him.

……

Chu State, Xiangyang, the residence of the King of Chu.

Compared with the depressed atmosphere on Cao Cao’s side in Guanzhong, Xiangyang City was bustling with people, a scene of prosperity.

Since Liu Wu became the King of Chu, noble families from all over the country outside Xiangyang have come to pay tribute and express their loyalty.

What’s worse, many of those who had chosen to follow Cao Cao to Guanzhong secretly fled back to Guandong and expressed their willingness to serve Liu Wu.

The reason is that after Liu Wu defeated Cao Cao, he was personally named King of Chu by the emperor and ruled over six states.

Aristocratic families in various places realized that Liu Wu’s rise was inevitable.

Even Cao Cao, who once dominated the princes, is unlikely to be able to suppress Liu Wu again.

Compared with Liu Wu’s huge power and his glorious reputation for upholding the justice of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao seemed somewhat overshadowed.

This is also the reason why Liu Wu was able to make a large number of aristocratic families choose to submit to him.

And today, Liu Wu personally went out of the house to welcome a heavyweight figure.

An old man in his forties or fifties, full of energy, stood in the Prince Chu’s Palace, waiting.

This old man was none other than Dong Zhao, the counselor who abandoned Cao Cao and made Cao Cao heartbroken.

“Mr. Gongren, I am very happy to be here. I am late in welcoming you. I will have a bottle of wine with you later to show my respect.”

Before the people arrived, Liu Wu’s voice was heard. Dong Zhao and his companions were shocked, and saw that King Liu Wu of Chu came out surrounded by people.

King Liu Wu of Chu actually came out of his house to greet him in person!

Dong Zhao immediately felt respected and valued.

The other travelers also felt flattered and had a great impression of Dong Zhao. They secretly said in their hearts that Dong Zhao was indeed a big shot. Not only was he appreciated by Yuan Shao and valued by Cao Cao in the past, but even the great princes like Liu Wu came out of their houses to greet him in person.

This treatment is enough to make people envy.

Dong Zhao had not expected Liu Wu to come to greet him personally, and he was somewhat happy, but he did not dare to be arrogant or neglectful, and hurriedly bowed to Liu Wu and said:

“I, the guilty minister Dong Zhao, greet the king. Originally, Dong Zhao wanted to see the king to apologize, but I didn’t expect that you would bother me to come and greet me in person. I am really ashamed.”

Dong Zhao took a very humble attitude from the beginning and directly confessed his guilt. This was actually something Dong Zhao had thought about in advance.

Before he came to surrender to Liu Wu, he actually sent someone to inquire about the Xiangyang Cai family’s intentions. After receiving an accurate answer, he immediately brought his family to Guandong. Before that, he was loyal to Cao Cao, but in Liu Wu’s mouth, Cao Cao was a traitor, a rebel, and a traitor, so there was no problem for him to come up and plead guilty as a criminal. Dong Zhao was very humble.

“Mr. Gongren is wrong. Who is the culprit? Cao Cao is the culprit. The rest are all officials of the Han Dynasty who were deceived by Cao Cao.”

Liu Wu stepped forward and helped Dong Zhao up, smiling.

When Dong Zhao heard Liu Wu’s words, he suddenly felt Liu Wu’s ambition.

Who is the culprit? Cao Cao is the culprit. The rest are all the officials of the Han Dynasty, but they were deceived by Cao Cao!
If this sentence were to spread, it would probably cause unrest among Cao Cao’s civil and military officials.

It is clear that he, Liu Wu, is only targeting Cao Cao, and everyone else is innocent and can surrender!

Although Dong Zhao thought so, he did not agree with Liu Wu to slander Cao Cao, but sighed:
“Cao Mengde keeps saying that he is doing it for the Han Dynasty, but now, the only vassal in the world that is the King of Chu is him. If he really does it for the Han Dynasty, and negotiates peace with the King of Chu, and then truly unifies the world, wouldn’t that be praised by all the people? But Zhao is of low status and his words are not taken seriously, Cao Mengde doesn’t listen to me, and now I can only respond to the emperor, belong to the Chu State, be a Chu citizen, and be loyal to the king!”

Dong Zhao’s words were very measured. He neither offended nor slandered his former master Cao Cao. He also said that he had responded to the emperor’s call, returned to the State of Chu, and became a Chu citizen loyal to Liu Wu.

When Liu Wu heard this, he felt that Dong Zhao was a smart man.

He smiled and felt that Dong Zhao was of great use.

The fact that Liu Wu personally went out of the palace to welcome Dong Zhao showed that he was not idle.

But it was Dong Zhao who was worthy of his winning over.

On the surface, Dong Zhao first served Yuan Shao and then Cao Cao, becoming an important counselor under Cao Cao.

However, Liu Wu knew that Dong Zhao would be of great use in later history.

Dong Zhao’s personal characteristics are: he is extremely intelligent and good at political tactics. His strategy of “serving the emperor to command the disobedient” was adopted by Cao Cao, laying the political foundation for Cao Cao to unify the north.

Importantly, he was also one of the planners for Cao Cao to be conferred the titles Duke of Wei and King of Wei, and made important contributions to the establishment of the Cao Wei regime.

In history, Dong Zhao’s later career:
After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne of Wei, Dong Zhao was appointed Chief Architect.

After Cao Pi became emperor, he was promoted to the position of Grand Herald, and successively served in such important positions as Palace Attendant, Minister of Rites, Minister of Imperial Household, and Minister of the Imperial Coachmen.

After Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, ascended the throne, Dong Zhao was transferred to the position of Weiwei and was promoted to Situ in the sixth year of Taihe (232).

On the Yimao day of the fifth month of the fourth year of Qinglong (July 236, 7), Dong Zhao died at the age of 4 and was posthumously named Dinghou.

Dong Zhao performed well in politics. He successfully persuaded various forces to support Cao Cao many times and played a mediating role in Cao Cao’s internal disputes.

Dong Zhao also suggested that Cao Cao restore ancient systems such as the five-level nobility system, making important contributions to the construction of the Cao Wei regime.

The historical evaluation of him is quite complicated. On the one hand, as an important adviser to Cao Cao and an important figure in the Cao Wei regime, he made important contributions to the establishment and development of Cao Wei; on the other hand, some of his behaviors were also regarded as insidious and cunning, and some even classified him as “flattering and evil”.

In other words, the reference figure for Dong Zhao was Dong Zhuo’s adviser Li Ru.

What Liu Wu admired was Dong Zhao’s insidiousness and cunningness.

For a force to exist, it cannot only have upright counselors, but also needs some more sinister people who are suitable for helping the princes and doing some dirty things.

Dong Zhao is the best candidate.

I’m afraid that in the future, when he ascends the throne and changes the dynasty, he will still need Dong Zhao’s help.

Under the puzzled looks of Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Cai Mao and others, Liu Wu invited Dong Zhao into the palace and had someone serve a banquet.

After three rounds of drinking, Liu Wu directly gave Dong Zhao the official title of “Gong Zheng” of the Chu State.

“Gong Zheng” was the chief official in charge of engineering construction in the State of Chu. If it were placed in later generations, it would be equivalent to an official at the level of the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

As soon as Dong Zhao arrived, Liu Wu gave him such a high position in the State of Chu, which greatly increased Dong Zhao’s sense of belonging to Liu Wu and the State of Chu.

“Your Majesty, Zhou Yu has been taken to Xiangyang for some time. General Gan Ning has reported to us many times. Do you want to see him?”

In the hall, Zhuge Liang put down the wine jar and bowed to Liu Wu.

As Zhuge Liang finished speaking, everyone in the hall fell silent.

Zhou Yu was not a small figure. On the contrary, he was the former governor of Xuzhou. Being escorted to Xiangyang was not a casual move, because this might also be related to the future relationship between Xuzhou and Xiangyang.

To put it more seriously, Sun Quan is still on the sidelines. If Sun Quan uses Zhou Yu as a trick, it will be enough to stir up the relationship between Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

“Zhou Yu!”

When Liu Wu heard Zhuge Liang’s words, his eyebrows suddenly raised. He did not speak immediately, but looked at Dong Zhao with a smile on his face and said:

“Kimi, do you have any advice?”

Inside the hall, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others were all stunned and instantly looked at Dong Zhao.

Even Dong Zhao, who always had a smile on his face, was stunned when he heard Liu Wu suddenly ask him.

However, although Dong Zhao did not understand what Liu Wu meant, he reacted quickly and said:

“Replying to the king, Zhou Yu, Zhao has heard of it.”

“But I’m not familiar with him, so I don’t dare to speak rashly. After all, Zhou Yu is also implicated by Xuzhou Peng Hou. If the king wants to know my opinion, why not summon Zhou Yu first to see if he is willing to be loyal to the king? If he is willing, then it’s a cause for celebration. Congratulations to the king for getting a great general. If he is not willing, then we can wait and see.”

Dong Zhao realized that Liu Wu had actually tied Zhou Yu to Xiangyang, so he naturally hoped that Zhou Yu would be loyal, so he said so without hesitation.

Sitting on the throne, Liu Wu listened to Dong Zhao’s words, smiled and said:
“Okay, then I’ll listen to Mr. Gongren and bring Zhou Yu here to meet him first. It’s a good opportunity for me to meet the handsome Zhou Lang from Jiangdong!”

(End of this chapter)