The Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Tan, intercepted Guo Jia's...

Chapter 88 Pre-booking Talent

A side hall of the governor's mansion.

Zhuge Qian, the elder of the Zhuge clan from Yangdu, Langya, spoke earnestly, expressing the clan's willingness to fully support Yuan Tan, jointly build workshops, and combine Langya Ge cloth with the new weaving techniques of Qingzhou to create mutual benefits.

Yuan Tan readily agreed, as this was exactly what he wanted: to tie the interests of the local powerful clans to his own cause.

During the conversation, he casually asked:

"Lord Qian, I have long heard that the Zhuge family of Langya has produced many talented individuals. I wonder if any branch of them has ended up in Jingzhou? Are my uncle Zhuge Xuan and his three nephews, Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin, and Zhuge Jun, still well? I have also long heard of Zhuge Feng's name in Qingzhou and miss him dearly."

Zhuge Liang should be around 15 years old now, and he is not yet famous.

If I take advantage of this opportunity to transfer Zhuge Liang to Qingzhou and train him from a young age, wouldn't I be able to recruit him without a doubt?

Thinking of this, Yuan Tan couldn't help but feel extremely excited.

As for the other two brothers, they are dispensable and just a waste of time. It would be great if they could come, but it's not a big deal if they can't.

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Qian appeared slightly surprised, then sighed:

"Your Excellency knows of such family matters? It is indeed true. My younger brother Xuan, along with his three nephews Liang, Jin, and Jun, fled the chaos of war in the Central Plains and indeed sought refuge with Liu Biao in the Nanyang area of ​​Jingzhou. My younger brother Xuan once served as the Prefect of Yuzhang, and later... Alas, the world is full of hardships. Your Excellency's concern is an honor for the Zhuge family."

Yuan Tan suppressed his excitement and pretended to be calm, saying:

"Although Jingzhou and Xiangyang are at peace, they are not a place to stay for long. Langya is the ancestral home of Zhuge Liang, and now our Qingzhou is rebuilding from ruins and desperately needs great talent. Why doesn't Lord Qian write a letter inviting Lord Xuan to bring his nephew back north? Tan will certainly reserve a seat for him, so that all of Zhuge Liang's descendants can give full play to their talents!"

He thought to himself: If I can bring Wolong and Ziyu under my command soon, how can I not achieve my great cause!

Zhuge Qian was overjoyed to see that Yuan Tan valued his own clansmen so highly, and quickly agreed:

"Your Excellency's kindness is deeply appreciated. On behalf of my younger brother Xuan and my nephew, I express my sincere gratitude! I will immediately write a letter urging them to return north!"

Yuan Tan was overjoyed after seeing Zhuge Qian off.

If we could intercept Zhuge Liang and his brothers in advance, we would essentially have the strongest think tank in the late Han Dynasty.

……

In high spirits, Yuan Tan returned to the council hall and discussed with his core strategists, including Guo Jia, Lu Su, and Xin Pi, how to deal with the increasingly powerful Lü Bu.

After obtaining the Imperial Seal and incorporating the remnants of Zhang Xun's forces, Lü Bu became arrogant and constantly harassed the southern border of Qingzhou.

Upon seeing that everyone had arrived, Yuan Tan revealed his intentions:

"The world is now in chaos, the Han dynasty is on the verge of collapse, and the people are displaced. The traitor Lü Bu has stolen the imperial seal and is wreaking havoc in Xuzhou. I intend to punish him. I wonder if any of you have any good strategies?"

In fact, Guo Jia had already devised a plan to deal with Lü Bu.

That means following Cao Cao and picking up some bargains.

However, Cao Cao clearly has no intention of attacking Lü Bu now; instead, he has attacked Zhang Xiu first.

This proxy war is expected to last a long time.

So now that I have some free time, dealing with Lü Bu shouldn't be a problem, right?

"My lord,"

Xinpi spoke first.

"Lu Bu is a scoundrel with the ambition of a wolf. Now that he has obtained the Imperial Seal, his arrogance has only grown. I believe we should take advantage of his unstable foothold, join forces with Liu Bei, and quickly send a large army south to attack him, lest we nurture a tiger that will become our threat!"

Lu Su pondered for a moment and said:

"What George says makes sense. However, Lü Bu is brave and Chen Gong is resourceful, and Xuzhou is a fortified city. A direct attack would likely result in heavy casualties. Moreover, Cao Cao is nearby. If Lü Bu and I are both weakened, he will surely take advantage of the situation. I believe we should focus on a steady defense and gradual progress, strengthen our borders, develop our internal affairs, and wait for internal strife or conflict with Cao Cao before making our move."

Guo Jia gently waved his feather fan:

"Zijing is steady, while Zuozhi is urgent; both have their reasons. However, I believe that to deal with Lü Bu, we should not launch a full-scale attack, but rather nibble away at him."

He walked to the map and pointed to the area around Xuzhou.

"Although Lü Bu has obtained Xuzhou, his sphere of influence is full of loopholes. Chang Xi of Donghai Commandery is fickle and unpredictable; Chen Deng of Guangling, father and son are both intelligent and loyal to the court, how could they truly submit to Lü Bu? The surrounding counties of Xiapi are poorly defended."

He looked at Yuan Tan and continued:

"Our army can send more spies to secretly contact local forces such as Chen Deng with gold and silk, promising them great benefits to lure them into rebelling against Lü Bu. At the same time, we should order Zhao Yun and Zhang He to each lead elite cavalry to launch surprise attacks on Lü Bu's poorly defended border cities from time to time, robbing his supply lines and plundering his people. We should accumulate small victories into a big one, constantly bleeding him dry, making him exhausted and causing him to gradually lose the hearts of the people."

"The more crucial one,"

Guo Jia lowered his voice,

"Cao Cao will never sit idly by and watch Lü Bu grow stronger! Especially since he has just acquired the Imperial Seal, which is a major taboo for Cao Cao. We only need to wait patiently! At that time, our army may take advantage of the chaos to plunder, or we may watch from the sidelines. The initiative is in our hands! Why rush into a deadly battle with this fierce tiger and do the work for someone else?"

Yuan Tan nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing with Guo Jia's strategy of "exhausting the enemy, gradually eroding their strength, and using one enemy to devour another." Just as he was preparing to order the plan to be implemented...

"Report—!"

The guards led the travel-worn Wu Yu quickly into the hall.

Wu Yu walked straight up to Yuan Tan, ignoring the formalities, and took out a secret letter sealed with special sealing wax from his bosom, speaking urgently:

"Young Master! A secret report from Wancheng, six hundred li away! It's of utmost importance!"

The hall fell silent instantly.

All eyes were focused on the secret letter.

Wancheng?

Aren't you just throwing money away and waging a proxy war?

Cao Cao must have suffered a lot.

Yuan Tan took the secret letter, quickly opened it, and his expression instantly became extremely serious, even showing a hint of shock.

The tragedy of one cannon killing three wise men still occurred.

However, history took an unexpected turn. This time, Cao Cao gathered Yu Jin's fresh troops and launched a surprise attack, capturing Wancheng.

Wouldn't that free up Cao Cao's resources?

But if he does that, will he shift his focus to Xuzhou?

Wouldn't that give me another chance to fish in troubled waters?

He slowly put down the silk book, looked around at everyone, and said in a deep voice:

"I never expected that Cao Cao would have so many capable men under his command. He actually captured Wancheng so quickly. As a result, our plan to bleed Cao Cao dry in Wancheng has failed."

He passed the secret letter to Guo Jia, who, after reading it, paid no attention and clapped his hands, laughing:

"Although Cao Cao won, it was a Pyrrhic victory. His strength must have been greatly depleted. As a result, he certainly won't be able to defeat Lü Bu alone, which gives us a chance to snatch chestnuts from the fire."

Lu Su and Xin Pi received the copy and also showed surprise on their faces.

It seems that Cao Cao's move was truly amazing; even his many strategists hadn't anticipated it.

Moreover, Jia Xu, being in Wancheng, was so negligent as to overlook it.

I just don't know where Zhang Xiu will go. Could it be that I'm really going to miss out on meeting Jia Xu?

Just as I was deep in thought, another messenger arrived on horseback with news:

"My lord! Liu Bei has sent an envoy, Sun Qian, to Qingzhou, requesting your permission to attack Lujiang."