Chapter 364
Chapter 364 – Guo Jia"s First Move - Part 2
September, 188 A . D .
Chen Gong, taking the role as an envoy, visited Luoyang of Yuan Shu .
Upon getting into the palace, he was shocked by the reception and the extravagance of this place . All pillars were decorated with gold and jewelry, while colorful paintings hung on the wall as the wallpapers .
Maidservants, dressed as if they were prost.i.tutes, carried jade trays with wine jars . They were serving the officers who were working on the doc.u.ments on their private tables .
The environment was as if they had a never-ending banquet . All officers worked as they enjoyed their party!
Chen Gong"s eyes turned red in jealousy of these lucky officials . Still, he reined his inner desire and proceeded with his job . He walked forward to Yuan Shu at the innermost throne .
"Please to meet you, Lord Yuan Shu . I"m an envoy from Lord Cao Cao . I"m here with a proposal . "
Currently, Yuan Shu dressed in a golden dragon robe, which looked like he were an emperor . By his sides, two consorts were ma.s.saging his legs and Yuan Shu"s private part .
Chen Gong felt nauseous by the scene .
"How can a liege act like this!? Aren"t they disgust by this vulgar manner!?"
Looking behind him to inspect Yuan Shu"s subordinates, Chen Gong was shocked again .
Many maids were doing the same with Yuan Shu"s consorts, ma.s.saging their little brothers as they were working!
"Good heaven! This is blasphemy! Do you have any shame!?"
Chen Gong almost could not control his frustration, but he proceeded with the negotiation anyway .
"Because of the long wars between warlords, peasants have suffered enough . Lord Cao Cao sees that the causes of the suffering also comes from the distrust and the tension within the border cities . Lord Cao Cao wishes that we can establish our friendly relations.h.i.+p and lower our border tension, so I"m here, hoping to form an alliance with your kingdom and welcome the age of peace for our people . Can you cooperate with us, Lord Yuan Shu?"
Chen Gong glanced at Yuan Shu while he lowered his head to bow . To his astonishment, Yuan Shu did not even listen to him . Instead, he was moaning in pleasure as the two consorts were servicing him .
Soon, mysterious white liquid flew and landed before Chen Gong, five centimeters away from his feet .
Yuan Shu"s body trembled from the exhilarating sensation . He pulled his pants back on and coughed .
"My apologies . I was absentminded . Where was I?"
Chen Gong was speechless . He refocused his mind and opened his mouth, about to repeat what he said . Unfortunately, Yuan Shu laughed out loud before the strategist could even utter a word .
"Wow! I have a new record! Do you see that puddle over that guy"s feet? It went further than yesterday!"
Chen Gong stepped backward in reflex .
"Lord Yuan Shu, I-I …"
"I know . An alliance between Cao Cao and me, right?"
"Y-Yes, I also …"
"Cut the formality . I know why Mengde wants the alliance . Does he want me to attack Zhang Tong or something?"
"Uh, not exactly . We only want to …"
"Alright, alright . I know . Write down your proposal if you haven"t had it with you . Once you"re done, give it to me, so I"ll stamp it to give you my approval . Also, if you want a piece of these booties, don"t be reserved . Pick a pair and help yourself . Look at my men, they are enjoying it to the fullest . Right, men?"
The officers cheered and laughed like hoodlums . A few of them on the back did not even wear a cloth!
"Ladies, bring me my after-lunch snacks . I need to replenish my strength before I can go another round . "
The public orgy continued, leaving the flabbergasted Chen Gong in the middle of the hall .
.
Chen Gong cursed as he left the palace . He finished his job and Yuan Shu just half-heartedly approved of their alliance without asking anything in return . However, he could not ask Yuan Shu into mobilizing the soldiers .
Along the way, a group of armored soldiers and scholars ran to Chen Gong .
"Sir, please wait!"
Chen Gong turned around to see the chaser . He waited for the men to arrive .
The scholar panted when they reached Chen Gong . He raised his head and cupped his fist, "My deepest apologies for the manner of our lord . My name is Yang Hong . I"m Lord Yuan Shu"s aide . "
"Ah, it must have been tough on you . "
"Uh, yes . As you have seen inside . Everything is in a mess . Well, I heard about your task here . May I hear about your proposal again?"
Although Chen Gong was annoyed and dissatisfied with Yuan Shu"s att.i.tude, he retold his objective to Yang Hong anyway . Since he was Yuan Shu"s aide, he should be the person who ran this force .
"I see . Well, I"ll handle the coordination . I"ll tell our grand generals about it and follow through with your task . Still …"
Yang Hong glared at Chen Gong, "You haven"t brought any tribute or gift to us . We can"t cooperate with you in the mobilization . I have to decline the joint attack proposal . "
"Can"t you reconsider? I"ll ask my lord to give you some boons after you attack Henei …"
"I"m sorry . I"ll be frank . We"re not stupid enough to waste our forces against our neighbor . Obviously, you want to manipulate us into withering down Zhang Tong"s forces while weakening ours . Without proper compensation and sincerity, I won"t pa.s.s it . "
Chen Gong paused . This scholar was not what it looked like in the surface .
"This man is also an elite . He won"t fall for a simple trick easily . "
Adjusted his mindset, Chen Gong entered his serious debate mode .
"Aren"t you worried that Zhang Tong might attack you?"
"Why should he do that? We never quarrel or fight . Heck, we"re the only ones among anti-Xiongnu coalition that had stayed with Zhang Tong till the end . You"re just making that up, didn"t you?"
"No . I"ll change the question . Have you heard about Sun Jian"s son incident?"
"The matter about his r.e.t.a.r.d son? We all heard about it . Why?"
"The one about Sun Fang killing Hua s.h.i.+, have you heard of that?"
"Huh? Can that r.e.t.a.r.d Sun Fang kill anyone? He"s just a useless idiot . I"m leaving here . You"re making up a random story . "
"Listen to me till the end . What if I tell you that Sun Fang had killed Zhang Tong"s wife!?"
"Impossible . I"m outta here . "
"You"d better listen! Zhang Tong had never failed when he sought vengeance! In the past, Feng Ji kidnapped Zhang Tong"s father, and he died by Zhang Tong"s ambush . We also heard that w.a.n.g Men of Gongsun Du killed the empress . Not long after the confirmed news, w.a.n.g Men was caught and had his body dismembered! Sun Jian"s son killed Hua s.h.i.+, and Zhang Tong will definitely be looking for an opportunity to attack you to get his hands on the Sun Clan . Listen to me, hey!"
Yang Hong walked away from Chen Gong . However, he did not ignore the logics behind Chen Gong"s words .
This Yuan Shu"s aide lied to Chen Gong . He knew about Sun Fang"s incident and his deeds, but he did not want to reveal their insider"s news and secret .
Currently, Yang Hong had been cleaning after Yuan Shu"s mess and his extravagance lifestyle . He restored the city, economy, and farms in the region while the other generals took care of their men . Only a few minor greedy officers joined the orgy bandwagons inside the palace .
As such, he kept his guard against Chen Gong . With his mindset, he questioned Chen Gong"s ulterior motive in his mind and did not trust him .
"What he said was true, but working with Cao Cao is too risky . We can"t afford to move from this point since we"re not in the safe yet . Xiongnu is eyeing Yi Province while Cao Cao is trying to probe the north . Our force has to remain as calm as a mountain, or else, we will perish here!"
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October, 188 A . D .
Chen Gong returned to Qiao City, reporting his negotiation result to Cao Cao .
Hearing all details, Cao Cao sighed in a disappointment, "They won"t help us? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I deepest apologies . I"ve failed you . "
"Then, Guo Jia"s plan will put on hold . We"ll concentrate on increasing our force to match Yuan Shao . "
Guo Jia stepped forward and stopped Cao Cao from concluding his policy .
"My Lord, senior Chen Gong has completed all the objectives that we had sent him . You should not make such a decision yet . "
Cao Cao and all officers paused, watching Guo Jia with a confused expression . Chen Gong failed to persuade Yuan Shu into attacking Henei, yet why Guo Jia deemed it as a success?
"From senior Chen"s words, Yuan Shu half-heartedly agreed to form an alliance, but he refused to mobilize . His aide also rejected your offer, am I right?"
Chen Gong nodded, "Yes . That"s correct . "
"Then, my first scheme has been a success . We have given Yuan Shu an image that we"re probing the north and trying to attack Zhang Tong . "
Cao Cao leaned forward, interested in Guo Jia"s ploys, "You have plotted something behind my back? Tell me, what is your true goal?"
"Before I explain, can you excuse us?"
Guo Jia gestured Cao Cao and all elites in the room with his eyes . Cao Cao nodded and waved his hand .
"Aside from Chen Gong, Guo Jia, and Pu Jing, the rest of you, leave us alone . "
Everyone had a wry smile, dejected from not being included in the list of insiders . However, they were motivated that they still had a chance . Since new guys like Chen Gong could be a part of the special people, they, too, should be able to reach the same height .
After everyone left them alone, Guo Jia continued .
"To fool an enemy, you have to fool your allies first . Heck, why should I tell our enemy"s spies what our real motive is? I"d rather give them false intelligence and let them run back and forth . "
"… True . "
"My previous move contained many hidden objectives and alternate plans, depending on the results . Well, had Yuan Shu really agreed to our proposal, I would have gone along with the flow and attacked Zhang Tong . "
"Then, your real goal is not Zhang Tong?"
"Of course not! If we fight him now without any a.s.sistance from other forces, we all will be dead in a year . Do you notice that I intentionally targeted Pingyuan where that immortal Xiao Wu is guarding? It was so obvious that it will be a suicide attack since she will easily crush us with our current number and strength . "
"…"
"First, I leaked info that we"re so stupid that we"ll charge head-first to death, so Yuan Shao will withhold his soldiers at home, waiting for us to move . We"ll profit from this since we"ll have more times to stabilize our territories . "
Cao Cao, Pu Jing, and Chen Gong were astonished . They had not expected a bluff from this fake movement .
"Second, we can confirm our latest intel that I"m interested in, which Sir Chen has affirmed it to us . Right now, Yuan Shu is living an extravagance life while his adjutants are cleaning from his mess . If we combine this info with our spy reports, we can see a bigger picture and their economic power . "
"Does that have anything to do with our policy?"
"Yes . I predict that Yuan Shu will face an economic crisis, and he will suffer a backlash from the lack of taxes and food supplies . He won"t have enough gold to pay his subordinates and soldiers in three years . Also …"
Guo Jia glanced at Pu Jing, "I heard from Sir Pu Jing"s intelligence agency that Yuan Shu has possessed a certain item . "
.
For hours, Guo Jia explained his next moves to everyone .
The legendary strategist had entered the stage .