The next second, Cao Cao suddenly knelt on the ground, on both knees, and cupped his hands, saying, "Brother Xunzhen! I beg you to come out of seclusion and help me! Offer me advice and strategies, and do your part for the safety of the people!"
Lu Li was startled and quickly reached out to pull Cao Cao up, "Brother Mengde! Get up quickly."
In a daze, Lu Li seemed to see Ying Zheng kneeling and begging him to come out of seclusion back then.
Was Cao Cao extending an olive branch to him? Or was he truly only concerned for the safety of the people?
After all, this man was the most treacherous villain of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, who once said, "I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me."
How much of what he said was true, and how much was false?
Lu Li was somewhat confused.
He thought for a long time, then raised his head, stared into Cao Cao's eyes, and said, word by word, "Brother Mengde, I agree!"
"Thank you, Brother Xunzhen!" Cao Cao stood up happily.
"May I ask, Brother Mengde, how many soldiers do you have?" Lu Li asked.
At this time, Cao Cao is only the Northern Commandant of Luoyang, with no more than a hundred men under his command.
"Mr. Lu, I only have a hundred men..." Cao Cao said, feeling somewhat ashamed.
At this time, Cao Cao had changed how he addressed Lu Li.
"A hundred people?" Lu Li squinted, his eyes flickering, seemingly lost in thought.
A moment later, Lu Li said to Dian Wei, "In that case, Tie Zhu, quickly return to Guigu and have Gao Shun bring his men to meet us thirty miles outside Luoyang!"
Lu Li recruited Gao Shun because he knew Gao Shun had the talent to command troops, and Gao Shun's hundreds of brothers had been training in Guigu Valley for almost two years.
It's time to come out of seclusion and practice formations!
"Yes, Master, I'll go right away!" Dian Wei excitedly clasped his hands in a salute, then turned and left.
"Mr. Lu, do you have troops?" Cao Cao asked in surprise.
Lu Li smiled and shook his head, saying, "Not counting soldiers, just guarding the mountain, a few hundred people are enough."
Cao Cao immediately took a deep breath. A few hundred men... to fight against hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban rebels? This was far too frivolous.
However, Lu Li appeared very confident, which inexplicably made him believe in Lu Li.
"Mr. Lu, I believe you!"
Lu Li replied, "However, we still need the help of one more person!"
"Who?" Cao Cao asked.
"Xun Yu, Xun Wenruo!"
Cao Cao raised an eyebrow; he was naturally aware of the Xun family's reputation.
However, Xun Yu had not yet gained any fame, and Cao Cao was somewhat puzzled as to what abilities this man possessed that could garner their assistance.
Lu Li seemed to see through his doubts and said softly, "Brother Mengde, Wenruo is a man of great talent, capable of serving as a prime minister!"
Cao Cao's eyes widened immediately. A talent fit for a king? Xun Yu actually has such abilities?
Lu Li continued, "Although Xun Wenruo may not be famous now, his talent for governing the country is probably unmatched in the world!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's face immediately lit up with a fanatical expression.
"Moreover, we went to resist the Yellow Turban Army on our own, and we couldn't have done without the support of the Xun family."
Lu Li's words were clear: what does war require? Money and supplies!
Without money and supplies, what kind of war can we fight?
"Ahem... sir, my Cao family still has some resources." Cao Cao coughed awkwardly twice, quickly indicating that his family could still come up with a sum of money and grain.
Lu Li smiled slightly, but did not expose Cao Cao's little trick.
"Brother Mengde, rest assured, the Xun family has always cared about the people of the world, and I believe Wenruo will not refuse." Lu Li had a confident smile on his face.
Cao Cao nodded, then asked, "Sir, what are your plans?"
Lu Li pondered for a moment, then said, "Our strength is still too weak to defeat the Yellow Turban Army."
"My plan is to take Runan County with lightning speed! This will attract the attention of the imperial court, allowing them to appoint Brother Mengde to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion!"
It was impossible for them to eliminate the Yellow Turban Army by their own strength alone; the imperial court had to send a large army to suppress them.
What Lu Li needed to do was to make Cao Cao the general who would lead the campaign against the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes suddenly lit up with a sharp light. He finally understood why Lu Li had been so confident just now.
It turns out he had already figured out what to do!
"Sir, this plan is brilliant!" Cao Cao couldn't help but slap the table in admiration and praised it.
The Yellow Turban Army numbered in the hundreds of thousands, which sounded quite intimidating, but to Lu Li, they were all hastily assembled troops.
Most of them are ordinary people; what fighting power do they have?
It is precisely because the Han Dynasty is currently inactive, the court is corrupt, and the officials are complacent and the military is idle that this rabble has been able to quickly seize some counties.
Just like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang back then, even Lu Li felt that the Yellow Turban Army might not be as good as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's rebel army.
Because Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were, after all, Confucian scholars who had read books and understood military strategy.
What can you, Zhang Jiao, do? You're just a charlatan who built your army by fooling the common people. You're not worth mentioning!
After saying this, Lu Li led Cao Cao to Yingyin and invited Xun Yu to come out of seclusion and fight against the Yellow Turban Army together.
This was Cao Cao's first visit to the Xun family, but he had no interaction with these Confucian scholars.
Moreover, these Confucian scholars all looked down on him.
Simply because he was the grandson of the eunuch Cao Teng.
Cao Cao's original surname was Xiahou. Later, because Cao Teng was a eunuch and had no children, he adopted a child from the Xiahou family, who was Cao Cao's father, Cao Song.
Cao Song entered officialdom through family connections and successively served as Commandant of the Capital Region, Minister of State Ceremonies, and Minister of Agriculture, ranking among the Nine Ministers and wielding great power and influence.
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