Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3523: The Lesser of Two Evils (Updated)

When the smell of blood spread from Xu County again, the situation fell into complete chaos.

The killed old man fell down, and then more people stood up angrily.

Although the Cao army soldiers who were maintaining order stated that they did not kill the people, the angry crowd lost their minds and a huge conflict broke out.

Just as the storm was about to sweep the entire city, Cao Cao arrived.

Cao Cao's face darkened as he looked at Xu County, where a lot of black smoke and flames were coming out.

In the Han Dynasty, cavalry is still the best force for quick response, without a doubt.

Cao Cao's entire army did not arrive, he only brought the cavalry of the vanguard.

Even so, these were almost the last 200 cavalrymen of Cao's army, and they still gave a small shock to the troublemakers in Xu County.

When the sound of horse hooves knocked on the bluestone slabs, although the sound was not loud, it quickly suppressed the chaotic noise!

Silence slowly extended from the city gate, and finally the only sounds on the entire street were the sound of horse hooves, the snorting of war horses, and the cold sound of weapons and armor.

There were less than two hundred cavalrymen. Although the heights of the war horses varied, some were taller and some were shorter, and the cavalrymen on horseback were also fatter and thinner. They were not carefully selected soldiers and horses, but the armor on these cavalrymen and the horse clothes on their horses all demonstrated the strongest land combat force of this era.

It’s not that Cao’s army is strong, but that his cavalry is strong.

In other words, the equipment is strong.

Every cavalryman, from top to bottom, from the helmet to the hilt, from the collar to the tail, has more than ten parts of armor combined together.

In addition to horse clothes, war horses also have face curtains, chicken necks, chest straps, and hind harnesses.

When these cavalrymen walked through the streets, they looked like human tanks walking side by side...

Well, perhaps from a certain perspective, the cavalry led by Cao Cao was actually a high-imitation of the Hussar heavy cavalry, but even such a high-imitation cavalry had already given these guys in Xu County a great shock.

The old fellows who had seen the might of the Hussars before, all the memories that had been intentionally or unintentionally buried and abandoned in their minds were brought out again, and their faces turned pale...

The riders rode in a row of six, forming a procession, and passed through the streets of Xu County one after another.

In the queue, Cao Cao looked at the Shandong nobles who suddenly changed from a furious state to a state of quails. He did not feel any sense of relief in his heart, but only felt deeply exhausted.

Cao Cao even had a vague hope in his heart that these guys could show a little bravery. Even if they knew they were going to die, they would still go forward and fight hard once!

but……

pity……

In fact, not all the people in Shandong are cowards.

For example, Taishi Ci was from Shandong.

But when Taishi Ci showed his attitude of fighting against injustice and taking the initiative to take responsibility in Shandong, what did Taishi Ci get? He took the initiative to stand up for his superiors and tried his best to complete the task, but what did he get? The superiors of the prefectures and counties praised him on the surface, but in fact they were shirking responsibility, implying that everything was caused by Taishi Ci alone, and when the prefecture and county gentry did not tolerate Taishi Ci, they stood aside and did nothing, which eventually forced Taishi Ci to flee his hometown...

Those who are brave enough to take on responsibilities will not have a good end.

The man carrying firewood froze to death on the roadside.

The landlord shouted, see, it’s all their parents’ fault for not working hard. My parents worked so hard in their early years and started from scratch to build this business!

In fact, no landowner would talk about the significance of land resources.

Aren’t there enough examples like this in Shandong?

After a long time, how many people will be left in Shandong?

These are the guys in front of Cao Cao.

When something goes wrong, everyone hopes that the law will not hold everyone responsible, but when it comes to taking responsibility, everyone is meek and kind.

Isn't this very noisy?

Doesn't this mean that I should resign as Prime Minister?

Why was it that when I brought these soldiers and horses, everyone remained silent?

Cao Cao's eyes slowly slid across both sides of the street.

A bunch of rabble, incompetent people!

Cao Cao could even imagine that if it was really the Cavalry Army that came, these guys would certainly be just as "pure and obedient"!

But on this point, Cao Cao was wrong.

It’s not that there are no brave people in Shandong, but that Shandong will automatically exclude brave people!

It’s not a problem with people, but a problem with the system and the law!

Don’t the upper echelons of Shandong’s rulers know about these problems?

The answer is obvious.

After all, when the Han Dynasty was first established, more emphasis was placed on bravery.

Since the Qin Dynasty, these brave men of the Han family have fought bravely in the desperate territories of the Han Dynasty!

At Yanzhi Mountain and Langjuxu, we drank water and drank poison to feed our horses, and then marched out of the desert.

It expanded eastward to Liaodong with its white mountains and black waters, advanced westward to Central Asia, passed through dense rainforests and countless hills in the south, and planted the flag of the Han Dynasty in Jiaozhi. It expelled the Huns in the north, and the Northern Huns who were driven away by the Han Dynasty became the "Scourge of God" when they arrived in Europe!

Countless Han men fought bloody battles in the yellow sand, but now these martial arts and blood have been destroyed by the Confucian classics and laws of the Shandong men!

Because Shandong wanted to promote its own Confucian classics, it downgraded the use of military force to the extreme!

Warrior, warrior!

Standing high and mighty, criticizing and accusing!

This made the keyboard warriors of the big man feel an orgasm in their brains, and they were inexplicably excited! They got supreme pleasure from criticizing others, and swore that they had this or that right, but they never really understood where these rights came from, and what they did for these rights?

These Shandong mobs, who consider taking advantage of others as a skill and criticizing others as an ability, were turned into a mess and a joke in front of the cavalry brought by Cao Cao.

In times of peace, they hoped that all the people in the world would be obedient, and that they could ensure class stability, imperial power stability, social harmony, and the interests of the gentry through this method of castration and bloodshed. However, when turmoil came, these Shandong gentry children found that their speaking skills, which they were good at, were useless in the face of swords, guns, and armor.

This made the children of Shandong gentry feel terrified!

It is precisely because of this that these people fear Dong Zhuo and also reject Cao Cao. The "acceptance" of Fei Qian is just a second-rate choice they are forced to make, the lesser of two evils.

Just like now, when Cao Cao arrived, they instinctively chose the lesser of two evils.

Amid the rumbling sound of horse hooves, Cao Cao and his men turned the street.

The chaotic scene on Palace Street was right in front of us.

Thousands of people gathered together, and what filled the air was not only blood, and what burned was not only flames, but also greedy desires!

Cao Cao even saw that there were many people standing on high places on the street in front of the palace, waving their arms and seeming to be shouting something...

People in the more remote parts of the street were startled by the sound of horse hooves, turned their heads, and saw the cavalry approaching in a black mass, and immediately showed a look of horror on their faces. The slogans that were originally shouted were also suppressed, and subconsciously they rolled and crawled to the side of the road to avoid them.

In front of the windows facing the street, the sons of the aristocrats who were happily watching the excitement had a higher field of vision and could naturally see Cao Cao's cavalry formations clearly. They could not help but be stunned. All the matters they were discussing and the shouting stopped abruptly at this moment!

Silence is also powerful.

With Cao Cao's arrival, it was as if an invisible hand pressed a silence switch. On the crowded Imperial Palace Street, starting from the street entrance, the voices slowly stopped, and countless eyes were cast towards where Cao Cao was.

Cao Cao raised his chin slightly, reached out and touched his long beard, faced the gazes of countless people, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "I have heard that there is a treacherous rebellion! I have come here today to quell the rebellion!"

The moment Cao Cao finished speaking, it was like a huge rock thrown into a deep pool. Suddenly, the entire street in front of the palace was in an uproar!

Before this, Cao Cao had been hiding and not showing up, and Xun Yu was also claiming to be sick in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Many people thought that Cao Cao was going to fall this time. Many people also speculated that Cao Cao was dead or seriously injured, so he couldn't come out. So when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter, and when the wall falls, everyone pushes it down. Just when the situation was so chaotic that the emperor was almost going to issue an edict to dismiss Cao Cao, this guy Cao Cao actually came back!

Just like that, Cao Cao appeared here with these cavalrymen armed to the teeth, and appeared in front of them!

On the street in front of the imperial palace, Cao Cao led less than two hundred cavalrymen against thousands of Xu County people who were descendants of aristocratic families. Who would win?

If the victory or defeat was determined by the number of people, then Cao Cao would surely lose. But it was obvious that after Cao Cao appeared, those people on the street in front of the palace who were relatively close to Cao Cao were all retreating, wanting others to push to the front. Those at the back were shouting, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we have more people, don't go back, go forward!"

As Cao Cao's cavalry pressed forward, the people on the street in front of the palace couldn't help but retreat backwards, squeezing the people behind so hard that they couldn't stand still, and then naturally there was pushing and trampling!

Everyone was shouting, "Don't push me!" But at the same time, they were pushing others with their hands and stepping on others with their feet. Even if they felt that something was wrong with the way they were stepping, they still didn't stop...

Since no one else is stopping, there is no point in me stopping, right? The hustle and bustle of this period, coupled with the news of Cao Cao's defeat that kept reaching Xu County, made these people almost forget the last time Cao Cao led his soldiers to massacre Xu County. Some people even thought that the time for revenge had come, and this time they could knock Cao Cao to the ground and step on him. But now, everyone suddenly realized that the one who was knocked to the ground and stepped on was not Cao Cao, but themselves!

Although there were only nearly two hundred cavalrymen, the force they displayed was beyond the reach of the mob. Before the swords and spears of Cao's cavalry could hit them, the mob collapsed in an instant!

Liu Xie, standing on the gate tower of the imperial palace, looked at the scene in front of him and seemed to feel unusually familiar...

Why is it like this again?!

Looking from the gate tower of the imperial palace, the number of cavalry brought by Cao Cao was unmistakable. However, with just such a small number of cavalry, they were able to overwhelm the people who gathered on Qianmen Street, who were dozens of times more numerous than them, and had no power to fight back. They were like a flock of sheep being driven by a sheepdog, who only knew how to run and use their horns to hit their own kind!

This scene has been played out in Luoyang, in Chang'an, and is now being played out again and again in Xu County!

Back then, Dong Zhuo's soldiers crossed Zhuque Street, then Li and Guo's cavalry rode across the palace gate, and now Cao Cao is riding his horse and trampling on Qianmen Street...

What next?

What if Fei Qian comes?

Liu Xie held on to the railing tightly, his fingers turned white, and he clenched his teeth tightly, otherwise he didn't know whether he would roar or cry bitterly in the next moment!

How many soldiers does Cao have?

Why aren't there any loyal and brave people who stand up and call for action?

Hasn't it been agreed that Cao Cao should step down? Aren't people criticizing him for this and that crime?

Why, when Cao Cao really showed up, these people were so miserable, like frightened birds, thinking only of escaping, and never thinking of fighting Cao Cao to the death? !

why? !

Liu Xie couldn't understand.

It was precisely because he couldn't understand that he had thought things were too simple.

He thought that a piece of white silk, a pot of poisoned wine, or a short blade could end someone's life, and that an imperial edict, a memorial, or a piece of gossip could determine someone's future...

All of this is indeed a manifestation of imperial power, and the materialization of the supreme authority and majesty that if the emperor wants his subjects to die, they must die!

However, this has a prerequisite...

Liu Xie also thought that since he was the Son of Heaven, the emperor, he naturally obtained this power. However, he had always forgotten, ignored, and avoided where his power and majesty came from.

Once the imperial power leaves the common people, it is worthless!

The imperial power supported by the people is the real imperial power. Once the people lose their confidence in the dynasty, the imperial power abandoned by the people will naturally become a joke!

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." Shi Sun Rui whispered, "The thief Cao... Prime Minister Cao's momentum... Your Majesty should appease him first and wait and see what happens..."

Liu Xie gritted his teeth and remained silent.

He didn't want to pay attention to Shisun Rui.

Who said in advance that the thief Cao was doomed this time, but then changed his words and called him Prime Minister Cao?

Shi Sun Rui seemed to have sensed the resentment in Liu Xie's heart, and whispered: "Your Majesty... Prime Minister Cao is now acting more and more tyrannically, just like in the past... Moreover, Guanzhong... If we say that the situation in the world has not been settled yet..."

Liu Xie turned his eyes slightly and squinted, "My dear... how do you know that if the cavalry came here... they would not show off their power like this?!"

"This..." Shi Sun Rui lowered his head and remained silent for a while, and finally whispered, "Your Majesty... choose the lesser of two evils... Fortunately, Your Majesty has not yet issued an order..."

Liu Xie turned his head again and looked at Qianmen Street.

Hundreds and thousands of people, from the initial development of the incident, slowly gathered on Qianmen Street, and later went to the gate of the imperial palace to write a letter to remove Cao Cao. It took five or six days in total, but within a quarter of an hour, they were driven away, trampled and killed by Cao's cavalry!

What is this?!

Is this the lesser of two evils?!

Liu Xie felt as if he had fallen into a trap.

"No order has been given yet..." Liu Xie repeated in a low voice.

Yes, fortunately he had not yet issued the order to remove Cao Cao, otherwise he would be dead now!

Did Liu Xie climb up the city gate tower today just to watch the fun?

Obviously not, he had originally planned to issue an edict today "in accordance with the will of the people"!

But he didn't expect that Cao Cao would come at this time!

Liu Xie wondered if Cao Cao was waiting for him to show up, and would appear immediately after receiving the signal?

Although Liu Xie had not yet issued an edict and had not completely turned against Cao Cao, it was actually not far from the point of being a complete fallout. Even so, it was still very embarrassing. Liu Xie even felt that Cao Cao was deliberately slapping him in the face!

It was like this last time, and it is still like this time!

Liu Xie couldn't help but wonder, what would happen if he was a little impulsive today, no, he gave an impulsive order yesterday, sending an angel with an imperial edict, and taking these people on Qianmen Street to the Prime Minister's Mansion to read the imperial edict to dismiss Cao Cao?

Did Cao Cao become a stray dog?

But in the next moment, Liu Xie realized that even if he made this decision yesterday, it might not be useful. It is possible that Cao Cao would appear just as he made the decision...

This is……

Liu Xie looked around.

On the high walls of the palace stood a row of imperial guards.

These guards were wearing bright armor, and they all stood straight, facing outside the palace. They seemed to be dutifully protecting the palace and guarding the emperor...

"..." Liu Xie's eyes swept over these guards one by one.

As soon as he climbed the gate tower of the imperial palace, someone must have sent a message directly to the outside world, right? !

What are these guards?

Are they protecting him or monitoring him? Are they the imperial guards of the Han Dynasty Palace or Cao Cao's minions?

Liu Xie originally thought that Cao Cao had really fallen, so these soldiers and guards originally arranged by Cao Cao should consider joining him. But now he realized that even if Cao Cao fell, these guys still wouldn't listen to him...

So what about those imperial edicts that he had previously thought were very clever?

No, it was not just his imperial edict, but everything he had now, including the palace in front of him and everything inside and outside the palace. Liu Xie suddenly realized that these things did not belong to him!

There is no one around him!

Cao Cao, Fei Qian.

There are other princes, other ministers, even Shisun Rui standing in front of him, all of them are his opponents and enemies!

And those people fleeing on Qianmen Street in front of him were like the collapsing Han Dynasty!

A complete failure!

"My dear, please meet Prime Minister Cao... on my behalf!"

Liu Xie took a deep breath, shook his sleeves, and left the city gate tower. He didn't want to see Cao Cao's smug face, at least not at this time.

"This...I obey your order..."

Shi Sun Rui was a little panicked. Although he was called Sanlao and was usually respected, respect did not mean immunity from death. If Cao Cao really wanted to settle accounts...

However, Cao Cao could disobey Liu Xie's orders, but Shisun Rui had no right to disobey.

"Ahem..." Shi Sunrui coughed a few times. After all, he had been in the government for many years, so being thick-skinned was the first thing he had to learn. He quickly adjusted his mindset and put on a smiling face to welcome the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister came to the rescue in time and quelled the rebellion. We should prepare a ceremonial guard to welcome him! Go and get ready!"

happy New Year!

May the country be peaceful and the people be safe!

I wish you good health!

I wish all my book friends good luck and a prosperous New Year!