Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3731 The words are well-written, and the people are at ease; the words are joyful, and the people are content.

A new day has arrived.

After consuming the morning dew.

Wang Wu's infantry battalion received new orders to proceed to the area west of the earthen rampart.

"Aren't we filling in the trenches today?" Wang Wu asked the squad leader walking ahead in a low voice.

The earthen mound was located to the west of Gongxian County, near the riverbank. So, if you went west of the earthen mound, you would be far away from Gongxian County, and there would be no question of filling the moat in Gongxian County.

"There are others going over there..." the sergeant replied in a low voice, "I heard that General Xu is here to guide us today..."

"General Xu?" Wang Wu asked. "Which General Xu?"

"And that General Xu?!" The sergeant's eyes widened. "Perform well, and he might get selected for the General's personal guard battalion!"

"Oh, oh!" Wang Wu responded somewhat blankly, then belatedly became excited, "Could it be that the directly subordinate battalion is selecting people?"

"Shh!" The squad leader glared at Wang Wu.

Soon, Wang Wu followed the others and arrived at the west side of the earthen mound.

This area is a blind spot for Cao Cao's army. Even if Cao Cao's army sends out scouts, they cannot cross the battlefield and spy on the cavalry camp.

This place has been temporarily modified.

Several tall mounds of earth were deliberately piled up to resemble the slope of the western city wall of Gongxian County. The city wall and crenellations were built on the earthen slopes using bricks, stones and wooden strips.

Below the earthen slope, trenches of varying depths were dug into the ground.

The air was filled with the earthy smell of freshly turned soil and the sour smell of sweat.

Xu Chu stood on the wooden platform and, without saying much, issued a mobilization order, directly giving out military commands.

As Xu Chu and Fei Qian spent more time together, they picked up Fei Qian's habits in this respect.

Stop talking nonsense and do more practical things.

The training was extremely rigorous.

Wang Wu and other infantrymen, including some elite soldiers from the Qiang people, were required to wear full armor and, urged on by their squad leaders and sergeants, repeatedly charged the earthen slopes and climbed the simulated city walls.

Climbing tools include ladders, planks, and five-pronged hooks.

This level of climbing is almost a required course for elite scouts, but it is relatively less practiced for ordinary infantry. Many of them become helpless as soon as their feet leave the ground, their limbs lose coordination, and they swing like pendulums at the bottom, holding onto the rope.

It's like pull-ups; some people can do them perfectly easily, while others just use their energy to yell and scream.

Some people were eliminated.

At the beginning, things were indeed quite chaotic.

Some people slipped and fell after climbing just a few steps, while others managed to reach the "crenellation" only to be easily stabbed down by the "guards" above, who were actually Cao Cao's soldiers played by the personal guards of General Fei Qian. These spears were covered in thick cloth and had chalk-coated tips.

Or it could be judged as "hit" by an "arrow" covered in chalk powder.

A splatter of chalk powder on leather armor or robes leaves a conspicuous mark. If it's on the helmet, it means "death" or "serious injury," requiring immediate withdrawal from the climb.

If the blow is to the bare hands or feet, you can hold out for a while, but you will be stopped after being hit a second time.

As for the chalk stains on the armor, it depends on the size of the area...

The soldiers playing the roles of these "Cao Cao's soldiers" not only attacked with headless weapons stained with chalk, but also occasionally threw large sacks of chalk down to simulate pouring "golden juice" from the city walls!
If the soldiers climbing the ladder don't dodge quickly, they'll inevitably be covered in chalk, making it extremely difficult and time-consuming to clean themselves off.

Wang Wu didn't understand why they did this, but he vaguely guessed something, and he saw that every time they "charged" or "climbed," Xu Chu and the others on the high platform would use a water clock to keep track of time.

The "Cao army" on the simulated city walls also do not appear at any time, but are calculated in some way. They usually appear when the enemy has charged halfway, and a "large number" of "Cao army" gather when they are climbing.

After each round of attacks, Xu Chu would sternly point out the problems.

Which team was a fraction too slow in their charge, resulting in them being concentrated under fire by the "defenders"? Which unit interfered with each other while climbing, ending up huddled together at the bottom of the slope and becoming easy targets? Which soldier failed to roll away immediately after the grappling hook slipped from his grasp and was judged to have been "accidentally wounded"?

On the afternoon of the third day, Wang Wu's unit finally figured out a bit of the trick during an attack.

Based on the lessons learned in the previous days, the squad leader adjusted the order of attack and climbing positions within the team.

When the rapid drumbeats sounded, they no longer rushed forward in a swarm, but instead split into two groups, one in front and one behind.

The front group, wearing simple wooden shields, attracted the arrows and stones from the Cao army, while the rear group used this gap to vigorously throw the hook ropes into the gap of the crenellations.

Wang Wu was a member of the rear group. He did not join the front group at the foot of the "city wall". Instead, he crouched at the back, a short distance away from the wall. When he saw his companions hang the grappling hook on the "city wall", he gritted his teeth and immediately ran as fast as he could. He rushed to the foot of the wall, grabbed the rope, and put all his strength into his arms. Using the momentum of his run, he climbed up.

There were sounds all around.

There were shouts from his companions, the whistle of the supervisor after the ladders were pushed aside by the "Cao army" on the city wall, and the sound of wind brought by something falling from the sky.

The chalk-coated spear shafts whistled through the air and poked around him, nearly piercing his fingers as he clung to the earthen wall several times. He could sense that both the defenders on the city wall and the attacking soldiers like himself were reacting much faster and attacking with more discipline than before.

"Hurry! Get up there!" the squad leader roared from below.

Wang Wu, panting heavily, dug his fingers into the cold soil and finally reached the edge of the 'battering'.

A chalk-covered spearhead suddenly stabbed towards his helmet!

He instinctively turned his head to avoid it, while simultaneously leaping upwards with all his might, crashing into the enemy ranks behind the "crenellation".

Immediately, two or three "guards" surrounded him, wielding wooden swords and spears wrapped in cloth and slapping chalk powder all over his shoulder and breastplates.

In the chaos, he clung tightly to the leg of a 'guard,' tripping him. Although he instantly became covered in white dots and stripes, meaning he might be 'killed' multiple times, his comrades behind him seized the opportunity to scale the 'city wall'...

The bugle call signaled the end of training.

Wang Wu collapsed on the top of the earthen slope, sweat pouring down his face. His armor was soaked through with sweat, and his body was covered with mud and chalk marks.

The captain walked over and drew a small red dot next to his name with charcoal.

This signifies his successful ascent to the summit.

Next to each name is an "X" representing failure or a "triangle" representing "death".

The captain pointed to several spots at the bottom of the earthen slope and said to the squad leader behind him, "The reaction here was too slow! The climbing point here was chosen incorrectly! If this happens again, the whole squad will have extra training!"

Wang Wu lay on the mound of earth, gazing at the sky, which was mostly obscured by the earthen mound.

He suddenly sensed something...

Every attack, every climb, every spot hit by chalk powder, and even every opportunity for the "defenders" to counterattack was precisely recorded and calculated.

This rigorous training was designed to minimize the time needed for climbing during the actual siege, so that Cao Cao's army on the walls of Gongxian would not have time to react effectively.

Wang Wu believed that as they trained, these large "whetstone knives" built with mud, wooden stakes, bricks, ropes, and chalk powder would gradually sharpen the sharp knife that would eventually pierce the throat of Gongxian.

……

……

A new night has arrived. Torches and candles illuminate the area inside and outside the tent, making it as bright as day.

But it still couldn't dispel the somber atmosphere.

A dozen or so young men and women, dressed in brocade robes but with pale and reserved faces, stood with their hands hanging down in front of their palms.

Although they tried their best to appear calm and maintain their composure, their darting glances around revealed their inner panic.

They were all sons of prominent families in Yan and Yu provinces, or were sent by their families to take the route through Henan and sneak into Guanzhong, hoping to find a way to advance their careers under the command of General Fei Qian, or to engage in business and acquire property, or to wait for an opportunity to act.

However, during his previous inspection of Yingchuan, Xun Yu not only rectified official corruption but also laid out spies like a spider web. These pampered young men who intended to "travel to the west" were intercepted by Cao Cao's elite scouts before they even crossed the river and were secretly escorted here.

Although no one said anything to them, they all felt that at this moment, the odds were probably against them...

While waiting for the verdict, some people couldn't maintain their composure and started sobbing softly, while others began to tremble. If it weren't for someone supporting them, they might have collapsed to the ground.

The classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections alone cannot fully form the backbone that supports their standing; something else is needed. However, sometimes, no matter how many books one reads, one may not necessarily acquire this.

I don't know how much time has passed; perhaps it was just a few moments, or perhaps it was a lifetime.

They suddenly heard the clanging sound of armor plates, and then Cao Cao's elite guards escorted him into the main tent.

Cao Cao was dressed in a black robe, and his figure seemed to have thinned a bit compared to previous years. His steps were still heavy and deliberate, but the gloom between his brows and the deep weariness hidden in his eyes could not be shaken off.

"Greetings...Greetings, Prime Minister..."

A group of people knelt down on the ground.

Cao Cao tilted his head back, sat upright on the throne, and slowly swept his gaze across the room.

Seeing the bent necks, protruding hump, and raised, trembling buttocks, Cao Cao felt a mix of emotions.

Xiahou Yuan, Cao Xiu, and Yue Jin fell one after another; Xiahou Dun was captured; the Heluo region fell; fierce fighting ensued in Jingbei; and Cheng Yu of Wen County died and was disgraced…

The series of setbacks felt like a huge boulder pressing down on us.

All of this forced Cao Cao to change some of his strategies...

Politics is the art of compromise.

Regardless of the dynasty or society, diverse interests will always exist.

Even in primitive tribal times, there were still strong and healthy people as well as the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Their interests could not be aligned. Moreover, as times change, more and more groups emerge, including different classes, strata, ethnicities, regions, industries, religions, ideologies, and so on, all of which lead to differing opinions.

These various buttocks, big and small, each have their own different needs for excrement, and even conflicting interests, and they will certainly have completely opposite values ​​and life goals.

One of the core tasks of politics is to deal with these diverse and even conflicting interests.

Using violence to solve problems, or to eliminate those who cause them, is undoubtedly one approach. However, politics offers a peaceful and institutionalized way to resolve these conflicts. Compromise is the core mechanism of this approach.

All parties need to make concessions on secondary interests in exchange for satisfaction on core interests, but this is often difficult to achieve. After all, such precise compromises are like artistic sculptures; adding or subtracting even a fraction would ruin the beauty. Therefore, most of the time, the focus is on finding a "suboptimal solution" under the current conditions. When the ideal solution cannot be realized, a solution that is not perfect but can be barely accepted by all parties and is practically feasible is found.

Cao Cao originally suppressed these Shandong gentry and appeared as their ruler. However, as the war progressed and the situation evolved, Cao Cao had to adjust his attitude accordingly.

It can be passive or active.

But one thing is certain: Cao Cao's political talent was extremely high. He could stand tall, and he could kneel down. When he was weak, he could accept Yuan Shao standing behind him, displaying various postures of obedience, but once he became powerful, he would dance on Yuan Shao's grave.

Now, Cao Cao, too, has begun to change his original strategy when facing these aristocratic sons...

He slightly raised his head, glanced at the silent disciples, and then spoke calmly, "Please rise, everyone!"

The sons of the aristocratic families stood up in varying degrees of disarray.

"Gentlemen," Cao Cao began, his voice not loud, yet carrying a penetrating force like metal honed on stone, echoing within the tent, "having traveled such a long distance, could it be that you intend to emulate the talents of Chu and serve Jin?"

Upon hearing this, the disciples below all paled and prostrated themselves on the ground, uttering incoherent pleas such as "Your Excellency is wise," "This was not my intention," and "I am terrified and await punishment." It was immediately clear that they were all prisoners of the scriptures, now trapped in a predicament, only concerned with their own escape, caring nothing for the lives of others.

Cao Cao raised his hand in a gesture of silence, his gaze sweeping over the heads of the crowd like cold lightning. A slight, ambiguous smile played on his lips. "In the south there is a bird called the Yuanchu… It will not perch except on the parasol tree, it will not eat except for the fruit of the Lian tree, it will not drink except from the sweet spring… This is the ancient way of things, how could I not know it? Gentlemen, do not panic, do not panic…"

However, Cao Cao abruptly changed his tone, his voice turning stern: "But do you all know that Fei Ziyuan's Guanzhong region is not a forest of paulownia trees, but a cauldron of boiling oil over a raging fire! His new land administration has divided the fields, broken the well-field system, and seized power from the powerful, placing it under the jurisdiction of the inspectors… His 'civil service examination' system, seemingly aimed at education for all, is actually an attempt to emulate the system of guest ministers of the pre-Qin era, placing merchants, even the lowest of the common people, above scholars and officials! This is not a method for governing the world; it is the foundation of chaos!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd began to adjust.

This is more like it...

This is like a parent saying to their child, "You're not doing your homework, you want to play on your phone? Fine, go ahead and play..."

If you only listen to what they say and actually believe that parents are encouraging their children to skip homework and play on their phones, then you're a complete idiot.

Now that they heard Cao Cao criticizing Fei Qian's system, the Shandong gentry lowered their heads and exchanged glances, feeling as if they had returned to the "normal" track and the familiar "arena".

Moreover, since Cao Cao said that...

This means that they are most likely not going to be beheaded!
After all, besides teachers, how many people would patiently persuade and reason with someone who isn't their own child?
Do you really think everyone in the world is a parent who has to pamper their little fairy and little fairy?

If they don't listen once, and still don't listen twice, then either you'll get a third warning and start using American-style iaido, or you'll just go up and tackle them to the ground, and give them a pair of silver bracelets as a gift.

Therefore, among the sons of aristocratic families, those with quick minds were the first to react.

A member of the Chen clan, named Chen Xu, from a collateral branch of the Yingchuan Chen family, knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Prime Minister, please calm your anger! We are foolish... Our journey to Guanzhong is not for personal gain, but rather an order from our elders, for the survival of our clan. We have no other choice... The Guanzhong cavalry, with their superior weaponry and armor, are unparalleled in the world. The battles at Tongguan, Hedong, and Heluo... are beyond human resistance. What... can we do..."

His words revealed a deep fear of Fei Qian's military might, seemingly expressing the shared sentiments of the scholars in the hall...

But in reality, he was indicating to Cao Cao that he did not intentionally disobey...

He was just following orders...

He has connections...

At the same time, he also cleverly pointed out the real reason why they went to Guanzhong: Cao Cao was not resistant to the war!

If you, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, were truly capable, we wouldn't be running around like this now, would we?
Cao Cao fell silent.

Chen Xiang is right.

Within this camp, there is a specially designated area that houses the tattered equipment of the Flying Cavalry salvaged from the battlefield, including twisted steel armor plates, broken crossbow mechanisms, cannons that were painstakingly transported back, and fragments of cannonballs collected from the battlefield...

A complex and unfathomable light flashed in Cao Cao's eyes, containing resentment, fear, and an indescribable sense of dejection.

He slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the negative emotions in his eyes had disappeared, leaving only a shrewd look and a sharp gleam.

Cao Cao smiled, his voice deepening yet carrying a strange, penetrating power: "In battle, courage is paramount. One must strike with full force at the first drumbeat, for the second weakens, and the third exhausts. Our army previously besieged Guanzhong for a long time without success, and exhaustion inevitably led to defeat. But today is different… Now the enemy army has come from afar, and our army is defending our territory. The tide has turned, and our courage in battle will be our downfall…"

Cao Cao surveyed the area, then raised his voice, "They rely on their superior weaponry to wreak havoc for a time. But can governing a country and bringing peace to the world solely depend on military force? The Zhou dynasty declined, and the feudal lords seized power, ultimately leading to Qin's unification of the six states. Yet, why did it perish after only two generations? The laws of Shang Yang were harsh and ungrateful, losing the very foundation of people's hearts!"

"Fei Qian's methods are strikingly similar to those of Shang Yang. His systems of 'New Field Administration,' 'Imperial Examinations,' and 'Court of Law' appear grand, but in reality, they are like drinking poison to quench thirst, undermining the foundations of aristocratic families and destroying the moral order established over a thousand years! The more rampant his influence, the more severe the disaster. Without a solid foundation, the branches and leaves presumptuously aspire to reach the heavens; ultimately, there will be a day of collapse!"

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he paused slightly, looked down at the young men representing the various Shandong gentry families, and said, word by word, "I have summoned you here today not to punish you."

"I..." Cao Cao smiled slightly, "...will send you all straight into Guanzhong!"

A deathly silence fell over the hall. All the sons looked up in astonishment, unable to believe it.