Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3737 The fierce beasts and tigers roamed the wilderness.

The dawn at Sishui Pass came with an unusually gloomy tone, as the gray light sparingly pierced through the narrow clouds.

However, in the nooks and crannies, there is still much darkness, as if the light is trying hard to pierce the darkness, but is blocked by something.

Compared to the previous two days, Cao Jun seemed to be in a more depressed mood.

To the west of Sishui Pass, the camp of the Flying Cavalry resembled a giant beast whose jaws were about to open and devour everything. However, the arrival of the Flying Cavalry did not unite the people within the pass; on the contrary, another silent battle was already underway.

Wang Qian was wrapped in a worn-out robe, his eyes squinting, a smile on his face, seemingly still the cheerful old boy, but the things he was pondering in his heart were not so easy to see in the light of day.

Wang Qian's confidant secretly reported last night that one of Li Gu's squad leaders, in the darkest hour before dawn, sneaked out from a blind spot near the water gate with two personal guards, and returned about half an hour later, soaking wet.

What are they doing?
Could it be that he went to see the General of the Cavalry?
Li Gu, that crude and uncouth warrior, could no longer restrain himself!

But a confession alone is not enough to bring down Li Gu; he must obtain solid evidence!
If Wang Qian can confirm that Li Gu is a traitor, he can not only eliminate a potential rival, but also take the opportunity to annex the two hundred or so relatively intact soldiers under Li Gu's command!
With this strength, we have more leverage!
what?
tomorrow?

Only by taking care of the present can we have a tomorrow!
As Wang Qian pondered, his smile deepened. He reached a slightly narrow corner and looked up to see Li Gu coming towards him.

We met on the road of shrimp!
Wang Qian gestured, "Brother Li, please, please go first!"

Li Gu squinted at Wang Qian, "Brother Wang, please, please!"

Li Gu also heard some news.

His confidants said that Wang Qian's trusted men frequently went near the command post guarded by Cao Hong's personal guards, seemingly to investigate something.

What alarmed Li Gu even more was that Wang Qian seemed to have his eye on Shuimen.

That hypocritical Wang Qian, he must be trying to find something wrong with me to curry favor with Cao Hong, or...

Even more maliciously, they wanted to sell me off first so they could monopolize the credit and capital for my surrender!

Li Gu gripped the sword at his waist tightly, his knuckles turning white, but the smile on his face grew even wider.

You want to climb up by stepping on me, Li Gu?

There are no doors!

He must retaliate and seize irrefutable evidence of Wang Qian's treason!
Once it's confirmed, all of Wang Qian's soldiers and his pitiful fortune will belong to Li Gu!
In chaotic times, soldiers are life itself!
what?
The Flying Cavalry?

The generals are merely external threats, but traitors within our own ranks are absolutely intolerable!
Li Gu risked his life to accumulate this little bit of capital, and he absolutely cannot let it fall into Wang Qian's hands!
Filled with the same suspicion and greed, like venomous snakes lurking in the dark, they locked their gazes on each other, then grinned, revealing eight large fangs, and murmured, "Please, please, please please..."

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, a voice suddenly rang out, "What are you two doing?!"

The two men turned to look and saw Hu Biao, the commander of Cao Hong's personal guards, standing on high ground. "The general has ordered! You two must proceed immediately to the Guanzhong training ground!"

……

……

In the training ground, Cao's soldiers were lined up, each breath seemingly carrying a sticky sense of despair.

Sishui Pass to the west was the camp of the Flying Cavalry, like a huge boulder weighing on everyone's heart, and the area inside the pass was not necessarily much better or safer...

At midday, the sunlight on the training ground at the pass was a stark white.

Cao's soldiers crowded together, silent, filled with unease and fear.

On a simple wooden platform beside the training ground, Cao Hong, wearing newly polished and gleaming armor, stood expressionless, his hand on his sword.

On either side of the wooden platform stood Cao Hong's personal guards, exuding a murderous aura.

Beneath the wooden platform, Zhao Wu, the squad leader stripped of his armor, was held down by two of Cao Hong's personal guards, kneeling on the ground with rags stuffed in his mouth, only able to whimper mournfully, his eyes filled with extreme fear and bewilderment. Beside him knelt two platoon leaders who were usually on good terms with him and a fellow villager, all equally pale.

Cao Hong's voice rang out in the deathly silent square...

"Soldiers! At this critical juncture of life and death, I, Cao Hong, pledge to live and die with you, and swear to defend the Si River! However, there are always scoundrels who, fearing death, betray their lord for personal gain!"

Cao Hong's gaze was like a knife, scraping the face of every soldier, making the soldiers and officers in the drill ground turn pale.

Wang Qian gasped for breath at the pre-cooked food, while Li Gu swallowed a mouthful of zombie meat.

Cao Hong seemed to be holding a giant blade called the law of the land, right up to everyone's necks.

However, where the hilt of this massive blade was out of sight of the soldiers and military academy in these drill grounds, it was wrapped in tattered hemp rope.

Cao Hong wanted to cut through the tangled mess with his sword, but the tangled mess on the hilt of the sword could never be cut off.

"Team Leader Zhao Wu! Instigated by a spy from the Flying Cavalry, he secretly colluded with the enemy! The defeat at Gong County and the death of Colonel Chen were both due to this scoundrel leaking military secrets! Furthermore, he secretly slipped out of the water gate the night before to transmit customs information! The evidence is irrefutable!"

Hu Biao then presented the evidence at the opportune moment...

A wooden tablet with a letter of treason written in imitation of Zhao Wu's handwriting.

There was also a waist badge from the Flying Cavalry.

All eyes were focused on the 'evidence'.

seem……

unambiguous evidence.

There were witnesses, physical evidence, and even Zhao Wu's handwritten apology letter—oh, a letter of treason…

There was a deathly silence in the audience, broken only by heavy breathing.

Wang Qian stood at the front of the officers' line, his face ashen, his fingers trembling slightly inside his sleeves, feeling his heart tighten in waves.

Zhao Wu is from his defense zone!

What is Cao Hong trying to do?
Why didn't the people who were arresting him inform him beforehand?
Is Cao Hong preparing to make a move against me?

No, no, it can't be...

After all, if Cao Hong were really going to make a move, he wouldn't have let me stand here and watch...

Therefore, Cao Hong is making an example of someone to scare others!
Wang Qian swallowed hard, not daring to look up at Cao Hong, but only glancing at another monkey not far away out of the corner of his eye...

Wang Qian noticed that Li Gu's complexion also seemed quite bad.
This discovery seemed to calm Wang Qian's heart, making it beat less rapidly.

What did Cao Hong just say? Oh, "Watergate"!
Hahaha!

However, before Wang Qian could show his schadenfreude, he realized that Cao Hong's methods were ruthless...

Wang Qian and Li Gu exchanged furtive glances, both seemingly seeing in each other's eyes the fear of Cao Hong's methods...

No, it wasn't fear of Cao Hong, but fear of what Cao Hong represented.

Humans, whether in ancient or modern times, in China or abroad, will decay and perish when their lifespan is exhausted. No matter how many official positions they hold, how much power they wield, or how much benefit they represent, they are all just flesh and blood, and everyone is the same.

But people are different. The higher the official position, the more interest groups one represents, and the more "added value" seems to be generated, making one appear "powerful" within the same camp.

Faced with Cao Hong's attack, Wang Qian and Li Gu felt a chill run down their spines...

Cao Hong was so ruthless!

Whether Zhao Wu truly betrayed his country or was wronged is not important.

The important thing is that Zhao Wu is Wang Qian's man, but Cao Hong pointed out the water gate!

"According to military law! Those who collude with the enemy are guilty of unforgivable crimes! They should be executed to serve as a warning to others! This will comfort the spirits of Colonel Chen and all the fallen soldiers in heaven!" Cao Hong's voice suddenly rose, carrying a righteous and awe-inspiring air, as if the armor and cloak he wore granted him divinely bestowed authority, allowing him to govern the four directions and rule over all people.

Cao Hong slightly raised his head, his aura fully unleashed, and commanded, "Execute!"

Once the order was given, the executioners pounced like wolves and tigers.

There was no interrogation, no defense, and not even any formal procedures were followed.

After all, those who need to go through procedures are always subordinates to superiors.

If those in power still follow procedures, then what is the point of making rules?

In this situation, if there were keyboard warriors, they would surely scoff and say it's just the same old story...

But why has this old trick been used for thousands of years?!

If you change the person, the wording, or the charge, does that make it new?
In the Han Dynasty, officials would smash the courtyard gate in the middle of the night; in the Tang Dynasty, clerks would break into the wooden gate at midnight. Why is it always the same old story?
Keyboard warriors are yelling and screaming, don't they have anything new to say?
But that's precisely the problem: if it works every time, why switch to something else?
So why does it work every time?
The keyboard warrior said, "What's it to me? I don't care."

Just like Cao Hong right now... Under the gaze of countless pairs of terrified, numb, and even slightly morbidly excited eyes, Zhao Wu was held down by his limbs.

He convulsed, struggled, wanted to resist, wanted to defend himself, but he was powerless; his struggle alone was weak and feeble.

Because the one who issued the order was from Shandong, a place considered "nobler" than him by the rules and laws, and the one who carried out the order was someone who willingly obeyed these rules and laws, or someone who had ulterior motives.

The cold iron hook pierced his collarbone, the excruciating pain causing his body to convulse violently, and a non-human howl emanating from his throat.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy hammer fell, accompanied by a tooth-grinding sound of bones shattering and a terrible scream, as his limbs were smashed off piece by piece.

Finally, before Zhao Wu completely lost consciousness, a gleaming ring-pommel sword fell, and his head rolled into the dust.

The entire process was bloody, barbaric, and filled with the most primal horrors.

Those who were convicted as "accomplices" along with Zhao Wu were also hacked to death one by one amidst desperate cries.

The strong smell of blood instantly filled the air, making people nauseous.

The executioner's mental preparation: "I'm just following orders."

The other soldiers standing on the drill ground thought to themselves, "Thank goodness it wasn't me who got caught..."

The square was deathly silent, save for the occasional sound of some soldiers retching uncontrollably.

A deep-seated fear replaced the previous pervasive suspicion and resentment.

Cao Hong used the most direct and cruel method to tell everyone...

In this crucible, any wavering or misconduct will result in a fate a hundred times worse than Chen Mao's!
You may be afraid of death, but the price of betrayal is a fate worse than death!

"Anyone who betrays the enemy, undermines morale, or disobeys orders will suffer the same fate!" Cao Hong's icy voice rang out again, like a death knell striking everyone's hearts. "Strengthen defenses! Hold fast and await reinforcements! The Prime Minister's army has broken through the enemy at Feihu Fortress and will arrive soon! Those who hold out will be rewarded! Those who retreat in fear of the enemy will die!"

……

……

White terror is often the most direct and effective means of control.

It is an effective method that has been verified and confirmed by successive rulers throughout history and across the world.

The fear of physical obliteration is inherent in human nature and cannot be avoided by anyone but those with great resolve.

The atmosphere inside the council hall of Sishui Pass was so heavy it seemed to drip water.

Wang Qian and Li Gu were ostensibly "invited" in by Cao Hong's guards, but both knew that this was a difficult hurdle to overcome!

Whether you walk out or are carried out lying down, there are two completely different outcomes.

Wang Qian was the first to speak, his face showing deep concern and a sense of responsibility for his lord. He bowed deeply and said, "General! I have something to report! It is of great importance, and I dare not ignore it!"

He paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping over Li Gu, whose face was ashen. "My men discovered that a captain under Li's command secretly led a group out of the water gate at night, returning only after about half an hour! Their actions were suspicious! At this critical juncture, cut off from the outside world, what is their intention? I suspect Captain Li… ​​I fear the captain under Li's command may harbor treacherous intentions, even treason! I have come to report this to the General, requesting a thorough investigation! To uphold military law and reassure the troops!"

His words were firm and resonant, as if they truly reflected his unwavering loyalty.

Upon hearing this, Li Gu's anger surged instantly. What a Wang Qian!
However, Li Gu, having cultivated for many years, forcibly suppressed his anger. Instead, a hint of indignation and disdain, as if he had been wronged, appeared on his face. He clasped his hands in a fist salute to Cao Hong, his voice loud yet deliberately aggrieved, "General! Commander Wang is slandering me! My subordinates were merely ordered to inspect the hidden stakes at the water gate for any loosening! It's nothing unusual for our clothes to get wet due to the rapid current! It's Commander Wang who's to blame!"

Li Gu abruptly turned to Wang Qian, his eyes sharp as knives. "Your men have been lurking around suspiciously these past few days, probing the storage of military equipment. What are they up to? Today, the general executed a traitor, and it was one of your men, Commander Wang! Commander Wang, your concern for the water gate is so intense, and your eagerness to frame your colleague… what exactly are you plotting?! Could it be… could it be that you intend to… commit some treacherous act?!"

He retaliated with a forceful counterattack.

"Ridiculous! You're making baseless accusations!"

"What a joke! You're falsely accusing an honest and upright person!"

The two glared at each other, as if sparks were flying through the air.

They both tried their best to hide their inner panic, fearing that the other had really found something to use against them.

At the same time, they were trying their best to avoid appearing greedy, since they were both coveting each other's military power...

The two of them tried to pin all the blame on each other and also attempted to occupy the moral and "loyalty" high ground in front of Cao Hong.

Cao Hong sat at the head of the table, listening expressionlessly to the two men's mutual attacks.

Of course he knew that Wang Qian and Li Gu were not clean!

Of course, Cao Hong's buttocks weren't necessarily free of excrement and urine either...

Cao Hong felt a chill run through him; he wanted nothing more than to drag those two treacherous individuals out and behead them immediately! But…

he can not.

Kill Wang Qian?
Li Gu holds absolute power and commands a large number of soldiers, making him even more difficult to control if he harbors any disloyal intentions.

Kill Li Gu?
Wang Qian will also rise to power, and he is even more adept at scheming and his thoughts are more unpredictable.

Kill them both?

The mid-level officers at Sishui Pass immediately collapsed, and morale completely crumbled. Without the cavalry attacking, chaos erupted within the pass itself.

More importantly, if they are severely punished now, no matter who is killed, it would be tantamount to sending a message to all mid-level officers!
Cao Hong has no one left to use!

Cao Hong no longer trusts mid-level military academy officers!
All mid-level military academies could become the next casualties at any time!

This will immediately push those mid-level officers who are still observing and whose hearts are also filled with fear and self-preservation to the opposite side!
The mutual tearing between Wang Qian and Li Gu, though ugly, precisely limited the conflict to the two of them, preventing it from directly affecting Cao Hong. Their mutual tearing at each other's loincloths did indeed expose the stench emanating from each other's anuses, but it was similar to a pet cat or dog rolling over to its owner, exposing its anus—a behavior akin to...

"Enough!" Cao Hong slammed his hand on the table. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the authority of someone long accustomed to a superior position, instantly silencing the two arguing men. His cold gaze swept over them as he slowly spoke, his voice low and weary, "At this critical moment, instead of uniting to fight the enemy, you're distrusting each other and framing your comrades! What kind of behavior is this!"

Cao Hongxian gave both sides equal blame, setting the tone for the outcome.

"Proper conduct" is the key.

"Wang Qian, Li Gu has already explained the matter you reported. Inspecting the water gate is also part of one's duty. However, leaving the water gate without military orders is indeed inappropriate! Li Gu has failed in his management of his subordinates, so he will be fined one month's salary! The squad leader will be given twenty lashes as a warning to others!" He dealt with Li Gu's "problem" lightly, downplaying the accusation of "colluding with the enemy" as "dereliction of duty."

"Li Gu!" Cao Hong turned his gaze to the other side. "You accuse Wang Sima of spying on military equipment and plotting a rebellion. Do you have any conclusive witnesses or physical evidence? If there is no evidence, it is a false accusation! Can you bear the crime of disrupting the morale of the army?!"

His tone suddenly turned stern, shifting the pressure back to Li Gu.

Li Gu's heart skipped a beat. "General! That Zhao Wu..."

"Zhao Wu is just Zhao Wu!" Cao Hong impatiently interrupted Li Gu. "It's like Wang Sima accusing your men of sneaking out of the water gate; am I supposed to chop off your head?!"

Li Gu took a sip of the cold noodles.

He knew Cao Hong was protecting Wang Qian while also warning him against making baseless accusations. So he could only lower his head and grit his teeth, saying, "This humble general...this humble general was momentarily agitated and misspoke. I only noticed the suspicious movements of Wang Sima's men and became suspicious, so I reported this to the general. Please investigate thoroughly! I had no intention of falsely accusing anyone!"

"Hmph!" Cao Hong snorted coldly, no longer pursuing the matter. "Suspicion? At this critical juncture, to report a mere suspicion as a capital offense of treason? This only disrupts morale! Considering your concern for the safety of the border, I will not pursue this matter this time! But if it happens again, you will be severely punished!"

Cao Hong paused, his gaze sweeping over the two men with a weary look of knowing everything yet helplessly accepting their fate. He slowly said, "Now the General of Chariots and Cavalry has besieged the pass, a formidable enemy at our doorstep! We all serve the Prime Minister, defending this pass; our fates are intertwined! Any discord or suspicion must be discarded! The most urgent task is to strengthen defenses, stabilize morale, and hold our ground until reinforcements arrive! The Prime Minister's reinforcements will arrive soon, at which point the siege will lift, and you will all be heroes! If there is any further mutual recrimination or attempts to disrupt morale… don't blame this general for being ruthless! Do you all understand?!"

"Understood, sir!"

"I understand!"

Wang Qian and Li Gu bowed in unison, their voices loud and their postures submissive. But beneath their lowered eyes, their thoughts were quite different.

Cao Hong waved his hand, dismissing the two men.

The two quickly bowed respectfully, sticking their buttocks out, and took a few steps back. Then they glared at each other and went their separate ways.

Cao Hong watched the two men retreat with feigned respect, then wearily closed his eyes. He knew his actions were merely a stopgap measure. The distrust between Wang Qian and Li Gu wouldn't disappear; it would only be buried deeper and intensify because of this confrontation.

However, Cao Hong tacitly approved of this internal strife, and even used it to temporarily shift the crisis that might have been directed at him onto Wang Qian and Li Gu.

He temporarily maintained a semblance of obedience with empty promises such as "holding firm and waiting for reinforcements" and "promotion and advancement," while using the big stick of "military law" to hang over the two men's heads, making them monitor and restrain each other, so that neither dared to make any rash moves, at least on the surface maintaining the minimum operation of the pass.

This is a kind of short-sighted, detrimental balance.

However, this also reflects the system of Shandong in the Han Dynasty.

In ordinary times, no matter who it is, if they are robbed or lose some property or benefits, they will cry and curse. But those in the system, who flatter their superiors, offer them money and gifts, and even offer themselves or their wives and daughters to their bedchambers, will not mention any harassment or loss. They will even be proud of it and do so willingly.

Violations of property by members of the same social class often trigger fierce resistance because they undermine the superficial fairness of the "registered households" system. Simultaneously, there is a morbid dependence on systemic violence, which is then self-glorified, portraying forced appeasement and exploitation as a "survival wisdom" of knowing when to advance and retreat, thus transforming a sense of shame into a sense of superiority.

In this farce of the feudal dynasty, on the cramped and confined stage of Sishui Pass, Cao Hong was the protagonist, while Wang Qian, Li Gu, and other military officers and soldiers of Cao's army were all accomplices in the farce.