Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3868 Justified

A biting wind howled over the city walls of Gongxian.

Cao Jun's banners, in the cold wind, flaunted their power with a show of force.

Cao Cao and Cao Hong stood side by side, their faces as somber as the leaden clouds of winter.

The news brought by Cao Cao's scouts put them under immense pressure...

The main force of the Flying Cavalry, with its striking three-colored banner, is rolling towards Gong County, and its vanguard scouts have already appeared fifty miles away!

The Flying Cavalry were not lured to Mount Song!
Although Cao Cao had vaguely anticipated this outcome, he still couldn't help feeling uneasy when faced with the actual result.

Compared to Cao Cao's ability to conceal his emotions, Cao Hong's behavior was much more direct.

"What is Xun Wenruo good for?!"

Cao Hong slammed his fist on the battlements, his hair and beard bristling, his anger barely contained. "We gave him the banner! He was tasked with luring the main force of the Flying Cavalry to Songshan, and it's only been a few days?! How come the main force of the Flying Cavalry has already turned east?! Are his soldiers made of paper? Or is Xun Wenruo all talk and no action, unable to hold out even for a few days?!"

Cao Hong's roar echoed across the city wall, and the nearby guards and generals all held their breath and lowered their heads.

Xun Yu was highly respected in Cao Cao's army, so Cao Hong's words were naturally extremely disrespectful.

Cao Cao listened expressionlessly, his gaze still fixed on the distance. He neither turned around nor immediately reprimanded Cao Hong.

Cao Cao's silence made Cao Hong realize his lapse in composure, and he lowered his voice, but was still indignant, "Prime Minister, if the main force of the General of the Cavalry truly arrives, even though Gong County is fortified, I fear it will be difficult to hold for long..."

"Zilian, calm down." Cao Cao finally spoke, his voice calm and unreadable, interrupting Cao Hong's potentially more anxious or even more impolite words.

Logically speaking, Cao Hong shouldn't have spoken so recklessly, but unfortunately, he's under immense pressure right now...

At the same time, Cao Cao did not explain why Xun Yu failed to complete the mission, nor did he defend this trusted minister even once. It was as if the sacrifice and struggle of the strategist who was fighting hard in Songshan and may have even been in dire straits was just a move on the chessboard that needed to be calmly evaluated in the face of the current strategic predicament.

It was a necessary sacrifice made for the greater good...

Whether this move successfully bought time or failed to fully achieve its intended purpose remains to be seen.

Cao Cao slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over Cao Hong, then over the surrounding military officers, taking in their anxious expressions. "Now that the General of the Cavalry has arrived, we should meet him head-on. To meet force with force, to confront water with earth, that is the right way."

Cao Cao's words remained calm and composed, which also calmed Cao Hong and the surrounding military officers. "Such a valiant general is truly a hero of the world! A worthy opponent for me! What could be more delightful for a man to have such a worthy adversary in this world?!"

Of course, one should speak frankly and openly when making polite remarks.

Regardless of whether others believe it or not, that's what we're going to say anyway.

For the Han Dynasty, for the Emperor, for the common people...

When they returned to the dilapidated county government office in Gong County, Cao Cao and Cao Hong's expressions were not so cheerful.

"Although Gongxian has been fortified, it's too hasty to become an impregnable fortress. The General of the Cavalry, riding high on their great victory, is well-equipped and elite; if we simply hold our ground, we'll play right into their hands." Cao Cao pointed to the map. "I previously intended to plant gunpowder in strategic locations to disrupt their army, but alas, having lost Jingzhou, this plan… must be reconsidered and a more strategic location must be found…"

Cao Hong's eyes widened. "My lord, you mean here in Gong County?"

Cao Cao remained noncommittal, then said, "The mountain paths within Mount Song are inherently treacherous... Now that we intend to trap the Flying Cavalry, we must carefully consider our options... We should provoke their eagerness and recklessness..."

Cao Cao raised his head, a cold glint in his eyes. "Fei Ziyuan… he is a man of unwavering resolve, meticulous in thought, and accustomed to planning carefully before acting. He highly values ​​the lives of his soldiers and the morale of his army; he is not a reckless fool, nor is he one to be blinded by greed. Common tricks such as feigned surrender, weakness, or abandoning cities to lure the enemy will likely fail to deceive him and may even backfire."

Cao Hong frowned and said, "What should we do then?"

It has been repeatedly proven that direct combat with soldiers is unwinnable, so winning through strategy is an inevitable choice.

"An extraordinary enemy requires extraordinary measures. To ensnare them, we must first disrupt their minds and rob them of their wisdom. Make them see things they cannot tolerate, hear words they cannot accept, and act in a way that compels pursuit," Cao Cao said slowly. "We must provoke them with anger. Only by infuriating them and then provoking their impatience will we see results."

Countless great generals throughout history have died because of anger and impatience.

"Enrage the cavalry?"

Cao Hong took a sip of the soup noodles. 'Could it be that he insulted them on the battlefield? But... but would that do any good? I'm afraid it's not...'

"Insults on the battlefield only invite ridicule," Cao Cao said with a smile and a shake of his head. "We must strike at what Fei Ziyuan truly cares about, and trample on what he is so proud of!"

"That's..." Cao Hong couldn't help but look down at his crotch.

Cao Cao couldn't help himself and smacked Cao Hong on the head, "What are you looking at?! Is a true man only capable of being a hero if he has enough flesh between his legs?!"

Cao Hong chuckled, agreeing verbally but secretly thinking to himself, "Brother, you've found so many widows..."

Cao Cao stated that crude strategies based on emotional provocation might be effective against ordinary generals, but against an opponent like Fei Qian, who already possessed the wisdom and insight to rule the world, it was almost child's play.

Moreover, attacking Fei Qian with this biological instinct would be ineffective.

It could even be said that in the current Han Dynasty, it was not a big deal at all.

Sexual desire is a survival instinct.

From the most primitive evolutionary perspective, sexual desire is the core driving force that propels organisms to find mates, mate, and thus perpetuate their genes. Without this strong intrinsic drive, species might face extinction due to insufficient desire to reproduce. Therefore, it is a fundamental life force, just like hunger, thirst, and sleep.

However, if one regards sexual desire as the highest pursuit, then one is no different from an ordinary animal.

Cao Cao's decision to take widows as concubines was actually a political tactic to consolidate his power.

Many of the widows Cao Cao took as wives held special status. Zou, who triggered the Battle of Wancheng, was primarily chosen to appease and win over Zhang Xiu's faction. Du, the wife of Qin Yilu whom Guan Yu had once sought, was chosen after the capture of Xiapi to demonstrate tolerance and favor towards those who surrendered. Similarly, taking Yin, the widow, was also motivated by considerations of appeasing the old bureaucratic class and maintaining ties with the gentry. Such marriages to the widows of important figures symbolically signified the takeover of a portion of their political legacy.

Furthermore, unlike the later Confucian concept of chastity, Han Dynasty society held a relatively open and pragmatic attitude towards women's remarriage. During times of war, widows remarrying was a common phenomenon, seen as a means of survival and family continuation. Cao Cao's actions, within the social ethical framework of the time, were not as shocking as they would have been after the strengthening of Confucian chastity values ​​in later generations.

When Cao Cao's political enemies attacked him, they mostly mentioned his treacherous nature and usurpation, rather than focusing on his private morality. Note that when Cao Cao's contemporary political enemies attacked him, they didn't use these obvious examples at all, which shows that in the social opinion of the Han Dynasty at that time, Cao Cao's behavior was simply not a big deal.

This is completely different from the criticism leveled at US congressmen by their political opponents when they were removed from office. After all, conduct is not a matter of concentrated sexual misconduct on a single day, month, or year. So it's ridiculous to specifically bring it up. If they keep shouting about cracking down on conduct, yet claim that a fallen congressman had sexual relations with so many people over such a long period, were the officials and censors around the fallen congressman blind during that time?

Are you just teasing those maids and servants?
Whether from the perspective of Han Dynasty customs or from Cao Cao's personal judgment, focusing the attack on Fei Qian would not have made much sense.

"Zilian," Cao Cao's voice rang out clearly in the silent hall, "anger has different levels. The anger of a common man may only result in bloodshed within five steps; the anger of a general can throw an entire army into chaos. But to disrupt Fei Ziyuan's mind, one must strike at its root..." The words were not the source of the anger, but the underlying principles and systems he upheld.

Cao Cao believed that only by attacking the new policies and systems brought about by Fei Qian could the root of the problem be solved.

"They boast of their 'new system,' abolishing the imperial examination system to break down social hierarchies, equalizing land distribution to suppress powerful clans, emphasizing practical matters while devaluing idle talk, and promoting the poor while alienating the learned. This is the foundation upon which they unite the people of Guanzhong, Hedong, Longxi, and even Jingzhou and Yizhou, and also the weapon they use to oppose our Han Dynasty system, the ancient rites of the Spring and Autumn period, and the laws of Emperor Guangwu. Therefore... to provoke their anger and make them act erratically, we must start from this point, shake their system, tarnish their principles, so that their subordinates harbor doubts, and tarnish their self-proclaimed 'righteousness'!"

Cao Hong seemed to understand but not quite: "What does the Prime Minister mean?"

"They may use the emperor's name," Cao Cao said succinctly. "Though a dragon may be trapped in shallow waters, its name still shines like the sun and moon; though an imperial edict may fall into the mud, its words still carry the force of wind and thunder. They may delay accepting it for expediency, but how can they abandon the laws of the Han dynasty with accusations of usurpation? This is a time when the remnants of the old order are dazzling, and also a time when the new order is being tempered like a frosty blade."

Cao Cao quickly devised the core of his strategy: "Send an envoy with the Emperor's edict directly to the General of the Cavalry. The edict should not concern themselves with specific matters of war or peace… They will surely refuse. Instead, we can focus on rebuking them for the flaws in their 'moral system'! We can accuse them of disrespecting Confucian classics, neglecting learned scholars, and corrupting the intellectual community! We can accuse them of disrespecting the Emperor, overstepping the bounds of propriety, and acting like tyrants! We can accuse them of arbitrarily altering ancestral rules, disrupting social order, and undermining the foundation of the state! We can accuse them of exhausting their resources with war, harming the people, and acting not to quell the rebellion, but as a notorious bandit!"

"An envoy?" Cao Hong asked. "Who is capable of undertaking this great task?"

"Xi Hongyu." Cao Cao, clearly having already made up his mind, immediately said, "This is Zheng Beihai's 'disciple'..." Mentioning Zheng Xuan, Cao Cao's eyes grew even colder.

Zheng Xuan was a leading scholar of Confucian classics in his time. He died of old age and illness while living in Guanzhong, which was a natural occurrence.

However, his disciple Xi Lu, having failed to obtain a prominent official position under the command of General Fei, harbored resentment. After fleeing back to Shandong in his early years, he often used the pretext that "General Fei treated the great Confucian scholar poorly, causing him to die in depression, and also instructed the physicians of the Hundred Medical Hall to secretly harm him" to slander Fei Qian among the scholars of Shandong. Although his accusations were mostly far-fetched, they were quite effective in inciting some scholars who admired Confucianism and were dissatisfied with General Fei's new system.

Cao Cao slowly said, "He is a disciple of Zheng Gong, and has a long-standing reputation for integrity. He also harbors resentment. It would be most suitable for him to carry out this edict, denouncing Fei Qian for disrespecting Confucian scholars and destroying education. Moreover, his eloquence and ability to project a passionate demeanor are perfect for this task."

……

……

Cao Cao's order was quickly delivered to Xi Lu.

When Xi Lu heard that he was to be appointed as an angel and go to the menacing ranks of the Flying Cavalry to read out a decree that practically denounced Fei Qian as a "traitor," all the color drained from his face, turning him deathly pale, and his legs trembled slightly.

This is hardly a heavy responsibility.

This is clearly suicide!

Everyone knows that the General of the Cavalry is at the height of his power; how could Fei Qian be the kind of person to tolerate such insults?
Although it is said that envoys should not be killed in battle, that is just a saying; countless envoys have actually been killed!
If I were to go there with such an edict, it would be tantamount to spitting insults on my master to his face. Given the temperament of Fei Qian and his arrogant and fierce soldiers, I would probably not even be able to leave with a whole corpse!
"This humble official...this humble official is of limited talent and learning, and I fear...I fear I will fail in my mission..."

Xi Lu's voice was hoarse as he tried to decline.

Xiahou Jie, the executor of Cao Cao's order, looked at Xi Lu with disdain, his tone brooking no argument: "Imperial Censor Xi is a distinguished student of Zheng Gong, renowned among scholars, perfectly suited for this position. The Emperor's edict is here; does Imperial Censor Xi intend to disobey it?"

Xi Lu broke out in a cold sweat, knowing he couldn't disobey this order. After he withdrew, he pondered deeply. Driven by the will to survive, he clung to his last glimmer of hope and rushed to the emperor's temporary lodging. Tears streaming down his face, he pleaded in a mournful voice: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, have mercy! That General of the Cavalry is a tiger and a wolf, unruly and untamed! Now the Prime Minister has ordered me to carry this edict to rebuke him, which is tantamount to feeding meat to a tiger, or throwing an egg against a rock! I am willing to die, but I fear it will tarnish the dignity of the emperor's envoy and make me a laughingstock! I beg Your Majesty... I beg Your Majesty to have the Prime Minister rescind his order, or... or to choose another brave and valiant man who can take on this task..."

Xi Lu practically admitted outright that he was timid and incompetent...

Xi Lu cried with deep emotion, banging his head against the ground repeatedly, leaving a bruise on his forehead.

Liu Xie, however, seemed not to be listening at all.

The residence temporarily converted into an imperial palace at Sishui Pass was empty and cold.

The brazier in the corner could only barely dispel some of the chill, but it could not dispel the cold and loneliness that permeated the courtyard.

Liu Xie, the nominal emperor of the Han Dynasty who was still the ruler of the world, sat alone on his not-so-comfortable throne. The heavy ceremonial robe with twelve imperial symbols weighed down on his thin shoulders, and the crown with twelve white jade beads was so heavy that it seemed to bend his not-yet-fully-straightened spine.

The weight of the imperial crown exceeds a thousand jun (a unit of weight).

This weight does not come from the physical mass of gold, jade, pearls, and jewels, but from the glorious legal system accumulated over four hundred years of the Han dynasty, from the solemnity of "receiving the mandate of heaven," and from the majesty and responsibility that the emperor should possess, as described in countless classic texts.

He was the emperor, the successor of Liu Bang and Liu Xiu, and the only legal owner of this shattered land in theory.

This symbolic burden has long been ingrained in his blood, becoming an inseparable part of his understanding.

Even though most of the time he was just the custodian of the imperial seal, the reader of the imperial edict, or even a flag that was being moved under someone else's control, as long as he wore this imperial robe and wore this imperial crown, he could feel that ethereal yet real 'weight' that connected him to the glorious Han Dynasty.

This weight caused him pain, but also strangely sustained him, preventing him from completely collapsing amidst repeated displacement, fear, and turmoil.

However, in contrast to the 'weight of the imperial crown', he also felt the 'lightness of a puppet' at all times.

This lightness is the lightness of will, the insignificance of intention.

From Dong Zhuo to Li Jue and Guo Si, and then to Cao Cao, he was like a precious sacrificial vessel, fought over and worshipped by various forces, but he was merely worshipped.

The ritual implements are silent and offer no choice; they are simply placed in the appropriate location when needed to demonstrate the legitimacy of the holder.

He was the emperor, but he had nothing but that title.

He didn't even know how many troops were in Gong County, nor did he know what kind of bloody battle Xun Yu was experiencing at Songshan.

What he heard were carefully selected reports of "good news" or "difficulties".

What he saw was the respectful yet distant demeanor of his subjects.

The edict that Xi Lu trembled as he carried it out contained every word he desired, every accusation he made that he did not want, but he had to affix his seal and acquiesce.

His indifference lies in the fact that Liu Xie, as an "individual," is as insignificant as dust in this cruel game where the world is at stake, and no one truly cares about him.

He seemed transparent, or like a soulless shell beneath a heavy imperial crown.

This agonizing tension between heaviness and lightness caused Liu Xie immense pain.

As an individual, he has the instinct to survive and the desire for peace.

He was not entirely ignorant. During his wanderings, he witnessed the horrific scene of people exchanging children to eat, heard the cries of the common people about the heavy corvée labor, and knew how the imperial decrees were distorted by powerful clans and used as tools for exploitation.

Occasionally, from scattered news, he also learned that under the rule of General Tsui, the people of Guanzhong were able to have enough to eat and wear, the refugees were settled, and a new method of selecting officials and evaluating officials, which was completely different from the current one, was being implemented.

Reason told him that it might be a "better" possibility, at least for the creatures of that land.

As a human being, he might feel a complex sense of comfort from this.

Because he was the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, he was the "representative" of the people of the Han Dynasty. Only when the people of the Han Dynasty lived well could it be proven that he, the "man of destiny," was virtuous...

But the next moment, as the emperor, as the supreme symbol of the old system, that "better" felt like a thorn in his back, piercing his heart.

Because the establishment of what the General of the Cavalry called "better" almost inevitably meant that everything he represented...

This includes, but is not limited to, the imperial crown, the imperial robes, the entire set of classics, all the rituals and laws, and the old order solidified in social class, all of which will be completely negated or even destroyed!
If Fei Qian did "better" when there was "no" emperor, would Fei Qian still need a "chosen one" above the new system?

Fei Qian didn't need it. His new policies were based on pragmatic laws, effective administration, and a reduction of old aristocratic privileges. In that new system, there was no throne for the emperor to rule by doing nothing.

Accepting that "better" outcome means acknowledging that he, as the emperor, is now merely a historical relic, a symbol that needs to be properly disposed of or even erased. It also means that Liu Xie, personally, will completely lose this last remaining symbolic weight, becoming nothing more than real, worthless dust.

This is the deepest paradox and tragedy of those who benefit from the status quo, even though this benefit is so illusory and so full of suffering. Liu Xie knew all too well that the system was riddled with problems, rife with injustice, and unsustainable, yet he remained the jewel at the very top of its crown…

Even though it has faded.

Overthrowing this system and creating something "better" is a blessing for countless people, but not for him.

He could not, like those destitute vagrants, unburdened by any change that could bring food; he could not, like the oppressed scholars from humble backgrounds, eagerly embrace the ladder that breaks down social barriers.

His identity and his weight bound him tightly to the top of the mast of this sinking old ship.

"Your Majesty..." Xi Lu cried, tears streaming down his face, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty? Ah?"

Liu Xie just watched silently, as if he were a clay sculpture.