Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3916 Seeing Profit, Thinking of Righteousness; Seeing Danger, Taking on a Mission
"This task... is fraught with peril and treacherous dangers, beyond the capabilities of... my worthy brother."

Cao Cao spoke slowly, as if pronouncing a verdict, or as if offering a release.

"Elder brother, you..."

Cao Ren suddenly had a bad feeling.

Cao Cao slowly rose, took two steps forward, and when he reached the vicinity of the hall entrance, he looked outside. "You are a brave general; how could the General of Chariots and Cavalry not be wary? And how could they allow you to get close?"

The dim light in the hall happened to illuminate half of Cao Cao's body, making the expression on his face look very strange, as if it were distorted, bitter, gratified, and even joyful.

This incredibly complex smile, contrasting with Cao Cao's sunken eye sockets and pale face, presented an eerie and chilling quality...

"Since you dare not go, and I cannot go..." Cao Cao's voice suddenly rose, each word deliberate and forceful, like a hammer blow, "Then only... I... will... go myself!"

"Elder brother?!" Cao Ren exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this!

Cao Cao raised one hand and made an extremely powerful gesture, instantly cutting off all the advice that Cao Ren was about to utter.

After Cao Cao uttered those words, the complex emotions and chaotic expression on his face faded away, and like a tempered blade, it gradually condensed into a cold light that was so fierce that no one dared to look directly at it!
"What General Fei desires is not you, nor Shuo'er, nor any ordinary general or official..."

Cao Cao's voice became exceptionally clear and calm, filled with ruthless calculation.

It's as if you've also used yourself as a bargaining chip, placing yourself on the scales of fate.

"What he seeks is nothing more than to be the leader of this group!"

"If someone else were to go, even if it were the Emperor himself, the weight would be insufficient, and the sincerity would be hard to believe! Only I… only I myself would leave the pass, lay down my armor and weapons, remove my hat and go barefoot, as a defeated commander, an old man at the end of his rope, bare-chested, leading a sheep, carrying jade and a coffin, to show my surrender… perhaps then there would be a sliver of hope that he would believe that I… am truly at my wit's end, my spirit broken, my soul utterly devastated, only begging to grovel before his horses for mercy, to exchange for a chance for my children and grandchildren to survive!"

Cao Cao raised his head slightly, squinted, paused briefly as if rehearsing the scene in his mind, and his tone grew increasingly cold, "At that time, our army can build a platform for surrender at the pass... To demonstrate our unparalleled achievements and display our kingly majesty, we will perform this ancient ritual of accepting surrender and subjugating enemy chieftains..."

"Perhaps..." Cao Cao took a long breath, "it might lower their guard and reduce their suspicions..."

Cao Cao meant to reduce or decrease, not to eliminate or completely exempt.

This plan was even more insane, and even more... than having Cao Ren feign surrender, or having Cao Shuo taken hostage.

Tragic.

Cao Ren understood perfectly and exclaimed, "Brother! This is still too risky!"

"Heh..." Cao Cao shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Dangerous? We've done even more dangerous things, haven't we? What's one more? Using ancient rites as an excuse, we can set up more ritual objects, more banners and sacrificial animals... The people of Guanzhong are mostly dull and barbaric, so these ancient rites... will ultimately give us more opportunities! First, present them with ordinary items and let them inspect them. When it's time to set up, we can secretly do something..."

Cao Cao was gambling again.

He wasn't just betting on whether Fei Qian, as the victor, would become arrogant...

It's a gamble on whether the gunpowder will detonate successfully and whether its power will be lethal enough...

They even had to gamble until the very last moment, wondering whether they could escape or go to hell together with their greatest and most hateful enemy...

Upon hearing Cao Cao's arrangements, Cao Ren was utterly shaken. He opened his mouth wide, but no sound came out; he could only stare intently at Cao Cao's face, a mixture of madness and composure.

This is a desperate last stand, a gamble with everything at stake!
This is the final flame that uses its own flesh and soul as fuel, attempting to perish together with its opponent!
A profound silence fell over the hall, shrouded in darkness.

It was as if the air had frozen and time had stood still.

Only the wick of that oil lamp would occasionally emit one or two extremely tiny sparks.

Cao Cao strained to hold his head high, so that the pride he had built up throughout his life wouldn't crumble...

"You...go and make the necessary preparations!"

Cao Cao waved his hand.

Cao Ren seemed to want to say something more, but Cao Cao stopped him with a gesture. In the end, he could only kowtow heavily before slowly retreating.

After all, if this plan is to be implemented, there are many things to prepare, and nothing can be overlooked!

With Cao Ren gone, Cao Cao's carefully constructed defenses crumbled.

Cao Cao slowly walked back to his seat, stretched out his hands, first supporting himself on the couch, and then slowly, as if step by step, sat down.

The glow of the oil lamp flickered around Cao Cao's deep-set eyes, casting swaying shadows that accentuated every deep line on his face as if carved by a knife and axe.

The hall was deathly silent, but to Cao Cao, it seemed as if countless voices were constantly screaming, arguing, and collapsing...

That was the feigned evasiveness of the envoys from the powerful families of Shandong...

It was the sound of whispers among the officials and nobles in the imperial court...

It was the rustling sound of local powerful figures busily preparing to change their allegiance...

It was the heavy, suppressed breathing of the Cao army soldiers guarding the gate as they gazed upon the mountain-like might of the Flying Cavalry...

It was also the sound of Cao Shuo's shrill, altered cries and kowtows just now...

Everything, all the voices, converged into waves that crashed against Cao Cao's will and shattered his pride.

This also seemed to be constantly shaking Cao Cao's beliefs.

He maintained his proud belief...

Of all the people under heaven, only Cao Cao truly understood the Han Dynasty!
He is the one who...

Fei Qian...

No!

Cao Cao couldn't help but give another wry smile.

But now, he himself has become a bargaining chip, thrown onto the gambling table by himself and by these parasites in Shandong and Central China!

Why has it become like this?
Once upon a time, he controlled Yan and Yu provinces, held the emperor hostage, and lashed out at the world. Heroes, strategists, fierce generals, fertile lands, and millions of people all became chips on his scales and pieces on his chessboard, at his disposal!
There is no doubt that Da Han is ill.

However, how to treat the illness becomes the crucial question.

Is it a potent medicine like the Western Liang medicine?
Is the death of one young emperor not enough?
"Heaven and earth have yin and yang..."

Cao Cao muttered to himself.

Heaven and earth, Qian and Kun, Yin and Yang.

Cao Cao believed that the universe was like an invisible palace, with Qian and Kun as its silent pillars and beams, and Yin and Yang as its ever-flowing foundation...

Half is light, half is shadow, half is brightness, half is darkness.

Not everything can be dark, nor can everything be light.

It's like the mountains and rivers, day and night.

Yin is like the silent night dew, while Yang is like the vibrant morning sun.

Yin is like a deep valley that contracts, while Yang is like a high mountain ridge.

The reason why the universe does not collapse and the heavens and earth do not tilt is precisely because of this subtle balance.

When Yin is dominant, all things hibernate; when Yang is excessive, heaven and earth scorch. Only when the most yielding Yin embraces the most rigid Yang, like the earth supporting the sky, like officials receiving the emperor, can the four seasons be in order, day and night alternate, and all people under heaven be able to rest and recuperate.

Therefore, the ailment of the Han Dynasty is "the loss of the proper place of Heaven and Earth, and the imbalance of Yin and Yang"!
The Han Dynasty only needs to mediate the universe and adjust yin and yang. How can it be like Dong Zhongying and Fei Ziyuan, who want to overturn the table, destroy the universe, and reverse yin and yang as soon as they come up?

Is this a rescue for the big man?

This is an attempt to kill the great man!
Cao Cao boasted that he was well-versed in the art of checks and balances. He had learned this from his time as the Commandant of the Northern Palace in Luoyang, through witnessing countless power struggles and bloody palace intrigues. It was the "secret formula" that kept his vast empire from collapsing.

A clear stream.

Maternal relatives.

eunuch.

A carrying pole, with different lengths at both ends. Only a stool with three legs can be sat on stably.

Lao Tzu said, "One begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things."

Cao Cao thought of his father, Cao Song, the adopted son of the Grand Chamberlain who had risen to the rank of Grand Commandant amidst the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, and who had survived the struggles between eunuchs and imperial relatives.

As for the matter of offering gifts to buy official positions, Cao Cao was also aware of the secret behind it.

It is true that the position of Grand Commandant was bought, but why did Emperor Ling of Han sell the positions of the Three Dukes at that time? The reasons are naturally multifaceted. There was Emperor Ling's own extravagance, there was also an element of spite, and there was also the factor that the court was already inoperable and mired in infighting, disregarding the well-being of the people.

Cao Cao's household was never short of guests from the eunuch faction. From a young age, he knew that among those who were scorned by the upright scholars as "turbid stream" and "eunuchs," there were also righteous men like Lü Qiang who were honest, loyal, and even willing to die to remonstrate.

Although Lü Qiang's outburst of abuse at Cao Jie caused Cao Cao some sense of betrayal, as if he felt betrayed and wondering if he could no longer play with his former comrades, it did not diminish Cao Cao's respect for people like Lü Qiang.

The Chinese are moral...

During the Spring and Autumn Period, after the Hundred Schools of Thought contended, the Chinese had already established what was good and what was bad, what was bright and what was dark...

Therefore, Cao Cao also saw clearly how those aristocratic families who recited Confucian classics and Mencius and touted their noble reputations were actually seizing land, hiding people, and undermining the authority of local governments, treating the laws and decrees of the imperial court as nothing...

Why did Emperor Ling condone and even support the "Ten Attendants"?
Is the emperor truly so incompetent?
Not necessarily!
That was perhaps the most instinctive, yet most helpless, counterattack that a lonely emperor sitting on the throne in Weiyang Palace could make against the deeply entrenched and uncontrollable powerful clans and gentry.

If the emperor's maternal relatives are unreliable and collude with the corrupt officials, then who can the emperor use?

Empress's relatives, eunuchs, and upright officials...

Cao Cao sneered.

They were nothing more than a group of lice tearing at each other and parasitizing each other on the body of the giant beast, the Han.

Cao Cao's ideal world was not one dominated by the purists, nor was it one where eunuchs ran rampant, nor one where the maternal relatives were powerful families. Rather, it was a world like a finely crafted Luban lock, where various forces checked and balanced each other in a dynamic confrontation.

The emperor is in charge of the overall situation, while the prime minister coordinates all parties.

One center, two points...

Only in this way can the imperial power maintain balance, the prime minister govern the court, government orders be effectively implemented, and the common people be able to find a moment of respite in this precarious situation.

It was with this understanding that Cao Cao tried to appoint people based on their talents, regardless of their character, to promote those from humble backgrounds and suppress powerful clans.

Cao Cao established the "Inspectorate" to specifically supervise all officials. While this may have been driven by his desire for centralized power, it was also a way to break the monopoly of the aristocratic class on the right to speak. Otherwise, it would have been like the Xu brothers, where people would simply decide who was good and who was bad.
Cao Cao's large-scale military-agricultural colonies and strong army were not only for the purpose of conquest, but also an attempt to bind the displaced people back to the land and restore the old system of registered households that had been torn apart by powerful clans.

Although he was following Fei Qian's approach, Cao Cao believed that it was better to leave the land in the hands of the "court" than to grant it to those commoners. He argued that many of those commoners were short-sighted, and some were even lazy, preferring to sell their land for a few days of leisure rather than work year after year.

Cao Cao also disliked the aristocratic sons of Shandong and the Central Plains who were always pedantic about classical studies, especially "great scholars" like Kong Rong who only knew how to stand on high and spout nonsense but never actually bent down to do anything. However, Cao Cao did not approve of Fei Qian's approach of using Qinglong Temple as a pretext for so-called orthodoxy, which was actually a subversion of the current classics.

Well, the modern classics are indeed complex and full of prophecies and apocryphal texts, but the ancient classics are so obscure and difficult to understand that they are not something that people today can comprehend. Although most of the prophecies and apocryphal texts are not true, they can inspire children's desire to read and study. How can they be completely discarded? Just like Cao Cao, he didn't consult countless books and documents just because of a single phrase, "Dangtu is high."
Cao Cao thought he had found a way to rebuild order from the ruins.

A less radical, less thorough, and therefore perhaps more viable path.

He wanted to cut down the thorns that were stealing nutrients and prune the decaying branches within the old framework, then introduce fresh water so that this dying old tree could sprout some new buds again.

Therefore, when Cao Cao and Xun Yu met and talked, they were like fish in water.

But why is Xun Yu now...?

Cao Cao sighed deeply.

Everything seemed to change from the moment Fei Qian swept through Hedong, a change that Cao Cao could not comprehend.

Fei Qian was like a blizzard sweeping in from the north, bringing a chilling cold that quickly changed the climate of the Guanzhong Plain in Hedong.

What Fei Qian did was not just pruning the branches; he practically wielded a giant axe, felled the entire forest, and then sowed seeds that no one could be sure of, seeds that were completely unfamiliar to him!
Enlighten the people?
Cao Cao felt a chill run down his spine when he thought of the reports from his scouts about the "schools" in the north, the newly compiled "primary books," and the "workshop apprentices."

Knowing too much can easily lead to delusional thoughts!

If there are too many delusions, how can the imperial court collect taxes?!
Not to mention Fei Qian's Xintian Zheng, which almost uprooted the very foundation upon which powerful families had relied for centuries!

If aristocratic families and powerful local clans could tolerate such behavior, what else could it be but chaos in the world?
Wang Mang…

These two words rolled silently between Cao Cao's lips, carrying the blood and mockery of history.

What was Wang Mang's reputation and power back then?
In the beginning, wasn't it a time when the whole country was united in support and all officials paid homage?
But what happened next?
He outwardly complied but inwardly defied orders, and in an instant, he was betrayed and abandoned by his people, died, his country was destroyed, and he became a laughing stock of the world!
The powerful clans and gentry should be eliminated and suppressed, but not in this way!

Since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, high-ranking officials, powerful families, and aristocratic clans...

No matter how the name changes, the true rulers of this land have never truly been eliminated.

The powerful Qin dynasty used a merit-based system of ranks to suppress this, and it perished after only two generations.

The Western Han Dynasty gradually divided the matter through the "Decree of Grace," but the matter was never resolved.

Emperor Guangwu attempted to restore the dynasty by implementing land surveys, but since the system itself relied on the power of local magnates, it was impossible to carry it out.

It's like Cao Cao himself fell ill, and he ended up drinking poison to kill himself. The illness was cured, but what was the point, and what future could he talk about?
Cao Cao, confident in his own abilities, only dared to proceed slowly and restrain himself.

What virtue or ability does Fei Qian possess that he would presume to solve this age-old ailment with his own strength?

In Cao Cao's deduction, Fei Qian's path led only to an abyss.

That seemingly vigorous new policy, once it leaves the Guanzhong and Hedong regions under the direct protection of his military power, and once it attempts to push it into the Shandong and Central Plains, where the power of the gentry is deeply rooted, will inevitably trigger a backlash even more violent than the Yellow Turban Rebellion!
At that time, the Han Dynasty will truly be finished!

The world will inevitably be thrown into chaos, the bloodshed of the Warring States period will return, and perhaps even...

Fei Qian is not saving the world, but using a seemingly beautiful fantasy to drag it into an abyss of darkness and chaos!
But the current situation is something Cao Cao can't understand.

Or rather, it seemed even more absurd.

When Cao Cao was defeated in Hedong, he felt that he had not lost.

Even when the Heluo region fell, Cao Cao felt he hadn't lost.

Even when Fei Qian began attacking Ji Province and encircling Jing Province, Cao Cao still believed he would not lose...

It wasn't that Cao Cao was stupid, but rather that he understood that all of Fei Qian's new measures and policies were completely opposed to the old order and system of the Han Dynasty in Shandong and the Central Plains!

The most difficult part is cutting inwards!
Cutting off someone's money is like killing their parents!
Moreover, Fei Qian is about to ruin the wealth of countless people and generations. How can this enmity be simply described as irreconcilable? It's more likely that only by grinding Fei Qian to dust can one's hatred be satisfied!

Therefore, Cao Cao always believed that even in his most desperate moments, there was still a belief that sustained him and prevented him from completely collapsing...

but now……

The Shandong gentry have betrayed us!
Although Cao Cao knew that these guys were mostly short-sighted and selfish, he never expected that these powerful clans would be so untrustworthy and unreasonable!

Don't they understand that if Cao Cao loses, their fate won't be any better?!

The officials were even more alienated!

The fickle nature of human relationships and the coldness of friendship once someone leaves office are indeed common practices in officialdom, but Cao Cao has not yet stepped down!
What's going on? Why are you all rushing to surround my teacup? Are you all trying to cool it down by blowing on it so hard that it's getting cold?!
What saddened and frustrated Cao Cao the most was the disgraceful behavior displayed by Cao Shuo...

Whether it was the powerful clans and gentry of Shandong and the corrupt and incompetent officials of the court, they were all outsiders.

Cao Shuo's cowardice and fear of death...

It was his son's incompetence that caused the bitter consequences of his failure to properly educate him.

These failures and betrayals were like salt rubbed into his bleeding wounds, bringing waves of sharp humiliation and pain.

It's so bitter, so painful!
Bitter as gall, it pierces the heart!
The "right" he was going to defend, the "Great Man" he was going to protect...

It seems that no one understands anymore, and no one is willing to walk with us.

So, when all the chips...

After land, troops, allies, and even family ties all failed, Cao Cao found that he only had one last bargaining chip left...

he himself.

The lamplight flickered suddenly, whether from a broken wick or burnt-out oil, before quickly dimming and shrouding Cao Cao in darkness, leaving only a faint, slow sigh...