Diqin Designer

Chapter 309: Prime Minister Zhuge is about to appear
"Wang Yun and Lü Bu were both from Bingzhou, and Wang Yun treated Lü Bu well, which led to Lü Bu running to visit Wang Yun after being pelted with a halberd by Dong Zhuo."

"Lü Bu informed Wang Yun that Dong Zhuo had almost killed him. Seeing that Lü Bu had already resented Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun took the opportunity to tell Lü Bu his plan to kill Dong Zhuo and entrusted Lü Bu to be the insider."

"Lü Bu was persuaded by Wang Yun and decided to help Wang Yun kill Dong Zhuo."

Meng Tian said: "Dong Zhuo is harsh in ruling his people, and only uses tyranny and cruelty to intimidate people. He deserves death!"

Dong Zhuo’s death was not unexpected at all. Even if Wang Yun had not instigated Lu Bu to rebel, he would have died at the hands of others around him sooner or later.

"In April of the third year of Chuping, when Dong Zhuo was on his way to the Weiyang Palace to meet the emperor and all the officials, he was ambushed and killed by Lü Bu and Li Su. Dong Zhuo, who had been wreaking havoc on the Eastern Han Dynasty for more than two years, died at this point, and his three clans were also exterminated by Wang Yun."

"Dong Zhuo's time of wreaking havoc on the Eastern Han Dynasty was not long, but the impact he caused was significant. He caused the Eastern Han court to lose its prestige, exacerbated the chaos in the world, and made the wars among the princes more intense."

The First Emperor asked, "How does the novel describe Dong Zhuo's death?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "In the novel, Wang Yun has an adopted daughter, Diao Chan, who is extremely beautiful. Wang Yun asks Diao Chan to help him sow discord between Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu for the sake of justice."

"Wang Yun's method was to let Lu Bu see Diao Chan first, so that Diao Chan and Lu Bu would fall in love with each other, and then promise Diao Chan to Lu Bu."

After hearing this, the First Emperor had already understood Wang Yun's entire plan.

This strategy was actually very simple, but it took advantage of the weaknesses of Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo - lust!
Without Li Nian's explanation, the First Emperor said, "Then let Dong Zhuo see Diao Chan. With his lustful and overbearing nature, he will definitely take Diao Chan away. Then, Wang Yun will tell Lu Bu that it was Dong Zhuo who took Diao Chan away by force, and Lu Bu will definitely resent Dong Zhuo."

"If Diao Chan tells Lu Bu that she has no choice and was forced by Dong Zhuo, she will always be thinking about Lu Bu in her heart, and Lu Bu will be even more resentful of Dong Zhuo!"

Li Nian said, "That's right! After Dong Zhuo died, the soldiers all shouted "Long live the emperor", the people sang and danced on the streets, the men and women in Chang'an sold their pearls, jade, clothes and wine and meat to celebrate, filling the streets. Dong Zhuo's mother, wife, both men and women were exterminated, and Dong Zhuo's mother was over 90 years old, but she was still beheaded."

"Dong Zhuo's body was exposed in the market. It was very hot and Dong Zhuo was very fat, so fat oozed out of his body. The officials guarding Dong Zhuo's body lit a fire in his navel, which shone until dawn. This continued for days. After the fat on the body burned out, Yuan's disciples came and crushed Dong Zhuo's bones and scattered his ashes."

Almost everything on Dong Zhuo's body was used up, and the entire person was physically wiped out from the world.

"As the number one hero in the suppression of Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun began to become arrogant and looked down on others. For example, the great scholar Cai Yong, who had worked under Dong Zhuo, sighed for Dong Zhuo's death when he heard that Dong Zhuo had been killed. Wang Yun then accused him of being an accomplice of Dong Zhuo and took him to the court for questioning, causing Cai Yong to die in prison."

"This matter is nothing. The key is that Wang Yun did not handle Dong Zhuo's former subordinates well. Wang Yun is a typical scholar. He is not down-to-earth with the people and soldiers. He thinks they are just peasants. If he wants, he will definitely let them do whatever he wants."

The First Emperor thought about the word "out of touch with reality" and felt that it was quite apt. He thought that he was standing high enough and could not see the situation below.

Many people throughout history have been like this, and the one in history that Li Nian knew was the same.

If you are down-to-earth, how can you not see that people's demands have changed after the unification of the world?

Now that the world is unified, corvée and taxes should be less severe, right? Good days are coming, right?

People were tired of the war of unification and no longer wanted harsh laws. Instead, they believed that they should have a good life after the war, especially the old Qin people.

"Although Dong Zhuo is dead, the Liangzhou Army under his command is still there. The Liangzhou Army is extremely powerful. If it is not handled properly, it will be a great threat to Wang Yun himself and the Eastern Han court."

"The best way to deal with the Liangzhou army is to appease them first so that they will not change, and then slowly eliminate their threats."

"However, Wang Yun attempted to deprive the Liangzhou army commanders of their military power, abolish the Liangzhou army, and planned to use the Guandong troops to control them."

Meng Tian shook his head and continued, "He was smart when he was plotting against Dong Zhuo, but he turned out to be so unwise after his success. Wang Yun's actions will surely make the Liangzhou army wary and worry that Wang Yun is going to murder them. If the Liangzhou army generals are not stupid, they will definitely think of striking first!"

Li Nian said: "As General Meng said, Wang Yun's actions caused panic among the Liangzhou soldiers. They were afraid that Wang Yun would take their lives. At the suggestion of Jia Xu from Wuwei, the Liangzhou generals Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji and others broke through Chang'an and killed Wang Yun."

"This Wuwei native Jia Xu was a top strategist. Later generations called him a 'poisonous scholar'. The strategies he offered were extremely destructive."

"When the soldiers of Liang Province were panicking and planning to flee, it was Jia Xu who stopped them and told them to attack Chang'an."

"Jia Xu was very good at making plans. Even Emperor Cao Cao of Wei suffered a great loss at his hands. Later generations joked about this incident: One shot killed three wise men!"

Meng Tian was puzzled: "What is 'one shot', and who is called 'three sages'?"

Could it be that Jia Xu also invented a cannon and killed three talented people on Cao Cao's side with one shot?
Seeing what Meng Tian was thinking, Li Nian smiled and said, "This is not the same as that. Emperor Cao Cao of Wei was also a lustful man, but he was special in that he particularly liked married women."

The First Emperor and his two companions were stunned. What do you mean by liking married women? Isn't this just liking married women?
Emperor Wu of Wei actually has such a hobby?

But that’s nothing. The Qin Dynasty was a relatively tolerant era towards women. The feudal etiquette was not so strict, and it was not uncommon for women to divorce and remarry.

The mother of the First Emperor was passed on to Ying Yiren by Lu Buwei. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and even learned the excellent qualities in this regard.

"So Cao Cao was also called 'Human Wife Cao'. At that time, Zhang Ji had died, and his troops were led by his nephew Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu wanted to surrender to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao saw Zhang Ji's wife, Zhang Xiu's aunt, and saw that she was very pretty, so he forced Zhang Ji's wife to sleep with him."

"Zhang Xiu knew about this and was furious. He rebelled!"

"Thus the Wancheng Incident broke out. Under Jia Xu's plan, Zhang Xiu caught Cao Cao off guard. In order to allow Cao Cao to escape alive, his general Dian Wei, his son Cao Ang, and his nephew Cao Anmin all died in the incident."

It turns out that this is the case of "one shot harming three sages", and this "shot" is very improper!
The three men of the First Emperor had strange expressions on their faces. Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, killed his own son, nephew, and generals just to sleep with one man's wife. He was also a talented person!

Li Nian added to Boss Cao: "Dian Wei is Cao Cao's most loyal guard, and Cao Ang is Cao Cao's eldest son whom he values ​​very much."

After telling this little anecdote, Li Nian continued, "When the turmoil broke out in Chang'an, other places in the Eastern Han Dynasty were also not at peace. The era of warlord separatism and the chaos of princes had arrived, and many princes were desperately trying to expand their territory and train soldiers."

"Cao Cao occupied Yanzhou, Yuan Shao occupied Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Bingzhou, Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang, Sun Jian died while attacking Liu Biao, Gongsun Zan occupied Youzhou, Liu Biao occupied Jingzhou, and Liu Yan occupied Yizhou..."

In other words, the world went from being unified to being divided again, but among these people, Li Nian did not mention Liu Bei.

Remembering that Liu Bei was the founder of Shu Han, the First Emperor asked, "Where is Liu Bei?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "At this time, Liu Bei was still under the command of Gongsun Zan. Uncle Liu was a late bloomer. It was only after he met that he took advantage of the situation and divided the world into three parts with Cao Wei and Sun Wu."

The one referring to must be the person who made the entire surname considered wise through his own achievements.

We can also see how powerful that person is from what Li Nian said. Before meeting that person, Liu Bei was not able to achieve much. It was only after meeting that person that he was able to take advantage of the situation and divide the world into three parts.

The First Emperor asked, "Why do you call Liu Bei 'Uncle Liu'?"

Li Nian said: "This is related to Liu Bei's origin. Liu Bei is not a descendant of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, but a descendant of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan in the Western Han Dynasty."

"This Liu Sheng was the son of Emperor Jing of Han and the half-brother of Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was a descendant of Liu Fa, the Prince of Changsha, the son of Emperor Jing of Han. Liu Bei and the royal family of the Eastern Han Dynasty had the same ancestor before Emperor Jing of Han and before that."

"It is said that King Jing of Zhongshan is fond of wine and women, and has more than a hundred descendants."

My goodness, from Emperor Jing of Han to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, hundreds of years have passed. Can Liu Bei still be considered a royal family member and have royal family status? Moreover, King Jing of Zhongshan has so many descendants. Who knows whether you, Liu Bei, are real or fake?

Liu Bei was quite shameless and insisted that he and the royal family of the Eastern Han Dynasty had the same ancestor.

This made the First Emperor think of the benefits of having many sons and grandsons. After so many years and generations, Liu Ji still had descendants who worked hard to support the Han Dynasty.

Let’s look at his Qin Dynasty. After its fall, no one came out to support the restoration of Qin.

This was not only because there were too few royal family members in the Qin Dynasty, but also because the Qin Dynasty might, perhaps, or probably was really unpopular.

The First Emperor was right in thinking this. Even in the Qing Dynasty, there were old people and young people left behind, but in the Qin Dynasty, there were no old people and young people left behind.

Meng Tian asked this question, and Li Nian smiled and said, "Anyway, Liu Bei has always claimed that he is a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan. He is called the emperor's uncle because according to the family tree, Liu Bei and Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, are of the same generation. The young emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty established by Dong Zhuo should be called the emperor's uncle."

"Liu Bei's identity as the 'imperial uncle' was officially certified by Emperor Xian of Han!"

"Because Cao Cao was very powerful at that time, he used the emperor to control the princes. Emperor Xian of Han wanted to fight against Cao Cao. Liu Bei happened to be in Xuchang at that time, so Emperor Xian of Han wanted to borrow Liu Bei's power."

When the First Emperor heard the words "using the emperor to command the princes", he raised his eyebrows.

Isn’t this the strategy that Zhang Yi proposed to King Huiwen of Qin? But King Huiwen did not adopt it at that time. He did not expect that Cao Cao, the Emperor Wu of Wei in later generations, would adopt this method.

He immediately realized the benefits of this operation. If he could hold the emperor in his hands, his political status would be higher than other princes, he could occupy the high ground of public opinion and the initiative, and win the hearts of the people through the emperor. There were many benefits.

The downside is that the emperor may not be content to be a puppet and may come into conflict with those who "hold the emperor hostage", just like the Emperor Xian of Han that Li Nian mentioned, who wanted to fight against Cao Cao.

"However, Emperor Xian of Han's plan failed. Cao Cao kept a close watch on him. How could he have hidden his actions from Cao Cao? Cao Cao was known as 'a capable minister in a peaceful era, but a treacherous hero in a chaotic era.'"

"Of course, I don't like Cao Cao!"

After Li Nian said "I don't like Cao Cao", the First Emperor became interested and asked, "Why don't you like Cao Cao?"

Li Nian said frankly: "Because he massacred people in the city, Cao Cao once launched a massacre in Xuzhou in the name of revenge for his father Cao Song's death in Xuzhou, and Cao Cao also had another record of massacring a city."

Cao Song was killed by people sent by Tao Qian, and Cao Cao took revenge on Tao Qian. What does this have to do with the people of Xuzhou?

Many people think that Cao Cao is a villain and Liu Bei is a hypocrite, and therefore they like Cao Cao more. That's because they hadn't encountered the story of Cao Tucheng, just like they hadn't been forced by the First Emperor to build the Great Wall or Guangshen to build the canal.

The First Emperor nodded, knowing that this boy was more on the side of the people, and asked again: "Who made the comment about Cao Cao?"

Li Nian said: "A famous scholar named 'Xu Shao'. This was also a trend at the time. A famous scholar would comment on you and give you a comment. Then, this comment would be spread throughout the world. This would quickly help you gain fame and make the world know about it. This was essentially a trick used by the aristocratic families!"

"Those who are being evaluated are all from noble families. How can ordinary people and soldiers get such evaluation?"

"People like Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others all have such comments, and even that person is also known as 'Wolong'."

Hearing this, the First Emperor was a little disappointed.

He originally thought that the man was a talented person from the common people, and that he would use his talent to help the world and save the country. He did not expect that he was also from an aristocratic family. But after thinking about it, he knew that it was impossible for him to be born among ordinary people.

It is already difficult for ordinary people to survive. How many people can afford to read and learn to read?

The First Emperor did not ask any more questions. Li Nian continued, "The world is full of disputes and wars. Only those with great talents and strategies can win here. Those without strategies and talents will naturally be eliminated."

"Gongsun Zan, Lu Bu, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and others all died one by one!"

Li Nian briefly told the three emperors about the affairs of these princes. The shooting of the halberd at the gate made the three emperors admire Lu Bu's bravery. It was a pity that such a talented general eventually died at the White Gate Tower.

But Lu Bu's death was not unjust. His repeated actions made people admire his bravery, but also fear him and dared not use his talents anymore. After all, no one wanted Lu Bu to give themselves the buff of "adoptive father".

Of the two brothers, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao was good at making plans but lacked decision-making, while Yuan Shu was even more stupid. As the general situation was unclear and he did not have an absolute advantage, he could not wait to become emperor.

With the resources left by the Yuan family, the two brothers had great hopes of conquering the world, but they were ruined by both of them.

Li Nian also told the three of them some classic scenes from the novel, such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei discussing heroes over green plum wine, "The only heroes in the world today are you and Cao!"

"After the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao was doomed, and Cao Cao's unification of the north was basically a foregone conclusion. In September of the sixth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao marched south to attack Liu Bei and drove him to Liu Biao's side."

Meng Tian looked strange. "Liu Bei has escaped many times, right? He has defected to no fewer lords than Lu Bu. I remember that he participated in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. It has been nearly 20 years since the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the sixth year of Jian'an, right? Yet he still has accomplished nothing."

Although he didn't accomplish his mission, he was an excellent runner and was able to escape with his life no matter what danger he was in.

This is also an incredible skill.

Li Nian nodded and smiled, "I have escaped many times, but 'where there is a will, there is a way'. Although Liu Bei did not succeed, he is still alive. There will always be a chance, and this chance is coming."

"If Cao Cao could choose again, he would probably not choose to let Liu Bei escape to Jingzhou."

"Because it was here that Liu Bei met the most important person in his life, the first minister of Shu Han and the most famous prime minister of all time, Prime Minister Zhuge!"

"He is also the minister that many emperors of later generations dream of, a role model that ministers of all generations yearn for, one of the representative figures of Chinese culture, a Chinese ancestor admired by later generations, a representative of wisdom, an outstanding politician, military strategist, inventor, and writer!"

"It is precisely because of Prime Minister Zhuge that when people in later generations hear someone's last name 'Zhuge', their first reaction is that this person must be very smart and cannot be a fool!"

When Li Nian finally talked about that person, the First Emperor and the other two perked up, wanting to listen carefully to what kind of talent this person had and how he could have such a great influence.

Li Nian said: "Liu Bei also felt that he had been running around for many years but achieved nothing. He was driven to Jingzhou by Cao Cao and wasted several more years."

"Conscious that he was getting old and had not yet accomplished anything, Liu Bei said, 'I have always been in the saddle, and the flesh in my thighs has all been wasted. Now that I no longer ride, the flesh in my thighs has grown. Time passes quickly, and I am getting old, but I have not accomplished anything. That is why I am sad.'"

In this regard, Emperor Liu is not as good as his ancestor Liu Bang. Liu Bang would never be so emo. Instead, he would happily watch dogs fighting at the village entrance.

"But his time had come. There was a famous scholar in Jingzhou called 'Wolong' who worked as a farmer in Nanyang. He had never been known to the other princes, but Xu Shu told Liu Bei about him."

"Xu Shu is also a talented person. He is a friend of Prime Minister Zhuge. Before Prime Minister Zhuge came out of retirement, he assisted Liu Bei and made many contributions. Unfortunately, his mother was captured by Cao Cao's army, so he had to leave Liu Bei and go to Cao's camp."

There is no chronological order of these two events. It was only after Xu Shu informed Liu Bei about Prime Minister Zhuge Liang that his mother was captured by Cao Cao's army and he had no choice but to go to Cao's camp.

(End of this chapter)