A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Among them, the Legalists were the most popular.

There's no other reason than that they were the victors in the past struggles between the feudal lords.

The victor is king, the loser is an outlaw; this is an unchanging truth since ancient times.

Chinese history has never been about the process. No matter how brilliant your skills, how perfect your strategies, or how strong your strength are during the process, if you lose in the end, all of these are useless.

Only the ultimate victor has the right to casually say, "I don't love money, I have a small goal, I don't know how beautiful my wife is, I have nothing, I come from an ordinary family."

The Legalists were the victors in the Warring States period, so they were highly regarded. Many feudal lords invited Legalist scholars to serve in their courts, offering them numerous official positions, gold, silver, and power.

These Legalist scholars especially admired the Chang'an court, which now possessed the power of the Western Qin dynasty and could completely replicate the Qin dynasty's path to unifying the world.

Dong Zhuo was called a tyrant, and the Qin Dynasty was called a tyrannical Qin Dynasty. How similar are they?

It's time for Legalism to become great again; who can resist the temptation of progress?!

……

In the sixth year of Emperor Xian of Han, the gentry who had been slaughtered, after months of preparation, rallied the warlords in Guandong and once again launched a coalition against Dong Zhuo.

Even Cao Cao was forced to join them. When Cao Cao arrived at the camp of the allied forces of the warlords, his face was grim. Even though he had issued an edict to seek out talented people early on, he had always been trying to curb the infiltration of powerful families into his forces. He had always felt that he was very vigilant against the infiltration of powerful families. Even though there were many powerful families under his command, most of them were still loyal to him.

But this time he was proven wrong, as 70% of his officials petitioned him to join the coalition.

Many of them were his clan officials, which sent a chill down Cao Cao's spine and made him break out in a cold sweat.

According to his estimate, it should only be 30%.

With the addition of the many scholars he recently recruited, he could easily replace those 30% with newcomers.

But seventy percent wouldn't be enough. He controlled three provinces, and if seventy percent of his ministers were removed at once, his power would collapse due to a lack of officials to function properly.

Not to mention that many of them were from the Cao and Xiahou families. Even Cao Ren had a concubine who bore him a son, and he came from a prominent family.

Unable to accept the serious consequences of refusal, he was forced to join the coalition forces.

However, he had already placed the threat of aristocratic families at the highest level in his mind. Cao Cao was willing to slow down his pace of unifying the world, but he wanted to eliminate these aristocratic family members as much as possible, step by step.

His power could only have one voice, and that was Cao Cao's!

"Mengde, it's been a long time."

Yuan Shao looked at the little black man in front of him with a complicated expression. Last time, he was the undisputed leader of the allied forces of the warlords.

In this coalition of warlords, he could only serve as the vice-leader, as Cao Cao had already been chosen as the leader because he was the strongest and had the most powerful generals.

"snort!"

Cao Cao did not give Yuan Shao a friendly look. Cao Ren's concubine was a concubine of the Yuan family. When Cao Ren came to him, Cao Cao felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a dead fly. How could he possibly give Yuan Shao a friendly look?

Yuan Shao knew the reason behind Cao Cao's actions and gave a bitter laugh to himself.

He didn't want to get involved in this mess, but he came from the Yuan family and had too much of a family background on him.

There's simply no way to refuse.

Cao Cao still had 30% of his forces being pure, while Cao Cao's forces didn't even have 10%.

To be precise, almost none.

Even his trusted generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou were arranged by him to marry illegitimate daughters of the Yuan family.

His advisors, including Xu You, Xun Kan, Guo Tu, and Shen Pei, all came from prominent families.

Now that the powerful families have united their will to kill Dong Zhuo, he has no chance to resist.

"This is not what I wanted, and I don't want to get involved in this mess."

Yuan Shao said bitterly.

"Mengde, how many of your troops are still under your command?"

"There's still 90% left."

Cao Cao said defiantly.

Yuan Shao gave a cold laugh. "I'm afraid there aren't that many. Even if your situation is better than mine, it's not much better."

"Although you have issued a decree seeking talented individuals, those who can afford to study are not truly from humble backgrounds; at the very least, they are from poor families."

"This time I have completely offended all the powerful families in the world. Humble families are also part of the powerful families, just declining ones, but they may rise again."

"They share common class interests. I don't believe you have so many men who will obey your orders."

Cao Cao still refused to tell the truth, saying, "Indeed, with a wave of my hand, as many as 50% of the troops have been infiltrated by powerful clans."

"Mengde, I have come with sincerity this time. I have only half a man left under my command, yet I can still command them. This is terrifying."

"I'm here to seek your cooperation. We are both leaders of our own power, so you should understand what I mean."

Yuan Shao took a deep breath, feeling somewhat angry at Cao Cao's lack of honesty, but now he had to form an alliance with Cao Cao. This time, the alliance of the powerful families of the land also frightened him.

A force whose subordinates are all worthless—is that even worth keeping?!

No wonder the previous emperors kept supporting their relatives and eunuchs and ruthlessly suppressed powerful families. Those powerful families were terrifying!

Which power leader could tolerate this?!

"Thirty percent. I only have thirty percent of the forces I can command left."

Cao Cao's face was ashen, and his eyes revealed a ferocious look.

But Yuan Shao scoffed dismissively, "Mengde, we've known each other since childhood. Do you think I don't know you?"

"In my opinion, you can only directly command about 10% of your subordinates."

After hearing Yuan Shao's words, Cao Cao's expression became calm, with a slight hint of surprise.

How did you know?

"Given your character, Mengde, you would never have shown that expression in front of me, so I'm certain you were faking it, and your words were obviously false."

"Based on the strength of my command, a little speculation will lead to this result."

Yuan Shao smiled smugly. He knew that Cao Cao, that black-faced and ruthless fellow, never spoke a word of truth.

But was the "Edict to Seek Talents" really that effective? Despite being targeted by powerful clans, Cao Cao still managed to maintain a ten percent control over his subordinates!

How long has it been?

If Cao Cao is given more time, could he really achieve a 30% success rate?

Yuan Shao would never underestimate his childhood friend's abilities.

"What are you planning to do?"

Cao Cao asked.

"Those guys don't understand military affairs. You will be the leader of the alliance, and I will be the deputy leader."

"There is naturally a lot of room for maneuver. It's perfectly normal for one or two people to die on the battlefield."

Yuan Shao said quietly.

Cao Cao nodded; he also planned to take this opportunity to thoroughly eliminate a group of people.

The powerful families are pressuring him so much, so it's perfectly normal for him to retaliate in a small way.

I believe the powerful families can understand; compared to Dong Zhuo, he was incredibly gentle.

Without comparison, there will be no difference.