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

Cao Cao had such strong control over the country that if Cao Cao really wanted to eliminate him and Cao Pi, he could only wait to die.

If the two of them didn't want to die, they could only hide and make Cao Cao think they posed no threat in order to survive.

As long as a person is alive, there is hope; as long as a person is alive, there is a future.

Sima Yi believed that with Cao Pi's intelligence and cunning, he would surely understand his true intentions.

Meanwhile, Cao Pi returned to his residence, his heart filled with despair.

On his way back, he had figured out Sima Yi's cunning intentions: to play it safe?!

"Someone go and invite Yang Xiu and Kong Rong here."

When Yang Xiu and Kong Rong arrived, Cao Pi had already regained his senses. He would never give up so easily. Since Cao Cao had already made his move, he would accept it.

To struggle against the heavens is an endless source of joy;

Fighting against the earth is endlessly enjoyable;

Fighting with my father is endlessly enjoyable.

"Gentlemen, my father has ordered me to be in charge of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Great Qian Empire. The Confucian school is extremely skilled in matters of etiquette and morality. One of you is a direct descendant of the Confucian family, and the other is a well-known rising star in the Confucian school. I would like to ask you two to assist me in handling this matter well."

Cao Pi was extremely polite, and he planned to take this opportunity to bring the Confucian school to his side.

The celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the empire will surely be a joyous occasion for the entire world and will definitely attract the attention of everyone.

If the two of them can successfully organize this celebration, they will surely leave a mark in history books and greatly promote the reputation of Confucianism. They will also become revered sages by Confucian disciples.

The two agreed to the task, with Cao Pi appointing Kong Rong as the principal and Yang Xiu and Mi Heng (recommended by Kong Rong) as assistants, to jointly oversee the matter.

Mi Heng was straightforward, and Yang Xiu was frank.

The two of them had five minor arguments a day and ten major arguments every three days, constantly quoting classical texts and cursing each other's ancestors.

However, both of them were undeniably talented, and after their constant arguments, they felt they had known each other for a long time.

Especially with this so-called anniversary of the founding of the nation, there is no precedent to follow, and it is particularly difficult to satisfy people when there is no experience to follow.

Seeing that the two were arguing every day, Kong Rong simply assigned them to find fault with each other in order to reduce loopholes in the plan.

Ultimately, they chose a plan that focused primarily on praising the government and showcasing their strength, with sharing joy with the people as a secondary objective.

Under the guidance of the three, the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the empire officially began.

Missions from all over the world gathered in Luoyang, and even the newly discovered continent of Black Africa sent envoys from two kingdoms.

Envoys from all the major vassal states were present, and even the Roman Empire sent a delegation to participate.

The main venue for the celebration was the Peacock Terrace, a royal garden built at the suggestion of Kong Rong, with Cao Pi's application and Cao Cao's approval.

The most talented scholars from all over the land will be selected to come to this platform and compose poems on the spot to praise Cao Cao.

Then Cao Pi summarized the overall strength of the Great Qian Dynasty, covering the empire's grain production, steel production, number of vassal states, population, number of troops, and number of warships.

After discussing with Cao Pi, Kong Rong and others felt that these matters could not be considered state secrets.

Even if you found out, so what?!

This is an era in which China reigns supreme. No regime outside of the Chinese cultural sphere can stand against China if they unite. These statistics will only drive them to despair.

Even the mighty Roman Empire, upon hearing Cao Pi's figures, had only one thought in their minds: these are all fake, liars, liars, all liars.

Their grain production is hundreds of times greater than theirs, their steel production is thousands of times greater, their territory is more than ten times larger, and their own population is nearly ten times their total population, not to mention the vast number of foreign peoples within their fiefdoms.

Their army was equally terrifying in size, exceeding their population.

On such an important and solemn occasion, this set of data may not be entirely accurate, but it will not be too far off, because the data is extremely detailed and can be verified in just a few places.

This represents an extremely large gap in national power. If the two countries had not been so far apart, the Roman Empire would probably have been destroyed long ago.

Not to mention the two kingdoms from distant Africa, which were not even as powerful as some of the former Western Regions kingdoms. Faced with the might of the entire Han Dynasty, they remained silent and only felt fortunate that the sea was tens of thousands of miles away from them.

After Cao Pi finished his summary, he distributed supplies to the people. Cao Cao, the founding emperor, and some veteran officials reminisced about the glorious past, reviewed the difficulties of conquering the country, and strengthened their bonds.

After the celebration, during the reward ceremony, Cao Cao reprimanded Cao Pi for failing to demonstrate the military might of the country, failing to send troops to intimidate enemy states, and damaging the country's deterrent power over surrounding countries. He also revoked Cao Pi's title of "One-Character King".

Cao Pi did not defend himself at all, but attributed all the credit to Kong Rong and the other two, which gave the Confucian school a very good impression.

Afterwards, Cao Cao assigned Cao Pi many tasks, and for each task, he would reduce Cao Pi's rank on the grounds that Cao Pi had not performed well.

Cao Pi always credited those who had done the work, thus accumulating great prestige both inside and outside the court.

These are his foundations; if he remained in a slump, he wouldn't need them, but they can be left to future generations.

However, if one day he soars into the sky like a roc, all of these things will become his aid in achieving that success.

Within a year, Cao Cao managed to strip Cao Pi of all his titles.

When the last official position and title were taken from him, Cao Pi still bowed respectfully to express his gratitude.

He even moved out of the prince's residence left to him by Cao Cao, dismissed all the servants, and bought a house on the outermost edge of Luoyang, where he lay low.

Sima Yi also fell ill that year and submitted a memorial requesting to stay home to recuperate. He resigned from all his official posts and built a few thatched huts in the place outside Luoyang where he often fished. He ordered people to cultivate a few acres of vegetable gardens and spent his days tending to flowers and plants and fishing by the river.

With Cao Ang dead, Cao Pi deposed, Cao Zhang mentally challenged, and Cao Zhi crippled, a new prince, known for his intelligence, caught the attention of many ministers.

This prince was Cao Chong.

The genius who solved the problem of weighing an elephant at the age of 5 was as quick-witted as Yang Xiu.

To prevent Cao Chong from following in Cao Ang's footsteps, Cao Cao made Cao Chong study under Cheng Yu.

Who is Cheng Yu?

He was one of Cao Cao's six chief strategists and one of the founding heroes of the Great Qian Dynasty, making great contributions to its establishment.

More importantly, Cheng Yu was a man of strong character, who was both upright and righteous, knew how to scheme and plot, was ruthless, and was also knowledgeable in military strategy, making him the most suitable person to teach Cao Chong.