He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Chapter 100 Review Mechanisms and the Prison of Missed Talent

"It's simple, just look at everything and learn everything." Lu Wan, completely oblivious to the implications of her Versailles persona, blurted out.

"However, my lord, there is something I hope you will consider carefully."

Seeing Lu Wan's serious expression, Liu Bei immediately switched from his relaxed state during casual conversation to a serious working state: "Wen Yuan, please speak."

Lu Wan then told Liu Bei about his previous thoughts and Chen Deng's advice. Liu Bei shook his head, seemingly marveling that his friend Chen Deng could actually take the initiative to exclude the Chen family from the battle of public opinion.

"Even in his current state, Yuanlong is still thinking about national affairs; it's truly admirable of him."

"Since Wenyuan already has an idea about this, he can go ahead and choose the right people. There's no need to report to me; I trust you."

Lu Su felt very conflicted. He was indeed touched by this trust, but he couldn't just act recklessly in governance.

Lu Wan quickly reiterated his stance: the aristocratic families must not be involved in this work.

"My lord, once these powerful families gain the upper hand in public opinion, any new policies we want to introduce in the future may be attacked by them."

"Public opinion attacks are not as simple as just saying a few words of criticism about us in books. First of all, there are the scholars studying in the academy. They have no worries about food and clothing, so they have more energy to devote to other things. Moreover, these scholars are simple-minded. They might be slightly misled and incited by articles in newspapers and books, and immediately run to the government office to cause trouble. In this situation, what should my lord do?"

"What should we do? Of course, we should step forward and explain the facts and reason with them in detail. We can't just start fighting right away." Liu Bei had no idea how powerful these cultured people could be when they started arguing. He thought that as long as he made things clear, everything would be fine.

Lu Wan immediately employed classic tactics from later media outlets to demonstrate to the unsophisticated natives of the Eastern Han Dynasty, letting them know that the cruelty of this battlefield was no less than that of a real one: "What if a few ill-intentioned people infiltrated the crowd, deliberately asking trap-filled questions, or simply causing trouble? What would you do then, my lord?"

"Not only that, these powerful families might also spread these distorted messages to the common people. The people are simple and honest, and they might easily fall for these people's tricks. If even they oppose us, how can our policies be implemented? Obviously not!"

"Once or twice is fine, but what about the reputation of the governor's office if it happens too often? If we want to get things done, do we have to find a way to feed these people first and keep them from talking nonsense? What if it becomes a routine that they come up to us for money first, regardless of whether it will affect their interests, otherwise we can't get anything done? Could this situation happen?"

This series of questions left Liu Bei bewildered. He hadn't expected the issue to escalate to this point, with powerful families instigating ignorant members of the public to deliberately cause trouble. The thought of standing before the common people, unable to defend himself, cast a dark shadow over Liu Bei's face.

Liu Bei's eyes lit up again. Lu Wan's visit to discuss this issue meant he already had an idea, and he eagerly asked, "Since Wen Yuan has come to me, he must have a solution, right?"

Wen Yuan, A-Meng, please help me!

For some reason, Lu Wan suddenly remembered these words, and the annoyance in her heart lessened considerably. She refocused her attention: "Doing this is difficult in some ways, but not difficult in others."

"First and foremost, the relevant personnel must not have too deep a connection with the aristocratic families. People within the aristocratic families must be excluded immediately, as well as other people, such as collateral relatives of the aristocratic families or those who are on good terms with the aristocratic families."

"It would be best to select married men from poor families to participate in this work, especially those with children to support and certain ideals. Such people have something to care about, so you can trust them and not worry about them siding with the powerful families."

"Secondly, it must be stated that the ownership of any official newspaper belongs to the government, and the news published in it must be reviewed by the government before it can be published. Official newspapers and magazines are meant to guide the public, and only by consistently maintaining the accuracy of the information will the public continue to trust them."

"Finally, and most importantly, all books, newspapers, and magazines must be approved before they can be published by the official printing press. This will prevent the emergence of various heretical books."

Liu Bei immediately grasped the key phrase and asked, "A demonic book? What kind of book is called a demonic book?"

"If Cao Cao's and Yuan Shao's men came to Xuzhou, started seemingly ordinary newspapers, spread rumors, or published inflammatory remarks to sow discord between local and outside talents, it would cause huge internal turmoil."

"In addition, some writers who are not very bright may pursue authenticity in their writing and include all kinds of secrets, which will eventually lead to leaks. If it is just a simple document leak, it is not so bad. What is more worrying is that our various technologies will be leaked. This is something that cannot be remedied no matter what."

This isn't just Lu Wan exaggerating; the Northern Song Dynasty actually did something similar in history. When compiling the *Wujing Zongyao* (Complete Essentials of Military Classics), they included their crucial technological secret: the method of gunpowder production. As the book circulated, the Western Xia, Liao, and later Jin dynasties learned it, effectively arming the Northern Song's enemies. One can only say that the scholars of the Song Dynasty were truly noble, even sharing such secrets; they possessed a touch of superhuman talent.

"Could such a person really exist? Can people's hearts be this wicked?" Liu Bei was about to say that no one should be so shameless as to rush to send out his secrets, but then he thought again that in this rotten world, even people like Dong Zhuo could appear in droves, so what was so strange about it?

"Of course, there are also the most fundamentalist heretical books, which are those that record all kinds of false information, slander others, promote evil magic, and incite conflict. These things can neither increase people's knowledge nor allow them to relax and have fun; they can only harm people. These are of course also heretical books."

"In my opinion, these three are demonic books. Do you think they should be banned, my lord?"

Lu Wan carefully explained that he knew Liu Bei had relatively low political sensitivity, but there was nothing he could do about it. He won people over with his sincerity, and knowing too much would make him seem less honest.

Lu Wan had already put it this way; even Zhang Fei should understand her meaning. Liu Bei replied, "Of course! If these things are allowed to circulate unchecked, how many ignorant families will be harmed?"

"But this seems to be another big undertaking. Xuzhou is already short-staffed again, so it's likely that the only way to do this is to draw personnel from existing departments."

Lu Wan couldn't help but laugh when she thought of Mi Zhu's tired face, but with his eyes fiercely staring at her. Well, she'd already caused him so much trouble; it wouldn't be right to cause him any more. At least, she couldn't let him cause any more trouble.

Liu Bei took out paper and pen and added another item to his list of things to do in the future. Then he said to Lu Wan, "Wen Yuan is as capable as ever. I just returned to the manor when someone from Cao Cao sent me news, which is rather bad news."

"Bad news?"

"Well, it can't be purely bad news. It's more like a mix of good and bad, a piece of bad news with a bit of good in it."

"————You really hit the nail on the head," Lu Wan remarked in a rather unserious manner.

"It is Liu Qi, the eldest son of Brother Jingsheng, the governor of Yangzhou whom we reported to the emperor before."

Lu Wan considered herself an ordinary person with no particular talent for governance, and she also found this a bit strange: "Huh? Cao Cao is willing to let him come over?"

"I've been thinking about this too. Why did Cao Cao suddenly send Liu Xian here? Given his personality, shouldn't he have kept him under his thumb, making Brother Jing Sheng hesitant to attack the Central Plains and giving him a reason to take Huainan? He just threw him away like that."

Lu Wan entered a state of deep thought again, and soon realized where the problem lay: the injury on his head.

Before Chen Deng arrived in Xiapi, Yuzhou.

"That madman Liu Bei not only severed our trade relations but also massively constructed fortified cities in Taishan County. He even wrote a letter to insult me. I did indeed want to bring Lu Wenyuan under my control, but when did I ever order Lu Wenyuan's assassination?"

Cao Cao now feels that Liu Bei is constantly targeting him. Why is it that whenever something bad happens in Xuzhou, it's always Cao Cao who gets blamed?

Although Cao Cao had a basic understanding of his bad reputation, no matter how much he understood it, he could not have imagined that his reputation would reach the point where everyone in Xuzhou wanted to get rid of him. In later generations, that would be considered a parody.

Cao Cao didn't care much about the reprimand letter Liu Bei sent; he'd received similar things many times back when he was wielding his five-colored staff and beating people around. Even Jian Shuo, one of the Ten Attendants, hadn't done anything to him then, so why would he be afraid of a mere mat weaver and sandal seller like Liu Bei?

What gave Cao Cao a headache was that Liu Bei suddenly cut off trade, depriving Cao Cao's side of various channels for obtaining cheap goods. Now, buying these things wasn't difficult, but it required purchasing from middlemen. The powerful families under Yuan Shao were the most numerous middlemen, and their prices were the highest. Having to buy something from a hypothetical enemy was disgusting to everyone in Cao Cao's army.

Seeing that Cao Cao seemed temporarily blinded by these thoughts, Cheng Yu quickly reminded him, "My lord, Xuzhou's actions are merely retaliation for the injury of Moxia's subordinate. Even if they are after money, they won't confront our army for long. Once everyone calms down, trade will surely resume."

"However, my lord, before that, we can also find something for Liu Bei to do, so that he doesn't always focus on us, especially since no matter what our army does, the people of Xuzhou always scold us first."

Cao Cao frowned, suddenly recalling some unpleasant memories. Someone had advised him to find something for Liu Bei to do, and Cao Cao had heeded this advice, recruiting Lü Bu and Zang Ba. But those two were truly spineless; one surrendered after being defeated, and the other was even worse, surrendering before the fight even began.

This was a huge blow to Cao Cao's pride, and although he didn't care, he couldn't very well go out and have people point their fingers at him and say, "Are you the Cao Aman who can't eat anything and can't do anything right?"

"Can it work? We tried to find Lu Bu and Zang Ba before, but Liu Bei managed to take them all down."

"Don't worry, my lord. This time, we'll use the very rock Liu Bei lifted to drop on his own foot. Do you remember when Liu Bei and Liu Biao were jumping around like that before?"

"You mean—oh~"

Upon hearing this reminder, Cao Cao suddenly remembered Liu Qi, the governor of Yangzhou, who had been eating and drinking for free under his command. This fellow had been idle all day since arriving, and his men had become wage thieves. Rather than letting him waste food here, it would be better to find a way to send him away and let him cause trouble for Liu Bei.

This is trouble you, Liu Bei, brought upon yourself. You can't blame it on me, Cao Mengde, this time.

Cheng Yu continued to provide arguments for Cao Cao's judgment: "We should just send Liu Qi over in a grand manner. As his patron, Liu Bei, even if he is unwilling, will have to swallow this bitter pill."

"After Liu Qi arrives in Xuzhou, he will definitely want to take back the small part of Jiujiang County that Liu Bei has occupied. Liu Bei will certainly not hand over his territory so easily. In this way, the seeds of conflict between the two sides are sown, and this rift of distrust will only grow wider. When they turn against each other, we can spread this shameful matter throughout the world and let everyone know that Liu Bei is nothing but a hypocrite who is all show and no substance."

Cao Cao thought about it carefully and found the method more and more reasonable. In particular, Liu Qi's subordinates were all scoundrels, so he didn't feel bad about letting them go.

The chief civil officer, Pang Tong, was not only ugly, but he was also given a minor official position and made to do things. All he did was drink and did nothing else.

Some people said that Pang Tong was very talented in Jingzhou, and Cao Cao tolerated him for a while longer because of these rumors. However, Pang Tong remained indifferent and did not take his duties seriously at all. If it weren't for the fact that he was Liu Qi's subordinate, Cao Cao would have used him as a sacrifice long ago.

As for the military officer, he was just an unknown nobody named Wei Yan. I heard that before he joined Liu Qi, he was just an ordinary officer. He didn't seem to have much ability, but he had quite a temper and always looked down on everyone.

Cao Cao believed that arrogance was acceptable. He thought that someone as capable as Guan Yu, if willing to serve under him, even if it meant wiping his mouth with Guan Yu's clothes at a banquet, would be praised by Cao Cao for his genuine character. But what kind of person was this Wei Yan? He lacked Guan Yu's abilities yet dared to be so arrogant, even claiming that if Cao Cao gave him 50,000 troops, he could conquer the entire world for him.

If you're so capable, why don't you raise your own army? You're asking me for 50,000 troops? You look like 50,000 troops. Get lost!

The civil and military leaders under Liu Qi are a mess, one is clueless and the other is grumpy. The fact that Liu Qi could keep such people shows he's no normal person either. It's better to send him to Liu Bei's side and let Liu Bei deal with them.