My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 708: You came from the south, and you know whether General Yu in Xiangyang is really dead or not?
"Victory and defeat are unpredictable in war, and it is a man's duty to bear shame and endure humiliation. There are many talented people in Jiangdong, and it is unknown whether they will make a comeback."

When Cao Cao read carefully, word by word, this poem that was obviously a bit schizophrenic and even competed with Zhuge Jin's own poem eight years ago, the emotions that surged in his heart were so complicated that they were difficult to express in words.

Eight years ago, Zhuge Jin wrote about Xiang Yu with the intention of praising the willingness to take revenge and the heroic spirit of a man. According to his understanding of Xiang Yu's mentality, he could fail, but he could never lose face.

The second poem seems to criticize Xiang Yu for not being able to bend and stretch like a real man and not being resilient enough. It seems to expect Xiang Yu to learn some of Gaozu's flexibility, be inclusive and learn from others.

More importantly, the last sentence, "It's unknown whether he will make a comeback," is absolutely unprecedented in the Han Dynasty today. No one dares to think so, at least no one dares to write it down.

In other words, isn't that the biggest "ZZ is not ZQ" of the Han Dynasty? Between Emperor Gaozu and Xiang Yu, who would have the potential to conquer the world, is this topic something that can be discussed hypothetically in the Han Dynasty?
Even though Zhuge Jin was the most trusted person in Liu Bei's eyes and the one who obeyed his orders unconditionally, he could not do this.

But he just wrote it.

It also inspired Cao Cao, a man who dared to think, and made Cao Cao unable to help but indulge in lust, expansion, and fantasy for a moment.

With Cao Cao's wisdom and vision, his ability to imagine and deduce was very strong. The reason he hadn't thought of it before was simply because he didn't dare to think about it.

Once this spark is lit, the thoughts in his mind will spread and grow like dry grass in a prairie fire, and his mind will create endless possibilities.

Perhaps, if we persevere to the end, work hard to govern, reflect on bad policies, and make reforms, we can really turn the tables? “It is unknown whether we can make a comeback”!
However, just as Cao Cao was marveling at Zhuge Jin's arrogance and audacity, his eyes involuntarily drifted to the third poem.

It was precisely after seeing this last poem that his recent judgment that "Zhuge Jin is too arrogant and has no respect for Liu Bei" was retracted.

Because anyone who reads this third poem will no longer think that Zhuge Jin is deliberately provoking the official historical statement of the Han Dynasty.
He just wanted to emphasize and highlight the point.

"Back then, people said that Xiang Yu would rather die than cross the Yangtze River. If he really had to start all over again, how many lives would have been lost."

Cao Cao read slower and slower, even slower than the second poem.

At first glance, the crude and vulgar language in the poem made Cao Cao feel a little uncomfortable, and he felt that Zhuge Jin's literary talent had deteriorated. It didn't seem like it was written by the same person, and the language was so plain that it couldn't be any plainer.

But in the end, Cao Cao was able to extract a layer of profound meaning from it that allowed people to put aside the fancy words and focus on the origins of political philosophy.

"The choice of words and sentences in this poem are not at the same level as the previous two. Could it be that Zhuge Jin did it on purpose, using this contrast to force people to forget about rhetoric, so that the truth in it can be more powerful and remembered by the readers?
If we really start from the beginning, how many lives will be lost... This is to emphasize that whether Xiang Yu returns to Jiangdong or not, and whether he can rise again after returning, is actually not important. He is too lazy to discuss it any more. What is important is that Xiang Yu committed suicide and the world ended the war. It is not important who wins or loses, but the war ends.

When Zhuge Jin was discussing Taoism in front of the emperor, he emphasized the virtue of Mencius. He said that the virtue of unifying the world does not lie in the "ruling the world" itself as emphasized by Gongyang the Confucian scholar, but in "stabilizing the world."

One is only a means to stability. Only when the war ends and military service and corvee labor cease, can there be "stability". If one does not achieve stability and continues to engage in war and massive construction like Qin Shihuang, then one will fail at the last hurdle and ultimately fail to achieve the virtue of "stability".

This villain Zhuge Jin has the audacity to go one step further than before, and so openly advocate that determination is the highest virtue, so high that it doesn't matter who wins or loses, the most important thing is to decide life and death as soon as possible. How arrogant is he to think that Liu Bei can defeat me?"

In terms of political acumen and foresight, Cao Cao is certainly one of the top five figures in the late Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Cao Cao could thoroughly understand the deep meaning hidden in Zhuge Jin's poems as long as he savored them a little.

In addition, Cao Cao had just read the paper written by his second brother Zhuge Liang not long ago. Combining the works of the two brothers, it is very clear how the other party wants to build momentum.

"Liu Bei knew that even if he continued to march north with all his strength, he would not be able to defeat me immediately, and he would not be able to seize the emperor before I moved the capital. So every move he made was to find a face and an excuse for temporarily withdrawing his troops.

This time when I wanted to move the capital to Luoyang, he not only did not stop me, but also fanned the flames and built momentum for it, indirectly reaching a consensus with our army, stating that "returning to Luoyang is right, Luoyang was the capital of the Han Dynasty that the emperor originally wanted to return to."

So, how little resistance there is for me to return to Luoyang now? If I cannot even stay in Luoyang in the future, how much additional resistance will I face if I want to move again! Combined with Zhuge Jin's three poems, Liu Bei intends to fight me to the death in Luoyang in the future.

What he expected was that if he had the ability to break Luoyang one day, I would fight him to the death under the city of Luoyang and never move the capital to escape. Even if I wanted to move, I would be deserted by everyone because it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What a good plan!"

Cao Cao looked at Zhuge Liang's paper, then at Zhuge Jin's poems, and finally sighed, throwing away the scrolls in his left and right hands, and he had already realized his mistake.

This is like in future debates, if one party puts forward a point of view and the opponent agrees with you, then you must be careful at this time - because once you want to abandon this point of view in the future, the difficulty will increase sharply.

After all, this is a truth that both the enemy and us have reached a consensus on and is well-known to all. Do you still have any shame if you go back on your word?

In Cao Cao's life, as long as he wanted to leave Luoyang in the future, his political reputation would be completely ruined, and his reputation would be so bad that it would be discredited even if the wind was blown ten miles away.

But he had already drawn the arrow to shoot, and he knew it was a temporary solution and would cost him his strategic flexibility, but he had no choice but to move forward.

……

After understanding the enemy's propaganda intentions, Cao Cao knew how to respond.

That day he gave Man Chong a lot of instructions, asking him to pick a few important propaganda points and crack down on the rumors in Xudu.

As for those points that are not so important or have lost their value of rebuttal, we just turn a blind eye and pretend not to see them.

What exactly must be seen and what can be pretended not to be seen, this standard must of course be determined by Cao Cao himself.

Because Cao Cao knew that people were in a panic, and so many people were being relocated from Xudu every day. The situation was so chaotic that it was inevitable that it would be infiltrated like a sieve. If you want everything and want to control everything, the final result is that you will not be able to control anything well.

There is also the possibility of more serious consequences because "it is more serious than defending against a river. If a river is blocked and bursts, many people will be injured."

So it is better to leave a few harmless loopholes so that people can have a channel to vent their grievances. In particular, we should pick those points where "Liu Bei and Cao Cao both reached a consensus", because these points are the most difficult to block, so we might as well open them completely, so that all the dissatisfaction can be vented from these points.

As a result, after Man Chong followed his orders, within a few days, a consensus spread throughout the city of Xu:
It is right to go back to Luoyang! Luoyang is where the emperor wants to go! As long as it helps the emperor realize this wish, it is a good thing, even if the process and means are rough and impatient, it can be forgiven.

However, the Prime Minister can also guarantee that he will never make trouble again in the future. After returning to Luoyang, no matter how the war situation changes in the future, he will never think of moving the capital again! Whoever has this idea is like Dong Zhuo! It is a perverse act!

This view was jointly promoted by Cao Cao and Liu Bei, so it is impossible for anyone to oppose it, and no one has the ability to oppose it.

After Cao Cao elevated the justice of returning to Luoyang to such a level, he could then open his attack on those who wanted to obstruct him.

As a result, Cao Cao put more pressure on Wei Huang, Geng Ji and other officials in the prime minister's office, requiring them to work faster and use more brutal methods.

For those officials who did not meet the conditions for leniency listed previously but wanted to delay and refuse to leave the city of Xudu, Cao Cao hinted to Wei Huang and Geng Ji that they could take severe measures.

Wei Huang and Geng Ji were originally relatively loyal to Cao Cao during this period, but forced by such continued high pressure, coupled with the fact that they had to help do some dirty work and had witnessed Cao Cao's rough and dirty behavior, they inevitably felt a little shaken for the first time in their hearts.

"The royal family is being attacked openly and covertly just because they don't cooperate with the relocation of the capital. Isn't the prime minister too overbearing? Liu Bei keeps saying that the prime minister is 'a Han prime minister in name only, but a Han traitor in reality'. Could it be..."

When this thought first occurred to Wei Huang and Geng Ji, they were frightened and quickly drove this terrible idea out of their minds.

But a seed of doubt has been planted, and it will sprout again in the future when the time is right and it is nourished by other fertilizers.

The matter of moving the capital was pushed forward for another three to five days. Cao Cao became more and more anxious, and he was ready to have the emperor's carriage leave Xudu and head to Luoyang as soon as possible.

According to Cao Cao's plan, this matter must be done before the end of June, and the emperor must leave Xu Du before this time, otherwise the matter will become more and more complicated and it will become increasingly difficult to push forward.

As other obstacles were removed, the biggest obstacle preventing the emperor from leaving Xudu was the illness of his father-in-law Fu Wan.

The main reason was that Empress Fu Shou had recently shown herself to be very filial, leaving the palace every few days to visit her father. Her father was seriously ill and bedridden, and the Empress refused to leave, so how could the Emperor separate from her husband and wife?

In this matter, it can be said that God helped Liu Bei, because according to the original trajectory of official history, Fu Wan should have died of illness in the 14th year of Jian'an. This matter has naturally progressed to this point, without Liu Bei or Zhuge Jin promoting it. It was Fu Wan's destiny.

Cao Cao was very anxious about this, but he had not yet made up his mind.

The main reason was that he also hoped for a miracle to happen and did not want to further break off relations with the emperor until the very last moment.

Therefore, all he could do now was to put pressure on the imperial physician Ji Ping, asking Ji Ping to see Fu Wan every day. If he really couldn't cure him, he could use some strong medicine to temporarily keep Fu Wan in good condition so that he could follow his daughter and son-in-law on the road.

Cao Cao has hinted very clearly that he doesn't care whether Fu Wan's long-term health will be damaged, or whether Ji Ping's use of strong medicine has side effects or sequelae. He just wants to treat the symptoms temporarily and make them less severe so that he can explain to the outside world.

During this process, the Imperial Physician Ji Ping, with his benevolent attitude as a doctor, naturally had some friction with Cao Cao. In the end, Cao Cao had to completely undermine Ji Ping's authority, but did not remove him from his post. Instead, he put one of Cao Cao's own confidants in charge of the actual work of the Imperial Physician.

Cao Cao was also quite politically wise, and he knew that he could not remove Ji Ping from his post at this time, because once Ji Ping was removed from his post, if Fu Wan was still killed by the doctor soon in the future, the rumors would become more serious, which might further damage his relationship with the emperor.

By letting Ji Ping retain his official position but actually making him incompetent, they could leave him as a thorn in the flesh and use him as a scapegoat in the future. If Fu Wan still killed him, they could push the blame onto Ji Ping, and they could also cut off Ji Ping's chance to see the emperor and empress, directing the empress's possible resentment toward Ji Ping, without giving him a chance to appeal or explain.

With Cao Cao's power, it would certainly be easy to do this.

After Ji Ping was sidelined, he was naturally worried about further retaliation. He knew Wei Huang and Geng Ji, so he went to them to appeal for a solution.

Wei Huang and Geng Ji were also a little shaken by Cao Cao's increasingly urgent tasks, so they hit it off with Ji Ping, sighing every day and doubting their lives.

All they need is a guide who can help them see the light and open their eyes.

Just when they were feeling miserable and depressed, an unexpected change occurred, which completely angered Cao Cao and prompted him to use more brutal means to push for the relocation of the capital.

……

This accident happened on the sixth day after Cao Cao saw the two poems by Zhuge Jin.

Early that morning, Cao Cao was surprised to hear that there were military messengers from Cao Zhen and Xu Huang returning to Xu Du with urgent reports from the direction of Yancheng in the south.

The military intelligence reported by Cao Zhen was not very important at first. The content was nothing more than that they discovered that Zhang Fei, who had been in a stalemate and lying dormant for many days, suddenly became active again yesterday. He led thousands of cavalry, bypassed Shangcai, and advanced northward along the eastern suburbs of Yancheng, carrying out an infiltration and sabotage operation.

Cao Zhen had been beaten up by Zhang Fei before, and now he was in a state of obedience, so he did not dare to stop him at first. But he soon discovered that Zhang Fei's penetration this time was deeper than before. He almost bypassed Yancheng County and approached Qiang County.

In the end, Cao Zhen and Xu Huang had to gather heavy troops and set up ambushes and blocks at every turn, and they finally forced Zhang Fei to retreat.

There is not much to elaborate on the entire battle process, because this time Cao's army was more vigilant, and Zhang Fei infiltrated more deeply. In addition, Cao's army also had famous generals like Xu Huang, so their combat effectiveness was far beyond what it was when Cao Zhen fought alone.

So the two sides just barely fought to a draw, and even if Zhang Fei had a small advantage, it was not worth mentioning. After a fierce fight, Zhang Fei saw that there was no way to make a breakthrough, so he stopped while he was ahead.

However, Cao Zhen and Xu Huang did not think that they were defeated just because “our casualties were slightly higher than Zhang Fei’s”.

In Cao Zhen's opinion, he actually defeated Zhang Fei this time! So even if more people died on his side, it was still a victory! He defeated Zhang Fei! He crushed Liu Bei's army's plan to march into Xudu!

So Cao Zhen sent someone to report the victory in a very high-profile manner. The outcome of the battle was decided that afternoon, and the victory report was delivered to Xu Du early the next morning.

Cao Cao originally did not need to read such a battle report in person, so he just learned about the situation and verbally praised his nephew Zidan, a talented young man of my Cao family, and the matter was temporarily over.

However, three days later, the follow-up of the incident gradually fermented, and finally Cao Cao could no longer sit still.

Three days later, Man Chong, who was in charge of school affairs, hurried to the prime minister's residence again and reported an unexpected bad news to Cao Cao with a gloomy and embarrassed look.

"Why is Bo Ning so flustered? Did Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin send people to spread rumors and slander my great cause of moving the capital? Or is he eager to publicize the victory this time, thinking that it was because of Zhang Fei's attack that I dared not let the emperor stay in Xudu any longer?"

When Cao Cao saw Man Chong coming in, his first reaction was not worry. He felt that even if there was bad news, Man Chong should have told him everything last time. In recent days, good times should have come and everything was going well.

However, as soon as Man Chong opened his mouth, he dropped a bombshell:
"Prime Minister! This is a very bizarre and unexpected thing. You must hold on after hearing it. Don't get angry..."

Cao Cao's expression quickly became serious. He took a few deep breaths and prepared himself mentally before he spoke slowly, his tone cold and firm: "What else could be so unbelievable? I am prepared for it. Just tell me!"

Man Chong took a deep breath and said, "Yesterday... in front of the Nanyang and Yingchuan armies, that is, in front of the Tongbai Mountain Pass between Bowang County and Ye County. Guan Yu suddenly sent a general to speak to our soldiers guarding the pass.

They said…the Prime Minister, the situation is hopeless, and we should obey the will of heaven and stop resisting in vain. There are many other unbearable things that I cannot describe all at once.”

Cao Cao waved his hands in annoyance, signaling Man Chong not to make a fuss: "What's the big deal? Liu Bei has been sending people to slander me for a long time. I can't think of any new words."

Man Chong: "The key is... the general sent by Guan Yu to persuade him to surrender was General Yu Jin, who was suspected to have died in Xiangyang half a year ago. The commander of Tongbai Pass was shocked and sent a messenger to report overnight.

When I learned about this, I quickly investigated and discovered that General Yu Jin's family members were the court officials and nobles who had taken advantage of the prime minister's permission to delay their migration due to death or illness, and had arranged their own itinerary, and then disappeared.

According to my subsequent investigation, the families of Yu Jin and some other "martyred" generals should have taken advantage of the supervision to go south. A few days ago, Zhang Fei rushed from Shangcai County to Qiang County with cavalry to harass, and he should have taken a group of hostages away..."

When Cao Cao heard this, his eyes widened even wider, and the ten fingers of his hands became completely hunched and curled up like chicken feet soaked in pickled peppers, tearing the silk on the table.

This desk was a new one that was just replaced a few days ago because the previous one was broken into two pieces by Cao Cao when he was reading Zhuge Liang's paper.

With a dull "bang", Cao Cao overturned the table with all his strength, gasping for breath. Then he held his head with both hands, grabbed his hair tightly, and pressed his temples.

"Yu Jin! I have treated you well! You have followed me for twenty years, but you actually helped Liu Bei to deceive me! Liu Bei is a bastard! Zhuge is a bastard! Ugh..."

Cao Cao screamed. Having suffered severe mental stimulation twice in half a month, he finally had a headache. His head buzzed and he fainted.

Fortunately, he is only in his fifties and his blood vessels are not that fragile. After this stimulation, it is estimated that he will only have some stroke sequelae such as trembling hands and feet and shorten his life by a few years, but it will not be fatal on the spot.

If he were five or six years older, or even seven or eight years older, or encountered this kind of stimulation again when he was over sixty, I'm afraid he would have gotten over it.

(End of this chapter)