My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 799: He was beaten to the ground right after ascending the throne

Zhuge Jin spoke eloquently, citing examples of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Empress Lü, and Zhou Bo, using the past to illustrate the present, and his deductions were very detailed.

This is enough to prove that Liu Bei today can be more open-minded and magnanimous than Emperor Wen of Han in terms of "no need to worry about the sons of the previous emperor".

For Cao Zhi who came to surrender, the biggest problem for his survival was "how Liu Bei would deal with the King of Shanyang and other orphans of the previous emperor". As long as Liu Bei could tolerate King of Shanyang Liu Xi, the rest of the problems would be minor.

The life of a man like Cao Zhi is just a by-product and not worth mentioning.

Of course, if Liu Bei insisted on killing them all, that was not impossible. The key lies in how he characterized the series of actions of Cao Cao and Cao Zhi.

After Zhuge Jin finished talking about the previous topic, he glanced at Liu Bei briefly, trying to see some inclination from his lord's eyes.

Liu Bei's eyes were also very sincere, and he showed a look of seeking advice. Zhuge Jin knew that Liu Bei really wanted to listen to everyone's opinions and see how to deal with Cao Zhi. He had no definite conclusion in his mind.

Since Liu Bei himself has no clear inclination, Zhuge Jin can still help him with advice.

Zhuge Jin coughed lightly to clear his throat, then asked in a low voice that only the two of them could hear clearly: "My lord, do you want to eradicate all evil and deter the disobedient, or..."

Liu Bei did not think much about it. He moved his lips slightly and murmured in a very low voice: "Since he has brought the King of Shanyang here, why should I care about his life or death? However, I cannot let this lead to ambitious people in the world getting restless and thinking that killing the king and becoming emperor can leave offspring. In this matter, does Ziyu have a way to achieve both?"

"Then I know what to do." Zhuge Jin has already figured out Liu Bei's demands. Liu Bei is not pursuing killing, his fundamental purpose is to deter.

If the deterrent effect can be achieved without killing anyone, then from a personal point of view, it doesn't matter whether Cao Zhi's life is spared or not.

Zhuge Jin organized his thoughts and words for a while, then changed his tone and volume to make an open appeal:

"My lord, I think that Cao Zhi's abandonment of evil and joining the light on behalf of the King of Shanyang is enough to prove that he has his heart set on the Han Dynasty, unlike his father. My lord, you can give him a chance to reform.

However, Cao Cao was involved in regicide, and his crime of usurpation was well known. If such a person was given the opportunity to leave offspring, it would inevitably make ambitious people in the world more eager to act in the future and would not take the crime of usurpation seriously.

Fortunately, I happened to read history books the other day and saw that Taishigong had recorded that after Xiang Yu's death, Xiang Bo and others sincerely separated themselves from the Xiang clan and asked Emperor Gaozu to grant them the surname Liu. Emperor Gaozu also pardoned those original Xiang clan members who no longer had the surname Xiang, which shows how generous Emperor Gaozu was. After those people changed their surnames to Liu, they really never rebelled again, nor did they stir up any ambitions in the world.

Therefore, my lord, as long as you ensure that Cao Cao has many sons and nephews, and the Cao family is extinct, it will be enough to warn the world."

Liu Bei came to his senses after hearing this and tried to confirm: "So Ziyu means that Cao Zhi should also change his surname to Liu?"

Zhuge Jin: "It may not be Liu. Cao Teng is a eunuch. How can he be named Liu? Even if he is given a surname, he is not worthy of it. It is not impossible to let him change his surname back to Xiahou and completely cut off the lineage of Cao Teng.

Cao Teng, the grandfather of Cao Ze, was a demon with Zuo Gang and Xu Huang. They were greedy and rampant, hurting and abusing the people. These people also participated in the introduction of Huan and Ling from the lineage of Hejian King after Chong and Zhi died out, and joined the big clan from the small clan.

Now it seems that the badness of the world started from the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling. Over the years, whenever my lord and I talked about this, we could not help sighing and hating. In the future, when my lord joins the great clan again as a minor clan, he can honor Emperor Yuan as the emperor father, just like Emperor Guangwu did back then.

When Emperor Guangwu restored the Han Dynasty, he skipped the four generations of Cheng, Ai, Ping, and Ru Ziying, and believed that the decline of the early Han Dynasty began during the Cheng and Ai periods. In the future, if you want to restore the Han Dynasty again, you can skip the four generations of Huan, Ling, Shao, and Huai. You are the uncle of the Shao and Huai generations of the previous emperors, the same generation as Emperor Ling, and the nephew of Emperor Huan.

Chong, Zhi, and Huan were all brothers who succeeded to the throne at a young age and died young, which is why they had no offspring. In terms of the generation of the royal family, the Lord is the nephew of Emperor Chong, so in the future he can honor Emperor Shun as his grandfather.

In the future, the decline and chaos during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling can also be characterized as starting from the selfishness of Cao Teng, Zuo Gang, Xu Huang and others, who introduced minor clans from the lineage of the King of Hejian in order to control the young lord. In this way, the chaos since the restoration of Emperor Guangwu all started with the Cao family and ended with the Cao family, and in the end, the lord raised his arm and called for the rebellion to be corrected.

Cao Song was a despicable and shameless person. He adopted a eunuch as his son in order to gain wealth and status. This branch of his family had such evil intentions. If Cao Zhi wanted to survive, he should break with his grandfather and father and return to the Xiahou clan. "

Zhuge Jin's words, compared with the way Liu Bang dealt with Xiang Bo back then, not only managed to save Cao Zhi's life, but also fully intimidated the Cao family, and would also let future ambitious people in the world see the lesson of Cao Cao.

But his plan was very clever, because the chaos during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling was witnessed by all the people in the world, and Cao Teng, Cao Cao's grandfather after he was adopted by the clan, participated in the enthronement of Emperor Huan and the decision-making process of selecting the lineage of King Hejian to join the main clan.

Zhuge Jin asked Liu Bei to compare himself with Emperor Guangwu in the future and bypass the four generations of emperors who lived in troubled times. He also posthumously honored the previous emperor who lived in a peaceful period as his grandfather, which was tantamount to completely denying the history of the Hejian King's lineage.

Of course, this does not mean that the lineage of Hejian King is not orthodox, but that they are all responsible for the chaotic times, similar to the King of Changyi (Haihun Hou) who was overthrown by Huo Guang in the Western Han Dynasty, or the later kings who lost their country.

As a result, in the later "Book of the Later Han" (only focusing on the Eastern Han Dynasty), it was stated that the root of the chaos in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was planted from Cao Cao's grandfather. Cao Cao's three generations of ancestors and grandchildren brought chaos to the Han Dynasty for three generations, and finally Cao Cao took the final step and succeeded in usurping the throne for a while.

Such a pillar of shame is already cruel enough, and it will have a great deterrent effect on ambitious people in the world. In contrast, whether Cao Zhi can save his life or not, people will not have much luck.

If any of these descendants are left behind, they will not recognize you as their ancestor, and not only will they change their surnames, but they will also completely draw a line between themselves and you, saying that their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all bad people, so they have to draw a line between themselves and you.

Is there any ambitious person in the world who would underestimate the cost of rebellion because of the consideration that “if you rebel and then surrender, you will lose half, and the emperor may leave such a son to you”?
After hearing this, Cao Zhi couldn't help but remain silent.

His first reaction was that Zhuge Jin had gone too far, and that a gentleman could be killed but not humiliated. What kind of person did he think Cao Zhi was? If he was killed for refusing to change his ways, it would be worth it if history books recorded him as an indomitable and heroic man.

But then, he listened carefully to Zhuge Jin's reasons, and suddenly felt that his grandfather might not have been a good person... Why did he adopt a eunuch as his son? This eunuch also manipulated the succession of the Hejian King's lineage, which later led to decline and chaos.

Thinking about it this way, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong in changing back to Xiahou Zhi. It's not that I'm afraid of death, but I really don't want to have anything to do with that dirty past.

After listening to this, Liu Bei also felt that it was very suitable, so he took the initiative to give Cao Zhi a chance to choose: "Are you willing to change your surname to Xiahou in the future? And you must reflect deeply and realize the sins of your three generations!"

Liu Bei began to attack Cao Zhi without any instruction, and this move was indeed ingenious.

It is just like some emperors in later generations who, after abdicating, were not killed but allowed to reform themselves and then write memoirs, recounting the absurdity and corruption of their own and their previous rule.

Liu Bei also knew that Cao Zhi had good literary talent, because Cao Zhi was now thirty years old and many of his articles had been published over the years.

Letting such a person write "Memoirs of a Man Who Formerly Surnamed Cao After His Repentance and Reform" seems to have a good warning effect on people all over the world.

He started by scolding Cao Teng for his wrong decision back then.

Cao Zhi couldn't answer immediately, but it was obvious that he was in a stage of faith collapse.

Seeing this, Zhuge Jin helped to calm the situation down and gave him a way out: "Perhaps what I said today has shocked him a lot, so I will lock him up and let him reflect on it before making a final decision."

Liu Bei agreed immediately and took Cao Zhi away to carry out ideological transformation, giving him some time to recognize and reflect on the crimes of the Cao family.

Cao Zhi was still confused when he left. It was not until a while after he left that he realized one thing: before he came, his father had told him that this time he wanted him to emulate the story of "Xiang Bo betrayed Xiang Yu and was pardoned by Emperor Gaozu."

Zhuge Situ's words just now clearly showed that he had guessed this intention without even thinking about it, so Zhuge Situ gave Liu Taiwei an excuse by citing the example of Emperor Gaozu asking the Xiang family to change their surnames. It seems that my father and Zhuge Situ really know each other very well and have similar thinking... Are the people who know me best my enemies?

My father is just like the late emperor. He heard Zhuge Situ's prophecy eighteen years ago. Although it has not been activated in these years, it is still hidden in the depths of his memory and has not been completely forgotten. When the time is right, when the fateful moment comes, this dusty memory will be activated, and then people will unknowingly choose to embark on this decent path. Zhuge Situ's ability to control people's hearts and lure people with power is really terrifying and unbelievable...

Cao Zhi felt a deep sense of powerlessness sweeping over his body, making it completely impossible for him to have the slightest thought of resisting.

After Cao Zhi was taken away, King Shanyang Liu Xi was soon received by Liu Bei.

Liu Bei personally calmed him down and spoke some of the things he could.

Liu Xi was only a nine-year-old child and didn't understand much. He just knew that this distant great uncle seemed to trust him very much, so he felt at ease.

Then, Liu Bei had Liu Xi sent back to the nearby Shanyang County fiefdom, indicating that he could live there forever and the Shanyang County fiefdom could be retained forever.

……

After dealing with the affairs of Cao Zhi and Liu Xi, it was also equivalent to helping Liu Bei sort out how to become emperor in the future and how to better win the legitimacy of succession.

Even Liu Xie's other sons who were not sent here were completely deprived of the possibility of struggling because of Zhuge Jin's comment that "the mothers of these people were planted by the traitor Cao Cao by the side of the late emperor."

Of course, this is actually a good thing for them, because in this way they can be wealthy men in the future without having to worry about being wary of their distant great-uncle who became the emperor.

An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure; it is not a good thing for a child to carry gold through a busy street.

After completing all these political responses and preparations, and after building momentum, legitimacy, and claims, it is time for the final military push.

Two days later, in Luoyang City on the south bank, Cao Cao held his coronation ceremony as scheduled.

There is no need to elaborate on the specific process details.

Cao Cao had fallen into such a state, so his coronation ceremony was only slightly more glorious than Li Zicheng's, and perhaps similar to that of Yuan Shu.

However, it was certainly not thorough in terms of etiquette and law. Without the previous emperor, there would be no way to abdicate. He could only create some auspicious prophecies as signs of the rise of the Cao family, and then let the other sons of the previous emperor, except Liu Xi, publicly state that they were young and of little virtue, and that the sacred artifacts should be passed on to those with virtue.

Cao Cao couldn't play the "decline" drama with a group of children, so he could only ascend the throne without any modesty. However, although such a straightforward style led to a significant reduction in legitimacy and authority, it was also open-minded.

Liu Bei already knew the day when Cao Cao would hold the ceremony of usurpation, so he followed Zhuge Liang's strategy, deployed his troops in advance, and prepared his soldiers in Wen County on the north bank.

They made a big fuss, had people beating drums to cheer them on all day long, and also raised Zhou Yu's banner, concentrated a large number of warships, and made a gesture of forcing a crossing.

While making a fuss, Liu Bei also had people secretly spread the word that if Cao Cao attempted to usurp the throne, they would directly attack the city of Luoyang and make it difficult for Cao Cao to get out of this situation.

Cao Cao did not dare to take the risk, so he naturally gathered all his heavy troops in the area from Mengjin to Xiaopingjin, and guarded it strictly, making sure that not a single soldier of Liu Bei's would land near Luoyang.

The most famous generals in Cao's camp who were good at defense were transferred to this defense area. Cao Ren was personally responsible for the defense of Luoyang City, Xu Huang was responsible for the defense of Mengjin Ferry, and Li Dian and Le Jin were responsible for the defense of Xiaopingjin.

There was no other way. Even if Liu Bei might be cheating, Cao Cao had to accept the challenge because he couldn't let Liu Bei directly disrupt his coronation ceremony.

Liu Bei's feint attracted enough of Cao Cao's main force to create a large enough gap slightly to the east, and finally he successfully found a flaw as planned, east of Chenggao city and on the east bank of the Luo River estuary.

Zhou Yu personally led his elite troops in small boats and quietly crossed the river before dawn. After gaining a foothold, he planned to attack Cao's army from behind at Hulao Pass.

At the same time, Zhang Fei and Wei Yan in the Guandong battlefield had already received instructions from Liu Bei and chose this day to launch a feint attack from the front to attract the attention of the defenders of Hulao Pass.

Because Cao Ren and his main elite troops had been transferred away, Hulao Pass and Chenggao were mainly under the charge of Cao Zhen, who had been in Xu County with Cao Ren before.

For Cao Cao's coronation ceremony, Cao Zhen was pushed into danger. He had to face Zhang Fei and Wei Yan in front and was stabbed in the back by Zhou Yu.

When the situation in the Battle of Hulao Pass was critical, Cao Zhen had to seek advice from his generals and staff.

Finally, his advisers all agreed: "General! Although Zhang Fei and Wei Yan are brave, Hulao Pass is too steep for them to attack head-on! The biggest threat to us right now is Zhou Yu who landed from behind. If we don't repel Zhou Yu, our retreat will be cut off and we will die sooner or later if we are surrounded in this pass.

Even if the general wants to hold on until the food runs out, as long as the soldiers feel hopeless and their morale is dispersed, the city will still be lost! For now, our army must survive and lead the main force to drive Zhou Yu back to the Yellow River while his foothold is not yet completely stable! Only in this way can there be a glimmer of hope!
Even if we can't defeat Zhou Yu, the worst that can happen is that we can break out and return to Luoyang City. Anyway, there is no point in defending Hulao Pass unless we defeat Zhou Yu."

Cao Zhen thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he followed the deployment.

He himself wanted to escape back to Luoyang and did not want to stay and guard the pass and leave his fate to others, so he personally led the team to fight back against Zhou Yu and took away at least two-thirds of the manpower of the Hulao Pass defenders.

He hurriedly set out from Hulao Pass and headed towards Chenggao County.

Along the way, we did hear a lot of rumors, and the garrison commander of Chenggao County came to report an emergency, saying that after Zhou Yu came ashore, he rested for a while and then led his troops to attack Chenggao County. The situation is now critical.

Moreover, some of Liu Bei's fleets sailed directly from the Yellow River into the Luo River, further utilizing the waterway of the Luo River to cut off the communications between the various units of Cao's army.

After hearing so much bad news, Cao Zhen became more and more anxious, and at the same time, he was a little surprised: "Zhou Yu's use of troops is really unexpected. I thought he would surround Hulao Pass first after landing, but why did he attack Chenggao County instead?

The pass is narrow and not deep, and if it is attacked from both sides, it will collapse within a few days. The county town has enough food to last... Could it be that he wants to occupy a county town on the south bank as soon as possible, and then send a steady stream of troops to lure our main force to Chenggao for a field battle?"

After thinking it over, Cao Zhen felt that this was the only possibility.

He felt that Liu Bei certainly did not want to storm Luoyang City, which was heavily guarded by troops. In contrast, if Cao's army was willing to fight a fair battle with Liu Bei on the south bank of the Yellow River, Liu Bei would definitely be happy.

The best way to lure Cao's army into a field battle was to show Cao's army that "Liu Bei's army has already secured the beachhead, but the area is not large, and if they try hard, there is still a chance to push Liu Bei into the river."

If Zhou Yu directly encircled Hulao Pass and broke it, Zhang Fei and Wei Yan would continue to pour in, and Liu Bei's army's land route into the Heluo Basin would be completely opened up. Then, Cao's army would see no hope of pushing the enemy into the river and would have no chance of coming out.

Of course, all of this was just Cao Zhen's imagination. The fact that he thought this way showed that he still didn't understand the enemy well enough, and he didn't even understand his uncle Cao Cao well enough. Given Cao Cao's scheming and suspicion, if the Zhuge brothers and Zhou Yu used this trick to lure the enemy and wanted Cao's army to fight a decisive battle on the plains with Liu Bei's army in the Heluo Basin, Cao Cao would definitely not fall into their trap.

Cao Cao has suffered enough losses and can definitely see through it.

Therefore, Zhou Yu did all this just to make Cao Zhen think that he would think so, and he was just predicting Cao Zhen's prediction of his own.

After Cao Zhen found the explanation, he sped up and tried his luck to push Zhou Yu back. If that didn't work, he would go around south of Chenggao and return to Luoyang, and give up Hulao Pass.

(End of this chapter)