My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 833 Cao Cao: I want to die like Xiang Yu

After capturing the outer city of Chang'an, Liu Bei was full of confidence. He secretly thought that Cao Cao's remaining troops were no more than 10,000 people. It was impossible for him to hold out relying only on the inner city and the imperial palace. His demise was imminent.

However, if Cao Cao neither surrendered nor fled, and Liu Bei had to attack head-on, then it would still take a long time to prepare to capture the inner city - the defensive fortifications that had been prepared for the attack on the outer city would have to be rearranged when attacking the inner city.

Even if some building materials can be reused, it takes time to dismantle them and rebuild them in a new place. And many heavy siege towers cannot be pushed into the city without being dismantled, because they are taller than the city gates.

If the vehicles are not dismantled, the city gates or walls will have to be demolished, which will be more expensive. It would be better to dismantle all the siege vehicles, then transport them into the city in parts and reassemble them.

Therefore, at this point, Cao Cao was doomed to die, but it was possible that Liu Bei would spend more than half a month to ensure the killing of Cao Cao. As long as Cao Cao did not surrender and Cao's army did not mutiny, Liu Bei was not sure that he could kill him in a few days.

However, Liu Bei was somewhat surprised by Cao Cao's retreating attitude. He couldn't understand what Cao Cao was still enduring and why he refused to die quickly.
Knowing that there is no hope of a comeback, is it interesting to drag on for another half a month? In the end, more than 10,000 people will die, and there is even the possibility that the inner city and the palace of Chang'an will be destroyed. Is it worth it?

As for the imperial palace in Chang'an, Liu Bei was not really worried because he had already established Luoyang as the capital. Chang'an was destined to be preserved as a secondary capital in the future, and no one would live in the imperial palace on a daily basis.

Even if Cao Cao eventually destroyed the imperial palace, Liu Bei would only need to slightly repair the outer walls and other face-saving projects that could show the dignity of the court so as not to embarrass the court.

As for the practicality and maintenance of the buildings in the palace, that is not important.

So he didn't quite understand what Cao Cao was dragging his feet on.

So while the army was preparing to besiege the inner city, Liu Bei had nothing to do, so one day he couldn't help but ask Zhuge Brothers for advice:
"When Cao gave up the outer city, he was decisive enough. He was willing to abandon more than half of his troops at once, just to retreat to the inner city. But after reaching the inner city, there was no movement. If he continues like this, there will be no chance of a turnaround.

"Ziyu, Kongming, what do you think Cao Cao meant by this? What on earth was he thinking? Didn't he think that 30,000 or 40,000 people couldn't defend such a large city like Chang'an? If he could have thought of it, he should have thought of it earlier. If he really wanted to defend it, he should have sacrificed his chariot to save his king at the beginning, and he shouldn't have realized it so late after suffering a great loss."

In terms of military tactics and strategies, Liu Bei was definitely not as good as Cao Cao. But Liu Bei knew Cao Cao too well, after all, they had been enemies for half his life, so he was so sure about this issue.

He guessed that Cao Cao must have other intentions, but he had not yet guessed what they were.

Zhuge Jin commented on this question: "I am also confused. If it was the first day after the outer city was breached, Cao Cao retreated to the inner city in a panic, maybe he wanted to take a breather and stay for two days to arrange his affairs.

But now the inner city has been under siege for three to five days. Cao knows he will die, but he still stays here. Maybe he has something on his mind? Maybe he is buying time for Cao Pi?
As we all know, Cao Pi is still holding on in Chencang. The cavalry sent to the west by our army also got the latest news, saying that Cao Pi is blocking the two exits of Chencang and Jieting. At the same time, in Longnan along Tianshui Jixian and other places, he blocked Xingba from going north from Qishan.

Cao Pi should have tried to rely on the two lines of defense of Longshan and Qinling Mountains to prolong his life for a while - although he could not survive for a few months. Perhaps Cao Cao just wanted to buy his son a little more time. "

Liu Bei stroked his chin and pondered for a while. He felt that there was some truth in it, but he thought there were other reasons, so he looked at Zhuge Liang again.

Zhuge Liang put down his feather fan, took a look at the sky outside, and said uncertainly: "The thief Cao relies on the inner city, and he must be hoping to use the palace to threaten us in exchange for some conditions. But he is not in a position to speak, and Your Majesty cannot negotiate with the thief, so it is difficult to guess. Even if we guess, the thief Cao does not know that we have guessed it, so we can only waste time like this."

Liu Bei was inspired by this and suddenly realized that he could look at the problem from a different angle. He thought about it for a while and asked, "Cao Cao doesn't think he can survive, does he? Not to mention him, even Cao Pi can't survive.

He was a usurper of the Han Dynasty, and since the two countries were not at war, he could still accept surrender. The only way out for the rebels who claimed the throne was to exterminate their entire clan. Even if we take a step back, let alone him claiming the throne, how did he treat Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang who did not claim the throne?

Yuan Shao did not claim to be an emperor, but only fought with him for hegemony. After his fall, weren't all his sons killed? Only my nephew Xiansi (Yuan Tan) saw the opportunity early and took the initiative to submit to me, thus saving his life and the title of nobility. If Xiansi had fallen into his hands, he would have been killed.

"This thief Cao can do it on the first day, and he wants to blame others for doing it on the fifteenth? Even if I exterminate his entire clan, it is just a return of favor, and it does not add a bit to the gain."

Liu Bei criticized it first with great enthusiasm.
However, the Zhuge brothers had surprisingly consistent views on the issue that Liu Bei was worried about. The two brothers looked at each other, and then Zhuge Jin spoke on their behalf:

"Your Majesty, don't worry about this. Cao is self-aware. He knows that he will not survive, and he also knows that Cao Pi will not survive. Perhaps he hopes to leave his body intact, or he just wants to find a more dignified way to die that will be recorded in history books."

"It is also possible that he hopes to delay Your Majesty from marching to the Western Regions so quickly, so that he can have another son, Cao Zhang, survive." Zhuge Liang added one more point right after his brother finished speaking.

Liu Bei immediately commented: "It is impossible to die with dignity... At most, let him die in a blaze of glory. As a usurper, even if he dies, it is necessary to be beheaded and displayed. Otherwise, how can we thank the world? At most, we can leave his body without a head and not deliberately split and dismember it. That would be enough to do him justice.

With this concession alone, he will have to hand over the palace intact, which can be regarded as a final way to save the world from losses. If there is any more resistance or damage, not even a corpse can be left for him!"

Only Liu Bei could say this. Zhuge Liang saw that the emperor had nodded in private before he could help think about how to proceed. After a brief thought, he suggested:
"Since Your Majesty is so magnanimous, the only thing left is how to convey Your Majesty's goodwill to Cao Cao without damaging the reputation of the court. So some things must not be said openly... How about doing it this way:
In a few days, let Yunchang go outside the north gate to challenge Cao Cao, and tell him to stop wasting time and come out to fight. Let's see if Cao Cao is willing. During the verbal battle, let Yunchang use words to intimidate, just say this... and see if Cao Cao can understand. If he understands and comes out to fight, then give him a spectacular death. "

After hearing this, Liu Bei immediately applauded.

But Zhuge Liang added: "However, in order to prove your majesty's magnanimity, perhaps you need to make some other magnanimous actions to prove from the side that your majesty may need to give up some of the spoils of previous generations.

This kind of action does not need to be done immediately, it can be publicized first and then fulfilled in the future. It depends on your majesty's own choice."

Liu Bei couldn't help but become curious: "What kind of spoils of war from previous generations can prove my magnanimity?"

Zhuge Liang: "For example... I am just giving an analogy, not a specific one. For example, when Emperor Guangwu was rejuvenating the country, he once obtained Wang Mang's head from the Green Forest and Red Eyebrows and kept it until now. I heard that when Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang, he moved away many treasures in the Luoyang treasury, and also took this head away.

When the late emperor returned to the east, he naturally could not ask Li Jue and Guo Si to return the collections in the Chang'an inner treasury, so those things were in the hands of Li Jue and Guo Si for a time. It was not until Cao Cao defeated Li Jue that these things were returned to Cao Cao.

But some of the items in the collection had no practical use, and Cao Cao did not transport them back to Xu County or Luoyang, including Wang Mang's head. In a few days, when Your Majesty asks Yunchang to challenge him, you can ask Yunchang to order Cao Cao to hand over Wang Mang's head, or let Cao Cao burn it in public.

In this way, it can show the world that "Wang Mang is not rare". There are many people in the world who want to usurp the Han Dynasty, but none of them succeed. Why does the Han Dynasty need a dead head that lived hundreds of years ago? Your Majesty has a broad mind and is not comparable to ordinary people.

Moreover, there is another advantage of doing so, that is, Wang Mang's head was not obtained by Emperor Guangwu himself. Wang Mang was not killed directly by Emperor Guangwu. Emperor Guangwu obtained the head from the Green Forest and Red Eyebrows.

And now, Your Majesty is no longer from the lineage of Emperor Guangwu, but is a member of a larger clan from a smaller clan. Your Majesty has made great contributions to the revival of the Han Dynasty for the third time. Why do you still need to cling to the relics of the second revival of the Han Dynasty by Emperor Guangwu?

Today, the academic style and orthodoxy in the world are very different from when Dong Zhongshu was revered. The theories of the correspondence between heaven and man and the disasters and anomalies have gradually been refuted. Scholars in the world are now gradually changing their beliefs to "the people's gains are the virtue of the king", believing that the prosperity of the palace will bring happiness, and the first mover will be punished. No matter how many Cao Caos and Wang Mangs come, they will be the same.

Rather than keeping the heads of both Wang Mang and Cao Cao, it is better to keep neither.”

Zhuge Liang had one last thing to say, which was that in this way, Liu Bei would be able to face other Han royal relatives who were "descendants of Emperor Guangwu" in the future, and it would be good for both Liu Bei and other Han royal relatives.

No one will ever think that "my bloodline is closer to the late emperor than Liu Bei's, and Liu Bei only relied on military force to revive the Han Dynasty three times."

Of course, whether anyone thought so or not, Liu Bei was not afraid. But in comparison, throwing away a dead head that lived hundreds of years ago was not harmful, or after weighing the pros and cons, Zhuge Liang thought the pros outweighed the cons.

Moreover, the premise of all this is based on the premise that Cao Cao is willing to come out and die. If Cao Cao is not willing to save the palace and come out to die, then these conditions are meaningless.

And if Cao Cao burned Wang Mang's head in public and Guan Yu acquiesced, then Cao Cao would know: Liu Bei was too lazy to collect Wang Mang's head, so why should he collect his?

This trust is established.

Zhuge Jin listened to these views and supported them, but of course his reasons were different. After all, Zhuge Jin was a modern soul, and he did not believe in ghosts and gods, nor did he care about the feudal remnants of using human heads to ward off evil spirits. He knew that Wang Mang's head was burned during the Eight Kings Rebellion in the late Western Jin Dynasty, and that thing had never been passed down.

When the people of Chu asked the Zhou emperor about the weight of the Nine Cauldrons, the Zhou emperor's envoy Wang Sunman could say the famous saying "Virtue is what matters, not the cauldrons", let alone Zhuge Jin.

So he also expressed his support.

Liu Bei saw that everyone agreed, and let the matter go.

……

One morning a few days later.

Cao Cao had been staying at the palace these days, thinking about which concubines he should kill, so that after his death, these women would not be snatched away by others and shared, which would make him suffer more shame after his death. In addition, he was thinking about how to negotiate with Liu Bei and use his own death to exchange for some conditions.

As a result, early in the morning of that day, a minister suddenly ran into the palace to report an emergency: "Your Majesty! There is an enemy general outside the north gate by the Wei River challenging you to a fight. He specifically asked your Majesty to answer and said that he hoped your Majesty would accept the challenge to avoid the destruction of the inner city."

Cao Cao looked at him and found that it was the Chief Censor Xi Lu.

Cao Cao was quite surprised by this news. He was thinking about how to reach a tacit understanding with Liu Bei, but it was not easy to negotiate openly. The other side actually sent someone to challenge him. Cao Cao couldn't help but wonder if Liu Bei had guessed his intention.

However, it is possible that he just wanted to trick him out and kill him. After all, in Liu Bei's eyes, he was a usurper, and there was no need to talk about the code of conduct when fighting against a usurper. He could just fight side by side, and no one would blame him.

Cao Cao was a little worried. He was not afraid of death, but he was afraid that he would die in vain without getting the conditions he wanted.

"Who is coming?" he asked cautiously.

"It's Guan Yu." Xi Lu replied quickly.

"Is it Yunchang? Then it shouldn't be a trick. It's quite decent to die under Yunchang's sword." Cao Cao didn't think any more about it. He ordered his horses to be prepared and the north gate to be opened to answer.

"Your Majesty, please ride in the sedan chair?" Xi Lu was worried whether Cao Cao's body could withstand riding a horse.

Cao Cao smiled in relief: "It's the last day, why are you still worried about your health? Well, take the sedan chair with you. I have to ride a horse when I leave the city gate anyway. Otherwise, how will the history books record me? Die in battle sitting on a sedan chair? That would be so shameful!"

A quarter of an hour later, Cao Cao opened the north gate of Chang'an and came out to answer the call with dozens of cavalry guards.

Guan Yu was standing opposite him, by the Wei River. The cavalrymen around him were at least twenty steps away from him. Cao Cao took a look and realized that it would be the same whether he brought guards with him or not, so he asked the guards to stand at the city gate and he went forward himself.

He believed that Guan Yu had some dignity.

"Why didn't Xuande come in person?" Cao Cao walked up to him and asked.

Guan Yu said proudly: "Your Majesty does not answer the usurper. Today, I am just challenging you to a fight. Cao thief, you have committed so many sins, and now you still occupy the old palace in Chang'an. If Your Majesty had not thought that the palace was left by the previous emperors and condensed the blood and sweat of the people, the royal army would have trampled you to the ground long ago!"

"How could Liu Bei be so reluctant to abandon a few abandoned old palaces and to let tens of thousands of people die? I don't believe it. Tell me, what did he ask you to come here today to persuade him?"

Guan Yu: "Your Majesty has ordered that you should take care of yourself. When you break into the palace, you must not set it on fire like Yuan Shu and Dong Zhuo did. As for the things left in the palace, Your Majesty does not care and did not mention them. Including Wang Mang's head, if you want to burn it to vent your anger, Your Majesty does not care."

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and suddenly understood something.

Guan Yu's words clearly showed Liu Bei's fearlessness and open-mindedness. As long as the old palace built with the blood and sweat of previous emperors and the people could be preserved, Liu Bei didn't care whether the things and property inside were burned or not.

But why was Wang Mang’s head mentioned specifically as an example?

After thinking about it for a while, Cao Cao finally understood the deep meaning.

Liu Bei didn't even bother to keep Wang Mang's head, so naturally he wouldn't bother to keep Cao Cao's head either.

As for the rest, such things cannot be discussed publicly, but just this introduction is enough to prove that Liu Bei understood what he was waiting for.

At least the Zhuge brothers around Liu Bei understood it.

Cao Cao suddenly burst into laughter. After a long while, he let out a long breath and sighed deeply, "I want to know a question. Apart from our Cao family, who else must die?"

When Guan Yu heard this question, he secretly admired Zhuge Liang in his heart, because Zhuge Liang actually expected Cao Cao to ask this question and had already told him the conditions in advance.

Guan Yu answered truthfully: "Apart from the Cao family, Jia Xu helped you kill Dong Cheng and Lu Bu, and twice wiped out the loyal ministers around the late emperor. His crime is unforgivable. No matter where Jia Xu flees to, Your Majesty will hunt him down at all costs!

In addition, Sima Yi had helped you to employ Sun Quan and even persuaded Situ Zhao to recommend Sun Quan as a talented person, so that you could accuse Situ Zhao of being selfish. The old ministers of three dynasties died in anger, and you were able to abolish the three officials and establish yourself as prime minister!
These two are your key accomplices on the road to rebellion, Your Majesty will not let them live!"

Cao Cao's heart finally settled down: although he would die today, the news would definitely get out. Ziwen (Cao Zhang) would definitely be alert and would not let Jia Xu follow him out of Yumen Pass. Even if Jia Xu tried to escape westward by himself, he would eventually be able to get away.

As for Sima Yi, he temporarily fled to Zihuan in Chencang. It was not known whether Zihuan could get rid of him, but it was useless even if he did, because Zihuan had been an emperor, and the next generation of the Cao family really needed a role model to die, otherwise how could Liu Bei vent his anger of wanting to exterminate the entire family.

Cao Cao didn't even dare to expect that no sons would die. He would be thankful as long as not all of his seventeen sons died and one or two of them could escape and survive.

"In this case, our army should have a fair fight with Liu Bei today, and there is no need to defend the city anymore - haha, back in Xingyang, Xiang Yu said to Emperor Gaozu, the world has been in turmoil for several years, and it's just because of the two of us. I am willing to challenge the King of Han to decide who is the better, so as not to make the people of the world suffer in vain.

Hasn't he always compared himself to Emperor Gaozu? Is he also afraid of Cao's swordsmanship, so he wants to learn from Emperor Gaozu's words, "I would rather fight with wisdom than with strength"? Well, if that's the case, Yunchang, you will do the fighting for him."

As Cao Cao spoke, he drew out the Sword of the Heavenly Sword with the arm that had not yet become paralyzed after his last stroke.

Guan Yu was stunned, but did not move. He looked at the other person as if he was watching a joke.

"Do you think I am too old and my swordsmanship is no longer good enough? Do you disdain to fight me?" Cao Cao had completely let it go and dared to say anything.
When Guan Yu didn't move, he took the initiative to ride his horse and wield his sword to meet him.

Guan Yu saw Cao Cao going crazy and was unsure for a moment, so he just swung his sword to block Cao Cao's weapon. Cao Cao was already weak and was almost knocked off his horse by the huge force he blocked.

"Hahaha, I fought till the very last moment. Since Yunchang is an old friend, I will do you a favor!"

These four words "I am as virtuous as you" were said by Xiang Yu to Lu Matong before his death in "Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of Xiang Yu".

Cao Cao was well-versed in history books, so he could naturally quote them skillfully at the last moment.

He imitated Xiang Yu's last words, laughed a few times, and committed suicide with the sword of the Heavenly Sword.

When Guan Yu heard the sound of a corpse falling behind him, he silently turned his horse around and "interceded" the still twitching Cao Cao - of course, there was no such word as "interceded" in the Han Dynasty.

Guan Yu's swordsmanship was very precise. He just chopped off the man's head, and it was done in one clean and neat move. Then he grabbed Cao Cao's hair bun and carried him back to the outer city without looking back.

He was also disdainful of splitting the body into five pieces like Lu Matong and Yang Xi did.

-

PS: The main text is almost finished here. There will be no update tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I will write about the endings of Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Sima Yi, Jia Xu and others later, which will be the finale.

Then, I will apply to complete the book, and then write some free extra chapters at the rate of one or two updates per week. I will not charge for it after the book is completed, so I cannot guarantee the quantity.

This way I can feel more relaxed during the New Year. In the next month or so, I will give you 30,000 to 40,000 words until I start a new book.

If nothing unexpected happens.

Alas, I feel more and more confused and less confident. I won’t say anything.

(End of this chapter)