My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Although Cao Cao implemented the Nine-Rank System and delegated the power to select officials to the gentry, he still had his limits.

One of the bottom lines is to maintain the Han Dynasty's system of avoiding conflict.

The prefect of a region cannot be a person from the prefecture or even the state.

Why?

This was to prevent local aristocratic families from becoming too powerful and gaining the strength to control prefectures and counties, and to disobey the imperial court.

Sima Yi's suggestion was to abolish this avoidance system and instead appoint a powerful family from a prefecture as the prefect.

The benefits of doing this are obvious.

The governor is a powerful clan in the prefecture, so when the Chu army attacks, the governor will surely resist more resolutely.

In addition, the governor was a local, so he could mobilize the strength of his own family to the maximum extent and call on other powerful families in the county to contribute money and effort to resist the Chu army at all costs.

In this way, the potential of the prefecture to resist Chu can be fully tapped.

But this is also a double-edged sword.

The governor of a prefecture already wields great power, and since his family is a prominent clan in the prefecture, he can easily appoint his clansmen to important positions of all sizes within the prefecture with a simple stroke of his pen.

Given time, wouldn't this entire prefecture become the private property of one family?
What if this prefect becomes ambitious and, like Cao Cao, wants to declare himself a duke or king and establish his own independent territory?
If this is the case in one prefecture, what if it is the case in ten prefectures, or even in all the prefectures of the country?
At that time, wouldn't your Wei court become an empty shell, with its orders not even leaving Ye City? Wouldn't you, Cao Cao, be following in Liu Xie's footsteps?

This is the drawback and hidden danger of Sima Yi's proposal.

"Zhongda's first plan is... it's feasible. You all go and discuss it again, and draft a list of capable people from each prefecture to submit. After I've considered it, I'll appoint them as prefects of each prefecture."

After only a brief consideration, Cao Cao adopted Sima Yi's first suggestion.

Cao Chong's expression changed, and he looked at Cao Cao in disbelief, clearly not expecting Cao Cao to adopt his suggestion so readily.

Father, are you not going to consider the drawbacks of this?
If local governors become too powerful and establish their own independent regimes, how will this situation be resolved?

"Father—"

Cao Chong immediately wanted to object.

"Father is wise."

Cao Pi, however, preemptively interrupted Cao Chong with a respectful remark, and continued:

"Our army suffered tens of thousands of casualties in the battle of Henan. With the current strength, it is really difficult to stop the Chu army from invading our Hebei."

"If Father uses Zhongda's plan, he will surely be able to entice the powerful families of the various counties in Hebei to devote all their strength and spare no effort to resist the Chu invaders and protect our Great Wei."

"My father is truly wise!"

After this round of flattery, Cao Cao's expression relaxed considerably, and he couldn't help but sigh that Cao Pi understood him best.

Cao Chong was startled and suddenly understood Cao Cao's predicament.

Sima Yi's strategy did indeed have drawbacks and hidden dangers, but at present, the most important thing for Wei was to reorganize its military forces, block the Chu army's next northern expedition, and defend Hebei.

With insufficient troops, how can you stop the Chu army from crossing the Yellow River and invading the north?
If you cannot stop the Chu army, Hebei will fall, and if Hebei falls, the Wei state will surely perish!
If the capital is lost, what's the point of worrying about local prefectures and kingdoms becoming too powerful and independent?
First and foremost, I need to survive...

Cao Cao was forced to abandon long-term plans and prioritize the immediate task of resisting Chu, based on his desire to survive, and thus delegated the position of prefect to a local powerful family.

"Ah~~"

After understanding Cao Cao's predicament, Cao Chong had no choice but to swallow his words of advice and helplessly shook his head with a sigh.

Sima Yi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly showered Cao Cao with compliments and praises.

Then, with a quick glance and a change of tone, she asked again:
"Your Majesty, regarding the second countermeasure I proposed, concerning the Xianbei, Xiongnu, and other non-Han peoples..."

"Your second plan is absolutely unacceptable!"

This time, Cao Cao's face darkened, and before Sima Yi could finish speaking, he waved his hand and interrupted him sharply.

Sima Yi frowned.

A surge of pride ignited in Cao Cao's eyes as he arrogantly declared:
"My ambition back then was to become the General Who Conquers the West for the Han Dynasty, to expand the territory and drive out the barbarians."

"Although I am now the King of Wei, how can I change my original intentions, associate with the barbarians, and even lead their iron cavalry into the heart of my Great Wei, drinking from the Yellow River?"

"Although my Great Wei is currently weaker than the pseudo-Chu, I have not stooped to the point of being shameless enough to lead the Hu people south to help me resist Liu Bei."

Cao Cao, with an arrogant expression, explained the reason.

To put it bluntly, I, Cao Cao, still have some sense of shame.

I am, after all, the ruler of the great nation of China, the King of the Great Wei.

Back then, when Gongsun Zan was forced into such a desperate situation by Yuan Shao, almost to the point of destruction, he never bowed his head to the Wuhuan and Xianbei barbarians for help.

I, Cao Cao, still hold the land of five provinces, I still have the natural barrier of the Yellow River, and I still have the power of the Hebei gentry to use. You want me to go and associate with the Hu people, call them brothers, and beg them to send troops to help me?

Where do I, Cao Cao, put my face?
Seeing Cao Cao's stubbornness, Cao Pi became anxious and opened his mouth to try to persuade him.

Sima Yi coughed lightly and gave him a wink.

Cao Pi instantly understood and had no choice but to swallow back the words that were about to come out.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for my second plan, which was indeed ill-considered."

Sima Yi first bowed and apologized, then sighed:

"I only believe that relying solely on the strength of the Hebei gentry is probably not enough to make up for the losses of our army and to have an absolute chance of stopping the Chu army from invading the north."

"Only by leveraging our cavalry advantage can we compensate for our inferior infantry strength." "Our original Youbing cavalry was almost completely wiped out in the various battles in Henan. Although we were able to replenish our Xiliang cavalry after the pacification of Liangzhou, it was still not enough to create an overwhelming cavalry advantage against the pseudo-Chu."

"The Xianbei and Xiongnu are primarily cavalry. If we could get them to join the battle, just tens of thousands of cavalry would be enough to make our Yellow River defense line impregnable, preventing that big-eared thief from crossing the river and invading Hebei..."

Although Sima Yi outwardly apologized, he subtly pointed out all the benefits of leading the Hu people south, attempting to entice Cao Cao.

Cao Cao stroked his short beard, remaining silent as he listened quietly to Sima Yi finish speaking.

After pondering for a long time, Cao Cao took a light breath and waved his hand, saying:

"I know that you, Zhongda, are acting in the name of the survival of our Great Wei, so how could I blame you?"

"However, in my opinion, with the Yellow River as our natural barrier, if we can also gain the support of the heroes of Hebei to fight together against the enemy and protect our Great Wei, then holding the Yellow River defense line should be a piece of cake."

"As for the second countermeasure you mentioned, I'll pretend you never said it, and I haven't heard anything about it either."

Sima Yi swallowed hard.

Cao Cao struggled with the decision for a long time, but ultimately chose face over substance, refusing to associate with the barbarians.

Moreover, Cao Cao was very confident.

He believed that as long as the potential of the Hebei gentry was fully mobilized, coupled with the natural barrier of the Yellow River, it would be no problem to withstand the advance of the Chu army.

Sima Yi had no choice but to accept reality and dared not offer any further advice.

"My lords!"

Cao Cao slowly rose, leaning on his cane, and glanced at his ministers, his eyes once again gleaming with a long-lost arrogance.

"Although we have lost Henan, we still hold Hebei, and the Guanzhong and Liangzhou regions are also in our hands."

"Most importantly, Ji Province is in our hands. One province is enough to defeat all the provinces in Henan under the pseudo-Chu regime!"

"Moreover, I have the Yellow River as a natural barrier, you brave generals and strategists who are willing to go through fire and water for me, and the gentry of Hebei who are willing to share weal and woe with my Great Wei."

"I believe that as long as we, the ruler and his subjects, are of one mind and work together, if that big-eared scoundrel dares to send troops to invade, we will surely be able to crush him and send him fleeing in disarray!"

"My lords, are you willing to fight alongside me and defend our country to the death?"

The encouraging words of Haolie, who was full of arrogance, echoed among the ministers.

The officials' dejected mood, caused by the loss of Henan, seemed to be largely dispelled by Cao Cao's pep talk.

then.

Everyone stood up abruptly and shouted in unison:
"We are willing to fight to the death for Your Majesty and swear to defend our country!"

"We are willing to fight to the death for Your Majesty and swear to defend our country!"

Looking at the ministers who responded so generously, Cao Cao felt relieved. He looked up at the south and a smug smile appeared on his lips.

"You big-eared thief, didn't you want to emulate your ancestor, Emperor Guangwu?"

"Unfortunately, you forgot that Emperor Guangwu rose to power in Hebei and was able to sweep across the land with the support of the powerful clans of Hebei."

"Now that I have Hebei and Jizhou in my hands, and enjoy the support of the Hebei gentry, I want to see how you will cross the Yellow River and destroy my Great Wei!"

With the plan settled, Cao Cao dared not delay and issued an edict five days later, appointing a large number of powerful and influential families from various counties and kingdoms in Hebei as governors and prime ministers.

Thus came the Yan family of Guangping, the Li family of Zhaojun, the Cui family of Hehe, the Zhang family of Hejian, the Zhen family of Zhongshan, the Zhao family of Changshan, the Sun family of Julu, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Sima family of Henan, and the Wang family of Taiyuan…

Apart from a few key commanderies and kingdoms such as Wei Commandery and Hedong Commandery, Cao Cao appointed local gentry and famous scholars as governors of almost 70% of the commanderies and kingdoms in the three provinces of Hebei.

Cao Cao's implementation of the Nine-Rank System was widely supported by the gentry of Hebei, who contributed a great deal of money, grain, and private troops to fund the national treasury.

However, most of the previous wars took place in Henan, and the Hebei gentry contributed little.

After all, there was still competition between the Hebei gentry and the Henan gentry.

Now that Henan has been lost and scholars from Henan have lost all influence in the state of Wei, and Hebei has been exposed to the military might of the state of Chu, the scholars of Hebei can no longer stand idly by.

With this edict, Cao Cao was essentially announcing that he would "govern the world together" with the scholars of Hebei!
With such enormous incentives, the scholars of Hebei, both for public and private reasons, naturally had no reason not to devote all their efforts to fighting for the State of Wei.

As soon as the edict was issued, the whole of Hebei was in an uproar. The gentry and powerful families in various prefectures all wrote letters to express their loyalty and rushed to offer grain and soldiers.

While Cao Cao was "ruling the world together" with the scholars of Hebei, Liu Bei was implementing the imperial examination system, the military system, and the equal-field system in the newly acquired Yanzhou.

Given the stark contrast between Cao Cao's digging of the Ji River to flood the people and Liu Bei's dispatch of troops to rescue them, he naturally won the hearts of the people of Yanzhou with ease.

During the Battle of Yanzhou, the Cheng family and other Yanzhou gentry suffered heavy losses and were naturally powerless to oppose the implementation of the Three Systems.

Thus, within just one month, the three systems were successfully implemented in Yanzhou with almost no resistance.

Xudu area.

Liu Bei, having returned to the capital in triumph, naturally dared not let his troops rest. While implementing the three-system policy to allow his soldiers to recuperate, he began to discuss with his advisors, including Xiao He, a plan to cross the river to attack Wei and recover Hebei.

On this day, at the Xu Du Royal Palace.

Liu Bei and his ministers were gathered around a sand table, discussing strategies for recovering Hebei.

A guard came to report that Grand Tutor Kong Rong had come from Yingtian and was ordered to deliver an imperial edict to Liu Bei.

The Emperor's decree has arrived!
Liu Bei immediately put aside his work and personally led his officials out of the palace to welcome Kong Rong.

After exchanging pleasantries and laughter, Liu Bei welcomed Kong Rong into the palace and led his officials to receive the imperial decree.

Kong Rong stood before the hall, unfurled the imperial edict, and loudly proclaimed:
"King Chu has recaptured the old capital and recovered Yanzhou, rendering meritorious service to the state. Therefore, he is hereby granted the title of Grand Chancellor, the Nine Bestowments, and the power to enter the court without hastening his departure, to be honored without naming his name, and to wear a sword and shoes in the palace!" (End of Chapter)