The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

A few days later, Cao Cao led Guo Jia, Yu Jin, Xu Chu, Shi Huan, Zhu Ling, Lu Zhao, Cai Yang, Feng Kai, Yin Shu and other civil and military officials, along with 6,000 troops, to garrison Xindu, the capital of Anping State.

Upon learning that Cao Cao had personally led his troops to the city, Cao Chun, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Li Dian, the four generals, all went out of the city to apologize to Cao Cao.

Cao Chun, his voice hoarse and his face full of shame, prostrated himself on the ground and begged for forgiveness: "This humble general has suffered a crushing defeat and lost many men, failing the trust placed in him by the Minister of Works. I deserve to die a thousand deaths!"

Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Li Dian followed closely behind: "This humble general is incompetent; please punish me, Minister of Works!"

Cao Cao glanced at the four men, remained silent for a moment, then dismounted and personally helped Cao Chun up: "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Liu Bei is cunning, it's not that you didn't try your best."

He then said to Zhang Liao and the others, "Wen Yuan, Gong Ming, Man Cheng, rise and speak. I came to Anping to ascertain the situation and determine a strategy, not to punish anyone."

These brief words, especially the phrase "It's not that you didn't try your best" and the gesture of reaching out to help them up, were like a huge boulder being lifted off the shoulders of the four men.

All four generals had slightly red eyes, but they forced themselves to suppress their emotions and rose together to express their gratitude.

A moment later, the Xindu government office was brightly lit.

Cao Cao sat in the main seat, with Guo Jia, Yu Jin, Xu Chu and other civil and military officials standing on his left and right, while Cao Chun, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and Li Dian stood side by side in the center of the hall.

Looking at Cao Chun, Cao Cao's narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked calmly, "The battle report is not very detailed. When did the battle situation change? How did Miao Cai fall into enemy hands? Please tell me all the details."

Cao Chun dared not conceal anything and recounted the events of the battle at Lecheng in detail.

Cao Chun had already informed Cao Cao of the general situation in the battle report, but now, as he heard the details, Cao Cao's brows furrowed even more.

Glancing at the panicked state of Cao Chun and his four generals, Cao Cao suppressed his doubts and reassured them again: "Liu Bei is no ordinary man. You were able to make a decisive decision and protect the remaining troops as they retreated to Xindu, which is already your best effort. The responsibility for the defeat lies with my poor overall planning and inaccurate prediction, not with your fault in the battle. You need not worry about it anymore."

"Let us rest for today. Your troops will be temporarily organized and settled by Wenze. We will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss countermeasures. Fengxiao, please come with me to the back hall for the meeting."

"We will obey your command, Minister of Works!" The four generals bowed again to receive the order, their admiration for Cao Cao growing even stronger.

Cao Cao's calm demeanor and proactive attitude of taking responsibility, rather than simply reprimanding, were more effective in soothing the self-blame and fear of these defeated generals.

Then, Cao Cao got up and went into the back hall, with Guo Jia following closely behind.

"I never expected Miao Cai to be captured. Liu Bei's military campaign was meticulously planned, employing a strategy of the weak against the strong. He first weakened Miao Cai and Zi He's forces, then exploited their weaknesses. Their defeat was not unjust. It wasn't that they didn't try their best; it was simply that Liu Bei was more skillful." Cao Cao sighed softly, then continued, "After Yuan Rang was captured by Lü Bu's generals in Yanzhou, I established a military rule: 'From now on, if anyone takes hostages, the hostages must be eliminated along with them. Do not hesitate to eliminate them.' That's why I didn't mention rescuing Miao Cai earlier, only to uphold military law and serve as a warning to others. However, Miao Cai is of utmost importance to me, and I cannot bear to see him suffer. Fengxiao, do you have a good plan to rescue him?"

When dealing with external matters, we need to talk about military law and regulations; when dealing with internal matters, we need to talk about personal relationships.

Cao Cao could not openly mention rescuing Xiahou Yuan. From the moment Xiahou Yuan was captured alive, he was effectively dead in battle.

Any decision to openly rescue Xiahou Yuan would affect the authority of Cao Cao's military law, so Cao Cao could neither bring it up himself nor allow his generals to do so.

But in private, Cao Cao would never abandon Xiahou Yuan. Xiahou Yuan was a trusted general of Cao Cao's clan, to whom he could entrust his life. For Cao Cao, the death of Xiahou Yuan was far worse than the death of ten generals from other clans.

After all, it's hard to guess the thoughts of generals from other clans, and they are far less reliable than Xiahou Yuan, who can be entrusted with important tasks. This is the core reason why Cao Cao was committed to supporting Xiahou Yuan to take charge of things independently.

Guo Jia, with a confident expression, cupped his hands and said, “Minister, do not worry. I am certain that Liu Bei will not harm General Xiahou’s life. Liu Bei is cautious and prudent in his actions and does not wish to make too many deadly enemies. Even if he captures General Xiahou, he will certainly spare his life and use it as a bargaining chip to ask our lord for benefits.”

"I have also heard that our lord once betrothed General Xiahou's niece to Liu Bei's sworn brother Zhang Fei. Although the marriage did not take place due to the falling out between the two families, the girl has already fallen in love with Zhang Fei and has not married anyone else. Perhaps we could send a message to her, so that she may go to Liu Bei and offer herself in exchange for her uncle's return. I recall that during the famine years ago, General Xiahou sacrificed his own son to save his niece's life. This kindness and virtue is no different from being reborn, even surpassing that of a father."

"The Han Dynasty values ​​filial piety most highly. If Liu Bei sees that this woman is a model of filial piety and is willing to die to save her uncle, and also considers that this woman has gone through the five rites of betrothal, name inquiry, auspicious date selection, gift presentation, and wedding date setting with Zhang Fei, her feelings are pitiful and her righteousness is touching, even if he knows that this is no different from releasing a tiger back into the mountains, Liu Bei, as a man, would never be able to refuse her."

It must be said that Guo Jia truly understood Liu Bei's character and how to read people's hearts.

If the opponent were Sun Quan, it wouldn't be a matter of Xiahou Yuan's niece sacrificing herself to save her uncle; it would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog—a complete waste.

Since Liu Bei claimed to be restoring the Han Dynasty, he could not ignore the rules established by the Han Dynasty. If Xiahou Yuan's niece was willing to die to save her uncle but Liu Bei insisted on refusing, it would seriously damage Liu Bei's reputation.

Furthermore, Xiahou Yuan's niece is unwilling to marry another because of Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei himself is still unmarried. If Xiahou Yuan's niece were to die in front of Liu Bei, Zhang Fei would surely feel sorrow.

If someone had happened to advise Liu Bei against letting the tiger return to the mountain, Zhang Fei, even if he didn't dare to resent Liu Bei, would have taken his anger out on the person who advised him, thus creating an opportunity to sow discord.

Cao Cao felt relieved and said, "That's true, but if we directly implement this plan, Liu Bei will look down on me. Let's fight Liu Bei first. If we can win, there will be no need to implement this plan."

Subsequently.

Cao Cao then summoned Cao Xiu and ordered him to go to Qiao County to bring Xiahou Juan into Xindu. He also instructed Cao Xiu to conceal Xiahou Juan's whereabouts to avoid being discovered and causing any accidents.

After everything was arranged, Cao Cao sent a messenger to Guanjin to deliver a message to Liu Bei.

It is about sixty li from Xindu to Guanjin, which can be reached in half a day by light horse.

The messenger who went to Guanjin was Liu Dai, Cao Cao's former Chief Secretary to the Minister of Works. After suffering heavy losses, Cao Cao reassigned him to another post. Because Liu Dai had a connection with Lady Liu, Cao Cao did not give him an important position, but he would still often keep him under his command.

Liu Dai volunteered to deliver the message, hoping to regain Cao Cao's favor.

Cao Cao did not refuse, after all, Liu Bei knew Liu Dai's identity. By sending Liu Dai to Guanjin to deliver the message, Cao Cao wanted to observe Liu Bei's reaction and judge Liu Bei's strength and weakness.

After Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun's defeats, Cao Cao was no longer confident that he could defeat Liu Bei. His current actions were all attempts to gamble on a stroke of luck.

If Liu Bei was actually weakened, Cao Cao would have a good opportunity to counterattack. (End of Chapter)