In the Three Kingdoms period, the opening scene features the killing of Huang Gai, shocking Zhou Yu!

About two or three days passed.

The once arrogant and greedy Yang Song, whose name was prominently displayed atop the city wall of Chenggu County, now swayed pitifully in the wind like a frozen piece of cured meat, utterly dead.

The locals passing by the city wall occasionally didn't even bother to look up, at most spitting at it.

And the grassroots propaganda team led by Zhang Biao certainly did not disappoint Zhao Yu's arrangements.

He carried out the tasks assigned by Zhao Yu flawlessly.

Zhang Biao truly lived up to his reputation as a "friend of women," a title Zhao Yu jokingly referred to as such. It wasn't just an empty nickname used in casual conversation.

He led his gang of brothers, without putting on any airs of official authority, going door to door and through the villages.

We don't bother with these illiterate people and spout empty rhetoric like "Laozi manifested his power" or "the Yellow Heaven shall rise." We just stick to the real rules.

On the other hand, Zhao Yu had no intention of staying in Chenggu City for long.

He was never one to cling to power.

In his eyes, fighting and suppressing rebellions were mental tasks, while rebuilding after the war was purely physical labor and torture.

He was even less willing to waste his prime years checking mountains of household registrations and mediating trivial matters like Zhang San's family losing a pig and Li Si's family taking an extra plot of land.

Local governance is a bottomless pit; once you're entangled in all that paperwork, you really can't get out.

So, before leaving, in front of everyone, Zhao Yu decisively cut off the mess.

He packed up all the messes and dumped them all on Xiahou Dun.

The rights and responsibilities are clearly separated, and a "Guiding Opinions on Chenggu County" is thoughtfully attached.

It was a tough situation for Xiahou Dun; looking at the pile of bamboo slips and account books taller than a person, he couldn't help but joke.

"Brother Zhao, your ability to avoid idleness... has truly broadened my horizons."

All the officials in the court combined probably don't have half the shamelessness of you! Are you just going to leave me here all alone?

Zhao Yu didn't even turn his head; he had already stepped out the door, one foot already on the carriage.

In this situation, you have to run away quickly, and at most reply with one sentence, otherwise you might have to stay here.

"Professional matters should be handled by professionals. General Xiahou is strict in his military discipline, and these monsters and demons in Chenggu County need a fierce general like you to suppress them."

I still have important matters concerning the future of the nation to prepare for, General. I'll treat you to a drink when we return to Nanzheng!

……

It wasn't until the carriage ride back that Zhao Yu finally revealed his long-planned core scheme to Yang Xiu and Sun Shangxiang—he wanted to build a private academy in Hanzhong.

As Zhao Yu's wife, Sun Shangxiang has always been biased towards her relatives, regardless of right or wrong.

After hearing this, she immediately offered her support and even said that she could lead her female soldiers to be the first batch of students at the academy for Zhao Yu.

None of that is the most important thing. By the way, they can also act as the academy's law enforcement team, patrolling the courtyard with knives every day to keep Zhao Yu in check and see which student dares to disobey or skip class.

Yang Xiu's reaction was much more complex.

At first, I thought Zhao Yu just wanted to appear cultured, to set up an ordinary academy, teach the Analects or something, and gain some empty fame.

Once Zhao Yu deciphered the deeper meaning,

He swallowed all the doubts and instead, amidst the jolting of the carriage, spent the whole night helping Zhao Yu carefully refine his speech for meeting Cao Cao.

The group traveled day and night, and by the time they returned to Nanzheng Prefecture, it was already late at night.

Cao Cao has been in a great mood these past few days. During the day, he spends his time with Zhang Lu learning about the local conditions in Hanzhong, and at night he goes to "interrogate" the widow of Yang Song, who was specially sent by Zhao Yu and Xiahou Dun... Anyway, at this moment, Boss Cao is still awake and is handling important "military affairs" in the inner hall while wearing his outer robe.

Upon hearing that Zhao Yu had rushed back overnight to request an audience, Cao Cao immediately put down his pen.

He knows his cunning son-in-law all too well.

Zhao Yu usually prefers to sit rather than stand, avoiding trouble whenever possible. Unless the sky is falling, he would never deliberately come looking for trouble in the middle of the night.

This late-night request must be for something extremely important.

Cao Cao immediately ordered the dismissal of all irrelevant people around him, and even Xu Chu was sent flying ten meters away from the courtyard.

All that was prepared was warm wine and a few delicate side dishes, along with Zhao Yu and Cao Cao.

After Zhao Yu took his seat, he first gave a detailed report on the entire process of suppressing the rebellion in Chenggu and the subsequent arrangements for pacifying the people.

Throughout the process, Zhao Yu showed no intention of taking credit. He simply emphasized that Yang Xiu's strategy of impersonating Laozi was effective, and that Zhang Lu's Five Pecks of Rice sect had caused great harm by misleading people and encouraging corrupt officials like Yang Song to embezzle and accept bribes.

It was precisely because of the corruption of local officials and the superstition and ignorance of the people that he, an outsider, stumbled upon the loophole.

These words were a mix of truth and falsehood, downplaying the main points and striking the right balance.

Cao Cao nodded repeatedly, then picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"Good! I knew it. Not only can you strategize and win battles, but your ability to appease the people without bloodshed is also a hundred times better than those aristocratic scions in the court who only know how to sit and talk about philosophy!"

In this pacification of Hanzhong, not a single one of our soldiers was injured or killed. Such a feat would be first-rate anywhere!

Reward them, reward them handsomely.

"Speak! What reward do you want? Do you want more cities as your fiefdom, or do you want a higher official rank and a position among the Nine Ministers? As long as you ask tonight, no matter how big your appetite is, I will grant it all!"

This was the question Zhao Yu had been waiting for.

"Father-in-law, I don't want gold, silver, wealth, high-ranking positions, or generous salaries."

I have only one request tonight, and I earnestly hope my father-in-law will grant it—I wish to build an academy in Hanzhong.

This statement truly stumped Cao Cao, who was used to seeing all sorts of storms.

My hand, holding the wine glass, hovered in mid-air. I squinted and looked Zhao Yu up and down several times.

A moment later, Cao Cao revealed a mocking smile, a hint of a senior scolding a junior for speaking arrogantly.

"You little rascal, after winning battles for a few days, has your brain been blown out of shape by the wind?"

"The world is in chaos, with warlords ruling in their own territories, and the four seas are not yet unified. And you already want to take off your armor and become a schoolteacher like those pedantic scholars?"

Cao Cao was very unhappy.

"I was just overjoyed, thinking you were going to ask for some amazing military power or territory. But it turns out you've gone to all this trouble just to set up a school for teaching and learning?"

"Could it be that he has been staying in that poor and remote place of Chenggu for too long, and has become too lazy to care about anything else, so he wants to set up a place to keep some scholars and literati, or even women, to amuse himself?"

Zhao Yu, this is utterly a waste of your talents and a neglect of your duties!

These words were not a joke or a scolding; they were words of disappointment and frustration.

Cao Cao spent half his life in open and covert struggles with powerful clans and aristocratic families.

He knew better than anyone why powerful families monopolized the court—it was because of their family tradition of learning and their open-door policy of teaching and recruiting students.

Therefore, what he fears most is the control of academic discourse, something that is distasteful.

Build an academy? Nurture scholars? Recruit disciples? Form cliques and pursue personal gain?

This is precisely the most common and deadly tactic used by powerful clans to control the government and sideline the emperor!

Zhao Yu's move undoubtedly touched Cao Cao's most sensitive sore spot.