Cao Cao sat alone in the hall, the candle swaying in the wind, shaking Cao Cao's figure into an unhuman shape.
On the table were piled with bamboo slips sent from all over the world.
No good news.
The top of the bamboo slips outline the shocking four words "Empty Grouts in the Grouts" with cinnabar. The pen and ink are so deep that it almost seems that blood coagulates on it.
He reached out and pressed his swollen temple. The bronze beast-headed lampstand cast a thick shadow on his cheeks. The anxiety over the past month had dyed a lot of star frost on the hero's temples.
Cao Cao spent almost all his life "betting" from beginning to end.
Although there are factors such as Cao Cao's personal ambition, there is room for Cao Cao to bet when the Eastern Han system collapses.
During the reign of Emperor Huanling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, land annexation intensified, eunuchs and relatives took turns to autocracy, and the Yellow Turban Uprising completely tore up the imperial ruling system. When He Jin and Dong Zhuo successively disrupted the government, the collapse of the imperial power and the failure of the traditional bureaucratic system objectively provided the hero with room for rise.
Of course, this is also an inevitable change in Cao Cao's political survival, and this change occurred when Cao Cao first served as the important local position of "Jinan Prime Minister". Logically speaking, during Cao Cao's tenure, "a major political and educational establishment, a county clearance" should be a good thing, and his political achievements should be very good, but on the contrary, Cao Cao was excluded by the powerful and collectively put pressure on the Cao family, so Cao Cao could only be called sick and stepped down.
Cao Cao hindered the path of those powerful and corrupt officials, and cutting off the path of people and wealth was like killing his parents. Therefore, those powerful and corrupt officials were able to deal with Cao Cao in turn, and Cao Cao understood that there was nothing to indignate him. But what Cao Cao did not expect was that he had done so many things for the people of Jinan in Jinan, and risked the risk of being cut off his personal political life and being even arranged to be assassinated by the powerful and corrupt officials. As a result, when the Jinan people heard that Cao Cao was a descendant of "eunuch", they immediately turned their faces and followed those powerful and corrupt officials to ridicule and even insult Cao Cao.
Those people were happily discussing Cao Cao's lower three ways and discussing whether Cao Cao's length would be castrated like other eunuchs? Even if Cao Cao deliberately left a long beard, it was still useless. Some people would say that it was glued on someone else's hair. How could a normal person have such a long beard? Some people also talked about how Cao Cao's thing was gone, how did his wife give birth to a child? Could it be that who did it for him?
Then there was a burst of laughter, very happy.
But they forgot that they were able to stop and talk about this and laugh at that during their work because Cao Cao reduced labor and lowered taxes in Jinan.
Of course, most people are still kind, and these kind people will not participate in the discussion, but they are the silent majority. These silent people essentially encourage the arrogance of the commentators, making the commentators make the comments unscrupulously, control public opinion, and continue to influence others. In the end, even the silent people were turned into tigers by three people, becoming suspicious.
When Cao Cao left Jinan, not many people who had benefited from Cao Cao's political achievements in Jinan came to see him off. Some even said that this was Cao Cao's fame and not being fooled by the eunuch.
Facing Chen Lin's manifesto "recording his crimes", Cao Cao laughed and said that he was "recovering his head". Under the open-mindedness, he had deep inferiority complex.
On the one hand, this personality trauma was transformed into an innovation in his employment policy. The "Seeking for Talents" was issued three times to try to break the concept of the family of the gentry and use poor commoners to build a new power foundation. On the other hand, it also aggravated Cao Cao's worries. After taking over the legacy left by Yuan Shao, he could not get along well with the gentry in Jizhou, which eventually led to the separation of Jizhou and Yuzhou.
Cao Cao's killing Bian Rang, Xu You, Kong Rong, and subsequently killed other famous scholars of the gentry, also exposed Cao Cao's pathological psychology. His deep fear of the public opinion of the gentry and his powerlessness in this regard, he could only use killing to make people shut up...
Cao Cao could not learn from all political means and strategies in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Not like a wall hanging...
Personal ideals collide and break in the cold reality, the ambitions of young people sink and fall into the cold world.
When Cao Cao faced these helpless but unsolvable problems again, habitual solutions once again gained the upper hand...
Let's have another bet!
『Report——!』
The personal guards were in the hall.
With the clanging sound of armor, Cao Cao caught a glimpse of the sweat coming out of his guard's head and fell in a panic.
When he withdrew his gaze, the latest document had been presented to him. Yesterday, there was news that he wanted to count the granaries of Yuzhou warehouses. Tonight, there were three warehouses. They "accidentally" flowed out of water and were burned by a fire.
"The letter of the order is..." Cao Cao picked up his pen and commented on his writing, "Everyone who has passed the fire granary..."
Cao Cao was writing, and suddenly he felt the tip of his pen tremble slightly, and a drop of cinnabar fell and dripped onto the writing. He was slightly stunned. Then he immediately followed the dripping cinnabar and started his strokes, "Cut!"
The word "Zhu" is written in a particularly sharp way, and the last stroke is like a sharp blade with blood, which makes the eyes hurt.
After throwing his pen down and watching the clerk leave in a hurry, Cao Cao felt aggrieved in the hall, and the cloak he put on reached the city wall.
The night wind blew, which made Cao Cao's swelling and painful head seem to be slightly healed...
Faced with the public opinion clampdown and political challenges of the gentry family in the late Han Dynasty and the stupidity, ignorance and insensitive of the common people, Cao Cao tried to reconstruct power and find a balance between his iron-blooded skills and political wisdom.
He established a shogunate shogunate and put the policy of "only talent" from verbally to practice. Many of his military advisers and counselors came from poor families and entrusted the gentry to impartially, allowing middle and lower-level military generals to obtain certain promotions, adjust the so-called gentry celebrities to relatively "prime and noble" positions, and stripped away their administrative power.
Military troops were set up in the hinterlands of the gentry such as Yingchuan and Yanzhou, and the Diannong Zhonglang General directly controlled the land output, so that Cao Cao's economy would not be completely dependent on the gentry.
At the same time, Cao Cao also tried his best to recreate ideologically, turning the so-called "eunuchs and ugliness" to "responsible destiny" into "heir destiny", and through the declaration of Zhou Gong, he built a bronze croaker platform in Yecheng to fight against the discourse system of the classics of the gentry.
Although the school clerk was greedy and cruel, he was also a secret supervision system directly belonging to Cao Cao. With cruel officials such as Man Chong and Zhao Da as the core, he monitored the big clan...
All the means of waiting for it are certainly not a big deal in the eyes of keyboard warriors, but at least in history, it is a unique, innovative and change belonging to Cao Cao.
It’s not that Cao Cao is weak now, but that he has experienced thousands of years of historical experience to reduce the dimensionality. Who can resist it?
Not to mention thousands of years, even ordinary people, if they have the opportunity to go back to the past and face themselves who are foolish and stupid in the old days, will they also have the urge to step forward and slap in a few big mouths? Why were they so stupid and so stupid at the beginning?
Historically, Cao Cao cultivated emerging military landlords through the military farming system and gradually replaced traditional classical scholars; in cultural use of prophecies and divinations to reconstruct the narrative of destiny, eliminated the origin dilemma of "eunuched eunuchs and ugliness", and formed Zhou Gong's presupposed anchoring psychology; in political system, the two-headed system of "shuo-unuch plus Han court" paved the way for possible peaceful Zen generations in the future.
What a pity...
Fei Qian's accident occurred.
At the darkest time before dawn, Cao Cao stood on the gate tower of Xu County by his sword.
There are many warriors in the military camp far outside the city.
How many years have he led the army to fight?
Those once hot blood, those burning bamboo horses and wooden knives, those chopped heads, those who bowed down...
But now, all this seems to be vanishing.
"Ming Gong."
Xun Yu's voice came from the corridor of the city wall.
Cao Cao turned his head and saw that Xun Yu's robe was covered with night dew.
This man who was originally a romantic and elegant man has now been attacked by wind and frost and has become tired.
Cao Cao suddenly laughed, his laughter was still cheerful and kind. He stepped forward and took Xun Yu's hand and patted him twice, "Oh, thank you for your hard work over the years!"
Xun Yu's hand was colder than the night wind, like a piece of jade gui soaked in a cold spring.
『Hey!』 Cao Cao's heart trembled suddenly when he felt so cold, "Wenruo, why are you wearing so little?"
Cao Cao immediately took off the cloak on his body and put it on Xun Yu without saying a word.
Cao Cao's guards on the side also quickly asked someone to get the cloak again, while giving up his cloak to Cao Cao.
Xun Yu thanked Cao Cao and smiled bitterly, "I am a little anxious..."
Cao Cao took advantage of the light of the torch on the city to see the other party’s cuffs stained with ink, "But what news is there?"
Of course, it wouldn't be any good news, otherwise Xun Yu wouldn't be so anxious.
Of course, over the years, Xun Yu has been arranging matters almost day and night and mobilizing military rations...
The news of the fall of the plains that came a few days ago was even more heartbreaking than Fei Qian's troops rushing out of Hangu Pass.
Which one is more terrifying and hateful, the internal thief who takes advantage of the situation and the cruel and fierce foreign enemies?
Perhaps different people have different answers, but without exception, the order damage brought by internal thieves will far exceed that of external enemies. Historical experience shows that the damage of endogenous crises often presents chronic and fatal characteristics, just like organ failure in the human body, and exogenous shocks are similar to acute trauma, broken limbs, and even fatal wounds.
But what is really scary is the resonance effect of the two.
When internal corruption encounters external pressure, the civilized system will face the risk of systemic disintegration.
That's what the big man is like.
Now Cao Cao also deeply felt this decadent stench.
The two stood beside the battlements, facing the boundless darkness.
"The Chen family in Yingchuan ran away at night." Xun Yu took out a roll of silk book from his arms, and the silk surface was soaked in dew and slightly tide.
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, "I guess... it has something to do with the granaries?"
Xun Yu nodded.
The wind blew up the jade pendant on Xun Yu's waist, and it made a tiny sound on the bricks and stones of the city wall.
A gentleman is like jade.
But no matter how strong the jade is, it may not be able to withstand the impact and forging again and again.
The torch on the top of the city casts entangled shadows behind the two of them, and in a trance it looks like two interlaced long swords.
Cao Cao took a deep breath.
Chen Qun was in Yecheng, guarding Cao Cao's accompanying capital.
Cao Cao at his heyday had five "capitals" and now only three.
Oh, three and a half.
Now that half is about to disappear soon.
If Chen Qun...
Isn’t Yecheng also in danger?
"Changwen has been away from home for a long time and has no flaws in the clan. Some slutty and ingenious people are inevitable." Cao Cao said in a deep voice, "Changwen is serious and serious... There is no need to worry about severe punishment for Chen's son."
"Ming Gong..." Xun Yu wanted to persuade him again.
"No need to say more!" Cao Cao understood Xun Yu's worries, but he still decided so.
If you don’t deal with the Chen family, then others don’t have to deal with it.
For a moment, both of them fell silent.
The night wind whistled, rolling up the dust outside the city, bringing the unique earthy smell of mud and dust.
The sky is like a cover. Although there are stars, it is like a painting of stars above the tomb chamber, and even the light looks fake.
For some reason, Cao Cao suddenly remembered that when he left Jinan, the people who were blinded and incited by the powerful and powerful people, seemed to be so fishy. The bewitched people pushed down and smashed the stones of moral politics that Cao Cao had finally established. Those who had previously shouted about his kindness were thrown at his vehicle with the stones in the blink of an eye.
The moment the curtain was smashed down, he saw several young men in brocade clothes laughing in the crowd.
Cao Cao was furious, but he held back because Cao Cao knew that the powerful and powerful people of the gentry wanted him to be furious, and then let his guards kill and beat the people...
The same seems to be true now.
Stealing is not a temporary matter, but it was suddenly revealed at this moment!
The people in the Chen Qun family must be involved in the case, and there is no doubt about this, but the few people in the Chen clan can resell the granaries alone? This must be involved in other personnel.
A camel camel came out from the cracks of the battlements, and he leaned his head and crawled from one blue brick to another. He didn't know if he wanted to eat the moss on the blue brick or look for the next piece of oil.
Cao Cao was too lazy to pay attention to it and looked away.
There are insects everywhere...
And when you see a worm, it is not the only one in front of you.
Cao Cao remembered that after he was sick and returned home, he knelt in the Cao family ancestral hall. He saw insects crawling out of the gap between the blue bricks beside him, echoing in the ancestral hall with his father's voice. "Sir! How dare you talk about the Ten Constant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant As
The ten regular attendants are not just ten people.
The officials sold by the ten eunuchs are not only eunuchs.
Xun Yu's cough interrupted his memories.
The Adam's apple of Yingchuan Yulang slid slightly under the flames, as if he had swallowed a bitter fruit with thorns.
"Ming Gong..." Xun Yu's voice seemed to be hoarse because of this bitter fruit. "No matter whether it succeeds or fails... After this battle, the great Han gentry... may at least half of them die..."
This is not only the case in Yuzhou and Jizhou, but also in other prefectures and counties.
Faced with such a large group, Xun Yu couldn't help but feel the fear of the unknown.
"Wen Ruo knows if..." Cao Cao looked up slightly, looked into the distance, his fingers unconsciously rubbed the sword hilt and the dragon pattern. "When the people of Jinan threw stones into my car, they were much more open-minded than the current children of the gentry... I would rather let these thieves meet in front of me than be bitten by these insects in the future!"
『Wen Ruo,』 Cao Cao turned around, 『This man is already sick... If you and I still have time to live, they may be able to slowly eliminate evil and strengthen the body and replenish vitality... But now... now they can only be evil again... Even this time, they will still be thrown into earth and rocks by the people and cursed them endlessly, and they will still...』
Cao Cao sighed, "The way of cavalry is indeed extraordinary...but this way of cavalry is not the way of the Han Dynasty! I have done similar things in Jinan...and how did the people of Jinan treat me? I heard that cavalry treat the people well in Chang'an, but what will happen to those people after the cavalry leaves? What can the people of Jinan and Guanzhong make a difference? When they get the good, they smile and don't get the benefits, they will scold them angrily, and they will fly stones!"
Cao Cao looked up and looked at the dawn light exposed in the sky. He chanted with a sound, "The dark clouds are shaking the sun, the yellow sand is covering the sky, the carriage is staggering, and I go to Jinan. Holding the bridle and wandering, mourning this city wall. The head of Guizhou is covered with stones and dust is rising."
"I have once hung a mirror in the government office to shine the lungs and intestines of dirty officials. I have destroyed three thousand lewd temples and stained more than a hundred embroidered men with blood. But I know that the jackals and tigers have not disappeared, and foxes and rats have followed them. The granaries are full, and they have fed tigers and wolves. The fields are flat, and the graves are deserted. There is no way to argue with the hundreds of people. The innocent children turn into monsters and misunderstand the blue sky, and the transformation is impermanent."
"Boyi died in the sun, how could Zhou Micao be dirty? Qu Zi drowned in Miluo, and the fish's belly was better than a cauldron. The people's ignorance is not the crime of the people, and the officials' greed is actually the disaster. Suddenly, I remember that Guan Zhong fired the hook and Bao Shu took off his clothes to cure arrow sores. Who in the world knows the true liver and gallbladder? Only the historical pen engraved. "
"The wind and thunder are rising, and the clouds are flying. How can I get a strong soldier to guard all directions? The rivers are turbid and the stars are dark. When will the sun and moon light be reopened? Even if the rubble hits my car, this heart will not be hurt. I will pass Jinan Road again in the future and see the vastness on the Phoenix Platform..."
Xun Yu was speechless.
It’s not that they don’t understand what Fei’s potential is doing, but that they don’t believe that Fei’s potential can succeed.
In Chinese history, one emperor and another minister!
This "subject" may not be limited to those "subjects" in the court!
Just like the later generations of Midi, they originally advocated that blue-collar workers are awesome and middle-class people are happy, and that the benefits are good and the medical care is beautiful. There is no need to worry about retirement in the future. But what happened later? When all the promises were invalid, were the people of Midi angry? Angry, of course, angry, but who is the target of anger? The last mayor who caused the blame, or a middle- and low-level official, was that.
president?
That must have been blinded!
So, can Fei Qian's plan be successfully implemented in Shandong?
Cao Cao didn't believe it.
Xun Yu also didn't believe it.
The night faded slowly and a new day began.
Xu County, who was originally dead, seemed to have come back to life.
The sound of the city in the city drifts with the wind.
As the shouts of selling food, the wooden spoon and the ceramic jar collided, and the ding dong was like a ring of pendant.
Cao Cao listened and watched, his brows gradually stretched.
In this hustle and bustle of the city, Cao Cao heard a more moving rhythm than "Guangling San", which was the sound of the new order breaking the ground on the corpses of the old dynasty.
Maybe it's his, maybe it's Fei Qian's, but no matter who it's, it's new.
New sound, new vitality.
It is the power to make this decaying, grave-like man come back to life.
Cao Cao listened with his ears and laughed. He suddenly pulled out his sword and inserted it into the gap in the city wall, crushing a worm trying to climb back into powder.
When the sword body buzzed and reflected the first ray of sunrise, Cao Cao saw his reflection overlapping with Xun Yu's side face on the sword spine, as if some newly cast bronze pattern was engraved with the inscriptions from the Han Dynasty for nearly four hundred years...