Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Cao Rui talked with Wang Su, Ge Xuan, Cao Zhi, Wei Dan and others until late into the night, and they all left together after midnight.

Zhi Qian and his Buddhist sect were formally rejected by Wang Su and explicitly ordered to be expelled from the territory of the Great Wei.

Zhang Sheng of the Five Pecks of Rice sect was excluded from the final discussion. According to Cao Rui and several of his ministers, the Five Pecks of Rice sect was of no benefit to the Wei dynasty, both in terms of its religious theories and organizational structure.

As for Liu Chang, who was a 'fake' Yellow Turban Taoist, needless to say.

Only Ge Xuan, a practitioner of alchemy, received Cao Rui's praise and support, and was allowed to spread his teachings in the Wei Kingdom.

It was less a doctrine and more a cultivation method. Ge Xuan himself had explicitly promised Cao Rui that he would not develop a large following, but would only select those with excellent aptitude to pass on the Dao of Alchemy.

Ge Xuan also found a good way to explain his dependence on the imperial court: his cultivation not only required using his body as a furnace to cultivate the inner elixir with essence, qi, and spirit, but also required many precious medicines, treasures, and costly items for the refinement and assistance of the outer elixir. His past dependence on Sun Quan and his present offering of alchemical methods to His Majesty were both for this reason.

Now that Ge Xuan had established connections with the upper echelons of Wei, Cao Rui asked him if he wanted the court to bestow a title upon him. Ge Xuan did not use the title "Celestial Master" that Sun Quan had bestowed upon him during the Wu Kingdom, but instead requested the title "True Man" as his own.

Cao Rui readily agreed.

The term "True Person" is described in the *Huainanzi* as meaning neither death nor life, neither emptiness nor fullness. The *Zhuangzi* states that the ancient True Persons did not know how to enjoy life, nor how to fear death; they were neither elated by their coming out nor resentful by their coming in, thus earning their name.

As for Guan Lu, whose divinations were accurate and repeatedly demonstrated his miraculous abilities, he also clearly stated to the emperor that although his divination techniques had a theoretical basis, the various inspirations and changes during divination and physiognomy could only be mastered by himself and were difficult to pass on to others. Cao Rui and Wang Su also believed that Guan Lu's miraculous abilities were unlikely to form a sect and were different from other sects such as the Way of Peace, the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, and the Alchemy Sect.

However, after everyone left, only Wang Su remained sitting upright in the study, keeping Cao Rui company all night.

Cao Rui rubbed his eyes, stood up from his seat, leaned back in the recliner, and looked at Wang Su: "Is Wang Qing sleepy?"

Wang Su cupped his hands and replied, "It's alright, Your Majesty. I'm not on duty tomorrow, so I'll have time to catch up on my sleep."

For a top student like Wang Su, staying up all night to study is nothing unusual. Even if he doesn't sleep all night, he can still study or handle official business the next day without any problems.

This is an innate ability.

Cao Rui sighed softly: "I summoned so many people here, intending to select and train a few from these Taoist and Buddhist sects, so that they could spread throughout the Great Wei and become loyal to the emperor and love the country. But now it seems that all these religions are of little use."

Wang Su remained silent for a few moments, then asked seriously, "The doctrines of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect and the Way of Great Peace are crude. If the situation is turbulent, it will be conducive to rebellion and chaos. The Dao of Alchemy seeks only self-liberation, and Buddhism is something that came from the Western Regions and has nothing to do with the Central Plains."

"I believe that if they are unusable, then they should not be used at all."

Cao Rui raised an eyebrow: "Then what should we do?"

Wang Su continued, "What does Your Majesty wish the people to believe in?"

Cao Rui thought for a moment: "People's lives are always full of hardships, and when they encounter difficulties, they will naturally seek solace from the gods. If there are no gods to worship, they will worship mountains and rivers, and may even go so far as to worship the ghost of Dong Zhuo."

"If you want me to explain, the most important thing is to find something for the people to worship." "This is a wooden or clay sculpture for worship." Wang Su cupped his hands and said, "Does Your Majesty have anything else to say?"

Cao Rui shook his head and chuckled: "Even if you asked me to explain this, I wouldn't be able to do so in detail right now. However, there are a few points that need to be confirmed. For example, we cannot worship too many gods, nor can we use things like hell to frighten the people just because they don't believe in religion, nor can we squander money like the Buddhist temples in Zuo Rong. Confucian rites are much better. Even the highest sacrifice is only for the largest offering, and the meat can be shared after the ceremony, so it is far from wasteful."

"Oh, and one more thing, is to persuade people to do good rather than evil."

Wang Su pursed his lips: "Your Majesty, if that is the case, I suggest that we focus on worshipping Heaven and Earth, the Five Emperors, and the Five Sacred Mountains. If we want to go further, we can choose some virtuous people to worship."

Cao Rui yawned: "Worshiping the Five Emperors and the Five Sacred Mountains is something that won't go wrong, but it's a bit tedious. Perhaps we need to do some supernatural and miraculous things to attract people to believe in us... Today I'll give you a general overview. Let Wang Qing handle these matters slowly; there's no rush."

"You should go back and rest."

"Yes." Wang Su bowed and stood up, but did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he asked another question in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I have another question to ask you."

Cao Rui nodded: "Tell me."

Wang Su said, “Your Majesty is wise beyond compare. I have always studied the classics and am quite intelligent. In the eyes of Your Majesty and me, the Five Pecks of Rice sect’s talk of ghosts and gods, the Way of Great Peace’s talk of the Yellow Heaven, and Buddhism’s talk of Buddha, ghosts, and hell are all just words to fool and frighten the people.”

"What I want to say is, does Your Majesty hope that the people will believe in the future, so that they will remain ignorant and foolish, or will you enlighten and educate them, enabling them to distinguish right from wrong?"

Upon hearing Wang Su's question, Cao Rui rose from his reclining chair, straightened his robes, and answered solemnly:

The Tao Te Ching says, “Those who were good at governing in ancient times did not enlighten the people, but rather kept them ignorant. The people are difficult to govern because they are too clever.” The Analects says, “The people can be made to follow a path, but they cannot be made to understand it.”

"I know these two sentences have always been interpreted in different ways, but I want to make it clear to you, my minister Wang, that I despise the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, the Way of Great Peace, and Buddhism because I do not want the people to be fooled by these religions. I hope that the religions believed by the people of Great Wei can enlighten them, make them wise, and gradually make them eager to learn!"

Wang Su said, "If everyone understands the principles, the people will be enlightened, which will be detrimental to the rule of the court."

Cao Rui said, "It is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it may take hundreds of years. The court should naturally implement good policies, so why worry about such future matters?"

"Wang Qing, go ahead and consider it at your own pace. I will also think about it some more."

"Your subject obeys the decree and takes his leave." Wang Su bowed and left, leaving Cao Rui alone in the study, staring blankly at the flickering candlelight.

Guan Lu was skilled in physiognomy and divination, while Ge Xuan was skilled in alchemy and also knew divination and prophecy. However, Ge Xuan clearly told Cao Rui today that those transformation techniques were merely illusions, insignificant, and that the emperor should not inquire about them.

In short, the various strange occurrences were far from exceeding Cao Rui's expectations.

I just wonder if, when the day comes that I have pacified the world, I will know how I came to be in this era.
Let's wait and see. (End of Chapter)