Double penetration: This Three Kingdoms has dragon energy

Chapter 179 Selecting Cai Yong
“Please rise, Lord Ji. I am unworthy of such praise. I must thank you for taking care of my daughter these past few days,” Cai Yong said solemnly.

In the study, Cai Wenji had already told Cai Yong everything that had happened on the street.

Unlike Cai Wenji, Cai Yong immediately recognized the name Ji Qiu upon hearing it.

Then I was deeply shaken.

This shock even surpassed the news he had just received about Chae Jeong-hee.

After all, Ji Qiu is no ordinary person these days.

He was a first-rate warlord, the strongest ruler who controlled a region.

How could such a powerful figure suddenly appear in Chang'an City?

What exactly is his purpose in coming here?

Standing behind Cai Yong, Cai Wenji's plain white sleeves hung down beside her green bamboo staff, like a snow-white curtain being lifted by a sudden gust of wind, while her knuckles had turned bluish-white.

Those eyes, usually as calm as the Luo River, trembled violently, reflecting the face of the person before them, like a cold pool thrown into a boulder, the ripples breaking the usual composure.

The cicadas' chirping abruptly ceased among the sycamore leaves. In the stagnant air, the ends of her drooping hair swayed slightly with the gentle tremor of her neck, and the silver hairpins in her hair jingled softly.

Beneath the sandalwood hairpin, a startled and beautiful face was pressed down, her expression filled with shock, which coalesced into a glistening tear on her eyelashes, about to fall.

She hadn't thought about it carefully at first, but it was Cai Yong's reminder that made her realize who Ji Qiu was.

This stirred something within her as well.

Ji Qiu chuckled lightly. He was not surprised by Cai Yong and Cai Wenji's astonished expressions; in fact, he had expected it.

He never intended to conceal his identity, so when he first met Cai Wenji, he directly revealed his name.

I thought that Cai Wenji would be shocked at that time.

Unexpectedly, Cai Wenji did not react at all, which almost made him think that he had misjudged the situation.

Only then, seeing the shocked expressions on the father and daughter's faces, did I realize that things were finally back on track.

Ji Qiu then laughed and said, "Lord Cai, you flatter me. When I first arrived in Taishan County, I encountered the rebellion of the three great families of Taishan. After suppressing the rebellion, I rescued your daughter from the fire."

Later, your daughter became my lady-in-waiting and gave me a lot of help.

Later, my love and I reconciled and became husband and wife.

Looking back, your daughter has helped me a lot; it's really not me taking care of her.

"Is that so? Then I'm relieved." Cai Yong's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he said noncommittally.

To be honest, he didn't have a good impression of Ji Qiu.

Because both sides had both public and private grudges.

In terms of public grudges, he is one of the representatives of the powerful clans, and Ji Qiu's reputation for suppressing the powerful clans has spread throughout the world. It is not to say that everyone knows about it, but anyone who pays attention to this kind of news has basically already known about it.

Regarding personal grudges, when Cai Yong first arrived in Taishan County in late autumn, the Taishan clan he eliminated was a close friend of Cai Yong.

Otherwise, he would not have entrusted his youngest daughter to Lady Yang of Taishan when he was demoted.

Although Ji Qiu had already established the reputation of the Taishan clan as a rebel during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, Cai Yong was well aware of whether the Taishan clan had actually rebelled.

He knew perfectly well why the Taishan clan was exterminated.

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly have any good feelings towards Ji Qiu?

It can be said that the reason he is able to refrain from kicking Ji Qiu out is entirely due to Ji Qiu's formidable strength and his fear of harming the innocent.

That's right, it's a case of being hesitant to act for fear of harming the innocent.

Ji Qiu came to Cai Yong's door under the guise of being Cai Zhenji's husband. In Cai Yong's view, this was actually using Cai Zhenji as a hostage to threaten him.

This forced him to be hesitant to act rashly!
Having thought this through, Cai Yong was too lazy to waste any more words with Ji Qiu and asked directly, "But I wonder what brings Lord Ji to my humble abode?"
Surely it wasn't just a message to inform my husband and daughter.

Although I owe my daughter much and wish to make amends, I must remember that public and private matters must be distinguished, and I would never dare to let personal matters interfere with public duties!

"Lord Cai is joking. How could I be the kind of person who would take women and children hostage?"

Moreover, regardless of whether Mr. Cai believes it or not, your daughter and I are truly of one mind and in love.

Therefore, regardless of how Lord Cai treats me, I am always willing to show him some leniency.

"That's why I could have gone to many people today, but in the end I still came to see Lord Cai." Ji Qiu said with a light laugh.

Cai Yong frowned even more deeply, stared intently at Ji Qiu for a long time, and then said, "My lord, please stop beating around the bush and speak plainly."

"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point. My purpose in coming to Chang'an this time is to assassinate Dong Zhuo."

"The reason I came to see Lord Cai is to ask for your help!" Ji Qiu said frankly.

Cai Yong's expression changed instantly, and he said in a deep voice, "You want to assassinate Dong Zhuo?"

"It's not that I want to assassinate Dong Zhuo, but that someone in Chang'an wants to assassinate Dong Zhuo!" Ji Qiu shook his head and said.

Cai Yong asked, "Who is it?"

"Wang Yun! Of course, he is just one of them."

Cai Gong should be well aware that there are far too many people in Chang'an who want to assassinate Dong Zhuo.

Dong Zhuo acted perversely, treating officials and common people like cattle and horses, and slaughtering them at will, which naturally aroused the hatred of everyone!
Actually, I didn't want to kill Dong Zhuo at this time, but I just couldn't suppress it.

"So we had no choice but to go with the flow and let Dong Zhuo die!" Ji Qiu said calmly.

Cai Yong remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "If that's the case, then why did you come to me? Everyone knows that I received a great favor from Dong Zhuo. Although he is unrighteous, I cannot be unjust. I will not participate in the assassination of Dong Zhuo!"

"I never believe in absolute loyalty in this world. So-called loyalty is just that the price of betrayal is not high enough."

It is true that Cai Gong received favors from Dong Zhuo, but his unwillingness to participate in the assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo was probably not just due to favors from Dong Zhuo.

More likely, people believed that even if Dong Zhuo were assassinated, it would be of no use.

"If nothing can be changed, why sacrifice one's reputation?" Ji Qiu chuckled.

Cai Yong frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"The meaning is very simple: the main force behind the assassination of Dong Zhuo was the powerful clans."

After Dong Zhuo's death, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Chang'an court will likely fall into the control of powerful clans.

If powerful clans had been able to govern the country well, the Han Dynasty would not have ended up in this state.

Therefore, this is destined to be futile.

Since it's destined to be futile, why bother wasting your energy?
"However, I have come here today to point out a clear path for Lord Cai, so that Chang'an City can be transformed!" Ji Qiu said calmly.

Cai Yong frowned even more deeply and said, "What exactly do you want to do?"

"I want Lord Cai to support Lü Bu, so that the Chang'an court after Dong Zhuo's death will be in Lü Bu's hands!" Ji Qiu said calmly. "Lü Bu?" Cai Yong was stunned, then a sharp thought flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed, "So Lü Bu is your man?!"

"That's right, Lü Bu is my man! Letting Lü Bu take over the Chang'an court is the same as letting me take over the Chang'an court."

"As for my abilities, I believe Lord Cai is aware of them. Only if the Chang'an court falls into my hands can the Han Dynasty have any hope of becoming great again!" Ji Qiu said calmly.

This was the purpose of Ji Qiu's personal trip to Chang'an. He decided to participate in Wang Yun's assassination plot against Dong Zhuo, but from the beginning, he never intended for Wang Yun to take control of Chang'an after Dong Zhuo's death.

On the contrary, he intended to use Wang Yun to eliminate Dong Zhuo, and then bring Chang'an City, along with the entire Guanzhong region, under Lü Bu's rule.

This is a situation that would never have happened during the Three Kingdoms period in history.

Because in the Three Kingdoms period, by this point in time, the Bingzhou wolf cavalry that Lü Bu had gathered under his command had long been exhausted.

At that time, Lü Bu was nominally Dong Zhuo's adopted son and was deeply trusted by Dong Zhuo.

In reality, he only had a hundred guards, which was just a large-scale bodyguard force.

Therefore, he was destined to be nothing more than a knife.

Even if he helped Wang Yun get rid of Lü Bu, it would still be impossible for him to control the Guanzhong region.

However, the situation in the world of Dragon Kingdom has changed significantly.

Because of the fierce fighting between Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo was unable to directly annex the remnants of Ding Yuan's Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.

Thus, the 30,000 Bingzhou wolf cavalry became Lü Bu's troops.

Afterwards, Dong Zhuo tried many methods to eliminate the 30,000 Bingzhou wolf cavalry.

This includes, but is not limited to, plots and schemes such as cutting off supplies and using others to kill.

However, because Lü Bu had Ji Qiu's support, none of these schemes succeeded.

So even today, these 30,000 Bingzhou wolf cavalry still exist.

Not only does it exist, but with Ji Qiu's support, it continues to upgrade its level.

Now everyone is at the seventh-grade high level.

Even if a force of 30,000 high-ranking Bingzhou wolf cavalry of the seventh grade were deployed now, they could still hold their own against Dong Zhuo's 200,000 low-ranking Xiliang iron cavalry of the ninth grade.

After Dong Zhuo's death, with the Xiliang cavalry leaderless, they were able to directly control the situation in Chang'an.

The only problem was that Lü Bu only had an army, but no civil service support.

However, it is impossible to establish a power solely through the military.

Of course, if he cooperates with Wang Yun, he will naturally gain access to the civil official power led by Wang Yun.

However, Ji Qiu immediately eliminated this option.

Firstly, Wang Yun is a staunch representative of powerful aristocratic families. Cooperating with them is tantamount to cooperating with powerful aristocratic families, which is inconsistent with the basic rules of the Ji Qiu faction and is not conducive to the future annexation of Lü Bu's faction by the Ji Qiu faction.

Secondly, Wang Yun was the main planner of the assassination plot against Dong Zhuo and made great contributions in this operation. If we cooperate with him, we will have to give up the leadership position to Wang Yun.

Thirdly, Wang Yun was ambitious but lacked talent. History has proven that he had no ability whatsoever and could not possibly save the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Ji Qiu turned to finding other collaborators for Lü Bu.

After comparing various options, he ultimately chose Cai Yong.

There are several reasons for choosing Cai Yong.

Firstly, Ji Qiu himself had a favorable impression of Cai Yong, after all, Cai Yong's reputation in history was far better than Wang Yun's.

Secondly, although Cai Yong is now one of the representatives of aristocratic families, he actually came from a humble background.

The Cai family only started their rise to power during Cai Yong's generation. They truly gained the emperor's favor through their studies and thus reached their current position.

Of course, if Cai Yong had reached his current position during a prosperous dynasty and this situation could have lasted for three to five generations, then he could have evolved into a new aristocratic family.

However, at present, the Cai family is still from a poor family, similar to the Zhuge family, and is someone that Ji Qiu can win over.

Thirdly, Cai Yong was quite capable. Many people thought that Cai Yong was just a simple scholar with little political influence.

In fact, this is not the case. During Dong Zhuo's reign, Cai Yong was actually the leader of the civil officials in the court.

The reason Dong Zhuo forcibly recruited Cai Yong was to use Cai Yong's reputation to recruit civil officials.

Cai Yong, though outwardly reluctant, actually recommended many people to Dong Zhuo.

This is also the reason why Cai Yong's title and official rank rose so rapidly.

Dong Zhuo wasn't stupid; he wouldn't promote someone who just lazed around all day so quickly.

Therefore, most of the officials in the court today are from Cai Yong's faction. If Cai Yong can support Lü Bu, then Lü Bu can smoothly take over the Chang'an court without causing major changes to the existing court structure.

Fourth, Cai Yong was more capable than Wang Yun, as evidenced by the fact that Dong Zhuo was able to maintain his rule in the Guanzhong region despite his perverse actions.

Cai Yong's administrative management skills may not have been on par with top-ranking civil officials like Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao, but they were definitely among the best.

Fifth, the civil official faction led by Cai Yong was part of Dong Zhuo's faction.

After Dong Zhuo's death, they were all naturally considered guilty.

In such a situation, if Lü Bu gives them a chance to live, they will be eternally grateful. How could they possibly compete with Lü Bu for the leadership position?
These five points are sufficient to prove that Cai Yong was a far more suitable collaborator than Wang Yun.

No wonder Ji Qiu came to them directly.

Ji Qiu chuckled and said, "Lord Cai, you should be very clear about the current situation."

From a broader perspective, the Nine Provinces Barrier is about to collapse. Outside the Nine Provinces, wolves are lurking everywhere, and other forces are nothing but chickens and dogs. Only I can save the Great Han and the human race of the Nine Provinces!
On a smaller scale, even if you don't care about your own life, you should at least think about the lives of your students and disciples.

If the Chang'an court falls into the hands of people like Wang Yun, then the court will inevitably undergo a major reshuffle.

Not only will you die, but all your students and disciples will also die!
They've entrusted their lives and futures to you; how can you just stand by and watch them die without a proper burial?

The situation outside the Nine Provinces Barrier and the Nine Provinces itself has never been a secret to the true high-ranking members of the Dragon Qi Three Kingdoms world.

Even though many people know these things, there's nothing they can do about it.

The general trend is beyond their control.

But just because they can't change the overall trend doesn't mean they can't see where the hope lies.

The current Jiqiu faction is naturally seen as a source of hope by the lower-class families, but in the eyes of the top clans, it is no less so.

Why did Kong Rong and Zheng Xuan so easily pledge allegiance to Ji Qiu?
It was because they saw the hope that Ji Qiu embodied.

If Kong Rong and Zheng Xuan could see it, Cai Yong could naturally see it too.

Being able to see it is one thing, but whether or not one is willing to support it is another.

(End of this chapter)