Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 218 The calm before the storm

Xun You rubbed his eyes, somewhat incredulous. "General, he really is smiling!"

He turned to look at Chen Deng and saw that the other man also had a smile on his face and showed no fear, which made him feel a little suspicious.

When Cao Yan saw that Xun You, known for his wisdom and strategy, also had moments of doubt, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Gongda, Gongda, I never thought there would be things in this world that you couldn't understand!"

Xun You quickly cupped his hands in a humble manner, saying, "General, you flatter me. I am but a mortal; how could I be an expert in everything?"

He remained as humble and low-key as ever, making him seem easy to bully at first glance.

But if someone were to bully him, he might not even know how he died...

Cao Yan maintained his smile and turned to Chen Deng, saying, "Yuanlong, now that you understand my and my brother's intentions, then you should explain it to Gongda."

Chen Deng cupped his hands in greeting and replied, "Yes!"

Then, he turned his head slightly and said to Xun You, "In fact, General Hou and the lord are not simply suppressing powerful families, and this action is not sustainable."

The series of reforms implemented by the General and the Lord aimed to limit the power of aristocratic families to a certain extent.

Seeing Xun You listening attentively, Chen Deng smiled and continued to explain: "Because no matter which party is dominant, it is actually not conducive to the stability of the situation."

The lord and the general's objective is to weaken the power of the aristocratic families, creating a balance of power and competition among them, the court, and the scholars who have passed the imperial examinations.

Chen Deng was very familiar with the policies implemented by Cao Yan, which clearly showed that he had put in a lot of effort.

Upon hearing this, Xun You suddenly understood.

It's not that he's unaware of these things, it's just that he's never considered them in this direction.

He always thought that Cao Yan, like Xi Zhicai, was trying to break the monopoly of aristocratic families after gaining power, in order to secure a path for advancement for his humble background.

Xun You and Xun Yu were both aware of the dangers posed by powerful clans, which is why they chose to remain neutral and let Cao Yan and Cao Cao deal with those powerful and influential clans.

Cao Yan continued, "Simply put, it means putting the power of aristocratic families in a cage. But under reasonable rules, my brother and I have never restricted the reasonable development of aristocratic families."

"Put power in a cage..." Xun You muttered to himself, then bowed to Cao Yan and said, "So that's how it is! I am truly ashamed that I only realized the good intentions of the General and the Lord today!"

Cao Yan had another thought he didn't say aloud: "Not only the power of aristocratic families, but also the power of officials and even the emperor must be subject to supervision."

Although he didn't say it, he's already started doing it.

Chen Deng was a perceptive man; perhaps he had already made up his mind to surrender to Cao Cao before Cao Cao launched his attack on Yuan Shu.

Although Cao Cao suppressed the powerful clans to some extent, Chen Deng believed that Cao Cao's rule was also full of opportunities.

The bookstore, fabric, soap, and glass industries, if taken individually, are all incredibly profitable.

Moreover, there is a legitimate official business organization like the Yanzhou Chamber of Commerce to help everyone get rich together.

By investing in the Chamber of Commerce, established families can legally and legitimately obtain a small share of the profits from this large pie.

These are the Cao brothers, clearly distributing benefits to everyone.

Ironically, so many people signed a petition against investing in the company back then, urging others not to participate. I wonder if they're regretting it now.

However, there will be opportunities in the future. After all, Yanzhou is only one province and cannot possibly take over all the commerce in the world.

In the future, Yuzhou and Xuzhou may also have their own chambers of commerce, which will then be another capital frenzy.

But for true aristocratic families, while money is important, the knowledge and skills that the family relies on for inheritance are what they value even more.

Nowadays, with the widespread distribution of new paper and books, although established families can no longer maintain a monopoly on knowledge, this allows them to enrich their collections.

At the same time, it also forces these prestigious families that rely on knowledge transmission to make changes and to research more in-depth or advanced knowledge and skills. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages; the key lies in how the families themselves view and respond to them.

Chen Deng's favorability towards you has changed; current favorability: 40%.

The old fox Jia Xu had been standing not far away and had overheard the conversation between Chen Deng, Cao Yan, Xun You, and others.

Jia Xu came from a poor family; if he hadn't been in Xiliang, he probably would never have had a chance to rise to prominence.

Striving to create a way out for those from poor families is surely what he desires.

After joining Cao Cao's forces, Jia Xu finally understood the various policies of the Cao family. He suddenly realized that his dream might actually come true one day.

What surprised him even more was that he seemed to see a very familiar figure in Boss Cao's house, but he only caught a glimpse of it that time and he was not sure.

No one has ever treated ordinary people so kindly, no one has ever valued the interests of ordinary people so much, and no one has ever regarded the name "Han" as a symbol of a nation, wanting it to be passed down for eternity.

Jia Xu's sense of belonging had never been stronger. "Perhaps it's time to offer Cao Zi'an a toast..."

[Jia Xu's favorability towards you has changed; current favorability: 52%]

Before Jia Xu could make a move, Cao Yan suddenly raised his wine bowl and offered it to him.

Jia Xu was somewhat surprised, but he still returned the greeting respectfully and finished the bowl.

……

After cooperating with Chen Deng to defeat Yuan Shu's army that was besieging Pengcheng, Cao Yan did not rush into further campaigns.

Since they launched their campaign, they have captured large territories including Chen, Pei, and Pengcheng, and they need manpower and time to consolidate their gains.

Pengcheng Kingdom also needs time to redeploy its defenses and guard against the fickle Lü Bu.

In Cao Cao's view
If Yuan Shu hadn't been so hopelessly stupid, he would have definitely rallied his defeated troops and returned to the Shouchun area to hold out.

If Yuan Shu were to allow his last elite troops to remain idle in Xuzhou, Cao Yan would certainly not hesitate to join forces with Cao Yan's army and march south to wipe out Yuan Shu's hometown of Shouchun in one fell swoop.

Not to mention, after taking Runan County, we will receive reinforcements from Yu Jin and Xu Qiu in the west.

Cao Cao now has two armies, Cao Ang and Liu Bei, totaling about 10,000 men, stationed at Longkang.

Ji Ling, Lei Bo, Chen Ji, and others have returned to Shouchun one after another.

Yuan Shu's seven armies had all suffered losses, but after gathering the defeated troops, they still numbered nearly 100,000.

He still sent envoys to persuade Lü Bu, Sun Ce, and others, finally realizing the importance of allies.

Jiangdong, Jianye.

With the help of Zhou Yu, Sun Ce broke away from Yuan Shu, joined forces with his uncle Wu Jing and cousin Sun Ben, and defeated Wang Lang.

Later, Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, and Sun Ce took the opportunity to attack Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou.

By the end of August in the first year of Jian'an, Liu Yao was finally defeated by Sun Ce, driven out of Yangzhou, and fled to Jingzhou, which incidentally established Sun Ce's reputation as the Little Conqueror.

After defeating Liu Yao, Sun Ce basically unified the six commanderies of Jiangdong.

After that, Sun Ce announced his break away from Yuan Shu and then sent an envoy, Zhang Hong, to Xuchang to seek a formal appointment from the imperial court.

The world's heroes gather,

With Yuan Shu fallen, Sun Ce, an even more formidable opponent, seized the opportunity to rise to power.

(End of this chapter)