Chapter Thirteen: The Plan to Capture the Heart Succeeds

  Just as Cao Zhi and Cao Cao were having a meal, in the important cities within the borders of Xuzhou, there was a rumor circulating that to avenge his father's death, Cao Cao, who had come to Xuzhou with a mighty force, did not slaughter the city but instead opened the granary and distributed grain.

  When the officials and civilians of Xuzhou first heard this news, their initial reaction was that it was impossible. However, the next piece of news made the people of Xuzhou understand Cao Cao and his family better. The message roughly said that Cao Cao wanted to avenge his father's death by slaughtering the city, but was stopped and persuaded by his four-year-old son. Cao Zhi's words "Prosperity brings suffering to the people; destruction also brings suffering to the people" began to spread widely among the scholars of Xuzhou. However, most scholars did not quite believe that this sentence came from Cao Zhi's mouth.

  Unlike the scholars, the common people were more concerned about whether Cao Cao had massacred the city. As time passed, some traveling merchants and commoners from Guangwei and Xiaqiu nearby cities spread the news that not only did Cao Cao not massacre the city, but he also sent grain. Less than half a month later, this news had already spread throughout the streets of Xuzhou's cities, and most of the knowledgeable common people knew that the fourth son of the Cao family was the greatest hero who stopped the massacre. The phrase "Prosperity, the people suffer; decline, the people suffer" spoken by Cao Zhi also spread widely with these two news, and for a time, the people of Xuzhou knew that the fourth son of the Cao family, Cao Zhi, had extraordinary literary talent, was a rare prodigy in a hundred years, and was benevolent and virtuous, and would surely become a great man when he grew up.

  But if these two messages only rang out Cao Zhi's name, then the next message was to add a few more mysterious points to Cao Zhi.

  Since Buddhism was introduced to the East, many temples have been built in various parts of China. Among them, the White Horse Temple in Luoyang is the most famous. However, Buddhism was just beginning and had not yet become widespread as it would be in later generations. Nevertheless, there were exceptions, such as Xu Zhou's governor Tao Qian, who was deeply devoted to Buddhism. The "Nine Mirror Tower", which could accommodate three thousand monks for lectures, was built by him and his colleague Ruan Yu in Xiapi. Moreover, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Xu Zhou has not been affected too much, and under the peaceful rule, Buddhism has developed greatly in Xu Zhou.

  Just after Cao Zhi's reputation as a child prodigy spread, some monks in the Buddhist temple in Xuzhou said that Cao Zhi was the reincarnation of Buddha. His appearance caused Cao Cao to abandon his plan to slaughter the city, and it was said that Buddha had seen the suffering of the people and had reincarnated to save them. If this were said in other states of the Han Dynasty, no one would have believed it, but in Xuzhou, where both the upper and lower classes were influenced by Buddhism, there were actually quite a few believers. And Cao Zhi being the reincarnation of Buddha also explained why he had such profound and unfathomable wisdom at a young age, able to write famous phrases that would warn future generations, and could persuade Cao Cao, who had already raised his slaughter knife, to abandon evil and do good.

  For a time, Cao Zhi became the most popular person in Xuzhou, and even people from neighboring Qingzhou and Jiangdong began to hear about him. The famous phrase spoken by Cao Zhi spread even further. Cao Zhi's reputation for benevolence had completely overshadowed his father Cao Cao's fame in Xuzhou, but this did not weaken Cao Cao's prestige; instead, it caused the people of Xuzhou to accept and identify with Cao Cao to an unprecedented degree.

  Those Buddhist Xuzhou people evaluated Cao Cao like this. Originally, the demon who was about to slaughter the city put down his butcher knife under the persuasion of the Buddha's son and opened the granary to show his good heart. Cao Cao had already turned to goodness, and with the guidance of the Buddha's son by his side, if Xuzhou were under his rule, the people's lives would definitely become better. On the contrary, Tao Qian sent someone to kill the grandfather of the Buddha's son, who was the enemy of Buddhism!

  ……

  In just over half a month, Tao Qian found that his popularity had plummeted sharply, shocking him greatly. He called all the civil and military officials to the provincial governor's mansion for an emergency meeting.

  Xuzhou Xiapei, state shepherd's office.

  Tao Qian, already over sixty years old, looked worried and coughed repeatedly in his seat. The officials of Xuzhou who saw Tao Qian's appearance were even more worried.

  Tao Qian coughed for about the time it took to burn an incense stick before stopping, and after taking a few deep breaths, he forced himself to speak: "Today, I have called you all here, and I believe you all understand what's at stake. Currently, Cao Mengde's army is invading our borders, while rumors are circulating within Xuzhou that I am an enemy of the Buddha. Many citizens of Xuzhou no longer trust me, and if things continue like this, I fear we won't even need to wait for Cao's army to attack - as soon as they arrive, the people will open the gates to welcome them. The situation in Xuzhou is dire!" Tao Qian's brief words had laid bare the internal and external troubles plaguing Xuzhou, and the hall fell silent at once.

  The solemn atmosphere made Tao Qian's heart even more uneasy, and he took a deep breath to relieve his tension. Unexpectedly, he inhaled too hard and suddenly choked, then started coughing violently with "cough, cough, cough".

  The next one, a young scholar with a handsome appearance and an old man looked at each other, both seeing the sparkle in each other's eyes. It turned out that these two were a father-son pair, the young one was named Chen Deng, styled Yuandong; the old one was his father, named Chen Gui, styled Hanyu, both of whom were famous scholars from Xuzhou and were highly respected by Tao Qian.

  However, the first to speak was not this father and son, but a big man wearing a long gown. Although his appearance was quite inconsistent with his clothes, he might be more suitable for a suit of armor. The big man stepped forward and said: "Governor, why worry? This kind of rumor must be made by Cao's army. My Xu State Danyang soldiers are famous for their bravery in the world. How can Cao's army be my opponent? As long as I lead the main force of Xu State to come out, I will surely defeat Cao's army and deal with those rumormongers at leisure!"

  This man is Cao Biao, the current head of the Cao family in Xuzhou and also the person in charge of military affairs in Xuzhou. Although Cao Biao's words were grandiose, they did not win over the crowd in the hall. After Cao Biao finished speaking, Mi Zhu, the head of another prominent family in Xuzhou, the Mi family, stepped forward and said: "General Cao's words are reasonable, but his army is also known for its bravery throughout the land. When the Yellow Turbans were rampant in Qingzhou, they often invaded our Xuzhou as well. If not for the danger of Mount Tai, I fear that the Yellow Turbans would have already brought disaster to Xuzhou. Now, Cao Mengde's soldiers from Qingzhou are actually the fierce Qingzhou Yellow Turbans who have been reorganized and trained, and they are extremely skilled in battle. General Cao must not underestimate them."

  Upon hearing this, Cao Pi immediately became enraged. He let out an angry hum and pointed at Mi Zhu, scolding him: "Mi Zizhong, why are you here boosting others' morale while extinguishing your own? Are you not a spy for Cao Mengde?"

  Mi Zhu was enraged upon hearing this, but he indeed lived up to his name and was a complete fool. However, Mi Zhu was a humble gentleman, so although he was furious in his heart, on the surface he still bowed respectfully to Tao Qian and said: "Your subordinate is deeply loyal to Your Excellency, absolutely not an ungrateful or disloyal person!"

  Tao Qian saw the two arguing, but he weakly waved his hand and said: "Stop quarreling, I believe in Zi Zhong's character. Yuan Long, do you have a way to retreat and protect Xuzhou?"

  Chen Deng can be considered the most famous and wisest man in Xuzhou. When he heard Tao Qian ask himself, Chen Deng slowly stood up without panic, confidently bowed his hands to Tao Qian and said: "Sir, Deng has no way to defeat the enemy, but there is a way to protect Xuzhou."

  Tao Qian's eyes, originally dull and cloudy, suddenly flashed with a hint of sharpness as he exclaimed in surprise: "What method does Yuan Long have to ensure the safety of Xuzhou?"

  Chen Deng smiled and said: "There is no other way, just need adults to surrender to Cao Mengde, Xu state can be safe!"

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