Chapter 458

Chapter 458

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Extra Chapter 8 (2)

Cao Ang could swear that the moment the cannonball was fired, his father’s reaction was definitely one of evasion.

And this was clearly not something the usual Cao Cao would do.

It was precisely this behavior that made Cao Ang suspect the possibility that Cao Cao had been replaced by someone else.

But under the heavy guard of Qinghai County, such a situation should never have occurred.

Cao Cao was also long past the age where his appearance would drastically change after a few years of absence.

Although the conditions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were harsh, they were only relatively so.

As a commander, Cao Cao’s main responsibility was to bring the Qiang people under control, not to personally fight and run around on the plateau. Moreover, conquering the west had always been Cao Cao’s ambition. The fact that His Majesty still entrusted him with important tasks, even placing him in a position to expand the territory, kept his spirits high and naturally, he showed no signs of aging.

If Cao Ang were to say, just from appearances, Cao Cao looked even younger than the last time they met.

At most… there was a hint of weariness in his expression.

But this weariness was fleeting, quickly suppressed by Cao Cao’s calm demeanor, as if his turning away after pulling the reins was just an instinctive reaction to the cannon firing.

Cao Ang even came up with a reason for Cao Cao.

He coughed lightly and said, “Father, there’s no need to worry about the cannon exploding. The Academy of Sciences has conducted countless experiments, and His Majesty has never skimped on funding for this. The batch we brought this time was cast with iron molds, water-cooled and self-tightening, with a layer of copper skin on the outside. If there were any signs of explosion, it would show on the outside first, and the barrel wouldn’t shatter.”

There had been a couple of incidents of cannons exploding in the early years, and now, using them in the special environment of the plateau, it was no wonder Cao Cao was worried about something going wrong.

But in recent years, the mining of copper ores across the country has become more stable. Apart from being used for coinage, the consumption for making cannons is no longer a burden for Da Yong, so there’s really no need for such concerns.

The existence of this cannon is meant to showcase Da Yong’s divine weapons!

When Cao Cao entered the Cangyuan region from Qinghai County, he didn’t expect that the Tangmao, which had sporadic records from a hundred years ago, had already formed a relatively complete state system, ruled by queens of varying sizes, with the Fa Qiang forming the Fa Qiang Kingdom, and the Yaks Qiang from Yizhou migrating into Tibet, forming six tribes in the Yalong River Valley.

As the Qiang people in Qinghai County gradually submitted to Cao Cao’s combination of kindness and authority, the announcement of Da Yong’s intention to reclaim Cangyuan was also sent to these three places.

But unfortunately, the increasingly refined state system fueled their ambitions, making them unwilling to submit easily.

Then there’s only one option: fight!

The thirty-six states of the Western Regions Protectorate no longer existed as separate countries due to the management of the Western Regions. Instead, with the expansion of cotton fields and the gradual increase of troops stationed in the Western Regions, they had become true subjects of Da Yong. The two countries in Tibet were, of course, no exception.

When that cannon, along with the four consecutive cannon fires, opened the prelude to the war against the Western Qiang, Cao Cao’s distraction due to the cannon was probably just a minor episode.

In his line of sight, Cao Ang, who had already shifted his focus from his father’s mentality, and Cao Hong, who was coordinating with him, mobilized this high-spirited team to charge like a flood towards the native Qiang people.

Previously, due to not knowing where he was, Cao Cao had somewhat overlooked the details around him.

Only now, having avoided Cao Ang’s scrutiny, did he notice the unusual aspects of this attacking Qiang army.

The warhorses of these elite troops had distinct characteristics of Western and Liangzhou horses, with the front-line breaking troops’ horses equipped with fine iron armor.

Even if the soldiers weren’t wearing more protective chain mail, they had sufficiently thick clothing and leather armor, making it impossible for Qiang arrows to penetrate.

Cao Cao also belatedly realized that, due to the colder climate of this region, the soldiers’ clothing wasn’t the usual hemp but some unknown fabric and filling material to him.

For the era he was in, this was probably a decade or more ahead, and in terms of living conditions, it was far more advanced!

So where exactly is this place?

And who is the “His Majesty” that Cao Ang mentioned?

More and more questions popped into his mind as he looked around, and none of the strategists he was used to having by his side were here to answer them.

Knowing he couldn’t ask questions with obvious flaws, he could only watch as Cao Ang and Cao Hong, with their horse-slaying swords, crushed the enemy’s ranks, captured their leader, and then calmly withdrew their troops, returning to the military camp with him.

“Why not directly attack the enemy’s nest?” Cao Cao casually asked Cao Ang.

Cao Ang smiled, “It seems Father hasn’t forgotten to test me even while letting me lead the troops. Although I’ve taken over Yuan Zhi’s work in Hanzhong, and there’s the Protector of the Qiang and Man in southern Yizhou, with Prefects Zhao and Wang, and Governor Wu overseeing, so I don’t need to personally lead the troops, I still know His Majesty’s unified stance towards the border tribes.”

“The battle of Gaoping City was necessary to completely annihilate the Zhong Qiang to reverse a century of Qiang chaos in Liangzhou. Now, we still prioritize using the Qiang to control the Qiang.”

“Since Father has already pacified Qinghai County and has the White Horse Qiang participating in the war, naturally, he shares His Majesty’s view. Moreover, the remote location of Tibet makes it impossible to migrate our Da Yong subjects here in a short time, so we’ll still have to deal with these Tangmao Qiang, Fa Qiang, and Yaks Qiang. First, we intimidate them with our strength, then plan for their submission, that’s the right way.”

Cao Ang spoke eloquently here, unaware that these very words caused a storm in Cao Cao’s heart.

Da Yong? What Da Yong?

Cao Cao had already far surpassed Liu Xie in power and had completely eliminated his biggest northern rival, Yuan Shao, yet he had never dared to take the step of usurpation, replacing the Han with the Wei.

But clearly, when Cao Ang said those words, even without further explanation, it was enough for Cao Cao to confirm that in this era, there probably was no Han anymore.

Instead, it was Da Yong!

What kind of situation is this?

Then the “His Majesty” Cao Ang mentioned wasn’t the Son of Heaven of the Han, but the Son of Heaven of Da Yong, who had replaced the Han!

This sudden news almost made Cao Cao stumble, barely managing to stand firm, and then somewhat disoriented, he returned to the military tent.

“Is it my错觉吗？ I feel like even though we won this battle, big brother’s mood isn’t that great?” Cao Hong, watching Cao Cao’s retreating figure, asked Cao Ang. “Logically, it shouldn’t be like this, whether it’s your arrival or the new progress in our firearms, he shouldn’t be acting like this.”

Cao Ang shook his head, “I don’t know what’s wrong with Father either.”

The victory over the Fa Qiang and other tribes was a foregone conclusion, not exceeding anyone’s expectations.

The newly introduced cannon in front of Cao Cao, due to new manufacturing techniques, showed extraordinary stability.

With the expansion of cotton cultivation in the Western Regions, Cao Ang had also gathered a considerable amount of supplies after passing through Liangzhou.

Cao Pi and Cao Zhang, as they grew older, had also started to appear before His Majesty.

With all these factors, there shouldn’t be anything confusing Cao Cao, right?

But it seems Father’s unusual behavior didn’t start just now, or at the moment the cannon was fired. When I first saw Father this morning, I noticed he was in a daze, and there was something unnatural in his conversation.

Cao Ang suppressed these suspicions and said to Cao Hong, “Maybe he’s thinking about something else, like… how to build Da Yong’s cities on this land after persuading the Tangmao to surrender?”

Cao Hong pondered, “That makes sense, it’s indeed not easy.”

With a plausible explanation for Cao Cao’s behavior, this newly arrived parallel universe’s King of Wei finally had a temporarily safe space to ponder life and digest the various pieces of information he had obtained.

He should be thankful he didn’t directly travel to the time of pacifying the Western Regions and returning to Luoyang to retire, otherwise, directly encountering Qiao Yan might not have given him this chance to gather information.

But no matter how “safe” the situation, it couldn’t prevent Cao Cao from falling into a long silence after fully reviewing the notes in the military tent, looking at the map of Da Yong before him.

On this map labeled “Yuan Zhao’s 12th Year Edition,” not only were all the thirteen provinces he knew of included, but the entire Western Regions were clearly marked as part of Da Yong’s territory, and even the Kushan Empire further west was marked as paying tribute to Da Yong.

Looking northeast, the Wuhuan, which he had just sent Cao Zhang and Tian Yu to conquer, had already become a vassal of the Da Yong dynasty, and even the Fuyu and Goguryeo outside the borders were no exception, not to mention the Samhan across the sea.

Across the great river from the north, Yangzhou and Jiaozhou were only part of the southern territory, and even the island of Yizhou had stationed generals and officials.

This is indeed a vast territory!

The most terrifying thing was that on a piece of paper on the desk labeled “Leping Monthly Report,” there was another map recording even more distant countries, all because it was a record of Gan Ning crossing the East Sea to reach the other side of the ocean!

This original “Cao Cao” might have placed this here out of a need to collect maps, but it also brought unprecedented shock to the newly arrived “Cao Cao.”

And the familiar names appearing on the map made Cao Cao unable to understand where the turning point of this world’s changes began.

Was it the absence of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Dong Zhuo’s tyranny, or was there a turning point somewhere else that sent the world’s development rushing in an unpredictable direction, completely avoiding the north-south confrontation of the realm.

So much so that at this time, with the provinces stable, there was still the possibility of outward expansion.








    “What the hell is going on?”

    Cao Cao muttered to himself while calculating the corresponding year in his world for the twelfth year of Yuanzhao.

    Fortunately, after flipping through all the books in the military tent, he deduced from a mention of the establishment of Xihai County by Wang Mang that the twelfth year of Yuanzhao in this world should correspond to the twelfth year of Jian’an in his world.

    And this year…

    Cao Cao’s eyes flickered.

    He would never forget that Guo Jia also passed away this year.

    However, now Guo Jia was still alive and well, serving as the Governor of Yanzhou, clearly marked on the map, making Cao Cao increasingly aware of how much this world had diverged from the original historical trajectory.

    Cao Cao couldn’t help but sigh.

    “Figuring out the year is of limited significance.”

    It might only prevent him from being completely clueless, but it wouldn’t give him a full understanding of this world’s developments.

    The changes in this world had far exceeded Cao Cao’s expectations.

    His mind might still be stuck on Liu Ye’s progress with the trebuchet, but in this Da Yong dynasty, they were already developing flying artillery attacks. They were not even on the same level.

    Saying this was like seeing a ghost wouldn’t be an exaggeration!

    And in the midst of marching and fighting, no one would keep historical records like the Da Yong Development Chronicles or the Dongguan Han Records here—

    Even if the written records in this world had shifted to more durable and lightweight paper, such an illogical phenomenon couldn’t possibly exist.

    So, to quickly understand the situation he was facing, figure out who the Da Yong Emperor was, and grasp the level of technological development in this world, he needed to first end the war against the Western Qiang and return to the city in Qinghai Province mentioned by Cao Ang.

    Yes, that’s it!

    But the next day, Cao Cao received shocking news from Cao Ang.

    An envoy was coming!

    An envoy from Luoyang.

    “It’s not surprising that His Majesty made this decision. Imperial Attendant Cai, representing the Son of Heaven, and Chief Clerk Jiang, fluent in multiple languages and a Qiang native from Qinghai Province, are the envoys. Once we achieve victory, they can immediately pursue the victory and negotiate the surrender of the Tangmo Kingdom.”

    “The Tangmo Kingdom is led by two queens, and it’s more appropriate for Imperial Attendant Cai Zhaoji to meet with them than for us.”

    Cao Ang thought to himself, wasn’t this similar to the situation with the Queen of Jingjue in the Western Regions Protectorate back then?

    But the implications of this news were completely different for Cao Ang and Cao Cao.

    Cai Zhaoji…

    Hearing this name, Cao Cao couldn’t help but drift back to the situation before he arrived here.

    In the twelfth year of Jian’an, due to his past friendship with Cai Yong and admiration for Cai Zhaoji’s literary talent, Cao Cao spent a fortune to ransom her from the Xiongnu and married her to Dong Si.

    Last winter, Dong Si committed a capital crime, and Cai Zhaoji rushed to the court to plead for his life, saving him with the words, “You have ten thousand horses in your stables and countless brave warriors. Why not spare one swift horse to save a dying man?”

    This made Cao Cao instinctively ask, “When was she ransomed from the Xiongnu?”

    But the next moment, Cao Ang’s silence and unconcealed suspicion made Cao Cao realize—

    Damn it! He had said the wrong thing!

    The Cai Zhaoji of Da Yong, as described by Cao Ang, was a representative of the Son of Heaven and a key negotiator. Her life experiences must be vastly different from the other Cai Zhaoji!

    “Father,” Cao Ang’s tone suddenly turned cold, “I think you need to give me a reasonable explanation.”

    “Your strange behavior since yesterday can no longer be ignored.”

    ——————

    Facing such a situation where his cover was about to be blown, Cao Cao wasn’t the only one.

    In the new capital of Luoyang, Guo Jia sat in a tavern by the street, watching the bustling crowd below while swirling a cup of strong liquor he had never tasted before, blinking in confusion.

    Anyone who had been declared dead and then appeared here would feel disoriented.

    Moreover, if he had simply been gifted a new body and resurrected, that would be one thing. But clearly, he was still Guo Jia, Guo Fengxiao, with no change in age, yet both his identity and environment had undergone earth-shattering changes.

    Changes that even his brilliant mind couldn’t have imagined!

    Like Cao Cao, after flipping through the books in his Luoyang residence and glimpsing the development of Da Yong, he couldn’t help but exclaim—

    What the hell is going on!

    Fortunately, since he had been stationed in Yanzhou for a long time and only briefly stayed in his Luoyang residence during official reports, there were only a few servants responsible for cleaning and airing books. They didn’t interact much with Guo Jia, so they didn’t notice his unusual behavior immediately.

    And because Guo Jia quickly slipped out to avoid the visiting cards from Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai, he didn’t give them a chance to observe him.

    But acting wasn’t his forte.

    Guo Jia overheard the people at the next table discussing the imperial examination to be held in Luoyang in August, listing the officials trusted by the Emperor, including his own name. He almost wanted to bury his head in the table.

    This is too much!

    If you’re going to change someone’s environment, at least give them some time to adapt!

    Even though he had a clearer understanding of Da Yong’s development than Cao Cao—seeing how the current Emperor rose from being the Governor of Bingzhou, attacked Liangzhou after Liu Hong’s death, supported Liu Yu’s ascension, and eventually seized the Han throne—he still felt overwhelmed.

    Qiao Yan was not an easy person to deal with or fool. She was an Emperor with keen insight into the world’s situation, remarkable action, and boldness!

    Now that he was in Luoyang, he would inevitably have to interact with her.

    Thinking about the twenty-year friendship between the local Guo Jia and her, he felt a sense of foreboding.

    This length of time was enough for her to see through him.

    Not to mention, he had a reason to meet her: he was here to report on the progress of Yanzhou’s industrial construction.

    The original Guo Jia had already prepared the report, but… this Guo Jia had no idea how to present the progress of glass sand, coal mining, and the construction of the central hub in front of Qiao Yan.

    This is really troublesome.

    Even the strong liquor he had never tasted before couldn’t distract him, and the delicious dishes in front of him couldn’t capture his attention.

    So, it’s no wonder he had to first consider how to deal with Qiao Yan rather than rushing to see his lord, who was still fighting in the northwest frontier.

    At this moment, Guo Jia suddenly noticed a strikingly handsome young man passing by in the crowd below and instinctively turned his gaze.

    Although he hadn’t looked in a mirror to see his current appearance, he had an almost instinctive intuition—

    The expression on that person’s face was exactly like his.

    And unless he had a similar experience, such confusion shouldn’t appear on his face!

    Coincidentally, Guo Jia had seen him once before.

    Before coming to this tavern to daydream, Guo Jia had visited the Xuanyuan Pavilion in Luoyang to understand his situation, observing the talents of Da Yong.

    When leaving, Guo Jia happened to pass by him and overheard the scholars outside the pavilion introducing him, thus learning his name.

    It was Zhuge Liang, the current second-in-command of the Department of State Affairs, transferred back from the position of Governor of Ji Province!

    Coincidentally, before his death in another world, Guo Jia had also heard of him.

    Since the circles of Nanyang scholars and Yingchuan scholars weren’t too far apart, Guo Jia knew that Zhuge Liang, who could have entered officialdom earlier, chose to farm in Nanyang.

    He also knew that in the year he was critically ill, Liu Bei intended to visit Longzhong to recruit Zhuge Liang as his strategist.

    Whether Liu Bei succeeded or not didn’t matter. Now, both he and Zhuge Liang were subjects of the Da Yong Emperor.

    And it seemed they had both experienced a miraculous journey from another world, leaving them unsure how to face this situation.

    That’s perfect!

    Two heads are better than one, especially when facing a predicament that could lead to being burned at the stake as a resurrected ghost.

    Realizing this, Guo Jia immediately threw down money for the wine, instructed the waiter to keep his seat, and hurried downstairs to chase after Zhuge Liang.

    Seeing the other man walking briskly, as if afraid of being recognized by acquaintances, Guo Jia quickly raised his voice to stop him.

    “Kongming, please wait!”

    Author’s Note:

    ① From “The Book of Later Han: Biography of Dong Si’s Wife.”

    To summarize the important timeline information:

    In the Da Yong world, it’s the twelfth year of Yuanzhao, corresponding to 207 AD (the twelfth year of Jian’an). In history, Guo Jia passed away this year.

    207 AD was also the year Zhuge Liang came out to assist Liu Bei and the year Cai Zhaoji was ransomed from the Xiongnu by Cao Cao.

    However, only Guo Jia is from 207 AD; the others returned to a parallel 207 AD from 218 AD. (Not everyone traveled through time.)

    As for why this setting was chosen, keep reading.

    Of course, it’s more interesting to switch people around. (Emperor: What’s interesting about this? Where are my ministers?!!) (They’ll come back, they’ll come back.)

    See you tomorrow at 9:30 AM.