Chapter 464

Chapter 464

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Extra Extra Eight (End)

In front of this straightforward, almost mocking map, the emperor slowly turned to face the newcomer.

At the moment their eyes met, Cao Cao finally understood why this woman could seize the highest power in the world.

No words were needed to describe her; it was easy to conclude in one’s heart that she was a truly qualified iron-blooded emperor, a real power-holding monarch!

Qiao Yan continued, “I don’t know if there are others who have exchanged places with their counterparts from another world. From Chang’an to Luoyang to where you were before, during this period, I could only find the five of you here.”

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao finally realized that perhaps it was because Qiao Yan’s aura was too overwhelming, causing people to subconsciously ignore that when they arrived, their entourage had gradually withdrawn from the place.

Only five people remained.

Cao Cao, Cai Zhaoji, Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang, whom Qiao Yan had brought from Chang’an, and one more, a familiar face to Cao Cao.

At least much more familiar than Zhuge Liang.

Because in his timeline, this person had once been his subordinate.

After Liu Cong surrendered to him, Liu Ba, representing the Jingxiang scholars, did not choose to follow Liu Bei but instead went north to meet Cao Cao. Cao Cao sent him to the three southern Jing provinces to recruit surrenders. However, the Battle of Red Cliffs forced Cao Cao to retreat from southern Jing, and Liu Ba, unable to report back, fled to Jiaozhou and then to Yizhou, becoming Liu Bei’s subject after Liu Bei entered Shu.

Liu Ba was skilled in economic strategies, and Cao Cao knew his capabilities well. He often felt frustrated that such talent had fallen into enemy hands, but he never expected Liu Ba to appear here at this moment.

Seeing Liu Ba bow to him and sit with Zhuge Liang, while he sat with Guo Jia and Cai Zhaoji, Cao Cao sighed silently in his heart.

Then, Qiao Yan from above said, “According to the words of the gods, in about ten more days, you can all return to your places. Since you’ve come from afar, it’s fate. As the emperor of the heavenly dynasty, I have a few words to share with you.”

Her gaze momentarily returned to the vast map behind her before settling back on the people present.

“You can listen, or not, but I think, in the nearly twenty days since you arrived here, what you’ve seen should not lead you to make a wrong choice.”

This brief conversation, due to the特殊性 of its participants, was not recorded by Ren Hong, so naturally, no one knows the specifics.

Officials in Chang’an also didn’t know why the emperor had made a special trip to Chang’an just to gather these few people and then send them to different rooms with various books.

But to be precise, there were five rooms, but only four people entered.

“Your Majesty, why did you ask me to pretend to be replaced by another version of myself?” Liu Ba asked as he caught up with Qiao Yan after the others had disappeared from sight.

“For balance,” Qiao Yan replied. “Although the combined territories of those three parties haven’t even covered the entire former Han Dynasty, let alone compare to my Da Yong, and they know little about the seas and the vast lands to the west, it seems easy to achieve a situation where one party occupies the Central Plains while the other two retreat. But the biggest thing in the world might not be the land one can stand on, but human ambition.”

“If one party gets the chance to directly annex the other two, do you think they would still follow the rules of the game?”

Liu Ba replied, “Probably not.”

“That’s why I brought you here.”

Ignoring Guo Jia’s words, two against two is always better than two against one, right?

Liu Ba laughed, “I thought Your Majesty would lend full support to Cao Mengde of this world because of your friendship.”

Qiao Yan said, “Do I look like someone with an overflowing heart of mercy?”

Liu Ba thought for a moment and replied, “If it’s for the benefit of the people, Your Majesty certainly counts, but in terms of political games, Your Majesty certainly doesn’t.”

According to Qiao Yan’s own words, she certainly doesn’t.

She hopes that world can avoid the events of the Three Kingdoms unifying under Jin and the Five Barbarians causing chaos, but she doesn’t want the knowledge surpassing the original world to be handed over to Cao Cao, becoming a unique weapon to help him advance further.

She didn’t even include the formula for gunpowder and its related products in the materials available for them to study. Instead, she encrypted them along with some other materials and entrusted them to Zhen Mi for safekeeping, giving the decryption method to Cai Zhaoji to pass on to Zhen Mi when necessary.

After all, in her campaign to conquer the world, she managed to attack Ye City without gunpowder, so the other side shouldn’t need it to unify the world.

This might seem unfair to Cao Cao, but just as the system’s error didn’t fairly bring the leaders of the three parties here, things in this world are never entirely fair. How can she be blamed for holding back?

In the last few days of this month, Cao Cao and Guo Jia from another world had a chance to reminisce, making Qiao Yan feel like a truly kind person.

“Where will Guo Fengxiao from another world return to?” Qiao Yan asked the system.

His situation was different from the others. In the 23rd year of Jian’an, as he said, he was already a pile of bones in a grave, yet he was dug up, which is quite amusing. If returning to the original position is the case, shouldn’t he go back there?

The system replied, [He definitely won’t stay here, letting you enjoy using one subordinate as two! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking.]

“Then I won’t ask. For him, although he learned of his lord’s defeat at Red Cliffs, he also gained an unexpected harvest, so he should be able to rest in peace.”

[By the way, I saw Cao Cao come to you once, wanting to ask about Cao Ang’s punishment. Why didn’t you tell him?]

“Didn’t I say?” Qiao Yan replied, “This is an educational issue between me and Cao Mengde of this world. It’s none of his business.”

If Cao Cao couldn’t tell that Qiao Yan’s attitude wasn’t leaning towards punishing Cao Ang, he wouldn’t have been so at ease continuing to study the political documents after the implementation of the Three Departments and Six Ministries.

As everyone’s emotions gradually stabilized, news of the system error being corrected finally reached Qiao Yan.

In the last remaining time, Qiao Yan met Cai Zhaoji alone once more.

It was a conversation so short it consisted of only one sentence.

Qiao Yan said to her, “I hope you are first yourself, then Cai Yong’s daughter, and only then Dong Si’s wife.”

She heard this sentence clearly, then lost consciousness.

From Qiao Yan’s perspective, the moment these words were spoken, Cai Zhaoji’s eyes went blank for a moment.

When emotions filled them again, the Cai Zhaoji most familiar to Qiao Yan had returned.

Before Qiao Yan could even say “welcome back,” Cai Zhaoji, already in her thirties, started wiping her tears, “Your Majesty, she really suffered.”

Zhaoji never expected that the “outsider” who suddenly took over her body was another version of herself, who had been exiled to the Xiongnu for over a decade. Upon returning to her homeland, not only had her father been dead for ten years, but she was also implicated because of her husband.

In the world she spoke of, women couldn’t live decently just by relying on their own hands.

Qiao Yan patted her shoulder, “So, to prevent such a situation from ever occurring again in the territory of Da Yong, we still have a long way to go.”

Cai Zhaoji wiped her tears and said firmly, “Yes, we still have a long way to go.”

She could walk a different path from her other self because of the emperor’s support, but the emperor is only one person and cannot lift the thousands still confined within their chambers. It will take one after another, like her, to gradually rewrite the future.

At the very least, there need to be more female officials standing upright in the court.

But before that, there’s a bit of cleanup from this unexpected event.

Guo Jia was banned from drinking for a year. According to Qiao Yan, she was forced to watch a lot of lord-subject affection, and the lord wasn’t her. Whether this is venting or not, Guo Jia will have to deal with this punishment.

Zhuge Liang, also banned from drinking, didn’t mind the punishment much, since… he wasn’t much of a drinker anyway.

The final order was from Qiao Yan to Cao Cao, “Now that Cangyuan has been conquered, and the Tangmo, Fa Qiang, and Maoniu Qiang tribes have submitted, along with Qinghai County, the territory has exceeded a province. It shall be named Xizhou, with Mengde as the governor. But—”

“In three months, I want Zixiu to voluntarily resign as the prefect of Hanzhong and go to Leping Academy to be a teacher.”

Qiao Yan said it casually, but Cao Cao understood clearly: this was an absolute, non-negotiable order and her punishment for Cao Ang not reporting the situation promptly during this anomaly.

Compared to Guo Jia’s drinking ban, this was a real punishment!

But Cao Cao knew well that this was less a punishment for Cao Ang’s poor choice and more a preemptive measure to protect the Cao family.

Cao Ang prioritized filial piety, which made Cao Cao, who observed the whole situation, feel gratified, but this was not the behavior expected of the Cao family’s helmsman.

On the great ship of Da Yong, among the various forces loyal to the emperor, the Cao and Xiahou clans were the most prosperous and talented. But this could either be capital for further advancement or a reason for their complete downfall.

Rather than risking the entire clan’s demise due to the helmsman being hindered by familial ties and making poor decisions, it’s better to quickly reorganize, trim the branches, and establish a long-term survival strategy while he’s still in good health.

Was Cao Ang’s dismissal really a disaster? Not necessarily.

Ten years as a prefect had given him political achievements, and once he went to Leping Academy, it was like securing another iron rice bowl.

This position might suit this emotional person better than the political center.

As for Cao Pi, after being fully trained as Qiao Yan’s嫡系, he should take on heavier responsibilities.








Cao Cao did not hesitate and immediately replied, “As Your Majesty commands.”

“Speaking of which,” Qiao Yan pondered and asked, “In Mengde’s opinion, what would the other side of the late Han world become?”

Cao Cao avoided answering such a troublesome and potentially risky question, simply saying, “I wonder what Your Majesty’s wise insight might be?”

Qiao Yan laughed, “Who knows? Maybe it could even be a question for the Leping Academy exams in some year.”

After all, she couldn’t see the follow-up, as the system had said it didn’t offer after-sales service.

She never expected that the seed she had buried would finally take the stage of the world in a truly meaningful way four hundred years later in that timeline.

——————

During the Daye era, the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang, acted tyrannically, imposing heavy taxes and levies, leading to frequent uprisings among the people.

In just the first six months of Daye 9, peasant uprisings had erupted in Pingyuan and Lingwu. Even in June, Yang Xuangan, a high-ranking Sui official, rebelled in Liyang. Unfortunately, Yang Guang had just withdrawn the Sui army from Liaodong, and Yang Xuangan was defeated and committed suicide.

Despite this, the signal for rebellion continued to spread uncontrollably.

The more bloody suppression they faced, the more these desperate people tried to fight for a way out.

In May of Daye 13, Duke Li Yuan of Tang took advantage of Yang Guang’s southward journey to Jiangdu and raised an army in Jinyang.

Yang Guang’s grandson, Yang You, and Sui generals like Qu Tutong were stationed in Chang’an and immediately issued arrest warrants for Li Yuan’s family left in Chang’an.

Li Yuan’s son-in-law, Chai Shao, went north to Taiyuan to join him, while Li Yuan’s third daughter, Li Xiuning, secretly sold family assets and contacted anti-Sui forces in Huxian County, raising an army by aiding disaster victims.

In just over three months, she had gathered four or five sizable rebel armies under her command, even conquering Meiyang and Wugong under her leadership.

In the Han Dynasty, this area was under the jurisdiction of Youfufeng, but by the end of the Sui Dynasty, it was at the border of Jingzhao and Fufeng commanderies.

After some consideration, Li Xiuning decided to temporarily set her base in Mei County.

“During the late Han, Dong Zhuo built the Maiwu fortress here, intending to retire in peace, but even its high walls couldn’t ensure eternal safety. Later, Emperor Ming of Wei built a palace here for his mother, Empress Wenzhao, but it was abandoned. In the 18th year of Kaihuang, Emperor Wen of Sui built the Anren Palace on the site, which was later abandoned again when Yang Guang indulged in dreams of Jiangdu.”

She rode around the city walls, gazing intently for a long time, then said, “But with some repairs, its high walls and deep moats can still serve us. As a military storage site, it can support Wugong and Zhouzhi. If things go wrong, we can retreat here and wait for my father to cross the Yellow River and join us in Guanzhong, allowing us to attack Chang’an from two directions.”

“If Xue Ju in Lanzhou makes a move, we can also send an army to block his advance at Jiankou.”

Her servant, Ma Sanbao, could tell that although their third lady spoke of “things going wrong,” her ambition was far greater than just holding a fortified city to avoid disaster, especially since she had dared to subdue the powerful merchant He Panren under her command!

She said, “Come, follow me into the city.”

The Anren Palace, one of Emperor Wen of Sui’s twelve palaces, had only been built for about twenty years, but like the Sui Dynasty under Yang Guang’s rule, it was in a precarious state.

Only the scale remained, with only the library and government storehouse still intact.

Thinking of the actions of Yang Guang, who was nominally her uncle, Li Xiuning couldn’t help but shake her head.

After ordering repairs to the city walls, she entered the storehouse and library to see what remained.

However, there wasn’t much left in Guanzhong’s supplies, as they had likely been requisitioned back to Chang’an. What remained were a batch of defective weapons, and the library was even more pitiful.

Since the new paper was introduced under Cai Zhaoji’s leadership in the 23rd year of Jian’an during the late Han, book copying and printing had become standardized.

The already scarce collection of books looked even more pitiful after being converted to paper.

Fortunately, this place had once been a royal library, and someone had taken care of it, preserving it well.

Li Xiuning’s gaze swept over the innermost bookshelf, over the Book of Later Han and the Book of Wei, finally resting on a hardcover book in the corner.

Unlike the surrounding books, this one was titled “Women’s Fitness Manual.”

For some reason, when she saw this book, she felt an inexplicable sense of destiny.

As she pulled the book from the shelf, she saw that the author was Zhen Luo.

“Zhen Luo…” she frowned, “Isn’t Zhen the surname of Empress Wenzhao?”

Although this place had once been Empress Zhen’s palace, it was possible that another Zhen had written a book and left it here.

Li Xiuning made this guess but didn’t dwell on it, casually flipping through the book.

This wasn’t just a random exercise manual but a compilation of practical physical training experiences from female soldiers in ancient Liangzhou and Yizhou.

Li Xiuning, who dared to lead troops and was quite brave herself, could tell after flipping through a few pages whether this book was a random fabrication or a genuinely useful guide tailored to her needs.

However, when she reached the fortieth page, she suddenly paused.

From this page onward, although the font and paper quality remained the same, the content underwent a dramatic change, causing Li Xiuning’s expression to shift.

“Third Lady?” Ma Sanbao, noticing her strange expression, quickly asked, thinking she had encountered some trouble.

The woman known as Third Lady, later known as Princess Pingyang Zhao, continued to stare at the manual without answering her attendant.

Her astonishment came from the fact that this previously sealed manual didn’t just record exercises and female soldier training methods but also contained…

A story that seemed like it could only appear in a dream.

In this story, Empress Wenzhao, who admitted her identity, vividly depicted a flourishing dynasty ruled by an empress and mentioned her great gains from visiting this place.

Even… leaving behind a treasure map pointing to more documents buried underground!

The idea of an empress and the alternate ending derived from the late Han chaos sounded like an absurd tale.

But for some reason, just as she felt a sense of destiny when reaching for the book, she also had an intuition upon seeing its contents—

This was not just a storybook written by Empress Wenzhao of Cao Wei to pass the time!

Moreover, if she really wanted to write a storybook, why would she write it in such a place?

Emperor Ming of Wei greatly respected his mother, and she didn’t need to speculate on such a drastically different ending in a storybook, turning herself and her son from “rulers” to “subjects.”

And considering that very few would open a book titled “Women’s Fitness Manual,” why would Empress Wenzhao choose such a book if not to make a serious point?

Just from the title, it was clear that her intended audience was not someone content with the status quo!

Realizing this, Li Xiuning immediately gripped the book and walked out.

Whether the book’s claims were true or not, trying it out couldn’t hurt.

The outer walls of Mei County hadn’t changed much over the past four hundred years, making it easy to locate the spot described in the book.

Half an hour later, an entrance to a dug-out cellar appeared beneath the thick yellow earth, right in front of her.

“There really is…” she murmured, a flash of joy crossing her face.

Although she hadn’t yet seen what was hidden in the cellar, the discovery of this hidden library confirmed the book’s claims, making her more inclined to believe the other information!

Facing the dark entrance, Li Xiuning’s heart raced faster than ever.

If Zhen Luo’s words were true, what lay in the cellar could be a treasure she had never dared to imagine before arriving in Mei County!

She looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and resolutely stepped inside.

Stepping into a future filled with unknowns.

Author’s Note:

① The name Li Xiuning was later made up in novels. I’m bad at naming, so I just used it.

Mainly because no name has been passed down to later generations.

With this setting, there’s no need to have the original history watch the Da Yong viewing.

Just relying on Zhaoji and Zhen Luo wouldn’t be enough to fundamentally change the situation. They came here to empower themselves and leave a recorded seed for Princess Pingyang Zhao and Empress Wu.

No matter what the future holds, at least for another world, the Five Barbarians’ chaos didn’t happen, and there’s another hope.

Anyway, this side story ends here.

How could there be an argument over Cao Ang? (Facepalm.

The Cao family has too many people, especially too many talents. It’s essential to clearly select a truly loyal and politically astute leader; otherwise, a situation like Sima Yi’s could arise.

Taking this opportunity to first remove the eldest son’s official position is the most merciful move for Qiao Qiao, who is already an emperor.

Otherwise, with Cao Ang as the governor of Hanzhong and rising further, Cao Cao as the governor of the Western Province, and Cao Pi still vying for political positions, Cao Ang, as the heir, would definitely crash if he didn’t have enough sense of self-preservation.

Historically, Cao Ang didn’t survive… and he was willing to sacrifice his life for his father’s filial piety, which fits the historical character based on limited material.

I originally wanted to write it more cruelly, considering the Cao family’s situation, which could easily become too powerful, but I decided against it.

Next side story: System Exchange.

Then there are some scattered side stories (like Qiao Huaixu’s fanfiction journey, Leping Academy sticky notes, etc.). I might not write as much in the next few days, as there’s not much left to write. I’ll just finish the word count for the list and call it a day.

See you tomorrow at 9:30 AM.

Ah, this year, including previous books, I’ve written 3 million words. KPI achieved. I feel justified in slacking off in November and December OVO.