Three Kingdoms: Prince of the Great Wei, Prime Minister Cao

Chapter 16: Cao Cao, Xun You, and the Scholar from Yingchuan! Royal Authority, Virtuous Gentlemen, Aristocratic Families and Clans!

For those in positions of power, every word and action carried profound meaning. Seated at the main position, Cao Cao stared coldly at his son not far away. If this son before him merely believed superficially that Cao Cao was executing Xun You for the sake of the Wei Duke title…

Not only would Cao Cao be greatly disappointed in Cao Ju, but He would also entirely erase the slight expectation he had just nurtured for Cao Ju, reminiscent of “Ang’er.”

His successor, Cao Cao. Dealing with matters couldn’t be so foolish, at the very least. In the act of granting death to Xun You, he could not!

However, Just as Cao Cao’s words fell. He heard his son below saying, “Father, are you trying to say…?”

“Usurping the title of duke, is it your way of testing the scholar group?”

“By executing Xun You…” “Are you trying to employ Xun You’s demise to intimidate the growing influential Yingtian Scholar Group, represented by the Xun family, that is increasingly affecting your rule and curtailing their influence on your decisions?”

Within the study. Facing Cao Cao’s counter-question, Cao Ju didn’t back down. As a time traveler, Cao Ju naturally wouldn’t naively believe that his father, Cao Cao, executed Xun You solely for the sake of an empty title like the Wei dukedom. While the title of Wei dukedom was desirable, it wasn’t enough for Cao Cao to disregard his previous relationship with Xun You and go so far as to kill him. Given that it wasn’t for a mere title, the reasons behind his father, Cao Cao’s insistence on executing Xun You, became apparent. A conflict of political ideologies! It had to involve a clash of political ideologies for the relationship between Cao Cao and Xun You to escalate to irreconcilability and imminent life-or-death confrontation. Reviewing the five-thousand-year history of China.

Once political ideologies clashed, not to mention the execution of loyal subjects by their kings… Even crown princes and heirs to the throne were ordered by emperors to be put to death or imprisoned, not once but numerous times. Considering both the historical context and Cao Ju’s knowledge of his father, Cao Cao, from his previous life:

For the current Cao Cao, the most troublesome clash of political ideologies wasn’t the debate between loyalty to the Han Dynasty and rebellion against it. Even though Cao Cao had assumed the title of Wei dukedom under the Han emperor’s name, he was still far from the path of seizing the throne.

What truly posed a challenge for him was that the Yingtian Scholar Group, whose support he had relied on when he initially rose to power, had now become an uncontrollable force as he solidified his dominion. This is precisely what Cao Cao, a man with a strong desire for control, cannot accept.

Cao Cao might have utilized the gentry from Yingtian, led by scholars and high-ranking individuals. However, He would never allow the clans, aristocratic families, and influential households they represented to grow to a size that threatened him.

Not only that. There was another reason why Cao Cao feared the Yingtian families. That was because of the sudden rise of the Cao clan amidst the chaotic times…

Regarding foundation and heritage, the Cao family was far inferior to the Ruyang Yuan family and the Hongnong Yang family, known as the Four Great Families and Three Dukes. If the scholar group represented by the Yingtian families were to gain momentum…

While Cao Cao was alive, it was manageable. But his successor and the Cao clan might struggle to contain those forces if he were no longer around. If they couldn’t contain them. The natural outcome was evident.

In Cao Ju’s perspective, Usurping the title of Wei dukedom was merely Cao Cao’s first step. Because the territories and lands of the “Wei dukedom” would be in the north. The capital would likely be situated in “Ye,” which Cao Cao had diligently developed for over a decade.

Bestowing the title of Wei dukedom and establishing the capital at Ye. This move not only allowed Cao Cao to naturally shift the center of his rule northward but also distanced himself from the southern stronghold of the Yingtian scholars.

What about the second step?

Father Cao Cao might have supported the gentry group in Hebei to confront the Yingtian scholars, further weakening their influence in the confrontation between these two scholar groups. While maintaining a central balance, he would also suppress the aristocratic families. Cao Ju, well-versed in the history of the late Han period, knew well.

Historically, Cao Cao acted this way, sparing no effort to suppress the aristocratic families.

However, it’s regrettable. His chosen successor, Cao Pi, was a great disappointment. To secure the support of the aristocratic families, Cao Pi declared himself emperor…

Yet, instead of continuing the policy of suppressing these families, he embraced the Nine-rank System proposed by Chen Qun. Once the Nine-rank System was implemented. It was equivalent to unleashing a ferocious beast, the aristocratic families.

This led to a despairing phenomenon during the few hundred years from the Three Kingdoms to the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty.

The highest rank was without commoners, the lowest rank was without gentry. The pathway for those at the bottom to rise was completely blocked! No matter how supreme the imperial authority, compromise with the aristocratic families was still necessary.

“And Xun You…” A soft sigh echoed in Cao Ju’s heart. Thinking about the gentle and serene gentleman, the emperor of the Great Han, who faced death with tranquility as he had seen in Shouchun.

In Cao Ju’s perspective, he was, at most, a sacrificial pawn in the game between Cao Cao and the Yingtian scholar group. Whether it was his loyal Han ideology or his role as a leader of the Yingtian scholar group…

Both destined his father, Cao Cao, to be unable to tolerate him. It was destined that Cao Cao would choose Xun You as the “chicken” to be slaughtered to deter the other Yingtian scholars, who were like “monkeys.” Perhaps the historical Xun You recognized this very point. This might be why he didn’t choose to side with the Yingtian aristocrats against Cao Cao or with Cao Cao to suppress the Yingtian aristocrats. Instead, he took a third stance outside these two options: the Great Han!

He chose to die for the Great Han. With his own death, he admonished Cao Cao to “uphold the sincerity of loyalty and integrity, adhere to the principle of yielding and retreating as a subject.”

Caught between the contradictions of political ethics and harsh reality, he met a tragic end. However, In this world, there was the presence of Cao Ju, the time traveler. At a crucial moment, he prevented the tragedy of Xun You from happening.

In the commanding position. Unaware of the tumultuous thought process his son Cao Ju had gone through, upon hearing Cao Ju’s counter-arguments, Cao Cao exclaimed in surprise.

“Boom!”

Stunned, Cao Cao suddenly stood up. He looked at his son, who remained calm and composed, articulating the intentions and purposes behind his decision to execute Xun You. In the next moment, Cao Cao was agitated. He lost his previous composure.

His doubt was evident as he uttered in disbelief, “You…”

“You know why I’m doing this?!”

At this moment, the shock in Cao Cao’s heart was indescribable.