Bugok (1)
To prevent the Xuzhou Massacre, I had weighed every approach I could think of, and in the end only one truly good option remained.
Having Cao Cao bring her father over in person.
At first I considered moving myself, but no matter how long I turned it over, there were far too many things that would tie my ankles down.
Merely marching an army from Luoyang to Xuzhou was already cause for raised eyebrows — and the reason would be that I was helping with the household of another power's leader?
Even I found the excuse absurd.
People around me would block my path, insisting that they'd sooner attack Yanzhou than commit to such a pointless action.
Besides, it was doubtful Cao Song would move according to my intentions in the first place.
Unlike Cao Cao, Cao Song and I were complete strangers to each other.
If anything, he'd be wary of me, if not outright suspicious — he had no reason whatsoever to trust me.
Which meant all I could do was set the table nicely and leave the rest to fate.
First, I sent an imperial envoy to Cao Cao, giving her official justification to enter Xuzhou.
Tao Qian had only roughly cleaned up the bandits remaining in Xuzhou; he hadn't eradicated them completely.
So if she claimed, on paper, to be leading an army there to suppress bandits, the surrounding warlords might feel uneasy about it, but they'd have no choice but to nod along.
After handing Cao Cao her pretext, I turned my gaze to Tao Qian, the man who ruled Xuzhou.
Common sense dictated that no leader could simply stand by and watch while another power's army trampled across his territory.
So I took one particular measure with Tao Qian to restrict his actions and keep him from intervening actively.
And what might that have been?
I sent Tao Qian a truly staggering amount of wealth — enough to make one think, well, it should be fine for a little while, shouldn't it?
Apparently, when you have enough money, even your headaches find ways to sort themselves out.
The truth was, all that treasure had been gifts the local magnates had sent me.
I wasn't one to indulge in luxury, but Jia Xu had explained to me that whether or not one accepted a gift was itself an act loaded with all manner of political calculation.
So I had accepted the gifts — and then simply accepted them, nothing more.
Never displayed anywhere, buried in the corner of a warehouse, wiped clean from my memory.
Those useless eyesores had finally found their purpose.
Honestly, I never believed Tao Qian would refrain from meddling altogether.
The man who led the bandits of Xuzhou… what was his name again? Que Xuan, was it?
And how did Tao Qian kill him?
They had plundered the common folk side by side, on the friendliest of terms, laughing and drinking together — and then at a banquet, Tao Qian cracked the man across the back of the head and ended him.
That sly old serpent was not the honest sort who could be trusted just because he had made a promise.
He wouldn't march his own army out or intervene openly, but he'd certainly scheme in the shadows, needling Cao Cao in ways too subtle to trace.
That much was beyond my reach, so all I could do was hope Cao Cao handled herself well.
…Not that I was particularly worried about her, mind you.
This was the Cao Cao Mengde who overcame countless obstacles and eventually succeeded in founding the Kingdom of Wei.
Did that old man Tao Qian really think he could pull one over on her with whatever cleverness he could muster?
She'd be doing well if she didn't take a counterattack to the face, if anything.
I had done everything within my power regarding Xuzhou, so all that remained was to wait for the results.
I looked at the woman before me.
A woman with black hair — a rare sight in this world — stood before me now with a courteous posture.
Straining to keep my voice as even as possible, I spoke.
"You've exceeded my expectations. Well done."
"Your praise leaves me not knowing where to place myself."
Liu Bei Xuande.
Whenever I went searching for the right person for some task, Liu Bei seemed to sense it, appeared as if summoned by a ghost, and begged me to entrust the work to her.
Having someone as capable as Liu Bei take charge was only a welcome thing in my eyes, so I handed her the tasks without hesitation.
To prevent the Xuzhou Massacre, I had given Liu Bei two things to do.
The first was to use her vast fortune and her silver tongue to persuade Tao Qian, keeping him from intervening actively against Cao Cao.
If Tao Qian stubbornly refused my proposal, she was not to leave the city but to send word to me immediately and report back.
If it came to that, I would have had to mobilize another approach entirely.
Had Tao Qian rejected my offer, the mountain of treasure I'd sent would have had to be returned as well — and if that happened, I predicted Liu Bei's party might well be attacked on the road back to Luoyang.
Her escort could be ambushed and their goods plundered, after which the bandits who had escaped suppression would stir up some commotion, and Tao Qian could simply play dumb and feign ignorance.
Tao Qian would be happy to have gained such riches, the bandits would be happy to divvy up the loot — everyone wins, more or less.
He had recently absorbed a great number of the bandits in Xuzhou into his own ranks, so arranging it wouldn't have been difficult.
……Though the scenario I just described only applies if Tao Qian were a complacent fool blinded by the profit in front of his nose.
The mere fact that a guest who had taken refuge under another power was ambushed in a foreign land was, in itself, a fine pretext for starting a war.
If Tao Qian had any sense, then even if he refused my proposal, he would simply send Liu Bei's party back safe and sound.
But hadn't I seen a case of a man who had lost all sense before — Dong Zhuo?
Handle things carelessly, and an incident like the Great Fire of Chang'an could very well play out all over again. That was why I had moved with extreme caution.
The second task I gave Liu Bei was this: if Tao Qian accepted my proposal, she was likewise to send someone to report it to me, then wait until Cao Cao received the imperial edict and deliver a letter to her.
I'd told her no reply was necessary, so it was a simple matter of handing over the letter and returning straight home.
There was little to be careful about, and judging by everything Cao Cao had shown me so far, I didn't think she would treat my envoy with hostility.
When Liu Bei heard the second task, I thought her body stiffened for an instant — but since this was the same Liu Bei who had calmly accepted the job of persuading Tao Qian, I brushed it off as my imagination.
I looked at Liu Bei, still holding her courteous posture before me.
It was now time for the reward according to merit.
"You carried out everything I asked of you, so now I must grant you your due."
"……"
"Is there anything you desire? Speak, and I will do my utmost to see that you receive it."
Liu Bei had followed my orders — orders that might well have struck anyone as strange on a second listen — without raising a single question, completing them in silent obedience.
It was task management that could serve as the very model of a soldier's discipline, so while a faint doubt lingered in my mind, I simply nodded along, telling myself a good thing was a good thing.
At my question urging her to name her reward, Liu Bei answered in a quiet voice.
"I have already received my reward."
"Hm?"
What was that supposed to mean?
Had I handed her something without knowing it?
Whether she caught the puzzlement on my face or not, Liu Bei continued in a voice as melodious as it was composed.
"The General-in-Chief's trust."
"……"
"Liu Bei asks for nothing more than that."
The words out of her mouth were ones I could never have imagined, and I fell silent.
What was the intent behind saying something like this now?
What kind of person was Liu Bei?
In the original history, she was the warlord who clung to Cao Cao's ankles to the very end and ultimately blocked Cao Cao's unification of the realm.
Born in the rural backwater of Zhuo County in You Province, a poor member of the imperial clan with no rights or privileges whatsoever, Liu Bei was a legendary figure who, without a shred of support, clawed her way all the way to the throne.
One could call it the triumph of the human spirit and it would still be an understatement — the problem being that her brilliant era never lasted long.
People of old would sigh over the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, saying it taught them that all things are fleeting, that nothing so thoroughly teaches the impermanence of life — and I suspect Liu Bei deserves a considerable share of the credit for such laments.
"Your trust, you say. Is that the honest truth?"
"Yes."
To my grave question, Liu Bei answered without a moment's hesitation.
This is genuinely uncomfortable. Why is she like this?
Having heard her answer, I kept the surface of my face perfectly calm while desperately grinding my brain beneath it.
…I imagine it's a polite formality, a courteous refusal, right? She can't possibly mean that my trust alone is truly enough.
I nodded inwardly to myself.
It seems I've grown as well. To think the day would come when I could catch the meaning hidden beneath someone's words.
Jia Xu might not notice, but if Sima Yi had seen this, she probably would have worn a rather proud expression.
Having caught on to why Liu Bei was behaving this way, I smiled and asked again.
"Even if that is your wish, leaving you without a reward hardly makes sense. Don't be shy — tell me what you want."
When I pressed once more for her desired reward, Liu Bei held her silence for a long moment before finally speaking.
"…If I may be so bold, might I ask you one question?"
"Go ahead. Ask."
I nodded quickly, all but urging her to get on with it.
Liu Bei spoke.
"I would like to ask whether there are any vacant retainer posts within the General-in-Chief's bureau."
"……"
"If it would not displease you, I wish to lend my aid to you from somewhere a little… closer at hand."
She really got me, hook, line, and sinker.
I ought to resign from office as soon as possible.
Just as I thought — high positions were never a place that suited me.