[After Emperor Ling’s death, various forces began to stir. The leader of the foreign relatives group, General He Jin, wanted to physically eliminate all the eunuchs at once, but this idea was opposed by his sister, Empress Dowager He.]

[When it comes to the issue of eunuchs, the interests of the foreign relatives and the gentry are the same, so the gentry representative Yuan Shao suggested to He Jin that he could summon the governors of various provinces to the capital to coerce the empress dowager.]

[When Cao Cao heard this suggestion, he found it incredible, because the eunuchs were dependent on the imperial power. Now the old emperor is dead and the new emperor has just ascended the throne. Killing a few old eunuchs is like capturing them with your hands. Why do you want to call in foreign troops? ]

[Besides, the eunuchs are not fools. If you summon the princes to the capital, the eunuchs will know that you want to kill them. Wouldn’t this alert the enemy? Wouldn’t the eunuchs fight you to death? ]

[If the eunuchs counterattack, what good will come of it? ]

……

“Hehehe…it’s God’s will, it’s God’s will!”

Cao Cao chuckled.

“If He Jin had listened to my advice at that time, how could he have been attacked by the Ten Eunuchs and had his head and body separated?”

“If Yuan Shao had listened to me, there wouldn’t have been the disaster that happened to Dong Zhuo, leading to the chaos in the world!”

Cao Cao waved his sleeves and said with emotion: “Sometimes, the stupidity of the world is far beyond my imagination.”

“Sometimes, I feel that the world is too stupid and I don’t fit in.”

……

【Cao Cao firmly opposed Yuan Shao’s suggestion.】

[However, he did not dare to be too insistent. After all, Cao Cao’s ancestors were eunuchs. So no matter what Cao Cao said at this time, it would be counterproductive. It might even be seen as him sympathizing with the eunuchs and pleading for them. If things go wrong, he might even be killed as an accomplice of the eunuchs. If it is a lighter punishment, he will be dismissed.]

[So Cao Cao, for his own sake, did not insist too much in the end.]

【As for the final result of this matter, I believe those who are familiar with the history of the Three Kingdoms will know it. 】

[The relatives of the emperor and the eunuchs fought each other, Yuan Shao took the opportunity to attack the palace, General He Jin died suddenly, the eunuch group was destroyed, and all power was returned to the powerful. Everything was just as Cao Cao had expected.]

[In this way, the factional struggles that had lasted for hundreds of years in the Han Dynasty suddenly ended with the victory of the powerful.]

[Things went very smoothly, the only regret was that Dong Zhuo, the leader of the Xiliang military group, took the opportunity to kidnap the young emperor of Han and bring him to Beijing to control the government.]

[You may also be able to see that Yuan Shao had some scheming in this plan. After all, when the relatives and eunuchs are finished, the powerful will control the court. Therefore, letting the relatives and eunuchs fight each other may be a move of Yuan Shao. This also explains why he wanted to bring the princes into the capital to alert the enemy, so that he could reap the benefits! ]

[It’s a pity that although Yuan Shao had a good idea, he failed to become the person who controlled the government in the end because Dong Zhuo came. ]

[Of course, these are just guesses based on known results. Maybe Yuan Shao is really that stupid? ]

[From the results, the move of inviting the princes to the capital was indeed a bad one, because Yuan Shao, as a representative of the aristocracy, had no way to deal with Dong Zhuo who had a large army.]

【No one, including Cao Cao, expected that Dong Zhuo’s group would come to power.】

[Cao Cao did not insist on his own opinion before, which was actually equivalent to tacitly accepting the collapse of the eunuch group that his family had always relied on as a political backer. ]

【Perhaps at this time, Prime Minister Cao was thinking that the eunuch group had collapsed, and his friend Yuan Shao was in power. With their old friendship, he could still make a living. However, he never expected that Dong Zhuo would be in power, and Yuan Shao would eventually fail to control the government. 】【The Xiliang military group was basically composed of generals who had fought in wars. They did not have an advanced culture, no lofty political ideals, and no experience in governing the country. This was equivalent to entering a very classic situation in history where the backward ruled the advanced. 】

[In history, when the backward ruled the advanced, it would inevitably arouse the resistance of the people and the gentry throughout the country. Cao Cao was different from Lu Bu, who was born in the mud. Naturally, he did not want to be a running dog of Dong Zhuo’s political group, so he could only change his name and run dozens of miles back to his hometown, taking the lead in raising the first private armed uprising army of the landlord class in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, preparing to march towards the central government. ]

[With Cao Cao’s call, the princes from all over the Eastern Han Dynasty responded one after another, and soon a coalition army of more than 20 troops was formed to fight against Dong Zhuo, with a very powerful momentum.]

[However, the coalition forces in history had a very significant shortcoming, that is, due to problems such as inconsistent interests, their combat effectiveness was often not high, and this coalition force to fight against Dong Zhuo was no exception.]

[These princes with their own ulterior motives can be roughly divided into five types. ]

[The first type is the loyal officials of the Han Dynasty who were of good family background. These people hated Dong Zhuo’s behavior of deposing and enthroning the emperor very much. They wanted to help the country. For example, Tao Qian and Kong Rong had the word “loyalty” engraved on their faces.]

[The second type is Dong Zhuo’s enemies, such as the subordinates of the former general He Jin, or their families and friends were brutally killed by Dong Zhuo, and they have an irreconcilable feud with Dong Zhuo, such as Wang Kuang and Bao Xin. ]

[The third type is the local officials who are plotting to establish their own regimes. They are just trying to take advantage of the situation to join the anti-Dong movement and expand their power by making contributions, such as Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian.]

[The fourth type is ambitious people who have bad intentions. Their plan is not only to eliminate Dong Zhuo, but also to replace him or even change the dynasty, such as the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.]

[The fifth type is pure idealists, represented by Liu Bei and Cao Cao. They do not hold high positions, but they never forget their concerns for the country. Their sincere patriotism is evident to all. They only want to support the country, maintain the unity of the world, and bring peace to the people of the world.]

[Perhaps some people think that this is whitewashing Cao Cao. After all, in the eyes of many people, Cao Cao is simply a treacherous minister. You actually put him together with Liu Bei and say that he wanted to serve the country. Isn’t this whitewashing? ]

[But to be honest, Cao Cao during this period was indeed a loyal minister. Cao Cao at this time was still at the stage of a young dragon slayer, and had not yet turned into an evil dragon. The evil dragon would come later.]

……

“Hahahaha, traitor, what a traitor!”

At the banquet, Cao Cao looked at the sky, stood with his hands behind his back and said: “I, Cao Cao, have a sincere heart to serve my country. Who knows?”

Looking at the civil and military officials, Cao Cao laughed out loud: “You may not believe me if I tell you this, but my original wish was to have the following words written on my tombstone after my death: Tomb of the Former General Cao Hou of the Han Dynasty who Conquers the West.”

“However, since the suppression of the Yellow Turbans, he has defeated Dong Zhuo, eliminated Yuan Shu, defeated Lu Bu, and subdued Liu Biao. He has finally pacified the world and gained power throughout the world. The people of the world have won their hearts.”

“Now I am the Prime Minister. I have reached the highest position of honor for a minister. What more can I hope for?”

Cao Cao became more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice became louder: “If there is no me in this country, I really don’t know how many people will be emperors and how many will be kings!”

“Some people see my power and make wild guesses, suspecting that I have ulterior motives. This is a big mistake!”

“However, it is impossible for me to surrender my military power and return home as a marquis. I am afraid that I will be harmed by evil plots. If I fail, the country will be in danger and the world will be in chaos. How can I pursue falsehood and invite disaster?”

When it comes to the emotional part, Cao Cao can’t help but shake his head: “You may not understand my painstaking efforts…”

After saying this, Cao Cao glanced at the officials with different expressions, then looked up at the sky and murmured, “Who can understand my heart? Who can understand my heart?”

“Who can understand my heart?”

…(End of chapter)