Chapter 51: Inspire Cao Cao's Ambition to Become Emperor as Soon as Possible

Two days later, in an abandoned village.

Liu Liang borrowed a half-collapsed mud house, closed the door, and crawled inside.

An oil lamp was lit inside, and the smoke stung people's eyes.

He sat cross-legged on a pile of dry grass, with the genuine jade seal and a bunch of odds and ends in front of him.

Carving knife, fine sand, vinegar, mud, and that piece of Lantian jade pebble brought from Zhuojun.

The genuine jade seal was placed next to my knees so I could check it at any time.

Liu Liang stared at the real object for four hours.

What are you looking at? The swordsmanship.

The turns of Qin seal script and the beginnings and endings of clerical script have been passed down for eight hundred years. The edges and corners have been worn smooth, but the core structure remains.

He had seen too many imitations in his past life. Some were extremely similar, but they were obviously "traced" rather than carved.

That kind of copying stroke by stroke lacks spirit.

The true magic of this piece lies in the fact that the person who carved it didn't think about "how to write the seal script beautifully," but only about how to press the four characters "Received the Mandate of Heaven" into this four-inch square piece of jade.

The first step is to grind the material.

Lantian jade is slightly harder than He Shi Bi jade, and its color is also slightly different.

The jade pebble was rubbed on a rough stone for about half an hour to remove the outer skin and reveal the inner texture.

The color is still more bluish, while the real thing is more white.

A layer of paste made of fine sand was applied to the polished jade blank, and a few drops of vinegar were added. It was then placed in a ventilated place to air dry.

It can create a light stain on the surface, covering the original color.

After waiting for the ink to seep in, I began to draw the pattern.

Using charcoal sticks, I drew the eight characters on the silk more than a dozen times before I finally determined the position, spacing, and stroke thickness.

The characters on genuine artifacts are not perfectly symmetrical; the left side is denser and the right side is sparser. This is due to the slight wrist deviation of the jade carver when he made his cut.

This slight deviation is what distinguishes the genuine from the fake.

Liu Liang pasted the drawn pattern onto the jade blank and used the tip of a needle to prick out the outline along the strokes.

Then the engraving began.

Holding the carving knife in his hand, the blade traced along the surface of the jade.

Don't rush, cut away one slice at a time, removing only a thin layer of jade dust each time.

If you carve too deeply, the strokes will become too obvious.

If the engraving is too shallow, the ink won't hold up.

It should be exactly the same as the real thing.

Over the course of eight hundred years, the seal surface has been worn down slightly, but the characters can still be clearly rubbed out.

After carving the first character, Liu Liang stopped and took the real jade seal over to compare.

The thickness of the strokes, that's correct.

The turning point is right.

The depth and direction of the knife marks... one cut was slightly heavier, going half an inch deeper.

Liu Liang put down the jade blank and picked up the real thing to examine it for a while.

Even genuine artifacts have such heavily engraved areas.

It wasn't a mistake by the craftsman; it was just that when he was carving that spot, his wrist got tired and the carving became slightly heavy.

Very satisfied, continue carving.

The second character, the third character… When he got to the sixth character, Liu Liang suddenly remembered what the old master who taught him how to forge characters had said: “If you make a fake that is seven-tenths real, that’s enough. Leave the remaining three-tenths for the buyer to fool himself. If he believes it’s real, he’ll think it’s in the style of the ancients even if you carve it crookedly. If he doesn’t believe it, he can still find fault even if you carve it exactly the same.”

This statement is perfectly applicable to Cao Cao.

Did Cao Cao ever see the Imperial Seal? No.

There are probably only a handful of people who have seen them, and most of them are dead.

Those who were alive were all in Chang'an, following Dong Zhuo.

Once this "Imperial Seal" came into Cao Cao's possession, who would authenticate it? Who would determine its authenticity?

no one.

Cao Cao himself was the greatest connoisseur.

If he says it's true, then it's true.

He says it's fake, and it doesn't matter who says it's true.

Therefore, this imitation does not need to be flawless.

All we need to do is make Cao Cao think, "This should be true."

After Liu Liang finished carving the last character, he turned the jade blank over to look at it.

The eight characters look exactly the same as the real thing at first glance.

Upon closer inspection, the color is slightly darker, the texture is slightly harder, and the strokes are slightly lighter.

But all of this can be explained by the fact that it has been passed down for eight hundred years.

Jade will change color when buried underground.

The texture will change if it is touched a lot.

The strokes will change when the print is repeatedly made.

You can explain it however you like.

Liu Liang put the genuine jade seal into his bosom and placed it close to his skin.

The counterfeit was packed in an old brocade pouch and stuffed into the bottom of the bundle.

The next question was how to deliver it to Cao Cao.

Should we send it directly?

Liu Liang denied it.

Sending it directly was tantamount to telling Cao Cao, "I, Liu Zishan, am sending you gifts behind Liu Bei's back. If you accept them, my reputation as a 'traitor' will be confirmed." Cao Cao might not say it aloud, but he would be wondering, "If this man can send me gifts behind Liu Bei's back today, will he send them to someone else tomorrow?"

Besides, the things given away directly are not valuable.

Liu Liang thought of Guan Yu.

Why did Cao Cao value Guan Yu so much back then?

Because Guan Yu did not surrender directly.

The agreement at Tushan stipulated three conditions: surrender to the Han Dynasty but not to Cao Cao, and travel a thousand miles alone.

The more he refused to surrender, the more Cao Cao wanted him to surrender.

After Guan Yu left, Cao Cao even chased after him and presented him with a robe.

What's offered to you is worthless; what you can't ask for is precious.

The same goes for the imperial seal.

If Liu Liang were to present the imperial seal to Cao Cao, Cao Cao would accept it and say, "Sir, this is a generous gift," but in his heart he would be thinking, "This man has ulterior motives."

In the future, he will just be an ordinary strategist, and no one will take him seriously.

It was up to Cao Cao to discover it himself.

He also had to feel that it was a gift from God, that it was Cao Cao's destiny to have this.

This would be the only way to ignite Cao Cao's ambition to become emperor as soon as possible.

Liu Liang sat on the haystack, staring at the smoking oil lamp, and mentally reviewed the terrain around Luoyang.

Cao Cao is currently in Luoyang.

Outside Luoyang, to the west was the direction Dong Zhuo retreated in, to the east was Hulao Pass, to the north was the Yellow River, and to the south...

To the south is Xuanyuan Pass, and further south is Yingchuan.

Yingchuan was Xun Yu's hometown and also Cao Cao's future talent pool.

A thought popped into Liu Liang's mind.

We need to find a place to bury it.

Where should it be buried?

Ideally, it should be a place Cao Cao would inevitably pass through on his march.

It can't be too conspicuous, otherwise it will look fake.

It needs to be a corner that "would not be noticed by anyone who isn't paying attention."

Liu Liang thought for a moment, then his gaze fell on the unfolded map.

South of Xuanyuan Pass, there is a small path leading to Yingchuan.

There is an abandoned ancient temple by the roadside, which is said to have been built during the Warring States period. It has long since collapsed, leaving only a few walls.

Behind the temple is a dry well, and next to it are several crooked trees.

This kind of place is perfect for burying things.

Bury it, and then what?

Then Cao Cao needs to find out.

But I can't tell him directly.

Liu Liang recalled Cao Cao's penchant for tomb raiding.

This man had done this kind of thing when he was in Yanzhou. He set up positions such as "General of Grave Excavation" and "Captain of Tomb Raiders" to dig up graves and raise funds for the army.

An abandoned ancient temple and a dry well might be considered a desolate place by others, but Cao Cao might have seen it as a treasure trove.

This thing needs to be discovered "accidentally" by the right person.

All it takes is a hint.

Ideally, it would be one of Cao Cao's scouts, out exploring the area, who happened to be resting in this dilapidated temple, and happened to see the oilcloth bag peeking out from the dry well. They would open it, take a look, and then quickly return to report.

Everything has to be "just right".

Liu Liang put away the oilcloth bag, got up, pushed open the door, and called out, "Zilong."

Zhao Yun came over from the next room.

Liu Liang said, "Let's go, let's head south for a bit."

Zhao Yun was taken aback: "South? Not back to Hulao Pass?"

Liu Liang said, "Let's go around first. Make way for some people."