Chapter 38

"Brother, facing Zhu Jiuzhen's temptation, you who could remain unmoved and destroy the flower with a ruthless hand are this."

*Heavenly Dragon* Zhang Jie gave a thumbs up to *Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie.

"Yeah. According to the general process, accepting Zhu Jiuzhen wouldn't have harmed us either.

Yet you were able to control your brother and didn't let the little head control the big head."

*Water Margin* Zhang Jie also greatly appreciated *Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie's act of finishing off Zhu Jiuzhen.

Throughout history, those who could accomplish great things were, without exception, those who could control their brothers.

Han Gaozu, a mere pavilion chief, was still cockfighting and walking dogs in Pei County after the age of forty.

In ancient times when the average life expectancy was low, the 48-year-old Liu Bang was basically an old man,

and an old man who couldn't bring peace to the country with literature, couldn't gather the masses with martial arts, was of low birth, had no fame, and couldn't do anything right.

Yet, seven years after raising an army to oppose Qin, he first broke through Hangu Pass, entered Guanzhong to destroy Qin,

later repaired the plank roads, secretly crossed Chen Cang to defeat the Overlord,

and laid the foundation for the four-hundred-year foundation of the Great Han, which absolutely had to do with his super self-control.

After entering Xianyang, although he was briefly dazzled by this flower-laden world,

and achieved a record of a hundred kills in the Epang Palace, he was able to, under the dissuasion of Zhang Liang and Xiao He,

recognize reality, seal the treasury, and pacify the people, leaving Xiang Yu with no place to make trouble.

The Grand Historian recorded in *The Hongmen Banquet*:

"Now that he has entered the pass, he takes no wealth, and he does not favor women; this shows his ambition is not small.

I had someone observe his aura, and it was all dragon and tiger, forming five colors; this is the aura of an Emperor.

Attack quickly and do not miss it!"

Zeng Guofan, who was regarded by the Manchu Qing scholars as the "Half-Sage" who protected our name and teaching,

also indulged in wine and women when he was young, and only reflected painfully when he reached middle age, abstained from wine and women,

established the Xiang Army, suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and made great contributions to the Manchu Qing.

"A good example of someone who couldn't control his brother is Lan Yu, who was skinned by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang."

*Heavenly Dragon* Zhang Jie gave an example.

"Hmm."

*Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie and *Water Margin* Zhang Jie both nodded knowingly.

Lan Yu was fierce in battle, but he was just too unruly.

When he led the army on the Northern Expedition and broke the Northern Yuan at Buyur Lake,

he actually took the liberty of insulting the Yuan Dynasty's Imperial Consort; this was a bit of a failure to recognize himself.

It was like a general who, with the support of the whole country, invaded the capital of an island nation,

and not only failed to capture the Emperor of the little days, but also slept with the Empress of the little days...

The most unbearable thing was that Lan Yu actually commanded the Great Ming army to attack the Great Ming passes:

On the way back from a Northern Expedition, it was already late at night when Lan Yu led the army to Xifeng Pass.

According to regulations, the pass officials needed to inspect the army before opening the pass to let them through.

However, Lan Yu thought the pass officials were slow to open the gate and delayed his schedule,

so he ordered the soldiers to forcibly destroy the gate and break directly into the pass.

Those who knew thought Lan Yu was impatient; those who didn't thought Lan Yu had rebelled!

It can only be said that Lan Yu did not die unjustly at all.

"Speaking of not being able to control one's brother, then we must mention a heavyweight figure."

*Water Margin* Zhang Jie smiled slightly.

"Oh? Who?"

*Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie and *Heavenly Dragon* Zhang Jie were both interested and asked.

"In the Three Kingdoms, Shu Han had Jiang Wei, who used one plan to harm three sages after Deng Ai and Zhong Hui destroyed Shu;

Eastern Wu had Zhou Lang's wonderful plan to secure the world, losing the wife and losing the soldiers;

then what did Cao Wei have?"

*Water Margin* Zhang Jie didn't say it directly, but sold a mystery.

"Could it be the iron chains connecting the boats, walking on flat ground, and finally suffering the fire at Red Cliffs?"

*Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie said uncertainly.

The defeat at Red Cliffs could be said to have completely interrupted Chancellor Cao's ambition to unify the world.

After the defeat at Red Cliffs, although Cao Wei did not go as far as the "throwing whips to stop the flow,"

the entire country did not collapse after the failure of the Battle of Feishui of Former Qin's Fu Jian,

but it was still injured, and it took a full few decades to recover.

If it weren't for Deng Ai taking the eternal risky move—secretly crossing Yinping,

directly bypassing the Shu Han defense line and blooming in the center of Shu Han,

the era of the Three Kingdoms' tripartite balance would have continued for many more years.

The only thing that puzzled him was that although Boss Cao fell for the schemes of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu,

because Jiang Gan stole the book, he mistakenly killed the two Cais of Jingzhou who were proficient in water warfare,

and subsequently failed to see through the "iron chains connecting the boats" scheme, leading to a crushing defeat,

but it seems there was no matter of Boss Cao not being able to control his second brother in this?

"Idiot, let me do it."

*Heavenly Dragon* Zhang Jie glanced at *Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie with a look of "iron not becoming steel."

This guy seemed to have habituated to linear thinking after more than ten years,

because he had put all his attribute points into his flesh before.

Even though his brain had been completed through sharing now,

he still occasionally seemed like his brain had gone offline when it was unimportant.

*Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie spread his hands: Can you blame me for this?

Whenever I want to use my super brain to solve problems,

my super brain says, go use super power!

……

"Oh, you say it."

The confused *Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie indicated that he was still a bit confused.

"Of course it's Boss Cao's one shot harming three sages!"

*Heavenly Dragon* Zhang Jie patted *Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie's shoulder.

"Oh oh, so it's this!"

*Heaven-Dependent* Zhang Jie suddenly realized.

After Boss Cao defeated Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, his hobby for other men's wives resurfaced,

and he even once asked his subordinates, "Are there any prostitutes in this city?"

After seeing Zhang Xiu's uncle Zhang Ji's widow, the peerlessly beautiful Lady Zou, he couldn't control himself,

and said that sentence which is still regarded as a classic by all Cao thieves to this day:

"I wonder if the Lady would be willing to share a mat and pillow with me tonight?"

Lady Zou, under pressure, agreed to Boss Cao.

Boss Cao, in order to properly comfort the widowed Lady Zou and also to block the news,

so that Zhang Xiu wouldn't know, even specially moved from the city to live in a camp outside the city.

Unfortunately, there is no wall in the world that doesn't let the wind through,

and the matter between Boss Cao and Lady Zou was still known to Zhang Xiu, who was the former master of Wancheng.

Zhang Xiu was furious, facing the dissuading Jia Xu:

"Someone has defiled your aunt, can you remain indifferent?"

Afterward, Jia Xu, known as the Poisonous Scholar, offered a scheme.

After the Wancheng Rebellion, not to mention the soldiers who suffered heavy losses,

even the absolute high-level of Cao Wei lost three people.

Because these three were all Boss Cao's capable generals, later generations jokingly called them the "Three Sages" of the Cao camp.

These three sages were:

1. Eldest son Cao Ang: Cao Cao's most excellent and most suitable successor.

He gave his horse to Cao Cao and died in battle with Dian Wei.

2. Trusted beloved general Dian Wei: Cao Cao's number one fierce general, a super-first-class fierce general of the Three Kingdoms.

To protect Cao Cao, he broke the rear alone to guard the gate, and alone, when his weapons were stolen

and he had no horse or armor, he used two adult soldiers as weapons,

fought the entire Zhang Xiu legion alone, and finally died in battle because he was outnumbered.

The swan song of Wancheng, Dian Wei, was deified, praised as peerless in foot combat: Lu Bu on horseback, Dian Wei on foot.

3. Nephew Cao Anmin and the horse Jueying combined as one sage:

Cao Anmin died in Wancheng with Cao Ang.

Jueying horse, Cao Cao's mount, was a thousand-li horse,

running so fast that even its shadow couldn't keep up, and it also died in the Wancheng breakout.

The death of these three caused the Cao Wei group to suffer a great loss of vitality.

Cao Ang's death not only caused Boss Cao's wife, Lady Ding, to break with him.

After Lady Ding learned of Cao Ang's death, she cried and cursed Cao Cao, severing her relationship with him.

Although Cao Cao tried many times to win her back, Lady Ding never forgave him.

When Cao Cao was critically ill in his later years, he still felt guilty because of Cao Ang's death, sighing:

"I have done nothing in my life that I regret. If there is a spirit after death,

if Zixiu asks me where his mother is, how will I answer!"

Cao Ang's early death broke the succession order of the Cao Cao family,

leading to the struggle for the throne between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.

Which in turn led to the instability of the Cao Wei regime:

After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, to stabilize the regime, he had to rely on the support of the aristocratic families,

promoting the "Nine-Rank System," burying hidden dangers for the rise of the Sima clan.

It can be said that Cao Ang's death was not only a tragedy for Cao Cao personally,

but also a turning point in the fate of the Cao Wei regime, having an important impact on the development of Three Kingdoms history.

And the cause of all this was mostly Boss Cao not being able to control his second brother...