Chapter 6741 Reason

Chapter 6741 Reason
Cao Ren's expression became gloomy and uncertain at this moment. Unlike the Xiahou brothers who didn't understand politics very well, Cao Ren's brain was considered to be quite good among the Cao brothers, and he had a very good view of the overall situation. Therefore, Cao Ren realized early on that the ruling foundation of his eldest brother Cao Cao had been shaken, and this time was almost an outbreak of such a contradiction.

In Cao Ren's opinion, what Zhang Xiu said at the moment did not matter whether to attack Ardashir or withdraw, but to directly destroy Cao Cao's strategy and make a strategic mistake, which would make it difficult for Cao Cao to maintain his power and cause turmoil.

The basis on which Cao Cao can barely maintain his power at present is his ability. After all, no matter how dissatisfied his officers, civil officials, soldiers and subjects are with him, they have to admit that his ability is trustworthy. That is why no matter how much people curse Cao Cao, those who have not left will still not leave.

But if Cao Cao made mistakes at the strategic level and his ability began to be doubted, then the foundation of his rule would be destroyed, and this was Cao Cao's only foundation for his rule.

So when Cao Ren heard Zhang Xiu's words, his face turned ugly.

"If we retreat now, even if Ardashir returns to the previous highland camp, he will never be able to overwhelm us with water instead of troops. But if we continue to rush to the Helmand River ferry, that may not be possible." Zhang Xiu said very seriously. His brain was not very good, but there were some things that others could tell him, and he could say them. After all, his background was there, could Cao really kill him?

"On the other side of the Helmand River ferry is Ardashir's food supply route. If we rush over and cut off Ardashir's food supply route, the enemy will have no chance of continuing to support themselves and will surely be defeated without a fight." Cao Ren tried his best to suppress his anger and explained to Zhang Xiu.

"So, is it a disadvantage for Ardashir to use his own food supply as a bet and kill all of us?" Zhang Xiu raised his eyebrows and asked, "If Ardashir's food supply is cut off, it will take less than seven or eight days for Ardashir to retreat or collapse. But if Ardashir uses the food supply of the Helmand River as bait and kills us, can we still make Ardashir collapse without troops? At least we still have a few days to find a way to get food and grass, and if it doesn't work, we can retreat. What about the troops?"

Neither Cao Ren nor Zhang Xiu said anything about going to Ardashir's highland camp to stop the enemy. If they had been united before, they could have done this, but now was Zhang Xiu's own idea? No, this was the idea of ​​a group of people.

To put it bluntly, the current army has actually been divided. Cao Ren is only the nominal commander, but how many officers he can mobilize depends on his ability.

"Bo Yuan, let's put this bluntly." Cao Ren took a deep breath. He felt that he could not argue with Zhang Xiu on this matter, because if he continued to argue, there would be no hope of executing the original plan. Delaying time was also a victory for Zhang Xiu himself. As for what to do if the time was delayed too much and the dam burst when Ardashir arrived, he could just go up the mountain. Anyway, there was no time to march, so it was still not too late to go up the mountain.

Zhang Xiu stared at Cao Ren without comment, while Xiahou Yuan had already realized something by now and turned to glare at Zhang Xiu.

"If you nominate the prince now, it will only make the situation worse." Cao Ren looked at Zhang Xiu with a gloomy face and said, "The power in the hands of the prime minister is not enough for the prince to challenge."

"If it was powerful enough to challenge, there wouldn't be such a trivial matter now. If the prince could suppress Sikong in real power, then there would be no need to discuss all this. Cao Zixiao, tell me with your conscience, if the prince's power suppresses Sikong, whose side will you stand on!" Zhang Xiu said with a sneer. Why are you pretending? Exchanging Cao Ang for Cao Cao has not caused any loss to the Cao and Xiahou families, so why should they intervene?

"But not yet." Cao Ren gave an answer that shocked Xiahou Yuan so much that it even made Xiahou Yuan's brain confused.

"Now is the opportunity." Zhang Xiu said indifferently.

Just retreat like this, put the blame directly on Cao, indicate that there was a mistake at the strategic level, raise doubts about Cao Cao's ability, and the fight will be won.

Zhang Xiu didn't care whether Ardashir returned to the mountain camp or sent a highly mobile main force to attract other people's attention in the rain and lead the main force to the ferry. It didn't matter to Zhang Xiu. Now this opportunity was enough for Cao Ang to take the position directly.

The combination of an immoral father, the corrupt old Cao, and the incompetent Sikong was enough to allow Cao Ang, who had already gained a certain amount of power, to directly succeed to the throne.

"No." Cao Ren thought for a long time, shook his head and said.

"Then you go to the ferry and destroy the food supply route, and I will take people back to Kandahar." Zhang Xiu made it clear to Cao Ren directly that this was a fucking coup.

"Zhang Boyuan!" Cao Ren growled at Zhang Xiu. He had completely understood what Zhang Xiu meant. Now Cao's main force had been dispatched. If they divided the troops here and Zhang Xiu took his men back, given his current attitude, it would be a coup d'état, no, it would be a restoration of order.

"I said this is an opportunity." Zhang Xiu looked at Cao Ren calmly and said, "This is not just my opinion. I dare to say it because I am the only one who can say it here except Cao and Xiahou. I will not die if I do this."

The reason why Zhang Xiu was so calm was very simple. If he really screwed up, he would just leave. The world was so big, and there was no place for him, Zhang Xiu, to survive. To put it bluntly, if he went to Congling now, he would at least be an heir. There was nothing to be afraid of. He only had a few chances to fight in his life. So he did it!

In the past, these officers from other families had never considered restoring order because they didn't know who to find or what to do. However, the appearance of Cao Ang unified this idea from a certain perspective. At least they had a candidate and a backup plan.

Just like the Han Dynasty marquises who destroyed the Lü clan, as long as they finally found a suitable successor, their actions would naturally be just.

Now, Zhang Xiu and others think this is an opportunity. Cao Cao does still have troops in Kandahar City, but all of his core officers have actually been dispatched. The only ones who can really make Cao Cao use him at will are Dian Wei and his Tiger Guards.

Again, this thing is difficult to do, but not impossible. Zhang Xiu pushed the legion's talent to the limit with his boiling brain, and the extended penetrating spear is sure to defeat the Tiger Guards. Moreover, Lao Cao's operation made many Tiger Guards very dissatisfied. In this case, as long as Zhang Xiu showed enough combat effectiveness, the Tiger Guards would most likely give in.

The only problem may be Dian Wei and the core Tiger Guards under his command. They are not very large, with only about one or two hundred people. These people are the real trouble. Theoretically speaking, if these people continue to protect Cao Cao, it may not be possible to take him down in a short period of time unless they really want to kill him. And if things like restoring order are delayed for too long, variables are inevitable.

So we must fight quickly and decisively. For this, Zhang Xiu was ready for his own explosion. Dian Wei, you are super strong, right? Come, I will show you the power that can turn Lu Bu into the Mediterranean!
With this in mind, Zhang Xiu has clearly realized that now is the opportunity he has been waiting for. Facing the main force of the Cao family, these foreign officers may not lose, but with those people protecting them, they will definitely not be able to take it in a short time. But without the main force of the Cao family...

Zhang Xiu looked at Cao Ren quietly. He knew very well that the top leaders of Cao and Xiahou families would never give up Cao Cao if it was based on friendship. However, when the family had developed to this extent, how could they possibly act based on personal feelings? Even an immortal like Chen Xi, who walked the earth, could not act based on feelings.

Therefore, no matter how angry Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan were, and how they wanted to take down Zhang Xiu, they had to evaluate the possibility after considering the reality. In order to protect Cao Cao, they had to fight with this group of people, and then both sides would suffer losses, which would harm the interests of everyone? Or they could just sit on the sidelines and go with the flow, or even join them to continue their own interests.

After all, the biggest advantage of Cao Ang's ascension to the throne is that the Cao and Xiahou families as a whole will not suffer any losses. Even if they will suffer some losses personally, the overall interests of the family will be preserved.

This is actually the logic behind the early Han Dynasty's decision to exterminate the Lü clan. The Liu clan did not care about your extraordinary actions, but only cared about whether you could protect the collective interests of everyone. Even if some individuals lost a lot during this period, as long as the collective interests were guaranteed, this logic of family continuation would automatically suppress individual emotions and anger.

"No." Cao Ren pondered for a long time, and finally shook his head, "It's not that serious yet."

Zhang Xiu looked at Cao Ren. The fact that he could think for so long meant that he was definitely not considering things like brotherhood. After all, if it was for that reason, he would have blurted out the answer on the spot instead of thinking for a long time before finally giving an answer. In this world, apart from mathematics, careful consideration in interpersonal relationships is actually just weighing the pros and cons!
"Okay, then you guys will have to handle the rest on your own." Zhang Xiu turned around and left. Cao Ren's face darkened when he heard that, and he reached out and grabbed Zhang Xiu.

"Who is giving you advice?" Cao Ren didn't want to refute at this time. Some things could happen as long as they were weighed.

Once loyalty is put on the scale for weighing, there is no need to consider it anymore. Failure to execute it can only be said that there are not enough chips.

Although Zhang Xiu did not say anything further, he actually understood what Cao Ren meant with the help of someone else, which was that the other party was not unconditionally standing on Cao Cao's side.

"Who knows? Anyway, it's not a disaster." Zhang Xiu said calmly, "Anyway, I have said everything I need to say. The rest is up to you. Since you rejected my proposal, I believe now is not the best time. After all, you must know more than me, so I trust your judgment."

After Zhang Xiu finished speaking, he looked at Xiahou Yuan and then left quickly, leaving behind Cao Ren with a heavy heart and Xiahou Yuan with a gloomy face.

"Zixiao!" Xiahou Yuan growled at Cao Ren.

"Bo Yuan is not the will of one person, but the will of a group of people. Zixiu's previous performance was very good, which made people see other possibilities. What's more commendable is that Zixiu will not do anything reckless." Cao Ren sighed and said, "Then what's the problem with supporting Zixiu to take the position?"

By this time, the guards had already been driven away to a far place and had special protection. Cao Ren didn't mind telling Xiahou Yuan the truth. Why did Zhang Xiu look for Cao Ren and say this in front of Xiahou Yuan? To put it bluntly, Cao Ren was smart and had a sense of the overall situation, and Xiahou Yuan's son was Cao Ang's close brother, and he had enough political ability. Even if Xiahou Yuan couldn't come to his senses now and had no place to vent and had to look for his son later, he would come to the same conclusion.

"We can't possibly fight this many people." Cao Ren sighed and said, "If it's to fight against Ardashir, any sacrifice we make will be meaningful, but if we start a civil war for my brother, to be honest, it will be difficult. Just mobilizing our subordinates will be a big problem."

Fighting to protect Cao? This is so funny! Ma Pin and his gang must have defected on the spot. They could still tolerate Cao Cao if he was fighting for the country, but now they are fighting for Cao Cao, so they must turn their guns around and punish the whole traitor!

"It's no use telling my elder brother, because it can't be solved." Cao Ren sighed and said, "In fact, since the great purge two years ago, the hidden dangers have been left, but some things happened in the middle, and with Zixiu's succession and management, it was barely maintained and did not erupt. But in fact, the root problems were not solved, and after my elder brother came back, these problems reappeared."

Although an organization does not need everyone to be absolutely reliable, it only needs to be relatively reliable at necessary moments. Even if half of an organization is composed of slackers, as long as important positions have normal executors and can maintain operations, the organization can survive.

As for expecting the entire organization to be loyal and strictly follow orders, that is all nonsense. Human laziness is there, and such an extreme situation is simply impossible. It is okay to go against human nature in the short term by relying on personal beliefs and collectively shaped concepts, but in the long run that is pure nonsense.

Similarly, something as precious as loyalty cannot be an unconditional and complete stamp of thought. Most of the time, it is the result of a combination of various reasons.

From the very beginning, the basis for maintaining Cao Cao's power was not universal morality, but ability and interests. The latter two were very important. Most of the time, as long as an organization can maintain the promotion of the capable and the demotion of the mediocre, and the distribution of interests is as fair as possible, the organization can continue smoothly and prosper.

But maintaining this state does not mean that the organization will survive forever, because there will inevitably be conflicts between external morality and the policies operating within the organization. Universal morality is the foundation, the basis for the operation of society, and when it conflicts with the organization, there will inevitably be a loser. In terms of universal results, the organization basically collapses on the spot.

There were no major problems with the operating system of Cao Cao's forces before the great purge. Even the officers and soldiers under his command, even if they were unhappy with Cao, would not get entangled in these details because of the huge benefits he could bring.

After all, humans have different requirements for monarchs. For example, Liu Bang's personal morality is completely void, and he is a complete old rogue, but as a monarch, Liu Bang is enough to be regarded as a loyal elder. Xiang Yu's personal morality is trustworthy, but as a monarch, he is considered to be unclear about rewards and punishments, and not a qualified monarch.

Even Sima Qian, who praised Xiang Yu, had to admit that Xiang Yu was unqualified as a monarch.

This is also the basis for the existence of Cao Cao's power. After all, although the moral vacuum of the monarch is disgusting, it is still acceptable if the monarch is clear about rewards and punishments. In things like massacres, the local people who were massacred have a lot to say and want to fight back, but that doesn't mean people from other places can have complete empathy.

After all, the late Han Dynasty was an era of cannibalism, so the people of Xuzhou were massacred, and only the people of Xuzhou remembered it. People from other places knew about it, but only two lines of words were left in the history books. It was because the people who had paper and pen were not common people, and the illiterate people were not qualified to leave diaries.

But the Kandahar purge actually wiped out all the aristocratic families, and not many common people were actually affected. Cases like Liang He's, where his wife brought her children back to her parents' home and then the whole family died, were actually very rare. In most other cases, all the people in her parents' home died, and her own family was left alone.

Nowadays, most people at the lower class who are used to seeing life and death can take things like the death of their wife's family members in an open-minded manner. After all, the person is already dead and there is nothing much to say. The grief and excitement are only temporary and will not cause lasting harm.

Of course, this is only a theoretical situation. What really caused things to develop to this point is actually propaganda. The fact that Chen Xi will not specifically publicize it does not mean that the aristocratic families who control the tongue and the right to interpret the law will not publicize it. Just like there are tens of millions of people on the brink of starvation in Africa every day, and thousands of people starve to death every day, but you basically don't see this kind of thing in the mainstream media.

On the contrary, no matter what fun the East Emperor and the West Emperor do, even if no one dies, you can see these things all over the world. Is it because the deaths of thousands or tens of thousands of people are not as fun as a fun thing?

In fact, it is not. It is because of gossip, because of the right to interpret moral laws, and because these people are not included in the rules of universal moral construction.

Most of the noble families that died in Kandahar were scum, except for the unlucky Du family of Jingzhao. The death of each of the other families was due to their own reasons. But this does not prevent the living families from using their right to interpret the matter, and from using this weapon of criticism to lock up certain people so that they can enslave them!
Even though the number of deaths was far less than that of Xuzhou, the people of Xuzhou had no time to stand up and debate. Zhuge family? Ha, just a third-rate family!

Those who understand will understand, and those who don’t understand I can’t help it. The importance lies in the publicity when you can’t see it.