One Hundred and Fifty-Five: Rejecting the Offer

This time, it was Li Ru’s turn to be stunned. Could Cao Cao possibly dare to employ the man who had poisoned the former emperor? In Li Ru’s view, this was utterly impossible, because Cao Cao was the very first person to issue the call to arms against Dong Zhuo. Regardless of his underlying motives, he had raised his forces under the banner of protecting the imperial house, making it completely unthinkable for him to employ the executioner of the former emperor.

Yet Cao Hong showed no intention of killing him. Could it be that he intended to send him back to Chang’an?

Ah well, death awaited him either way, so why worry? Thinking of this, Li Ru immediately clamped his mouth shut and said no more.

Cao Hong smiled, sat down directly on the floor of the cell, positioning himself face-to-face with Li Ru, and asked with a smile, "Wenyu, are you afraid of death?"

Li Ru remained tight-lipped, offering no response.

Seeing that he refused to answer, Cao Hong continued on his own accord, "I have often wondered: when Dong Zhuo led his forces into Luoyang, his actual troop strength was quite small. By frequently sending soldiers out of the city in the dead of night and then marching them back in broad daylight with banners flying, he put on a facade of commanding a vast army. This intimidated He Jin’s former subordinates, who were then under the command of Chariot and Cavalry General He Miao—the younger brother of the late Grand General He Jin—as well as the Garrison Commander Ding Yuan, who controlled the Luoyang metropolitan troops. Afterward, by first employing a scheme of discord to induce He Jin’s subordinate Wu Kuang to kill He Miao, and then using heavy bribes to entice Lü Bu into killing Ding Yuan, he absorbed both factions, swelling his forces to several hundred thousand men. This awed the civil and military officials in Luoyang, allowing him to seize control of the imperial court from that moment on. Such a scheme is surely beyond the imagination of a mere brute like Dong Zhuo. I wonder, was this devised by you, Li Wenyu, or by Jia Xu, Jia Wenhe?"

Hearing these words, Li Ru seemed to recall his own days of glory and instantly grew interested. He let out a cold laugh and said, "When I was planning for Dong Zhuo, Jia Wenhe was still serving under Niu Fu. How could he have possibly had the qualifications to speak to Dong Zhuo!"

The implication was clear: all the strategies during Dong Zhuo’s initial entry into Luoyang—from eliminating He Miao to killing Ding Yuan—had been devised by Li Ru himself. Cao Hong smiled again and asked, "It goes without saying, then, that employing those scholars who had been ostracized during the Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions was also your brilliant idea?"

Li Ru replied, "At that time, Dong Zhuo stood isolated and weak in the court. The eunuchs and the imperial relatives had destroyed one another, and the court officials were all watching and waiting to see how things would turn out. Grand Commandant Yang Biao, Minister of Works Huang Wan, and Minister of the Masses Xun Shuang were all esteemed scholars. If we did not employ their close friends, how could we unite these three men to support Dong Zhuo and secure control of the state?"

Was Xun Shuang not Xun Yu’s uncle? He seemed to recall hearing that he had died of illness two years prior. Cao Hong remembered Xun Yu mentioning this person before.

"It seems that the so-called scholar-gentry simply follow the shifting winds of power and look out for their own interests. I only wonder whether Wang Yun and his ilk truly could not bear Dong Zhuo’s extreme cruelty, or if they were merely trying to save their own skins? Or perhaps a mix of both?" Cao Hong pondered inwardly.

At this moment, as if prodded by Cao Hong’s words to speak his mind, Li Ru sneered, "Those scholar-gentry are nothing more than two-faced hypocrites! If Dong Zhuo had listened to my advice, once he gained control of the overall situation, he should have used thunderous force to purge them. He should have employed men from humble backgrounds, consolidated the lands of Liangzhou and Sili, defended the strategic passes, and then set his sights on Yizhou. Backed by the wealth of Yizhou, the fine horses of Liangzhou, and the fierce warriors of Guanzhong, he could certainly have swept across the realm! In Luoyang, he refused to listen to my advice and let things drift. In Chang’an, he once again ignored my words, and as a result, he was assassinated by petty men. Truly, he is the greatest fool under heaven!"

Cao Hong, who was well-versed in the trajectory of history, knew that Li Ru’s strategy was entirely viable. First, purge the powerful aristocratic clans in the court, and then elevate scholars of humble origins who lacked powerful backgrounds; this way, these men would have no choice but to depend entirely on Dong Zhuo—much like the relationship between Wu Meng and Cao Hong today, where they could only faithfully serve him. Next, defend the formidable strategic passes, consolidate Liangzhou as Dong Zhuo’s home base, and then attack Liu Yan in Yizhou. Had this path been taken, Dong Zhuo would have secured a domain spanning three provinces. Compared to Liu Biao, who was just rising to prominence in Jingzhou, or the infighting between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, or Cao Cao who was still in his developmental phase, Dong Zhuo would have been in an entirely different league. Coupled with fierce generals like Lü Bu, Li Jue, and Guo Si, and brilliant strategists like Li Ru and Jia Xu, the realm would likely still have belonged to Dong Zhuo.

The world was not lacking in men of extraordinary vision, and Li Ru was certainly one of them. Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo transformed overnight from a regional warlord into a minister wielding sole control over the court; his sudden wealth and power inflated his ego, causing him to lose his reason. Otherwise, had he followed Li Ru’s strategy step-by-step, even if he had been driven to Chang’an by Sun Jian, winning would not have been overly difficult.

Hearing Li Ru curse Dong Zhuo as a fool, Cao Hong knew that his disillusionment with Dong Zhuo was absolute. Therefore, he smiled and asked, "Then, was letting thirty thousand unruly mobs storm the city of Chang’an part of your plan?"

Li Ru shook his head and replied, "Although I strongly urged Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and the others to fight their way back to Chang’an, I had not figured out how to utilize this mass of refugees for our own purposes. It was Jia Wenhe who sent men to spread the rumor that Wang Yun intended to slaughter all the Xiliang soldiers and civilians living in Guanzhong. Consequently, Dong Zhuo’s former subordinates all rallied under the banners of Li Jue and Guo Si, and the common people of Liangzhou in Guanzhong joined them as well, fighting their way back to Chang’an."

Hearing this, Cao Hong chuckled and said, "That being the case, the Han imperial domain has once again fallen into the hands of villains. Is Jia Xu not deeply responsible for this?"

Li Ru stated, "That man is the chief culprit!" He paused, looking at Cao Hong in astonishment, and asked, "You are an official of Han, yet you can still laugh when speaking of the collapse of the Han house?" In his view, Cao Hong was a subordinate of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao was part of the pro-emperor Guandong coalition; under such circumstances, Cao Hong had no reason whatsoever to smile.

Cao Hong smiled and replied, "Today, how is the Han house any better than the Zhou dynasty during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods? Why shouldn't I laugh?"

Hearing this, Li Ru scrutinized Cao Hong closely for a moment before suddenly asking, "Is this Lord Cao’s view, or merely your own?"

Cao Hong countered, "What if it is Lord Cao’s view? And what if it is solely my own?"

Li Ru answered, "If it is Lord Cao’s view, you should advise him to exercise some restraint; the Emperor is still alive, and the court officials are still here. If it is merely your own view, then you should seal your lips tightly to avoid bringing a fatal disaster upon yourself."

Cao Hong raised his thumb and praised with a smile, "Wenyu is truly a man of extraordinary wisdom! To let you die would be far too great a waste! The rest of the world dares not employ you, but I will! From this day forth, you need only plan for me alone!"

Li Ru was taken aback. "You?" Then he burst into hearty laughter. "I planned for Dong Zhuo because, although he was a fool, he possessed considerable military acumen, which allowed me to fully display my talents. Though it ended in failure, I at least reached the pinnacle of a minister's rank for a time. Are you, a mere Colonel Who Inspires Martial Might, worthy of having me devise strategies for you? Am I to spend my days in Jiyin calculating three seasons of taxes for you, repairing bridges, paving roads, and managing a bunch of local squires and gentry?"

Cao Hong stood up and offered a cold smile. "How do you know that I shall not one day reach the pinnacle of a minister's rank?"

Li Ru laughed uproariously. "An idle dream! Right now, Li Jue and Guo Si have seized Chang’an, still commanding a hundred thousand troops under them, and they have Jia Wenhe plotting on their behalf. The imperial regalia remains firmly in their hands, while the Guandong warlords are fighting among themselves, too preoccupied to pay any heed to the Emperor. As long as Li Jue and Guo Si now bestow titles to appease the Guandong warlords, those lords will not advance upon Chang’an. Seizing this golden opportunity, the two of them need only plot to conquer Yizhou and Xiliang, and no one under heaven will be able to contend with them!"

This was the first time Cao Hong had ever been rejected when trying to recruit talent, and moreover, he had been rejected by a prisoner in chains. It just went to show that the strategists of this era all possessed their own pride. No wonder Cao Cao had also been rejected back when he tried to recruit Zheng Tai and Xun You—if they didn't think highly of you, why would they follow you?

Yet, far from being angry, Cao Hong began to laugh instead—laughing heartily and cheerfully, leaving Li Ru completely baffled.