As the merchants left their gifts and happily departed the Cao Residence, Guo Ze frowned.
"My lord, most of these merchants chase profit without a shred of principle."
"They draw close to you only because there is something to gain. You must not grow too close to them, or they will surely turn on you."
Guo Ze turned around and saw Cao Mao examining their gifts without listening to a word he said. Anger immediately flared in him.
"My lord!"
"Those merchants have led you astray! How can a gentleman place such importance on money? Money is not what a gentleman prizes!"
Cao Mao ignored him. He sifted through the embroidered silks the merchants had left and asked without turning his head:
"To be poor without flattery, and rich without arrogance-what do you think?"
Guo Ze instinctively recited, "That is acceptable, but not as good as being poor yet content, and rich yet devoted to propriety..."
Only then did Cao Mao stand up. Smiling, he said, "You see? Even the sage said, 'If wealth could be sought, I would pursue it even as a whip-bearing servant!'"
"When I was poor, I never flattered the rich and powerful. Now I teach these merchants to do good, making them rich without arrogance. Is that not the conduct of a gentleman?"
Although Cao Mao had not touched a book in over a year, his learning had not suffered in the least.
After the two Cao Maos became one, they influenced and complemented each other.
In letters, he rivaled Chen Si; in arms, he resembled Emperor Taizu.
It had come true.
Even Wang Su could not get the upper hand against him, let alone an honest gentleman like Guo Ze.
Guo Ze wanted to say something, but could not find a rebuttal on the spot.
He heaved a long sigh and said helplessly, "My lord, such conduct will damage your reputation."
"Too much contact with merchants will invite ridicule from loyal and worthy men. You will earn a reputation for greed and love of wealth. That is no good thing."
"Forgive my bluntness. Although your modest refusals have earned you a decent reputation among the scholars, you befriend Wanderers, collude with merchants, and shelter outlaws. All these things will stain your name. If the Sima Family finds out..."
"Then how delighted they will be!"
Cao Mao interrupted Guo Ze again and laughed.
"I cannot speak for Sima Zhao, but Sima Shi certainly wants an emperor like me. A greedy, money-loving emperor who colludes with merchants, is blinded by profit, and acts rashly out of ignorance-how could he not like that?"
"My lord, are you deliberately sullying your own name?!"
Guo Ze's eyes widened. Then he cried out in anguish, "Why must it come to this?"
"You are about to ascend the throne as emperor, supreme over all under heaven! Why resort to sullying yourself? With a reputation for virtue, all the loyal and worthy men under heaven would gladly serve you! You are no subject-you are the sovereign!"
"Go tell Sima Shi that!"
"Very well!"
Guo Ze turned to leave, and Cao Mao hurriedly grabbed him.
"What are you going to do?"
"I will demand to know why Sima Shi has forced the new sovereign into such a predicament!"
"Then you might as well cut off my head and send it straight to Sima Shi!"
Cao Mao truly did not know what to do with Guo Ze. He was a good man, an honest, unpretentious gentleman. Unfortunately, he had a one-track mind.
Still, that was precisely why Cao Mao dared to trust him and plot great undertakings with him. As long as he was kept away from devising strategies, he would do fine carrying them out.
The lord and his retainer sat down, and Cao Mao began analyzing the situation ahead for him.
"You must understand that a reputation among scholars means absolutely nothing to me."
"If the Imperial Court truly had the loyal and worthy men you speak of, Cao Fang would never have been deposed."
"No matter how fine my reputation among scholars might be, it will not change Sima Shi's attitude. He has never cared about such things. How many of those loyal and worthy men, good for nothing but empty talk, has he executed?"
"So we need not care so much about our reputation among scholars. These days, powerful clans lord it over the provinces, swallow up land, and plunder merchants. Farmers have lost their land, merchants have lost their livelihoods, and vast numbers of decent people have been driven to become Wanderers. All of them are forces we can draw upon."
Guo Ze's eyes went wide. "You intend to use farmers, merchants, and Wanderers to oppose Sima Shi???"
"They actually possess tremendous power. They simply lack an ideology. Of course, I have no way to organize and lead them now, either, but they remain a powerful force I can draw upon."
"Think about it. What do merchants, farmers, and Wanderers dissatisfied with the powerful clans amount to when brought together?"
"I truly do not know."
Cao Mao pursed his lips and patiently explained, "Once I enter the Imperial Court, I will certainly be kept under strict guard. Neither the state treasury nor the imperial privy treasury will be under my control. I will have no money to spend. However much you dislike money, accomplishing anything requires funds."
"The merchants can solve my financial problems."
"And with money, I can take more Wanderers into my service. They can solve the problem of manpower."
"Of course, most importantly, I can continue building my reputation among the farmers. Ideally, I could send people to organize them..."
"Back then, Sima Shi secretly gathered three thousand death-sworn warriors and snatched life back from the jaws of death."
"My circumstances are worse than his were, but I can follow his example, organizing people among the populace who are willing to accomplish great things with me, and wait for an opportunity. What do you think?"
Guo Ze stared blankly at Cao Mao.
"My lord, I think... your ideas are different from Sima Shi's."
"They resemble Zhang Jue's instead."
"Never mind whom they resemble. These ideas are all crude, and bringing them to fruition will be harder than climbing to heaven. But I must try."
Cao Mao's expression turned serious as he continued, "However, at present, this is not the most important matter."
He glanced at the doorway, then beckoned Guo Ze closer.
He draped an arm around Guo Ze's shoulders and asked quietly, "Do you know why Sima Shi was willing to compromise with the Guo Family?"
"Because of her position as empress dowager?"
"Sima Shi has even deposed the emperor. Would he still care about that?"
"There are two reasons. First, the Sima Family does not want to alienate the powerful clans close to them. Second, and most importantly, although the Sima Family no longer has enemies in the Imperial Court, there are still people in the provinces dissatisfied with Sima Shi's rule!"
"And Sima Shi cannot easily move against this man in the provinces."
Guo Ze's eyes lit up, and he said loudly, "The General Who Guards-"
Cao Mao clapped a hand over his mouth. "Exactly. That man."
"The General Who Guards the East, Guanqiu Jian."
The man Cao Mao spoke of belonged to a rare species, one of its last surviving specimens: a loyal subject of Great Wei!
Who said Great Wei had no loyal subjects?
Among the generals involved in the Third Huainan Rebellion, Guanqiu Jian was the only one who truly raised troops for the sake of the imperial house of Wei.
Guanqiu Jian was from Wenxi in Hedong, the son of Guanqiu Xing, a great literary figure of Cao Wei.
He initially inherited his father's title of Marquis of Gaoyang Township. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei, he served as Cao Rui's literary aide and formed a deep friendship with him.
After Emperor Ming of Wei ascended the throne, Guanqiu Jian was entrusted with important duties and held almost every major office in turn.
At the end of the Jingchu era, he assisted Grand Tutor Sima Yi in destroying Gongsun Yuan, who had established a separatist regime in Liaodong, and was promoted to Marquis of Anyi.
During the Zhengshi era, this great man of letters twice marched beyond the frontier on distant campaigns, destroyed the Kingdom of Goguryeo, and conquered the Korean Peninsula, achieving the most outstanding victories abroad since Cao Wei's founding.
Such was this Grand General, accomplished in both civil and military affairs. Now he oversaw Yangzhou and commanded sixty thousand troops-and the army in his hands was a force of battle-hardened Great Wei elites.
After hearing Cao Mao's explanation, Guo Ze was wild with joy. Was this not precisely the loyal and worthy man he had spoken of?
He hurriedly said, "Exactly! With the General Who Guards the South there, what have you to worry about? Even Sima Shi yields him some ground!"
Cao Mao, however, fell silent, because he knew that at this very moment, that General Who Guards the South had already begun preparing to raise troops.
He was furious over the deaths of his friends Li Feng, Xiahou Xuan, and the others. When he learned that Sima Shi had deposed a sovereign, removing Cao Rui's son, his rage became uncontrollable, and he decided to raise troops against the Sima clan. History called it the Second Huainan Rebellion.
The families of Guanqiu Jian's officers and soldiers were in the north, leaving them with no heart for battle. Guanqiu Jian also lacked food supplies and was eager to destroy the enemy. His repeated failure to win battles caused morale to collapse.
In the end, Guanqiu Jian was defeated and killed, while Sima Shi, who had campaigned against him, also died of illness on the march home.
Just like that, Wei's most renowned loyal and worthy man, who held great military and administrative power in the provinces, was gone.
His greatest achievement might have been taking Sima Shi down with him. The problem was that Sima Shi suffered from an eye ailment and had always been in poor health. He had begun entrusting his final affairs to Sima Zhao long before, and had undergone surgery just before the campaign. There was no telling how much longer he could have lasted. Trading him for Guanqiu Jian hardly seemed a loss for his side.
Cao Mao pondered for a moment, narrowing his eyes.
"Exactly. So I can only rely on this general."
"That is also why I am refusing now. At present, the Sima clan is forcing me to become emperor."
"In a few days, when Wang Su comes for the third time, they will regret having compromised with the Guo Family!"
"Have the men make preparations!"
"I am going out!"
Before you continue