People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 454: Losing Unjustly
Cao Cao, who had been separated from his family for a long time, was out of control when he suddenly saw his eldest son. The blood connection aroused his attachment to this world. He was originally ready to die calmly, but suddenly he felt reluctant to do so.

After all, he was a great leader. Even in the current situation, he tried his best to suppress his emotions. After silently wiping away his tears, he carefully looked at Cao Pi in front of him.

When he took a closer look, he had a strange feeling. In a trance, Cao Pi had changed from the ignorant young boy to the mature and steady man in front of him.

The noble young man of the Cao family now has a much darker skin and wears only coarse clothes, looking like a commoner. If someone who doesn't know his background comes to see him, they would never imagine that this young man was once the eldest son of the Cao family, who was once famous.

Cao Cao moved to the front, making a sound of shackles, and grabbed Cao Pi's hand through the railing. With just one touch, he felt calluses, which were even rougher than his father's hands.

This made him feel heartbroken, but when he thought about how he was in this situation and his family members were still able to take care of themselves, he felt it was a blessing.

Feeling helpless and guilty, he raised his hand with great effort to wipe away Cao Pi's tears: "Why did you come here alone?"

Cao Pi also calmed down quietly and said, "My mother and my brothers and sisters all requested to come, but the court only allows one person to visit, so I can only come alone. My family relatives all asked me to convey their concerns to my father. I hope that my father is well."

When Cao Cao heard this, he felt angry and sad, but he thought that it was not easy to have this opportunity to see Cao Pi. At least Xu Chen did not break the promise and finally allowed him to meet his relative.

But there were too many people he wanted to see, including his many wives, the talented Cao Zhi, the well-behaved and sensible Cao Jie, and the young Cao Chong. Probably by the time of his death, he would not be able to see these relatives once.

After a moment of silence, Cao Pi quietly opened the food basket he brought with him and began to place food in front of Cao Cao.

Cao Cao took a look and saw only some desserts, a roast chicken and a pot of wine. These things would not have been on the Cao family's plates before, but now they were the finest food specially prepared by Cao Pi.

Cao Cao swallowed, half a year in prison was indeed hard, but after thinking about it, he was afraid that Cao Pi and the others could not even have a bite of this thing on a regular basis.

Holding Cao Pi's hand, Cao Cao snorted, "This kind of vulgar food is not worthy of your father. Just keep talking to me."

Cao Pi seemed not so outstanding among the descendants of Cao family, but he was actually an extremely smart person. How could he not understand that Cao Cao was pretending to be dissatisfied? That delicate emotion made his nose sore.

The father who had always been strict and cold finally showed him a little warmth at this time.

"The Xuanxia court allows you to visit now. It must be that my father's sentence has been decided." Cao Cao quickly realized the problem and asked with a smile.

Cao Pi's face froze, he hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed: "Today's monthly report announced that the court will uniformly execute the Wei prisoners in the autumn."

"I don't know what day it is now after autumn, but the weather is getting cooler now, so it should not be far away." Cao Cao did not react too much when he heard this. After all, he had been mentally prepared for this. He just silently calculated the time and smiled bitterly.

Cao Pi felt sad. Time was indeed running out. In about half a month, the time would come.

As if he didn't like the depressing atmosphere, Cao Cao came to his senses and changed the subject of the execution: "Madam, are your brothers and sisters okay? Are you living a hard life? Has the Xuanxia court made things difficult for you?" He asked three questions in a row as soon as he opened his mouth. Now, apart from his own blood relatives, there was nothing in this world that he cared about.

Cao Pi quickly replied, "My brothers, sisters and wives are all doing well. Although life is a little tight, my children and wives can do some work. We are not living a perfect life, but we are living a stable life. When Cao Zhi grows up, he will be able to help the family. Cao Jie is in middle school now, and Cao Chong will be able to go to elementary school in the future. In short, things will get better and better as time goes by."

Hearing Cao Pi talking about the current situation one by one, Cao Cao felt sad and relieved.

The peace of mind lies in listening to Cao Pi say that although the Xuanxia court has various restrictions on the gentry group, it always abides by rules and reason and will not cause additional trouble for the gentry group.

Cao Pi's family had been captured in Xuanxia for a long time. They lived a peaceful life and had basically no interactions with the government.

This is naturally a good thing. No one understands one thing better than Cao Cao, that is, for ordinary people, it is probably not a good thing to have any intersection with officials. If there is no intersection, it means that the government is quite relaxed and will not impose any harsh oppression on the people.

Just like the people of Wei State, they didn't know where to hide from the government. Every time the government came, they either collected grain, forced labor, or miscellaneous taxes, or even directly conscripted able-bodied men.

Cao Cao was also convinced by this. With the Xuanxia government being so restrained, at least the Cao family could really live a stable life as ordinary people.

The Cao family was a prominent aristocratic family, but now they had to work in menial jobs to make a living like commoners. This was naturally a bit unfair, but they had fallen into such a situation and their families could still live such a stable life, which was actually considered good. Cao Cao even had to thank Xuan Xia for showing mercy and not killing them all.

The more Cao Pi talked, the more Cao Cao understood about their current life. It sounded like their life was just a little bit harder, but it was many times better than that of the people of Wei State at that time.

This can be considered as a personal testimony. It was Cao Pi who said these words, otherwise it would be difficult for Cao Cao to imagine how Xuan Xia could have achieved this.

Not disturbing the people is the greatest tolerance towards them. This is easier said than done, but Xuan Xia can do it.

It has to be said that even Cao Cao was somewhat envious of Xu Chen. Although the Yellow Turbans' policy was so violent that it shattered the original social structure, it also released social contradictions and pressures in an unprecedented way. By dividing the land equally and turning all the people into property owners, it would be strange if the world was not well governed.

If he could have the same courage and vision as Xu Chen and smash all the old interest groups with an iron fist, then why couldn't the State of Wei do the same?

I can only say that Xu Chen is more daring in thinking and doing things than I am.

"It's not unfair for my father to lose"

After hearing these words from his son, Cao Cao finally had a real and profound understanding of Xuan Xia's strength, and he was completely convinced.

Xu Chen took the most difficult path and succeeded, so he became the final winner. There is nothing unfair about this. Cao Cao could only say that he was far inferior to Xu Chen.

(End of this chapter)