"Luoyang, North Palace."
General Cao Zhen rushed into the palace gates and headed towards the emperor's study. General Cao Zhen had brought the latest military reports from Yangzhou from his headquarters and wanted to find the emperor to report on them.
Cao Zhen walked slowly along the palace roads. The emperor's study was not far from the eastern gate of the North Palace. When Cao Zhen was still some distance away from the study, he saw Zhong Yu standing there from a distance.
Before Cao Zhen had a chance to reach the door, Zhong Yu bowed to Cao Zhen and said, "General Cao Zhen, Your Majesty is not in the study at the moment. I have been ordered by His Majesty to await your arrival and then lead you to find His Majesty."
Cao Zhen was taken aback upon hearing this. Since Cao Xiu and Chen Qun left for external assignments, Luoyang had only two key ministers: Cao Zhen and Sima Yi. Sima Yi regularly worked in the Imperial Secretariat, while Cao Zhen worked at his headquarters. If the emperor summoned them, both would enter the palace to discuss national affairs with him.
Every time Cao Zhen came, the emperor was as steadfast as the passing of thunder, always staying in the study, either reading documents or studying state affairs. Cao Zhen had even once marveled at the emperor's diligence. This time, the emperor's absence was unprecedented, piquing Cao Zhen's curiosity.
With some confusion, Cao Zhen looked at Zhong Yu and asked, "What is Your Majesty doing?"
Zhong Yu hesitated for a moment. The emperor had ordered him to wait here for General Cao Zhen and then lead him to find the emperor, but he hadn't said anything about not revealing what the emperor was doing.
Zhong Yu paused for a moment before replying, "Your Majesty is practicing swordsmanship."
Cao Zhen became even more curious.
A few moments later, Cao Zhen arrived at the place where the emperor was practicing swordsmanship. Since his youth, Cao Zhen had been more daring than ordinary people, capable of shooting tigers from horseback, and had been a general for many years. From Cao Zhen's perspective, Emperor Cao Rui's steps and sword techniques while practicing were in line with the norms, although he wasn't a master swordsman, he could still be considered somewhat accomplished.
Seeing Cao Zhen arrive, Emperor Cao Rui slowly put away his sword practice, sheathed the sword, and threw it to Zhong Yu, who caught it deftly with both hands.
Cao Zhen bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, I have never seen You practicing swordsmanship before. It is quite elegant."
Emperor Cao Rui smiled and said, "Of course, it is in the style of a master. His Majesty's father learned swordsmanship from Shi A, mastering all of Shi A's techniques. Before that, I accompanied His Majesty's father on a hunting trip and learned some basic skills from him."
Cao Zhen nodded and said, "His Majesty's father was extremely skilled in swordsmanship. I once trained with His Majesty's father for a while, but I never reached his level of proficiency."
Cao Zhen looked at the weapons rack in the courtyard and asked curiously, "Does Your Majesty only love swords? I see there are more than a dozen swords on this rack, with no other weapons."
Emperor Cao Rui nodded, "Swords are the weapons of a ruler. Since I do not need to fight on the battlefield, practicing with swords is sufficient. What weapons does General Cao usually use?"
Cao Zhen responded, "In my early years, I served as a cavalryman, so I am most skilled in using spears and bows and arrows. In addition to spears, I sometimes also use swords and short spears."
Emperor Cao Rui, as if remembering something, suddenly asked, "I heard from someone before that during the Battle of Guandu, Guan Yu killed Yan Liang on the battlefield using a long broadsword?"
Cao Zhen seemed accustomed to the emperor's abrupt changes in thought and firmly shook his head: "It must be a misunderstanding. A cavalryman would never use a long broadsword? It's not easy to exert force on horseback, so we naturally use spears."
Emperor Cao Rui nodded in agreement after hearing that.
Seeing that the emperor was interested in military affairs, Cao Zhen couldn't help but ask a few more questions: "Does Your Majesty usually practice swordsmanship alone, or is there someone who practices with You?"
Emperor Cao Rui said, "Certainly, most of the time it is sparring practice. Since autumn began, Xia Hao Xian has been accompanying me to practice swordsmanship every time he comes to the palace to serve. I swim in summer and practice swordsmanship in autumn, which helps keep my body fit."
Cao Zhen smiled and said, "A strong body is essential for health, has Your Majesty gained anything from practicing swordsmanship?"
Emperor Cao Rui countered, "General Cao, do you also benefit from practicing spears?"
Cao Zhen replied, "Of course. In battle on the front lines, a cavalryman with a spear charges ahead, either thrusting or blocking. Those who hesitate are doomed to die; it's all about decisiveness."
"I think it's the same in a battle between two armies. A slight delay in opportunity means death, and both bravery and decisiveness are equally indispensable."
Emperor Cao Rui smiled and said, "General Cao, you must have understood it from the battlefield. As for me, I can only grasp a bit of it through sparring practice."
"I believe that the first thing in swordsmanship is footwork and dodging, second is striking when the enemy is unprepared, but most importantly, it lies in preserving one's own body."
Cao Zhen was quite perplexed: "Swordplay is a technique for attacking the enemy, so why should the preservation of one's own body be the most important thing? I have never heard His Majesty or Shi A mention these things."
Emperor Cao Rui gently shook his head and spoke to Cao Zhen, "General Cao, you are a general, fighting in battle always involves wearing armor, so naturally the goal is to injure the enemy. When I practice swordsmanship, however, I am not wearing armor, so there are differences."
"I'll give you an analogy. Even if I spar with someone who is very weak in swordsmanship, without armor on both sides, logically speaking, when I stab at the throat with the sword, the other person should block it back with their sword, right?"
Cao Zhen nodded in agreement.
Emperor Cao Rui continued, "If the opponent has already made up their mind to die and doesn't care about my strikes, instead continuing to slash forward, then no matter how skilled my swordsmanship is, it will be difficult for me to avoid injury."
"Therefore, I believe that the essence of practicing swordsmanship is not to injure the enemy, but to preserve oneself. If there is a fight, one should choose the place, choose the opponent, and wear armor for oneself."
Clearly, the emperor had something else in mind. At this time, Cao Zhen still didn't understand what the emperor's intention was.
"I fully agree with Your Majesty's insight." Cao Zhen then moved on to the main topic: "Military reports have been received from the Governor of Yangzhou. Our spies in Po Yang have discovered that Sun Quan has sent emissaries to Po Yang three times in three days to question Zhou Fang."
"During the third time of questioning Zhou Fang, Zhou Fang publicly knelt before the envoys in the western gate of Po Yang, asking for forgiveness, and cut off his hair to substitute for his head."
In this era, information transmission was often the most difficult thing. It took two envoys of Zhou Feng pretending to surrender seven days to find Cao Xiu. From Cao Xiu's camp in Shouchun to Luoyang took another five days.
Emperor Cao Rui's expression seemed devoid of much emotion: "I have heard, and as I see it, great falsehood appears true. This Zhou Fang looks more and more like he is pretending to surrender."
Upon hearing this, Cao Zhen also said, "The Eastern Wu is accustomed to using the strategy of pretending to surrender. In the past during the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu and Huang Gai used this strategy of pretending to surrender."
Deceiving oneself is not uncommon. However, unlike what ordinary people think, often those who want to surrender are ambiguous about it. Whether to surrender or not is determined by the situation, and there are many instances where people initially agree to surrender but then change their minds.
Emperor Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen. With no one else present in the scene, only the emperor of Cao Wei, as well as the general in charge of military and political affairs, it was convenient for the two of them to talk.
Emperor Cao Rui spoke directly, "General, I believe that Sun Quan is using Zhou Fang as bait to lure our great Wei southward and hook us. However, what Sun Quan doesn't expect is that as a fisherman, he may not be able to reel us in, and on the contrary, we might end up swallowing him!"
Cao Zhen also became serious, "Your Majesty is saying that Sun Quan must have troops stationed around the Yan'an City mentioned by Zhou Fang?"
"And then we should turn the situation to our advantage and lead a large army southward near Yan'an City, swallowing up Sun Quan's hidden troops?"
Emperor Cao Rui nodded, "Exactly. In your opinion, General, if there is indeed an ambush near Yan'an City, how much military force do you think Sun Quan can mobilize?"
Cao Zhen laughed upon hearing this, "How many troops can Sun Quan mobilize at most? Your Majesty need not worry. Apart from the garrisons in various places, he can probably muster no more than one hundred thousand troops."
"The former Zhang Wen Yuan in Huaihe has already verified it for the Great Wei."
