Three Kingdoms: Prince of the Great Wei, Prime Minister Cao - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Unleashing the Weapon, Cao Cao’s Astonishment!

How insignificant are the aristocratic families causing the troubles?!

Hearing Cao Ju’s “arrogant” and almost “ignorant” words, Cao Cao couldn’t recall how many times he had been infuriated by this rebellious son tonight.

By now, he was no longer inclined to scold his son. He only wanted to listen. To this son who did not regard the aristocratic families with any importance, how would he continue to cleverly argue his point?

However, what Cao Cao hadn’t anticipated was that, under his cold gaze…

After his son spoke audacious words, he didn’t continue his discourse. Instead, he reached into his bosom and retrieved two thin booklets, each about the thickness of a finger joint when stacked.

Below, Cao Ju examined the objects in his hands and couldn’t help but smile wryly. Initially, these two booklets were meant to be offered to his father, Cao Cao, to appease him after saving Xun Yu. However, these two booklets appeared unremarkable.

The technologies contained within them were almost revolutionary for their time. The technologies involved were related to the second of the Four Great Inventions: the improvement of papermaking and the movable-type printing technique. The combination of improved papermaking and movable-type printing resulted in the creation of these “books”…

Cao Ju did not doubt their potential to appease Cao Cao’s anger. Even if these two innovations were taken individually, they could be considered highly beneficial for the nation and the people.

Not to mention the power of their combination. But, who could have foreseen…

Before he could even offer this item to his father on his own, by a twist of fate, he and his father, Cao Cao, ended up discussing the troubles caused by the aristocratic families today. With the appearance of these two thin volumes, it seemed as if he was well-prepared and had anticipated Cao Cao’s anticipation.

Internally scoffing at the situation, Cao Ju stepped forward directly, taking a seat at the long case where Cao Cao was sitting.

“Father, these two things are what I mentioned…”

“The reliance that belittles the significance of the aristocratic families.”

“Please take a look, Father.”

After speaking, Cao Ju gently placed the two thin volumes before Cao Cao and returned to his original position. In the room, Cao Cao, who had remained silent all along, only revealed a disdainful expression after Cao Ju had returned to his original position and stood still. He cast his gaze onto the stack of two thin volumes before him. Not reading them would have been better. But after just a glance, Cao Cao’s entire body trembled angrily. Because, what caught his eye were the four prominent characters on the cover of the topmost thin volume… “Mengde’s New Book.”

“You rebellious child!”

“Are you playing games with your father?”

“Are you offering me a military book written by me, hoping that I will exterminate all those aristocratic families?”

“Hmph!” Cao Cao sneered, “Killing them off might remove the concern of aristocratic families, but my entire Cao family, myself included…”

“Probably won’t be far from death.”

Hearing Cao Cao’s outburst of anger, Cao Ju shook his head gently.

“Father, why make a hasty judgment?”

“For what reason?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to see what your child has presented? Once you’ve seen it, I’m sure you’ll understand my sincere intentions.”

Saying this, Cao Ju pointed to the two thin volumes with his finger. In the main seat, Cao Cao gazed at his son, who remained calm despite triumph or shame and could still maintain his composure before him. A trace of suspicion arose in Cao Cao’s eyes.

Could it be…

Did I really misunderstand this rebellious child?

Could the “Mengde’s New Book” in front of me hold something extraordinary within?

With such thoughts in mind,

Cao Cao reached out for the two bound thin volumes that Cao Ju had presented, picking them up together. As soon as he made contact, feeling the different sensation of the thin volume’s cover compared to the ordinary paper of the time, Cao Cao couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

Cao Ju naturally heard Cao Cao’s surprised exclamation. Evidently, his father had noticed the unusual nature of the thin volumes. Cao Ju wasn’t surprised about this, even though paper had been around since the end of the Han Dynasty. However, even the best types of paper available then, Cai Hou paper and Zuo Bo paper were far inferior to the paper used in this thin volume.

[Note: Cai Hou paper: Paper improved by Cai Lun’s paper making technique. Zuo Bo paper: Further improvement on Cai Hou paper by Zuo Bo during the early Jian’an period.]

In terms of paper toughness, smoothness, and water absorption… The latter completely surpassed the former two.

“Father, you might as well open the ‘Mengde’s New Book’ that your child has presented to look at its contents!”

Initially focused on assessing the smoothness of the cover paper, Cao Ju’s interruption immediately diverted Cao Cao’s attention.

“Hmph!”

“Stop being noisy.”

He gave Cao Ju a mild reprimand. Following that, Cao Cao opened the cover of “Mengde’s New Book.”

On the first page that caught Cao Cao’s eye was the general outline of the table of contents for “Mengde’s New Book,” comprising fourteen sections. Among them are thirteen sections on military strategy and tactics and one on political strategy.

Cao Cao casually flipped to one of the pages without lingering on the table of contents.

“Sun Zi said in the past: The major concerns of the nation’s warfare, the grounds of life and death, the ways of survival and destruction, must be carefully examined. Indeed, war has no constant state, water has no constant shape, confronting changing conditions on the ground, it cannot be transmitted beforehand.”

“Hence it is said to estimate the enemy’s plans secretly and discern his motivations by observing his actions.”

“Thus, the art of war is not constant; the path to victory is not fixed. Therefore, those who delight in war will surely be defeated, and those who pursue gain will suffer disgrace…”

Focusing his gaze on the perfectly square page with minuscule text, Cao Cao’s eyes revealed a hint of astonishment. Swiftly following, he hastily turned over several more randomly selected pages.

“The benefit of warfare lies in trust; the virtue of warfare lies in principle.”

“Virtue is the foundation of accumulated strength in war.”

“Trust is the source of clear rewards in warfare.”

“Without provisions, soldiers will not come. Without rewards, soldiers will not go…”

If the first page had merely surprised Cao Cao. Then Cao Cao was thoroughly astonished because, at this moment, he astonishingly discovered that some of the words in the randomly selected two pages on military strategy were identical as if they had been engraved with a single mold. Not only were they strikingly similar, they were literally identical.

Without dwelling on his astonishment, Cao Cao quickly set aside the topmost volume of “Mengde’s New Book.”

The result, beyond his expectations yet within them, the thin volume beneath it, was also “Mengde’s New Book”!

Placing both volumes of “Mengde’s New Book” side by side on the long case, he flipped to the same page in both volumes.

Cao Cao compared the pages, identical content, the indistinguishable script, the same number of characters…

In an instant, he fell into silence. As intelligent as he was, how could he not understand what this meant?

If there were two identical copies, there could be three, four, and even… Ten thousand copies, a hundred thousand copies, all identical. For a single book, if there were a hundred thousand duplicates…

Thinking of that scenario,

Cao Cao was certain it was enough to shatter the monopolistic grip of powerful families and aristocratic clans over knowledge. It would be enough to undermine their foundations if it were to become widespread.

Thinking this, Cao Cao couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

“My son…”

“Truly has given me quite a pleasant surprise!”