Divine Lucky Star-Chapter 246 - Brother Hao Digs into History
Chapter 246: Chapter 246 Brother Hao Digs into History
Chapter 246: Chapter 246 Brother Hao Digs into History
Wang Hao finished outlining all the causes and effects before he laughed and said, “From this point of view, let’s not discuss Liu Bei’s character for now, but whether it’s in ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ or the historical records, there is a common understanding about Liu Bei, that is, when he was farming during the ‘boiled wine at the plum garden’ event, he truly did manage to deceive Cao Cao. I already said earlier, who is Cao Cao? His ability to judge people and use them was top-notch during the Three Kingdoms era. Just think, Liu Bei could even fool Cao Cao, to what extent could he have done so? Cao Cao had just finished saying that there were only two heroes in the world, he and I, and then he gave Liu Bei troops to go on campaign. Not to mention anything else, Liu Bei’s acting skills must at least be at the level of a Best Actor, right?”
After Wang Hao finished speaking, the room erupted in laughter again—the Best Actor has come out!
“Don’t joke, but listening to his analysis like this, Liu Bei truly was capable ah, even managing to deceive Cao Cao!”
“That’s for sure, without some abilities, Cao Cao would have killed him with a single swipe long ago; how could it have been Liu Bei’s turn to establish the Shu Kingdom?”
By this time, Zhang Xingzhe’s complexion had changed.
Wang Hao was truly skilled to be able to dissect and organize the timeline so fluently!
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Based on what he said, if you do not thoroughly understand the history of the Three Kingdoms, you definitely couldn’t speak like this!
At this moment, everyone knew that Wang Hao had said so much, but in fact he hadn’t even gotten to the main topic yet, and they were even more curious about what Wang Hao would say next.
When the room quieted down again, Wang Hao smiled and asked, “So now that the truth has been sorted out, and Liu Bei’s acting has also been acknowledged by us, let’s go back and look at what Cao Cao said at that time and what he did afterward. Doesn’t anyone find anything strange?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Xingzhe subconsciously asked Wang Hao, “What’s strange?”
After Zhang Xingzhe finished his question, Wang Hao smiled, shook his head, and said, “Professor Zhang, don’t you find Cao Cao’s assertion that ‘you and Lord Cao are the only heroes in the world,’ when taken in context, to be extremely abrupt? At that time, Liu Bei was without soldiers, without generals, and was being harshly defeated by Lv Bu; why would Cao Cao say Liu Bei was a hero?”
“This…” Zhang Xingzhe took a while to respond before finally waking up, “That’s not right! I was the one asking you, how did it turn into you asking me?!”
“Hehe, the reason I ask,” Wang Hao finally dropped a real bombshell, “is it because you thought this was Cao Cao’s way of testing Liu Bei, or perhaps it was just a casual question following the story of the boiled wine at the plum garden? Actually, the reason I talked so much before was to make a point, that is about Liu Bei’s acting! And now, having talked about Liu Bei’s acting, we can finally discuss something else…”
Wang Hao said up to this point and finally got serious, smiling, “For example, the exchanges between Cao Cao and Liu Bei in their early years. Because without the foundation of early interactions, to be honest, I don’t believe if the two had only had a spiritual connection before, that Cao Cao would say such things to Liu Bei who was pressured by Lv Bu to abandon his wife. It’s not only this statement that’s abrupt; the entire setting of the conversation, and the whole background, as well as the causes and consequences, all are filled with doubt!”
As soon as Wang Hao said this, the whole place was in an uproar!
“Heavens, today has been too exciting! Wang Hao seems to know everything!”
“Yes, today really was an eye-opener, let’s get ready to listen to a good story from Wang Hao!”
Liu Bei and Cao Cao, they even had interactions in their early years?! What on earth is going on?!
Could it be that Wang Hao was really about to disclose many historical secrets unknown to the public?!
At this time, Wang Hao had completely piqued the curiosity of those around him, even the other guests stretched their necks, waiting to see what Wang Hao would say.
Clearly, whetting their appetite was enough; he couldn’t carry on for too long. So, Wang Hao shook his fan, and once the studio quieted down, he began to explain, “First of all, we must analyze one sentence in detail. ‘After Lord Cao set out on his eastern campaign, he assisted our prime minister in encircling Lv Bu at Xuzhou, capturing Lv Bu alive. The prime minister also reclaimed his wife and returned with Lord Cao. He was appointed as the Left General and treated with increasing respect; they would ride in the same carriage when going out and sit at the same table when seated.'”
“One should know that at this time, Liu Bei was practically beaten like a mischievous child by Lv Bu, yet Cao Cao’s approach was to treat him with increasing respect. What does this ‘increasing respect’ entail? When going out, they rode in the same carriage, and at meal times, they shared the same table. Since customs of the Han Dynasty are quite distant from us, we have to consult classic texts to understand some specific actions, and thus we find: ‘Customs Passed Down: Breaches of Ritual: Zhang Ba of Nanyang’ states: For brothers who loved each other, it was customary to ride in the same carriage when going out, and to share the same bed when sleeping. We’ll not discuss who the author is right now; the key lies in what follows: at that time, sharing a carriage was not an action taken casually, but a social etiquette among the Han people to express brotherly affection. In later years, Zhong Hui, in order to show closeness to Jiang Wei, also adopted a similar approach: ‘Hui and Wei would ride in the same carriage when going out, and sit at the same table when seated.'”
“Looking at this, Cao Cao’s goodwill towards Liu Bei practically leaps off the page. Something worth gossiping about is the way Liu Bei dealt with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei—’The prime minister and the two would share a bed when sleeping, their kindness as if brothers.’ Why doesn’t it say they would ride in the same carriage when going out? Heh, because their status wasn’t high. Sharing a bed when sleeping was a way for the lower class heroes to express their intimate bond—see, when I sleep, I’m not even guarded against you, which has a bit of an underworld flare to it.”
With Wang Hao saying this, the entire audience became even more curious!
Liu Bei didn’t say “ride in the same carriage when going out” for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but why did Cao Cao treat him with such respect?
At this time, Zhang Xingzhe was listening with his eyes wide open, and he asked anxiously, “Why?!”
“So it brings us to a question,” Wang Hao began raising the doubt, “What exactly about Liu Bei did Cao Cao admire? Abandoning his family? Bravely rescuing Tao Qian? The former isn’t very honorable, and the latter is in direct opposition to Cao Cao’s acts. The key is, at that time, there were plenty of people all over who were outdoing the two deeds of Liu Bei by several times, so why Liu Bei?”
“Let’s first analyze bit by bit according to the original work. ‘When Benchu desired to pass through Xuzhou north to join Yuan Shao, Lord Cao dispatched the prime minister to oversee Zhu Ling and led the troops to attack Benchu. Benchu died of illness before their arrival. Before the prime minister left Xu, Dong Cheng, the emperor’s uncle and General of Cavalry, quietly received a secret edict hidden in the emperor’s sash, intending to assassinate Lord Cao.'”
“This passage is very interesting. First, there’s the situation with Yuan Shu, who was at the end of his road. Cao Cao entrusted this matter to Liu Bei, offering him a chance to earn merits, and also provided him with two generals. And before Liu Bei took military power and left Xu, Dong Cheng began to recruit Liu Bei into the conspiracy to overthrow Cao Cao.”
“Liu Bei initially did not take a stance, nor did he expose them. But afterward, the most famous scene finally arrived. During that meal that went down in history, Cao Cao stated, ‘In all the world, there are only you, my lord, and Cao. Benchu’s followers are not worth mentioning.’ It was this sentence that frightened Liu Bei into dropping his chopsticks, but why? On the surface, it seems he was guilty; Dong Cheng had just recruited him, and now on this side, Cao Cao was indicating, ‘You are the one I value, Yuan Shao is nothing.’ But on closer thought, that’s not right!”
“If Liu Bei dropped his chopsticks because he suspected Cao Cao knew about his collusion with Dong Cheng, that would be too foolish. If Cao Cao knew all about it, would he still share a meal with you? That would be a joke. Therefore, Cao Cao wasn’t testing Liu Bei, the key lies in the latter part of his sentence: ‘Benchu’s followers are not worth mentioning.’ You need to know, when did Cao Cao say this? It was during the fourth year of Jian’an, in March, when Yuan Shao annihilated Gongsun Zan and unified four provinces; in April, Cao Cao conquered Henei, eliminating a threat. The direct confrontation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao was already imminent; at this time, desperately courting Liu Bei, Cao Cao had a clear purpose, which was to build strength to oppose Yuan Shao.”
“And why did that sentence from Cao Cao make Liu Bei drop his chopsticks? The answer was: At that time, Liu Bei had already resolved to make a move against Cao Cao, and furthermore, Yuan Shao was his most likely major ally. So, when Cao Cao mentioned Yuan Shao, that’s why Liu Bei got so frightened!”
When Wang Hao got to this point, the entire audience gasped in unison!
Wang Hao could actually dissect this period of history to such an extent!
Zhang Xingzhe was also completely stunned. According to what Wang Hao said, did Liu Bei drop his chopsticks because he thought Cao Cao had discovered his alliance with Yuan Shao?
“Teacher Wang Hao, why did Cao Cao value Liu Bei so much then?” A member of the audience shouted, “After hearing your analysis, I feel like there’s a lot more to the story! What’s really going on here?”
As soon as the person asked, everyone in the audience nodded in agreement, “Yes, yes, what’s really going on? You said earlier that this wasn’t the first time they met, right?”
