Chapter 61: The Essence of Swordsmanship (Seeking Follow-up Reading)
Luoyang, Beigong.
General Cao Zhen hurried into the palace and headed for the emperor's study. Cao Zhen brought the latest military report from Yangzhou from the general's mansion and was about to report to the emperor.
Cao Zhen walked slowly along the palace road. The emperor's study was not far from the east gate of the North Palace. When Cao Zhen was still some distance away from the study, he saw Zhong Yu standing there from afar.
Before Cao Zhen reached the door, Zhong Yu bowed to him and said, "General, your Majesty is not in the study at the moment. I will wait for your arrival and lead you to find your Majesty."
Cao Zhen was stunned when he heard this. Since Cao Xiu and Chen Qun were appointed to other posts, there were only two assistant ministers in Luoyang, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi. Sima Yi usually worked in the Shangshutai, and Cao Zhen usually stayed in his own general's mansion. If the emperor summoned them, the two would go to the palace to discuss state affairs with the emperor.
Every time Cao Zhen came, the emperor would stay in the study room without fail, reading documents or studying state affairs. Cao Zhen once lamented the emperor's hard work. This time, the emperor was absent for the first time, which made Cao Zhen curious.
Cao Zhen looked at Zhong Yu with some doubt: "What is your majesty doing?"
Zhong Yu hesitated for a moment. The emperor ordered him to wait for the general here, and led the general to find him, but did not say that he could not reveal what the emperor was doing.
Zhong Yu paused and then replied, "Your Majesty is practicing swordplay."
Cao Zhen became more and more curious.
A moment later, Cao Zhen arrived at the place where the emperor practiced swordplay. Cao Zhen had been braver than ordinary people since he was a teenager, and could shoot tigers with a bow on horseback. He was also a general with many years of experience in battle. From Cao Zhen's perspective, Cao Rui's steps and moves when practicing swordplay were quite standard. Although he was not a master, he could be considered a minor master.
Seeing Cao Zhen coming, Cao Rui slowly stopped practicing sword skills, put the sword into the scabbard and threw it to Zhong Yu, who caught it with his nimble hands.
Cao Zhen bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, this is the first time I have seen you practice swordplay. You look like a master."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Of course it is the style of a master. The late emperor learned swordsmanship from Shi A and mastered all of Shi A's swordsmanship. I also learned some basic skills from the late emperor when I went hunting with him before."
Cao Zhen nodded and said, "The late emperor was very good at swordsmanship. I also practiced with him for a while, but I was not as proficient as him."
Cao Zhen looked at the weapon rack in the courtyard and asked curiously, "Your Majesty, do you only love swords? I see more than a dozen swords on this weapon rack, and no other weapons."
Cao Rui nodded: "The sword is the weapon of the king. I don't need to fight in the battlefield, so practicing sword is enough. What weapon does the general usually use?"
Cao Zhen responded: "I was a cavalry general in my early years, so I am naturally best at using spears and bows and arrows. In addition to spears, I sometimes use swords and hand halberds."
Cao Rui seemed to have remembered something, and then asked: "I have heard someone say before that in the Battle of Guandu, Guan Yu killed Yan Liang on the battlefield with a long sword?"
Cao Zhen seemed to be accustomed to the emperor's jumping thoughts. He shook his head firmly and said, "It must be a misunderstanding. How can a cavalry general use a long sword? It is not easy to exert force on horseback, so he naturally uses a spear."
Cao Rui nodded upon hearing this.
Seeing that the emperor was concerned about martial arts, Cao Zhen couldn't help but ask a few more questions: "Your Majesty, do you usually practice sword alone? Is there anyone who would practice with you?"
Cao Rui said, "Of course, it's mostly sparring. Since the beginning of autumn, Xiahou Xian has accompanied me in sword practice every time he is on duty in the palace. I swim in the summer and practice sword in the autumn, which can strengthen my body."
Cao Zhen smiled and said, "Only by strengthening the body can one maintain good health. Your Majesty, have you gained anything from practicing sword?"
Cao Rui asked in return: "General, have you gained anything from practicing spears?"
Cao Zhen responded, "Of course there is. When two armies are fighting in front of a battle line, the cavalry generals charge forward with spears, either stabbing or blocking. Those who hesitate will die. What matters is decisiveness." "I think this is the same as when two armies are fighting. The opportunity for battle is fleeting, and bravery and decisiveness are equally indispensable."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "The general naturally learned it from the battle formation, but I can only learn a little from sparring."
"I believe that the first step in sword training is to evade, the second is to strike the enemy by surprise, and the most important thing is to save yourself."
Cao Zhen was puzzled: "Swordsmanship is the art of attacking the enemy, why is the focus on preserving oneself? I have never heard the late emperor and Shi A say this."
Cao Rui shook his head slightly and said to Cao Zhen: "The general is a general. He wears armor when fighting, and naturally he aims to injure the enemy. When I practice swordplay, I am not armored, so it is naturally different."
"Let me give you an analogy. Even if I'm sparring with someone who is very weak in swordsmanship, with no armor against no armor, it stands to reason that if I stab him in the throat with my sword, he should use his sword to block, right?"
Cao Zhen nodded.
Cao Rui continued, "If the opponent is ready to die and doesn't care about my stabbing, but continues to slash forward, then no matter how skilled I am in swordsmanship, I will be injured."
"So I think the point of sword training is not to hurt the enemy, but to protect yourself. If you must fight, then you must choose a place, choose an opponent, and wear armor yourself."
It was obvious that the emperor had something else in mind, and at this time Cao Zhen was still unclear about what the emperor's intention was.
"Your Majesty, that's a good idea." Cao Zhen then talked about business: "Military reports came from the Grand Marshal in Yangzhou. Our secret agents in Poyang learned that Sun Quan sent people to Poyang three times in three consecutive days to question Zhou Cang."
"When Zhou Cang was questioned for the third time, he knelt down in front of the envoy outside the west gate of Poyang and apologized, and cut off his hair in lieu of his head."
In this era, the transmission of information was often the most difficult thing. It took seven days for the two Zhou Yu envoys who pretended to surrender to find Cao Xiu. It took another five days to travel from Shouchun, where Cao Xiu was stationed, to Luoyang.
Cao Rui's expression did not seem to be much affected: "I understand. In my opinion, the falsehood seems to be true. The more I look at it, the more it looks like Zhou Yu is pretending to surrender."
Upon hearing this, Cao Zhen also said: "Dongwu is accustomed to using the strategy of feigning surrender. In the past at the Battle of Red Cliff, Zhou Yu and Huang Gai used the strategy of feigning surrender."
Fake surrenders are not uncommon. However, unlike what most people think, people who want to surrender are often intentional. In many cases, the person who wants to surrender is a traitor. Whether to surrender or not depends on the situation. Therefore, there are many cases where people agree to surrender first and then turn against each other.
Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen. There was no one else present except the Emperor of Cao Wei and the general who held the military and political power, which made it convenient for the two to talk.
Cao Rui said directly: "General, I thought Sun Quan must be using Zhou bream as bait to lure our Wei army south. But what Sun Quan didn't expect is that he might not be able to catch us, but might be swallowed by us!"
Cao Zhen also became serious: "Your Majesty, are you saying that Sun Quan must be ambushing near the Wancheng that Zhou Cang mentioned?"
"Then we should take advantage of the situation and lead the army south near Wancheng to devour Sun Quan's ambushed army?"
Cao Rui nodded: "That's right. In your opinion, if there is really an ambush in Wancheng, how many troops can Sun Quan mobilize at most?"
Cao Zhen smiled when he heard this: "How many troops can Sun Quan send out at most? Don't worry, Your Majesty. Excluding the garrisons in various places, there will be at most 100,000 people."
"Zhang Wenyuan had already verified it for the Great Wei when he was in Hefei."
(End of this chapter)
