The news of Marquis Dingshan's death and the truth behind it spread like wildfire. Wherever the news reached, the people and the army erupted in protest. Apart from Wang Han, who had foreseen it, no one expected things to turn out this way. The people and the army united as one to avenge Marquis Dingshan. Almost all the powerful clans and feudal lords suffered. Those who were lucky were captured, while those who were unlucky were killed by the angry people and the army. Very few were able to escape.
Upon receiving Wang Han's instructions, Xi Zhicai immediately ordered the Bingzhou army to take action. Within a month, they quickly unified the populace and armies that had broken out in various places, pacified the people, and incorporated the mutinous armies of various warlords. At the same time, following Wang Han's orders, Xi Zhicai launched another large-scale conscription under the pretext of avenging Wang Han, and this time the number of soldiers conscripted reached as high as two million.
Because of the death of the Marquis of Dingshan, many people across the land responded to the call to arms, and within half a month of the conscription beginning, two million soldiers had been recruited. Adding the troops from Bingzhou and those incorporated from the rebellious armies of various warlords, the total strength reached over three million. (The population at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was fifty million. Here, due to the protagonist's circumstances, the common people were not greatly affected by the war, so the population would likely be even higher.)
Cao Cao returned with his troops half a month later. Contrary to Xi Zhicai's prediction, Cao Cao did not amass power and instead returned with only 60,000 soldiers. Upon his return, he immediately focused on defending against other foreign tribes, showing no signs of disloyalty. In fact, Cao Cao knew that Wang Han had always been wary of him, and even now that Wang Han was dead, he must have left behind methods to deal with him. He could not afford to stand out, otherwise, he would suffer the same fate as the other warlords.
Moreover, even if he wanted to rebel, he had no means to do so. The army had always been controlled by Zhao Liu and his three associates, and apart from a few loyal followers, he had no morale among his troops.
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A month and a half later, the body of Marquis Dingshan was finally transported to Luoyang, the capital of the Ministry of Justice. On that day, countless people came to bid farewell to Marquis Dingshan. The people of Luoyang wore white clothes and hung white lanterns; the entire city was filled with weeping. It seemed that even the heavens were affected by the grief, and a heavy snow fell.
Upon seeing Wang Han's corpse, Xi Zhicai rubbed his eyes, hardly believing it. The corpse looked exactly like Wang Han. He couldn't help but admire Wang Han's skill; it was practically indistinguishable from the real thing.
"What a pity for such a brilliant hero! Heaven is jealous of talent," Cao Cao lamented. He greatly admired Wang Han, and while he regretted Wang Han's death, he also felt a sense of relief. He lamented the loss of the Marquis of Dingshan's talent and martial prowess; if the Marquis of Dingshan were alive, who knows how powerful the nation would have become under his leadership? Yet, he was also relieved that the Marquis of Dingshan was dead; the seemingly unshakeable mountain that had weighed heavily on them had finally crumbled, presenting them with an opportunity.
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That night, in the conference hall of Luoyang, at the invitation of Xi Zhicai, all of Wang Han's men, except for Zhao Liu and Zhou Qi who were defending the grasslands, gathered in the conference hall.
"I've gathered you all here today to discuss our future," Xi Zhicai said, seeing everyone present. "Our lord left me three secret letters. The first instructed me to recruit another two million soldiers, a task already completed. The weapons and ammunition were prepared before our lord went to kill Yuan Shu. The second letter instructed us to train the army and immediately wage war against all the surrounding tribes—either conquer and assimilate them, or drive them to even more distant lands, or face annihilation. This is the most important reason for the massive recruitment. The third letter guides our reforms. Furthermore, our lord left two unfinished books, one of which..." This book outlines what the times require and how to develop, including reforms to doctors and the medical system, reforms to the overall system, reforms to agriculture, reforms to the military, reforms to outdated customs, reforms to talent cultivation, and many other reforms. These reforms must be implemented gradually, in several or even a dozen phases, each better than the last. (I won't go into detail here to avoid padding the word count.) Another unfinished book contains the lord's insights into science, mathematics, writing, weaponry, nature, and methods for cultivating high-yield crops. Unfortunately, neither of these books is completed. Now I am sharing these three secret letters with everyone.”
After saying this, Xi Zhicai took out three letters from his pocket and handed them to Huang Chengyan on his right.
"It is indeed from the Lord's own handwriting." Huang Chengyan nodded after reading it and handed the letter to the next person. Soon everyone had read the letter.
"Xi Zhicai, what about the two books left by our lord?" Huang Chengyan asked. Compared to the three secret letters, they valued the two unfinished books more. Having witnessed the various reforms and astonishing talent of the Marquis of Dingshan, they knew that even if the two books were unfinished, they would surely be groundbreaking works, extremely important to the country and the nation.
"I will temporarily keep both unfinished books," Xi Zhicai said. "Before everyone can read them, we must first establish rules and implement the new system."
"What rules?" Cao Cao asked upon hearing this. Everyone looked at Xi Zhicai.
Xi Zhicai said, “First, it must not be leaked to anyone. Second, apart from keeping two handwritten copies, no one is allowed to copy or memorize it by any means. Third, anyone who wants to view it in the future must obtain the consent of three-quarters of the representatives, and the viewing time will be limited. Fourth, under no circumstances is anyone from another country allowed to view it.” Xi Zhicai said, “These four rules were left by our lord when he wrote the book, and there should be no objection to them, right?”
Upon hearing that it was a rule left behind by Wang Han, everyone nodded in agreement.
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