Mythical Three Kingdoms

Cao Zhen is the son of Qin Shao, whom Guan Yu mistakenly identified as Cao Cao and killed. Cao Cao treats him like his own son. It should be mentioned that Cao Zhen has a decent talent, not in martial force, but in large army operations, where his talent is notable.

Cao Cao is somewhat worried that Cao Zhen might not be able to suppress his urge to seek trouble with Guan Yu right now, given that Qin Shao was Cao Zhen’s biological father.

”I’ve let him study alongside Meng Quan (Xiahou Heng) and Zhongquan (Xiahou Ba); with Zhongquan watching, he won’t act out,” said Cao Ang with a nod.

Among the younger generation of the Cao Family and Xiahou Family, only Cao Ang has already reached adulthood; the others are roughly eleven or twelve years old at most, while the youngest are still in their infancy.

Due to having such an elder brother, most of the younger members of the Cao Family and Xiahou Family were often disciplined by Cao Ang. After all, Cao Cao’s generation is currently busy with conquering the realm, leaving little time to educate the children, so Cao Ang gathered all his younger brothers, cousins, and clan members together.

What Cao Ang does now is almost identical to what Cao De did back then, and because of Cao Ang’s loyalty and modesty, coupled with being ten years older than the group of brothers, the mischievous ones like Cao Pi and Xiahou Ba would listen well to him.

Because Cao Ang is on top of the troublemakers like Cao Pi and Xiahou Heng, the younger generation of the Cao Family and Xiahou Family seems to have reached a state of brotherly love and respect.

”Alright, you and Juan’er keep an eye on those little troublemakers, don’t let them fight,” said Cao Cao, waving his hand to signal Cao Ang to go look after the children, as Cao Cao often felt that Cao Ang’s character was too gentle.

Cao Ang didn’t say anything and simply turned to leave; in front of Cao Cao, he always behaved like this, rarely expressing his own opinions. In his youth, his assertiveness led to many losses under Cao Cao, so Cao Ang generally had no objections to Cao Cao’s suggestions, though that didn’t mean he was foolish.

On the contrary, Cao Ang was very intelligent, not the kind of quick-witted intelligence that allowed him to write essays at eight or compose poetry at ten, but a genuine wisdom about knowing what needed to be done.

Whether it was Cao Pi representing the Cao Family or Xiahou Heng representing the Xiahou Family, or even the upcoming generations competing within the families, they all greatly acknowledged and even admired Cao Ang.

In simpler terms, it roughly means that Cao Cao’s foundational base was the Cao Family and Xiahou Family brothers, while Cao Ang’s base was the next generation led by Cao Pi from the Cao Family and Xiahou Heng from the Xiahou Family.

By letting Cao Pi and Xiahou Heng compete while uniting them around himself, he doesn’t need to excel like Cao Cao in culture and military affairs. As the legitimate eldest son, he simply needs to manage all the brothers—no, he’s already reached a higher level.

Cao Ang has achieved contention through non-contention. He doesn’t need to exhibit outstanding excellence; instead, he simply allows all his brothers to follow his commands and gives them opportunities to perform. Reaching this level is enough.

At just twenty years old, Cao Ang already understands how to conduct himself when his power is insufficient and when he doesn’t have decision-making authority. In ten years, when Cao Pi and others come of age, everything will be revealed, and by then, Cao Cao will realize who his most outstanding son is.

It’s fair to say that as long as Cao Ang continues down this path, neither the talented Cao Zhi nor the power-scheming Cao Pi, nor the martial force-excelling Cao Zhang have any chance to ascend, or more accurately, they wouldn’t even possess the thought.

The insecurity of the Princely Heir position is often not due to the heir’s lack of ability but rather because the father as the superior doesn’t recognize the heir. Cao Ang’s approach directly blocked the chances of Cao Cao not recognizing him, making it almost a foregone conclusion that all the brothers would support Cao Ang.

As for the later Cao Chong and Cao Xiong, they are even less worth considering. If the excellent capabilities of Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang were nurtured by Cao Ang, the subsequent ones could only follow in Cao Ang’s footsteps.

Moreover, the next generation from other branch lineages of the Cao Family and Xiahou Family were also raised by Cao Ang. By the time this generation matures, it will be inevitable for Cao Ang to steadily take over everything from Cao Cao. Reaching that scenario, if Cao Cao forces down Cao Ang, the forces of the Cao Family would collapse.

It can be said that if history weren’t marked by the death of the brotherly respectful Cao Ang, the Cao Family and Xiahou Family wouldn’t have reached such extremes. Ever since Cao Pi took over, the reason for the thin treatment of the clan by Cao Wei was because Cao Pi didn’t receive support from the Cao Family and Xiahou Family.

The Cao Family and Xiahou Family had never been Cao Pi’s foundational base; those were trump cards that Cao Ang had left for himself, or more precisely, Cao Ang left behind the foundational base for himself, even including Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang as part of it. However, upon Cao Ang’s death, those trump cards were inherited by his three brothers.

Cao Pi’s aristocratic family base, Cao Zhi’s pure-stream base, Cao Zhang’s outer general base—if Cao Ang were there to oversee them, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, Cao Zhang, along with the brothers of the Cao Family as well as the Seven Brothers of Xiahou combined would form the clan’s foundational base. Put together, that’s all of Cao Cao’s influence.

At that time, with his ascension, Cao Ang would immediately have power in his grasp, and he could trust every leader of the foundational bases; the forces represented by Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang might compete internally, but as long as Cao Ang is present, they would remain balanced, and the Xiahou Family would also smoothly merge into the clan.

Cao Ang’s greatest success lay in aligning his best brothers with their foundational bases, ensuring that after his ascension, they wouldn’t worry about struggling, while he maintained absolute authority to avoid sibling conflict and ensured the Imperial Court remained dominated by the Cao Family.

More importantly, this approach allows later generations to know that following him would never lead to loss and shows everyone his magnanimity, which can be seen as achieving multiple goals with one action.

However, Cao Ang’s greatest failure was doing everything a brother should but failing to foresee that he would be so unlucky as to fall victim to his own father.

After Cao Ang’s death, reflecting on his arrangements, they immediately became a joke. Without their elder brother, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang began to compete in an instant. The root cause was that Cao Ang divided the foundational bases among these three fellows.

All three had their own strengths, and without Cao Ang’s restraint, why should they listen? When Cao Ang was alive, everyone knew not to ponder about the Princely Heir position, but now that Cao Ang is dead, they have the power, so why not compete?

Initially, they could still restrain themselves, but over time, nobody could resist that position. Previously they could, because Cao Ang blocked all the paths ahead, but now that Cao Ang is dead, neither Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, nor Cao Zhang has this capability.

Achieving such a level requires not only capability but also arranging things much earlier than others, planning everything before one is even born, and even oneself is just a pawn in the other’s game. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)