At this point, Liu Biao couldn't even focus his main efforts on reclaiming Jingzhou. Internally, the Cai family was discontent due to the repeated cuts to the navy caused by financial shortages. Externally, the Wuxi barbarians were occasionally raiding, leaving him unable to launch a counterattack.
As the saying goes, "Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice," or "In poverty, all matters become sorrowful." In short, without money, Liu Biao, despite having capable people under him, could not fully utilize their potential.
In this situation, when Liu Biao received Cao Cao's proclamation, he pretended as if he hadn't seen it. He wasn't foolish enough to offend the only ally he could count on—Cao Cao.
In Yizhou, Liu Zhang had recently taken over. Without his father Liu Yan's capabilities, he watched helplessly as Zhang Lu took Hanzhong. The two sides constantly skirmished, with small battles every three days and large battles every five. Wanting only to maintain his small domain, Liu Zhang completely ignored the proclamation.
Liu Zhang had no idea that while he ignored Cao Cao, several of his own ministers, disappointed with Liu Zhang, were deeply impressed by Cao Cao's proclamation. In this era, it was rare for a ruler to admit their mistakes, especially someone like Cao Cao, who not only admitted his wrongdoings but also vowed to follow the principles of the Nine Virtues of the Lords. This couldn't help but pique the interest of these ministers, who saw Cao Cao as a figure fitting the heroic ideals of the time.
In Yongzhou and Liangzhou, the warlords wanted to protest, but seeing that no other significant lords spoke out, they decided against it. For Ma Teng and the Qiang people, food was more important than anything else. Once they confirmed there was no need to criticize Cao Cao, they continued their efforts to expand the Zhengguo Canal. They had already completed the main canal, and now only the auxiliary channels remained. Ma Teng and Han Sui were pondering how to extract more grain from Li Jue.
As for Li Jue, he forced a twisted smile while dealing with Emperor Liu Xie. He remembered Zhong Yao's advice. Before, when he lacked food, he had no choice but to exploit the emperor and the officials. Now, with a surplus of grain, Li Jue felt he should improve his relationship with the young emperor. As for Cao Cao's proclamation, without anyone to guide him, Li Jue couldn't grasp the complex strategy behind it.
Chen Gong, the first to receive the proclamation, showed a mixed expression—part regret, part admiration for the resurgence of the heroic and powerful image he had once seen in Cao Cao. Unfortunately, after taking that first step away, there was no turning back.
Chen Gong looked at the proclamation's mention of the Nine Virtues of the Lords. He knew this was Cao Cao's way of hinting at their past, but unlike before, such things no longer held any meaning for him. He knew that Cao Cao, being the man he was, would forgive him and could still accept him. But having already crossed that line, there was no returning.
Some people, known as scholars in this era, valued not just their extraordinary talents but also their integrity. Chen Gong was one of them. Once he had taken that step, he had no intention of going back, even if Cao Cao acknowledged his mistakes, forgave him, and even lived up to the ideal Chen Gong had once envisioned. The pride of a scholar like Chen Gong would not allow him to let go of that one thing he held dear. Perhaps Cao Cao could truly reach the heights Chen Gong had dreamed of, and maybe he wouldn't care about Chen Gong's betrayal, even personally inviting him back. But having missed that opportunity, it was simply not meant to be.
Many things are destined from the first step. No matter how much both sides try to mend the situation, they are often left with only a tragedy.
Chen Gong's expression remained calm as he casually tossed the proclamation onto his desk. He made no move to use the information against Cao Cao, treating the document as though he had never received it.
And so, with the major warlords remaining silent, Cao Mengde faced only some mild criticism, while most people waited to see how he would uphold the Nine Virtues, the highest standards for a lord.
This situation left Xun Yu, who was overseeing affairs in Chenliu, feeling quite perplexed. Somehow, everything had been swept under the rug.
But at that moment, Xun Yu wasn't too concerned with digging deeper into the matter. His primary focus was now on accumulating mental energy.
Xun Yu's mental talent, whether described as the ability to assist kings or as strategic planning, essentially allowed him to provide minor boosts to all his civil and military officials. More importantly, it enabled him to draw on their mental energy to either strengthen them or manipulate the weather.
However, compared to Chen Xi, who regulated the weather by storing and utilizing the free-floating mental energy of the people, Xun Yu's method was more brute force. He directly extracted mental energy from his subordinates to alter the weather. In theory, if someone had enough mental energy, they could do the same.
To be honest, Xun Yu's method of manipulating the weather was akin to Chen Xi using large amounts of mental energy without relying on his mental talent. Both methods were highly consuming, meaning Xun Yu couldn't sustain weather changes across an entire province for long periods.
Similarly, if Chen Xi didn't have his core mental talent, he would only be able to maintain the weather for about one-third of the year—a timeframe ten times longer than Xun Yu could manage.
In reality, if Xun Yu could draw on as much mental energy from his subordinates as Chen Xi did from the people of Taishan, the mental energy he obtained per unit of time would be about the same. After all, Chen Xi's mental energy came from the people's naturally dispersed energy, while Xun Yu's was forcibly extracted.
However, Chen Xi could regulate the weather for much longer because he could store the excess mental energy around his mental talent, both to protect it and to use when needed. Xun Yu's talent didn't have this capability.
Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai never expected to successfully replicate Chen Xi's mental talent. The one opportunity to do so had passed, and now, even if someone managed to break through Chen Xi's mental defenses, they wouldn't be able to replicate or negate his ability to regulate the weather. Any copy would lack the essential core.
In general, the requirements for this were extremely demanding. First, they would need to break through Chen Xi's mental defenses. That alone would be enough to leave everyone speechless. Chen Xi's defenses were made entirely of mental energy, so breaking through them would require an immense amount of mental energy.
Under normal circumstances, even if Xun Yu gathered most of Cao Cao's subordinates' mental energy for an attack, they would be detected and intercepted. The sheer volume of mental energy involved would be hard to miss, and in the end, it would turn into a battle of attrition that Xun Yu would surely lose. So, theoretically, it was impossible to break through Chen Xi's mental defenses...