Ravages of Time - Chapter 311, Loot one city to save few more - Cao Cao and Liu Bei

chapter 311

basically, here Guan Yu is paraphrasing a passage from the Liezi talking about how sheep get lost because of the many side paths (a comment on how guiding people to the way involves a clear message rather than getting lost in the weeds)

Cao Cao's retort is quoting a passage from the Zhan Guo Ce saying that if one notices lost sheep, one responds by repairing the fences.

the difference is that Guan Yu is rebuking Cao Cao for his lack of virtue, Cao Cao responds with a pragmatic appeal

Guan Yu is getting the impression that what Cao Cao is doing (a scorched earth tactic to prevent Yuan Shao from acquiring resources, with an optional evacuation option) is similar to what Liu Bei did in chapter 5, in the sense that one city is targeted to save two (or more)

the crucial difference (going back to the contrasting passages about the sheep, the virtuous vs the pragmatic) is that whereas Liu Bei did it because he cared for the people in the cities, Cao Cao is doing it to mitigate casualties on his side

funnily enough, Liu Bei's deed turns out to be sneakier (it framed Dong Zhuo, it set up the Guandong alliance as saviors while delaying the march), though Cao Cao's policy happens to be more thought-out (those who want to evacuate can go with Cao Cao, those who don't only get looted so as to spare them from future extortion by an occupying force that would want to preserve its image and thus wouldn't harm the remaining commoners... meanwhile, Liu Bei's redistribution program doesn't prevent future bandits from just looting the city a second time)

and from Cao Cao's point of view (expressed by that commoner in chapter 85), he's forcefully evicting people so he could construct a new edifice for them, while Liu Bei's 'shortsighted humanitarianism' is merely trying to fix the roof when the foundation is already rotten

one amusing tidbit: both Liu Bei and Cao Cao deprived Yuan Shao of future loot

on the other hand, Cao Cao's version of looting a city to save many is implemented more out of tactical and operational considerations, whereas Liu Bei's version of looting a city to save many is a sneaky attempt to rescue people caught up in the campaign

oh, and Ravages actually quotes from the 'legalist' thinker Han Feizi (whereas Kingdom doesn't)

on a slightly related note, the historical accounts frequently use a cunning euphemism for certain deaths, by saying that someone 'died of grief'

Not to diminish mental trauma of course, since it's those mental traumas that would push them to commit suicide or lose the will to live

it's amusing when Cao Cao diminishes himself to make a prudential point (remember when he said he isn't as heroic as Lu Bu)

and this subtle smirk that can be missed easily, when Guo Jia said exactly what Cao Cao wanted to hear, just like Cao Cao was telling Guan what he "wanted" to hear