Summary: Delighted by his invincible fleet and moved by the scenery, Cao Cao shows off his literary chops … until someone decided to play critic.<br> <br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/2015/11/30/episode-059-cao-cao-the-poet/#transcript">Transcript</a><br> * No new graph of key characters and relationships, since we meet no new characters this week<br> * Still no new map this week; we’re still just parked on the river<br> <br> <a href="https://i0.wp.com/www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ep059_cao-cao-poem.jpg"></a><br> Cao Cao rhapsodizing at the feast.<br> <br> <a id="transcript"></a>Transcript<br> <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/3Kingdoms059.pdf">PDF version</a><br> Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 59.<br> Last time, Pang Tong, AKA Young Phoenix, had just convinced Cao Cao that to prevent his troops from getting seasick, he should tie all his ships together. Cao Cao was ecstatic at this wonderful idea, so ecstatic that he overlooked the fact that this also made his fleet that much more susceptible to a fire attack. <br> But Pang Tong was not finished doing favors for Cao Cao just yet. He then told Cao Cao, “In my opinion, many of the talented men from Dong Wu are mad at Zhou Yu. I can go persuade them to defect to your excellency. That would leave Zhou Yu isolated and helpless, and you will capture him for sure. Once Zhou Yu is defeated, Liu Bei would be powerless.”<br> “If you can do that, sir, then I will report your merits to the emperor and have you appointed to one of the top ministerial posts at court,” Cao Cao said happily.<br> “I am not doing this for money,” Pang Tong said. “I am trying to save civilian lives. WHen you excellency crosses the river, please do not harm them.”<br> “I act on behalf of heaven; how can I bear to harm the people?” Cao Cao said.<br> Pang Tong, though, asked for this assurance in writing so as to have something to protect his clan, which he told Cao Cao was living on the river bank. Cao Cao happily consented and wrote an official edict guaranteeing the safety of the people of Dong Wu.<br> Pang Tong took this edict, thanked Cao Cao, and said, “After I leave, your excellency must attack soon. Don’t let Zhou Yu catch on.”<br> Cao Cao said of course, and Pang Tong took his leave. He went back to the bank and was just about to hop on his boat when a man wearing a Daoist robe and a bamboo hat suddenly grabbed him from behind.<br> “You’ve got some gall,” this man said. “First Huang Gai lets himself be beaten, then Kan Ze delivers a fake defection note, and now you come to tell Cao Cao to link his ships. You want to make sure that fire consumes every last thing, don’t you? Your vicious schemes may fool Cao Cao, but not me!”<br> <a href="https://i0.wp.com/www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/quotes_ep059a.jpg"></a><br> Those words scared Pang Tong out of his mind for a brief second, but when he turned and saw who it was, he relaxed. It was Xu (2) Shu (4), Liu Bei’s former adviser who was forced to go to Cao Cao when Cao Cao held his mom hostage. Xu Shu and Pang Tong were no strangers to each other, as they all ran in the same circles back in the day. <br> Looking around to make sure there was no one else present, Pang Tong said to his friend, “If you expose my scheme, you will have doomed the civilians of Dong Wu.”<br> “Well, what about the lives of the 830,000 men here?” Xu Shu asked with a smile.<br> “Are you really going to expose my scheme?”<br> “I received tremendous kindness from the imperial uncle and have not been able to repay him. Besides, Cao Cao sent my mother to her death, and I have sworn to never offer a single idea to him. So why would I foil your brilliant idea? However, I am here with Cao Cao’s forces. Once he’s defeated, the soldiers of Dong Wu will not be too discriminating about whom to kill and whom to sp...
