Abnormal Three Kingdoms

Chapter 101
"My lord, why do you have such an ugly face?" Wei Yue, who was teaching Mantis to write when he returned to the posthouse, got up and asked when he saw that Chu Nan's expression was not right.

The demon mantis looked up and looked at Chu Nan sadly. Although Chu Nan had taught it to spy on intelligence before, he didn't let him write.

The praying mantis in combat form was holding a writing brush, and a few words were tremblingly written on the bamboo slips, which could be discerned vaguely. Chu Nan could feel the begging of the demon mantis through spiritual communication.

"Study hard, know a hundred characters, and find you a companion." Chu Nan stroked its head to calm its emotions.

After hearing the words, the demon mantis paused for a moment, then suddenly turned around and sat down at the table to continue writing.

"My lord, did Cao Cao make things difficult for you?" Wei Yue sat down and asked.

"That's not enough." Chu Nan shook his head, Cao Cao wouldn't do such a thing, a big man has a big man's heart, if he doesn't have this measure, how can he achieve his career today?
"That's..." Wei Yue was puzzled, why such an ugly look?
"The bottom is exposed!" Chu Nan lay powerlessly on the mat, he was all his own, and there was no need to hold it like that, and said helplessly looking at the beam above his head.

"Show the bottom? What do you mean?" Wei Yue was even more puzzled.

"I don't know how to explain it." Chu Nan smiled wryly.

In the second half of the Sikong Mansion, I was completely on pins and needles. It felt like I had returned to the exams in middle school. It was the kind of direct face-to-face exam. There was no outline, no question bank, and I asked whatever came to mind. At this time, you can't show your timidity, so you can only answer.

I wanted to ask two tricky questions, but they were both dismissed casually. In the end, it was simply a unilateral crush.

Boss Cao probably already knows what level he is now. This kind of examination and teaching, without real materials in his stomach, is easy to reveal his truth. Up to now, Chu Nan still feels his head buzzing, as if he was Hollowed out in general.

In fact, it was indeed hollowed out. Facing top elites like Cao Cao and Cheng Yu, I really couldn't stand the test of pure knowledge, insights, and knowledge, and I was not good at it.

You can't be asked how you govern a county, you should discuss the theory of relativity with them.

Having said that, I don't know if this place belongs to Newton's management, at least some people with supernatural powers, Chu Nanjue thinks they are not under Newton's management.

Although this matter is at best to be taken lightly, the feeling that Chu Nanjue felt that the unruly aura he had created before was broken to pieces.

"So what if the bottom is exposed? After tomorrow's court meeting, am I going to leave?" Wei Yue laughed.

"If it's really that simple, it would be great. Do you think I'm here just to thank you?" Chu Nan got up and said helplessly. The ultimate goal is to get Lu Bu the position of Xuzhou Shepherd and meet Chu tomorrow. Nan probably won't get it, and most likely will enter a state of wrangling.

It's a pity, if Nanyang Shi can also keep Cao Cao, this matter will basically be stable.

"Prepare a few greeting cards. Before tomorrow's court meeting, I need to visit some ministers." Chu Nan started to work, looked at Wei Yue and said.

"My lord, it's almost evening, how can there be any reason to visit at this time?" Wei Yue frowned.

"I can't care about that much anymore." Chu Nan shook his head. In fact, visiting these people was a lie. The only person he was really looking for was Dong Cheng, and this was the only person Xuchang City could count on at present.

At the moment, Wei Yue prepared five invitations, namely Yang Biao, Dong Cheng, Xun Yu, Chen Qun, and Fu Wan. Some refused directly, and some just chatted with each other before leaving. Chu Nan's goal There is only one, and that is Dong Cheng.

"Ziyan, it's up to me not to help, but now the court is ruled by Cao thief. Although the old man is a foreign relative, he has no real power in his hands. How can he resist?" Dong Cheng could only express his helplessness when facing Chu Nan's request for help. .

"Dong Gong, if he is not allowed to be the Xuzhou shepherd this time, his father-in-law will always be dishonest. I don't know what Dong Gong wrote in his letter to his father-in-law, but if he is not allowed to be the Xuzhou shepherd, Cao Cao's next goal may be Xuzhou. Xuzhou was first slaughtered by Cao Cao, and then there were successive wars, so there was no peace. If Cao Cao raises his troops to attack at this time, it may be difficult to resist. The position of Xuzhou Shepherd is extremely important to both father-in-law and Dong Gong!" Chu Nan looked at Dong Cheng and said in a deep voice.

"What does Xuzhou Mu have to do with me?" Dong Cheng frowned.

"Dong Gong." Chu Nan said in a low voice, "Although my father-in-law has a bad reputation, he has always regarded himself as a Hanchen and never overstepped. Now that the Cao thief is becoming more and more rampant in the court, my father-in-law has always had the heart of a thief. It's a pity. If Dong Gong has the heart to eliminate thieves, father-in-law should follow Dong Gong's lead, and wait for the court to make a move, and father-in-law will respond to Dong Gong at any time!"

Dong Cheng looked at Chu Nan when he heard the words, but did not respond, and after pondering for a moment, he said slowly: "Speaking of which, Feng Xian used to have meritorious service in eradicating thieves, and he is a minister who has made meritorious service to the country, and now he is the shepherd of the imperial court, his merit is enough. "

"Thank you Dong Gong." Chu Nan said with a smile.

"You come here, I'm afraid it will be difficult to avoid Sikong's eyes and ears, and you can't stay for a long time." Dong Cheng nodded, looked at the sky and said.

"Farewell." Chu Nan got up and saluted Dong Cheng, then turned and left.

When we returned to the post house, it was late at night, and Chu Nan asked Wei Yue to rest. He lay on the couch, closed his eyes and meditated.

Dong Cheng's support is useless, he naturally knows this, the court is now under the control of Cao Cao, a Dong Cheng can't make waves at all, what he really wants is the approval of the emperor, this is the only feasible way so far, If the emperor can directly promise Xuzhou the post of shepherd in the court tomorrow, the matter will most likely be successful.

Naturally, Chu Nan couldn't go directly to see the Son of Heaven, but Dong Cheng could, but whether he could succeed would depend on the debate in the court tomorrow. If there were more people in the court who supported Lu Bu, at least not one-sided reprimands, then this matter would be Easy to handle.

Thinking of these, Chu Nan soon fell into a deep sleep.

At the same time, in an abandoned courtyard outside the palace, Dong Cheng wearing a cloak walked out of the courtyard, looked around, carefully hid his figure in the shadows, groped to a small gate of the palace, and gently Knocked a few times.

"Who dares to break into the palace at night!?" A stern voice came from the small door.

"He who is going to die!" Dong Cheng said something without thinking.

"Squeak~" The small door opened, and a guard looked around vigilantly, and asked, "Why did the patriarch come here late at night?"

"I have something important to discuss with His Majesty."

"Cao thieves in the palace have a lot of eyes and ears, the king, please change into this clothes." The guards didn't ask much, and found a eunuch's clothes and handed them to Dong Chengdao.

"Thank you." Dong Cheng nodded, changed into a eunuch's attire, and followed the guards into the palace.

……

Early the next morning, before dawn, Chu Nan put on his clothes and went out of the posthouse. Some wicked person came up with the idea, but the court meeting was at five o'clock, and it was going to be in winter, before dawn. Although this Xuchang city is not as good as Luoyang and Chang'an, it is still a big city, and not all the officials of the imperial court live near the imperial palace. After walking for a quarter of an hour, at least half an hour earlier, Chu Nan began to sympathize with these courtiers.

Chu Nan has never seen the imperial palace in Luoyang, but the Xuchang Imperial Palace is not small in Chu Nan's eyes. He has been to the Forbidden City. In terms of area, it is not smaller than the Forbidden City, but the buildings are not as tight as the Forbidden City. The layout is relatively open, which is also the style of most buildings in this era. There is a certain factor for fire prevention. After all, if the buildings mainly made of wood are too tight, it is easy to burn a piece.

When Chu Nan arrived outside the palace, there were already several courtiers waiting, and ministers came from various places one after another. When they saw Chu Nan, most of them took a look and left to look for colleagues to talk. Chu Nan seemed to be rejected Outside, in the cold morning wind, his figure looked thin and lonely.

It's not surprising, after all, Chu Nan is not a celebrity, and in this circle, almost no one knows him.

Only a few people who had met face to face saw Chu Nan nodded slightly, but they didn't intend to communicate too much. Not long after, Cao Cao rode out of the palace. He obviously saw Chu Nan, but he didn't say hello, just simply nodded. Nodding, Chu Nan returned the salute with a slight nod, and there was no further exchange.

Not long after Cao Cao came, the gate of the palace was opened, and the ministers entered in an orderly manner with mutual humility.

Chu Nan is interesting to watch. Some people are obviously not high-ranking, but they go first with the support of everyone, and some people are obviously high-ranking, but they are photographed behind. It is clear at a glance who is Cao Cao's person and who is a highly respected person. .

Because he was an official of the prefecture and county, Chu Nan was not directly led into the court, but waited in the classroom outside to be summoned.

The Son of Heaven sat on his throne as usual, looking down at the ministers, and his eyes finally fell on Cao Cao: "Sikong, what is going on at the court meeting today?"

Cao Cao was defeated in Nanyang, and Liu Xie was somewhat afraid of Cao Cao, so he never took the initiative to call a group of ministers to discuss matters in the past few days. This court meeting was what Cao Cao said a few days ago.

"Your Majesty." Cao Cao bowed out and said, "Recently, the drought in Dongjun, Chenliu and other places has been severe, and locust plagues have harassed the people, resulting in no crops for the people, and refugees are everywhere. During this court meeting, I want to discuss with the princes how to relieve the disaster. thing."

To put it simply, the aristocratic family has to pay. This is not the first time Cao Cao has done this. After all, most of the cultivated land is now in the hands of the gentry from all over the world. The imperial court was running. Although Cao Cao did not reform the tax system, every now and then, wealthy families from all over the country would donate food and money in various names.

This time Nanyang was defeated, not to mention the military food consumption, the fallen soldiers also needed money and food to appease them.

Of course, it cannot be forced, and everyone must be asked to pay money and food voluntarily.

"This... what do you guys think?" Liu Xie looked at the officials, he couldn't make decisions about this matter, or in other words, he couldn't make decisions about most of the affairs in the court.

"Your Majesty, before Sikong set out to conquer Nanyang, various places had spontaneously donated a batch of money and food. It has not been too long since the past, and if they are asked to donate again, I may cause dissatisfaction among the people!" Fu Wan stepped out and bowed.

There is still some tacit understanding between Cao Cao and the gentry. If it happens once or twice a year, the gentry would be willing to pay the rations, but the gentry would naturally be dissatisfied with paying the rations twice in a row just after the beginning of the year.

"Nowadays, it is an eventful autumn in the court. We should take the world as our responsibility and tide over the difficulties together with the court."

"The world is in chaos, and we fight every year. We should do what we can."

There were those who opposed it, and naturally there were those who supported it, and there was a lot of noise in the court for a while.

Cao Cao obviously also knew that the gentry would not easily agree to solicit food from the gentry twice in a short period of time, and let them make noise, but they had to pay for the ration. There is no way to survive. Who will pay for the food if the scholars don't come out?
After arguing for a long time with no results, Liu Xie couldn't stand it any longer. He waved his hands and said, "This matter cannot be resolved in a short time. Everyone, please suspend the dispute and discuss it another day. What does Sikong think?"

"Good." Cao Cao laughed.

This matter cannot be resolved in one court meeting, and it is only a signal to the ministers to raise it today.

"If there is nothing else, let's retreat." Liu Xie said and was about to get up.

"Your Majesty!" Cheng Yu came out and bowed to Liu Xie, "I have something to do."

Liu Xie nodded, motioning for Cheng Yu to say.

"There is Chu Nan, a famous scholar in Xiapi. Although he came from a poor background, he has great ambitions. In Xuzhou, he successively served as Jincao and Xiapiling. He has made great achievements during his term of office. The minister believes that this person can be the prefect of Xiapi and rule the party." Cheng Cheng Yu bowed and said, "I would like to report to His Majesty Ming to appoint him as the prefect of Xiapi."

"Xiapi?" Liu Xie looked at Cao Cao, and said after seeing Cao Cao nodded, "Zunzuo, the Shangshufu is ready to accept the seal."

"Your Majesty!" A minister suddenly came out and bowed to Liu Xie: "According to the etiquette system, prefect officials are appointed and need to come to court to see His Majesty to thank His Majesty. Now that Chu Nan is waiting outside the palace, it is better to give the order directly."

Cao Cao frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"Alright." Without waiting for Cao Cao to speak, Liu Xie nodded casually and said, "Let Chu Nan enter the palace."

"Let Chu Nan enter the palace~"

The eunuchs shouted loudly outside the palace, echoing in the palace...

(End of this chapter)