I, Liu Bian, the hero

Chapter 38 Cao Cao ([-])

Around Si time, when Liu Xie had finished his course as a teacher and was practicing calligraphy in the Dongpian Hall, a young eunuch hurried in.

"Reporting to Shihou, Taiwei Cao Song and his son Cao Cao, Dongjun Taishou, came to see us together."

"Are you here?"

After finishing the last stroke, Liu Bian put the pen away at will, and took Zhao Chun out of the hall to greet him.

As soon as he walked out of the hall, he saw Cao Song standing on the steps in front of the hall, and the two people beside Cao Song. One of them was tall and burly, giving the impression of a warrior; the other was short but very alert. The moment Liu Bian appeared, he turned his head and looked over at Convenience, with a look of scrutiny in his eyes.

Speaking of Cao Song, Cao Cao and his sons, it is well known that Cao Song was the adopted son of Cao Teng, who used to be a regular servant. But when it comes to Cao Song’s real origin, there are different opinions in history. Later, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao turned against each other and attacked each other. Chen Lin wrote "A Call to Yuzhou for Yuan Shao", saying that Cao Song was a beggar adopted by Cao Teng on the side of the road, while another said that Cao Song's father and son were descendants of Cao Shen, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. Teng is an adopted son.

The former is a slanderous and derogatory term, so it is naturally not credible. As for the latter two statements, the descendants after 2000 have confirmed through DNA research of Cao Cao’s family that Cao Song, Cao Cao’s father and son have nothing to do with Cao Shen, the prime minister of Han Dynasty, and have no relationship with the Xiahou family. match.

However, as far as Liu Bian knew in this life, Cao Song never said that he was from the Xiahou family. He was from the Cao family in Qiao County, Peiguo.

Of course, as for the descendants of Han Chancellor Cao Shen, Cao Song did not mention it to the outside world. After all, who would not want to have a significant ancestor? Didn't Liu Bei often call himself the queen of King Jing of Zhongshan?Anyway, no one can prove the authenticity.

It’s just that Cao Song never imagined that because of his son’s relationship, people after 2000 would be very curious about the origins of their father and son, and the technology at that time had already developed to the point where DNA could be used to analyze the origin of the deceased 2000 years ago. genetic relationship.

Of course, it's good for Liu Bian to know about it himself, if he needs to mention it to Cao Song, there's no need to expose it.

"Captain Cao."

"Ah, Shihou."

Seeing Liu Bian come out of the palace to greet him in person, Taiwei Cao Song was greatly satisfied. He was flattered and hurriedly saluted Liu Bian, and at the same time he did not forget to urge the shorter young man beside him: "Meng De, hurry up!" Quickly salute Shihou?"

The shorter man is Cao Song's son Cao Cao. The moment Liu Bian appeared, he looked at Liu Bian secretly with curiosity and scrutiny. Now he listened to his father's urging, and he did not dare to neglect, and bowed his hands respectfully: "Cao Cao, the prefect of Chendong County, has met Shi Hou."

So well-behaved and polite, is it really Cao Mengde?

A hint of disbelief flashed in Liu Bian's mind. After all, according to historical records, Cao Cao was quite unruly when he was young. Cao Cao, who was bowing and saluting, had dishonest eyes, as if secretly looking at him, he couldn't help laughing: Yes, this is Cao Cao, a restless soul.

He smiled and said: "I know Qing, when the Yellow Turban rebelled in the past, Qing made great contributions."

"Minimum achievements are not worth mentioning by Shi Hou." Cao Cao pretended to be humble, his eyes rolled slowly, and secretly looked at Shi Hou in front of him from head to toe.

Seemingly noticing his son's disrespectful behavior, Cao Song nudged his son without leaving a trace, which made the latter restrain himself a little.

Liu Bian didn't care about this, and looked up at the strong man standing next to Cao Cao, guessing his identity, and asked, "Who is this?"

Cao Song quickly replied: "It's a member of the Xiahou family from the old minister's family. His name is Dun, and his character is Yuan Rang. He is my son's right-hand assistant..."

While speaking, the strong man also respectfully saluted Liu Bian: "Dongjun Wei Xiahou Dun, pay homage to Shihou."

Hohohoho, it really is Meng Xiahou who ate his own eye!

Liu Bian looked at Xiahou Dun, who was now in both eyes, and nodded secretly: Just as Liu Bei should have Guan Yu and Zhang Fei by his side, Cao Cao must also have Meng Xiahou by his side, but I don't know whether Xiahouyuan, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong are already under Cao Cao's command.

"What a warrior!" Liu Bian nodded in praise.

Xiahou Dun was overjoyed when he heard the words. He pretended to be humble and dared not say anything, but he didn't want Cao Cao to turn his eyes, and asked suddenly: "When Shihou first saw Yuan Rang, he praised him as a warrior. I don't know what to say about my minister?"

"Meng De!" Cao Song exclaimed, and scolded with his eyes wide open, "How dare you be so rude?!"

Cao Cao pretended to be aggrieved and said: "How dare you be rude? Isn't it just to ask Shihou for an evaluation? Shihou is smart and wise, so he won't blame him."

Cao Song stared at Cao Cao in surprise and anger, then turned to Liu Bian for a while, cupped his hands and confessed: "Shi Hou, it's the old minister who can't discipline well..."

"Eh."

Liu Bian raised his hand to stop Cao Song from blaming himself, and was not surprised by this sudden incident.

After all, it is Cao Mengde who is rebellious and unruly, so it is not surprising that he would do such a thing.

However, is such a superficial temptation a little underestimated?

Smiling inwardly, Liu Bian asked Cao Cao with a smile, "What evaluation do you want?"

Seeing that Liu Bian was not annoyed by his rudeness, but instead asked himself with a smile, Cao Cao secretly marveled, and said with a smile, "How dare I force you?"

"Hmm." Liu Bian pretended to ponder, and then said with a smile, "Conceited, talented, but reckless in words and deeds, how about this evaluation?"

Cao Song was worried about gains and losses, and dared not show his atmosphere, but Cao Cao laughed dumbly: "Very pertinent, thank you Shihou."

Liu Bian smiled, turned sideways and asked: "Let's talk in the hall, please, Cao Taiwei."

"Thank you Shihou."

Seeing that Liu Bian didn't seem angry, Cao Song heaved a sigh of relief and bowed to thank him. At the same time, he did not forget to give Cao Cao a hard look.

This made Cao Cao feel very wronged. Didn't he just test the disposition of this Marquis Shi casually?

While muttering, he couldn't help but glanced at Shi Hou who was about the same age as his son, and a hint of curiosity flashed in his heart.

After a while, Liu Bian invited Cao Song, Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun to the hall.

Since Cai Yan was not familiar with these people, Cai Yan did not show up this time, but Zhao Chun ordered the little eunuch in the palace to serve tea.

It is worth mentioning that Xiahoudun originally planned to stand behind Cao Cao, but Liu Bian saw that there were enough seats, so he motioned for Xiahoudun to take a seat together, which flattered the rough guy. If there is a favorability score, it is estimated that at least it is above 90.

Cao Cao keenly grasped Liu Bian's affection for Xiahou Dun, and curiously asked: "Why did Shi Hou treat Yuan Rang so kindly when he first met Yuan Rang?"

"I admire athletes like Yuan Rang very much." Liu Bian naturally evoked Xiahou Dun's name. Obviously, Xiahou Dun is about the same age as Cao Cao, and he is enough to be his father in this life.

And Xiahou Dun didn't feel dissatisfied at all, instead he looked very embarrassed like a baby bird, stretched out his hand and scratched his head, his face was slightly flushed, and he kept saying that he didn't dare to dare, it was hard to imagine that he had already set foot on the battlefield Meng Xiahou.

"I see."

Cao Cao suddenly realized, and then deliberately said: "It's a pity that I don't have the physique like Yuan Rang, no wonder Shi Hou didn't give me a better evaluation..."

"Cao, Meng, De." Cao Song stared at his eyes, gnashed his teeth and called out his son's name every word, as if he was going to swallow his own son alive.

This humorous scene made Liu Bian couldn't help laughing, nodded and said, "Ha, I didn't expect Qing to care so much about that comment, well, let me add one more thing, well, Qing is a very interesting person."

"Interesting?" Cao Cao wondered about Liu Bianxin's evaluation of him with a strange expression, because he was exactly the same as his previous evaluation of this Marquis.

He originally wanted to test a few more words, but unfortunately his father Cao Song was staring at him with murderous eyes at the moment, so he had to be honest for a while.

Seeing this, Cao Song withdrew his murderous gaze, and said to Liu Bian with a flattering smile: "The lack of discipline made Shihou laugh at me, but no matter whether it is an old minister or my son Mengde, you are right. Your Majesty, has always been loyal to Shihou, but because of the relationship between the minister's adoptive father, some colleagues in the court or in China are unwilling to accept the minister's father and son..."

Liu Bian naturally understood the reason, but he pretended to be puzzled and said, "Marquis Fei Ting? I heard that Marquis Fei Ting is honest and upright, and even scholars praised him..."

"That being said, the junior doesn't know..."

Cao Song sighed.

He is very respectful and grateful to his adoptive father Cao Teng. He was very happy to hear Liu Bian's praise of Cao Teng. Comparing his adoptive father Cao Teng with Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Sun Zhang and others made him very indignant.

What is depressing is that, in order to survive in the court, he sometimes even has to cater to the scholars in the court and cut off relations with the eunuchs in the palace who had a good relationship with him in the Cao family. Those noble scholars are still suspicious of their father and son.

Now that Liu Bian is a better candidate, Cao Song will naturally not miss this opportunity, and tried his best to hint at the intention of joining: "...Although I am old, my minister Meng De is still a bit clever. Sending, the father and son should do their best to share the worries of Shihou."

"I believe."

Liu Bian was overjoyed, nodded and said, "I have always believed that the Taiwei and his son are loyal ministers of my man, and I will never sit back and watch the Taiwei and his son be excluded and accused for no reason."

Cao Song was overjoyed and said in a low voice, "Marquis Shi, I still have tens of millions of money left in my family, if..."

Liu Bian couldn't help laughing, raised his hand and politely refused: "That's unnecessary, the imperial court has already collected enough military expenses for the expedition."

"This..." Cao Song was skeptical.

Seeing this, Liu Bian smiled again and said: "If there are any changes in the future, the Taiwei will share the worries of the court."

"Okay, okay." Cao Song nodded repeatedly.

From the side, Cao Cao's heart was not dead, and he took the opportunity to test out: "The government and the public hate the ten permanent servants, but Shihou is close to the palace's permanent servants and teaches them how to buy the position of Marquis. Shihou knows that the scholars in the government and the public today Do you think you have been deceived by the middle official?"

"Oh? Is there such a thing?" Liu Bian's reaction was very casual: "So Qing thinks I've been deceived?"

"Not like."

Under his father Cao Song's murderous gaze, Cao Cao shook his head and said, "It's an old minister who finds it strange. Why does Shi Hou get close to eunuchs, but stay away from court scholars? This is not what a wise monarch does."

Liu Bian said with a smile: "Isn't Meng De saying the opposite? I am the eldest son, and soon I will be the prince and prince. It should be my subordinates who are close to me, Taiwei, don't you think so?"

Cao Cao was startled, and Cao Song nodded repeatedly from the side: "What Shihou said is very true."

As soon as the words fell, Cao Cao asked again: "Shihou is so indifferent to scholars, isn't it afraid that scholars will not want to work for Shihou in the future?"

Liu Bian said with a smile: "If I inherit the great position in the future, I will be the emperor of the Han Dynasty and the father of thousands of subjects. If you are willing to serve me, I will treat you as a soldier of the country; if you don't want to serve me, I will never Reluctantly... In the world, is there any reason for a monarch to accommodate his subjects?"

"What Shihou said is very true." Cao Song glared at Cao Cao, while echoing repeatedly: "Shihou is intelligent and wise, if he succeeds to the great position in the future, the ministers should devote themselves to serving Shihou, how can you not follow? "

Unlike Cao Song, Cao Cao looked at Liu Bian thoughtfully.

Although they didn't get along for a long time, he could tell that the young master had a very strong character.

(End of this chapter)