Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

At the end of the 18th year of Jian'an, it snowed heavily in Jizhou.

The rustling snowflakes danced, dyeing the courtyard of the prime minister's mansion in Yecheng white.

After pacifying Jizhou, Cao Cao moved his shogunate to Weijun.

In the Han Dynasty, the generals and the three princes and nine ministers were all able to open houses and build teeth.

Cao Cao is currently the prime minister, ranking above the Sangong, so he opened his own shogunate in Yecheng.

Emperor Chen Du had a team in the imperial court, and Cao Cao himself had a team in Yecheng.

However, although the imperial court of the emperor Chen Du had Sangong Jiuqing, he had no real power.

The governance, appointment of officials, and dispatch of troops all over the north came from the prime minister's mansion in Yecheng.

Historically, in May of this year, Cao Cao had been promoted to Duke Wei.

Adding Jiuxi, building the Kingdom of Wei, and setting up hundreds of officials such as prime ministers, Taiwei, and generals, although they are not emperors in name, they already have the reality of emperors.

It's just not done yet.

Because in history, Cao Cao had already marched into Guanzhong in the 16th year of Jian'an, that is, in 211 AD, and the whole north except the Western Regions basically belonged to him.

In the south, only Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, Liu Bei in Jingnan, Sun Quan in Jiangdong, and Shi Xie in Jiaozhou are still under separatism.

There is no unification in the south and cannot pose a threat to Cao Cao, so he said that Wei Gong has almost no obstacles.

But now the south is divided into East and West. Although Liu Bei and Sun Quan Group still occupy one side, the strength of Liu Bei Group is far better than in history. In addition, he has not yet pacified Guanzhong and Xiliang at this time, so he dare not advance.

At this moment, at the prime minister's mansion in Yecheng, Sima Yi, the chief secretary of the prime minister, reported to Cao Cao the situation in various places this year.

As a talented Sima family recruited by Cao Cao, Sima Yi forgot to eat and sleep, and gradually gained Cao Cao's approval, and was responsible for helping him deal with the governance issues in various parts of the north.

After three years of recuperation, the war in the north was pacified, the people's life has been fully developed, and people's livelihood has gradually recovered.

The most important of these is the severe damage to the powerful system of the northern aristocratic family.

Although Cao Cao compromised with the Yingchuan family and the Yanzhou family in the early years, the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Dong Zhuo Rebellion almost wiped out nearly half of the families.

Yuan Shao wiped out the Jizhou family in Jizhou, Wang Kuang wiped out the Hanoi family in Hanoi, and even the Sima family fled in embarrassment. Cao Cao also tried to destroy the Yanzhou family, but was rebelled by the Yanzhou family and Chen Gong and others.

A series of changes caused the power of the northern family to decline greatly.

In this case, Cao Cao no longer needs to worry about the excessive power of the aristocratic family, which makes him more concentrated in power, and does not need to carry out policies against the aristocratic family like the south.

When the aristocratic manor system was destroyed, the taxpayer population on arable land increased greatly. According to inferences, the total population under Cao Cao's rule at this time was more than 2000 million.

There are also a large number of internal minorities, such as Karasuma people with more than one million people, and the Southern Huns with a population of 10.

of course.

Although a large number of aristocratic families have been ruined, the northern aristocratic families are the most powerful, and there are still many surviving. Cao Cao compromised with the Yingchuan and Yanzhou aristocratic families, so there are still a large number of hidden households and hidden properties.

So at this time, the population actually controlled by Cao Cao should be around 1000 million.

As for why the population of Cao Wei became smaller and smaller, the registered population was only 4403 million, and the total population is estimated to be 300 million.

According to historical records, from the 13th year of Jian'an to the first year of Taishi when the Western Jin Dynasty was established, the Cao Wei Group encountered as many as twelve large-scale plague epidemics that are recorded in historical records alone.

The most serious one was in the 22nd year of Jian'an, when the plague almost ravaged the entire Han Dynasty. At that time, there were only five of the seven sons of Jian'an left, and they were wiped out by the plague group.Lu Su died of the plague, and Sima Lang also died of the plague. The people under Cao Wei ruled were killed and injured countless times. Even Cao Zhi wrote an article "Speaking of the Epidemic Qi".

Although there is no statistics on the number of people who died in this plague, Cao Zhi’s article mentioned that “every family has the pain of zombies, and every room has the mourning of howling. Either the door is closed and the family is destroyed.” This shows that this The plague can destroy families in mild cases, and exterminate families in severe cases.

In the 46-year history from the establishment of Cao Wei to the demise of Cao Wei, many years of wars and more than a dozen large-scale plagues caused the estimated total population of 2000 million to drop to 300 million.

So we always look at the end of the Han Dynasty and the early period of the Three Kingdoms period. Large-scale legions often fought more than [-] people, such as the Yellow Turban Uprising, which was huge and had millions of people.

The Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi had more than 20 people fighting each other.

As a result, in the middle and late stages of the Three Kingdoms, the number of people fighting on both sides dropped to less than [-]. It was because of the resurgence of the power of the aristocratic families, the plague and wars that the population of the three countries declined step by step, and the number of available soldiers decreased day by day.

And at least for now, because the next dozen or so plagues have not yet broken out, the current population is still at a relatively good stage. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the population was 500 million, and it is estimated to be more than [-] million at this time.

Under Cao Cao's rule, the population was the largest, and the productivity was restored the fastest. Therefore, according to Sima Yi's report, this year's harvest will be bumper again.

"Ah."

After listening to Sima Yi's report, Cao Cao nodded slightly, sat on the main seat and bent down to look at the young prime minister below.

The 34-year-old Sima Yi just sat there on his knees, bent over and lowered his head, not daring to look at him.

After a while, Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "Go out."

"only."

Sima Yi got up and went out backwards with his head down.

Seeing his leaving figure, Cao Cao thought for a while, then asked Xu Chu to go find Xun You, Jiang Ji, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Liu Ye and others.

Cao Cao's five early counselors, now Jia Xu defected to Liu Bei, although Guo Jia did not rush to Liaodong and died of illness, but his background was too poor, now he is half a sick child, his body is too weak, and he is rarely called.

Xun Yu's words have always remained in Chendu as the minister's order. In history, Cao Cao sent troops to Jiangdong and passed through Qiaojun, and asked Xun Yu to come from Xudu to work in the army.

Now there is no conflict between the two sides because of Wei Gong's matter, but Xun Yu is not here.

Therefore, Cao Cao's current advisers include Xun You, a Chinese military advisor, Cheng Yu, Marquis of Anguoting, Jiang Ji, the prime minister and a subordinate of the Western Cao, Sima Yi, a prime minister and a subordinate of the Eastern Cao, Chen Qun, a military officer and a censor, Dong Zhao, the prefect of Weijun, and Cang, the prime minister. Cao Cao and Liu Ye.

Among them, Sima Yi, the chief secretary of the prime minister and the genus of Dongcao, Cao Cao thought that he had "ambition and ambition" and "a man who looks like a wolf and an eagle". He was very jealous and didn't want to reuse him. Heart.

But in the end, because Sima Yi had a good relationship with Cao Pi, and relied on Cao Pi's maintenance, nothing happened.Sima Yi also knew Cao Cao's fear, so he was diligent in his duties and forgot to eat and sleep to make Cao Cao feel at ease.

It's just that Cao Cao has some grudges after all, so at present, Sima Yi is only asked to handle some government affairs reported from various places, and he has not been promoted to the central core immediately.

Soon Xun You, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun and others arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion one after another.

After Cao Cao asked everyone to sit down, he looked around and said, "Everyone, the country is prosperous this year, the grain income has increased again, and the country has millions of soldiers and horses. I only want to conquer the bandits from all over the world next year. What do you think?"

Everyone looked at each other, Xun You and Cheng Yu had the highest status, one of them closed his eyes and meditated, the old god was there, and he didn't speak.The other bowed his head in thought, as if thinking of a countermeasure.

Dong Zhao's status was second only to the two, so he took the lead and said, "I don't know where the prime minister wants to use his troops next year?"

Cao Cao looked down at the people below and said, "Where do you think you should use your troops?"

"Guanzhong."

"Only closed."

"I thought it was really only in Guanzhong."

Chen Qun, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye and others answered without thinking.

Cao Cao asked: "Why is Guanzhong? Liu Bei's rule is now in chaos, cutting off the rich and punishing Qiangu, just like Yuan Shao exploited in Jizhou back then, so that many aristocratic and powerful families caused disasters. If we can cooperate internally and externally at this time, we may be able to attack Destroy Jingzhou."

Liu Ye quickly said: "Prime Minister can't do it. Although Liu Bei exploited the wealthy households, he benefited the people a lot and won the hearts of the people. Therefore, there are only minor troubles, but no major chaos. At this time, attacking the south and the north and the south are at loggerheads will only damage our strength in vain. In terms of strength, it is better to take Guanzhong first to prevent Liu Bei from getting the horse-producing land, so as to pacify the south."

"That's right. Although Shao used resources and food as a matter of urgency, he cut off the rich and collected money for examination. He distributed the land to the people, so that the people became rich and the state was strong. After Shao's death, the people of Jizhou had nothing. Those who don’t mourn. It can be seen that this move will only make the people’s hearts allege, and will not cause chaos.”

Jiang Ji also said: "Liu Bei ordered Shen Chen to guard Nanyang, with more than [-] soldiers and horses. It is easy to enter Nanyang, but it is difficult to break through Nanyang. Even if the prime minister personally conscripts, because our army has traveled long distances, the enemy will wait for work with leisure, and I am afraid that within a few years , it is difficult to tell the winner.”

"Yes."

Chen Qun said: "Since we are also consuming Liu Bei's strength, Liu Bei's strength will not be much worse than ours. In the case of vain loss, it will only damage both sides and make Jiangdong and Xiliangguan the middle princes stronger. Weak first and then If you are strong, weakening a strong enemy step by step is the way to victory."

"Well."

Facing the dissuasion of the three, Cao Cao just nodded slightly, then looked at Xun You and Cheng Yu, and said, "Gongda, Zhongde, do you think so too?"

"Yes."

Both Xun You and Cheng Yu just bowed their hands in response.

Because they all knew that Cao Cao already had the answer in his heart, this inquiry could not be said to be a routine matter, but it could only be said to check the level of these new advisers under his hands.

Cao Cao looked at the rest of the people and said: "Since Liu Bei can't fight, what about Sun Quan? The road to Shu is difficult, and entering Hanzhong or Shu from Guanzhong is like climbing the sky. If you destroy Jiangdong and attack Jingzhou from Jiangdong and Runan at the same time, Liu Bei will be the first and last." If we can’t take care of both, if we destroy Jingzhou and take Bashu again, will we gain the world?”

Liu Ye then continued: "Prime Minister, although Jiangdong is weak, it occupies the natural danger of the great river. Our navy is not as good as Sun Quan, and it will be difficult to attack Jiangdong. What's more, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are married. If they are forced to unite, it will be difficult for Duke Cao. Not a good thing."

"Cao Gong."

Jiang Ji also responded: "I think Liu Bei's ambition is to unify the south and fight with us from the north to the south. If the pressure is too tight, Liu Bei and Sun Quan will definitely form a group. Only like Cao Gong put down the Yuan family back then, do not attack In Hebei, let Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang attack each other, so that we can reap the benefits of fishing."

"Then why Guanzhong?"

Cao Cao asked again: "Han Sui sent his children to Yecheng, and Ma Teng's family is also here. Presumably they are willing to surrender, so why attack?"

Liu Ye said seriously: "It's not an attack, it's just that Liu Bei is also coveting Guanzhong and Xiliang. The prime minister should let Han Sui, Ma Chao and others submit as soon as possible. Only by obtaining the land of Guanzhong and Xiliang, and deploying heavy troops there, can Liu Bei be prevented from succeeding. He won the land of Yongliang, and there are cavalry in the north and water troops in the south, which is a big problem."

"Ah."

Cao Cao said: "Gu knows, let's back down."

"I'm waiting to retire."

Everyone stood up and left.

Cao Cao still sat on the table, after thinking about it, he left the mansion and went to Guo Jiana to have a look.

Guo Jia has been recuperating from illness for the past two years, but he has not been idle.

Just as Shen Chen sent people to open shops in Chendu, Yecheng and other places, and arranged detailed operations, Cao Cao also had detailed operations in Xiangyang, Jiangzhou, and Chengdu.

These people will infiltrate every industry, and then contact some aristocratic families, or officials from the two places, to obtain information.

Although due to the lag of ancient information, even if the information is obtained, it often takes a long time to be sent to the respective centers. After the upper management makes a decision, it is too late to act again.

But there is still some information that is more important.

For example, Liu Bei carried out reforms in Jingzhou and Yizhou, which caused dissatisfaction among many aristocratic families.

The internal agents sent can connect these great families and make an appointment with Cao Cao to launch an uprising and attack at the same time, so as to achieve subversive effect.

And these details are managed by Guo Jia, and countless news are delivered to Yecheng every day. First, they will be gathered at the prime minister's mansion, and after being read by Cao Cao, they will be sent to Guo Jiana for him to analyze.

Now that the north is peaceful and the soldiers are strong and horses are strong, Cao Cao has more than 40 people under his rule?At this time, it is time to use troops to level the world.

It's just that Cao Cao didn't expect Liu Bei to grow so fast. When he flattened the north, Liu Bei also quickly got Jingzhou, and when Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang wanted to fight, he captured Yizhou.

In this case, he didn't dare to fight Liu Beibing lightly, but made other considerations.

However, although the Xiliang Guanzhong princes sent their protons to Chang'an, Ma Teng left only his eldest son Ma Chao in Guanzhong, and he took his whole family to Yecheng.

But Han Sui and Ma Chao were reluctant to surrender.

In the past three years, Zhong Yao from Chang'an sent people to persuade them many times, hoping that they could go to Yecheng.

How shrewd Cao Cao was, he immediately realized that they had no intention of surrendering, so he wanted to wipe out Xiliang Guanzhong to prevent Liu Bei's soldiers from leaving Chencang and seeking the land in Guanzhong.

But even though he had such an idea, there was a very real problem in front of him.

That is to send troops to Xiliang Pass, undoubtedly pushing Han Sui and Ma Chao to Liu Bei's side. Once the pressure is too tight, the two go to Liu Bei, which is obviously a big problem for Cao Cao.

So Cao Cao couldn't make up his mind for a long time, and finally had to ask Guo Jia's opinion.

Guo Jia is now offering wine to the prime minister's military division, and his status is extremely high. Only Xun You and Cheng Yu can stand by his side. However, he is in poor health and recuperating in the mansion, so Cao Cao came to the mansion in person.

At the end of the year, it was snowing heavily, and it was already evening, and there were no people on the street.

The carriage and the escort team rumbled along the street, making a bang bang sound, and soon arrived at the military division's mansion for offering sacrifices to wine.

Since there was no prior notice, the people in the mansion did not prepare.

Knowing that Cao Cao was coming, he hurriedly opened the door.

Cao Cao signaled the servants not to report to Guo Jia, and walked all the way to the backyard of the mansion as if entering his own home.

There are many courtyards in the backyard, towering courtyards, cornices and brackets, and continuous pavilions.

Snowflakes dyed the roofs white, the artificial lake in the back garden was covered with a thick layer of ice, and the rockery and bamboo forest were also covered in snow.

Only the roof of a water attic in the middle of the artificial lake has no snow, and it seems that it is still steaming.

Cao Cao walked straight over, and smelled the aroma and wine inside while still at the door.

Followed by coughing, and Yingyingyanyan's concern.

Of course Cao Cao knew that Guo Jia had always liked drinking and sex, and his poor health had a lot to do with this.

However, Cao Cao himself is an evil ghost, so he didn't care. He shouted "Feng Xiao" at the door, and then opened the door and went in.

Unlike the imaginary mess, Guo Jia is actually working.

His face was pale, and he was wearing a white Shu brocade robe, a large cloak, and a fox fur over it.

In the room, incense charcoal dedicated only to nobles is burned to ensure the temperature in the room. There are several wine jugs on the table, and there are two concubines kneeling beside them to serve.

"Prime Minister."

Seeing Cao Cao approaching, Guo Jia hastily put down the paper and pen in his hand and wanted to get up.

But I didn't expect that it might be because I sat for too long, my legs became weak, and I didn't stand up, but I got up with the help of the concubine next to me.

Cao Cao waved his hand, signaling him to continue sitting, and then sat on the side seat.

"You go out."

Guo Jia sat down again, not kneeling, but leaning against the wall behind him, stretching his legs and feet a little.

The two concubines stood up, bowed slightly as they passed by Cao Cao, and left the small building in the lake.

"Feng Xiao, how is your health?"

Cao Cao took a jug of wine by himself on the table. He was as lustful as Guo Jia and loved to drink. In terms of personal morals, they were similar, so naturally he would not blame Guo Jia for this.

Guo Jia also poured himself a glass of wine, and said with a wry smile, "It's still the same, and I often cough every winter."

"I heard that you coughed and vomited blood a few days ago? Why didn't you tell Gu, if the housekeeper in your house was not worried about your health and went to the imperial physician to find medicine for you, Gu didn't know about it yet."

Cao Cao frowned.

"Cough cough."

Guo Jia coughed twice again, and replied, "Jia is a little sick, so I dare not work for the prime minister."

"Ugh."

Cao Cao sighed and said: "Feng Xiao, you are the pillar of Gu. If you fall ill, what can you do if you let Gu go."

"Prime Minister, don't worry, isn't Jia still here?"

Guo Jia said with a smile: "The prime minister must have encountered something when he came to the mansion at this time."

"Yes."

Cao Cao nodded: "Liu Bei is growing stronger and stronger, which makes Gu very worried. He wants to send troops to the south, but he is already too powerful, and I am afraid that he will not be able to win."

"Since we can't win, we can just maintain the status quo."

Guo Jia responded.

Cao Cao clasped the handle of the wine glass, put it in his mouth, did not drink for a long time, his brows deepened, he shook his head and said, "Then who else can I beat? Sun Quan?"

"Sun Quan occupies Jiangdong. We don't have a navy, so we may not be able to win. And if Sun Quan is attacked, the relationship between him and Liu Bei will definitely become closer. This is pushing him to Liu Bei's side."

Guo Jia replied.

"Ah."

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Isn't that also the case with Han Sui and Ma Chao? I have sent envoys to these Er Liao several times to ask them to surrender, but they rejected them. Now that Xiliang Pass is divided and ruled by the roost, if I attack them? Shouldn't they be pushed towards Liu Bei? Now it seems that no one can fight, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, but there is no use for them!"

This is Cao Cao's current dilemma.

Cao Cao sent people several times to get Han Sui and Ma Chao to surrender, but the two refused to come. They repeatedly rejected the suggestion of Sili Xiaowei Zhong Yao, which made Cao Cao helpless.

Many of his counselors before persuaded him to appease Guanzhong and Xiliang, and concluded that Liu Bei might attack Han Sui and Ma Chao, because Han Sui and Ma Chao had indeed sent their protons to Yecheng, at least on the surface, the intention of surrendering to Cao Cao was relatively strong. obvious.

So as long as Liu Bei takes the initiative to attack Xiliang Guanzhong and tries to get the horse-producing land, Han Sui and Ma Chao will definitely choose to come and join him, and then he can justifiably send troops to Xiliang Guanzhong.

As a result, I never expected that Liu Bei would not send troops at all, and even sent people to win over the two, and opened up economic and trade exchanges with them. Bashu grain, salt, and Shu brocade were sold in the past, and they bought war horses from them. Now they have got [-] to [-] horses. A cavalry of ten thousand people was formed in Hanzhong.

Although limited by the small area of ​​arable land in the Hanzhong Basin, coupled with the difficulty of the Shu Road and the inconvenience of food transportation, it is difficult to raise so many war horses, and the formation of ten thousand cavalry is already the limit.But this also means that he hopes that Liu Bei will take the initiative to attack Xiliang Guanzhong. His plan of reaping the benefits of the fisherman will be ruined, and he will also contribute to the enemy for nothing, so that Liu Bei has a cavalry.

This made Cao Cao very angry.

When Xi Zuo sent the information over, he learned that Han Sui and Ma Chao had a good relationship with Liu Bei, and they traded with each other and provided Liu Bei with war horses. Cao Cao almost turned the table over.

You can fight, but you can't.

To really attack Sun Quan or Han Sui, Ma Chao and others is to force them to Liu Bei's side.

And if he went to attack Nanyang, it would not be a vegetarian for Liu Bei to deploy so many soldiers and horses in Nanyang, not to mention that Shen Chen was in Nanyang, which made Cao Cao very afraid.

Therefore, even though Cao Cao has a strong army and is sitting on the whole of the north, it seems that there is nowhere to attack, and it is a waste of soldiers and food.

"Bong Xiao."

In the end, Cao Cao drank the wine in his cup, touched the white hair on his temples unconsciously, and sighed: "I'm almost old, my hair is gray, I don't know how long I will live, and I don't know when the world will be pacified. Clean up the universe. I am afraid that I will die alone, and the north will be in chaos again. In this world, I don’t know how many people will be called emperors and how many people will be called kings. I am so worried about being lonely, so worrying about being alone."

Guo Jia pondered for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, Jia has a dangerous plan. If it succeeds, it can purify the prime minister's heart, calm the people, eliminate troubles, expel thieves, wipe out bandits, destroy evil, advance power, govern the country, and bring peace to the world. "

"Oh?"

Cao Cao immediately regained his energy, waved his hands up and down to Guo Jia and said, "Feng Xiao, tell me quickly!"

Guo Jia said in a deep voice: "Attack Han Sui and Ma Chao, unite with Sun Quan, and pacify Jingzhou!"