Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 317 Cao Cao's ridicule and carrying Wei Gong

At the end of the 20th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao was leaving Guanzhong and returning to Weijun, Jizhou.

In September, he led an army to conquer Xiliang, defeated Han Sui and Ma Chao, and Xiliang in Guanzhong was pacified. He originally wanted to stay in Guanzhong and use troops against Hanzhong.

But he didn't expect that there was a sudden rebellion in Hejian, and the momentum was so large that he had to go back.

When he was still in Guanzhong, Cao Cao had already learned about Sun Quan's attack on Huainan.

At that time, it was already November of the 20th year of Jian'an. Since others were in Xiliang, Huainan was not a thousand miles away from Xiliang, at least ten thousand miles away.

Although the straight-line distance is only [-] kilometers, and Hanli is about [-] kilometers, it can't stand the inconvenience of road traffic in the Han Dynasty. By the time he got the news after he had just pacified Xiliang, almost three months had passed.

After receiving this news, Cao Cao was worried and hurried back to Kanto, wanting to know what is going on in Huainan and Hejian.

In the beginning, he was not worried about Sun Quan, after all, he had already made arrangements before leaving.

Even if Sun Quan hits Hefei, as long as Xue Ti, Zhang Liao, and Li Dian can hold off for a month, the reinforcements from Chen Du and Runan will arrive soon, and Sun Quan's worries will be easily resolved by then.

Unexpectedly, there was also a rebellion in Hejian. The former Yuan family colluded with Wuhuan, gathered more than [-] people, and threatened Yecheng with great momentum.

Two things happened at the same time, which made Cao Cao feel a headache.

Because the Hejian rebellion took place in the hinterland of Jizhou, a large number of soldiers and horses must be dispatched to quell it.Once the troops are dispatched and Huainan cannot get support, I am afraid that Sun Quan will take an inch and really beat Hefei down, embarrassing him.

Cao Cao had already arrived in Luoyang that day. Luoyang was dilapidated. Although it had been repaired and the city had recovered a lot, it was still withered, and there were no people in the city and the surrounding plains.

The former imperial palace was almost in ruins, and the only remaining two palaces in the Nangong Palace were built by Liu Biao when the emperor fled to the Kanto.

After Cao Cao was stationed in Luoyang, he lived in the Nangong Palace, with only Dong Zhao, Lou Gui, Sima Yi, Liu Ye and others around him.

Last fall, Xun You, a Chinese military commander, died of illness on the way to Huainan with him, which made Cao Cao very heartbroken.

However, Guo Jia set up a strange plan. He should have adjusted the strategy with the army, but his health was not good. He often coughed and was very weak. He had been recuperating in Yecheng.

Cheng Yu stayed in Yecheng as a military officer and assisted Cao Pi in guarding the rear.

Not to mention Xun Yu, he is still in Chendu.

So currently there are only some counselors who follow Cao Cao in the late Cao Wei period, and Sima Yi has gradually begun to be reused.

At this time, Cao Cao was sitting in the Nangong Palace, lamenting how time flies and how time has changed.

40 years ago, he also served as the northern captain of Luoyang in this prosperous capital of the Han Empire, and killed the uncle of the ten-time servant Jian Shuo.

Fast forward many years, the former imperial capital has now become ruins, only the ruins of the palace walls are left, still telling the glory of the past.

After expressing emotion, Cao Cao looked around again and said: "Feng Xiao formulated a strategy to lure Sun Quan to attack Jingzhou, but Liu Bei has not yet transferred the main force to Guanzhong, and forced Sun Quan to attack Huainan. Sun Quan was afraid of Liu Bei's power and actually came to attack. This thief is really hateful. "

Liu Ye was puzzled and said: "Justice confronted Liu Bei in Guanzhong. Since it was to lure Sun Quan to attack Jingzhou, why bother with such trivial matters? We got tens of thousands of troops from Yang Fu, Jiang Xu and others in Xiliang. Many Guanzhong princes have surrendered, and there are enough troops, you can send a general back to defend."

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "Sun Quan's son is nothing to worry about. He is afraid that the civil strife in Hejian will lead to insufficient reinforcements in Huainan, which will make Sun Quan succeed."

Lou Gui said: "The prime minister might as well write a letter saying that he is willing to negotiate peace with Sun Quan. With the Yangtze River as the boundary, the prime minister will continue to contain Liu Bei's main force in Guanzhong. When Liu Bei mobilizes Jingzhou troops to rush to Guanzhong, he will let General Cao Hong send troops with him. If it doesn't work, General Cao Hong can also be ordered to assist Hefei."

Regarding Cao Cao's return to defense, the advisers under his command, even the newly recruited generals such as Yang Fu expressed opposition.

Because although Han Sui and Ma Chao were driven away, Han Sui just ran to Jincheng County next door, and Ma Chao defected to Liu Bei, and they didn't run far.

The two had high prestige among the Qiang people. There were millions of Qiang people in Xiliang. Once Cao Cao returned to the Guandong, the two made a comeback. Together with Liu Bei's army, everyone worried that they would not be able to resist.

So they all think that the matter of returning to defense only needs to send someone to do it.

Cao Cao's army of more than [-] invaded Guanzhong and Xiliang, but the number of troops was more and more powerful, and the strength became stronger and stronger.

Like the remaining Guanzhong princes Yang Qiu, Hou Xuan, and Cheng Yin who joined Han Sui and Ma Chao, they surrendered to Cao Cao.

After reaching Xiliang, Yang Fu, Jiang Xu, Jiang Yin, Zhao Ang, Yin Feng, Yao Qiong, Kong Xin, Li Jun, Wang Ling and others came to vote.

There are 20 soldiers and horses, and there is no shortage of troops to return to the defense. There is no need for him to go there in person.

It's just that Cao Cao was worried about the safety of Yecheng. Hejian is the hinterland of Jizhou and is too close to Wei County. Therefore, Cao Cao left Xia Houyuan, Zhong Yao, Yang Fu and other 12 soldiers to stay in Guanzhong. He planned to return to Jizhou to rescue Yecheng and Huainan.

Hearing Lou Gui's suggestion, Cao Cao shook his head: "Zi Lian is stationed in Yingchuan, and he has to guard against Shen Chen. Sun Quan's children are capricious. If he just writes books and conspires with him, I'm afraid he still wants the land of Huainan."

"Report!"

At this moment, a messenger came from outside the hall to report.

"Come in."

Cao Cao shouted.

The messenger quickly entered the hall, knelt down on one knee and said, "Report, General Jia Xinjia, General of the Five Senses, and General Yan Rouyan will attack the Hejian rebellion against Subo and Tian Yin. The Hejian rebellion has been put down."

"Oh?"

Cao Cao laughed loudly: "I heard that the Hejian rebellion was so powerful before, but I didn't expect it to be suppressed in the blink of an eye. My son is indeed talented."

"Congratulations, Prime Minister, since Hejian is flat, Jianghuai should be fine."

Liu Ye suggested: "Perhaps we should return to Guanzhong at this time and continue to fight against Liu Bei. After Hejian is pacified and the Jianghuai reinforcements arrive, Sun Quan will retreat in the face of difficulties. When Jingzhou soldiers and horses are transferred to Guanzhong one after another, he will naturally know Who should be hit."

"Well."

Cao Cao stroked his beard and murmured, Hejian's problem was dealt with, but it was reported that Sun Quan had surrounded Hefei with [-] people, which still worried him a lot. After thinking for a while, he said, "I'd better wait in Luoyang for two days and see the situation in the south."

"Report!"

As soon as his words fell, another news came from outside.

Xu Chu entered the door and said, "Report to the prime minister, another messenger has come from Yecheng, saying that it is Xue Ti from the south who is urgently writing."

At that time, it was inconvenient to communicate between the north and the south, and the news from Huainan was sent to the Guanzhong area in the northwest, not directly, but first sent to Yecheng, Cao Pi read it before sending it to the west.

So Cao Cao just heard the news about Sun Quan going north in November more than 20 days ago, and now more than 20 days later, Cao Pi put down the Hejian rebellion, sent the letter to Guanzhong, and almost met Xue Ti's report. , so they sent someone over again.

Cao Cao quickly said, "Let the messenger come in."

The messenger entered the hall, held up a secret letter in his hand and said: "Prime Minister, the dispatch from the south is sent to Yecheng, and the five-featured Zhonglang will send Ling Bei to the prime minister overnight."

"Get it quickly."

Cao Cao said.

The messenger sent the letter to Cao Cao's desk.

Cao Cao immediately opened it for reading.

His eyes scanned quickly, and the expression on his face went from solemn at first, to stunned, then unbelievable, and finally the corners of his mouth slanted, revealing a disdain and ecstasy, and then he burst into laughter with a grin.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

Cao Cao threw the letter on the table and laughed out loud.

Many counselors below looked astonished. After looking at each other, Dong Zhao stepped forward and asked tentatively, "Prime Minister, why are you so happy?"

Cao Cao laughed until his nose was running out, he was out of breath, pointed to the letter and said, "My son Sun Quan, you are dying of laughter, why do you think so?"

"I don't know when I'm humble."

Dong Zhao replied.

"Hahahahaha."

Cao Cao wiped his nose, got up from the table, and continued to grin and smile: "Sun Quan led an army of 800 to the outside of Hefei City, and Wen Yuan led [-] people out of the city to fight to the death. I didn't expect Sun Quan to be forced by Wen Yuan." On the hillside, they were almost captured alive. The Wu army was in a mess, and thousands of people were trampled to death. Wen Yuan returned home victorious."

"Oh?"

Everyone was very pleasantly surprised, Lou Gui praised: "General Wen Yuan is really a tiger general."

"more than."

Cao Cao waved his hands and said cheerfully: "Then Sun Quan was furious. He besieged the city for more than a month and could not break the city, so he prepared to withdraw his troops. After Wen Yuan learned about it, he led the army to pursue the situation. At Xiaoyaojin Ferry, Sun Quan's son was almost killed by Wen Yuan again. Captured alive. There are only seven thousand, 7000 people deployed in Hefei alone! Sun Quan’s son has one hundred thousand, but he was almost captured by Wen Yuan twice, what a joke through the ages!”

It turned out that before Sun Quan came, Xue Ti reported the situation to Yecheng.After Cao Pi read it, he immediately sent the matter of Hejian and Huainan to Xiliang. Because of the long distance, he made a detour in Yecheng, which led to Sun Quan's siege of Hefei in August, and it took nearly three months for the letter to reach Xiliang.

At the beginning of November, Cao Cao heard the news and was worried that the Hejian rebellion and the Huainan war would cause civil strife, so he immediately set off from Xiliang and returned from Xiliang. After walking for more than a month, he arrived in Luoyang in December.

It just so happened that Sun Quan became angry and surrounded Hefei for a month, which prevented the news of Hefei from being delivered.

After Sun Quan withdrew in September, Zhang Liao led his army to attack and defeated the Jiangdong army again, so Xue Ti sent the battle report to Yecheng.Yecheng also happened to put down the Hejian rebellion, so the Hejian battle report was sent, and the Huainan battle report arrived one after another, and it was sent to Cao Cao almost at the same time.

When Cao Cao saw that Hejian was calmed down, he was happy when suddenly there was a funny battle report. The two great happy events were superimposed, and he almost died of joy.

Even when he smiled and laughed, he really felt his stomach ached, and he couldn't help covering his stomach again, but he still couldn't bear that smile, lying on the table and laughing endlessly, feeling that the 33-year-old Sun Quan gave him a 60-year-old headband There was so much joy that the abs almost burst out laughing.

I have fought all my life, and I have never seen such a shameful thing. Sun Quan's father and brother have been heroes all their lives. Having such a son and younger brother really shames the ancestors of the Sun family.

"Prime Minister, since Hejian and the south have been pacified, why not stay in Guanzhong and attack Liu Bei?"

When Cao Cao finally calmed down, Liu Ye immediately suggested.

Dong Zhao rolled his eyes, and suddenly got up and cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, today's prime minister is in Guanzhong of Liangzhou in the west and Huainan in Hejian in the east. Since ancient times, ministers have assisted the world, and no one has achieved such achievements as the prime minister. The prime minister should repair the ancient The fifth-class title of Jianfeng will be promoted to the Duke of Wei."

Cao Cao was startled by this proposal at the beginning, then he looked left and right, his eyes rolled around, instead of scolding, he stroked his beard and said: "The construction of the fifth class is a sage, and it is not controlled by human officials, how can I stand alone? "

"Prime Minister, the ministers of the world have not made the achievements of today. Those who have made the achievements of today have not been in the position of ministers for a long time."

Sima Yi hadn't spoken before, so when he didn't speak now, he stood up and said: "Today, the public is ashamed and has virtue but has not done its best. He has no great responsibility to protect his reputation. Virtue and beauty are better than those of Yi and Zhou. This is the ultimate virtue." It’s the most extreme. However, Taijia and King Cheng may not be able to suffer. Today’s people are in trouble, more than Yin and Zhou, and they are in the position of ministers. They make people doubt themselves with big things, and they must be seriously considered.”

"Yes, Prime Minister, although the Prime Minister is mighty and powerful, he knows the magic, but he has not determined its foundation, and it is still not yet achieved for the eternal plan. The foundation of the foundation is to be established in the land and people, and to be self-defense. Public loyalty and festival Yinglu , Tianwei is in Yan, Geng Yan's words under the bed, Zhu Ying's nonsense, cannot be overheard. Zhao has received extraordinary kindness, and dare not say it."

Dong Zhao continued.

Does it matter to others?
Besides Lou Gui, Liu Ye also stood up and persuaded him to come in.

For a while, the hall was full of flattery.

Cao Cao said no, but he remembered it in his heart.

Immediately led the army back to Guanzhong, and at the same time under his instruction, Dong Zhao sent a letter to Yecheng.

At the beginning of the 21st year of Jian'an, Cao Pi sent someone to Chendu. At that time, the imperial historian of Chendu, Xi Xi, was Cao Cao's running dog. After he got the letter, he immediately threatened Liu Xie to order.

Liu Xie had no choice but to agree, ordering Xi Xi to go to Chang'an in Guanzhong, canonize Cao Cao as Wei Gong, and confer the title of "Wei" on Guojian.

At the same time, the nine tin objects that symbolize authority were given, and the ten counties of Hedong, Hanoi, Weijun, Zhao Guo, Zhongshan, Changshan, Julu, Anping, Ganling, and Pingyuan in Jizhou were used as Weigong's feudal territory. Yecheng was established as the capital.

Cao Cao returned to Yecheng in January of the 21st year of Jian'an, received the title of duke of the state, established the capital of the country in Yecheng, and set up a group of ministers and officials.

In February of the same year, Cao Cao appointed Guo Jia as minister, Liang Mao as minister, Mao Jie, Cui Yan, Chang Lin, Xu Yi, He Kui, Zhang Ji, Du Ji, etc. as ministers, and Du Xi and Wei Ke as ministers. Sergeant.Zhong Yao is Dali, Hua Xin is the imperial censor, Chen Qun is the censor Zhongcheng, Wang Xiu is the chief minister, Cheng Yu is the Weiwei, Yang Junqian is the lieutenant, Yuan Huan is the Langzhongling, Wang Lang is the prefect of Weijun, Zhang Fan He is the prefect of Zhaojun, Xia Houshang and Liu Zhen are the servants of the Huangmen, Huanjie is the general of Huben Zhonglang, Gao Rou is the minister of the book, Liu Fang and Sun Zi are the ministers of the secretary, and Lu Yu is the minister of the official department.

In March, the Duke of Wei began to build ancestral temples dedicated to the God of Sheji and Cao's ancestors.

Since then, Cao Cao, the power minister, has completed a change of identity. He is no longer a power minister, but has become a relationship between the emperor and princes similar to Zhou Tianzi and Qi Huangong.

The domineering rule that was originally superior to the emperor began to have a legal name, and made most of the Han officials in the court officially become subordinate officials of the Duke of Wei, and had a formal title of minister with Cao Cao. The central bureaucrats of the Han Dynasty The system was replaced by the official office of the Duke of Wei.

Nominally, Cao Cao is only the Duke of Wei, but in fact he is already the emperor's power. Those courtiers who appeared to eat Han's salary and occupy Han positions have also become Wei's ministers. The existence of the Han Dynasty is no longer for them. Insignificant.

Cao Cao used a gradual approach to lay a solid foundation for Cao Pi to usurp Han in the future.

(End of this chapter)