Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 379 Preparations for usurping the throne
On April 24, [-]th year of Jian'an, Yecheng, Wei County, Wei State.

Wei Guo is now nominally just a vassal state under the Han Dynasty, belonging to a county state in Jizhou.

But in essence, it has replaced Jizhou, because its territory covers more than ten counties, including Hebei, Bingzhou and even Guanzhong.

Therefore, the name of Jizhou is close to existence in name only, and few people call it that.

But when the clapper was knocked during the meal, two guests came to a restaurant in Xing'anli Street, South City, Yecheng.

There was no one around at this point in the morning. The two were sitting on the second floor by the window, and one of them said casually, "Jizhou has changed so much that I can no longer recognize it."

"Yes."

Another person answered.

The waiter who ordered the food smiled and said, "The accents of the two guests are probably from Xuzhou."

The man wondered, "How do you know?"

The other person said with a smile: "You are really stupid. The shopkeeper is here to serve businessmen who have traveled all over the country. They have heard everything. It is not unusual to hear our accent."

"exactly."

The man slapped his forehead and said with a smile, "Look at my brain."

While pouring tea for the two, Xiaoer said cheerfully, "It's not unusual to guess that the two guests are from Xuzhou, but I also know that the guests haven't been to Jizhou for ten years."

"Oh?"

The man was surprised: "You even know this?"

The other man looked at him curiously.

Xiaoer smiled and said, "No one is called Jizhou anymore, they are all called Weiguo."

The man's face changed slightly.

The person next to him quickly said: "The last time I came to Jizhou was indeed more than ten years ago. Business is not easy these days."

"It is."

Xiao Er asked, "What would you two guests order?"

The two ordered some meals.

After Xiao Er left, the previous one frowned and said, "It seems that we should be more careful."

"Be careful what you say and do."

One of them looked out the window, the restaurant was at the back door of Zhu Shuo's mansion, the concubine of Prince Zhong, and he could see Zhu Shuo's house.

Soon the food was put on the table, and the two of them ate slowly, staring at the back door of Zhu's house through the window from time to time.

After about two quarters of an hour, the back door of the prince's concubine's house opened, and a servant came out and went straight into the restaurant.

The sound of "deng, deng, deng" going upstairs sounded.

The two stood up to look, and when the servant approached, they asked, "Where is the guest from?"

"Come by the Wei (Wei) water."

"Where are you going?"

"Go into the Mian (Han) water."

"sit."

The two saluted the servant, and the servant returned the salute.

The three sat down, and one of them asked the servant in a low voice: "Is this restaurant safe? Why did you choose this place?"

The servant grinned: "This restaurant is mine."

The two were in awe.

They exchanged names with each other. The servant's name is Xu Yin, a native of Hejian.

The other two are Zhouai and Limu, one is from Beihai, Xuzhou, and the other is from Xiapi, Xuzhou.

Last month, one of the spies placed by Shen Chen in Yecheng died of illness. The other spy was over [-] years old, missed his family, and wanted to retire and return to his hometown. Two people were transferred from Xuzhou.

Because the spies he arranged are in groups, with three people in each group, responsible for intelligence collection-transfer-delivery.

So this time it's time for the three-person team to meet.

Naturally, there are more than one group of people in the big city of Ye, but in order to prevent someone from betraying and implicating the entire organization, each group does not know each other's identity.

When the higher-ups sent people there, they would only be informed of the time, place, and connection code. This was the first time the three of them met.

At present, there are only two members of the entire espionage organization known, that is, the supreme commander Zhou Buyi and his deputy Cai Du.

Even Shen Chen didn't know, because he only needed information. As for the management of specific affairs, Zhou Buyi, who is currently in Nanyang, was in charge of it.

After the three of them sat down, Zhou Ai said, "I'll be in charge of the transit. I plan to open a shop in Yecheng to do business. Li Mu will do the delivery. How about you being a merchant from other places? On weekdays, We also try to meet as little as possible in restaurants, and Xu Yin can give me news when he goes shopping in my shop."

"That's fine."

Li Mu nodded. Like Zhou Ai, he thought it was just a simple meeting this time, first to recognize his face, and then start working according to the plan.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yin directly threw a blockbuster.

"Don't rush to stay in Yecheng, you must go back as soon as possible now, or pass the news out."

"what news?"

"Cao Pi may usurp the throne."

He said so.

The faces of both of them changed drastically. This is heavy news.

Zhou Ai hurriedly said, "Is this news true?"

"It should be true, Zhu Shuo is preparing for this matter."

Xu Yindao: "The day before yesterday I overheard him discussing with Chang Lin the matter of persuasion. Wu Zhi is now in Chaoge. In the past two months, some of Chaoge's emperor and close officials have been transferred away with excuses."

"If it's just persuasion without substance, then it's not necessarily true. If you spread false news back and ruin the major affairs of the governor, it will be terrible."

Li Mu thought about it and said, "Can you confirm this news, for example, can you overhear Zhu Shuo saying that Cao Pi should go down?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ai also said: "If Zhu Shuo just recruited some people to persuade Cao Pi to come in, but Cao Pi didn't agree immediately, if we pass the news back, it is very likely that the king will change his plan to attack Wu. At that time, Cao Pi will attack Wei instead of proclaiming himself emperor. Wouldn't that ruin the king's unification of the south?"

Xu Yin thought for a while and said, "Then you all should stay in Ye City as planned, and I'll investigate the situation carefully. I hope other groups can also find out the news. If it can be confirmed, it would be great .”

"Ah."

Li Mu nodded and said, "This is the safest."

Immediately, the three began to act.

What the three of them didn't know was that when they were spying on the secret, other groups also heard the news.

Because Cao Pi did have the idea of ​​usurping the throne, Chen Qun, Sima Yi, Zhu Shuo, Wu Zhi and others took action one after another. Some of Cao Pi's confidants did not do things carefully, and spies and spies found some clues.

Now the Cao Wei Group is not very peaceful, internally unstable.

However, after Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he sent Cao Chun, General Protector, Cao Zhen, General of Zhenxi, Cao Xiu, General of Central Command, Xia Houshang, General of Zhengnan and others to attack everywhere to quell bandits, civil unrest, uprisings and so on.

After several months of suppression, most of the rebellions have subsided. The turmoil caused by the Battle of Jingzhou has gradually stabilized and the situation has been brought under control.

At this time, in the mansion of King Wei in Yecheng, Cao Pi, who was dressed in the robes of princes and princes with nine chapters and nine locks, sat high on the throne.

In addition to Sima Yi, Chen Qun, and Zhu Shuo, who are three of the four friends, there are Hua Xin, He Kui, Chang Lin, Liu Ruo and others.

There are not many people, but they are all Cao Pi's confidantes.

Moreover, in Chaoge, Wu Zhi, who was the order of Chaoge, helped him watch Liu Xie, which can be said to be foolproof.

Cao Pi looked around and said solemnly: "Everyone, are you sure you can do something about this matter, and won't cause any more rebellion?"

Sima Yi said: "King Wei, don't worry, I have already said before that this matter has many benefits, and it is the right thing to do."

"Well."

Cao Pi stroked his beard and said, "It's really hard for me, Marquis Wu of Wei."

Zhu Shuo said with a smile, "It is his blessing that Marquis Wu is able to serve King Wei. Liu Bei is preparing to attack Wu now, and we cannot rush to help. Taking this opportunity, King Wei of Wei ascends the Great Treasure to stabilize the country."

"The widow is afraid that after ascending the throne, instead of making the Quartet safe, it will cause those traitors who harbor the Han family to rebel."

Cao Pi frowned.

Chen Qun cupped his hands and said, "Isn't this better?"

"Oh?"

Cao Pi wondered, "Why?"

Chen Qun said with a smile: "Liu Bei is attacking Wu, we have civil strife everywhere, he beats Sun Quan, we quell the civil strife, everyone does his own thing, not disturbing each other, it is also a good thing."

"It doesn't make sense."

Cao Pi pondered, stroked his beard, and nodded.

The usurping of the throne was instigated by Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Zhu Shuo and others.

They think now is a good time to usurp the throne.

the reason is simple.

One is that although Cao Wei was newly defeated, his foundation was solid, his offense was insufficient, and his defense was sufficient. Liu Bei is currently unable to fight.

The second is that Cao Cao just died, and people's hearts are fluctuating. If Cao Pi can become emperor, it will give those who are loyal to Cao Wei a reassurance, so that they will not have other ideas.

The third is that after proclaiming himself emperor, Cao Pi will be able to justifiably make the entire north the territory of Wei State, and all his subordinates will become Wei officials.

Fourth, Liu Bei is now intensively preparing to attack Sun Quan, and he must have no time to look north.

At that time, no one will be able to stop Cao Pi from proclaiming himself emperor, and it would be even better if there was a rebellion because of proclaiming the emperor, just to clear up internal troubles.

As the saying goes, you can only see who is swimming without pants after the tide recedes. At that time, it will be clear at a glance who is the loyal minister of the Great Wei and who still has the Han Dynasty in mind. When Liu Bei can't look north, we will eradicate these so-called Han Dynasty elders together.

The common people are all ignorant, and it doesn't make any difference to the lower class who becomes the emperor, because their personal strength cannot shake the great Wei Dynasty without their leadership.

Only those aristocratic families with Han Dynasty in mind are threats.

They have organizations, fields, property, armor, population, and clan soldiers. Once they are united, they may threaten Cao Wei's rule.

Therefore, taking advantage of Liu Bei's attack on Wu and Cao Pi proclaiming himself emperor, these people can be drawn out. When Liu Bei can't rush to help, Cao Pi can eliminate these people, thereby further stabilizing the Great Wei.

At that time, even if Liu Bei wiped out Jiangdong, Cao Pi has successfully proclaimed himself emperor, quelled all civil strife, and consolidated the situation. Then the north and south will oppose each other, and the pattern of dividing the world will be formed. With the background and national strength of the north, the south will definitely not be an opponent in the future.

So now is indeed a good opportunity to become emperor.

On the contrary, it would be bad if Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor before he defeated Wu, or after the defeat of Wu was over.

When Liu Bei gets the news, he will make a northern expedition.

Colluding with those who cherish the Han family, Cao Wei may fall into internal and external troubles.

Therefore, Cao Pi's counselors believed that this opportunity should be seized.

Thinking of this, Cao Pi made up his mind and said, "That's the way it is, but Sun Quan has sent a letter to ask for reinforcements in the past few days, what should I do?"

Sima Yi thought for a while and said, "The king of Wei can release the news to the outside world, saying that he will lead his army to the south and make a gesture of rushing to help Huainan."

"Rush to help Huainan?"

Cao Pi was at a loss and said, "Didn't you mean to use Sun Quan to prolong the time for the widow to proclaim the emperor? What's more, the Southern Expedition, given the current situation of Wei, how can we support a big war?"

Sima Yi said with a smile: "It's not really a southern expedition, but on the surface, it's a southern expedition to confuse Liu Bei, but it actually stabilizes people's hearts and builds momentum for his ascension to the throne. When Liu Bei learned that King Wei had the intention of helping Sun Quan, he must step up his pace to attack Jiangdong. That is Wei. When the king proclaims himself emperor."

"Well"

Cao Pi nodded and said, "That's great, then I'll write to Sun Quan immediately, telling him about my upcoming expedition to the south, and reassuring him."

Chen Qun said: "Ascension to the throne still requires the Son of Heaven to be on the seat of Zen. The king of Wei can send people to court and let the Zen of the Son of Heaven sit in the king of Wei. Only by following the example of Yao and Shun can we calm people's hearts."

"The Chuan Guo Yuxi should also be taken back."

Sima Yi added.

So Cao Pi said to Hua Xin, "Xiangguo, I will leave this matter to you."

After Cao Pi succeeded King Wei, Wei's position changed.

The former Xiangguo was Zhong Yao, but Zhong Yao had to sit in Guanzhong and could not return to Yecheng, so he was changed to Taiwei.

Then he moved Dong Zhao to be the imperial censor, Xing Zhen to be the Taichang, and Cheng Yu to be the Weiwei.

The rest of the officials, big and small, were also promoted. For example, Sima Yi moved from the army Sima to the prime minister, Chen Qun also moved from the servant to the minister, and so on.

This Xiangguo, Taiwei, and Doctor Yushi are the three princes of Cao Wei at present.

However, the higher the official position, the greater the power.

In fact, Cao Wei's main power is currently in the hands of Cao Pi, and these people around him are the ones who share the power.

Such as Prime Minister Sima Yi, Minister Zhu Shuo, Chao Ge Ling Wu Zhi, Minister Shu Pushe Chen Qun, Shang Shu Ling Huan Jie, Shang Shu Pu She Xing Yong, Shi Zhong Liu Ye, Shang Shu Wei Ke, Adviser Li Yi, Xiang Guo Long history Jiang Ji, Ye Ling Jia Kui and so on.

Especially the four friends Sima Yi, Zhu Shuo, Wu Zhi, and Chen Qun.

After Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, Wu Zhi was just a Zhonglang general, guarding Hebei according to Cao Pi's order.

Once he returned to Luoyang to report to Cao Pi, and Cao Pi ordered Cao Zhen, Cao Hong, Wang Zhong and other senior Cao Wei generals to hold a banquet at Wu Zhi's mansion.

As a result, at the banquet, Wu Zhi, a mere general, humiliated Cao Zhen, who was already the supreme commander of Cao Wei and the general of the army, and pointed at Cao Zhen's nose and cursed, which shows the rampantness of the four friends.

So sometimes the size of the official position does not mean the size of the power, and the real person in power is the one who gets close to Cao Pi.

Although Hua Xin is the Prime Minister, it does not mean that he is Cao Pi's most trusted confidant.

Because forcing Liu Xie to take the Zen position and snatching the Chuanguo Yuxi is an errand, which can be said to be a downright hard job.

Regardless of whether he did a good job or not, his reputation will definitely be bad if he writes a history book.

Just like forcing Liu Xie to make Cao Cao the Duke of Wei, framing Kong Rong, and arresting the censor Xi Ji who killed Empress Fu, he must be cast aside by the world.

But since the errand is entrusted to you, it's impossible not to do it.

Hua Xin had no choice but to respond with a bitter face, "Wei."

Only then did Cao Pi nodded in satisfaction: "Okay, let's do it this way, everyone disperses and follow the plan."

"only!"

Everyone bowed their hands and should be.

After they left, Cao Pi couldn't restrain his emotions, and got up from the table excitedly.

Who is not happy about being an emperor?
What's more, Cao Pi has been the prince with Cao Cao for many years. Although one person is less than ten thousand, there is always a nominal boss on his head, which is always uncomfortable.

Now that he finally has the opportunity to ascend the throne and become the emperor, conquer the Han Dynasty, and become the lord of the world, how can he not be happy?
"My good Marquis Wu."

Cao Pi walked slowly to the door with his hands behind his back, looked at the southern sky with deep eyes, and said with a smile: "I beg you to hold Liu Bei back for me. If you are not dead when I ascend the throne, I will make you King of Wu." , don't let me down."

　Friends who have watched Murder know that I picked up a stray cat, the breed is raccoon cat, which is commonly known as a native cat or a Chinese pastoral cat. It is almost 2 years old and has not been neutered. It really affects my coding.I was hesitant to breed it before, because I thought it would be too pitiful if it hadn’t even given birth to cubs, but civet cat is not a breed of cat, and there are few people raising it, and it is really difficult to breed, so I can’t let it go Go out and find the stray cat by yourself, and you won’t be able to find it if you lose it at home, so I decided to kill it tomorrow.From now on, I can code with peace of mind.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)