Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1359 Exchange
When it came to Yu Jin, everyone present in the Wei State was quite troubled.

Because most of the people present at the time, when the Jin army attacked Xu Du the previous year, agreed to send Liu Xie away as soon as possible in order to provoke internal strife between Jin and Hannan.

The idea was good, but the ending was far beyond the expectations of Cao Wei officials. Jin State gave Liu Xie to Liu Bei so openly without any intention of using Liu Xie as a favor.

This was a big blunder for the Cao Wei officials who were waiting for the show. Moreover, Liu Xie was critically ill, so he was sent away in a hurry. There was no time to negotiate with the State of Jin for the exchange of prisoners of war, resulting in Yu Jin still in the hands of the State of Jin.

Yu Jin is almost the only remaining general and veteran from outside the Cao Wei clan. He has made great contributions to Cao Wei over the years. Now he is left in the hands of the enemy. In fact, some officials have privately criticized this.

Zhu Shuo, the Wu Zhi whom Cao Pi trusted the most, naturally heard some rumors and advised Cao Pi to at least put on a show of contacting the State of Jin to negotiate the conditions for exchanging Yu Jin, so as not to discourage the generals from other families.

Cao Pi remained silent on this matter and dragged it out for more than a year. Now he brought it up again in public. Everyone was wondering in their hearts, what exactly does His Majesty mean?
After all, as Cao Pi's close ministers, these four have become increasingly confused about Cao Pi's thoughts over the past six months, because Cao Pi's recent behavior has become more and more abstract.

Not to mention that less than half a year after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi repeatedly held large banquets, laughed at the funerals of ministers, and married Cao Cao's concubine, highlighting his disregard for morals and etiquette and doing things as he pleases. Even his daily behavior was quite unexpected, giving Cao Wei's ministers new shocks every day.

After all, under such a lord, one lives in fear every day, because everyone is worried that if Cao Pi falls ill, he will step on their head.

On the other hand, Cao Pi's ability in the court exceeded the expectations of many ministers. They gradually discovered that when Cao Cao was alive, many of Cao Pi's appearances were pretended. Although he had a perverted personality, his political skills were unexpectedly high, at least much higher than Cao Zhi.

In the two years since Cao Pi ascended the throne, Wei State has still been able to maintain its position in the face of aggressive pressure from Jin State. It must be said that Cao Pi had a good eye for appointing officials and generals. Now almost all ministers agree that Cao Cao's choice was correct and that Cao Pi is far more suitable than Cao Zhi.

No one knew how Cao Pi had gone from being a fat black man who broke into the emperor's bedroom and caused trouble many years ago to where he is now. But when faced with Cao Pi's questions now, they were not sure that their answers would satisfy Cao Pi, so everyone was silent for a while.

Cao Pi saw this and sneered, "Don't think too much, my friends. Yu Jin is loyal to his country. If I ignore him, I'm afraid someone will say I'm heartless behind my back."

"Although I was indeed a little cruel to many people, it was their own fault. Yu Jin's defeat and capture cannot be said to be entirely his fault, so if there is a way, I still want him to come back."

"After all, if our Wei Kingdom is in danger, he, as a veteran of Cao Wei, can't just stand on the other side and help, right?"

"Cao Wei has given him a lot. I don't want to see him find an excuse to defect to Jin. Even if he dies, he should die as a general of Wei."

The four of them were speechless. His Majesty's ideas were indeed becoming more and more crazy.

Chen Qun asked tentatively, "What conditions are you prepared to offer in exchange for General Yu?"

Cao Pi thought about it, and suddenly laughed, "How about exchanging it with Madam Liu, the mother of the Prince of Jin?"

Everyone was speechless. Chen Qun reminded them, "Your Majesty, Madam Li is not the biological mother of Prince Jin. The relationship between the two is extremely bad. Moreover, Prince Jin was adopted by Yuan Ji's branch, so he has no relationship with Madam Liu."

Cao Pi heard this and smacked his lips regretfully, "What a pity, I am still making use of waste."

Everyone couldn't help but complain in their hearts. They all knew about Madam Liu. They didn't object at first because they felt that this matter could also be used to strike a blow against Xionghu. After all, Madam Liu was the nominal mother of Prince Jin.

But they soon discovered that Yuan Xi not only did not use force, but his offensive became even more fierce, which was clearly intended to anger Cao Wei.

Zhu Shuo said to Cao Pi: "Your Majesty, that Xionghu is a rebellious son who doesn't care about his parents at all. This trick will not work on him."

"I heard that he had a hard time in the Yuan family when he was young. Maybe what he wants most now is to see the king kill Madam Liu. This will suit his wishes."

After hearing this, Cao Pi asked, "Does the fierce tiger really have no weaknesses?"

"I think it's unlikely. Everyone has weaknesses. Now Wei is not as strong as Jin. You, the ministers, need to think of a solution."

"When do you think Jin will use its military force against Jingzhou?"

"Will they still attack Chang'an this year?"

After hearing this, everyone spoke up. Cao Pi found that everyone was quite optimistic, so he waved his hand and asked everyone to leave and think carefully, but he left Dong Zhao alone.

After waiting for no one else to arrive, Cao Pi spoke up, "Lord Dong, tell me the truth, are you one of Xiong Hu's men?"

Dong Zhao remained calm and said, "From the beginning to the end, I have always stood on your side."

Cao Pi listened and nodded, "Okay, I will remember Gongren's words."

"I want to know what Gongren thinks of Ma Chao?"

Dong Zhao subconsciously said, "Didn't Master Zhong go to mediate? Why do I need to say more?"

Cao Pi laughed, "Gong Ren is still at odds with Yuan Chang?"

"When Gongren was imprisoned, there were too many people in the court who impeached him, so I had to make a gesture. You two are my loyal followers. For my sake, please do not use public funds for personal gain."

Dong Zhao said in a deep voice: "As for Master Zhong, I have already let it go."

"Although I may never become friends with him, I will never let this hinder the affairs of the Wei Dynasty."

"My opinion of Ma Chao is that he betrayed his father for glory, but at present, he is still quite useful to Wei." "I heard that Jin is also trying to win him over. Your Majesty sending Master Zhong to go there is also a good move.

"But on the other hand, he is from Liangzhou after all, so he doesn't necessarily stand completely with Wei. Especially since I heard that Jin has now pacified the Hu people in all directions and offered very generous conditions. For example, Jin has made kings of Goguryeo, Wuhuan and even the Gongsun family. The price it paid is not small."

"But it must be said that being crowned a king is very attractive to the foreign barbarians. If it is used to recruit Ma Chao, he may be tempted."

Cao Pi said, "Gongren's words make sense. How should the State of Wei respond?"

Dong Zhao said, "It's just an empty title. If Jin can give it to him, why can't Wei?"

Cao Pi was a little surprised, "A king?"

"When my father was alive, he worked very hard to confer the title of King of Wei. Now, Gongren wants me to hand over the title of King to an outsider so easily?"

Dong Zhao said, "Your Majesty, please understand. This kind of empty reputation is just a temporary measure to imitate the example of Emperor Gaozu. If the Wei Dynasty can pacify the world in the future, what will these things mean?"

"Since Your Majesty can use the Nine-Rank System to bribe officials from the aristocratic families, what's the big deal about those few nominal titles of kings?"

Cao Pi asked in return: "The important officials of the Cao Wei clan whom my father valued so much are only given the title of marquis. Wouldn't they be dissatisfied?"

Dong Zhao said, "One title is also a title, several titles are also a title, and it can also be used as an opportunity to suppress those who pretend to obey Your Majesty but actually disobey Your Majesty and take advantage of their seniority. Isn't this what Your Majesty wants to see?"

Cao Pi pondered for a long time before nodding and saying, "I understand. I will think about it carefully."

"By the way, I still don't have any children, so I want to adopt one from the Cao Wei clan. Who do you think is suitable?"

Dong Zhao's heart skipped a beat. "Your Majesty is in the prime of life, why do you say that?"

"This is your Majesty's family affair. I dare not interfere. I hope your Majesty will summon the Cao and Xiahou families to discuss it."

After hearing this, Cao Pi shook his head and laughed, "Gong Ren, you are indeed cautious."

"Forget it, go back first."

Dong Zhao left the palace and got in the car, thinking to himself, Your Majesty just married Queen Guo, why does he seem unable to have children?

Did Empress Fu hurt him so badly back then?
Thinking that Liu Xie had gone to Liu Xie's place, and there was news that Empress Fu had come back to life and appeared with him, Dong Zhao felt a little uneasy, thinking that if the matter was investigated seriously, he would not be able to cover it up.

After all, Dong Zhao was involved in the whole process of Empress Fu's fake death. Although Liu Xie and his wife are no longer useful now, they are still being watched by people with ulterior motives.

A few years ago, Dong Zhao was almost driven crazy by Zhong Yao. To be honest, Dong Zhao had always been very cautious and had only done two things for Yuan Xi. But for some reason, Zhong Yao kept staring at him, which made Dong Zhao once doubt whether his family had a feud with Zhong Yao.

However, these two things happened to change the situation in the world. One was to rescue Empress Fu, and the other was to hint and encourage Liu Xie to make trouble when he gave up the title of emperor in the abdication hall.

After completing these two tasks, Dong Zhao felt that he had repaid Yuan Xi's kindness. From then on, he cut off all ties with the State of Jin and wanted to live the rest of his life in peace.

The key point is that Dong Zhao himself wanted a good end, but he couldn't resist someone who was keeping an eye on him. Thinking that Zhong Yao was staring at him all the time, Dong Zhao became ruthless and thought, "Don't push yourself too far, otherwise you and I will fight to the death, and see who will suffer first!"

Cao Pi waited until Dong Zhao left before returning to his own palace. When Empress Guo saw Cao Pi coming back, she hurried out to greet him and said, "It's cold, I've asked the maid to heat up the food again. Please wait a moment, Your Majesty."

Cao Pi said, "Let the other concubines do these things. Why bother the queen?"

"I wonder if they are used to being sneaky and cunning, so they are shirking all these things?"

Empress Guo said, "I did it of my own free will. It has nothing to do with them. Your Majesty, please do not be harsh on them, lest people criticize you."

"I dare not comment on your Majesty's previous affairs, but if someone uses them to spread the news, I am afraid it will affect your Majesty's reputation."

Cao Pi knew what Empress Guo was talking about immediately and sneered, "Madam Liu is really capable of finding you to plead for mercy."

"She is the mother of the Prince of Jin, how can I treat her well?"

"It's good enough to keep her alive!"

Empress Guo thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, you are wrong."

"In fact, if Madam Liu stays in the palace, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages."

"In fact, I think that if his relationship with the King of Jin is so bad, then sending him back will only give the King of Jin more headaches, and Your Majesty will also gain a reputation for being magnanimous and open-minded."

Cao Pi was startled, and after thinking for a moment, he slowly nodded and said, "What the Queen said does make sense."

(End of this chapter)