Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1441 Anxiety
Cao Pi looked at the battle reports coming from both directions, and his face became increasingly unsightly, because Hannan's resistance was unexpectedly tenacious, so that up to now, although Wei had paid a very heavy price in Jingzhou, it could still only barely form a balance of power with Hannan.

In response to this, the two commanders Xiahou Dun and Cao Zhen speculated that Hannan State had obviously received technical support from Jin State because it used war equipment that had not been used before.

Of course, there were few steam machines, but the human-driven armored vehicles were enough to prevent Cao's army from breaking the deadlock. In addition, the supplies in Hannan were much more abundant than expected, and it was obvious that the Jin army was also of great help.

Cao Pi took out another letter, which was sent by Sima Yi, who was farming in Hanzhong. It said that in the past two years, the Jin army had built more than 300 miles of roads. This speed was not too fast, and it was even a bit slow for tens of thousands of laborers.

But now the team still has more than a hundred miles to go before they can reach the outer defense line of Hanzhong City. Although winter is approaching and the Jin army will have to wait until next summer to reach Hanzhong, given the current momentum, what difference will it make if they arrive later?
Sima Yi sent people to investigate and learned that the Jin army had adopted a new road construction technology. Instead of the traditional method of compacting earth roads, they used a two-layer foundation mixed with coal slag, gravel, and glutinous rice juice, similar to the method of building city walls. Drainage was also done on the side of the road. Roads built in this way would not grow vegetation and could prevent floods to a certain extent. On such roads, the infantry's marching speed could reach more than 50 miles a day.

This means that if the road is completely opened, the Jin army will have a supply line that can complete a cycle within ten days. What is the difference between this and fighting in the enemy's home?
Sima Yi expressed great concern about this. He believed that Wei had fallen behind Jin in all aspects of strategy and tactics. If it wanted to break the impasse now, it had to abandon its old ideas and pay a certain price.

In response to this, Sima Yi suggested in his letter that the best strategy for Wei should be to find a way to join forces with Hannan to deal with Jin. Now there are only three kingdoms left in the world, and Wei and Hannan are obviously not as strong as Jin. There is no reason to continue fighting, otherwise they will inevitably be destroyed by Jin one by one.

Cao Pi put down the letter and ordered people to summon Chen Qun, Dong Zhao and Zhong Yao into the palace.

As a result, Chen Qun and Dong Zhao did arrive, but the eunuch from Zhong Yao's side came back and said that Zhong Yao was ill in bed. The eunuch went to check in person and found that he was indeed unable to move.

After hearing this, Cao Pi could only say helplessly: "Master Zhong is ill and cannot come. You can go first."

"You should also know that the progress on both routes is not satisfactory. Here is a letter from Zhongda. Take a look first."

After reading the letter, the two of them looked at each other. Cao Pi said, "Whatever you think about this, just say it. Don't be shy."

Chen Qun said without hesitation: "I agree with General Sima's idea."

"I have to say something unpleasant. The combined national strength of Wei and Hannan is still inferior to that of Jin. It is really unnecessary for the two weaker parties among the Three Kingdoms to attack each other."

"Oh?" Cao Pi asked, "Why didn't Changwen object when we sent troops more than a year ago?"

Chen Qun's expression remained unchanged. "Because more than a year ago, Hannan would never negotiate peace with Wei."

Cao Pi asked back: "Why?"

Chen Qun replied: "Because at that time, many people in the southern part of Han believed that with the support of Jin, they could counterattack Wei, capture Yizhou, and divide the world with Jin."

"Now, after a year of war, although Hannan has the support of Jin, it still cannot swallow Wei. Instead, they should gradually realize that Jin's support is limited and understand that Jin will never give them too much support to overwhelm Wei."

"So at this time, the illusions about Jin State in Hannan have been shattered, and calls for a ceasefire are growing louder and louder. If we take the initiative to propose peace talks at this time, the other side will definitely consider it seriously."

Cao Pi turned to Dong Zhao, "What do you think, Gongren?"

Dong Zhao thought for a moment and said, "The long article should be talking about Xu Shu's faction."

"But as far as I know, the two armies blocking the Wei Kingdom are Guan Yu and Pang Tong and Guan Ping, both of whom are staunch advocates of war against the Wei Kingdom."

"Even if Xu Shu's group is willing to negotiate, they should also consider Guan Yu's opinions. I don't think Guan Yu will give in."

Cao Pi said, "Gongren, do you mean to find a way to get rid of Guan Yu's faction so that the two countries can join forces?"

"I'm afraid this is unlikely. Guan Yu has a very high prestige and experience in Hannan. Liu Chan, the ruler of Hannan, treats him as his adoptive father. How could he kill him?"

Dong Zhao said, "It is not necessary to kill him, just to raise doubts."

Cao Pi asked: "What should we do?"

Dong Zhao said, "I have heard that some officials from the Yizhou faction are privately inclined towards the Han Dynasty, and many of them have colluded with the Hannan Kingdom and secretly communicated with the Han Dynasty."

"If the two countries join forces, these people will completely turn to Hannan and become a destabilizing factor for Wei. We might as well take this opportunity to eradicate these hidden dangers."

Cao Pi's expression changed. "What does Gongren mean?"

Dong Zhao said without hesitation: "We should use false information to lure out these officials, and then catch them all in one fell swoop, and then frame Guan Yu."

Chen Qun reacted, "These Yizhou officials are loyal to the Han Dynasty, but Guan Yu has always been considered too close to the Jin State. If Liu Chan knew that these Yizhou officials were very likely to be betrayed by Guan Yu, he might start to doubt Guan Yu's loyalty to the Han Dynasty!"

"But this plan seems too simple and is not enough to alienate the relationship between the two sides." Dong Zhao said, "That's right, so we have to start with another thing. I heard that Liu Chan is going to choose a princess, and the most popular candidate is naturally the daughter of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."

"As long as he sends someone to assassinate Zhang Fei's daughter, Liu Chan will naturally be suspicious of Guan Yu, thinking that he wants to control the harem and then control the government, emulating He Jin's ambitions in the past!"

"At the same time, Liu Chan is still young, with great ambitions but little talent. It is said that he is very fond of the eunuchs, and the eunuchs love money very much. As long as we bribe them with gold and silver and let them whisper in Liu Chan's ears, the matter will be accomplished."

After these words were spoken, even Chen Qun could not help but admire: "Gong Ren's plan is quite similar to Gong Da's in the past. It is very likely to succeed!"

Seeing Chen Qun's agreement, Cao Pi said, "Okay, this matter will be handled by the Changwenling School Affairs Office, and report to me at any time."

After Chen Qun and Dong Zhao left, Cao Pi called Wu Zhi and Zhu Shao from the study room on the other side of the wall and asked, "What do you think about this?"

Wu Zhi and Zhu Shao were Cao Pi's most trusted confidants, just like Yan Jun and Sun Shao under Sun Quan back then. However, their biggest weakness was that their strategies were not as good as those of Chen Qun, Sima Yi and others, so they could only assist Cao Pi in making decisions and could not act on their own.

The two discussed for a long time before Wu Zhi said, "There should be no problem with this plan. Even if it is exposed, it will not cause any harm to the State of Wei."

"But there is only one thing. If this fails, Hanzhong will have to face a full-scale attack from the State of Jin."

"Your Majesty, shouldn't you prepare for the worst? What if Hanzhong cannot be defended?"

Cao Pi was annoyed when he heard this and said, "Now that Yizhou has been lost, where else can I retreat to?"

"At most you will die. If you surrender the city, you can save your lives."

The two men knelt down immediately and said to Cao Pi: "We have been following Your Majesty till now, how can we live in disgrace?"

Cao Pi heard this and sighed, "I understand. You can go back first."

After the two men left, Cao Pi felt annoyed and stood up suddenly, but he used too much force and his vision went dark. He quickly lay down holding on to the seat. After a long time, he gradually recovered.

He became more and more irritated, and he took out the candied candy at hand and chewed it. The friction between his teeth touched the toothache spot from before, and he almost bit his tongue. He yelled in anger, kicked the table in front of him to the ground, and kept stuffing candied candied candy into his mouth until he was full, and then he calmed down a little.

Cao Pi's chest was heaving. At this moment, Empress Guo came in and saw that all the boxes of preserved fruits had been eaten up. She frowned slightly and said softly, "Your Majesty, although honey is good, it can also harm your health. I heard that the late emperor loved honey and suffered from headaches. I hope Your Majesty will exercise some restraint."

Cao Pi said disapprovingly: "The late emperor just had a headache. What does it have to do with honey?"

"The Queen forbade me to take Wushisan, and now she forbids me to eat candied fruit. Isn't this a bit too much?"

Because of the incident that caused Cao Pi to faint after taking the Five-Stone Powder last time, Empress Guo secretly banned the flow of the Five-Stone Powder into the palace. When Cao Pi found out, he was furious and scolded Empress Guo severely. Cracks began to appear in the relationship between the two.

Upon hearing this, Empress Guo gritted her teeth and said, "I once fell ill and met the miraculous doctor Zhang Zhongjing, who diagnosed and treated me."

"At that time, my father liked to eat honey. When Zhang Zhongjing saw his face, he said that there were large black spots on his white face and that he was swollen. This was a symptom of the harmful effects of eating honey, and that a light diet was the best."

"Now I see your Majesty's face and I see a similar sign. I hope you will be careful and alert."

Cao Pi was annoyed and said, "I understand. Do you have anything else to say?"

Seeing that Cao Pi was still angry with her, Empress Guo could only say, "I just came to see Your Majesty. Since Your Majesty has nothing to do, I will take my leave first."

Cao Pi knew that Empress Guo and he actually had similar temperaments, both were quite stubborn. After she left, he took out a bottle from the secret compartment at hand. He thought to himself, although you are my queen, your hands are too long. You exchange the Five-Stone Powder and control the honey food. Do you really think I can't get the purest Five-Stone Powder?

He pulled out the cork with trembling hands, put it under his nose, and took a big sip greedily. In a moment, he was deeply addicted.

Thousands of miles away in Changsha, in the Hannan Palace, Liu Chan was doing the same thing.

He took the porcelain bottle that Li Nei Shi secretly stuffed into his hand, and asked doubtfully, "Is this thing really so effective?"

"I heard that Jin State is destroying this stuff on a large scale. I'm afraid it's harmful, right?"

Eunuch Li said mysteriously, "Your Majesty will know if this thing works once you try it."

(End of this chapter)