Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 949 It’s obvious
Maybe it was because of the pain and the need to distract Cao Cao, so Cao Cao kept talking to himself, while Mrs. Bian listened quietly while massaging Cao Cao carefully. After half an hour, Cao Cao's headache was gone. Less, my mood also improved, so I talked more and more enthusiastically.

"Whatever the lord does, his subordinates are watching. If the lord violates the rules, he will attract people who violate the rules. Only then can the two sides come together."

Mrs. Bian suddenly wanted to complain. You spend all your time preaching about valuing talent over virtue. Aren't you afraid that you will attract people who want to follow the trend?
Don’t you know that your subordinates are already very intrigued by each other?

But the reason why Mrs. Bian liked Cao Cao was because she never talked too much. Cao Cao continued: "The reason why I understand him is because he and I are actually the same person."

"Although he talks about benevolence and righteousness, in fact he is unscrupulous and ruthless in doing things, even more so than me."

"In my opinion, except for Liu Bei, the threat of Fierce Tiger is unmatched by anyone else in the world. But now I am not sure of winning, and he sees me the same way, so now I and I He is seizing the opportunity to strengthen his strength.”

"This is a difficult battle. I can't be sure who will make it to the end, but time is not on my side because he is much younger than me."

Mrs. Bian forced a smile and said, "My husband must be fine. I heard that the ferocious tiger was infected with the disease, and maybe his body was damaged."

Cao Cao's face suddenly changed slightly and he said, "I'm tired, you can go back."

Seeing Cao Cao's sudden change of temper, Mrs. Bian got used to it, so she got up obediently, bowed to Cao Cao and left.

Moreover, the power of the Yingchuan faction has become overwhelming. Sooner or later, there will be conflicts between it and its direct descendants, Qiao Pei, generals and civilian officials. How to balance the power of the two sides is also a headache.

Cao Cao sat on the couch with a gloomy face. One of the important reasons why he was anxious to establish an heir was that although he looked better after contracting the epidemic, his health was actually not as good as before.

But Liu Xie always felt that when Fu Shou faced him, there seemed to be an invisible barrier between the two of them. He thought to himself, couldn't even my queen understand her difficulties?
In this case, I can only bow my head for the time being and forget about marrying Cao Cao's daughter. Anyway, based on my current situation, I can only take one step at a time.

And these things all depended on Cao Cao himself. He couldn't help but hate Yuan Xi with gnashing of teeth. If Cao Ang was still here, why would he be in the predicament he is in today!

Fu Shou said softly: "Your Majesty, please understand that those who are relying on Cao Cao now may not be sincere, but are just forced by Cao Cao's power."

"And if possible, I hope your majesty can support his eldest son Cao Pi in determining the successor this time."

Liu Xie looked at the hundreds of memorials on the desk, all of which were flattering words praising Cao Cao and approving of him being named Duke of Wei. He wanted to push all the memorials to the ground with a slap.

Fu Shou felt uncomfortable for a while, but he still replied: "Your Majesty decides, and I must abide by it."

This gave Cao Cao a strong sense of crisis. He thought that if he could decide on a successor as soon as possible, if something happened to him, the Cao family would not have civil strife like the Yuan family. With Cao Pi and Cao Zhi's age and ability, can they really fight against the fierce tiger?
Cao Cao is very confused. The most important thing he has to do now is to defeat the fierce tiger, but this will not happen overnight. Suotai can only decide on his successor first and find reliable enough assistant officials for him.

The controversy over Cao Cao's title of duke caused an uproar in Xudu. Everyone knew that Cao Cao was going to seize power at an accelerated pace. The person who felt the most uncomfortable among them was naturally Liu Xie.

He asked his maid to call Fu Shou in and said, "What does the queen think about Cao Cao's ennoblement?"

After Liu Xie heard this, he said, "The queen didn't say this before. Didn't she always advise me to fight against Cao Cao?"

Then Cao Cao's eyes opened, revealing a terrifying and fierce light.

This time, the ministers declared Cao Cao a duke, which had completely opened the fig leaf between Liu Xie and Cao Cao, and also completely confirmed the positions of many ministers who were previously wavering.

He understood that among his subordinates, except for the Cao family and the Xiahou family, there were actually very few who were completely loyal to him. Cheng Yu had already collapsed, and Xun had political differences with him. Except for Zhong Yao, the others had not yet shown the ability to take charge of their own affairs. .

What made Liu Xie even more frustrated was that almost all of these people were on Cao Cao's side. He found that except for a few people who clearly opposed Cao Cao's enfeoffment, those who he wanted to win over were simply trying to deceive him. They had already taken refuge with Cao Cao, and they even did not choose Liu Xie from the beginning!

He defeated Yuan Benchu ​​and killed two of his sons, but he could also kill the third one!
Let me see if Fierce Tiger can catch his attack in the next confrontation!

Fu Shou lowered his head and replied: "Your Majesty should endure hardships, protect yourself, and wait for the opportunity to act, so that there is hope."

After hearing this, Liu Xie felt a sudden unhappiness in his heart, "In this case, I can respond to Cao Cao's previous proposal to send his daughter to the palace. The Queen has no objections."

The more Liu Xie thought about it, the more irritated he became. He stood up and looked outside. He saw Fu Shou in the yard with his maid, standing in front of some yellow flowers and talking, with a smile on his face. He suddenly realized that Fu Shou's My mood seems to have improved a lot, and I seem to have completely come out of the previous haze.

"Your Majesty's advantage is that he is younger than Cao Cao. If you wait patiently, the opportunity will always come."

Liu Xie was stunned, "What?"

"Cao Zhi was very protective of the words and deeds of the Han Dynasty. On the contrary, Cao Pi was so rude to the Han Dynasty. How can we support him?"

Fu Shou felt more and more uncomfortable when he heard Liu Xie's doubts about her. However, she couldn't tell the third person what happened between her and Cao Pi, so he had to say: "It's because of her rebellious and crazy behavior. That’s why the Cao family has been brought into a situation of no return. “Then Cao Zhi does have a good reputation, but he is the Cao family after all. If he buys people’s hearts and gathers his subordinates, wouldn’t it be more difficult to deal with the Cao family?”

Liu Xie thought about it and nodded: "What the queen said makes sense. I will let people secretly build momentum for Cao Pi."

"You go down."

Fu Shou retreated after hearing this. She knew that there were many misunderstandings between herself and Liu Xie, but she couldn't explain it, because judging from the previous events, Liu Xie acted too hastily and could not keep secrets. If she told Cao Pi's Things may be counterproductive.

All he can do now is hold on to Cao Pi's hand and wait for the day when trouble breaks out.

What happened in Xudu soon spread throughout the world. Everyone in the gentry circle smelled something different and understood what Cao Cao wanted to do.

This means that Cao Cao overthrew his own practice of coercing the emperor to order the princes. Isn't this a naked attempt to dig into the foundation of the Han Dynasty?

The key is, why is he doing this now?

Is it necessary to be in such a hurry?

Cao Cao is now the most powerful prince in the world. He controls Yanzhou, Yuzhou Sili, and parts of Jizhou and Jingzhou. However, the Central Plains has not yet been determined. If he takes Jingzhou and Yizhou, it is natural to do these things. Isn't it too early now? some?

Does he think that the fierce tiger poses no threat to him, or does he think that Jingzhou and Yizhou are all in his pocket?

And in this way, wouldn't Cao Cao lose the loyalty of the scholars in the world who are loyal to the Han Dynasty?

Regarding Cao Cao's actions, many people's doubts were soon answered.

Because while declining his title of official, Cao Cao actually made a suggestion that shocked everyone.

He submitted a proposal to make Sun Quan, Yuan Xi, and Liu Biao public servants!
As soon as this proposal came out, the government and the public were in an uproar.

Liu Biao of Nanjun was the closest to Xu Du, so he got the news first. Without even thinking about it, he immediately sent people to Xu Du to refuse, saying that he had no such intention.

Liu Biao thought to himself, "Are you stupid? He accepted the title because it was Cao Cao's suggestion. Doesn't that mean that he has become Cao Cao's dog? Why should Jingzhou resist?"
Moreover, he lived as a clan member of the Han clan who fought against Cao Cao and rescued the emperor, and turned himself into a rebel of the Han clan for the sake of a false reputation. No one else would be so confused as to agree to such a thing, right?

Therefore, Liu Biao made the most prompt and correct response. When he heard that the heavily protected messenger had arrived in Xu County and presented the memorial in front of the emperor, Liu Biao felt relieved and felt that he had dealt with Cao Cao's evil trick. .

However, the news that came from Xu County later left Liu Biao stunned.

After Jiangdong learned of Cao Cao's performance, he also sent a team of envoys to Xudu.

Because Jiangdong is far away from Xu County, they first arrived in Jiangxia and then carried them back. It took them more than a month, but the reply made everyone stunned again.

Sun Quan not only did not refuse, but directly agreed!
He bluntly stated in the chapter that he was very grateful for Cao Cao's recommendation. If the emperor would not give up, he would guard the border forever on behalf of the Han Dynasty to repay the emperor's kindness.

All the civil and military officials in Xudu cursed in their hearts, "What is the frontier of Yongzhen? Don't you, Sun Quan, just want to turn Jiangdong into the Sun family's private land?"
But everyone has to admit that among the thirteen states in the world, only Jiangdong has such unique conditions!
Jiangdong has the Yangtze River natural moat, and now it occupies half of Jiangxia, controlling Jiangdong's biggest weakness in the Yangtze River. Now Sun Quan's ambition is clearly revealed. Even if he cannot obtain the Central Plains or the Jianghuai hinterland, he can still live guarding Jiangdong, and now What he needs most is a status.

The county princes and generals can no longer satisfy Sun Quan. What he needs most now is the right to establish the ancestral temple and the state, so that the Sun family can become the lord of Jiangdong with good reputation and at the same time share the cake with other families.

Cao Cao's request was just a pillow for him to take a nap on, so it's strange that Sun Quan didn't agree.

Moreover, the negative impact of this incident on Jiangdong was not great. Jiangdong was originally a rebel, and there was no psychological pressure at all to rebel against the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains. Therefore, Sun Quan convened several large families in Jiangdong for private discussions and promised them huge profits. The family soon sided with Sun Quan.

The reason is very simple. Sun Quan's title of Duke is already the same as a separatist regime. In the future, he will go one step further and become a king. And even further, the major families in Jiangdong can also be granted a title of Duke!

This is already the ultimate goal for the Jiangdong clan. Who doesn’t want to enshrine their ancestors in the Sheji Ancestral Temple?

Therefore, although this move was a bit risky, the benefits were too great, so several major families in Jiangdong firmly sided with Sun Quan.

Sun Quan's move confirmed his collusion with Cao Cao, making both Liu Biao and Liu Biao indifferent, and also put pressure on Yuan Xi of Bingzhou.

(End of this chapter)