Kuangfu Han Dynasty

Chapter 19 If you change sides and disarm, surrender with courtesy

Cao Cao was indeed full of energy. He was over 50 years old. He had been traveling all day and read a book in the car for a long time, but he was still in high spirits. Instead of lying down and waiting for the meal, he climbed up the Maicheng wall.

Standing on the city tower, Cao Cao looked around, and he was very excited. He turned around and said, "Zhongxuan, is this Maicheng the place you climbed in "Ode to the Tower"?"

The person named "Zhongxuan" is a fat scholar. He is Wang Can, a famous scholar from Shanyang who lived in Jingzhou. Although he left his hometown, Wang Can probably lived a good life in these years. Although he was not tall, he was He was so fat that his nose and eyes seemed to be squeezed together on his face.

Wang Can was already panting from exhaustion as he climbed high with the fit and healthy Cao Cao, but when he heard Cao Cao's question, he immediately raised his hand and said, "Prime Minister, this is the building!"

He stepped forward and pointed to the left and right and introduced: "Prime Minister, please see, this Maicheng is located between the Zhang and Ju rivers. It is exactly what is said in the official poem, 'it relies on the clear Zhang River to connect the Puxi, and leans on the winding Ju River' Changzhou." .”

Wang Can was best at articles, poems and poems. He was in Jingzhou, but many of his works were passed down orally by the scholars who returned to the north, and they were quite famous in Xudu and Yecheng.

Although Cao Cao, who was also a poet, had to write poems when he climbed high, he felt that although his poems were excellent, his poems were not outstanding. At this moment, he praised Wang Candao: ""Climbing the Tower" is so touching that it makes people cry when reading it. , from what I can see, Han Fu has been extremely like this since Zhang Heng."

"The Prime Minister is so complimentary!" Wang Can was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly answered: "This poem was written a few years ago. At that time, I had been living in Jingman for many years. I often missed the Central Plains in my heart. Whenever I climbed high, I would lean on the railing and look northward. It's a shame that the plains are so far away. But at the far end, the high peaks of Jingshan Mountain obscured my sight. Chan could only lament the isolation of his old hometown, and was so sad that he couldn't help but shed tears."

Speaking of this, Wang Can cried emotionally again. He covered his fat face and howled: "But Dong's thief Lu Bu is in trouble, China is in chaos, and the bones are covered in the plains. I want to return but can't."

Wang Can's family is a truly famous family in Yanzhou. Two generations have held the position of three princes, especially his grandfather Wang Chang, who was the leader of the party and was known as "the most handsome Wang Shumao in the world", alongside Li Ying and Chen Fan.Therefore, Wang Can can be said to be a top-notch person with a good reputation. Unfortunately, he has been mediocre in appearance since he was a child. However, the famous scholar Cai Yong still tried his best to praise Wang Can, praising everyone he met, saying that Wang Can has extraordinary talents and that he is not as good as him...

In peacetime, after the Qingliu nobles succeeded in making a comeback by killing the eunuchs, Wang Can's career would have gone smoothly, but it was a pity that he met Grand Master Dong who did not follow the routine.Wang Can was also clever. During the chaos in Chang'an, he ran south to Jingzhou and took refuge with Liu Biao, his fellow villager in Shanyang, and became a scholar in Jingzhou's imperial family.

For more than ten years, Wang Can wrote a lot of articles and inscriptions boasting about Liu Biao; he helped Liu Biao write proclamations, quoting scriptures and denounced the Changsha prefect who rebelled against Cao Cao and betrayed Liu Biao; he also helped Liu Biao write a letter about Yuan's attack on Cao. There was a basket of letters in total - and finally they all fell into Cao Cao's hands.

Fortunately, Wang Can could also restrain his literary talents and did not criticize Cao Cao too much in his letter. Seeing Liu Biao died of illness and his backer collapsed, Wang Can's attitude immediately changed and he began to praise Cao Cao again.He advised Liu Cong to see clearly the general trend of the world, and it would be better to obey God's orders and return to Duke Cao. If he turned his back and surrendered with courtesy, he still would not lose his position as a prince... In the end, Liu Cong gave up. Wang Can had persuasion. of merit.

Cao Cao could even let go of Chen Lin who pointed at his nose and scolded three generations of his ancestors, let alone Wang Can who was "forced" to write several letters?Not only did he forgive him, but he also allowed Wang Can to join the prime minister's shogunate as a literary director.

Wang Can also understood Cao Cao's preferences very well, so he expressed his feelings at this moment: "Jingman is not my hometown, so why have I stayed in prostitution for a long time? It has been 15 years, and although the sun and the moon have passed, I have finally waited for the day when the Yellow River becomes clear!" "

Wang Can bowed down and complimented Cao Cao: "When Prime Minister Xionglue was crowned, he was very resourceful. He killed Lu Bu in Xuzhou, drove Liu Bei to Runan, destroyed the Yuan family in Guandu, drove Sun Ce out of the river, defeated Wuwan in Baideng, and the rest Those who are arrogant and determined are often like gods, invincible."

"Now that the prime minister is here, Jingzhou will be at peace!"

"Why should Chan worry about not being able to return north to China? The king's rule will never be equalized?"

……

Perhaps he was in a good mood after exchanging literature with Wang Can, so Prime Minister Cao announced that he would hold a small banquet in Maicheng tonight.

This made everyone in the food officer family very busy. Everyone's work increased several times. Even Zhang Shao and Huan Deng, who had nothing to do, were called over to help pick vegetables... and Wang Jie had to do the cooking in person. .

Although the conditions were limited and the time was in a hurry, I couldn't make a full set of roasted dishes, and I couldn't find any turtles, turtles, or carps. But I did get a goat cut, washed and peeled it, chopped half of it, and put it into a big copper pot for cooking.The other half is cut into square-inch sizes and threaded on mulberry bamboo shoots (qiān) to make skewers. They are either burned quickly with a close fire or slowly roasted with a distant fire. The cook raises a fan to fan, and for a while the fireworks and meat aroma fill the courtyard. Zhang Shao was greedy when he heard it.

In addition to several dishes cooked by Wang Jie, they were placed on the food trays, and the servants were arranged to enter the temple hall one by one. Huandeng also went in to prepare wine for the prime minister and guests.

Cao Cao seemed to only like to wash his hands after meals, but not before meals. The old guy had nothing to do before eating, so he could stand outside the banquet courtyard and watch the fun while holding a celadon tiger son filled with water.

Naturally, Xu Chu still protected the prime minister, while Xiahou Ba was ordered to lead people to guard outside the courtyard gate, and happened to be standing with Zhang Shao.After Captain Xu's gaze disappeared, Xiahou Ba's face became much more relaxed, and he could still talk to Zhang Shao in a low voice.

Zhang Shao happened to know the names of each of the people invited to the hospital through his second uncle.

For example, Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan and Zhang Shao had never met Fenwu General Cheng Yu, Runan Prefect Man Chong and others, because they all had the responsibility of being in charge of the army and governor, they all turned down Cao Cao's small banquet and had no chance to see him for the time being.

The senior civil servants who accompanied Cao Cao on his southern expedition were not so busy. Two officials arrived hand in hand. They were all wearing Xuanyi, except that the tall man on the left with a white beard wore a crown of dignity, and the short man with a black beard on the right was over fifty years old. Wear Liangliang Jinxian crown.Arriving at the courtyard gate, the doctor on the right stopped and politely asked the doctor on the left to enter first.After the two of them entered, Xiahou Ba turned his head and whispered to the curious baby Zhang Shao: "The man with the gray beard is Taizhong doctor, Jia Xu and Jia Wenhe."

Jia Xu, Jia Wenhe!Zhang Shao knows!In the novel, Jia Xu is the most poisonous person in the Three Kingdoms, and his words bring chaos to the world.Cao Cao's eldest son and favorite general Dian Wei also died indirectly at the hands of this guy, but now he can still be reused and join Cao Cao in his southern expedition?
Thinking of Zhang Shao, he panicked. With Jia Xu's intelligence and calculation, could he see through his and Xu Shu's plan?But he felt relieved immediately. Whether it was history or romance, Jia Xu could not change the outcome of the Battle of Chibi. What was he afraid of?
But then I heard Xiahou's domineering words: "The man with the black beard is the admonishing doctor, Wang Lang, Wang Jingxing..."

"Wang Lang?" Zhang Shao was stunned, and then he felt very happy.

"Hey, Wang Situ!"

Zhang Shao's eyes had already seen a scene full of ghosts and beasts... An old man with a bright head and gray beard stood in front of the two armies and said, "Is this Zhuge Kongming coming?"

After finally getting rid of the stereotype of his previous life, Zhang Shao realized that his understanding of Wang Lang was limited to this. It seemed that he would have to inquire with Xiahou Ba about his deeds when he had the chance.

Later, several descendants from Jingzhou arrived. Xiahou Ba said that the old man with a high crown at the head was Kuai Yue, the former prefect of Zhangling and Marquis of Fanting.

Why add the prefix?Because this is an official appointed by Liu Biao.Kuai Yue single-handedly planned the miracle that Liu Biao entered Yicheng on his own, wiped out the clan traitors with his iron hand, and sent a message to eight counties. He was the second-in-command in Jingzhou.However, Kuai Yue was also the leader of the faction that surrendered to Cao, and contributed to Liu Cong's surrender without a fight. He was actually the "eldest brother who led the surrender".

Following behind Kuai Yue were naturally the fat little writer Wang Can and Wang Zhongxuan. In addition, there were other names such as Cao Yu, Fu Xun, and Fu Xun, the former commander of General Zhennan's Mansion, and Dou Fu. They were all names that Zhang Shao had never heard of, and he had not heard of them. Ask carefully.

Not to mention that this banquet included Wang Lang quoting scriptures, Wang Can reciting poems, delicious lamb, wine to quench thirst, and finally the host and guest enjoyed the feast.It's just that after the banquet was over, it was Zhang Shao's turn to come in with the tiger's dice, but he saw that the cups and plates were in a mess, and the servants of the food official were cleaning them up quickly.

Cao Cao was already slightly drunk, with his eyes closed and his body leaning on the couch, letting another servant wash his feet.Zhang Shao's task was to add "hot soup", that is, boiling water, into the copper basin.

Zhang Shaoxun thought, if he makes a mistake, he can burn Old Cao to a bloody head... Of course he only dares to secretly poke and think about it, Xu Chu is still watching everyone's every move, there is no need to use the knife, Xu Zhongkang can just use a finger. You can stab Zhang Shao to death.Alas, Zhang Shao sometimes thought that it would be great if he inherited Zhang Fei's bravery. Since he was born with magical power since he was a child, he could use his status as a servant to seize the sword and kidnap Cao Cao...

Just when Zhang Shao finished pouring the water and was thinking randomly, two people came belatedly outside. They were Yi Cao Xinpi, who was full of excitement, and Yi Cao Shi Xu Shu, who had just joined the job.

Zhang Shao looked away calmly, but he had doubts in his heart: "Why is Mr. Xu here?"

When Xu Shu saw Zhang Shao in the hall, he was also startled. He tried not to look at his comrade, but bowed to Xin Pi and said to Cao Cao: "Meet the Prime Minister."

"Oh, George, Yuan Nao, the banquet has ended, why are you here?"

Cao Cao opened his eyes drowsily, and after asking this question, he smiled and patted his head: "I forgot something. After entering Maicheng, the emperor said that he had something to report. I was about to go up to the building with Wang Can. So I asked you to come back after the banquet, what is going on?"

Xin Pi raised his head, hesitated to speak, and looked at Zhang Shao and others.

Cao Cao waved his hand and asked all the servants and servants in the Xu Chuling Hall to step aside for the time being...

But he only stopped Zhang Shao, who turned around and wanted to leave.

"Zhang Shao, what are you doing? Do you want to be lazy?" Cao Cao looked unhappy.

"Stay here, the water in the basin is getting cold, continue to heat the soup."

"Wei Wei."

Zhang Shao agreed and continued to stand aside. He didn't know whether Cao Cao did it on purpose or accidentally. This arrangement was exactly what he wanted and he was able to eavesdrop on the conversation.

At the banquet, Cao Cao still maintained some etiquette when facing Jia Xu, Kuai Yue and other ministers, but when the people in the hall were replaced by shogunate officials who were closer to him, Cao Cao seemed much more casual. Soak your feet.Xin Pi took out two rolls of linen paper from his sleeves, stepped forward and presented them to Cao Cao.

"Prime Minister, this is what I asked Yuan Zhi to write overnight about the true and false status of Liu Bei's remnant troops. Please take a look at it, Prime Minister."

(End of this chapter)