Kuangfu Han Dynasty

Chapter 23 King Wu didn’t get off the car in time
Upon hearing this, Cai Hao's heart, which had been high-spirited just now, was completely relieved, and he thought happily: "Ah Hao, you are still the same lustful Ah Hao!"

Both of them came from rich and powerful families. When they were young and having fun, it was common for them to share one or two maids.

He immediately smiled flatteringly and said: "The most outstanding ones in Mao's Courtyard are ten good girls. They are all Chu women with slim waists and very beautiful appearance. They are impressive. Mao then sent someone to send a message and asked them to prepare a banquet and serve it. Hold the gui, play the harp and hold the yu, and sweep the couch to wait for the prime minister to move on."

Cao Cao raised his palm and said, "Good! Leave this place to the military advisor to offer wine and make history, discuss matters, and take care of the affairs. You and I only need to enjoy the taste of the wine and the sound of tasting silk and bamboo."

After saying that, the two of them couldn't wait to leave the mansion hand in hand. Xu Shu stood at the gate of the mansion, hearing clearly what Cao Cao said openly asking for a woman, and was a little stunned for a moment.After all, his time in Cao's camp was too short, and it was difficult to connect the lustful Cao thief in front of him with the righteous and stern Prime Minister Cao outside Liumen.

However, Xin Pi and others next to him had already become accustomed to the strange situation. They all smiled and handed the Prime Minister away, asking him to go and play in peace, while they had to start busy with official duties in the mansion, taking stock of the treasury and searching household registration.

But at this moment, someone dressed in crimson stood in front of Cao Cao and stopped his licentious plan: "Isn't it appropriate for the prime minister to just enter Jiangling and enjoy himself?"

When Cao Cao saw it, it was the military advisor offering wine to Du Xi. He laughed loudly and said, "Zixu, is this not what the poem says? The people are tired and can rest for a while. The people are like this, let alone me. I left Ye and went south. , I have been fighting for three months, and I have no rest, so why not enjoy less peace and happiness with my relatives and friends?"

Du Xi said: "Of course you should have fun, but not at this moment, because the surrender of Jingzhou has not yet been decided!"

Cao Cao's mood was disturbed and he was a little unhappy. Hearing this, he looked around and said: "I have captured Xiangyang in the north and Jiangling in the south. I have driven Liu Bei to a corner of Jiangxia. I can send a message to the rest of the counties. I have also captured Kuai, Cai, and Wen hired all the sages to return the school to its center, and gathered troops to support it. How can we talk about 'undecided'? Gong Ke (Yuan Ba), Sao Zhi, Hubo (Fan Qin), Yuan Zhi, what do you think?"

The commander of the march, Shi Yuan Ba, was a very strict man and said solemnly: "I think what the military advisor said in offering wine is true!"

Talking about Cao Cao, Xinpi smiled awkwardly. He knew Jizhou well, but was not familiar with the situation in Jingzhou. He was afraid that if he rashly catered to Cao Cao, he would be slapped in the face by Du Xi.Although Lord Bo Fanqin was good friends with Du Xi and had lived in Jingzhou for many years, he was too timid to agree.Although Xu Shu knew that what Du Xi said was true, he didn't want to help remind Cao Cao at all, so he lowered his head and pretended that the matter had nothing to do with him.

Du Xi knelt down and said: "Prime Minister, in the past when Liu Hou persuaded Emperor Gao to leave the Qin Palace, he once said that loyal words are harsh to the ears and are beneficial to action, and good medicine is bitter to the mouth and beneficial to the disease. I also ask Rong Chen to be bold and say a few words of 'Fan Kuai'."

This is a metaphor for Cao Cao to Liu Bang, who had just accepted Ziying's surrender and entered Xianyang, but was dazzled by the beauty of the Qin palace, and planned to stay and live in peace. It sounded quite pleasant, so Cao Cao suppressed the turmoil in his heart. Let's listen to Du Xi's talk.

Du Xi said: "Prime Minister, although Liu Biao was rebellious and stubborn in resisting the imperial court, he has indeed made great achievements in protecting the land and tranquilizing the people in Jingzhou for more than ten years. He killed the traitors and pacified the eight counties, so that there were no plundering bandits in the rivers and lakes. , the local governors and commanders of Jingzhou are all as they were before, and the noble men of the Guan clan can sit down and enjoy the conversation. However, the states in the Central Plains lost their land and spread, so the scholars from all over the world came to Jianghan and rested temporarily, so Liu Biao was kind to him. A person who is a host and a guest."

Everything he said is true. Although Liu Biao was often complained by scholars that he was fond of dragons, did not know how to make good use of heroes, and was not the master of chaos, but compared with Yuan Shu and his like, he was still considered a "not bad" prince.

"Now the Prime Minister's heavenly troops have descended. Although they defeated Liu Bei like a thunderbolt and captured Jiang and Han as if they were in the palm of his hand, the place where the army is located is full of thorns and many counties are still in turmoil. The two high-ranking families of Kuai and Cai have indeed returned home, but the rest The Guan clan is still worried about losing their family, and the officials and officials don't know whether they will be dismissed, so they have a wait-and-see attitude, while the exiled scholars are looking forward to it, hoping to be appointed by the prime minister."

As a scholar who once lived in exile in Jingzhou, Du Xi understands the mentality of these people very well. Like him, there are probably not a few people who desire dragons, pans, and secluded mountains, and wait for the time to fly.If they heard that the first thing Cao Cao did when he entered the city was to go to Cai Mao's house for a feast, they would still be a little disappointed.

But Cao Cao's character has always been like this. He was greedy for women and got carried away with himself more than once. For example, in Xuzhou, he fought with Guan Yu for Qin Yilu's wife Du, which caused the warrior to lose his heart. It was a small trouble... Du Xi had no choice but to remind Cao Cao bluntly: "Jia Monk Wen is in the army, have you forgotten the pain of Wancheng in the past?"

Du Xi still advised in a gentle and tactful way: "I believe that after the Prime Minister has done the following things and appeased the hearts of the Jingzhou officials, he can gather the officials, officers and officials to enjoy the Pan River and drink. "

Cao Cao had already listened. He patted his head, helped Du Xi up with one hand and said, "This is almost a big mistake. What should we do? I hope Zixu can speak quickly."

Du Xi smiled and said, "Just do what King Wu of Zhou did."

After hearing this, Xu Shu roughly guessed what Du Xi was going to say, and his heart suddenly pounded, and he thought to himself: "It's not good!"

Cao Cao also pondered: "What happened to King Wu? Could it be what the "Book of Rites" says? At the beginning of conquering the Yin Dynasty, King Wu did not get off the car yet, so he named the Queen of Huangdi in Ji, the Queen of Yao in Zhu, the Queen of Shun in Chen, and got off the car. And the queen of the Xia family is Yu Qi?"

Du Xi nodded: "Prime Minister Minrui!"

Cao Cao disapproved, thinking that Du Xi had read too many classics and wanted to persuade him to follow the ancients like those pedantic scholars, so he spread his hands and said: "But in this land of Jingzhou, besides Dou Xiaolian, who is determined to be a marquis, is there anyone else? Are the descendants of any sages worthy of my recognition?"

The so-called Dou Xiaolian was Dou Fu, the official of Jingzhou whom Zhang Shao met in Maicheng that day. He was actually the grandson of Dou Wu, the general of Huan and Lingshi of this dynasty!
Forty years ago, Dou Wu, Chen Fan and other party members made a plan to eliminate all the eunuchs. Later, when the secrets were revealed, the eunuchs killed Dou Wu, launched a large-scale party prison, and pursued the Dou clan members relentlessly.Dou Fu was only two years old at the time. Under the protection of Dou Wu's old officials, he fled to Guiyang County in the extreme south of Jingzhou and was saved.

Hu Teng, an old official of Dou Wu, falsely claimed that he was the nephew of the Hu family of Huarong, and devoted all the family's efforts to cultivate Dou Fu, so that Dou Fu was promoted to Xiaolian. Unfortunately, he did not go to Luoyang to become a man because of the chaos at the end of Emperor Ling.Later, the party leader Liu Biao came to Jingzhou. After hearing about this incident, he recruited Dou Fu to serve in the Zhennan General's Mansion, asked him to restore the surname Dou, and reported the matter to the court.However, the emperor was still in the hands of the Xiliang warlord and could not protect himself at that time, so he did not express anything.

Until Cao Cao captured Jingzhou, Dou Fu surrendered with Liu Cong. Cao Cao, who had also vindicated Dou Wu, was overjoyed when he saw him. He decided to "continue the survival of the Dou family" and made Dou Fu a marquis, so he stayed with the army. Coming to Jiangling was something that had been decided a long time ago, so of course there was no need for Du Xi to say it again.

But Du Xi pointed to the north and said: "Although Jingzhou does not have two kings and three kings, it does have the Zhanglingyuan Temple and Ancestral Hall of this dynasty!"

It turns out that Baishui Township, Zhangling County, was the hometown of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty. After Liu Xiu became emperor, he did not forget the foundation of his birthplace. He often returned to Zhangling, built ancestral tombs, and bought wine to meet his old friends and elders.Later, there was a dispute over the establishment of a temple in the court. Finally, Liu Xiu decided to listen to the Confucian scholars and worship the previous Han emperors in Luoyang to show that he inherited the Han Dynasty.When Liu Xiu's father went to his great-great-grandfather's "Four Relatives Temple", he had no choice but to move to Zhangling to offer sacrifices.

From then on, the emperors of the Later Han Dynasty had more reasons to return to their hometowns. Liu Xiu went there five times, and Ming, Zhang, and He each had a memorial ceremony for Zhangling.The short-lived emperors in the future would not have the opportunity to return to their hometowns to worship their ancestors. The Emperor of the Han Dynasty gradually slackened on the Zhangling Festival, and often only asked ministers and even local county guards to do the sweeping.

In the last years of Emperor Ling's reign, the world was in chaos, and Nanyang County, which was under Zhangling County, was in turmoil. The sacrifices were completely abolished and were even destroyed by the influx of rebel soldiers.Although Liu Biao was not from the Guangwu lineage, he was still a distant branch of the Han Dynasty. After accepting Liu Bei to help him guard the north gate, the south of Xinye was a little safer, so he slightly repaired the Zhanglingyuan Temple.Zhangling and Sui counties were also separated from Nanyang to establish Zhangling County. After Cao Cao accepted the surrender of Jingbei, he worshiped Zhao Yan, who ranked first among the "Four Yingchuan Scholars", as the prefect of Zhangling.

Cao Cao suddenly realized: "Zixu's intention is that I should worship Zhanglingyuan Temple immediately."

"Of course!" Du Xi said: "Liu Biao, Liu Bei and others considered themselves members of the clan, but they harbored treacherous intentions. They often collaborated with Yuan Shao to describe the prime minister's statement of 'obeying the emperor's orders and refusing to submit' as 'holding the emperor's orders.'" "Princes," many fools believe in them."

As soon as he said this, Cao Cao didn't reply, but Xu Shu muttered in his heart: "Isn't it true? Although Cao Cao has the name of the Lord, he really has no intention of being a king. He pretends to be a Han prime minister, but he is actually a traitor to the Han Dynasty."

Du Xi didn't think so at all: "Now that the Prime Minister has conquered the south, in the name of the Han Prime Minister, he sent Zhangling Prefect Zhao Boran (Zhao Yan) to restore the Yuan Temple on behalf of the Prime Minister, which is enough to put an end to this theory. It makes people in Jingzhou miss the Han Dynasty no longer Hesitation and hesitation also made the Guan clan scholars who were deceived by Liu Bei suddenly return north."

"It's great to act according to Zi Xu's policy, which will break Liu Bei's lies." Cao Cao nodded and asked Fan Qin to draft his order and send it to Zhang Ling to order Zhao Yan to comply with it.

It has to be said that Du Xi's suggestion was exactly what Cao Cao had in mind.In fact, with Cao Cao's nature, he didn't care at all what others thought of him. Whether they were selfish comments or wild speculations, they were like the breeze blowing on his face, not damaging the giant tree.But on the other hand, Cao Cao was often worried about this, fearing that if more people believed in it, the gentle breeze would turn into a sudden strong wind and shake the foundation of his Cao family.

Seeing that he had made a good start, Cao Cao was looking forward to Du Xi's next plan: "Zixu's second plan must be to 'surrender to Yin and then return to Song Dynasty'. Now the only one who has trouble now is probably Liu Cong."

Du Xi held up his hands and said, "Prime Minister Minghui! As I said before, the crown clan and hundreds of officials in Jingzhou have received great kindness from Liu Biao. Now that Liu Jingsheng is dead, his officials are still in the eight counties, and many want to repay it to his son. "

"Although the Prime Minister accepted Liu Cong as the Jingzhou Shepherd, he did not give him a new title in time. I am worried about the humiliation of his ministers. If Liu Cong is not rewarded quickly to calm the hearts of these people, I am afraid that they will be full of indignation and transfer their loyalty to Liu Qi in Jiangxia has gone to the place of 'Wu Geng'. Eventually he will fall into the hands of Liu Bei again, creating one or two hidden dangers in Jingzhou."

Cao Cao had already regarded Liu Qi as useless, but Liu Bei had to work hard to deal with it.In terms of force, he was sure to win the battle, but this time, Cao Cao wanted to defeat Liu Bei even with the support of his soldiers.

So Cao Cao accepted the advice and said: "Since this 'little boy' has surrendered to our army with his face exposed, what's the problem if I restore him to his previous position?"

"Wen Lie." Cao Cao called a young officer who was qualified to attend the court and ordered him: "Go to the Central Army quickly and bring Liu Cong!"

……

"It turns out that while we are in Jiangling, we can stay in this big house with Prime Minister Cao."

At this moment, Zhang Shaozheng, together with the convoy of food officials, were standing outside the side entrance of the Nanjun Prefecture where carriages and horses could enter and exit, waiting to arrive one after another.

Zhang Shao was very happy: "This is great, at least I don't have to travel all day long." Although he could take a car, the road conditions were so bad these days that after hundreds of miles, his little body bones were almost falling apart.

Zhang Shao looked at the prefecture's mansion again, and saw white walls and red doors, blue bricks and black tiles, cornices and raised corners, and a few big trees towering over the walls, but only half of the yellow leaves had fallen. After all, they came here on the road to Jiangling. Today, it is already winter in October.

"The living conditions should be much better than those in Xiaoyi and Tingshe along the way." Zhang Shao was already thinking about how to take a hot bath for himself.

He encouraged Huandeng to go with him to beg the soup man for more hot water, but Huandeng was listless today and could only make two hesitant hums.

But before he could be admitted to the hospital, he saw the attendant Cao Ji coming over and told Wang Jie: "Food officer, the Prime Minister is going to the Cai County Shoujia Courtyard for a banquet tonight. You will take a few people with you and be sure to keep an eye on the Cai Mansion." Chef, remember, remember."

Cao Cao was suspicious and could not trust outsiders when it came to food and drink. Only the close confidants of the prime minister's office were reliable.Wang Jie accepted the promise, and Cao Peng, the servant, hurriedly ran back and asked the clothes and mats to follow him to the Cai Mansion to prepare for Prime Minister Cao to have fun all night long.

Oh, and the family members of medical officers are also bound to go. If Prime Minister Cao gets angry when he is happy, what a delay it will be!

After entering the inner house, it is indeed very spacious. There are several entrances to the house, and each entrance is separated by a moon door.In addition to the sleeping hall for the master to sleep and the banquet hall, there is also a special place for the servants to live, which can fully accommodate them.

The food officer naturally occupied the room near the kitchen and the well. Wang Jie asked everyone not to be busy moving the wine and food utensils and other things into the kitchen, because they might have to go to Cai Mansion with the Prime Minister in a few moments.

But the kitchen warehouse had to be inspected. Wang Jie took people in and saw that rice, millet, millet, and wheat flour were all available. Pickled pig legs and dried pheasants were hung on the beams.

Wang Jie also had an unexpected harvest. He touched the things hanging from the beam and said, "There are actually wild garlic in the south."

　Thanks to the leader "Hengfeng" for the reward.

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(End of this chapter)