Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 485 Wait until the old thief dies

In April, Luoyang Palace.

The lights in the hall were dim and the air was filled with the smell of herbs.

The Chinese medicine soup in the cauldron was rolling. Sun Ying opened the lid of the cauldron and saw that the herbs were boiling. She got a wet towel to protect her hands from the heat, then grabbed the ears of the cauldron and poured the medicinal soup into the lacquer bowl.

"Prince!"

"Prince!"

"The pharmacy is filthy and the prince should not enter it with caution."

While shouting, everyone looked for someone to leave, only to see Cao Pi pushing open the door and breaking into the side hall where the medicine was cooked, followed closely by his attendants.

Sun Ying held the lacquer bowl, saluted and said softly: "I pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Seeing the beauty Sun Ying, Cao Pi couldn't help straightening his clothes and said with a smile: "Beauty Sun is well!"

As he said that, Cao Pi looked at Sun Ying's pretty face with his unscrupulous eyes and asked, "My beauty, I wonder if your majesty's medicinal soup is ready?"

This headwind was unexpected. He did not recover for more than a month, but suffered long-term pain, accompanied by the recurrence of various diseases, which has been tormenting him.

"There are others, please respect yourself, Your Highness." Sun Ying lowered her voice and said with a tone of embarrassment.

Cao Pi's heartstrings were plucked, and he couldn't help but use the medicine bowl as a cover, and deliberately reached out to touch Sun Ying's catkins.

What did Sun Ying mean by her words just now?
Could it be that he is interested in me?
While Cao Pi was dreaming, an attendant came outside the palace and shouted: "Prince, the princes and your two highnesses have arrived. Your Majesty, please come quickly!"

With confused thoughts, Cao Pi carried the medicinal soup to his bedroom.

"good!"

Cao Pi entered the palace, walked up to the beauty, and said, "Your Majesty is ill, and he is the prince's personal servant."

As she said that, Sun Ying walked slowly and said softly: "The prince has taken the medicine and left the filthy place of the pharmacy as soon as possible."

"Here!"

In the sleeping hall, Cao Cao was lying on the couch with his head tied with yellow brocade, his face looking haggard.

"Be patient!"

Smooth, cold, white and tender, this was Cao Pi's first feeling after touching it.

Sun Ying held the medicine bowl, her cheeks flushed, and said, "Your Majesty, I wonder what's important about entering the pharmacy?"

"There are others!"

Sun Ying felt the hot palms and blushed on her cheeks. She took the initiative to put the medicine bowl in Cao Pi's hand and took out the catkins.

Sun Ying was not afraid of Cao Pi's hot eyes, raised her swan neck, and faced him, her watery eyes were particularly moving.

Cao Pi sniffed the heart-stopping aroma and turned to look back, only to see Sun Ying's back becoming more graceful and her waist like a water snake, seeming to lure him forward, which made his heart even hotter.

When Cao Cao proclaimed himself emperor and founded the country, there were five levels in the harem, namely Madam, Zhaoyi, Jieyu, Ronghua, and Beauty. Soon after entering the palace, Sun Ying was awarded the title of Beauty.

Looking at the disappearing figure, Cao Pi thought of Cao Cao who was lying on the hospital bed, and suppressed his thoughts forcibly, thinking to himself: "If I endure it for a few months, until my father dies, Sun Ying will be alone sooner or later!"

When Cao Pi thought about these words, he suddenly thought about it and thought to himself: "What if there is no one?"

Vaguely, Cao Cao seemed to have guessed that his life was approaching, and wrote a final order in advance, saying that the world was not yet stable, and there was no need to mourn according to ancient methods. Those who have sent troops to garrison in various places are not allowed to leave their garrison. There are officials who take charge of their own affairs, so there is no need to mourn for him.

Today, I have summoned all the ministers to consider what will happen after his death, and to discuss in detail the conquest of Liaodong.

"Your Majesty, the prince has returned to collect the medicine," the attendant said.

As he spoke, Cao Pi walked past the ministers carrying medicine bowls, walked quickly to Cao Cao's bed, and said, "Father, please use medicine!"

Cao Cao endured the headache, stood up and leaned on the soft pillow, saying: "The prince is interested, please put the medicine on the table."

"promise!"

Leaning on the pillow, Cao Cao let out a long breath and asked: "Zhongmou, Ziyang, can you submit a detailed strategy for the conquest of Liaodong?"

"Have!"

Sun Quan submitted the memorial and said: "Your Majesty, I and Liu Shizhong conducted a detailed investigation of the actual number of troops and horses in Liaodong, and found out that there are more than 30,000 soldiers in Liaodong, more than 10,000 cavalry, and more than 20,000 foot soldiers. Now I want to take them, It is advisable to send out the land and sea armies and respond correctly, then Liaodong can be conquered."

Cao Cao spread out the memorial, glanced at it a few times, and said: "In the past, when my troops arrived in western Liaoning, it was difficult for them to march eastward due to lack of food supplies, so they had no choice but to withdraw their troops and return south. I have heard that Liaodong is a dangerous place in Liaoning, so if I want to conquer Liaodong, it is not possible to cross it. Not Liao Ze. Now that we are marching to Liaodong, I am not worried about food and grass, but I am worried about the difficulty of crossing Liao Ze."

Liu Ye stepped out from the crowd, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Liaoze is not a natural danger. If it can be connected to the Central Plains, there must be a road. Your Majesty appointed the general to lead the troops, and used a clever strategy to cross Liaoze and arrive at Xiangping. , the enemy is very frightened. If we send partial troops to advance across the sea, the two counties of Lelang and Daifang can be defeated. At that time, we were attacked in the front and back, and Gongsun Gong has no intention of fighting to the death, so he will sacrifice his land and surrender!"

Cao Cao put together the memorial and said: "The partial army is advancing from the sea. Is there no boats or ships to use?"

"Your Majesty!"

Sun Quan cupped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty can collect the boats from Ji, Qing, and Xuzhou, pretending to use them for the southern expedition. In fact, they will gather on the seashore, send General Shanshui to lead five thousand seamen, and collect the two counties of Lelang and Daifang, and They sent out feint troops to intimidate Xiangping, thinking that they were responding to Youyan's army."

"Liaodong has been subject to China for more than ten years, and few are on guard. The art of war says: 'To attack an unprepared enemy, take it by surprise.' Your Majesty now sends out a surprise force to attack Liaodong. The enemy is unprepared and defenseless, and the four counties can be surrendered."

Although Sun Quan's military strategy was not strong, his advantage was that he could listen to what others said. As a good strategist, Liu Ye made a detailed analysis of the balance of power between the enemy and ourselves when discussing military strategy with Sun Quan. Historically, there were four generations of leaders of the Gongsun family in Liaodong. The first, Gongsun Du, separatized Liaodong County. He tried to participate in the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains. He established a camp in Qingzhou and was powerful in Liaodong. He came and went like the emperor, and he was a heroic figure.

Gongsun Du died of illness, and his eldest son Gongsun Kang succeeded to the throne. Gongsun Kang once wanted to take advantage of Cao Cao's unpreparedness and lead a raid on Yecheng with 40,000 infantry. Due to various reasons and Liang Mao's advice, Gongsun Kang gave up the idea of ​​raiding Yecheng.

Unable to expand to the Central Plains, Gongsun Kang turned to conquering Goguryeo and Sanhan, surrendering tens of thousands of barbarians, and restoring the rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty on the Korean Peninsula.

The second generation Gongsun Kang passed away, and the third generation Gongsun Gong came to power. Because Gongsun Kang had many old subordinates and was weak in temperament, Gongsun Gong had been integrating internal forces for a long time and respectfully declared himself a minister to Cao Wei. He also gave up the policies of the Gongsun Kang period and remained alienated from the Southern Han Dynasty.

The fourth generation Gongsun Yuan, a man who had many conflicts with Sun Quan, was beheaded by Sima Yi because of his ambition.

Cao Wei's current raid on Liaodong was almost a sneak attack without any regard for military ethics. He bullied Gongsun Gong for his soft nature, was busy with political infighting, and was submissive to Cao Wei. He had no ambition to become king and expand. Judging from the situation on both sides, this was easier than Sima Yi's thousands-mile expedition to Liaodong in history, and the difficulty of the war was simpler.

Cao Cao endured his headache, tried to maintain his sanity, and thought about the strategy proposed by Liu and Sun.

The reason why he wanted to attack Liaodong was not because he was ill and sought medical treatment, but because after several confrontations between Han and Wei, Wei had many failures in the south and needed new military exploits to revive its reputation and help Cao Pi ascend to power. Moreover, there were a large number of soldiers and civilians in Liaodong, which could not only provide money and supplies, but also migrate people to the Central Plains to supplement Cao Wei's military strength.

Judging from the unexpected tactics, Gongsun's family lacked defense. Once Cao Wei's army crossed Liaoze and approached Xiangping City, the probability of successfully pacifying Liao was very high.

With his head swollen, Cao Cao rubbed his temples and asked, "What do Wen He think Zhongmou and Ziyang are planning?"

"Your Majesty, I think it is feasible. However, the soldiers who set out to conquer Liaodong must be selected as good generals and warriors; those who float on the sea in Liaodong must be familiar with the nature of water." Jia Xu said.

"good!"

Cao Cao made up his mind and said: "The order is to be sent by General Cao Zhang of Yueqi as the commander-in-chief, General Zhang He of the left as deputy commander, Cao Xiu as the leader, Du Xi as the governor, Liu Ye as the military advisor, General Yan Rou of the Liao Dynasty as the commander-in-chief, General Xian Yufu as the general of Huya. When people left Liaodong, they sent troops from Youzhou and Wuhuan to attack Liaodong in the north."

"Add Sun Quan as General Henghai, supervise the navy, and lead the campaign in Liaodong."

"The rest of the ministers will do their best to provide military rations, and there must be no mistakes!"

Even though Cao Ren had learned from the past, Cao Cao was really worried about letting Zhang He lead the army alone. After much thought, Cao Cao decided to make his son Cao Zhang the commander-in-chief and Zhang He his deputy.

"I will obey the imperial edict!"

Cao Zhang was overjoyed when he heard this and knelt down with everyone in front of the couch in response.

After chatting for a while, Cao Cao asked all the ministers to retreat, leaving only Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang.

Cao Pi still had a submissive expression, holding the cold medicine and said, "Father, Rong'er has someone heat up the medicine!"

"No need!"

Cao Cao reached out to pick up the medicine bowl and drank the medicine in one gulp. Feeling the bitterness of the decoction made Cao Cao feel more energetic.

Cao Cao put the sugar in his mouth, thinking it would remove the bitter taste of the soup, and asked, "Do you know why you three are left here?"

"I don't know!" Cao Zhang shook his head and said.

Looking at the outstanding three sons in front of him, Cao Cao showed a look of love and sighed: "I have given birth to many sons, but the only ones who have become useful are Ang, Chong and you. Ang's children have a gentle temperament, and they will follow me to conquer Wan. City, there is no battlefield; Chong'er was talented and intelligent, but unfortunately he died young. Fortunately, you and the other three have grown up."

"You and the other three have their own merits, and they are considered to be outstanding talents for a while. Zi Huan is a master of politics and has smooth management; Zijian is a long writer and has extraordinary literary talent; Zi Wen is good at martial arts and can fight tigers."

"When I raised my army, most of the people I relied on were my brothers and sisters. Without the help of others, I would not have the glory of the Cao family. I am calling you three to the bed for no other reason. I only hope that Zi Huan will obey the affairs of the country and treat me well. Jian and Ziwen are considered as arms, to cultivate the state affairs internally and to defend against powerful enemies externally.”

Cao Cao looked at Cao Pi and asked, "I wonder what Zihuan thinks?"

"Brother Zhi and Brother Zhang are brothers and sisters, how can they harm each other?"

Cao Pi was reluctant in his heart, but because of Cao Cao's prestige, he made a respectful look and said: "Please don't worry, father, Pi will treat all your brothers well."

"it is good!"

Cao Cao smiled and was very satisfied with Cao Pi's answer.

After summoning Cao Zhang to come forward, Cao Cao warned: "In the previous northern expedition to Wuhuan, we first showed off our skills. However, Wuhuan is not in the east of Liao, and its many generals, Guangyou, are better than Wuhuan. Now that I have been ordered to go on an expedition, I must remember that at home we are father and son, and when we go on an expedition, we are father and son." As kings and ministers, if you lose, you will act according to the king's law; if you win, you will pay homage to the officials and receive honors. Now that I am conquering Liaodong, I should adopt the advice of the left and right and use the troops carefully."

Cao Zhang, who was tall and tall, raised his hands and said with a smile: "Father, please rest assured, Zhang will lead his soldiers to break through the Liao Dynasty and secure the border for our great Wei Dynasty."

Cao Cao reached out and grabbed Cao Zhang's yellow beard, and said to Cao Pi with a smile: "Huang Xuzi is the leader of my Cao family. My father originally wanted to use Huang Xuzi to conquer the world, but great things are difficult to achieve. Huang Xuzi can be Zi Huan's champion general." !”

Cao Pi laughed heartily, took the initiative to hold Cao Zhang's hand, and said, "Father, if you have a younger brother Zhang, why worry about the injustice in Liaodong!"

The relationship between Cao Zhang and Cao Pi is acceptable, and there is no obvious conflict of interest between the two. The last time Cao Zhang returned from the Northern Expedition to Wuhuan, Cao Pi taught Cao Zhang how to answer to make Cao Cao happy.

"good!"

Cao Cao then pulled Cao Zhi over and said: "In the past, Emperor Xiaowen of the Han Dynasty left his second son to control the Liang Kingdom, and his eldest son succeeded him as emperor. Zi Jiancai only studied in the world and became the king of Gaoliang. If Zihuan can be promoted regardless of past suspicions, he should be the crown prince. Maintain peace and order in the country.”

Cao Pi felt resentful in his heart, but was afraid of Cao Cao, so he could only smile, cupped his hands and said, "Zijian has learned from the world. With Zijian's help, my son will surely make the literary style of the Wei Dynasty flourish."

"My brother will be happy to accompany you!" Cao Zhi reluctantly replied.

Perhaps he saw the false words of Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Cao Cao looked melancholy and couldn't help but think about his own stupidity. Cao Zhang and Cao Pi had no dispute over their direct descendants and could still coexist. However, with Cao Pi's relationship, how could Cao Zhi live in harmony with Cao Pi? He could only hope to avoid fratricide.

After thinking about this, Cao Cao lost interest and said, "I'm tired as a father. You and the other three of you should leave first."

Although I don't know why Cao Cao changed his attitude, the three of them still obeyed the order and left the palace.

(End of this chapter)