Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, just want to die

Chapter 705: Undercurrents in Hebei
With the recovery of Yangzhou, Ma Su, as the general of Ji Han, began a large-scale purge of the Yangzhou nobility. All the forces that had previously flirted with him were purged on a large scale by Ma Su.

All the three dukes and nine ministers, as well as the civil and military officials of the Eastern Wu period, were killed. Ma Su personally deployed troops to guard the counties of Yangzhou to prevent the resurgence of the separatist intentions in the southeast.

In addition, Ma Su also moved a large number of soldiers from the Huaibei and Huaibei prefectures to Yangzhou. Ma Su even moved the entire Yangzhou navy to Jiangling, almost completely dismembering all the armed forces in Yangzhou.

There was no other way. The hundreds of years of separatism in the southeast caused by the Northern and Southern Dynasties were too scary. Ma Su didn't want to see the separatism in the southeast again before his body was cold, causing trouble for the court.

Of course, while dismembering the southeastern clans, Ma Su and Zhuge Liang also helped to prop up the local small tyrants. The confiscated land of the southeastern clans was uniformly distributed to local tenants and self-cultivating farmers, and military settlements were established in Yangzhou to maintain the court's influence in the area.

The areas of Lianghuai and Yangzhou will become the Han Dynasty's mainstay in its fight against the north in the future, so we cannot be careless about it.

While Ji Han was consolidating Yangzhou, news of the fall of the Eastern Wu reached the north. Upon hearing this, Sima Shi seemed to be exhausted.

"Dongwu is gone, Ma Su is coming..." Sima Shi said calmly as he looked at his staff and Yang Hu who had just been transferred back from Liaodong.

"I understand. We may have to face a head-on attack from the entire Western Shu." Yang Hu nodded and replied with a wry smile.

"Honestly, I don't see any hope of holding on to Hebei. Instead of continuing to persist in Jizhou, we might as well withdraw to Liaodong and wait for the right time..."

"It's useless, Ma Su will not let us go." Sima Shi shook his head and said bluntly.

"Ma Su has always been a man who pursues his opponents relentlessly and never gives his opponents a chance to survive. If we hand over Jizhou to him, he will surely take over Hebei and then chase us all the way to Liaodong."

"By then, we will have no way to retreat, and we will have no power to resist the pursuit of the Shu army."

"But now it's just a waste of manpower. Jizhou cannot be defended." Yang Hu said helplessly.

"We can't even suppress Xiahou Xuan now, and Hebei is in turmoil. The Shu army is coming, and if we don't leave now, it may be too late."

"And brother, I think you also know that we actually have no hope. Rather than continue to persist here, it would be better to abandon the army and run away to the mountains to live as a bandit."

Sima Yi accepted Yang Hu as his confidant when he was only 16 years old. Sima Shi swore him as his brother in Pingxiang because of Yang Hu's reputation and ability, so Yang Hu always called Sima Shi "brother".

And although what Yang Hu said was unpleasant to hear, it was also true. After Xiahou Ba returned to Hebei and fought side by side with Xiahou Xuan, Xiahou Xian, who was about to be wiped out, suddenly became powerful.

An isolated army resisted for a long time in Qinghe County, even forcing Sima Shi to transfer Yang Hu over.

Now the Shu army had knocked out the last nail in the southeast, and there was no force south of the Yellow River to resist the Shu army. And because Sun Quan had not caused much damage to the Shu army, the Shu army obviously still had some strength to spare, and the northern expedition to Hebei was imminent.

Under such circumstances, it is obviously irrational to continue to defend Hebei.

But Sima Shi did not say anything about Yang Hu's words. He just shook his head firmly and rejected Yang Hu's suggestion to withdraw troops from Liaodong.

Hebei was his last resort, and as long as he could occupy it for one more day, he would have more hope. If he retreated to Liaodong in a hurry, everything would be over.

As for becoming a bandit… Based on what he had done and Ma Su’s obsession with him, it would be impossible for him to escape even if he became a bandit. Sima Shi even suspected that if he really ran away, Ma Su would dig deep into the ground to hunt them down.

Yang Hu was helpless against Sima Shi's insistence. After a period of silence, Yang Hu chose to settle for the next best option and suggested to Sima Shi:

"Brother, if you don't want to give up Hebei, then you should move your majesty and brother Zhao to Yijing. Otherwise, if Ma Su goes north from Qingzhou, it will be easy to cut off our way back."

Sima Shi nodded to this suggestion. He thought for a while, then ordered Yang Hu to lead his troops back to Yecheng, preparing to take the emperor and the remaining members of the Cao family to Yijing.

But Sima Shi didn't know that peace was no longer in Yecheng. …………

…………

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The seat of Jizhou, now the capital of Cao Wei, Yecheng.

At this time, the Cao Wei court was, in general, better than nothing.

Although Sima Zhao was not very capable, he was able to gain power with the support of Sima Shi. All the important officials in the court who were unwilling to cooperate were purged, and most of the remaining officials remained silent about this.

In addition, Sima Zhao had several trusted confidants to assist him. Under Sima Zhao's operation, the entire Yecheng was basically controlled by the Sima family.

The young emperor Cao Fang was basically unable to move under such a blockade. No matter what he tried to do, he would be tightly restricted by Sima Zhao.

Although Cao Fang was young, it did not mean that he could not understand the situation. Especially since he had been captured alive by Ma Su before, he had witnessed the combat effectiveness of the Shu army with his own eyes.

Therefore, he never thought that the Sima family would be able to stop the Shu army. Even if they could, the world would not belong to the Cao family. Therefore, the best option for the Cao family now is to flee as soon as possible and surrender to Ji Han.

However, although Cao Fang saw it clearly, he could not exert any subjective initiative at all. He could only be confined in the palace every day and play chess with several brothers from the clan.

On this day, Cao Fang, as usual, invited someone to play chess to kill time. The minister did not refuse his request and quickly called one of Cao Fang's cousins ​​to come over.

"I have met His Majesty!"

"Please sit down." Cao Fang felt bored when he saw that his cousin was a little young, so he just nodded slightly.

"Cao Mao, right? Can you play chess?"

"Yes, my father taught me." The five-year-old cousin nodded and did not look nervous.

"That's fine. Play a few games with me to relieve my boredom." Cao Fang immediately ordered people to set up the chessboard and started playing chess with Cao Mao.

The two of them played several games like this, and Cao Fang won almost every time. Cao Mao, on the other side, was obviously nervous and at a loss. Cao Fang even reached out to regret his move while he was still playing.

Fortunately, Cao Fang was not Liu Qi. After touching Cao Mao's sweaty little hand, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and retracted his hand, allowing Cao Mao to regret his move.

After all this fun, Cao Fang had enough and waved goodbye to Cao Mao.

"Your Majesty! Can I come to see you again in the future?"

"Of course, I won't turn away my clansmen." Cao Fang replied with a smile.

After sending Cao Mao and others away and returning to the palace, Cao Fang's face darkened slightly.

When he opened his palm, a piece of silk soaked in sweat came into view.

(End of this chapter)