Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 426: Out

Chapter 426. Out
Feng Xi's idea was very simple. First, it would be best if Cao Rui did not succeed Cao Pi to the throne after his death in two years. If it was Cao Pi's other sons, except Cao Lin, the King of Donghai, and Cao Rui, the King of Beihai, none of the other sons, including his favorite Cao Li, the King of Yuancheng, would have survived past 230 AD.

Even Cao Rui only lived until 233 AD. Cao Lin lived a long life, but as the old saying goes, good people don't live long, but evil people live a thousand years. Cao Lin was a man with a violent temper and would often beat and kill his servants. If he really came to power, I'm afraid Feng Xi would have to laugh out loud.

In other words, as long as Cao Rui did not take the throne, anyone who took the throne would not live for more than a few years and would follow in Cao Pi's footsteps. Apart from other things, if emperors died one after another, no dynasty would be able to maintain political stability, right? Moreover, Ji Han was still eyeing the throne.

Therefore, Feng Xi's layout in Luoyang this time is to hope to leverage Cao Rui, a chess piece that is not conspicuous at present but will have a huge impact on the future.

Now, apart from Feng Xi, no one knows how important Cao Rui is to Cao Wei. It can be said that Sima Yi was able to be reused, in large part because Cao Pi designated Sima Yi as one of the important ministers to be entrusted with the care of the young emperor, which enabled Sima Yi to accumulate connections and develop power.

During the reign of Cao Rui, an important policy initiated by Cao Cao changed: the military power, which was originally in the hands of Cao's confidants, began to be divided among these "outsiders".

There was nothing that could be done about it. Grand Marshal Cao Xiu died early, Cao Zhen passed away, and the boys in the Xiahou family were less promising than each other. Xiahou Mao was notoriously incompetent, and the only one from the Xiahou family who stood out among the troops was Xiahou Ba.

The Cao family was even more depleted of talent, so Cao Rui had no choice but to let Sima Yi be the Grand Commander to resist Zhuge Liang. There was no other way, as other people had tried before, but they were all easily defeated by Zhuge Liang.

What's funny is that after Cao Xiu, who was supposed to be responsible for defending against Eastern Wu, died early, the south, which was obviously weakly defended, did not pose much threat to Cao Wei. Zhuge Jin and Sun Quan were defeated by Cao Wei several times in their invasions to the north.

This is also the reason why Feng Xi insisted on destroying the Eastern Wu first. The Eastern Wu was nothing but trash, pure trash. Xuzhou could not be taken, Hefei could not be threatened, and the three armies that invaded Xiangyang were defeated by Cao Rui himself.

If it were really like in the original timeline, leaving Jingzhou and Jiaozhou to this useless waste who owns three states, then he would be waiting for death.

Today, Zhuge Liang is still in Yizhou, Feng Xi is in Jingzhou, and Li Yan is in Yangzhou. Aren't they ten times stronger than the useless Sun Quan?
At least when Zhuge Liang was on the Northern Expedition, Cao Wei's attention would definitely be focused on Jingzhou rather than defending the valley roads around Hanzhong.

Because even Cao Wei knew that Sun Quan's Eastern Wu was useless and could not cause any substantial damage to Cao Wei's southern front.

Having said that, it was at such a time when the Cao and Xiahou families were in a period of transition and no one was available, but Sima Yi, relying on his own abilities, was appointed as the Grand Commander by Cao Rui and took over the military power in Guanzhong.

Of course, Zhuge Liang did try. During the fourth Northern Expedition, he spread rumors and successfully removed Sima Yi from his post, but the situation on the front line forced Cao Rui to re-employ Sima Yi. At this time, Cao Wei was like an addict, knowing that Sima Yi was harmful, but there was nothing he could do.

Once Feng Xi got Cao Rui out, at least he would not be able to take over Cao Pi's position. It was still unknown whether Sima Yi could still be designated as an important minister to be entrusted with the care of the young emperor given his current situation.

"No, Sima Yi must be suppressed to death... Got it, I got it."

Feng Xi knew that although Sima Yi had been disgusted by him twice, if the new emperor was incompetent after Cao Pi's death, he would have no choice but to use him. In that case, why not come up with something fancy?

Feng Xi wrote back to Qianzuifang in Luoyang, asking them to spread the news of Cao Rui's slip of the tongue. If this happened, Cao Rui would definitely lose favor with Cao Pi, and the throne might change hands. On the other hand, Feng Xi found Ma Liang and prepared to make up some folk stories to open Cao Pi's eyes...

"Humph! How shameful!"

In Luoyang, Cao Pi looked at the memorial presented by the Yin of Henan in front of him, snorted angrily, and threw the memorial on the table.

Since the matter concerned Cao Rui, Henan Yin had no choice but to be careful. The Luoyang Ling reported the incident to Henan Yin, who immediately reported everything about Qianzuifang to Cao Pi.

Since the matter concerns the princes of the Cao family, the Yin of Henan cannot help but act carefully.

Henan Yin's investigation was also quite detailed, and he recorded the reasons for most of Cao Rui's actions truthfully, even the fact that the two maids sang "The Goddess of the Luo River" was investigated - after all, these things were taught collectively by Qianzuifang, and it was impossible that Qianzuifang didn't know what song the maids would sing.

In addition to the two words that Cao Rui yelled at the time and smashed Xiao Cui's mother's head to pieces, this matter was too bad. Even Henan Yin did not dare to act on his own and could only submit the matter to Cao Pi for the decision.

"You don't even know your last name after drinking a little bit of wine, right? Goddess of Luo River... Are you still holding a grudge against Zhen Shi..."

As the emperor, Cao Pi naturally knew the name of Qianzuifang and had drunk the wine there. He knew that although it tasted good, he felt that Cao Rui would not lose his composure like that. If he couldn't drink, he could just sit at the same table with the children. Why would he embarrass himself by going out?
Of course, Cao Pi didn't know that Qianzuifang prepared a very strong fruit wine for Cao Rui that day. This fruit wine has a characteristic that it tastes soft on the palate but has a strong aftertaste.

At first when Cao Rui drank the wine, he only felt a fruity taste in his mouth and did not feel like he was drinking at all. However, as time went on, the alcohol in his stomach began to take effect and Cao Rui's brain began to become confused.

What happened next was just as mentioned before. The poem "The Goddess of Luo River" directly aroused Cao Rui's resentment, causing him to commit a shocking murder in Qianzuifang.

"Humph... Although he is my son and the Marquis of Pingyuan, he killed three civilians in broad daylight. If he is not punished, he will only be laughed at by the people of the world!"

Cao Pi flicked his sleeves and stood up. The Henan Yin who had taken action lowered his head and remained silent, waiting for Cao Pi to speak.

"Marquis of Pingyuan Cao Rui, as a member of the Cao clan, should set an example and cultivate his character. Now Cao Rui has committed a shocking murder in Luoyang City, which has damaged the reputation of the Cao clan. The law does not favor the rich, and I cannot sacrifice the public for personal gain. I order Marquis of Pingyuan Cao Rui to return to his fiefdom of Pingyuan, reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, and not leave the country without permission."

Cao Pi paced back and forth while issuing the final order for Cao Rui. It seemed that he was being treated lightly and did not inflict any substantial punishment on Cao Rui, but even the governor of Henan knew that Cao Pi's punishment meant that Cao Rui, Marquis of Pingyuan, was out of the fight for the throne.

(End of this chapter)

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