Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 48. King Wu of Wei
"The Han Emperor should calm down his wrath. The Duke of Wu has now investigated the matter of Guan Gong. When Guan Gong took Xiangyang, Cao Cao repeatedly wrote to the Duke of Wu, asking him to attack Jingzhou.

The Marquis of Wu was unwilling to grant the order at first, but because Lü Meng and Guan Gong were not on good terms, he raised troops without authorization and caused great trouble. Now the Marquis of Wu regrets it too late, and this is Lü Meng's fault, not the Marquis of Wu's.

Now that Lü Meng is dead and the hatred is over, I hope the Emperor of Han will put the world first and join hands with the Marquis of Wu to fight against Cao Cao and restore order to the country; do not ignore Wei and instead attack Wu, which will only make the world look down on Your Majesty. "

When Liu Bei heard Zhuge Jin's words, which again put all the blame on the dead man Lu Meng, he sneered again.

"The hatred for killing my brother is irreconcilable! If you want me to withdraw my troops, you must be killed! If it weren't for the Prime Minister, I would have killed you today as a sacrifice! Now I will let you go back and tell Sun Quan to wash your neck and kill you!"

At this time, Liu Bei was unwilling to talk with Sun Wu any more. On the one hand, the army of the whole country was really overwhelming, and the people of Wu dared not face it. On the other hand, Sun Quan sent envoys several times, but they were just talking nonsense and had no intention of repenting.

Previously, Zhuge Jin first said that it was Cao Cao's evil plot, the Marquis of Wu made a wrong judgment, and even wanted to get something for nothing; now he said that it was the dead Lu Meng who started the war recklessly, and put all the faults on Lu Meng, leaving no evidence. I wonder what Lu Meng would think if he knew this.

Zhuge Jin was driven away by Liu Bei and had no choice but to return to Eastern Wu.

The Wei State was not very peaceful this month.

There were constant rumors in Luoyang and Xudu that Cao Cao had suffered a headache several months ago and had nightmares. He had dreamed of three horses feeding in a strange trough for several days in a row. When asked about it, Jia Xu replied that it was a lucky horse, a good omen, and that the lucky horse would belong to Cao.

But in fact, this dream was Jia Xu's nonsense. The three horses are a homophone of Sima, and they refer to Sima Yi, Sima Zhao, and Sima Shi and his son. The trough is the food of Cao. This dream implies that Sima and his son will secretly eat up Cao's foundation.

For a time, this dream interpretation rumor spread like wildfire, and even Cao Pi in the deep palace knew about it.

"Send it to Grand Commandant Jia Xu."

After hearing this, Cao Pi immediately summoned Jia Xu for questioning.

"I have met His Majesty."

Jia Xu looked very old, but Cao Pi knew that although this old man looked listless, he was a man of more evil than anyone else.

"Does General Jia know about the rumors circulating among the people?"

Cao Pi didn't hesitate and asked Jia Xu directly.

"I am very old now and have never paid attention to what the people say. I would like to hear more about it."

Cao Pi then told the first half of the folk rumor and then looked at Jia Xu.

"General Jia, is this true? Did the late emperor ever ask General Jia about this dream?"

Jia Xu shook his head in confusion.

"I am old and frail, so I am afraid I cannot remember clearly. Perhaps I have asked."

"What did General Jia say? Can I repeat it again?"

"Your Majesty, please tell me."

Cao Pi said it again, but Jia Xu still looked dazed.

"I don't know how to interpret dreams. Even if I did, it was just a joke and can't be taken seriously."

"In that case, I'm sorry to trouble General Jia to come here. Now you can go back and rest."

Seeing Jia Xu's half-dead appearance, Cao Pi lost interest and waved his hand to send him away. It didn't matter if Jia Xu pretended to be dead, as the palace people must have known about it, and he could also verify it from various sources.

When Jia Xu returned home, he no longer looked dazed and confused, but his eyes were shining brightly.

"Tsk tsk, Sima Yi... the young are really formidable. But I, an old man, am too lazy to get involved in these matters..."

Jia Xu returned to his small recliner, squinted his eyes and basked in the sun, feeling extremely comfortable.

"Who is it! How could he want to harm me like this!" Sima Yi was also shocked when he heard the rumor. His two sons were only in their early ten years old. How could he and his two sons be Sima Shicao?
What was even worse was that Cao Pi had already called Jia Xu over for questioning. This didn't seem like he trusted him at all.

As Sima Yi expected, although Cao Pi seemed to have no opinion about him, he looked at him strangely in the court these few days.

"Your Majesty, the Sun Wu army is now gathering in the northern part of Jingzhou. Fancheng and Xiangyang are empty, lacking soldiers and food. It would be better to order the general to abandon these two cities and return to defend Wancheng to prepare for Sun Quan."

Some court officials petitioned Cao Pi, and Cao Pi naturally sought everyone's opinions.

"Absolutely not. Xiangyang and Fancheng are strong cities. How can we give them up rashly?! Sun Quan has just acquired Jingzhou, and Liu Bei is ready to make a move. There will definitely be a fight between the two families. How can they have the time to attack Xiangyang?"

Sima Yi immediately stood up to oppose it, but he didn't expect that except for him, almost all the civil and military officials in the court agreed to give up Xiangyang and Fancheng.

"Even if Shu and Wu fight, we can besiege Wancheng, give up Jingbei, let the two sides fight, wait for them to be defeated, and then reap the benefits. Isn't that wonderful?"

Sikong Wang Lang spoke loudly on the side, and all the ministers agreed.

Sima Yi was speechless. From Cao Pi to all the ministers, everyone agreed with this plan. So what else could he do?

So after receiving the order, Cao Ren moved all the people in Xiangyang and Fancheng to the north and burned the two cities. When the news spread to Wu and Sichuan, it did not cause much commotion, after all, both sides were eager to fight and were on guard against each other.

Although Cao Pi was somewhat skeptical about this interpretation of the dream, he did not quite believe that this was a counter-espionage plot by Shu or Wu.

After all, Sima Yi was only a minister, not a general at the border. Why did the other two parties, who had nothing else to do, spread rumors about him? At this time, Wei had countless options for him, both in terms of official position and importance. Why did they choose Sima Yi?
Therefore, Cao Pi actually believed it quite a bit, at least he had verified its authenticity. As for whether the content of the dream interpretation would come true, he had already begun to be cautious.

On this side, Zhuge Jin hurried back to Jiangdong after several days and met with Sun Quan in Chaisang. He told Sun Quan that Liu Bei was unwilling to reconcile, which made Sun Quan even more anxious.

"If this is the case, Jiangdong is in danger! What good ideas do you have?"

A man stood up from the hall, bowed and said:

"My lord, don't panic. I have a plan that can resolve this crisis."

Sun Quan looked and saw that it was the Senior Official Zhao Zi.

"What good plan does Dedu have? Tell me quickly."

"My lord, please write a letter. I am willing to be an envoy to see the Wei Emperor Cao Pi and explain the pros and cons. If I were to attack Hanzhong, the Shu army would be in danger."

Sun Quan was overjoyed and presented an imperial edict, ordering Zhao Zi to go to Xu Du to meet Cao Pi.

Cao Pi knew that this was a plan of the Eastern Wu to let Cao Wei rescue Zhao, but he still received Zhao Zi. Although Zhao Zi came to offer a letter of surrender, he was neither humble nor arrogant, and his answers were quite methodical, which made Cao Pi admire Zhao Zi's courage.

So Cao Pi ordered the Minister of Rites Xing Zhen to confer the title of King of Wu on Sun Quan and grant him the Nine Gifts. The official Liu Ye asked Cao Pi about this.

"Why don't you send a general to the south to attack Wu? If Wu is destroyed, Shu can also be destroyed."

Cao Pi smiled and said:

"Sun Quan is willing to surrender. If I attack him, I am afraid it will hurt the people of the country."

Liu Ye added:

"Now, Your Majesty believes his false surrender and crowns him king. This is like giving wings to a tiger."

"No. I will not help Wu, nor will I help Shu. Wait and see if Wu and Shu go to war. If one country is destroyed and only one country remains, then it will be easy to get rid of it. I have made up my mind, so don't say anything more."

Cao Pi no longer paid attention to Liu Ye, but asked the Minister of Rites Xing Zhen and Zhao Zi to return to Jiangdong together and give Sun Quan, the King of Wu, all the necessary items.

(End of this chapter)