Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 484 478. Border between Wei and Han
In this timeline, it is the fifth month of the lunar calendar in the seventh year of Huangchu and the fifth year of Jianxing, which is June 226 AD. On this day, Cao Pi was handling the political affairs of the Wei Dynasty as usual, hoping that the Wei Dynasty could defeat the rebellion in the south as soon as possible and unify the entire Central Plains.

"How has Rui'er been doing since she came back? How about Li'er?"

While reading the battle report from Cao Xiu, Cao Pi asked the attendants who were sent to observe the two crown princes.

Cao Pi originally wanted Cao Li to be the crown prince, but Cao Li's performance disappointed Cao Pi, so Cao Pi finally called Cao Rui back. Although Cao Pi did not like Cao Rui very much, from a rational point of view, Cao Rui was currently the most capable of Cao Pi's sons, except for that stain.

Others, such as Cao Xie and Cao Gong, died of illness early, and Cao Pi had no time to train and observe them before they died. Or Cao Lin, whose behavior was completely unrelated to the word "ruler", was fine as a dandy rich man, but it was pure wishful thinking to let them rule the world and fight against the fake Han in the south.

Finally, Cao Pi observed and found that only Cao Rui, Cao Rui, and Cao Li were capable, still alive, and relatively healthy. However, after Cao Pi observed Cao Rui for a while, he felt that he was still too mediocre, so he simply did not continue to train him in depth, but focused on training Cao Rui and Cao Li.

However, Cao Li must be pushed, otherwise he will completely lose his personality once he relaxes. This is why Cao Pi called Cao Rui back, hoping that the two of them could serve as each other's sharpening stones, just like himself and Cao Zhi in the past.

The situation was just as Cao Pi had thought. Since he called Cao Rui back last month, Cao Li had become much more honest and his behavior was no longer as unscrupulous as before.

"Your Majesty, the two marquises have behaved well these past two days and nothing out of the ordinary has happened."

Cao Pi was relieved after hearing this answer. He nodded and sent the guard away, and continued to look at the battle report in his hand. This battle report was sent by Cao Xiu in Huainan. Since Li Yan became the governor of Yangzhou, the Han army took in many surrendered generals from the Eastern Wu, and vigorously developed the navy and navy, there have been constant frictions between the two sides.

Ever since the "elite navy" trained in the Xuanwu Pool was completely wiped out, the Han navy has become even more unscrupulous on the Yangtze River, often harassing counties and villages north of the Yangtze River, spreading rumors that were unfavorable to Cao Wei, and even directly distributing things saying "surrender to the Han Dynasty with this thing to get preferential treatment."

The losses caused by these actions were not particularly large. At most, some people could not resist the temptation and really brought their families to the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, the Han people always kept their words. They could choose Jiaozhou, Izu, or Wodao to farm anywhere they wanted. In the past, anyone who opened a field could become a big landlord.

Anyway, what Feng Xi is doing now is to expand the territory of the Han Dynasty as much as possible. What will happen a hundred years later and what kind of heroes will appear are really beyond Feng Xi's prediction.

Feng Xi was happy, but Cao Pi was not. Now the morale of the army and the people in Huainan area was in turmoil. Needless to say, the morale of the army was low. Every day, they watched the Han army showing off their might on the Yangtze River, while they could only passively take the beating. Who wouldn't feel upset?

The low morale of the army was inevitable. In addition, Cao Xiu had previously believed the words of the Xuanwuchi Navy and fought a fierce battle with the Han army. Then the Xuanwuchi Navy lost all its people and ships, and it was the time to attack Cao's army in Huainan. However, Cao Xiu was anxious, but he had no choice but to set up defenses on the shore to reduce the losses caused by the Han army's harassment.

The people's sentiment was even more so. The Han army constantly distributed all kinds of newspapers and periodicals from Jingzhou, and often used loudspeakers to spread the message that Cao Wei had obtained the country in an unjust way, that the Cao family would be punished by God, and that this was the case with Cao Pi's several sons.

After the hard way, there were also many temptations such as going to Jiaozhou, Yizhou and other places to open up wasteland. After all, the Han people were full of desire for fertile fields. In addition, the government agreed that if you cultivated those places for three years, the fields would belong to you. The tax rate was 40% to 60% in the first three years, and only 30% after three years. This tax rate was nearly half lower than that of Cao Wei, and there were still fields, which made people tempted. In addition, although Wei and Han were in opposition, there were frequent private exchanges between merchants, and ordinary people still had some knowledge of what the Han Dynasty was like. Many people were fooled by the Han Dynasty and ran away with their families overnight.

Now Cao Wei only has defensive forces in Huainan, but as the old saying goes, there are always thieves who commit thieves the day before yesterday, but there is no one who guards against thieves for a thousand days. Cao Xiu has been on the defensive like this and has been very angry. This time he wrote to Cao Pi to ask if he could find an opportunity to test Jiangdong.

Cao Pi rubbed his temples, feeling a headache. He also didn't want the Han army to be so calm and motionless like a turtle. After all, it's better not to do anything. Only when the other side moves, they may make mistakes, and only when they make mistakes will they have the opportunity to hit them head-on. If the Wei army just fights on the river, it will definitely suffer.

"no."

Cao Pi wrote a big word on Cao Xiu's memorial and request for war, which put an end to Cao Xiu's idea. The main reason was that Cao Pi could not see through the intentions of the Han army. If the Han army was busy dealing with the Eastern Wu and the rebels before, then the Han army was too quiet in the past two years. It was really strange that there was no movement at all.

The commander-in-chief of the Han army was quite cunning, and his tactics were strange and disorganized. Even a veteran general like Cao Ren could suffer at his hands, so Cao Pi did not dare to launch an attack rashly, for fear that he would be the next victim.

"It's really passive. But I heard that the Han army has crossed to the Wa Island, saying that they have restored order for the Wa country, but I don't know what the situation is. If the Han army still doesn't move in another two years, it's better to clean up Liaodong."

Cao Pi glanced at the map of the Central Plains behind his study and thought for a while. The Han army was preparing for battle at the border, but there was no actual action, as if they were waiting for something. This made Cao Pi suspicious again. He thought that the Han army was plotting or taking advantage of the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, so he could only ask all places to strengthen their guards to prevent the Han army's surprise attack.

"call……"

Cao Pi leaned over the table again and thought about the situations in Guanzhong, Nanyang and other places. After making arrangements, he slumped in his chair, rubbing his head.

Since entering middle age, Cao Pi's health has deteriorated. Now, whenever he handles official business for a period of time, his head will hurt like a knife.

Even if Cao Pi stood up rashly, he would occasionally feel dizzy, but this was an old problem, so Cao Pi did not take it seriously. He just sat down and continued to rest. He only dared to get up and walk out after his body felt a little better.

"Alas... Father, I don't know if I can live to your age."

(End of this chapter)