Soldiers come to the world

Liu Jing gave a ten-day deadline. In order to meet the ten-day deadline, Gan Ning also withdrew his troops from Jingkou. He had only [-] troops left, unable to defend Jingkou.

For this reason, Han Dang wrote several times to ask Sun Quan for help, but there was no reply, as if Sun Quan was no longer interested in Jingkou.

In fact, after Liu Jing put forward the three conditions, Sun Quan kept silent. Jianye Palace didn't make any statement, didn't meet anyone again, and no one knew what he was thinking?

Although Sun Quan was silent, the Jiangdong government and the public fell into the short period of calm before the rainstorm.

The calm situation is turbulent. The three conditions offered by Liu Jing have long been known to everyone, and every household is closing their doors to debate these three conditions. Some people think that this is Liu Jing's pretentious gesture, making Jiangdong unacceptable conditions, while others think it is this. Liu Jing's act of benevolence and righteousness is due to Jiang Dong's ignorance of current affairs.

But whether it is supporters or opponents, everyone has a consensus, that is, Jiangdong may not be spared this time. Back then, Jiangdong vowed to destroy Jingzhou and unify the south. Today, the unification of the south is getting closer, but it is Jiangdong. The old opponent, Liu Jing of Jingzhou, made people feel the ruthless teasing of fate.

For ordinary people, the capture of Jiangdong by the Han army means the arrival of light corvée and poor taxation, which means that they can have enough to eat, and that the men of the family do not have to hide in the east and suffer the pain of war. This is what they have longed for. I hate that ten days are too long, and I hate that the Jiangdong Army has to resist.

As for senior officials and generals, the destruction of Jiangdong will make them face the choice of their future again, whether to return to the north to join Cao Wei, or to die with Wuhou, or to be loyal to Han for the benefit of the family. Everyone is faced with a choice, and it is difficult to decide. They still hold a glimmer of hope.

Or miracles will happen again, just like the plague that happened to Cao Jun back then, Cao Cao defeated Chibi and evacuated to the south. In short, until the last moment, senior officials and generals will not easily make the final decision.

Time passed day by day, and what happened in Jiangdong was quickly spread from Cao Wei's intelligence system to Yedu, and presented to Cao Cao's desk.

Inside the Tongque Palace in Yedu, Cao Cao handed the latest information to military commander Cheng Yu, and said with a smile, "Zhongde, let's have a look! This is the latest information from Jiangdong, it's really interesting."

Cheng Yu took the information, read it roughly, passed it to Cao Pi who was sitting next to him, and smiled at him, "How does the world think about this?"

This information was reported by Cao Pi to his father. He already knew it well. Seeing that Cheng Yu gave him a chance to speak, he said, "I thought it was Liu Jing's posturing to make his attack on Jiangdong reasonable and legal. , to use presumption to talk about things, in fact, it is impossible for Sun Quan to agree to these conditions."

Cao Cao nodded, "My son is right. This is indeed an excuse Liu Jing found. He didn't want to use the excuse of bullying the weak. When I went to Jingzhou, I also needed the consent of the Tianxia. Although many people have forgotten the sky now, some It doesn't matter if there is no Heavenly Edict, but Liu Jing considers himself the heir of the Han Dynasty after all, and the name of being a teacher is still very important to him. He accused Sun Quan of arrogating, but did not give him a chance to correct it. This is clearly aimed at me. Don't give me a chance to help Sun Quan."

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Duke Wei wants to help Sun Quan?"

Cao Cao smiled wryly and said: "Last year, in order to keep Sun Quan, I did not hesitate to use the power of the whole country to fight against Liu Jing in Hefei. As long as I can keep Jiangdong, the three kingdoms will emerge. Unfortunately, Hefei lost and Jianghuai lost, which means I can no longer help Jiangdong, which also means that the siege of Jiangdong by the Han army is complete. At that time, I knew that Jiangdong was powerless, and it would be a matter of time before he was destroyed. Jing, what's the point to Jiangdong?"

"Father means, do we give up Jiangdong?" Cao Pi said unwillingly.

Cao Cao glanced at him, and said in a drawn out voice, "It's not that I want to give up on Jiangdong, but that Jiangdong's situation is gone, and I have no way to recover. Why can't I see through the situation?"

Cao Cao's tone was full of dissatisfaction, and Cao Pi was so frightened that he said quickly: "My boy means that father also needs to make a statement. Even if he can't help Jiangdong, he can at least give an explanation to the people of the world."

There was some truth in this sentence, Cao Cao asked Cheng Yu again, "What does Zhong De mean?"

Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "Weichen thinks that silence is the best way to express one's position. If you speak too much, you will lose something. It is better not to say something."

Cao Pi was very dissatisfied, and he looked back at Cheng Yu, "There have been drastic changes in Jiangdong, but we have remained silent. Isn't this deceitful? It will make people in the world think that we are showing weakness and compromising with Liu Jing. If we don't sympathize with Jiangdong today, who will we in the future?" Will you sympathize with us again?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Cao Cao scolded angrily and interrupted Cao Pi's words. Cao Pi didn't dare to continue, so he had to bow his head in resentment, and cursed Cheng Yu inwardly.

Cao Pi didn't understand Cheng Yu's meaning, but Cao Cao did. Cheng Yu told him not to express his opinion easily. The Sun Quan regime was already unpopular, and unifying the south was what the people wanted. If he supported Sun Quan at this juncture, he would not be able to save him. Sun Quan would still drag himself into the water, keep silent, and pretend to be ignorant of this matter. This is indeed the best choice at present. As for expressing his position, we will talk about it later.

Cao Cao and Cheng Yu looked at each other, and they both laughed tacitly, they were thinking the same thing.

At this time, Cao Cao glared at Cao Pi again. Cao Pi's choice really disappointed him. A 35-year-old man with such a simple political mind, if he died, how could he be Liu Jing's opponent.

The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and he asked Cao Pi again: "How is the progress of the Ding Ling now? Why haven't you reported it to me?"

Cao Pi's heart skipped a beat, he was afraid that his father would ask him about the Ding Ling, dividing the land and abandoning the slaves, which would touch the vital interests of countless high-ranking officials and rich families, the local government generally resisted, and it was impossible to implement it at all. This matter has passed After more than half a year, he couldn't think about it at first, but he didn't expect his father to ask this matter again at this juncture, how should he answer?

But his father was staring at him sternly, so Cao Pi could not avoid it, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say: "Issuing the order involves too much, and it cannot be resolved with a single order from the father, nor can it be completed in a few months. The child needs time." .”

"Hmph! Why does it take time? I don't think you want to do this at all!"

"Of course my boy wants to do it. There are too few self-cultivating farmers, which has seriously affected our financial recovery. Although the summer grain harvest is bumper, the government tax has dropped by [-]% compared to last year. Of course, it is related to the large number of fugitives, but the root cause is that the rich and powerful have hidden too much. The population of self-cultivating farmers is less than half of what it was ten years ago, and the child knows that this is the foundation of the community, so he is also very anxious, but it does take time."

Cao Cao's expression softened slightly, "Since you know the problem is serious, I won't be harsh on you, but you must give me a plan and time. I want to know what you are going to do and how long it will take?"

Cao Pi replied helplessly: "I'll go back and draft it, my son!"

"Go!" Cao Cao waved his hand and told Cao Pi to leave.

Cao Pi got up and stepped back slowly, watching his son go away, Cao Cao sighed, and said to Cheng Yu worriedly: "Zhongde, I am really worried now, did I choose the wrong life in this life, maybe I let San inherit my career That's the wise move."

Cheng Yu smiled wryly in his heart, and said to Cao Cao: "Since Wei Gong has made his choice, don't change it easily, otherwise it will shake the foundation of the country. Although Shi Shi is not as good as Liu Jing in terms of political acumen and control of the overall situation, at least he is diligent. , and I know a thing or two about the issue of Ding Ling. There are many opponents, especially the strong opposition from the military. However, it took Liu Jing ten years to gradually achieve results, not to mention the deep-rooted interests of Cao Wei, Weichen, I am afraid that he will end up digging the canal like Sun Quan."

Cheng Yu said it very implicitly, but Cao Cao understood it very well. After carrying out the Ding Ling, he finally made a wedding dress for Liu Jing. Cao Cao was also very helpless, so he could only sigh: "I just couldn't shake the interests of high-ranking officials and dignitaries, so I used I have come up with a compromise method, ordering the army to garrison the fields, to solve the urgent need of lack of military rations, but compromise is not a permanent solution, I hope that before I die, I can solve my confidant problems that I have not been able to complete, it seems that there is still no hope."

Cheng Yu saw that Cao Cao was somewhat confused by the authorities, so he couldn't help reminding him, "Duke Wei's confidant's troubles should be external troubles, not internal troubles."

Cheng Yu's words awakened Cao Cao, and he suddenly realized that his confidant's serious trouble was Liu Jing. If he enforced the Ding Decree and caused civil strife in Cao Wei, it would just give Liu Jing the opportunity to send troops to Cao Wei, and he almost reversed his priorities.

He asked again: "Among the military divisions, how should I deal with this Jiangdong change?"

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Why did Duke Wei marry his daughter to Liu Jing?"

Cao Cao finally nodded, "I understand the meaning of the military division, and we should use the same to respond to all changes, and seize the time to restore our strength."

Cheng Yu said meaningfully: "Liu Jing made a two-year peace treaty with us. I think he must have thought it through carefully. If I guessed correctly, after the Han army fell to Jiangdong, the next target must be Jiaozhou Liu Bei."