Soldiers come to the world

Yedu in December is also a snow-covered world. The rivers are frozen, the lakes are frozen, and thick snow covers the whole land of Hebei. At this time, it is less than ten days before the New Year, but you can’t see it in Yedu city. The lively and prosperous scene of Chang'an.

The streets are deserted, there is a shortage of goods in the market, and there are few transactions. Most of the shops are closed and closed. The only businesses with better business are taverns and brothels.

Everyone in Yedu said that the New Year in Yedu is getting worse year by year. The Hefei War once made Jian'an 22 New Year's New Year extremely poor in supplies. With growth, Jian'an's 23rd New Year should improve, but on the contrary, this year's New Year is even more deserted and bleak than last year.

This is of course because of the great impact of a cleansing of officialdom, which made all officials feel insecure, and no one was in the mood to deal with the New Year's affairs. Cao Wei's tax revenue has dropped by more than half, and it has reached the point where the Cao Wei regime is difficult to maintain. Cao Cao had no choice but to attack the gentry with a large population and arable land in his later years.

The gentry who were hit used their methods to protest against the Cao Wei regime, buying properties in Guan, and the family head moved westward, etc. Their resistance to the New Year was also one of the means of resistance for the gentry.

Although the New Year's atmosphere in Yedu was extremely deserted, Cao Pi, the ruler of Cao Wei, was in a particularly happy mood. A purge against Cao Zhi's forces finally achieved the pre-set goal, and Cao Zhi's remaining forces were almost wiped out. A well-known general with no power, and Cao Zhen took over the military power of Yuzhou in Xuchang, marking the victory of Cao Pi's purge campaign.

At the same time, Cao Pi is excited that his father's use of the army to implement the Dingling has achieved great results. The government has added one million hectares of cultivated land and 20 self-cultivated farmers. More than [-] households, which means that next year's tax revenue decline will be reversed.

Finance and taxation are the foundation of a regime. For Cao Pi, who is in charge of government affairs, this is an extremely exciting event, and it even makes him happier than winning a battle.

In the room, Cao Pi was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He just got the news that Zhong Yao had returned from Chang'an and was about to arrive in Yedu. In Cao Pi's eyes, Zhong Yao was definitely a fish that slipped through the cleansing of political enemies this time, and he supported Cao Zhi Heavyweight.

Although Cao Pi is not as good as his father Cao Cao in military affairs, he is worse than blue in political struggles. He knows the truth that power struggles must be wiped out, and he must completely overthrow Cao Zhi without giving him any chance to stand up , and the existence of Zhong Yao is the glimmer of hope for Cao Zhi to stand up.

Cao Pi secretly made up his mind that this time Zhong Yao must be eradicated no matter what, and he could not be allowed to escape this cleansing, so he used Zhong Yao as a net sacrifice for his official cleansing.

Just as he was thinking, there was a guard outside the door reporting: "Qi Shi, Hua Shi has arrived."

Cao Pi cheered up, and quickly said: "Please come in quickly!"

After a while, Hua Xin walked into the room quickly, bowed and saluted, "See the world!"

"Sit down and talk."

Cao Pi asked Hua Xin to sit down, and said to him, "I just got the news that Zhong Yao will soon arrive in Yedu."

Hua Xin was stunned, of course he knew what Cao Pi meant to him. Cao Pi wanted to attack Zhong Yao, which made Hua Xin a little embarrassed. Hua Xin knew Cao Pi very well. Can't tolerate dissidents, and kill Cao Zhi's forces, but sometimes it may not be a good thing to go too far.

Hua Xin is actually a narrow-minded person, but he has more brains than Cao Pi. He knows that the real power of Cao Wei is still in Cao Cao's hands. , and it's not too late.

But even though Hua Xin thought so, he didn't express it directly. He is a politician after all. The difference between a politician and a politician is that a politician needs to figure out what he wants, and Hua Xin needs to understand Cao Pi's will. Once Cao Pi eradicates Zhong Yao, his will is firm. , Hua Xin would be too opposed, and that would be bad for him.

Hua Xin pondered for a moment and said, "Although Duke Wei agreed to cleanse Zhigong's forces this time, it was also Duke Wei's arrangement to send Zhong Yao as an envoy to Jiaozhou. It can be seen that Duke Wei deliberately let Zhong Yao avoid this cleansing, Your Highness. If it is imperative to decide to eradicate Zhong Yao, we can only find a way from another aspect."

Hua Xin first implicitly reminded Cao Pi that eradicating Zhong Yao might offend Wei Gong, but he did not insist on objecting, but handed over the decision-making power to Cao Pi. He had already reminded Cao Pi that it was Cao Pi's own business to decide. .

Cao Pi took a piece of confidential information from the table. This is the letter that Yushi Cheng Yang Tian got from Chang'an, which recorded Zhong Yao's every move in Chang'an. This is why Cao Pi wanted to eradicate Zhong Yao. When the Han army hijacked him to Chang'an, he received a grand reception in Chang'an, and even Liu Jing, king of the Han Dynasty, even received him in person.

Cao Pi thinks this is a good opportunity. Of course, he can wait a few more years and deal with Zhong Yao after he is fully enthroned. It was this mentality of worrying about gains and losses that made Cao Pi finally decide to take action against Zhong Yao, using Zhong Yao to test his father's determination to succeed to the throne.

Although Cao Pi also recognized Zhong Yao as a prime minister, compared with his power, he can give up ten Zhong Yao. Cao Pi passed the information to Hua Xin, "You have a look first!"

Hua Xin took the information and read it carefully, and he was also secretly surprised. Could it be that Cao Pi wants to deal with Zhong Yao? This is indeed an opportunity, but Hua Xin didn't want to take on this matter. It's completely reasonable, don't show your face about this matter, stay out of it, and believe that Guild Wei will weigh its pros and cons."

Cao Pi nodded, "I also think about it in the same way. It's best for me to go to Taiyuan to urge the order to avoid this matter."

Hua Xin clapped her hands and laughed, "Shi Gaoming, it really is a good idea!"

Not long after Hua Xin left, Yushicheng Yang Tian hurried to Cao Pi's Xiangguo Mansion. Yang Tian was also in charge of Cao Jun's intelligence point in Han. Feige sent a letter to report to him.

Although Yang Tian secretly communicated with Han to a certain extent, he was the censor of Wei and Cao Pi's confidant after all, and he was also actively working for Cao Pi.

Yang Tian rushed to Cao Pi's study and bowed to him. Cao Pi ordered him to sit down and said slowly: "The information you sent is very important, and you can use it to bring down Zhong Yao. I will leave this matter to you. I hope you don't it disappointed me."

Yang Tian suddenly felt that his shoulders became heavy, and he actually entrusted himself with the important task of bringing down Zhong Yao, but he didn't dare to refuse, so he nodded silently. Cao Pi stared at him with piercing eyes, and was very satisfied to see that he did not retreat , and said again: "You draft a specific plan first, give it to me to see, and then I will go to Taiyuan to supervise the issuance of Ding Ling, and then you impeach Zhong Yao, and you must implement it as soon as possible at this time. You first tell me how long you need to prepare the plan ?”

"Weichen will take about three days!"

Cao Pi shook his head, "Three days is too long, you can give me the plan tomorrow!"

Zhong Yao and a dozen of his entourage returned to Yedu in the afternoon. After two months of long-distance travel, everyone was very tired. They returned home to reunite with their families in various ways. Zhong Yao also planned to write a mission report at night. Presented to Cao Cao early in the morning.

Most of Zhong Yao's entourage this time were his cronies, but there were also several low-level officials of the Wei State who accompanied Zhong Yao on his mission. Native.

After breaking up with Zhong Yao, he hurried home to reunite with his wife and children. Zhang Tan's family was not bad, with a small house covering an area of ​​two acres, five hectares of ancestral land outside the city of Yedu, and a maid at home. They can be considered well-off in Yedu.

It was getting dark, and the family was sitting by the stove for dinner. Listening to Zhang Tan telling anecdotes about Jiaozhou, the whole family laughed from time to time. At this moment, someone knocked on the door outside. When she came to the door, she asked the maid to open the door.

Not long after, the maid walked back quickly and said to Zhang Tan, "Master, I am looking for your guest."

"I gonna go see!"

Zhang Tan put down the bowl and went to the courtyard, only to see a person standing with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, looking at his house, there seemed to be a few attendants outside the door, the faint light shone on the visitor's face, Zhang Tan was stunned for a moment Oh, it turned out that the person who came was Yu Shi Cheng Yang Tian.

He was so frightened that he quickly stepped forward to salute, "I will see Yang Cheng!"

Yang Tian glanced at him and smiled, and said with a half smile but not a smile: "Your house is not bad!"

Yang Tian received rave reviews in the official circles of Yedu, and he was known as a cruel official. Especially in recent months, he launched the Jian'an Seven Cases, cleaned up hundreds of officials, and dealt viciously. The officials who died in Yushi Prison No less than 20 people.

Although Zhang Tan just came back, he also heard about it on the way. Now that Yang Tian appeared at his house, how could he not be frightened? It is the ancestral house, which has been handed down for five generations."

"I see, Zhang Zong, asking me to stand in the yard to enjoy the snow, doesn't seem to be the way to treat guests!"

Zhang Tan was so frightened that he hurriedly opened the study door, "Yang Cheng, please come in!"

The brazier was already lit in the study, it was very warm, Zhang Tan was going to take a good rest in the study, but Yang Tian took the lead, he asked Yang Tian to sit down, and walked out of the courtyard, just in time his wife came over and asked: "Who is it? "

"Don't ask too much, go and make a pot of good tea."

Zhang Tan asked his wife a few words in a low voice, then returned to the study, and said with a smile: "Yang Cheng wait a moment, my wife has already gone to make tea."

"Hehe! I'm not here for tea, I just want to chat with Zhang Zheng."

With a sinister smile on Yang Tian's face, he waved his hand politely: "Please sit down, Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Tan was very afraid of this Yu Shucheng, and sat down tremblingly, Yang Tian then asked lightly: "Zhang Zong also went to Chang'an this time!"