Soldiers come to the world

Although Liu Jing hoped that Ma Chao could rein in the precipice, he was disappointed by the development of the matter. In late April of the 22nd year of Jian'an, Ma Chao announced to the world, and Hexi officially separated from the Han Dynasty and belonged to the imperial court. He proclaimed himself King of Xiliang, and sent people day and night He also rushed to Yedu to present to the imperial court, hoping that the imperial court would recognize his kingdom as self-reliant.

In Yedu, the news of Ma Chao's self-reliance shocked the government and the public, and it became the news that Yedu was talking about wildly. Almost everyone in the streets and alleys was talking about it. The degree of this kind of heated discussion completely surpassed the importance of the news itself.

It is also understandable that after the defeat of Hefei, the entire Yedu was immersed in the pain of failure. They were suppressed by the aggressiveness of the Han army and lost their laughter. The news of the split of the country, how can this not make the people of Yedu ecstatic, how can it not make the people of Yedu feel elated.

For a while, the gloom over Yedu due to Hefei's defeat was also washed away by this news, as if the sky had also turned blue. For many people, this was the best news of this spring.

Even Cao Cao's spirit improved a lot. For the first time, he held a banquet in Tongque Terrace to entertain all civil and military officials.

In the banquet hall of Tongque Terrace, hundreds of officials gathered together, nominally to welcome the May [-]th Festival of Worshiping the Gods and Driving Diseases, but in fact, everyone understood that this was celebrating the split of the Han Kingdom.

This is also Cao Cao's first public appearance since he came back from Hefei last year. For almost a year, he lived in the palace on the grounds of recuperating from his illness, and kept his house behind closed doors. All government affairs were decided by his son Cao Pi, even if Cao Pi was not in Yedu. , was also dealt with by Shi Xuyi, the head of the prime minister's office.

However, Cao Cao showed up again today, which surprised many people. In just over a year, Cao Cao, who used to be mighty and strong, has disappeared, and has become a thin, sick and weak old man with rickets. It can be seen that he has reached the end of his life , at most one or two years.

Many officials were shocked and worried about the future of the Wei state. Although the Han state is now split, how long will this split last?How much damage can it cause Han?

In the lobby, only Cao Cao's voice was heard slowly speaking, "Today is May [-]th, according to the old customs, the river god should be sacrificed. I have ordered the local officials of all counties to sacrifice to the river, but I am not in good health, so I can't go far away. On the other side, we can only hold a banquet here to have fun with the princes and Jiangshen."

Everyone was silent and listened, lest they miss Cao Cao's important conversation, "Just yesterday, there was good news from Hexi. Our rival finally broke out. Self-reliance, to be honest, I really wanted to suggest that the Son of Heaven canonize him as the King of Hexi, but I didn't do so, because I don't want to see Longyou Hexi being ruined and the people displaced, so I hope the King of Han can negotiate with Ma Chao to find a A plan acceptable to both sides, strike and put out all weapons, so that the people can enjoy eternal peace."

Although the words are very pleasant, many people understand that it is because Wei Gong is not optimistic about Ma Chao's self-reliance and does not want to offend Liu Jing, so he refuses to agree to make Ma Chao the king of Xiliang. neutral.

At this time, Cao Cao laughed again: "It's rare to have such a banquet, everyone is waiting impatiently, so I won't say more, let's enjoy it to the fullest!"

All the officials sat down one after another, and the banquet began. There was an endless flow of maids serving wine and food, and there were whispers in the lobby.

Cao Cao couldn't drink alcohol, and couldn't bear too much noise. He only sat for a while, and then left the table. In fact, his appearance this time was not just to celebrate the split of the Han Kingdom, but more because of the ruling and opposition parties in Yedu some time ago. It was rumored that he was on his deathbed, and in order to break the rumors, the best way was to make a public appearance.

Back in the back hall, his daughter Cao Xian hurriedly helped him to sit down. Cao Cao said, "I'm in a good mood today, and I feel much better."

"The father is in good spirits, and the daughter is also happy."

Cao Xian smiled, remembered something again, and said to his father, "Father, there is something my daughter wants to report to my father."

"what's up?"

"Han Wangfei sent someone to send a dress to her daughter."

Cao Cao was taken aback, "Is there such a thing?"

"Just this morning, the clothes sender said that this was a gift from Princess Han for her daughter, and my daughter also felt a little strange."

Cao Cao thought for a moment, then hurriedly asked: "What kind of long skirt is it?"

"Just an ordinary linen dress."

Cao Cao suddenly understood, and couldn't help laughing out loud. Cao Xian's face flushed suddenly, and he complained softly, "Father, please don't laugh at your daughter like that."

"Good! Good! I'm not laughing, I'm not laughing at you."

Cao Cao held back his laughter, and quickly told the guards standing at the door, "Go and invite Junshi Cheng!"

The guards hurried away, and Cao Cao said to his daughter: "Xian'er, this dress is very meaningful! Daddy wants to congratulate you."

"My daughter doesn't understand, why did Princess Han give her a long linen dress?"

"This means that Princess Han has accepted you. The last time the King of Han married Princess Shangxiang, Princess Han sent someone to give her a long linen dress. It was made by Princess Han herself. It should be the same this time. That is to say, she is willing to accept you as a sister, and hopes that you can live a simple life, and this marriage is about to begin again."

Only then did Cao Xian understand the deep meaning of Princess Han. It turned out that this was her ritual, so what should I give her in return?

At this moment, Cheng Yu came hurriedly from the front hall, bowed and saluted, "See Duke Wei!"

Cao Cao nodded, "Zhongde, please sit down!"

He said to his daughter again: "As a father, I want to discuss some important military affairs with Cheng Shibo, you should step down first!"

"Yes! My daughter retire."

Cao Xian bowed his knees and bowed to Cheng Yu, then left in a hurry, watching his daughter disappear, Cao Cao smiled at Cheng Yu: "It's unexpected! Liu Jing showed me his favor in this way .”

"Wei Gong, what happened?" Cheng Yu asked puzzled.

"Han Wangfei sent someone to send a fine linen dress to Xian'er today. What does Zhongde mean when she says it is?"

Cheng Yu pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "This is the continuation of the marriage that was interrupted last year."

Cao Cao nodded, "This should be what Liu Jing meant. He was actually reminding me tactfully not to participate in the Hexi Rebellion."

"That's true. Using marriage to show your favor to Duke Wei means that Liu Jing is going to attack Hexi. How does Duke Wei think about it?"

"I originally planned to be neutral. It would be best to persuade the two parties to reconcile and stop fighting, so that Ma Chao can be left as a thorn in Liu Jing's back. However, I guess Liu Jing will not be ambiguous in this kind of matter, and will never be easy on himself. There are hidden dangers behind, and troops will definitely be sent to quell the chaos in Hexi. I just hate that the battle in Hefei was in full swing last year, and there were not many Han troops in Guanzhong. Why didn’t Ma Chao stand on his own then?”

"Perhaps Ma Chao was ashamed of Liu Jing and didn't want to take advantage of the danger of the Han army to send troops to Guanzhong."

"Hmph! This is the kindness of his woman. He is doomed to be unable to achieve great things, so I don't think highly of him. He wants me to recognize him as the king of Xiliang. Just dream!"

Cao Cao was very annoyed. If Ma Chao had been able to send troops to Guanzhong during the most intense battle in Hefei last year, the entire battle situation and even the entire world situation would have been rewritten. At that time, not to mention the king of Xiliang, even the king of Fengguanzhong would agree. Unfortunately, Ma Chao did not He was willing to cooperate with himself, causing Cao Jun to be exhausted and defeated. Now that he is thinking about self-reliance, will he recognize a Qiang regime?

Cheng Yu pondered for a moment and said: "Now that the summer grain has not been harvested, it is the time when we are extremely short of food. It is obviously unrealistic for us to send troops to help Ma Chao at this time. Since we can't help Ma Chao, and since Ma Chao is sure to lose, why don't we sell it to him?" Is Liu Jing a favor?"

"What kind of favor does a military division refer to?"

"Ma Chao expelled Han officials and relied on Qiang Di. This is not only splitting the Han country, but also splitting the court. The emperor should condemn Ma Chao for selling the Han soil and attempting to reduce Hexi to the territory of Rong and Di. General Zhengxi, in this way, Liu Jing has gained a political advantage and used the king's teacher to recover Hexi, why didn't Duke Wei take advantage of this favor?"

Cao Cao smiled slightly, "How can I benefit from giving him a favor?"

"Didn't Duke Wei issue the order? I believe that Liu Jing won this favor, so he won't oppose Duke Wei on the issue of the order."

One sentence reminded Cao Cao that issuing the Ding Order was to strictly order the wealthy families from all over the country to release the hidden population. Due to the large number of self-cultivating farmers fleeing to Han, the population of Bingzhou, Central Plains and Hebei has dropped sharply.

But Cao Cao knew very well that a large number of people were hidden by wealthy families in various places during the war. If these hidden people were released, the imperial court would increase at least millions of self-cultivating farmers, which would have a crucial impact on improving the imperial court's taxation.

Of course, this is something that offends people and will violate the vital interests of the rich and powerful families in the world, so Cao Cao has not dared to implement it lightly for many years, but now that the court cannot maintain its operation, he has no choice but to take this risky move.

The key is that as long as Liu Jing does not publicly oppose his Dingling, he has the confidence to make this reform a success.

Cao Cao nodded, "Zhongde is right. I believe he is also a person with a long-term vision. He will not object to my order. I will meet the emperor tomorrow."

At the beginning of May in the 22nd year of Jian'an, the emperor issued a decree in Yedu, strongly condemning Ma Chao for splitting the territory of the Han Dynasty and giving it to Rong and Di.

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