Sima Yi's Three Kingdoms Collection Collection

Chapter 212
As if to see through the doubts in Cao Pi's heart, Xiahou Shang continued unhurriedly: "Your Majesty, Shang and Meng Da usually have a good personal relationship. But the justice of the court is above all, and the safety of the country is above all. Selfishness rather than justice? Xincheng County is indeed the gateway to the southwest of the Great Wei Dynasty, Your Majesty must never entrust others lightly!

"Shang and Meng Da got along better and better. That's why I knew that Meng Da was not a pure minister who was consistent in appearance and inward. If His Majesty summoned him into the palace to serve as counselors for military and state affairs, it would be true that 'Each ruler and ministers have their own way' The best policy; if His Majesty releases him from Xincheng County again, I am afraid that if the situation changes in the future, it will be difficult to guarantee that Meng Da will not be able to change his mind..."

General Cao Xiu, who was guarding the army, heard it clearly, but thought to himself: You are so cunning, Xiahou Shang!You keep claiming that you are concerned about the public and not private, who knows if you have your own "small calculations" in your heart?Perhaps you are also trying to squeeze Meng Da out and take over his power as the prefect of Xincheng?Moreover, you preemptively throw out the strategy of "seizing power in vain" against Meng Da, which is also to leave a way out for yourself in the future-if Meng Da really turns against him, you can disassociate yourself because of your "foresight"; If you don't rebel, you are "worrying about public affairs and neglecting private interests", which is understandable.It's really ups and downs, and it's both right and left!

Sima Yi, who was sitting next to Xiahoushang's left, couldn't help but nodded gratefully to him when he heard his words: It seems that among the Cao clan, Xiahoushang can barely be regarded as a relatively insightful figure, but It's worth paying for.

In today's state of Wei, the pillars of the capital are the Cao family and the Xiahou family in Peijun.There is a rumor that can never be extinguished: Cao Song, the grandfather of His Majesty Cao Pi, adopted Cao Teng, the eunuch of the Later Han Dynasty, as the adopted son from the descendants of the Xiahou family in Peijun.Therefore, the Xiahou family is also regarded as a lineage of clan by the Wei family.Since Cao Pi came to power last year, he never forgot the pain caused by the dispute over the establishment of an heir. He drove all his brothers and sisters out of the capital and drove them to remote and barren counties to settle down. The resident inspected and monitored, and even ordered the brothers not to communicate with each other, not to get together, "safari trips must not exceed the limit of [-] miles", otherwise they will be severely punished.While belittling his own flesh and blood brothers, he gradually began to rely heavily on Xia Houshang, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and other collateral clans.However, Sima Yi, Chen Qun and other "Four Friends of the East Palace" who helped him succeed in setting up an heir, were alienated by him, whether intentionally or unintentionally.Sima Yi has already felt this point, but he is very deep in the city, and has been pretending that nothing happened.Now, Xia Houshang speaks out to support his advice about Meng Da, and he can only show his gratitude to Xia Houshang slightly, and he dare not make peace again—he knows that with Cao Pi’s suspicion, he may secretly doubt it again. In private, he and Xia Houshang have some kind of "unseen" friendship.Otherwise, if Xia Houshang didn't benefit from him, Sima Yi, why should he stand up and "advocate" for him?
Sure enough, the sparkle in Cao Pi's eyes was like lightning. He looked at Xia Houshang's expression for a while, and then at Sima Yi's expression for a while. It's not that I don't understand the pros and cons. It's just that if he is forcibly detained in the capital, and his trilogy and relatives cause some trouble in Xincheng County, so what?"

Xia Houshang raised his sword eyebrows and said solemnly: "If there is an accident in Xincheng County, I am still willing to go to Xiangyang and transfer 3 horses from General Cao. It will definitely be settled in ten months!"

When Cao Xiu heard this, he thought to himself: Hahaha!Xia Houshang, your "fox tail" has finally been exposed - it really is aimed at snatching Meng Da's right to be the prefect of Xincheng!So, he coughed, and interjected, "Brother Xiahou, Meng Da has [-] clans under his command, and all of them are brave and good at fighting. How could you be able to settle down in just ten months? , Now that the war between the Puppet Shu and Jiangdong is imminent, our Great Wei does not want to take the opportunity to make progress, but creates chaos within the border. As a general, you must have the overall situation in mind, and you must not focus on one corner!"

Xia Houshang heard the thorn in Cao Xiu's words, couldn't help but blushed, and was about to retort——Cao Pi waved his sleeves at this time, stopped the two of them, and said coldly: "Forget it! Forget it! I will treat him Meng Da, it’s just like the saying goes, ‘reflect the arrow in the wormwood’! If you don’t caress it, it will come by itself, if you don’t embrace it, it will go away, it’s like floating clouds in my eyes—that’s all!”

Xia Houshang and Sima Yi couldn't help but looked at each other in surprise when they heard him tearing apart like this, and they secretly exchanged funny eyes, so they had to keep silent on this topic.

Attack Wu or attack Shu?

"Also, is the policy of 'vacating Dangyang and retreating to defend Xiangyang' that I proposed at the Changle Hall today really wrong?" Cao Pi's eyes froze, and he looked at them again with a slight thought.

This time Cao Xiu no longer kept silent, and replied, "Your Majesty! The distance between Dangyang County and Jiangling City, where the Sun family is based, is less than three hundred miles away. In a flash! And you were bewitched by Sun Quan, and you agreed to withdraw the garrison of Dangyang and return to Xiangyang City—in this way, the royal army of the Celestial Dynasty was thrown six or seven hundred miles away from Jiangling City. To take advantage of this opportunity, you have to gallop non-stop for three days and two nights to get there, I'm afraid it will be too late by then, it's a rare opportunity..."

When Cao Pi heard this, his eyebrows frowned after careful consideration, and he couldn't help turning his questioning eyes to Jia Xu.

Under his gaze, Jia Xu could only gently stroke her gray beard, shook her head slightly, and sighed heavily.

"Oh? It seems that what I said today is really wrong?" Cao Pi gritted his teeth secretly, and said in a cold voice, "Why don't I also come to 'Wang Gu left and right talk about him', and stabilize Sun Quan in Huatou and words, but secretly Let Cao Ren not have to 'vacate Dangyang, return troops and withdraw northward'!"

"Qizou Your Majesty: In my opinion, since you have publicly promised to 'vacate Dangyang and return troops to the north' first, you might as well use your plan at this moment and find another way to take advantage of the gap." At this time, Sima Yi finally opened his mouth and said , "'How can we know that it is not a blessing?' My Great Wei's move of 'vacating Dangyang and withdrawing to Xiangyang' has won Sun Quan's trust and reassurance. Sun Quan will no longer regard our Great Wei as an enemy-when On this occasion, please Your Majesty immediately issue a secret edict ordering former General Zhang Liao and Zhendong General Zang Baji to lead sharp troops from Hefei and Wancheng to attack Jiangdong!"

"This...Since Your Majesty has issued an edict of kindness to Sun Quan to make peace with him, and then sent troops to attack Jiangdong later, I am afraid that it will damage the arrogance of the Yangyang Dynasty and hinder the observation of the subjects in all directions!" Because Chen Qun had a close relationship with Sima Yi, he also knew that he didn't care about himself, so he bluntly raised it from the sidelines.

"Yes! Jiangdong Sun Quan has surrendered, and he has sent 50 shi of grain to the common people of the Great Wei. If I rush to attack him secretly, won't I end up being "inhumane and unrighteous" in front of the people of the world? 'The notoriety?" Cao Pi also frowned and said in astonishment.

(End of this chapter)