Chapter 77
Sima Yi could see it clearly from the seat beside him: Lu Su really had a good lobbying technique, and in just a few words, he had already hidden a deep conspiracy of "Li Daitao stiffened and blamed Jingzhou" - he said so, By doing this, they wanted to draw Cao Cao's attention to the complete seizure of the eight counties of Jingzhou, and the Sun family in Jiangdong could avoid the first wave of Cao Jun's southward attack and "watch the fire from the other side".If you advance, you can take advantage of the fire to rob; if you retreat, you can reap the benefits of fishermen.Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help being horrified: The Sun family in Jiangdong has such powerful tactics and skills, and this is the real and powerful enemy that Cao Cao will never meet in his life!Alas... Liu Biao has such second ministers as Han Song and Cai Mao under his command, which is really deplorable; but Sun Quan's tent has such a capable minister as Lu Su, which is really terrifying!All of a sudden, in comparison, Sima Yi only felt that the world is so big and there are so many talents, and the little bit of strategy he was complacent about in the past might not be able to convince many people... It was still taught by his master, Mr. Guan Ning That's right: "The king who can get his own teacher is the king, and the one who says that others are self-defeating will die. If you ask questions, you will be rich, and if you use it yourself, you will be small."

"This news, the truth has been known for a long time." Cao Cao's face has completely recovered, and he just ordered lightly, "Xinpi——you take this Lord Lu Su down, and treat the truth well... ..."

Naturally, he would not listen to two or three rhetoric and believe that Sun Quan's camp on the bank of the Yangtze River was really to support him when he went south to conquer Liu Biao. "Cooperate" with him like singing a cutscene, and do enough superficial skills.

Kong Rong, who would rather be jade than broken tiles

A big ditch about six feet wide guides the water of the Ying River to flow slowly to the south of Xudu, where it flows into a large pool with a radius of more than one hundred feet.Standing by the pool is a huge granite rock as high as one foot and two feet, on which are painted three big characters in seal script with red lacquer - Suzaku Pond.

To the north of Zhuque Pond, there is a flat open space more than twenty feet wide, with willow forests alternating between dense and dense on both sides of the open space.On the other side of the open space, there were rows of men in armor holding halberds, standing neatly in the scorching sun, motionless.

Above the empty field, there is a tall pine shed, covered with green gauze curtains on all sides, opening and closing under the breeze, looking really refreshing and pleasant.The shed was full of guests, and from a distance, it was crowded with people and it was very lively.

On the purple wooden square couch in the middle of the shed, Cao Cao was still sitting proudly.On the long seats on the left and right of the wooden couch, Dr. Gao Qing and the servants of the Xiangfu sat in turn.This time, the seats on Cao Cao's right were Ma Teng, General Zhengxi who had already joined the court, Han Song, Liu Biao's special envoy to the court, Lu Su, Sun Quan's special envoy to report on his duties, and Cao Cao specially invited from Wen County Xiaojing. Jing Zhaojun Sima Fang and others made friends in the world.

Originally, Cao Cao also invited the former Taiwei Yang Biao, but Yang Biao claimed that he had not recovered from his foot disease and could not attend the meeting.Since His Majesty the Son of Heaven entrusted Cao Cao to host the special envoy of the Quartet and General Ma Teng this time, it was a grand event for the court to declare "Huairou Yuanfu", so Kong Rong, the Taizhong doctor who was in charge of etiquette and advisors in the Han Dynasty, was also quite rare. He attended the meeting and sat on Lu Su's next seat.

This time, the long seat on the left of Cao Cao was headed by Shang Shuling Xun Yu, followed by Xi Ji, Zhong Yao, Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Jia Xu, Yang Jun, Xun You, Sima Lang, Cui Yan, Mao Jie, Dong Zhao, Xin Bi, Yang Xiu, Sima Yi and other officials.This also allowed Ma Teng, Han Song, and Lu Su who came from the outside to see that in normal external occasions, Xun Yu was actually the most important and most prestigious official in the court of Xudu except Cao Cao—— Even Xi Ji, the official censor with an official rank of [-] shi, had to submit respectfully to his ministerial order with an official rank of [-] shi.

Ma Teng arrived in Xudu yesterday morning.He was about sixty years old, but his burly body was straight, his beard and hair were gray, and his unusually large face was covered with a thick layer of bronze due to years of wind and sun in the Longxi frontier fortress.He has always been a rough and bold person, at this moment he forgot to observe etiquette in his seat, looked at the Vermilion Bird Pond outside, raised his voice and asked Cao Cao: "Prime Minister Cao—what are you doing digging such a big pool near the capital? Are you using this pool of water to wash and drink the horses? There are too many horses in Longxi, but the water is too little. There is no pool as big as yours, so it is not enough to bathe and feed them. Easy!" His voice was quite loud, and the sound shook the eardrums of some famous scholars and bureaucrats.

When Cao Cao heard this, a deep smile appeared on his face, he just stroked his beard and said slowly: "Oh? It turns out that General Ma is still worried about the lack of water for his Kansai cavalry to bathe and force-feed. Huh? Your problem is easy to solve—there is a lack of horses in the imperial court, so let’s ask the Ministry of Households to exchange three stones of rice and wheat and three thousand baht for a Xiliang horse under your account, and let them all go to the Zhuque Pond How about taking a bath and drinking water?"

Hearing what Cao Cao said, Ma Teng's face turned red immediately: "Prime Minister Cao is really joking! The horses under my general's account are the court's horses—how can I exchange money and rice from the household department?" He said At this point, the voice paused, swallowed the saliva in his mouth, and said, "It's just that my Chao'er said that Zhang Lu's monsters in Hanzhong area are very rampant, and he will take those sons and horses to guard against Zhang Lu's presence at any time." Sitting over there is a big success..."

After hearing his honest and straightforward words, Xun Yu, Xi Xi, Hua Xin and other high-ranking officials in the opposite seat couldn't help smiling.Sima Yi sat at the bottom, but thought to himself: This Ma Teng looks straightforward in his conversation, but he is very ingenious in refusing to refuse Cao Cao's words and sentences. The son kicked back to Cao Cao-this is quite a bit of tactful and sophisticated shrewdness!It seems that Ma Teng's ability to rule the roost in Kansai is not all due to blind bravery.

"General Ma, you are too honest!" At this time, Kong Rong interjected a few words, "Prime Minister Cao is so talented—he doesn't bother to dig such a big pool to feed your horses! His pool Ah! It is specially used to train sailors to conquer rebellious ministers—the Xuanwu pond he dug in Yecheng, Jizhou is said to be bigger than this Vermilion Bird pond!"

As soon as he said these words, the expressions of the two special envoys from the south, Han Song and Lu Su, changed slightly at the same time.Cao Cao's complexion sank even more, seeing Kong Rong's half-smile and nonchalant expression, he couldn't help being blown away by his beard and beard.It's true that today he held this grand hospitality event by the side of the "Zhuque Pond", which indeed meant that the elite navy who had been trained for a long time would show off his power to Han Song and Lu Su, two special envoys from the south of the Yangtze River. Going in and "poking through" with a stick, on the contrary exposed his deliberate affectation.Doesn't this make the majestic prime minister who has always boasted of his magnanimity lose some face?
This Kong Rong is always making troubles against the truth, so sooner or later he has to be dealt with!Cao Cao held the armrest of the couch tightly with his left hand, endured it for a while, and then let out a loud laugh: "That's right. There is an old saying, 'If you forget the battle, you will be in danger. I have learned something. According to the truth, the heroes of the world are divided into three groups: one is the iron cavalry who never goes forward, the other is the infantry who is invincible in a hundred battles, and the third is the sailor who gallops the river. There are 70 iron cavalry and infantry under the truth. The death is [-], and the only one who lacks is the navy! If I can train an elite navy for the imperial court in my lifetime to be used as a wing to wear the emperor's house, then my wish is enough! This... I hope Liu Jingzhou and Sun Julu are very helpful!"

His last words were addressed to Han Song and Lu Su.Han Song and Lu Su understood what they heard, and hurriedly concealed the undulations on their faces. They both bowed and thanked each other: "I respectfully listen to the teaching of the Prime Minister, and I will explain your deep intentions to the two adults after I go back." At that time, Han Song thought this way in his heart: Now it seems that Prime Minister Cao is training hard as a naval officer, and he is so sharp that he is afraid that Liu Jingzhou will not have the slightest advantage anymore!After Han returned to Jingzhou, he had to persuade Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue, and Wang Can to force Liu Jingzhou to surrender to Prime Minister Cao... But Lu Su thought this way in his heart: Now it seems that Cao Cao is Determined to invade the south of the Yangtze River, his temporarily trained navy is not to be feared, but his exaggerated "70 cavalry and [-] infantry" are really something to worry about...

Just as the two of them were thinking wildly in their hearts, Cao Cao looked at Sima Fang who was sitting under Kong Rong with a slight smile, raised the simple and elegant bronze dragon-shaped wine baron, and said to him: "Sima Fang Sir, how are you doing recently?"

"Thanks to the great blessing of the Prime Minister, the old man is still in good health." Sima Fang bowed slightly, and also raised his glass to return the salute.

Cao Cao held the wine cup in his palm, but he didn't drink it right away. If he wanted to or not, he asked: "When he was in the capital of Luoyang in the past, Sima Gong was eclectic. I still thank you for your wisdom in employing people and the grace of cultivation! But I don’t know that according to Sima Gong’s opinion, the truth can still be the northern captain today? Sima Gong expected that the truth can become what it is today. ?”

Sima Fang didn't dare to be disrespectful this time, he hurriedly got up and bowed deeply: "When I recommended the Prime Minister back then, I could only help the Prime Minister as a lieutenant to the best of my ability. Now, the Prime Minister is flying like a phoenix. Compared with what Liu can do? The young chick is even more insignificant."

Hearing this, Cao Cao was in a good mood, leaned his neck, drank the Juezhong fine wine, laughed, and said to Sima Fang: "Sima Gong has always been dignified, it's rare to hear you praise him! Truth is delighted to receive this honor—but I don’t know what you are doing at home now?”

"Read books and scriptures, play chess and chess!" Sima Fang said with a chuckle, "The joy of playing chess is infinitely interesting - the prime minister can experience it for himself when he has time! The old man's current leisure life can be expressed in an ancient poem: "The sky is like a round cover, and the land is like a chess game. People in the world are divided into black and white, and they come and go to fight for honor and disgrace. The honored ones are at peace, and the humiliated ones are always busy. Hanoi has hermitage, and there is not enough sleeping space!"

"Sima Gong's leisurely attitude is really enviable!" Cao Cao nodded slowly, glanced at Kong Rong, and said half-saltedly, "Some people are famous for nothing, and they are obsessed with trivial details. Suo Suo, self-inflicted crime, is far worse than Sima Gong's mind-blowing chess game, happy mountains and rivers!"

Kong Rong was listening harshly, his face flushed, but he didn't want to explode on the spot.Xun Yu saw it from afar from the seat opposite, and was secretly worried.

"Today's meeting, gentlemen, it reminds me of the "Duan Ge Xing" I wrote before." Cao Cao suddenly straightened his face, and said, "I would like to recite it here and share it with you all. The joy of tasting poetry:
Wine and song, life geometry? For example, if you are exposed, you will have more troubles.

Generosity should be generosity, worries and thoughts are unforgettable, how can we relieve worries?Only Du Kang.

(End of this chapter)

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