Sima Yi's Three Kingdoms Collection Collection

Chapter 80
Cao's Four Resistances

"Today I gave a beautiful speech to Cao Mengde in public, I didn't expect Cao Mengde to know the etiquette of reciprocating favors." Sima Fang glanced at the table in his bedroom, pouted, "Finally, he gave I brought two bowls of carved jade chess pieces and a rosewood chessboard for my father..."

Sima Lang and Sima Yi raised their eyes to look at the table, and saw two silver chess bowls glistening on the shiny red sandalwood chessboard.One bowl contained crisp white jade chess pieces, and the other contained black black jade chess pieces that were as bright as ink.Moreover, what's even more ingenious is that the color of the white jade chess piece is slightly yellowish, and the color of the black jade chess piece is slightly green - no matter how long you stare at them, you will never feel dazzled.Based on this alone, these two bowls of jade carving chess pieces can be regarded as rare treasures.It can be seen from this that Cao Cao took a lot of painstaking efforts to win over Sima Fang.

"It's ridiculous that Cao Cao is small and easy-going, and he still has the unlearned and incompetent nature of the descendants of eunuchs. He immediately became proud and arrogant after hearing his father's praise..." Sima Lang smiled coldly, with a trace of disdain in his tone, "Father is so kind to such a successful villain like him, my child is very unwilling!"

"Unwilling! Why are you unwilling?" Sima Fang glared at him, and scolded in a cold voice, "Cao Cao today is indeed a flying bird, with a reputation that is far away, and it is not comparable to when he was his father's subordinate. He not only Holding the power of the whole country, and with the help of Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi and other sons, the grace and luck of God can be said to be concentrated in his Cao family-this may hinder our Sima family's general plan of "emerging from a sudden and attacking later". Already!"

"That's right. With such a self-proclaimed boy, seeing his third son Cao Zhi today, I can't help but feel admiration from the bottom of my heart." Sima Yi also lowered his head slightly, and said politely, "Han Song blatantly praised Cao Cao's majestic achievements and successors, which is certainly not a compliment."

Sima Lang frowned: "Then, how should our Sima family respond to this situation?"

Sima Fang's eyes froze, and he shot straight at Sima Yi: "What's the matter? Yi'er, even you are a little afraid to retreat?"

"Father, my son is just describing this fact, so that our Sima family can know ourselves and our enemy, and win every battle." Sima Yi's tone was very calm, as if he felt that there was nothing shameful in admitting that others were stronger than himself. Father's insightful eyes already have a deep insight into the future plans of the Cao Clan."

When Sima Fang heard this, he couldn't help being slightly surprised. He stared at Sima Yi for a moment, then slowly sat down behind the table, took out a white jade chess piece from the silver bowl on the right, and lightly touched it on the rosewood chessboard. Let go, and said slowly: "That's right. Through today's grand meeting in Zhuquechi, my father can vaguely see a little clue of his Cao Mengde's family's plan to conquer the world——

"If the father's guess is correct, the first step of their Cao family is to be managed by Cao Mengde in the front, and he will try his best to wipe out the princes of the four directions one by one, and seize the whole world in his hands!"

"That's right. Cao Cao is now fighting north and south without getting off his saddle, and that's exactly what he's doing." Sima Lang nodded deeply.

Sima Yi just stared at the white jade chess piece quietly, and didn't say much.

Sima Fang looked at the two of them, picked up another white jade piece, placed it lightly behind the previous white piece, and said: "The second move of the Cao family is to have Cao Mengde's incomparable power, his hand holding the tremor The prestige of the lord, imitating Wang Mang of the puppet new dynasty, ascended to the position of Zhou Gong, then cut off all dissidents, monopolized the power of the world, and laid a solid foundation for the future when Cao Daihan was replaced by Han."

"Baby's opinion, Cao Cao is now 'although he doesn't have the name of Duke of Zhou, but he has the name of Duke of Zhou'." Sima Lang nodded again.

But Sima Yi spoke slowly: "Cao Cao has not yet become the Duke of Zhou—he has just acquired Dong Zhuo's power and status. Cao Cao is still a long way from being the Duke of Zhou! In today's world, Jingzhou is not peaceful. , Jiangdong Weiping, Kansai Weiping, Yizhou Weiping...these are a few hurdles that Cao Cao has not yet crossed."

Sima Fang looked at Sima Yi with a hint of approval in his eyes. After a while, he picked up another white jade piece and placed it behind the second white piece on the rosewood chessboard, saying: "The Cao family The third step is that after Cao Mengde purged the world and unified the world, he followed the example of Xibo Jichang and passed it down to the third son Cao Zhi. He came to Zen to replace the Han Dynasty. Relying on his reputation of wisdom, wisdom and benevolence, he covered up the usurpation of the Cao family. All kinds of scandals at that time laid a solid foundation for the Cao family's long-term peace and stability."

When Sima Yi heard this, his eyes lit up: "No wonder Cao Cao publicly said today that 'Zhi'er is the best person to establish a great cause with him'! It turned out that he had secretly promised his third son to be his foundation and build a business in the future." , A wonderful move to establish the universe!"

Sima Fang stared at the three white jade pieces on the chessboard that lined up and shot straight forward, and said with a faint smile: "Lang'er, Yi'er - now this 'knowing the enemy' kung fu has already been done eight times for you two. Nine is not far from ten, that's 'confidant' kung fu, you two should come up with a countermeasure and show Weifu..."

"Father's analysis is really penetrating and exquisite." Sima Yi gave a deep praise, turned his head and extended his hand to Sima Lang, and said, "Brother is in the position of senior minister in the prime minister's mansion, so he must be very familiar with the situation inside and outside the Cao family. ——Just show me how the Sima family will respond to the Cao family's strategy!"

"This..." Sima Lang looked embarrassed and stammered, "It's true that Brother Wei is now in the key position of Xiangfu... It's just that Brother Wei has a lot of work recently, and he has to go up and down to take care of it all day long. I was so busy that my feet never touched the ground—Second brother, you have seen it yourself. It seems that such a comprehensive coping strategy should be offered to your father, second brother. I know that you actually have a plan for the second brother. of……"

After hearing what he said, Sima Yi murmured: "Forget it. My son dared to make a fool of myself in front of my father and my elder brother—but, if there are any inaccuracies in my son's coping strategy, please ask my father and my elder brother to make a fool of myself." Brother, teach me a lot."

After finishing speaking, he straightened his clothes and straightened his face. After saluting Sima Fanggong, he sat down opposite him. He reached out and took out a black jade chess piece from the silver bowl on the left side of the table. On the palm, Chao Sima Fang said very modestly: "Father, there is a saying in "Guiguzi": "Instead of looking at the past, then to test the present; instead, to know the past, and then to know the present; instead, to know the enemy, and then to know yourself... ...Those who have something to recover, the meaning of the sage, must be observed.' "Huangshi Gong? Three Strategies" has a cloud: "The end is not seen, and people can't know. The gods of heaven and earth, and things change. Changes are impermanent, because of the enemy. Transformation. Don't do it in advance, but follow it. Therefore, it can map the boundless, support the heavenly power, rectify the eight poles, and keep the nine barbarians in secret.'——You allow the child to slowly finish the kung fu of 'knowing the enemy'. In Hai'er's opinion, the Cao family's three-step strategy for conquering the world that you mentioned is indeed clear and full of opportunities. However, if the Cao family wants to realize the three-step strategy, it will inevitably encounter four layers of resistance. This first layer of resistance is—" He lowered his right hand and placed the black jade chess piece on the right side of the first white jade chess piece, "the inner court and the prime minister's government began to really separate and hinder each other."

"Oh? How did you see that?" Sima Fang asked softly.

"The inner court headed by Xun Lingjun was able to support Cao Cao to wipe out Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Lu Bu because they believed that Cao Cao was sincerely loyal to the Han Dynasty. Therefore, even in the sixth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao seemed so reckless when he killed Dong Cheng's party. In the end, they still helped him deal with Yuan Shao with all their strength. At that time, Yuan Shao was a big traitor on the surface, and besides relying on Cao Cao to fight against him, Xun Lingjun and the others really had no other choice at that time." Sima Yi said eloquently, "Now that Cao Cao has blatantly abolished the 'Three Lords' and monopolized the power, and the traces of disobedience have been revealed, I am afraid that at this time, Xun Lingjun and the others have secretly changed their minds. Not only will they not continue to support Cao Cao, lest his power expand and threaten the Han Dynasty——but also They will use all kinds of means to contain Cao Cao. Without their full support, Cao Cao will face hardships and hardships every step of the way in the future.”

"Well... the second brother is right. This time, Prime Minister Cao made a memorial to increase the tax and grain payment of common people in the world by [-]%, but His Majesty and Xun Lingjun jointly rejected it—" Sima Langruo He nodded thoughtfully, "Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Prime Minister Cao's increase in the official land tax and grain payment of the common people at this time is actually to expand and reserve military funds and military rations for conquering the princes of the four directions. Now that I think about it, this It can also be regarded as the first step that the inner court has begun to secretly curb the expansion of Prime Minister Cao's power."

"That's right. The inner court's restraint on the Prime Minister's Mansion is indeed the first layer of resistance to their Cao family's great cause." Sima Fang also nodded, and asked slowly, "Then, what about the second layer of resistance?"

Sima Yi pondered for a while, then took out a black jade chess piece from the silver bowl, slowly placed it on the right side of the second white piece on the chessboard, and said slowly: "The second level of resistance is Xu Du's court loyalty to the Han Dynasty. The righteous men and Cao Cao began to go hand in hand with Cao Cao, and it was inseparable! Don’t forget that the famous scholars, bureaucrats, civil servants and military generals who rushed to Xudu from all directions to serve as officials, most of them responded to Cao Cao’s call to "respect the Han Dynasty and cut off the rebellious party". And devote himself to serving the country! Otherwise, with Cao Cao’s background as an eunuch, how could he have recruited so many talented ministers? These virtuous officials are exactly the ‘double-edged sword’ Cao Cao used to clean up the world and seek supremacy—— On the one hand, relying on the name of "respecting the Han and suppressing chaos", they will help Cao Cao to eradicate Lu Bu, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and other traitors successively, so that Cao Cao's power will grow day by day; He will immediately turn his sword back, resist Cao Cao everywhere, fight against Cao Cao, and fight back! In my opinion, there must be a second and third person like Dong Cheng and Wang Zifu who will come out to meet Cao Cao in the future At this time, Cao Cao’s advantages in morality and etiquette will disappear—everyone will regard him as the rebirth of Wang Mang! If he doesn’t handle it properly, Dong Zhuo will be his lesson!”

"That's right! Once these famous scholars and bureaucrats understand Cao Cao's huge conspiracy of 'using the emperor to win people's hearts', they will definitely not pretend to him again, and they will definitely make things difficult for him. Now Kong Rong is one of them A prominent figure." Sima Fang caressed the silver beard that was drooping down his chest, "At the grand meeting in Zhuquechi today, Kong Rong played all kinds of sarcasm to Cao Cao, making Cao Cao unable to get off the stage at all times. Although he has good intentions, but this method is too clumsy, it is really dangerous, it is extremely dangerous!"

(End of this chapter)