The next day, in Yang An's palace, the young emperor Liu Xie was sitting upright on his knees. Yang Biao, Zhang Xi, Chunyu Jia, Zhou Zhong, Dong Cheng, Fu Wan and other ministers were kneeling on both sides, all looking like virtuous ministers.
The newly appointed Sili Lieutenant, who served as the Secretary to Cao Cao, was sitting on his knees in the center of the hall. He was proposing to the emperor with a serious face that he should send Zhou Zhong to Shouchun to ask Yuan Shu whether he was planning to become emperor.
This matter was originally mentioned casually by Wei Wei Zhou Zhong during yesterday's meeting at Yang An Palace. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao actually took it seriously. Today he brought it up in public. The ministers kneeling on both sides of the hall couldn't bear it. I couldn't help but frown slightly - this thing is so ridiculous and damages the emperor's prestige! If everyone in the world knew that the Emperor was crazy, then who would listen to the Emperor? I don’t know what Cao Cao was thinking? No, it must be stopped.
Just when Cao Cao finished his memorial, when those highly respected ministers wanted to raise objections, Liu Xie, the young emperor, spoke first: "Yuan Shu's arrogance and proclaiming the emperor was his own destruction. It just pitied the Yuan family of Runan, who was the fourth generation and the third prince." He will be implicated and his reputation will be ruined. It would be a good thing if he could be persuaded to rein in his horse. However, Yuan Jiujiao was known as a tough guy on the road in his early years, and he is not someone who listens to advice. Zhou Weiwei, would you like to Take this trip?”
Of course Zhou Zhong is willing. He has suffered a lot in the court in the past few years and was almost killed by Li Jue! And the Zhou family in Shu County, Lujiang is a well-known family in Neijiang (referring to the north of the Yangtze River). They have land, money and tribes. Isn't it better for him to return to his hometown and become a local emperor than to be frightened in the court? Thinking of this, he stood up with a serious face, walked to the center of the hall, knelt down next to Cao Cao, saluted, and replied loudly: "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Huainan! If Yuan Gongdao really has a disobedient heart, I will definitely Stop it with death!"
"No, no," the little emperor quickly shook his head and said, "Wei Wei Zhou, you are the pillar of the country, and the Lujiang Zhou family is full of outstanding people. How can you be defeated because of Yuan Shu's ridiculous disobedience?" He thought for a while, and then said, " Let me do the math... By the way, your talented Zhou Gongjin from the Zhou family in Lujiang has a close relationship with Sunlang from Jiangdong. Once Yuan Gongli becomes emperor, he may cross the river to follow Sun Bofu. If Yuan Shu doesn't listen to your advice, you can If you follow Gong Jin to Jiangdong, you can always save your life in troubled times."
After hearing what the little emperor said, all the ministers below turned their attention to Zhou Zhong, even Cao Cao was no exception. He turned his head and looked at Zhou Zhong with a smile: "Wei Wei Zhou, is there really such a talent among the Zhou family in Lujiang?"
Zhou Zhong looked surprised, nodded and said: "There is indeed such a son. He is the son of my brother Zhou Jimou, but it is unknown that he has a good relationship with Sun Wentai's eldest son."
Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this, and became suspicious again: How does the emperor know the people in Lujiang? Could it be that Zhou Zhongnai conspired with the emperor?
Before he could figure out how to deal with Zhou Zhong, the young emperor Liu Xie spoke again: "Can Zhou Weiwei pass through Nanyang County when he goes to Huainan?"
Zhou Zhong nodded: "Your Majesty, would you like me to drop by Liu Jingzhou?"
The young emperor Liu Xie smiled and said: "Zhang Ji, the traitor, will be dead soon. By the time you see Liu Jingzhou, the rebellion in Nanyang may have been put down. Can you ask Liu Jingzhou to send more rice, silk, oxen, pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, etc." Honey comes to Beijing."
Liu Xie is so greedy!
After he returned to the harem yesterday, he, Empress Fu, and Dong Guiren searched everywhere for delicious food. However, after searching for a long time, they only found some flour pancakes, wild vegetables, and wild boar meat that were too hard to bite. There are no spices, no pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, let alone chili... not even rice! It looks like he, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, will have to be another ten or eight years, so he should enjoy it, right?
Of course, he has no shortage of "enjoyments" like Empress Fu and Concubine Dong... The two little girls are so beautiful!
But as an emperor, you have to have pursuits other than debauchery, right? For example, eat something good!
So the young emperor Liu Xie wanted to ask Liu Biao for some... Jingzhou, controlled by Liu Biao, was a land of plenty and had been relatively stable in recent years, so he should be able to get a lot of delicious food. Previously, Liu Biao had provided a lot of property to Luoyang at the request of Mr. Zhao Qi, the servant sent by the imperial court in the early years. However, it was only because of Zhang Ji's invasion and plunder that Luoyang's supply was cut off. Otherwise, Cao Cao would not have the chance to raise his troops to Luo!
Cao Cao's suspicion also broke out at this time.
This little emperor and Zhou Zhongguo have a conspiracy! When Zhou Zhong goes to Yuan Gongluo, it is false, but when he goes to Liu Jingsheng, it is true! It is false to go to Liu Jingsheng to ask for food, drink and property, but it is true to seek real power through the troops of Jingzhou!
Ah, I didn't see through the emperor's plot, and even offered to send Zhou Zhong out... How stupid is it!
When Cao Cao was regretting it, Zhou Zhong had already patted his chest and promised the little emperor: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I have good relations with Liu Jingzhou and know Liu Jingzhou's loyalty. Once the chaos in Zhang Ji is calmed down, he will definitely do his best to show his loyalty to Liu Jingzhou." His Majesty’s tribute.”
When Cao Cao heard this, it turned out that once Zhang Ji was defeated, Liu Biao would send troops to Xu County to help the king - Nanyang County in Jingzhou was right next to Xu County! It's only over a hundred miles from Luyang County in Nanyang County to Xu County in Yingchuan County...the real side of the bed! No, once the court is settled, we must send troops to Nanyang!
Just when Cao Cao was thinking about freeing up his hands to conquer Nanyang, Liu Xie suddenly asked him: "Cao Sichen, is there anything wrong with me asking Liu Jingzhou for food, drink and silk?"
"Why did your Majesty say this?" Cao Cao quickly replied with respect, "Liu Jingsheng is also your Majesty's minister, and it is his duty to pay tribute to your Majesty."
"That's good, that's good." Liu Xie sighed, "Now the world is in chaos, and there have been disasters year after year. There is famine everywhere, and bones are everywhere... Only Liu Jingzhou can be considered a paradise on earth."
What this means... What does it mean that only Liu Jingzhou is considered a paradise? Doesn't this mean that Cao Cao's territory was not managed well and people were starving to death everywhere? Although this is the fact, can't you, the emperor, just ignore the fact?
Not to mention that Cao Cao was a patient with advanced stages of paranoia. Even if he was not paranoid at all, he still had to suspect that Liu Xie was colluding with Liu Biao to murder him!
Thinking of this, Cao Cao felt that he had to establish his authority - this was something he had planned for a long time! Taking care of the food first, then establishing authority, and finally showing favors, you should be able to temporarily control the court.
So Cao Cao's face darkened, and his tone also darkened: "Your Majesty, I am impeaching Marquis Yu Linlang, Secretary Feng Shuo, and Shi Zhongtai Chong secretly communicated with the three thieves Jue, Fan, and Ji, and acted as the eyes and ears for the three thieves in order to do harm to Your Majesty. !”
The three people named by Cao Cao are all in Yang An's palace today - Liu Xie was chased and killed many times by Li Jue, Guo Fan, and Zhang Ji during his eastward migration. Hundreds of officials suffered heavy casualties, and finally followed Liu Xie to Luoyang. The "Hundred Officials" is a hundred people, up and down, the real "Hundred Officials", so when Yang Andian holds a court meeting today, it doesn't matter whether the officials are big or small, they all just come to join in the fun.
When Hou Zhe, Feng Shuo, and Tai Chong heard that Cao Cao had revealed that they had colluded with Li Jue, Guo Fan, and Zhang Ji, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they crawled out screaming for injustice.
"Your Majesty, I am wronged!"
"I have absolutely no collusion with Li Jue, Guo Fan, Zhang Ji..."
"Your Majesty, I am loyal to the Han Dynasty..."
The three who shouted were miserable, but the other ministers in the court looked at each other in panic, and no one dared to intercede for them.
The crime of colluding with Li Jue, Guo Fan, and Zhang Ji is almost a "pocket crime" that everyone can commit! After all, when they were in Chang'an, the government was controlled by Li Jue and Guo Fan. If you want to be a stable official, you have to show your favor to those Xiliang military leaders! Even the guard Zhou Zhong gave Li Jue an idea and tricked Zhu Jun into Chang'an, who was stationed in Luoyang and wanted to go west to rescue him with Tao Qian's support? Later, Zhou Zhong was captured by Li Jue on his way to the west... and was released unscathed!
How to explain this?
Liu Xie looked at the three hapless guys who were kowtowing like crazy, and then glanced at Cao Cao who had a murderous look on his face. He also understood that they were trying to scare the monkeys! These three people probably didn't have enough background and didn't have much friendship with Boss Cao and Yuan Benchu's family, so they just brought the sacrificial knives.
Boss Cao is so cruel! But using them as an excuse for colluding with Li Jue, Guo Fan, and Zhang Ji, the dead bones in the graves, is not enough. I am not afraid! Moreover, I have a kind heart. I tried my best to save lives and heal the wounded in my previous life, but I can’t just ignore them in this life! Thinking of this, the little emperor smiled and said: "Cao Sichen, the three of them having an affair with the three thieves Jue, Fan and Ji were ordered by me!"
What?
Cao Cao was stunned. He originally thought that the little emperor would at most express his disbelief in the three people's crimes, so he had already prepared evidence for the three of them - it was prepared with the help of Zhong Yao and Ding Chong, ensuring that the evidence was ironclad and that the three of them would leave convinced!
But I didn't expect that the little emperor came to take over everything and asked the three of them to collaborate with the enemy!
"Your Majesty, why do you want to make these three people collude with thieves?"
Of course Cao Cao couldn't let it go, he wanted to kill people to establish his authority! If this power cannot be established, all officials in the court will still regard the emperor as the backbone. When the time comes, Liu Biao is out and all officials are included... the emperor will most likely take back the power!
Liu Xie glanced at Cao Cao, who was a little angry, and explained with a smile: "Didn't I already calculate that the three thieves Jue, Fan, and Ji were about to die? So I wanted Hou Zhe, Feng Shuo, and Tai Chong to kill them." Tell those three thieves about to die!"
The emperor is here again, someone who can "pinch and calculate"?
Cao Cao can't even deal with it!
He played politics with the emperor, and the emperor played metaphysics with him...
The ministers below all had expressions of "I see, your Majesty is wise" - no wonder the emperor wanted to "dream about Emperor Gao and obtain the Book of Heaven", in order to use "divine power" to fight against Cao Cao's military might!
"Does the emperor still want those three thieves to be on guard?" Taiwei Yang Biao saw Cao Cao staying there and said nothing, so he gave Liu Xie a message.
Liu Xie chuckled: "These three thieves are not three-year-old children, how can they be so easy to believe? I estimate that before Zhang Ji died in the battle, Li Jue and Guo Fan would never believe it. And when Zhang Ji died, Jue, Only then will the two thieves start to be afraid. And when Guo Fan's head is missing, Li Jue will be... worse off than dead! Li Jue knows that he is going to die, but he is powerless to stop it. He can only wait for it. One day is coming!”
Isn't this too cruel?
Cao Cao took a breath, but then he thought something was wrong. Why was the emperor so confident? Isn't he afraid that Zhang Ji won't die on time? He died in battle... Zhang Ji had elite soldiers from Xiliang, so he would beat Liu Biao's men to death? Isn't it?
At this time, Liu Xie said to Cao Cao: "Cao Sichen, I am also aware of your loyalty. It was indeed my fault to make Hou Zhe, Feng Shuo, and Tai Chong collude with the thieves. Although the three of them also made mistakes, the fault mainly lies with me. , so we can’t punish them severely. Why don’t we demote the three of them to... my halberd-wielding doctor and shield-wielding doctor!"
What a little emperor, he has learned how to win over his close friends!
Cao Cao felt more and more that the little emperor was no longer simple, but since the emperor had already said this, he couldn't pursue him anymore. He couldn't hold the emperor accountable for collaborating with the enemy, right? So he had to say to Liu Xie respectfully: "Everything is at your Majesty's command."
