Cao Pi opened the letter and read it carefully.
The content of the first letter was extremely simple. Yang Ling mainly asked for credit for Pang Tong, Zhang Liao, Gan Ning and others who had made great contributions.
These people were Yang Ling's cronies, and Cao Pi didn't want to reward them from the bottom of his heart.
But he also knew that if meritorious ministers were not rewarded heavily, they would only attract criticism.
So Cao Pi handed the letter to Sima Yi and asked him to reward the soldiers in front according to the procedure.
But in Yang Ling's second letter, Cao Pi's expression changed drastically!
In his letter, he advised Cao Pi to forgive Cao Hong's sins for the sake of Cao Hong's great contributions to the Wei Dynasty.
In addition, he also suggested that Cao Pi should stop being wary of Cao Hong and Cao Zhang and should unite the clan.
Although there was nothing wrong with Yang Ling's choice of words, Cao Pi could faintly sense the threat behind it!
"Your Majesty, what's the matter?"
Sima Yi saw that Cao Pi looked wrong and asked in a low voice.
"You guys go down first, Zhongda stays!"
After all the other ministers left, Cao Pi handed the letter to Sima Yi and said bitterly,
"This Yang Ling is too lenient! Zhongda, what do you think I should do?"
Sima Yi frowned slightly after reading the letter.
He thought for a while and said in a deep voice,
"In my opinion, Your Majesty should let General Hussar go."
Cao Pi raised his eyebrows,
"Why do you even want to disobey me, Zhongda?"
"It's not that I want to disobey His Majesty, but I'm just asking Your Majesty to think twice!"
Sima Yi persuaded him earnestly,
"The Empress Dowager and the ministers are interceding for General Hussar, and now even Yang Ling has come forward."
"If Your Majesty insists on executing General Hussar, won't he push them all to Yang Ling's side?"
"Your Majesty, please do not forget the last words of the late Emperor before his death..."
When Cao Pi heard this, his heart skipped a beat!
Before his father died, he told Yang Ling that if he was incompetent, he could choose another son of the Cao family to inherit the throne.
If he executes Cao Hong and angers the empress dowager and the ministers, they are likely to join forces with Yang Ling and dethrone him from the throne!
Thinking of this, Cao Pi broke into a cold sweat!
"What Zhongda said is absolutely true! According to my decree, because General Hussar has made great contributions to Cao Wei, he should be dismissed from his official position and title, and deposed as a commoner!"
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Sima Yi also breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Cao Pi would let his temper prevail.
"As for the King of Juancheng (Cao Zhi) and the King of Rencheng (Cao Zhang), Zhongda, wait a while and find some people with clean hands and feet..."
Cao Pi made a beheading gesture, his eyes full of cruelty!
Although there are many brothers, the only two who can threaten Cao Pi's throne are Cao Zhang and Cao Pi.
Among them, the most threatening one is Cao Zhang.
After inheriting the throne of Wei King, Cao Pi also found out that Cao Zhang had recruited Yang Ling to seize the throne.
He was so angry and angry about this that he wanted to kill Cao Zhang directly.
But at that time, Cao Pi's throne was not yet secure, and the two were his brothers, so it was difficult for him to take action.
Now that he has ascended the throne as emperor and the political situation is stable, he has plans to eradicate them.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will find someone to do it after some time."
Sima Yi nodded in agreement.
Cao Pi nodded with satisfaction, but then frowned and said,
"You have to say that if your father is not dead, Lu's troubles will not end. Even if we remove them two and don't remove Yang Ling, it will not help."
Yang Ling held a large number of troops and had a high prestige. He had friends in the army and even in the court.
The most terrible thing is that what Cao Cao said before he died gave Yang Ling an excuse to dethrone Cao Pi!
It can be said that as long as Yang Ling is alive, Cao Pi will have trouble sleeping and eating!
"If we want to eradicate Yang Ling, we must not act too hastily."
"If there is no excuse to attack him, I'm afraid it will attract criticism."
"But people will make mistakes, and we just have to wait patiently. Once he makes a mistake, we will seize the opportunity, first cut off his followers, and then slowly deal with him!"
Sima Yi suggested softly.
Cao Pi's brows relaxed, he nodded and said with a smile,
"As Zhongda said, from now on, let the spies from the school affairs office keep an eye on Yang Ling!"
…
Hefei.
Several months have passed since the raid on Jianye.
Cao Jun did not have enough naval forces to cross the Yangtze River to attack Jiangdong, and needed to consolidate the captured territory, so he temporarily stopped the offensive.
Jiangdong was no match for Cao Jun and was unable to counterattack. He could only build a defense line at the junction of Yangzhou and Jingzhou.
The two sides chose a truce with great tacit understanding, and this period of time was calm.
Yang Ling did not choose to go to Jingzhou, but continued to stay in Hefei.
Although he favored Pan Shu's three daughters every day, he was not overly obsessed with beauty.
In his spare time, Yang Ling also visited the surrounding areas of Hefei with Gan Ning, planning to find a suitable location to build a dock.
After Ruxu Water Stronghold was destroyed, Cao Jun could sail down the river and take Jianye as long as he had enough warships.
Although the shipbuilding dock in Jiangling has been almost completed, to deal with the powerful Jiangdong navy, the more warships, the better.
"General, what do you think of this place?"
“Very good!”
Yang Ling nodded slightly.
The place Gan Ning mentioned has wide water and slow water flow, making it the most suitable location for a dock.
"In this case, we should start early and strive to build enough warships before next spring, so that we can directly attack Jiangdong!"
Although the truce had not been long, Gan Ning, who had always been bellicose, was already extremely hungry and thirsty!
While chatting, the two of them took the guards and returned to Hefei.
When they were halfway there, they saw Zhang Hu hurrying over on horseback.
"I've seen the general!"
"Why is Huzi here?"
Yang Ling asked with a smile.
"Reporting to the general, a messenger from Jiangdong has arrived. My father asked me to come and inform the general!"
Zhang Hu said respectfully.
Jiangdong envoy arrives?
Yang Ling nodded thoughtfully and ordered,
"Speed up and get back to the city as soon as possible!"
Everyone did not dare to neglect and immediately started galloping.
They finally returned to Hefei before the sun set.
As soon as Yang Ling got off his horse, he saw Zhang Liao and Huang Zhong coming forward.
"I've seen the general!"
"No need to be polite, where is the envoy sent by Jiangdong?"
"Just wait in the lobby."
Everyone surrounded Yang Ling and walked towards the lobby.
When he walked into the lobby and took a look, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Mr. Zijing, we meet again!"
Yes, it was Lu Su who came.
"I haven't seen you for several months, but the general is still as charming as ever!"
Lu Su also greeted Yang Ling with a smile.
After meeting Liu Bei in Yizhou, he rushed back to Jiangdong without stopping.
Before he could take a breath, Sun Quan sent him to Hefei to meet Yang Ling.
"As the saying goes, a weasel has no good intentions when it pays New Year greetings to a rooster. Tell me, Mr. Zijing, what are your wrong ideas?"
