Cao Rui's memories still stayed in the autumn of the second year of Taihe two years ago.
The autumn rain continued continuously, and the young emperor stood alone on the Lingyuntai in the imperial city. At this time, he was no longer the king of Pingyuan who was jealous and tested by his father, so he was fearful and walking on thin ice; naturally, he was no longer the young emperor with an unstable foundation.
In the past year, Wu Wang Sun Quan, Xincheng Mengda, Zhuge Kongming, these powerful enemies were like God's tests in turn, testing themselves, the young emperor of Wei, again and again. Now, when facing changes, he has finally changed from the panic and fear at the beginning to the current one without changing his face despite the collapse of the mountain.
The autumn rain came, and the young Emperor Ye couldn't help but shudder.
At this time, there was a burst of sonorous and powerful footsteps from the Lingyun stage. After a while, the footsteps gradually stopped.
It turned out that the person who came was none other than Cao Zuan, the second son of Grand Sima Cao Xiu and the former East Palace Tiger Benlang general. Now Cao Zuan is deeply trusted by Cao Rui and has been granted the title of General Wu and the title of Marquis. Cao Zuan came to Cao Rui and knelt respectfully on the rain-soaked ground. Then he held a bamboo tube in both hands and reported:
"Your Majesty, Grand Sima has sent an urgent report from Yangzhou."
Cao Rui was still looking at his thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in the distance. The city of Luoyang in the continuous autumn rain looked particularly beautiful and prosperous. The young emperor did not bend down to get the military report, but said one word coldly:
"read!"
Cao Zuan did not dare to neglect, opened the bamboo tube, took out the military report, and read it aloud.
After Cao Zuan finished reading, Cao Rui's slightly closed eyes suddenly opened. Cao Rui thought to himself that what Grand Sima Cao Xiu said in his report was indeed extraordinary.
"Desi, go and tell your brother quickly and ask him to invite Gao Tanglong to the east hall of the Taiji Hall to discuss matters. In addition, ask Changsi to summon Cao Shuang and others and wait in the Taiji Hall."
"only!"
Cao Zuan, wearing armor, half-knelt on the ground to salute, then went down to Lingyuntai.
————
After the crown ceremony, Changling Marquis Xia Houxuan looked at the elders of the Cao family and Xia Marquis at the table, and suddenly thought of Cao Xiu, the former Grand Sima and the Zhuang Marquis of Changping.
His thoughts couldn't help but wander back to the late autumn two years ago, when he was still paying filial piety to his father, Xia Houshang.
In the second year of Taihe, autumn and September.
That year was still a year of endless war.
Contrary to what everyone in the empire thought, this year did not end with a truce on the border and the people being able to live and work in peace and contentment as everyone expected.
This year, the Wei Dynasty suffered its greatest loss ever since the new emperor ascended the throne.
That is the number one general of this dynasty, Sima, Yangzhou Mu, and Changping Marquis Cao Xiu, who can be called the Great Wall of the Southeast of the Wei Dynasty. They accidentally fell into the trap set by the Lord of Wu, Sun Quan, the Governor of Wu, Lu Yi, and the Wu general Zhou Li. As a result, Lu Yi lured him to Shiting. Da Sima was ambushed and killed more than ten thousand Wei soldiers. As for the baggage, grain, grass, ordnance, etc., they suffered countless losses!
This matter cannot be regarded as the fault of Grand Sima Cao Xiu alone.
When the emperor sent a secret agent from the school to find out, General Zhou Li of Soochow was indeed what he said. He was jealous of Wu King Sun Quan and humiliated by Wu General Lu Yi every day. Only then did he believe Zhou Li's false surrender and decided to He asked Da Sima and Changping Marquis Cao Xiu to personally lead an army of 100,000 people southward; in addition, he also arranged for the Hussar General and Wuyang Marquis Sima Yi who was guarding Jingzhou to lead the Jingzhou armies south to attack Jiangling and contain the troops from other parts of Soochow; in order to ensure nothing went wrong, Cao Rui also dispatched Yuzhou governor Jia Kui, former general Man Chong, Dongguan prefect Hu Zhi and other four armies to attack Dongguan directly from Xiyang.
The emperor's intention was obvious. He wanted Da Sima to welcome Zhou Li and take over the land, population, and troops of Poyang County offered by him. On the other hand, he wanted Da Sima to adapt to the situation and cross the river in one fell swoop to conquer Jianye of the Eastern Wu Dynasty if necessary!
It is difficult for anyone to resist such a huge temptation, not to mention that since the emperor ascended the throne, he has achieved a series of great victories on the border within a year. Riding on the youthful spirit, he is naturally more ambitious and unwilling to let go of such a great opportunity.
But who would have expected that, after all, Jiang was still old and hot, and Wu King Sun Quan actually contacted his general Lu Yi to stage such a big drama, which really made everyone in the Wei Dynasty fall into his trap!
At this critical moment, what made Xiahou Xuan even more unexpected was that General Sima Yi actually delayed the march at this moment and stopped the march on the grounds of heavy rain and muddy roads. This put Da Sima into a dangerous situation of fighting alone.
At that time, although I was still wearing sackcloth and wearing filial piety and could not travel far, after careful consideration, I still sent an urgent message to Sun Li, the prefect of Langxie, asking him to advise the great Sima no matter what, not to continue to go deep alone.
But how did Xia Houxuan know that Cao Xiu, who was already deep behind enemy lines, was really eager to make a contribution, but in the end he still did not listen to Sun Li's advice.
In this way, Da Sima continued to march to Shiting. As expected, he was suddenly attacked by 90,000 troops led by Lu Xun, the governor of Soochow, Zhu Huan, the left governor, and Quan Cong, the right governor.
Quan Cong Quan Zi Huang was the son-in-law of King Sun Quan of Wu and a famous general in Soochow. He had always been responsible for the defense of Soochow north of the Yangtze River, but for many years, he had been repeatedly frustrated by the great Sima Cao Xiu. This time he was able to participate in the battle and defeat Da Sima, which was able to express the bad anger in his chest.
The great Sima Cao Xiu was suddenly ambushed and caught off guard. After the battle was unfavorable, he had to retreat in a hurry. Wu Jun, on the other hand, was arrogant and pursued the victory. Under Wu Jun's relentless pursuit, Wei Jun led by Da Sima no longer wanted to fight. Along the way, more than ten thousand Wei Erlangs were chased and killed by Wu Jun!
In this desperate situation, Da Sima wanted to fight to the death and break through to the important town of Jia Shi in an attempt to regroup. However, he did not expect that the retreat here had already been blocked by Sun Quan's troops.
In this way, the soldiers under the command of Da Sima had no way to retreat and were pursued by soldiers. The army was in panic and defected one after another, and finally began to collapse.
In this life-or-death situation, fortunately, Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou previously sent by the emperor, arrived in time to rescue him. This frightened the Wu army back and saved Da Sima from total annihilation.
After Da Sima returned to Luoyang, Xia Houxuan originally thought that Uncle Wen Lie had finally escaped the disaster, but no one expected that after the defeat, the proud and stubborn "Cao Family's Thousand Mile Horse" would be invincible in his life. , Great Sima Cao Xiu was so ashamed of his defeat that he fell ill in his prime and died in the Changping Marquis Mansion!
He still remembers that when he was a child, his father once told him that Uncle Wen Lie and the Soochow general Lu Yi studied together in the south of the Yangtze River when they were young. They were brothers and sisters, and they also created the exquisite "Peacock Flying Southeast" together. The two cherish each other's sword skills and have the same spirit. But who would have known that these two brothers, who are brothers and sisters, would inevitably have to fight to the death in the end.
After all, in this hearty battle, Lu Yiqi came out on top.
When Xiahou Xuan thought about this, he couldn't help but feel sad. Cao Xiu was not only a famous general in the world, but also his father's close friend and close friend. It is really a pity that he passed away just in the prime of his life.
The young man in purple, the Cao family's thousand-mile horse who rode and shot at the Tongquetai banquet and won the brocade robe, finally fell on his journey like this.
————
In the Tai Chi Hall, Cao Rui was recalling that autumn day two years ago.
The setbacks of that year made me feel like I had been knocked back to my original shape, and this incident became an eternal shame in my heart.
Changping Hou Cao Xiu, as the chief minister of the clan left to him by Emperor Wen, and the highest military commander of the Wei Dynasty, has always intimidated Soochow with his absolute power. Cao Xiu has been guarding Yangzhou since the beginning of Emperor Wen's dynasty. Over the years, Almost tearing Soochow's northern defense line to pieces.
He still remembered that the always prudent Shangshu Jiang Ji came to him to advise him, saying that the Wu general Zhu Ran stationed upstream might attack Cao Xiu from behind, and the Wu army might also advance eastward at any time to cut off Da Sima's retreat. He suggested that he Send troops to rescue Da Sima. But in the end, he made the wrong decision, and Da Sima fell into Wu Jun's trick.
Cao Xiu's death was tantamount to breaking one of his arms, and Cao Rui felt heartbroken.
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly.
In the blink of an eye, winter arrived. At the turn of December, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang, once again invaded the north and surrounded the important town of Chencang. Fortunately, General Cao Zhen did not dare to be careless after experiencing the crisis in Longyou, Guanzhong, and sent General Hao Zhao in advance to guard the city closely. Chencang, Zhuge Liang was not allowed to attack Chencang, so the Shu army ran out of food and retreated without success.
The death of the Grand Sima Cao Xiu seemed to have freed Wu Lord Sun Quan from fear and worries. The following year, the King of Wu finally proclaimed himself emperor in Wuchang City with high spirits and no scruples!
This made Cao Rui intolerable. Cao Rui understood that Sun Quan no longer took him seriously.
In the past few years, as the new emperor, he had faced trials and tribulations from God again and again, but he had never been timid and dealt with them calmly every time, so that he quickly established prestige in the court.
Although he has four ministers who take care of his life, he seems to have an innate ability to make those important ministers and powerful ministers obey orders and play their best role, instead of letting them use the power in their hands to restrain themselves.
Everyone also firmly believes that their monarch will definitely be a wise master. No one will doubt Cao Rui's ability anymore, because the emperor's ability is beyond doubt.
The emperor's thoughts finally returned to the court meeting from the past events of a few years ago. He stroked the dragon head beside the armrest of the throne. This boundless power gave him the opportunity to prove himself, which made him feel extremely proud.
But he also discovered that this throne seemed to have some magic power, which actually made his once-loving wife and best friends become frightened in front of him, walking on thin ice. He discovered that when he ascended this throne, he was destined to become A lonely person.
In the past few years, what pained Cao Rui the most was the pain of losing his son.
His Ji'er, his Mu'er... Over the years, he seemed to have been cursed. The two princes had just been crowned kings and died when they were less than one year old!
He finally understood why his father had become increasingly distant from him.
Those who are emperors are destined to be lonely and widowed.
It is precisely because of this that the majesty of the emperor is unfathomable and makes all people surrender.
Looking at the court, among the ministers, there are already high-ranking and powerful people, such as Shaoling Marquis Cao Zhen and Wuyang Marquis Sima Yi, but no one dares to be even a little bit proud of Cao Rui, because no one dares to be proud of him. this way.
"Long live my emperor!" All the ministers and servants of the court prostrated themselves on the ground, shouting in admiration.
"Everyone loves you, stay safe." Although Cao Rui's voice was soft and clear, it did not sound intimidating to others. But every minister looked cautious and respectful.
