Dong Zhuo's shogunate handled matters very neatly. The list was finalized on the same day, passed through the chancellery the next day, and the seal ribbon and edict were issued on the eighth day of September. There were so many high-ranking officials of two thousand stone appointed this time, and there were also many Confucian scholars who rose to the top. Scholars who were recruited into the government were everywhere in the capital. They went to the horse market in the east of the city to choose horses and harnesses, and to the west market to choose silks and brocades. When they went out, they were all dressed up as if they were immortals, to show that they were different from what they used to be and that they were no longer the same as the common people.
Cao Cao has visited the shogunate a lot in the past few days, and has become familiar with everyone under Dong Zhuo's command. To be honest, he is not much different from He Jin who entered the shogunate. Cao Cao was handling government affairs with his colleagues in the shogunate, and he felt that he was familiar with people everywhere, even in Xianyang Garden. If he hadn't seen Dong Zhuo in the chairman's office every day, he would occasionally mistakenly think that He Jin was still alive.
This is not because Dong Zhuo himself really has no one to use. Cao Cao cultivates relations with Dong Zhuo's generals when he has nothing to do. He often drinks and feasts with him. Because of Cao Cao's reputation, his generals are happy to make friends with him. Cao Cao was able to look around Dong Zhuo's generals, and he couldn't help but sigh that there were so many talented people under him. However, Dong Zhuo really had the ambition to govern, so he only appointed him to military positions and did not appoint him to high-ranking officials in the court.
In addition to Dong Min as the left general, Dong Zhuo appointed seven generals under his command: Huben Zhonglang General Lu Bu; Yulin Zhonglang General Yang Ding; Hu Qizhonglang General Duan Xuan; Dong Zhonglang General Dong Yue; Beizhong Lang General Hu Zhen; Xizhong Lang general Xu Rong; Nan Zhonglang general Niu Fu. Ten more captains were appointed: Dong Huang, Li Jue, Guo Si, Hua Xiong, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, Jia Xu, Li Meng, Wang Fang, and Dong Cheng. Cao Cao talked with them and felt that these generals all had their own merits, and they were definitely not comparable to the boastful celebrities in the court.
Once he and his father Cao Song had dinner and talked about this matter: "Everyone under Dong Gong's command is a capable general. The boy talked with them about poems and songs, and everyone was complimentary. But the boy talked about marching and formation. , then all the generals are eloquent, but the young man can only nod his head. Perhaps Dong Gong's strategy is not the best in the world, but judging from his military talents, perhaps only Ting Jian in the world can compare him."
When Cao Song heard his son's words, he couldn't help asking: "In your opinion, does my family still need to move to Xuzhou?"
Cao Cao shook his head and analyzed it for Cao Song: "Dong Zhuo doesn't understand government affairs and is too naive. Of all his subordinates, only Li Ru and Jia Xu understand it a little bit. Unfortunately, they don't understand the origin either. He actually heard about Wu. , People on Tuesday said that the feudal princes of the world were enfeoffed, and during the Luoyang Incident, the artifact was only a short distance away at first, but it was actually taken away by Dong Zhuo. How can you ask him to be willing to do so? Dong Zhuo was just a warrior from Longxi, and he gained power in one day. , How can you make the princes willing to do so? When the princes return to their own countries and raise the banner at the beginning to spread the word to the prefectures and counties, the world will be in chaos and the country will disintegrate, which is unstoppable."
After hearing this, Cao Song remained silent. He put down his bowls and chopsticks and complained, "It's hard to move my property in this house." Cao Cao advised him, "As long as you have enough money, don't worry too much about it." Cao Song then On September 20th, he retired and returned to his hometown. Dong Zhuo knew that he had been a regular attendant, so he approved it. He looked at his father's retreating troops and thought to himself, if Yuan Shao raised his troops, when would he get out of Luoyang?
On September 23rd, Cao Cao participated in the Chang Dynasty. The imperial commander Dong Zhuo joined forces with Situ Huang Wan and Sikong Yang Biao. The three princes all brought Qian Quan and Yi Que to submit a letter, asking the emperor to investigate the cases of Chen Fan, Dou Wu and other party members. To vindicate two disasters caused by party imprisonment. Grand Tutor Yuan Wei acted on behalf of the Emperor, restored the titles of Chen Fan and others, and promoted their descendants to officials. When he was going to court, Cao Cao was suddenly stopped by someone. When he looked back, he saw that it was Zhong Shao, the servant in charge. …
Zhong Shao stopped him and pretended to be joking, saying that the adults in the family were having a sixtieth birthday party and asked him to go to the mansion to talk about it before the dinner. Cao Cao understood clearly and agreed. He went home and put on a crimson ceremonial robe and a Confucian scarf. He knew that Zhong Fu loved music, so he went to the West Market and bought a nanmu deer-sinned qin with landscapes as its body. , next to it was engraved "Guan Guan Jiu Jiu, on the island of the river." The eight characters were noble and elegant, just suitable as a gift. Cao Cao was quite satisfied, and then he drove to Zhongfu.
It has been more than thirty years since the Zhong family in Henan was established by Situ Zhonghao. Now the head of the family, Zhong Fu, is the Guanglu doctor. He is recognized by everyone in the court as having high moral character and is the candidate to succeed the three princes. There is also Zhong Shao among the younger generation. , Zhong Ji, have been added to the official service, and can walk back and forth in Shangshutai, especially Zhong Shao. Dong Zhuo was blocked by Zhong Shao in Henan County, but believed that Zhong Shao was loyal and loyal, and often asked for his advice when handling government affairs.
At this time, Cao Cao entered the palace. Although there were lanterns and colorful decorations in front of the door, the door was closed and there were few cars and horses. Cao Cao knocked on the door of the mansion, and a man with a pale head poked out of the door. After checking his ultimatum, he opened the door and asked Cao Cao to enter. Only Zhongshao was waiting behind the gate, and various gifts were piled in the corner beside the gate. When he saw Cao Cao, he also threw the nanmuqin in the corner, and hurriedly pulled Cao Cao to a side room in the backyard, where more than thirty people were sitting quietly. , Cao Cao recognized that all those present were young officials at the Shangshutai, frowned and asked Zhong Shao, "Shen Fu, isn't Doctor Zhong here?"
Zhong Shao sat back at the table and said to him: "Meng De, they say that among all my friends at the beginning, you are the best at making changes. Do you really think that I asked you to come here today to wish you a birthday?"
Cao Cao sat down safely and said to everyone: "Of course I know what the original meaning is, but I just have to do a full show. Since it is a birthday celebration, I have to look like a birthday celebration. After all, the father-in-law is also an important minister after Jiu Qing. Only How can I avoid making people suspicious when I and dozens of people are congratulating me on my birthday and the door of the palace is closed? Once Dong Zhuo receives the news, do you want me and others to be thrown into jail for questioning?"
After saying this, everyone here thought of the cruelty of Dong Zhuo's stick to harass the Dragon Sect, and they were all dripping with cold sweat. Zhong Shao stood up quickly and said, "I'll open the door right now and invite some musicians to play music." Cao Cao waved his hand to stop him. Zhong Shao smiled at him and said, "Brother Zhong, don't be anxious. Just imagine if you closed the door of your house tightly first, and then opened the door and played loud music. What would the people around you think? It means that something very serious has happened. If Dong Zhuo heard about it, what would happen again?" How can we not doubt it?"
"Meng De's advice" Zhong Shao just woke up from a dream. He didn't know what to do for a while. He looked at Cao Cao and begged for advice: "Then according to Meng De's opinion, what should I do?" Cao Cao pulled him back to sit on the desk. , comforted and said: "What's so difficult about this? When the doctor had his sixtieth birthday, the Queen Mother had just passed away. As a filial son, Shenfu, you had to wish you a happy birthday, but as a minister, you were also very sad, so you tied the knot without playing music. Be polite but not welcoming, if someone asks you, just respond accordingly."
After everyone heard Cao Cao's analysis, they couldn't help but look at Cao Cao in a different light. Xun You sat cross-legged in the banquet and said with a smile: "I have often heard that Ben Chu said that Meng De can make sudden changes on the spot. I am conceited about my resourcefulness and often don't think so. Today I saw Mr. Cao Cao." , I can’t help but feel inferior.”
Cao Cao smiled at Xun Youli and said, "Mr. "You are all talented people who are in charge of secrets in the Secretariat. Now that you are gathered here, what advice can you give me? From what I see, it must be related to Dong Zhuo!"...
Seeing that he was calm and composed, Zhong Shao couldn't help but feel a bit sarcastic in his heart, but his face was normal. He said: "It is indeed related to Dong Zhuo, Meng De. When I first received the seal ribbon, I wrote a letter to me. Now that Dong Zhuo has usurped power, he has Unexpectedly, he abolished the establishment and exterminated his descendants. This was a major event that had never happened in the Han Dynasty in four hundred years. He was determined to call on the world to attack Dong Zhuo, and asked us to cooperate internally and externally to wait for opportunities to assassinate Dong Zhuo and help the emperor regain his throne. I deeply agree. Now that the emperor is trapped in a room, he is no different from a prisoner. How can the loyal ministers of the country sit back and watch the emperor being humiliated and ignore it? Ben Chu said that your ability is extraordinary. If you can't go with him, you can still stay in the capital. I am waiting for you as a leader, I wonder what you are going to do?"
These words were really caught off guard. Cao Cao put down his wine cup, looked around, and said after a long time: "These are troubled times. Although Dong Zhuo talks about usurping power, he is still cautious in administration and generous in his treatment of us. It is not very beneficial to act at this time." Come on! We have to wait until his counterattack is revealed, and after he invades the emperor, we will be able to do anything harmful if we have the reputation and reputation. Now we are plotting without fault and without reputation. "
Everyone showed an expression that was indeed true. Wu Qiong, the captain of Yueqi, said at the side: "Meng De's remarks are probably not because he is loyal to the Dong thief and betrays Qingliu!" Yang Xun, the attendant, sneered and said: "I think Meng De De has been hanging out with Dong Jun's men all day these days, and I'm afraid Dong Zhuo has promised him a high official and a generous salary, and is about to exchange our heads for the lord!"
When Cao Cao heard these criticisms, he was very angry. He angrily said: "You keep talking about Sheji, but more than ten years ago, I killed Uncle Jian Shuo with my stick and broke all his bones. Therefore, I offended the nobles and had to live in the countryside. Now, when it comes to loyalty to the country, is there anyone better than me?"
These words were very resounding. During the period of the Party's imprisonment, most celebrities returned to their hometowns to avoid disasters and wrote poems to talk about their affairs. However, Cao Cao's move showed his heroic spirit, which was beyond the reach of everyone. For a while, no one could speak anymore. Zhong Shao paused for a moment, then spoke sarcastically again: "Being good is like ascending, doing evil is like falling. The heroes of the past may not be villains today."
Cao Cao said tit for tat: "I, Cao Mengde, am upright, what evidence do you have?"
It was Wu Qiong who spoke, and he said leisurely: "Yesterday, Dong Zhuo proposed to re-elect the party to imprison the descendants, and ordered me to find the descendants of the He family, saying that they would be entrusted with important tasks. Now the Queen Mother has committed suicide, and the He family left the city because of the treasure. We were all killed in a military disaster. How could we have any descendants? But Dong Zhuo ordered me to do it, so I offered a large reward. Who would have thought that someone in your family reported that you brought a woman back to your home some time ago. It must be He Xian's widow Yin, she is still pregnant with He Xian's son, Meng De, is this true or false?"
Cao Cao suddenly felt as if a random arrow had pierced his heart. His face was as pale as dirt, and he felt like he was naked, and everyone could see him at a glance. He couldn't help but feel sad: There was actually Yuan Shaojian in his family? But he held on silently, and Wu Qiong added: "Since there are clues, I can't know about it and not report it. I will report the matter to Dong Gong in a form tomorrow morning. Meng De, you can make your own decision and do what you want."
He said nothing for the rest of the meeting, sitting back and watching everyone discuss the current situation, actually not hearing a word. After the meeting ended, he went home and left a letter to Zhongshao, saying that he was determined to respond to Yuan Shao outside, and also invited all the kings. Don't worry, he immediately planned to flee Luoyang with the Yin family. .
