On the fifth day of February, Liu Bei decided to execute Cao Cao.
In fact, according to the usual practice, Cao Cao, as a tycoon who has resisted the imperial court for nearly two decades and brought endless disasters to the country, should be escorted to Luoyang Market, first raised to the city and surrendered in public, and then sentenced to death. Only in this way can he comfort the people who have fought for many years. The heroic spirits in heaven who died on the battlefield.
But firstly, Liu Bei considered that his health was unknown and he might not be able to support himself to the capital; secondly, under the auspices of Chen Chong, the country had also abolished Lingchi and other torture methods; thirdly, he also wanted to persuade Liaodong to surrender without using weapons. So after thinking over and over again, I simply decided to keep Cao Cao's body intact, so that he could show his magnanimity as a human king.
After the news came out, the generals in the Western Dynasty felt many times regretful, while the surrendered ministers in the Eastern Dynasty held their hands in sorrow. Although these old officials were afraid of Cao Cao's jealous and murderous personality, they all admired Cao Cao's natural talent. I am afraid he is the only person in the world who can combine various contradictory qualities such as a poet, a hero, a scholar, and a famous general. That’s all.
On February 6th, the Westerners took Cao Cao to a small house in Linzi City and imprisoned him. That night, the men sent by Liu Bei to jail arrived and the execution was carried out immediately. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the person Liu Bei sent to imprison him turned out to be Tian Chou, an old minister of the Eastern Dynasty. Although he was often ostracized by Cao Cao, he was in a complicated mood at the moment and didn't know how to treat his old master.
At this moment, Cao Cao, with a cloth turban on his head and plain clothes, was sitting alone in the dark. He saw soldiers from the Western Dynasty pouring in. Since he had expected it, he felt calm and just sat quietly. In the flickering candlelight, he saw Tian Chou also walking in with the Westerners, standing aside with his head bowed and silent. The leading Western general was Chen Dao. After he waited for all the prisoners to arrive, he signaled his followers with his eyes, and first served Cao Cao a box of dishes, which contained a plate of fish dumplings, a plate of dog meat, and Two Hu cakes and a plate of pickled vegetables are served.
Cao Cao ate calmly. He had not eaten well during this period, so he quickly wiped away all the food and sighed: "It's a pity that there is no tofu." At this time, Chen Dao asked people to come forward to tie up Cao Cao, and he suddenly raised his Shou said: "No need! I won't resist." He then asked: "How will you die for me?"
Chen Dao didn't say anything and asked the two men to carry a bag of earth weighing more than a hundred kilograms and throw it on the ground.
Cao Cao understood, he smiled and said: "Xuande left my whole body, very good, very good." He turned around, took out a cloth towel from the broken mat under him, and said to Tian Chou: "Please come over Zitai. "While handing out the cloth towel. Tian Chou was afraid to accept the promise, so he hurriedly bowed and took the cloth, and saw four poems written in small regular script on it. Cao Cao smiled and said: "I thought no one would know me, so I hid it under the mat. I didn't expect Zitai to come. God has treated me well. Please read it off for me!"
When Tian Chou heard this, tears were already in his eyes. He read the poem aloud with all his strength: "The clouds are walking in the rain, surpassing the Gao River in Jiujiang. Looking at the similarities and differences, I feel hesitant and don't know what to do? Passing by my Jieshi, I feel melancholy. East China Sea." Tears were already dripping on the cloth. He choked with sobs and began to read the second poem: "The country is different, the river is cold in the early morning. The current is floating, and the boat is difficult to move. The cone cannot penetrate the ground, and the ripples are deep. The water does not flow, and the ice is solid enough to walk on. A scholar is a hermit. Poverty, brave heroes and villains. My heart often laments and complains, and my sorrows are full of sorrow. I am so lucky! I sing to celebrate my ambition."
Listening to Tian Chou's crying recitation, Cao Cao slowly lay down on his side, like a Buddha lying down, with his back facing the executioners without moving. The two execution soldiers picked up the soil bags and covered their heads with their bags towards Cao Cao.
Tian Chou knew that Cao Cao was being tortured and did not dare to watch. While crying, he recited the third poem: "The wild geese leave the north of the Great Wall, but they are in no man's land. They lift their wings for more than ten thousand miles and travel on their own. In winter, they eat southern rice, and in spring they return to the north. Soaring. There are turrets in the field, flying far away in the wind. Long live the old roots, but it is not enough. However, this warrior can go to all directions!"
One of the Westerners who was executing the execution pressed the earth bag hard, while the other held down the trembling and twitching limbs under the earth bag. But they were obviously listening attentively, curious about Marshal Dongchao's last desperate poem.
Tian Chou read the last words: "Although the divine tortoise has a long life, it still has its time. A flying snake rides on the mist, but it will eventually turn into ashes. An old man is struggling with his ambition, and his ambition is thousands of miles. A martyr's ambition is endless in his old age. The period of growth and shrinkage is not only in the sky, but also in the sky. If you are blessed, you can live forever. Fortunately, I sing to express my ambition."
After Tian Chou finished reading, the cloth in his hand was already soaked with tears. Looking back at Cao Cao, the body under the soil bag was already stiff and motionless.
After listening to the last desperate poem outside the house, Liu Bei couldn't help but exclaimed: "Mengde's poetry is the best." So he had Cao Cao's body wrapped in a cloth handkerchief, and then put it in a coffin with white grass tied outside. He was carried in an ox cart and taken to his hometown in Qiao County, Pei County, Yanzhou for burial. At the same time, envoys were dispatched to convey the news to Cao Pi in Liaodong and Sun Quan in Xuzhou.
Then Liu Bei thought that Linzi was flooded twice, which was very unlucky, so he ordered Yuan Tan to demolish Linzi, a thousand-year-old city, and build a new city thirty miles southeast of the original site, named Zhangwu City. Of course, what was destroyed along with Linzi was the "Picture of Zhongliang and the Breaking of Thieves" carved by Cao Cao on the wall of Linzi. However, among the people of Qingzhou, there are still many Taiping Tao believers who copied and carved it and preserved it, but this is all for later generations. Talked.
After Cao Cao died, the armies of the Western Dynasty basically began to return westward, and the Eastern Dynasty accepted the surrender of civil and military forces and followed them. Only the emperor Liu Bei did not return. He told the envoy sent by the prince Liu Xie: "Hebei is in chaos and unrest, and I need to go and comfort it, so I will not return to Beijing for the time being. All major matters can be handled independently by the prince. , he has matured in dealing with things in the past few years, I am very relieved."
Before Liu Bei left, he completed a number of new appointments in Qingzhou. Fa Zheng, the eunuch of Zhongshu, was the governor of Qingzhou, Meng Da was the prefect of Donglai, Li Yi was the prefect of Beihai, Guo Kai was the prefect of Taishan, and Li Dian was the prefect of Le'an. With Yuan Tan as the Commander-in-Chief of Zhangwu, the Commander-in-Chief was in charge of the military affairs of Qingzhou and Yanzhou in order to deal with possible wars in the direction of Xuzhou and Yangzhou. At the same time, Sima Yi, Wang Can and others were appointed to the East Palace, and Liu Xie was asked to be his friend, so as to win the hearts of the scholars in Hebei.
In mid-February, Liu Bei and his party set out to patrol the north. He was accompanied by his ministers Wang Ling, Sun Qian, Pan Jun, Yang Di, Zhang Wei, as well as Liu Biao's son Liu Qi, Jian Yong's son Jian Ke, and Chen Qun's son Chen Tai, Zhang Fei's son Zhang Bao and others, except for a few old ministers, are mostly young men. Among them, the one he trusted the most was Xu Gai, Xu Huang's son. After all, he was the one who rescued him from the weir water, so he gave him three hundred gold and planned to betroth his daughter, Princess Chen, to him.
In addition to these people, General Zhao Yun of the Fu Army and General Huang Zhong of the Left were leading the troops and escorting them on the left and right. They led a cavalry of more than 2,000 people, all with auxiliaries. Liu Bei said to the two of them: "Two tigers in our army, it's so hard for you to accompany me on this last journey." Both of them also knew that the emperor was ill, and they were both grieved and thanked Liu Bei with tears.
Liu Bei set out from Zhangwucheng, crossed Jishui and Dahe, and headed towards Zhuojun via Bohai County. In late February, when the cavalry arrived at Nanpi City, Liu Bei was suddenly stunned. He ordered to stay here for a while, and then led his trusted followers to Beipi. The confluence of Zhangshui River and Jiangshui River was the place that determined the fate of Hebei. battlefield. At this time, the battlefield has been submerged by knee-deep green grass. Looking from a distance, it is lush and green. It is difficult to imagine that countless people spilled blood here and bones piled up into mountains. Liu Bei set up an altar in the center of the battlefield, paid homage to Xu Shu, Zhang Xian and others, and told them that he had recaptured Hebei. He burst into tears for a while.
When he returned to Nanpi from the battlefield in Beipi, Prince Liu Xie sent another envoy to inform Liu Bei that Sun Quan, the shepherd of Yangzhou, had sent a congratulatory gift to the court after learning about Cao Cao's death, and nominally surrendered to the country. However, He was unwilling to send hostages to the court, and he obviously had plans to deal with both sides. Therefore, Liu Xie came to ask for instructions on how to deal with Sun Quan's surrender.
Liu Bei didn't take the long test, so he quickly replied: "I have been fighting for many years, making the people suffer from the corvee tax. Now in Xinping, Hebei, the common people are hungry, so it is better to temporarily agree to him and let the country rest for two years." He then said to Zhao Yun and others: " After my death, Sun Quan will rebel, and then the big things will be left to you and the prince."
By early March, the cavalry crossed Yishui from Wen'an and finally entered the realm of Youzhou. At this time, the weather was excellent, the sun was shining, the sky was clear and cloudless, the waterside was full of wild flowers, and the trees were lush. A breeze blew along the way, and the horses were pacing happily. Liu Bei's mood was affected by this and he felt much more relaxed. He asked everyone to stop and listen quietly to the sound of the water.
He smiled and said: "It is said that Jing Ke bid farewell to Prince Dan of Yan here and sang, 'The wind is rustling and the water is cold, and the strong man will never return once he is gone.' Although Jing Ke failed to assassinate Emperor Qin and died in Xianyang. But we locals There has always been a legend that Jing Ke’s soul returned to Yishui. After all, when the wind blows, people can often hear the sound of someone singing, which is full of chilling atmosphere. If there is no wind, you can also hear something similar. Your wonderful vocal music means that Jing Ke thinks you are also a hero and you will have great adventures in the future."
Speaking of this, Liu Bei's eyes showed a look of reminiscence, while everyone following him listened with bated breath, and no one spoke for a long time. As for whether anyone heard Jing Ke's singing, no one told others.
After passing Yishui, we walked northwest. Liu Bei had already informed Chen Deng, the governor of Youzhou, and Wei Kang, the prefect of Zhuojun, about his northern patrol. Therefore, when they were still more than sixty miles apart, the traces of the cavalry were traced to Chen Deng. The cavalry team found out and hurriedly came to greet him and flew to Zhuoxian County. Liu Bei was in a good mood. He joked to the people waiting for him: "How is your Chen Shijun's health? When he wrote to me, he always complained, saying that he was not used to eating the cattle and sheep of Saibei and missed the cattle and sheep of his hometown. I tasted the fish meat in Qingzhou for a few days, and it was quite tasteless!"
All joking aside, after finishing speaking, Liu Bei looked at the sky in the north and couldn't help but sigh: "It's even more timid to be close to the countryside!" Then he ordered his entourage to enter the city first to prepare with him, and he changed into the emperor's robes and sat on six horses of the same color. Yu Bao covered his car and drove slowly towards his hometown.
