Time flies, and the mid-autumn weather has arrived in a blink of an eye. Then a strong wind suddenly blew up, and the trees all over the courtyard rustled, and then their leaves fell one after another. At this time, the sky was low, and thick clouds could be seen coming like waves, making the afternoon sky extremely gloomy. The huge inner courtyard of Orchid Terrace looked even more dark and gloomy because the door was closed to avoid the wind. On both sides of the room, there were several exquisite celadon sheep-shaped candlesticks, with a few candles lit on each side. The emperor sat on the big couch in the middle in half-light and half-darkness, with a gloomy expression on his face that made people feel a little afraid.
On the seats on both sides, two scribes wearing turbans sat on the left. One of the scribes was thin and seemed to be a little afraid of the cold. He wore a cloak outside his robe and sat still. Another person held Ruyi in his hand, clapping his palms while observing the emperor's expression. There are also two scribes sitting on the right, but they are dressed in military uniforms and are more heroic than their colleagues on the left. There was just one person who was contemplating with his eyes closed, and the other person was holding a desk in his hand, leaning back slightly, tapping his fingers on the desk subconsciously, probably also taking a long exam.
After a long while, Liu Xie said to the person holding the document: "Zhongda, what do you think of this urgent report from Uncle Zhi? Isn't it an exaggeration?"
Sima Yi put down the document, clasped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, Zhong Shijun will not tell lies about such an urgent matter. Even if there are a few discrepancies, it should not be a problem in general. This matter should be dealt with urgently." yes."
Liu Xie's mood at this time was hateful and angry.
Today is the time when the Wu people are attacking Yuzhou for the third time. As early as May, Liu Xie received news that Wu soldiers were mobilizing in Huainan. Liu Xie had long had the idea of taking advantage of the opportunity to make a contribution, and was overjoyed when he heard this. On the one hand, Wang Chang and Yang Fu, the supervisors of Dongfu and the generals of Dongfu, were ordered to prepare their troops and confront them in the areas of Yuzhou and Qingzhou. He has planned to personally lead his troops to conquer Xuzhou. If he can succeed, the opposition in the court will be eliminated, and there will be no obstacle to the reduction of the vassal state.
Now there are 100,000 soldiers and horses gathered in Luoyang, and Liu Xie is about to go on an expedition next month. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Beifu Supervisory Army Zhong Yufei came to report that a large army of Liaodong Puppet Dynasty had suddenly surrounded Lulong fortress. The army was outnumbered, and important places such as Wuruan and Yuyang fell into the hands of the rebels. At this time, there were only more than 60,000 Beifu troops left. They were divided and surrounded in Zhuoxian, Juyong, Jixian and other places. They were unable to rescue each other and could only defend the city. Zhong Yu requested the imperial court to send reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise the entire Beifu army would be annihilated and Hebei would fall into the hands of the puppet government again.
This news completely disrupted Liu Xie's plan. He thought that the Liaodong Puppet Dynasty was in a corner, and the 60,000 people in Beifu should be enough to resist, but unexpectedly, now he had no power to fight back. This made him very angry, so he turned to ask questions The person on the right: "Zijing, Shiyuan, what should you do about this matter?"
It turns out that the people sitting on the left side are Pang Tong, the secretary-supervisor, and Wei Xi, the secretary-supervisor. Wei Xi pulled up his cloak and said slowly: "There are a lot of rebellious officials and traitors in Hebei. We have known for a long time, but the puppet government can only manage five or six counties, so how many people can be sent? The generals of Beifu can't resist. It's really... Ridiculous! Your Majesty, in my opinion, there must be someone in the army who is waiting and watching, which is why the military situation is like this. We should quickly send envoys to clean up military discipline and clarify national laws, so that the situation can be reversed!"
When Liu Xie heard what he said was reasonable, he couldn't help but beat the bed with his hands and sneered: "If someone really wants to make me look bad! I will make him die a bad death!"
Pang Tong was shocked when he saw that Liu Xie had listened to Wei Xi's words. He quickly put down his Ruyi hand and stood up to admonish Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is not the case. In the past, the army was dispatched by the governor, but now the governor of Wei Stuck in Gyeonggi, the former Youzhou governor Yuan Longgong has died of illness, and the candidate for the new Youzhou governor has not yet been finalized. Zhong Jun and Lu Jun sent out are not familiar with military matters. The government army is leaderless. Under such circumstances, no one can In charge of the overall situation, what can we do even if we have 60,000 soldiers? This is really the fault of the court ministers and has nothing to do with the army. Your Majesty, please do not get angry because of this!"
"Shi Yuan is right!" The man on the left who had been silently closing his eyes opened his eyes and interrupted. This man was none other than Shanglin's left supervisor Zhou Buyi. At that time, as the nephew of Jingzhou Biejia Liu Xian, he followed Liu Biao to the north from Xiangyang. He was a man of rare talent and cleverness. He wrote four essays at the age of seventeen. Although Liu Xie was famous for being aloof and arrogant in Imperial College, he admired Buyi very much. Later, when he became the acting prince, the first person he recruited into the palace was Zhou Buyi.
Zhou Bujie slowly said to Liu Xie: "Last year there was great chaos in Hebei, with victims everywhere and corpses lying thousands of miles away. The imperial court failed to win over the hearts of the people in Hebei. This year, your majesty took power in a hurry, which resulted in quite a few mistakes in the arrangements." , this gave the Liao captives an opportunity to take advantage of. If you use this to punish the generals of the government, I am afraid that you will not be able to convince the people, but will cause a catastrophe. Please think twice, your majesty."
These words were spoken in such a strong tone that Liu Xie bowed his head and remained silent. Wei Xi's face was red, but he had no words to refute, so he could only change the subject and ask: "But now the Eastern Expedition is about to happen, the Wu thieves are marching to the Huai River, and the Nanfu is restrained by Zhou Gongjin, what can the court do? Could it be that Are you going to mobilize Xifu troops from Bashu?"
Zhou Buyi said with a smile: "This is not the first time that the Wu thieves have attacked Yuzhou. The previous two times, they were all in vain. Although the momentum was great this time, it seems that they were just responding to the Liao bandits. During the siege of Linzi Sun Zhongmou has not done anything yet, and he knows the overall situation at this time?" He paused slightly, looked at Liu Xie again, cupped his hands and said: "It is not too late to make amends. Your Majesty, the Wu traitors and soldiers are only sick in their legs and feet. The Liao captives have few soldiers, but the trouble lies in their heart. Therefore, the right way to use troops is to send troops to Hebei quickly and drive the Liao captives back to the north of the Great Wall."
Liu Xie still lowered his head and said nothing. Seeing this, Sima Yi, who was on the side, guessed that the emperor could not save face and did not want to admit that he was responsible for the Hebei military rebellion, so he took the initiative to step forward and said: "Speaking of which, I have been in the puppet government for a long time, and I don't know how many people there are in Liaodong. The dispatch is unbalanced and the Beifu cannot resist. This is all my fault. I hope Your Majesty will allow me to lead the troops and serve the country!"
Liu Xie's expression suddenly relaxed. He waved his hand and said, "Zhongda is in Xindu and has not gone to Liao. It is normal for him to make any omissions. It is not a big mistake. Don't worry about it. As for the use of soldiers and generals, let me think about it again. ." He stood up and took two steps, then asked Sima Yi: "In your opinion, who will be the leader of the Liao captives, and how will he use his troops?"
Sima Yi immediately replied: "Since the puppet government is controlled by Cao Pi, there are only a few people leading the army. They are either Xiahou Yuan or Cao Zhen. Xiahou Yuan uses his troops fiercely, but Cao Zhen has secrets and secrets. In my opinion, most of them are Take Cao Zhen as your commander-in-chief."
After he finished speaking, Liu Xie did not reply immediately. Several people in Taichung listened quietly to the emperor's footsteps coming and going. Zhou Buyi first said: "If you want to win a quick victory, you only need to invite one person to come out." The other people knew that he was talking about Prime Minister Chen Chong, but Liu Xie did not stop, obviously he was not interested in this candidate. satisfy.
Pang Tong stood up and said, "How about Zhuge Kongming, the captain of the Sili School? Last year, he surrendered millions of starving people in Hebei without a single blow, and he was quite popular among the people. The soldiers in Shanglin were also familiar with him. With him as the main general, it was perfect for him again. It’s more than appropriate.”
Liu Xie stopped and said, "I have something important to do with Kong Ming. Let him lead the troops, and there will be no one available in the court."
Wei Tie suddenly understood after hearing this, it turned out that the emperor wanted to lead the conquest in person! He immediately said: "If your Majesty had not personally conquered the country and came to Hebei with the dignity of the emperor, he would have made Xiaoxiao scared and the people would return to their hearts." As soon as he finished speaking, Pang Tong was the first to say: "Absolutely not. Could it be that Zijing has forgotten that the late emperor personally conquered the country?" Is there a precedent for arrows? The emperor is a man of ten thousand gold, and he cannot afford any mistakes!"
Wei Xi was speechless for a moment, but Sima Yi came out and said: "This is not difficult, we can arrange it this way. Your Majesty first ordered a brave general to lead thousands of people to open the way, and then led most of the troops to Xindu, and commanded the generals in the center of the city. We must adapt to the situation on the front line, and then ask Zhuge Jun to arrange support in Hanoi. In this way, we can attack when we advance, and we can defend when we retreat. The people of Hebei will be at peace, and the Liao captives will definitely be hard to come by."
When Liu Xie heard this, he immediately clapped his hands and said: "Zhongda is right, let's do it this way. Hurry up and draw up a clause and discuss it at the court meeting tomorrow." He said to discuss it, but His tone was extremely decisive, and the others could tell that he had made up his mind. After agreeing, they all withdrew a long time ago.
When he was the only one left in Taichung, Liu Xie ordered the palace people to light the lamps and lay back on the couch. Now that he has taken over the power of the government, he almost enforces orders and prohibitions, but he often feels uneasy in his heart. Asking himself, Liu Xie knew that it was because of his carelessness in doing things that he got a lot of attention from others, so he was upset about it. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he thought of his agreement with Chen Chong. Even if he is the emperor, there are some things he cannot do as he pleases. After persisting for nearly a year, he became a little bored.
There were a lot of official documents piled up on the tables on the couch, all of which were processed by the Chancellor's desk and were waiting for his final decision. The top one is a secret report from the direction of Yizhou: After Liu Fan of Jiangzhou persisted for two years, he seemed to be seriously ill and gradually became unable to cope. Li Hui, the supervisor of the army in Xifu, suggested that an edict should be issued to recruit him appropriately. , I’m afraid there will be results soon.
Liu Xie picked up the official document placed underneath again, which was a report on secret surveillance of the capital. It recorded in detail the interactions between Chen Chong, Zhong Yao and others in the capital. Seeing that there was nothing sensitive, Liu Xie put the official document down again.
There are a lot of things piled up below, and people from Xiangyang, Zhangwu, Chang'an and other places have asked for instructions. But Liu Xie was no longer in the mood to read it. He was thinking about the imperial commander's personal expedition, so he asked the palace officials to get the maps of Jizhou and Youzhou, and put them among other official documents. He planned to leave them to Zhuge Liang for approval as appropriate.
While waiting for the map, Liu Xie unconsciously recalled the performance of the Taiwan ministers who attended the meeting today, and also remembered Chen Chong's advice to the employees. He thought to himself: The scholar Yuan was upright, straightforward and good at planning, but he could not read the eyes; Zijing was slightly better, but unfortunately he was not good at military affairs; Zhongda was the most popular, but it was a pity that he was a surrendered minister and could not obey the crowd. How should I appoint myself in the future? Or looking for other talents? He was thinking about this problem, and before he knew it, late at night had arrived.
