Cao Pi's idea of "accepting Zen and proclaiming himself emperor" was no longer something he had thought about for a day or two.
In other words, this idea has always been there since Cao Cao. This is the long-cherished wish of two generations of the Cao family.
Yes, Cao Cao once wrote the "Order to Make the County Self-Ming", expressing that he only wanted to be a general who conquered the west. It was only the current situation that forced him to get to his current position bit by bit.
But at that time, Cao Cao was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. Although he was said to have overwhelming power and was a powerful minister, he was still a Han minister.
But from the moment Cao Cao completely broke through the bottom line of the Han Dynasty and was granted the title of Duke of Wei, Cao Cao's ambitions could no longer be explained by the "Order of Let the County Be Mingming".
At this time, it is actually more appropriate to use another sentence of Cao Cao to explain Cao Cao's ambition - "If destiny is to be alone, I will be King Wen of Zhou".
In other words, Cao Cao just couldn't save face and didn't want to be emperor in his generation. Instead, he wanted to leave this opportunity to his son Cao Pi to fulfill his reputation as a Han official.
At this time, Cao Cao didn't want to be emperor, but he just couldn't do it for the sake of reputation.
Therefore, Cao Cao would clear out the opposition forces over and over again during his lifetime and move his hometown from Xudu to Yecheng, just to pave the way for his son Cao Pi to ascend to the throne.
Originally, Cao Pi thought that Cao Cao's preparations were enough, and his first major event after taking office should be "accepting Zen and proclaiming himself emperor". But who knew that Liu Bei would intervene and launch the Northern Expedition.
This became Cao Pi's first formal test when he took office as Queen of Wei.
If Liu Bei cannot be dealt with, then even if Cao Pi rashly proclaims himself emperor, it will only have the opposite effect. Cao Pi, who will not be recognized and convinced by others, will have to go to Chang'an with 150,000 troops to compete with Liu Bei.
Now, although Cao Pi lost Liangzhou and half of Yongzhou, at any rate, Cao Pi also defended Chang'an, which ultimately forced Liu Bei to withdraw his troops and stop fighting. In a sense, Cao Pi could not be considered a loser.
Liangzhou is a bitter cold place. For the wealthy families in the Central Plains and Hebei, that place should have been abandoned long ago, and they would not feel bad if they lost it.
As for Yongzhou, the best part of Yongzhou is the Sanfu area in Guanzhong. As long as these places are not lost, Cao Wei will still occupy Yongzhou.
Therefore, on the surface, Cao Pi's personal expedition can be seen as "repelling" Liu Bei's Northern Expedition and initially establishing "prestige."
As for Huainan and Qingxu Prefecture, those places were only temporarily given to Jiangdong. As long as the war on the Western Front is completely over and freed up, can they still be taken back? !
At least that's what the people around Cao Pi said.
Therefore, Cao Pi felt that under such circumstances, it made sense for him to stand on his own behalf on behalf of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, after returning to Yecheng in May, Cao Pi began to step up preparations to stand on his own behalf on behalf of the Han Dynasty.
The first thing Cao Pi did was to change the reign name.
Now is the 26th year of Jian'an. The same era name has been used for 26 years. It is time to change it to express a new atmosphere.
Therefore, Cao Pi "suggested" that the 26th year of Jian'an be changed to the first year of Yankang.
One thing to say is that this does not seem to be very etiquette. After all, things like changing the Yuan are usually announced at the end of the year and are officially launched at the beginning of the next year.
But Cao Pi couldn't wait any longer, so he announced the change to the Yuan Dynasty in May and put it into effect immediately.
This created a chaotic scene. Except for Yecheng, other places in Cao Wei were still using the reign name of the 26th year of Jian'an, let alone Jiangdong and Liu Bei Group. No one cared about the so-called Yankang changed by Cao Pi. First year.
By July, the fighting on the Western Front had completely subsided, and Cao Pi appointed General Cao Ren as governor of Yongliang Prefecture to garrison Chang'an to guard against Shu thieves.
After that, Cao Pi began to step up his efforts to force Liu Xie to "zen".
Originally, after Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, some so-called "auspicious things" often appeared in the core areas of Cao Wei's rule, such as yellow dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, white tigers, nectar, sweet springs, and strange beasts.
Even during Liu Bei's Northern Expedition and Cao Pi was in Chang'an, he saw the so-called "Qilin" auspicious beast in Chang'an.
In fact, Cao Pi knew exactly where these things came from. It was just to show his character and stop the world from talking about them.
In July of the first year of Yankang, Taishi Cheng Xu Zhi suddenly wrote to the King of Wei, saying that now that the world was initially settled, auspicious signs appeared one after another, indicating that the Lord of Heaven was born.
At this time, Liu Xie had been the emperor of the Han Dynasty for almost 30 years. This natural master must not be Liu Xie. With Cao Pi having just succeeded to the throne of Wei, it was already obvious who this natural master was.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Zhi changed his words again and started to talk about "the person who succeeded the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gao". He explained the so-called "auspicious things" that happened in this year one by one by quoting scriptures, and concluded that "the destiny is in the destiny". Wei", this is already a naked suggestion that Cao Pi can stand on his own behalf of the Han Dynasty.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this epistle is just nonsense, and the interpretation of the classics quoted is also very far-fetched. It is just trying to flatter Cao Pi. If you look at such an article, you will be considered as you. There is a problem with IQ.
But Cao Pi read it. Not only did he read it, but he also gave very long instructions.
The original text is recorded in the "Biography of Emperor Xian". The whole article is long and smelly, so I won't reprint it.
What Cao Pi probably meant was to give two examples of King Wen of Zhou and Gongdan of Zhou.
King Wen of Zhou controlled two-thirds of the world, and still treated King Shang as a courtier, while Duke Zhou controlled national affairs, and finally returned power to the king.
Because of their virtues, these two people have been recognized and praised since ancient times. As for great sages such as Yao, Shun, and Yu, Cao Pi is simply incomparable. So how could he dare to listen to what Xu Zhi said?
His biggest ideal now is to assist the Han Dynasty in governing the world, hand over the political power after success, resign and return to his hometown.
It sounds nice, but the problem is that Xu Zhi, the Taishi Cheng, is just a low-ranking official in the court. His sparse memorials are already amazing if they can be seen by Cao Pi, the king of Wei. The king also gave special instructions, which made this matter even more magical.
Anyone with some political acumen will know what is going on and what to do next, as long as they think about it for a moment. Some ministers will immediately understand it.
Some people were less courageous, so they wrote directly to the King of Wei, telling Cao Cao and Cao Pi about the contributions of two generations to the Han Dynasty, and how difficult it was for the two of them to bring peace to the world. ", adding that the prophecy has already stated, "Those who will succeed the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gao", and please Cao Pi not "disappoint the world's expectations."
Those who were more courageous, like Hua Xin, wrote directly to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, saying that the Han Dynasty was about to end, and the world needed King Wei to rule. You, the old man, should be more aware of current affairs and abdicate the throne as soon as possible.
Hua Xin was hit with this cannon, and even Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was stunned. Why can't Cao Cao even say what you said? !
Thanks to Hua Xin, you are still a famous person in the world. No wonder Guan Ning cut ties with you in the first place. Are you such a thing? !
Your Huaxin family has been a Han minister for generations, and has been a Han official for generations. How could you say such treacherous words when you come here? Why don't you scold the cook after you finish eating? !
But the problem is that the current situation is stronger than others. Liu Xie is not the kind of courageous emperor. He doesn't even have the backbone of Cao Mao. In the face of such a petition, he just hesitates. The Han Dynasty has inherited it for hundreds of years. , how can it be cut off in his hands? !
Then, the ministers began to write letters non-stop. What they said was just a so-called prophecy, and they couldn't get around the sentence "Those who succeed the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gao".
Of course, this is something on the surface. If Liu Xie had the ability of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he could pull out the ministers who said these words and chop them down in a minute. If he had the ability of Emperor Guangwu, these remarks would not be able to reach him.
After all, Liu Xie has been a puppet for thirty years and does not have the ability to suppress the government. In addition, Cao Wei's power has completely covered the court from top to bottom. It doesn't matter whether Liu Xie is willing or not.
What made Liu Xie feel most helpless was that Liu Ye, the real emperor's uncle, actually joined the ranks of admonishing him to give up the throne.
Liu Xie really couldn't understand it.
Liu Bei, Prince Jing of Zhongshan who was separated from Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu by countless generations, is still working hard to support the Han Dynasty. How come you, Liu Ye, a great uncle of the Han Dynasty with a well-established family, But who was the first to betray his ancestors? !
When Liu Ye came forward, Liu Xie immediately discovered that a bunch of so-called auxiliary generals and other descendants of the Han Dynasty had appeared out of nowhere. They also wrote letters saying that "the destiny is in Wei", and some people took advantage of Zou Yan's "Theory of the Five Virtues at the End of the Beginning" states that the Han Dynasty has the virtue of fire, while the Wei Dynasty has the virtue of earth. Fire generates earth, so the Wei Dynasty replaces the Han Dynasty by destiny.
Liu Xie's whole body was numb, but there was nothing he could do.
From ministers to clan members, everyone stood on Cao Wei's side, leaving him completely alone.
Moreover, from beginning to end, Liu Xie had no say in this matter at all. The person who really had the say was Cao Pi.
At this moment, Cao Pi was still pretending to be "three concessions and three concessions" in the face of the persuasion of the ministers.
Liu Xie was so disgusted by what he saw.
But no matter how disgusting it is, no one cares about what Liu Xie, the emperor, thinks. Everyone wants to make Cao Pi the emperor so that he can be a "hero from the dragon."
Liu Xie knew that there was nothing he could do, and he could only lament that the situation was over. Even if he didn't cooperate, wouldn't Cao Pi be able to play this disgusting "concession"? !
What Cao Pi needs is just a tool man named Liu. It doesn't matter whether he is Liu Xie or not.
If this is the case, Liu Xie himself has no intention of being loyal to the Han Dynasty's four-hundred-year foundation, let alone others.
In October of the first year of Yankang, after three months of back and forth, Cao Pi accepted Liu Xie's abdication edict at the Chantai, officially proclaimed himself emperor, named the country "Wei", and changed the first year of Yankang to the first year of Huangchu.
As for Liu Xie, Cao Pi did not dispose of this tool after use. Instead, he was quite generous and granted Liu Xie the title of Shanyang Gong. It is the emperor's rite to offer sacrifices in the suburbs, but he will not submit a letter to his ministers."
It can be said that at least in this regard, Cao Pi still gave Liu Xie enough courtesy and gave the big man enough face.
It's just like Cao Pi himself said.
"I know the affairs of Shun and Yu."
(End of chapter)
