Regarding Sun Quan proclaiming himself emperor, you really can't blame Cao Pi for being furious.
Cao Pi was somewhat mentally prepared for Liu Bei proclaiming himself emperor.
After all, the Cao and Liu families are mortal enemies. Cao Pi accepted the abdication and proclaimed himself emperor on behalf of the Han Dynasty. It would be really strange if Liu Bei didn't react in some way.
But Sun Quan. Why? !
Your Sun family relied on Yuan Shu and borrowed Yuan Shu's soldiers and horses to fight against Jiangdong. If Yuan Shu had not later proclaimed himself emperor and sought death, your current behavior would be considered betrayal of the old master, right?
Our old Cao family helped the old Liu family to quell the chaos in the world and let the people live and work in peace and contentment again. It took two generations of hard work to dare to accept the abdication of the Han Emperor and proclaim the emperor on behalf of the Han Dynasty. What the hell is Sun Quan? If you are kind to the world, what legal reason is there for you to dare to call yourself emperor? !
Cao Pi really didn't expect that Sun Quan would be so thick-skinned and so courageous that he would dare to proclaim himself emperor. He even planned to send an edict from "King of Wei and Wu" to Sun Quan in order to appease Sun Quan.
In the end, this bastard didn't want to be the "King of Wei and Wu", but wanted to be the "Emperor of Wu"? !
It was simply audacious and shameless.
It was precisely because Cao Pi did not expect that Sun Quan would proclaim himself emperor, and also felt that Sun Quan's proclaiming himself emperor was a joke, that he became extremely angry.
Liu Bei had been fighting all his life, was a recognized hero in the world, and was a clan member of the Han Dynasty. Although Cao Pi felt that this man was not a good person, Cao Pi actually felt that it was acceptable for Liu Bei to proclaim himself emperor.
But Cao Pi couldn't recognize Sun Quan as the emperor from both his heart and his reality.
Cao Pi immediately summoned Xiahou Shang, Cao Zhen and others in Yecheng to discuss the conquest of Jiangdong. He took advantage of this excuse to at least get the two states of Qing and Xu back first.
Xiahou Shang and Cao Zhen were in a dilemma, they were really in a dilemma.
Now more than a year has passed since last year's Northwest War. With Cao Wei's size, he has indeed recovered to a certain extent, but it would be a bit difficult to suddenly use troops.
The production efficiency is not very high these days, and the Northwest War consumes a lot of money. It can be said that this war was fought with the strength of the whole country. We will continue to use troops after a year. If there is another stalemate in Qingxu , Not only will it damage Cao Pi's reputation, but it will also impose a heavy logistical and military burden on Cao Wei.
If you don't do it right, it will really break your muscles and bones.
But then again, the fact that Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor is indeed unacceptable.
If Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor and some people in the Central Plains or Hebei privately approved of it, then no one in Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor could accept it.
Now everyone is watching to see whether the new Wei regime has the ability to eliminate rebellion and consolidate the authority of the emperor.
Liu Bei's side occupies a geographical advantage. If Cao Wei's army cannot defeat Longshan, then Yongliang will not be able to take it back, let alone the Hanzhong Basin separated by the Qinling Mountains.
Therefore, it is understandable that Cao Pi did not fight Liu Bei because he wanted to recuperate and recharge his energy.
But now Sun Quan is proclaimed emperor, and the two states of Qing and Xu are completely in the Central Plains, and they are both plain areas. If you don't fight, you will be too useless.
How can such a regime gain support from the Central Plains and Hebei families? !
So this matter must be fought from a political point of view, but from a military point of view, it is a bit difficult to fight.
Cao Zhen and Xiahou Shang really had no choice. They might be able to help Cao Pi settle military accounts, but political accounts were not what they were good at.
Therefore, Cao Zhen suggested that he could ask the veterans what they thought of this matter.
Cao Pi was so depressed. Cao Pi really had no good solution for those old ministers who were like old foxes.
The military generals are a little better, and most of them are more upright, but the civil servants are really, there is no other way, they have reached this point now, and they have to ask even if they don't ask.
Cao Pi changed his clothes, put on a simple car, and paid a private visit to Jia Xu. This old fox must have something up his sleeve.
And since Jia Xu became a Taiwei, Jia Xu has been reducing his sense of existence, basically reaching the point where he doesn't go out unless necessary.
Jia Xu knew very well how much he was hated as a native of Liangzhou and as a Taiwei in Cao Wei, a court dominated by aristocratic families from the Central Plains and Hebei.
Talents born in Liangzhou were excluded and boycotted by these people. It was not just a matter of a day or two.
In addition to Jia Xu's own experience problems, now that he is a Taiwei, there are countless people staring at him, hoping that he will make mistakes. With Jia Xu's old fox character, he will never give these people any excuse.
Since becoming Taiwei, Jia Xu has basically not expressed any suggestions or opinions except for his daily work. He is also very friendly to his subordinates. We will do whatever you say to avoid being annoying.
Jia Xu knew very well that with his status and relationship with Cao Pi, as long as he and his descendants did not take the initiative to commit suicide, their family's glory and wealth would not be lost.
But now Cao Pi came to ask for advice.
This is more troublesome. This cannot be fooled by Jia Xu by pretending to be stupid.
Cao Pi is indeed not as talented and strategic as Cao Cao, but when it comes to decisiveness in killing, this man is not lacking at all.
In the past, when he fooled his colleagues and lowered his sense of existence, Cao Pi was not very good at holding himself accountable, but this time he came to ask for advice. If Jia Xu fooled his colleagues again, he would be really ignorant.
Therefore, Jia Xu seriously thought about Cao Pi's current situation.
From a political point of view, Cao Pi really couldn't react to Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor and had to respond.
At least the world must see Cao Wei's determination to maintain his orthodox status.
Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, but you didn't take any action. Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, and you still didn't take the next step. Maybe Gongsun Gong of Liaodong would dare to proclaim himself emperor and stand on his own initiative.
Therefore, Cao Pi must react, and Cao Pi's idea is correct. There is no better response than taking back Qingxu.
From a military point of view, the land of Qingxu is a plain, which is very suitable for large-scale mobile warfare by cavalry. Moreover, as long as Xuzhou is conquered in Qingxu, Qingzhou will naturally choose to submit. After all, Qingzhou does not have any strategic depth and can only rely on Xuzhou to block it. Just in front.
The only thing that worried Cao Pi was the deployment of troops and the logistical pressure.
We have just experienced the Northwest War, and a year of rest is not enough to fully recover. If we continue to use troops at this time, the pressure on logistics will be great.
Furthermore, in the previous Northwest War against Liu Bei, although Cao Pi shamelessly believed that he had "repelled" Liu Bei and won the victory, everyone knew the truth very well.
If this attack on Qingxu cannot fully capture Qingxu and completely drive out Sun Quan's forces in Jiangdong, then Cao Pi's position as emperor will be very unstable.
So if Cao Pi wants to fight this battle, it's not impossible, but he must win with one blow. This is what Cao Zhen and Xia Houshang find tricky.
When it comes to fighting, there is no guarantee of victory. In many cases, judgments and adjustments have to be made based on the actual situation. No one is sure of winning the battle.
What's more, if they attack Qingxu, Jiangdong Qingxu's general Lu Xun is just a Confucian scholar with a low reputation, so there is nothing to fear, but the coach of the Huainan region is Zhou Yu.
The battle at Chibi made his reputation spread all over the world, and the battle at Shiting made everyone know that Jiangdong's famous general was well-deserved. Is Zhou Yu so easy to deal with? !
Once Cao Wei attacks Qingxu, Zhou Yu in Huainan will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it. He must find a way to contain Zhou Yu's support for Qingxu.
These are all uncertain factors. Even Jia Xu, an old fox, finds the current situation quite difficult.
There is a saying, in today's three-point world, no force is easy to mess with, and no one is sure of a winning outcome. In fact, Cao Pi also knows this very well.
But the current political pressure is here. If you don’t fight, you will be the one to lose the most.
Jia Xu hesitated for a moment, then leaned close to Cao Pi's ear and began to murmur.
There are some things that Jia Xu can say, but they must not reach the ears of any third party. Jia Xu suggested that Cao Pi send a secret envoy to Chengdu to contact Liu Bei to attack Jiangdong together.
As long as Liu Bei sends troops from Jingzhou to attack Changsha and Guiyang counties in Jiangdong, Jiangdong will inevitably return to defense. At that time, Cao Pi will send troops from Yanzhou to attack Xuzhou, allowing Cao Xiu and Jia Kui of Yuzhou to stop Zhou Yu of Huainan. This battle will The winning rate is above 60%.
But this suggestion directly confused Cao Pi. The Cao and Liu families had been feuding for generations and were fighting each other to the death. How could they unite with each other? !
Not to mention that Liu Bei didn't agree with this kind of thing, even Cao Pi couldn't agree with it.
If anyone knew about this, both Cao Pi and Liu Bei would become the laughing stock.
"Accepting orders on behalf of the Han Dynasty" and "inheriting the Han Dynasty" are all jokes and nothing more than excuses for personal gain.
And Jia Xu's idea is actually very simple. Isn't it okay if this matter is not leaked? !
In Jia Xu's view, whether between people or between countries, they can all be measured by interests.
Now that Sun Quan in Jiangdong is proclaimed emperor, it is not only Cao Cao who is uncomfortable, Liu Bei will also be very uncomfortable. Since both sides dislike Sun Quan, why can't they cooperate with each other? !
Some things don't require any agreement at all, as long as there is a tacit understanding.
But Cao Pi didn't agree, and Cao Pi didn't believe that Liu Bei would agree. If he implemented Jia Xu's plan and Liu Bei didn't say anything about his disapproval, but would show it to you, then Cao Pi's reputation would really plummet.
How can you seek cooperation with your mortal enemy?
When Jia Xu saw that Cao Pi did not agree with this strategy, he could only sigh and came up with a second strategy.
We sent envoys to Jiangdong to condemn Sun Quan's trespassing, and at the same time issued an edict to attack Jiangdong. However, we must not say the specific time of the attack. Anyway, we can just express our intention to attack Jiangdong.
On the one hand, it can delay for a while to mobilize supplies and troops to reduce logistical pressure. On the other hand, it can also adopt Jiangdong's mentality.
Anyway, with the land warfare capabilities of Jiangdong Army, it is impossible to take the initiative to launch an attack on Cao Wei's army on the plains, and they do not have that combat effectiveness.
Then the initiative to attack has always been in Cao Wei's hands.
Cao Wei can prepare for war slowly, but Jiangdong must always maintain a high degree of alert.
But in this world, you can be a thief for a thousand days, but there is no reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days. Over time, both generals and soldiers will gradually become tired of this long-term defense, which will lead to laxity and flaws.
During this period, Jia Xu also suggested that Cao Pi could spread some rumors in the land of Jing and Xiang to convey some information that Cao Pi intended to make Guan Yu the King of Jing.
One can drive a wedge between Guan Yu and Liu Bei, and the other can prevent Jiangdong and Liu Bei's groups from immediately establishing an offensive and defensive alliance, reducing unnecessary pressure on Qingxu in the future.
After that, it was just a matter of waiting. When Cao Wei's army was ready and Jiangdong's defenses were lax, he sent troops to attack Qingxu.
(End of chapter)
