Si Li, Gyeonggi Province, in the palace of Luoyang.
Cao Rui's cheeks are swollen now because he's angry.
What the hell is this! ! !
Of course, the news of the fall of Tongguan has not yet reached Luoyang, otherwise Cao Rui would not be angry at this moment.
The reason why Cao Rui got angry was not only because of the unfavorable war in Youfufeng and the emergency in Wancheng.
The war in Youfufeng was not going well. Guo Huai was counterattacked by the Shu thieves and retreated to the fortress group to wait for reinforcements. Although Cao Rui was very annoyed by this incident, considering that Guo Huai was repelled by the Shu thieves with superior force and still continues to hold on, It’s not best to blame Guo Huai too much.
Victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists. Cao Rui still has this concept.
Besides, it is not that Guo Huai has no way to retreat. As long as there are thousands of reinforcements to support his retreat and continue to retreat to Wuguan, with the narrow terrain of Wuguan Road, it will not be easy to conquer Wuguan no matter how many Shu thieves have more troops.
Therefore, in terms of Nanyang, the real problem is actually in Wancheng.
Originally, Wancheng's defense situation was also good. Sima Yi's ability was indeed outstanding. He only used the mutual support of several camps to block the attack of 40,000 Shu bandits on Wancheng.
Although there were some twists and turns in the middle, and Sima Yi was also suspected of passing the blame and cheating his teammates, but it seemed that the problem was not serious at the moment. Who would have known that within ten days of this, the situation in Wancheng would take a turn for the worse.
Guan Yu from Jingzhou personally led 50,000 soldiers to the north, and a total of 90,000 people besieged Wancheng.
In addition, Sima Yi's judgment on the entire Central Plains war situation was sent to Luoyang. After Cao Rui read it, this internal fire arose and could not be dissipated.
Just when Sima Yi reached his prediction and sent him to Luoyang, something else happened.
Cao Xiu, who was in Runan, wrote a memorial to Cao Rui, telling him something.
Zhou Li, the guard of Dangtu County in Soochow, secretly contacted Cao Xiu and wanted to defect to Cao Wei. However, affected by Zhou Li's surrender, the three counties around Dangtu County, Yicheng, Ping'a, and Xiacai, would be affected, and their defenses would be affected. There will be loopholes.
Therefore, Cao Xiu reported to Cao Rui, hoping that Cao Rui would allow him to send troops to meet Zhou Li, and by the way, see if there was any chance of directly occupying the four counties and opening an offensive channel to Shouchun.
Originally, Cao Rui didn't want to cause trouble. After all, the focus of Wei's attack at the moment was in Guanzhong, not Huainan, and there was no need to actively provoke Soochow when fighting the Shu bandits.
However, Cao Xiu seemed to understand Cao Rui's thoughts, so he continued to add in the memorial that the main purpose of sending troops this time was to meet Zhou Li. It was not important whether he could occupy the four counties and gain access to attack Shouchun. , occupy it if you can. If Soochow reacts fiercely and wants to counterattack, he will lead his troops back to Runan and defend on the spot.
Moreover, Cao Xiu also gave Cao Rui a small pat on the back in the memorial.
In the early years, Emperor Taizu Wu swept through Liuhe and swept through the eight wastelands. Even after experiencing the defeat of Chibi, he later regrouped and went south to compete with Sun Quan for Ruxu. There were still many officials who originally served in Soochow and went north to join the Wei Dynasty.
This is a symbol of the people's aspiration and the world's orthodoxy.
But since Soochow occupied Huainan and even invaded Qingxu, few Soochow officials have defected to the Wei Dynasty, let alone high-ranking officials like Zhou Li who once served as the governor of a county.
Therefore, from a certain perspective, Zhou Li's coming to surrender was an event of very strong political significance, and this can all be traced back to the era of Emperor Taizu Wu.
Although Cao Xiu didn't say it explicitly, everyone knew why no Soochow officials came to defect to the Wei Dynasty. Huainan and Qingxu had lost most of them, so why did they defect to Wei?
As for who was in power when these two places were lost, everyone knows it, but they don't say it clearly.
Cao Rui suddenly felt wonderful.
Naturally, Cao Rui did not dare to compare with his grandfather. After all, that man's achievements were indeed too great. As the actual founder of the Wei Dynasty, future generations would not compare with Emperor Taizu Wu no matter how great their achievements were.
But Cao Rui is his father. Cao Rui feels that there is no chance that he can surpass him.
On the one hand, in addition to making concessions and laying a legal foundation for the Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi was actually quite good at both internal affairs and foreign wars. As long as Cao Rui won one or two decisive victories, he would be fully qualified to surpass him. Dad is very good at this.
On the other hand, Cao Rui's relationship with his father was not good. He had never forgotten how his biological mother died, not to mention that in the harem, there was still Empress Dowager Guo who was weighing on him.
Therefore, what Cao Xiu said immediately made Cao Rui interested. After all, Cao Rui was very clear about the political significance of Zhou Li's coming to vote.
Furthermore, if we follow what Cao Xiu said in his memorial, then Cao Xiu had no intention of going to war. His purpose was just to assist Zhou Li and ensure Zhou Li's safety. In this case, Cao Xiu should not use too large a force.
Cao Xiu actually had full decision-making power in this kind of petty dispute on the border. Cao Rui would still give this power to the local generals and prefects.
After all, it is still an era of war. If the local guards do not have any autonomy and everything must be reported to the court, the day lily may be cold by the time the court makes a decision.
Under such circumstances, Cao Xiu would still write to the court and ask for Cao Rui's decision. This made Cao Rui very satisfied.
Of course, Cao Rui also knew that Cao Xiu's memorial was mainly due to the important political significance of Zhou Li's surrender, but to a certain extent, it could also be seen as the respect that Cao Xiu, his uncle, had for him.
Developing from this point, Cao Rui almost couldn't help but think of another uncle of his clan, Cao Zhen, who was a general and minister of life.
For such a big thing in the counterattack, he took advantage of his false power and launched it as soon as he said it would be launched. He only sought his own recognition afterwards. Although Cao Rui pinched his nose and admitted it, it did not mean that he had any opinion on the matter. nothing.
Looking back at Cao Xiu, he was able to make his own decisions in such a small battle, and he actually took the initiative to ask for his permission. Now Cao Rui suddenly felt that Cao Xiu was actually a good person.
Perhaps, this clan uncle was indeed arrogant and disobedient in his early years, but after years of long experience in Runan, it seems that he has made a lot of progress and has begun to calm down.
One of the most obvious evidences is that Cao Xiu proposed in the memorial that in order to avoid the violent reaction of Soochow and the possibility of besieging Runan, Cao Xiu hoped that the emperor would issue an edict to Jia Kui of Pengcheng to station troops on the border of Runan and Xuzhou to attract The Soochow Army is careful not to cause trouble lightly.
Listen, listen, this is the advice of an old man to seek a country. From this point of view, Cao Xiu also knew that rashly starting a war with Soochow would not be of any benefit to the Wei Dynasty!
Moreover, the whole world knows that Cao Xiu and Jia Kui don't get along. Now, for the sake of state affairs, Cao Xiu actually actively seeks cooperation with Jia Kui. Doesn't this explain Cao Xiu's growth over the years? !
Since his clan uncle has grown a lot, and the matter of taking over Zhou Li at the same time has more political significance than military significance, and it is only a small-scale battle, Cao Rui thought for a while and decided to give some face to his clan uncle.
Of course, Cao Rui may not have taken the opportunity to re-enable Cao Xiu here to check Cao Zhen's intentions. Cao Rui still felt disgusted that Cao Zhen sent troops during the holidays, and he would definitely find a way to restrict Cao Zhen's rights afterwards.
If Cao Xiu can successfully return to Zhou Li, then Cao Rui will have an excuse to transfer Cao Xiu back to the central court for re-employment, and the military power of the Cao family will not be all in the hands of Cao Zhen alone.
This is just a routine operation for a mature emperor, no big deal.
Therefore, Cao Rui issued an edict and appointed Cao Xiu as the General of the Eastern Conquest, responsible for handling Zhou Li's visit to the court. At the same time, he also issued an edict to Jia Kui of Pengcheng, asking him to station troops on the border of Pengcheng to frighten Soochow and coordinate Cao Xiu's action.
Finally, Cao Rui was worried that the conflict between Jia Kui and Cao Xiu would prevent the two from cooperating well, so he issued an edict to Jiang Ji, asking him to serve as a liaison envoy and be responsible for coordinating the operations of the two sides.
Of course, Cao Rui did not forget to emphasize to Cao Xiu that this battle must be controlled within the smallest scale and not anger Soochow too much or put too much pressure on the defense of the eastern border of the Wei Dynasty.
About three days after these edicts were issued, Sima Yi's urgent documents from Wancheng and Sima Yi's strategic speculation on the possibility of reuniting Wu and Shu to attack the Wei Dynasty from two directions were sent to Luoyang.
After reading it, Cao Rui felt anxious, and immediately sent an envoy from the palace to the east at a high speed, hoping to catch up with the edict envoy.
If, as Sima Yi predicted, Soochow intends to send troops to Huainan to attack Runan or Pengcheng, Cao Xiu will probably face Soochow's army directly when he goes to support Zhou Li this time.
At that time, this will no longer be a small-scale battle. The entire Eastern Territory, and even Yanzhou, may be involved in this war.
This is what Cao Rui doesn't want to see.
As for Cao Zhen in Guanzhong, Cao Rui is not too worried about this.
Wang Lang is in Cao Zhen's army, and if Cao Zhen learns that You Fufeng's attack failed and the Shu thieves attacked Wancheng with all their strength, he will definitely not stay in Guanzhong for a long time. He will definitely choose to withdraw from Tongguan and then divide his troops to support Wancheng. .
If Cao Zhen still can't tell which one is more important, Guanzhong or Central Plains, then Cao Rui can really remove Cao Zhen's military power on the spot and escort him back to Luoyang.
Therefore, to Guanzhong, Cao Rui just sent an envoy to convey an edict to Cao Zhen to return to the army.
But there is no news from Cao Zhen, but the palace envoy he sent to Runan has returned.
In fact, the envoy did not arrive in Runan, but when he entered Yanzhou, he had already received the news that Cao Xiu had sent troops.
Moreover, not only did Cao Xiu send troops, Cao Xiu also mobilized most of the soldiers from Chenliu County in Yanzhou to participate in the war. Even Gao Tanglong, the prefect of Chenliu, was transferred to serve as military counselor. This matter was not a secret within Yanzhou.
The most terrible thing is that judging from the time of dispatching troops, Cao Xiu did not wait for the emperor's edict to send troops before sending troops. He sent troops in advance. Naturally, he, the messenger who went to recover the edict, no longer had any meaning of existence.
Therefore, the envoy returned directly from Chenliu to Luoyang to inform the emperor of the current situation.
Can Cao Rui be so angry? ! !
Why do my clan uncles, one by one, insist on confronting me? !
It's okay for Cao Zhen to send troops during the holiday. After all, he has the right in name, but you, Cao Xiu, wrote a memorandum to yourself and went through the process, but in the end you still sent troops without authorization, right? !
One or two, do you still take yourself, the Emperor of Wei, seriously? !
Can Cao Rui not be angry or angry?
And that's not all, the most irritating thing hasn't come yet, but it will come eventually.
Just when Cao Rui was angry for several days and his cheeks hurt so much that he couldn't eat, Xiahou Shang suddenly broke into the Luoyang Palace and asked the emperor to move back to Yecheng.
Cao Rui is so angry. Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu are unreliable. You, Xia Houshang, have to step in, right? !
Intent on holding the king hostage, what do you, Xiahou Shang, want to do? ! ! !
(End of chapter)
