Actually, Ji Han's senior management had some speculations about who this secret agent was.
For example, Pang Tong once guessed whether he might be Cao Wei's great hero Liu Ye.
After all, the secret agent only signed with the word "Liu" every time, and most of the contents reported by the secret agent were secrets that only Cao Wei's senior officials could know. Except for Liu Ye, Pang Tong really couldn't find a few qualified candidates.
Moreover, in Pang Tong's view, Liu Ye had a reason to do this. After all, Liu Ye was a descendant of the Han Dynasty, and in terms of bloodline, he was more upright than Liu Bei, the descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan.
In the past, it was the decline of the Han Dynasty that forced the descendants of the Han Dynasty to find another way out. There were those like Liu Bei who tried to restore the Han Dynasty, and there were also those like Liu Biao and Liu Zhang who tried to separate themselves from one place. Naturally, there were also those like Liu Ye who chose to join the Ming Dynasty.
But now, the restoration of the Han Dynasty is in sight. As a descendant of the Han Dynasty, it is obviously impossible to be buried with Cao Wei. It is not impossible for Liu Ye to try to contact Ji Han as an internal agent.
Of course, this is just Pang Tong's speculation and understanding, and there are also people who hold opposing views.
For example, Xu Shu.
Xu Shu believed that Liu Ye had chosen to follow Cao Cao in his early years and remained silent when Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty. He no longer considered himself a member of the Han clan.
Although Liu Ye's behavior is despicable from the perspective of a clan member of the Han Dynasty, in this troubled world, it is excusable. If he continues to have an affair with the Han Dynasty and betrays Cao Wei, then Liu Ye's reputation will be ruined. But it stinks.
At least, Xu Shu didn't think Liu Ye was such a person of character.
Moreover, as a secret agent, confidentiality must be the first priority. There is only one character "Liu" in the signature, but it does not mean that the person must have the surname Liu. Maybe it is just a code name for a big man.
If you put aside the factor of surname, then there are not a few people in the Cao Wei court who know these secrets. Putting aside those veterans of the three dynasties of Cao and Wei who have decent character, others may be this spy.
Xu Shu had even wondered whether it was possible that they were the school secretary or Huang Menling within the Cao Wei court. Although they were junior officials, as staff who recorded government affairs, they had to be present, and it was normal for them to know these secrets.
But now, everyone's doubts have been solved. This secret agent actually knows the content of the entrustment, so he cannot be a small official like the school secretary or Huang Menling.
Tuogu, usually when the emperor had a private conversation with Minister Tuogu before his death, he would only let Huang Menling in when he was about to issue an edict. Theoretically, Huang Menling didn't know what Cao Rui had told Minister Tuogu before. What.
Only the parties involved can know the detailed contents of the scene.
As for the entire Cao Wei entrustment scene, according to the description of the secret report, it seems that there were only two people, Sun Zi and Liu Fang. As Cao Rui's confidants, they participated in and witnessed the entire Tuogu process. Not to mention that they also persuaded Cao Rui to change the candidates for Tuogu's important ministers.
Thinking about it this way, this secret agent could only be one of Sun Zi or Liu Fang. And based on the signature, basically everyone was sure that this secret agent could be Liu Fang.
Otherwise it’s really unreasonable.
And if it was Liu Fang, his behavior would be justified.
Liu Fang is also a clan member of the Han Dynasty, but what about Liu Fang's character? To be honest, if he has a better character and can be praised by people in the court, he will not be just Cao Rui's confidant until now, and can only assist Cao Rui. Handling government affairs, there is little achievement in other aspects.
Moreover, with the death of Cao Rui, Liu Fang also lost his most reliable supporter. Cao Rui had no children, and Cao Fang was young. The government was basically in the hands of Minister Tuogu, and when Cao Fang grew up, he would inevitably have his own There is no need for Liu Fang in our team.
If you think about it from this perspective, Liu Fang really had this motive. He had to find a way to keep his glory and wealth after having an affair with a big man.
A mystery that has been plaguing the minds of the high-ranking people of the Han Dynasty has been solved, but... Zhuge Liang took out this letter, not for the important officials of the Han Dynasty to discuss who the spy was.
"According to the report of the secret agent named A, Cao Rui died of illness and was entrusted to Cao Shuang and Sima Yi. According to the reports of other spies in the north, Sima Yi also said that after Cao Rui died of illness, he stayed in seclusion due to illness. Now the military and political power of Cao Wei has fallen into the hands of Cao Shuang. It’s a good opportunity, but if we sit back and look at it, we will suffer the consequences.”
Zhuge Liang said this.
The main point of Zhuge Liang's display of this secret letter was to tell everyone that Cao Wei is now the leader of the country. Although there are two important ministers, Sima Yi can only stay behind closed doors due to the impact of the previous fiasco at Yanzhou, and the military and political power They are all in the hands of Cao Shuang, a second-generation official who is heartless.
As for Cao Shuang, no one would think that he is more difficult to deal with than Sima Yi, right? !
If we can't seize the opportunity now that Cao Shuang is in power to launch the Northern Expedition, and if Sima Yi returns to the center of the court, it will be difficult for Cao Wei to deal with it.
Time waits for no one.
"That's why we have to wait for the opportunity!" Xu Shu still expressed his disagreement and said, "Sima Yi is a wolf who looks down upon an eagle, and he will never be willing to be subordinated to others. There are rumors that Sima Yi and Cao Shuang don't get along, so these two We are all ministers of Tuogu, but the power is concentrated in the hands of Cao Shuang. Over time, Sima Yi will definitely counterattack. At that time, Cao Wei is in civil strife, which is an opportunity for us to go to the Northern Expedition!!!"
Of course Xu Shu would not think that Cao Shuang was stronger than Sima Yi, but Xu Shu obviously overestimated Cao Shuang.
Xu Shu believes that as a general of the Cao Wei clan, Cao Shuang's abilities are average, but as a member of the Cao clan and as a minister of Tuogu, his power base is naturally stronger than that of Sima Yi, a foreign minister. If Sima Yi wants to fight for power, Cao Shuang may not There is no ability to fight back.
By that time, Cao Wei must have fallen into civil strife between the two auxiliary ministers, and people's hearts were in chaos. The Northern Expedition at this time had the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort.
After all, Xu Shu looked at the development of affairs according to the conventional perspective of this era. He did not have open eyes, and he would not know how far Cao Shuang could stretch his crotch.
As for the one who had his eyes opened, he actually felt that waiting a few more years wouldn't be a problem.
Zhang Xi knew very well that Cao Rui's death was the turning point in the decline of Cao Wei.
But in this time and space, Cao Rui died early. Cao Fang is only about four years old now, which is earlier than the time in history when he succeeded to the throne.
To be honest, Zhang Xi really didn't understand why Cao Fang could succeed to the throne instead of Cao Yu or other adult Cao family members if Cao Rui died early.
How could such a shrewd emperor as Cao Rui put Cao Wei, whose power had shrunk to only the Hebei region, into such a situation where he was the leader of a young country and the country was doubtful.
At this time, the most important thing for Cao Wei is stability. Anyway, you Cao Rui don't have a son, so whoever you let succeed is not a successor. Why do you choose a child who is only a few years old to succeed? !
Can't he find an adult cousin or something? !
Zhang Xi really can't understand, but it is true that Cao Fang succeeded to the throne. Cao Wei is now the master of the country.
However, it was precisely because of the suspicion of the young master that the power of Cao Wei was in the hands of the clan representative Cao Shuang, and Sima Yi was unable to seize power in a short time.
After all, at this time, the ministers who love Cao Wei still account for the majority. If Sima Yi competes with Cao Shuang for power at this time, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance and resistance of those ministers who love Cao Wei. As a foreign minister, when the emperor is young, At that time, what were you trying to control and fight for power in the court? !
Be the second Dong Zhuo? !
Therefore, at this time, Sima Yi stayed behind closed doors, and Zhang Xi could understand why. He was waiting, waiting for Cao Shuang to commit suicide until the loyal ministers of Cao Wei couldn't stand Cao Shuang. In this way, if Sima Yi seizes power again, it will not be a fight for power, but a fight for profit. It’s time to “bring order to chaos.”
Sima Yi in history didn't do that. Even people like Jiang Ji could support Sima Yi, which shows how angry Cao Shuang has become.
So, according to Zhang Xi's idea, it's not that we can't wait until Cao Shuang dies and triggers an internal rebellion in Cao Wei. Even if Sima Yi wins in the end, Cao Wei's hearts and minds may not be regained.
By that time, the Northern Expedition could indeed achieve twice the result with half the effort, just as Xu Shu predicted.
Just.
"I also know about Yuan Zhi's plan, but... when will we have to wait?!"
"Emperor Taizu Gao decided to rule the world in seven years, and Emperor Guangwu repeated the rule in thirteen years. It has been fifteen years since the late emperor entered Shu and proclaimed himself emperor."
"I am fifty-seven years old this year. Yuan Zhi and Shi Yuan are all older than me. Yuan Chang is the youngest and is now forty-seven years old. How many years do you and I have to wait?!"
"I won't attack this year, I won't beg tomorrow, and I won't conquer every year. When I go to see the late emperor underground, I will ask you to teach me how to recover!!!"
Well, dead fish head is not a very particular person.
It makes no sense, so I started to go on an emotional offensive.
However, this method may not be effective for others, but it is really effective for these people at the scene.
Whether it was Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Zhang Xi, or Li Yan who joined later, they were all promoted and promoted by Liu Bei to a greater or lesser extent.
According to the values of this era, this kindness must be repaid.
The most important problem now is really not whether the Han Dynasty has the ability to conquer Cao Wei, but that these guys have their own selfish motives and do not want to conquer Cao Wei immediately.
So, when Zhuge Liang launched his emotional offensive and used Liu Bei to talk things over, Xu Shu, Pang Tong, and Li Yan all looked ashamed and stopped talking.
The issue of the Northern Expedition was basically taken care of by Zhuge Liang again.
However, now that the issue of whether to fight has been solved, the question of how to fight has to be put on the agenda. Everyone has no idea.
After all, no one really wanted to fight before.
(End of chapter)
