When Cao Pi ascended the throne, he changed his reign to Yankang. In 206, the first year of Yankang, he appointed Guo Jia as Taiwei, Xun Yu as Prime Minister, Chen Qun as Yushi Dafu, and all other bureaucrats, big and small, were rewarded.
Cao Cao was posthumously named Emperor Taizu Wu and was buried outside the city of Xudu in the mausoleum of Dong Zhi.
Cao Zhi was angry but unwilling to accept Cao Pi's ascension to the throne. He didn't even finish the funeral of his father, Emperor Cao Cao, so he angrily returned to Linzi to drink and indulge. When Cao Pi learned about it, he was furious and ordered people to go to Linzi to interrogate Cao Zhi.
When the envoy came to the Zihou Mansion, he saw Cao Zhi and the Ding brothers, drunk and arrogant and rude. When the two men saw Cao Pi's envoy coming to question him, the Ding brothers were furious. They pointed at the envoy and cursed: "In the past, the late emperor wanted to pass the throne to my lord, because my lord was the most clever. Why don't you, a minister in the temple, recognize talents?" ! I don’t know who made the slanderous statement and made the man who abandoned the capital the emperor. It is not allowed by heaven. Now that the death of the late emperor is not far away, he comes to question the sins of his flesh and blood?"
Cao Zhi became furious and shouted: "Give this man to me! Beat him with a stick!"
The envoy was originally full of arrogance with the support of the emperor, but was unexpectedly beaten by Cao Zhi with a stick, which made him very angry. He hurriedly returned to see Cao Pi and told his story in an exaggerated manner, which made Cao Pi furious.
He ordered Cao Hong to lead his troops to Linzifu and escort Cao Zhi and others into the palace.
Upon entering the palace, Cao Pi first ordered the Ding brothers to be beheaded, and then prepared to summon Cao Zhi to question him. Next to him, Hua Xin, the imperial censor, asked Cao Pi: "How does the emperor plan to deal with the Marquis of Linzi?"
Cao Pi was a little confused: "The Marquis of Linzi is my brother. How should I deal with him if he is not guilty?"
Hua Xin: "The Marquis of Linzi has talent and wisdom, which is definitely not something that belongs in the pond. If it is not eliminated early, it will definitely become a trouble in the future."
Cao Pi: "What should we do?"
Hua Xin: "Everyone said that the Marquis of Linzi was rich in learning and talented, but I never believed him. The emperor can call him into the palace to test his talent and learning. If he can't, he can be killed. If he can, he can be demoted. It is the mouthpiece of all scholars in the world."
Cao Pi thought for a while and nodded.
Although the two are brothers, they have always been in open and covert fights. I have only heard that Cao Zhi has a good literary talent, but have never seriously read any of his works and disdained them. Today, I have seen them.
Not long after, Cao Zhi was brought in.
Cao Pi sat on the dragon's throne and stared at his former competitor with a sneer on his face.
When Ding was killed, Cao Zhi was horrified. When he saw Cao Pi, he hurriedly bowed down to plead guilty.
Cao Pi looked at Cao Zhi coldly and said: "Although you and I are brothers, we are now monarchs and ministers. You are familiar with books. Don't you know such etiquette? How dare you show your talents and despise etiquette? When the late emperor was still there, he often praised your articles. It is absolutely wonderful, but I deeply doubt that your article will be replaced by someone else."
Cao Zhi was horrified: "My brother's handwriting has never been passed on to others."
Cao Pi: "Okay, today I am going to test whether you are true or false. You are required to recite a poem within seven steps. If you can complete the poem, you will be spared from death. If you fail, you will be severely punished. I will not tolerate it." "
Cao Zhi's heart trembled. He suppressed the fear in his heart and asked, "Please give me a proposal, Your Majesty."
Cao Pi stared at Cao Zhi for a while, thought for a while, and sneered calmly: "You and I are brothers, so we use brothers as the title, but the word 'brother' is not allowed to appear in the poem. You chant it."
Cao Zhi looked up at Cao Pi, his brain was working rapidly, and he had a poem in a moment. He stood up and walked slowly, taking a step forward with tears in his eyes. A warrior nearby drew his sword and stared at Cao Zhi's steps, shouting: "One step! Two steps!"
Cao Zhi turned a deaf ear and said while taking the third step: "Cook the beans to burn the pods."
Samurai: "Three steps!"
"The beans are crying in the cauldron."
"Four steps! Five steps! Six steps!"
Everyone stared at Cao Zhi's pace and held their breath.
Cao Zhi choked with sobs and stared at Cao Pi: "We are born from the same roots, so there is no need to rush into each other!"
Cao Pi looked at Cao Zhi in shock and horror.
Unexpectedly, Cao Zhi was so talented that he could recite such a masterpiece within seven steps.
Suddenly, a woman's cry was heard from the back of the palace, and her mother, Mrs. Bian, came out and said in pain: "Brother, why bother to force my brother to do this?"
Cao Pi was afraid of Cao Zhi's talent, so after thinking about it, he hurriedly stood up and shouted: "The national law cannot be abolished! Change the Marquis of Linzi to the Marquis of Anxiang, and then leave!"
Cao Zhi was relieved to be alive.
The impressive achievement of writing a poem in seven steps did not completely put Cao Zhi out of danger. On the contrary, such talent made Cao Pi even more afraid. Because there is a crime on his body that cannot be evaded: losing Kyoto. It would be dangerous if someone took this as a crime and raised troops to support Cao Zhi as emperor.
When he lost Ye Jing, a large number of courtiers in the court took refuge with Cao Zhi. If it hadn't been for Cao Cao's personal edict, it would have been impossible for him to secure the throne. Now that he has ascended the throne, he cannot carry out a large-scale cleanup of the ministers who have taken refuge in Cao Zhi, and can only remove them step by step, but Cao Zhi cannot wait any longer.
After thinking for a long time, Cao Pi called Hua Xin.
Hua Xin thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty, the journey to the Marquis of Anxiang is a long one. Who can guarantee that there will be any accidents along the way?"
Cao Pi said: "Very few people know the whereabouts of Marquis Anxiang. If he is killed on the way, the scholars in the world will doubt me."
Hua Xin said with a smile: "What's so difficult about this? When the emperor was in the old capital, the ministers Xu Zhi and Li Fu were closely related to Anxianghou. Anxianghou regarded these two as his confidants, so they let them know about Anxianghou. The whereabouts of the two men were then ordered to be sent to them. The crime of the murder of Anxiang Hou could be placed on these two people. It was said that they rebelled against their old master in order to gain the trust of the emperor. The emperor could be convicted of rebellion and kill these two men. In this way, everyone in the world can be silenced."
Hearing this, Cao Pi nodded.
Li Fu and Xu Zhi were immediately ordered to see each other off fifty miles outside the city.
Li Fu and Xu Zhi didn't know what to do, so they cried bitterly when bidding farewell to Cao Zhi, and couldn't bear to say goodbye for a long time. Unexpectedly, soldiers and horses from the left and right came out of the forest, thousands of them.
The general shouted: "I have ordered Li Fu and Xu Zhi to kill the Marquis of Anxiang!"
Li Fu and Xu Zhi were shocked.
Cao Zhi had already turned pale with fear, staring at the two people in disbelief.
In the end, Cao Zhi was killed by an arrow in disbelief.
Li Fu and Xu Zhi knew that they had become scapegoats, so they committed suicide in front of Cao Zhi's body to apologize.
With the suicides of Li and Xu, Cao Pi had no scapegoat, which made him extremely angry. He angrily killed the general who led the army, but he could not stop the public from saying that the situation was serious.
If word spreads, his reputation will be ruined before his throne is firmly established.
Fortunately, Guo Jia wiped his ass and offered a plan for Cao Pi to spread the order to the world. He said that Li and Xu committed suicide in fear of crime because of killing their old master. They killed the Li and Xu clans. They buried Anxiang Marquis according to the treatment of kings and nobles, and pursued Anxiang. Hou was the king of Anxiang.
Cao Pi followed.
While Cao Pi was wiping his butt, Zhang Xiu, who was far away in Chang'an, also encountered an insurmountable headache.
