As the third son Cao Zhi, Zijian was very smart, especially his literary talent. He could write a beautiful article with just picking up a pen, and his appearance was also good. Cao Cao wanted to make him the heir apparent. When the eldest son Cao Pi learned about this, he was afraid that he would have no chance, so he went to find Jia Xu.
Jia Xu knew the importance of good relations with Cao Cao after his death, so he told Cao Pi that whenever Cao Cao went on an expedition, he would see him off and cry bitterly. So among the sons who sent Cao Cao off for an expedition, Cao Zhi wrote an article to praise Cao Cao. Of his virtues, only Cao Cao always burst into tears and bowed to him again and again, which made others feel very sad.
After all, going out to fight is a fatal thing. The more well-behaved Cao Zhi was, the more Cao Cao felt that Cao Zhi was not sincere compared to Cao Pi. Cao Pi also sent people to bribe the servants around Cao Cao to ask them to say more good things about him.
So Cao Cao hesitated on the issue of establishing a prince. So he went to Jia Xu and asked, "I am planning to establish a heir, who do you think is more suitable?"
Perhaps he already knew that Cao Cao would come, so Jia Xu deliberately did not answer.
Cao Cao asked the reason, and Jia Xu replied: "I am thinking about how to answer, so I can't react immediately."
Cao Cao continued to ask: "What are you thinking about?"
He replied: "I'm thinking about what happened to Yuan Shao and Liu Biao and his son back then!"
After hearing this, Cao Cao immediately understood Jia Xu's intention, laughed loudly, and immediately made Cao Pi his heir apparent.
In the tenth month of winter, the craftsmen worked day and night, and finally completed the palace of King Wei. They sent people to other places to collect exotic flowers and fruits to decorate the palace. An envoy went to Soochow, met with Sun Quan, and conveyed King Wei's will. , and then went to Wenzhou to fetch tangerines. Sun Quan happened to be respecting King Wei, so he sent people to select more than 40 loads of large tangerines in the city and sent them to Ye County overnight.
On the way, the picker felt very tired, so he rested at the foot of the mountain. He saw an old man with one eye open, limping, wearing a white hat on his head and blue clothes on his body. The porter saluted in front of him and said, "You have all worked hard. Can I help you?"
Everyone was very happy after hearing this, so the old man picked each of them five miles away, but everything he encountered seemed to be much lighter. This made everyone very confused. Before leaving, the old man said to the official who delivered the tangerines: "I am an old friend of the King of Wei. My surname is Zuo, my given name is Ci, my courtesy name is Yuanfang, and my Taoist name is Wujiao. When you arrive in Ye County, you can explain What I meant." After saying that, he walked away.
The man went to Ye County to see Cao Cao and presented the tangerines. Cao Cao cut them open and saw that they were all empty shells with no contents. He was very surprised and asked the man, who told Zuo Ci what happened. King Wei, but what happened was very strange. Cao Cao refused to believe it and was about to kill him. At this time, a doorman came over to report that a man named Zuo Ci came to see him.
Cao Cao summoned him in, and the people who went to Gan quickly defended themselves: "This is the person we met on the way!"
Cao Cao scolded: "What kind of magic did you use to take away all my fruits?"
Zuo Ci smiled and said, "How could such a thing happen?" After saying that, he took an orange and found that there was something inside. Cao Cao opened one hesitantly, but it was still empty inside. So it was even more strange, so he rewarded Zuo with a seat. Ci, ask for the specific reason.
Zuo Ci asked for a lot of meat, and Cao Cao ordered it to be given to him. After drinking five measures of wine, he was still not drunk. After eating a lot of meat, he still couldn't get enough. Cao Cao asked, "What kind of magic did you use?"
Zuo Ci said: "I have been studying Taoism for more than thirty years in the Emei Mountain in Jialing, Xichuan. Suddenly I heard a voice calling my name from the stone wall. I was ready to go and see what happened, but there was nothing. So I just passed by. Many days later, thunder from the sky suddenly shattered the stone wall, and three volumes of heavenly books were obtained, which are called "Dunjia Heavenly Book". The first volume is called "Tian Dun", the middle volume is called "Earth Dun", and the second volume is called "Human Dun". Tian Dun can soar into the clouds and ride in the mist. , ascend to immortality, can penetrate stones with Earth Escape, travel around the world with Human Escape, hide and transform, fly and throw swords, take off other people's heads, and become a great king. Why don't you go back and practice in Mount Emei with me? Come give me these three volumes of heavenly books!"
In fact, Zuo Ci exaggerated the power of the Dunjia Heavenly Book. The Human Dungeon has always been in the hands of Kong Ming. It contains profound strategies and military tactics, focusing on the basics of governing the country and marching to fight. The Earth Dungeon is a book about pure magic. The magic skills of summoning wind, rain, thunder and wind are higher than the Book of Taiping that Zhang Jiao learned. The Heavenly Shield is a book about the rules of nature. Those who understand it can become immortals and eventually become immortals. The Immortal, absorbs the energy of the universe.
At the moment, Zuo Ci used three volumes of "Dunjia Tianshu" as bait to attract Cao Cao to practice. Cao Cao said: "Actually, I also want to retreat bravely, but there is no one else in the court who can take my place."
Zuo Ci smiled and said: "Liu Bei of Yizhou is a descendant of the Han Dynasty. Why don't you give up your position to him? If not, I will use the magic of flying swords to take away your head."
After hearing this, Cao Cao was very angry and said angrily: "So you are Liu Bei's trick!" He called people to take Zuo Ci down, but Zuo Ci couldn't stop laughing.
Cao Cao asked more than a dozen soldiers to capture Zuo Ci and torture him severely. The guards beat Zuo Ci with great strength. When he looked at Zuo Ci again, he was just sleeping soundly and didn't feel anything at all. Cao Cao was very angry and asked the soldiers to get it. Zuo Ci was locked up with big shackles and sent to prison for custody. When I looked again, Zuo Ci was lying on the ground with no injuries. He had been detained like this for seven days without eating anything. When I looked again, Zuo Ci was sitting on the ground, and the color of his face had turned red. The jailer reported it to Cao Cao, who released him for questioning.
Zuo Ci said: "It's okay if I don't eat for ten years. It's okay if I feed a thousand of them every day!" Cao Cao had no choice.
On that day, the officials went to the Palace of Wei to celebrate. As they were walking, suddenly Zuo Ci was standing in front of the banquet wearing wooden shoes. Everyone felt very strange.
Zuo Ci said: "Your Majesty, today we have both land and water. We are having a banquet with all the ministers. There are many rare treasures from all over the world. I don't know what I need. I am willing to get them!"
Cao Cao said, "I want dragon liver to make soup. Can you get it?"
He replied: "What does that have to do with it?" After saying that, ink and a brush appeared out of thin air in his hand, and he immediately drew a dragon on the wall. Then with a wave of his hand, the dragon's abdomen opened, and Zuo Ci took out the dragon's liver from inside, and the blood continued to flow. , Cao Cao didn't believe it and scolded: "This must have been hidden in his sleeves first!"
Zuo Ci smiled slightly and said, "It's cold weather now, and the grass and trees are withered. I can get whatever flowers your Majesty likes."
Cao Cao said: "I only need peonies."
Zuo Ci replied: "It's too easy." So he sent someone to place a large flower pot in the middle of the banquet, water it with water, and soon a peony flower grew.
Everyone was very surprised and invited Zuo Ci to come to the banquet.
