Chapter 93 Fire in the backyard

Yecheng, Cao Pi, the deputy prime minister and the general with facial features, gasped like a cow, stared at the blood-red eyes, and stared at Chen Qun, who looked embarrassed. Every word seemed to be squeezed out of his teeth: "Run away?"

"I ran away." Chen Qun's voice was dry, as hoarse as thick wood.

"Run away, run away." Cao Pi turned around and turned his back to Chen Qun, but he twisted his neck and looked at Chen Qun with the afterglow of his eyes. Chen Qun lowered his head and said no word. He knew that Cao Pi was in an extremely bad mood now, and it was impossible to be as gentle as usual. It was extremely irrational to talk too much at this time.

"Run away!" In the end, Cao Pi couldn't help his anger and kicked away the case in front of him. The pen, ink, paper and ink on the case flew around. The manuscript that had just been half of the manuscript was stained with a lot of ink, and soon became unrecognizable.

Chen Qun subconsciously wanted to take a step back, but his body just moved, and then he didn't move.

Cao Pi has reason to be angry.

At the beginning of last year, after a long period of consideration and weighing all aspects of Ye Cheng's opinions, Cao had planned to make him the crown prince. When he got the news from his cronies who were placed beside Cao Xen, he was almost ecstatic. He waited for this day for too long. After Cao Chong died in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, he was waiting. Cao Chong didn't die. He knew that he didn't have a chance, but he didn't think too much. At most, he secretly made a wish. But God has eyes. Cao Chong, who has always been in good health, actually got an inexplicable disease and died in a month. From then on From then on, his heart and eyes moved. Immediately after that, Cao Jian resumed the ancient system, became the prime minister, and took the power alone. After 16 years of Jian'an, he finally took a key step for the Duke of Wei. Cao Pi saw the bright future. He was excited about the upcoming supreme position, but no one expected that Cao Zhi, the younger brother of a mother's compatriot, suddenly rose up again and won his father's favor with an amazing literary talent, which suddenly became a hurdle in front of him.

In order to overcome this hurdle, Cao Pi listened to Wu Zhi's advice, hid all his desires, actively interacted with people who might affect Cao Qian, and treated them humbly. His efforts were rewarded. At least 80% of Ye Cheng's ministers favored him, and even Cui Yan, the uncle of Cao Zhi's uncle, supported him. He was the heir, and even gave his last name for it.

Cao Zhi inevitably fell out of favor. With the passage of time, his impression in Cao Jian's mind became worse and worse. Before Cao Jian's 21st year of Jian's Eastern Expedition, he was ready to make Cao Zhi a marquis - once he was crowned, it meant that he lost the possibility of heir to the throne - but by mistake, he somehow delayed it. Cao Pi didn't take it seriously. Although there was no final dust, the signs shown in all aspects showed that Cao Wei had given up Cao Zhi, and he could rest assured.

Unexpectedly, after Yang Xiu went to Jiaozhou, things changed again. Cao Jian changed his previous two-way attack method and attacked Yizhou with all his strength, and Cao Zhi also followed. He became famous in the first battle. First, he defeated the famous general Zhang Fei, and then almost captured the Sword Pavilion, which miraculously saved Cao Jian's impression of him. The news from Sima Yi said that Cao Jian said that Cao Zhi was both literary and military, brave and resourceful, and had a very good impression.

Cao Pi heard the sound of the string, and his heart, which had been relieved, was raised again. Among the four brothers of their mother's compatriots, Cao Zhang is good at martial arts, Cao Zhi and he is good at writing. They have their own strengths, but no one can catch up with his father Cao Wei's talent. Now Cao Wei gives Cao Zhi such a comment, which means that Cao Zhi has surpassed him and Cao Zhang's two brothers and become Cao Wei's most satisfied son.

This is a very dangerous signal.

In order to regain the advantage, Cao Pi must be both civil and military, at least not too weaker than Cao Zhi. Soon, Sima Yi created an opportunity for him. Guan Yu and Sun Shao invaded Nanyang County, which was like a broken bamboo, pushing Xu County. The Central Plains was shocked. Cao ordered him to lead the people left in Ye City to go south and cooperate with Xiahou Dun to guard Xu County. In his letter to him, Sima Yi said that Cao Yan had instructed Xiahou Dun to assist in the attack, with his army as the main attack. Of course, Sima Yi did not forget to remind him of the treatment of Xu County: let Guan Yu remove the obstacle of the emperor for them.

Everything went well. Although Sun Shaoqi's attack on Xiangcheng caught them off guard, this did not affect the overall situation. After Guan Yu captured the emperor, he could only retreat to Wancheng under the attack of the two armies, and then fell into the attack of Xiahou Dun and Cao Yan who came from Guanzhong.

Just as Cao Pi was ready to rush to Wancheng to besiege Guan Yu, something happened to Yecheng.

Cao Yue and Wei in the west of the Prime Minister's Office united with many people to rebel with Chen Wei, the captain of Changlewei of Xu County, with the intention of attracting Guan Yu to attack Ye City. There were many celebrities involved. The two sons of Wang Can, Zhang Quan, the son of Zhang Xiu, and Liu Wei, the younger brother of Liu Wei, were involved, and Ye City was in chaos. Cao Pi did not dare to neglect, so he had to put down the credit of Xu County and lead the army back to Ye City to suppress the rebellion. The rebellion was not complicated. As soon as the army arrived, it killed thousands of people in one go, and it soon calmed down.

But Cao Pi did not breathe a sigh of relief. He found a problem in the interrogation confession. Xu County was besieged. How did Chen Yi, the captain of Changle Wei, spread the news to Xu County? He sent someone to investigate. The more he checked, the more shocked he became. A looming ghost wandered around Ye City. Cao Pi did not dare to neglect it. He did not catch the behind-the-scenes manipulator. He killed a Wei sarcasm, and there might be more Wang sarcasm and Li sarcasm.

He laid a trap, but he didn't catch this person.

He ran away, or more prepared, he should have disappeared. This person disappeared out of thin air. Is he still in Yecheng? If there is, where is it? If not, where did you go? I don't know anything.

How can Cao Pi not be furious when he gets this reward? Can he report this result to Cao? It's better to admit that you are incompetent. Cao asked him to sit in Yecheng, but he actually let Yecheng make such a big mess. He was afraid when he thought about it - he came back in time, otherwise the family of the family and the civil servants and generals would all become hostages of Wei, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

The root cause of the disaster was not found. Cao Pi did not dare to leave Yecheng. He knew that this would be a war that would be difficult to encounter in the future. It was the best opportunity for him to overtake Cao Zhi. It was Sima Yi who took the risk of being suspected by Cao to fight for him, and he could only give up.

This feeling is not good, quite bad.

Cao Pi had an attack, and Chen Qun stood still until Cao Pi finished venting and calmed down. Then he said softly, "M Prime Minister, there are signs that that man is from Jiangdong." Chen Qun paused. When Cao Pi looked at him, he continued to say, "Although he hides well and is fluent in Luoyang, the taste of Wu Yue is still heard."

"Wu Yue?" Cao Pi turned his head and said, "You mean Sun Quan's person?"

Chen Qun frowned, which was usually an expression that he disagreed with Cao Pi's statement. Cao Pi thought for a thought and felt unreliable. Sun Quan had this intention, but he didn't have the power. How could he get in touch with Chen Hao? He immediately understood: "Sun Shao?"

Chen Qun nodded: "The Prime Minister is thoughtful, and I also think so."

Cao Pi laughed at himself. He knew that although Chen Qun was his cronies, Chen Qun looked down on him as much as Sima Yi looked down on him. Among his four cronies, Chen Qun comes from the Yingchuan and Chen family, and Sima Yi comes from Wen County, Hanoi. They are all great families with a source of family learning. Although Wu Zhi has talent, he comes from a humble background and is not favored by his fellow villagers until now - Dong Zhao looks down on him - Zhu Hao is needless to say, he is directly a martial artist, and even Wu Zhi looks down on him.

Chen Qun said this to give him face. He knew that he was fake, but Cao Pi was very happy. He didn't think he was really smart, but was happy to see these self-righteous children bowing in front of him. No matter how arrogant you are, don't you have to bow to me?

He looked at Chen Qun quietly and listened to his opinions. Chen Qun seemed to feel Cao Pi's thoughts. He smiled helplessly and dared not pretend to be deep again, so as not to make Cao Pi unhappy. It is necessary to show the high level at the right time, but if the superiors feel annoying, the gains outweigh the losses.

"I heard that when he was in Ruxu, Sun Shao crossed the river to challenge General Zhengdong. At that time, Yang Xiu made friends with him. Later, Yang Xiu was ordered to pass the edict to Jiaozhou and had a secret talk with Sun Shao. Soon after he came back, Mr. Zijian went to Hanzhong.

Cao Pi took a cold breath and then held his breath. After a long time, he slowly spit out the breath. Is there a collusion between Sun Shao and Cao Zhi? This is so unexpected. There was a trace of joy in Cao Pi's heart, and then he felt very regretful. It's a pity that he couldn't catch this detailed work this time. Otherwise, Cao Zhi would have died.

However, it doesn't matter if you don't catch it. Cao Pi turned around and waved his hand: "Search again. He definitely didn't come alone. Maybe someone's accomplices in prison."

Chen Qun understands that it is too easy to frame such a thing. As long as Cao Yan believes it, as for Cao Zhi, I'm afraid he won't understand whether the evidence Cao Yan saw is true or false until he dies.

... "Detailed work?" Cao Shen shook the paper in his hand and frowned: "A few fine works can make a mess of Ye City?"

Chen Qun bowed and said nothing.

Cao Wei was a little unhappy. Cao Pi sent Chen Qun to Wancheng in person. Of course, it was to explain that he could not rush to Wancheng and Yecheng in time. Cao Wei had been prepared for this, but now the news sent by Cao Pi said that the Ye City Rebellion was related to the details of Sun Shao's faction, and it may also be related to some of the prime minister's mansion. People are related, which makes Cao Wei very disgusted. It is clear that Cao Pi is incompetent, and then puts the blame on others.

"Go down." Cao Chen didn't give Chen Qun a chance to explain and directly kicked him out. Chen Qun was very embarrassed, but he did not dare to stay in the account by force, so he had to pay the account. In front of Cao Pi and Cao Pi, it was two completely different feelings. In front of Cao Pi, it was enough for Chen Qun to maintain superficial respect, but in front of Cao Wei, he felt afraid from the bottom of his heart.

"Incompetent people!" Cao Qian curled his lips and threw Cao Pi's book into the fire pond. The flame licked the paper and suddenly lit up. A strange light was reflected in Cao Qian's eyes, which soon faded. He pondered for a moment and looked up at Shi Liu Ye, the commander of the army standing aside: "What's the trick this little vertical doing?"

Liu Ye shook his head: "I can't figure out what he is thinking, but Yichen's impression of him is that if he sent a detailed work to Yecheng, it is completely possible that this matter can be done."

"Well, that little vertical is very crafty." Cao Can't help laughing: "At this point, Guan Yunchang is far worse than him."

"Goodly, he is too weak to master the situation." Liu Ye also laughed. After Cao Yan came out of Hanzhong, he gathered people all the way to Luoyang and then turned to the Yang people. It was not until he heard that Guan Yu had taken Xu County and taken away the emperor that he suddenly sent troops to Luyang and approached Wancheng. Xu Huang occupied Xinye and Nieyang in advance, and Xiahou Dun immediately arrived and choked Guan Yu's retreat. If it hadn't been for Cao Pi hadn't been able to come and participate in the encirclement, Cao Qian would have ordered to take down Wancheng. Guan Yu thought he had made contributions, but he didn't know that without Cao Yan's indulgence, he could not leave Xu County at all.

It's just to surprise them that Guan Yu has grabbed the emperor for almost two months, but the emperor has not given an edict to announce Cao Shen's crime. It is reasonable that if the emperor wants Liu Bei and Sun Quan to fight, he has too many charges to use. Among other things, the last one is enough for Cao Shen to drink a pot. Because of this, Cao Yan hesitated for a long time when deciding whether to let Guan Yu take away the emperor. He must weigh the pros and cons of this matter to ensure that his foundation will not be shaken.

The current situation makes them a little confused.

"Your Highness, it seems that we have not received the news of the death of General Zhengnan and others." Liu Ye stroked his beard and said slowly, "It is reasonable to say that Fan Cheng was broken, and important ministers such as Cao Zhengnan and Man Runan fell into their hands. Whether they died or surrendered, they would make a big announcement to boost morale, but now they have no news, which is really a little puzzling."

"Alas--" Cao Qian sighed, and Liu Ye's words reminded him of Yu Jin. Yu Jian is a general promoted by his hands. Over the years, Yu Jian has been loyal to him. He has always promoted him to General Zuo and 1,200 households in Fengyi. Such treatment is not much different from that of Zhu Cao and Xiahou. But I didn't expect him to surrender.

This is the only news he has heard of surrender in the past six months. In contrast, although Pound was also defeated, it was still a little comforting. He is now just a guest of Sun Shao and has not surrendered.

Thinking of Pound, Cao Wei sighed with emotion. In his opinion, this is Sun Shao's trick to attract Pound, and only a straight surname like Pound will be fooled. Since Pang De stayed with Sun Shao for so long, how could Sun Shao let him go? Even if Sun Shao let him go, he was originally a surrendered general. His old master Ma Chao and his brother Pang Rou were both in Yizhou. Now he has something to do with Sun Shao. How could he trust him again? Ten thousand steps back, even if Cao still believes him, who else is willing to cooperate with Pound?

"What is he thinking about?" Cao Wei was very curious: "This kind of behavior is not like what Guan Yunchang can do."

Liu Ye was also curious. If Sun Shao could make the decision, why would Sun Shao sit back and watch Guan Yu bring the emperor to Wancheng? If Sun Shao can't make the decision, why hasn't Guan Yu asked the emperor to announce Cao's guilt now? Is it that the emperor is not allowed?

It seems that only this explanation is more reliable.

"Liu Bei and Sun Quan have both arrived in Jingzhou. Should they break through Wancheng first or repel Liu Bei and Sun Quan first?" Cao Qian went to the fire pond and sat down, pointed to the seat opposite, and motioned Liu Ye to sit down and speak. Liu Ye thanked and sat down by the fire pond. Under the firelight, his face became very bright.

"I think I should attack the city first, and then persuade him to surrender."

Cao Qian didn't say anything, stared at the jumping flames, pondered for a long time, and then said, "Persuading you to surrender first. If you don't surrender, it's not too late to attack the city. I want to see who is in charge of this city.

Liu Ye did not refute. He glanced at Cao Yan, but Cao Yan did not look at him. He picked up the fire tongs and pinched the charcoal in the fire, with a smile on the corners of his mouth, as if he had thought of something interesting. This is the only time I have seen Cao's smile for more than half a year and more than the time I heard Cao Zhi's defeat of Zhang Fei. Liu Ye knew that Cao Qian's three-way strategy went bankrupt because of the unexpected defeat of Yu Jin. It may be the last opportunity in his life to pass the opportunity to unify the world. For Cao Qian, who has always wanted to unify the world, the sadness in his heart can be imagined.

For more than half a year, Cao has been angry, disappointed and sad, but rarely laughed.

Especially this very warm smile.

"Ziyang, do you know what I'm laughing at?" Cao Qian saw the change in Liu Ye's face and turned his head to look at him.

Liu Ye doesn't know. Even if he knows, he has to say he doesn't know. As a counselor, you can guess the king's mind, but you can't say it, especially in the face of such a suspicious monarch as Cao Qian.

"I remember a sentence that Sun Shao and I said when I was in Ruxu." Cao Xiu straightened up, put down the fire pliers, and clapped his hands: "He said that whether it is the parents of a family or the emperor of a country, the greatest credit is not how much merit he has, but the choice of a qualified successor. The talent was roughly like the First Emperor of Qin. Although he swept the six kingdoms, he failed to choose a good successor for the Great Qin Empire. Hu Hai and Zhao Gao took advantage of the opportunity to enter, so the second generation died. Emperor Xiaowu fought south and north for decades. Behind Hehe's achievements was a crumbling building, but he chose Emperor Xiaozhao, so the Han Dynasty could not fall in danger.

Liu Ye is a little puzzled. There is nothing profound about such a truth. Why did Cao Yan praise Sun Shao for this? He has always kept it in mind.

Cao Wei continued, "How to choose the successor is the most appropriate way? Ziyang, how do you think it should be chosen?

Liu Ye pondered for a moment: "Elected people with both virtue and talent should be taught diligently, and then choose more loyal ministers to assist."

"Hahaha..." Cao Qian laughed loudly and pointed to Liu Ye and said, "Ziyang, do you know what Sun Shao said?"

Liu Ye is really curious this time. Although his method is not a novel method, he has always done so. Does Sun Shao have a more smarter way?

"He said that a horse is not as good as a horse race. A mule is a horse. Instead of listening to the horse, it's better to pull it out."

Liu Ye was stunned for a moment and suddenly understood it all. At this moment, Cao Wei suddenly said this sentence by no means casually. He had made a decision in his heart, and this decision was very unfavorable to Cao Pi. More importantly, Cao Yan must have something to say this to him. He hoped that he could understand his ideas and then support his ideas.

Liu Ye is a member of Cao Pi's faction. He supported Cao Pi out of maintaining the patriarchal rules and regulations of the inheritance system for the first-in-law. It is for the long-term stability of the State of Wei. However, Cao Yan is biased to use only. He has always been dissatisfied with Cao Pi, and it is also because Cao Pi does have many disappointments. He has literary talent, but literary talent is not outstanding. Wenzao is gorgeous and pompous and lacks a sense of truth. He has martial arts, good swordsmanship, and is also good at military tactics. However, he has never fought in battle. This time, he has a rare opportunity to go on an expedition, but it was messed up by the change of Ye City. The most important thing is the change of Ye City. Cao Qian asked him to guard Ye City, but Ye City was in chaos. Thousands of people were killed and imprisoned, involving countless ministers among them, almost all of Cao Qian's decades of hard work. In addition, he looks very loyal, but the brothers of his mother and compatriots don't like him.

How can Cao Yan rest assured to let him be the heir, not to mention Cao Zhi making a comparison.

"Do you think this method is right or wrong?" Cao Yan looked at Liu Ye with a smile. Liu Ye felt that his heart seemed to have been hit by a heavy hammer, and he was a little out of breath. Cao Yan wants him to take a stand. If he doesn't respond properly, then Cui Yan may be his lesson.

But Liu Ye can't accept it immediately. In this case, Cao Yan may think that he is a villain who sees the wind and the wind. He thought carefully for a moment and said carefully, "Just in this way, it is inevitable that there will be flesh and blood..."

"Such a thing has never been inevitable. Compared with family and national affairs, these losses can be worth nothing." Cao Yan interrupted Liu Ye's words and obviously did not intend to listen to his explanation again: "Bare born in the deep palace and raised in the hands of women. Even if such a person is a genius, how many people can really do great things? Emperor Xiaowu's peerless talent, why did he make such a big mistake later? Because he doesn't know the hardships of the people. Cao Wei stood up, not tall, but people dared to look up: "If he was like a lonely man, he would not have made such a mistake. Four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, twenty-four emperors, except for the founding king of the country, how many people can really be called Mingjun? It's not that they are not smart, but that they don't have a chance to experience it. If I hadn't been exiled to Xijing today and suffered so much suffering, how could I have lived to this day?

Liu Ye smiled bitterly. That's true. If Liu Xie hadn't known the stakes of the knife, he would have publicly confronted Cao Qian. But if that's the case, I'm afraid he will either be either snapped or forced to abdicate. If he is obedient, Cao Qian will definitely have this means.

(to be continued)