The beginning of the Three Kingdoms Cheng Yuanzhi

Chapter 258

In August of the 13th year of Jian'an, Liu Biao died.

In September, Cheng Yuanzhi led his army southward.

In October, Liu Cong led the state to surrender. The Northern Army occupied Xiangyang, took over the counties in Jingzhou, and surrounded Liu Bei in Wuling.

Seeing that Jingxiang was about to be unified, Sun Quan suddenly stepped in and sent Zhou Yu to attack Nanye County, Yuzhang County.

Cheng Yuanzhi was shocked when he heard the news, and led his elite troops to fight.

In November, the northern and southern armies fought fiercely in Nanye.

After a great battle, more than half of Zhou Yu's [-] army was lost, and the Nanye City that had been captured before was returned to Cheng Yuanzhi's hands.

At the same time, Sun Quan secretly sent Lu Meng and Tai Shici to separate their forces and capture Lingling and Guiyang.Liu Bei also took the opportunity to capture Changsha.

The Sun and Liu families gathered together to fight against the Northern Army.

Seeing that the four counties in south Jingnan were in a difficult situation, Cheng Yuanzhi led his army back to the north without hesitation, because he thought of a coup to deal with Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu—that is Sima Yi.

In the summer of the 14th year of Jian'an, the sun was scorching hot in Yecheng, the wind was missing, and the sultry weather made people feel particularly restless.

After returning to Yecheng, civil servants and military generals continued to come forward and ask Cheng Yuanzhi to ascend the throne and become the duke.

Although Cheng Yuanzhi repeatedly vetoed the proposal, when there were too many people who spoke up, his thoughts surged uncontrollably.

How to deal with his relationship with Liu Xie?

Will the foundation he laid be left to his son or returned to the Han Dynasty?
Should he be Duke of Zhou?Or should I be King Wen of Zhou?

If Jiangshan is left to his son, who should he leave it to?Is it Dabai, or Zhen Mi's youngest son?
All the above questions came out in an instant, lingering in Cheng Yuanzhi's head and lingering for a long time.

For a while, there was no answer.

Cheng Yuanzhi shook his head and stopped thinking about it, because there was still a major event that needed to be arranged immediately.

After a while, a fast horse galloped out from the Prime Minister's Mansion, held up the official document with one hand, shouted "avoid", and went to Ye County to summon Sima Yi.

Not long after, Sima Yi came as summoned.

Cheng Yuanzhi warmly received him at the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Sima Yi is 30 years old this year and is now the county magistrate of Ye County (where Ye City is located).

When he was summoned suddenly, Sima Yi was very cautious. Before the person came to him, he bowed and paid homage:

"I'm going to sue Sima Yi, I've seen the prime minister."

While speaking, his demeanor seemed a little nervous.

Cheng Yuanzhi said "hmm" and raised his hand slightly to signal Sima Yi to relax and not be nervous.

Seeing this, Sima Yi felt a little relieved. As a small county magistrate, it was the first time he was summoned by Cheng Yuanzhi, and he couldn't help feeling extremely panicked.

Cheng Yuanzhi looked at Sima Yi curiously.

Since it was a private meeting, there were only three people in the hall, so Su Ge was by the side.

At this moment, Su Gai was staring at Sima Yi seriously with wide-eyed eyes, secretly exerting pressure—this was his usual trick to play tricks on people.

However, Sima Yi didn't know that this was Su Gai's prank, his body immediately tensed up after relaxing, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

Sima Yi is so immature now, Cheng Yuanzhi secretly laughed at it.

During the fourteen or five years he was in power, the young Sima Yi did not show much talent and was not reused.

This is mainly because when Sima Yi joined, it was already the tenth year of Jian'an (205), and the north and the Central Plains had already been unified, so there was not much time to make a name for himself.

Moreover, at that time Cheng Yuanzhi was surrounded by a lot of talents, Sima Yi's arrival was purely icing on the cake, there was not much room for him to display his talents.

Now comes the turning point.

However, Sima Yi didn't know that his official career was about to usher in a leap.

After observing for a while, seeing that Sima Yi followed the rules and was well-mannered, Cheng Yuanzhi nodded in satisfaction and asked:
"Now that Sun Liu is occupying Jingnan, he is joining forces to resist our army. If Zhong Daru is the prefect of Xiangyang, how should he deal with it?"

Hearing this, Sima Yi quickly realized that this was the ultimate exam, and if he answered well, his official career would be promoted immediately.

If the answer is not good...it means that his official career will definitely stop at the county magistrate in this life.

Sima Yi did not answer this question immediately, but frowned and thought about it.

Before that, he was just a small county magistrate, and his daily thoughts were on trivial matters in the county government, and he never thought about these major national events.

It can only be played on the spot.

The situation in Jingzhou at this time is: the Northern Army occupies Nanjun, Xiangyang, and Jiangxia; Liu Bei occupies Wuling and Changsha; Sun Quan occupies Lingling and Guiyang.

The three families divided Jingzhou equally.

The Northern Army has more than 20 soldiers and horses, including [-] sailors (not including the [-] sailors deployed in the four counties of Jiangdong).The soldiers and horses of the Sun and Liu families add up to about [-] to [-].

Liu Qi has been operating in Wuling for a long time and has a solid foundation; Sun Quan has also been operating in Jiaozhou for three years, basically controlling the situation.

The two newly formed alliances are in the honeymoon phase and their relationship is strong.

At this time, if we want to attack the four counties in Jingnan again, there is neither the right time nor anyone to make peace, which is extremely difficult.

Since it is not easy to attack, you can only focus on other aspects, such as defense.

With the huge size of the ten states in the north, as long as the existing territory is firmly guarded, it is only a matter of time before Jingnan is flattened.

Thinking of this, Sima Yi had an answer in his heart, and said with cupped hands: "Defense instead of attack, wait for the right time."

Sure enough, as I expected, I knew you were the best at defending. Cheng Yuanzhi nodded slightly, and asked instead:
"What do you think, Zhongda, about the situation in the world?"

Sima Yi thought for a while, then cupped his hands and said, "Returning to Prime Minister, unifying the world is certainly important, but at this time, unifying the world is not the most important thing."

Cheng Yuanzhi was surprised: "Oh? Tell me, what is the most important thing?"

Sima Yi said in a deep voice: "To be called king and public, to be in the right position and name!"

"With today's achievements, the Prime Minister should be granted the title of king and duke to rectify his reputation. Only in this way can he gather the enthusiasm of his subordinates to be civilized and military, and the changes in Xudu in the previous period will not be repeated."

Hearing this, Cheng Yuanzhi was silent.

Although it is inappropriate for Sima Yi to say this - his status is too low, it is not unreasonable.

The advantage of "holding the emperor to order the princes" is that when there are still many princes in the world, you can beat whoever you want. If other princes are beaten, they cannot fight back openly, because fighting back is treason and disobedience. Lift.

The disadvantage of "holding the emperor to order the princes" is: when there are not many princes in the world, the emperor becomes a stumbling block that hinders progress.

Although Cheng Yuanzhi occupies ten states in the world, all the civil and military personnel under his command are still Han officials in name, that is, Liu Xie's courtiers, and the official titles are all granted by Liu Xie.

Cheng Yuanzhi is nominally only the prime minister of the great Han Dynasty, and the official positions he can seal are limited—if they are too big, he can only be sealed by Liu Xie.

In this way, the number of people who can be gathered is limited.

In addition, at this time, there are still many officials who are loyal to the Han Dynasty and loyal to the puppet emperor Liu Xie, so the situation is very delicate.

Many people are in an ambiguous position of sitting on the fence.

Only when he becomes a duke and proclaims himself a king can he express his political intentions and quickly check which ones are his own and which ones are not, which ones can be reused, and which ones need to be alienated.

Because the next step to being crowned king is to found the country, and the founding fathers are the ideals that most ministers dream of.

Moreover, it was the 14th year of Jian'an (209), and the Han Dynasty was in such a state of decline that all people of insight in the world knew that the Han Dynasty could not be supported.

There is almost no possibility of returning power to Liu Xie, and the conditions for Dai Han to stand on its own are not yet mature.

After all, the self-reliance of the Han Dynasty needs to accumulate enough prestige, otherwise people in the world will not recognize it.

Therefore, calling the public first is a compromise and a very good solution.After being proclaimed public, firstly, he can bestow meritorious ministers and gather the hearts of all the civil and military people under his command; secondly, he can use this to tell the world that the times are about to change.

With his feat of pacifying ten states in the world, Cheng Yuanzhi's prestige was enough to meet the conditions for becoming a prince.

The crux of the problem is whether Cheng Yuanzhi wants to be prosecuted or not.

Of course I want to!
But these words cannot be said by oneself.

Sima Yi is actually a good candidate!
Thinking of this, Cheng Yuanzhi said ambiguously: "I am deeply afraid that virtue is not suitable. Let's discuss this matter later."

Having said that, things are set in motion.

I am willing in my heart, but leave it to you to operate.

Sima Yi was a smart man and naturally understood the profound meaning. He immediately accepted the order and never mentioned the matter again.

Cheng Yuanzhi turned to say: "Zhong Da, I now appoint you as the prefect of Xiangyang and the general of Zhennan, and give you the right to control Jingzhou's soldiers and horses. You will take office soon."

From the county magistrate to the prefect, there are three consecutive promotions, and from the prefect to the general of Zhennan, there are two more ranks.

Equivalent to five consecutive upgrades.

Sima Yi was overjoyed when he heard the words, and hurriedly knelt down to thank him, and resigned happily.

Sima Yi came out of the prime minister's mansion with a red face, and the news spread throughout Yecheng.

Everyone realized that Sima Yi was about to get rich!

Immediately afterwards, the conversation between Cheng Yuanzhi and Sima Yi was also spread.

Therefore, interested people sensed something unusual from Cheng Yuanzhi's ambiguous attitude, and immediately many people jointly signed a letter to Liu Xie, requesting that the prime minister be named Wei Gong.

Because Hebei has been called Weidi since ancient times.

Liu Xie, who had long since fallen flat, had no room for bargaining and could only submit.

In September of the 14th year of Jian'an, Cheng Yuanzhi was granted the title of Duke of Wei, officially establishing the State of Wei.

After the news spread, the world was in an uproar.

In the 400-year history of the Han Dynasty, the last person who was conferred the title of Duke was Wang Mang.

Times are changing...

(End of this chapter)