[Three Kingdoms] Seven steps into wetness

At the end of January in the 24th year of Jian'an, the victory of Dingjunshan was decided. Cao Cao wrote the word "chicken rib" in the Hanzhong barracks, which opened the real prelude to the battle between the sons.

Cao Cao said so at that time.

He called a group of counselors into the barracks, threw these two characters in front of them, and said slowly: "In recent years, I have been alone in the hospital bed for a long time. I have no fun, so I like to guess and solve characters. Now you can guess." , What does the word tasteless mean? Whoever guesses it right first will be rewarded with a big gift."

The word "great gift", said from Cao Cao's mouth, is of course very tempting.Regardless of the meaning of solving the mystery of Cao Gong itself, or the rewards of gold, silver and jewels, and promotion of officials and ranks, for them, they are all pursuits in their lives.

Guo Jia was slightly taken aback when he heard it.He already fully understood what Cao Cao meant, but it was precisely because he understood that he was stunned.

Yang Xiu frowned.

He already understood what King Wei meant.But since the last time he wanted to directly say "Yi He Crisp" and was rejected by Cao Zhi, he has understood that this is Cao Cao's actions are definitely not to test the military counselors, but to test his sons.

The last time "Yi He Crisp" was cracked by Cao Zhi, so this time, it must be prepared for Cao Pi.

So Yang Xiu kept silent.

On the other hand, Cao Pi didn't understand.

Husband's chicken ribs are tasteless to eat, but it is a pity to discard them.On the surface, Cao Pi can guess the meaning, but what is the profound meaning when it goes deeper?

He subconsciously glanced at Wu Zhi next to him, and seeing his calm face with a smile on his lips, he obviously understood the deep meaning.Bye bye, Sima Yi looked calm, but his complexion was strangely pale, and he was slightly puzzled.

Sima Yi could no longer remind Cao Pi.

Among the more than ten battalion commanders, only he and Guo Jia really understood the meaning of the word chicken ribs.These two words are not only saying that although Cao Zhi won the battle of Dingjunshan, he will never be able to defeat Liu Bei, who is like a shrinking turtle; There is no need for people to engage in unnecessary disputes.

Cao Cao said these two words here, and even Cao Zhi's victory has not yet returned, who does Cao Caoxin belong to as the son of the world, why argue?

And this guess was completely confirmed after Cao Cao dismissed everyone and left Sima Yi alone.

It's a pity that Wu Zhi didn't think of this.

It's a pity that Guo Jia will never remind Cao Pi.

Half a day later, Cao Pi ordered Wu Zhi to announce his intention to return to the army, and ordered the accompanying sergeants to pack their luggage and return to the army.At that time, Cao Cao was lying on the bed and ordered someone to call Cao Pi to ask why. Cao Pi had a well-thought-out plan and answered fluently.

Cao Cao closed his eyes and nodded.

Soon, Wu Zhi was beheaded in the name of "fake military order".

When Cao Zhi returned to Hanzhong from Dingjun Mountain, Cao Cao had already returned to Xudu, so he ordered someone to stay here to inform Cao Zhi and Xiahouyuan of the news, and ordered them to return quickly.

Xia Houyuan didn't understand what Cao Cao meant, but he never disobeyed Cao Cao's orders.Then he temporarily handed over the military power to the general who defended the city, and ordered him to return to Xuchang with Cao Zhi.

As for Cao Zhi, I asked Cao Cao, the general who defended the city, what happened before he gave the order. Hearing that he killed Wu Zhi before he left, he probably understood why he did this.

He suddenly felt some hesitation, some joy, and more inexplicable hesitation.

... It's as if something that has been pursued for a long time for a lifetime is suddenly within easy reach, but it is a little hazy and unreal.

But no matter what Cao Zhi thought, half a month later, the army returned to Xudu.

The first thing Cao Zhi did when he returned to Xuchang was to meet Cao Cao.Under Cao Cao's inquiry, he fully explained what he and Xia Houyuan did in Dingjun Mountain, which can be regarded as almost exhaustive.

Cao Cao nodded again and again.

I have to admit that if he really led the troops there, there is a high chance that Guan Yu and Huang Zhongdao will fall for him.Maybe he might be able to escape back then, but what happened to Xia Houyuan was unimaginable.

He really never thought that Cao Zhi's first expedition would go so smoothly, even surprisingly.Not to mention that he teamed up with Xia Houyuan to kill Huang Zhong or capture Zhao Yun alive.

When it is true, it is fate.

He looked at the son.

After this battle, less than half of the warm and moist aura around him has been suppressed, and a bit of determination and ability has been added to his eyes.Anyone who sees Cao Zhi now will not easily think that he is just a scholar.

"Okay," Cao Cao patted him on the shoulder, and said to him, "You must be tired from the long journey. Go and have a good rest... By the way, don't forget to visit Yu'er and your mother. "

When Cao Zhi arrived, Cao Yu was in the courtyard, under the supervision of Bian and Cao Rui for endorsement.

Although Cao Yu is clever, but naughty by nature, it is difficult to calm down to read and write.I don't know whose xinxing this is inherited from. In short, the Bian family who loves him so much can't suppress him at all.

Cao Yu is memorizing "Xunzi Encouraging Learning".In fact, he has a good memory.It’s just that most of the time he didn’t bother to repeat this procedure, because he felt that these things were useless. If he could be like the generals in Guo Jia’s story, not only strategizing, but also using soldiers like a god, he would be really powerful.

He memorized it boredly, and was reciting the last few words when he suddenly saw Cao Zhi.Immediately cheered, ran up to Cao Zhi, was picked up by Cao Zhi, then held Cao Zhi's face and kissed a few times indiscriminately, which made both Bian and Cao Rui burst out laughing.

After Cao Yu kissed enough, Cao Zhi let him go and had a conversation with Mrs. Bian.

Until the end, Mrs. Bian only sighed, gently patted Cao Rui's head, and said softly: "These days, mother often thinks of you when you were young, you, your second brother, and your third brother often played in the pavilion. Everything, as if yesterday, in the blink of an eye, you have all grown up, even Rui'er and Yu'er are already this big."

"Little San'er, mother doesn't have any extra requirements—I just hope that no matter who of you becomes the eldest son, in the future, the three of you will still be able to love each other like when you were young..."

When she said this, she paused, and then smiled wryly, "That's all, that's all. Maybe this is just mother's wishful thinking."

When walking out of the courtyard, Cao Zhi met Cao Pi.

He hugged Cao Yu, stopped, and smiled: "Second brother."

Cao Pi also stopped.

Time passed by, and Cao Pi, who was hoped by countless people in the past, was buried in the years and gradually fell into a disadvantage.And the stupid younger brother who followed behind him has grown into a young talent that has attracted much attention.

Cao Zhi looked at him with calm and gentle eyes as always; while Cao Pi looked at him with unfamiliar and sharp eyes.

Who is more ruthless than whom?

That night, because of the victory in the Battle of Hanzhong, Cao Cao entertained the generals and rewarded the three armies.

After the dinner, Xia Houyuan, Zhang Liao, Le Jin, Yu Jin, Pang De, Zhang Yun, Xu Huang and others were called into the hall.

Several of them have been following Cao Cao since the Chenliu Uprising until now, killing Lu Bu, destroying Yuan Shao, seizing Jingzhou... and conquering the world.These people are all rare elite generals in the world, and any one of them is enough to be alone.

For so many years, they are still standing here, mainly because they have the same purpose as Cao Cao, or to unify the world, or to be famous in history.But the more important reason is that they believed in Cao Cao.

——In other words, they only obey Cao Cao.

Now, Cao Cao's time is running out.If he dies, and these good generals are in their prime, it will easily cause two fatal problems.

First, the master with high meritorious service, the new master is hard to tolerate.

Second, there is no new master, and the old ministers have indelible ambitions in their hearts.

Of course, first of all, Cao Zhi is by no means an infinite person. On the contrary, he can see his own shortcomings and advantages better than anyone else.In the short term, at least in the pacification of Jiangdong and Shuzhong, it is absolutely impossible for Cao Zhi to involve the seven generals due to military power issues;

Unfortunately, people are fickle.Naturally, it was impossible for Cao Cao to fully believe in the peace he saw, and some arrangements needed to be made.

Cao Cao said his first sentence: "Do you still remember why you followed Gu to conquer the world?"

The seven nodded without hesitation: "I remember."

Cao Cao said again: "Then do you still remember what powerful enemies we have defeated and been defeated by those people?"

The seven nodded without thinking: "Remember!" Whether it was Lu Bu, whether it was Yuan Shao, whether it was Wuhuan... all the battles were vividly remembered, whether it was the heroic feelings of the past or the difficult situation of death, they have never forgotten the slightest thing.

"Okay!" Cao Cao said slowly, "You all still remember, very good, very good!"

He said three good words on his face, paused, and said: "It's a pity that I'm already old when I was lonely, and I can no longer lead you to fight in all directions."

Seven people were shocked.

Isn't Cao Cao's words saying that he is about to die?

Maybe it was because the expressions of the seven people were too obvious. Cao Cao didn't even shy away from anything. Instead, he nodded and said, "People are always going to die. Even if Gu wants to live a few more years, he can't compete with his destiny."

"Lord!"

Cao Cao raised his hand to stop the unspoken words of the seven people: "Gu called you all today to tell you a decision."

He raised his head, and with a calm and oppressive gaze, he slowly glanced at the seven people: "I have decided to make Cao Zhi my son."

The seven were slightly startled.

Now that the world is uncertain, the few of them have been fighting and stationed outside all year round. They don't know much about the affairs of the court, and they are naturally insensitive to the political wind.So they always thought that after Cao Cao died, or in other words, they never thought that they could live longer than Cao Cao.

But now, Cao Cao just told them lightly - I am going to die, and your new lord is Cao Zhi.

Seven people couldn't believe it!

They opened their eyes and stared at Cao Cao in an instant, with extremely surprised expressions.

But no one questioned Cao Cao's decision.Because in their position, all they have to do is to obey Cao Cao's decision.

Cao Cao stood up.

He walked up to the seven people and patted their shoulders one by one, just like how many years ago, when they were still living in the gap between Lu Bu and Yuan Shao, they laughed countless times.Cao Cao's shot was very heavy, and he seemed to have exhausted all his strength, but it was still not as heavy as before.

Only then did they realize that Cao Cao was terribly old.

He didn't say anything more, just turned around, leaving everyone with a thin, even a bit stooped back: "My son Cao Zhi...and leave it to you."

The seven people were at a loss.They were stunned for a long time, but they couldn't say a word.After a long time, Xia Houyuan suddenly knelt down and said in a deep voice, "Your servant—take orders!"

The other six people no longer hesitated.Just like the countless formations in the military camp in the past, they did not hesitate to lead the troops to carry out their tasks under the arrangement of Cao Cao.Even if there is an abyss in front of you, even if you lose your life: "Minister, take orders!"

On the third day of March in the 24th year of Jian'an, the emperor made the Bian family the queen of Wei, and made Cao Zhi, the third son of the Bian family, the five-featured Zhonglang general, the son of Wei.

As soon as this decree came out, there was a bloody storm in the court.

At this time, among Cao Cao's confidant ministers in the court, Jia Xu, the doctor of Taizhong, Xing Yong of Dong Cao, and Guo Jia of Shangshu appeared to be neutral, but the actual position of these three people was not clear.Shangshu Cui Yan leaned on Li Chang, Xicao Ding Yi, Huangmen servant Ding Yan and Cao Zhi.

Now that Cao Zhi is in power, Jia Xu, Xing Yong, and Guo Jia are almost the same as before except for thanking guests behind closed doors.Under Cao Zhi's instruction, Ding Yi and Ding Yan restrained their family members to live in secluded places.

Only Cui Yan wrote the "Book of Remonstrance to the King of Wei" without hesitation, saying: "The son of the king of Wei, Pi will be the elder. If the king of Wei abolishes the elder and establishes the younger, the brothers will share power and form their own parties. If they are in a hurry, they will rescue each other." If you slow down, you will fight, this chaos is cute..." He not only denounced the criticism of abolishing the elders and establishing the younger since ancient times, but also asked Cao Cao to take back his fame based on Yuan Shao's example.Seeing that Cao Cao was indifferent, the more daring he was, he risked his life for the recommendation.

Cao Cao was furious, and ordered Cui Yan to be imprisoned and died soon after.

This was the second time he gave such an order. The last time Cao Zhi asked Cao Cao to let him go, so Cao Cao really let him out.But this time, even if the emperor personally persuaded him, Cui Yan's life could not be saved.

After Cui Yan's death, everyone in the court was in danger.

But even with the lessons learned from the past, there are still a few who sacrificed their lives for benevolence and sacrificed their lives for righteous scholars and officials, either in words and deeds, or in writing multi-word articles citing scriptures and classics, asking Cao Cao to withdraw his order and make Cao Pi his son.Of course, all of these people were sentenced to prison within three days, and then died in prison inexplicably.

On March 24th of the [-]th year of Jian'an, when a literati who flirted with squabbles was arrested, Sima Yi was implicated for some reason.

At this time, Cao Zhi put forward a proposal for a new law, compiled it into a book, and submitted it to Cao Cao for review.

Cao Pi almost stumbled into the main hall. When he saw it, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Father, please take back the order. Sima Yi deserves to die. Please don't kill him..."

Seeing his appearance, Cao Cao couldn't bear to be cruel after all. He sighed and said, "I didn't want to kill him because of my father, Zihuan. He violated the law, and the law cannot tolerate it."

Cao Pi smiled bitterly and said, "Father, when you killed Zhu Shuo, I couldn't speak. Later, when you killed Wu Zhi, I still couldn't speak. Now you are going to kill Sima Yi...will it be Chen Qun soon?"

Cao Cao didn't speak.He looked at Cao Pi, looked at him with silent and calm eyes.

Cao Pi said in a daze: "Father... If you can't believe it, why bother mobilizing people so much... Kill Cao Pi directly, don't you have no worries..."

Cao Cao raised the case and was furious: "Presumptuous!" He was already terminally ill, and he must not get angry easily. When punishing those literati before, most of them were pretending.But now, Cao Cao really couldn't restrain himself.

Because his son actually said such unfaithful and unfilial words to him!

He wanted to say something, but his legs suddenly lost strength, and after a while of dizziness, his consciousness blamed nothingness.

When Cao Cao woke up, it was completely dark outside the window.Cao Pi was not by his side.He only saw Cao Zhi alone, and he was indescribably disappointed: "Where's Cao Pi?"

Cao Zhi took the decoction and waited for Cao Cao to take a sip: "Second brother is kneeling outside the door, please take back the order to kill Sima Yi."

Cao Cao sneered and said, "I'll see how long he can kneel."

Cao Zhi sighed lightly.He said: "It was raining outside just now, and my mother was holding an umbrella for my second brother."

Cao Cao moved slightly.He looked at Cao Zhi and said slowly, "Zijian, do you know why you did this for your father?"

Cao Zhi said: "I know."

Cao Cao said, "What do you think?"

Cao Zhi said: "Father, son, please take back the order."

Cao Cao took another sip of the decoction: "Why?"

Cao Zhi narrowed his eyes in thought.

He thought for a long time, raised his eyes and said: "Father has paved a road for my son, and it is enough to remove all obstacles that can be removed on this road."

Cao Cao closed his eyes and shook his head: "Sima Yi is a man with great ambitions, and he must get rid of him if he looks like a wolf."

Cao Zhi smiled.

He lowered his eyes, and he didn't know what he thought of, and there was a little tenderness on his face: "It's enough, father. How much effect a person can play depends on how high he stands. If Sima Yi is in a high position, he must be a very good person." A terrible person. But if he has been idle at home, or, it is just an ordinary life."

"What's more, seeing your second brother like this now, you must feel very uncomfortable."

In March, Cao Pi fell ill and was bedridden for more than ten days. The Bian family was so shocked that they almost thought that their eldest son would not be able to survive the catastrophe.

In April, Xudu is still a bit cold.

Cao Pi is almost healed.He turned away the people around him and went to visit Wu Zhi's grave alone.

Before Wu Zhi's death, they all thought that Cao Cao's word "chicken rib" represented futility, meaning that even if Cao Zhi won the battle of Dingjun Mountain, it would be futile, but they didn't expect it to be a fatal danger set by Cao Cao.

Since February, Cao Cao has eliminated [-]% of all the forces he has established in Xudu over the years.The remaining [-]% ​​dared to go into the dark and conspire secretly.

Under repeated blows, the vigor in his expression has completely disappeared.Even though he went to court every day after he recovered, he was able to smile freely in front of Cao Cao and Cao Zhi, as if he had completely accepted the ending of the position of the son falling into Cao Zhi's hands, completely resigned to his fate.

Too cruel, really too cruel...

Cao Pi never thought that his father would actually do it himself to cut off all his thoughts and hopes.

Many years ago, Cao Ang died, so he began to think that the position of the son of the world would be his; later, Cao Chong appeared for some reason, and he simply removed him; The beloved younger brother actually had unwanted thoughts and opposed him instead.

Zijian, Zijian...

How could he be willing!

But besides being unwilling, what else could he do?

plot?Now that Zhu Shuo and Wu Zhi are dead, people in the government and the opposition are in panic.Even if Sima Yi and Chen Qun have intentions, they are just talking on paper.As for the rebellion?Now that Xia Houyuan, Zhang Liao and others are all in control of the city, what chance does Cao Pi have with the thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands?

He didn't have any chance at all.

He can only continue to play a good son in front of Cao Cao, and a good brother in front of his younger brother...even if he doesn't want to play at all.

But what else could be done?

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and could no longer hide the cold hatred on his face.

His hand was suddenly held by someone.The hand was warm and dry, almost burning the back of his hand.

Cao Pi opened his eyes and turned to look at the person coming.

Sima Yi.

Too.Besides Sima Yi, who else would dare to appear in front of Wu Zhi's tomb with him.

The hatred on Cao Pi's face faded slightly.He stared deeply at Sima Yi, and pulled out an ugly smile: "...Sir, let's go." Let's go, the farther you go, the better, and there will be no more threats to your life.

Unexpectedly, Sima Yi shook his head and said slowly: "This is not the end, Zihuan."

This is by no means the end, just another beginning.

In the winter and October of Jian'an 24, Guan Yu died of illness.When Cao Cao heard about it, he ordered Liu Bei to bury him with the rites of a prince.

Soon, Sun Quan wrote a letter saying "Chen said the destiny", proclaiming himself a minister and persuading King Wei to proclaim himself emperor.

Cao Cao read it and passed the document to the officials.When Chen Qun, Xiahou Dun, Ding Yi and others saw it, they all followed suit to persuade Cao Cao to ascend the throne.Cao Cao shook his head and retorted: "If the destiny is my destiny, I will be King Wen of Zhou."

On the 23rd Gengzi day of the first month of the [-]rd year of Jian'an, Cao Cao died of illness in Jianye.

In March, Cao Zhi succeeded King Wei.In October, Cao Zhi forced the emperor Liu Xie to abdicate and proclaim himself emperor.

He stood on the Tongque Terrace in Jianye and looked down, looking as if he was standing here for the first time that year.

"Fortunately, I still have you by my side," Cao Zhi said, "Sir. We will realize my father's wish and unify the world, right." Although he used a questioning sentence pattern, there was no questioning tone.Obviously, with this sentence, he is sure of winning.

Guo Jia smiled.

The strong wind brushed past his eyelids, making the spring shirts rattle.

He suddenly took a step back, bowed his head slightly, saluted Cao Zhi's surprised expression, and said with a smile, "Yes, Zijian. Yes, my... Your Majesty."