[Three Kingdoms] Seven steps into wetness

Cao Zhi was very busy this year.

He was first summoned by Cao Cao to the battlefield to make some soy sauce, and showed his presence in front of Sun Quan, so that Sun Quan knew that Cao Cao had such a scolding son. His outstanding political achievements earned him the title of sage; as soon as the article scolding Liu Jixu was published and spread to Jiangdong, Sun Quan affirmed the idea that Cao Cao's son must be very mean-spirited.

Young, with outstanding literary talents, but he poured all his blood into swearing.Even if his achievements in politics are good, if you can see his rebelliousness from between the lines, he must be able to use his pen at most in the future, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

This year, Cao Cao's eastward expedition to Sun Quan returned without success. For Cao Cao, it was probably just a waste of some food. When soldiers are lost and generals are lost, it is a time when talents are empty.

Another major event in Jiangdong this year was the death of General Hengjiang Lu Su.

Lu Su, who was recommended by Zhou Yu, joined the Jiangdong Sun family at that time.Once recommended, he will be highly valued by Sun Quan just like Guo Jia was reused by Cao Cao.At that time, scholar-officials Zhang Zhao and others hated and slandered him, but Sun Quan ignored them.Later, in the Battle of Chibi, it was under his persuasion that Sun Quan decided to form an alliance with Liu Bei, and then lent the three counties of Jingzhou to Liu Bei, so that he could take over Xishu.

It can also be said that it was precisely because of Lu Su who dealt with them that today's Jiangdong and Xishu existed; it was also because of Lu Su that Cao Cao's ambition to rule the world was cut off.

A few years ago, when Zhou Yu died, Sun Quan lost one arm; now that Lu Su died, Sun Quan lost both arms.As for the successor Lu Meng, Cao Cao didn't care.

He was very happy and ordered someone to call Guo Jia to drink with him.Then I listened to Guo Jia's analysis of the current situation: Guo Jia believes that although Wuhuan and Hanzhong are now pacified by Cao Cao, the situation in the north is calm on the surface, but in fact it is constantly undercurrent; as for Jiangdong, it was defeated before, but now it has been defeated without a fight. The loss of morale means that Sun Quan will not make any big achievements in the short term; and Liu Bei has not completely unified Western Shu, so the top priority must be to enter Hanzhong, which may be as short as a month or as long as a year.What they should do now is to take the last step to pacify Hanzhong and prevent Liu Bei from unifying Xishu.

Now that Lu Su is dead, no one can persuade Sun Quan to form an alliance with Liu Bei again, and the alliance between Sun and Liu has been at odds for many years, and there is no one to mediate, so the rift will only grow wider.When the war between Jiangdong and Xishu started, it would be the best time for Cao Cao to attack Xishu.

Guo Jia never disappointed Cao Cao.Before the Battle of Chibi, he said that the battle would be defeated, which almost angered Cao Cao, but it turned out that he was right at that time.Now, he's right again.

In October of this year, Liu Bei sent troops to attack Hanzhong.

At that time, the northern part of the Great Khan was still in a period of turmoil due to the plague, and people were panic-stricken and turbulent.Cao Cao left Cao Zhi to control the north of Yecheng, and went back to sit in Xuchang in person. It was not until December that the plague stabilized.

It is no longer possible to calculate how many people died, but when Cao Cao ordered someone to count the number of troops, he suddenly found that there were nearly [-] fewer soldiers available for battle!

What is the concept of 5 people? When Cao Cao inspected the army the next day, he saw a large empty field, and he knew it in his mind.But the biggest problem now is not that the army is small, but that the national treasury is empty, and most of the people do not have enough food and clothing to keep warm. If the imperial court provides food relief, then the army will be short of food and grass.Cao Zhi made a suggestion at this moment-to pay [-]% more food in January at the end of the year to appease and recruit soldiers.As for the lack of grain and grass, it is purchased from merchants in other places.And he can take part of the money for buying grain and grass.

In this era, most of the land was in the hands of the princes and landlords, and in this turbulent period, it was not difficult to buy and sell grain freely in private.When Cao Zhi was young, he asked Wang Qi to pledge goods to trade with Xishu and Jiangdong to make a fortune. Over the years, he has mastered Yecheng and opened clinics all over the north.The money has been sitting at the bottom of the box with nowhere to go, now is the time.

As soon as Cao Zhi said this, most of the officials dismissed it.The food and wages of several 10 people, and it's not like children making trouble at home, how could Cao Zhi get it alone.Cao Pi's group felt that Cao Zhi was in the Arabian Nights, and turned to stare at Cao Zhi with mocking eyes.

Cao Zhi ignored it.

Cao Cao glanced at him and said calmly: "Since you propose like this, you must have a lot of money. How much money can you give?"

Now a soldier consumes less than two and a half shi of food in the next month, and 30% more during the Chinese New Year. Even if it is three shi, one shi of grain costs about [-] yuan.Coupled with clothing, meat compensation, etc., the army of [-] people will spend at least [-] million yuan in just one year.

This is actually not much, but at the moment the national treasury is empty, it is really difficult to take out this money all at once.In fact, if the harvest in the field next year is not good, I am afraid that Cao Cao will not be able to support Cao Cao in the short term.

Cao Zhi said: "No less than 5000 million yuan."

When Cao Pi heard it, he stared at Cao Zhi's pupils and his pupils shrank, and all the officials were shocked!

These days, the salary of their first-rank officials is only a hundred shi a year, which is no more than a thousand shi.Unexpectedly, Cao Zhi, who has never shown his talents, is so rich!

For a moment, everyone looked at Cao Zhi with surprise and indescribable complexity.This kind of complexity can be summed up in only three words.

——Being friends!

Cao Cao couldn't help being surprised on his face.

Of course he knew about Cao Zhi's hobby of making money. At that time, he only thought that Cao Zhi had a unique hobby and didn't pay much attention to it.It's only now that Cao Zhi said it himself, only then did he realize that he has made so much money!

So he said anxiously: "Is this really true?!"

Cao Zhi smiled: "Really."

That's it for the matter.

How the officials praised Cao Zhi will not be shown for the time being. In short, the ending is that Cao Cao happily took Cao Zhi out of the hall to get money to buy food, and all the officials also rushed out, leaving Cao Pi alone in the hall, silent for a long time.

Sima Yi patted him on the shoulder, Cao Pi just woke up, and showed him an ugly smile.

He had previously asked Jia Xu what he should do so that Cao Cao would make him the crown prince.The answer Jia Xu gave him was that he hoped that the general would cultivate moral character, study diligently, work tirelessly day and night, and not violate the morality of being a son, so enough.These days, he has been using it as his motto, trying to do as he says.

He thought that would be enough.

But now it seems that these are not enough, far from enough.

The next day, Cui Yan, who was restored to his original post, once again asked Cao Cao to establish a prince in front of everyone.And according to the order of seniority, Cao Pi should be established!

As soon as this remark came out, everything was silent.

Cao Cao sat on the first seat, staring at Cui Yan quietly.After a long time, he looked around, his eyes were so persuasive that no one dared to look up at his face: "What about you, you all want to be alone, so now make Cao Pi the crown prince?"

All the officials knelt on the ground, trembling: "...I dare not!"

Cao Cao sneered and made everyone retreat.Soon after, Cui Yan was demoted as Doctor Guanglu, holding festivals and participating in the military affairs of the King of Wei.

This was Xun Yu's last official post before his death after disagreement with Cao Cao.Now that he has arranged Cui Yan here, the meaning is beyond words.

When Cao Pi heard about it, he immediately entered the palace and asked Cao Cao to take back the order, but persuading him for a long time failed.

When Cao Pi entered the palace, Cao Zhi bought wine himself and went to drink with Cui Yan.

Seeing that it was him, Cui Yan looked neither sad nor happy, but said indifferently: "Does Young Master Zhi resent the minister, think that the minister blocks your way, and even wants to persuade the minister?"

Cao Zhi shook his head.He knew that Cui Yan was firm in his heart, just like Xun Yu.Such a person, even if he wanted to be emotional, it was absolutely impossible.

Cao Zhi then said: "I know your integrity, and I also know that you did this for the future of my great Han country, for the future of me and my second brother... Because of this, I respect you very much in my heart. But once this road Once you start, there is no reason to turn back, so Zijian is doomed to disappoint you all his life."

Two days before the end of the year, Cao Cao finally bought enough food from merchants from all over the country and distributed it to the soldiers so that they could live a good year.At this time, Cao Cao had heard about Liu Bei's aggressiveness in Hanzhong, so he decided to lead the army in person after the next year, and went to get to know Liu Bei.

Wang Min brought back a piece of news, that is, the soldiers in the army knew that because Cao Zhi spent a lot of money to buy military supplies, they could be better off this year's Chinese New Year than in previous years, so they were very moved and respected Cao Zhi even more. stand up.If Cao Zhi leads the army in the near future, most of the soldiers will be willing to obey him.

People are afraid of death, but why are so many people willing to go to the battlefield to fight the enemy to the death?In righteousness, it is always said that it is for the country, for the people, and for the family. In fact, most people only go for the military salary, just to eat.Especially on days like Chinese New Year, whoever can feed and clothe their families is their benefactor.

Cao Zhi sighed in his heart.

His original intention was to improve his status in Cao Cao's heart, but he did not expect to do a right thing at the right time and gain so much.

Therefore, this year's Chinese New Year, everyone's face is full of red, very energetic.Cao Zhi was happy, so he agreed to Cao Yu's request and took him to the temple fair outside the mansion.On the way, I ran into Guo Jiayi who was separated from Guo Yi, so it was logical to invite him to go with me.

Guo Jia nodded happily.

The two held Cao Yu's hand each, and walked through the crowded crowd calmly.Later, Cao Yu was so tired that he fell asleep, so he was carried by Cao Zhi and walked side by side with Guo Jia.

The two didn't say anything, just looked at each other occasionally and smiled, enjoying this faint tacit understanding, just like walking down the street holding hands many years ago, calm and warm.

Time has taken away many things, but there are still more things, which gradually settle down with time and eventually become eternity.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Shaofu Geng Ji, Imperial Physician Ling Jiben, Si Zhi Wei Huang and others set up troops in Xudu and hijacked the emperor to attack Yecheng.Several people sent troops that night, Xu Du's prime minister, Chief Shi Wang, was caught off guard, injured and fled to Xu Du's south gate, and then joined forces with Zhonglang General Yan Kuang to kill Geng Ji and others.The soldiers failed to leave Xuchang and were defeated.

Cao Cao was furious when he heard this.

Then he returned to Xuchang, and ordered the barbarian masterminds Geng Ji, Gibbon, Wei Huang and other three clans, and the rest of the participants were sent to the army in their prime, and the women were reduced to slaves.Then the unjust case was launched, and many people were involved.

Cao Zhi, Cao Pi, Guo Jia, Jia Xu and others repeatedly persuaded him, but to no avail.

In March, Daijun Wuhuan rebelled.Cao Cao ordered Cao Zhang to be the general of Beizhong Lang and the general of Xingxiaoqi, so that he could go north to conquer Wuhuan, the county of Dai.In the fifth month, when Cao Zhangfang reached the territory of Zhuojun, Daijun, Wuhuan suddenly attacked.At that time, the army was not assembled, only a thousand infantry and hundreds of horses, so Cao Zhang used the stratagem of counselor Tian Yu to hold on to the key points.When Wuhuan retreated, Cao Zhang took the opportunity to pursue him and personally shot and killed countless Wuhuan. The army beheaded and captured thousands of Wuhuan.

Wuhuan was defeated, and the north was flattened.

In March, Cao Cao pacified the civil strife in Xudu, led the army to conquer Hanzhong, and ordered Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Sima Yi and many other scholars to accompany the army.Then ordered Cao Pi and Cao Zhi to be General Zhonglang and General Xing Xiaoqi, each leading [-] troops.