In late November of the 13th year of Jian'an, more than ten days later, Jizhou, Yecheng.
Cao Cao captured Yecheng last year and moved his Sikong residence to Jizhou. Only a few officials were left in Chendu to look after Liu Xie, and almost the entire court moved to the north.
Since then, political decrees in the north have come from Yecheng.
Historically, he completed this progress in the ninth year of Jian'an. In the original time and space, he has already stationed troops in Wulin, and next month he will be burned down in Chibi.
But now he has just captured Yecheng and begun to sweep across the north, which also means that he is at least four years behind this time in history, and it may not be as smooth as it was in history.
Because historically he was able to safely march north to defeat Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, and then kill all the way to Bailang Mountain in Liucheng. The prerequisite for the surprise attack on Tadun was that he no longer had any enemies in the north.
At that time, only the three counties of Wuhuan that had good relations with the Yuan family were left in the Yuan family. Gao Gan had been eliminated by him the previous year. Although Guanzhong was not at peace yet, Han Sui and Ma Teng were at odds with each other, and Liu Biao and Sun Quan in the south were also at odds.
In combat, no one can threaten him.
Therefore, in the twelfth year of Jian'an in the original time and space, Cao Cao could boldly lead his troops northward to Liaodong, and even dared to raid Bailang Mountain, march thousands of miles, and completely cut off the border troubles in the north.
And now?
Although there was civil strife in the south, the protagonists of the civil strife were not Liu Biao and Sun Quan. They were Liu Bei, Liu Qi, Shen Chen, and at most Sun Quan who was eyeing them.
But Cao Cao did not think that Sun Quan would be Liu Bei's opponent and Chen Chen's.
Therefore, once Liu Bei, Liu Qi, Chen Chen and others get to Jingzhou, Cao Cao may have to toss and turn and not be able to sleep.
At that time, let alone lead the army to destroy Tadun personally, I am afraid I will have to consider whether to go to the west of Youzhou and attack Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi.
So now Cao Cao has indeed been paying attention to things in the south.
Including Yuan Tan now fleeing to the Bohai Sea, Cao Cao only sent generals Xia Houyuan, Yu Jin, Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and the newly formed elite cavalry army Tiger and Leopard Cavalry led by Cao Chun.
He himself has been in Yecheng.
The sky in Yecheng is gray today. Although there is no snow, it is just like last winter. It rains continuously. The moisture in the air is much humid than in previous years. The temperature at night also remains at a few degrees below zero. The rain that fell may even be cold the next day.
Can freeze into ice.
When the cold evening breeze slowly blew into the hall, and the wind chimes under the eaves outside the corridor swayed with the wind, tinkling. Cao Cao sat at the table in the small hall in the backyard of Sikong Mansion in Yecheng, carefully reviewing this
Documents sent from various places provide comments on the latest official documents sent from all over the country.
There are some important instructions that need to be sent to Xiahou Yuan, Yu Jin and others on the front line, some of which need to be sent to diplomatic documents from princes across the country, and some of which need to be conveyed to the border generals guarding Chendu, Yingchuan, Runan, etc.
some military orders.
Now Cao Cao's main energy is indeed focused on the north, not only to seize territory, but also to defend territory.
In addition to the more important military, diplomatic, food and grass situations in various places, trivial matters such as people's livelihood, government affairs, public security and other matters all fell on his shoulders.
In the past, he didn't need to worry about these things, Xun Yu would do it for him.
But for the past six months, he just wanted to deal with government affairs every day.
As long as you can keep yourself idle, even reading a few more official documents is much better than staying alone and doing nothing.
Therefore, Cao Cao often sent documents from the Shangshu Desk to the Sikong Mansion. Even if Xun Yu had already approved the document, he would often approve it a second time, or even several times.
It's not to seize Xun Yu's power.
Rather.
"Cangshu."
While Cao Cao was criticizing, he suddenly threw the brush in his hand on the desk, fell on the desk and burst into tears.
Six months ago, Cao Cao's favorite son, Cao Chong, died of illness.
Moreover, at that time, Cao Cao was leading his troops to fight, and he did not even see his son for the last time.
After hearing the news of Cao Chong's death, Cao Cao, who had almost wiped out Yuan Tan at that time, hurriedly stopped his troops and came back, but it was of no avail. When he came back in a hurry, he could only see Cao Chong's cold body.
Once again, a man with white hair sent a man with black hair, which became the regret in his life only after Wancheng killed Cao Ang.
For this reason, Cao Cao had not thought about food and food every day for the past six months, and burst into tears. He had no choice but to bury himself in government affairs to numb himself. But every time he recalled his beloved son's face late at night, he would cry until his pillow was wet.
Now that he thought of Cao Chong again, Cao Cao couldn't stop crying.
Wept for a while.
A servant who was asked by Mrs. Bian to deliver a bowl of hot chicken soup in the evening walked outside the hall.
As if hearing footsteps, Cao Cao raised his head and suddenly saw his servant. The servant seemed to have never seen such a fragile side of Cao Cao, and he was looking at him with a little surprise.
What did Cao Cao look like at this time?
He was wearing a thick silk down black satin robe and a gray fox fur coat. His hair was disheveled, his face was full of vicissitudes of life and pain, his cheeks were covered with runny nose and tears, and his chest and right arm were wet with tears.
"Si Sikong."
The servant hurriedly lowered his head and held up the tray in his hand, preparing to say that Mrs. Bian sent him to deliver chicken soup.
As a result, Cao Cao shouted angrily the next second: "Here comes someone!"
"Sikong!"
Guards came in from the left and right outside the door.
"Drag him out and kill him with a stick!"
"ah?"
The servant was dumbfounded at that time. He knelt down and kowtowed as if he was pounding garlic: "Sikong, please forgive me, Sikong, please forgive me!"
But the guards didn't care about this and dragged the slave away. Soon, screams were heard outside.
He found an excuse and casually killed someone with his stick, and Cao Cao felt much better.
He took out a piece of silk, wiped the snot and tears from his face, and straightened his messy hair a little.
"Um?"
When Cao Cao was arranging his hair, he noticed that his hair was now black and gray, with white hair growing in clusters. He couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.
I myself am already old.
"Father!"
At this moment, another respectful voice sounded outside the door.
Cao Cao quickly tied up his hair, adjusted his mood, and then said in an extremely majestic voice: "Come in."
A tall figure appeared at the door.
This man was about twenty years old, with a slender figure and good looks. He was somewhat similar to Cao Cao when he was young. He was Cao Cao's second son Cao Pi.
"Father."
Cao Pi walked in without looking sideways. The chicken soup was still on the ground, but he didn't even look at it. He came in seriously and bowed to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao looked at him and said coldly: "What's the matter?"
Cao Pi said respectfully: "Just now, a document from the front line was delivered to the mansion. It happened that the boy was discussing the classics with Chen Changshi. Thinking that it was getting late and Chen Changshi was about to leave his duty, I helped him give it to his father.
Sent."
As he spoke, he held the document in both hands, walked all the way to Cao Cao's desk, and placed the document on the desk.
Cao Cao glanced at him, but did not read the document. Instead, he said in a deep voice: "Since you were discussing the meaning of the scriptures with Chen Qun, you don't know what the meaning of the scriptures is?"
Cao Pi was stunned for a moment, then reacted quickly and said: "The Analects we are talking about, Chen Changshi has been writing "The Analects of Confucius". He said that learning is not embarrassing, because learning is within oneself, and application is determined by destiny.
It is accomplished but people don’t know it and cannot use it. It is a destiny. How can a gentleman be upset? Therefore, it is said not to be upset.”
"Well, that's wonderful."
Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction, then rubbed his hands to dispel the cold air in his palms, reached out to take out the urgent document, and skillfully pulled apart the outer silk rope.
Cao Pi, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief and stood respectfully aside without speaking.
Since Cao Chong died of illness six months ago, Cao Cao has been moody. Every time Cao Pi went to comfort him, he was scolded by him. He even said that Cang Shu's death was his misfortune to Cao Cao and your luck to Cao Pi.
This sentence made Cao Pi feel on pins and needles and very uneasy.
However, this uneasiness was quickly dispelled. Cao Cao only hated Cao Pi for a while because of Cao Chong's death, but he was a rational person and would not take his anger out on the remaining heirs because of Cao Chong's death.
Among the scholars, Cao Ang and Cao Chong were the most outstanding. After their deaths, only Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were left to choose.
So Cao Cao began to vigorously train the two of them. For example, he valued two young juniors at that time, one was named Yang Xiu and the other was named Sima Yi, so he conscripted Yang Xiu as a doctor and asked him to accompany Cao Zhi, and conscripted Sima Yi to be Cao Zhi's companion.
Cao Pi.
At the same time, he would occasionally call Cao Pi and Cao Zhi over and take them to handle political affairs together.
This time, the reason why Cao Pi came to deliver the document at night was that the new Sikong Chief Shi Chenqun, who had a good relationship with Cao Pi, guessed that the document would make Cao Cao very happy, so he immediately called Cao Pi over and asked him to deliver it, which was considered as a smear in front of Cao Cao.
Brush your favorability.
Although it is far from the time for Cao Pi and Cao Zhi to compete for inheritance rights, it has actually begun to sprout. At least Cao Zhi is showing off himself every day, and I hope Cao Cao can take him more seriously.
At this moment, Cao Cao opened the document and glanced at it. Sure enough, his face gradually showed joy. This made Cao Pi, who had been observing his words and expressions, breathe a sigh of relief again and feel much more relaxed.
Although Cao Pi and Cao Zhi had not yet begun to fight for heirs, Cao Cao's words and Cao Zhi's outstanding literary talent also made him feel a lot of pressure.
Therefore, pleasing Cao Cao has become a very important strategy for him.
"Father."
Cao Pi saw that a smile gradually appeared on his face, so he pretended to be curious and asked: "Did the war on the Bohai Sea go smoothly?"
Cao Cao smiled and said: "In three days, Miao Cai attacked Nanpi with five hundred troops. Yuan Tan was caught off guard and was severely defeated. When he fled north, he was beheaded by Quiet and his tiger and leopard cavalry!"
Cao Pi hurriedly said: "Congratulations to my father. With this, Hebei has been completely pacified. Only Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi from Youzhou and the high-ranking officials from Bingzhou are left."
"Children of this generation are nothing to worry about."
Cao Cao waved his hand, feeling more and more comfortable, and said with a smile: "In less than a year, I will be able to pacify the north. By then, out of the thirteen states in the world, I will have the land of eight states, and only Xiliang will be left.
, Yizhou, Jingzhou, Jiaozhou and Yangzhou.”
There are thirteen states in the Han Dynasty, including Yan, Yu, Xu, and Qing in Henan, Jizhou in Hebei, Youzhou in Yan, and Bingzhou in Jin. Now he actually controls part of Chang'an in Guanzhong, and Sili is also in his hands.
.
So as long as he destroys Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and Gao Gan, and takes Youzhou and Bingzhou, at least in terms of territory, Cao Cao does control eight of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, and is very powerful.
What's more important is that these places are also centers of population and high-quality land resources. A few years of rest and recuperation will allow his troops to expand to unimaginable levels.
"Father."
Cao Pi immediately struck while the iron was hot: "Recently, people in the court often say that although Sikong is one of the three princes, he does not have enough authority and has made some mistakes. They want to persuade his father to increase his position as prime minister."
"Hmm"
Cao Cao pondered. At this time in history, not only had he been promoted to prime minister, but he was also about to be burned by the fire in Chibi.
But now he has not taken action because his progress has been much slower.
The north has not been pacified, so how can he dare to be prime minister?
However, although it has not been pacified yet, Yuan Tan is dead, and the entire territory of Qingzhou and Jizhou is under his control. Now only Youzhou and Bingzhou are left, and it will be a matter of time.
Therefore, there have been more and more voices recently urging him to become prime minister.
Behind this, of course, it is not those people who are making trouble on their own initiative, but Cao Cao himself who is building momentum for the appointment of Prime Minister.
After all, he is already over fifty years old. At this age, no one knows how long he can live, so he still hopes to increase his power.
certainly.
At least for now, he is still in the consideration stage.
The main reason was that the situation in the south had been unstable, which made him hesitate whether it would cause a backlash from internal forces if he established himself as prime minister.
After thinking for a while, Cao Cao shook his head and said: "Forget it, let's talk about the prime minister's affairs after the Youzhou and Bingzhou are destroyed. Now Liu Biao in the south died at the beginning of the year. Although Liu Cong and Liu Qi are in internal strife, there are still twenty people in Jingzhou.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, my heart and soul's troubles cannot be quelled, the high bank is a valley, the deep valley is a mausoleum, it is the beginning of great chaos."
"My child knows."
Cao Pi quickly kept this matter in mind, and when the next time Cao Cao killed Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and others, he brought it up again to please his father.
Just talking.
The guard outside shouted: "Report!"
"Come in!"
Cao Cao responded.
The guard came in, knelt down on one knee and said, "Chen Changshi wants to see you."
"Let him in."
Cao Cao glanced at Cao Pi, and it seemed that a new official document had been delivered to the chief historian's office in the foreign government.
Historically, after Cao Cao appointed himself Prime Minister, Chen Qun participated in the Prime Minister's military affairs.
But now Cao Cao has not yet become prime minister, and the original Sikong Chief Shi Liu Dai happened to be beheaded by Shen Chen, so Chen Qun was promoted to Sikong Chief Shi and was in charge of the Sikong Mansion's documents.
In the Han Dynasty, documents from various places were usually sent to the state by Shangjipu, and the state government sent people to the Shangshu desk, where the Shangshu ordered Xun Yu to deal with them.
The important documents were naturally submitted directly to Sikong Mansion and handed over to Cao Cao by Chen Qun.
Now that Chen Qun is here, it can only mean that there are new documents.
Soon Chen Qun entered the hall, bowed his hands to Cao Cao and said, "Sikong, Sun Quan from Jiangdong sent someone to deliver a letter to Governor Wen. Governor Wen did not dare to neglect and sent people to deliver it to Yecheng on horseback in the past few days."
Although the country is in chaos now, Cao Cao still dispatched governors to various places. For example, the former governor of Yangzhou was named Liu Fu, and he was based in the Lujiang and Jiujiang areas of Huainan. Yuan Shu's original territory was ruled by dividing the Yangtze River from Sun Quan.
Later, Liu Fu died of illness, and this year Cao Cao sent his original Sikong Chief Wen Hui to succeed him as the governor of Yangzhou. Therefore, if Sun Quan wanted to communicate with Cao Cao, he must first find Wen Hui.
After learning that it was an urgent letter sent by someone from Sun Quan, Cao Cao knew that something was going on in the south and immediately said: "Send it up."
Chen Qun quickly handed over the box containing the letter.
Cao Cao opened the box and saw that there were not bamboo slips inside, but stacks of paper.
It can be seen that Sun Quan had a lot to say, but he was afraid that it would be troublesome to carry too many bamboo sketches, so he sent them on precious writing paper.
Cao Cao picked up the letter and read it quickly.
His brows quickly furrowed, and as he continued to read the paper, the expression on his face kept changing.
It seems like hesitation, like hesitation, like frowning, like angry, like hesitant, like angry!
"Summon Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu!"
Cao Cao raised his head, his eyes were extremely stern, and he squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Let them come quickly!"
Cao Pi and Chen Qun immediately looked at each other and realized the seriousness of the matter.
I'm afraid. Big changes have taken place in the South!
Unless I don’t want to update 10,000 words every day, I have been tortured repeatedly, with blocked nose, runny nose, dizziness, and constant coughing. It is really uncomfortable. Several of my author friends have stopped updating to recuperate. It is not easy for me to update at present.