At the end of the 18th year of Jian'an, it snowed heavily in Jizhou.
The rustling snowflakes danced, turning the courtyard of the Prime Minister's residence in Yecheng into a snowy white.
After pacifying Jizhou, Cao Cao moved his shogunate to Wei County.
During the Han Dynasty, the generals, the three princes and the nine ministers were all able to open mansions and establish teeth.
Cao Cao is currently the prime minister, ranking above the three princes, so he opened his own shogunate in Yecheng.
The Emperor Chen Du had his own team at the court, and Cao Cao had his own team in Yecheng.
However, although Emperor Chen Du's court had three ministers and nine ministers, it had no real power.
The governance, appointment of officials, and deployment of troops in various parts of the north all came from the Prime Minister's Office in Yecheng.
Historically, in May of this year, Cao Cao had already ascended the throne as Duke of Wei.
Added nine tins, established the Wei State, appointed prime ministers, lieutenants, generals and other officials. Although he was not the emperor in name, he actually had the status of emperor.
It's just that it hasn't been done yet.
Because historically, in the 16th year of Jian'an, that is, in 211 AD, Cao Cao had already marched into Guanzhong and marched to Longyou. The entire north, except for the Western Regions, basically fell into his hands.
In the south, only Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, Liu Bei in Jingnan, Sun Quan in Jiangdong and Shi Xie in Jiaozhou were still fighting for their own power.
The south was not unified and could not pose a threat to Cao Cao, so he called Wei Gong almost unimpeded.
But now the south is divided between east and west. Although there are still Liu Bei and Sun Quan groups each occupying one side, the strength of Liu Bei's group is far stronger than in history. In addition, he has not yet conquered Guanzhong and Xiliang at this time, so he dare not take the throne.
At this moment, at the Prime Minister's residence in Yecheng, Sima Yi, the Prime Minister's chief clerk, reported to Cao Cao the situation in various places this year.
As a talented person from the Sima family who was forcibly recruited by Cao Cao, Sima Yi worked tirelessly and gradually gained Cao Cao's recognition, and was responsible for helping him deal with statistical governance issues in various parts of the north.
After three years of recuperation, the war in the north was calmed down, people's lives have been fully developed, and people's livelihood has gradually recovered.
The most important thing is that the powerful system of the northern aristocratic families has been seriously damaged.
Although Cao Cao compromised with the Yingchuan family and the Yanzhou family in the early years, the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Dong Zhuo Rebellion almost destroyed nearly half of the families.
Yuan Shao wiped out the Jizhou family in Jizhou, Wang Kuang wiped out the Hanoi family in Hanoi, and even the Sima family fled in panic. Cao Cao also tried to wipe out the Yanzhou family, but the Yanzhou family joined hands with Chen Gong and others to rebel.
A series of changes have caused the northern family's strength to decline significantly.
In this case, Cao Cao no longer needs to worry about the excessive power of powerful families, which will make his power more concentrated, and he no longer needs to carry out policies against aristocratic families like in the south.
After the family manor system was destroyed, the cultivated land tax population increased greatly. According to inference, the total population under Cao Cao's rule at this time was more than 20 million.
There are also a large number of internal ethnic minorities, such as the Wuwan people with more than one million people, and the Southern Xiongnu with a population of hundreds of thousands.
certainly.
Although many powerful families were ruined, the northern ones were the most powerful, and many of them still survived. Cao Cao also compromised with the Yingchuan Family and the Yanzhou Family, so there were still a large number of hidden households with hidden property.
Therefore, the population actually controlled by Cao Cao at this time should be about 10 million.
As for why the population of Cao Wei later became smaller and smaller. The registered population was only 4.43 million, and the total population was estimated to be 13 million. In the later period of Cao Wei, the power of aristocratic families developed again, land annexation became serious, households and property were hidden, and the plague was rampant.
It doesn't matter.
According to historical records, from the 13th year of Jian'an to the first year of Taishi when the Western Jin Dynasty was established, the Cao Wei Group encountered as many as twelve large-scale plague epidemics recorded in historical records alone.
The most serious one was in the 22nd year of Jian'an. This epidemic ravaged almost the entire Han Dynasty. At that time, there were only five of the seven sons of Jian'an who were wiped out by the plague. Lu Su died of the plague, Sima Lang also died of the plague, Cao Wei
There were countless casualties among the people under his rule, and even Cao Zhi wrote an article "On the Epidemic".
Although there is no statistics on how many people died in this plague, Cao Zhi mentioned in his article that "Every family is suffering from the pain of zombies, and every room is crying and mourning. Some people are dying with the door closed, or others are overthrown and mourned." This shows that this epidemic
The plague can destroy a family in a minor case, or exterminate an entire family in a serious case.
In the forty-six years of history from the founding of Cao Wei to its demise, years of war and more than a dozen large-scale plague epidemics caused the estimated total population to drop from 20 million to 13 million.
So we always look at the late Han Dynasty and the early Three Kingdoms, where large-scale legionary battles often exceeded 100,000 people. For example, the Yellow Turban Uprising was huge and numbered millions.
The number of combatants on both sides in the Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi was more than 200,000.
As a result, in the middle and late period of the Three Kingdoms, the number of combatants on both sides dropped to less than 100,000. It was due to the re-emergence of the power of the aristocratic families, coupled with plagues and wars, that the populations of the Three Kingdoms experienced a step-by-step decline, and the number of available combat troops decreased day by day.
At least for now, since more than a dozen plagues have yet to break out in the future, the current population is still in a relatively good stage. The population of the late Han Dynasty was 65 million, and at this time it is estimated to be more than 40 million.
Cao Cao's rule has the largest population and the fastest recovery of productivity. Therefore, according to Sima Yi's report, there will be another bumper harvest this year. The warehouses in various places are rich, the soldiers are well-prepared, and the strength is greatly enhanced.
"Um."
After listening to Sima Yi's report, Cao Cao nodded slightly, sat on the main seat and leaned down to look at the young prime minister below.
Thirty-four-year-old Sima Yi was sitting there on his knees, bent over, head lowered, not daring to look at him.
After a while, Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "You can go out."
"only."
Sima Yi stood up and walked backwards out the door with his head lowered.
Watching his leaving figure, Cao Cao thought for a while and then asked Xu Chu to find Xun You, Jiang Ji, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Liu Ye and others.
Among Cao Cao's early five great counselors, Jia Xu has now defected to Liu Bei. Although Guo Jia did not attack Liaodong and died of illness, his foundation is too poor and he is now considered half a sick man. His body is too weak and he is rarely called upon.
Xun Yu stayed in Chendu as Shangshu Ling. Historically, Cao Cao sent troops to Jiangdong and passed by Qiao County. He asked Xun Yu to come from Xudu to work for the army and took the opportunity to leave him in the army to assassinate him.
Now there is no conflict between the two sides over the matter of Wei Gong, but Xun Yu is not here.
So at present, Cao Cao's counselors include Xun You, the military advisor of the Central Military Commission, Cheng Yu, the marquis of An Guoting, Jiang Ji, the prime minister's chief administrator and a subordinate of the Western Cao, Sima Yi, the prime minister's chief administrator and a subordinate of the Eastern Cao, Chen Qun, the prime minister's military adviser and censor, Dong Zhao, the governor of Wei County, and the prime minister Cang.
Cao Yu and Liu Ye.
Among them, Sima Yi, the Prime Minister's Chief Secretary and Dong Cao's subordinate, Cao Cao thought that he was "ambitious" and "a prime minister who looks upon a wolf as an eagle". He was very taboo in his heart and did not want to reuse him. He even killed him because of the dream about three horses in the same tank.
Heart.
But in the end, Sima Yi had a good relationship with Cao Pi and relied on Cao Pi to protect him. Sima Yi also knew Cao Cao's fears, so he was diligent in his duties and forgot to eat and sleep to make Cao Cao feel at ease.
It's just that Cao Cao has some grudges after all, so currently he only lets Sima Yi handle some government affairs reported from various places, instead of immediately promoting him to the central core.
Soon Xun You, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun and others arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion one after another.
After Cao Cao asked everyone to sit down, he looked around and said: "Everyone, this year the country is rich, the food harvest has increased again, and the country has millions of troops. I hope to conquer the bandits from all directions next year. What do you think?"
Everyone looked at each other. Xun You and Cheng Yu had the highest status. One closed his eyes and meditated. The old god was there and did not speak. The other lowered his head and thought, seeming to be thinking of countermeasures.
Dong Zhao's status was second only to the two of them, so he was the first to speak: "I wonder where the prime minister wants to use his troops next year?"
Cao Cao looked down at the people below and said, "Where do you think I should use my troops?"
"Guanzhong."
"Only if it hits the mark."
"I thought I could only go to Guanzhong."
Chen Qun, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye and others answered almost without thinking.
Cao Cao asked: "Why Guanzhong? Now there is chaos under Liu Bei's rule, expropriating wealthy families and blaming Qian Gu, just like when Yuan Shao exploited Jizhou, causing many wealthy families to cause trouble. At this time, if we can cooperate internally and externally, we may be able to attack
Destroy Jingzhou."
Liu Ye quickly said: "Prime Minister, you can't. Although Liu Bei exploited the rich, he benefited the people a lot and won the hearts of the people. Therefore, there are only minor troubles in the country, but no major chaos. Attacking the south at this time and stalemate between the north and the south will only harm our country in vain."
In terms of strength, it is better to take Guanzhong first to prevent Liu Bei from getting the horse-producing land, so that the south can be pacified."
"It's true that in those days, Shao used money and food as a means of not being in a hurry, expropriating wealthy families and collecting money for examinations. However, they distributed the obtained land to the people, making the people rich and the state strong. After Shao's death, the people of Jizhou had nothing.
Those who are not grieving. It can be seen that this action will only make the people's hearts return, but will not cause great chaos."
Jiang Ji also said: "Liu Bei ordered Shen Chen to guard Nanyang with more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. It is easy to enter Nanyang, but it is difficult to break through Nanyang. Even if the prime minister goes to fight in person, because our army has traveled a long distance and the enemy is waiting for work, I am afraid that within a few years
, it’s hard to tell the winner.”
"yes."
Chen Qun said: "Since we are also consuming Liu Bei's strength, Liu Bei's strength is not much worse than ours. In vain, it will only damage both sides and make the princes in Jiangdong and Xiliang Pass stronger. Weak first and then
Be strong, and then weaken the strong enemy step by step, that is the way to win."
"Hmm."
Facing the three people's dissuasion, Cao Cao just nodded slightly, then looked at Xun You and Cheng Yu, and said, "Gongda, Zhongde, do you think so too?"
"yes."
Xun You and Cheng Yu just nodded in agreement.
Because they all knew that Cao Cao already had the answer in his mind, this inquiry could not be said to be a routine matter, it could only be said to check the level of these new counselors under his command.
Cao Cao then looked at the rest of the people and said: "Since Liu Bei can't fight, what about Sun Quan? The road to Shu is difficult, and breaking into Hanzhong or Shu from Guanzhong is like ascending to the sky. Guruo destroyed Jiangdong, and attacked Jingzhou from Jiangdong and Runan at the same time. Liu Bei's head and tail
If you can’t take care of both, destroy Jingzhou and then take Bashu, can you win the world?”
Liu Ye then continued: "Prime Minister, although Jiangdong is weak, it occupies the natural dangers of the river. Our navy is not as good as Sun Quan, and it will be difficult to attack Jiangdong. What's more, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are married. If they are forced to join forces, it will be difficult for Cao Gong.
It’s not a good thing.”
"Cao Gong."
Jiang Ji also responded: "I think Liu Bei's ambition is to unify the south and stalemate us from the north to the south. If we push too hard, Liu Bei and Sun Quan will definitely unite. We can only do what Cao Gong did when he pacified the Yuan family and not attack." In Hebei, we must make Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang attack each other so that we can reap the benefits."
"Then why Guanzhong?"
Cao Cao asked again: "Han Sui sent his children to Yecheng, and Ma Teng's family is also here. I think they are willing to surrender, so why attack?"
Liu Ye said seriously: "It's not an attack, but Liu Bei must also covet Xiliang in Guanzhong. The prime minister should let Han Sui, Ma Chao and others surrender as soon as possible. Only by getting the land of Xiliang in Guanzhong and deploying heavy troops there can Liu Bei be prevented from succeeding. Otherwise, if When he gets the land of Yongliang, he has cavalry in the north and naval forces in the south, which is a big danger."
"Um."
Cao Cao said: "I know this, please retreat."
"I'll take my leave."
Everyone stood up and left.
Cao Cao was still sitting at the table, thinking about it again and again, then left the mansion and went to see Guo Jiana.
Guo Jia has been recuperating from illness in the past two years, but he has not been idle either.
Just like Shen Chen sent people to open shops and set up craftsmen in Chendu, Yecheng and other places, Cao Cao also had craftsmen in Xiangyang, Jiangzhou and Chengdu.
These people will infiltrate every industry and then contact some wealthy families or officials from both places to obtain information.
Although due to the lag in ancient information, even if the information is obtained, it often takes a long time to be sent to the respective centers. After the upper management makes a decision, it is already too late to take action.
But there is still some information that is more important.
For example, Liu Bei carried out reforms in Jingzhou and Yizhou, which caused dissatisfaction among many wealthy families.
The dispatched internal intelligence can connect these aristocratic families and agree with Cao Cao to launch an uprising and attack at the same time at a certain time to achieve a subversive effect.
Guo Jia was in charge of these detailed works, and countless messages were delivered to Yecheng every day. They would first be gathered at the Prime Minister's residence, and after being read by Cao Cao, they would be sent to Guo Jia for analysis by him.
Now there is peace in the north, the army is strong and the horses are strong, and the crowd under Cao Cao's rule is more than 400,000? Now is the time to use troops to conquer the world.
It's just that Cao Cao didn't expect Liu Bei to grow so fast. When he swept the north, Liu Bei also quickly obtained Jingzhou, and took advantage of Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang when they wanted to fight, and captured Yizhou.
In this case, he did not dare to attack Liu Bei easily, but made other considerations.
However, although the princes of Xiliang Guanzhong sent the hostages to Chang'an, Ma Teng only left his eldest son Ma Chao in Guanzhong, and he took his whole family to Yecheng.
But Han Sui and Ma Chao were reluctant to surrender.
In the past three years, Zhong Yao of Chang'an repeatedly sent people to persuade them to go to Yecheng. They only obeyed on the surface, but in fact they were secretly wary. They refused to hand over their territory and military power and moved to Yecheng as officials.
Cao Cao was so shrewd that he immediately realized that they had no intention of surrender, so he wanted to wipe out Xiliang Pass to prevent Liu Bei's troops from leaving Chencang and seeking the land in Guanzhong.
Although he had this idea, there was a very real problem before him.
That is to send troops to Xiliang Pass, which will undoubtedly push Han Sui and Ma Chao to Liu Bei's side. Once the push is too tight, the two defect to Liu Bei, which will obviously be a big problem for Cao Cao.
Therefore, Cao Cao could not make up his mind for a long time, and finally asked Guo Jia for his opinion.
Guo Jia is now offering wine to the Prime Minister's military advisor, and his status is very high. Only Xun You and Cheng Yu can stand beside him. However, he is not in good health and is recuperating in his mansion. Cao Cao personally comes to the mansion.
It was snowing heavily at the end of the year, it was already evening, and there were not many people on the streets.
The carriage and the escort team rumbled down the street, making a thumping sound, and soon arrived at the Military Advisor's Jijiu Mansion.
Since there was no prior notice, the people in the mansion were not prepared.
When he learned that Cao Cao was coming in person, he quickly opened the door.
Cao Cao signaled his servants not to report to Guo Jia, and walked all the way to the backyard of the mansion as if he were entering his own home.
The backyard is lined with courtyards, towering courtyards, eaves and brackets, and continuous pavilions.
Snowflakes dyed the roof white, the artificial lake in the back garden was covered with a thick layer of ice, and the rockery and bamboo forest were also covered with snow.
Only the roof of a floating loft in the middle of the artificial lake was free of snow, and there seemed to be steam rising from it.
Cao Cao walked straight over and smelled the aroma and smell of wine inside while still at the door.
Then there were coughs and concerns.
Of course Cao Cao knew that Guo Jia had always liked wine and sex, and his poor health had a lot to do with this.
However, Cao Cao himself was a devil of lust, so he didn't care. He shouted "Fengxiao" at the door and then opened the door and went in.
Different from the imaginary mess, Guo Jia is actually at work.
He was pale, wearing a white Sichuan brocade robe, a large cloak, and a fox fur coat.
Incense charcoal used only for nobles was burning in the room to ensure the temperature in the room. There were several wine bottles on the table, and two concubines were kneeling beside them to serve.
"Prime Minister."
Seeing Cao Cao coming, Guo Jia quickly put down the paper and pen in his hand and wanted to get up.
But I didn't expect that maybe it was because I had been sitting for too long that my legs were weak and I didn't stand up. I had to be helped by the concubine next to me.
Cao Cao waved his hand and motioned for him to continue sitting, and then he sat on the seat next to him.
"You guys get out."
Guo Jia then sat down again, not on his knees, but leaning on the wall behind him, stretching his legs and feet a little.
The two concubines stood up, bowed slightly as they passed by Cao Cao, and then left the small building in the lake.
"Fengxiao, how are you doing?"
Cao Cao helped himself to a jug of wine on the table. He was as lustful as Guo Jia and loved drinking. In terms of personal ethics, they were similar, so naturally he would not blame Guo Jia for this.
Guo Jia also poured himself a glass of wine and said with a wry smile: "It's still the same, I cough often every winter."
"I heard that you coughed and vomited blood a few days ago? Why didn't you tell Gu? If your housekeeper hadn't been worried about your health and went to the imperial doctor to find medicine for you, Gu wouldn't have known about it."
Cao Cao frowned.
"Ahem."
Guo Jia coughed twice more and replied: "Guo Jia is slightly ill and dare not work with the Prime Minister."
"well."
Cao Cao sighed and said: "Fengxiao, you are the pillar of Gu Ke. If you fall ill, let Gu Ke do what you want."
"Prime Minister, don't worry, isn't Jia still here?"
Guo Jia smiled and said: "The Prime Minister is here at this time. He must have encountered something."
"yes."
Cao Cao nodded: "Liu Bei is getting stronger day by day, which makes Gu very worried. He wants to send troops to the south, but he is already powerful and is afraid that he cannot win."
"Since we can't win, then just maintain the status quo."
Guo Jia responded.
Cao Cao grabbed the handle of the wine glass and put it in his mouth. He didn't drink for a long time. His brows deepened. He shook his head and said, "Who else can I beat? Sun Quan?"
"Sun Quan occupies Jiangdong. We don't have a naval force, so we're afraid we won't be able to win. Moreover, if we attack Sun Quan, the relationship between him and Liu Bei will inevitably become closer. This will push him to Liu Bei's side."
Guo Jia replied.
"Oh."
Cao Cao smiled and said: "Isn't it the same with Han Sui and Ma Chao? I sent envoys to these two dogs several times to ask them to submit, but they refused. Now they are separatist in Xiliang Guanzhong and dominate one side. If I attack them, won't I?
Shouldn't we push them towards Liu Bei? Now it seems that no one can fight against me. I have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, but there is no place to use them!"
This is Cao Cao's current dilemma.
Cao Cao sent people several times to ask Han Sui and Ma Chao to surrender, but they refused to come and repeatedly rejected the suggestions of Sili Colonel Zhong Yao, leaving Cao Cao helpless.
Many of his advisers had previously advised him to focus on appeasing Xiliang in Guanzhong, and also concluded that Liu Bei might attack Han Sui and Ma Chao, because Han Sui and Ma Chao had indeed sent protons to Yecheng, at least on the surface, they had the intention of surrendering to Cao Cao.
obvious.
Therefore, as long as Liu Bei takes the initiative to attack Xiliang Guanzhong and tries to obtain the horse-producing land, Han Sui and Ma Chao will definitely choose to come and submit to Xiliang Guanzhong, and then he can legitimately send troops to Xiliang Guanzhong.
As a result, he never expected that Liu Bei would not send troops at all. He even sent people to win over the two of them and opened up trade with them. Bashu grain, salt, and Shu brocade were sold there, and war horses were purchased from them. Now he has obtained 20,000 to 30,000 horses.
A cavalry force of ten thousand people was formed in Hanzhong.
Although it is limited by the small cultivated land area in the Hanzhong Basin, coupled with the difficult roads to Shu and the inconvenience of transporting grain, it is difficult to raise so many war horses. The formation of a cavalry of 10,000 people is already the limit. But this also means that Liu Bei is expected to take the initiative to attack Xiliang Pass.
His plan to reap the benefits of being a fisherman failed, and he also funded the enemy for nothing, allowing Liu Bei to have a cavalry force.
This made Cao Cao very angry.
At that time, when Xizuo sent the information, he learned that Han Sui and Ma Chao had a good relationship with Liu Bei, and they even traded with each other and provided Liu Bei with war horses. Cao Cao almost turned the table over.
You can fight, but you can't.
If we really attack Sun Quan or Han Sui, Ma Chao, etc., we will force them towards Liu Bei.
When it comes to attacking Nanyang, Liu Bei will not hesitate to deploy so many troops and horses in Nanyang. Moreover, Shen Chen is in charge of Nanyang, which makes Cao Cao very afraid.
Therefore, even though Cao Cao has strong troops and horses and controls the entire north, he seems to have nowhere to attack and is wasting his troops and supplies.
"Filial piety."
In the end, Cao Cao drank all the wine in the cup, and unconsciously touched the white hair on his temples and sighed: "I am almost old, my ears are smooth, my hair is gray, I don't know how long I have to live, and I don't know when I will be able to bring peace to the world.
Clean up the universe. I am afraid that I will die alone, and the north will be in chaos again. I don’t know how many people in this world will be emperors, and how many will be kings. I am so worried when I am alone."
Guo Jia pondered for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Prime Minister, Jia has a dangerous plan. If it succeeds, it can purify the Prime Minister's heart, calm the people, eliminate troubles, drive away thieves, eliminate bandits, eliminate evil, ascend to the throne, govern the country, and bring peace to the world."
"
"oh?"
Cao Cao suddenly became energetic, waved his hands up and down to Guo Jia and said, "Feng Xiao, tell me quickly!"
Guo Jia said in a deep voice: "Attack Han Sui and Ma Chao, unite with Sun Quan, and pacify Jingzhou!"