On August 12, the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Chun died in battle at Dongxing Embankment. Zhao Yun's power shocked Huainan, shocking both Zhang Liao and Xue Ti.
You must know that these are 8,000 elite troops of Cao Cao, including 3,000 tiger and leopard cavalry, which are the elite among the elite.
However, Zhao Yun only had 5,000 men, and was inferior to Cao Jun in both numbers and eliteness. However, the outcome of the battle was unexpected. Zhao Yun captured Cao Chun's head among his troops and instantly reversed the situation.
After receiving this news, Zhang Liao immediately wanted to lead his army to the expedition.
It's not for revenge.
But no matter what, he must seize Dongxing Dike to complete the task assigned by Cao Pi, delay Jiangdong's destruction, and strive for Cao Pi to successfully proclaim himself emperor.
But Xue Ti dissuaded him.
Because now Zhao Yun has just defeated Cao Chun and his morale is high, but they have no extra troops.
If there is another expedition, the city of Hefei will be empty, and Guan Yu will send his navy to follow the Ruxu River northward and enter Chao Lake to attack Hefei, and the city of Hefei may not be saved.
Once Hefei is lost, Huainan will be lost, and the losses will be even greater.
So to be on the safe side, it’s better to stick to it.
Zhang Liao felt that what Xue Ti said made sense, so he had to send someone to write to Cao Pi quickly to inform him of the news.
Cao Pi got the news at the end of August.
At this time, in the hall of Prince Wei's residence in Yecheng, Jizhou, Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Zhu Shuo, Hua Xin, Liu Miao, He Kui, Chang Lin, Liu Ruo and others were sitting.
Since April this year, Cao Pi has been planning to usurp the throne.
He first sent people to snatch the imperial seal from Han Xian Emperor Liu Xie, and then began to build momentum for proclaiming himself emperor.
In June of this year, the servant Liu Zhen launched the first round of persuasion to join.
This Liu Gong was a native of Nanyang, Jingzhou, and a descendant of Liu Fa, the king of Changsha in the Western Han Dynasty. Although he and Liu Xiu were not of the same lineage, they were also descendants of Liu Fa. Their ancestors and Liu Xiu's ancestors were both sons of Liu Fa and belonged to the same lineage of Liu Fa.
Logically speaking, he should be loyal to the big man.
But his elder brother Liu Guan once worked for Liu Biao and was killed by Liu Biao, so he moved his family to the north and defected to Cao Wei, becoming Cao Cao's loyal lackey.
Now Liu Xian began to loyally seek for the Cao Wei Group to seize the country left by his ancestors.
In June, the first round of attempts to persuade him to join was rejected by Cao Pi.
By the beginning of August, Liu Zhen once again contacted the Manchu princes and began the second round of persuasion to advance.
When acting, you have to do a complete set.
Of course, it takes three times to persuade someone to do something like this.
Cao Pi refused for the second time.
And now we are discussing the third time.
At this moment, Cao Pi was sitting high on the throne, and on his desk was the jade seal passed down from the country. He looked majestic and arrogant.
Many of the ministers below were also sitting upright.
He saw Cao Pi smiling happily and said: "We, the Wei Dynasty, were ordered by Heaven to inherit the great power, so it should be in accordance with the legal principles. If the Emperor wants to abdicate to me, he must naturally understand the common people, so that he can be accepted by the public. I respectfully ask you to do the things.
How's it going?"
Liu Xie stood up and said: "King Wei, the matter has been settled. I have collected more than a hundred ministers and generals from the Wei Dynasty to persuade them to enter the table, and written a list of them. They have all been submitted. I have brought the list."
As he spoke, he handed over a list of names.
Usurping the throne also pays attention to step by step.
The first round of persuasion was just a test. At that time, Liu Gong only united more than ten courtiers to go to the table to see the situation.
As a result, after the first round of persuasion, there was not much turmoil.
This shows that the state of Wei is relatively stable internally, and no powerful generals have chosen to oppose it. This is a favorable thing for Cao Pi.
After the second round of persuasion, more than thirty people joined the petition, but Cao Pi refused again.
Now is the third round.
This is what is known in history as the "Memorial of Honors to the Generals of the Duke of Wei". More than a hundred famous ministers and generals of Cao Wei jointly submitted the memorial, among which the names of thirty-one were clearly recorded in the inscriptions unearthed in later generations.
Since everyone wrote long speeches and gave Cao Pi a rainbow, the memorials piled up like a mountain. Liu Xi did not bring them over, but the list was already presented.
Cao Pi took the directory and took a look at it.
The thirty-one people recorded in the inscriptions unearthed in later generations are Hua Xin, Jia Xu, Wang Lang, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xia Houshang, Zang Ba, Zhang He, Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, He Qia, Cheng Yu, He Kui,
Zhong Yao, Chang Lin, Dong Zhao, Xu Chu, Xian Yufu, Yan Rou, Yang Qiu, Yuan Ba, Fu Xun, Liu Ruo, Wang Zhong, Zhu Ling, Xing Zhen, Dai Ling, Yan Pu, Hu Chuquan, etc.
However, this list is quite different from the historical list.
Because many of them are not here.
Jia Xu was ordered to peace by Liu Bei, Wang Lang was scolded to death by Shen Chen, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Wang Zhong were chopped into pieces by Shen Chen.
Zhu Ling followed Yu Jin and was captured in the Battle of Xiangfan. Fu Xun historically followed Liu Cong and surrendered to Cao Cao, and now follows Liu Cong and surrenders to Liu Bei. The same goes for Yan Pu, who followed Zhang Lu and surrendered to Cao Cao, and now follows Zhang Lu and surrendered to Liu Bei.
Although there are fewer people, there are also some more people. For example, Cao Chun, Xia Houyuan, etc. Because Cao Chun wrote the memorial before going to Huainan, he is also on the list.
It is a pity that Cao Pi will soon learn about Cao Chun's death, and there will be one less person on this list.
After reading the list, he nodded with satisfaction and said: "Good, in September this year, let the Shangshutai publish the list to the world. At that time, the lonely general will come to Chaoge in person to accept the emperor's abdication. By the way, how is the construction of the Zentai?
?”
"It's already been built."
Hua Xin said: "Chaoge Lingzai is responsible for this matter. He submitted a letter yesterday that it has been completed."
"Wu Zhi has done a good job. It seems that he will be able to accept the abdication in October."
Cao Pi was very happy.
Historically, he completed the abdication in October of the 25th year of Jian'an, and now he plans to act in accordance with this expectation.
Now everyone discussed the details of the abdication.
For example, should you go up directly in the clothes of the emperor, or should you first wear the clothes of the princes and kings, and then change into the clothes of the emperor after accepting the abdication.
Also, according to the enthronement of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, there should be envoys from all directions. The Liu Bei Group will definitely not send envoys to celebrate. At that time, they will still have to ask for an envoy from the Sun family of Soochow.
The rest of the Southern Xiongnu, Xianbei, Wuhuan, as well as Gongsun Kang in Liaodong, and even the Fuyu people, Huiqi people, Woju people, etc. further away, all have to send people over to inform them of this matter, and then ask them to send
The messenger comes.
In fact, this matter has been under preparation since April this year.
After all, places like Liaodong are too far away, and the Goguryeo dynasty established by the Fuyu people, the Huiqi people, the Woju people, etc. was in the three eastern provinces of later generations, more than a thousand kilometers away from Youzhou and Zhuojun. Come to Chaoge
Congratulations, that would take more than 2,000 kilometers and a round trip of at least half a year.
Therefore, according to Cao Pi's wishes, starting from April, all parties will be able to achieve similar results by October.
When the time comes, go up to the altar to offer sacrifices and pray to heaven. Then tens of thousands of ministers, princes, generals, Xiongnu Chanyus, and the Yi dynasty will accompany you. They will raise the altar to the altar, and hundreds of officials will accompany you. When the matter is over, lower the altar and burn the sacrifice.
The heaven, earth, five mountains and four mountains offered sacrifices to ancestors and gods. After the ceremony, he officially ascended the throne as emperor.
When he thought of this, Cao Pi couldn't help but feel a little more yearning, his face was filled with smiles, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Nearly five months of planning will come to fruition in another two months. By then, all the barbarians from the north will arrive, and people from all directions will congratulate him. Even if he is not recognized by Liu Bei's group in the south, he will reasonably and legally replace the Han Dynasty and become the leader of the Han Dynasty.
The common master of the world.
When the world returns home, how can Liu Bei and his like stop the wheel of history?
"Gentlemen, we are here today."
After Cao Pi discussed the details with everyone, he said with satisfaction: "After I become emperor, I should not hesitate to give gifts, and all the princes will be promoted and rewarded."
"Thank you, King Wei."
Everyone bowed their hands, and no one called Cao Pi emperor first.
After all, if they want to be a formal country, they must have formal etiquette. Anyway, the eight characters have been written down, and when the time comes, it will not be too late to call them again.
"Let's break up then."
Cao Pi waved his hand, stood up from the table, and prepared to go back to the backyard.
But at this moment, Xu Chu, who was standing guard outside the door, suddenly hurried in, knelt down on one knee and said: "Report, King Wei, urgent news from the south."
"oh?"
Cao Pi looked around and said with a smile: "Wen Yuan said before that Guan Yu only sent Zhao Yun to lead 5,000 people to garrison Dongxing Embankment. I asked General Duhu to lead 8,000 people to break it. Counting the days, this is probably what happened.
Submit it."
"only!"
Xu Chu presented the letter with both hands.
Cao Pi opened it happily.
He felt that Cao Chun's 8,000 men, 5,000 elite Cao Jun, and 3,000 elite tiger and leopard cavalry should be able to easily defeat Zhao Yun, so he thought this was a good news and did not think about the possibility of failure.
As a result, the smile on Cao Pi's face froze when he saw the first line of the letter.
Because it says Cao Chun died in battle.
Then his face quickly changed from a cheerful smile to a cold one. At the end, he tore his watch into pieces angrily and shouted angrily: "Cao Chun deserves to die!"
In fact, everyone realized something was wrong just by looking at his face.
But they still didn't expect Cao Pi to be so angry. For a while, Hua Xin and others were trembling and did not dare to speak.
Only Sima Yi, Chen Qun, and Zhu Shuo could barely speak because they were three of Cao Pi's four friends, so Sima Yi boldly raised his hand and asked, "Your Highness, King Wei, what happened?"
"Bang!"
Cao Pi took the case and said angrily: "Cao Chun led 8,000 men to fight Zhao Yun's 5,000 men in a fierce battle in the wild, but he was unexpectedly attacked from the front and defeated. Even he himself was beheaded by Zhao Yun's army. He really lost his tiger and leopard cavalry.
Face!"
"this"
No one expected this result.
Eight thousand of the elite men of the Cao Wei Empire, who were best at fighting in the wild, were actually defeated head-on by five thousand people. This was indeed an unacceptable thing.
Sima Yi thought for a while and said: "Although Zhao Yun is not as famous as Guan and Zhang, it is said that in the Battle of Xunyang, he only led 2,000 men to repel Sun Quan's 80,000 men. He was brave and good at fighting. I guess it was the general who protected him who underestimated the enemy.
So that he came back defeated."
"well."
After Cao Pi became furious, he sighed quietly and said: "What I am most afraid of now is that Cao Chun did not defeat Zhao Yun and went to Ruxukou to support Sun Quan, so that Sun Quan was defeated early. The old thief Liu Bei claimed to be a descendant of the Han Dynasty and regarded the emperor as his orthodoxy.
It will take two months for me to ascend the throne. If he raises an army to attack, wouldn't it be a big deal?"
Chen Qun said: "His Royal Highness the King of Wei, there is no need to worry. Before, our actions were carried out in secret. Only the officials in the government and the public knew about it. The news did not reach Liu Bei so quickly. What's more, it would take time for Liu Bei to capture Soochow and govern Yangzhou. Even if he
Knowing the news, I wouldn’t go on the Northern Expedition so quickly.”
"yes."
Sima Yi also said: "Although Liu Bei won the two battles of Guanzhong and Jingzhou, Yizhou was also exhausted and the people's livelihood was in decline. It would take at least several years of rest to recover. This time, he only dispatched 100,000 troops to attack Wu.
Basically, they are all Jingzhou troops, with food and grass supplied by Nanyang and Jingnan. It can be seen that Liu Bei is no longer able to launch large-scale wars. After defeating Wu, a forced northern expedition is a way to die."
"Hmm"
Cao Pi pondered for a moment. Although what Chen Qun and Sima Yi said made sense, he still felt uneasy.
After thinking again and again, Cao Pi looked around the crowd and said: "What Chang Wen and Zhong Da said is reasonable, but it will lead to long nights and many dreams, and the situation will undergo unimaginable changes. I think it is better to ascend the throne in advance. After the world is settled, I can put things in order.
Soldiers and horses, prepare for a decisive battle with Liu Bei."
Zhu Shuo asked: "Your Highness, are you waiting for the envoy from Liaodong?"
"No wait."
Cao Pi finally said: "Let's set it in September. I will go to Chaoge to open the altar on September 1st and pay tribute to the fallen soldiers first. Then on September 10th, I will accept the abdication in Chaoge. At that time, all the ministers will come to accompany me and offer sacrifices."
Heaven and earth, the five mountains, the four mountains, and the ancestors and spirits are officially enthroned."
Seeing that Cao Pi had already set a date, the officials no longer objected.
Anyway, everything is almost ready. The reason why it is scheduled for October is because there are still many envoys from the four barbarians who have not yet arrived. If it is held earlier, it will just miss some envoys from the four barbarians to congratulate them. It is not a big deal.
So everyone stood up and cupped their hands together and said: "Wei!"
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In late August, just when Cao Pi was preparing to ascend the throne early, Sun Quan was completely desperate.
Because after Guan Yu's fierce attack for two months, the fortress at Ruxukou was close to collapse. Pan Zhang's northern fortress was the first to be breached, followed closely by the middle fortress where Zhu Ran was located.
The morale of the Jiangdong Army fell to the bottom, and deserters increased in number. Pan Zhang and Zhu Ran had to retreat to the camps of He Qi and Lu Fan respectively, struggling to support themselves.
But everyone knew that they could not hold out for long. Guan Yu ordered Huang She and Gan Ning to continue attacking the Dongwu camp near Ruxushui and the Yangtze River on the boat. He personally went ashore and commanded the army to start the attack.
Under Guan Yu's fierce attack, the Ruxukou camp was like a boat in the wind and rain, teetering on the edge of collapse. In the past two months, the number of people in the camp had dropped from more than 30,000 to less than 20,000 now.
This means that a large number of soldiers defected, were killed, and were captured. The entire military's morale was in turmoil, and many people had already begun to make plans for the future.
On the 24th, Guan Yu launched another attack on Zhu Ran's camp. As the outer walls collapsed, even in Zheqi City on Zheqi Mountain on the south bank of the Yangtze River, the shouts of Jiang Xia's naval forces on the river could be heard.
Cheering loudly.
Sun Quan lay on the city wall, looking desperately at the camp at Ruxukou on the river bank in the distance, and let out a shrill scream.
"Cao Pi, you lied to me!"
"Where are the lonely reinforcements!"
"Where is Cao Chun, where is Zhang Liao, and where are you!"
The sad and pitiful voice spread to all directions, only making the sergeants of Zheqi City lower their heads, leaving only bursts of wailing.
This week I feel like I should find some time to go to the hospital for a checkup. My stomach has been feeling uncomfortable, and I am worried that I may have gastric cancer.