Chapter 316: The monarch and his ministers are disrespectful and rely on the sky to fall to the ground
The news that Cao Xiu and other Wei generals had fled back to Wancheng was like a huge stone falling into a boiling pot of oil, making the big furnace of Wancheng very restless.
The anxious ministers in Wancheng immediately rushed towards the city gate when they learned that Cao Xiu and others had returned.
But when all the ministers rushed outside the city gate in unison, Cao Xiu and other Wei generals had already entered Wancheng.
And they consciously headed straight towards the Chariot General's Mansion where Cao Pi was.
So naturally, all the ministers who wanted to find out the information in advance rushed to nothing.
But this did not stop the ministers of Cao Wei.
They were eager to know the specific situation on the front line. After learning that Cao Xiu and other Wei generals had gone to the Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion, they all turned back and headed towards the Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion.
The distances between the places where the Wei ministers lived in Wancheng and the gate of Wancheng varied.
So when some of the ministers' vehicles who were the first to arrive at the city gate of Wancheng began to retreat, their vehicles met those of the ministers who were still rushing towards the city gate, facing each other on the road.
Because there were so many ministers arriving, the streets of Wancheng were temporarily blocked by the ministers driving opposite each other.
Even in the eager state of mind of both parties, some collisions occurred.
The bursts of congestion and collision caused a lot of panic in Wancheng, causing considerable damage to the people's livelihood in Wancheng.
And when this scene happened, compared to Cao Xiu and other Wei generals who had fled from Fancheng, the manners of the Wei ministers in Wancheng were not much better than them.
And all this was caused by the great battle of Xiangfan.
But at this time, all the ministers of Wei State were not in the mood to pay attention to the people's livelihood in Wancheng.
Even some low-status ministers did not care about their own damaged cars.
After they gave way to the car of the minister who had a higher status than them, they directly split the car in two.
Then they rode directly behind the carriage of the high-status minister and continued towards the Chariot General's Mansion.
The Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion given to Cao Ren by the late emperor in the past became the residence of Wei Emperor Cao Pi after Cao Ren's death.
Cao Wei, who had a great family and a great business, would certainly not be stingy about building the mansion of Cao Wei's former top general.
So when many ministers arrived unannounced and arrived outside the Chariot General's mansion.
Because of the vast space inside and outside the cavalry general, and the presence of the emperor's own troops maintaining order, a funny scene similar to what happened on the street did not happen again.
However, when many Wei ministers arrived at the Chariot General's Mansion, they were about to continue entering to seek an audience with Cao Pi, but they were stopped by bursts of bright sword light.
"The emperor's decree is oral, and anyone who enters it without an imperial edict will be beheaded."
A general in the Chinese army conveyed Cao Pi's oral instructions in a tone without any emotion.
Under the shock of the ring-headed knives, many of Wei's ministers, even the extremely high-status Nine Ministers, did not dare to enter again.
At this time, the forces of the gentry had not yet invaded the system of Cao Wei's army.
At present, the Central Army of Cao Wei is still the most important barrier guarding the royal family of Cao Wei. Under this situation, no minister would be stupid enough to risk his own life.
So under the threat of hundreds of Cao Wei soldiers, many Cao Wei ministers could only wait helplessly and unwillingly outside Cao Pi's bedroom, waiting for Cao Pi's summons.
Cao Pi issued this oral order in advance, probably because he was meeting with Cao Xiu and other Wei generals at the moment.
Maybe the truth is cruel, but Cao Pi will always meet them.
The hundreds of Wei ministers who were guarding outside Cao Pi's chamber were not wrong in their guess.
At this time, in Cao Pi's dormitory, Cao Xiu and the other Wei generals who had fled back in embarrassment were kneeling in front of a man, with his head lowered and not daring to kick him.
How badly they failed, they themselves know best.
Because of this, they also knew how fierce the anger from Cao Pi would be waiting for them next.
However, as time passed bit by bit, Cao Pi's anger that Cao Xiu and other Wei generals imagined had not yet hit them.
But this does not mean that Cao Pi is very peaceful in his heart.
Cao Pi, wearing ordinary clothes, was sitting on the emperor's throne. In the past, he attached great importance to appearance, but his demeanor at this time seemed quite casual.
Cao Pi in the dormitory was not wearing a crown, and his long hair was only tied up with a jade hairpin to prevent it from completely falling apart.
But no matter how expensive the jade hairpin on Cao Pi's head was, the eunuchs who tied his hair were highly skilled.
Since he had been locked in his dormitory for the past few days and had not taken care of his long hair carefully, the long hair on Cao Pi's head also looked quite messy at this time.
Hairdressing was the most important appearance for the ancients.
Under the messy long hair, Cao Pi's whole mood seemed very depressed.
Cao Pi sat quietly on the throne, motionless, like a lifeless piece of wood.
Only the faint sound of his breathing proved that he was still alive.
Before Cao Xiu and other Wei generals returned, after learning that Fancheng had been occupied by the Han army, the Wei ministers seemed panicked and at a loss.
As the Emperor of Wei, Cao Pi was surprisingly not as angry as usual.
He just sent more scouts to explore the front line for more information. He just sent more Wei army squads to continuously explore the whereabouts of the Wei generals with Wancheng as the center.
In the end, he just shut himself up in his dormitory silently, and did not summon any ministers unless necessary.
Cao Pi was not surprised and angry at the news.
On the contrary, it was precisely because he felt unbelievable and extremely angry at the news that the Han army had occupied Fancheng.
Therefore, when everything must be reversed, a trace of extravagant hope emerged in Cao Pi's heart.
He hoped that the news he had received before was false.
After all, false news often spread after wars in previous years.
Moreover, even if the news is true, the whereabouts of a group of Wei generals and tens of thousands of Wei troops are still unknown. It is not yet known whether the Wei troops on the front line suffered a defeat or a major defeat during the battle.
Two different results represent completely different meanings.
Although the possibility of this idea, which is like looking at plum blossoms to quench thirst, is very low and can even be regarded as a fantasy, it is currently the only way for Cao Pi to stabilize his emotions.
At that time, Cao Cao deceived the Wei army by looking at the plum blossoms to quench his thirst, thus avoiding the complete defeat of the entire army.
Now Cao Pi also uses the method of looking at plum blossoms to quench his thirst to give himself some psychological sustenance. This can be regarded as the same origin.
Before Cao Pi found Cao Xiu and other Wei generals, he had in mind that he did not ask Cao Xiu and other Wei generals to tell him that all the news he had received before was false.
He only asked Cao Xiu and other Wei generals to lead tens of thousands of Wei's defeated troops back to Wancheng, and tell him that the Wei army only lost Fancheng due to a temporary defeat.
They didn't lose badly.
Cao Pi thought that his idea was not too much. After all, the leader of the Wei army on the front line was Zhang Liao, whom he had high hopes for.
But when Cao Pi learned that a group of Wei generals had escaped with only a hundred people, the extravagant hopes in his heart were instantly torn to pieces by this ruthless fact.
After the extravagant hope was torn into pieces, it turned into steel needles, piercing his heart crazily.
Perhaps the 70,000 Wei army was not completely wiped out. Some of them were captured by the Han army, and some were scattered in various places. Sooner or later they would return to Wei territory.
But only hundreds of Wei troops returned to Wancheng in an organized manner. This news was enough for Cao Pi to find it unacceptable.
After quickly summoning Cao Xiu and other Wei generals, Cao Pi learned more information about the battle, which made his heart bleed.
"The 70,000 Wei army was completely routed, and countless people died."
"General Zhang Liao of the Guard was trapped in the enemy formation and was killed by Guan Yu's sword."
"A dozen counties north of Fancheng betrayed the Wei Dynasty almost overnight."
This piece of news was either received by Cao Xiu when he was fleeing, or was seen by Cao Xiu with his own eyes.
When this piece of news reached Cao Pi's ears, Cao Pi's whole spirit had dropped to the extreme.
In a head-on confrontation, the Wei army was defeated miserably.
Any major victory the Han army achieved before, including Guan Yu's Flooded Seventh Army, can be said to be the result of ruse, but what about now?
There is no reason to hide the shame of the Wei army, and there is no reason to belittle the Han army.
Incompetent, stupid.
This battle may not reflect Wei Jun's incompetence and stupidity, but it clearly exposed his incompetence and stupidity.
This was because he, the Emperor of Wei, wanted to fight this war against all the opinions of the public. In fact, he was in charge of all the arrangements before the war.
So now when tens of thousands of bones of the Wei army are piled up outside Fancheng, the bloody and shocking scene will severely nail him to the pillar of shame in history.
One leader is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted.
Just this one thing will prevent him from becoming the Confucian Son of Tomorrow with a flawless reputation in his dream.
This battle broke all Cao Pi's illusions.
This is undoubtedly the most cruel thing for him.
Thinking of this, Cao Pi also thought about how much changes this battle would bring to the situation in Nanyang County.
Can Wancheng still be able to defend it now?
Once Wancheng is no longer in the hands of the Wei army, the Central Plains will be exposed to the Han army at all times.
The consequences by then will be unimaginable.
This realization made Cao Pi even more mentally traumatized.
Cao Pi, who was sitting on the throne, looked at the Wei generals kneeling in front of him like beggars with red eyes.
Cao Xiu, Zhao Yan, Zhu Shuo, Xu Chu, etc. were such graceful and graceful talents in the past.
Now he was beaten like a lost dog by the Han army. This is really a great shame and humiliation for the Wei Dynasty.
As his eyes continued to gaze, Cao Pi felt that something was quickly leaving his spirit.
Then after a long period of silence, a bitter laughter with an extremely sad sound suddenly sounded in the dormitory.
Because Cao Pi had not spoken much in the past few days, his voice sounded hoarse and sharp.
The bursts of grief-stricken, hoarse and sharp bitter laughter reached the ears of Cao Xiu and other generals like bursts of life-threatening ringtones, frightening their bodies to the ground and bending even more.
Cao Xiu and other Wei generals had been waiting for Cao Pi to vent his anger. What they didn't expect was that instead of showing Cao Pi's anger, they were greeted by Cao Pi's extremely abnormal behavior.
And because of the abnormality, this made Cao Xiu and other Wei generals full of fear.
"There is no greater sorrow than the death of the heart, and the death of a human being is the second worst."
This is a sentence from the classic "Zhuangzi", and Cao Pi's state at this time is very similar to the description of this sentence.
While letting out bursts of frightening wry smiles, Cao Pi stretched out his hand to support Ping Ji, who was only about thirty years old, and stood up from the throne with some difficulty.
He first came to the sword stand on the throne. On this sword stand was the Yitian Sword.
Cao Pi used his somewhat shaky body to pull out the Yitian Sword from the sword stand.
Then he pressed the tip of the Yitian sword against the ground, as if supporting his body, and walked step by step towards where Cao Xiu and others were.
The sharp tip of the Yitian Sword touched the ground. As Cao Pi's body moved forward step by step, the sharp tip of the sword drew a long crack on the floor and made bursts of harsh scraping sounds.
The scratching sound was like the sound of arrows scraping against the scalp on the battlefield. When this sound fell in the ears of Cao Xiu and other Wei generals, it made their scalps numb.
After hearing the harsh scratching sound, Cao Xiu and other Wei generals carefully raised their eyes and looked forward.
Then they saw Cao Pi, whose eyes were obscured by his long hair, walking towards them with the Heavenly Sword in his hands without knowing his expression.
This scene made all the Wei generals tremble with fear.
The throne was not far from Cao Xiu and other Wei generals. As Cao Pi continued to approach, his heavy footsteps sounded in the hearts of all the Wei generals like a spiritual song from hell.
Everyone thought that Cao Pi was going to kill them.
Even Cao Xiu thought so.
Don't think that Cao Pi didn't dare to attack his clan members. Cao Tai's fate had already spread throughout Cao Wei.
But compared to the panic of most Wei generals, there are still some Wei generals who can regain their senses after panic.
For example, Cao Xiu.
Cao Xiu, who has a heroic personality and is valued by Cao Cao, must not be a simple person who is greedy for life and afraid of death.
If Cao Pi really wanted to kill him to vent his anger, then Cao Xiu would have nothing to fear.
Under the panic in the hearts of all the Wei generals, Cao Pi finally came to them with his sword in hand.
After carrying his sword and approaching Cao Xiu and other Wei generals, Cao Pi's slightly swaying body instantly stood still.
His gaze was looking through the gap between the hair hanging in his eyes, towards the extremely dirty scepter standing in front of Cao Xiu.
This scepter was given to Du Xi by him. It was through this scepter that he could remotely command the 70,000 Wei troops.
It was also through this scepter that he issued the fatal attack order to the 70,000 Wei troops.
After thinking of this, an uncontrollable feeling of shame and grief instantly rushed into Cao Pi's heart.
He raised the Heavenly Sword in his hand and slashed at the dirty black scepter standing in front of him.
The Yitian Sword is made of hundreds of refined steel, and its sharpness is the best among all sharp weapons in the world.
So when the blade of Yitian Sword came into contact with the scepter, a crisp chopping sound came.
The Emperor's Scepter, which used to symbolize Cao Pi himself, was chopped into two pieces by Cao Pi himself.
And when the scepter broke into two pieces and fell to the ground like a sinner, Cao Pi could no longer hold the Yitian Sword in his hand.
As the wails rang out from his mouth, the Yitian Sword in his hand also fell to the ground.
This was the first time he cried because of a big defeat.
This was also the first time that he failed to hold tightly the Yitian Sword, which symbolized the imperial power of Cao Wei.