Chapter 324: Emperor's Transaction: What do you want?
When feelings of self-deprecation, fear, and humiliation flooded Cao Pi's heart, his joy had disappeared.
The change in Cao Pi's expression was also seen by the ministers around him.
Following Cao Pi and Liu Fang's questions and answers, all the ministers of Cao and Wei knew that the reason why Cao Pi's expression changed like this was probably because of Mi Yang.
All the ministers were curious about what kind of eulogy Mi Yang wrote that would make Cao Pi's mood change so quickly and completely.
The curious expressions on the ministers' faces were not hidden from Cao Pi.
When he noticed this scene, the gloomy look on Cao Pi's face reached its extreme.
He knew that when this eulogy spread throughout the world, his previous purpose of using the news of Guan Yu's death to stabilize people's hearts had failed.
And on the contrary, the morale of the Wei army will be further hit.
This is the psychological impact that a good piece of writing can have.
But even if he knew this, Cao Pi did not order Liu Fang to destroy this memorial.
Because he knew that since Mi Yang would write this eulogy, he must have made all preparations for the follow-up.
Step by step, that's what the deer does, isn't it?
Thinking of this, Cao Pi began to feel cold in his heart.
A thought suddenly came to his mind, it would be great if it was Mi Yang who died of the illness this time.
No matter how brave Guan Yu is with his troops, he is already an old man and will eventually die.
He could afford to wait for several years.
But Mi Yang is only in his twenties this year, so young!
Can he afford to wait?
When this thought came to his mind, Cao Pi, who was wearing a fine leather jacket, couldn't help but shudder.
Seeing that Cao Pi was showing signs of being cold, all the ministers looked at Cao Pi with concern one after another. They suggested that Cao Pi get to the warm palace as soon as possible.
At the suggestion of the ministers, Cao Pi, with the support of Guo Guifei, once again stepped onto the steps of the imperial chariot.
But when Cao Pi stepped onto the steps and entered the chariot, although the burning stove in the chariot brought him a warm environment, the chill in his heart did not dissipate at all.
Cao Pi, who was sitting in the imperial chariot, raised the curtain beside him and looked in the direction of Xinye, his eyes full of fear.
After looking in that direction for a long time, Cao Pi turned his gaze to a bronze mirror in front of him.
The bronze mirrors used by emperors are certainly the best mirrors in the world.
Although the bronze mirror polished through multiple processes is not as clear as the glass mirrors of later generations, it still reflects Cao Pi's appearance at this time quite clearly.
After seeing himself in the mirror, Cao Pi had a rather sad look on his face.
He stretched out his hand to stroke the white hair on his temples.
The white hair on the temples was from when he was the son of a legitimate son.
After completing this action, Cao Pi let his hand touch the hair on his head that had only turned white in the past year.
The real touch from his fingertips told Cao Pi that the scene he was seeing now was not fake.
But just like this, the sadness in Cao Pi's heart became even stronger.
Guo Guipin, who was accompanying Cao Pi, almost cried when she saw Cao Pi's actions.
This year, Cao Pi has suffered too many blows.
It's just that although Cao Pi's heart was full of sadness, his thoughts were not completely disturbed by the sadness.
He tapped on the car window and summoned Liu Fang, the eunuch of the Central Secretary.
When Liu Fang came to the spacious royal chariot, Cao Pi said to him:
"Write a letter to Liu Bei for me. I have some transactions to make with him."
After hearing what Cao Pi said, a look of surprise appeared on Liu Fang's face.
Unlike when the late emperor was still alive and had occasional correspondence with Liu Bei, Cao Pi has always faced Liu Bei with a arrogant attitude since he succeeded to the throne, probably because he looked down on Liu Bei.
Unexpectedly, today Cao Pi actually asked to write a letter to Liu Bei for him.
Liu Fang asked Cao Pi in a questioning tone: "May I ask Your Majesty, what is the content of the letter?"
Facing Liu Fang's inquiry, Cao Pi roughly told Liu Fang the details of the deal he wanted to make with Liu Bei.
After Liu Fang listened to Cao Pi's words, a look of uncertainty appeared on his face.
It was obvious that he had doubts about whether Liu Bei would accept such a deal.
Although he had doubts in his heart, as a close minister of Cao Pi, he only had to obey Cao Pi's instructions.
So after Liu Fang bowed to Cao Pi, he slowly exited the imperial chariot.
After Liu Fang withdrew, a look of exhaustion appeared on Cao Pi's face.
Of course he also saw the uncertain look on Liu Fang's face just now.
But unlike Liu Fang, he firmly believed that Liu Bei would accept such a deal.
Because he is an emperor, Liu Bei is also an emperor.
Even though his governance styles are completely different from those of Liu Bei, as long as he is an emperor, his first priority will be to stabilize the country and the country.
With this kind of confidence, Cao Pi let out an inaudible sigh in his chariot:
"Some people have to be saved."
After Cao Pi sighed, he issued the order to set off.
When Cao Pi's order to set off spread throughout the army, the tens of thousands of Chinese troops escorting Cao Pi back to Luoyang began to march slowly.
The clouds outside Wancheng continued for thousands of miles, and the mood of the tens of thousands of Wei people who were marching was also extremely low.
The tens of thousands of Wei troops were all dejected, like walking zombies whose energy and spirit had been drained away.
At this time, they had no pride at all when they went south.
Their pride had been trampled to pieces by the Han army in Jingzhou.
Just like when they trampled on the majesty of the Han Dynasty in Xudu.
The way of heaven is constant and has its own cycle.
...
The news that Cao Pi's Luan Jia had returned to Luoyang was immediately delivered to Mi Yang by spies.
After Mi Yang received the news, he did not show any surprise.
Long before Mi Yang discovered the news that Sima Yi had become Cao Wei's general Annan, he already knew that Cao Pi had plans to quit.
Compared to the news that Cao Pi led the army back to Luoyang, Mi Yang was more interested in the news that Sima Yi had become the leader of Cao Wei's Jingzhou side.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Mi Yang remembers that in recent years, Sima Yi became the garrison governor of Wancheng.
Unexpectedly, after all this, Sima Yi would take on the important task of guarding Wancheng in this life.
Needless to say, Sima Yi's talents are not to mention the numerous military exploits he has accomplished in history.
Historically, he was able to lead his army to resist Zhuge Liang's attack. Although it was because he had the strong national power of Cao Wei behind him, his own talents were also very important.
Although Sima Yi suffered losses at the hands of Mi Yang and Guan Yu in this life, his defeat in those two battles was really not to blame on Sima Yi.
Objectively valuing Sima Yi's talents is the most correct attitude towards dealing with his enemy.
It's just that although he attaches great importance to Sima Yi, that's all.
Again, with Mi Yang's current prestige in the world, Sima Yi should be afraid of him.
After Mi Yang received the information that Cao Pi was leading his army back to Wan, he immediately had the information reported back to Xiangyang to Liu Bei.
After completing this matter, Mi Yang looked at Zhou Tai in front of him.
Liu Bei had already responded to Mi Yang's previous memorial suggesting that Li Yan serve as the governor of Yiyang.
In Liu Bei's reply, Mi Yang knew that Liu Bei had agreed with his recommendation.
It's just that Li Yan is currently in Yizhou. With the current transportation conditions, it may take some time for Li Yan to reach Yiyang County to perform his duties.
Therefore, in a short period of time, Mi Yang must still assume the responsibility of the governor of Yiyang.
During this period, something happened in Yiyang County.
This incident was caused by Zhou Tai.
Although Mi Yang discovered the talent of Zhou Tai in the list of long-term officials of the previous champion kingdom.
But with Mi Yang's current status, it was impossible for him to send a special envoy to suddenly go to the Champion Kingdom to recruit a person with little reputation.
Moreover, there are not many records about Zhou Tai in history books, so Mi Yang is not very sure of Zhou Tai's abilities.
So after Mi Yang discovered Zhou Tai's talent, he just took advantage of the situation and appointed Zhou Tai as the Prime Minister of the Champion Kingdom. He wanted to see what Zhou Tai's abilities were.
But just after Zhou Tai was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Champion Kingdom, Zhou Tai, who had just taken office, immediately did something.
This incident made Zhou Tai, who was previously the Prime Minister, now a prisoner, tied up and held in front of Mi Yang by a group of soldiers.
Mi Yang looked at the rather thin Zhou Tai in front of him, and a look of thinking appeared in his eyes.
At this time, there were two reports in Mi Yang's hands. The content of one report was that the officials of the Champion Kingdom jointly complained to Zhou Tai for his rebellious intentions.
The other report was written by Ding Feng to Mi Yang, an investigation report on the "Zhou Tai conspiracy".
It was in Ding Feng's investigation report that Mi Yang finally understood the whole story.
The Champion Kingdom is essentially a large county. Since it is a large county, there are naturally many wealthy families in the county.
When there are more wealthy families, there will definitely be fewer people who rely on their family background to do evil.
On the first day that Zhou Tai became the Prime Minister of the country, he clearly stated the law and severely punished people, prohibiting violence and rape.
There was a traitor from a wealthy family in the country of Champion Marquis. He committed many evil deeds. Zhou Tai was strict about the law, so he was whipped to death in public.
Zhou Tai's move greatly shocked the lawless people in Champion Hou's country, and also filled the traitor's tribe with righteous indignation.
However, after all, Zhou Tai was the Prime Minister of the Champion State appointed by Mi Yang himself. Under Mi Yang's prestige, the traitor's clan members did not dare to openly oppose Zhou Tai.
They just spent money to bribe most of the senior officials of the country, and together with them, they sent Dingfeng to the governor who visited the Champion Kingdom, accusing Zhou Tai of treason.
This kind of report was undoubtedly very effective, and it immediately attracted Ding Feng's attention.
Even if Ding Feng would not listen to a single word, he would not take it lightly when faced with the common complaints of most of the officials.
Ding Feng immediately arrested Zhou Tai and sent him to Xinye.
After arresting Zhou Tai, Ding Feng stayed in the Kingdom of Champion and carefully investigated the cause and effect of the whole incident.
Although the traitor's clan members had colluded with most of the officials, there were still some officials who were unwilling to join in the conspiracy.
In addition, what Zhou Tai did was a good thing that benefited the people, so the people in the Champion Kingdom sympathized with Zhou Tai's experience.
Under such circumstances, Ding Feng finally found out the truth of the matter after careful investigation.
After receiving Ding Feng's investigation report, Mi Yang summoned Zhou Tai, who had been imprisoned before.
While Mi Yang was looking at Zhou Tai, Zhou Tai was also secretly looking at Mi Yang, who was not far away from him and had only appeared in legends before.
Zhou Tai saw that although Mi Yang was not very old, he had a chilling power about him.
This made Zhou Tai look a little nervous.
A person's name, the shadow of a tree.
Mi Yang's reputation was built up from several world-shaking military exploits and the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of enemy skeletons.
Even Wei Emperor Cao Pi would feel extremely scared when he heard Mi Yang's name, let alone Zhou Tai, who is now unknown in the world.
And when Zhou Tai looked at Mi Yang secretly, he also saw Mi Yang's clear and wise eyes.
This made Zhou Tai feel even more nervous, as if all his secrets had been seen through by Mi Yang.
It's just that Zhou Tai is not an ordinary citizen after all, so he will not be frightened to death by Mi Yang's power.
The most important thing is that Zhou Tai also knows that being received by a big shot like Mi Yang today may be an opportunity he will never encounter again in his life.
He must seize this opportunity.
Zhou Tai also knew the reason why he was arrested by Ding Feng, but as long as Mi Yang could listen to his defense in person, he would naturally be able to excuse himself.
What Zhou Tai didn't expect was that after Mi Yang looked at him for a long time, this was what he asked.
Mi Yang changed to a casual posture and sat down, which made his aura weaken a little. Then he asked Zhou Tai:
"Yiyang has newly returned to the Han Dynasty, and the people's hearts are unstable. I have previously ordered the officials from all sides to put morality first when managing government, in order to stabilize the people's hearts in Yiyang County as soon as possible.
And you suddenly started killing people soon after taking office, it would be too cruel to govern like this."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Hearing what Mi Yang was asking about, Zhou Tai had a look of confusion on his face for a moment.
It's just that although Mi Yang's words contained accusations, his expression was still gentle.
So Zhou Tai quickly thought of the wording, and then answered Mi Yang in a calm tone:
"What the Lord said is right.
Ran Tai believed that rituals can be used to maintain stability in a country, and laws must be used to manage chaos.
The king does not regard Tai as incompetent, and makes Tai serve as the king's minister. Such trust makes Tai wholeheartedly, and he must eradicate the violent and cunning people for the king.
Otherwise, if the people of the champion kingdom are ravaged, the reputation of the monarch will be damaged.
Now that Taicai has killed a traitor, there are still many villains who have not yet been brought to justice, and the prince's country has not yet been brought to justice.
If the prince wants to punish me because I cannot eliminate cruelty and eliminate those who violate the law, how dare I not be willing to be severely punished to express gratitude for letting the prince down?
But considering the current situation, I have been accused of being "cruel in politics" by my princes for punishing evildoers, and I would rather die than accept this charge."
When Zhou Tai answered Mi Yang, he probably really thought he was doing the right thing, so his tone became calmer and calmer.
But after Zhou Tai finished explaining, Mi Yang's lips showed a smile.
Perhaps Zhou Tai whipped and killed the traitor for the reasons mentioned above, but Zhou Tai's idea was not that simple.
Mi Yang looked at Zhou Tai and then said slowly: "Although what you said is reasonable, according to the Han system, the status of the princes is the same as that of the county magistrate.
Is there any law in the Han Dynasty that states that county magistrates have the right to kill county officials at will?"
"You have been a county official for a long time, you don't know this.
If you know you can't do something but do it, you must ask for something, so what do you want?"
Mi Yang did not deny the feasibility of Zhou Tai's approach, but the county magistrate was not a prefect, but he did not have as much power as a prefect.
When Mi Yang said these words, Zhou Tai, who had seen through all his thoughts, was suddenly shocked.
But since Zhou Tai dares to do something that exceeds his authority, his courage is certainly not low.
In response to Mi Yang's question, Zhou Tai raised his head and looked at Mi Yang with hopeful eyes. He replied:
"Otherwise, the prince's country cannot be governed in a short period of time."
"If I can't make the prince's country prosperous, how can I achieve enough to win the prince's favor?"