When Sima Yi came to Zhang Chunhua's courtyard, he saw Mrs. Fu, Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. Bai and other concubines, as well as Sima Liang, Sima Qian and other children all arriving, waiting outside Zhang Chunhua's ward.
No matter whether they are really sad in their hearts or not, there is a sad look on everyone's face.
Seeing this scene, Sima Yi frowned slightly and his heart sank subconsciously.
No matter how much I hate Zhang Chunhua, they have been married for many years, not to mention they were in love when they were young.
At this time, Zhang Chunhua was seriously ill, and Sima Yi could not help but feel the same sadness:
In the past few years, hasn't my body been getting older and my energy no longer what it used to be?
Time is not forgiving...
Seeing Sima Yi approaching, all the concubines and children all saluted.
Sima Yi waved his hand and walked towards the inner room.
Perhaps there is such a thing as a couple's heart-to-heart relationship in this world. Although Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua have long been enemies, as soon as Sima Yi entered the room, Zhang Chunhua, who was already lying on the couch like a dead tree, suddenly opened his eyes.
Seeing Sima Yi looking slovenly, disheveled and haggard, Zhang Chunhua's eyes showed relief and some gloating, and even his voice became stronger:
"You're here?"
Sima Yi stopped a few steps away from the couch and nodded:
"Yes, I'm coming."
Sima Yi didn't like the strong medicinal smell in the room, not to mention that there was an indescribable evil smell constantly emanating from Zhang Chunhua's body and the couch.
This made Sima Yi even more evil in his heart.
Perhaps sensing Sima Yi's unabashed deep disgust for him, Zhang Chunhua's almost lifeless face revealed a trace of self-mockery and resentment:
"If you don't want to, you don't have to come."
"But I'm already here." Sima Yi said with an indifferent expression, "The war is urgent. If my son hadn't begged me, would you have thought that I would be willing to come?"
Hearing this, Zhang Chunhua sarcastically said:
"Yes, if I were not going to die, I would not be able to see you easily."
Sima Yi frowned:
"Are you sick and confused? You and I don't see each other. It's because you went on a hunger strike in the first place, which caused the house to be restless and the children to be uneasy. That's why our husband and wife are at odds and hate each other."
When Zhang Chunhua heard this, his long-sick body almost jumped up from the couch.
At this time, the old thief actually said such cruel words to his face?
Doesn’t he know why he went on a hunger strike in the first place?
She huffed and puffed a few times like a broken bellows, and Zhang Chunhua's withered chest kept rising and falling. It took her a while to calm down again.
Forget it, at this time, what else is there to fight for?
Her eyes fell on Sima Yi again:
"I am about to die! You are in charge of important matters, and I don't dare to delay Alang any longer. I just can't let go of the matter, so I want to ask clearly."
"What's the matter?"
"Is my son safe in Xuchang?"
The "my son" in Zhang Chunhua's mouth naturally refers to Sima Zhao who went to Xuchang to move reinforcements.
Sima Yi nodded:
"Of course everything is fine."
After a pause, he continued, "Don't you write back from Xuchang every month to tell you that you are safe? Why do you still ask me like this?"
The sarcasm in Zhang Chunhua's tone remained unchanged and he said:
"Alang is a very smart man. Is it because the war is not going well and his mind is restless that he didn't even hear what I asked?"
"Alang dares to say that when he sent his son to Xuchang, was he really meant to look for reinforcements?"
Before Sima Zhao went to Xuchang, Zhang Chunhua once said to his son based on his understanding of Sima Yi:
If he had to, Sima Yi might not sacrifice his son's life to find a way out for the Sima family.
Sima Yi was silent.
Seeing Sima Yi standing there without answering, Zhang Chunhua's resentment grew stronger.
But the longer Sima Yi remained silent, the resentment in Zhang Chunhua's eyes turned into pleading:
"I and Alang are husband and wife after all. I gave birth to three sons for Alang. Ziyuan (Sima Shi) was guarding Luoyang for Alang, but he was injured in front of the battle and died before me."
"The third son, Ziliang (Sima Qian), is young and suffers from hysteria (i.e., intermittent mental illness) from time to time. We don't know when it will worsen, and he may not have a good death by then."
"It just so happened that the second son was sent to Xuchang by Alang. Now his safety is uncertain. It's okay that Alang hates me. Do I have to hate my own son too?"
Sima Yi finally said:
"Zi Yuan has passed away. Zi Shang is the leader of all the disciples, and he is also the direct descendant of all the disciples. How can I ignore his safety?"
"If he doesn't have more experience, how will he take over the Sima clan in the future? Don't say anything again!"
Hearing Sima Yi's words, Zhang Chunhua looked at him intently, finally used up his last bit of strength and nodded invisibly:
"Forget it, I'll just trust you one more time."
Sima Yi didn't speak any more, but turned around and walked out.
He didn't see that Zhang Chunhua's eyes behind him had been following his figure.
Her eyes turned from resentment to complexity, and then gradually dimmed, until the last trace of her look disappeared.
At the same time, breathing also stops.
——
The death of the Taifu's wife was untimely, because at this time, the entire Taifu's mansion was shrouded in the clouds of war.
When the Han army approached Weize Pass, the news came that Feng personally led the army to attack the city, which made the whole Ye city a little restless.
Feng's reputation for being good at fighting is not inferior to his illustrious and vicious reputation.
Jingxing is one of the most important roads from Jin to Hebei through the Taihang Mountains.
And Weizeguan is the most important gateway to Jingxing. Once it is lost, the Han army will continue to enter Hebei through Jingxing.
Therefore, when the Taifu's wife died of illness and was in mourning, there was a lot of traffic in front of the Taifu's house, and everyone felt like they were mourning for their heirs.
In the eyes of those who don't know, the Taifu's wife is just like his biological mother.
But most of the people who came to express their condolences had ulterior motives:
The thieves are powerful. Can the defender of Weize Pass stop Feng?
If not, when will Taifu personally lead the army there?
In this tense and slightly panic atmosphere, Zhang Chunhua's funeral was kept simple.
Sima Yi, who had taken care of Zhang Chunhua's funeral affairs in just three days, looked even more tired and his body became more and more stooped.
If you put on a farmer's clothes, from a distance, he looks no different from an old farmer who has been carrying heavy burdens all year round and is eventually bent over by the burden.
There is no sign of pampering at all.
The upper half of his body was almost bent over Sima Yi's desk. He squinted his eyes and looked at the official documents sent up below with some difficulty.
After looking at it for a little too long, he felt his eyes were dry and had to rub them with his hands for a while.
After rubbing all the tears out and making your eyes feel more comfortable, you can continue reading.
In fact, most of these official documents are not very important.
The most important thing right now is naturally the battle ahead.
No matter what happens, the battle report must be sent to him as soon as possible. This is the rule set by Sima Yi.
As for the official business that Sima Yi is currently handling, at least most of it would not have been necessary to read in person before.
In a certain county, more than a dozen households of farmers abandoned their farming and fled, and their whereabouts are unknown.
Why did a certain Tuntian Kefu rebel again and were suppressed?
Which county's taxes were not paid on time...
There are many, no major problems, but small troubles continue.
As a veteran of the Four Dynasties, Sima Yi knew one fact:
The Wei Dynasty already had problems during the reign of Emperor Wen.
The problems I am encountering now had already appeared continuously during the reign of Emperor Wen.
In the final analysis, most of the time, these types of problems can be traced back to one root cause, which is local power and aristocratic families.
Of course, now we may also add the Han Dynasty.
The farmers who fled to farm may have been hidden by big households, or they may have fled to the Han Kingdom in the west.
When the settlers rebelled, it was most likely due to collusion between the settlers and the big families, which resulted in the loss of farmland and the burden on the settlers.
Failure to raise taxes is the most fatal, and the reason is also the simplest:
The big local households have occupied all the cultivated land and hid the population. Where can they collect taxes?
In the early years when the Eight-Niu Plow was spread from Shu, both the late emperor and the knowledgeable people in the court thought that this was God's blessing for the Wei Dynasty.
Because the Wei Dynasty no longer had to worry about food problems.
Some people even took the opportunity to ridicule Zhuge Liang of Shu for being ignorant, and Feng Mingwen for being ignorant. Such an important weapon of the country did not know how to keep it secret.
As long as the Wei Dynasty is rich in food, the area of Shu will be in peace soon.
The emergence of the Eight-Niu Plow indeed helped the Wei Dynasty harvest a lot more grain in the first few years.
Therefore, the Wei Dynasty was able to reorganize its army again and again to fight against the Han army despite repeated defeats in the west.
But no one expected that after Wei got the Eight Niu Plow, he only had a few good years before he began to pay a heavy price:
The Eight Ox Plow greatly encouraged the greed of powerful families.
With the eight-ox plow, they could more easily take over fields that they had been unable to take over earlier due to lack of manpower.
The trend of land annexation in the Wei Dynasty became more and more intense after the emergence of Ba Niu Li.
And all of this, in turn, caused the strength of the aristocratic family to expand rapidly.
With the power of the late emperor, he tried to contain it many times, but in the end he could not stop it.
Thinking of this, Sima Yi's face became more and more serious. He put down the official document, stood up, walked to the window, and stood there blankly, thinking a lot.
The Eight-Niu Plow was originally made by Feng Yong. It is impossible for him not to know how important it is for farming.
However, with Zhuge's wisdom and Feng Yong's plan, he only kept it a secret for two or three years, then took the initiative to send it to the State of Wu, and then spread it to the Wei Dynasty.
It’s impossible that they didn’t know that Ba Niu Li was more suitable for the Central Plains, but they still allowed Ba Niu Li to spread. Are they really not worried at all?
still……
Was it actually intentional?
A wealthy family is like a glutton, devouring everything it can.
Even if the Wei Dynasty occasionally gains something, it will only become food for this glutton in the end.
So Feng Mingwen had already seen the biggest weakness of the Wei Dynasty before he was crowned weak?
At this thought, Sima Yi felt almost depressed.
Although Zhuge Liang is very wise, there are still traces to follow in his actions.
Feng Mingwen is so scheming, but his methods are unprecedented. He can be said to be almost a monster?
It is really tiring to be physically and mentally exhausted against such a monster.
"Feng Mingwen...Feng Mingwen...has great foresight..."
Mutter someone's name, and finally let out a lament:
"There was Zhuge Liang before the Han Dynasty, and there was Feng Mingwen after him. Didn't Yan Han really deserve to be exterminated?"
At this moment, a servant's voice sounded outside the door:
"Taifu, I would like to see you as a doctor."
When Sima Yi heard this, he turned around quickly, the fatigue on his face disappeared, and even his voice became a little excited:
"Quick, please come quickly!"
Soon, Fu Gu, also looking tired, entered the house.
"Lan Shi, you're back!" Sima Yi stepped forward quickly, "Thank you for your hard work!"
Seeing the Taifu's hopeful eyes, Fu Gu paused in his steps, looked ashamed, and bowed:
"Hey, let's meet the master."
"Get up, get up quickly!" Sima Yi didn't wait for Fu Gu to finish his salute, and quickly helped him up, and asked in a low voice, somewhat impatiently, "How's it going?"
Fu Gu stood up straight, not daring to look directly at Sima Yi, lowered his head and smiled bitterly:
"I feel ashamed that I have betrayed the great trust of the Grand Tutor."
Sima Yi's expression froze, and his movements slowed down. He held Fu Gu's hand and then patted Fu Gu's shoulder and sighed:
"It's okay, it's what I expected. Come on, sit down first and tell me carefully, what is their attitude?"
Fu Gu sat down as instructed.
Sima Yi asked someone to serve another cup of tea.
Probably because he was really thirsty, Fu Gu ignored the boiling water and raised his glass and took a big sip.
It was obvious that he was in a hurry along the way.
After taking the opportunity to drink tea to sort out his thoughts, Fu Gu said:
"According to the Taifu's order, I went to Pingyuan and the surrounding counties to find the Cui family of Qinghe and other wealthy families to discuss money and food matters..."
After a pause, he continued, "The Cui family agreed readily, but the amount given was very small, no more than ten thousand stones."
When Sima Yi heard this, he groaned:
"What can I use ten thousand stones for?"
For ordinary people, ten thousand stones may be considered an amount that they will never see in a lifetime, but Sima Yi knew that for those wealthy families, they could get a hundred times as much.
As for the consumption in the army, it is only enough for 10,000 people for a month.
In addition, there are now 50,000 more cavalry...
Sima Yi thought about the 50,000 Hu cavalry eating horse chews, which directly doubled the food consumption of the Hebei army, and he felt heartbroken and almost couldn't breathe.
He subconsciously reached out and pressed his heart, his voice a little hoarse:
"They are simply short-sighted and ignorant! Don't they know that if there is insufficient military rations, the sergeants mutiny, unable to defend the Taihang Mountains, and someone like Feng enters Hebei, they will have a good life?"
As he spoke, he suddenly became angry and slammed the teacup on the table to the ground.
I closed my eyes and leaned on the bench, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.
I thought that by asking for help from the Tuoba clan in advance, I could arrange ahead of Feng, but I didn't expect that my opponent was still one step ahead of me.
How could the Han army send troops outside the fortress in winter?!
What kind of monster is he to do such an outrageous thing?
What's more important is that he actually did it!
Done!
This made my advance arrangements a complete joke.
What's even more ridiculous is that under the pressure of a large army, he was actually overwhelmed by the 50,000 elite cavalry, thinking that he could have 50,000 more cavalry at his disposal.
For a moment, I never imagined how much of a burden these 50,000 cavalry would be to Hebei.
Sima Yi opened his eyes and stared at the roof. There was no focus, only confusion.
Feng Mingwen, is all this part of your plan again?
The old man who is your mother-in-law is so many years older than you, but he has always been played by you.
Sima Yi felt like crying more than once.
Fu Gu naturally didn't know what Sima Yi was thinking at this time.
Seeing that the master was so lost, he wanted to comfort him, but he didn't know how to speak.
We can only continue the previous topic:
"Grand Tutor, from what I see, the Cui family and other aristocratic families are not unwilling to provide money and food, nor are they without money and food. They also know what kind of situation they will be in if Hebei fails."
"The reason why they have such an attitude is probably because they have some agenda..."
"I know, of course I know..." Taifu Sima murmured, and then suddenly became furious, "Don't you just want me to offer them a higher price?"
He sat up straight and cursed loudly:
"Don't you just want to make Hebei the Hebei of aristocratic families? The Han army has already reached the doorstep. You don't want to work together and are so greedy. What are you short-sighted?"
"A bunch of rats! Rats! They deserve to be hanged from a tree by Feng Yong!"
Turning the world into the world of aristocratic families, which will remain unchanged for thousands of years, is the biggest pursuit of the aristocratic families over the years.
As a representative of aristocratic families, how could Sima Yi not know the thoughts of these wealthy families?
Now that they see this possibility in Hebei, these people can no longer control their thoughts and plan to force themselves to speed up the pace.