Wei Qing Chapter 174: Gongsun Yuan claimed the king and raised his troops to conquer Liaodong, Empress Mao fell out of favor and complained and was given to death
Chapter 174: Gongsun Yuan claimed the king and raised his troops to conquer Liaodong, Empress Mao fell out of favor and complained and was given to death
Since Cao Rui changed his clothes in the early Yuan Dynasty and changed the color of his clothes, it has already reached the seventh month of autumn in the blink of an eye.
On this day, a fast horse relay message from Youzhou in the north reached Luoyang.
In the east hall of Tai Chi Hall.
Cao Rui frowned as he looked at the military report sent by Guanqiu Jian from Youzhou.
Gongsun Yuan, who was entrenched in Liaodong and was nominally the Great Sima of the Wei Dynasty and Duke of Lelang, heard that Cao Rui had been carrying out large-scale construction projects in recent years and was not considerate of the people's efforts. He thought that Cao had lost people's hearts, so he raised his troops to rebel!
Speaking of Liaodong, it is actually a "state within a state" within the territory of the Wei Kingdom.
Gongsun Yuan was the grandson of Gongsun Du, the prefect of Liaodong in the late Han Dynasty, and the son of Gongsun Kang, the general of the left.
When Gongsun Kang passed away, because his sons Gongsun Huang, Gongsun Yuan and others were still young, in order to prevent the leader of the country from being doubted and the leaderless situation, the people in eastern Liaoning chose to support Gongsun Kang's younger brother Gongsun Gong, who had mediocre qualifications but was quite old. He was the governor of Liaodong.
Later, Emperor Wen Cao Pi established the country on behalf of the Han Dynasty. Although Liaodong continued to obey the Wei State on the surface, in fact it always had second thoughts.
As early as the second year of Taihe, Cao Rui grew up and gradually took over military power against the ambitious Gongsun Yuan, forcing his uncle Gongsun Gong to take the position of governor of Liaodong. At first, Cao Rui did not listen to Liu Ye's advice and took this opportunity to annihilate Liaodong, but instead worshiped him. Gongsun Yuan was appointed General Yanglie and the governor of Liaodong, and was ordered to continue to rule Liaodong.
Facts have proved that this Gongsun Yuan is indeed not a kind person.
Not long after Gongsun Yuan came to power, he began to communicate with Wu and exchange information.
A few years ago, in the seventh year of Taihe, Gongsun Yuan attempted to profess his vassalship to Wu as a foreign aid to Soochow, and jointly attacked the Wei Dynasty to strengthen his own power. Naturally, Sun Quan had the same idea, and planned to canonize Gongsun Yuan as King of Yan.
The prime minister of Eastern Wu, Gu Yong, and the assistant general of Wu, Zhang Zhao, all believed that this plan could not be accomplished. They appealed to the court, believing that Gongsun Yuan would be defeated, and they all opposed Sun Wu's support for Gongsun Yuan.
But Sun Quan had made up his mind and did not listen to their advice. Instead, he sent Zhang Mi, Xu Yan, He Da and other ministers to go north to Liaodong with gold and jade treasures and established Gongsun Yuan as King of Yan.
Gongsun Yuan did not expect that Sun Quan would value him so much, but soon after he thought about it, he thought that Dongwu was far away and Cao Wei was close, and he was afraid of Cao Wei's attack. He felt that it was not cost-effective to offend the great Wei, so he changed his mind again, and added He also coveted the large amount of treasures sent by Soochow, so he lured the Wu envoy to death and dedicated his head to Cao Rui.
Cao Rui then took the opportunity to worship Gongsun Yuan as Grand Sima and grant him the title of Duke Lelang, in an attempt to win over Gongsun Yuan and let him continue to serve as the governor of Liaodong and command the counties.
However, since then, Ansheng's life has not passed for ten years, and now Gongsun Yuan has launched an army to rebel.
Guanqiu Jian, the governor of Youzhou, made a decisive decision and immediately dispatched tens of thousands of border troops to carry out the expedition. However, Guanqiu Jian was really unlucky in his first battle. Because it was raining in autumn and Gongsun Yuan was holding on to the Liao Tunnel City, he had a bad start, so he had to temporarily He led his troops back to the territory of Youzhou and sent fast horses to Luoyang to report the matter to Cao Rui.
Cao Rui was not in a good mood at the moment. After thinking for a long time, he decided to call someone to discuss it together.
"Come here, tell Liu Fang, Sun Zi, and Liu Shao to come to the palace to discuss matters!"
Since Cao Rui came to the throne, he has always adopted a gentle and appeasing policy towards Liaodong. He has never fought with him and does not know the details, so he does not know how to deal with it at this time.
Among the many regular servants of the Dispatched Cavalry, Cao Zhao also serves as the captain of the Tun Cavalry School and is in charge of the imperial army. Today, the Tun Cavalry Camp is reporting to the school, so Cao Zhao has no time to come to discuss affairs. However, Gao Tanglong has been ill a few days ago and has already It's been a while since I've been to the court. As for He Zeng, after taking over the school affairs office, I didn't have much free time. Bian Lan also passed away a few years ago. As for the queen's brother Mao Zeng, he was just a fool. , coupled with the fact that Cao Rui has been somewhat indifferent to Queen Mao in recent years, Mao Zeng, a regular attendant of the cavalry, naturally has no sense of existence.
Therefore, at this moment, the only permanent servants who can advise Cao Rui are Liu Fang and Sun Zi.
Not long after, Liu Fang, Sun Zi, and Liu Shao came to the hall.
"I will see you, Your Majesty."
"My dear friends, please get up." Cao Rui asked the waiter beside him to hand the relay report to the three of them: "This is the military report sent by Zhong Gong from Youzhou. I believe you have already seen the specific military information. Reported, I don’t have a decision on this matter at the moment, so I asked you to help me come up with an idea.”
Although the three of them had indeed read the Di newspaper a long time ago, they still read Guan Qiujian's military newspaper again. After reading it, the three of them thought silently for a moment before Liu Fang spoke first:
"Your Majesty, I believe that Gongsun Yuan now has an army of 100,000 and occupies Liaodong. The terrain is dangerous and the army is strong. Although the governor of Youzhou is amazing and talented, he has never had the experience of leading an army in combat. This time the army was unfavorable, and the spirit was dampened and morale was low. I am afraid that Gongsun Yuan is no longer a match for him. Therefore, I believe that the governor of Youzhou should be ordered not to act rashly for the time being, and your majesty will send another experienced and wise and brave general to lead the army to Liaodong. , after joining forces with the Youzhou army of Commander Guanqiu, and then defeating the enemy together, we will have a chance of winning."
After hearing this, Cao Rui was silent for a long time.
Cao Rui was naturally very aware of Guan Qiu Jian's talents. He knew Guan Qiu Jian as a young man and knew that Guan Qiu Jian was not only talented in literature and good at politics, but also skilled in martial arts. He was familiar with military books and had extraordinary resourcefulness. He was really a rare handsome talent. , he has always recognized Guan Qiu Jian's ability, which is why he handed over the Youzhou portal to Guan Qiu Jian. But this time Guan Qiu Jian's luck was really bad, and Liu Fang just did what he said. It is indeed not an alarmist statement to say that the morale of the Youzhou Army is low and cannot fight anymore.
Naturally, he understood what Liu Fang meant. The experienced "wise and courageous general" Liu Fang said was naturally the only one in the dynasty except Taiwei Sima Yi. Although Liu Fang's intention was obvious, it was He wanted to reinstate Sima Yi, but after much thought, Cao Rui still didn't want Sima Yi, the "Tomb Tiger", to take over the military power again.
But what Liu Fang said has some truth to it. Gongsun Yuan's strength cannot be underestimated, and Guanqiu Jianxin has not been in office for long, and he lacks marching experience. The land of Liaodong is indeed not a trivial matter, and there is no room for failure. Therefore, Cao Rui did not dare to follow suit. He randomly used the important land of Liaodong to train Guanqiu Jian.
As for the others, Cao Shuang? Qin Lang? Xia Houxian? Or Cao Zhao? Or Xia Houxuan, who has made many military exploits for himself but is still stubborn and aloof and disliked deep in his heart?
Cao Rui understood that although they were not idiots, their ability and experience in marching and fighting were slightly inferior to Guanqiu Jian. In addition, the situation in Liaodong was critical, and even Guanqiu Jian was temporarily helpless. , naturally it cannot be left to these newcomers to practice casually.
Do you really want to re-enable Sima Yi?
He remembered what Gao Tanglong said to him when Lingxiao Tower was just built.
"'Wei magpie has a nest, and Wei dove lives in it'. Nowadays, the palace is built, the mausoleum is built, and the magpie nest is built. This is a sign that the palace has not been completed and the original owner cannot live in it. If God's will says, if the palace is not completed, there will be another surname. Controlling this is a commandment from Heaven. You must be careful and careful. Your Majesty regards me as your heart, and this is what I say from the bottom of my heart. Although I have disobeyed Your Majesty, I hope that Your Majesty will think carefully about it!"
Gao Tanglong's words were clearly warning himself that Sima Yi must be on guard.
He remembered that although Sima Yi was now serving as a lieutenant, he could still respond to every call in the court. Even Liu Fang, Sun Zi, Jiang Ji, Gao Rou, Wei Zhen, Sima Zhi and others he trusted and relied on could not. exception.
He remembered what his father, the emperor, had said to his former great sima Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu when he was dying.
He also remembered that out of the four auxiliary ministers, now only Sima Yi was left. The balance of power and prestige among the ministers in the court had long been seriously tilted.
However, what will happen if I, the Great Wei, are without him now?
Cao Rui couldn't figure out this matter for a moment. At this moment, he put his hand on his forehead and frowned, looking worried.
"Liu Fang and Sun Zi conveyed my decree and ordered Liaodong to hold on for the time being and not to fight in vain; in addition, ordered Qing, Yan, You, and Jizhou to build large ships and intensify cruising to prevent Soochow and Liaodong from continuing to collude... …As for the dispatch of the expeditionary force, we will discuss it later.”
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Fang, Sun Zi, and Liu Shao saw that Cao Rui looked tired, and their goal seemed to be half achieved, so they hurriedly left and went to the Chancellor's Stand to draft an edict.
―――
On Xin Mao Day, officials at Lingtai discovered a strange celestial phenomenon appearing in Taibai.
Everyone knows that this is an ominous sign.
When Gongsun Yuan saw that the imperial court was not taking action for a while, he mistakenly believed that the Wei State had no available people and had enough strength and energy to deal with him. Therefore, with the strong support of his subordinates who were eager to make contributions and achieve great success, Gongsun Yuan established himself as the "King of Yan". ", also set up hundreds of officials, changed the year name to the first year of Shaohan, and officially launched a blatant rebellion.
As a result, the people on the border were panicked, and there was a faint danger of unrest in the northern border of the Wei Dynasty.
However, it rained continuously all night, and man-made disasters continued, and natural disasters came again. In the autumn and September, Jizhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou and other places suffered from floods due to the overflow of autumn rains and the closure of the Yellow River. Cao Rui, who was a little worried, immediately dispatched the censor. He went to pacify various states and counties, and opened warehouses in each state to release grain to cheer up the people, in an attempt to alleviate the disaster.
Wei State suffered from natural disasters and man-made disasters at the same time, and the two countries Wu, Shu and Mobei Xianbei were still eyeing it.
This year, the Wei Dynasty was once again plunged into a huge crisis just like Cao Rui had just ascended the throne more than ten years ago.
But the only difference is that at this time, the talents of the Wei Dynasty were withering, and the emperor was no longer as powerful as he used to be.
In the past few months, Cao Rui has been very busy.
When I heard that the large ship had been built and was patrolling the sea day and night, Cao Rui felt a little relieved. At least now he no longer had to worry about Soochow and Liaodong colluding to exchange news. Moreover, the victims in the four states were temporarily comforted. Flood disasters in various states are also being rectified.
Cao Rui felt that he could finally relax a little.
Cao Rui heard that although the flowers in Fanglin Garden had died, the autumn chrysanthemums were in full bloom, so he asked people to prepare a banquet in the garden, intending to enjoy the flowers, drink and have fun with his concubines.
Queen Mao has always been cautious, and since the death of the prince Cao Yin, Cao Rui didn't know who killed his prince, so he naturally kept a close eye on everyone including Queen Wende, Queen Guo and Queen Mao. Therefore, there was an irreparable rift between him and Empress Mao, which has been the case for many years. The young and beautiful Mrs. Guo has also been favored by Cao Rui over the years. Therefore, during this banquet, Cao Rui Rui did not invite Queen Mao to come.
In the Fanglin Garden, Mrs. Guo and the concubines chatted and laughed with the emperor while urging him to drink. Not long after, Cao Rui was already very drunk.
Mrs. Guo, who was newly favored but not stupid, felt that it would be inappropriate not to invite the Queen for such an occasion, so she said cautiously: "Your Majesty, why don't you invite the Queen to come with you to appreciate the chrysanthemums?"
After hearing this, Cao Rui shook his head and just raised a bottle to drink for himself. He said: "The queen never likes such occasions. It's better not to tell her about today's banquet."
So Cao Rui ordered the attendants and maids present not to tell the queen about today's banquet in Fanglin Garden.
Only Mrs. Guo understood in her heart that Cao Rui's reluctance to invite the Queen was not entirely due to the estrangement between him and Queen Mao. There was also another reason. It should be that Cao Rui did not want to be so rude when Queen Mao was currently there.
Mrs. Guo understood that in the emperor's mind, although today's Empress Mao was no longer the almost perfect love of his heart, she, who was newly favored and had no extraordinary merits, was even less so.
Perhaps His Majesty's heart has always been filled with the former Princess Mao of Pingyuan. Apart from that perfect shadow, it is difficult for anyone in this world to replace the position in the Emperor's heart.
At this time, Cao Rui was very drunk, hugging him from left to right, and indeed seemed a bit debauched.
The night gradually became darker, and under the cover of the flowers, branches and leaves, you could still hear the laughter and joy of the warblers and swallows from time to time.
―――
The next day, the bored Empress Mao rode a lacquered wooden carriage around the palace, and by chance she met Emperor Cao Rui in a winding corridor.
The couple was a little embarrassed and remained speechless for a moment.
Perhaps because she felt the atmosphere was a little awkward, or perhaps because she was deeply disappointed in her husband Cao Rui, Empress Mao then said something that was either sarcastic or a joke. She smiled and said: "Your Majesty had a banquet in the North Garden yesterday. Huh?"
After hearing these words, Cao Rui suddenly felt a burning and stinging feeling on his face. He became a little bit angry. Perhaps because he finally couldn't hide his ugly side in front of her, his emotions became a little out of control.
"Who told the Queen?"
"Is this important?" Empress Mao couldn't help but feel even more disappointed. The king in front of her was no longer the husband she once shared with her through hardships wholeheartedly.
Back then, he was his husband, his support, and the sky above his head.
But now he has changed. He has become dissolute and extravagant, suspicious and irritable, much like the late emperor who was sometimes unreasonable.
"Come here, arrest the palace servants who accompanied me and my concubines at the banquet yesterday, and kill them all without mercy!"
After hearing her husband's voice, which was like a devil's roar, Maomaohou suddenly felt a chill in her heart. She burst into tears and drove the car back to the palace without looking back.
Why, why did he, who was kind and generous back then, become like this today?
On the day after Cao Rui ordered the death of dozens of palace officials, a waiter came to the Queen's Jiaofang Palace carrying a lacquered wooden tray containing white silk, daggers, and poisonous wine.
Unexpectedly, Queen Mao just smiled indifferently, drank the glass of poisonous wine, and sang the white-headed chant sung by sad people in the Han Dynasty: "
It is as white as snow on the mountain and as bright as the moon among the clouds.
I heard that you had two opinions, so I came to resolve it.
…”
For no reason, she remembered the young man who was just King Pingyuan in the early years of Huang Dynasty. At that time, he had a pair of very clear eyes, and the light in those eyes was like the clear spring in the mountains of his hometown in Hanoi. Flowed into her heart...
―――
In the Kowloon Palace, the emperor looked at the pearl hairpin she wore when she first married into the palace.
She used to be so kind and beautiful, but why did she want to kill her own royal heir and be so cold and callous to herself?
He remembered the day when his father asked him to go hunting in Dashi Mountain more than ten years ago when he was weak.
Back then, she was sitting side by side with him on the chariot, holding her hand timidly, as if she didn't want to let him leave her, but she didn't dare to hold it too tightly, and just gently pulled her finger.
"If you have a wife like this, what else can a husband ask for..."
This was the promise he made to her back then. Cao Rui once resented his father, why he was so ruthless and wanted to kill his mother, but now he suddenly discovered that he was not a ruthless person. ?
Are those who are emperors really doomed to live a lonely life?
On this day, the emperor on the throne shed a lot of tears. Whether this was because of sadness or regret, even he himself could not tell.
On the cold and windy Guichou day, the emperor, who was becoming more and more haggard and no longer looked like a young and vigorous man, personally presided over the funeral of his wife. In this way, Mao ended her life and took her to "mourn." The posthumous title of "Queen" was buried under the loess of Minling.