Chapter Ninety-Four: The Rain Continues, The Cold Wind Continues
Cao Rui's memories still stayed in the autumn of the second year of Taihe two years ago.
The autumn rain continued, and the young emperor stood alone on the Lingyuntai in the imperial city. At this time, he was no longer the king of Pingyuan who was jealous and tested by his father, so he was trembling and walking on thin ice. Naturally, , he is no longer the young emperor with an unstable foundation.
Over the past year, Wu Wang Sun Quan, Xincheng Mengda, Zhuge Kongming, these powerful enemies were like God's tests in turn, testing him, the young emperor of Wei, again and again. Now, in the face of changes, he finally From the initial panic and fear, to the current state of being calm despite the collapse of the mountain.
The autumn rain came, and the young Emperor Ye couldn't help but shudder.
At this time, there was a burst of sonorous and powerful footsteps from the Lingyun stage. After a while, the footsteps gradually stopped.
It turned out that the person who came was Cao Zuan, the second son of the Grand Sima Cao Xiu and the former general of the East Palace Tiger Ben Lang. Now Cao Zuan was deeply trusted by Cao Rui and had been awarded the post of General Wu and the title of Marquis. Cao Zuan came to Cao Rui and respectfully Kneeling on the ground soaked by the rain, he held a bamboo tube in both hands and reported:
"Your Majesty, Grand Sima has sent an urgent report from Yangzhou."
Cao Rui was still looking at his thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in the distance. Luoyang City in the continuous autumn rain looked particularly beautiful and prosperous. The young emperor did not bend down to get the military report, but said one word coldly:
"read!"
Cao Zuan did not dare to neglect, opened the bamboo tube, took out the military report, and read it aloud.
After Cao Zuan finished reciting, Cao Rui's slightly closed eyes suddenly opened. Cao Rui thought to himself that what Grand Sima Cao Xiu said in his statement was indeed extraordinary.
"Desi, go and tell your brother quickly and ask him to invite Gao Tanglong to the east hall of the Taiji Hall to discuss matters. In addition, ask Chang Si to summon Cao Shuang and others and wait in the Taiji Hall."
"only!"
Cao Zuan, wearing armor, half-knelt on the ground to salute, then went down to Lingyuntai.
————
After the crowning ceremony, Xia Houxuan, the Marquis of Changling, looked at the Cao family and the elders of the Xiahou family at the table, and suddenly thought of Cao Xiu, the former great Sima and the powerful Marquis of Changping.
His thoughts couldn't help but wander back to the late autumn two years ago, when he was still paying homage to his father, Xia Houshang.
The second year of Taihe, the ninth month of autumn.
That year was still a year of endless war.
Contrary to what everyone in the empire thought, this year did not lead to a truce on the border and the people to live and work in peace and contentment as everyone expected.
This year, the Wei Dynasty suffered its greatest loss ever since the new emperor ascended the throne.
That is the number one general of this dynasty, the Great Sima of the Southeast Great Wall of the Wei Dynasty, Yangzhou Mu, and Changping Marquis Cao Xiu. They accidentally fell into the trap set by the Lord of Wu Sun Quan, the Governor of Wu Lu Yi, and the Wu general Zhou Li. As a result, Lu Yi lured him to Shiting. Da Sima was ambushed and killed more than ten thousand Wei soldiers. As for the baggage, food, ordnance, etc., they suffered countless losses!
This matter cannot be regarded as the fault of Grand Sima Cao Xiu alone.
When the emperor sent a secret agent from the school to find out, General Zhou Li of Soochow was indeed as he said. He was jealous of Wu King Sun Quan and humiliated by Wu General Lu Yi every day. Only then did he believe Zhou Li's false surrender and decided to Let Da Sima and Changping Marquis Cao Xiu personally lead an army of 100,000 people to go south. In addition, he also arranged for the Hussar General who guarded Jingzhou and Wuyang Marquis Sima Yi to lead the Jingzhou armies south to attack Jiangling and contain the soldiers and horses from other places in Soochow. In order to ensure nothing goes wrong, Cao Rui also dispatched Yuzhou governor Jia Kui, former general Man Chong, Dongguan prefect Hu Zhi and other four armies to attack Dongguan directly from Xiyang.
The emperor's intention was obvious. He wanted Da Sima to welcome Zhou Li and take over the Poyang County land, population, soldiers and horses offered by him. On the other hand, he wanted Da Sima to adapt to the situation, and if necessary, cross the river in one fell swoop to defeat Dongwu Jianye!
It is difficult for anyone to resist such a huge temptation, not to mention that since the emperor ascended the throne, he has achieved a series of great victories on the border within a year. Riding on the youthful spirit, he is naturally complacent and unwilling to let go of such a great opportunity.
But who would have expected that, after all, Jiang was still old and hot, and Wu King Sun Quan actually contacted his general Lu Yi to stage such a big drama, which really made everyone in the Wei Dynasty fall into his trap!
At this critical moment, what made Xiahou Xuan even more unexpected was that General Sima Yi actually delayed the march at this moment and stopped the march on the grounds of heavy rain and muddy roads and difficult roads. This left Da Sima alone.
The dangers of fighting.
At that time, although I was still wearing sackcloth and wearing filial piety and could not travel far, after careful consideration, I still sent an urgent message to Sun Li, the prefect of Langye, asking him to advise the Great Sima no matter what, not to continue to go deep alone.
But how did Xia Houxuan know that Cao Xiu, who had gone deep behind enemy lines, was really eager to make a contribution, but in the end he still did not listen to Sun Li's advice.
In this way, Da Sima continued to march to Shiting. As expected, he was suddenly attacked by 90,000 troops led by Lu Xun, the commander-in-chief of Soochow, Zhu Huan, the commander-in-chief on the left, and Quan Cong, the commander-in-chief on the right.
Quan Cong, Quan Zihuang, was the son-in-law of Sun Quan, King of Wu, and a famous general in Soochow. He had always been responsible for the defense of Soochow and the north of the Yangtze River, but for many years, he had been repeatedly frustrated by the great Sima Cao Xiu. This time he was able to join the battle and defeat the great Sima.
It can be said that the bad breath in my chest came out of my mouth.
The Great Sima Cao Xiu was suddenly ambushed and caught off guard. After the battle was unfavorable, he had to retreat in a hurry. The Wu army was arrogant and pursued the victory. Under the hot pursuit of the Wu army, the Wei army led by the Great Sima no longer had the intention to fight. Along the way, they were pursued and killed by the Wu army.
The number of people killed by Wei Erlang reached more than 10,000!
In this desperate situation, Da Sima wanted to fight to the death and break through to the important town of Jia Shi in order to regroup, but he did not expect that the retreat here had already been blocked by Sun Quan's troops.
In this way, the soldiers under the command of Da Sima had no way to retreat in front of them and were pursued by soldiers behind them. The army was in panic and defected one after another, and finally began to collapse.
In this life-and-death situation, fortunately, Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou previously sent by the emperor, arrived in time to rescue him, and was able to frighten back the Wu army and save Da Sima from being completely wiped out.
After Da Sima returned to Luoyang, Xia Houxuan originally thought that Uncle Wen Lie had finally escaped the disaster, but no one expected that after the defeat, he would become the arrogant and stubborn "Cao Family's Thousand Miles Horse" who would be invincible throughout his life.
, Great Sima Cao Xiu was so ashamed of this defeat that he fell ill in his prime and died in the Changping Marquis Mansion!
He still remembers that when he was a child, his father once told him that Uncle Wen Lie and the Soochow general Lu Yi studied together in the south of the Yangtze River when they were young. They were brothers and sisters, and they also created the exquisite "Peacock Flying Southeast" together.
The two of them cherished each other's swordsmanship and had the same spirit. But who knew that these two brothers, who were brothers and sisters, would inevitably have to fight to the death in the end.
In this hearty battle, Lu Yingqi was the superior player after all.
When Xiahou Xuan thought about this, he couldn't help but feel sad. Cao Xiu was not only a famous general in the world, but also his father's close friend and a close friend. It was really a pity that Cao Xiu passed away in the prime of his life.
That young man in purple, the young man in purple who rode a horse and shot at the banquet at the Tongque Terrace to win the brocade robe of the Cao family, finally fell on his journey.
————
In the Tai Chi Hall, Cao Rui was recalling that autumn day two years ago.
The setbacks of that year made me feel as if I had been knocked back to my original shape, and this incident became an eternal shame in my heart.
Changping Hou Cao Xiu, as the chief minister of the clan left to him by Emperor Wen, and the highest military commander of the Wei Dynasty, has always intimidated Soochow with his absolute power. Cao Xiu has been guarding Yangzhou since the beginning of Emperor Wen's dynasty. Over the years, It was almost going to tear Soochow's northern defense line to pieces.
He still remembered that the always cautious Shangshu Jiang Ji specifically came to advise him, saying that the Wu general Zhu Ran stationed upstream might attack Cao Xiu from behind, and the Wu army might also advance eastward at any time to cut off Da Sima's retreat. He suggested that he He sent troops to rescue Da Sima. However, he made a wrong decision in the end, which caused Da Sima to fall into the Wu army's trick.
Cao Xiu's death was tantamount to breaking one of his arms, and Cao Rui felt heartbroken.
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come alone.
In the blink of an eye, winter arrived. At the turn of December, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang, once again invaded the north and surrounded the important town of Chencang. Fortunately, after experiencing the crisis in Longyou, Guanzhong, General Cao Zhen did not dare to be careless anymore and sent General Hao Zhao in advance to guard the city tightly. Chencang, Zhuge Liang was not allowed to attack Chencang, so the Shu army ran out of food and retreated without success.
The death of Grand Sima Cao Xiu seemed to have freed Wu Lord Sun Quan from fear and worries. The following year, the King of Wu was finally high-spirited and proclaimed himself emperor in Wuchang City without any scruples!
This made Cao Rui intolerable. Cao Rui understood that Sun Quan no longer took him seriously.
In the past few years, as the new emperor, he has faced the trials and tribulations of God again and again, but he has never been timid and dealt with them calmly every time, so that he quickly established his prestige in the court.
Although he has four ministers who take care of his life, he seems to have an innate ability to make those important ministers obey orders and play their best role, instead of letting them use the power in their hands to constrain him.
Everyone also firmly believed that their monarch would definitely be a wise master. No one would doubt Cao Rui's ability anymore, because the emperor's ability was beyond doubt.
The emperor's thoughts finally returned to the court meeting from the past events of a few years ago. He stroked the dragon head beside the armrest of the throne. This boundless power gave him the opportunity to prove himself, which made him feel extremely proud.
But he also discovered that this throne seemed to have some kind of magic power, which actually made all his beloved wives and best friends become frightened in front of him, walking on thin ice. He discovered that when he ascended this throne, he was destined to become A lonely person.
In the past few years, what pained Cao Rui the most was the pain of losing his son.
His Ji'er, his Mu'er... He seemed to have been cursed in these years. The two princes had just been crowned kings and died when they were less than one year old!
He finally understood why his father had become increasingly distant from him.
Those who are emperors are destined to be lonely and widowed.
It is precisely because of this that the majesty of the emperor is unfathomable and makes all people surrender.
Looking at the court, among the ministers, there are already high-ranking and powerful people, such as Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Shaoling, and Sima Yi, the Marquis of Wuyang. However, no one dares to be even a little bit proud of Cao Rui, because no one dares to be proud of him. this way.
"Long live my emperor!" All the ministers and servants of the court prostrated themselves on the ground, and the mountains shouted in worship.
"I love you, please be safe." Although Cao Rui's voice was soft and clear, it did not sound intimidating to others. But every minister looked trembling and respectful.