Chapter 640 Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize
Chapter 640: Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it
When Cao Cao sat across from him at the long table and looked directly into Liu Xie's eyes, Liu Xie should have understood that all respect for him in Cao Cao's heart had been completely eliminated.
It's not scary to look straight into the eyes.
The scary thing is the equal status.
Therefore, Cao Cao sat down and Liu Xie stood up, probably to maintain his final dignity - but Liu Xie did not realize that he was self-defeating - such a scene of the prime minister sitting down and the emperor standing will definitely be the same in the future.
It's rare.
"Settling accounts? I...could it be that I owe the Prime Minister something?"
"I... live in seclusion. Prime Minister, if you want soldiers, I will give you military power. If you want wealth, I will build the Prime Minister's Palace for you... You want power... You are already one person below ten thousand people. Now... what else is there?
Can the account be settled?"
Liu Xie was pretending to be confused. He was sure that Cao Cao did not dare to kill him, so he acted very tough, but...it was obvious that Liu Xie didn't know what bottom line he had offended Cao Cao——
"Haha...why is your majesty so nervous? I, Cao Cao, will never accuse someone of innocence out of thin air. As for the account I mentioned...your majesty doesn't think that I will argue with someone of your age, right?"
Cao Cao licked his lips, and the arrogance on his face was clearly revealed. Because of the defeat in the Battle of Chibi, his beard and hair were gray with worry. Cao Cao, who was over fifty years old, had long passed the age of passion - he was telling the truth.
…
In Cao Cao's eyes, Liu Xie was just a poor child who had not grown up, a bird imprisoned in a cage... The bird kept chirping, disturbing the owner. Could it be that the owner would open the birdcage and teach him a lesson?
Isn’t it like a bird in a cage?
Will not--
Cao Cao didn't care at all how Liu Xie cursed and cursed himself in the palace. Even if Liu Xie contradicted him in person, it would not have any impact on Cao Cao's current status.
The soldiers are in hand, the power is in hand, the prime minister is the prime minister, but the emperor is difficult for the emperor.
Under such circumstances, there was only one reason why Cao Cao would argue with Liu Xie or even get angry and seek revenge on him - Yi Xiaotian.
"Discourteous! If Prime Minister speaks rudely like this again, I will definitely punish you!"
Liu Xie had a rare toughness, but when he said it, he looked so sad.
The door of the palace was closed tightly, so it was dark in the palace. Liu Xie regretted saying this when he said this, because through the dim light, when he saw Cao Cao's eyes as if looking at a dead person, he suddenly realized:
Whether you live or not is not important to the other person!
The important thing is that as long as the officials outside think that he is alive... then for Cao Cao, maybe he will be more relaxed.
Liu Xie regretted... not only regretted his words to irritate Cao Cao, but also regretted his decisions in the past few days... He had already left an impression in everyone's eyes that he would not go to the morning court... So if he does not go to the morning court for several years in the future——
How will others see it?
——At most, he could be called a fool, but... who would have thought that he had died quietly?
Thinking of this, Liu Xie's body froze, and he sat down... swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and stared at Hua Guan's head, which was already as wet as rain.
Cao Cao smiled, but he felt even more contemptuous in his heart.
This is such a person... who has such a group of upright and loyal ministers, such a brave and intelligent queen, and many foolish people who trust him - such a coward who dares to do something, but dare not take it seriously, and will constantly regret it after doing it, is also a coward.
No wonder he did something stupid that put thousands of innocent people in danger.
"Your Majesty, if I am guilty, I am willing to be punished——"
"Have you ever thought about it, if your Majesty is guilty, who should punish him?"
Cao Cao's words hit Liu Xie's head like thunder——
"Am I... guilty?"
"Then...I...I am the Son of Heaven! God will judge my merits and demerits..."
Looking at Liu Xie who looked shocked and nervous, Cao Cao laughed out loud——
Punishing the emperor for his crimes sounds a bit illusory, but...Cao Cao remembered what Yi Xiaotian had said to him when he was chatting with him:
"Water... can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."
"The principle that the people are more important than the king was mentioned hundreds of years ago. That man was called Meng Ke. Although he is not as famous as Confucius, in terms of his philosophy of governing the country, he may not be less generous-"
When listening to Yi Xiaotian say this, Cao Cao was a little dozed off - he was a practical person, and he could never listen to those long talks of sarcastic Confucianism.
But when these words came from Yi Xiaotian's mouth, Cao Cao had to write them down carefully——
"Meng Ke?"
"Well...if you have some free time, brother, you might as well read that "Mencius"...I believe it will be of great help to you."
Yi Xiaotian's words echoed in his ears, and the reverberation lingered in his ears until today - although Yi Xiaotian was not by his side, Cao Cao deeply understood the purpose of Yi Xiaotian talking to him about these things at that time -
"Your Majesty... we can't say for sure... Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. I actually think that the common people are more suitable to be the group of people who can identify your Majesty's faults——"
"Your Majesty, I really hope that your Majesty can think carefully about whether God has given you the right to be the emperor and the emperor, or whether you have built the throne for your majesty by relying on the people brick by brick, rice and millet..."
"If Your Majesty can understand this, then everything will be easy for us to do next... Your Majesty only needs to sincerely apologize to those who have been hurt by Your Majesty... We will settle this account."
"You! Prime Minister! You...what do you mean! I...when have I ever hurt others? Could it be that the Prime Minister wants to say that I am responsible for the fault of the 500,000 soldiers in Chibi who were wiped out in smoke and sank to the bottom of the river? I will bear the responsibility."
Are you responsible?"
Liu Xie suddenly became angry...I really don't know who gave him the courage. Is it so and so?
He slapped the table and stood up, pointing at Cao Cao's face and shouting, like a cat or dog whose tail had been stepped on, his face flushed red and spittle flying everywhere.
Seeing Liu Xie's current appearance, Cao Cao was completely disappointed, and the remaining smile on his face disappeared.
In the end, only a pair of sinister eyes were left on his face. Those eyes stared directly at Liu Xie in the distance, making Liu Xie feel a chill in his heart.
"Liu Xie!!"
With a bang, Cao Cao's hand hit the long table in front of him heavily... Unlike Liu Xie's angry slap on the table, Cao Cao's heavy hammer directly cracked the dark and hard table in front of him——
Wow——
The long table in front of Liu Xie suddenly fell apart. This change caused Liu Xie to retreat repeatedly, and the anger in his eyes instantly turned to panic.
"you you…"
Liu Xie didn't know how to evaluate it. In fact, he didn't even say a complete sentence.
Just because Cao Cao did not call him the emperor, but called him "Liu Xie".
Liu Xie was afraid. He felt that Cao Cao was really going to kill him, but he didn't even have the strength to escape.
