In any case, Liu Bei and Lu Bu also had a honeymoon period when they were in Xuzhou. Whether it was Lu Bu who attached to Liu Bei at first, or Liu Bei who attached to Lu Bu later, both sides had a good memory. But because neither Liu Bei nor Lu Bu were that kind of people,
The two masters, who were subordinate to others, were equally ambitious, so that in the end, they turned against each other and became rivals.
But this did not prevent Liu Bei and Zhang Liao from becoming friends, even though Zhang Liao later beat Liu Bei in the state of Pei and made him flee in embarrassment.
At the same time, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao also have a good relationship. Both of them are masters with superb martial arts skills, so it is inevitable that they will feel sympathy for each other.
Now, Lu Bu is about to perish, and Liu Bei is even more dependent on others...
"Liu Xuande, you are not willing to give in!"
Cao Peng saw Liu Bei's intention and smiled at each other.
In this letter, Liu Bei not only wanted to win over Zhang Liao, but also had the idea of burying a way out for himself. With Liu Bei's wisdom, couldn't he have guessed that if he went to Xudu with Cao Cao, he would be in a cage?
Of course, he will not be willing to become Cao Cao's vassal, and will try his best to stay in Xuzhou. Xuzhou, which has lost Lu Bu, will inevitably have a period of chaos. And Liu Bei is quite famous in Xuzhou, and Mi Zhu Mi Fang is even more famous.
He is an old minister of Xuzhou. If he can stay in Xuzhou, he will definitely get more development opportunities.
But the premise is that he can stay.
If Liu Bei can recruit Zhang Liao, Zhang Liao will temporarily withdraw from Xu County and flee to Pei State.
It used to be Liu Bei's territory. Although he was later driven away by Zhang Liao, after all, he had operated there and had a small foundation...
Zhang Liao retreated to Pei State to gain Liu Bei's secret support.
Liu Bei could also use Zhang Liao's rebellion as an excuse to stay in Xuzhou and continue his ideals.
In short, once Liu Bei really recruits Zhang Liao, it will really become a troublesome matter. Cao Peng will never allow such a thing to happen, at least for now, he will not sit back and watch Liu Bei recruit Zhang Liao.
"Without this letter, I would have almost forgotten about Zhang Liao."
"How are you going to act, Master?"
Cao Peng thought for a while and smiled, "I can't do it now, but I must first stabilize Wenyuan and teach Liu Xuande a lesson."
"lesson?"
Cao Peng raised his head and glanced at Xia Houlan.
"Where is the messenger?"
"In the forest outside the camp, I will be guarded by someone."
"Kill him, and then give the body and this letter to General Cao Hong."
Xia Houlan was startled and didn't quite understand what Cao Peng meant. However, since Cao Peng gave the order, Xia Houlan had no choice but to obey the order and turned around and left.
"Why kill the messenger?"
"Actually, even if the messenger is handed over to Duke Cao, Duke Cao will not embarrass Liu Bei and may even get rid of the messenger.
Now that Duke Cao is in the hot seat, he will not have any intention to kill Liu Bei. The most he can do is give him a warning. In this case, it will be the same for anyone who kills him."
After saying this, Cao Peng's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Since when did you become so indifferent?
Human life seems to have become insignificant in his heart. He kills whenever he wants without any hesitation. This is not his character...
Cao Peng sat blankly for a moment and shook his head vigorously.
Maybe it was because I was under too much pressure some time ago and made myself numb?
It's better to concentrate on finishing the Xiapi matter first, and then try to adjust your mentality.
"Xingba, you immediately send someone back to the Prime Minister and secretly order Deng Zhi to try to go to Xu County and stabilize Zhang Liao... After I finish the matter here, I will go to Xu County."
Gan Ning responded, turned around and left in a hurry.
The next day, it was dawn.
After Liu Bei walked around his small camp, he was about to return to his military tent to rest when he suddenly heard a report from the small camp: Cao Sikong is here to invite you!"
Zhang Fei and Guan Yu went out to walk their horses early in the morning, so they were not in the camp.
Liu Bei didn't dare to slack off, so he quickly changed his clothes and followed the principal to Cao Cao's residence.
Mr. Cao lived in the government office of Xiapi County. Dianman and Xu Yi were dressed in military uniforms and were on duty outside. It was very cold and there was ice under the eaves. Liu Bei came in a hurry, but Dianman and Xu Yi did not give him a good look.
, just informed him and let Liu Bei go into the house on his own.
Liu Bei also knew that these two men and Cao Peng were sworn brothers.
He had robbed Cao Peng of his food and fodder before, so how could Xu Yi look good on him?
He was secretly complaining in his heart, and at the same time he was a little surprised. Because during his time in Cao Ying, he found that Cao Peng had a very good relationship with the generals in Cao Ying. Especially the generals of the Cao family, such as Cao, a descendant of the Xiahou family, and Cao Peng.
We have a very close relationship with friends.
He began to regret that he should not have provoked Cao Peng.
There are two braziers in the house, and the charcoal fire in the basins is very strong.
Mr. Cao was wearing a brocade robe and was looking through files. When he saw Liu Bei coming in, he stood up with a big smile, stepped forward and took Liu Bei's hand, and sat down together.
"Xuande, I have been busy with official duties these past two days, so I have neglected Xuande. Please don't blame Xuande."
"Sikong, where do you start with these words? I'm very grateful to Mr. Bei for taking him in. Besides, Bei has been very carefree recently, so there's no need to be sloppy."
"It's good to be carefree, but if people are too carefree, they will inevitably have distracting thoughts."
"ah?"
Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat.
From Cao ***'s words, he heard a hint of hidden meaning.
"Ming Gong is joking."
Mr. Cao narrowed his eyes and his face sank, "Xuande, I heard someone said that you are very familiar with Zhang Wenyuan from Xu County?"
"this……"
"Wenyuan is talented, but now he is trapped in Xu County and is at the end of his rope. I want to recruit Zhang Wenyuan, but I can't find a suitable candidate around me. If he stays in Xu County, it will not last long. I am thinking about this
I heard that Xuande and Zhang Liao were old acquaintances, so I wanted to ask Xuande to take the trouble to go to Xu County. If Zhang Liao can be persuaded to surrender, it would be best. If he cannot be persuaded to surrender...in short, don't let him escape to Pei State."
Liu Bei secretly took a deep breath.
What does ***Cao mean by these words?
How could someone as smart as Liu Bei not hear this?
"I'm afraid Ming Gong has misunderstood. Since the first year of Xingping, Bei and Lu Bu have been at war many times. How can they have any friendship?"
"That's a pity!"
Mr. Cao looked at Liu Bei and suddenly smiled.
"Since you don't know, forget it and just pretend I never said anything about it.
Xuande, the war in Xuzhou is about to end, and I want to return to Xudu after the war. However, Xuzhou still needs someone to guard it. I wonder what Xuande wants?"
The implication of those words was to tell Liu Bei that I am going to let you stay in Xuzhou.
Speaking of which, this book fits Liu Bei's thoughts exactly.
But for some reason, Liu Bei felt a strong murderous intent. This small room was filled with an aura of gold and iron... Liu Bei believed that as long as he dared to nod, Cao Cao would immediately turn against him and take his head.
.Cold sweat ran down his spine and wet his clothes.
"Ming Gong, you must not do this.
How could he control Xuzhou if he had few talents and little knowledge? If he really had such talents, he would not have been driven out of Xuzhou by Lu Bu and become homeless.
Now that Ming Gong has newly acquired Xuzhou, he still needs to send a strong man out of the town.
If I really don’t dare to take on this important task, I would like to invite you to appoint a wise man."
"That's a pity!"
Mr. Cao smiled and said nothing about it.
He and Liu Bei exchanged word after word, but every word he said made Liu Bei tremble with fear and make him break out in cold sweat...
After a while, Liu Bei made an excuse and left.
As soon as he left, Guo Jia and Xun You walked into the room.
"Liu Xuande really has great ambitions."
Cao *** raised his head, with a gloomy look on his face.
"Why doesn't Ming Gong take it down to avoid future troubles?" Xun You frowned and asked softly.
"If I kill Liu Bei now, I'm afraid it will be false... However, when he returns to Xudu with me, I will have plenty of opportunities to get rid of him."
Having said that, it can be heard that Mr. Cao is still a little reluctant to give up.
Xun You still wanted to say something, but Guo Jia pulled him away and shook his head at him.
"However, that Zhang Liao... it would be a pity to kill him."
Mr. Cao pondered for a moment and asked: "Fengxiao, who do you think we should send to Xu County to surrender Zhang Wenyuan? This man is indeed capable."
Guo Jia thought for a while and said, "If I recommend someone, it might be successful."
"who?"
"I was drinking with Changwen some time ago, and I heard from Changwen that Cao Youxue had a good relationship with Zhang Liao in the past. Later, Zhang Liao gave Cao Youxue 200 soldiers and horses as a guard. At first, Zhang Liao did not approve of Lu Bu's attack on Haixi, so he even
He was driven out of Xiapi and stationed in Xu County... Among them, Cao Youxue must be related. In this case, why not send Cao Youxue as an envoy to Xu County and say that Zhang Liao should be surrendered to Duke Ming?"
"It's that brat again."
***Cao couldn't help but laugh.
I have a good impression of Cao Peng and Cao ***.
The whole family worked for him and went to Haixi alone with his brother-in-law. This battle made his food supply endless.
It's just that this kid's temper is too stubborn, which made Mr. Cao quite embarrassed before. And even now, he refuses to apologize to Mr. Cao.
But the more this happened, the more Mr. Cao felt that Cao Peng had integrity.
"By the way, how is Juan Shi doing now?"
Jun Shi is Cao Peng's father, who is now the supervisor of Zhuye in Shaofu and the fifth official, Cao Ji.
Guo Jia was startled and smiled awkwardly: "I'm not sure about this."
Xun You said with a smile: "Jun Shi has been loyal to his duties and extremely diligent since he became the supervisor of Heyi. Since he took charge of the job, the Heyi workshop has returned to its former prosperity. In the past year, it has made more than 3,000 swords and shields, and five pieces of iron armor.
Hundreds of sets, and the rest were all agricultural tools, and they were quite successful... In addition, he supervised the manufacture and improvement of a Cao Gong plow, which was more effective than the plows used earlier. Before the expedition to Xuzhou, Xiuruo even made a special trip to inspect it.
It is indeed worthy of the name of Yinmo Juzi. It is estimated that in the coming year, Heyi Workshop will be able to produce five thousand pairs of swords and shields, and more than a thousand armors... Zihe admired the armor produced by Heyi Workshop very much, and said that if the tiger and leopard were made,
, Cao’s father and son should be the first to contribute.”
In the past year, Mr. Cao's attention has been focused on the war, so he really doesn't know much about the Heyi Workshop.
"Cao Gongli?"
***Cao couldn't help but laugh, "What is this?"
"It is said that Jun Shi modified the gadget based on his son Cao Youxue's idea when he was young. Unexpectedly, it was successful.
After the revolution, Gongruo found that this plow was less labor-intensive and easier to build than before, and he planned to promote it in the coming year. As for the name of Cao Gong's plow, it was also Juan Shi's suggestion. If Cao Gong hadn't given him the opportunity, he would never have been able to use it. I thought, so I gave him the surname Sikong and named him Cao Gongli."
Gongruo is the epitome of Zaozhi, the former military commander of the army and the general of the current army.
Mr. Cao nodded, "The Cao family are all good people."
He suddenly felt a little emotional and scratched his head.
The reason why Cao Ji was hired was because of Cao Ji's contribution to the stirrups and Gaoqiao saddles. The Heyi workshop had been abandoned for many years, and Cao Ji also tried to let Cao Ji take over. Unexpectedly, Cao Ji actually made it, and The achievements are remarkable. Now we have made Cao Gongli, which is a great contribution...
Previously, Cao Ji had presented 300 swords to strengthen the army's fighting strength.
At that time, Cao Cao used the excuse that Cao Ji had only been in office for a short period of time and did not give him a promotion. He only gave him the title of Fifth Doctor.
Now it seems that this title may be a little too light.
After pondering for a moment, Mr. Cao said: "Junyi Shi has such merit, so he must not give him a reward, otherwise it will turn everyone's mind cold. Now that the Heyi Workshop is reopened, I want to set up Zhuye Commandery and make Juan Shi take charge of it. .I also worship He Yihou, what do you think?"
Since the Han Dynasty, the title of nobility has mainly been divided into two categories: kings and marquises.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the rule was established that no one should be king without Liu, and no one should be a marquis unless he has merit. However, since the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a large number of eunuchs, foreign relatives, and enze marquis have appeared in the title, which has corrupted the principle of no marquis for merit. Of course, There has been no change in the sequence of titles in counties, townships, and tinghou. There are just many more titles. This kind of title only commends merit and does not have actual fiefs or fiefs, and it cannot be hereditary.
Even eunuchs and relatives can be granted the title of marquis, not to mention that Cao Ji has made great contributions?
But the problem is that to make Cao Ji a marquis, one must obtain the consent of the courtiers.
Guo Jia was doing better, but Xun You's attitude became particularly important.
As for the official position of Captain Zhuye, it is a real promotion. Previously, the Shaofu had already had Captain Shuiheng, who was in charge of the navy's boats and equipment, and Captain Diancao, who was in charge of the army's provisions. Captain Zhuye's His duty is to supervise the production of weapons, armors and equipment... Bi Qianshi means that he can get a salary of nine hundred dou per month. For this promotion, for now, to be honest, no one is more suitable than Cao Ji.
Cao Ji did very well in Heyi Workshop, and now he is expanding his talents.
Xun You thought for a while, nodded and said: "The captain of Zhu Ye is none other than Juan Shi... It's just that for this prince of the river, Juan Shi's qualifications are slightly insufficient."
Is it because of lack of qualifications?
no!
To put it bluntly, it is a matter of family background.
Although Xun You didn't explain it clearly, Cao Cao understood the meaning.
He thought for a while, turned around and said to Guo Jiaqi: "Does Fengxiao have any good ideas?"
This issue of family background is really a troublesome matter.
Guo Jia thought for a while and suddenly asked: "In the middle of the year, when Jun Shi was still reporting on his duties, I once heard him say that he was born in Nanyang, but his ancestors were not from Nanyang... It is said that his ancestors lived during the Zhenghe period. He moved to Zhongyang Mountain after Gonghou...I don’t know if this is true."
Xun You squirted out a mouthful of water, looked up at Guo Jia, and was speechless for a long time.
Mr. Cao coughed violently, and it took him a while to calm down. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
You ask why these two people had such a strong reaction?
We need to start with the founding of the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang prospered the Han Dynasty. There was a man named Cao Shen in his tent, who was from the same hometown as Emperor Gaozu.
This person may not be as famous as Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Xiao He, but he is the second-largest figure among the heroes who revived the Han Dynasty.
In later generations, Xiao Gui was followed by Cao Shen, and it was this Cao Shen. Cao Shen had a son named Cao Cheng (ku, the second tone), who was the Marquis of Pingyang.
After his death, his posthumous title was Jinghou. Cao Cheng's son Cao Qi was a marquis for seven years, and his posthumous name was Jianhou; Cao Qi's son Cao Shi married Princess Pingyang and was a marquis for twenty-three years, and his posthumous name was Yihou; Cao Shi
His son Cao Xiang married Princess Wei Chang and died in the 16th year of his marriage. This Cao Xiang was the 'common lord' mentioned by Guo Jia.
In the second year of Zhenghe, Cao Xiang's son Cao Zong was implicated in the mutiny launched by Emperor Wu's crown prince, and was convicted and executed.
The feudal state of the Cao family was subsequently abolished, and the Cao family's descendants also lived in various places. One of their descendants settled in Qiao County, which later became Hao County, Anhui Province.
Cao *** was born in the Cao family of Qiao County.
Guo Jia said that Cao Ji is a descendant of the "Gonghou". Doesn't it mean that Cao Ji and Cao Ding are from the same clan?
If this is the case, no one would object to Cao Ji being granted the title of Marquis of Guanzhong or Guannei, not to mention the title of "He Yihou".
Mr. Cao thought to himself: I just asked you to help me come up with an idea, but I didn’t ask you to attract relatives for me!
For a moment, Mr. Cao was dumbfounded, looking at Guo Jia and shaking his head.
Who knows, Guo Jia said seriously: "Lord, this is not nonsense from Jia, but what Cao Ji himself said. Wen Ruo was also present at the time and was very surprised when he heard it. But we can feel that Juan Shi is not
He was talking nonsense. He didn't even know that Duke Cao was also a descendant of Cao Xiangguo, so he just talked about it casually. Wen Ruo also checked Jun Shi's genealogy for this purpose. His ancestor was named Cao Min, who settled in Zhongyang Mountain in the fourth year of Zhenghe. And Cao Min
, he is the nineteenth son of Gonghou, but he is not a direct descendant... If I hadn't mentioned it publicly today, I would have almost forgotten about it."
"You really mean what you said?"
Mr. Cao couldn't help but become interested.
But Xun You said cowardly: "That Yinmo Juzi..."
"Hidden Mo Juzi is not a fact, but a rumor in the market. When I first met with Jun Shi, he explained this matter clearly."
"So, in that case, Cao Ji is really a member of the Sikong tribe?"
"this……"
Mr. Cao was also a little unsure.
In the second year of Zhenghe, Cao Zong was convicted, the feudal state was abolished, and the Cao family's descendants were scattered. No one can tell the whereabouts of the clan members. But from what Guo Jia said, it seems to be true. If Cao Ji is really a descendant of the Cao family,
If so, it seems to be a good thing for Mr. Cao.
The clan is great!
And Cao Ji was indeed capable, he could make knives and forge agricultural tools.
The three members of his family have also made meritorious deeds... For the Cao family, it is undoubtedly a good thing to be able to take back the children who were living abroad in the past.
Of course, if Cao Ji and his family have no skills, Mr. Cao may not agree.
But the problem is...
After thinking for a long time, Mr. Cao said, "Put this matter aside for the time being. I will investigate the matter thoroughly after returning to Xudu. If Juan Shi is really a descendant of my clan, it will be a great blessing for my Cao family."
Xun You heard this and nodded repeatedly.
Returning to one's clan and acknowledging one's ancestors is not a trivial matter and does require caution.
After all, Cao Zong was convicted in the second year of Zhenghe, that is, 90 BC. It has been almost three hundred years since now, who can tell clearly?
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Cao Peng was restless in his small tent.
Today was the time he and Lu Bu agreed upon, and it was also the day for Lu Bu to express his attitude. Therefore, he never dared to rest and waited for the answer.
Time passes little by little.
Just after the fourth watch, Xia Houlan suddenly burst into the small tent excitedly.
"Sir, there is fire at the north gate... Lu Bu agrees!"
Cao Peng stood up suddenly and rushed out of the small tent. Looking towards the north gate, he saw flames shooting into the sky! He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief!
