The situation at the docks is on the verge of a flurry.

Sun Deng couldn't imagine that he was a dignified prince of Wu and the younger brother of Sun Shao, the king of Yue, but he wanted to go to his aunt's military camp to have a look, but he was actually stopped by a small captain, and what annoyed him even more was that the other party actually used a weapon against him and wanted to tie him up.

The soldiers of this Yue country are too arrogant, right?

Sun Deng was furious, but in the face of the cold and shining weapon, he didn't dare to say anything, so he had to signal Zhuge Ke to step forward to theorize, but he didn't expect Zhuge Ke to just take a step forward, before he could speak, the fierce captain with thick eyebrows and big eyes flew up and kicked him in the stomach, Zhuge Ke didn't expect him to move roughly, caught off guard, and took a solid hit, fell on his back, fell to the ground, and when he came back to his senses, a cold war knife was already on his neck, and in front of him was a pair of trembling broom eyebrows: "Don't move, Otherwise, Lao Tzu's hands will tremble. ”

"You...... You ......" Zhuge Ke stammered.

"Take it!" The captain stood up, and two soldiers rushed over, holding Zhuge Ke and about to tie him up. Zhuge Ke struggled desperately, but he couldn't move a bit, at this moment, several horses passed by, and immediately a general glanced at it, just in time to see Zhuge Ke's distorted face, he was taken aback, waved his hand, and shouted: "Li Nong, what's the matter?" ”

Li Nong, the captain who was still fierce just now, immediately changed his flattering expression, and ran to the horse: "Back to the fifth general, these people are pretending to be the prince of Wu Guo and are going to the Flying Tiger Camp." My subordinates surrounded them, and they actually bribed me and wanted to resist, so my subordinates took them down. ”

Sun Shangxiang glanced at Zhuge Ke, who was pressed to the ground, and Sun Deng, who had just been dragged out of the car, flicked the horsewhip, and knocked on Li Nong's helmet lightly and heavily: "Vertical, I know that you are honest and honest, but you don't have to show off like this, right?" Okay, I will ask General Yue for credit, you can give me these people, they are not pretending, they are really the prince of Wu, or my son. ”

"Oh, really, huh?" Li Nong touched his helmet, but he didn't look a little nervous, he waved his hand, signaling to let go of Zhuge Ke and them, and then smiled: "General, you have to educate this prince not to run around in the future, it's a shame that the general happened to pass by, otherwise, who knows what kind of hardship he will suffer." ”

"Thank you Captain Li for reminding me, do you want me to invite you to drink?" Sun Shangxiang's eyes rolled.

Li Nong shrank his neck and muttered in a low voice: "You want to appreciate your face, I can't ask for it." But the voice was very low, Sun Shangxiang couldn't hear it clearly, and he didn't bother to pay attention to him. At this time, the two female guards under her had already run over to help Sun Deng, Sun Deng's hair crown was knocked off, his scalp was a little messy, his expression was a little embarrassed, and his eyes were very vicious when he looked at Li Nong.

"Okay, don't look at it, he won't be afraid of you if he sees it." Sun Luban, who had just rushed over from behind, shouted, "What are you doing in the barracks if you have nothing to do?" ”

"I want to see you." Sun Deng got into the car indignantly, and said to Sun Luban as he walked: "I heard that you are training in your aunt's camp, I don't know how you are doing, when will you be able to go on the expedition?" ”

"Zigao, don't inquire about our army." Sun Shangxiang drank in time: "If you want to inquire, go directly to the king, why do you want to come to the big tiger?" ”

Sun Luban reacted at this time, glared at Sun Deng angrily, shook the reins, and the war horse ran to the front with a brisk pace. Sun Deng was very embarrassed, so he had to close his mouth tightly. Sun Shangxiang glanced at the more than twenty soldiers behind him who looked like chickens with their necks cut, frowned and said, "This is your personal guard?" ”

"yes, yes." Sun Deng responded, looked up, saw the disdainful expression on Sun Shangxiang's face, and thought of the situation just now, he couldn't help but be a little short of breath: "You guys...... You soldiers of the Yue Kingdom are not very reasonable, and they will do it if they don't agree. ”

"A word of disagreement?" Sun Shangxiang sneered: "You are content, they didn't shoot you with a short crossbow, it's polite." The military camp is important, even if the king comes, he has to do things according to the rules. You yourself ran to the barracks for no reason and bribed him with money, if he doesn't think you have a ghost, then he is derelict in his duty. ”

Zhuge Ke rubbed his shoulders and snorted: "If King Yue wants to learn from Emperor Xiaowen, isn't he afraid that these military men will be as unruly as Zhou Yafu in the future?" ”

"Junhan?" Sun Shangxiang's eyes suddenly turned cold, and Zhuge Ke was shocked when he saw it: "You don't respect the soldiers, how can the soldiers give you their lives?" Look at your subordinates, I tell you unceremoniously, if I change the soldiers of the Yue Kingdom, not to mention that the other party is fifty people, even if there are five hundred people, they will not be so tied up and let the prince be trapped. ”

Zhuge Ke pursed his lips silently, disdainful.

…… Yecheng, Xuanwu Pond, Cao Ying was wearing a wide thin shirt, sitting on the edge of the pool with open arms, holding a fishing rod in his hand, looking intently at the silk thread shaking in the water, his eyes were wide open, and his mouth was tightly closed, as if he was afraid that he would scare away the fish that was about to be hooked as soon as he breathed, and his two big hands covered with old age spots firmly held the fishing rod and were eager to try.

"It's coming!" Cao Ying's hand shook suddenly, the fishing rod bent like a bow, and then rebounded again, and a small silver fish the size of a palm broke through the water, flicked its tail in the air, and threw two drops of water on Cao Ying's face. Cao Ying laughed, stretched out his hand, held the silk thread in the air, and as soon as he flicked his hand, the fish fell into a bucket next to him.

In the bucket, seven or eight fish were swimming leisurely, not knowing that they had become prey.

"What did you just say?" Cao Ying put on the bait again, threw the fishing hook into the water, and then turned around and said to Cao Pi who was standing aside, Cao Pi hadn't answered, he said to Cao Zhi who was also fishing next to him: "Zijian, your skills are not good, you haven't even caught half a fish in the past half a day?" ”

Cao Zhi smiled faintly: "With my father here, my sons dare to compete." ”

"!" Cao Ying took a sip of "bah" and rolled his eyes: "You are kind of better than Lao Tzu, and Lao Tzu is happy." You look at the children of the Sun family, one by one, I thought that Sun Quan was already good enough, but I didn't expect Sun Ce's son to be promising, and after a few years of hard work, he became the king of Yue and the general of Fuyi. Ahh ”

Cao Zhi pursed his lips helplessly, not daring to say anything. Cao Pi, who was standing behind Cao Ying, also had a little embarrassment on his face, holding the urgent report he had just received, saying no, not saying no. Cao Ying waited for a moment, then turned his head and glared at him: "What did you just say, what is doing business with a sword?" ”

"Oh, it was Sun Shao who issued a letter to the people, saying that the task of the army is to protect the lives and property of the people, and for the Yue country, the most important thing is to protect the safety of merchants." Cao Pi said fluently: "Actually, from the perspective of Erchen, what he said about doing business with a sword is nothing more than trying to make excuses for the conquest of Funan, going out to ask for money and things, and asking those big families to pay for money, of course he has to say something nice." ”

"Nice?" Cao Ying smiled silently: "Zihuan, you can also say something nice, let the Cui family, Sima family, and Yang family pay you some military expenses, the military expenses of the Western Expedition have not yet been settled." As long as you can get military expenses, I will let you go on the expedition, and the tiger and leopard cavalry will also be handed over to you, can you? ”

Cao Pi opened his mouth and closed his mouth again. Xiahou Shang returned from Qiantang and said that Sun Shao had little confidence in their expedition to Xiliang, and suggested that they join forces with Shu, and at the same time ask the Son of Heaven to issue an edict to coordinate it. This suggestion is not feasible at all, or rather, it is simply perfunctory by Sun Shao. Sun Shao's meaning seemed to be more inclined to unite with Cao Zhang's Northern Expedition, which made Cao Pi very dissatisfied, feeling that Xiahou Shang had made a trip to Qian Tang and reaped enough benefits for himself, but instead of completing his task, Sun Shao was pushed to Cao Zhang's side. But now that he sees that Sun Shao is going to prepare for the Southern Expedition, I am afraid that the matter of the Northern Expedition will also be in vain, he is relieved, but he didn't expect to be seen by Cao Ying, and he grabbed his sentence and stabbed him back.

If he could get military expenses from the family, where would he stand in this place to read the documents to Cao Ying, and he would have gone to Xiliang to make meritorious contributions.

"This shaft is a-stirring stick." Cao Ying threw down the fishing rod, straightened his waist, and beckoned: "Zihuan, Zijian, walk with me." ”

"Ugh." Cao Pi and Cao Zhi hurriedly followed. Cao Pi is dressed very seriously, three layers inside and three layers outside, meticulous, but it is very hot here, and the beads of sweat are flowing down one by one, which looks a little embarrassed, far less comfortable than Cao Zhi's fluttering clothes, of course, it cannot be compared with Cao Ying, who is open-chested and open-chested, rolling up his trouser legs, like an old fisherman.

"Tell me, what do you think of Sun Shao's letter to the people?" Cao Ying walked forward slowly, with his hands behind his back, the cold glint in his eyes was very incompatible with his short and fat body, and the whole person was as unshakable as a mountain.

Cao Pi licked his lips, he wanted to speak first, but he was stabbed by Cao Pi just now, which made him a little lacking in confidence. He looked at Cao Zhi and said with a smile: "Zijian, what do you think?" ”

Cao Zhi's mouth crooked, looked at Cao Pi, who looked a little nervous, raised his hand and pinched his nose: "How can I have any high opinions, I haven't seen this King Yue until now, and I don't know what this King Yue looks like." However, my father knows countless people, and it should be a talent who can be appreciated by my father. I was a little curious, a little appreciative, and a little grateful to him. ”

"You're grateful to him." Cao Ying didn't reply and burst into a foul mouth: "He can make you and me miserable." ”

"Not really." Cao Zhi smiled: "If it weren't for his dedication to chasing the wind, my father's head wind would not have healed, if it wasn't for the fish oil he offered, my father's spirit would not have been so good, just these two points, I would be grateful to him, if I meet him on the battlefield in the future, I will be more or less polite, and then I will fight with him." ”

"Well, that's a good reason." A smile appeared on Cao Ying's face: "The grievances are clear, this is what a man should do." But Zijian, it's not that the father looks down on you, Sun Shao's erection is scheming, even if you don't let him, you may not be his opponent, if you have a little pity in your heart, I'm afraid it will be even worse. According to the father's plan, it is better to take him first, and then thank him. Thinking of the smugness, Cao Ying looked up and laughed: "The old man really wants to see if this shaft can still laugh if he is captured." ”

Cao Zhi smiled slightly and did not speak, but Cao Pi's face was a little embarrassed. He has competed with Sun Shao, and has been played by Sun Shao, Cao Zhang has also competed with Sun Shao, and it is even more miserable, he was directly tied up, stripped of his clothes and hung outside for an hour The north wind blew outside, the Cao brothers have never taken advantage of Sun Shao in front of him, Cao Ying is a little knotted, and now he puts hope on Cao Zhi, will he let Cao Zhi go on the expedition?

"Zijian, do you also think that his letter to the people is a deceptive trick?"

"Erchen doesn't think so." Cao Zhi shook his head, put away his smile, and said very seriously: "Erchen thinks that he is expressing his heart to several aspects through this letter to the people. ”

"How many?" Cao Ying stopped, turned around and glanced at Cao Zhi. Cao Pi, who had been paying attention to his expression, clearly saw a look of appreciation flashing through his eyes, and his heart couldn't help but tighten. "Tell me, what are the aspects?"

"First, he expressed his policy of founding the country to the people of his country, asking his peasants to farm the land well, asking his craftsmen to work hard, to be his soldiers to fight bloody battles, to protect his merchants, and then to logically collect high commercial taxes, and then use commercial taxes to please his peasants, his craftsmen, and his soldiers. In this way, everyone should be grateful to him, and if the peasants do not cultivate the land well, the craftsmen do not work well, and the soldiers do not protect the people, they will become the enemies of the whole people. Among them, the more important is the businessman, the businessman is the center of gravity of the country, almost the whole country is working hard for them, if the businessman evades taxes, it is naturally heinous, and it is logical to punish the illegal traders. Not only will no one else object, but even the businessmen themselves will feel that this should be the case. ”

"You're saying he won't encounter any resistance to this crackdown?" Cao Ying sat down on a stone bench next to him, staring at the rippling lake in the distance, thoughtfully.

"It should go well." Cao Zhi lowered his voice: "Erchen estimates that after the autumn harvest, it will be the time for him to go out to Funan. ”

Cao Ying didn't say anything, he thought about Cao Zhi's words, and sighed secretly. It has been more than 40 years since he joined the government at the age of 20, during which he has carried out countless anti-corruption campaigns, each time causing a backlash. People seem to have that kind of greedy **, whether it is a family or a general in the army, whether it is a minister with great power or an insignificant official, as long as there is an opportunity, they will do whatever it takes to seek benefits. Corruption is a stubborn disease, and if you make a move, it will involve too many people and too many forces, and if you are not careful, it will cause chaos. As soon as he heard this letter to the people, his first reaction was that Sun Shao was too young, and such a big move to eliminate corruption was likely to destroy all the previous achievements, but listening to Cao Zhi's analysis, it seemed that Sun Shao had already prepared. He thought about it carefully and found that as Cao Zhi said, Sun Shao had already put those unscrupulous businessmen on the opposite side of the whole country in advance, and he didn't need to say anything more, I was afraid that those people would take the initiative to demand punishment for corruption. He secretly praised himself, and was a little proud, what you Sun Shao can think of, my son can also think of.

"And what about the second aspect?"

"The second aspect is the state of Wu." Cao Zhi smiled faintly: "Sun Quan has been rectifying the rule of officials, but with little effect, it seems to be somewhat counterproductive." If he does this, sooner or later he will have to go against the clan in Jiangdong. Why is he in a hurry to put a heavy hand in rectifying the rule of officials? It is because the family of Jiangdong and Sun Shao are inextricably linked. But now it seems that if he continues to straighten out, he is afraid that he will force these people to Sun Shao's side and dig his own grave. What Sun Shao wanted to show him was that he was going to march south, and he had no intention of fighting for territory with Wu, so that Sun Quan had no excuse to divert the attention of the people, because everyone knew that the enemy of the king of Yue was Funan, not his Wu country, and if he wanted to attack the Yue country again, it would be a great attack on the world. ”

"Hey, hey, hey, he's very skilled at these tricks that he wants to indulge in." Cao Ying stroked his beard and smiled with wrinkles on his face: "If Sun Quan wants to use troops against Qian Tang, he doesn't know how many counties he will have to pay." ”

"Father, the king." Cao Zhi also smiled and raised the third finger: "The third aspect refers to the Son of Heaven and my Wei Shu, whether he suggested that Wei Shu unite the Western Expedition, or proposed a joint Northern Expedition with my Wei State, he has been showing the people of the world that the sword should be used externally, rather than focusing on the cannibalism of the same clan within the territory of the Han Dynasty." He has always been patient with Wu and refused to see each other, which is also the reason. Erchen estimated that the Son of Heaven would definitely respond positively to his proposal and reward him greatly, hoping that I, Wei Shu and Wu, would focus on foreign expeditions and avoid fighting with each other. ”

"Well, they sang and harmonized, and they have always cooperated very tacitly." Cao Ying nodded, thought for a moment, and suddenly turned his head to look at Cao Pi: "Zihuan, in this way, he suggested that Liu Bei and I join forces to go west, but it is not completely perfunctory. ”

Cao Pi was thinking about it, and was suddenly asked by Cao Ying, stunned for a moment, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "It seems to be ...... So. ”

"Okay, you prepare, write to the Son of Heaven, and ask for a joint Shu State to go to Xiliang."

"This ...... Is it appropriate? Cao Pi was taken aback and blurted out.

"Sun Shao is so flamboyant, we can't be silent, right? The limelight can't let him out alone. Cao Ying smiled gloomily: "Didn't he say that if we join forces to go west, he will support our weapons and supplies?" Well, I'm willing, see if the big-eared thief is willing, see if the Son of Heaven is interested, and see how much money he has. ”

Cao Pi suddenly realized, this is just a statement, Sun Shao put forward an initiative, Wei first expressed support, if the matter is done, Wei is the first to make a contribution in this matter, if it doesn't work, then public opinion criticism will also point to Liu Bei, more importantly, the possibility of this matter being made is very small, not to mention that Liu Bei is willing to refuse, even if they all agree, then does Sun Shao really have so much financial resources? If Sun Shao couldn't come up with so many supplies, then what would he become? Then he is a joke, a guy who talks empty words, and a rat who sells his reputation.

It's a good time to push the boat. Cao Pi was amazed and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Cao Ying looked at Cao Zhi with a calm face, and suddenly smiled: "Zijian, do you think this thing can be done?" ”

Cao Zhi blinked his eyes and said with a smile: "There are two heroic proposals like Father Wang and Sun Shao, how can it not be done?" Although the big-eared thief is timid, don't forget that Guan Yu, the general who is now in charge of the military power of Shu State, is Sun Shao's father-in-law, and Zhuge Liang, the prime minister in charge of civil affairs, is also Sun Shao's close friend, and they will definitely support Sun Shao. Just ......"

"Just what?"

"It's just a matter of talking about the joint western expedition, I'm afraid that Liu Bei will ask for Hanzhong again." Cao Zhi frowned slightly, and said with some worry: "Shu has been trying to recapture Hanzhong, and we have offered to jointly march west, will they take the opportunity to ask for Hanzhong again?" ”

"Hanzhong?" Cao Ying pouted: "Why did he ask for it?" You can rest assured, he will only talk about it at most, and he will not really use this as an excuse. If he refuses to send troops to the west for this reason, then we will be happy to see it succeed. He paused, and then said, "By the way, can the cultivation technology of the Han Middle School be effective?" If this time can promote the westward expedition, Hanzhong and Guanzhong are grain bases, and if they can take this opportunity to sell at a high price, they will definitely make a lot of profits. ”

"There are some achievements, but the effect is limited." Cao Zhi smiled bitterly: "Is there any place that attracts those skilled craftsmen more than Zhu Ya now?" Even the farmers in Litian went to Zhuya. Merchants from the Yue Kingdom traveled all over the world, and as long as these farmers were really capable, it was said that they could take a hitchhiker and move their families thousands of miles away without the cost of a meal. Father, I can't tolerate the merchants of Yue Country anymore......"

"Are you ready for me to go to war with Sun Shao?" Cao Ying interrupted Cao Zhi's words: "Do you think that his words about doing business with a sword are only aimed at Funan?" ”

Cao Zhi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile.

"Besides, we are not allowed to trade with merchants from the country, do you think we can make a profit?" Cao Ying's face sank and showed a sad expression: "I also considered controlling these interests in my own hands, but I later found out that as soon as I revealed that I wanted to ban the merchants of the Yue Kingdom, there were people who wanted to monopolize the management rights of the Yue Kingdom, and they didn't even want to engage in actual goods, as long as they could get the certificate of entry and exit, they could earn the maximum profit." Can the people of Yecheng leave the goods of the Yue Kingdom? Do you know who Sun Shao sold all the rare things he transported from the South China Sea and Yizhou? Hum! Control the ban, these goods will still come in, but the price will rise wildly, and in the end, Sun Shao didn't make less money, we didn't spend less, but fattened a batch of pigs, and Sun Shao turned his face. It's okay not to do such a thing. ”

"Is it that serious?"

"You're not in Yecheng, so you don't know much about these things." Cao Ying sighed, "That vertical man is not only good at talking big and has a moral advantage, he will also use profit to lure people, so that you can only drink it knowing that it is a poison." Not to mention, he founded the country with commerce, supported the people with commercial taxes, and attracted farmers to cultivate in the country, did you do it? Sun Quan was taken away by him all at once, but what can he do, did he catch Sun Shao's handle? No, those people all took the initiative to run over, if you want to take it back, you either start fighting, or you come up with better conditions, can Sun Quan beat him? Can't beat it. Can Sun Quan have better conditions? Nor did it. That's it, in order to prevent further loss of population, Sun Quan is bound to reduce taxes, and once taxes are reduced, his strength will be damaged, and he is not Sun Shao's opponent. Win without a fight, boy, remember, that's called winning without a fight. ”

"Father, that is not only a crisis for the Wu Kingdom, but also a crisis for my Wei Shu." Cao Zhi immediately realized the stakes.

"How else I would say he's a-stirrer." Cao Ying shook his head helplessly: "He also said that others are black sheep, in my opinion, he is the biggest black sheep." If he does this, we will all have to lower our taxes, or you will spend all day chasing and blocking the farmers who want to live a good life. ”

(To be continued)