Yecheng, the deputy prime minister and the middle man with facial features Cao Pi panted like a cow, staring at the blood-red eyes, staring at the embarrassed waiter Chen Qun, every word seemed to be squeezed out of the teeth: "Ran away?" ”

"Ran away." Chen Qun's voice was dry, hoarse as thick wood.

"Run, run." Cao Pi turned around and turned his back to Chen Qun, but he twisted his neck and looked at Chen Qun with the rest of his eyes, Chen Qun lowered his head and said nothing. He knew that Cao Pi's mood was extremely bad now, and it was impossible for him to be as gentle and elegant as usual, and it was extremely irrational to talk too much at this time.

"Ran!" Cao Pi finally couldn't hold back his anger, and kicked the table in front of him, and the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone on the case flew everywhere, and the manuscript that had just been written was stained with a lot of ink, and soon became unrecognizable.

Chen Qun subconsciously wanted to take a step back, but his body just moved, and then he didn't move again.

Cao Pi has reason to be angry.

At the beginning of last year, after a long time of consideration and weighing the opinions of all aspects of Yecheng, Cao Ying already planned to make him the crown prince. When he got the news from the cronies who had been planted by Cao Ying's side, he was almost ecstatic. He has been waiting for this day for too long, he has been waiting since Cao Chong's death in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Chong is not dead, he knows that he has no chance, but he doesn't think too much, at most he secretly makes a wish, but God has eyes, Cao Chong, who has always been in good health, actually got an inexplicable illness and died in a month, since then, his heart and eyes have moved. Immediately afterwards, Cao Ying restored the ancient system, was the prime minister, monopolized power, built an army for 16 years, and finally took a key step for the Duke of Wei. Cao Pi saw a bright future, and he was excited about the upcoming supreme position, but no one expected that Cao Zhi, the younger brother of a fellow mother, had sprung up again and won his father's favor with his amazing literary talent, and suddenly it became a hurdle in front of him.

In order to cross this hurdle, Cao Pi listened to Wu Zhen's advice, hid all his **, actively interacted with people who might affect Cao Ying, treated them humbly, his efforts were rewarded, at least eighty percent of the ministers of Yecheng were inclined to him, and even Cui Yan, the uncle of Cao Zhi's wife Cui, supported his heir, and even gave his surname for this.

Cao Zhi inevitably fell out of favor, and as time went by, his impression in Cao Ying's mind became worse and worse, and he was ready to make Cao Zhi a marquis before Cao Ying's Eastern Expedition in the twenty-first year of Jian'an - once he was made a marquis, it meant that he lost the possibility of his heir - but by mistake, he somehow delayed. Cao Pi didn't take it seriously, although the dust did not settle in the end, but all the signs showed that Cao Ying had given up on Cao Zhi, and he could sit back and relax.

Unexpectedly, after Yang Xiu went to Jiaozhou, things changed again. Cao Ying changed the previous two-way attack method and attacked Yizhou with all his might, and Cao Zhi also followed, and became famous in a battle, first defeating the famous general Zhang Fei, and then almost seizing the Sword Pavilion, miraculously recovering Cao Ying's impression of him. The news sent back by Sima Yi said that Cao Ying said that Cao Zhi was both civil and military, brave and strategic, and had a very good impression.

Cao Pi heard the sound outside the strings, and the heart that had been put down was lifted again. Among the four brothers of their mother's compatriots, Cao Zhang is good at martial arts, Cao Zhi and him are good at writing, each with their own strengths, but none of them can catch up with the all-round talent of their father Cao Ying, and now Cao Ying has given Cao Zhi such a comment, which means that Cao Zhi has surpassed him and Cao Zhang's two brothers and become Cao Ying's most satisfied son.

This is a very dangerous sign.

If he wants to regain his advantage, Cao Pi must be both civil and military, at least not much weaker than Cao Zhi. Soon, Sima Yi created an opportunity for him, Guan Yu and Sun Shao invaded Nanyang County, the momentum was like a bamboo, approaching Xu County, the Central Plains was shaken, Cao Ying ordered him to lead the men and horses who stayed in Yecheng to go south, and cooperate with Xiahoudun to protect Xu County. Sima Yi wrote to him that Cao Ying had instructed Xiahou to assist in the attack, with his army as the main attack, and of course, Sima Yi did not forget to remind him of the way to deal with Xu County: let Guan Yu remove the obstacle of the Son of Heaven for them.

Everything went well, although Sun Shaoqi's attack on Xiangcheng caught them a little off guard, but this did not affect the overall situation, after Guan Yu captured the Son of Heaven, he could only retreat to Wancheng under the attack of the two armies, and then fell into the sandwich of Xiahoudun and Cao Ying, who rushed from Guanzhong.

Just when Cao Pi was full of ambition and was ready to rush to Wancheng to besiege Guan Yu, something happened in Yecheng.

The Prime Minister's Mansion Xicao Peng Wei Wei united many people to rebel against Chen Yuan, the Changle Weiwei of Xu County, intending to lead Guan Yu to attack Yecheng, and there were many celebrities involved, such as Wang Cang's two sons, Zhang Xiu's son Zhang Quan, and Liu Xuan's younger brother Liu Wei were involved, and Yecheng was in chaos. Cao Pi did not dare to slack off, so he had to put down the merits of Xu County and lead the army back to Yecheng to quell the rebellion. The rebellion was not complicated, as soon as the army arrived, thousands of people were killed in one go, and it was quickly quelled.

But Cao Pi did not breathe a sigh of relief, he found a problem in the interrogation confession, Xu County was besieged, how did Chen Yi, the captain of Changle, spread the news to Xu County? He sent someone to investigate, and the more he investigated, the more frightened he became, a looming ghost wandered in Yecheng, Cao Pi didn't dare to slack off, didn't catch this mastermind behind the scenes, and died a Wei Wei, and there may be more Wang Wei and Li Wei.

He laid a wide net, but he didn't catch the man.

Ran away, or more prepared to say that it should have disappeared, this person disappeared out of thin air, is he still in Yecheng? If so, where? If not, where did it go? Nothing.

After receiving this reward, how could Cao Pi not be angry, could he report this result to Cao Ying? It's better to admit that you're incompetent. Cao Ying let him sit in Yecheng, and he actually made Yecheng such a big mess. He was afraid to think about it - he had to come back in time, otherwise Wei Wei would have succeeded, and the family members of the old and young people and the generals of Wenchen would all become hostages of Wei Wei, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

The root of the curse was not found, Cao Pi did not dare to leave Yecheng, knowing that this would be a big war that would be difficult to encounter in the future, and it was the best opportunity for him to surpass Cao Zhi, and it was Sima Yi who risked being suspicious of Cao Yi to fight for him, and he could only give up.

This feeling is not good, quite bad.

Cao Pi had a seizure, and Chen Qun stood there until Cao Pi finished venting and quieted down, and then said softly: "Prime Minister, there are signs that that person is from Jiangdong." Chen Qun paused, and waited for Cao Pi to look at him before he continued: "Although he is well disguised and fluent in Luoyang, the taste of Wuyue is still heard. ”

"Wu Yue?" Cao Pi twisted his head: "You mean Sun Quan's people?" ”

Chen Qun frowned, usually this was an indication that he did not agree with Cao Pi's statement. Cao Pi thought about it, and felt that it was unreliable, Sun Quan had this heart, but he didn't have the strength, how could he get in touch with Chen Yuan. He immediately understood: "Sun Shao? ”

Chen Qun nodded: "Prime Minister is far-reaching, and the minister also thinks so." ”

Cao Pi laughed self-deprecatingly, he knew that although Chen Qun was his cronie, Chen Qun looked down on him, just like Sima Yi looked down on him. Among his four cronies, Chen Qun is from the Chen family in Yingchuan, and Sima Yi is from Wen County, Hanoi, both of whom are big families with family roots, and although Wu Zhen is talented, he is from a humble background, and he is not favored by his fellow villagers until now - Dong Zhao looks down on him - Zhu Shuo Needless to say, he is directly a martial artist, and even Wu Zhen looks down on him.

Chen Qun said this to give him face, knowing that he was fake, but Cao Pi was very happy, not thinking that he was really smart, but watching these self-righteous children of the family grovel in front of him. No matter how arrogant you are, don't you have to bow down to me?

He looked at Chen Qun quietly and listened to his opinions. Chen Qun seemed to feel Cao Pi's thoughts, he laughed helplessly, and didn't dare to pretend to be deep anymore, so as not to make Cao Pi unhappy. It is necessary to show a clear height at the appropriate time, but if it is annoying to the superiors, it will be more than worth the loss.

"I heard that when he was in the wet beard, Sun Shao crossed the river to challenge General Zhengdong, and Yang Xiu befriended him at that time. Later, Yang Xiu was ordered to Jiaozhou to preach the edict, and had a secret conversation with Sun Shao, and soon after returning, Zijian Gongzi went to Hanzhong. ”

Cao Pi gasped, then held his breath, and after a long while, he slowly exhaled that breath. Is there collusion between Sun Shao and Cao Zhi? It's unexpected. Cao Pi felt a trace of joy in his heart, and then felt very regretful, it was a pity that he couldn't catch this fine work this time, otherwise, Cao Zhi would have died.

But it doesn't matter if you don't catch it. Cao Pi thought for a moment and waved his hand: "Go and search again, he definitely didn't come alone, maybe someone is in prison." ”

Chen Qun understood in his heart, it was too easy to frame such a thing, as long as Cao Ying believed it, as for Cao Zhi, I was afraid that he would not understand whether the evidence Cao Ying saw was true or false until he died.

...... "Fine-grained? Cao Ying shook the paper in his hand, and his gray eyebrows wrinkled: "A few fine works can make a big mess of Yecheng?" ”

Chen Qun bowed and did not speak.

Cao Ying was a little displeased, Cao Pi sent Chen Qun to Wancheng in person, of course, it was to explain that he could not arrive in time for the battle of Wancheng and the matter of Yecheng, which Cao Ying had already prepared, but now the news sent by Cao Pi said that in addition to the rebellion in Yecheng and the fine work of Sun Shao's faction, it may also be related to some people in the Prime Minister's Mansion, which made Cao Ying very disgusted, which was obviously Cao Pi's own incompetence, and then pushed the responsibility to others.

"Let's go down." Cao Ying didn't give Chen Qun a chance to explain, and directly kicked him out. Chen Qun was very embarrassed, but he didn't dare to forcibly stay in the tent, so he had to go out of the tent with a sigh. In front of Cao Ying and in front of Cao Pi, there were completely different feelings, in front of Cao Pi, Chen Qun only needed to maintain superficial respect, but in front of Cao Ying, he felt afraid from the bottom of his heart.

"Incompetent!" Cao Ying pursed his lips and threw Cao Pi's book into the fire, and the flame licked the paper, and suddenly brightened, reflecting a strange light in Cao Ying's eyes, which soon dimmed. He pondered for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Shi Liuye, the marching commander standing aside: "What kind of trick is this little vertical man doing?" ”

Liu Ye shook his head: "The minister can't figure out what he's thinking, but with the minister's impression of him, if he sends a fine work to Yecheng, it is entirely possible to do it." ”

"Well, that little vertical is very cunning." Cao Ying couldn't help but smile: "At this point, Guan Yunchang is far worse than him." ”

"Fortunately, his strength is too weak to control the situation." Liu Ye also smiled. After Cao Ying came out of Hanzhong, he gathered people all the way, arrived in Luoyang and immediately turned to the Yangren, until he heard that Guan Yu took Xu County and took away the Son of Heaven, he suddenly sent troops to Luyang and approached Wancheng. Xu Huang occupied the area of Xinye and Nieyang in advance, and Xiahoudun arrived immediately and choked Guan Yu's retreat, if Cao Pi had not been able to come to participate in the siege, Cao Ying would have ordered to take Wancheng a long time ago. Guan Yu thought that he had made a meritorious service, but he didn't know that if it wasn't for Cao Ying's connivance, he wouldn't be able to leave Xu County at all.

It's just that what makes them strange is that Guan Yu has snatched the Son of Heaven for almost two months, but the Son of Heaven has not issued an edict announcing Cao Ying's crimes, it stands to reason that if the Son of Heaven wants Liu Bei and Sun Quan to crusade, he has too many charges to use, not to mention anything else, just forcing the latter to die is enough for Cao Ying to drink a pot. Because of this, Cao Ying hesitated for a long time when deciding whether to let Guan Yu take away the Son of Heaven, and he had to weigh the pros and cons of this matter to ensure that his foundation would not be shaken.

The current situation has puzzled them a little.

"Your Highness, it seems that we have not received any news of the death of General Zhengnan and others." Liu Ye stroked his beard and said slowly: "It stands to reason that Fancheng was breached, and important ministers like Cao Zhengnan and Man Runan fell into their hands, whether they died or surrendered, they would preach loudly to boost morale, but they have no news at all now, which is really a little puzzling." ”

"Alas-" Cao Ying let out a long sigh, Liu Ye's words reminded him of Yu Ban. Yu Ban is a general he picked up, Yu Ban has been loyal to him over the years, he is not thin on Ban, and has always promoted him to General Zuo and 1,200 feudal households, this kind of treatment is not much different from Zhu Cao and Xiahou. But unexpectedly, he actually surrendered.

This is the only surrender news he has heard in the past six months. In comparison, although Pound was also defeated, it was still somewhat comforting, he was now only Sun Shao's guest and did not surrender.

Thinking of Pound, Cao Ying sighed with emotion. In his opinion, this is Sun Shao's trick to recruit Pang De's envoy, and only a straight surname like Pang De will be fooled. Since Pang De has been by Sun Shao's side for so long, how can Sun Shao let him go, even if Sun Shao lets him go, he is originally a general, his old master Ma Chao and his brother Pang Rou are both in Yizhou, and now they are involved with Sun Shao, how can he Cao Ying trust him again? Take 10,000 steps back, even if he still believes in him, who else is willing to cooperate with Pound?

"What was he thinking?" Cao Ying was very curious: "This kind of move doesn't seem to be something Guan Yunchang can do." ”

Liu Ye was also curious, if Sun Shao could call the shots, why would Sun Shao sit back and watch Guan Yu bring the Son of Heaven to Wancheng? If Sun Shao can't call the shots, then why hasn't Guan Yu asked the Son of Heaven to announce Cao Ying's guilt now? Could it be that the Son of Heaven is not allowed?

It seems that this is the only explanation that is more reliable.

"Liu Bei and Sun Quan have both arrived in Jingzhou, is the next step to break through Wancheng first, or to repel Liu Bei and Sun Quan first?" Cao Ying walked to the fire pond and sat down, pointed to the seat opposite, and motioned for Liu Ye to sit down and speak. Liu Ye thanked him, sat down by the fire, and his face became very bright under the light of the fire.

"The minister thinks that the city should be attacked first, and then persuaded to surrender."

Cao Ying was silent, his eyes stared at the jumping flames, and he pondered for a long time, and then said: "Let's persuade to surrender first, if you don't surrender, it's not too late to attack the city." I want to see who is in charge in this Wan City. ”

Liu Ye didn't refute, he glanced at Cao Ying, but Cao Ying didn't look at him, he picked up the tongs, pinched the charcoal in the fire, and had a smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he thought of something interesting. This is more than half a year, except for the time when I heard Cao Zhi defeat Zhang Fei, the only time I saw Cao Ying's smile. Liu Ye knew that Cao Ying's three-way strategy went bankrupt because of Yu Ban's unexpected defeat, and it may be the last time in his life that he passed by the opportunity to unify the world.

In the past six months or so, Cao Ying has been angry, disappointed, and sad, but rarely laughs.

Especially this kind of very warm smile.

"Ziyang, do you know what I'm laughing at?" Cao Ying saw the change in Liu Ye's face and turned his head to look at him.

Liu Ye doesn't know, even if he knows, he has to say that he doesn't know, as a strategist, you can guess the monarch's mind, but you can't say it, especially in the face of a suspicious monarch like Cao Ying.

"I remembered what Sun Shao said to me when I was wet." Cao Ying straightened his waist, put down the tongs, and clapped his hands: "He said, whether it is the head of a family or the emperor of a country, the biggest credit is not how many merits he has, but to choose a qualified successor." Eloquent as Qin Shi Huang, although he swept away the Six Kingdoms, he failed to choose a good successor for the Great Qin Empire, and was taken advantage of by Hu Hai and Zhao Gao, so the second died. Emperor Xiaowu has been on the southern expedition to the north for decades, and behind his great military exploits is a crumbling edifice, but he chose Emperor Xiaozhao, so the Han can be in danger and not fall. ”

Liu Ye was a little puzzled, there was nothing profound about this kind of truth, why Cao Ying praised Sun Shao for this, and he always kept it in his heart.

Cao Ying continued: "How to choose the successor is the most appropriate way? Ziyang, how do you say you should choose? ”

Liu Ye pondered for a moment: "Those who are elected with both ability and political integrity will teach diligently, and then choose more loyal ministers to assist." ”

"Hahaha......" Cao Ying laughed loudly, pointed at Liu Ye and said, "Ziyang, do you know what Sun Shao said?" ”

Liu Ye was really curious this time. Although his method is not a novel method, he has always done it, could it be that Sun Shao has a more clever way.

"He said that horses are not as good as horses, and that mules are horses, and that it is better to pull them out and kick them out than to listen to the people who say them."

Liu Ye was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood. At this moment, Cao Ying suddenly said that this sentence was by no means casual, he had already made a decision in his heart, and this decision was very unfavorable to Cao Pi. What's more, when Cao Ying said this to him, he must have meant something, he hoped that he could understand his thoughts and then support his ideas.

Liu Ye is Cao Pi's faction, and he supports Cao Pi out of the patriarchal rules of maintaining the primogeniture inheritance system, and for the long-term stability of the Wei State, but Cao Ying is biased towards meritocracy, and he has always been dissatisfied with Cao Pi, also because Cao Pi does have many unsatisfactory places. He has literary talent, but literary talent is not outstanding, literary algae is gorgeous and exaggerated and lacks true feelings, he has martial arts, good swordsmanship, and the art of war, but he has never been in battle, this time there is a rare opportunity to go to war, but it was messed up by the change of Yecheng. And the most important thing is the change in Yecheng, Cao Ying asked him to guard Yecheng, but Yecheng was in chaos, thousands of people were killed and imprisoned, and countless ministers were implicated, almost all of Cao Ying's decades of hard work were in vain. In addition, he seemed to be loyal, but none of his mother's brothers liked him.

Such a person, how could Cao Ying rest assured that he would be the heir, not to mention that there was Cao Zhi on the side to make comparisons.

"Are you right or not?" Cao Ying looked at Liu Ye with a smile. Liu Ye felt as if his heart had been hit with a heavy hammer, and he was a little out of breath. Cao Ying is asking him to make a statement, if he doesn't deal with it properly, then Cui Yan may be a lesson for him.

But Liu Ye couldn't accept it immediately, in this case, Cao Ying might think that he was a villain when he saw the wind and steered the rudder, tended to be inflammatory. He thought cautiously for a moment, and said cautiously: "It's just that in this way, it is inevitable that there will be cannibalism......

"This kind of thing is always inevitable, and compared with the major events of the family and the country, these losses can be regarded as nothing." Cao Ying interrupted Liu Ye's words, obviously not planning to listen to his explanation again: "Born in the deep palace and raised in the hands of a woman, even if such a person is a genius, how many people can really do great things?" Emperor Xiaowu's peerless talent, why did he make such a big mistake later? Because he does not know the sufferings of the people. Cao Ying stood up, not tall but people didn't dare to look up: "If he starts from the end like a lonely man and has experienced many things in the world, he will definitely not make such a mistake." In the 400 years of the Han Dynasty, the 24 emperors, in addition to the founding king, how many can really be called Ming monarchs? It's not that they're not smart, it's that they don't have the opportunity to experience it. If today's son hadn't been exiled in Xijing and endured so much suffering, how could he have survived to this day? ”

Liu Ye secretly smiled bitterly, that's right, if Liu Xie didn't know the stakes of the knife, he would have openly confronted Cao Ying a long time ago, but if that really happened, I'm afraid he would either be killed or forced to abdicate, and change to an obedient person, Cao Ying definitely has this means.

(To be continued)