In November of the sixth year of Yankang, Emperor Cao Cao of Wei was on the verge of dying.

Queen Bian and grandson Cao Chaodan served in front of the bed, Cao Cao held his wife with his left hand and the heir with his right hand, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and smile, saying: "I started fighting in middle age, and I wanted to remove filth and dirt for the Han family, but I didn't intend to inherit it and become the Son of Heaven." On the day my grandfather entered the palace, when did he enter the temple...... A lifetime of work, its own descendants commented, and there are no regrets......"

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but smile and sighed deeply: "It's a pity that I don't see Hongfu's triumph, and I will return to the sea as one......"

Cao Chao hurriedly comforted him: "There is a letter in the former Han Dynasty, the Yun army has arrived in Yucheng, the Shu thieves are divided into two, and they will be destroyed in a few days. ”

Cao Cao said forget it, I don't have time to wait for him anymore-"It's because my longevity is over, and Fei Hongfu is unwilling to do his best." To the country of the people, less than half a year old, encore is expected? "I'd better hurry up and arrange what happened after the death.

He immediately summoned Taifu Cao De, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Wang Lang, and Hua Xin, the five ministers of Zhongshu Ling, and Shangshu Linghua Xin to the pilgrimage and asked for the future. Empress Bian advised Cao Cao: "The concubine is a woman, and she should not put her beak in political affairs, but she is like a stalk in her throat, and she has to spit out her ears." Although His Majesty's brother is sick, he is not the one who can be in charge, Zixiao and Zilian are both martial artists, and the second order is a scholar, and it is difficult to pillar the country. If these five people are made to assist the grandson now, the concubine will think that it is insufficient. Hu doesn't summon Hongfu to return and entrust the future? ”

Cao Cao shook his head slightly and said: "The army should go deep into Shu, and it is not appropriate to be handsome." How can death be endured? I'm afraid it will be difficult for Hongsuke to return. Then he paid attention to Cao Chao: "When Shu is destroyed, you can protect the country and return to Yi Hongfu." Cao Chao hurriedly bowed down to receive the order.

Immediately the five ministers entered the Hajj. Cao Cao ordered Cao Chao to kowtow to the five people. The five of them hurriedly gave way. Cao Cao said: "Today, my grandson kneels down to worship Qing and others. The other day should remember this virtue and be good at assisting the children. He ordered the secretary to draft the edict and temporarily put it in the inner court, waiting for the day of the funeral to be unsealed and read.

When the five ministers entered the pilgrimage, Bian Hou had already avoided first, and when the five ministers withdrew from the palace gate, only Cao Chao and the two eunuchs, the two doctors, and the first secretary were left in front of the sickbed. After a while, Cao Cao went away. The doctor hurriedly pressed the pulse, Cao Chao took a few steps back, came to the entrance of the hall, slightly opened the door of the hall a gap, and breathed a breath of fresh air. But when he saw a person standing outside the hall, he couldn't help frowning and asked, "Who is it?" ”

The official outside the door hurriedly bowed down and saluted, and at the same time signed up: "Minister Cui Yan, I was ordered by His Majesty to prepare an edict, and I am here to reply." Cao Chao stretched out his hand: "Take it and look at it alone." ”

Cui Yan Cui Ji Jue. Originally, he was squeezed out by Xi Xi, Shixun and others, and was kicked out of the court. Not long ago, Cao Cao suddenly remembered him, and wrote an edict to pay homage to him as a secretary on duty. It stands to reason that the edict must be issued through the Chinese book, and the officials must be worshipped by the officials, but today's Zhongshu order is Wang Lang instead of Xun, and the new secretary of the ministry is Dong Zhao instead of Chen Qun and Chen Jiao, and the character is not upright enough, and he often turns a blind eye and closes one eye to the emperor's destruction of the system - besides, why obstruct a small secretary?

Cui Yan was returned to Luoyang, and soon regained Cao Cao's favor, and his power in the prison was only under the secretary and supervisor Xing Hao - besides, Cui Jiqi was Xing Ziang's recommended master, and Xing Hao was inconvenient to suppress him.

In fact, Cao Cao's intention to reuse Cui Yan can be seen by all discerning people: it is Hongfugui who is the captain, and now he is the governor of the capital, Cao Cao can suppress him, if there is no secret, the young lord ascends the throne, then it is really hard to say. Especially the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, most of them are friendly with Shixun, so they have to find a few guys who don't deal with him to come out so that they can balance the situation. So who is against Shixun? At present, there are three people, one is Cui Yan, the second is Yang Xiu, and the third is Chen Qun. Therefore, Cao Cao first used Cui Yan, and then recruited Chen Qun to assassinate the history of Jizhou, pardoned Yang Xiu's crimes, and made it the Linwei Order - the latter two, Cao Cao also greeted Cao Chao, and if you ascend the throne, you can try to summon it.

At that moment, Cui Yan handed the drafted edict to Cao Chao, Cao Chao opened it, and looked at the afterglow of dusk outside the hall, and couldn't help but gasp. It turned out that this edict was Cao Cao who had talked to Cao Chao in the past, and when he was treated to calm Shu, he reprimanded him for his sins and dismissed the title of lieutenant - of course, in fact, Chengdu had been defeated at this time, but the news had not yet reached Luoyang, so there was no "both to the city, attacked by Ma Chao, and retreated because of fear, if it were not for the chaos of the Shu people, several make the merit fall into success" and "after entering Chengdu, the merit was out of control, and he was good at doing prestige, and he did not serve the report and self-despotism". But just the first two are enough for Hongfu to drink a pot, especially Cui Jiqiya is good at articles, coupled with the hatred of Shixun, this edict is written brilliantly, and it is three points to the bone.

In Cui Yan's mind, it is best that as soon as you hear my article, you will be frightened, depressed, sad, and ashamed on the spot, and commit suicide directly! My generation of Amakusa edict, no one can say that I have a personal vendetta, and if an article can scold death is a honor, it is enough to shine through the ages and be famous for eternity!

Cao Chao was shocked and frightened, and hurriedly put this edict into his sleeve and took care of Cui Yan: "This cannot be issued immediately, and the secretary can retire temporarily." As he spoke, he closed the door of the temple.

After a while, Cao Cao was injected by the doctor, and he had woken up again, and he vaguely heard Cao Chao talking to someone, so he asked, "What's the matter?" Cao Chao hurriedly stepped forward, ordered the doctors and eunuchs to retreat, and then approached Cao Cao's ear and reported in a low voice: "Cui Jiqi has finished preparing the edict, and he is here to wait for the decree." I expect that the Taiwei will be able to determine Shu in a few days, is it feasible for His Majesty to say to the minister the day before yesterday? ”

Cao Cao was confused for a moment, and finally realized what Cao Chao said. He let out a long breath and replied weakly: "If Shu has been decided and I am still here, I should do it, otherwise...... Not necessarily. ”

That night, Cao Cao, the son of Wei Tianzi, finally couldn't afford to take it - only five days away from Jun's sacrifice to Luoyang.

When it was time for Shijun to return to Luoyang City triumphantly, but when he saw the white flags fluttering in the city and the colors in the alleys, he knew that the situation was not good. At this moment, Cao Chao has already ascended the throne to the sky, assisted by Cao De, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Wang Lang, and Hua Xin. However, as Empress Bian said, Cao De, who was supposed to be the leader of the group, couldn't shoulder such a heavy responsibility at all, so he directly asked for an errand to build a mausoleum for Cao Cao and ran out of the city; Cao Ren and Cao Hong arranged soldiers and horses to guard against changes, but they couldn't intervene in government affairs at all; Hua Xin planned the funeral of the Son of Heaven; The national politics are all pressed on the shoulders of Wang Lang, a good old man who has no opinions.

Therefore, the ministers all admonished that they should urgently summon the return of the captain and take care of the government, but they were retold by Cao Cao's last words, "The army should go deep into Shu, and the whole work should not be completed, and it should not be easy to be handsome". When it was Jun Xian's captivity, Cao Chao was overjoyed: "I can comfort the spirit of the first emperor in the sky!" After it was over, he shed tears again: "Count the time, the day when the Taiwei enters Chengdu, the first emperor is still there, why is the day not to fake his life, so that he knows this good news and goes?" ”

The ministers congratulated in unison, and when they were finished, they all said that they should immediately issue an edict to reward the meritorious officials to settle the land of Shu, and quickly recall the Taiwei back. Cao Chao nodded: "The first emperor's last order can make the protector go to Zhenshu, and Yi Taiwei is also." ”

When he came down from the court and entered the inner court, Cui Jiqi ran over and asked Cao Chao: "The edict drafted by the minister for the first emperor the day before yesterday, can it be executed?" Cao Chao frowned and said, "The first emperor has a word, if you can't stay, you don't have to do it." Cui Yan said that when the first emperor sent me a task, he didn't say that: "The minister dares to ask the first emperor how to answer Your Majesty?" ”

Cao Chao recalled Cao Cao's words that day, and roughly recounted it: "The edict prepared by I Deqing asked the first emperor, and the first emperor was Yun: 'If Shu has been decided and I am still there, it can be implemented immediately, otherwise it may not be.'" ’”

This is also because Cao Cao was confused and couldn't speak clearly, and as a result, Cui Yan caught the loophole: "The first emperor is not necessarily, it is feasible or not, and it is not necessary." Otherwise, the clouds 'don't have to', 'can't', 'can't', and the clouds 'don't'? ”

Cao Chao was stunned on the spot, and couldn't answer for a while. Cui Yan took the opportunity to take a step closer, lowered his voice and said: "The minister also knows that the Taiwei is really meritorious and meritorious, but when the first emperor was subordinate to the ministers, the position of the Taiwei Yun was high, and it was difficult to reward. Naicao is an edict, so that the rank of captain is reduced, and the other is called to return Luo. The country thinks it is safe, the Son of Heaven takes it as important, and the Taiwei also thinks it is not for the type of literature and Fan Li. Those who hesitated in the first emperor were afraid that the Taiwei would bully His Majesty's weakness, and he would rebel against this edict, that is, if he did not rebel, if he wanted it according to Shu, he would hurt His Majesty's Shengming. ”

Cao Chao shook his head: "The first emperor Zeng Yun, the Taiwei will not be opposed, even if it is opposed, it is not difficult to decide." ”

Cui Yan said, so why give him this opportunity? "If Your Majesty does not issue this edict, how can the Taiwei be rewarded for his merits on the day he returns to the court? Therefore, the minister thought that when the death of the first emperor was temporarily secret, even if the country was protected into Hanzhong, he would summon the Taiwei back. If you think that the first emperor is still there, even if you have resentment, you don't dare to rebel; If you plug it back, you will not be allowed to enter it. ”

Cao Chao nodded, and said that I agree not to pass on the death of the first emperor to Shuzhong first-" Jia Wenhe also persuaded me. ”

Jia Xu once suggested that the various Guanjin leading to Hanzhong and Bashu should be quickly blocked to prevent the news of Cao Cao's death from reaching Yizhou, because at that time, there was no news that the land of Shu had been decided, so he was afraid of causing turmoil in the army's morale or strengthening the determination of the Shu people to resist.

But Cao Chao still hesitated, and asked if he really wanted to announce this edict to be responsible? Cui Yannai said: "The king is supreme, the thunder and rain are all gentle, if he is selfless, there will be no resentment." Although he has lost his title of lieutenant, he is still the prince of Jieyang County, and his position is respectful, so why hurt? ”

Speaking of this, his expression suddenly became extremely serious: "It is Hongfu who is the pillar of the imperial court, and then he is also a relative, if he makes his relatives govern, the former Han Dynasty will repeat the same mistakes, Yin Jian is not far away, Your Majesty is cautious." To take away his position and respect his honor, so that he can live for a long time, is a family, and the country is resting, and he is also important for true love. "The disaster of relatives, I don't know how many times the Eastern Han Dynasty has been staged, are you not afraid of reappearing in this dynasty? It is better to offer Shixun up, not only to ensure that he will not abuse his power and endanger the royal family, but also to ensure that he will not be envied by others because of his power, so that he can enjoy his old age in peace - this is the real love for him.

Cao Chao finally got moved, but still said, saying that the language of your original edict was too intense, and I have to find someone to revise it again...... Besides, things such as Xun's temporary retirement from Mianzhu can also be written. Turning his head, he summoned Xing Hao, the secretary and supervisor, and Liu Fang, the secretary of the central book, to discuss. Xing and Liu were shocked when they heard this, and they advised one after another, Cao Chao looked at him, and Cui Yan immediately stood up to refute it. Xing Hao saw that Mr. Cui had this attitude, and quickly shut up, leaving Liu Fang alone, so he had to say: "If the edict is issued, I am afraid that it will be refuted." ”

Cao Chao's eyes narrowed slightly: "This is not my edict, it is the edict of the first emperor, who dares to refute it?" (To be continued.) )