Cao Ei was the son of Mrs. Zhen, and later Cao Pi favored Mrs. Guo, and her mother lost love and died, and Cao Ei was not allowed to be the heir, and was renamed the king of the plains??.? Later, there were rumors that Cao Pi wanted to take King Jingzhao as the crown prince and inherit the throne, so Cao Rong had the intention of seeking the throne, and privately visited the late city king Cao Zhangai, the king of the city, and conspired to assassinate Cao Pi, so that the city wall of Xudu collapsed. When Zhou Yi assassinated Cao Pi that day, Cao Yi took Xiahou Mao and other forbidden troops to leave the imperial tent, originally wanting Zhou Yi to take advantage of the situation. Unexpectedly, Chen Sheng was killed halfway, subdued Zhou Yi at a critical time, and rescued Cao Pi. Seeing that it could not be done, Cao Rong thought that he would die, so he was going to gather his henchmen and prepare to fight to the death. That Zhou Yi was a hero, gritted his teeth and took on the stabbing with all his might, and killed himself in prison. Although Cao Pi was not injured, he was even frightened and couldn't afford to get sick. And Cao Rong was blessed by misfortune, and accompanied his father and served around him all day long, showing twelve points of filial piety. Later, Cao Pi became a little ill, and he went out to hunt again, personally shot a doe, and ordered Cao Rong to shoot his young deer. Cao Rong threw his bow on the ground, pleaded guilty on the ground, and refused to shoot him. Cao Pi was puzzled and asked why. Cao Rongnai replied: "Your Majesty has killed his mother, and the minister can't bear to kill his son again." "Weep because of it. Cao Pi was happier in his heart, so he had the heart to establish an heir. Cao Pi's condition had not healed, and he was caught by the wind and cold when he went hunting, and when he returned to Luoyang, his illness was repeated, which was better than at the beginning. The medicine was ineffective, and Cao Pi also knew that he was going to die, so he issued an edict to Cao Rong as the crown prince.

Since Cao Rong succeeded to the throne, he was afraid of the East Window incident, and there were secret envoys to hunt down Zhou Yiyu's party, but the news he got was that all of them died in Cao Pi's imperial camp, and no one escaped the net. Cao Rong felt a little at ease, thinking that he could be the Taiping Emperor in peace, but not long after he ascended the throne, Sima Yi's paper made the city full of storms. What's even more hateful is that it is actually said that Cao Rong is not in the right position, of course, the content of Sima Liang's text refers to his father Cao Pi robbing Chen Siwang Cao Zhi of the throne, and it has nothing to do with what Cao Rong did. But Cao Rong had a ghost in his heart, and this "improper position" just talked about his sore spot, so he issued an edict to Xiahou Mao, the governor of the forbidden army, and asked him to lead people to investigate the matter thoroughly, and he must catch the person who spread the text; On the one hand, he summoned the general Cao Zhen, the great Sima Cao Xiu, Situ Wang Lang, Sikong Chen Qun and others to discuss sending troops to Wancheng and taking down Sima Yi's head.

Wang Lang, Chen Qun and other ministers strongly opposed the matter of sending troops, and there were three reasons: first, the first emperor was in mourning, and it was not appropriate to use swords and soldiers; Second, Sima was very good at using soldiers, but he was afraid that none of the generals would be his opponents; Third, when the world is peaceful for a long time, although Wancheng is small, it is involved in the whole body, and if the war starts, I am afraid that Wu Shu will take the opportunity to attack. Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and others are trying their best to fight, Sima Yi openly spread rumors and insult the first emperor, which is a heinous crime, and it is time to send troops to fight to comfort the spirit of the first emperor in the sky. The two sides are arguing, but Cao Rong has his own plans in his heart, such a thing will happen when the new monarch ascends the throne, if he can't calm down in time, won't he lose the prestige of the Central Plains? Moreover, Sima cut off Wancheng was a matter of Emperor Taizu Wu when he was alive, and the first emperor Cao Pi was on the throne for several years, and he was always thinking about recovering it, but he couldn't get his wish. ?.? 'If Cao Ei can recover it in one fell swoop, wouldn't it make the ministers and officials, and the people of the world know that they are better than the first emperor?

In Cao Rong's heart, Wancheng must be beaten, but Wang Lang and others' worries are not unreasonable, Sima Yi is deeply praised by Emperor Wu, and it must be a bone that is difficult to gnaw, and once he is defeated, or Sun Quan in the east and Shu Han in the west, it is a headache. Cao Rong had served beside Emperor Taizu back then, and he also knew a little about the general situation of military and politics, and if Shu Han won Wancheng, the threat to Cao Wei would be quite great. If Wancheng doesn't fight, it will be enough, and if it is struck, it will be lightning fast, not giving Sima a chance to unite with Shu Wu, nor giving Xichuan Zhao Shu a chance, or Ling Tong of Huainan having the opportunity to send troops to rescue. Therefore, in the past two days, Cao Zhen made a secret edict to make Cao Zhen gather Luoyang soldiers and horses; Cao Xiu went to Runan to collect the people of Qingxu; Zhang He, the general of the left, led the troops of Chang'an out of the Qingsilt Pass to the east, and attacked in three ways, even if Sima Yi had great ability, he did not want to use the power of a county to compete with the Central Plains.

Cao Rong couldn't help but be proud of his strategy and was in a good mood, so he didn't think it was strange to Xiahou Mao's small report. Moreover, Cao Rong really didn't have a good impression of Chen Sheng, because he almost killed himself, and it was good to take the opportunity of Xiahou Mao to teach him a lesson. However, with Cao Rong's understanding of Chen Sheng, it is entirely possible to miss and hurt people because of saving innocent people and clashing with the forbidden army, but when it comes to colluding with Sima Yi and betraying the court, it is absolutely not. Seeing that Xiahou Mao had a root on his chest, crying about Chen Sheng with a handful of snot and tears, Cao Rong just thought that his appearance was funny, and as for what he said, he didn't take it to heart at all.

Xiahou Mao cried for a while, and his tears were almost dry, but he hadn't heard any movement from the emperor sitting above, so he couldn't help but wonder, peeked up, but happened to see Cao Rong looking at him with a smile, and couldn't guess the holy will for a while, and didn't know how to continue. Or did Cao Rong understand his thoughts, turned to look at Chen Sheng, who was kneeling next to him without saying a word, and asked, "What does General Chen have to say?" ”

When Chen Sheng heard the emperor ask, he would respectfully kowtow to the ground and reply: "Weichen hindered General Xiahou from doing errands in front, mistakenly handed over to bandits, and killed and injured the forbidden army, there is really no way to refute it. Please ask Your Majesty to judge everything. Xiahou Mao originally thought that Chen Sheng was going to speak out, but he didn't want him to speak out, and he was overjoyed, regardless of being in front of the emperor, and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, he said the same too?.? 'Please also ask Your Majesty to make decisions for Wechen and those dead sergeants. ”

Cao Rong didn't expect Chen Sheng to admit it so readily, he was a little surprised, and asked again: "General Xiahou was arrested by my will, why did the general stop it?" Moreover, what is the meaning of the word 'mistake'? Chen Sheng said: "Although General Xiahou is arrested by His Majesty's edict, the whereabouts of the traitors who can post the text are secret, and the soldiers of the forbidden army cannot be arrested, and General Xiahou does not have the above order to restore the emperor." Therefore, even if his subordinates arrest people indiscriminately, as long as they read the inscription or have it posted on the door, they will be severely tortured and interrogated. Many people just sat at home, and the disaster fell from the sky, without even knowing it, and they were tortured to death by the forbidden army and imprisoned. Weichen really couldn't stand it, so he stopped it, and in the process of saving people, he got acquainted with someone. Weichen only thought that he was like himself, and when he saw that the road was uneven, he drew his sword to help, but he didn't want the other party to have another plan. Ignorance of micro-ministers, capital crimes, capital crimes. ”

"He is spewing blood, Your Majesty ......" Xiahou Mao had not yet spoken, when he heard Cao Rong shout in a deep voice: "Shut up." Looking at the emperor's face again, it didn't seem to be as sunny as just now, and he hurriedly kept silent, like a chilling cicada. Cao Rong has also heard a little about what the forbidden army has done in the past few days, but in troubled times, he would rather kill 3,000 by mistake than let go of one. Killing a few more civilians will not leave any guilt in the heart of Cao Ei, who is the emperor. Of course, as the wise grandson of Emperor Taizu Wu, who likes Youjia, Cao Rong will not know that Xiahou Mao is pretending to be a public servant and revenge for being snubbed by the first emperor. Cao Rong also didn't like Xiahou Mao, who relied on the merits of his ancestors, but he had just ascended to the throne from a disgraced king of the plains, and he needed a group of ministers who were completely obedient to him. And the servility that Xiahou Mao showed from the very beginning was something that Cao Ei liked very much, so he turned a blind eye to him.

Cao Rong is not concerned about the grievances and grievances between the two people in front of him, but the so-called spy, so he asked Chen Sheng again, and said: "Since it was a mistake, I won't blame the general, but does the general know the details of that person?" Chen Sheng said: "The other party claims to be a subordinate of Sima Zhongda in Wancheng. Cao Rong naturally heard the meaning of his words, and immediately asked, "Self-proclaimed?" So in the general's opinion, this is not the real identity of the other party? Chen Sheng nodded and said: "At that time, the other party did not really save Weichen, but there were two purposes: first, to trap Weichen in a disloyal place; The second is to use the mouths of Weichen and General Xiahou to convey to the Holy Lord, and the matter of the text was done by Sima. ”

Cao Rong pondered for a moment, paced back and forth for a few steps, and asked slowly, "The general thinks that the text was not sent by Sima Zhongda?" Chen Sheng was about to answer, but Cao Rong signaled him to calm down, hurriedly bowed to Xie En again, and got up and replied: "Weichen never believed that this was done by Sima Zhongda. Although Wancheng has 100,000 troops, after all, there is only one county, and with Sima Yi's old scheming, he is not completely sure, and he will definitely not provoke a war in vain. It must be done by Western Shu or Eastern Wu spies, wanting to make His Majesty's army conquer Wancheng and profit from it. Weichen wanted to capture the other party, but he had a stunt, and he walked like the wind under his feet, but he couldn't catch up. ”

"If you can get away from the general, the other side is also a rare talent." Cao Rong knew that Emperor Taizu was very fond of Chen Sheng, and at this moment, listening to his unique opinion, it seemed to make a lot of sense, and he suddenly had a sense of cherishment in his heart, and turned to see Xiahou Mao still kneeling aside, and couldn't help frowning: "You retreat first." "Although Xiahou Mao doesn't have any great wisdom, he still has these little cleverness to observe words and feelings, and after listening to a few words between the emperor and Chen Sheng, he knew that his plan to kill Chen Sheng had failed. Although he deeply hated Chen Sheng for obtaining Cao Rong's holy favor again, he did not dare to have the slightest displeasure on his face, hurriedly bowed and bowed, and respectfully withdrew from the main hall.

Cao Rong saw Xiahou Mao leaving, so he took out the map he had used in the past two days from under the imperial case, beckoned Chen Sheng to step forward, and said, "General, look, this is the Wancheng strategy formulated by me personally. "Cao Rong prefers Xiahou Mao, the court knows it, Chen Sheng originally thought that today's disaster was inevitable, but he didn't want the emperor to drink Xiahou Mao, and left himself to discuss military affairs. In terms of Chen Sheng's position, it is okay to participate in military conquests, but he has lived idle for many years since his life experience was exposed to Cao Pi.

In fact, Chen Sheng guessed in his heart that since the emperor had the intention to attack Wancheng, then it was the choice to attack from Luoyang, Runan, and Chang'an. Therefore, Chen Sheng didn't need to look at the sign on Cao Rong's map to think clearly, but because of the emperor's dignity, he had to pretend to concentrate and look at it for a while before saying: "Your Majesty Shengming, if you attack in such a three-way way, Sima Zhongda will have no power to fight back." Cao Rong was already very satisfied with his plan, and when he heard him say this, he was even more happy, and nodded: "Sima Zhongda has occupied Wancheng for many years, and I will definitely recover it to comfort the spirits of Emperor Taizu and the first emperor." General Chen is full of martial arts, so he might as well go out with General Cao, and he will make many meritorious achievements. ”

Chen Sheng looked at the emperor's smug expression, and knew that he was thinking about things too simply, so he had to say again: "Your Majesty is advancing in three ways, and Sima Yi has no power to fight back." It's just that Sima is an old traitor, and once the situation is unfavorable, he will switch to Wu and Shu. The minister heard that Guo Huai of Jingzhou had been preparing for war all the year round, and he was eyeing Fancheng, and if the two places were united, he was afraid that it would be disadvantageous to the imperial court. ”

Cao Rong was in a good mood, and was not annoyed by Chen Sheng's refutation of his plan, but felt relieved, although such a person was not as likable as Xiahou Mao, but people in the court always had to dare to tell the truth. Then he nodded again and again, and said: "The general's concern is not unreasonable, but Fancheng City is strong and has enough food, and the general Wenpin is a veteran of the three dynasties, and he is very good at using soldiers, and he is supplemented by Man Boning, what kind of waves can a mere Guo Huai raise?" I want to take Guanyun Changwei Town in Huaxia back then, with tens of thousands of male soldiers, and it is not easy to capture Fancheng. By the time Guo Huai's rescuers arrived, my three-way army had enough time to level Wancheng and take down the heads of Sima Zhongda's father and son. ”

No matter how strong Fancheng is, it is also a lonely city, but Nanyang is a whole county, and Sima Yi has been in Wancheng for many years, and he has won the hearts and minds of the military. As for the success or failure of this campaign, it does not seem to be a wise move to bet on the defenders of Fancheng, who are less than 10,000 people. There is also Ling Gongji of Huainan, who is also a famous general of Eastern Wu, could it be that when the tripartite fight in Wancheng is in full swing, will he be willing to drink tea leisurely in the city? Chen Sheng quickly turned around so many questions in his heart, but he didn't know whether to pour cold water on the emperor, so he had to say: "The matter of the text has not yet been confirmed to be done by Sima Yi, Your Majesty does not need to be so eager to raise troops." ”

"Haha." Cao Rong chuckled and shook his head, looked at Chen Sheng and said, "Does the general think that if Sima Yi didn't post a document and insult the first emperor, he shouldn't be punished?" Chen Sheng suddenly realized that at this moment, the truth of the text was no longer important to Cao Rong, Wancheng was originally the territory of the Great Wei, and Sima Yi was originally the courtier of the Great Wei. The emperor now does not want to punish Sima for insulting the first emperor, but wants to recover Wancheng and complete the regret of Emperor Taizu and the first emperor. Looking at the flickering light in Cao Ei's eyes, Chen Sheng could feel the flame in the young emperor's heart, he must have wanted to establish the merits of Emperor Yue Xian, so as to be recognized by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and even the people of the world. But the military affairs are not child's play, Chen Sheng can't watch Cao Rong risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, so he sighed silently in his heart, ready to give up the little bit of good impression that the emperor had just given him, desperately angered Long Yan, and also advised Cao Rong to think twice before acting.

Chen Sheng made up his mind and was about to open his mouth, but the eunuch outside shouted: "Your Majesty, the general Cao Zhen asks to see you." Cao Rong also saw that Chen Sheng was not very satisfied with his plan, and it happened that Cao Zhen came and could change the topic, so he smiled and said: "When the general comes to see him, it must also be a matter of raising troops, and the general can discuss with him." Then he summoned him. After a while, I saw Cao Zhen striding into the hall, his face was very ugly, and he hurriedly made an audience salute, and then presented a copy of the book with both hands, and said, "General Fan Chengwen's military report." ”

Cao Rong looked at the bloodstains on the fold, and a hint of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart......