On April 6, the 24th year of Jian'an, Yecheng, Wei County, Wei State. Wei was now nominally only a vassal state under the Han Dynasty and belonged to a county state in Jizhou.

But in essence, it has replaced Jizhou, because its territory has more than ten counties, including Hebei, Bingzhou and even Guanzhong.

Therefore, the title of Jizhou is close to its name only, and few people call it that. But when the bang rang during the meal, there were two guests in a restaurant in Xing'anli Street in the south of Yecheng.

There was no one at this point in the morning, and the two of them sat by the window on the second floor, and one of them casually sighed: "Jizhou has changed so much, I can't recognize it anymore." ”

"yes." The other answered. Xiao Er, who ordered the food, said with a smile: "I heard that the accents of the two guests are from Xuzhou." The man wondered, "How do you know?" The other man smiled and said, "You are really stupid, the shopkeeper is here to serve the merchants who travel from north to south, and you have heard everything, and it is not uncommon to hear our accent." ”

"Yes, yes, yes." The man slapped his head and smiled and said, "Look at my brain." Xiao Er poured tea for the two of them, and said happily: "It's really not unusual to guess that the two guests are from Xuzhou, but I also know that the guests haven't been to Jizhou for ten years." ”

"Oh?" The man was surprised and said, "You even know this?" The other man looked at him curiously.

Xiao Er smiled: "No one is called Jizhou anymore, they are all called Wei Guo." The man's face changed slightly.

The person next to him hurriedly said: "The last time I came to Jizhou, it was indeed more than ten years ago, and this year, business is not good." ”

"That's right." Xiao Er asked, "What do you two guests want?" The two of them ordered some food.

After Xiao Er left, the previous one frowned and said, "It seems that you still have to be careful." ”

"Just be careful with what you say and do." One person looked out the window, this restaurant was at the back door of the prince's concubine Zhu Shuo's mansion, and Zhu Shuo's house could be seen.

Soon the food was put on the table, and the two of them ate slowly and methodically, their eyes staring closely at the door of the back door of the Zhu family through the window from time to time.

After about two quarters of an hour, the back door of the prince's house opened, and a servant came out and went straight into the restaurant.

The sound of "pedaling" sounded upstairs. The two men got up and looked, and when the servant came near, they asked, "Where are the guests from?" ”

"Come from Weishui."

"Where are you going?"

"Go into the water."

"Sit." And they saluted the servant, and the servant returned the salute. When the three men sat down, one of them asked the servant in a low voice, "Is this restaurant safe?" Why did you choose this location? The servant grinned, "This restaurant is mine." The two of them were in awe.

Names were exchanged with each other, and the slave was called Xu Yin, a person from the river. The other two are named Zhou Ai, one is named Li Mu, one is from Beihai, Xuzhou, and the other is from Xiapi, Xuzhou.

Last month, one of the spies placed in Yecheng by Shen Chen died of illness, and the other spy was over 50 years old, missing his family, and wanted to return to his hometown, so he transferred two people from Xuzhou.

Since the spies he arranged were based on groups, each group consisted of three people, who were responsible for intelligence gathering, transit, and transmission.

So this time it's time for the trio to connect. Naturally, there is more than this group of people in the huge Yecheng City, but in order to prevent someone from betraying and exposing the entire organization, each group does not know the identity of the other party.

When someone was sent from above, they would only be informed of the time, place, and joint code, and now it was the first time the three of them had met.

At present, only two members of the entire spy organization are known, that is, the supreme commander Zhou Budo and the deputy Cai Du.

Even Shen Chen didn't know, because he only needed intelligence, and as for the management of specific affairs, it was fully entrusted to Zhou Budo, who was currently in Nanyang.

After the three of them sat down, Zhou Ai said: "I am in charge of the transfer above, I plan to open a shop in Yecheng to do business, Li Mu is to pass on, how about you be a merchant from other places?" On weekdays, we also try to meet in restaurants as little as possible, and Xu Yin can give me the news when he goes to my store to buy something. ”

"That's fine." Li Mu nodded, he, like Zhou Ai, thought that this time he would simply meet his head, recognize his face first, and then work according to the plan.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yin directly threw a bombshell.

"Don't be in a hurry to stay in Yecheng yet, you must go back as soon as possible now, or pass on the news."

"What's the news?"

"Cao Pi may be usurping the throne." He said. Both of them changed their faces, which was heavy news.

Zhou Kui hurriedly said: "This news is indeed true." ”

"It should be true, Zhu Shuo is preparing for this." Xu Yin said: "The day before yesterday, I overheard him discussing this persuasion with Chang Lin, Wu Zhen is now in Chaoge, in the past two months, some of Chaoge's close ministers have been transferred away with excuses. ”

"If it's just persuasion, but not substantive, then not necessarily. If you send false news back, it will ruin the governor's big business, and it will be bad. Li Mu pondered and said, "Can you confirm this news, for example, can you overhear Zhu Shuo saying that Cao Pi should be down?" ”

"yes." Zhou Ai also said: "If Zhu Shuo just recruited some people to persuade Cao Pi, and Cao Pi didn't agree immediately, if we send the news back, it is likely that the king will change his plan to destroy Wu, and then Cao Pi will not be the emperor but will destroy Wei, won't it be a big deal for the king to unify the south?" Xu Yin thought for a while and said, "Then you will stay in Yecheng according to the plan first, and then I will seriously investigate the situation." Hopefully, the other teams will find out the news, and it would be great if they could be sure. ”

"Hmm." Li Mu nodded and said, "This is the safest." Immediately, the three of them went into action. And what the three of them didn't know was that while they were exploring the secrets, the other groups also heard the news.

Because Cao Pi did have the idea of usurping the throne, Chen Qun, Sima Yi, Zhu Shuo, Wu Zhen and others were in action, and some of Cao Pi's henchmen and cronies were not careful, and some clues were found by the spies.

Nowadays, the Cao Wei Group is not very peaceful, and it is internally unstable. However, after Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he sent Cao Chun, the general of the capital protection, Cao Zhen, the general of Zhenxi, Cao Xiu, the leader of the central army, and Xiahou Shang, the general of Zhengnan, to attack everywhere to quell the thieves, civil unrest, uprising, and so on.

After months of purging, most of the rebellion had been quelled, and the turmoil caused by the Battle of Jingzhou had gradually stabilized and the situation was brought under control.

At this time, in the mansion of King Wei in Yecheng, Cao Pi, who was wearing the robes of the princes of Jiuzhang and Jiuhan, sat on the main seat. In addition to Sima Yi, Chen Qun, and Zhu Shuo, there are Hua Xin, He Kui, Chang Lin, Liu Ruo and others.

There are not many people, but they are all Cao Pi's confidants. Moreover, in Chaoge, Wu Qian, who was the order of Chaoge, helped him look at Liu Xie, which was foolproof.

Cao Pi looked around and said majestically: "Everyone, are you sure that you can act in this matter, and there will be no more rebellions?" Sima Yi said: "King Wei rest assured, I have already said before that this matter has many benefits, and it is time to act." ”

"Hmm." Cao Pi touched his beard and said, "It's bitter for my Great Wei Wuhou." Zhu Shuo said with a smile: "It is his blessing that Wu Hou can serve the King of Wei." Liu Bei is now preparing to attack Wu, we can't rush to help, and we are taking this opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity to ascend the great treasure of Wei Wanglong to determine the country. ”

"The widow is afraid that after he ascends the throne, not only will he not let the Quartet be stable, but he will let those thieves who have the Han family in their hearts rebel." Cao Pi frowned.

Chen Qun arched his hand and said, "Wouldn't this be better?" ”

"Oh?" Cao Pi wondered, "Why? Chen Qun said with a smile: "Liu Bei is fighting Wu, we are in civil strife, he is beating Sun Quan, we are pacifying the civil strife, everyone is doing their own thing, and it is also a good thing not to interfere with each other." ”

"Hmm...... Reasonable. Cao Pi groaned, touched his beard, and nodded. The usurpation of the throne was instigated by Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Zhu Shuo and others.

They thought it was a good time to usurp the throne. The reason is simple. First, although Cao Wei is newly defeated, he has a thick foundation, insufficient offense, and more than enough defense, and Liu Bei can't fight at present.

The second is that Cao Cao has just died, and people's hearts are fluctuating, if Cao Pi can be called emperor, he will give those who are loyal to Cao Wei a reassurance, so that they will not have other ideas.

Third, after becoming emperor, Cao Pi was able to justifiably make the entire north become the territory of Wei, and his subordinates also became Wei ministers, giving Wei ministers peace of mind at the same time, but also completely cutting off the thoughts of those who have the Han family in their hearts.

Fourth, Liu Bei is now preparing to attack Sun Quan, and he will definitely have no time to look north. At that time, no one will be able to stop Cao Pi from becoming emperor, and even if there is a rebellion because of the matter of becoming emperor, it will be even better, just to clear the internal troubles.

As the so-called tide recedes, you can see who is swimming without pants, and when the time comes, who is the loyal minister of the Great Wei and who still has the Han family in mind, it is clear at a glance, and when Liu Bei can't look north, these so-called Han family relics will be eradicated together.

The people are ignorant, and it makes no difference who is the emperor for the bottom, because their personal strength cannot shake the Great Wei without anyone to lead them.

Only those families with Han families in their hearts are a threat. They had organization, land, property, armor, population, and soldiers, and once they were united, they could threaten Cao Wei's rule.

Therefore, taking advantage of Liu Bei's attack on Wu and Cao Pi being the emperor, he could lure these people out, and in the case that Liu Bei could not rush to help, Cao Pi could eliminate these people, so as to further stabilize the Great Wei Dynasty.

At that time, even if Liu Bei eliminated Jiangdong, Cao Pi would have successfully proclaimed the emperor, pacified all the civil strife, and consolidated the situation, then the north and the south would be opposed, and the pattern of dividing the world would be formed.

So it's really a good opportunity to be emperor now. On the contrary, if Liu Bei has not yet destroyed Wu, or if he is declared emperor after the war of Wu is over, it will be bad.

When Liu Bei gets the news, he will definitely go on a northern expedition. In collusion with those who have the Han family in their hearts, Cao Wei may fall into internal and external troubles.

Therefore, Cao Pi's advisers all believed that this opportunity should be seized. Thinking of this, Cao Pi made up his mind and said: "Then so be it, but Sun Quan's side has written to ask for reinforcements in the past few days, what should the widow do?" Sima Yi thought for a while and said: "The king of Wei can release news to the outside world, saying that he will lead his army to the south and make a gesture to help Huainan." ”

"Rush to Huainan?" Cao Pi was confused and said: "Didn't you say that Sun Quan was used to delay time for the widow to become the emperor?" What's more, if you go south, with the current situation of Wei, how can you afford a big war? Sima Yi said with a smile: "It's not really a southern expedition, but on the surface, it wants to go south to confuse Liu Bei, but in fact, it is to stabilize people's hearts and build momentum for ascending the throne." When Liu Bei learned that the King of Wei had the intention of aiding Sun Quan, he would inevitably step up his attack on Jiangdong, and that was when the King of Wei became emperor. ”

"Well...... Cao Pi nodded and said, "Very wonderful, then I will write to Sun Quan immediately and tell him about my upcoming southern expedition, so that he can be relieved." Chen Qun said: "The matter of ascending the throne is still to be justified by the Zen position of the Son of Heaven, and the King of Wei can send people to the court to sing, so that the Son of Heaven Zen is located in the King of Wei, so that the law is good and good, so that the hearts of the people can be fixed." ”

"There is also the heirloom jade seal that should also be taken back." Sima Yi added. So Cao Pi said to Hua Xin: "Xiangguo, this matter will be handled by you." "After Cao Pi succeeded to the king of Wei, the position of Wei changed.

The previous Xiangguo was Zhong Xuan, but Zhong Xuan had to sit in Guanzhong and could not return to Yecheng, so he was changed to Taiwei.

Then he moved Dong Zhao to the imperial doctor, Xing Zhen to Taichang, and Cheng Yu to the guard. The rest of the officials of all sizes have also been promoted, such as Sima Yi from the army Sima to the prime minister Changshi, Chen Qun also moved from the servant to the Shangshu and so on.

This Xiangguo, Taiwei, and Yushi Dafu are the three dukes of Cao Wei at present. However, it is not that the higher the official position, the greater the power.

In fact, at present, the main power of Cao Wei is in the hands of Cao Pi, and these people around him are the ones who share the power.

For example, Prime Minister Shi Sima Yi, Zhu Shuo in the service, Wu Zhen in the Song Order, Chen Qun in the Shang Servant, Xing Qun in the Shang Servant, Liu Ye in the Servant, Shang Shu Wei Qi, Li Yi in the Counselor, Shi Jiang Ji, Ye Ling Jia Kui and so on.

Especially Sima Yi, Zhu Shuo, Wu Zhen, and Chen Qun. Wu Zhen was just a Zhonglang general after Cao Pi became emperor, and he guarded Hebei according to Cao Pi's orders.

Once he returned to Luoyang to report to Cao Pi, who ordered Cao Zhen, Cao Hong, Wang Zhong and other senior generals of Cao Wei to hold a banquet at Wu Zhen's mansion.

As a result, at the banquet, Wu Zhen humiliated Cao Zhen, who was already the supreme commander of Cao Wei, and scolded Cao Zhen, who was already the supreme commander of Cao Wei, and scolded Cao Zhen, which shows the rampant nature of the four friends.

So sometimes the size of the official position does not mean the size of the power, and if you are close to Cao Pi, you are the real person in power.

Although Hua Xin is Xiangguo, it does not mean that he is Cao Pi's most trusted confidant. Because of forcing Liu Xie's Zen position, he also had to snatch the errand of the jade seal of the country, which can be said to be a complete chore.

No matter whether he does a good job or not, his reputation will definitely stink. Just like forcing Liu Xie to confer Cao Cao as the Duke of Wei, framing Kong Rong, and detaining Empress Fu, the imperial historian Xi Xian, will inevitably be spurned by the world.

But since the errand has been handed over to you, you can't do it if you don't do it. Hua Xin had no choice but to respond with a bitter face: "Only." Cao Pi nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, let's do it, everyone disperse and act according to the plan." ”

"Yui!" Everyone should give it up. After they left, Cao Pi couldn't hold back his mood and got up from the table excitedly.

Who is unhappy about being the emperor? What's more, Cao Pi has been the prince with Cao Cao for many years, although one person is above 10,000 people, but there has always been a nominal boss above his head, which is always unpleasant.

Now that he finally has the opportunity to ascend the throne and become the emperor, he has taken over the Han Dynasty and become the lord of the world, how can he not be happy?

"Oligo...... I'm a good Wu Hou. Cao Pi slowly walked to the door with his hands behind his back, looked at the southern sky with deep eyes, and said with a smile: "Please let me drag Liu Bei, if you are not dead when I ascend the throne, when the time comes, you will be crowned King of Wu, don't let me down." ”