Sima Yi looked at Cao Pi and asked Cao Pi: "Are you worried that many people in the world will oppose your proclaimed emperor?"

When Sima Yi expressed his worries, Cao Pi nodded and said: "Back then, with the prestige of the former king, he did not dare to rush to stand on his own behalf for the Han Dynasty. I have just inherited the throne and the foundation is not stable, so we cannot rush this matter."

Listening to Cao Pi's concerns, Sima Yi confidently said: "Your Majesty, you are too worried."

"The reason why the late king never proclaimed himself emperor was because although the late king did not have the title of emperor, he had the actual status of emperor."

In the 18th year of Jian'an, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty conferred Cao Cao as the Duke of Wei, added nine tins, established the Wei Kingdom, and established the capital in Yecheng.

The Wei State owned ten counties in Jizhou and had hundreds of officials including prime ministers, lieutenants, generals, etc.

In April of the 21st year of Jian'an, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty further ennobled Cao Cao as King of Wei, with a city of 30,000 households. He was placed above the princes and kings.

The emperor's crown, chariot uniforms, flags, rituals and music were used to worship heaven and earth, and people who came in and out were called police guards. The ancestral temple, ancestors, and wax were all made like the Han system.

In the winter and tenth month of the 22nd year of Jian'an, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty gave Cao Cao a royal crown with ten talons, a chariot with golden roots, six horses, and five auxiliary chariots.

In the past few years, Liu Xie's various rewards to Cao Cao have long exceeded the etiquette standards that princes and kings should have. Those etiquettes are all honors that only the emperor can have.

Even as early as when Cao Cao conquered Hanzhong, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty gave Cao Cao the power to award official positions and marquises at will. Once Cao Cao's awards were issued, they were equivalent to the orders of the Emperor.

After experiencing those rewards, although Cao Cao was not the emperor in name, he was actually the emperor.

Although Wei was only a kingdom in name, it was actually an independent dynasty in terms of official positions, rituals, etc.

For example, in the Hanzhong Kingdom established by Liu Bei, the highest rank of general in his kingdom was only General of the Four Directions.

If he wanted to worship Jin as General of the Guard and grant Guan Yu the title of Jingzhou Shepherd, he would have to go through the nominal process of referring to the Emperor of Han.

But Cao Cao could directly appoint the highest military position, the general, which was simply trampling on the rules and regulations of the Han family.

Everyone knows Cao Cao's intentions, and Cao Cao has long made all practical preparations to usurp the Han Dynasty.

Because of the various privileges Cao Cao had in the past, Cao Pi nodded slightly at Sima Yi's words.

What Sima Yi said is a fact known to everyone in the world.

After Cao Pi nodded, Sima Yi continued: "But the king is different. The king has just ascended the throne and does not have the unparalleled prestige of the previous king."

"The king has now inherited the ownership of the previous king. Naturally, the previous king will also inherit the honors that belonged to the emperor."

"When the late king was on the throne, he enjoyed all the rights of the emperor due to his prestige. People in the world may have been dissatisfied, but they did not dare to openly oppose it.

But the king does not have the prestige of the previous king. If the king continues to enjoy the exclusive power of the emperor as a king, in the long run, it will inevitably arouse dissatisfaction from all parties, and then great chaos will occur."

"In order to prevent this, the king must live up to his name and reality. Since he already enjoys the power of the emperor, it is better to establish himself as emperor again, so that his name and reality can be consistent, and the people of the world can be completely stabilized."

After saying this, Sima Yi went on to say: "Since the arrival of Emperor An of the Han Dynasty, the government has been removed from the public office, and the country has been ruled out. As of now, there are only names, land and people, none of which are owned by the Han. Their destiny has been exhausted for a long time.

It's been a long time coming to an end.

Therefore, among Huan and Ling, those who have fortune-telling prophecies all say, "When the Han Dynasty is exhausted, the Huang family will be prosperous."

Today, the former king conquered the six states and stabilized the Central Plains. People's minds have changed, and they have long had hopes of establishing a new dynasty.

The former king responded to the request, and there were nine out of ten people in the world. He served the Han people diligently, everyone looked at him, and people far and near complained and sighed. He had the virtue of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty.

Now the great king Chengji has obeyed his orders, and he has the style of Zhou Wu. His officials were foolish and thought they were in trouble. Xia did not respond with modesty. Yin and Zhou did not hesitate to punish and let go. They were afraid of heaven and knew their fate, and they did not hesitate."

Just now, Sima Yi first persuaded Cao Pi on the necessity of proclaiming himself emperor in order to stabilize the people of the world.

Then he talked about the feasibility of Cao Pi becoming emperor.

Sima Yi is not being arrogant. There are indeed many people within Cao Pi's sphere of influence who hope to change the dynasty.

From the perspective of scholars alone, not to mention that Sima Yi himself came from a noble family, but Chen Qun, Huan Jie, Hua Xin, Wang Lang and other world-famous celebrities had more or less tried to persuade Cao Cao to join him.

.

It's just that for some reasons, it wasn't made public.

The reason why those world-famous celebrities tried to persuade them to advance was because Cao Cao had cut off their retreat during his lifetime.

The Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty swore in the White Horse Alliance in the ancestral temple that "no one with the surname Liu shall be king." This iron law was guarded by the emperors of the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years.

Even Wang Mang, who had overwhelming power in the government and the opposition, did not dare to go beyond this step before proclaiming himself emperor. He only dared to be called "Anhan Gong."

But Cao Cao dared to break this iron rule and call himself king with a different surname.

This move of his has already made people all over the world who are loyal to the Han Dynasty extremely hateful. It can be said that from the moment Cao Cao became king, his Cao family could never be the subjects of the Han Dynasty again.

After Cao Cao established the Duke of Wei, within a few years, almost all the ministers whose official status was in the Han Dynasty were given the official title of Wei. The greatest significance of Cao Cao's move was to force his ministers to take sides.

Once a minister bears the name of Wei Chen, the name of their disloyalty to the Han Dynasty cannot be washed away.

If the Han Dynasty were to be revived and the Emperor of Han regained power, it would be a disaster for the Cao family, and it would also be undesirable for those ministers who had already attached themselves to Wei officials.

It’s not that no one was aware of Cao Cao’s true political intention in proclaiming himself king. It’s not that no one wanted to protect the family’s reputation and serve as a Han minister. That person’s name was Xun Yu.

But the consequences of Xun Yu's later actions are obvious. The leader of the scholarly community in the Central Plains, and the fact that the Han Dynasty held power, was finally forced to commit suicide.

Under such circumstances, for those scholars and generals who belonged to the Wei Dynasty, they could only hope that the Wei State could rule the world instead of the Han Dynasty.

Only in this way will they not be liquidated in the future, and only in this way will they not be rebellious ministers of the Han Dynasty, but the founding ministers who assisted the holy king in establishing a new dynasty.

This is the reason why Cao Cao coerced the Han Emperor to allow him to have the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers in the Wei State, as well as generals and other official positions. This is what Cao Cao used his strong authority to force out "the will of the people."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After Sima Yi said this, a look of consideration appeared on Cao Pi's face.

Having been the crown prince of Wei for many years, Cao Pi knew as much as Sima Yi about the people's hearts in Wei today.

Seeing the thoughtful look on Cao Pi's face, Sima Yi finally said to Cao Pi: "In the past few days, I have a new method for selecting officials that I would like to present to the king. With this method, the king will no longer be able to proclaim himself emperor."

Obstacle."

After hearing what Sima Yi said, Cao Pi instantly became very interested in the new method of selecting officials mentioned by Sima Yi.

He quickly asked: "What is the method for selecting officials?"

Under Cao Pi's expectant gaze, Sima Yi slowly said those five words: "Nine-grade official law."

After naming the new method for selecting officials, Sima Yi explained the contents of the nine-rank official method to Cao Pi in detail.

As Sima Yi explained step by step, Cao Pi's eyes became brighter and brighter.

Cao Pi's political wisdom was not bad. When he gradually understood the content of the nine-rank official law, he keenly realized that this new method of selecting officials was conducive to selecting a large number of talents for him.

The most important thing is that once this method of selecting officials is announced, he will definitely gain the active support of the great families in the world!

All the bustle in the world is for benefit, and all the hustle and bustle in the world is for benefit.

The "people's will" that Cao Cao created for him previously meant that he would not encounter much resistance when he proclaimed himself emperor.

But once the new method of selecting officials is announced, he will be completely supported by the families in the world, and with their strong support, he will ascend to the coveted supreme position!

When Sima Yi finished explaining all the contents of the Ninth Grade Officials' Law, Cao Pi couldn't help laughing in the inner hall.

The mantle of Cao Cao's spirit in the outer hall was swaying in the wind, and Cao Pi's laughter in the inner hall was brilliant. This ironic scene represented that Sima Yi had completely convinced Cao Pi.

After Cao Pi finished laughing, he looked at Sima Yi and said: "The day Gu becomes emperor in the future will be the time when you become a marquis."

Cao Pi knew that there is no loyalty in the world that does not care about interests. Sima Yi carefully planned for him, wasn't it just for meritorious service and becoming a prince?

In this case, as long as Sima Yi can solve his problems, then he will give Sima Yi what he wants.

...

It was already dark, and Sima Yi slowly walked out of the hall.

The moment the palace door slowly opened, Sima Yi turned around and looked at Cao Cao's memorial tablet behind him. Before leaving, he bowed deeply to Cao Cao's memorial tablet again.

Chen Qun had had similar ideas about the so-called ninth-grade official law before. After all, such a complicated official selection system could not be thought of in an instant.

Now that Chen Qun has the confidence to formally propose this system of selecting officials, it is because this system has been thought about countless times in his mind before it was gradually completed.

What Sima Yi said to Cao Pi today was all true. He did not deceive Cao Pi with lies, but he selectively told Cao Pi some words.

In fact, a few years ago, Chen Qun had suggested that Cao Cao implement an official selection system similar to the Nine-Rank Officials Law, but Cao Cao rejected it.

Perhaps at that time, the Law of Nine-Rank Officials was just an idea, and there was no detailed content to impress Cao Cao.

Perhaps Cao Cao rejected this suggestion out of some concerns at that time, but in any case, Cao Cao's successors are now very happy to adopt this official selection system.

This is enough.

Sima Yi stood on the stone steps outside the main hall. He looked at the southwest direction of the sky and murmured:

"It is destiny that the Han Dynasty will perish. How can it be changed by human power?"

After saying this, Sima Yi's mind recalled the people he regarded as his opponents.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, Mi Yang...

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and the smile seemed to be mocking them for not knowing what they could do.

...

In early March of the 25th year of Jian'an in the Han Dynasty, King Cao Cao of Wei died of illness in Yecheng. The news spread from the palace in Yecheng and spread in all directions at an extremely fast speed.

When officials and generals from all over the Central Plains heard the news, they howled in great distress and put on mourning clothes to mourn for the late king Cao Cao.

When those officials who were asked to attend the funeral received the royal order from the Yecheng palace, they immediately arranged their government affairs and rushed towards Yecheng.

They were so anxious, firstly, they wanted to rush to Yecheng to see Cao Cao for the last time before his coffin was buried, and secondly, they wanted to express their loyalty to the new king Cao Pi.
To be continued...