After all, extravagant hopes are extravagant hopes.

Just like he had experienced many times in the past, Zhang He once again experienced a feeling called extreme disappointment from the head of the Cao family.

No matter how good his strategy is, no matter how good his strategy is, it is a pity that he will always lack something called trust.

After a strong feeling of disappointment flashed in his heart, nothing unusual appeared on Zhang He's face.

He just bent his body lower, which meant that he unconditionally accepted Cao Pi's arrangement.

It was just like when Cao Cao deprived him of his military power without any reason during the Battle of Hanzhong, he was clearly the hero who had played a major role in defending Hanzhong.

It's just that Cao Pi didn't care what Zhang He was thinking. He thought that his arrangements today were very thoughtful.

Cao Pi knew that Zhang He was very talented, but he lacked the capital to be trusted.

On the contrary, although Sima Yi has not yet achieved any military exploits, he has fully demonstrated his excellent military strategy in his previous debates.

At present, what Sima Yi lacks is just actual combat experience.

Letting Zhang He, who has extremely rich military experience, become Sima Yi's deputy, which is enough for Sima Yi to make up for his shortcomings.

The most important thing is that Sima Yi is a person worthy of Cao Pi's trust.

Thinking of this, Cao Pi looked at Sima Yi expectantly.

After Sima Yi saw Cao Pi casting an expectant look at him, he also bowed to Cao Pi in due course.

After Sima Yi paid his respects, Cao Pi immediately announced his latest appointment to Sima Yi.

"The plan is to appoint the minister to be the governor of the army. Sima Yi, the chief censor, will be the servant. The right servant of the minister will be shot, General Annan, and the military commander of Jingzhou during the holidays."

When this grand reward came out of Cao Pi's mouth, not to mention Sima Yi himself, even Jiang Ji and other ministers present had expressions of surprise on their faces.

Shizhong is a close official of the emperor, and most of those who can hold this official position are the emperor's confidants.

And because the highest central institution of Cao Wei is the Shangshutai, the position of Shangshu Youpuse can almost be regarded as a sub-prime minister in name only.

The power that Shangshu Youpu She had in political affairs was only under the orders of Cao Pi, the emperor, and Chen Jiao, the minister.

If such a reward is considered a normal promotion to Sima Yi's previous official position.

Then the two rewards from General Annan and the military governor of Jingzhou sent an extremely important signal.

That was when the minister with a foreign surname began to formally take control of the border military power!

And this point has always been exclusive to the Cao family and Xiahou family members.

Just like when Cao Ren was still there, even if transportation was inconvenient, he could supervise the military affairs of Yi, Jing, and Yang states at the same time in Wancheng.

Although General Annan did not hold a high position among the high-ranking officials in Cao Wei, he was even lower than General Zuo of Zhang He, and Zhang He also had the power of holiday.

But in Cao Wei's military system, the symbol of the local military leader was always the word "dudu".

Only when the minister is truly in charge of the military affairs of a country, does it mean that the minister is the local military and political leader.

Such power would not have been given to ministers with different surnames in previous years.

This kind of power is something Zhang Liao and Xu Huang couldn't get even at the cost of their lives.

It's just that this kind of power was now easily obtained by Sima Yi.

That's why when all the ministers heard about Cao Pi's appointment of Sima Yi, surprise appeared on their faces.

Compared to the surprise of Jiang Ji, Liu Ye and other ministers, Zhang He's eyes revealed a strong look of envy towards Sima Yi.

As for Sima Yi himself, after hearing Cao Pi's reward, his first reaction was to refuse.

It is true that Cao Pi had communicated with him before, and his words revealed that he would be the top leader in Jingzhou.

But originally Sima Yi only thought that Cao Pi would appoint him as the guard of Jingzhou to achieve the purpose of controlling Zhang He by guarding the army.

Sima Yi never expected that Cao Pi would grant him the power of governor.

The current Sima Yi does not have the ambitions he would later have.

At present, he just wants to assist Cao Pi, both in public and private matters. He will definitely refuse to accept Cao Pi's reward.

However, in the face of Sima Yi's refusal, Cao Pi took Sima Yi's hand and said:

"I deal with national affairs day and night without even a moment's rest. This is because I am afraid of living up to the expectations of my subjects.

Now I am not conferring honors on you, but I am asking you to share my worries."

After hearing what Cao Pi said, Sima Yi saw the firmness in Cao Pi's words, so he stopped giving in.

Facing Cao Pi's immense trust in him, Sima Yi's face showed a strong expression of gratitude.

He bowed deeply to Cao Pi, and then said: "I will live up to your majesty's high expectations. As long as I am here, I swear not to let the traitor army cross Wan City."

Although Sima Yi was born as an orthodox Confucian scholar, he still had an eagle-like air about him.

So when he made this promise, Cao Pi felt an inexplicable peace of mind.

During the conversation between Cao Pi and Sima Yi, Zhongshu Ling Sun Zi, who had been accompanying Cao Pi, had already polished the edict to reward Sima Yi and Zhang He.

When Sun Zi presented the edict of the award to Cao Pi for him to review, Cao Pi personally raised the imperial seal from the jade plate in front of him, and then without hesitation, he moved the seal towards the edict on the jade plate to cover it.

When the sound of the seal being dropped spread throughout the hall, Cao Pi's face lit up with joy.

This cover may really be able to protect the already precarious Nanyang County for the Wei Dynasty.

And this cover also caused future history to move in a completely unpredictable direction.

The most ironic thing is that Cao Pi, as the instigator, could not see that scene.

...

Just when Cao Pi was conferring awards to Sima Yi and Zhang He in Wancheng, a grand funeral was being held outside Xiangyang City hundreds of miles away.

This grand funeral was exactly what Liu Bei held for Guan Yu.

Long before Liu Bei returned to Xiangyang City with Guan Yu's coffin, an edict from him had already been conveyed to Ma Liang, who was staying in Xiangyang City.

In that edict, Liu Bei clearly stated that he wanted Ma Liang, the governor of Jingzhou, to follow the example of Huo Guang's story and prepare the burial utensils for the emperor to hold a funeral for Guan Yu.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! When Ma Liang received this edict, he immediately followed Liu Bei's instructions and began to prepare the burial rituals for the emperor.

Precisely because of Ma Liang's preparations, the funeral of Han general Guan Yu was held as scheduled on the day predetermined by Liu Bei.

On February 21, the second year of Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, all the Han officials in Xiangyang City, regardless of their status, all put on their plain clothes and arrived outside Xiangyang City as early as possible.

Under the auspices of Deng Zhi, the minister of mourning and minister appointed by Liu Bei, a group of Han officials in plain clothes bowed on both sides of the gate of Xiangyang City, waiting for Guan Yu's coffin to be transported out of the city.

Each of the ministers' faces had a heavy look of sadness.

And many emotional ministers began to sob softly even before Guan Yu's coffin appeared.

Tiny sobs slowly gathered together under the influence of the wind, eventually forming a very sad atmosphere that shrouded both inside and outside the towering gates of Xiangyang City.

In the past, the minister was in plain clothes and bowed in mourning. This was the highest mourning standard reserved for the emperor in the past.

And under the thick atmosphere of sadness, when the first ray of sunshine appeared outside Xiangyang City, a huge carriage with six horses began to slowly appear in the city gate.

In front of the huge carriage, spiritual flags fluttered in the wind, seeming to attract Guan Yu's soul to return.

On top of the carriage, the yellow carriage cover that originally belonged to the emperor was covering Guan Yu's Zi Palace.

The yellow carriage cover looks particularly dazzling under the sunlight.

Apart from these external objects that symbolize great honor, before Guan Yu's body was placed in Zi Palace, his body had already been dressed in gold and jade clothes.

Under the march of six divine horses, the carriage carrying Guan Yu's Zi Palace was moving at a very slow speed.

When Guan Yu's cavalry passed by the ministers and came to the front, groups of Yulin Jingqi, the Emperor's personal army, wearing plain clothes and white cloths on their heads, drove out from both sides of the official road under the leadership of Han Hussar General Ma Chao.

.

They silently drove their horses to clear the way for the Han general's Zi Palace behind them.

The sound of thousands of horses trampling heavily on the ground echoed outside Xiangyang City, turning the originally sad atmosphere into solemnity.

And as thousands of Yulin Jingqi began to take action, many ministers behind Guan Yu's Zi Palace also took steps to follow Guan Yu's Zi Palace.

And those who have been following Guan Yu on both sides of Zi Palace are the Han Emperor Liu Bei and the Han Chariot General Zhang Fei.

They are mourning the funeral of their brothers as relatives.

Compared to Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, who was more emotional, was still in the same state as that day, crying all the time.

Listening to the constant crying of Zhang Fei from the other side, Liu Bei looked at Zi Gong beside him with sad eyes, and his eyes gradually became moist.

Only after touching the document in his arms did Liu Bei's emotions gradually calm down.

The document in his arms was the eulogy Liu Bei had prepared for Guan Yu. He would be sure to read out the contents in the best possible way.

After marching for more than half an hour, the funeral procession for Guan Yu's Zi Palace finally arrived ten miles northwest of Xiangyang City.

In ancient times, there were no good conditions for preserving corpses. Under such circumstances, even if Liu Bei wanted to transport Guan Yu's body back to Chengdu for burial, it would not be easy.

In addition, Guan Yu was also the Marquis of Xiangyang of the Han Dynasty during his lifetime. Xiangyang was Guan Yu's vassal state. If Guan Yu was buried here outside Xiangyang City, it would be a good destination for Guan Yu.

Due to various reasons, Liu Bei was unable to bring Guan Yu back to Chengdu.

But when choosing the burial place for Guan Yu, Liu Bei also considered it carefully.
To be continued...