When Liu Bei woke up again, it was already the fifth day after conquering Linzi. Although the war had come to an end, the emperor was injured and it was not suitable to move lightly, so the army was still resting in place.
It was early February in the fourth year of Yanxing. As soon as Liu Bei opened his eyes, he heard the cry of orioles outside the tent, so the first thing he said was: "Have the mulberry trees bloomed?" The serving maid was stunned when she heard this.
But seeing that the emperor was awake, happy and confused at the same time, she replied: "It's cold this year, so it will take a few days for the flowering to bloom." After that, she quickly left and informed the generals who had been waiting outside the tent of the good news.<
/p>
Soon, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other generals from the DPRK crowded into the big tent and expressed concern and greetings to him. But Liu Bei had just woken up, and his body and consciousness were weak. He soon felt noisy, so he reluctantly encouraged everyone.
, ordered most of the people to retreat, and only allowed Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Fazheng, Xun You, and Yuan Tan to stay in the tent, and then ordered Fazheng to describe what happened in the past few days when he was in coma. He closed his eyes on the couch and was quiet.
Listen, interrupting from time to time to ask for details.
When it was said that Cao Cao had been captured, he asked: "Where is Cao Cao being imprisoned?" Fazheng replied: "I am imprisoned in His Majesty's stable." Liu Bei frowned slightly and asked: "Is there anything strange about him?
Fazheng said: "Although his legs were broken, his complexion remained unchanged and he could eat and drink freely. He just borrowed pen, ink and paper from someone and wrote on the ground every day, but he didn't know what he wrote."
He also talked about Zhang Fei's killing of prisoners in Linzi. After Liu Bei learned about Guan Yu's remarks about the blockade, he glanced at Zhang Fei, who was bowing his head and said nothing, and said to Guan Yu: "It is better to block things than to block them. Such a big thing cannot be kept secret, so it is better to make it public."
Announce it." Then he said to Xun You: "Gongda, please draw up a self-incriminating edict for me, saying that this matter is all my fault, and that I have used the troops rashly and failed to restrain myself. For this reason, I have exempted Qijun from taxes for three years.
The people of Qingzhou are considerate."
Finally, when talking about matters related to the aftermath, Liu Bei said: "I'm afraid I have to rest for a while, but it is not suitable for the army to stay here anymore. Xiaozhi, please explain first, and order the Xifu and Shanglin tribes to return to their bases, Hebei
Now that the situation is peaceful, there is no need for the Dongfu to be stationed in Puyang. If Xian wants to be stationed in Linzi instead."
"Then what should Cao Cao do?"
"Let me rest for two days and talk to him before we talk."
Having said that, Liu Bei couldn't hide the tired look on his face. He waved slightly to a few people, then turned to his side and fell asleep, and soon fell asleep again.
Two days passed in a blink of an eye. At this time, Liu Bei was feeling a little better, so he summoned Cao Cao in the camp as promised. Liu Bei rarely wore black clothes and a white jade crown on his head. This was only when the emperor participated in sacrificial events.
Cao Cao was dressed in rags and had lived in a stable for a few days. His hair was disheveled and his body smelled sour. Because his legs were broken by Zhang Fei, he was dragged to the main tent by the soldiers. In addition, Cao Cao's figure
He was so short that people couldn't help but laugh when they saw his appearance. Some people laughed and said: "What an old dog with a broken leg."
In fact, there were many old officials of the Eastern Dynasty who had surrendered to the Western Dynasty, such as Sima Yi, Li Dian, Ju Hu, Tian Chou and others. Seeing the marshal in such a state of embarrassment, he even had to push himself up with his hands and knees. Everyone felt sad and couldn't help but say goodbye.
It was too much and I couldn't bear to look at it anymore. But although Cao Cao's face was a little darker, his expression remained unchanged.
At this time, a full eighteen years have passed since the last time the two met. Liu Bei and Cao Cao were in a daze for a moment. They all recalled the first time they met when they were young. It was in Luoyang, and Liu Bei just had his name hanging around his waist.
Cao Cao is an ordinary knight-errant with a sword, while Cao Cao is a rising star who promotes filial piety and integrity among the scholars. But times have changed and things are unpredictable. Now the status of both parties has been reversed. One is the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the other is a prisoner. The two are just
Just looking at each other, many words become self-explanatory.
Liu Bei leaned slightly beside Hu's bed and smiled at Cao Cao: "Is Meng De okay?" He was still weak, so his voice was quite erratic, but his tone also seemed relaxed and relaxed, as if he and Cao Cao were still old friends for many years.<
/p>
Cao Cao also smiled and said: "Xiao Chao, Xiao Chao, I'm sorry that Xuande is worried."
Liu Bei asked: "I heard that you have been busy with your sword and pen recently. Could it be that you are composing poetry?"
Cao Cao nodded and shook his head, and replied: "I made a poem, but it was basically an article, and I wanted to leave some political experience." After that, he took out a stack of paper from his arms, which was full of words.
The palace maid handed it to Liu Bei. When Liu Bei received it, he found that there were more than 20 pieces, eloquent and about more than ten thousand words, and the content was exactly what Cao Cao said. Most of them were Cao Cao's summary of the gains and losses of his governance over the past few decades.
He said that the reason why he failed so far was because of ten major shortcomings.
One disadvantage is that he pretended to be noble in his early years and refused to rely on Yuan Shao, which actually led Heishan to join forces with Gengcang, forcing him to flee to Yanzhou and have to rely on the imperial court, which greatly reduced his reputation.
The second disadvantage is that after the great victory in Bohai, he did not dare to raid Luoyang. Instead, he sought stability and restored Yan and Qingzhou first. As a result, Liu Bei and others received reinforcements and it was difficult for him to break through the Hugh Prison.
The three disadvantages are to send troops to surround Dingtao City for a long time, losing troops and generals, and losing an inch of territory. In fact, we should attack Yuzhou and Xuzhou first. This can also establish the advantage of national strength.
The four disadvantages are that he is incompatible with Liu He, and furthermore he is at odds with the celebrities in Youzhou, and many capable ministers cannot be reused.
The five disadvantages were that Chen Chong mistakenly followed Chen Chong's plan and sent troops to try to attack Xiangxian County, but suffered a disastrous defeat, causing the tiger and leopard cavalry to be exhausted, and Cao Ang and others were killed in the battle.
The six shortcomings are that after Qu Yi surrendered, he stormed Pingcheng. With no chance of fighting, he insisted on a decisive battle and mistakenly trusted Xianbei. As a result, he suffered a disastrous defeat in the first battle and his backbone was shattered. He has not been able to recover to this day.
The seven shortcomings are that Qu Yi could not be killed early, which caused the morale of the army to be shaken after a losing streak, and even made the entire Youzhou rebel.
The eight disadvantages are pampering scholars and granting too many officials, which leads to insufficient state resources and poor governance.
The ninth disadvantage was that he could not go to Liaodong early. He was stuck in Xindu because of his reputation. As a result, he had no choice but to flee Qingzhou after the defeat.
The ten disadvantages are that the courtiers form local cliques and attack each other, which cannot be stopped so far.
By the end of the article, Cao Cao believed that the root cause of bad government was "the moral conduct of scholars is difficult to correct and the state system has been lost." The Yan-Han Dynasty lasted for four hundred years and the country was in Zuo. In fact, it was based on military merit and made prophecies as its career. Nowadays, prophecies often talk about the demise of the Han Dynasty, and scholars are more valuable.
The civilized and military are disdainful, they love chaos and misfortune, and their name and reality are so slight that those with knowledge should be worried. He also reminded Liu Bei that in the Western Dynasty, Xianbei, Xiongnu and other barbarians are mostly used as soldiers. Although they can achieve temporary power, in the long run
, I’m afraid it’s a legacy of raising tigers and needs to be dealt with early.
After Liu Bei read it, he felt quite the same. He finished reading the article and asked the palace people to put it away. Then he said to Cao Cao who was at the foot of the stairs: "I will keep Meng De's words in mind." Then he paused and asked Cao Cao again.
: "Can Meng De write a letter for me and send it to Liaodong?"
Cao Cao knew that Liu Bei asked him to persuade Cao Pi and others to surrender, but he shook his head and said: "I am not free, and there is no use writing it." Liu Bei thought for a while, and did not continue to be embarrassed, and finally said: "In this case, Meng De still has
Whatever you want to say, you might as well say it, maybe you won’t have the chance again.”
As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden silence in the tent, and everyone understood that the emperor had asked Cao Cao to give his last words. Cao Cao sighed, and couldn't help but touch his brow, with a rare expression of regret in his eyes. But he soon smiled calmly.
He raised his head and asked Liu Bei: "Xuande, from the first moment I met you, I felt that you and I are the same kind of people. If the world is always peaceful, you and I will definitely be best friends. But it's a pity that I was born at the wrong time.
, the fight has reached this point, I have no last words, I just want to ask you, why are you and me different?"
As soon as these words came out, the generals in the Western Dynasty suddenly became excited. Someone immediately stood up, pointed at Cao Cao and cursed: "The traitor is arrogant, your Majesty is so powerful, how can he be the same as you? You only have Shen and Bai talents, no one else."
How can the Lord's spirit be compared to His Majesty's saintly virtue, kindness, and heroic weapon?!" Everyone also followed the trend and sang praises to Liu Bei loudly.
Unexpectedly, Liu Bei actually spoke to stop everyone. After the tent was quiet, he slowly replied to Cao Cao: "You are right. I was always surprised when I met you. In the past, I accompanied you to Luoyang Market. What did you say?
Dogs, horses, and beauties that I like are my favorites. You also hate the celebrities and heroes that I dislike. In terms of our likes and dislikes, there is really no difference between you and me."
Liu Bei paused here, leaning forward slightly, which accidentally pulled his wound, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. At this time, everyone was watching him calmly, Liu Bei took a sip of water, and then continued: "But
When it comes to dealing with the world, Meng De is really like a young man. Whatever he does, whether good or evil, is often out of control. And I was born in a poor family and know the suffering of the world, so I think about it three times a day and don't dare to act based on my personal likes and dislikes. Unfortunately, it still happens all the time.
Our mistakes, to this day, still cannot bring peace to the world."
After hearing this, Cao Cao was quite emotional. He patted the ground and sighed: "In this way, I am indeed not as good as Xuande. It is natural to end up like this." Liu Bei then gave him another pot of Huadiao wine, and both parties were in court.
They drank it all and said goodbye. Both of them knew that the next time they met, it would probably be on the execution ground.
Seeing Cao Cao being dragged away again, Liu Bei's pale face gradually turned red. He pressed his lower abdomen with one hand and said with a smile to everyone: "I'm tired after drinking some wine. You all should go your own way."
The generals also said goodbye to each other. When only Liu Bei and Guan Yu were left in the tent, Liu Bei finally couldn't bear the severe pain in his abdomen and vomited blood on the ground. Everyone around him was shocked when he saw this and stepped forward one after another.
After saying hello, he was about to go out to send the imperial doctor, but was quickly stopped by Liu Bei.
This majestic emperor on horseback was famous among his courtiers for his dark and unpredictable face, but at this moment he showed a smile of satisfaction and relief. He turned to the few friends who stayed behind and said: "Everyone has his own destiny, no need to worry about it.
According to the imperial doctor, I understand my body and I may still live for a while, but it won’t be too long. But I have no regrets. Right now, I probably only have one thing I want to do.”
He asked people to open the tent, looked at the sky outside the curtain and said: "The wild geese have begun to return north, and I will go with them."