Cao Cao slowly swept through the letters in front of him, and all kinds of thin silk, bamboo slips, and wooden slips, his face looked like the gloomy sky at the moment.
One year, the news piled up on Cao Cao's desk was so thick, just like the snow piled up on the head of Xu County.
It’s not a day when the ice is frozen three feet long.
So what about letters?
How many days of ice is there?
In the hall of the Prime Minister's Office, the bronze figure holding the lamp was staring at everything indifferently, not caring that the lampshade he was holding was blackened by oil.
Light the lights overnight, another day.
『Shahala...』
The bamboo slips piled up on the desk were swept to the ground by Cao Cao.
Anger jumped in Cao Cao's eyes, but the next moment he was swallowed into his abdomen in silence.
Cao Cao, who was gray-haired, was like a middle-aged man who was in a downward economic environment, who had to pay a mortgage or a car loan in the middle of a middle-aged man who had to support his parents and raise his children in a downward economy. The hard expenses were impossible to save at all. He had to spend money when he was alive, but he had to pay for his income...
『Jingzhou…』
『Jizhou…』
『Xuzhou…』
Cao Cao's knuckles turned white, as if he was about to crush the table.
The war in Jingzhou was not going well, Niu Jin was killed, Cao Ren and Cao Zhen fought on both sides, and Jingxiang was unstable, Han Hao might not be able to defend against Huang Zhong, and there were loopholes everywhere.
The Cui family in Jizhou openly contacted Youzhou and put forward the slogan of welcomeing the cavalry without recruiting the orders, which also caused shock to the gentry in Jizhou. Some hesitated, some waited and watched, and some clapped their hands and laughed.
The Chen family in Xuzhou also rebelled and killed the prefect of Xia Pi. The reason was of course that the prefect was corrupt and bribed the bribes. But everyone knew that this was just a cover. The prefect of that place was not corrupt? If you kill them all, there would definitely be unfair reasons, but if you kill one, there would definitely be someone who would miss the net!
These letters and reports point to a result, and the income and expenditure are seriously unbalanced.
If this continues...
Lao Cao's claws are yellow and flying, dark clouds cover snow, and the shadows, and so on, and may become something under the crotch of others!
This prime minister's mansion will also be taken off the sign and put other people's surnames on it.
Cao Cao raised his head and looked at the carved beams and painted buildings above the hall.
On the beams and pillars, four spirits of evil-repelling are carved, guarding each side of the door lintel.
Above the lintel, there are clouds that symbolize auspiciousness, stretching out like fish scales.
However, the bright colors and exquisite depictions of the past are now somewhat mottled.
Cao Cao looked at it silently, then stood up, "Come! Load these books into the car!"
Outside the hall, there were still dark clouds, so gloomy that it seemed to collapse the next moment.
Cao Cao looked up slightly, "Set out and enter the palace!"
...
...
When Cao Cao entered the palace, Emperor Liu Xie was copying Ban Gu's book. After hearing about Cao Cao's visit, the imperial pen in his hand suddenly smeared the word "Zhu" of the "Zhu" of the "Zhu" of the "Zhu" in the east capital", making this "Zhu" somewhat become a "Zhu", but not so square.
Liu Xie took a breath, balled up the copied paper and threw it on the ground.
To be honest, Liu Xie didn't want to see Cao Cao.
Cao Cao taught Liu Xie a lot of things, but it does not mean that Liu Xie likes Cao Cao because of this.
Just like students may not necessarily respect teachers, there may be many students who think that teachers teach too much and control too strictly.
But I have to see you...
In front of the imperial steps, the bronze crane incense burner was breathing the fragrant green smoke, like a layer of gauze lying between the emperor and the powerful ministers.
Cao Cao's head boots rolled over the half-dried cattail mat on the hall, and stopped abruptly ten steps away from the imperial desk.
This is the limit of distance for foreign ministers to meet.
Going further, you can simply climb the alchemy level directly!
"I pay homage to Your Majesty..."
Cao Cao is not as popular as Taishi Dong, nor as powerful as the King of Wei in history, so when it is time to see him, he still has the rules to see him.
"Premium, give a seat."
Liu Xie was like a thousand drills, and even the distance from his arms raised and swinged did not change for more than half.
"Thank you Your Majesty!"
Cao Cao stood up, shook his sleeves, lifted his robe, shook his clothes, and sat down.
Liu Xie took a breath and tried hard to keep the jade beads hanging from the crown on his head from not shaking.
Seeing Cao Cao like this, after Cao Cao sat down, Liu Xie asked directly: "The battle is imminent, I wonder what the chances of the Prime Minister are now?"
Cao Cao squinted his eyes and looked at Liu Xie, and suddenly laughed.
『Can Your Majesty recognize this thing?』
Cao Cao took out a blood-stained silk handkerchief from his sleeve, and opened it and displayed it in front of him.
Liu Xieding looked carefully and saw that the silk handkerchief pattern seal was covered with the private seal of the Grand Tutor Yuan Wei.
The little yellow gate stepped forward, took the silk platter, placed it in a lacquer plate, and brought it to Liu Xie.
There are some ink characters on the silk sack. Although most of the characters are covered with blood, some characters near the seal are still relatively clear. "Seeing a seal is like seeing someone, no delay is allowed"...
Cao Cao laughed and said, "When the Dong bandits had not entered Luoyang, those who held this silk and handkerchief could rush around the market and dispatch troops and generals, and everyone would follow him!"
Liu Xie's pupils shrank suddenly.
After Dong Zhuo killed Yuan Wei, the seal disappeared from the court memorial. Before Dong Zhuo, Yuan Wei's seal not only appeared on the seal, but even had a note with Yuan's private seal, which could serve as a serious government order!
What did Cao Cao want to say? He wanted to say that Cao Cao would end up with Yuan Wei, so now I beg Emperor Liu Xie to pity him? No, it is obviously the opposite. Cao Cao is saying that Emperor Liu Xie will become Yuan Wei's second!
Liu Xie thought about it, but Cao Cao still smiled and said, "But unexpectedly, when this Dong thief came, the silk handkerchief was stained with blood and no longer had the majesty of the past!"
Liu Xie's eyebrows trembled. Is this allusion to me?
『Prime Minister…』 Liu Xie also became angry, 『What do you mean by this?
Now Liu Xie can be said to be tolerant and tolerant, avoiding conflicts with Cao Cao as much as possible. Even though Cao Cao had trampled on the streets of Yuqian so arrogantly before, Liu Xie still pretended not to see it, so as to cover up his ears or lay eggs with an ostrich, but he didn't expect Cao Cao to come to the door, oh, is it really a slap in the face?
Cao Cao smiled and waved his hand and said, "Come on! Come on! Present it to Your Majesty!"
Suddenly, the little yellow gate trembled with all kinds of letters, thin silk, bamboo slips, wooden slips and other things brought by Cao Cao, and put them into the hall.
『This...this is...』
Liu Xie couldn't understand it any more.
"Please read the emperor." Cao Cao bowed and bowed.
Liu Xie was confused, but he was also curious, so he asked the little yellow goalkeeper to put the letters on the table one by one.
The emperor's imperial case was naturally lenient and large, but even so, when these letters were piled up, they still seemed a little cramped, and even had to move some other things a little apart, so that they could barely let go of so many letters.
Liu Xie looked at Cao Cao's steady appearance and picked up a thin silk hand in his hand, opened it, and glanced at it, and then he was shocked!
This letter was sent from Jingzhou and written by Cao Ren.
Reported Niu Jin's death and Shunyang fell, Liao Hua and Li Dian would soon arrive at Danjiangkou. Finally, they wrote about Cao Ren's determination to fight to the death, saying that his coffin was ready, but Cao Cao also asked Cao Cao to take out some soldiers to support him as much as possible, because Cao Ren was worried that he and Cao Zhen would fight in the front line of Jingzhou would be turbulent...
Liu Xie's eyes shook a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but he endured it, put the thin silk aside, then took a roll of bamboo slips, shook it open and looked.
The bamboo slips were reported by Xuzhou, saying that after killing the prefect of Xia Pi, Chen clan gathered the local heroes with ill intentions...
Liu Xie's hand shook, not sure if he should have laughed twice or sighed.
Liu Xie didn't know who the prefect of Xia Pi was named, but he knew that Chen was a local snake in Xia Pi, so even if the letter was not detailed in the report, Liu Xie could guess a little. This powerful dragon could not suppress the local snake and was killed by the local snake! Although the one who killed the prefect sent by Cao Cao was killed, it was also because the local gentry had too much power and strong strength, despised the national laws and slapped the central court in the face.
Liu Xie frowned.
He was a little confused about Cao Cao's intentions.
After reading a few more letters, almost all the locals reported urgently. There were rebellions, thieves, insufficient granaries, or lack of soldiers, and there was almost no good news.
Liu Xie couldn't help but take a breath, looked at the letters and newspapers piled up on the table like hills, and then looked at Cao Cao. The anger in his stomach was extinguished by these letters and newspapers.
Liu Xie sat down slowly and waved his hand to let the eunuch who was serving on the side retreat.
Liu Xie understood what Cao Cao meant, but he didn't know whether he should be mocking Cao Cao or mocking himself, nor did he know that he should be scolding Cao Cao or scolding himself.
This is the Shandong of the Han Dynasty ruled by Cao Cao, a strong-eyed and small-eyed Cao Cao? This is the Central Plains under your own rule? Liu Xie had a moment when he wanted to slap the table and angrily scolded Cao Cao, but the next moment he realized that even if Cao Cao did not have autocracy and asked Liu Xie to deal with these matters, Liu Xie could not handle them either.
Just like these letters and newspapers are now piled up to the imperial case, but Liu Xie is powerless to do anything about the letters and newspapers.
He has no money, he wants people, he has no one.
"Prime Minister," Liu Xie asked the same thing for the second time, "What do you mean by...?"
Cao Cao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is no longer what the minister wants, but what the emperor wants! I wonder if Your Majesty was forced to suffer from the troubles of Li and Guo in Guanzhong, did the cavalry offer half a hu of rice?"
Liu Xie's hand shook, and he tightly clamped his hand into a fist, and a few blue veins appeared on the back of his hand.
Compared to the Dong Zhuo period, Liu Xie during the Li Guo period was more miserable.
On the one hand, when Dong Zhuo was young, Liu Xie was still young, and there were many things that didn’t understand. During the Li Guo period, Liu Xie was older. On the other hand, when he was in Luoyang, he was not too declining at that time, at least he had no problem with eating and drinking. After arriving in Chang'an, after chaos and war, there was a shortage of supplies, which happened to happen to be a big deal for Liu Xie to eat to death. It was a very edible period, but he just didn’t even have a stutter!
Teenagers who lived in peaceful times in later generations may rarely have any special obsession with eating, and eating meat is even more common, and sometimes they are picky. If the taste is slightly worse, they will be thrown away directly. However, for Liu Xie, hunger and death are the deepest scars left by Liu Xie during that time in Guanzhong.
Liu Xie took a breath and said slowly, "Prime Minister, haven't you offered me the same?"
Cao Cao looked up and met Liu Xie's gaze. "Your Majesty knows what the minister ate at that time?"
Liu Xie did not ask what it was, because Liu Xie generally guessed what it was.
Cao Cao had a hard time at the beginning, especially after being caught in Yanzhou, his butt was bleeding from his chrysanthemums. It was really panic that day...
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, "At least I know the taste of hunger better than those beautiful articles."
The two of them fell silent, as if they were stalemate or pulling something.
Liu Xie looked up slightly, and through the door of the hall, he saw that it was still gloomy, as if he had blocked the door of the hall tightly.
"Prime Minister, if you have any words, please speak directly."
Liu Xie sighed.
Cao Cao bowed and said, "In the past, Yuan Benchu raised an army to attack his ministers, and Chen Kongzhang wrote an edict for him, saying that he was just a "noble eunuch and abandoned the ugly"... Now, the cavalry army has left Wu Pass and is fighting the name of "Fengtian Jingnan"..."
When Liu Xie heard this, he suddenly felt a little chilled. He heard too much about the so-called "Fengtian Jingnan". When Yuan Shao beat Gongsun Zan, he used the same banner. Even Li Guo was acting in a reckless manner in Guanzhong, he also held the so-called "Fengtian Jingnan".
He suddenly remembered the white bone Jingguan he had seen when he was held hostage by Li Jue. There was even a three or four-year-old child in the head on Jingguan.
"The cavalry... maybe not..." Liu Xie gritted his teeth and said, "I have heard that the people of Guanzhong live and work in peace and prosperity in commerce..."
『Haha.』 Cao Cao smiled slightly, 『Your Majesty, this Han Dynasty has been in the past three or four hundred years. If it is about living and working in peace and business, I don’t know if it is more Guanzhong or more Henan and Hebei? What’s more... When Dong thief entered Beijing, he also said that Dong thief was loyal and righteous, and had a good military management... Later, Dong thief was ordered to depose the emperor and established the emperor. The ministers in the hall called him a "noble eunuch" and had some courage?!"
『…』 Liu Xie held the armrest on the dragon chaise tightly and gritted his teeth.
Who can guarantee that Fei Qian is not the next Dong Zhuo, and who can be sure that Liu Xie is not the next Liu Bian?
And what would those Shandong gentry and the Central Plains surname say or do when Liu Xie was driven off the throne?
Obviously impossible.
Otherwise, Liu Xie would not have been on the throne back then!
When Cao Cao saw Liu Xie's expression, he added another weight, "I have heard that those who poisoned the young emperors in the past had changed their names and surnames, and were appointed as the chief minister of the cavalry, and they were trusted..."
Liu Xie leaned forward and stared at Cao Cao and asked, "This is true?"
Cao Cao nodded slowly, "There is no false at all."
Liu Xie's face suddenly became gloomy.
In fact, Liu Xie knew a little bit about this.
However, Li Ru had already left Chang'an at that time, and as a pioneer in the development of the Western Regions, to some extent, it was considered "making up for the mistakes", so no one specifically discussed this matter. Is it not good to hold the braid in his hand as a cavalry? If it is necessary, then it can be used? Just like now, Cao Cao shook the braid and immediately caught Liu Xie's weakness.
So even if other ministers knew about it, they would not tell Liu Xieming before. Liu Xie was sealed in the palace, so many things could only be understood in half, and they could not understand them specifically.
This is true in most things in China. If you don’t say it out loud, it doesn’t matter if you are light and fluent, but once you put on the scale, it will weigh more than a thousand pounds.
As Cao Cao increased his strength little by little, the balance in Liu Xie's heart tilted again.
Cao Cao took Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao as an example, and was actually warning Liu Xie, saying that even if Liu Xie did nothing, nothing was wrong. However, after Fei Qian defeated Cao Cao, he would still be like Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao, "establish a new clan"!
Liu Xie stared at Cao Cao and remained silent for a long time.
Cao Cao faced Liu Xie's gaze calmly.
"Like today, who can tell the thieves of Yihuo?" Liu Xie said in a deep voice.
Cao Cao said proudly, "I have been serving as prime minister for three hundred years and was a relative of the outside world. How many people have been there in the Western Jing Shangshu?
Liu Xie stroked the carvings of the dragon head and horns on the armrest of the dragon chair, looked up at the painting of the "Twenty-Eight Constellations" in the caisson on the top of the hall, and his eyes wandered between the "Purple Wall" and the "Tianshi Wall".
Cao Cao said again, "Your Majesty, Fei Ziyuan is respectful and has repeatedly resisted the king's orders. I heard that there is a nursery rhyme in Guanzhong saying, "The green dragon is not the dragon, and Guanzhong is not the Han Dynasty."... Such rebellious words are probably not suitable for the ministers...
"The Prime Minister is dedicated to the Han Dynasty, and he works hard and has made great contributions. I feel so relieved." Liu Xie withdrew his eyes to the caisson on the top of the palace and fell on Cao Cao again. "Huang Shi Gong said, "Soft can control hardness, weak can control strongness." Soft is virtue, hard is thief, weak is kind and helps him, and strong is resentful to him... I hope the Prime Minister is good at understanding this."
Cao Cao bowed, "I should remember what Your Majesty said."
It's been dark for a long time.
A gust of wind through the hall suddenly came, raising the crimson gauze in the hall, which was shocked by the copper bells at the eaves, like a collision between swords and halberds.
Liu Xie sat high on the elixir steps. Although the pattern of the "Shanlonghua Insect" behind the imperial seat was large and the patterns were complex, they were somewhat dull.
Cao Cao, who was bowing down under the steps, was because the light in the hall was dim and only the light from the hall gate was cast in, so he magnified and projected Cao Cao's shadow onto the wall, like a shadow covering him.
『Love…』 Liu Xie asked in a low voice in the shadow, 『Where should I come out now?』
Cao Cao bowed again, "Now that spring plowing is thirsty, I ask Your Majesty to climb to the altar to ask for rain!"
"Please rain?" Liu Xie repeated.
Liu Xie was a little confused, that's all?
If you can't ask for rain...
Liu Xie looked up outside the hall and saw dark clouds stacked up, and he knew it in his heart.
If there are no clouds and clear sky, there is a risk of not raining, but in such weather, how can there be no rain?
But, is this useful?
Can you kill the Cavalry after the rain?
Cao Cao raised his head and smiled, "When the rain fell, your Majesty can issue an edict to grant Zhao Yun and Zhao Zilong the governor of Youzhou and Marquis Rongqiu..."