A group of scouts entered from the west of Hulao Pass and ran along the Wei River until they reached Luoyang City.
In the afternoon of that day, a piece of latest information from Hebei went through layers of information and was finally placed on Yan Liang's desk.
In the imperial study, Yan Liangzheng was discussing the next military strategy with several close ministers, and the eunuch sent the sealed report to Long Ben.
Pang Tong, Fazheng, Xu Shu and others' expressions moved slightly, and they all felt that this must be a piece of weighty information.
Yan Liang lazily unfolded it, scanned it briefly, and snorted disapprovingly, "Liu Bei, a big-eared thief, has indeed become emperor."
Pang Tong and others present looked at each other, their eyes seemed to say that what they expected had finally happened.
Ten days ago, Liu Bei built an altar in the southern suburbs of Ye City in the name of Liu Xie's imperial edict, succeeded to the throne as emperor, changed the name of Yan State to Han, and declared that he inherited the Han Dynasty and became the legitimate emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Liu Bei finally realized his ambition.
Yan Liang was not surprised at all by this. In other words, he even felt that Liu Bei's proclaimed emperor was a few days later than he expected.
Although Yan Liang disgusted Liu Bei with Liu Xie's death, Yan Liang also knew very well that his meticulous work in Hebei alone was not enough to form a wave of public opinion to prevent Liu Bei from proclaiming himself emperor.
Facts have proved that Yan Liang's guess was correct.
However, Yan Liang is not completely without gains. Through this borrowed knife killing, Yan Liang believes that many wise people in Hebei have seen through Liu Bei's true face of hypocrisy and cruelty, which will naturally help to disintegrate Liu Bei's cohesion in Hebei.
"Liu Bei dares to proclaim himself emperor. This is a blatant provocation to His Majesty. I believe that we cannot just sit idly by and ignore it. We must teach Liu Bei a lesson." Xu Shu raised his hand and spoke.
"Not long after your Majesty became emperor, Liu Bei also proclaimed himself emperor. Your Majesty should indeed teach Liu Bei a lesson." Pang Tong also nodded in agreement, but then said: "But Cao Cao in the northwest has not been around for a long time. Before that, it is not appropriate to launch a full-scale attack on Liu Bei.
, I think it will be enough to punish Liu Bei a little."
Yan Liang nodded slightly and then ordered: "To convey my will, I ordered General Gan Ning to command 30,000 naval troops, go out of the Yellow River and into the Bohai Sea, sweep the coastal counties of Youji and Hebei, and teach Liu Bei a good lesson."
Liu Bei built the defense line on the north bank of the Yellow River to be impregnable. He still had a heavy army stationed there, so if he used his navy to sweep the north bank, he would not gain much.
Compared with the north bank of the Yellow River, Liu Bei's defense of the coastal areas was relatively weak. The Chu army could take advantage of its sea ships to raid the coastal counties wantonly.
At the same time, Yan Liang issued an order to Lu Meng, Tian Feng and other ministers in Liaodong, ordering them to transport Liaodong war horses by sea to the Central Plains to speed up Yan Liang's expansion of cavalry.
Yan Liang knew very well that only when the quantity and quality of cavalry reached a certain level, it would be time for Yan Liang to send his troops northward and completely wipe out Hebei.
While Yan Liang sent troops to teach Liu Bei a lesson, he also began to secretly transport grain, grass and weapons to Chang'an, preparing to march westward when the time came and wipe out the remnants of Cao Cao's troops entrenched in Liangzhou, Longxi.
When Yan Liang received the news that Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor, Cao Jun's meticulous work was mixed with the caravans on the northwest road, passing through Longshan, and soon sent the news of Liu Bei's proclaimed emperor to Longxi.
In Tianshui City, there was silence in the lobby of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
A few months ago, the news that Yan Liang deposed the Han Emperor and usurped the Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor had already shocked Cao Cao and his staff.
Now, within a few days, the news that Liu Bei had also proclaimed himself emperor dealt Cao Cao a big blow.
Not only that, but what troubled Cao Cao the most was the news of Liu Xie's murder.
Whether Liu Xie was killed by Yan Liang or Liu Bei, this is not what Cao Cao cares about. What Cao Cao cares about is that his title of Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty was conferred by Liu Xie.
When Liu Xie was deposed, Cao Cao could still deny it, but now, Liu Xie simply died at the hands of those two careerists, which Cao Cao couldn't bear.
Liu Xie and the Han Dynasty's orthodoxy represented by Liu Xie have been destroyed. So who will Cao Cao, the great Han Prime Minister, be loyal to?
Yan Liang? Of course it’s impossible.
If it’s not Yan Liang, could it be that Liu Bei from Yecheng?
No, even more impossible.
Although Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, claimed that he had Liu Xie's edict, and the country he founded was named Han, Cao Cao would not choose to show his loyalty to Liu Bei no matter what.
Although this kind of loyalty is only superficial.
So, judging from the current situation, the status of Cao Cao, the Han Dynasty Prime Minister, has become embarrassing and even somewhat "illegal".
This situation was quite unfavorable for Cao Cao, who was accustomed to "holding the emperor to order the princes", conquering all directions in the name of the emperor, and giving orders to his ministers.
"The big-eared thief dared to rebel and proclaim himself emperor. If I had known this, the prime minister in Xuzhou should have killed him directly." Cao Cao threw the information on the case and cursed angrily.
The ministers on the left and right were busy cursing Liu Bei and expressing their indignation.
After some indignation, everyone's mood became anxious and depressed.
"Now that both the Yan thief and the big-eared thief have proclaimed themselves emperors, and the emperor has been killed, Ye thinks that the current situation is very unfavorable for the prime minister." Liu Ye said worriedly.
"Humph, what's the disadvantage? The two thieves Yan and Liu are both proclaimed emperors, and they just happen to be fighting each other so that the prime minister can profit from it." Cao Cao knew that he was in a bad situation and was angry, but he refused to face it.
Liu Ye coughed a few times and said: "What Ye means is that the emperor has passed away and the Han Dynasty has been overthrown. The prime minister once again orders the northwest soldiers as the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. It seems that there is something, something..."
Liu Ye seemed to have unpleasant things to say and it was hard for him to say them.
"If there is anything, Ziyang, just tell me." Cao Cao said, brushing his sleeves.
Liu Ye took a breath and said silently: "Then forgive me for speaking frankly. If the Prime Minister continues to lead the soldiers as the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, Ye thinks it is a bit unfair."
nondescript!
Cao Cao was shaken, his brows furrowed, but he said nothing.
Obviously, Liu Ye's "neither fish nor fowl" hit Cao Cao's sore spot. The Emperor of Han and the Han Dynasty are gone. You, the Han Prime Minister, are neither fish nor fowl, aren't you?
"In Ziyang's opinion, how should we solve this nondescript problem?" Cao Cao looked at Liu Ye.
Liu Ye frowned slightly. He seemed to be unable to come up with any ideas for the moment.
At that moment, Cao Pi stepped forward, held up his hands and said sternly: "The Han Dynasty is gone. Yan Liang, a common man, and Liu Bei, a man who weaves mats and sells shoes, can become emperors. Why can't my father become emperors?"
"
proclaim oneself emperor!
As soon as these words came out, everyone present looked shocked.
Cao Cao suddenly raised his head. He glared at Cao Pi with a reproachful look and blurted out words of reprimand.
The words came to his lips, but Cao Cao never said them.
Over the years, it is true that no one has tried to persuade Cao Cao, but Cao Cao has always suppressed him. And Cao Cao has repeatedly stated that at most he only wants to be the Duke of Zhou.
If in the past, Cao Pi dared to say such "treasonous and unethical" words, and in front of so many people, Cao Cao would definitely scold him on the spot and scold Cao Pi bloody.
But today, Cao Cao restrained himself because he realized that today's situation is different from the past.
In the silence, Cao Cao only waved his hand to signal Cao Pi to retreat.
Not only did Cao Pi not retreat, he even shouted more excitedly: "Back then, the emperor was still alive and the Han Dynasty was still alive. My father was afraid of giving someone else the power. That's why he refused to proclaim himself emperor. Now that the emperor and the Han Dynasty are gone, what else does my father have?"
It’s something to be scrupulous about.”
Cao Cao was deeply shaken, and his eyes began to flicker with wavering, as if he had been moved by his son's generous words.
At this time, Liu Ye also held up his hands and said: "Prime Minister, Ye thinks that the eldest son's words are reasonable. Yan and Liu have both proclaimed themselves emperors. Why shouldn't the prime minister proclaim himself emperor?"
When Liu Ye spoke like this, the other shocked ministers reacted and began to persuade Cao Cao to proceed.
Cao Cao only smiled bitterly, shook his head and sighed.
"Back then, when the prime minister controlled half of the country, he asked himself that he did not have the strength to proclaim himself emperor. Now that we have reached this point, where we only control a corner of the northwest, do you think the prime minister still has the strength to proclaim himself emperor?"
Cao Cao's meaning was very clear. It was not that he did not want to be emperor, but he was concerned that his current strength did not seem to be enough to be emperor.
"This moment is the same as that moment." Liu Ye continued to advise: "Today the prime minister proclaims himself emperor is not about strength, but about rallying people's hearts and calling on the soldiers and civilians of the northwest to follow the prime minister to fight against foreign enemies."
To put it bluntly, Liu Ye's intention was to have Cao Cao proclaim himself emperor, to grant officials and titles to his subordinates, and to give ordinary soldiers and civilians a spiritual leader like the emperor to give them a sense of belonging.
Liu Ye's words clearly understood everyone's feelings, and everyone immediately agreed.
Cao Cao fell into silence. He stroked his beard and thought deeply, repeatedly weighing what Liu Ye said. He had to admit that Liu Ye's words were indeed very reasonable.
The Emperor and the Han Dynasty have been overthrown, and he, the Han Dynasty Prime Minister, is no longer a good person. Now Cao Cao must have a suitable title to command the army and people of the northwest.
Cao Cao's two major enemies, Yan Liang and Liu Bei, have both proclaimed themselves emperors. If Cao Cao does not proclaim himself emperor, then no matter what official position he gives himself, he will be lower than those two.
Cao Cao's official position was low, so the official titles given to his subordinates were naturally lower. Military officers with the same qualifications had much higher official positions with Liu Bei and Yan Liang than they did with Cao Cao. Moreover, they were not justified in their reputations.
, this is naturally not conducive to stabilizing people's hearts.
After weighing this, Cao Cao has realized that if he wants to solve the embarrassing situation at hand and gain stability and win people's hearts, he must become emperor.
However, many people had tried to persuade Cao Cao before, but they were all rejected righteously and sternly. If he goes back on his word and proclaims himself emperor again, wouldn't he make the world laugh at Cao Cao?
For a moment, Cao Cao felt that he could not get down the steps, so he remained silent.
At this time, Cao Pi knelt down with a bang, raised his hands and said sternly: "We are facing a powerful enemy. If my father does not proclaim himself emperor, it will definitely chill the hearts of the soldiers. I ask my father to consider the overall situation and take the throne as emperor."
When Cao Pi knelt down like this, Liu Ye and other officials present all knelt down and shouted in unison: "Prime Minister, please consider the overall situation and take the throne as emperor."
Looking at his son kneeling on the ground and the pleading eyes of his ministers, Cao Cao's heart surged, knowing that he had reached a time when he had to make a choice.
