Three Kingdoms: I help Liu Bei grow thousands of miles

Chapter 920

On the Huainan battlefield, there was Jiang Ji's Hefei garrison, to the northwest there was Man Chong, the prefect of Runan, to the north, to Qiao County, the garrison of Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou, and to the northeast, the Taishan soldiers of Xiahouru, the governor of Xuzhou. Although there are many troops, they are not led by a capable general like Cao Ren.

Jiang Ji now does not want soldiers, horses, money and food, but a commander-in-chief.

Cao Pi has been very irritable recently. The strategy of raiding Chang'an has failed, and rumors are rife inside and outside Luoyang.

During the inspection period, Zhu Shuo's people intercepted many collaborating letters, but because most of them did not leave their names, they had to be handed over to Sima Zhi for handling, and secretly reported to Cao Pi.

Sima Zhi's ability to solve cases is extremely strong. Based on the few clues provided by Zhu Shuo, he traced the clues and found a large amount of criminal evidence. Within three days, he dug up dozens of officials involved in the incident, but all of these people had the backing of the big gentry.

Although Sima Zhi was stern and selfless, he could only report to the emperor when he encountered such a difficult matter, just like Cao Hong's situation.

In the case of Cao Hong defrauding the emperor, Empress Dowager Bian finally came forward to intercede. Cao Hong was dismissed from office and demoted to a commoner, and all the wealth accumulated for decades was confiscated.

Cao Pi has seen the list of collaborators, and he knows that there are big trees behind these people. In order not to shake the foundation of the country, he showed the patience of the emperor, and finally chose to deal with it coldly.

Cao Pi was able to sit on the throne of the emperor without the support of the Henan gentry. At this time, there were many crises in Wei's country. Even if these people should be killed, they couldn't do it by themselves. At this moment, he thought of the Sima family.

Assassination is a poor method. When Cao Pi was still hesitating whether to let Zhu Shuo take action, the bad news of Huainan was delivered to him.

The Huainan military information sent by Jiang Ji has a greater impact than the failure of the raid on Chang'an. If it is used by someone with a heart to instigate, more and more people will shake their heads and treason.

On the way to Pinghong Palace to discuss military plans, Cao Pi saw Sima Zhao beside Gao Mou, and suddenly had an idea. During the hundreds of years of the Han Dynasty, many emperors used eunuchs to restrain courtiers. There are ready-made candidates, why not make good use of them?

Cao Xiu, Chen Qun and others were already waiting in the Pinghong Hall. After Cao Pi entered the hall, he waved his hand away and changed his decadent style in the past. The armies in Yangzhou and Yuzhou must defend Huainan for the Great Wei."

"Uh, last general?" Xia Houshang pointed at himself suspiciously.

Cao Pi nodded, "Don't doubt your ability. You are the one who was praised by the late emperor. Now there are [-] to [-] troops around Huainan, but there is no one capable of commanding. Wen Lie has no way to deal with Guan Yu." Withdrawing, I can only rely on you, you won't let me and the first emperor down, right?"

"If Huainan is lost at the end of the day, I will never return to see Your Majesty alive." Xia Houshang also issued a military order.

"Among the soldiers around Huainan, Junlin (Xiahouru)'s Mount Tai soldiers are the strongest. You brothers must cooperate well. Lantian Xinde Yangzhou has not gained a firm foothold, but it seems that he is also eager for quick success and quick profit by launching an attack on Huainan so soon. I don’t know how capable the army is in combat, but that Gan Ning is a ruthless character, so he should rely on Hefei to defend, I don’t believe that Sun Quan’s defeat in Hefei, Lantian can change the result.” Cao Pi said with a strong heart.

Seeing this, Cao Xiu reminded: "Your Majesty, don't underestimate Lan Tian. Although this man has no martial arts skills, he can destroy Wu in three months, which shows that his threat may not be lower than Guan Yu. It is the same reason that Liu Bei can let this man alone. Sun Quan probably It is defeat by underestimating the enemy, we must take it as a warning.”

"Wen Lie's words are reasonable, but Guan Yu is now directly threatening Wan and Luo, and Liu Bei is gradually gaining a foothold in Guanzhong. It is impossible for me to divert military resources to Huainan." Cao Pi's expression was heavy.

"Your Majesty also said that Lantian is now sitting behind Jianye, using Gan Ning as his pawn to harass the Lujiang River. He probably wants to test the strength of our army. Boren must be stable in Huainan." Cao Xiu kindly reminded Xia Houshang.

"I can save it." Xia Houshang nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's discuss again, I have to go back to the palace first." After finishing speaking, Cao Pi got up and left, making everyone suspicious.

Cao Pi moved quickly, followed by Gao Miao and Sima Zhao, and suddenly Cao Pi stopped and asked: "Marquis Wu, you have been in Jianye for two years, are Jiangdong people so weak? Anyone who comes here can be restrained ?”

Sima Zhao was startled, and quickly answered, "Where did your Majesty hear the rumors? Jiangdong's internal conflicts are very serious, and even Sun Quan can't check and balance well. Have you forgotten the incident with Han Zong? , the servant thinks that Lantian can't hold back."

"Marquis Wu is very insightful." Cao Pi nodded, then turned around and told Gao Miao: "Xiao Gao, you go to Xie Shaofu (Xie Huan), Sima's grade will be raised to Zhonghuangmen."

"Wei" Gao Miao bowed and left, thinking that the relatives were really different, it took him three years to get into Zhonghuangmen.

Sima Zhao followed Cao Pi to the study alone. Cao Pi first took out Sima Yi and praised him for a while, and then gradually brought Sima Zhao into the topic, that is, using Sima Zhao's relationship with Chen Qun and Sima Zhi to re-investigate the Luoyang rumors last time. By killing chickens to scare monkeys, to deter those who are vacillating.

"The slave is only 13 years old, how can such a big matter be handled well?" Sima Zhao pretended to be harmless to humans and animals, but in fact Cao Pi's approach was in his favor. To quickly gain power, he needed countless opportunities to accumulate and punish sinners who collaborated with the enemy and treasoned the country. , is undoubtedly a good opportunity.

Sima Zhao became so good at pretending, which is also related to his experience in Jiangdong, because he had too much contact with Hu Ke, and he learned what it means to have a thousand faces, showing weakness everywhere is strong, but Cao Pi didn't understand his thoughts .

"Don't worry, Marquis Wu, I will trust you, just like Zhong Da (Sima Yi), just do things boldly, and General Zhu (Zhu Shuo) will help you secretly." Cao Pi said seriously.

"Wei." Sima Zhao bowed and saluted. He smiled when he bowed his head. If he could get involved with the Imperial Army, it would be of great benefit to the investigation of the Sima Miemen case.

After Sima Zhao became Zhonghuangmen, he wooed the eunuchs headed by Gao Miao internally, and used his close relationship with Chen Qun externally to help Cao Pi open the case of collaborating with the enemy and treason, and then set off a political catastrophe in Luoyang, involving six to seventy officials people.

All the collaborators Sima Zhi had detected before were secretly arrested and executed by Zhu Shuo in the name of Sima Zhao in this turmoil. The people in the capital were panicked for a while, and the young Sima Zhao shocked Luoyang with his hot hands.

This turmoil finally spread to high-level officials. Taiwei Zhong Yao was reported for complaining about the Wei satire case, so he took the initiative to resign under Chen Qun's suggestion. In order to prove his innocence, Du Ji hanged himself with a white silk at Shangshutai in order to prove his innocence.

When the political situation in Luoyang was turbulent, Lantian was not as difficult as Sima Zhao guessed. He simply "shelved disputes and cooperated with the gentry". On the surface, Jiangdong was controlled by the local gentry.

Lantian had no time to play balance with the Huaisi faction and Jiangdong faction. After moving the Huaisi faction officials out of Jianye in batches, he reached a tacit agreement with the Jiangdong gentry, that is, the three counties of Danyang, Wujun, and Kuaiji refer to the old system and decentralize politically. Let the local gentry be the masters, but in the military, money and food must be paid.

(End of this chapter)