Chapter 18 Section five

In the afternoon of the same day.Xun You and Guo Jia each took a sedan chair and got off in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and then went straight into the Prime Minister's Mansion.The soldiers on both sides of the gate saluted them with spears and swords.The two climbed the steps, entered the gate, walked through the courtyard, and discussed matters in a hurry while walking. Xun You said: "There are a lot of doubts about field hunting today. One is that Yang Biao's quiver is still unknown. The other is that Liu Bei stopped Guan Yu from rushing out to kill his lord with a knife and horse. This matter is very important. Three It was Empress Fu who summoned Bai Shao, the head of the prime minister's mansion, and the two cars were nearby. I don't know what to say. Fourth, Yang Diao shoots arrows, and Guan Yu tries to kill the lord with a knife. Bai Shao should be able to see it from that position, why didn't she report it?" Guo Jiadao: "This 'My Fair Lady' was recommended by brother Xun You at first." Xun You said: "So I especially want to make a clear inventory. I originally wanted to find a companion to read with the lord to relieve boredom, but I never thought that there are so many doubts now. Now she is so favored by the lord. The day companion is by the lord's side, if something unexpected happens, it will be a disaster." Guo Jia said: "When I see the lord today, I must first persuade the lord to kill Liu Bei; second, I must make side attacks on Bai Shao and find out what happened." Xun You said: "What brother Guo Jia said is very true."

Li Dian and Xu Chu led ten or twenty soldiers on horseback and galloped through the streets of Xudu. The two generals looked gloomy.When they arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion, they dismounted from their horses. Li Dian and Xu Chu handed over the reins to the accompanying soldiers and went straight into the Prime Minister's Mansion. Cao Cao was sitting in the hall, his injured left arm was still bandaged, and beside him was the chief bookkeeper Bai Shao, who was sorting out pens, ink and paper on the table in front of her.On the right stands Cao Pi, dressed in armor and military uniform, with a serene expression.Xun You and Guo Jia rushed in to bow down to Cao Cao. Cao Cao waved his hands, and they saluted and stood on Cao Cao's left.Li Dian and Xu Chu rushed forward, wanting to bow down to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao waved his hands again, and the two immediately bowed their hands in a simple salute, and stood on the right side of Cao Cao.Cao Cao said: "There have been a lot of incidents in the field hunting this morning. I will call you to discuss it now. Li Dian and Xu Chu, you two will speak first." Li Dian immediately reported: "Follow the prime minister's order and secretly monitor Yang Biao. He found out that there was something wrong with him. He only shot three arrows in the field hunting in the morning, and all three arrows hit, one rabbit and two foxes. The Wei's mansion is gone." Xu Chu added: "If there were other people's arrows in his quiver, he must have taken it home and destroyed it." Li Dian went on to say: "When he got home, he closed the door to thank the guests. During the morning field hunt, Yang Biao was far away. Seeing that Yang Diao was tied up, he didn't have any seizures." Xun You said: "Why did he have a seizure? He should go to the emperor and the prime minister to plead guilty—my son committed such a serious crime." Cao Cao shook his head and said: "He pleaded guilty It is equivalent to pleading guilty for Yang Diao, Yang Diao has not yet been tried, and the truth is not yet known, it is reasonable for him to hold back like this."

Cao Pi stepped forward and said: "In the future, the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Officials will start to interrogate Yang Diao. This man is stubborn, and he may rather die than recruit. In addition, he shot his father and the prime minister, and the arrow he discarded was his son's." Pi's. Although my son is now the servant of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Punishment, is it better to avoid this case?" Cao Cao said: "You can't be the presiding judge in this case, but you can serve as a deputy judge or jury. This is called appropriate avoidance. Participate moderately. If you are in charge of the trial, it is difficult to avoid the suspicion of being involved; if you do not participate in the trial, you may be suspected of avoiding the suspicion too much. I once told you that the way to use power is to balance, and this is the reason." Cao Pi said: "Follow my father's instruction." Cao Cao said, "We must continue to monitor Yang Biao. If he does not move his troops today, it does not mean that he will do so forever tomorrow. Cao Pi and Zhang Liao must investigate their subordinates and find out who is stealing arrows through outsiders. In addition, when interrogating Yang Diao, Kong Rong and Zhao Yan should be jurors to show justice." All the generals and others said, "I obey."

Cao Cao turned to Xun You: "What do you two military advisers have to say?" Xun You reported: "There is an important matter to report to the Prime Minister. During the field hunting today, one person besides Yang Diao wanted to kill the Lord." Cao Cao was not surprised: "Who?" Xun You said: "Liu Bei's sworn brother Guan Yu. At that time, the Prime Minister and The emperor jointly accepted the congratulations from all the officials for shooting the deer with the golden arrow. Guan Yu patted his horse and held a knife and wanted to rush out to kill the lord, but Liu Bei stopped him." Cao Cao asked, "Who saw it?" Xun You pointed at Bai Shao: "The master took advantage of it The driver of the chariot saw it. He also said that he seemed to have seen Yang Diao shoot an arrow in the back. Prime Minister, Xun You once again advised the Lord to kill Liu Bei. When Liu Bei defected to the Lord one or two years ago, You persuaded the Lord to kill him, but the Lord refused. This time, you must not be careless." Cao Cao said, "It was Guan Yu who wanted to kill me, so why did I kill Liu Bei?" Xun You said, "Because Liu Bei is Guan Yu's lord, he only stopped Guan Yu because he was afraid that he would not be able to get out of his body and lose his family. Life, even Cheng Lian can't see clearly?"

Cao Cao waved his hand: "Why can't I see this clearly? It's just that his treason has not been revealed, why should I kill him? If I catch a Yang Diao, I still want him to have a broken arrow. How many soldiers are as good as Kong Rong?" , Zhao Yan testified on the spot before starting; what reason do I have for killing Liu Bei? Before Liu Bei defected to me, you advised me to kill him. The reason why I didn’t kill him was because killing him or losing the heart of the world’s sages. This time you admonish him again I have no reason to kill him, but his treason has not been revealed." Cao Cao opened his mouth when he saw Xun You. It is even more unreasonable to do something. You must understand that doing things must be seventy percent reasonable, and killing people must be very reasonable."

Guo Jia cupped his hands and said, "Liu Bei must be my lord's great enemy in the future." Cao Cao said: "I still don't understand this? Yuan Shao and others now have hundreds of thousands of generals, dominating one side, and dominating one side. They are my current main opponents. But in the long run, they don't count. Only Liu Bei can bend and stretch, and Jiangdong Sun Ce is my true opponent in the world." Guo Jia kowtowed to the ground: "So if you don't get rid of Liu Bei today, my lord will regret it in the end. Guo Jia's prose here is deadly admonishment, please be sure to kill Liu." Xun You also knelt down and remonstrated loudly: "Xun You is also deadly prose. Admonishment, please kill Liu Bei, my lord, if you don't kill him today, it will be too late to regret."

Cao Cao stood up and took a few steps, and said, "Even so, I can't kill one person unreasonably. It's not enough to reward and punish one person unreasonably, let alone kill one person? In battle, thousands of people are killed. At that time, each other It is a fight, you want to kill me, I will not kill you? But in this situation, even if you kill Liu Bei alone, you must never kill him. If someone blocks the way and threatens you with a knife, you can draw your knife to face him. A pedestrian passes by in a good manner , or just ask you for directions and help, what reason do you have to draw your sword? Wouldn’t it be even more unreasonable to kill him?” Cao Cao said and walked a few steps: “Besides, the hero Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are two generals, It’s not so easy to kill.” Li Dian immediately reported: “Although Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are brave, they are weak alone. Besides, they are horsemen, and unarmed combat is not their specialty. Xu Chu and I The two of them only need to lead more than ten brave generals and five hundred elite soldiers to surround Liu Guanzhang's residence in the middle of the night, and they can solve the problem in less than an hour. As long as Liu Bei is killed, Guan and Zhang will have no other way out but commit suicide and die in martyrdom." Cao Cao slightly He stared with some dissatisfaction: "Why can't you understand Gu's words today? I said that killing Liu Bei is not easy, but I still mean to evade you. I don't know that killing Liu is so easy for me now, and why do I need to surround the house? Attack and kill in the middle of the night? If I want to kill him, it will be all over if I set up a Hongmen banquet. Well, the two military advisers get up, Wen dies to remonstrate, and Wu fights to the death, it depends on what is going on. The one who will win the world in the future must be me, Cao. A reasonable person. If I, Cao, cannot win the world, others will be delusional."

Guo Jia and Xun You knelt down and said, "My lord, if you don't kill Liu Bei today, there will be endless troubles. Besides, Guan Yu has already shown his murderous intentions, and the coachman has testified." Cao Cao said: "As I said just now, how can a coachman be a witness? People in the world don't think you are looking for a subordinate to frame Liu Bei? I killed one person and broke the trust of the world. How can I win the world? You seem to be far-sighted, but they are short-sighted. See you. Well, get up, both of you, and I will tell you a story about killing people. When I was young, in order to avenge the murder of my mother, I dressed up as a beggar in the cold winter months and went to the enemy's house to beg with a sharp knife. The servant of the enemy's family stood outside the gate Throwing me away, I made a loud noise to lure the enemy out. As a result, the enemy came out and reprimanded the servant and gave me food and clothing. The enemy was right in front of me. I could kill him with a sharp knife, but I couldn't kill him because he was giving me alms , At that time, I killed him unreasonably. After half a year, I pretended to be a doctor in the world to kill him, and it happened that he was attending the funeral of his father, but I failed to kill him. Do you understand this reason?"

Guo Jia and Xun You still knelt down and shook their heads, sighing: "Of course I understand this, but..." Cao Cao sighed, "You don't really understand." Bai Shao paid great attention to listening to Cao Cao's story, and stopped writing for a while because of his imagination. Then he came back to his senses and asked: "What about the next step, has the prime minister's family revenge been avenged?" Cao Cao said: "In the second year I He pretended to be a silk merchant and went to kill him. He never thought that he was already ruined and living on the street, and he stopped the road to beg for me. I still couldn't kill him, so I left dozens of pennies and ran away." Bai Shao asked: "What's next? "Cao Cao said: "He was impoverished and drowned." Bai Shao was in a daze for a moment, then closed his eyes and said: "God avenged the prime minister." Cao Cao sighed: "Everything has its own reason." Seeing that Bai Shao's eyes were in a trance, he asked: "What did the master think of?" I really understand Gu, it’s not that Gu doesn’t know that he wants to kill Liu Bei, but it’s not in line with reason. Gu has reason to travel all over the world, but it’s hard to walk without reason.”

Bai Shao said thoughtfully: "The prime minister's words are very reasonable." Cao Cao waved his hands to signal Guo Jia and Xun You to get up, and said to Bai Shao: "This is the words of a bosom friend. For example, someone sent you to kill Cao Cao, or the hatred of the country, saying that I am using power to usurp the country; Killing my father and killing my mother and so on. But you see that what I, Cao, did not hurt the world and is reasonable, and you have a lot of trust in you, is it a bit of a dilemma for you to kill me at this time?" Bai Shao was momentarily lost.Cao Cao stared at her.Guo Jia and Xun You got up, and they were also looking at Bai Shao.Li Dian, Xu Chu, and Cao Pi also watched Bai Shao, and all felt the unusual meaning in the dialogue between Cao Cao and Bai Shao.Bai Shao felt his lack of focus, calmly came back to his senses and teased: "It's a terrible dilemma." Cao Cao looked at Bai Shao and asked jokingly: "Then do you want to kill Gu or not?" Bai Shao A smile that was not a smile: "Wait for the opportunity." Cao Cao asked: "What opportunity are you waiting for?" Bai Shao seemed to be joking this time: "I can only wait for the prime minister to do things unreasonably or treat me unreasonably." Cao Cao looked at Bai Shao Shao nodded, then chuckled: "With such supervision, I am less fallacious!"

His smile did not resolve the somewhat tense and stiff atmosphere in the lobby. Everyone still looked at Bai Shao suspiciously. Cao Cao felt it, and he waved his hand to change the subject and said, "Let's discuss Liu Bei's matter here." Guo Jia and Xun You Shensi returned to this issue, and Guo Jia sighed: "This person will become the Lord's great enemy from now on. " Cao Cao said: "Then I can't kill him today. If he becomes my enemy in the future, it will not be too late to kill him." Xun You sighed: "I'm afraid it will be too late then." Cao Cao said: "That's only a matter of time." It can be so. You must speak rationally and act rationally at every moment. Without this, it would be difficult to make the world." Xun You also wanted to argue: "If someone violates the laws of the country and the military, he should be killed, but there is something sympathetic and sympathetic. Kill?" Cao Cao was dissatisfied: "I can't even figure this out? If you violate the national law and military law, you can't be pardoned for killing, but Gu will definitely be killed and buried richly and take care of his parents and family." Guo Jia thought for a while and said solemnly: "As the prime minister said. It is difficult to convict Liu Bei and Guan Yu of wanting to kill the lord with the testimony of a coachman of Cao's mansion, but what if there are more witnesses that Guan Yu wanted to kill the lord?" Cao Cao asked, "Who else saw it?" Xun You looked at Bai Shao and said: "Except for the coachman of the master book, at that position, the coachman of the queen and concubine Dong may also see it, and the queen and concubine Dong may also see it." Cao Cao said: "The coachman of the queen will not dare to speak nonsense when he sees it; if the queen and concubine Dong say Seeing that Guan Yu is about to rush out to kill the orphan, Liu Bei and Guan Yu can be arrested in that isolated moment." Guo Jia said: "But they won't say anything when they see it. The rest," he looked at Bai Shao: "Only the master of the Xiangfu Might have seen it." The hall was very quiet, everyone looked at Bai Shao.Bai Shao is still writing the records, without raising her eyes. Cao Cao asked Bai Shao: "Have you ever seen it?" Bai Shao said nothing. Cao Cao said to Guo Jia and Xun You: "I haven't heard her say it, I think she hasn't seen it." Xun You asked Bai Shao: "Did the master see it?" Not enough to testify, I am the chief secretary of the Prime Minister’s mansion, the prime minister’s confidant in the eyes of others, I said I saw it, is it enough to testify?” Guo Jia said: “You don’t need to testify now. I just want to confirm whether Liu Bei and Guan Yu were murdered. Cao Zhixin." Bai Shao stopped writing, looked at the crowd, sneered slightly, and said while writing: "Liu Bei, Guan Yu killed Cao Zhixin, and I, an unknown person, can prove it?" Cao Cao asked: "What should I say?" Bai Shao said: "Since the prime minister can see clearly that Liu Bei will be an opponent in the world in the future, wouldn't Liu Bei be the same for the prime minister? He is also the emperor's uncle. If he kills the prime minister, he will become powerful. His intention to kill Cao is the inevitable result of the situation." Ignoring Cao Cao's slight nod, Bai Shao sneered a bit, and said to Guo Jia and Xun You while writing: "You are making insinuations, just to prove another suspicious thing. I won't say what it is. I can write it here." Guo Jia and Xun You were a little embarrassed for a moment. Xun You rolled his eyes, looked at Bai Shao and said, "Master, there is one more thing I can ask?" Bai Shao said without raising his eyes, "Excuse me." Xun You turned to Li Dian and said, "General Li Dian Tell me." Li Dian bowed to Cao Cao: "Prime Minister allows me to speak frankly to the master." Cao Cao squinted at the tense atmosphere, and calmly nodded slightly.Li Dian immediately stood up and said to Bai Shao: "As far as I know, your father died in the battle with my Cao army. Is that so?" Bai Shao was slightly taken aback, and stopped writing.Cao Cao watched her.Bai Shao said: "You can ask my grandfather about this matter, I don't know." Then he ignored everyone's staring eyes and continued to write like no one else was there.Li Dian, Xu Chu, Guo Jia, and Xun You looked at each other, not knowing what to say.Cao Cao considered the stalemate situation thoughtfully, and then waved his hands: "Okay, today's discussion is here temporarily, and the master will read the minutes of today's meeting." Bai Shao put down the brush, sorted out the papers in front of him, and read calmly: "Today, the Prime Minister summoned the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, the Minister of Punishment, Cao Pi, the prefect of Xudu, the military advisers Guo Jia, Xun You, the school lieutenant Li Dian, and Xu Chu to discuss the field hunt. For all the incidents, Secretary Bai Shao, the head of the prime minister's office. "Issue 1, Yang Biao did not find any wrongdoing in the field hunting today. After the field hunting, he went home and thanked the guests behind closed doors. The prime minister ordered Yang Biao to strengthen secret surveillance. This matter is in line with the two generals Li Dian and Xu Chu. Responsible. "Second, the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Ministry of Officials will jointly try Yang Diao. The Prime Minister ordered that Cao Pi should not be the presiding judge in order to avoid suspicion of the parties involved, but he can serve as a deputy judge or jury to prevent excessive suspicion. The prime minister discussed the use of power The way is weighing. (Cao Cao couldn't help nodding when he heard this.) "Three, when Yang Diao was tried by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Officials, the Prime Minister ordered Kong Rong, the admonishing doctor, and Zhao Yan, the Yilang, to participate in the jury to show justice. This matter is in line with Cao Pi's implementation. "Fourth, the Prime Minister's order, Cao Pi and General Zhang Liao must investigate the left and right, who is the one who stole the hunting arrows in the field through outsiders. This matter should be carried out immediately by Cao Pi and Zhang Liao. "5. It was discussed that Guan Yu wanted to kill the prime minister while hunting in the field. Although Liu Bei stopped him, he was the master of Guan Yu. Guan Yu's motive for killing Cao must have come from Liu Bei. Guo Jia and Xun You strongly advocated killing Liu Bei. The prime minister's decree: the killing is unreasonable, Don't kill one person indiscriminately and lose the trust of the world. Guo Jia and Xun You's writings are deadly admonitions. Their loyalty is commendable, but their reasoning seems to be inconsistent. The prime minister is unmoved. The killing of Liu is the prime minister's veto. "Sixth, the prime minister talked about 'doing things must be seventy percent reasonable, killing must be very reasonable'. The prime minister said that when he avenged his mother's murder when he was young, he encountered a dilemma three times and gave up. Reasonable. Killing is one of the major events in the world. The prime minister said that doing things must be 70% reasonable, and killing people must be very reasonable. That is to say, doing ordinary things is 70% reasonable, but doing big things must be very reasonable. (Cao Cao couldn't help nodding in affirmation when he heard these items.) "Seventh, Guo Jia and Xun You, the two military divisions, shouted, if Liu Bei is not killed, it will be too late for the prime minister to regret in the future; the prime minister said that it is so difficult to win the world. This matter is at least three to five years, and at most ten or twenty years, there must be If you know it, you can look back and appraise it at that time. And if you go deep into its meaning, a wise man can discern it today. (Guo Jia and Xun You couldn't help but look at each other when they heard this.) "Eight, the prime minister asked the master, if she was sent to assassinate the prime minister, or to avenge the country or the family, but seeing that the prime minister's actions were all in line with the law and the trust in her, would she be in a dilemma? The book replied, "It's an extreme dilemma." Although the prime minister's question was like a joke, the master book knew that this was actually the principle that the prime minister retrained him to do things seventy percent rationally and to kill people very reasonably. (Cao Cao and the others all opened their eyes in horror when they heard this.) "Ninth, the prime minister said that violating the national law and military law should not be pardoned, but if there is a pitiful reason, he must be buried generously and support his parents, family and children. This is an adult's opinion. The so-called ancient sage said: 'My lord Those who are in harmony with heaven and earth.' (Cao Cao nodded involuntarily.) "10. Guo Jia, Xun Youyi, and Guan Yu wanted to kill the Prime Minister. Since the driver of the chariot in which the Master Booker was riding saw it, the Master Booker should also see it. It would be suspicious if he saw it and said nothing. The Master Booker has something to say, but the coachman of Cao's Mansion is not enough To testify, the head of the Xiangfu is a close friend of the prime minister, and what he saw and said is not enough to testify. "Eleventh, Xun You and Li Dian were suspicious again, and asked whether the master's father died in a battle with Cao Jun. The master replied: "You have the right to ask, and I don't know the details, but it is true. If you want to check, there are many methods , it is not the most difficult thing.' "Twelfth, if you have doubts about the master book, the prime minister should be the first. The master book is Zheng Kangcheng's granddaughter, and Zheng Kangcheng is not close to Prime Minister Cao, so it is strange to allow his granddaughter to come to Cao's mansion to accompany him. This matter was originally a military adviser Xun You's plan is that if something goes wrong, it is impossible to escape his responsibility, so he should be ordered to conduct a detailed investigation of the master book by multiple detectives, not to mention too much. The prime minister himself should be especially cautious. To get rid of Zhang Liao's injustice, and to clear up the mist of the dark arrow shooting people, it is really a move of sincerity and wisdom to weep ghosts and gods. But things are different, and people are different. At this time, take the people of the Zheng family by your side , It’s really disturbing. A wise man has a lot of worries, and there is bound to be a mistake. Although the prime minister is very wise, he can also be deceived by a wrong love for a while. The master would like to ask the prime minister to review and think again.” Bai Shao calmly read one by one and stopped here.Cao Cao and everyone were stunned.The hall was silent.Guo Jia and Xun You looked at each other. Cao Cao asked after a while, "Is there any more?" Bai Shao lowered his eyes and read: "Thirteenth, the master's advice, the prime minister should not kill Liu Bei, but perhaps it should be known to him." Cao Cao said: "What you said is very true. I will look for opportunities to communicate with Liu Bei. Let Liu Bei meet alone, give him a hit." Jin Pao asked again: "Is there any more?" Bai Shao picked up his pen and dipped his ink in the ink and added while writing quickly: "This meeting, such as monitoring Yang Biao, interrogating Yang Diao, cleaning up the interior, killing Liu Bei, and questioning the master book, are really secrets in the prime minister's house. Everyone should be responsible, but most of the content should not be leaked to the outside world. Whether this record should be archived for 30 days, and it will be destroyed after all things have been implemented and resolved. Only the prime minister must do things reasonably and do big things (such as murder) It must be a very reasonable exposition, which is the most unbreakable principle throughout the ages, and can be combined with the prime minister's incisive expositions to teach subordinates civil and martial arts." Bai Shao finished writing and read, and put down the pen. Cao Cao nodded and said: "What you said is very true, what you said is very true." Then he stood up and paced, stopped after a few steps, patted the recording paper on the Baishao table, and said to Guo Jia and Xun You: "You two The military adviser is also a master of writing, so wait for the secretary to be a chapter, can you wait?" Guo Jia and Xun You shook their heads before they recovered.Cao Cao sighed and said: "Tell me, how can Gu not love?" Bai Shao put away the pen, ink and paper at this time, and said, "Is there anything else for the prime minister?" Cao Cao was stunned for a moment: "Why?" Bai Shao wearily Said: "If there is nothing wrong, let me leave first." Standing up while speaking.Before Cao Cao could answer, a soldier came in and kowtowed to report urgently: "The father-in-law hastily entered the palace after he fell down." Cao Cao snorted and sneered: "The field hunting has just ended, people are tired and horses are exhausted, why is it so urgent?"