Chapter 3 Three, Zhidou Guo
In March of the fourth year of Cao Wei Huangchu, Cao Pi ran back and forth along the lines of Wancheng, Xuchang, Peijun, and Guangling to command and fight for eight or nine months, and finally returned to Luoyang.His protracted Southern Expedition came to an anticlimactic end: Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Xia Houshang tried their best, but only captured a Jiangling city from Jiangdong; Before that, Jiangling City had already been burned to an empty city!This is tantamount to saying that Cao Pi put 300,000 troops into this battle, and in the end he didn't even win the slightest substantive victory!What is even more ironic is that on the second day after he returned to Beijing, Sun Quan proclaimed himself king in Wuchang City with a very explicit gesture of demonstration, proclaiming his country name "Wu"!
However, although Cao Pi did not make any achievements in foreign conquests, he continued to "harvest" on the basis of domestic military power: Zhang Liao, the number one tiger general in the former emperor's period, was dragged to exhaustion and died suddenly during the contest with Lu Xun; General Zhendong Zang Ba, who is also the governor of Xuzhou, was so angry that he vomited blood because he was squeezed out by Cao Xiu. He resigned and returned to Beijing. With interest, he voluntarily surrendered his military power to the imperial court, and returned all the talismans and seals to Cao Pi.
Of course, Cao Pi pretended to comfort these veterans.After doing enough superficial work, Cao Pi took back all the military power without hesitation, and allotted it to his three clan confidantes - named Cao Zhen as the general of Zhenxi, and ruled the soldiers and horses of Yongzhou and Liangzhou Feng Bai Xia Houshang as the general of Zhennan, who governs the soldiers and horses of Jing and Henan states; and worships Cao Xiu as the general of Zhendong, who governs the soldiers and horses of Xu and Yang states.So far, Cao Pi completely ruled out the phenomenon of ministers with different surnames holding military power, and completely overturned Cao Cao's "meritocracy" employment strategy before his death, and completely replaced it with his own "nepotism" employment method.From this moment on, the majestic atmosphere of the Cao family of the Wei family who "swallowed the universe and swayed the wind and clouds" began to fall apart.The Cao Wei Empire, which had always been aggressive and aggressive in expanding outwards, has now become restrained and self-protective like a tortoise, and its vigor is fading!
"My lord, I have something to report to you." Zhang Chunhua opened the curtain and entered the secret room, and reported to Sima Yi who was at his desk looking at the intelligence documents sent by Sifang, "Yesterday, my concubine and Steward Yin discussed how to deal with Zhang Chunhua. Le, Yu Pu and other servants 'did it'..."
Of course, Sima Yi understood the complex meaning behind the word "do it". Without raising his head, he continued to look at the intelligence documents and said in a deep voice, "What should be done must be done well, and no loopholes should be left. It's just that you have made it clear through cross-examination. What line did they 'drill' in?"
"Yu Pu was recruited. He said that he was bought by the school affairs office of the inner court, and that he was an eyeliner inserted by His Majesty. However, that Zhang Le refused to confess."
"Well... Your Majesty has sent people to my Sima's mansion to 'mix sand' not once or twice. Don't look at the fact that he is currently favoring Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Xia Houshang. According to the information obtained by my husband, he is in their The mansion also sent insiders..." Sima Yi raised his head at this moment, and looked at Zhang Chunhua ponderingly, "Why doesn't that Zhang Le refuse to confess? Where did he send the traitor?"
"Master, I'm afraid you would never have imagined the origin of this man. Although he insisted on being broken and his legs were broken, my concubine and Steward Yin finally figured out his identity—he It was actually Guo Guipin who made countless detours to get in! Moreover, looking at his desperate appearance, his name might be completely fake, it is very likely that his surname is 'Guo'... ..."
"Concubine Guo? Why did Concubine Guo keep an eye on my Sima family?" Sima Yi twitched his eyebrows when he heard this, with an inexplicable surprise on his face.
"It's not difficult to guess!" Zhang Chunhua gave Sima Yi a complicated look, "It must be Guo Guifei, the temptress, who smelled something from our Sima family's previous intimate interactions with Queen Zhen and Fang Guifei. Son! After all, there is no impenetrable wall in this world. Now that Empress Zhen and Fang Guibin are both dead, it is hard to guarantee that there will not be one or two servants under them who have been ungrateful and treacherous to sell their masters to Guo Guibin. reward……"
"Well... Chunhua, you are right. Guo Guibin and Cao Pi are the same kind of people, they are both too greedy, mean and dark, and my Sima family has to be on guard." Sima Yi frowned slightly Jian Jian said in a deep voice, "Of course, with her little tricks, she may not be able to catch any loopholes in our Sima family. But as the saying goes, 'Don't be afraid of thieves coming to steal, you are afraid of thieves thinking about', husband must find a chance Teach her a good lesson, let her 'you don't know it hurts until you burn your hands'."
Zhang Chunhua raised his willow eyebrows, and suggested: "My husband, you should first think of a way to teach her a lesson, and I will still prepare rich gifts and treasures on my side, and bow and bow to 'paralyze' her..."
After hearing this, Sima Yi just lowered his head and continued to read the intelligence documents without answering.But Zhang Chunhua, who was familiar with his temperament, knew that Sima Yi kept silent at this moment, but actually silently acquiesced to her actions.
At this moment, Sima Yin said softly outside the door of the secret room: "My lord, Zhongshu ordered Mr. Sun Zi to come and see him."
Zhang Chunhua looked up at Sima Yi in astonishment.Sima Yi thought for a while, and then told Sima Yin: "Master Sun Zi, please wait in the study in the backyard, and I will go right away."
After Sima Yin left in response, Zhang Chunhua couldn't help asking: "It's really strange, what is Mr. Sun coming to the mansion to see you at the end of the year, which is neither too early nor too late..."
Sima Yi stood up from the couch, straightened his clothes, and said, "Probably he brought some edict from His Majesty." He had just taken a few steps forward when he suddenly remembered something and turned around to say goodbye. Zhang Chunhua ordered: "Later, you go out and prepare a box of gold cakes, and ask Sima Yin to deliver them to the carriage that Sun Zi came in... Sigh! Speaking of which, Sun Zi is still an important position in the inner court in front of Zhong Shuling. The official rank is only the fourth grade, and the salary is only two or three thousand shi, which is really shabby! As a husband, I can't look down on it on weekdays..."
Sun Zi waited quietly in the study in the backyard of Sima Mansion.Among the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, the relationship between him and Sima Yi is quite familiar: he was previously the assistant of Sima Yi's elder brother Sima Lang when he was Cao Cao's chief bookkeeper, and he has had quite a relationship with Sima Yi since then; And together with Sima Yi, he became a classmate and alumnus under the disciple of the great Han Jinghou and Shang Shuling Xun Yu, so the love is getting better and better.Therefore, in Sima Mansion, he did not feel very restrained.After waiting for a while, he simply got up and started pacing in the study with his hands behind his back.
Suddenly, he saw a pile of thick books piled up on the table in the room, and he picked up one of them and read it: the content inside turned out to be the military affairs of the Shu Han from the Bing Cao Department. Information, and on the eyebrows and sidebars of each page, there are densely packed small print comments by Sima Yi.Sun Zi read those annotations slowly, only to feel that Sima Yi's insights were deep enough to penetrate the Qizha, and he couldn't help but secretly admire.
"Oh! I'm sorry Sun Jun has been waiting in the study for a long time... I'm rude, I'm rude." Just as he was enjoying the reading, Sima Yi walked into the room with Xu Bu and greeted him with a smile.
Sun Zi hastily put down the letter, turned around and bowed, "Master Sima, Sun is here to greet you."
Sima Yi returned the gift, and asked him to take a seat on the guest bench in the room, and then returned to the chairman to sit down, and asked with a slight smile, "What is the purpose of Sun Jun's visit?"
Sun Zi took out a stack of memorials from the sleeve of his robe, held them in his hands, and replied with extreme humility: "Lord Sima, Mr. Sun made a special trip to send His Majesty the memorials and edicts to approve the red and use the seal today... "
"Oh! How can these documents bother Mr. Sun to hand them over in person? I am really worried! Tomorrow, I will go to the Minister's Office to reprimand those officials who don't know how to be polite. These things should be entered by them. Gong to Zhongshu Sheng to get it from you! How could they be so negligent of their duties?"
"Master Sima, you don't need to reprimand them. They came to the Ministry of Education to pick up these documents at noon today. It was Mr. Sun who refused them, and he was willing to come and send them over."
As soon as Sima Yi heard it, he immediately guessed that this grandson must be "going to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing", but he was a little shy and refused to tell the whole story right away!He smiled lightly and said: "Oh...Actually, Sun Jun doesn't have to be so polite. Sun Jun came to Bi Mansion this time, do you have any military plans to discuss with me?"
It was not easy for Sun Zi to have such a "straightforward" substantive conversation as soon as he came up, so he first borrowed a word and said: "Master Sima, please forgive Sun for being rude-just now Sun was curious and flipped through it. The documents on your desk are almost all about the military and political information of the puppet Shu... Mr. Sima, you seem to be paying special attention to the military and political developments of the puppet Shu! Sun is really a little puzzled: Nowadays, almost everyone in the Wei Dynasty I think that after the fiasco of Yiling and the sudden death of Liu Bei, the puppet Shu has been seriously injured, so it is not a concern. But Sun Quan, who ruled Jiangdong, became king on his own, and showed off his might, is the chief enemy of our great Wei—the puppet Wu should be It is the most worthy of your attention, Master Sima!"
"Hmm... Sun Jun's words are not unreasonable. However, in my view, although the puppet Wu is indeed vast and powerful, and possesses the natural danger of the Yangtze River, its wealth and strength are far greater than that of the puppet Shu. But between the two thieves of Wu and Shu, in terms of sharpness and stamina, the pseudo-Shu must be superior to the pseudo-Wu! You may not know that Zhuge Liang, the current prime minister of the pseudo-Shu, is good at governing the country and good at strategy, and has always cherished the desire to swallow the world Ambition, you must not underestimate it! If he gathers together to recuperate and accumulate enough strength, he will definitely take advantage of the gap and use the power of the whole Shu to attack our Great Wei!"
"Oh? Lord Sima, aren't you scaremongering these words? As far as Sun knows, civil strife broke out in the Nanman Menghuo recently in the Puppet Shu Kingdom. Zhuge Liang is probably already in a hurry and unable to save himself at this moment. Difficulty?"
"Hehehe... There is a saying in the art of war, 'Those who want to expand the outside world must first realize the inside; those who want to conquer the enemy must first consolidate the foundation; The chaos may have provided Zhuge Liang with an opportunity to train troops and integrate national prestige! Even though they are brave and good at fighting, how can they be the opponents of Zhuge Liang who is resourceful and changeable? Zhuge Liang will surely subdue him in the palm of his hands in the future! At that time, the real trouble for Da Wei came from behind..."
Sun Zi is also a man who is well versed in military tactics. Hearing Sima Yi's words, he couldn't help nodding his head secretly. Suddenly, he thought again, and said: "According to what Master Sima said, the fake Wu Sun Quan has an area of several thousand miles and has 300,000 soldiers. , is it really not as powerful as the pseudo-Shu Zhuge Liang who only relies on the power of one state?"
"The difference between the strong and the weak in the world lies in its reason, not in its power. Sun Quan is smooth and changeable, and his thoughts are based on planning the river to rule and separate Wu and Yue. The Central Plains region has been demagogic, and it cannot shake the foundation of the Great Wei. Therefore, it is difficult to become a deep worry for my Great Wei!
"On the contrary, Zhuge Liang, the pseudo-Shu, always sacrificed the banner of restoring the Han Dynasty and unifying Liuhe. Yan Han is my responsibility, this is my confidant's trouble in the Great Wei State! Therefore, defending Shu is more important than defending Wu, and attacking Shu is more important than attacking Wu. This is my consistent understanding. Sun Jun, do you understand now?"
When Sun Zi heard this, he couldn't help but clapped his hands and sighed: "Sun remembers that Mr. Jinghou Xunlingjun once said, 'When the bud is not in motion and the signs are not seen, it is obvious that the opportunity of survival, the key to gain and loss, is forbidden Before that, the one who makes the lord stand in a place of glory and make the world return to beauty is a holy minister.' Sir Sima has such great foresight, sagacity, ingenuity and strategy, he can really be called a "generation of holy minister" in our Great Wei Dynasty! Sun Mou It would be a great honor to stay by your side to listen to your teachings all the time!"
"Stay by my seat all the time to listen to the teachings? How can this be done?" Sima Yi immediately heard the meaning of Sun Zi's words, and laughed, "Sun Jun! Now you are by His Majesty's side, in the position of Zhongshu Provincial Power It is an important job to hear the wonderful theories of Jingguo and witness the splendid chapters of governing the world all the time. Wouldn’t it be far better to bury your head in trivial matters and indulge in tediousness in my minister’s desk? You really made fun of me..."
"How dare Sun dare to tease Lord Sima with his words?" Sun Zi's face straightened, and he cupped his hands and said, "Today, Sun came here to pay respects to Lord Sima. To be honest, I deeply hope that Lord Sima will read For the sake of friendship with Sun, who was a classmate of the Xun family back then, Shi gave a helping hand to coordinate and transfer Sun from the position of Zhongshuling!"
"Oh? How do you say that?" Although Sima Yi had vaguely guessed his intention of coming, he was still surprised when he heard him say it himself, "How confidential is the mission of the Ministry of Education?" , Sun Jun, why do you want to transfer away?"
"Ah! Master Sima, you don't know something. There is such a proverb circulating in the official circles of the Great Wei Dynasty today, 'The title of the three dukes should be prominent but not necessary; the Shangshu pedestal should be prominent and necessary; How can the Book Department compare to your Shangshutai? To put it bluntly, we are just a group of small officials who help His Majesty send and receive documents, and copy and write. He also seldom asked us to help him draft... Once or twice, Sun was lucky enough to help him draft two or three imperial edicts, but he revised them beyond recognition with a pen—oh! That depressing energy, don’t mention it Sun feels so sad..."
Sima Yi slowly picked up the teacup, took a deep sip, then looked at him squarely, and said with sincerity: "These are aggrieved and depressed, Sun Jun, you will meet them no matter where you work. These words, you also I can only talk about it here in this seat, and you must not vent it easily outside! On the bright side, with Sun Jun's ability to strategize, plan and make good decisions, it is indeed a bit of a shame to be buried in the secretariat in the Ministry of Education Now! If you let it out casually, which minister can’t you do? However, Sun Jun, please listen to my blunt advice: Although the position of Zhongshu Ling is a low-ranking official, but he is in a military and political situation. In the jungle, there are more opportunities to exercise yourself! You must not underestimate yourself, you must remember to follow the example of your master Xun Lingjun and my brother Sima Zhushu, learn more, ask more questions, study hard, and you will have a great future in the future Yes. My lord, I will help you when the time is right... But if you insist on going at this moment, I am afraid that if your Majesty thinks of you differently, it will be a bit unbecoming. Sun Jun, you say, Yes or no?"
When Sun Zi heard Sima Yi's sincere words of encouragement, he felt a deep sense of gratitude in his heart. Hua Xin, Zhong Yao, and Chen Qun thought they were high and senior, so they never put themselves and Liu Fang in their eyes. inside?At best, I only think that I and Liu Fang are the two emperors' close servants and inner court officials... Only the Sima Pushe in front of me is always polite and respectful to himself and Liu Fang, and he doesn't ask for anything in return. Sincerity comes entirely from the heart.It seems that Sima Yi's popularity in the imperial court is very good, it really didn't come out of thin air!His popularity is good, and that's all because he treats people with mellowness, open-mindedness, and considerateness, and he will never win people's hearts by relying on small favors like other politicians!
"Actually, Mr. Sun has been working hard in the Zhongshu Ministry, but there is nothing he can't stand. It's just that Mr. Sun can't bear other people's deliberate arrogance and showing off! You may already know that the palace will soon Is a big event going to happen? Guo Guipin may be established as the imperial concubine in the next few days... This time, it is really "one person attains the Tao, and the chicken and dog ascend to heaven"! Guo Guipin's younger brother, Guo Biao, relies on his sister as the backer , From a small Huangmencheng before, he jumped to the position of Deputy Secretary of Shaofu Temple...Master Sima, you should know that the deputy secretary of Shaofu Temple is a rich 'fat man'! He is in In the position of Deputy Minister, he is in charge of the Quartet tributes and the treasures of the palace..."
When talking about some things in the palace, Sun Zi was full of complaints: "Oh! We worked so hard in Zhongshu Province, not only to be angry with His Majesty, but also to be angry with the elders of the 'Three Dukes'. Angered by some people in your Shangshutai, in the end, even the official rank and treatment are not as convenient as some people rely on nepotism! That's all, we should blame our own fate for everything... But that Guo Biao still ran away arrogantly one day He came to the Ministry of Education to show off to others, and triumphantly laughed at us as the "Wen Chaogong" sitting in the side room of the imperial study! Do you think this is annoying? Moreover, he brazenly boasted that he would soon be promoted to the second rank of Weiwei It's time for a new post... Thinking of this, Sun felt very depressed! Thinking about how selfless and talent-only the late emperor was when he was in power, how could such injustice and injustice happen today? !"
Sima Yi listened quietly to his nagging, his expression on his face was as deep as an abyss, but there seemed to be two icy blade-like cold lights flashing across his eyes...
Four days later, Cao Pi convened a meeting in the Changle Palace with the participation of officials of the fourth rank and above in Beijing, and proposed two major issues: one was to make the noble concubine Guo Shi the queen of the palace, and the other was to plan to be Guo Guifei's younger brother Guo Biao. For the inner court guard.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the palace exploded: Yilang Huanfan, Dr. Zhanqian, Dahongxi Xinpi and other ministers who directly admonished him first stood up and clearly expressed their opposition to Jin's establishment of the Guo family as the queen of the palace. He jointly submitted a rebuttal, the content of which is as follows:
In the rule of the world by the emperors in the past, not only external assistance, but also internal assistance;Therefore, Xiling was paired with Huang and Ying'e to descend to the concubine, and she was born with virtuousness and beauty.Jie ran to Nanchao, causing misfortune and concubines; Zhou burned with cannons, delighting Daji.Therefore, when the sages set up a concubine carefully, they must marry the family of the ancestors, and choose her to rule the six palaces, worship the ancestral temple, and teach Yin Xiu. "Yi" said: "Family morals are upright and the world is upright." From the inside to the outside, the decrees of the previous kings are also. "Spring and Autumn" book Zongren rebelled against Xia's speech: "No concubine is a gift for a wife." Qi Huan swore his life in Kuiqiu, and said: "No concubine is a wife." .If because of love to ascend to the empress, the sluts will be violent, and the ministers will be afraid that future generations will come down to the mausoleum to replace them, open up the law, and chaos will arise from the top, and the world will be ridiculed!
After Cao Pi read it, Long Yan was furious, so he wanted to reprimand but refused.Unexpectedly, many ministers such as Yushitai, Shangshutai, Zongzhengfu, Dali Temple, etc. also rose up after hearing the wind, and Shangshu opposed it.The most powerful weapon they took out was the ancestral measures left by the late emperor Cao Cao: during Cao Cao's lifetime, he always suppressed Bian's relatives, so that even the younger brother of the Empress Dowager Bian, the uncle Bian Bing, is now He's just a Guanneihou with a false title and no real power!If Cao Pi insisted on honoring and favoring the Guo family, how should the relatives of the Bian family who came from the line of the empress dowager be flattened?And Cao Pi had always been deliberately alienated from them because the Bian family had favored Cao Zhi in the dispute over the establishment of an heir - at this time, how could he indirectly praise the Bian family in order to honor the Guo family?
In the end, the controversy intensified, and almost all the ministers of the Wei family were involved.Cao Pi fell into complete isolation in the end: Hua Xin, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xia Houshang, etc. who he usually trusted most also sent secret letters to dissuade this matter!
Then, Sili Xiaowei Dong Zhao, Henan Yin Simazhi, Tingwei Gaorou, etc. made a sudden move and dealt a heavy snipe to the Guo family in the harem: the three departments of Sili Office, Henan Mansion, and Tingwei Office a few days ago The joint operation found that the servants of Guo Biao's mansion were selling the royal tributes collected in the treasure house of Shaofu Temple without authorization in the Luoyang neighborhood market. In the world!
This time, the situation took a turn for the worse, and even Cao Pi himself became very dissatisfied with the Guo siblings; Guo Biao was not only unable to be promoted to the post of Wei Wei, but was transferred from the position of Deputy Minister of Shaofu Temple and demoted two levels , Relegated to Xuanwumen to become a captain guarding the palace.And after Guo Guipin waited for reprimand and begged bitterly, she finally reluctantly ascended to the position of queen of the main palace three months later-but in exchange, the veteran ministers and clan veterans forced Cao Pi to list her as the queen of the palace. At the same time, the queen issued a golden edict promulgating the world:
Husband and wife and politics are the root of chaos.From now on, the officials are not allowed to act indiscriminately in the harem and the queen mother; the family of the harem is not allowed to hold important positions, assist the government, and not accept the rewards of the princes and princes.This edict is passed on to future generations, and anyone who violates it will be punished by the whole world.
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