Chapter 6 1. Grass on the wall

"What? Sima Yi became the governor of Zhennan? Why? Does he have the ability to control the three thousand miles of Jingxiang?" Meng Da, the prefect of Xincheng County in Cao Wei, put down the copy of Wei Wendi's edict sent by the postman. , slammed the table with his right fist, causing the teacup in front of him to jump up, "The first emperor really didn't know people..." His son Meng Xing and Li Fu, chief secretary of the prefect's office, sat on the right side of the case, staring at each other silently. Counting it, Meng Da has been in Wei State for six or seven years. Last year, the former governor of Zhennan, Xia Houshang, retired to Wancheng to recover from his illness, and he promised him that he would help him run a "Jingzhou Shepherd" from the imperial court. The official hat came, but after Xia Houshang died, the matter was gone.Half a month ago, when Emperor Wei Wen died and the new emperor Cao Rui came to the throne, Meng Da thought that Cao Rui would "reform with the people" this time, and this time he had another chance to be promoted to the throne and take charge of Jingxiang. Unexpectedly The news I received today is that Sima Yi has been appointed as the governor of Zhennan, and he will control the troops and horses of the Jingxiang camp with integrity, and Jingzhou Mu will still be Pei Qian.This time, he was so "empty looking", he was so angry that he almost wanted to bite all the steel teeth in his mouth!

"Li Fu, what's your opinion on this matter?" After Meng Da burst into a rage, he endured it for a while, and then suppressed his anger, and asked his confidant "brain trust" Li Fu. "My lord, please pardon Li for speaking bluntly: Sima Yi is well-known in the court as 'the weapon of Zhang Liang and the talent of Xiao He', and he once followed Emperor Taizu Wu to fight in the east and west as Sima He, the chief secretary of the prime minister's army. , the origin is really extraordinary!" Li Fu gently twisted his beard with his fingers, blinked a pair of eyes that were as bright as black beans, and replied slowly and thoughtfully, "My lord, can you be a thousand years old?" Don't take it lightly!"

"Fart! Fart! No matter how powerful Sima Yi's strategy is, he has never led an army in battle alone, has he? How can he be like this king, who has experienced many battles?" Meng Da clapped his case again and jumped up. He roared, "Does he know what a powerful character Lu Xun is, the commander-in-chief of the three armies of Eastern Wu? Even General Xia Houshang was afraid of him three points when he was alive! Sima Yi, a 'disciple of Zhao Kuo', can beat him? It seems that this time Xiangyang , Jiangling are in danger..." Hearing Meng Da yelling at the word "fart", although Li Fu had already gotten used to it, his cheeks couldn't help but flushed hotly.He didn't argue too much, and changed his mind secretly, then put on a smiling face and said in agreement: "My lord's words are right, Li admires—yes! Now in the territory of Jingzhou in the Great Wei Dynasty, there is Zhuge Jin leading 50,000 cavalry in the west. Taking Mianyang directly from Xiakou City, and Lu Xun commanding 35,000 naval forces from Changsha County to attack Jiangling in the east, it is really in danger..."

Meng Da slowly sat down, holding his head on the case table with both hands, his eyes rolled away: "The situation in Jingzhou is extremely critical now, I don't want to 'buy' Sima Yi with him, I have to do it early. Good preparations for 'see the opportunity, find another way out'..." "Seek the opportunity and find another way out?" Li Fu's heart skipped a beat, and a look of astonishment appeared on his face. Meng Da glanced at him, cast his gaze far out of the south window of the bedroom, pouted at Meng Xing, and motioned: "Xing'er, go out and have a look—your cousin Deng Xian should be back today." Bar?"

Meng Xing responded, and just as he got up and walked to the door of the bedroom, he heard Meng Da's nephew, Deng Xian, the county captain of Xincheng County, calling in a low voice: "Master Uncle——" Li Fu looked at the mysterious appearance of Meng Da and his son from the sidelines, and was still amazed when he saw a young general striding in from the wooden door. The sturdy spirit is exactly Deng Xian.Behind him was a middle-aged scribe, with a green cloth scarf on his head and a gray robe, with a respectful face, bowed his head and controlled his back, and walked in. "Xian'er!" Meng Da greeted him overjoyed, "You have returned from Mr. Li...what did Mr. Li say?"

"Uncle, this is Mr. Gao Chonggao, the shogunate secretary of Lord Li Yan..." After Deng Xian bowed deeply and bowed, he introduced the gray-robed scribe who came in with him to Meng Da. Li Yan?Could it be that Li Yan who is currently the Shu Han Gu Mingtuogu Second Assistant Minister and Shang Shuling?Li Fu's heart was shocked: I really can't see it——Meng Da still has such a secret connection with the important officials of the enemy country? !Is this what he just said, "see the opportunity and find another way out"? At this time, Gao Chong had already bowed to Meng Da, cupped his hands and said, "General Meng——Li Lingjun specially entrusted me to come to your place to greet you!"

"Hehehe...Brother Li is now the Minister of the Shu Han and concurrently the governor of Jiangzhou, and the second assistant minister of Gu Ming. What a grandeur is that?! How is it like Meng Mou who lives under the fence of others and is depressed as a slave today? As a maid? Meng is very congratulating Brother Li!" "This... In fact, Li Lingjun misses you very much, General Meng! Little General Deng saw it with his own eyes——Li Lingjun held his hand and told Xia Gao before he left for this trip: When General Meng Gao Xiang went east, it was true. It is Emperor Zhaolie's adopted son, Liu Feng, the prefect of Yidu, who deceived others too much because of the kindness of his relatives. He even wanted to rob General Meng of the advocacy guards that should be enjoyed, and then slandered you in front of Emperor Zhaolie. Therefore, General Meng, you I can't bear the humiliation, so I just walked away." Gao Chong looked at Meng Da sincerely, and said, "The music of this matter lies entirely with Liu Feng's son, not with General Meng! This is Li Lingjun and Zhuge Prime Minister. We all know! Now that Emperor Zhaolie has passed away, and now that His Majesty has ascended the throne and started the reform of the people, he always sits on the sidelines with an open mind and strives to be virtuous and far-reaching. If you, General Meng, can turn introverted and return to Chengdu at this moment, it will be the great fortune of the great man , The blessing of the country!"

It turned out that Meng Da had a deep friendship with Li Yansu, the second assistant minister of Gu Ming of Xishu, Shang Shuling and governor of Jiangzhou in his early years.Although Meng Da later defected from Shu to Wei, the two still communicated with Hongyan secretly and exchanged letters from time to time.Of course, according to Meng Da's thinking, he communicated with Li Yan secretly, and what he did was to "see the opportunity and find another way out"; while Li Yan and Meng Da Hongyan kept in touch, it was a different story. calculating.Gao Chong, who was the secretary of Li Yan's shogunate, naturally knew it quite well.Tracing back to the origin, there are three major political pillars in the current Shuhan Dynasty - Jingzhou faction, Dongzhou faction and Yizhou faction.The Jingzhou faction is headed by Zhuge Liang, and its auxiliary wings include Ma Di, Jiang Wan, Yang Yi, Deng Zhi, etc.; the Dongzhou faction is headed by Li Yan, and most of the internal members are former Yizhou Mu Liuzhang, such as Dong He, Xiang Lang, Xiang Chong, Li Miao and others; the Yizhou faction is very loose and headless, and it is composed of Fei Shi, Meng Guang, Qiao Zhou and others from Yizhou native gentry.

Among the three major factions, the Jingzhou faction has the broadest influence and the largest number of people, and controls almost all the central and important positions of the imperial court; the Dongzhou faction relies on the eastern wing of Shu as the foundation of power, and Li Yan sits in the Yong'an Palace and leads Jiangzhou. Thirty-six counties in the county, guarding the river in the gorge, guarding the eastern border for the Shu Han outwardly, and checking and balancing with the central hub of Chengdu inwardly; the Yizhou faction is the weakest, and Fei Shi, Meng Guang, Qiao Zhou and others can only live with each other An idle job is nothing more than talking about things, admonishing, satirizing and chant.When Liu Bei was alive, he has been trying his best to maintain the political structure of these three factions in balance and mutual control.After Liu Bei's death, the Jingzhou faction expanded rapidly, forming a "dominant branch" - Zhuge Liang was the first assistant minister of Gu Ming and also the founding prime minister, while the prime minister was Wanji, Yang Yi was the minister of Duzhi and the prefect of Mianzhu, and Jiang Wan was the governor of Mianzhu. The Minister of the Ministry of Officials is also the prefect of Guanghan, and Ma Su is also the Yin of Chengdu in order to join the army in the north.Although Li Yan was Gu Ming's second assistant minister and Shang Shuling, he was left idle in a corner of Yong'an Palace, unable to enter the court to participate in politics and govern the country.His old Dongzhou school friends Dong He, Xiang Lang, Xiang Chong, Li Miao and others were also put on top of the first-class vacant positions of Da Honglu and Guang Luxun, and they all had no real power.Seeing this, Li Yan was naturally deeply dissatisfied, so he always wanted to win Meng Da to work together in Shu, so as to support his own situation, and waited for the opportunity to plot with Zhuge Liang to divide power and rule Shu.As long as Meng Da came to surrender with thousands of miles of land in Xincheng County and tens of thousands of elite soldiers, then the weight in Li Yan's hand to bargain with Zhuge Liang would be a bit heavier.However, whether all of this can fulfill Li Yan's selfish wishes, Gao Chong is not too sure in his heart.He has noticed that Meng Da's cunning and changeable is really unpredictable!

After listening to Gao Chong's words, Meng Da pondered for a moment, glanced at Deng Xian, but asked Gao Chong about the words in his mouth: "Oh? Brother Li Yan just asked you to bring these few words over to Gao Chong's office. Did he talk about anything else?" Deng Xian's face was a little dazed, and he shook his head slightly to meet Meng Da's gaze. However, Gao Chong rolled his eyes, and took out a colorful brocade ribbon sprinkled with gold from the sleeve of his robe, held it up in both hands, and presented it respectfully to Meng Da: "Mrs. Li Yan ordered this to be woven for you, General Meng. A piece of 'Luanfeng Heming Belt', please accept it with a smile from General Meng!"

With a smile on his face, Meng Da took the brocade belt and looked at it carefully: on the bottom of the sapphire blue, there was a yellow luan embroidered with brilliant gold silk, hovering in the air; Embroidered with silver thread is a white phoenix with a long cry, standing high on the rock.When the luan and the phoenix crow and harmonize, and when they fly and stay, they are really agile and lively, which makes people very interesting to watch!While slowly admiring it, he sighed and said, "I have heard for a long time that the embroidery of Shu brocade is so wonderful in the world, but seeing it today, it really deserves its reputation!" Gao Chong smiled and pointed at the patterns on the brocade, and said to him with deep meaning: "General Meng, the quality and beauty of our Shu brocade is world-renowned! The most exquisite part of it is 'adding color to the icing on the cake'." , the sun and the moon; the outside and the inside are different, and they complement each other'..." Meng Da listened, his heart moved secretly, he held the brocade belt in his hand, lifted it up, took a peek inside by the candlelight, and suddenly laughed. : "Good! Good! Good! There was the Emperor Xian's 'Imperial Order' before, and now there is Brother Li's 'Bindai Letter'——Brother Li's deeds are truly unexpected!" While smiling triumphantly, he gently unbuttoned the row of broken jade and fine beads stitched together at the right end of the "Luanfeng Heming Belt", and slowly pulled out a piece of plain silk from the inner belly of the brocade belt.Then, Meng Da spread it out on the desk, calling Meng Xing, Deng Xian, Li Fu and others to come and see it. Everyone looked intently, only to see that a piece of plain silk was written with scarlet ink and wolf hair on it: My brother Mengjun: The former emperor's way of life collapsed, the Han Dynasty was in trouble at home and abroad, and Kong Ming and I were both entrusted with helping the country together. It is really worrying and heavy responsibility.If Mr. Meng came back with all the people, the imperial court would definitely grant him the position of the three princes and the role of confidant. How could it be like the puppet Wei Dynasty who waited on the monarch and looked at him in a hurry, dismissed him boringly, and secretly avoided him?How can a bush of thorns live in a phoenix and a phoenix?The land of abundance in the region of Bashu is exactly the place where Meng Jun can show off his full potential! Meng Da read it carefully, and saw that the handwriting was strong and vigorous, and it was written by Li Yan himself.There were slight fluctuations on his face, and he wandered back and forth a few times with his head lowered in thought.Finally, with a certainty in his mind, he stopped, pulled a blank piece of paper from the desk, held the pen in his hand, and was about to write with a brush——before the tip of the pen fell off the paper, he suddenly raised his wrist and stopped.After pondering for a moment, Meng Da put down the pen, carefully folded the white paper, and put it into a sheepskin pouch.Holding the sheepskin bag in both hands, he handed it to Gao Chong, looked at him and smiled deeply: "Since brother Li Yan sent me the 'Jinzhong Letter' with far-reaching meaning, I will also return it to you." A 'blank letter' from him - he, my brother, everything is understood in a heartbeat, without words and self-understanding, without words and self-explanation, why do we need pen and ink as a match?" Gao Chong took the sheepskin pouch with a blank sheet of paper in it, was startled for a moment, and then laughed out loud: "General Meng's actions are worthy of 'an antelope hanging horns, no trace to be found'—I am extremely admirable when I go down!" Meng Da could hear the hint of irony in his words, but he cheekily dismissed it, waved his hand, and said calmly: "Gao Jun, just send this 'white paper letter' to Lord Li Yan, and he will be with you." I have been acquainted with you for many years, so I will understand the implication of 'everything is in silence'." Then, he instructed Deng Xian: "Nephew, Mr. Gao is traveling a long way, and you will see him off. Go down to rest, be careful and considerate, don't lose the slightest bit of etiquette..." After Deng Xian led Gao Chong back, Meng Da just turned around and asked Li Fu, "Master Li, you already know all about what happened tonight, but what do you think about it?" Li Fu sighed deeply: "My lord, is he determined to go this time? In the past six or seven years, our life in Xincheng County has been peaceful..." "Anwen? Anwen will be the 'watchdog' for their Cao family for the rest of their lives?" Meng Da interrupted him roughly, his face flushed, "I am really not reconciled! That kid Cao Rui To let Sima Yi, Pei Qian and the others ride on the head of this seat to do their best..." As soon as Li Fu heard this, he knew that he was ready to be stubborn to the end, and it was not good to touch his anger again, so he changed the subject and said: "My lord, if you have decided to go, why did you send Li Yan a letter?" What about the 'white paper letter'? This will make Li Yan and the others doubt your sincerity, my lord..." "Let's not worry about Li Yanhuai's doubts. At least he is very urgent to go south to join him, right? Since he wants me, I will take the initiative! Then why am I afraid of him?" Meng Meng Da winked and said, looking like a rascal, "Li Fu, you don't understand: the more he cares about us, the more we want to 'trick' their appetites! Especially at this critical moment of bargaining, the more we You have to think highly of yourself, the more you have to elevate yourself, the more you have to lead them by the nose, and you can be regarded as 'the best of the best'!" Hearing this, Meng Xing couldn't help clapping his hands and said in admiration: "Father is in a position of importance, so how could he easily submit to Li Yan? If the Shu Han court doesn't offer some serious conditions, we will never give up on ourselves..." However, Meng Da didn't seem to have heard his words clearly. He looked towards the north and murmured, "Abandon yourself? Yes, we can't give up on ourselves... To be honest, the Wei family is boundless. Zhuge Liang, Li Yan, how many times better are they going to Yizhou? Where is this seat's "promised land"? The Central Plains China is such a paradise! I would like to sneak down here and observe it quietly : If Sima Zhongda is not suitable for his post, if he is defeated by Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin of the Eastern Wu in the near future, maybe this seat will usher in a wonderful turning point in his official career. The post of Mushou in Jingzhou , at that time, if it is no longer in the hands of this seat, who can it fall to?" Li Fu listened to his words like grass on the wall swaying from side to side, changing back and forth, sighed secretly in his heart, and was about to speak to persuade him, but he saw Deng Xiantu opened a crack in the door and poked his head in, his expression became pale Extremely nervous: "My lord uncle, my nephew has just received a report - Liang Ji, who joined the army in the Zhennan Governor's Mansion, and Niu Heng, who was in charge of the soldier Cao, claimed outside the gate of the mansion that he was ordered to come and ask for his respect!" "Order? Whose order?" Meng Da was surprised. "They claim to have come here on the orders of Sima Yi, the new governor of Zhennan!"