Chapter 34 2. Worries of the Wei family

"The Xuanchuan River in Zhangye County is overflowing, the shock waves are surging, the gemstone is negative, and it looks like a turtle. , It is bright and bright. It can be said that the god-given mysterious stone is a great treasure in our great Wei. There is not enough captives to worry about!" Zhongshu ordered Sun Zi to read the imperial edict, and with one move of his right hand, the ten tiger warriors on the side hall of the palace tore off the layer of green felt, and the eye-catching "Spirit Turtle Profound Stone" appeared It appeared before the eyes of the ministers.

After Zhou Xuancai came to Liangzhou to fill the "Xuanyin Soil" in Kunlun Mountains, the natural inscription on the back of the "Spiritual Turtle Xuanshi" was finally changed to "Heaven's destiny has revolution, great plan Cao Yan; the golden horse was born, and the hoof soared to the clouds; Great auspiciousness brings prosperity, and Dianwu changes"!And Cao Rui, who had already visited the capital Xuchang in person to "encourage" the southeast king's division to supervise the battle, in order to use the spirit stone from the sky to show the great fortune of the Wei Dynasty, he sent an edict to Sun Zi and Liu Fang who stayed behind to send the "spiritual turtle black stone" "Open the exhibition in public, hoping to use it to appease people's hearts.

Facing a row of ministers and bureaucrats who came to visit, Sun Zi pointed to the handwriting on the stone back with a jade ruler and introduced: "Masters, please look at the words 'Dianwu Zechang'. The Taishi of Zhou has already analyzed it. In May and June of this year, our Great Wei will surely attack from behind, causing the Shu bandits and Wu Lu to suffer severe losses..." At this time, He Yan, the servant of Huangmen, who lived in the third rank of the official residence, slowly came up.He Yan was the adopted son of Emperor Taizu Wu Emperor Cao Cao, and married Cao Cao's daughter Princess Jinxiang as his wife.In terms of this personal connection, he can be regarded as a relative of the emperor of the Wei Dynasty.But during the period of Emperor Wen Cao Pi, Cao Pi hated him for being close to Cao Zhi, the king of Dong'e, and deliberately suppressed him all the time, preventing him from having any chance to stand out in the political circle.Until Ming Emperor Cao Rui ascended the throne, in order to show his grace and magnanimity, Cao Rui reluctantly conferred on his uncle the position of servant of the Huangmen, which was purely of a helper nature.

When he was young, He Yan liked to imitate the great man's respect for Marquis Xunyu, and he especially liked to smoke his clothes with various strange fragrances - at this moment, he is slowly stepping forward and the breeze is blowing, his whole body is like a jade tree facing the wind, looking forward to the fragrance and seductively. "He Shilang..." Sun Zi greeted He Yan with a smile when he saw He Yan approaching. He Yan also gave him a slight smile, and then fixed his eyes on the 'Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone'.For some reason, he always felt that the texture and color of this mysterious stone seemed familiar... With a thought in his mind, he couldn't help but reached out and grabbed the leopard-print jade pendant on his waist, and slowly held it on his palm. Take a look—it is also a round jade pendant as bright as lacquer, with a pattern of green bamboo leaves on it, and its shape is like a long and thin chi leopard.

His jade pendant was carved from "Plum Blossom Spotted Jade" from Runan County, Yuzhou.He Yan secretly compared it with the "Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone", and found that the texture of these two kinds of jade is black and bright, and there seems to be no big difference except for the pattern veins on the surface.Could it be that this "Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone" was formed from the "Plum Blossom Spotted Jade" from Runan County?This idea suddenly popped up in He Yan's mind, which almost shocked him: How is this possible?According to the edict, the "Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone" was obviously produced in Liugu, Zhangye County, Liangzhou, a remote place!How could it have something to do with the "Plum Blossom Spotted Jade" in Runan County?However, its texture is so similar to "Plum Blossom Spotted Jade", which is too strange...

The thoughts in He Yan's chest were so turbulent, but he still didn't dare to vent his doubts - His Majesty has publicly declared that this stone is "the life of Wei Zhizhen, the treasure of the Eastern Order", obviously to promote the prestige of the country In the heyday and the country's welfare is far away, how dare I raise such objections at this time?As soon as he thought of this, He Yan sighed secretly, closed his mouth, and said no more.In fact, he also believed that among the gentlemen present at the scene, there must have been many people who saw the strangeness of the texture of the "Spiritual Turtle Black Stone", but they might not be willing to do so out of this "avoidance" mentality. Good voice to question.

On the far side of his right hand, Wang Su and Huang Menling He Zeng, who were standing on horseback on horseback, were whispering to each other there. He Zeng said quietly to Wang Su: "My lord, He once heard such a rumor in private that the natural inscription on the 'Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone' was not what we saw today... There seems to be some The handwriting was secretly tampered with..." "Yes! Yes!" Wang Su looked up and looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he stretched his head and whispered in He Zeng's ear, "Isn't that picture of the mysterious stone spreading everywhere outside?" Rubbings? That's a little difference', but the good and bad omen of this 'Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone' is totally irrelevant..."

"Master Wang, how do you see this matter?" He Zeng also asked in a low voice. Wang Su looked away, but said in his mouth: "You stretch out your hand!" He Zeng stretched out his palm and handed it over—Wang Su grabbed it with his left hand, pulled it into his sleeve, and slowly wrote on his palm with the middle finger of his right hand: "The God of the Husband Knows Come, don't follow the past, Zhenxiang sees it first and then abandons it and follows it. The Han Dynasty has been dead for a long time, and Wei has already obtained it, so where should we pursue Zhengxiang? This stone is the variation of today and the future of Zhenrui."

After He Zeng finished distinguishing these handwritings, his face tightened suddenly: "Master Wang's words are too mysterious...Wan Wang will make it clear again." Wang Su raised his eyes and took a deep look at him, then continued to write on his palm with his fingers: "'Golden Horse is born', who is the 'Golden Horse'? This is the key to the omen of a change in the sky——He Junzi Think deeply about it!" As soon as he finished writing, He Zeng was sweating on his temples: "It turns out that it is like this! He... He somewhat...understands..."

The sun was setting, and the golden slanting light shrouded the back hall of the Xiahou Mansion, and it couldn't hide the approaching yellow color amidst the splendor.Candles were shining brightly in the main room, and Huben Zhonglang sat Xia Houxuan and his sister, Sima Shi's wife Xia Houhui, across the table. Xia Houhui came back to her natal family today to visit her relatives—her mother, Cao Ru, the owner of the Wei Shi Deyang Township, was suffering from a sudden illness, so she came to visit with a gift.Unexpectedly, after the visit was over, the eldest brother Xia Houxuan left her in the back hall, saying that he had important matters to discuss in secret.

The faint tea steamed up, blinding Xia Houxuan's eyes.He stared at his younger sister, her long black hair was coiled in a soft bun on the top of her head, her white face was as plump as a full moon, and the gemstone pendant hanging by her ear shone like a star, which was beyond words.It's just that there was a trace of inexplicable haggardness between her brows. "Yuanrong (Xiahouhui's character is "Yuanrong"), have you noticed any strange signs in the Sima Mansion recently?" Xia Houxuan asked straight to the point, lifting his skirt with his hand. Since the first Emperor Xiahouhui married into Sima's family in the early years of Emperor Huang, she followed her father Xiahoushang's secret order and has been secretly monitoring the movements of Sima and his son.However, to this day, she is still the same as usual, answering Xia Houxuan solemnly: "Little sister has been observing the Sima Mansion with great concentration recently, and found that they have not made any strange movements." "No way? Brothers Dong Zhao, Wang Su, and Zhong Yu have any contact with their Sima family recently? Also, how many royal ladies have their Madam Zhang hosted recently?" "Ziyuan and Zishang followed my father-in-law to the western border to fight against Shu. Who are Dong Situ, Lord Wang and the Zhong brothers visiting? My mother-in-law is not in good health recently, and she often sleeps behind closed doors. They are kept in the room, and they hardly move around with the people outside..." Xia Houhui frowned slightly and said impatiently, "For so many years, you have been so nervously suspicious of my husband's family and won't let go... " "Yuanrong! This is my father's will, His Majesty's secret decree! Don't you want to disobey it?" Xia Houxuan gave her a hard look, "What do you know——your father-in-law is not simple! After a lot of painstaking efforts in Guanzhong, the three thousand miles of Pingchuan fertile fields there were made "impenetrable by water and impenetrable by arrows". He even blocked the authority of my Wei family. It is said that there are seventeen or eight counties The county actually set up a 'living man's temple' for him and worshiped him with incense..." "My father-in-law was originally a respected and hard-working minister of the country. What happened to the common people to commemorate his meritorious deeds and set up a 'living man's temple' for him? Didn't your majesty also issue an edict to praise him as 'Duke Zhou of the Dynasty'..." "Duke Zhou, Duke Zhou! Do you know that if this "Duke Zhou of the Dangchao" has a different ambition, he might immediately become the "Wang Mang of the Dangchao"!" Seeing that his younger sister, Xia Houxuan was a little "unrepentant" ", he threw a silk rubbing picture over, and said coldly, "Yuanrong, as a relative of our Wei family, you still have to be vigilant in your heart! This 'Spirit Turtle Profound Stone' is connected to the 'Mandate of Heaven'. Greatly criticize Cao Yan; the golden horse is born, and the hooves soar to the clouds; the auspiciousness is prosperous, and the Dianwu will change. Such prophecies have come out! If you are not vigilant, our Wei family will be in great trouble!" Xia Houhui stared blankly at the painting of "Eight Horses Galloping" on the silk, and saw that each of them looked more domineering than the other, as if they were about to break through the silk and fly away!Her heart skipped a beat, and she seemed to feel an inexplicable strangeness: where did she seem to have seen these images of galloping horses before?It's just that she couldn't remember it for a while... "'Golden horse is born'...the prophecy contains a word 'horse'! You know: I have very few surnames with the word 'horse' in my surname! The suspicion of Sima and his son is the biggest Yes! Also, I heard from my cousin Cao Shuang: As soon as Sima Yi entered the Guanzhong, the generals that his uncle Cao Zhen, the great Sima, carefully cultivated in Yongliang and Liangzhou, such as Dai Ling, Fei Yao, Jia Si, etc., were all ranked by him. He was sent to the position of the county guard and partial general... You see, Niu Jin he brought from the Jingxiang camp has replaced Dai Ling as the post general; Hu Zun, who he conscripted from Yingchuan County, He has already replaced Fei Yao as the general who conquered Shu—I heard that this Hu Zun is still the nephew of an old classmate of his surnamed Hu..." "Brother! Don't believe in the one-sidedness of cousin Cao Shuang! My little sister also heard Ziyuan talk about Dai Ling's impetuosity and rashness, and made a lot of trouble for the Guanzhong army. My father-in-law transferred him to the Hexi area. To deal with the Huns and Qiang who are also fierce and irritable, isn’t it just doing what they can do? As for Fei Yao, besides relying on his seniority in the Guanzhong army, what advantages does he have? My father-in-law dismissed him and went to Nan’an County When he was the captain of Tuntian, he didn't do much to bury him!" When Xiahouhui said this, he suddenly raised his voice, and said bluntly to Xiahouxuan: "Brother! It's not that my younger sister is rude. I am here to accuse you today. You should learn a lot from the two brothers Ziyuan and Zishang... You yourself I have seen it with my own eyes. Over the past seven or eight years, they have accompanied my father-in-law to fight in the east and west, and how much skill they have honed? You, cousin Cao Shuang, and uncle He Yan only know how to talk about metaphysics and do not care about common affairs! If this continues, how can you To become the pillars of my Great Wei who support the sky and the earth? At a certain point, maybe you won't need others to plot against you, you will have already defeated yourself..." After hearing this, Xia Houxuan immediately froze in place, his face turned blue and purple, and after a long while, he answered in a murmur, "Yuanrong! You are a woman in the boudoir, how do you know the general situation in the court? Now the court is the most important thing in the world." The important positions are almost all controlled by their wealthy families with different surnames. How can we have the opportunity to practice? That day, we wanted to push Uncle Cao Fan to the position of Sikong, but in the end, Sima Yi and Dong Zhao Situ jointly recommended Si Li Captain Cui Lin pushed him down..." "My little sister is also clear about this matter. Master Cui Lin is the cousin of Cui Yan, the former Minister of the Ministry of Officials. Cui Yan was assassinated by Ding Yi because he was the first emperor to establish an heir. Great merit... Now His Majesty listened to my father-in-law and Dong Situ's advice and "drinking water thinks of the source", and gave them a reasonable grace to repay the Cui family of Jizhou, isn't that too much?" "Yuanrong, you are so confused. Although the favor of being promoted to Sikong was bestowed by our Wei family, Cui Lin only remembers that this favor was won by Sima Yi with all his strength-this is your father-in-law's most brilliant gift." The art of winning people's hearts! Could it be that you can't even see this?" Xia Houxuan rolled his eyes for a while when he was choked by Xia Houhui, and in a rage, he flicked his sleeves and stood up resentfully, "And Live——Yuan Rong! Don't say any more! Brother Wei has no intention of debating right and wrong with you here. In short, Brother Wei solemnly warns you: No matter where your heart has turned, you will always be My close relative of the Wei family, you have the blood of the Cao family and the Xiahou family flowing through your body-you must not forget this! Are you so ruthless that you can watch my Cao family and Xiahou family decline day by day? Just weigh it yourself!" After finishing speaking, he turned around angrily and went into the back room, leaving Xia Houhui alone in the back hall and sitting there numb. Horse-drawn carriages drove past the gate of the Weinan camp of the Wei Army, and the carriages were loaded with bundles of green and tender fodder for horses. Just at this time, Sima Yi led Niu Heng, Niu Jin, Liang Ji, Hu Zun, Huang Hua, and Wei Ping to patrol the camp from inside.When he saw the carriages, he raised his hand—Niu Heng, the Sima of the Guanzhong Army, immediately understood, and stepped forward to stop the hay carriages and stopped. "These are the fodder for the horses that were transported to our rear camp stables?" Sima Yi stepped forward, asked the supervisor of the convoy, and walked to a carriage and stretched out his hand to pull it from above. The next handful of green horse feed was stuffed into his mouth and he started to chew, "Where did they get harvested?" "General! No, no!" Hu Zun, Huang Hua, and Wei Ping all voiced their dissuasion when they saw it, "How can you chew such a thing with such a noble status..." Sima Yi didn't seem to care, he ignored their words, and still chewed slowly and relished.After chewing, he spit out a mouthful of grass dregs, sucked the taste for a while, and then slowly said: "Well... this batch of grass is not bad, it is fresh, moist, sweet, and delicious. It’s a bit chewy! Those war horses can eat this batch of forage, they are lucky!” Then, he reached out and patted the shoulder of the transport supervisor, and said with a smile: “This is really hard work for you!” "Big... big general... go down... go down and don't deserve such a favor!" The transport supervisor was slapped by his palm, and half of his body was almost paralyzed, and he knelt down with a "plop" down. "General—you should rinse your mouth!" Niu Heng hastily untied the water bottle from his waist and handed it to Sima Yi. Sima Yi drank saliva from the kettle and rinsed, turned around and looked at the generals with a smile: "What? Do you mean that you can't chew grassroots when you see that I am in a high position? When Emperor Taizu Wu was alive I am the commander of the prime minister's army, and I am a high-ranking man. However, I have been chewing grass roots in the logistics stables like a stable boy for three or four years! At that time, Emperor Wu ordered me to The comment is "everything between the grassroots and the herdsmen is on the job, and they work hard, which is commendable"! Generals, there is nothing to be ashamed of! It is said, "Difficult things in the world must be done in an easy way; great things in the world must be done in a small way." This is our governance. The key to the army and the people..." "The general's diligence and honesty, and his meticulous attention to detail, we really admire!" All the generals bowed and praised. But Sima Yi glanced at the transportation supervisor: "Your batch of forage was harvested from the river, right? Otherwise, its moisture would not be so rich..." The transportation supervisor opened his eyes wide in surprise: "The general is really a man of genius! They were all harvested by the Jing River..." Sima Yi pondered for a while, then asked: "Who is in charge of harvesting them?" The transportation supervisor bowed his head and answered, "It's Mr. Sun Li, the prefect of Fufeng County..." "Sun Li?" Sima Yi thought: this Sun Li is Sun Zi's cousin, and it was Sun Zi who recommended him to serve under him.Of course, when Sun Zi did this, he obviously had his own "little calculation" - he put Sun Li'an in the Guanzhong camp in the hope that Sun Li could get more care and support from Sima Yi, and it is best to write him down a few Merit, enrich his qualifications, so that Sun Zi can find a "pretend" to transfer Sun Li back to Luoyang to take up the post of Minister of the Ministry.Thinking of this, Sima Yi said, "Liang Ji, you draw up a warrant to go down——Sun Li, the prefect of Fufeng, has made great contributions in supplying food and grass, and he will increase the rank of official!" Then, he instructed the transport supervisor: "According to the observation of Dr. Zhou Xuan ordered by the Taishi, there will be a severe drought in summer and autumn this year. Go back and tell Mr. Sun Li to let them harvest more fresh, clean, and fat fodder for stockpiling." Get up, just in case—the commander-in-chief hereby solemnly asks you all!" The transportation supervisor was immediately moved to tears: "The general is so easy-going and friendly when I go back—I will definitely do my best with Mr. Sun to finish this matter after I go back!" After sending the convoy away, Sima Yi raised his head and looked at the rows of Shu army camps on the high mountain plain opposite, his eyebrows twitched, and he asked Yongzhou not to drive Huang Hua in some surprise: "General Huang! You are most familiar with the terrain around Yongzhou... In my opinion, although it is called 'Wuzhangyuan', its height is more than five zhang? I'm afraid it's even fifty zhang high! It should be called 'Wuzhangyuan' Shizhangyuan' is right..." "General Sima—you don't know, the "wuzhang" in this "Wuzhangyuan" does not mean that the mountain here is originally five feet high, but refers to the legend that the original head here was once before Qin II's west tour. A five-foot-high dust column blew up, blocking the way of this foolish king..." Huang Hua stepped forward and introduced Sima Yi politely. "Well... so that's the case! No wonder the northwest wind is blowing so hard here!" Sima Yi nodded and sighed, "Zhuge Kongming really knew how to choose a good place to set up camp—he actually put the This 'Wuzhangyuan' has been seized. Now they are condescending and occupy a great position. It is very difficult for our Great Wei army to attack from the bottom up! "Pass down the order, let the reinforcements from all over the world set up camps on the south bank of the Weihe River in front, middle, and rear, set up antler fences, dig ditches and dark forts, and keep the doors closed for self-defense. Don't act rashly!" "This..." Huang Hua hesitated for a while, but couldn't help but say, "General, you have rejected Zhuge Liang's five challenges in the past month... Our Guanzhong army has been recharging their energy and energy since three years ago. , ready to hit Zhuge Liang's arrogance severely in this battle... General, please allow us to go to the battle!" "Fight? Why do you fight?" Sima Yi raised his thick eyebrows, and his sharp eyes swept over, "You haven't tasted Zhuge Liang's 'Serial Crossbow', 'Hundred Stone Crossbow', 'Xuanyuan Chariot' and 'Tribulus' Is that enough? Do you also want to disobey His Majesty's imperial decree? Forget it, you'd better guard the camp first, and wait until the commander finds out his opening, and then hit the drums to succeed!" Huang Hua, Hu Zun, and Wei Ping had no choice but to agree, and took orders to set up camp. After the generals dispersed, Sima Shi, who had just been transferred back to Weinan from the affairs of the Longliang Army Tunnel, approached and saw no one around, so he lowered his voice and said to Sima Yi: "Father, you Could it be that you are planning to close the camp and confront Zhuge Liang again like in the fifth year of Taihe? I am afraid that this will make the imperial court even more suspicious of you..." "The imperial court has issued an order for the father to 'strictly guard and wait for the fight'!" "Father Commander, the Imperial Court's edict was issued from Luoyang Zhongshu Province, but it's hard to say what His Majesty's true thoughts are in the heart of Xuchang who accompanied the governor to fight in the southeast..." Sima Yi's expression was serious after hearing what Sima Shi said, and he didn't answer for a long time.He slowly turned his face, and said leisurely: "Master, standing in this plain and wilderness, my father remembered the scene I saw when I was studying in Luhun Mountain'Linglong Valley'. On a piece of wasteland, a vulture and a boa constrictor were fighting each other—the vulture was squatting on the rock, and the boa constrictor was lying in the grass. You looked at me, and I stared at you. They stood motionless for six or seven hours. ... The patience of the two of them, tsk tsk tsk, that is really amazing! Later, because a leaf suddenly fell from midair with the wind, the boa constrictor trembled slightly, and only then did a fleeting gap appear In an instant, the vulture took the opportunity to rush out, and pecked at the python's seven-inch vitals with one beak at a speed that couldn't be faster... The beasts and insects can still calm down and stop, but I Waiting for you to be the spirit of all things, but not as good as them?" "Father, this fable of yours is indeed reasonable. But what the child said is 'beyond the meaning'..." Sima Shi also insisted, "From your majesty's attitude towards you in recent years, you should see It can be seen that since Hua Xin died of illness two years ago, his position of Taiwei has been suspended - almost everyone in the government and the opposition will think that the position of "chief of the three armies" should be taken over by you, the commander-in-chief. I even heard that Mr. Sun Zi has drafted the draft of the imperial edict conferring on you as a Taiwei... However, two full years have passed, and you have only changed your title from 'Hussar General' to 'Great General' ! The position of Taiwei has never come to you! This...doesn't this just mean that His Majesty really "respects you outwardly but fears you inwardly"? If you don't show it again..." "So what? How can I 'show something'? Only by jumping out and being beaten to death by Zhuge Liang can they be satisfied? It is impossible for me to 'kill a thousand enemies' by relying on the blood of innocent soldiers." Self-defeating 800' stupid way to earn the false title of 'Taiwei' against conscience?" "However, Commander-in-Chief Chen Jiao and the others will attack you crazily for 'supporting soldiers for self-discipline and raising bandits for self-respect'..." Master Sima was so anxious that his eyes were about to shed tears. Sima Yi shot him a sideways look, and said sternly, "That's up to them to say! Now in the battlefield of Guanzhong, no matter who is in charge of the main army, the only countermeasure is the same as my commander's defense." Ben, brake with stillness, get ready to go, wait for an opportunity to attack'!"