Chapter 18 Sixth, a word has not been changed, a strong man cuts off his wrist

Although the sleeping tent is surrounded by heavy brocade curtains, and there are red flames burning in the four corners of the stove, Cao Cao still feels that his head is tight and painful like wearing a cold steel hoop, and he can't calm down. Come. At this time, only he and Sima Yi, the military officer in charge of Zhonglang, were left in the dormitory.Sima Yi sorted out the military books that had been reviewed by Cao Cao, and was about to get up and leave the tent, when Cao Cao, who was half lying on the couch, suddenly called out to him. "Zhongda, you have also heard the advice that General Xiahou and General Cao Chun gave to the truth in the afternoon." Cao Cao endured bouts of headaches, and stared at Sima Yi with stern eyes, "They both insist on doing it with the truth. It’s impossible to say “scorpion venom stings the hand, and a strong man cuts off the wrist.” In fact, Mr. Mao Jie meant “nothing to do.” According to them, you also went with them to ask Jia Junshi for instructions, and Jia Junshi didn’t. I have no objection to this suggestion. Sima Yi, you were the one present at the time, please tell me about your discussions on this matter!"

"This...Junshi Jia did not clearly express his objection. In front of everyone, his original words were as follows. General Xiahou and General Cao Chun are not all "scorpion venom stings the hand, and the strong man breaks the wrist". There is nothing to recommend; if you really want to focus on these seriously ill soldiers and let go of the small, as General Xiahou and Cao Chun said, you should take measures according to the current situation and act prudently." Sima Yi said slowly, his face like still water "Moreover, in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, Jia Junshi also proposed several countermeasures and entrusted his subordinates to submit them to the prime minister. One is to ensure the safety of water sources, pay attention to epidemic monitoring, and implement separate camps for the land and water armies to isolate; the other is to ask the prime minister to My lord makes a list of the world, offers a thousand gold, and recruits famous doctors to cure the epidemic; thirdly, if there is a chance, please ask the prime minister to drink the "Zhuyan wine" to ensure your own safety. pawn."

Cao Cao listened to him seriously, and frowned slightly: "So, Junshi Jia really agreed with Xia Houyuan and Cao Chun's strategy of 'scorpion venom stings the hand, and the strong man cuts the wrist'?" Sima Yi looked at his face, and said cautiously: "In my opinion, judging from the meaning of what Junshi Jia said, he should also agree... However, according to my subordinates' speculation, what Junshi Jia said I am afraid that the mentality is somewhat similar to that of Master Mao Jie. They are both "gentlemen's heart", but because this strategy is too insidious, they can't clearly approve it. Therefore, he reminded again and again that everything should be done according to the current situation and prudently. "

"Hmm... Junshi Jia really has no better plan to think about?" Cao Cao cast his eyes on the high tent and murmured, "But...but, the 13,000 seriously ill Killing all the soldiers will chill the hearts of everyone in the Jingzhou navy! Moreover, after the thirteen thousand sick soldiers are cut off, our navy will only have about 20,000 soldiers left. How can it compete with Jiangdong Zhou Yu? The 40,000 sailors resisting?" "This...Your Excellency, don't worry too much. The lack of our naval forces is actually not a big problem. After cutting off the 13,000 seriously ill patients, it is tantamount to cutting off the 'root' of the epidemic in the army. Your Excellency At that time, we can transfer manpower from the northern power to join the navy and actively train it into a mighty and powerful brand-new navy. The total strength of the northern power that we came from the east this time is more than 90,000, and the reserve force is far larger than that of Jiangdong. Much more adequate…”

Cao Cao heard Sima Yi's words, and suddenly squinted at him. "If the truth is determined to focus on the big and let go of the small, and take the important and discard the light, will it cause the Jingzhou navy to feel insecure and lose their morale?" He paused for a moment, then continued, "How should we respond at that time? " When Sima Yi heard this, he was secretly happy.Cao Cao, your thinking has finally been dragged into this "alley"!But his face was still calm: "You seem to be a little too cautious about this, Prime Minister. You don't know, Yi recently also sent people to investigate and unannounced in the naval camps, and found that those who have not yet been infected with the epidemic and infected The sailors with lesser epidemics also had extremely complicated feelings and attitudes towards these 13,000 seriously ill patients. On the one hand, they sympathized with these comrades in arms and suffered from the disease; but on the other hand, they Secretly fearing that these comrades in arms would infect them with the disease, they treated them like snakes and scorpions, and avoided them. Some Jingzhou navy generals even proposed the same "scorpion poison sting" as General Xiahou and General Cao in private. Do you know the way of a strong man breaking his wrist? Some soldiers in the Navy’s C Battalion conspired to throw him into the river one night after they learned that a comrade-in-arms beside him was infected with the disease. drowned..."

"Oh? It turns out that there are such complicated mentalities and consciousnesses in the Jingzhou Navy Battalion? Alas! It's still an old saying: 'Husband and wife are like birds in the same forest, and when disaster strikes, they fly separately'-this is even the case between husband and wife, let alone Comrade-in-arms? If they are in such a situation, then the truth is really too much to worry about!" Cao Cao nodded slowly after hearing this, and suddenly changed his mind, and his face showed deep thought again, "It's just that if the truth wants to get rid of this With 13,000 critically ill patients, would Cai Mao and Zhang Yun have any other ideas?"

Sima Yi thought for a while, and then said again: "Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, how could they have other ideas? Your Excellency, among the 13,000 critically ill patients, you brought over 3,500 from the north. This proves that your "scorpion venom stings the hand, and the strong man cuts the wrist" is based on the law like a mountain, regardless of relatives, old or new, and treats everyone equally and is extremely fair." "Zhongda's words are reasonable, what he said is reasonable..." "My lord, the prime minister, there is a saying: 'The world is not benevolent, and all things are like dogs; the sage is not benevolent, and the people are like dogs.' The proverb also goes: 'A little intolerance will cause great harm.' Although Yi has also been taught the way of sages, It is a matter of propriety and righteousness, but he had to remonstrate with the prime minister against his will, and exterminate these 13,000 seriously ill patients who could not survive or die. It might not be a relief for them! Here I implore the Prime Minister to implement the "butcher's method" with a sage's heart, follow the current situation and people's hearts, and eradicate the "root" of the epidemic in the general in one fell swoop!"

Cao Cao's face froze suddenly, and he fell silent. After a long time, he replied in a very sluggish tone: "How about it... you go to pass the order to Xia Houyuan and Cao Chun on behalf of the truth, and let them prepare a foolproof comprehensive plan in secret. Prepare to implement the plan of 'scorpion venom stings a hand, a strong man cuts his wrist'—be sure to remember: don't leave any trouble behind!" After reading Kuai Yue's letter from Xudu, Cai Mao felt chills.Kuai Yue is an extremely sophisticated official "old slicker". He would not describe the series of unfair treatment he received in Xudu in his letters.Between the lines of the entire letter, there is a hint of indescribable disappointment looming.Cai's heart skipped a beat for a few details that he lightly brushed over with his strokes.One is that he bears the title of "Marquis of Bailiting", but after entering Xudu, he has been staying in the post house, and the court did not even allocate a piece of official residence to him; It has been more than half a month since the important official of the inner court who was a regular servant of Sanqi went to the official department of Xudu to sign up. Not only did His Majesty not order him to be summoned today, but Hua Xin from the official department and Cui Yan from the prime minister's Dongcao office Everyone treats him indifferently, and just "hangs" him aside and ignores him; third, his conceit is also considered the crown of Jingzhou's famous family, not to mention the deep family background, even his own reputation and reputation should be far and wide As a result, no one handed him an invitation to the "Yuxiantang" Dao Discussion Conference held at Xun Lingjun's mansion.

That's right, I originally thought that if I surrendered to Cao Cao and surrendered to Chaoqian, I would gain more power and status than when I was in power in Jingzhou. A basin of ice water was splashed on the head!Kuai Yue's silent remorse and indignation suppressed in his heart caused Cai Mao's heartstrings to resonate sadly. In the middle of the night just four days ago, Xia Houyuan and Cao Chun led thousands of tiger and leopard riders and crossbowmen to surround the isolation and treatment barracks where the seriously ill soldiers lived. With a salvo, torches were thrown in all directions, and all the knives and axes were used, it only took three or four hours to burn and kill the 13,000 seriously ill soldiers!

Although both Cai Hao and Zhang Yun received the fact sheet written by Prime Minister Cao himself afterwards, they also tried to force themselves to understand the intention of Prime Minister Cao's move of "the scorpion venom stings the hand, and the strong man cuts the wrist". Despite all their painstaking efforts, bursts of bone-penetrating chills still secretly permeated their whole bodies and minds.For the first time, they felt very real and very close, what a ruthless person Prime Minister Cao is!Any character, once it loses its use value in his eyes, will be abandoned by him without mercy!

However, neither Cai Hao nor Zhang Yun can turn back and choose again.Even if they are deeply regretful, they have nowhere to go at this moment.Perhaps, only by doing everything possible to help Cao Cao defeat the Jiangdong Navy at the last moment, will his situation be slightly improved?Even if it's just a thread of fantasy floating like a gossamer, it's better than being ashamed, sitting in a sad city, and dying day by day. Of course, Cai Hao and Zhang Yun also thought about betraying Cao Cao and defecting to Zhou Yu when their thoughts flashed, but they immediately felt that this kind of idea was simply absurd.Who is Cao Cao?Cao Cao is the majestic prime minister of the great Han Dynasty who is powerful and powerful in the world. He has a forest of counselors, a rain of good generals, and millions of troops. With a stomp of his feet, the six counties of Jiangdong can be destroyed!What are Zhou Yu and the others?Don't look at the fact that relying on the natural moat of the Yangtze River can still support it for a while-after Cao Cao's 100,000 strong troops have completely adapted to the bumps on the boat, they took advantage of the situation to cross the boat across the river, Zhou Yu, Sun Quan, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Lu Su and others Waiting will become powder! "Has the envoys sent by Ma Teng to his sons Ma Chao and Han Sui safely escaped the inspection of the sentry and returned to Liangzhou?" A sentence from Sima Lang. "My lord, according to my report in Chang'an, the secret envoy sent by Ma Teng has safely arrived in Liangzhou yesterday." Sima Lang accompanied him, and replied politely, "I believe it will not be long. , Ma Chao and Han Sui will make a lot of noise..." "Well...it's necessary for them to stir up these noises. But their destructive power must not exceed our control!" Although Cao Pi's tone was pretending to be plain and relaxed, there was still a faint worry hanging between his brows Said, "To be honest, it is a very tricky 'dangerous move' to stir up the Ma clan's rebellion in Kansai to prevent the Southern Expedition Army from winning a complete victory. Pi has concerns about this." Sima Lang glanced at the color of his face from behind his head, and thought to himself: This eldest son is really "big and timid, full of desire and fuzzy, uneasy when he has a plan, dare to do it but not to do it." Dare to be ", full of worries, afraid of the past and the future, it is really difficult to serve.But at this moment, he can only keep cheering for the eldest son: "Young master, according to Lang's opinion, you don't have to worry too much. Lang has already informed Mr. Zhong Yao, the captain of Sili and the general of Zhenxi, in advance. After that, please firmly guard Tongguan, and take strict precautions against Xiliang Mashi at all times." "Zhong Yao? Well... Zhong Yao is a good hand who can suppress the Xiliang Ma family!" Cao Pi's eyes flickered when he heard this, "Master Sima, it would be best if we could bring him over as well." That's right. I just don't know if Zhong Yao is reliable..." "Eldest son, Zhong Yao has always admired your virtuousness, and has long cherished a heart of support. It's just that we rarely had the opportunity to meet and travel with you before." Sima Lang slowly took out a kit from his bosom, and presented it respectfully: "A few days ago, he rode 800 miles to send the Five Elements Jade Pendant, a family treasure, from Tongguan, and it was presented by Tuolan. To you, Eldest Prince, to express my bowing and submitting to you." "Really?" Cao Pi was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately fixed his eyes on the kit in Sima Lang's hand, "The Yingchuan Zhong family's family treasure 'Five Elements Jade Pendant' is a rare and rare best! Quick, quick, Quick, open this treasure bag for Pi to appreciate." Sima Lang nodded and smiled, and slowly opened the kit, only to see five crystal clear jade pendants.One is shaped like a dragon, green like a green leaf; one is shaped like a crouching tiger, white like auspicious snow; one is shaped like a turtle, yellow like millet; one is shaped like a crane, red like a cherry; .When Cao Pi saw it, he quickly grabbed it in his hand, and immediately became a little crazy: "It's beautiful! It's beautiful! It's really beautiful! Since Mr. Zhong Yao has this kind of heart, it's very rare. Master Sima, you can get it from the treasury. Fifty pieces of brocade came out and sent over as a thank-you gift to Pi. Pi's Kansai's "horse defense" event was left to him to handle! You tell him, and Pi will never agree with his support. forget!" Sima Lang let him play with the "Five Elements Jade Pendant" over and over again, and nodded in agreement with a smile. Cao Pi turned around, and ordered his close confidant, Zhu Shuo, the head of the bodyguard, to say, "Mr. Zhu, Pi wrote a secret letter to Brother Zhong Da asking about the situation of the Southern Expedition—you find a loyal and reliable dead man." Sergeant, how about sending it to Brother Zhongda in time for Pi?" Zhu Shuo bowed and answered loudly: "Your subordinate obeys orders."