Chapter 70 5. "Jiahe" from Mengda

After the envoys from all the vassal states in the Western Regions finished their tributes, Cao Pi still sat still on the dragon bed on the throne.He Shi Shiran preached to the ministers and generals: "Dear dear ministers, I have two special guests for today's court ceremony——Xin Aiqing, and you will announce General Mengda to the hall!" Simpi responded, turned around and shouted towards the gate of the palace: "Your Majesty has a decree - General Xuan Mengda will go to the palace to see you!" His voice dragged on word by word for a very long time, flying out from the slightly empty Changle Hall, the lingering lingering sound lingered for a long time.

After a while, the sound of "thump, thud, thump" was approaching from far away. General Jianwu, Meng Da, prefect of Xincheng County, with bronze helmet and armor, and a shiny military uniform, walked up to the hall majestically.His face looked as wide as a round fan, but a pair of small eyes rolled around like broad beans, flashing a bright light from time to time. Meng Da was originally a famous general under the command of Liu Bei, the lord of Western Shu. Because of his inability to assist Guan Yu in the winter of Jian'an in the 24th year of the Later Han Dynasty, and because he was at odds with Liu Bei's righteous son Liu Feng, he was suspected by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, so he surrendered. Cao Pi.At that time, Cao Pi was preparing to replace the Han Dynasty and build the Wei Dynasty. When he heard the news that Meng Da had come to surrender, he couldn't help being overjoyed. He thought that his strategy of "being soft and obedient to the far away" had begun to bear fruit, so he favored him and gave him a big reward: first The three counties of Shangyong, Fangling, and Xicheng were merged into Xincheng County, and he was appointed as the prefect of the county.

But Sima Yi has always kept deep vigilance and guard against Meng Da.He heard the news from the secret sources in Jingzhou and Yizhou that he set up in Jingzhou and Yizhou: this Meng Da had joined forces with Fazheng, Zhang Song and others in the 16th year of Jian'an in the previous dynasty to take away the 300-year-old Yizhou of the former lord Liu Zhang. The three counties were sold to Liu Bei; later, in the 24th year of Jian'an, he saw Guan Yu's defeat in Xiangyang, and he was in a dilemma, so he sold Fangling, Shangyong, and Xicheng to Cao Pi.From the analysis of these intelligences, Sima Yi came to a conclusion: this Meng Da, who was facing Qin Muchu, turned his back on danger and was vacillating.But because Cao Pi's vanity was satisfied for a while by his raising troops, Sima Yi didn't want to remonstrate him explicitly, but he was included in the comprehensive surveillance of Wei Guo's school and secret spies early in the dark.

At this time, Cao Pi was already smiling at Meng Da and said, "Meng Aiqing, are you safe? It's really hard for you to guard the southwest gate firmly for me in Xincheng County!" "This minister is dedicated to serving His Majesty wholeheartedly. It can be said that he will never hesitate to die. How dare he say bitterness now?" Meng Da knelt on the floor and knocked his head three times. "As soon as I ascended the throne, Meng Aiqing brought her trilogy and thousands of relatives to surrender, and surrendered to the Huanghuang Great Wei! I will always remember your utter loyalty to you." Cao Pi said with some emotion.

"There is a story about my ministers: In the past, there was a Miao family who was not a minister, but Emperor Shun danced to make Qi Huaizhi; Wei Tuo pretended to be respectful, but Emperor Wen of Han obeyed him with kindness. Since your Majesty ascended the throne, his virtue has been spread all over the world, in Ze and the desert, To return to one's heart from far and near is indeed an immortal sage! My minister is like a firefly chasing a bright torch at night, how dare you not follow him? To tell the truth, it is already a great honor for me to be able to bathe in the grace of God in the world under His Majesty's rule. The great fortune of the three lives, the great blessing of the eternity! How can His Majesty remember the mere meager labor back then?" Meng Da said later, his voice was full of emotion, and tears dripped from the corners of his eyes.

Seeing Meng Da's pretentious "performance", Sima Yi couldn't help feeling a trace of disdain deep in his heart, and the corner of his mouth secretly twitched for it, but he remained silent. Over there, Meng Da was still chattering: "...Because Your Majesty is the Lord of England, the Xincheng County where I am located was affected by your favor. Last month, 'San Sui Jia He' was produced in Among the people in the field, I brought it here when I came to Beijing to report on my duties—may your majesty take a look at it?" Golden Harvest?When all the ministers and ministers in the palace heard this, they all looked at each other in blank dismay: This is heavenly auspiciousness!An ancient book said: "There are grains born in the prosperous age, with several ears per stalk, plump grains, and rare and various shapes, which are called 'Jiahe'." In the fields under Meng Da's rule, Jiahe actually appeared. good omen?Moreover, by the way, it can also dilute the bad luck of the previous locust plague in Yuzhou area, which is naturally even more gratifying... So, all the ministers, headed by Hua Xin, raised their wats together and shouted at Cao Pi congratulations.

Cao Pi himself was so happy that he danced and shouted repeatedly: "Good! Good! Good! Meng Aiqing, present the Jiahe to me quickly!" Meng Da smiled and held up a black lacquered wooden tray and presented it up.The lacquer plate is covered with a bright silver brocade handkerchief embroidered with Luan Crane patterns. Simpi stepped forward to gently uncover the brocade handkerchief, and saw a thick yellow rice plant inside, with three dense golden ears of rice growing from its root and waist respectively, and the grains on the ears were one by one. They are all round and plump like clam pearls.

When Cao Pi saw it, he was overjoyed, and with a wave of his right sleeve, he asked Simpi to hold the plate of Jiahe and pass it on to the ministers and officials present one by one.He looked around smugly, and saw the envoys of Khotan, Qiuci, and Shanshan respectfully congratulating him on the side of Danchi. His heart suddenly moved, and he said: "The ministers of Shangshutai have written down: I have recently I went to the outskirts of Luoyang for hunting and hunting, and had fun with the people, but found that the capital was sparsely populated and the streets and markets were sluggish. How could it compare to Xudu and Yecheng? I decided to move 130,000 military households from Jizhou and Youzhou The Heshi family lived and worked in peace and contentment in the capital, and made the popularity of this place flourish. This is what shows the grandeur of our Huanghuang Wei's "prosperous world and peace, king's land and ten thousand kingdoms"!"

As soon as he said this, both Chen Qun and Sima Yi couldn't help being startled by the Shangshu: this Cao Pi is really——with a slap on the head and a moment of excitement, he recklessly put a bunch of "difficult things" on him, and he didn't care about it at all. Consider realistic feasibility.How to do this?In the final analysis, it was Meng Da who tried his best to incite His Majesty's vanity in order to curry favor with His Majesty.Sima Yi gritted his teeth bitterly: I was just about to take the opportunity to report to Cao Pi that the people in Yuzhou were short of food and grain due to the locust plague, but you, Meng Da, stepped in and presented Jiahe to whitewash the peace.It's just clever talk and flirtatiousness, which harms the country and the people!

While he was thinking about it secretly, he heard Cao Pi praise Meng Da: "I am very satisfied that there is such auspiciousness in the Xincheng County under Meng Aiqing's rule. Meng Aiqing is the regular servant of Sanqi!" When Meng Da heard this, he quickly knelt down on the ground and kowtowed: "My humble servant thank Your Majesty Long En!" After he thanked him, Sima Yi twitched his eyebrows, arched his sleeves, and showed a happy expression on his face: "Master Meng, Yi is here to congratulate you. Tell your majesty: Since Master Meng has been promoted to the rank of regular servant of Sanqi, I will Why don't you call him into the palace to take up his post today, so that Yi can often be with him to discuss military and state affairs, please allow your majesty!"

Cao Pi listened, nodded slightly, and turned his questioning gaze to Meng Da. But Meng Da thought to himself: Meng has a territory of 800 miles in Xincheng County, and he can be regarded as a "Emperor of the Earth" at ease-why would you want to get into Luoyang Palace like you as a regular servant on horseback? "Senior attendant" ah!So, he rolled his eyes and replied with a slight smile: "Your Majesty... this minister is really wrong to be rewarded as a regular servant on a loose horse! I have been in the army for many years, and I can't stand such a noble position as a regular servant on a loose rider." I implore Your Majesty, please allow me to continue guarding the southwest gate for you in Xincheng County." Cao Pi pondered slightly, but did not answer immediately. However, Sima Yi was still hiding his needles, and pushed forward step by step: "Oh... By the way, since Mr. Meng has Jiahe to offer today, I think the area of ​​Xincheng County under your rule must be full of grain and full of grain? Oh, in the territory of Yuzhou, Hedong, Yelin, Quyang and other counties seem to have a poor harvest this year. It is said in the book: "The way of heaven is to make up for what is not enough." Mr. Meng, can you set aside some grains to relieve the upside-down of the people in the counties of Yuzhou? What's the hurry?" "This... this..." Beads of sweat burst out of Meng Da's forehead immediately, and he was so panicked that he kept wiping and wiping with the corner of his sleeve.This year his Xincheng County was also hit by a drought, so how much surplus food can be allocated? "That's all! Sima Aiqing, don't tease him anymore." Cao Pi felt that Sima Yi's jumping out and poking at Meng Da's "foundation" was a bit too much. I'm afraid the play will be messed up!He raised his sleeves and cut off the conversation between Sima Yi and Meng Da: "Meng Aiqing should return to Xincheng County and be the guardian of my southwest gate with peace of mind. He doesn't have to pay a single bucket of grain tax there." , keep it for him to appease the scholars in Xincheng County." He caught a glimpse of Sima Yi's frowning, and seemed to have something to say, so he raised his voice to Simpi: "Xin Aiqing—Xuan Jiangdong envoy Zhao Zi came to the palace to pay tribute!" Jiangdong envoy Zhao Zi?It turns out that Sun Quan also sent people to pay tribute?What is their purpose?Sima Yi's thoughts were dragged back by Cao Pi's words, and he no longer entangled in the "verbal battle" with Meng Da, and immediately shot his heavy eyes straight at the entrance of Changle Hall...