Chapter 10 4. Sun Quan blamed Jingzhou

"The Prime Minister wants to issue a decree of seeking talents and send it to all states and counties!" Cao Cao sat on the main seat of the meeting hall in the main hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and ordered Yang Xiu, who was sitting in the chief seat on the lower right, "Mr. Yang Let’s draft the draft of this warrant for the truth here!” Sima Yi and Xin Pi, who were sitting opposite Yang Xiu, couldn't help raising their heads to look at Yang Xiu.Sima glanced at Yang Xiu's face, a trace of jealousy appeared and then disappeared; while Sima Yi quietly stared at Yang Xiufu holding a pen and writing on the desk, with a thoughtful expression.

In the meeting hall, Yang Xiu's pen was dropped onto the paper, "swiping" repeatedly, and in less than half a cup of tea, he had already written the warrant manuscript, and presented it respectfully. Cao Cao took the manuscript and read it carefully: The ancients said: "The one who catches a bird has one eye. However, if you open one eye, you will not get a bird. The reason why a bird can fly far is the power of six wires. However, without the help of many hairs, it cannot fly far. ” To calm chaos and govern the country and secure the world, the power of all sages is not enough.When a virtuous man is gained, there will be no injustice, no restlessness in the country, and no honor for the king; but if a virtuous man is lost, there will be no chaos, no country will be in danger, and no king will be humiliated.Those who are loyal, honest and filial, honest and upright, and proficient in scriptures and rituals, even if they hide in caves and raise their ambitions in their households, they must not abandon themselves to the world. Please respond to the order of the prime minister and go to the court to become an official and jointly rule the emperor's house!

Cao Cao read it in a low voice, first nodded his head lightly, then shook his head slightly. Seeing Cao Cao's behavior, Yang Xiu, Sima Yi and Xin Pi looked at each other in amazement. Finally, Yang Xiu couldn't hold back anymore, and asked, "Master Prime Minister, could there be any omissions and inappropriateness in the manuscript? Please express it clearly, Mr. Prime Minister." "Well... your manuscript is concise and concise, and it can be called the essence of the document. I really appreciate the truth!" Cao Cao praised a few words with a smile, but frowned slightly, and said seriously: "But, The principle of recruiting talents for the truth has always been "governing the peace and virtue, and rewarding the function of things"-although there are people who are loyal, filial, honest and upright, and well-versed in rituals, they cannot break through the enemy for the sake of the truth, and kill thieves and bandits , what's the use of it?"

As soon as these words came out, Yang Xiu and the others couldn't help being taken aback.The foundation of the official system of this dynasty is to rule the country by virtue. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "dismissed all schools of thought and only respected Confucianism", non-virtuous and upright people were not allowed to be recruited and appointed. This has been an iron rule that cannot be changed for hundreds of years.However, Prime Minister Cao said today that he wanted to abandon the method of "selecting people by virtue" and replace them with the method of "appointing people on their merits", which is really unimaginable!

Seeing Yang Xiu's suspicious expression, Cao Cao knew that his thoughts could not turn around for a while, so he said slowly, "Forget it, forget it, don't think too much about it. In the future, you will follow the truth for a long time, You will understand the essence of the real minister's "government of peace and virtue, and rewards for meritorious deeds". How about this, the real minister has just prepared a draft for this order of seeking talents, and now I will read it for you to listen to—Sima Yi, you Help record the truth." After finishing speaking, he stroked his long beard, and raised his voice to proclaim: "A man who has practice may not be able to make progress; a man who is enterprising may not be able to do it. How can Chen Ping practice faithfully, and how can Su Qin keep faith and evil? But Chen Ping settled the Han industry, Su Qin Ji weak Yan. From this point of view, scholars are short, so mediocre can be discarded? If Siming thinks about this, then scholars will not be left behind, and officials will not lose their careers!"

As soon as he finished reading, Sima Yi just picked up his pen and finished writing.After writing, Sima Yi carefully submitted the manuscript to Cao Cao for review. Cao Cao took a look, and couldn't help praising: "Heh! I didn't expect that Zhongda's calligraphy is actually painted with iron and silver hooks, which is powerful and elegant! Your skill in this brush seems to be not much worse than that of Zhong Yao!" Sima Yi blushed a little, and said modestly: "Your Excellency, the prime minister, you are overwhelmed." He thought to himself: How can Zhong Yao's calligraphy be praised?The calligraphy of my classmate and good friend Hu Zhao is really "seeing hills and ravines in a square inch, with twists and turns to contain wind and thunder"!

He pondered for a while, and said to Cao Cao: "The Prime Minister's warrant is really close in words but far in purpose, and it is practical and established. However, according to the opinion of my subordinates, the entire text of this warrant is about the word 'scholar' , its title might as well be changed to 'Ji Shi Ling'." "Yes." Cao Cao nodded, put down the manuscript of the "Order of Jushi", and picked up the manuscript of "Order of Seeking Talents" drafted by Yang Xiu, and looked at it carefully, with a low voice. He said to himself: "Huh! Kong Rong is a model of loyalty, honesty, integrity, uprightness, and literacy. But when he was the prefect of Beihai County, the political program was disordered and the general affairs were relaxed. What can he do? If Yuan Shaozhi succeeded in his treachery back then, he might just sit back and watch, with his hands tied, waiting to die!"

At this moment, Cao Hong stepped in from the door of the conference hall, clasped his fists to Cao Cao and said, "My lord, the special tribute envoy Lu Su sent by Sun Quan from Jiangdong came to ask for an audience." "Special envoy of Sun Quan? Lu Su?" Cao Cao groaned for a moment, then said, "Take him to see Lord Xun Ling first." "This..." Cao Hong said with some hesitation, "This Lu Su explained to his subordinates just now that he has gone to the inner court of the imperial palace to meet Lord Xun Ling, and Lord Xun Ling has asked Yang Jun's servant to accept his tribute gift first. He also Said, it was Xun Lingjun who reminded him to come to pay a visit to the prime minister..."

"Oh! Has he already met Xun Lingjun?" Cao Cao was a little surprised.According to the past situation, after receiving envoys from all over the world, Xun Yu usually wrote a reception note and asked his subordinate Shang Shulang to bring the envoys to visit him. This time, Xun Yu asked Lu Su to go alone. It's a bit abnormal to ask the government to see you.He didn't have time to think about it for a while, so he replied casually: "Forget it. You go down and tell him to come in." In Cao Cao's mind, Sun Quan, the captive-seeking general who sits on a territory thousands of miles east of the Yangtze River, has always been a somewhat mysterious figure.

Sun Quan's father was Sun Jian, the former prefect of Changsha, and Cao Cao was no stranger to this man.When the 18th Kwantung princes gathered to attack Dong Zhuo, only he and Cao Cao rushed to the front to fight against Dong Zhuo's Xiliang army.Moreover, Sun Jian was so good at using troops that even Hua Xiong, Dong Zhuo's confidant general, was killed by him in one battle, forcing Taishi Dong to move his capital and retreat.Therefore, Cao Cao has always been deeply impressed by Sun Jian's loyalty and bravery.Speaking of which, Sun Jiansu came from Sun Wu, the sage of soldiers, but he was regarded as a joke by the gentry many times, but in Cao Cao's view, this "unnecessary" heir of the sage of soldiers really has the style of Sun Wu's formation and use of troops.

Later, Sun Jian died in a confrontation with Huang Zu, a general under Liu Biao's account. His eldest son, Sun Ce, inherited his legacy - the "little overlord" who beat a generation of Confucian celebrities Wang Lang and Hua Xin to abandon the city and flee. , not only inherited his father's staff and trilogy, but also inherited his father's bravery and resourcefulness, and was once regarded as "Xiang Yu's rebirth" by the Confucian Scholars in the Xudu court.Although Sun Ce only lived to be twenty-seven years old, he created a feat in one fell swoop that was beyond the reach of his father's generation—covered six counties in Jiangdong within a few years, expanded his territory by thousands of miles, and approached the counties and counties around Xudu.After Cao Cao sighed that "this lion is difficult to fight for the front", he secretly ordered Guo Jia and Chen Deng to use the most secret means to finally kill him "suddenly", which stopped his aggressive westward advance.Then, Sun Ce’s younger brother, Sun Quan, a blue-eyed young man aged 27 or 8, inherited all the “inheritance” Sun Ce left him: the land of fish and rice and wealth in Jiangdong, as well as a large number of loyal staff and generals, such as Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao, Zhuge Jin, Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, etc. After Sun Ce's death, Cao Cao no longer cared about how to deal with the Sun family in Jiangdong, and turned to join the battle to exterminate Yuan Shao in Hebei.In a flash, six or seven years have passed, and Sun Quan and his Jiangdong forces seem to be hidden in the east of him.It wasn't until Sun Quan did two major things this year that Cao Cao suddenly noticed the amazing strength he had been lurking all along—— At the end of the first month of this year, Sun Quan ignored the objections of Zhang Zhao and other staff, and resolutely moved his camp shogunate from Kuaiji County to Chaisang City by Poyang Lake.Of course, his "sign" of publicity and persuasion is also very clever and righteous - "destroy Huang Zu and avenge his father". In March, Sun Quan personally led an army, with the fierce general Gan Ning as the vanguard, attacked Xiakou City under the rule of Jingzhou. An impressive victory.However, after killing Huang Zu, Sun Quan immediately withdrew his troops and retreated to the camp on the south bank of the Yangtze River to defend himself, and did not take advantage of the power of this victory to rush across the river westward. Thinking about these two things together, Cao Cao, who was the hero of the first generation, couldn't help being moved. What is Kuaiji County?It is a county government located in the middle of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It may be helpful to station the shogunate there to control the land of Wuyue, but it will not have much impact on the overall pattern of the world's Xingsheng Fortress.However, Chaisang City is different. It is directly located in the pivotal area of ​​the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, with Poyang Lake in the east and Jiangxia County in Jingzhou in the west. Force Jing Xiang.Sun Quan dared to defy all opinions, move his capital to Chaisang, and occupy this fortress on the Yangtze River. It was obvious that he had a big plan-it seemed that he was watching the situation and was able to attack and defend freely. Sure enough, as soon as he moved to Chaisang, he immediately tried his hand at the "attack" strategy of advancing westward, and he killed Huang Zu, a battle-tested warrior, in one fell swoop.That's all--if Sun Quan was only superior in his ability to use soldiers, he would be just a "little overlord" in Jiangdong like his elder brother Sun Ce.Cao Cao was not very afraid of this point. Cao Cao still had generals such as Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Cao Ren who could suppress him. However, what shocked Cao Cao was that Sun Quan refused to take the opportunity to cross the river to capture Xiakou City after he achieved such fruitful results, but retreated to the south bank of the Yangtze River with all his flag down—as if the battle was just to get rid of his father-killing enemy Huang Zu. Obviously, Sun Quan had very deep intentions in doing this.Xun Yu, who had been silently watching all the movements in Jiangdong, reminded Cao Cao at that time: Sun Quan's move was clearly to prevent Cao's army from going south in the future, paving the way for politics and diplomacy. First of all, once Huang Zu died, more than half of the so-called "blood feud" between Liu Biao of Jingzhou and the Sun family of Jiangdong disappeared. You don't have to bear the infamy of "unfilial piety".Correspondingly, beheading Huangzu but not capturing Xiakou is showing his favor to the Liu family of Jingzhou, showing that he has no ambition or attempt to capture Jingzhou.In this way, to some extent, he can not only reduce Liu Biao's hostility towards him, but also enhance Liu Biao's favor towards him.In the situation where Cao Cao was about to march south with his troops, this political signal was meaningful. It meant that the two powerful local princes in the south might join forces to fight against the court of Xudu.And such a possibility is the last thing Cao Cao wants to see, and the last thing he can't ignore. However, Cao Cao also knew that now that Liu Biao was suffering from a chronic illness, and his two sons Liu Qi and Liu Cong were useless, his generals Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, and counselors Han Song, Kuai Yue, and Wang Can were secretly sending money to him. ——I'm afraid that people in Jingzhou are already in turmoil, so where is the time to plan this kind of joint plan with Jiangdong Sun's "close friendship and distant attack"?Unless Liu Bei is in charge of Jingzhou, it is almost the same... He may still have this kind of equipment and courage to dare to make such an extraordinary move that cannot be done without taking control of the overall situation. So, why did Sun Quan send a special envoy to Xudu a few days ago?Could it be that he also noticed some signs of changes in Jingzhou, and came here to spy on his own reality and details?After all, Han Song's words and deeds when he was close to the Xudu court were too explicit... Maybe Sun Quan was also worried.If Jingzhou suddenly and completely surrendered to the court of Xudu and surrendered to the foot of truth—this would probably be a "nightmare" that he absolutely could not bear in his life? Cao Cao was thinking so deeply that Cao Hong and Sun Quan's special envoy Lu Su waited at the entrance of the hall for a long time without seeing him. "My lord... Your lord..." As the deputy head of the prime minister's mansion, Xin Pi should remind Cao Cao to come back to reality.He called several times in a row. "Master Prime Minister...Master Prime Minister...General Cao..." "Hmm!" Cao Cao finally heard Simpi's call, looked up at the entrance of the hall, immediately withdrew his thoughts, straightened his back, sat firmly like a rock, and his tone became very dignified, "Come in! " Only then did Cao Hong stand by the door and stretch out his hand, letting Sun Quan's special envoy Lu Su go in by himself. Cao Cao sat on the couch and looked at Lu Su coldly.But seeing that he was over thirty years old, with a jade face and black beard, and a strange appearance, although he was dressed in Confucian clothing, there was a sense of sharpness and vigor overflowing from his brows.This is also a hero!Cao Cao sighed secretly in his heart, but he didn't speak. "I'm next to Lu Su, a Huaihan scholar, and I'm here to pay my respects to the Prime Minister." Lu Su glanced at Cao Cao who was sitting high in the hall, and bowed down as soon as he entered the door, and performed the big ceremony. "Exemption." Cao Cao replied slowly, and after he settled down, he asked slowly, "Sun Qulu sent Jun Lu to the court to report his duties and pay tribute, and the purpose of this trip must have been achieved—Jun Lu came to Japan today. Mansion, what's the matter?" Lu Su bowed deeply, bowed his head, and said respectfully: "I am hereby ordered by General Sun, and I am here to congratulate the prime minister on his ascension to the Jun throne, governing the country, conquering the world, and returning the hearts of all people!" Cao Cao didn't show any expression on his face: "My prime minister's promotion to the Jun position is nothing more than the virtue of the emperor and his love and kindness. How can my prime minister think about his own virtue? How can he congratulate my grandson?" Lu Su still couldn't get up, bowed his head and continued to say: "Your Prime Minister, you are so powerful and peaceful in the Central Plains. General Sun and my subordinates are all sincerely congratulating you. How can there be other intentions? Your Excellency, for more than ten years, captured Lu Bu in Xiapi , Extinguish Yuan Shu in Huainan, destroy Yuan Shao in Guandu, destroy Wuhuan in Bailang, support the Han Dynasty in generals, save the people from fire and water, great merits, and admiration from all over the world. " Yang Xiu and Sima Yi listened on both sides, and they were slightly startled: Lu Su's literary and eulogizing words came out like a flowing spring--this kind of "bright tongue and lotus flower" skill is quite a bit have to! Sure enough, a slight smile appeared on Cao Cao's stern and serious face: "Thank you, Sun Chaolu, for your kindness." As he said, he cast his eyes at Simpi.Immediately, Simpi understood, and suddenly asked from one side: "Mr. Lu Su, since Sun Tulu knows that it is not rude to congratulate and respect the prime minister, why doesn't he simply dismiss the trilogy like General Ma Teng, the general of Zhengxi?" Riding alone into Beijing and returning to obedience?” Xin Pi's question was savage and ruthless—everyone present in the hall held their breath to see how Lu Su would respond. However, Lu Su was silent for a while, and finally looked up at Cao Cao: "My lord, the reason why Sun Tiaolu could not enter Xu in person is to congratulate him, because he has prepared a small gift for the prime minister—he I have already attacked and killed the traitorous minister Liu Biao's powerful general, Huang Zu, and placed his troops on the bank of the Yangtze River, ready to accompany the prime minister and march south..." "Oh? Sun Qiulu called Liu Jingzhou a rebel?" Cao Cao chuckled, "But this 'rebel' has already sent Han Song to pay tribute." "As early as seven years ago, Liu Biao had the 'traces of disobedience' of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth in the suburbs. How can this not be regarded as a rebellious minister?" Lu Su said seriously, "He just sent Han Song to Beijing to pay tribute on the front foot, and ordered the prime minister on the back foot. Your lord's confidants are in great trouble Liu Bei stationed in Fancheng and sent troops to the north - it can be described as 'the head rats at both ends, the yang obeys the yin and violates'." When Cao Cao heard this, his complexion changed slightly, he stroked his beard and beard on his chest and did not answer for a long while.If Liu Biao really started to reuse Liu Bei, it would be a bit troublesome. Sima Yi could see it clearly from the seat beside him: Lu Su really had a good lobbying technique, and in just a few words, he had already hidden a deep conspiracy of "Li Daitao stiffened and blamed Jingzhou" - he said so, By doing this, they wanted to draw Cao Cao's attention to the complete seizure of the eight counties of Jingzhou, and the Sun family in Jiangdong could avoid the first wave of Cao Jun's southward attack and "watch the fire from the other side".If you advance, you can take advantage of the fire to rob; if you retreat, you can reap the benefits of fishermen.Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help being horrified: The Sun family in Jiangdong has such powerful tactics and skills, and this is the real and powerful enemy that Cao Cao will never meet in his life!Alas... Liu Biao has such second ministers as Han Song and Cai Mao under his command, which is really deplorable; but Sun Quan's tent has such a capable minister as Lu Su, which is really terrifying!All of a sudden, in comparison, Sima Yi only felt that the world is so big and there are so many talents, and the little bit of strategy he was complacent about in the past might not be able to convince many people... It was still taught by his master, Mr. Guan Ning That's right: "The king who can get his own teacher is the king, and the one who says that others are self-defeating will die. If you ask questions, you will be rich, and if you use it yourself, you will be small." "This news, the truth has been known for a long time." Cao Cao's face has completely recovered, and he just ordered lightly, "Xinpi——you take this Lord Lu Su down, and treat the truth well... ..." Naturally, he would not listen to two or three rhetoric and believe that Sun Quan's camp on the bank of the Yangtze River was really to support him when he went south to conquer Liu Biao. "Cooperate" with him like singing a cutscene, and do enough superficial skills.