Chapter 17 4. That's right, Cao Pi is the key player in this game of chess!

Sima Lang personally sent Cao Pi out of the gate, then returned to the living room, and turned directly behind the screen wall. Behind the screen wall, there was a couch against the wall, and Sima Yi was sitting peacefully on it.The warm sunlight projected from the small carved window in the south makes his eyes half-closed and full of energy.Even though his left shoulder was wrapped with a thick white cloth bandage, which was still slightly stained with blood, his expression was as relaxed and relaxed as if nothing had happened, and he didn't care about the injury at all. His father, Sima Fang, was also sitting with his hands on his knees on a ping in front of the right side of the couch.Sima Fang's old eyes were shining brightly, flickering on and off, as if he was also quietly thinking about something.

"Second brother, the arrow wound on your shoulder is bleeding again." Sima Lang hurried over to help Sima Yi lie down, "The doctor told you not to move around, otherwise it will be very troublesome if the wound bursts open." "Thank you, brother, for your concern. It's okay. I'll take care of it." Sima Yi glanced sideways at the arrow wound bandage on his left shoulder, and waved to Sima Lang, asking him to sit down on his right.Then he straightened his face and turned his gaze to his father who had been silent all this time. "Let's talk about the situation of Cao Pi's conversation with you." Sima Fang stroked his drooping beard on his chest, and said slowly, "Words and deeds are signs of a person's change of mind. A person's heart The advantages of personality can enable him to overcome difficulties and make great achievements; but the shortcomings of a person's personality can put him to death and never recover. A brilliant and outstanding strategist should be good at grasping the shortcomings of his opponent's personality, skillfully Add control and use flexibly. Yi'er, what do you think of Cao Pi's temperament?"

"Father, judging from the conversation between Cao Pi and his elder brother just now, Cao Pi should have three major shortcomings in his character: one is that he is willing to listen to the beautiful words, and he is at ease after receiving the extra gifts. The second is that he seems to be gentle and gentle, but he likes to play with his lips and kisses, which means he is competitive; the third is that he sees the treasures and gifts and accepts them disrespectfully, which means he is greedy. The shortcoming is that it has been deeply rooted for a long time, and I am afraid it will be difficult to correct it for a while."

"Well... Yi'er, you observe carefully!" Sima Fang praised him with a smile, and then said slowly, "Vanity, competitiveness, and greed, you have summed up these three points very well. In fact, according to We set up an eyeliner in his mansion to report that Cao Pi still has a big defect in his character-he is very suspicious. He is the most difficult master in the Cao mansion for servants and servants to serve. If you are too attentive to him , he will think that you have other plans in your heart and guard against you; if you show a slight neglect towards him, he will think that you are contemptuous and hate you. Didn't Ruan Yu once sing with his third brother Cao Zhi A few poems? Since then, Cao Pi has always suspected that Ruan Yu is biased and hates him. Langer, Yier, you two, listen to this, the eldest son of Cao Cao is such a virtue..."

Sima Yi nodded deeply: "Since Cao Pi's personality has these four major flaws, it will lead to four major consequences. He has a lot of vanity, so it must be because he shows indifference on the outside and has a lot of flashy desires on the inside; he is aggressive If he is serious in heart, he must be fond of flattery and flattery but does not know how to listen to it; if he is suspicious, he must be generous and humble in appearance but narrow-minded; For material slavery." "Oh! How could the hero of Cao Cao give birth to such a flawed son?" Sima Lang couldn't help patting his knees and sighing, "It seems that Cao Pi is quite resourceful."

"He's just some little wit and tricks, how can he have any foresight? He can't tell the big picture." Sima Fang said coldly, "From my father's point of view, he seems to use all his wit and wisdom. It's more than winning with the younger brothers." "Father is right." Sima Yi glanced at Sima Fang's face, and said to Sima Lang with a smile, "Brother, what you usually see is correct. In fact, Cao Pi usually ignores his shortcomings It's good to cover up—but, how can he play with these disguises better than you, big brother? Under your rigorous and meticulous probing, he naturally reveals his true colors and has nowhere to hide."

Sima Lang was so praised by his second brother, and his face couldn't help overflowing with joy: This second brother is so nice to speak—the tricks of hooking deep in front of Cao Pi just now were actually all taught by him secretly Yes, at this moment, he gently pushes it back to his own name in front of his father, what a sudden generosity!He thought about it slightly, and asked without hesitation: "Father, second brother, is this Cao Pi really a wonderful move by our Sima family to 'emerge suddenly, strike late, and turn the world around'? Also, why didn't you choose it?" What about Cao Zhi? Cao Zhi is famous and famous for a while, even Cao Cao seems to love him very much, and even let out rumors that he wants to make a great cause with him! What if Cao Cao chooses Cao Zhi as his heir, what will we do? "

"If Cao Zhi really becomes the heir of the Cao family, our Sima family's great cause of 'emerging from a sudden force, making a comeback, and turning the world around' will surely become a dream!" Sima Fang said in a serious voice, "The foundation of the Cao family will be solid from then on, and it will be difficult to shake it! " "How could it be so?" Sima Lang was shocked. "It will be so!" Sima Yi replied solemnly from the side. "How could this be?" Sima Lang was a little confused for a while, and turned his attention to his father and second brother for advice.

"Yi'er, explain the mystery to your elder brother in detail." Sima Fang stroked his beard and instructed Sima Yi. "Brother, the reason why our Sima family attaches great importance to Cao Pi is because our Sima family is confronting their Cao family in Peijun head-on at the moment, and it is really difficult to be an enemy. Therefore, we have to place chess pieces in their Cao family in time to have a gap It can be used. Cao Pi is the most suitable pawn. Although he is known as an all-rounder in civil and military affairs, he is actually just a middleman. If the younger brother wants to manipulate him, it is really easy. As for Cao Zhi, he is very different. This person His virtues, ambitions, bearing, and knowledge are all immeasurable—if Cao Cao made him his heir, and then selected celebrities and virtuous ministers to assist him, in time, he would surely become a first-class virtuous emperor of Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Guangwu. .Even if the younger brother is full of clever tricks, he may not be able to turn the tide of the universe from his hands."

"Well... yes, Brother Yu also knows that among the ruling and opposition parties, Xun Lingjun, former Taiwei Yang Biao, Doctor Kong Rong, Minister Yang Jun, Doctor Wang Lang and other high-ranking ministers all admired and respected Cao Zhi very much, and praised him as the 'perfect generation'. Man'—his influence is certainly not small..." "Lang'er, it's good that you can see this." Sima Fang also said at this time, "Everything is just like what Yi'er said, our Sima family's plan for their Cao family in Peijun must reach at least these four points. Purpose: First, to weaken the prestige of the Cao family, damage the reputation of the Cao family, and alienate the Cao family from the world's sages, bureaucrats, loyal ministers and capable officials, and make them self-closing, isolated, and helpless; second, to provoke the Cao family The internal strife caused by the internal strife caused their clansmen and relatives to suspect each other and harm each other, making it difficult for them to unite with the outside world; third, our Sima family can gradually occupy a vast field of force, expand power, win people's hearts, and spread wings; fourth, our Sima family More importantly, we must continue to deepen our roots, make steady progress, and achieve the great cause of "unifying the world and one family" in the end! Cao Pi is the best chess piece that can help our Sima family achieve these goals smoothly— —Of course, the premise is that he must be able to become the heir of the prime minister's mansion!"

"Well... after listening to the words of my father and my second brother, Lang finally fully understood. First, Cao Pi is very vain, likes flattery from others but doesn't know how to listen to it, so he can't reflect on himself, accept advice humbly, Respecting the virtuous corporals and appointing people on their merits naturally alienated the world's famous scholars and bureaucrats as well as loyal ministers and capable officials, and turned them away, making the Cao family self-closing and isolated from the world. "Secondly, Cao Pi is victorious and suspicious. Although his appearance is generous and modest, he is narrow-minded and jealous, so he cannot kiss and love his loved ones. Whether he is a loyal minister of a different surname or a relative of the same clan, he will be suspicious and Difficult to be compatible. "Thirdly, Cao Pi is very greedy. He shows a calm appearance on the outside but has a lot of flashy desires on the inside. He is ignorant of small profits and is easy to be enslaved by things. It can be concluded that he can't be like King Goujian of Yue. , work hard, and only cherish the contempt of Qin II Hu Hai to steal honor! If he can't work hard, he must have no great talent. Who can a talented man rely on for his full support? He may not trust other virtuous officials, and he is even more wary of his own brothers. Therefore, he has no choice but to regard my Sima family as his confidant, and he does not hesitate to grant authority And win over and use. My Sima family members can also take this opportunity to seize power in their hands, plant wings, and transfer flowers and trees without being suspected by him." "It seems that the elder brother has finally thought it through." Hearing this, Sima Yi suddenly showed a smile on his face, and said, "You are right. On the contrary, Cao Zhi is not. Cao Zhi will not blindly suspect and reject the same clan. If you are close to brothers and sisters, you will definitely share the power with them; Cao Zhi will definitely open up virtuous paths, recruit talents, and rule the world with senior ministers and famous scholars like his father Cao Cao. In this way, our Sima family will be in the ruling and opposition parties The scope for using it can be greatly reduced, so wouldn't the grand plan of "emerging from a sudden force, attacking people late, and turning the world around" become empty talk? So we must make Cao Pi the successor to the foundation of the Cao Mansion." "Second brother is right!" Sima Lang nodded after hearing this, "Brother also thinks like you from the bottom of my heart." "Okay! Now that the two of you brothers have understood the key to all these plans, I won't bother you two to continue discussing here as a father!" Sima Fang smiled and walked to the backyard together, "Because my father is going to the backyard to play chess and relax..." After sending his father away, Sima Lang immediately turned around and looked at Sima Yi with full of satisfaction: "Alas... Brother Yu's resourcefulness is getting worse and worse than that of the second brother. It is the second brother who is talented, and he is the future leader of our Sima family. Sheng's planning is so far-reaching and thorough! It is really the luck of our ancestors and the blessing of heaven that our Sima family can give birth to such a rare talent like our second brother!" "Brother, don't say that. In fact, all the strategies of the younger brother are based on everything that you and my father have done for the great cause of the Sima family. Without your silent decades in the past Cultivating, these plans and strategies of my little brother are nothing but trees without roots and water without sources, isn’t it just a dream?” Sima Yi hurriedly waved his hands to stop Sima Lang’s praise, and then said in a deep voice, “It’s time to use these plans and strategies. To implement it step by step, it takes a lot of hardships and bloody struggles to be effective in one fell swoop. The long journey ahead requires our Sima family to work together and work together..." "There is an old saying: 'Only when there are great difficulties can there be great perseverance, and only when there is great perseverance can there be great achievements. When the river flows out of Tongguan, even if it is blocked by Taihua, it cannot stop it from going eastward; , but not restraining his actions. 'As long as our Sima family sticks to our ambitions and works hard from generation to generation like a foolish old man moving mountains, one day we will be able to 'unify Liuhe, and the world is one family'." Sima Lang's voice suddenly became extremely firm and You Li said, "Today, I saw your second brother's extraordinary talent, and it also made me completely firm in my determination and confidence to carry out the great cause of our Sima family's sudden emergence, late attack, and turning the world around." We will definitely be able to do it! " Hearing this, Sima Yi was full of blood, his face was also bright red, his eyes were fixed on the distance, and he nodded slowly and solemnly. "The 'bitter trick' you performed yesterday at Juxian Pavilion was really beautiful!" Sima Lang turned his head and praised Sima Yi with a smile, "Even a cunning old fox like Cao Cao heard about your 'loyalty to protect the Lord, He is also full of praise for you for the matter of "doing what is right" - as soon as he entered the government office today, he announced that he would raise your official rank from 400 shi to 600 shi! He also asked my brother to bring you a lot of deer antler Dan, tiger bone ointment and other rare and precious healing medicines, as for Cao Pi, let alone. He has already treated us as a life-saving benefactor, all of which are extremely beneficial for us to be deeply rooted in the Cao family. " "It's a pity that those dead brothers who pretended to be the remnants of the Yuan family, they sacrificed their lives for the great cause of our Sima family in such an unknown way..." Sima Yi's face darkened, and he said sadly, "I want to come , I can’t help but feel a little sour, brother, we Sima family members must never forget the silent sacrifice of these dead brothers! You to their relatives and descendants..." "Brother Wei has made proper arrangements for their relatives and descendants, and he will definitely not let them down in such a sacrifice. They were originally slaves of the lowest rank, and Brother Wei has redeemed all their relatives and descendants Come out, get rid of your slave status, and become a commoner with a wealthy family, what does the second brother think?" "That's very good." Sima Yi nodded in relief. "Huh! So what if Cao Mengde has 800,000 elite soldiers? Our Sima family also has 8,000 dead soldiers scattered all over the world to move at any time. They come when they are called, and they are able to fight and win when they come..."Move then Sent above the nine heavens, quiet will hide under the nine grounds; gather to become the master of tigers, and scatter to become assassins. Who can compete with it? "Sima Lang looked up at the roof with his hands behind his back, and said proudly, "If we don't have such a 'peerless weapon' in our hands, how dare our Sima family regard Liuhe Siyu as something in our pocket?"