Chapter 22 1. Han dynasty bones

As the scorching midsummer approached suddenly, the air in Xudu City suddenly became highly tense overnight, as if a vat filled with gunpowder was about to explode at the touch of a button. On June 12, news came from Jingzhou that Han Song, who had been conferred by the imperial court as a servant, returned to Xiangyang City, not only failed to persuade Liu Biao to surrender, but was also thrown into prison by Liu Biao; While killing Han Song, Liu Biao braced himself for his illness, recalled Liu Bei from Xinye urgently, and entrusted him with the important task of fighting against Cao Cao in the north.

On June 14, news came from Jiangdong that after the return of special envoy Lu Su, Sun Quan, instead of showing any signs of submissiveness, let Ma Jiangnan go south and withdraw troops to the treasury, on the contrary, he quickly stepped up the overall security on the Jiangdong front line.He first sent Zhou Yu, the first general of the shogunate, to train the navy in Poyang Lake, and the warships cruised the river day by day, approaching Wancheng and Hefei city faintly; then, he dispatched his generals Gan Ning, Huang Gai and others to march and garrison near Jingzhou. The area of ​​Echeng in the south of the Yangtze River is waiting and peeping on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

These two news made Cao Cao very upset, especially the arrest of Han Song in Jingzhou, which made him even more furious.Han Song went to persuade Liu Biao to join him as a close minister of the emperor and a special envoy of the prime minister, but he was detained by a local Mushou without authorization. This clearly did not take Cao Cao seriously!At the same time, this also shows that Liu Biao is ready to fight him to the end! In his fury, Cao Cao personally wrote a sharply worded memorial and submitted it to the inner court, claiming that Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, had a history of worshiping the heavens and the earth in the suburbs, but now he dared to supervise the emperor's close ministers, the prime minister's special envoy, and made a big statement. The armored soldiers tried to resist Wang Hua. They were ignorant of discipline, treasonous and immoral, and their crimes should not be punished. The truth is that they are the leader of the court, protect the emperor's prestige, and the Han Dynasty. In Jingzhou, Liu Biao was wiped out.

His invitation to war form had just been submitted to the palace, and Kong Rong, the Taizhong doctor, immediately wrote a memorial to follow up, but its content was completely different from Cao Cao's form: Although Liu Biao had traces of rebellion that cannot be forgiven lightly, but he always It is not as rampant as Yuan Shuwang's self-proclaimed emperor, and secondly, he is not as violent as Yuan Shao raised his troops to commit crimes. If the prime minister of the dynasty can build virtue and harmonize people, weather the sea, cultivate the rule of culture diligently, cherish him, and practice judo extensively to caress him— ——Liu Biao can go down without hesitation; if the imperial court is vigorously fighting and sending troops south, I am afraid that there will be the disadvantage of resorting to military force.

Kong Rong's statement of persuasion was obviously aimed at Cao Cao's request for war, which immediately aroused controversy in Xudu.However, Cao Cao himself showed an inexplicable silence uncharacteristically, neither debating nor answering. The next day, Chi Ji, the official censor, also gave a memorial.The content of his memorandum has nothing to do with the southern expedition to Jingzhou, but a "sharp dagger" aimed at Kong Rong: Kong Rong, a doctor of the Taizhong, used to be in Beihai. He saw that the royal family was not quiet, and he recruited disciples to make mistakes. Su whispered and slandered the court.Also, Kong Rong was in the ranks of Jiuqing, did not follow the court rituals, bald and walked slightly, and was abrupt in the palace.He also spoke to Ni Heng, a wild student in white clothes, in a frenzied manner, saying: "What kind of relationship should a father have with his son? In terms of its original intention, it is really lustful. What is the son's relationship with his mother? It's like sending things In the cage, if you leave, you will leave." Then he and Mi Heng praised him even more.Mi Heng said to Kong Rong, "Zhongni is not dead."Kong Rong also praised Ni Heng: "Yan is restored to life." All kinds of infidelity, filial piety, disrespect and disobedience are not the same.

As soon as Chi Chi's impeachment form was sent to the prime minister's residence, Cao Cao immediately summoned Dr. Gao Qing and important civil and military officials to discuss the matter in the afternoon.This time at the court meeting, Shang Shu Ling Xun Yu intriguingly claimed that he was sick and absent. The high-ranking officials, civil and military ministers debated extremely fiercely against Xi Xi's impeachment statement.Most of the ministers, such as Fu Wan, the head of the state and the general of the auxiliary country, Wang Lang, the admonishing doctor, Yang Jun, the servant of the Huangmen, Wei Xi, the official secretary of Duzhi, and Ma Teng, the general of Zhengxi, thought that Xi Ji's memorial was not true and should not be adopted; Bu Shangshu Hua Xin, Taichang Dong Zhao and a few other ministers believed that Chi Ji's memorial was true and should be adopted; however, four or five ministers including Sanqi Changshi Jia Xu and Sili Xiaowei Zhong Yao remained completely neutral. Opinions on both sides are non-committal.The court meeting lasted until late at night, and no result was confirmed. In the end, it was Jia Xu who suggested that Kong Rong be imprisoned temporarily, and wait for the four parties of the palace, the prime minister's mansion, Shangshutai, and Yushitai to jointly verify his identity. After the crime, it will be handed over to the Nine Ministers and Six Ministries for a public trial.In this way, the war of words among the civil and military ministers has just stopped, and this court meeting has finally come to a hasty end.

During the entire court meeting, Cao Cao never interjected, nor expressed his position.Amidst the disputes among the high officials, civil and military ministers, his face was always as deep as an ancient pool, without any waves. Just when the court meeting in the palace to discuss Kong Rong's crimes was inextricably held, in the study in the backyard of the Xun Mansion, Zhao Yan, the secret envoy sent by the emperor, was asking Xun Yu, the minister who said he was sick at home, about Xi Xi's impeachment of Kong Rong. coping strategies. Xun Yu's face at the moment looked unusually tired and haggard.People outside were still suspecting that he was pretending to protect himself by saying that he was sick and absent from the court meeting. If those people saw his true face at this time, they would know that what he said was true.He is really sick.

He silently stared at the table in front of him with a bit of pain—the fragments of the red crane-shaped jade pendant that Kong Rong accidentally dropped and shattered at the Suzaku Pond event were lying piece by piece on a spread out multicolored brocade handkerchief. On it, there is a soft and elegant Yingying brilliance. "Alas... people in the world laugh at Dr. Kong for pulling out his teeth and seeking his own death. He is extremely stupid. But they don't know that in this world, the 'wisdom' to follow others like Xi Xi and Hua Xin is really within everyone's reach. And there are very few 'fools' who are as disciplined as Dr. Kong!" Xun Yu's fingers slowly stroked the pieces of jade pendants, lowered his eyes and lowered his eyebrows, and murmured , "Dr. Kong's honesty, loyalty, and integrity are as glorious as Boyi and Shuqi in the past and present! Xun's self-conceited 'virtuous, perfect man of a generation' can't match it!"

Zhao Yan half-kneeled on the seat, weeping silently, choked up and speechless for a while. Amidst misty tears, Xun Yu picked up a piece of snow-white jade pendant with the middle finger of his right hand, put it in front of his eyes and stared at it quietly, and after a long time, he said leisurely: "Doctor Kong was right back then." Ah! A gentleman with lofty ideals should act like jade in order to live in the world: solid and heavy, which can be called the quality of jade; noble and noble, which can be said to be the shape of jade; perseverance, which can be called the nature of jade; keeping the body flawless, can be called jade It is pure; round and clear, which can be said to be the moistness of jade. Dr. Kong’s brilliant words, Yu will never forget them, and stick to them for life!"

"Lord Lingjun, Your Majesty... Your Majesty begs you to come up with a perfect plan to save Dr. Kong's life!" Zhao Yan said in a choked voice, holding back his grief. "Save Dr. Kong's life?" Xun Yu moved his eyes away from the piece of jade pendant, stared at him, and smiled deeply, "Doctor Kong is determined to kill himself for benevolence and sacrifice his life for the country, except for him." Myself—who can save him? Even if we are willing to rescue him, he is not willing!" In fact, he has always been like a mirror in his heart.Kong Rong blatantly contradicted Cao Cao time and time again, because he deliberately wanted to anger Cao Cao and let him kill himself rashly when he lost his mind-letting his own body die for the Han as the last shot through Cao Cao's "outer respect" The sharp arrow of the hypocritical mask of the Han Dynasty, with different ambitions inside, is expected to arouse more Han subjects to fight against Cao Cao one after another.

"Why...why? Why is Dr. Kong so stupid?" Zhao Yan burst into tears, pounding his fists heavily on the floor in front of him, bang bang, "Zhao only hates himself for being a Confucian scholar and not good at martial arts, otherwise We must follow the example of Jing Ke, the warrior of the Yan Kingdom, to assassinate the arrogant Cao thief..." "Hold on!" Xun Yu's eyes flashed like an ice front, and he stopped him with a wave of his hand, "The current situation is certainly critical, but it's not over yet, Zhao Jun said it before." He said so far , paused for a moment, seemed to think of something again, and said lightly, "After Mr. Zhao returns to the palace, you can remind your majesty to immediately order General Ma Teng to take up the post of Wei Wei, and he will be in charge of the guarding affairs of the palace. .” "Follow the order. After Zhao returns to the palace, he must quickly convey this reminder to His Majesty, Lord Lingjun." Zhao Yanfu kowtowed on the table and replied, his face was wet with tears, "I'm afraid that Lord Prime Minister will not give this message to you." Appoint the edict to 'let go'." "Just tell General Ma Teng the meaning of this, and he will know how to cooperate with His Majesty to pass this edict with Prime Minister Cao." Xun Yu's expression was as calm as the surface of a lake, "Xun believes that this time Dr. Kong Being impeached for no reason will definitely touch General Ma as well." "Then... Sir Ling Jun, is there anything else you need to tell me to play to His Majesty?" Zhao Yan slowly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. "I have a message for you to pass on to Your Majesty: hang your arch upright, hold it upright, calm it down, and be cautious about it. Even if there are tiger ministers by your side, you can't hurt it." Xun Yu looked at him with both eyes, As if he was facing the young emperor Liu Xie, he said respectfully, "I swear that in my lifetime, I will never allow anyone to damage the foundation of the great man. Please take care of all this, Your Majesty." .” "I take the liberty to thank Lord Lingjun on behalf of Your Majesty. I hope Lord Lingjun will cherish everything." Zhao Yan nodded solemnly, then got up and said goodbye. Xun Yu watched him go. After a while, he slowly stretched out his hand to tie up the brocade handkerchief, and gently wrapped the pieces of the crane-shaped jade pendant. Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes like beads. "Uncle, don't be too sad." Xun You came out slowly from behind the sandalwood screen in the study, and persuaded softly, "Doctor Kong awakened loyal ministers and righteous men all over the world with his act of breaking jade. You should be happy for him. yes!" "Having said that, the old man will pass away and never see him again. Uncle Yu is really reluctant to part with him!" Xun Yu said sadly, holding the small brocade handkerchief in his palm without looking back. When Xun You heard this, his nose also felt sore.He sat quietly on Xun Yu's left side, and was silent for a while. After Xun Yu's mood gradually calmed down, he said worriedly: "Actually, my nephew is very worried about my uncle now—you called me sick today." I'm afraid Prime Minister Cao will be dissatisfied with you if you missed the court meeting to discuss the crimes against Dr. Kong!" "Thank you, nephew, for your concern. Uncle Yu is now acting according to the law and righteousness, and he will no longer care about how he will react in the future. As the saying goes, "seek the country instead of personal life, worry about the road instead of worrying about yourself." '. Since he dared to take this step, he should have expected Uncle Yu to have such a reaction today." Xun Yu let out a deep sigh, "Uncle Yu did this, maybe it will hurt the person in charge. You are the nephew of the Cao family's military adviser!" After hearing this, Xun You smiled wryly and said, "Uncle doesn't know something, and he may not be as devoted to his nephew, the military advisor of the Cao family, as before. Recently, Prime Minister Cao has been very close to Lord Jia Xu. .” "Jia Xu?" Xun Yu was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, with a ray of bitterness on his face, "Sure enough, if the way is different, you will not conspire with each other, and if the way is the same, you will conspire with each other. Yes! Cao Mengde finally found someone who can A good helper to help him ascend to the top! Jia Xu has more than enough talents but not enough virtue. With him at the side to instigate, Cao Mengde will naturally drift away from me..." "Uncle, Prime Minister Cao's ambition is born by nature, how could it be instigated by an outsider like Jia Xu?" Xun You said disapprovingly, "Yang Taiwei is still unparalleled. When he saw Prime Minister Cao in Xudu, he immediately See through his treacherous ambition." "Ah...all causes and effects have unavoidable inevitability. At the beginning, Prime Minister Cao did not lack for acts of loyalty. At that time, Uncle Yu watched all the heroes, and he was the only one who could help the Han Dynasty." Xun Yu said indifferently, "Uncle Yu Back then, I wholeheartedly helped him, and I had no regrets in my heart; now, Uncle Yu parted ways with him, and I still have no regrets in my heart!" Xun You sighed lightly, then changed the subject, and said thoughtfully: "I don't know how the court meeting in the palace is going now? If Prime Minister Cao really wants to attack Dr. Kong, he will be very disappointed. Uncle, it is said that there are many discussions about this matter in the prime minister's mansion. Cui Yan, Mao Jie, and Xu Yi all disagree with Xi Xi's impeachment, thinking that he is slandering and framing him. Even Cao Zhi, the third son of Cao's mansion, this morning I am still trying hard to persuade Cao Cheng in the mansion to "be cautious and be lenient" in the matter of Kong Rong, and beg for your kindness to let Dr. Kong go!" "Cao Zhi is worthy of being a rare and wise man among the sons of Cao's mansion! Nephew! You should make friends with him more in the prime minister's mansion in the future, and don't let him go against the way of Prime Minister Cao." Xun Yu nodded and said, "But , Prime Minister Cao is not that stupid - he probably wouldn't take the risk of accusations from thousands of people to kill Kong Rong." "Uncle, do you really think so?" "That's right. Looking back now, what Jia Xu said at the Zhuquechi grand meeting that day was really meaningful." Jade can't be worn, nor can it be broken—then it can only be used as a sacrificial weapon in the ancestral temple. ’, which made Prime Minister Cao point out such a strategy. Taking advantage of Xixi’s aggressive impeachment to intimidate Dr. Kong in one fell swoop, and then exile him to the Confucian Ancestral Temple in Qufu, State of Lu, to ‘repent behind closed doors’.” "That's right! Prime Minister Cao wouldn't do such an unfavorable thing like killing a minister suddenly at the time of the expedition." Xun You seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "In this way, Dr. Kong is not in danger of his life. gone." There was a bitter smile on Xun Yu's face: "Have you forgotten what Uncle Yu said to Zhao Yan just now? ——At present, Dr. Kong is committing suicide, and he is trying to force Cao Cheng to kill him. Only then can I use my own blood to awaken the loyalty of the subjects of the Han Dynasty, and let Prime Minister Cao bear the infamy of "indiscriminate killing of Zhongliang" for thousands of years." Xun You said "Ah!", patted his forehead lightly, and nodded again and again: "Yes! Dr. Kong died for his country with all his heart, so Prime Minister Cao's trick of 'delaying troops and spreading disaster' is useless." He sighed for a while, then took out a piece of silk from the sleeve of his robe, presented it to Xun Yu, and said: "Today when my nephew asked Prime Minister Cao for leave and came to visit you, he wrote a new poem , called 'Dairy Songs'—I entrust my nephew to bring you a review." "Oh? Cao Mengde still has the heart to give poems to Uncle Yu as a reward?" Xun Yu slowly unfolded the silk scroll with some surprise, and saw that it read: For wine songs, in peacetime, officials don't call the door.The king is virtuous and bright, and the prime minister is loyal and good.Salty comity, the people have nothing to dispute.Three years of plowing and nine years of storage, the barn is full.Banbai is worthy of wearing.Yuze is like this, and a hundred grains are used.But he walked on his horse and used dung to make his soil.The son of the duke and marquis loves his people so much that he deposes you.The son raises his father and brother.Violations of etiquette and law will be punished according to the severity.There is no selfishness in picking up lost things on the road.The prison is empty, and the winter festival continues.People who are old can die.Enze Guang and vegetation insects. Xun Yu read slowly and in a low voice, hot tears burst out of his eyes, and big drops fell on the poem on the silk, leaving clusters of ink stains. "Master Uncle...Master Uncle..." Xun You hurriedly called from the side. It took Xun Yu a long time to gather his mind. He held the piece of silk in his hand, looked at it again and again, and said, "No one knows me better than Prime Minister Cao! He is using this song "Song to Wine" "Tell Yu tactfully, even if you don't look at his face, but look at the cries of the people in the world who are deep in the flames of war, you should help him rule the world, calm the world, and return the people to a peaceful and prosperous world!" But walking on horses, using dung for their soil...the road has no selfishness to pick up things. The prison is empty, and the winter festival is endless. People who are old can die. The grace is wide and the vegetation and insects.' This picture of the peaceful and prosperous age he painted by himself is really beautiful. He is telling me that if he unifies the world and calms the world, he will definitely let such a picture of a prosperous age be vividly displayed on the thousands of miles of China in China." "Master Uncle! This is a rhetoric carefully fabricated by Prime Minister Cao. He is deceiving you!" Xun You hurriedly reminded Xun Yu when he saw the bewildered look in Xun Yu's eyes. "No, no, no... Nephew, you don't understand! Although Prime Minister Cao is decisive and ruthless, he is still a person who 'believes his words and resolutely acts'. He gave Uncle Yu such a He should not bother to deceive Uncle Yu with the promise of creating a prosperous and beautiful world." Xun Yu stretched out the middle finger of his right hand and slowly rubbed the temple of his head, his voice gradually softened, "This matter is related to the people of the world. Uncle Yu should think about the peace and well-being of his life..." "However, my lord uncle, once Prime Minister Cao has unified the world and brought peace to the world, he is very likely to replace the Han Dynasty on his own and proclaim himself emperor!" "That's right! That's why... that's why Uncle Yu has to think about it..."