Chapter 24 3. Transaction

On the imperial case, the small golden lock of the vermilion treasure box was gently opened, and a strange brilliance shone out like a beautiful morning glow, which was so close to the eyebrows that people dared not look straight at it - there was actually a five-color jade seal inside: Fangyuan Four inches, engraved with five dragons on the top, exquisitely carved, clear and bright; one corner is missing, inlaid with gold; engraved with the eight characters in seal script "Ordered by the sky, life will last forever".This is obviously the treasure of the great Han emperor's family, the Jade Seal passed down to the country.

Emperor Liu Xie held the jade seal in his hand, looked at it repeatedly, and was filled with emotion.Since Qin Shihuang handed down this jade seal, it has gone through the Qin and Han dynasties for more than 400 years. It has been passed down to 25 emperors, and I am the 26th when I count myself... and since I became the throne, this seal was first moved to Chang'an It was lost on the way, and then fell into the hands of the rebel Yuan Shu. After getting it, Yuan Shu thought that "the destiny belongs to him", so he hurriedly proclaimed himself emperor and died... Now, Cao Cao, the "Wang Mang" of the world, is already in power. , Overwhelming all the bureaucrats, this time the abolition of the three princes and the sole prime minister are even more menacing-how long can I keep this Chuanguo Yuxi in charge?Could it be that the 400-year-old foundation of the Han Dynasty that Emperor Gaozu fought against the Qin Dynasty and cut off Xiang Yu would really be buried in his own hands?This nightmare that has haunted my heart for many years must never become a reality!As soon as he thought of this, he clenched his palms tightly, holding the Chuan Guo Yuxie firmly, as if if he relaxed a little, it would grow wings like a bird and suddenly fly away.

"Your Majesty Qi Zuo, the Prime Minister is here to ask for an audience." Zhao Yan stood outside the door of the imperial study and suddenly proclaimed loudly. Liu Xie's heart was shocked, and he hurriedly put the Chuanguo Yuxi back into the golden lock treasure box, and then carefully adjusted the crown on his body, sat on the dragon bed, and said solemnly: "Xuan." As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Cao proudly walked in with his chest up and his sword in hand, walked to the front of the case, bowed slightly, and said, "The old minister has seen Your Majesty."

Since Cao Cao did not salute, it was impossible for Liu Xie to answer "no courtesy" as he usually did to other ministers. His eyebrows twitched, and he responded lightly: "The prime minister is flat." "Your Majesty, the old minister came here today to ask you to use the seal on this imperial edict." Cao Cao straightened his body, took out a yellow silk imperial edict from his sleeve, handed it to him, and said in a deep voice , "This is a clear edict to kill the unfaithful, unfilial, unruly and unrighteous maniac Kong Rong. It has been verified by Yushitai and the Prime Minister's Office. Please use the seal!"

"The edict to kill Dr. Kong?" Liu Xie was taken aback when he heard it, his face changed drastically, and he hurriedly said, "What is his crime? Why did he have to be sentenced to death in such a hurry?" "Kong Rong is unfaithful, unfilial, unruly, and unrighteous. His crimes are obvious. He should quickly declare the canonical punishment to show the world." Cao Cao squinted at him, his face was stern, and he said in a deep voice. "He... Where are the traces of his disloyalty? Where are the traces of unfilial piety?" Liu Xie's voice trembled slightly, but he still did not flinch and give in.After all, Kong Rong is the right-hand man he relies on to fight against Cao Cao. At this critical moment, he still has to grit his teeth and fight for Kong Rong.

Hearing Liu Xie's words, the muscles on Cao Cao's face couldn't help twitching a few times.This twenty-nine-year-old emperor is indeed a bit stubborn—it seems that he will have to spend a lot of time talking about entering the palace this time to meet the Holy Seeking Seal!He suppressed the unhappiness in his heart, and said coldly: "Your Majesty Qizuo, this edict is clearly written - when Kong Rong was in Beihai, he recruited disciples and falsely claimed that 'he who has the world, why use a golden sword? ', this is infidelity; in the position of Jiuqing, it is unruly to walk in a bald scarf and hide in the palace abruptly; in the guest table, it is wrong to talk about the relationship between father and son, saying what is the relationship between father and son? Its original meaning is actually the ear of lust. The son is like the mother, and he will be treated like that? For example, if you put something in a box, you will leave it. This is unfilial; greedy for wine and pleasure, fond of swallows, and ignoring ordinary things, this is It's unrighteous! Such crimes are clearly visible, does Your Majesty have any doubts?"

Liu Xie secretly gritted his teeth, straightened his face, and said solemnly: "Cao Aiqing, Dr. Kong is loyal or not, righteous or unjust, filial or unfilial, I know it well, and the people and people of the world can see it. He was in Beihai back then. Raising troops to serve the king, paying tribute unceasingly, and being loyal, I know it myself, and everyone in the world knows it; Zhen Ziran, a native of Beihai County, was famous for his filial piety and died early. Doctor Kong couldn't wait to see him, so he ordered the county commune to be served as a sacrifice In short, I know this kind of behavior of promoting goodness, and everyone in the world knows it... As for his theory of father-son relationship, it is actually a retelling of the former Confucian Wang Chong's words, "Heaven and earth are in harmony, and people are harmonious." Occasionally give birth to one another; it is like a husband and wife uniting with each other, and a child will be born on its own. The couple’s joining together is not because they desire to have a child at that time, but when they are motivated by passion, they unite, and they unite to give birth to a son.”—Could it be that Prime Minister Cao wants to remove Wang Chong from the coffin in the ground? Are you coming out to question the guilty whip corpse?"

Cao Cao's complexion changed, his eyes suddenly brightened, but his voice was as cold as ice: "Of course! Since Wang Chong, a rebellious Confucian, has always adhered to the principle of governing the world with loyalty and filial piety, maybe he is really going to be exiled. Take it out of the coffin to question the crime and flog the corpse! Your Majesty, don’t bother talking about him, since the Prime Minister’s Mansion and the Yushitai have verified the edict, you can just use the seal!” When Liu Xie heard this, he secretly thought: You yourself have said many times before that "those who bear the name of humiliation, laugh at others, or are unkind and unfilial, but can govern the country and use soldiers, should be judged on their merits, and don't ask anything." Putting moral character in your eyes, in order to punish Kong Rong today, you ran in front of me and loudly preached that you "always adhere to the principle of governing the world with loyalty and filial piety", this is really ridiculous!But he saw that Cao Cao's face was getting more and more livid, as if he was about to rush forward to snatch the golden lock box and seal it himself, his heart swayed a few times, he gritted his teeth and tried his best to suppress the fear in his chest Finally, he sighed leisurely: "The Confucian family in Qufu is a 'sage family' that has been respected and respected by scholars and people all over the world for thousands of years. Family, respect Confucianism alone'——Aiqing, once you issue this imperial edict with a seal, all Confucian scholars in the world may be blown up at once..."

"Your Majesty does not hesitate to persuade you with folk slang, and the old minister is very grateful." Cao Cao bowed slightly at this time, and said, "However, don't say that all the Confucian scholars in the world were blown up at once. Not afraid at all. This Southern Expedition, the truth may be that he will use the blood of the descendant of Confucius to sacrifice a banner!" When Cao Cao said these words, Liu Xie didn't have any fear in his heart, but felt an inexplicable relief.What you Cao Cao is saying now is of course domineering and domineering, but after all, it is just a momentary vain energy and a strong look.Kong Rong's plan to sacrifice himself to the Han Dynasty finally came to fruition.If you, Cao Cao, killed Kong Rong with a knife and used his blood to sacrifice the flag for your Southern Expedition, then your atrocities will be no different from Qin Shihuang who "burned books and buried scholars" in the eyes of the people of the world!You will never be able to become a British lord like Emperor Gaozu... Then what are you talking about "unifying the world and standing on behalf of the Han"?

So, a look of indifference suddenly appeared on his face, he casually pushed the golden lock treasure box on the imperial case forward, and said quietly: "Since the Prime Minister has made up his mind, you can take this seal and use it!" Speaking of this, he seemed to have remembered something, and said casually: "That's right! Today I have an imperial edict and I will issue it with a seal - I have already drawn up an edict to appoint Ma Teng, General Zhengxi, as a Weiwei." "Your Majesty wants to appoint General Ma Teng as a guard?" Cao Cao's face suddenly changed, "I am planning to take General Ma Teng together and lead the army to conquer the south of the Yangtze River..."

Immediately, Liu Xie's right hand pressed the cover of the golden lock treasure box deliberately and unintentionally, and said lightly: "I am the emperor, although I can't hold the 'Thousands of Miles' in the palm of my hand as Dr. Thirty miles away, I still want to find a veteran general to calm down, so that those assassins behind Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and other rats can learn to restrain themselves..." As he said that, he raised his eyes and faced Cao Cao straightly: "Besides, the position of General Xiahou Dun's position as Director of Habayashi has not changed, and General Ma Teng voluntarily moved all his family and relatives to the prime minister's jurisdiction. I'm going to live in Yecheng, Jizhou, and buy a property. Are you still not at ease with such an arrangement?" Cao Cao's eyes were fixed on Liu Xie's right hand that was pressed on the cover of the golden lock treasure box. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the silk draft of the imperial edict to kill Kong Rong in his hand, and sighed secretly in his heart. In a low tone, he replied slowly: "Your Majesty's edict, the old minister has no objection."