Chapter 37 4. Jia Xu had a dream

On July 16th, the last Southern Expedition Conference was held in the Baihutang of the Prime Minister's Mansion.At this meeting, Jia Xu, a doctor of the Taizhong and the left army commander of the prime minister's mansion, sat at the head of the long seat on the right side of Cao Cao for the first time. Before that, this position was reserved for Shang Shuling Xun Yu.Xun You, another right army division of the Prime Minister's Mansion, did not attend the meeting. He was sent by Cao Cao to the garrison camp outside Xudu City to arrange preparations for sending troops south. On the White Tiger Hall, from Jia Xu down, Zhong Yao, Hua Xin, Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan, Dong Zhao, Sima Lang, Cui Yan, Mao Jie, Yang Xiu, Sima Yi, etc., divided into two long seats on the left and right according to the usual practice Sit respectfully.Surprisingly, Cao Pi, the eldest son of the prime minister's mansion, and Cao Zhi, the third son, also attended the meeting at the east corner of the hall designated by Cao Cao.

"Today is the last time for the truth to call everyone in Xudu to discuss the matter of the southern expedition to Jingzhou." The military work that has been almost day and night for more than 20 days has made Cao Cao, who has always been physically strong, a little bit too much, and his face faintly shows very tired.However, as soon as he sat on the main seat in the center of the venue, he seemed to be more energetic and high-spirited than taking some panacea made by Hua Tuo.His entire body seemed to have suddenly become much larger invisibly, and when he was looking forward, there was a surge of majesty that immediately enveloped the audience—this is a naturally handsome man who was born when the drums and horns sounded. , a majestic majesty naturally exuded.The battle of the Southern Expedition has not yet started, and Cao Cao has already entered the full and tight fighting state in advance.

He glanced at the meeting place, and said word by word like cast iron: "The truth here respectfully invites all the gentlemen here to express their opinions on the matter of the Southern Expedition, check for omissions and make up for vacancies, and say everything! Truth's nose directly denounces the inappropriate actions of Truth's previous arrangements, and Truth will definitely accept it with a smile on his face and give him a lot of rewards!" His voice fell to the ground, but there was silence in the field.The Prime Minister's Nanzheng Conference has been held no less than five times in the past 20 days, and every minister feels that he has almost finished offering what he should contribute, and has almost finished suggesting what he should suggest.

However, Cao Cao was still sitting on the couch, waiting for them to speak sincerely. After half a cup of tea, Hua Xin coughed and raised his hand in a salute. After Cao Cao nodded in agreement, he got up and knelt down on the floor of the hall, and said in fear, "Master Prime Minister... Desperately requesting to resign from the position of Commander in the rear of Xudu, I hope you will grant it." "Master Hua, why did you say that?" Cao Cao was a little stunned. Hua Xin touched his forehead to the floor and did not dare to lift it up to face Cao Cao, as if he was ashamed: "I tell you, the Prime Minister, that Hua is not a capable person in economics and affairs. I really feel that I can't support the matter of military supplies, food and equipment, and if it goes on for a long time, I'm afraid it will miss the prime minister's southern expedition military affairs...Hua begged the prime minister to choose another wise man to replace him."

After listening to his complaints in silence, Cao Cao couldn't help sighing. He knew very well in advance that it was unimaginable for Hua Xin to be able to take over the post of Commander in the rear of Xudu with Hua Xin's talents.This requires "Xiao He's talent", how could Hua Xin have this "Xiao He's talent"?Back then, during the Battle of Guandu, Xun Lingjun was also in charge of the rear of Xudu and the supply of military supplies. He was able to command the manpower and material resources of the 23 counties of Yanzhou and Yuzhou to fight against Yuan Shao's Jizhou, Youzhou, The manpower and material resources accumulated by sixty-two counties in Bingzhou, Qingzhou, and Liaodong.Facing the pressure from the opponent who was nearly ten times stronger than himself, he was still able to handle it with ease. Why did he ever call the word "bitter"?And this Hua Xin has only taken over the post for more than ten days, and he is already in a hurry and complaining.Alas, the disparity in talents between people is huge.It's a pity... Xun Lingjun has been convalescing at home, claiming that he can't bear the drama and can't handle things... He frowned, and said coldly: "Master Hua, there is no need to refuse. The court is in urgent need of employing people, and I hope you will do your best." Serving the imperial court with all your heart. If there is anything you can't handle, I suggest you go to Mr. Xun Ling for advice." He paused for a while, then encouraged him, "Don't worry—— We, Jizhou, Youzhou, Bingzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and the whole of the Central Plains are heading straight for the eight counties of Jingzhou, isn't it just hitting an egg with a stone?"

"This..." Hua Xin slightly raised his head and squinted. Seeing that Cao Cao's face had changed, he knew that he must not be stubborn any longer, so he closed his mouth knowingly. "Besides, the truth has always been better at 'supporting the war with war and providing resources to the enemy'—" Cao Cao continued to stare at him, and continued to speak slowly, "As long as this Southern Expedition can wipe out Jingzhou within two months, The truth is that most of the money, food, and armaments needed by the 300,000 troops are burdened, so you don’t need to worry about it in the rear, you just need to take care of all the military affairs for the truth within two months.”

"Since the Prime Minister is confident, Hua can only do his best and fulfill his duties, and only hope to live up to the entrustment of the Prime Minister." Hua Xin heard that Cao Cao's words were so considerate of his own difficulties and feelings, and of course he couldn't "no" Conscientious promotion", hurriedly took advantage of the situation to "slide the donkey downhill". After appeasing Hua Xin's fear, Cao Cao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.His eyes slowly swept across the faces of all the people present in the hall, and finally turned to Jia Xu who was sitting closest to him: "Doctor Jia, do you have any suggestions or opinions that need to be added?"

"This... this... Jia has nothing to add." Jia Xu hurriedly bowed and replied flatly.After he sat up straight, as if he suddenly remembered something, he stretched out his hand and patted his forehead and said, "By the way, Jia heard that the Prime Minister has always been proficient in dream interpretation and dream interpretation. Last night, Jia made a dream. It's a strange dream, I would like to ask the Prime Minister to explain it to you, I wonder if it is possible?" When everyone in the White Tiger Hall heard this, they almost turned pale.This Jia Xu is too nonsense.What a solemn and solemn event it is to participate in the Southern Expedition at the White Tiger Hall, and Jia Xu actually treats it like a joke, and openly invites the prime minister to interpret his dreams in public?It's really that the habits of Xiliang's humble Confucianism have not given up, and it really can't be listed in the hall of elegance.

Among the whispered discussions, only Sima Yi looked unmoved as usual, staring closely at Jia Xu's every word and deed. "Oh? What kind of strange dream did Doctor Jia have?" Cao Cao was startled for a moment when he first heard what he said. Listen." "Then... the prime minister, please forgive me for bothering you. Last night, in my dream, I saw a majestic and resplendent palace. Fascinated, tsk-tsk admiration..." Jia Xu's face straightened, but he said in a serious manner, "Subordinates walked up slowly, looked at it carefully, but gradually realized that this treasure hall is a bit faint. There are some strange things about it. There are several bronze horse wind chimes hanging from the corner of the west eaves of the top of the hall, swaying and jingling by the wind; The monkey wind chimes are heavy and crumbling; the most imperfect part is that the largest beam in the middle of the roof of the hall has lost a lot of gold paint, and it seems that some moths have gotten in. Your Excellency, in your opinion, my subordinates How should this strange dream be interpreted?"

"Hahaha... Doctor Jia, there is a saying: 'Think about it every day, dream at night.' This is probably because you are too persistent in wanting to live in a new house! That's why you dream of this palace Yes." Cao Cao pondered for a while, then suddenly realized something, rolled his eyes, but there was no strange expression on his face, and said with a smile, "Well, if you assist the truth to obtain the whole Nanzheng Sheng, I will reward you with the most luxurious and magnificent palace in the entire capital city except the imperial palace, according to the appearance of the palace you saw in your dream. Everyone can testify that the truth will never break its word."

Seeing Cao Cao laughing and talking, Jia Xu secretly winked at himself, and suddenly realized that he had fully understood the meaning of what he said, so he twitched a lock of beard under his chin, nodded and smiled, and replied, "Your Excellency has said what you said." , it’s hard to catch up with four horses. This subordinate is here today to thank the Prime Minister in advance!” When everyone in the hall heard this, they all burst into laughter.With a slight smile on Sima Yi's face, he turned his head and said softly to Yang Xiu who was sitting beside him: "Mr. Magnificent palaces and mansions!" But he thought to himself, "Bronze horse wind chimes", "Bronze monkey wind chimes" and "Bronze beams with moths" are all his ingenious metaphors to remonstrate Cao Cao!This Jia Xu is so tactful in his words and deeds that no one can catch him. Yang Xiu frowned disapprovingly, and replied softly: "This Dr. Jia likes to play tricks and gossip, and Yang doesn't appreciate his style." When Sima Yi heard what he said, he couldn't help but glanced at him secretly: You Yang Xiu, although you have outstanding talents and good writing skills, how can you be so shallow when you open your mouth?Alas, another Kong Rong-like nerd and moralist... Over there, on the surface, Cao Cao was laughing to himself along with the crowd, but his heart was bright.Jia Xu painstakingly made up this "strange dream" in order to secretly warn him - the so-called "magnificent palace" refers to his Cao family's great cause; , Han Sui and others are sitting on 100,000 cavalry, staring at them, and they will invade from the east at any time; the big "bronze monkey and wind chime" refers to the Yangzhou area in the east, where Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and others sneaked into ambush and cruised in the Jianghuai River. , to hide unexpected changes; the "beams are mothed" in the middle of the hall refers to his confidants - Xu Du, Yang Biao, Fu Wan, Ma Teng, Zhao Yan and other dissidents colluded secretly, and they would take the opportunity to attack at any time .These three hidden dangers were the most troublesome problems when I went south to Jingzhou. For these three hidden dangers, Cao Cao has racked his brains and tried his best to come up with many countermeasures, but none of them can completely solve the problem fundamentally.He also knows that after he killed Kong Rong a month ago, his previous strategy of "holding the emperor to command the princes, and borrowing the emperor to win the hearts of the princes" has been completely "bankrupt", and he can no longer have the same possession as he did during the Battle of Guandu. Political advantage over adversaries.That is to say, from now on, he can only rely on his own strength to face these opponents head-on, and this kind of vicious war of attrition of "killing one thousand enemies and harming oneself by eight hundred" is the most clumsy, and it is also the most clumsy of his own "predecessors". Outnumbered" is unbearable.Therefore, for these three hidden dangers, he can only try to avoid their intensive outbreak and cause a chain effect, and it is really difficult to completely eradicate them. First of all, it is the issue of Jiangdong Sun Quan, which worries Cao Cao the most.Before going south to Jingzhou, he also knew that it would be the best policy to temporarily stabilize Sun Quan with some gentle means.In fact, there were not no contacts leading to Sun Quan. Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Sun Shao, Qin Song, the chief civil servants in Sun Quan's shogunate, had always had close friendships with Xun Yu, Wang Lang and others.However, under the current situation, will Xun Yu and Wang Lang still make a bridge between themselves and Sun Quan's faction?When this idea was put on the table, even Cao Cao doubted its feasibility.Therefore, for the Jiangdong Sun Quan faction, he can only adopt the strategy of "ignoring it and adapting to the situation". The second is the problem of hidden enemies in Xudu.To deal with loyal officials of the Han Dynasty such as Yang Biao, Fu Wan, and Ma Teng, Cao Cao had to contain Yang Biao, the leader among them, first—and hold Yang Biao's only son, Yang Xiu, by his side as a hostage.The Yang family in Guanzhong is a distinguished family of Confucian scholars with four generations and three lords. Only Yang Xiu is the son of Yang Biao when he was old, and he is the heir. He is the only seedling of Yang Biao's two generations.Yang Biao should have taken this into consideration, and might not dare to make an overly violent breakup. As for Wei Wei Ma Teng, Cao Cao could have forced him to go south to Jingzhou together.However, in this way, the conflicts between himself and Kansai Ma Chao, Han Sui, etc. will be quickly intensified, and a big melee may break out immediately.If so, how can I spare myself to take Jingzhou in one fell swoop?After I have been entangled with Ma Chao and Han Sui in Kansai for a month or two, I am afraid that Jingzhou will be taken by Liu Bei and the magpie's nest will be occupied by Liu Bei.The consequences would be even more serious.So Cao Cao knew that leaving Ma Teng in Xudu was a big hidden danger, but he had no choice but to let him go.As long as Xiliang Mashi doesn't jump out to beat me on the way to Jingzhou in the south, I can use the fastest speed to seize Jingzhou in one fell swoop, and then divide my troops to defend in the west after I have a firm foothold.At that time, I can take care of everything and sit back and relax.