Chapter 18 18. Return to Beijing and start from scratch

In the third year of Emperor Guanghe of the Han Dynasty (AD 180), after the eunuch Wang Fu who had been in power for many years was destroyed, the 26-year-old Cao Cao was once again recruited by the court because of his proficiency in ancient studies. Lang - served as a consultant to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty Liu Hong. Although he was glamorous in name, he was a position without real power. It has been more than a year since I left the capital, and the bustling market is still there, but it is different from the past, now I am clean, relying on the Ming Jing to promote my official position, my family and eunuchs are not involved, I can be said to be at ease.He rode to Cao's mansion in Yongfu Lane in the east of the city, and saw two official cars parked in front of the house from a distance.When the family saw that the young master had returned, they hurried in to let him in.Lou Yi and Qin Yilu settled things, and Cao Cao went to the study to meet his father—Old Cao Song had a lot of secrets in his officialdom, but he always met guests in the study, and rarely used the living room.Cao Cao just walked to the door of the study, and suddenly heard his father say inside: "Mr. Cao is dead, and I will count on Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhao for the elders."

Cao Cao was quite surprised, and probed: "Father! I'm back!" "Hey! Come in, come in!" Cao Song hurriedly called him in, "I give you two introductions, this is Cao Cao Cao Mengde." Cao Cao came in and gave a deep salute, looked up and saw two officials sitting in the room, They are all in their forties, with graceful bodies and casual clothes, but they look a little awkward. "The tiger father has no dogs!" When Cao Cao heard them talking, his voice was shrill—an eunuch again!no beard! Cao Song recommended: "These two are Mr. Zhao and Mr. Zhang. You should know about the emperor's side."

Cao Cao, the two eunuchs Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, has naturally heard of them. The party members imprisoned them back then, and these two eunuchs did not play any good role in it.Although not as domineering and domineering as Wang Fu and Cao Jie, the two old eunuchs, they are definitely not kind.Zhao Zhong smiled and said, "Young Master Cao is the Luoyang county captain who killed Jian Tu?" "I'm here." Cao Cao always said politely. "I heard that Yilang was recruited, right?" Zhao Zhong smiled half-smile. "yes." "Old Qiaoxuan has recruited many talents for the country, Chen Wen, Bao Xin, and you Cao Mengde! They are all recommended by Qiaoxuan..." Zhao Zhong looked back at Zhang Rang meaningfully when he said this. , Zhang Rang nodded knowingly.Cao Song's heart was as bright as a light, although Qiao Xuan resigned, he was the eunuch's deadly enemy back then, and they had been eyeing his son since he arrived.He quickly laughed and said, "Oh! Look at what you said, isn't the one who recommends someone from the imperial court? Since it is for the emperor's family, it is inevitable that you will be entrusted to take care of it!"

"Don't dare!" Zhang Rang pushed his hands modestly.As soon as Cao Song turned around, he took out two small brocade boxes from nowhere, handed them to Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, and said, "Here is a small item, it's not worth much, you two keep it for fun!" The two opened it and looked at it—a pair of golden bulls, with pearl eyes and agate horns, which weighed on the wrists in their hands.Zhang Rang immediately smiled and said, "Is this suitable?" Cao Cao looked angry, and said to himself, "It's not suitable, you hand it back, why did you put it in your arms?"

Zhao Zhong said with a smile: "My son, we will definitely speak kindly in front of Long Live, but..." He frowned, "Jian Shuo is not the same as before, now he is in charge of the emperor's guards, and recruited in the West Garden A group of people, called Xiyuanqi, neither of us can afford to provoke him!" But Zhang Rang said: "Jian Shuo is a dead-headed man, he only knows how to do errands, he doesn't care about other things, he can't get in the way of foreign court affairs." "Hey! How do you know what's going to happen tomorrow?" Zhao Zhong glanced at Zhang Rang, "I won't fight with you (bickering)... Mr. Cao, Mr. Cao, it's getting late. The two of us bid farewell, tonight Master Fan Ling is the host, and invited us to the banquet!"

"Hahaha..." Cao Song smiled apologetically, "Since that's the case, I won't keep the two, let's go slowly..." He got up to see them off, but Cao Cao just sat there and ignored them.Cao Song sent the two of them away, and came back happily, saying, "One generation is not as good as the next generation! Back then, your grandfather received gifts by carload by carload, while Wang Fu received presents in boxes by boxes. Sent it away. You said that our family's things are perfunctory for them, isn't it a drop in the bucket?" Cao Cao was a little displeased: he finally got rid of Cao Jie, and got attached to Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang. When will Dad not curry favor with these eunuchs?