Chapter 1258 Internal strife
Huan Fan led his men, controlled his facial expressions forcibly, and finally walked out of the periphery of Sima Yi's army. Only then did he dare to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was a crisp autumn day and he had only walked a short distance, but his chest and back were already soaked to the skin.
Escaped at this time, he couldn't wait to say to Si Fan and Bu Qu:
"The matter is urgent. I have to rush to Xuchang to report to the general. You and others must also hurry up."
"I expect Sima Yi will react soon, and he will definitely send people to chase him when the time comes. You can't be careless."
It’s not that Huan Fan didn’t know that taking these people to Xuchang personally was the most appropriate way.
But now that things have come to a point, Sima Yi will definitely not let him and others off easily.
When so many people walk together, it will not only slow down the journey, but also easily expose the target.
The lesser of two evils, even if he knew that leaving these people behind would become a flaw in his plan.
But now we can only protect ourselves first.
Although the mouth of a dead person is naturally the safest.
However, Huan Fan was not a general who led the army. Since he became an official in Cao Wei, he has basically been regarded as a civilian official.
After arriving in Jizhou, although he was appointed as the general of Zhenbei as usual, he was still unfamiliar with military matters.
Under the circumstances at that time, without the cooperation of Si Fan and other cronies, how could the army barely stabilize the morale of the army under the pressure of Sima Yi's army?
Not to mention that without the assistance of Si Fan and others, it would not be so easy for Cao Shuang to wipe his **** with his own servants.
So now we can only try our best to get these people to Xuchang.
After arriving in Xuchang, everything will be easy to explain.
Hence, before leaving, Huanfan specifically said to Si Fan:
"If Sima Yi knew about what happened in Yecheng, it would be difficult for him to do anything right. So now you and I can be said to be in the same boat."
"If you are lucky enough to reach Xuchang safely, I will definitely tell the general about your achievements. Why worry about a reward when the time comes?"
A big piece of pie was made, which made Si Fan and others’ eyes light up.
After appeasing everyone, Huan Fan got on his horse, and with a few of his most trusted cronies, they galloped towards the south.
It’s just that although the flatbread is delicious, if you want to eat it in your mouth, you have to go to Xuchang.
The most critical problem facing Si Fan and others is that they are too close to Yecheng, or in other words, too close to Sima Yi.
It is too far away from Xuchang, or in other words, from the general.
More importantly, the people sent by Taifu Sima to chase them were much faster than expected.
In order to catch up with Huan Fan as soon as possible, Sima Yi even sent out the elite cavalry that he regarded as treasures.
Moreover, these elite cavalry were modeled after the Ji-Han cavalry army, equipped with a three-piece cavalry suit.
“Where is Mr. Huan?”
Faced with more than a hundred menacing fine cavalry, Si Fan, who at this time still wanted to rush to Xuchang to receive his reward, although he wanted to resist.
But after looking at his side, he was immediately discouraged and simply ordered his men to abandon their weapons and surrender.
In order to get out of the city safely without being suspected, they all pretended to be members of the Qu family of the Huan envoys.
The one he holds is no more than a sword, and the one he wears is no more than cloth armor.
How can we fight against these mighty elite knights in front of us?
Not to mention that Huan's servants, who only deal with weak women who have no power to resist, immediately dispersed when they saw the pursuers coming.
Moreover, I don’t know if they had received the order earlier, but these people actually scattered and ran away.
“Teacher, spare your life!”
Si Fan is also a sensible person.
As soon as he was brought to Taifu Sima, he saw the Taifu's face that was so gloomy that it was almost dripping with water.
He immediately begged for mercy before the Taifu could say anything.
Huan Fan has already run away, so in the Yetai incident, he will have to take the blame and become the principal culprit.
If you don’t ask for mercy now, when will you wait?
“Where have those talented people that Cao Shuang sent to Tongque Garden gone?”
Sima Yi asked in a low voice, staring at Si Fan.
Although Si Fan had long expected that the Taifu would ask about this matter, and the Taifu sent people to chase him and others, it was probably mainly because of this matter.
But as soon as he heard the Taifu's question, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his mouth started to stutter:
"Hui, Hui Taifu's words, those, those..."
"Say it!"
Sima Yi shouted loudly.
"Yes, yes," the villain said. Sweat flowed into his eyes, and Si Fan did not dare to reach out to wipe it. "Long before Taifu entered the city, Huan Shijun took the villain and others to bring the late emperor's talents to the city. , all, all..."
At this point, Si Fan did not dare to continue talking.
“Shu Zi wants to die!”
Sima Yi, who was usually very good at cultivating qi, no longer cared about his demeanor and demeanor at this time. He just drew his sword and made a gesture of slashing.
“If you don’t tell me anymore, believe it or not, I’ll let you sharpen your sword?”
“I can’t help but Huan Pifu, do you really think there’s nothing I can do but you?”
"Even if your wife is a child in Xuchang, do you believe that I can still have a house full of barbarians?"
“Believe it, believe it! The villain believes it!”
Si Fan's face was pale and his head felt like pounded garlic.
“Now I want you to tell me what happened to the late emperor Huan Fan!”
Sima Yi was so angry that he passed by with his sword, and Si Fan's bun was immediately cut off.
"Yes, yes..." Si Fan felt a slight chill on his head and was frightened. He quickly said, "They were killed by Commander Huan. They were all killed by Commander Huan!"
Sima Yi had already guessed this answer. Sima Yi was not too surprised. He continued to ask:
“Where is the body? Where is the body buried?”
“They didn’t bury them, so Huan Shijun asked the villains to put the corpses, stones and iron tools in sacks and sink them in the Zhang River…”
“A common man! This is worse than a beast!”
Sima Yi cursed angrily and ordered:
“Where is it sinking? Lead the way there quickly!”
Although the Zhang River in Yecheng was not too urgent, Huan Fan had people sink the corpses for several days. How easy would it be to fish them up again?
Sima Yi sent a large number of men to search along the waterside.
A few days later, I tried my luck and picked up two sacks.
It's just that the corpse inside was swollen and rotten by water, and was beyond recognition, making it difficult to identify.
Sima Yi had no choice but to restrain himself and bury him.
The talents of the late emperor sent by Cao Shuang to Yetai were not found in Ye City, which made Sima Yi's plan not so perfect.
Even in the future, Cao Shuang may be given excuses.
But the matter has come to this, and there is no use in regretting.
However, Cao Shuang has always kept things secret, and the Three Dogs in Taichung are even more rampant.
It is an open secret in the court that the late emperor's talents are secretly hidden in the general's palace.
Even if Cao Shuang was not caught this time, it does not mean that Cao Shuang has not done those things.
Let alone Si Fan and others in his own hands.
The only thing to worry about is how to cover up the army's unauthorized entry into Yecheng so as to block Youyou's mouth?
Sigh, I’m afraid it will take a lot of effort!
Just when Sima Yi was thinking of ways to take over Jizhou at the minimum cost.
Huan Fan was already running all the way, crossing the river from Baimajin, traveling day and night, entering Chenliu, and then ran from Chenliu to Xuchang.
When he saw Huan Fan's appearance, he couldn't believe that the man in front of him was his fellow countryman:
"But in front of Yuan Zejun? You, why did you become like this?"
But I saw the man in front of me, his head was disheveled and his long hair covered half of his face, and the exposed face was covered with gray and black dirt.
The clothes on his body were all stained with mud. If it weren't for the fact that the fabric and the jade pendant used to hold the clothes could not be identified, they belonged to a powerful person. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the person in front of him was a refugee fleeing famine.
When Huan Fan saw Cao Shuang, he quickly stepped forward and said three words: "General..."
Cao Shuang felt a stench coming from his nose. He quickly covered his nose and took a few steps back:
“You, are you really Yuan Ze?”
Although Cao Shuang and Huan Fan were from the same hometown, it seemed that Cao Shuang was quite polite to Huan Fan.
If not, he would not be allowed to serve as the governor of Jizhou.
But in Cao Shuang's heart, he was not very close to Huan Fan.
Normally, Cao Shuang would be able to hide his inner feelings, but at this time, the stench emanating from Huan Fan's body really made him nauseous.
This action of covering the nose and retreating is a subconscious behavior.
Huan Fan woke up when he saw Cao Shuang acting like this.
Although he knew that he was a little too lazy, Cao Shuang's actions also made him feel uncomfortable.
At this time, Cao Shuang also reacted and put down the hand covering his nose.
“Yuan Ze, this is, what is going on with you?”
"Forget it." Huan Fan was a little downcast, "Sima Yi is good at leading troops across the state border. He surrounded Yecheng and Jizhou. He has already fallen into the hands of the old man."
"What!" Cao Shuang's face changed drastically when he heard this, "Why do you do this?"
Huan Fan ran all the way without stopping, and his speed was faster than the speed at which the news spread.
Not long after Cao Shuang received the news that Jizhou was besieged, he heard from Huan Fan that Jizhou had been lost. He was really surprised and angry.
Even somewhat blaming Huan Fan in his heart.
Looking at Cao Shuang's extremely ugly expression, Huan Fan smiled bitterly and told Sima Yi's plan.
After hearing this, Cao Shuang was shocked and broke into a cold sweat again.
But I saw him gritting his teeth and saying:
“This old thief Sima Yi is really vicious. He wants to kill me!”
Originally, he was a little angry that Huan Fan lost Jizhou, but now he heard that Huan Fan actually did so many things for him before escaping from Yecheng.
My heart has turned from anger to gratitude.
"General, the old thief Sima crossed the state border without permission, surrounded Yecheng with troops, and openly slandered the general. His rebellious intentions are clearly exposed."
Seeing Cao Shuang's behavior, Huan Fan quickly suggested:
"The general should immediately report to the emperor and issue an edict to remove him from the post of Taifu, denounce it as treason, and summon a large army to attack him."
"That's natural!" After Cao Shuang blurted out, he seemed to remember something again, his face changed, and he was a little embarrassed, "Oh, actually, I have wanted to kill the old thief for a long time."
"It's just," he said, shaking his head with a troubled look on his face, "Oh, the thieves in the West are powerful. I want to use his hand to stop the thieves, so I have to keep him for now."
“Besides, it’s not like you don’t know, Yuan Ze, that in recent years, the country has been in crisis, and the Wu bandits from the south have invaded the north every year, making it more and more difficult to control, alas!”
"For the sake of the overall situation, I have been holding back. I didn't expect that old thief to be so disregardful of the safety of the country!"
Hearing what Cao Shuang said, Huan Fan frowned.
In fact, how could he not know the current situation of Wei Dynasty?
If we really want to attack Sima Yi immediately, are we afraid that we will make the Western bandits and the Southern bandits laugh out loud?
At that time, it will only lead to the overthrow of the Wei Dynasty and the loss of the country's title.
So his real intention is just to ask:
“General, did the Wu invaders really capture Xiangyang this time when they invaded the north? How much did the Wei army lose in the south?”
Cao Shuang’s face became increasingly ugly:
“Sun Quan is really cunning and cunning. He actually used his body as bait to attack Hefei, Shouchun and other places.”
“However, Lu Xun was sent to attack Xiangyang secretly. What’s even more disgusting is that the Western thief Feng Yong actually went to Caoqiao Pass to cooperate with Lu Xun.”
When Cao Shuang said this, he sighed, "Jingzhou governor Guanqiu Jian was concerned about one thing but not the other, and he was at a loss of what to do. Xiangyang was finally captured by Lu Xun."
This is one of the reasons why he did not directly blame Huan Fan.
One lost Yecheng and the other lost Xiangyang.
The eldest brother does not talk about the second brother.
“How big will the loss of Jingzhou’s troops be?”
"Guanqiu Jian led the main force of Jingzhou and headed to Caoqiao Pass to defend against Feng's thieves. Although there were many defenders left in Xiangyang, in general, it was better to lose some vitality than to wipe out the entire army."
It was okay not to talk about Xiangyang. Cao Shuang became more and more irritable when he mentioned Xiangyang.
These days, there has been a lot of discussion between the government and the public, and many veterans have taken the opportunity to make trouble and have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with themselves.
The only thing he could do is to point out directly that he, the general, is a person with "poor virtue and respectable position" and "drinking and **** is poisonous".
In order to appease both inside and outside, Cao Shuang already felt a little anxious.
No matter how stupid he is, he still knows that this is definitely not the time to openly attack Sima Yi.
Otherwise, we don’t know whether the Western bandits and Nan bandits will take advantage of the situation.
That is, within the Wei Dynasty, if I send a large army to the north today, someone may raise troops to respond to Sima Yi tomorrow.
After all, Xiangyang was lost, and the impact was too great.
This is the first time since the founding of the Wei Dynasty that the territory has been taken away by the Wu invaders.
Not to mention the importance of Xiangyang to Jingzhou.
Without Xiangyang, Nanyang will be unstable.
If Nanyang is unstable, Xuchang will be in trouble.
Having lost territory externally, it would be strange if the government and the opposition did not start a turmoil if they continued to use troops internally.
"The general has the overall situation in mind, so he has concerns. I naturally understand that Sima Yi will not think about Wei."
Huan Fan knew that Cao Shuang’s concerns were not entirely unreasonable, but he still had to remind him:
“Sima Yi was outside Ye City. He listed many crimes and slandered the general. He had made it clear that he was at odds with the general.”
"Even if the general wants to fight Sima Yi for the sake of the country, he must make preparations as soon as possible."
Cao Shuang frowned after hearing this: "What can I do?"
"If the general wants to put the overall situation first, he must try to stabilize Sima Yi and prevent him from looking south."
Cao Shuang sighed: "Can Sima Yi'an comply with my wishes?"
Huan Fan had already thought of a way to escape, and he immediately said:
“General, Sima Yi cannot find the late emperor’s talented daughter in Yecheng, and most of his righteousness has been lost.”
"The general should rebuke him to show his innocence, and then order him to guard all the military governors in Taihang to prevent Western thieves and perform meritorious deeds."
“If Sima Yi wants to annex Jizhou, he will definitely follow the trend and pretend to obey the general’s orders in order to control Hebei.”
"When people see Sima Yi acting like this, they naturally think that the general is justified in reprimanding Sima Yi. Those who are righteous will be righteous themselves."
After hearing this, Cao Shuang nodded secretly and asked again:
“The old thief Sima is very scheming, so I’m afraid he may not be fooled.”
Huan Fan said:
“Unless Sima Yi is really dedicated to serving the public good and has no desire to invade Jizhou, for example, if he ignores the safety of the Wei Dynasty and sends his army south.”
"In this case, the general can issue an edict from the emperor to remove him from the position of Taifu, and then accuse him of slandering important ministers and violating the laws of the Wei Dynasty, with the intention of treason."
"When the time comes, he has no great righteousness in his hands and does not care about the overall situation. How can he fall into disrepute? How can the knowledgeable people of the Wei Dynasty follow him?"
When Cao Shuang heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Wonderful!"
If Sima Yi obeys the order, how can he have the dignity to oppose himself with righteousness in the future?
If you don't obey orders, you will fall into disrepair. Why should you be afraid?
Wonderful, really wonderful!
(End of this chapter)