Chapter 706: Comfort and Stability
In fact, it does not matter whether Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor or not.
Because anyone with a little bit of political common sense would know in their mind that Sun Quan would proclaim himself emperor sooner or later.
Some things in the world can be said but cannot be done, and some cannot be done.
Just like when Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, although everyone knew it in their hearts, no one would say it out loud.
Because for the Han Dynasty, the most important thing is: if Sun Quan really proclaims himself emperor, how will the Han Dynasty deal with it?
If admitted, it would be nothing less than a political disaster for the Han people who claimed to be orthodox and held high the slogan of defeating thieves and rejuvenating the Han Dynasty.
If he does not admit it, the Han Dynasty will lose its most important ally. Not only will he have to face the powerful Cao thieves alone, but he will also have to bear the pressure from the east at any time.
"If Guanzhong is in the hands of the Han at this time, why should I look at the face of Wu?"
Knowing that it was a foregone conclusion that Sun Quan would become emperor, Zhuge Liang sighed feebly. At this time, he finally felt a little tired after carrying the weight of the country.
He could almost imagine what kind of waves it would cause when the news of Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor reached the Han Dynasty.
Zhuge Qiao saw the master's appearance, which he had never shown in front of outsiders, and felt the helplessness and fatigue.
Looking at the adult whose beard had begun to turn gray, Zhuge Qiao had an inexplicable thought: Sir, you may be really tired.
“My lord, since the matter is irreversible, why not ask other people in the court for their opinions and respond in advance?”
Zhuge Qiao whispered.
"Who dares to risk such disapproval and agree to the coexistence of two emperors after Sun Quan becomes emperor?"
Zhuge Liang shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Even though everyone knows that joining forces with Soochow to fight against Cao is still the best way, but at this time, who dares to stand up?
Political correctness is often more important than the correctness of the route.
"There will always be wise people. When the late emperor passed away, wasn't it the same..."
Zhuge Qiao said something, and then paused.
At that time, who was the person who proposed the restoration of the Han-Wu Alliance?
Thinking of Feng Yong calling him his brother, Zhuge Qiao felt that he was a little reckless.
You cannot sell your own brothers to anyone!
Last year, I got seriously ill. If Adi hadn't come to save me, I might not have been able to survive that ordeal.
In addition, Adi is now the son-in-law of the Guan family. If he is not careful, he is afraid that the tiger girl will show off her power and the inner courtyard of the Feng family will be uneasy.
Hmm, forget it, forget it, don’t mention it anymore, it’s better not to mention it.
“This time and that time.”
Although Zhuge Qiao only said half of what he was going to say, Zhuge Liang still knew what he was going to say.
“When the late emperor was in Yong’an, he originally intended to restore the alliance with Wu. At that time, Han and Wu had already sent envoys to each other several times.”
“It was only later that the late emperor passed away and Sun Quan was suspicious because his majesty was young and weak, so the matter was delayed.”
“Even if Feng Yong doesn’t mention this matter, someone will eventually mention it. Everyone in the court understands this truth.”
“Therefore, the resistance to the restoration of the Han-Wu alliance was not too great at that time, but it was very different from that time.”
At this point, Zhuge Liang paused for a moment, and then continued, "At this time, Feng Yong's identity is different from before. It is best not to let him participate in such matters."
Zhuge Qiao heard this and quickly agreed.
I even felt a little bit uncomfortable in my heart: I have never enjoyed this kind of love and care from you!
Zhuge Liang naturally didn’t know what Zhuge Liangqiao was thinking. He continued: “Even if you can’t escape in the end, you have to wait until the matter becomes clear before participating.”
“Otherwise, Zhao Guang will serve as a warning to others. Well, Zhao Guang? Zhao Guang…”
As Zhuge Liang spoke, his eyes suddenly narrowed slightly.
Zhuge Qiao did not dare to interrupt the master, so he sat there and listened with bated breath.
But Zhuge Liang seemed to fall into deep thought all of a sudden.
After a long time, Zhuge Liang came back to his senses, but suddenly told Zhuge Qiao, "Okay, you go out first and help me find Li Yi."
The seventh year of Jianxing of the Han Dynasty, the eighth year of Huangwu of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, and the third year of Taihe of the Cao and Wei Dynasties. This was destined to be an unrest year.
The Han Dynasty court seems to be peaceful, but the situation underneath is turbulent. The struggle between the two auxiliary ministers left by the late emperor Liu Bei has entered a fierce battle.
Soochow was building a great momentum, and courtiers frequently presented memorials saying that there were auspicious signs in many places. This was in preparation for King Wu to proclaim himself emperor.
As for Cao Wei, after suffering major defeats on both the east and west fronts, Emperor Wei first issued an imperial edict to punish himself, and then tried his best to appease the country.
It’s just that the house leaked and it rained all night.
Last year, Cao Wei not only suffered a series of defeats in front of Shu and Wu, but even the barbarians in the north were ready to attack.
Tian Yu, the captain of Huwuwan School, sent translator Xia She to Kebineng's son-in-law Yuzhu Gejian's tribe, but he was killed by Yuzhu Gejian.
Tian Yu was not angry at the humiliation of the barbarians and repeatedly wrote to send troops to attack Yuzhu Gejian.
But at that time, Cao Wei was trying its best to deal with Shu and Wu, and after two major defeats, its vitality was seriously damaged.
Forced the then Wei Emperor Cao Rui to order the border guards not to start the war lightly.
More importantly, the loss of Longyou made Wei feel like a thorn in the back, because Guanzhong was always under the prying eyes of the opposite side.
Coupled with the fact that Liangzhou is cut off from the mainland and may fall into the hands of Shu invaders at any time, Cao Wei's strategic focus has shifted from southeast to northwest.
Let alone the Youzhou area, even the Yangzhou area is currently consolidating its defense.
Only the place in Guanzhong is the place to use troops.
However, Xian Yufu, the general of the Fu State who was always prestigious in the eyes of the Hu people in Youzhou, was transferred to Guanzhong and brought a lot of troops with him.
This greatly reduced the pressure on Kebineng, who had been suppressed by Tian Yu, and continued to provoke border areas and plunder Wei.
Tian Yu’s words in the letter became more and more intense: It is destiny for the Wei Dynasty to replace the Han Dynasty. However, during the Han Dynasty, all the Hu people surrendered. The Wei Dynasty was in great prosperity, but it allowed the barbarians to slaughter the people. Isn't it contrary to the wishes of the people in the north?
Wei Emperor Cao Rui was angry with Shu and Wu externally, and had to compromise with the aristocratic family internally.
Now that I saw that the barbarians were bullying me, I felt very angry.
Sending officials to the Hu tribes to supervise the affairs was originally a rule left by Emperor Wu.
If this matter is not pursued, what will happen if the five Xiongnu tribes in Bingzhou and Hu Youzhou in neighboring Youzhou follow the example and kill the officials appointed by the Wei Dynasty?
So Cao Rui sent an order to Tian Yu that if any barbarians invaded, he could attack them with all his strength.
However, he finally managed to stay awake and specifically told Tian Yu not to cross the border fortress.
Tian Yu received the emperor's order and first ordered the Xianbei Putou, Xieguini and other tribes in the western part of the Wei territory to go out of the fortress and attack the Yuzhu Gejian Department.
At the same time, he led the Wei army to ambush at the border.
With the support of Xianbei master Ke Bineng, Yu Zhuge and Jianzhan chased Putou and Xieguini to the territory of Wei, and Tian Yu then defeated them.
Kebi Neng was furious when he learned about it, and personally led 30,000 fine cavalry to attack Ma Cheng in Daijun, Youzhou.
Fortunately, Tian Yu was prepared in advance and knew that he could not defeat the enemy with a small number of troops, so he retreated to the south bank of the flood control in advance.
The flood control coincided with the spring flood, and the water level rose sharply. Kebi Neng was unable to cross the river, so he led his army to Shanggu County, a neighboring county of Dai County, in order to plunder Guangning County.
Yan Rou was captured by the Hu people since she was a child, and later became close and trusted by the Hu people. The Hu people even sent troops to help Yan Rou many times.
Although Yan Rou is dead now, his younger brother Yan Zhi is also deeply trusted by the Xianbei people.
After hearing the news, he was shocked and rushed all night. Finally, he arrived before Ke Bineng's troops came to Guangning County and went to Hu Camp to persuade Ke Bineng in person.
Kebi could see Yan Zhi, so he reluctantly agreed to withdraw.
However, he angrily denounced Tian Yu's behavior in sowing discord among the Xianbei tribes over the years and causing the tribes to kill each other.
At the same time, he also wrote a letter to Emperor Wei:
"Yi Di are illiterate, but they also know etiquette. The late school captain Yan Rou once protected me from the emperor, and the emperor also named me King Fuyi.
When the Wei State was first established, I moved nearly 2,000 households of Wei people to the Hu area several times and returned to the Wei territory. I also offered good horses to show my submission.
Hearing that there was a shortage of horses in the Central Plains, I personally led thousands of people and drove more than 70,000 cattle and horses to trade with the Central Plains.
by Tian Yu's nature was vicious, he killed countless members of my tribe, and made various tribes in the grassland kill each other. Although we are backward and do not know etiquette and justice, we accept the emperor's seal and ribbon.
Tian Yu wants to force the Yi Di to rebel, but I can't just wait for death, not to mention that I still have the hearts of all the tribes in the grassland. "
Yan Zhi solemnly agreed to Kebineng and promised to submit the letter to the emperor.
After Kebineng led the army to withdraw from the fortress, Yan Zhi quickly sent someone to deliver the letter to Luoyang.
There are four people who cannot get around the matter in Youzhou.
One is Xian Yufu, the other is Tian Yu, and the remaining two are the Yan brothers.
When Tian Yu was young, he took refuge with Liu Bei and returned home because his mother was old. Later, he was appointed as the magistrate of Dongzhou County by Gongsun Zan.
Xian Yufu was engaged in by Liu Yu's subordinates.
Liu Yu advocated being gentle towards the barbarians, while Gongsun Zan liked to use the barbarians to gain experience.
The two had disagreements and gradually clashed, and finally Liu Yu was killed by Gongsun Zan.
Xian Yufu and his younger brother Xian Yuyin led the remaining troops to avenge Liu Yu. At that time, the leader of the Hu people led more than 7,000 cavalry to follow him.
Yan Rou was promoted to Wuhuan Sima because of her high prestige. She summoned tens of thousands of Hu people and Han people to attack Gongsun Zan from the other side.
At the same time, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in the south were attacking each other all year round.
Gongsun Zan was attacked on three sides, defeated repeatedly, and finally committed suicide.
Although Xian Yufu and Tian Yu were in hostile camps, they later became close friends.
After the defeat of Gongsun Zan, although the land of Youzhou was nominally under the jurisdiction of Yuan Shao, in terms of influence, it was Xian Yufu and Yan Rou.
Xian Yufu was elected by the officials and people to serve as the prefect, and he appointed his good friend Tian Yu as the chief official.
At that time, all the heroes were rising up, and Xian Yufu didn't know who to follow. Tian Yu persuaded him to submit to Cao Cao, and asserted that the one who would bring peace to the world must be Cao Cao, and Xian Yufu followed his advice.
Later, the Battle of Guandu broke out, and Xian Yufu went from Youzhou to the front line to meet Cao Cao in person. At the same time, Yan Rou also sent an envoy to meet Cao Cao.
After Cao Cao unified Hebei, he placed both of them in important positions.
Tian Yu has been with Gongsun Zan for a long time, and his attitude towards the barbarians is the same as Gongsun Zan's, that is, kill, kill, kill!
Xian Yufu, on the other hand, was neutral. He attacked those who were dissatisfied with the Han and appeased those who surrendered. Therefore, he was supported by some Hu people, but at the same time he was also hostile to some Hu people.
As for the Yan brothers, they advocated comfort and won the trust of the Hu people.
Even though Kebineng is now the most powerful force in Xianbei, he is deeply respected by the people in the tribe. At the same time, other Hu leaders also respect him.
But as soon as Yan Zhi came forward, he had to listen, which shows the influence of the Yan brothers on the Hu people.
Now Yan Rou is dead, and Xian Yufu has been transferred to Guanzhong.
Tian Yu and Yan Zhi’s respective opinions are at two extremes, so the opposition in opinions suddenly became acute.
Although Tian Yu defeated the Yuzhu Geyi tribe this time, it also angered Ke Bi and led the army to come, causing Youzhou to suffer from war.
Yan Zhi would not miss this opportunity. He wrote the matter into a memorial and rushed it to Luoyang.
Cao Rui was already devastated by two major defeats. After receiving the news of the northern victory, he was very happy, thinking that he could show off his martial arts.
Unexpectedly, a letter from Ke Bineng was also sent back to Luoyang at the same time.
After reading this letter, which was half threat and half persuasion, Cao Rui was immediately furious.
He is young and vigorous, and now he is the emperor. How can he be threatened by barbarians?
But the southeast and northwest were greater threats than the Hu people, so he had to suppress his emotions.
He first publicized the great defeat of the barbarians in Youzhou to boost the morale of the people, and at the same time concealed Kebineng's letter.
However, the matter is not over.
At this time, the governor of Youzhou was named Wang Xiong. Like Yan Zhi, he advocated appeasing the Hu people.
Since Tian Yu became the captain of Huwuwan, he has worried that the Hu people will merge with each other, which will gradually unite the Hu people into large tribes and cause greater harm.
So he suppressed the annexers and forced the powerful tribes to disperse. Anyone who dared to make suggestions for the Hu people would try their best to sow discord between them.
So Wang Xiong and Tian Yu had always had different political opinions. Now they had an opportunity. His party members took the opportunity to slander Tian Yu for disrupting the border and causing trouble for the country.
At the same time, Wang Xiong wrote a memorial, pointing out that the biggest hidden danger to Wei at this time was Shu and Wu, not the Hu people in the north. Therefore, we should not provoke the Hu people at will and let them cause trouble on the border.
Cao Rui was secretly relieved when he received the memorial from Wang Xiong, the governor of Youzhou, and he strongly agreed with Wang Xiong's views.
After considering the overall situation, Cao Rui used Tian Yu's excuse to defeat the Hu people and transferred him to the post of Runan Prefect and promoted him to the general of killing the barbarians.
Tian Yu transferred away from Youzhou, which temporarily appeased Ke Bineng.
This matter had many twists and turns, but in the end, all parties gained something.
Even though Tian Yu, who lost his position as Colonel Huwuwan, was pushed out of Youzhou, he was still promoted.
I have to say that Cao Rui played really beautifully.
Last winter, the Wei Dynasty first re-pacified most of Anding's areas, and at the same time recaptured Yuezhi City from the Shu people.
Now, together with Tian Yu, he defeated the Hu people and captured a lot of them.
Such a small victory was nothing in the past, but for Cao Wei, whose officials and people were in a slump at this time, it was like a shot in the arm.
Cao Rui demonstrated his martial arts skills and took various measures to finally stabilize the country.
He began to order the major construction of ancestral temples in Luoyang to welcome the four divine masters of Emperor Cao Jiagao, Emperor Tai, Emperor Wu, and Emperor Wen in Yecheng.
At the same time, while still worshiping the ancestral temple, he issued an edict:
“Ancient etiquette stipulates that when a queen has no sons, when selecting a concubine to inherit the family, she should inherit the orthodoxy and uphold justice. How can she take into account personal family ties?
Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty succeeded Emperor Zhao to the throne and added the title of his biological father;
Emperor Ai ascended the throne as the king of a feudal state, but Dong Hong and others actually cited the destroyed Qin State as an example to confuse the court at that time. They honored his biological father as Emperor Gong and built a temple in the capital.
He also favored the concubines of the vassal state and made her comparable to the empress dowager of Changxin Palace.
In the court's front hall, the theory of the palace was alienated, and the harem also set up four queen queen at the same time.
The edict listed various actions of the Han Dynasty that violated etiquette and law, emphasizing orthodoxy.
And authorized the country's important ministers to kill those sycophants without mercy.
Cao Rui not only announced this edict to the world, but also wrote the contents into a gold book, hid it in the ancestral temple, and recorded it in the national code.
This move strengthened Cao Wei's orthodoxy.
(End of this chapter)