Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3521 Prepare a Meeting Gift

In the United States in later generations, politicians would not even blink an eye if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of civilians died, let alone dozens or hundreds of thousands of students. But things were different in the Han Dynasty.

Many of these students are admittedly secondary children of family members, who are left alone to run their own business. They cannot be considered particularly smart or talented, but no matter how stupid they are, they are still the apple of their parents' eyes!

Nowadays, children have become rebels for no apparent reason, and this is a big problem!

When Cao Cao was trying to make the emperor, everyone stood by and watched. After all, the emperor was just another person's child. As long as his family, power and status were not damaged, what would it matter if he changed the emperor?

When Cao Cao was dealing with officials, everyone stood by and watched. If a few officials were dealt with, there would be more positions for the officials. Wouldn't there be opportunities for bystanders? So what's wrong with standing by and watching?

But now that Cao Cao is targeting students and children from ordinary families, not only is the scope of involvement huge, the key is that these families cannot afford to bear this crime!

Even if Cao Cao does not pursue the matter at this stage, what about the future?

The label of a thief on your head may become a bomb that detonates the entire family at any time!

Therefore, contradictions naturally arise.

Cao Cao's side had to define these people as reactionary traitors who were against Cao's army, the imperial court, and the world. Only in this way could they kill them with justification and merit, without having to bear any other responsibilities.

As for the families of the murdered children, they must take off the accusation. Even if Cao Cao's side says that it can be determined that these students were deceived, instigated, and abducted, it is not acceptable!

On the one hand, there are traditional family relationships in Shandong of the Han Dynasty, where everyone suffers when one suffers and prospers when the other prospers. On the other hand, Cao Cao has killed too many people in the name of treason over the years, causing the Shandong gentry to not believe in Cao Cao's promises at all!

Xu You is dead!

Wang Jie is dead too!

Kong Rong also died!

During the period when Cao Cao was in power, were there not many celebrities and aristocratic families who were killed by him openly or secretly?

These things are like hidden dangers and injuries, which are not obvious and will not show up in normal times, but now, in this change, they are triggered!

Even so, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu and others were still trying hard to control the situation.

Xun Yu met with Xiangyi Liu, Suiyang Dai and others, appeased them and promised, saying that this matter was caused by the thieves in Jizhou, and then praised Liu and Dai for their literary accomplishments and talents, saying that the Han Dynasty needed outstanding talents like Liu and Dai...

Of course, Xun Yu was not shooting in the dark.

The Liu family of Xiangyi was quite accomplished in the Book of Changes, while the Dai family of Suiyang was famous for the Dai Li school.

Simply put, it is just division and inducement.

Both families were relatively academically oriented and had not made much achievements in the officialdom before. In addition, the people who died in this incident were ordinary clan members, so it was not a big loss...

Living people can be sold, and dead people can be sold as well.

The Liu family of Xiangyi and the Dai family of Suiyang originally thought that since the dead cannot be resurrected, a blood-stained steamed bun is still a steamed bun, so don't treat a bean bun as dry food. If this opportunity allows the family to enter the court, it is not a big deal. Just think of it as the stupid kid in the family committing suicide by jumping into the moat of Xu County.

Anyway, there are so many deaths and injuries these days.

But no one expected that the Hongnong Yang family would take action...

Strictly speaking, it was speaking out of the mouth... oh, making a sound.

Yang Biao wrote an article mourning his child, and for some reason it suddenly went viral!

"Alas! I raised a son for more than 20 years, and in one day, he was gone!"

"As long as you are in the Han Dynasty, I am willing to be a pillar of the country, seek military merits outside, promote literary tributes inside, and assist the country in fulfilling its duties and being loyal to it."

"However, I encountered an unlucky time, and the Three Principles were in vain. I was in despair and went against my luck. I stole weapons and committed crimes. I made sincere remonstrances and used dangerous words."

"The universe is vast, but life is short and full of disasters!"

"Alas! Have you not seen Guihou being minced meat? Have you not seen Xinghou being jerked meat? Have you not seen Weizi being driven away? Have you not seen Jizi being enslaved?"

"How can you take your life lightly when you are separated from your family members! How can you value your loyalty when you lose your life! Those who came before you are not as good as you, and those who are coming after you are not as sincere as you!"

"Why did the Qi Kuo and the others get so angry? When the weather turns bad, they will be good forever. Why don't they unwind and relax at the right time? Otherwise, they will be dead and ruined!"

"Alas, my lord, why don't you obey me? How sad and regretful! Alas, how sad! "

As soon as the article came out, the situation in Xu County suddenly changed!

According to the historical situation, most of the Hongnong Yang family should be in Hongnong County. However, Cao's army is now fighting with the Cavalry in Heluo. Adhering to the principle that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, the descendants of the Yang family in Hongnong County naturally came to the Central Plains of Shandong and temporarily settled around Xu County, the capital.

In fact, the invasion of Heluo and the expulsion of the Yang family from their homeland were not a big deal.

After all, these days, it’s good enough to be alive, and the Yang family is not the only one that has been displaced.

So if Yang Xiu hadn't died, Yang Biao wouldn't have lost his temper at this time!

Although there is not a single word cursing Cao Cao, who are Gui Hou and others?

Anyone who has read for a few days will generally understand this, and then will understand the meaning of these allusions mentioned by Yang Biao!

Therefore, no matter how much they wanted to sell children for money, they had to save face, at least not like the American emperor in later generations. Xiangyi Liu, Suiyang Dai and others changed their promises one after another, or shirked their responsibilities, or declined the invitation, and at most said "we'll talk about it later" and nothing happened...

The trend had no handle to suppress it, and Yang's article stirred up trouble. In addition, Cui Yan could not be found, so the whole situation could not be suppressed and became more and more chaotic.

Cao Cao's high pressure on Shandong over the years is like a constantly compressed spring. Now that it has found some outlet for venting, it suddenly explodes!

Cao Cao killed people in Xuzhou, Qingzhou, Heluo, and Jizhou. Although this made people fear and obey him for a while, it planted many hidden dangers, and now these hidden dangers have begun to backfire on Cao Cao!

……

……

Now, in the hall of Prime Minister Cao Cao's mansion, the people sitting in the hall are all Cao's followers. Most of them are willing to share the same fate with Cao Cao, but after all, people's hearts are hidden, so who can know that all of them are loyal to Cao Cao?

The Xu County riots evolved from the initial nighttime unrest to the current turmoil in just one or two days. This made the people of Shandong, who were accustomed to the slow pace and gradual developments, somewhat uncomfortable.

Some elderly people gathered on the street of the palace, wailing and wailing.

These elderly men, leaning on crutches and with white hair, made sad accusations in the cold wind, saying that they wanted to severely punish the murderer, arrest the butcher, and punish the evildoers.

Even a fool would know that something is wrong.

Liu Xie stood on the gate of the imperial palace. Not only did he not order the expulsion of these old men, but he asked the eunuchs in the palace to come forward and bring brocade mats to these old men so that they could sit down and rest when they were tired of standing.

This ambiguous attitude caused more and more people to gather in front of the palace!

These people did not hold up weapons or name names, but only demanded that the murderers of the students be investigated and arrested, and that the thieves who slaughtered innocent people be punished...

This makes it difficult for the Cao family to do anything. They can't just openly try to cover up their wrongdoing, right?

Confession is absolutely impossible.

Don't even think about apologizing.

Everyone sitting here had some doubts in their hearts, that is, why did this chaos happen like this?

Although big things require carefulness, and Cui's actions must be kept secret, it is impossible that there would be no signs at all, right?

It is extremely hard to imagine that there was no prior communication and exchange of interests.

Moreover, once more people are involved, there will inevitably be some problems of one kind or another. If the news leaks out, it will naturally be known to Xun Yu and others.

But until now, everyone present couldn't figure out how Cui Yan contacted other people...

From the moment Cui Yan arrived in Xu County, he was basically under surveillance.

Although he was not under house arrest, nor were there people following him closely at all times, there were spies outside the mansion, on both sides of the streets, and in the government offices. No matter what Cui Yan did or who he met, they would be recorded and reported.

"Outside the city!" Cheng Yu whispered, "Outside the city... we were careless!"

Xun Yu nodded slightly.

He had thought of the same thing, but there was nothing he could do.

Surveillance requires manpower.

This war consumed a huge amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources. They had already done their best to maintain the surveillance network in Xu County. The more remote areas outside the city were simply beyond the reach of Cao's school officials.

"May I ask your Excellency, how should we respond to the overwhelming public opinion now?" Ren Jun didn't care how Cui Yan contacted him. What bothered him most now was how to deal with this situation.

After all, he was the one who killed the person!

If Xun Yu can't bear the pressure, then he will become the scapegoat of the Han Dynasty!

Fortunately, Xun Yu was calm enough. He raised his hand and said, "Now the enemy is out in the open, I should stay in the dark. Ren Zhonglang, please be patient."

Ren Jun took a breath, calmed himself down a little, nodded, and stopped talking.

At this point, he could only trust that Xun Yu would not sell him out...

Xun Yu looked around and said slowly: "I have summoned you all here today to tell you one thing... The Lord will be here soon!"

"Huh?!" "That's great!"

"Now that the lord has arrived, we can rest assured!"

"Haha, haha, that's great!"

"Don't worry, that's all!"

Everyone responded with smiles on their faces.

Xun Yu nodded, and then arranged everyone's matters, requiring everyone to remain loyal to Cao Cao at the last critical moment.

Everyone responded and patted their chests to make assurances.

Xun Yu encouraged them again and asked the people in the Prime Minister's Office to disperse and go back to their respective duties.

Everyone resigned.

"Zhongde, please stay."

When Cheng Yu was about to leave, Xun Yu suddenly spoke up to try to keep him.

Cheng Yu stopped, sat back down, bowed, and said, "What else do you want me to do?"

Xun Yu was silent for a moment, then asked Cheng Yu, "Zhongde, when will the discussion here be spread outside the palace?"

Cheng Yu whispered: "It must be spread outside tonight."

Xun Yu nodded, "Keep an eye on them."

Cheng Yu bowed and accepted the order, then left.

……

……

dusk.

In spring, it gets dark very early. In addition, the weather has not been very sunny these days, with most of the weather being cloudy. Therefore, it has already become a little dark at the hour of You.

In the official residence, a minor official staggered out of the corridor and went to the side courtyard.

Because of the storm in Xu County in the past two days, the clerks in the Prime Minister's Mansion have to be on call twelve hours a day, and they do not leave the government office. They eat and sleep in the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The clerk shrank his head, looked left and right, and seeing that there was no one around, he hurried towards the side yard wall.

When he reached the wall, he lowered his head and looked around, making sure there was no one around before he imitated a dog's barking twice under the wall.

A moment later, the sound of dogs barking was heard outside the wall.

The clerk quickly picked up a small stone from the ground, took out the towel hidden in his sleeve to wrap it up, then took a step back and threw the towel wrapped in the stone out of the wall.

After hearing a "click" sound and then two dog barks, the clerk let out a long breath and was walking back, shaking his sleeves. When he turned around the corridor, he saw Cheng Yu and a few others filling the corridor!

The clerk was so frightened that he almost jumped up on the spot. He couldn't even say a word and just subconsciously stepped aside.

"The news...has spread?"

Cheng Yu tilted his head slightly and glanced towards the wall.

The clerk's head, face and body were covered with sweat, and the sweat rolled down. "...I, I... No, I don't know... what news..."

Cheng Yu was too lazy to talk nonsense, "Catch him! Interrogate him strictly!"

The ferocious guards of Cao's residence pounced on the clerk and pinned him down. Before the clerk could shout, a piece of rag was stuffed into his mouth, and then he was tied up hands and feet like an animal, and then he was lifted up and carried out.

Cheng Yu snorted, turned around and asked the guard beside him, "How many people have been captured in Xiyuan?"

"Reporting to the doctor, we have caught two."

Cheng Yu chuckled, "Including this one, there are five in total... This Prime Minister's Mansion... is really like a sieve..."

……

……

"The thief Cao is coming back..." Zhen Zhen whispered, "It's urgent..."

"I originally wanted to let Yang Gong come forward..." Cui Yan also said in a low voice, "I never thought that this old thief just wrote an article... and didn't even show his head..."

Cui Yan was in a dark situation.

Everyone wants to be the oriole, and even wants to be the hunter behind the oriole.

So, who is the cicada?

"If Cao Cao comes here to quell the rebellion, he will definitely pull back troops from Jizhou..." Cui Yan said in a low voice, "In this way, Jizhou will be empty, and we can welcome the cavalry from the north and enter the Central Plains directly!"

After a period of getting along, Cui Yan and Zhen Zhen finally got together under the pressure from Cao Cao.

Cui Yan also completely abandoned his plan to cooperate with Cao Cao, and followed Zhen's path, turning to the direction of the Cavalry.

The Xu County Rebellion was Cui Yan's token of allegiance to General Fei Qian.

It was because Cui Yan made such a move that Zhen Zhen risked his life to cover up for Cui Yan.

"What Envoy Cui meant..." Zhen Zhen didn't understand what Cui Yan meant.

"Jizhou is empty..." Cui Yan did not keep the secret, "Yecheng...if Yecheng is in chaos again, then..."

Zhen Zhen understood a little, "Envoy Cui, you mean...Cao's son..."

"Not only that... Cao thief led the army to quell the rebellion," Cui Yan said with a smile, "this front line... hehe! If the cavalry can come out of the pass by then... the world can be pacified! This is a gift from me to the cavalry!"

Public opinion can kill ordinary people, but to think that you can bring down a politician solely by relying on public opinion is obviously putting the cart before the horse.

Politicians are not afraid of public opinion, they are only afraid of political opponents.

And most of the time, a big public opinion package is only given when political opponents are about to take action.

Cui Yan and Zhen Zhen didn't think that such a mob could kill or overthrow Cao Cao. They just wanted to create trouble for Cao Cao and then pull Cao Cao back. Once Cao Cao showed up, Jizhou and the front line would definitely be affected!

By then, even if Cao Cao cleaned up Xu County again or reached a compromise with the emperor and his officials, Cao Cao's hands and feet would be tied up in Xu County for a period of time. This period of time was part of Cui Yan's conspiracy, which was what he called a gift to the cavalry!

Zhen Zhen's eyes suddenly lit up, but he frowned again and said, "If Cao the thief comes, you and I will be in danger here!"

Cui Yan smiled and said, "My dear brother, don't hide your tricks anymore... At this moment, you should strike with all your strength!"

Zhen Zhen frowned and said nothing.

He does have some tricks up his sleeve.

In the market, especially where caravans are traveling, there will naturally be some desperate criminals recruited. Ostensibly, they are there to protect the caravans, but when necessary they can also be used as death squads. However, if these people really take action, then things will be different from before.

Before, it was just verbal incitement, just like Yang Biao's elegy. Even if others "misunderstood" it, it would not be considered as involvement.

And if someone really took action, it would definitely leave traces. If Cao Cao did not fall, the Zhen family in Yingchuan, Yuzhou, or even their hometown in Jizhou would be uprooted by Cao's revenge!

In a sense, the Zhen family is the petty bourgeoisie of the Han Dynasty. They are eager to be among the top political leaders, so they are inevitably revolutionary and want to overthrow the rulers above them and change the environment where they are exploited by the higher-level rulers. However, their revolutionary nature is not thorough, and they are hesitant and may even change at any time...

Cui Yan also saw Zhen Zhen's concerns, so he smiled and said, "Since you are in trouble... I won't force you, but... you must help me through the border... I can only contact people after I cross the river..."

Although Cui Yan's request was also difficult, it was relatively easier for Zhen Zhen to accept than Cui Yan's previous request for Zhen Zhen to go all out and use all his cards.

So the two of them discussed the specific steps of escape, and Zhen Zhen left first from Cui Yan's hiding place.

After all, Cao's army has set up checkpoints around Xu County. If we want to escape without alerting Cao's army, we still need to make some corresponding preparations...