Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3556 It Rains in the Sky

Cao Cao slowly scanned the letters, various pieces of silk, bamboo slips, and wooden tablets in front of him, and his face was just like the gloomy sky.

One year, the pile of letters and newspapers on Cao Cao's desk was so thick that it looked like the snow piled up on the top of Xu County.

Three feet frozen, not a cold day.

So what about the three-foot-long letter?

How many more days of frost?

In the hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, a bronze figurine holding a lamp watched everything indifferently, not caring at all that the lampshade he was holding was blackened by oil.

Light the lamp for a night, and another day begins.

"Crash..."

The bamboo slips piled on the desk were swept to the ground by Cao Cao.

Anger leaped in Cao Cao's eyes, but the next moment it was swallowed up in silence.

Cao Cao, with gray hair, is like a middle-aged man who is facing a downturn in the economy, has been laid off by his company, and is about to be unable to pay his mortgage and car loan, but still has to support his parents and raise his children. It is impossible to save on rigid expenses. You have to spend money to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, but what about income...

"Jingzhou..."

"Jizhou..."

"Xuzhou..."

Cao Cao's knuckles turned white, as if he was about to crush the table.

The war in Jingzhou is not going well. Niu Jin was killed in battle. Cao Ren and Cao Zhen are fighting on two fronts. Jingxiang is internally unstable. Han Hao may not be able to defend against Huang Zhong. There are loopholes everywhere.

The Cui family of Jizhou openly contacted Youzhou and raised the slogan of welcoming the cavalry and not conscripting them, which also caused a shock among the Jizhou gentry. Some hesitated, some waited and watched, and some clapped and laughed.

The Chen family of Xuzhou also rebelled and killed the governor of Xiapi. The reason was, of course, that the governor was corrupt and levied heavy taxes, but everyone knew that this was just a cover. Which governor was not corrupt? If they were all killed, there would definitely be some innocent people, but if they were killed one by one, there would definitely be some who slipped through the net!

All these letters and reports point to one result: there is a serious imbalance between income and expenditure.

If this continues...

Lao Cao's claws like Yellow Lightning, Dark Clouds Covering Snow, and Absolute Shadow may soon become the possession of others!

The sign of this Prime Minister's Mansion will also be taken down and replaced with someone else's surname.

Cao Cao looked up and looked at the carved beams and painted buildings in the hall.

On top of the beams, four spirits were carved to ward off evil spirits, standing guard on the left and right sides of the door lintel.

Above the door lintel are clouds that symbolize auspiciousness, stretching out layer upon layer like fish scales.

However, the bright colors and exquisite depictions of that time are now somewhat mottled.

Cao Cao watched silently, then stood up and said, "Come here! Load these scrolls onto the cart!"

Outside the hall, the sky was still covered with dark clouds, so gloomy that it seemed like it would collapse at any moment.

Cao Cao raised his head slightly, "Let's go to the palace!"

……

……

When Cao Cao entered the palace, Emperor Liu Xie was copying Ban Gu's book. When he heard that Cao Cao was coming to see him, he paused with his imperial pen, and a little ink stained the word "Master" in "Master of the Eastern Capital", making the word "Master" somewhat more "dignified" and less square.

Liu Xie took a breath, crumpled up the copy paper and threw it on the ground.

To be honest, Liu Xie didn't want to meet Cao Cao.

Cao Cao taught Liu Xie a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean Liu Xie would like Cao Cao.

Just like not all students respect their teachers, it is possible that many students feel that their teachers teach too much and are too strict.

But I have to see...

In front of the imperial steps, a bronze crane incense burner exhaled green smoke from sinking water incense, like a veil lying between the emperor and his powerful ministers.

Cao Cao's court boots rolled over the half-dried cattail mat in the hall and stopped abruptly ten steps away from the imperial desk.

This is the maximum distance for foreign officials to meet the emperor.

If you take one more step, you can directly reach the Dan level!

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty..."

Cao Cao does not have the fame of Grand Tutor Dong, nor the might of the King of Wei in history, so when it is time to greet someone, he still has to follow the rules.

"Stand up, and take a seat."

Liu Xie was just like he had practiced it thousands of times, not even the distance he raised his arms to swing changed a bit.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Cao Cao stood up, flicked his sleeves, lifted his robe, shook his clothes, and sat down.

Liu Xie took a deep breath and tried hard to keep the jade beads hanging from the crown on his head from shaking.

Seeing Cao Cao like this, after Cao Cao sat down, Liu Xie asked directly: "Now that the war is imminent, I wonder what are the chances of the Prime Minister winning?"

Cao Cao squinted his eyes, looked at Liu Xie, and suddenly laughed.

"Your Majesty, do you recognize this object?"

Cao Cao took out a blood-stained silk handkerchief from his sleeve, opened it and displayed it in front of him.

Liu Yue looked closely and saw that under the Vermillion Bird pattern on the silk handkerchief was the private seal of Grand Tutor Yuan Wei.

The eunuch stepped forward, took the silk handkerchief, placed it on a lacquer tray, and brought it to Liu Xie.

There were some ink characters on the silk scarf. Although most of the characters were covered by blood, some characters near the seal were still clear. "Seeing the seal is like seeing the person. Do not delay."...

Cao Cao laughed and said, "In the past, when the thief Dong had not yet entered Luoyang, anyone holding this silk handkerchief could run rampant in the market, mobilize troops and generals, and no one would disobey him!"

Liu Xie's pupils suddenly contracted.

After Dong Zhuo executed Yuan Kui, the seal disappeared from the imperial court documents. Before Dong Zhuo, Yuan Kui's seal was not only used on official documents, but even notes with Yuan Kui's private seal could be used as official government orders!

What was Cao Cao trying to say? Was he trying to say that he would end up like Yuan Kui, so he was now begging the emperor Liu Xie to pity him? No, no, it was obviously the opposite. Cao Cao was trying to say that the emperor Liu Xie would become the second Yuan Kui!

Liu Xie was thinking, but heard Cao Cao still laughing: "I didn't expect that once this thief Dong came, the silk handkerchief would be stained with blood, and it would no longer have the former majesty!"

Liu Xie's eyebrows twitched. Is this a reference to me?

"Prime Minister..." Liu Xie also became a little angry, "What do you mean?"

Now Liu Xie can be said to have been tolerant again and again, trying his best to avoid conflicts with Cao Cao. Even when Cao Cao had trampled on the Imperial Street so arrogantly before, Liu Xie still pretended not to see it, in order to cover up his crime or the ostrich laying eggs. But he did not expect Cao Cao to still come to his door, oh, and slap him in the face in the palace. How could this be tolerated?

Cao Cao smiled, waved his hand and said, "Come here! Present it to His Majesty!"

Immediately, a eunuch trembling with fear carried the various letters and reports brought by Cao Cao, including thin silk, bamboo slips, and wooden tablets, on three large lacquered plates and carried them into the hall.

“This… this is…”

Liu Xie was a little confused.

"Your Majesty, please have a look." Cao Cao bowed and saluted.

Liu Xie was confused, but also a little curious, so he asked the eunuch to put the letters on the table one by one.

The emperor's desk was naturally wide and large, but even so, when all these letters and newspapers were piled up, it still seemed a little cramped. He even had to move some other things away a little before he could barely fit so many letters and newspapers.

Liu Xie looked at Cao Cao's calm appearance, then he casually picked up a piece of thin silk, unfolded it, and took a quick look at it. His heart skipped a beat!

This letter was sent from Jingzhou and written by Cao Ren.

He reported that Niu Jin was killed, Shunyang fell, and Liao Hua and Li Dian would soon arrive at Danjiangkou and so on. At the end, he wrote about Cao Ren's determination to fight to the death and said that his own coffin was ready, but he also asked Cao Cao to withdraw as many soldiers as possible to support him, because Cao Ren was worried that if he and Cao Zhen fought in the front, there would be turmoil in the rear of Jingzhou... Liu Xie's eyes shook a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but he held back, put the thin silk aside, then took a roll of bamboo slips, shook it open and read it.

The bamboo slips were reported by Xuzhou, indicating that after killing the governor of Xiapi, the Chen family of Xiapi gathered local militias with ill intentions...

Liu Xie's hand trembled, and he didn't know whether he should laugh out loud or sigh.

Liu Xie didn't know the surname of the Xia Pi governor, but he knew that Chen was the local boss of Xia Pi, so even if the memorials and letters didn't say much, Liu Xie could guess a little. The powerful dragon couldn't suppress the local boss, so he was killed by the local boss! Although it was the governor sent by Cao Cao who was killed, it was also the result of the local gentry's excessive power and strength, and their contempt for the laws of the country and their slapping of the central court.

Liu Xie frowned.

He was somewhat unsure of Cao Cao's intentions.

I read a few more letters and reports, most of which were urgent reports from various places, either rebellion, thieves, insufficient granaries, or a shortage of soldiers. There was almost no good news.

Liu Xie couldn't help but take a breath, looking at the letters and reports piled up like a mountain on the table, then looked at Cao Cao. The anger in his stomach was greatly extinguished by these letters and reports.

Liu Xie sat down slowly and waved his hand to let the eunuch serving beside him leave.

Liu Xie somewhat understood what Cao Cao meant, but he didn't know whether he should laugh at Cao Cao or at himself, nor did he know whether he should scold Cao Cao or scold himself.

Is this the Shandong province of the Han Dynasty governed by you, Cao Cao? Is this the Central Plains under your exclusive rule? For a moment, Liu Xie wanted to slam the table and scold Cao Cao, but the next moment he realized that even if Cao Cao did not monopolize power and let Liu Xie handle these things, Liu Xie would still be unable to handle them.

It was as if all these letters and reports were piled up on the imperial desk, but Liu Xie was powerless to do anything about any of them.

He has no money, and he has no people.

"Prime Minister," Liu Xie asked the same question for the second time, "What do you mean?"

Cao Cao cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this is not about what I want, but what Your Majesty wants! May I ask Your Majesty, when Your Majesty was in Guanzhong and was threatened by the two thieves Li and Guo, did the cavalry ever offer half a bushel of rice?"

Liu Xie's hand trembled, he clenched his hand into a fist, and several blue veins appeared on the back of his hand.

Compared with the period of Dong Zhuo, Liu Xie's life was more miserable during the period of Li and Guo.

On the one hand, Liu Xie was still young during the time of Dong Zhuo and seemed to understand many things, but he was older during the time of Li and Guo. On the other hand, when he was in Luoyang, it was not too decadent, at least there was no problem with food and drink. But after he arrived in Chang'an, after the chaos and war, there was a shortage of supplies, and it happened that Liu Xie was eating his father to death. It was a time when he could eat a lot, but there was not even anyone to eat!

Young people living in peacetime in later generations may rarely have any special obsession with food, and eating meat is even more common. Sometimes they will be picky, and if the food tastes a little bit bad, they will just throw it away. But for Liu Xie, hunger and death, that time in Guanzhong, left the deepest scars on Liu Xie.

Liu Xie took a breath and said slowly, "Prime Minister, didn't you also not offer it?"

Cao Cao raised his head and met Liu Xie's gaze. "Your Majesty, do you know what I ate at that time?"

Liu Xie did not ask what it was because he had roughly guessed what it was.

Cao Cao didn't have an easy time at first, especially after his ass was raided in Yanzhou. His anus was bleeding and he was in a state of panic...

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and said, "At least I know the taste of hunger better than those splendid articles."

The two fell silent, as if they were in a stalemate or a struggle over something.

Liu Xie raised his head slightly and through the door of the hall, he saw that the sky was still gloomy, as if it had blocked the door of the hall tightly.

"Prime Minister, if you have anything to say, please speak directly."

Liu Xie sighed.

Cao Cao cupped his hands and said, "In the past, Yuan Benchu ​​raised an army to attack me, and Chen Kongzhang wrote a letter of accusation for him, saying that I was just a "eunuch's ugly son"... Now, the cavalry army has left Wuguan, and they are fighting under the name of "Fengtian Jingnan"... "

Liu Xie felt a chill when he heard this. He had heard too much about this so-called "Feng Tian Jing Nan" (meaning "pacifying the rebellion"). Yuan Shao had used the same slogan to fight Gongsun Zan. Even Li and Guo were doing evil in Guanzhong under the name of "Feng Tian Jing Nan" (meaning "pacifying the rebellion").

He suddenly remembered the memorial hall of bones he had seen when he was held hostage by Li Jue. Among the skulls in the memorial hall, there were even children aged three or four.

"The cavalry...may not be so..." Liu Xie gritted his teeth and said, "I have heard that the people in Guanzhong live and work in peace and contentment, and trade is prosperous..."

"Haha." Cao Cao smiled, "Your Majesty, in the past three or four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, if we talk about peace and prosperity, I wonder if Guanzhong has more or Yuji has more? What's more... when Dong the thief entered the capital in the past, he was also said to be loyal and good at commanding the army... Later, when Dong the thief ordered the emperor to be deposed and enthroned in the court, did the ministers in the court who called me "an ugly eunuch" have the courage to do so? ! "

"..." Liu Xie tightly gripped the armrests of the dragon throne and gritted his teeth.

Who can guarantee that Fei Qian is not the next Dong Zhuo, and who can be sure that Liu Xie is not the next Liu Bian?

What would those Shandong gentry and big families in the Central Plains say or do when Liu Xie was driven off the throne?

Obviously impossible.

Otherwise, Liu Xie would not have been able to sit on the throne!

Seeing Liu Xie's expression, Cao Cao added another weight, "I have heard that the man who poisoned the young emperor under Dong Zi once changed his name and served as the chief officer under the cavalry, and was trusted by many people..."

Liu Xie leaned forward, stared at Cao Cao and asked, "Are you serious?!"

Cao Cao nodded slowly, "It's absolutely true."

Liu Xie's face suddenly turned gloomy.

In fact, Liu Xie knew a little about this matter.

However, Li Ru had already left Chang'an at that time, and as a pioneer in the development of the Western Regions, to some extent, it could be considered as "making up for one's mistakes", so no one would discuss this matter specifically. Besides, wouldn't it be good to hold the pigtail in hand? In case it is needed, can't it be used? Just like now, Cao Cao shook out the pigtail, and immediately hooked Liu Xie's soft spot.

Therefore, even if other ministers knew about it, they would not tell Liu Xie clearly before. Liu Xie was confined in the imperial palace, so he could only have a vague understanding of many things and could not learn about them in detail.

This is the case with most things in China. If they are not spoken out, they seem to be trivial and insignificant. But once they are weighed, they become heavier than a thousand pounds.

As Cao Cao increased the stakes bit by bit, the balance in Liu Xie's heart tilted again.

Cao Cao used Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao as examples to warn Liu Xie, saying that even if Liu Xie did nothing and did nothing wrong, after Fei Qian defeated Cao Cao, he would most likely "establish a new clan" like Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao!

Liu Xie stared at Cao Cao and remained silent for a long time.

Cao Cao faced Liu Xie's gaze calmly.

"There are so many Yi and Huo bandits in the world now, who can know them?" Liu Xie said in a deep voice.

Cao Cao said proudly, "During the 300 years of the Han Dynasty, there were countless people who served as prime ministers and relatives of the emperor, but how could there be a Shangshutai in Xijing?"

Liu Xie stroked the dragon head horn carvings on the armrest of the dragon throne, raised his head to look at the colorful painting of the "Twenty-Eight Constellations" on the caisson on the top of the hall, his eyes wandering between the "Purple Palace" and the "Tianshi Palace".

Cao Cao said again, "Your Majesty, Fei Ziyuan has his own army and repeatedly disobeyed the king's orders. I heard that there is a children's song in Guanzhong saying: "The blue dragon is not a dragon, and Guanzhong is not Han"... Such rebellious words are not suitable for a minister... "

"The Prime Minister has devoted himself to the Han Dynasty, worked hard and made great contributions, which greatly comforts me." Liu Xie withdrew his gaze from the ceiling of the palace and looked at Cao Cao again, "Huang Shigong once said, "The soft can control the hard, and the weak can control the strong." The soft is virtuous, and the hard is a thief. The weak is benevolent and helped, and the strong is resentful and returned... I hope the Prime Minister will take this advice into consideration."

Cao Cao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I will keep in mind what you said."

The sky had been dark for a long time.

A gust of wind suddenly blew through the hall, lifting the crimson gauze in the hall and making the copper bells on the eaves ring suddenly, like the collision of swords and spears.

Liu Xie sat high on the red steps. Although the "mountain dragon and colorful insect" pattern on the imperial curtain behind the throne was large and complex, it was somewhat dull.

Cao Cao prostrated himself at the foot of the stairs. Because the hall was dimly lit, with only light coming in from the door, his shadow was magnified and projected onto the curtain, as if he were covered by a shadow.

"My dear sir..." Liu Xie asked in a low voice in the shadows, "What should we do now?"

Cao Cao bowed again, "Now that the spring ploughing is in need of rain, I ask Your Majesty to go to the altar in the suburbs of Xu to pray for rain!"

"Pray for rain?" Liu Xie repeated.

Liu Xie was a little confused, was that all?

If you can't pray for rain...

Liu Xie raised his head and looked outside the hall, seeing layer upon layer of dark clouds, and he understood roughly what was going on.

If there were no clouds and the sky was clear, there would be a risk of no rain, but how could there be no rain in such weather?

But, is this useful?

Can the next rain drive away the Hussars?

Cao Cao raised his head and smiled. "After the rain stops, Your Majesty can issue an edict to confer Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong, the title of Governor of Youzhou and Marquis of Rongqiu..."