Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 374
At the beginning of December in the 24th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei drew up a list of creditors, with Zhuge Liang as the first and Shen Chen as the second.

In fact, based on credit, the relationship between Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen can be said to be [-]-[-], or even [-]-[-].

It's like Gao Zu's rule of the world, Xiao He's first contribution, although the credit for Han Xin's rebellion was obliterated, most people in the world think that he took the second place.

Zhuge Liang is similar to Xiao He, stabilizing the almost collapsed rear, providing food, troops, and support for the two-front battle. It can be said that Liu Bei can defeat Cao Cao in Guanzhong, and Shen Chen can kill the Quartet in Jingzhou. The solid backing.

The roles of Liu Bei and Shen Chen can be replaced, such as sending Guan Yu to the Battle of Guanzhong.For the battle of Xiangfan, if Guan Yu was there, he would have made so many adequate preparations, and he would have done no worse than Shen Chen.

Only Zhuge Liang's credit can never be replaced, because this is no longer as simple as marching and fighting, but it is about maintaining stability in the rear and supporting the frontline battlefield.

A little carelessness, if a mistake is not handled well, it may cause the two lines to collapse at the same time, so that the Liu Bei Group will be wiped out for the Sun Cao Group, and eventually the country will be destroyed.

Therefore, he takes the first place, and no one refuses to accept it.

It is only natural for Shen Chen to be the second meritorious service, and he did his part.

Immediately after were Guan Yu, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei and others.

The reason why Guan Yu ranks third is very simple.

In the Battle of Guanzhong, he broke through Cao Ying, killed a large number of generals of Cao Wei, and almost captured Zhong Yao alive.

It stands to reason that Huang Zhong's contribution should be greater than his.

Kill Lu Meng and kill Xiahou Dun.

But Huang Zhong's credit mainly lies in obeying Shen Chen's orders, which means that it is almost a cake-feeding credit, and any general can do it by stuffing meritorious deeds into people's mouths.

Even Jiangling City was not broken by him, but a natural disaster caused the city to collapse. It was Shen Chen who forced Lu Meng out and sent him to Huang Zhong.

The same was true for Xiahou Dun, who was also forced out of Xiangyang City by Shen Chen and fed into the mouth of the old general.

In contrast, Zhao Yun's contribution may be greater than Huang Zhong's.

Because Zhao Yun took the initiative to attack in Xunyang and defeated Sun Quan's [-] troops, and then defeated Sun Jiao's troops in Yiling. They were all tough battles, and they did not follow Shen Chen's orders. Unlike Huang Zhong, it was purely due to feeding.

It's just that Huang Zhong did personally behead Lu Meng and shoot Xiahou Dun, and he made too much credit for beheading the general, so he was ranked below Guan Yu and above Zhao Yun.

As for Ma Chao.

His credit lies in recruiting a large number of Qiangdi for Liu Bei, and he has made great contributions to protecting food with Zhang Fei, and has a role in deciding the outcome of the battlefield.

Although Gan Ning, Zhang Xiu and others also contributed a lot, their role is not so obvious.

For example, Ma Chao made great contributions because if he hadn’t recruited a large number of Qiang Di to help Liu Bei, then when Liu Bei was entangled with Cao Cao in Xiliang in the first half of the year, one was that the Tibetan army plan could not deceive Cao Cao and Sun Quan; Losing will be even worse.

Afterwards, the food and grass were escorted to stabilize the food road. Otherwise, if Cao Cao's cavalry ran out of food, the battle of Guanzhong would still be defeated.

However, the actions of Gan Ning and Zhang Xiu did not determine the outcome of the entire battlefield. Gan Ning fought Sun Quan, and Zhang Xiu fought Sun Jiao. After the Lu Meng tribe was wiped out, whether Sun Quan and Sun Jiao could escape would not affect the entire battle situation.

Therefore, the conditions for assessing credit are as follows.

One.

Whether it affects the outcome of the battle.

two.

Whether it made a great contribution to the whole war.

three.

Whether it has affected the local battlefield or indirectly affected the large battlefield.

Zhuge Liang is one of the planners of the grand strategy, and at the same time affected the outcome of the two major battlefields, as well as the rise and fall of the entire Liu Bei Group, so the credit is the first.

Shen Chen is also the planner of the grand strategy, affecting the outcome of the Jingzhou battlefield, indirectly affecting the Guanzhong battlefield, and was captured alive, so the second.

Guan Yu is not a grand strategy planner, but he completely affected the outcome of the Guanzhong battlefield and did not affect the outcome of the Jingzhou battlefield, so he ranked third.

Huang Zhong is fourth.

This is completely different from the fact that in the Battle of Dingjun Mountain in history, Xia Houyuan was the first to kill Xia Houyuan.

In the Battle of Dingjun Mountain, Huang Zhong led the army to break Xiahouyuan's camp, and then personally beheaded Xiahouyuan. It was a personal influence on the outcome of the entire battlefield, so it ranked first.

But now it only affects the outcome of the Jingzhou battlefield, but he can be replaced, which belongs to the credit, because he personally killed Lu Mengxiahou Dun, and this is ranked fourth.

Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Fei did not completely affect the outcome of the big battlefield, but they all made great contributions to the battlefield, and affected the local battlefield and indirectly affected the big battlefield, so they ranked fifth, sixth, and seventh.

The rest of Wei Yan, Pang De, Gan Ning, Lu Chang, Wenpin, Zhang Xiu, Huang She and other generals were considered to have affected the local battlefield. Even if Gan Ning and Huang She defeated Sun Quan, it would not affect the final victory of the war. Not as good as these people above.

In addition to these generals, counselors such as Pang Tong, Fazheng, Xu Shu, and Jia Xu are also in the forefront. They, together with Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang, belong to the planners of the entire grand strategy, so naturally they cannot be ranked too low.

It's just that those who ranked in the top few credits are too great, so they are ranked between nine and fifteen.

Among them, there was even a scribe who ranked above them.

The scribe was Zhou Buyi, who was ranked eighth in the list of heroes.

The reason why Zhou Buyi contributed so much is that he successfully held on for [-] days in Yuliangzhou, buying time for Shen Chen to transfer the people of Xiangfan.

It has made great contributions to the battlefield, affected the local battlefield, and indirectly affected the two major battlefields.

As for why it didn't affect the outcome of the entire battlefield, it's also very simple.

Even if the Xiangfan people were not transferred successfully, a large number of people would suffer when the Han River surged.

But Huang Zhong will still come. After the fall of Jiangling, the situation on the entire battlefield will be reversed immediately, and the suffering of the people will not affect the outcome of this war.

But in Liu Bei's eyes, Zhou Buyi's contribution is still very great. If judged according to his thoughts, Zhou Buyi can at least be ranked in the top five, above Ma Chao.

However, both Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang objected to placing Zhou Buyi in fifth place, so Liu Bei gave up and placed him in eighth place.

The rest of the generals all have rewards.

It's just that the official position is already unsealable, so Liu Bei can only be a marquis and reward money.

Like Zhuge Liang, he was named Marquis of Wen'an, and Shen Chen was named Marquis of Wuxiang.

During the Han Dynasty, posthumous titles were not granted during his lifetime, so this does not mean that Zhuge Liang is the Marquis of Wen and Shen Chen is the Marquis of Wu.

In fact, Zhuge Liang in history is not Wuhou, he is Wuxianghou, but he is called Wuhou for short.

Therefore, these are just ordinary marquises, not posthumous titles like Guan Yuzhuang Miaohou and Zhang Feihuanhou.

Moreover, these two marquises are not county marquises, but township marquises.

Wen'an was Wen'an Township under the jurisdiction of Gaonu County in Bingzhou at that time, and it was changed to Wen'an County in the Western Wei Dynasty.

Wuxiang is Wuxiang, Nie County, Bingzhou, and it was changed to Wuxiang County in the Taishi period of the Western Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, to a certain extent, Zhuge Liang in history was a country lord when he died.

In terms of title, he is not even comparable to Wei Yan who was promoted to Marquis of Nanzheng County due to his military exploits.

But a title is just an honor, and the real status and power still depends on the position.

So at present, the ranks of generals in various places have generally remained unchanged. Zhuge Liang is still the national coordinator, Guan Yu is the commander of Yizhou soldiers and horses, and Shen Chen is the commander of Jingzhou soldiers and horses.

After finalizing the merits of the war, the Liu Bei Group also entered the recuperation stage in full swing.

The main purpose of Yizhou is to reduce the burden on the people, temporarily cancel the national corvee, and transfer all the people back to the local area, recultivate the land, reduce taxes, and hide wealth among the people.

Jingzhou has to increase the burden a little bit. Except for the counties such as Nanjun, Jiangxia, and Xiling that suffered from floods, the rest of the places will have to mobilize peasants to serve in corvee and collect grain taxes to prepare for the attack on Jiangdong in the spring of the coming year.

Although this will increase the burden on the people of Jingzhou, there is no way around it.

In the ancient feudal period, the country's wars did hurt the people. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty destroyed the Huns, and the Han Empire fought several times with the Qiang and Xianbei people.

Fortunately, the scale of this war was much smaller. According to Shen Chen's calculations, a hundred thousand troops would be enough to destroy Jiangdong.

Even [-] troops are too many, [-] is enough. At present, there is no one in Jiangdong who can resist.

The fewer troops dispatched, the less logistical pressure will naturally be.

What's more, it is very close to attack Jiangdong from Jingzhou, and it is convenient to transport food, so it is estimated that the people of Jingnan and Nanyang will be more than enough to bear the war.

And just when the three families were intensively recuperating.

In early December, it snowed heavily in Jizhou.

The Taihang Mountains in the distance seemed to be covered by heavy snow, turning into a giant silver dragon with scales and claws.

Cao Cao's condition became more and more serious day by day at the mansion of King Wei in Yecheng.

Most of the time, he seldom dealt with affairs, just sat there like this every day, seemed to be thinking about something, but didn't seem to think about anything.

In the backyard of Wei Wang’s mansion, as his body became weaker day by day, Cao Cao’s health deteriorated from October to December. When he just came back from Guanzhong, he was still able to handle some official duties, but in mid-November, he was fine. Energized.

The medicine is taken every day, but it seems to have no effect.

By the end of November, even walking was very difficult, and more often they had to sit, and when they wanted to walk, they could only walk in the courtyard with the support of Queen Bian.

The snow stopped today, and the sun shines on the earth through the thin clouds, making the white snow shine dazzlingly.

Although there is sun, there is no temperature.

The world is pale, and it makes people feel lonely in it.

Cao Cao sat cross-legged on the porch of the mansion in the backyard, his eyes were a little dull, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Mrs. Bian was by his side, and Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and other sons and daughters in the distance watched carefully.

After a while, Cao Cao turned his head blankly and looked at Mrs. Bian.

Mrs. Bian asked softly, "Husband, are you feeling better?"

"The widow is dying."

Cao Cao spoke with difficulty.

Mrs. Bian hurriedly said: "My husband, don't say that, I still need my husband to handle important national affairs."

"Ah."

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Is there any dead person? These days, I have some dreams again. Madam, do you know what the dreams are?"

"I don't know."

Madam Bian shook her head.

Cao Cao sighed: "The widow dreamed of hundreds of thousands of people who died in Xuzhou, and said that when the widow dies and becomes a spirit, he will avenge himself."

"what."

Mrs. Bian was frightened, and hurriedly said: "If your husband does not sacrifice to God, please protect him from Taiyi."

"It's okay."

Cao Cao said in a deep voice, "I've made a plan forward and backward, and I've never felt guilty in my heart. These people were killed by me before, so why should I be afraid of them after they die?"

This sentence means that I have done things all my life, and I have no regrets, so what about the massacre?

Winners and losers have been the law since ancient times.

He killed the people in Xuzhou. Those people were killed by him before death. Would he still be afraid of them after death?
This undoubtedly also shows that Cao Cao has never regretted what he has done.

After finishing speaking, Cao Cao sneered and said: "In the dream, Liu Bei still laughed at the widow, but he didn't know that the widow sent troops to help him back then. He was captured by Yuan Shu and Lu Bu long ago. How dare the ambitious man dare to mock Yu Shang?"

Mrs. Bian agreed obediently: "Your husband is naturally a hero who stands up to heaven and earth. How can Liu Bei be compared with your husband? Your husband should take a good rest and take care of him, and he will send troops to capture him someday."

"It's natural."

Cao Cao said with a smile: "There are also those like Tao Gongzu, Yuan Gonglu, Lu Fengxian, and Yuan Benchu ​​who all said in my dream that they were waiting for me. They said that the soul after death will kill me."

"Those are the defeated generals of the husband, how dare they rule the roost in front of the husband?"

Mrs. Bian continued to comfort her.

"I've never been afraid of them. These people are just young people. The heroes of the world, except for Liu Bei, the rest of them have never been taken seriously."

Cao Cao looked to the south with deep eyes, then frowned again: "It's just that in my dream, I heard the roar of the tiger and the chants of the three horses in the same pit, which is puzzling. I know that the chants of the tiger and the fox are Chen Chen But what is the meaning of the three horses in the same slot? The Ma family has been killed by me, could it be Ma Chao?"

Thinking of this, he was very suspicious.

Ma Chao's brothers Ma Xiu, Ma Tie and his father's family were all killed by him, and only his cousin Ma Dai remained with him. Although Ma Chao had two sons, Ma Qiu and Ma Cheng, what could happen?

Could this dream indicate that in the future Shen Chen, Ma Chao's cousin Ma Dai, and his two sons, Ma Qiu and Ma Cheng, would defeat his Cao Wei and finally destroy his country?
"Cough cough cough cough."

After thinking about it for a while, I only felt that my energy was low, and I coughed, and my lips were stained with bright red blood.

Mrs. Bian quickly wiped the corners of his mouth. Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and others in the distance were also nervous, and rushed over, but they were blocked by Xu Chu, standing like a quail on the porch seven or eight meters away.

Cao Cao waved to them, and Xu Chu let them go.

Cao Cao has many heirs, but Cao Ang, Cao Chong, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, Cao Zhang, etc. are the only few who are valued by him.

Now that Cao Ang and Cao Chong died early, and the heir was appointed to Cao Pi, he probably has no regrets.

The only problem is now worrying about the situation in the South.

However, Cao Cao knew that he was about to die, so he didn't think too much about it.

What happens after death is left to the next generation of heirs.

Regardless of whether Cao Pi usurped the throne, continued to be the king of Wei, or eventually destroyed the South or was eliminated by the South, that has nothing to do with him.

What he can do is to clear the obstacles for Cao Pi before he dies. In the future, this world will be his Cao Wei's world after all.

After a group of heirs came over, Cao Cao glanced at them, and finally his eyes stayed on Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, and said: "As a father, you may die soon. Zihuan is the eldest son, and he should succeed me. Zi Jiansu If you have talent, you brothers should work together to consolidate the country."

"Yes, father."

Cao Pi and the others bowed their heads in response. When Cao Cao was around, they would always be brothers and sisters, and acted as good brothers and brothers. Even the internal fighting was mainly based on conspiracy, and they were more measured.

Because they knew that if Cao Cao was made aware of the life-threatening internal fighting between the brothers, then it would not only be as simple as reprimanding, but would definitely deprive them of their identities.

So no matter what, they will always maintain their superficial identities, even if Cao Pi and Cao Zhi wish for each other to die.

Cao Cao ordered a few more words, and felt a little tired, so he asked them to retreat.

After that, he looked at the snow in the garden and sat there for a day.

That night.

He had many, many dreams.

In the darkness of nothingness, he dreamed of hundreds of thousands of hideous faces in Xuzhou.

Those people were like a sky full of stars, with countless faces crowded around him, all of them baring their teeth and claws, moving towards him like a tide.

The one in the front was an old man with white hair, his face was covered with blood, and he stared at him with hatred eyes, and asked him: "Cao Cao, why did you kill hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou? "

Cao Cao was not afraid, and said with a sneer: "I avenge my father, why can't I kill you? Tao Gongzu, what are you, worthy of questioning the widow? You can't do anything to me when you are alive. Why are you afraid?"

"Huh!"

There seemed to be thousands of troops behind him, galloping with murderous intent.

The blood on the face of the white-haired old man quickly turned into panic, and the countless grievances as densely packed with stars dissipated.

After a while, there was another middle-aged man wearing a black and red gown with a pattern of twelve chapters, a twelve-pronged white jade crown on his head, and a four-inch-square five-dragon jade seal in his right hand. His eyes were fierce. look at him.

"Meng De, return my life!"

Cao Cao looked at the man. The man's clothes were painted with six patterns of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, and Chinese insects;

The clothes and crowns are in the style of the emperor, but his clothes are in the style of the princes and kings of Jiuzhang and Jiuzhang, and the opposite is an emperor!
However, Cao Cao looked at him indifferently and said, "Yuan Gonglu, you usurper and false emperor, how dare you call yourself me in front of the widow? Back then, you were just the defeat of the widow. Even if you are dead and alive, you are not the widow's opponent."

"I hate it so much!"

Countless blood gushed out of Yuan Shu's face and melted away.

Cao Cao watched all this indifferently, he never regretted what he had done.

These people who have been defeated by him were a bunch of trash before they were alive. Could it be that they can do nothing to get him after death?
"Cao Cao, you lived in the Han Dynasty, but you bullied the emperor and killed my daughter. What kind of face will you have to meet the late emperor?"

Chariot General Dong Cheng, Pian General Wang Fu, Yueqi School Wei Zhongji and others appeared one after another.

Cao Cao said coldly: "If the emperor had no widows, his country would have been taken away long ago. The world is called by the widows. If the widows can last for him for decades, Liu Xie should be grateful to the widows. The world should also belong to the widow's heirs!"

"Traitor!"

"Rebel!"

"Traitor!"

Several people scolded angrily.

Cao Cao sneered and watched them leave.

Afterwards, Yuan Shao, Lu Bu, Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao, Ma Teng, Kong Rong and other princes from all walks of life in the world who had separatist regimes in the early years and finally died in his hands appeared before his eyes one by one.

Cao Cao looked down on anyone, and teased him a few times, causing the defeated soldiers to howl in pain and disappear into the void.

Seeing this scene made Cao Cao feel extremely happy.

Even if this is a dream, he still feels very happy, because these people are not only his opponents, but also the glory of his life.

Seeing them is like looking back on my proud life.

But soon his pride was shattered.

Liu Bei, who also wore the costumes of the princes and kings in nine chapters and nine locks, appeared in front of him. Although his face was old, he was full of energy. He looked at him happily and said, "Meng De, the taste of failure is not good."

"Liu Bei!"

The smile on Cao Cao's original face suddenly darkened, and he stared at him firmly: "You little boy, you have been defeated in front of the widow all your life, and you win once in a while, do you dare to laugh at the widow?"

"But this time, I can kill you!"

Liu Bei's face became increasingly ferocious, his voice became more hollow, and his smile became more unscrupulous. He laughed loudly and said, "Meng De, you are about to die in the nether world, but you can't just watch your great Wei Jiangshan being killed by me." perished."

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei!"

Seeing Liu Bei's voice gradually dissipating, Cao Cao kept roaring and screaming: "You can't do it, you can't do it, I still have Ziheng, Zijian, and countless great Wei Zhongliang, you still have to do it!" Watch out for yourself!"

"Cao Thief!"

At this moment, a burly young man with a height of eight feet and four inches and a long knife around his waist appeared in front of him, holding a knife and angrily scolded him: "Do you still remember me?"

Cao Cao looked at that face, it was a face that could be recalled in countless memories, he almost squeezed two words between his teeth: "Shen Chen!"

"Back then you killed me in Huangmen Pavilion and gathered hundreds of folks in Zenyang. I avenged my relatives and killed so many generals and subordinates of yours. When you saw me, did you regret why you slaughtered Xuzhou in the first place?"

Shen Chen questioned him.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Cao Cao looked up to the sky and laughed loudly: "I would rather blame others than others. If you kill me, you will kill me. I will never regret it!"

"it is good."

Shen Chen's expression didn't change, and he nodded indifferently: "Then I will continue to kill, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Xiahou Dun are just the beginning. In the future, I will not let Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang go!"

"Let's wait and see!"

His figure gradually dissipated, but his voice still echoed in Cao Cao's mind.

But Cao Cao was not afraid at all, and watched coldly.

Compared with the previous princes, the appearance of Liu Bei and Shen Chen really spoiled his mood.

But that's all.

After all, even if Liu Bei wins this time, so what?

The huge country in the north is still owned by him.

Liu Bei's victory is only a miserable victory. The people in Yizhou and Jingzhou are in dire straits. Everyone has to rest and recuperate, and you have no ability to go north.

Even if you, Liu Bei, get Jiangdong in the future and dominate the entire south, my son Cao Pi has already managed the country, and the north and the south are at loggerheads. At worst, there is a fight to the death. What is there to be afraid of?
So Cao Cao will not regret it, and has never regretted it.

His life, which he considered to be a brilliant life, not only lasted the Han Dynasty for decades, but also gave power to the government and dominated the world, attracting the attention of the world.

At least I didn't live in vain in my life, and I killed countless people, so what can I regret?
"Father."

At this moment, a haunting voice suddenly appeared in Cao Cao's ear.

Cao Cao froze for a moment, then slowly turned his head to look at the source of the voice.

It was a young man in his twenties, looking at him intently, and said softly, "Father, you are much older."

"An'er!"

At this moment, Cao Cao couldn't hold back anymore, tears came out of his eyes, and he rushed towards the man.

But this pounce was in vain.

The young man said to himself: "The father is old, but the child is still young. This is because the child died a long time ago. He died in Wancheng. It was the father who killed the child."

Cao Cao couldn't suppress his sad emotions immediately, and he looked up to the sky and cried loudly: "It's because of my father that I'm not good, it's because of my father that I killed my Anger!"

"Has father ever regretted it?"

Cao Ang asked.

"Repent for my father, for countless nights, I have regretted for my father."

"Father, where is my mother?"

Cao Ang asked again.

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly collapsed on the ground, speechless.

In the end, he could only lie down on the ground, weeping bitterly, tears seemed to gather into a river, his voice became smaller and smaller, and he couldn't cry anymore.

Cao Ang eventually dissipated.

In the false dream, it seemed that there was a round of silver moon quietly shining on him with the brilliance of silver flowers all over the sky.

that moment.

Cao Mengde, who had no regrets in his life, could only sob softly.

(End of this chapter)