Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

In the first year of Jianxing of the Han Dynasty, in the autumn and July of the first year of Wei Taihe, Shen Chen, the general of the Han hussars, attacked Gaodu County and beheaded the leader of the Wei army, Wuqiu Jian.

Sima Yi came one step too late, so he had to retreat back to Hanoi County.

The main force of the Wei army withdrew like a tide, and they did not dare to continue guarding Hanoi County, but retreated all the way to the Dangyin Black Mountain area, which was regarded as helping to defend Cao Wei's imperial capital.

A few days later, at the Shangshutai of Caowei Palace in Yecheng.

Shangshutai is located in the Mingguang Hall of the Imperial Palace, and Sangong’s Mansion is outside the palace, so Sangong’s work is very close.

As Sikong of Cao Wei and one of the three lords, Chen Qun is not without real power. He has another position called Lushangshushi, which is in charge of the government affairs of the world. Therefore, official documents from all over the country are basically collected at Shangshutai.

It is afternoon feeding time at this moment. Although it is autumn and July, it has not been long since autumn has just entered, but the temperature has not dropped much. The temperature in the north is still hot, which makes people feel bored and uncomfortable.

Chen Qun sat cross-legged at the head of the Mingguang Hall, the expression on his face hardly changed, with a solemn face, and the atmosphere was a bit depressing.

The main hall is very empty, and there are many bookshelves in the left and right halls, on which are placed the documents sent from various places recently.In the hall below, there are some table cases in an orderly manner. Officials at all levels affiliated to the Shangshutai are lying in the desk room, doing their own things whether they have something to do or not.

It's just that in the hall, the left and right servants of the Shangshu desk, the left and right Sicheng, Liucao Shangshu, and officials at all levels seem to be busy, but they dare not speak loudly whether they are walking, talking or even panting, and try to keep their noises down. .

Now everyone knows that due to the corruption of the war in the south, the Great Wei is already in danger, and the official documents of uprisings and rebellions from all over the country are flying to Shangshutai like snowflakes, which makes Sikong, who is in charge of the national government affairs, very anxious.

No one dared to offend Chen Qun's eyebrows at this time, even though Sikong was always gentle and polite, and rarely got angry.But at this juncture, everyone is more willing to be cautious in words and deeds.

In fact, not only the uprisings and rebellions in various places are disturbing, but more importantly, the southern war is retreating steadily, and the losses of soldiers, horses and supplies are heavy.

Sima Yi and Xia Houyuan submitted countless official documents every day, and they all hoped that the rear could supplement them with food, grass and troops.

But food, grass and troops are not as inexhaustible as the sand on the seashore. Even leeks have to be harvested and wait for a while before new ones can grow.

Therefore, in the face of today's complicated and almost unmaintainable state affairs, even if Chen Qun is talented, it is difficult to cook without rice.

This made the atmosphere at Shangshutai more dignified every day than the previous day. Coupled with the stuffy environment, it was easier to breed everyone's irritability, which filled the place with an atmosphere that was hard to describe.

"Sikong, this is a new official document from Qingzhou today"

Shangshu Zuo Pushe Wang Si carefully submitted the official document. This man is a hard-working old official with a violent personality and often gets angry for no reason, but facing the current Chen Qun, he dare not have any complaints.

Because Chen Qun has indeed done his best for the affairs of the state, and they, the subordinate officials, can see it, but now that Cao Wei is sunset, the front line is not good, and the rear is full of chaos. There is no patching tool left, there is really nothing that can be done.

So the officials at Shangshutai knew that Chen Qun had really tried his best and could not feel any dissatisfaction with him.

Is there any urgent text?
When Chen Qun heard Wang Si's words, he felt a little headache.

His head, which had been almost muddy due to the increasingly heavy political affairs, lost his thoughts even more.

If you think about it with your toes, there is almost no good news about the official documents that can come up from Qingzhou. It is either a rebellion or a bandit attacking the city, or an uprising to separate the regime. Cao Wei is now like a broken ship. A hole has just been filled. Just broke a few more, it is really difficult.

"This time, it's good news."

Seeing Chen Qun's almost painful expression, Wang Si knew what he was thinking, so he added: "It was the general who defeated the rebel Li Tiao who gathered in Qingzhou."

"Oh?"

Chen Qun was in a better mood, so he stretched out his hand to receive the official document, and suddenly remembered that Wang Si said it was good news, so he hesitated: "Did the general ask the imperial court for food and supplies in the official letter?"

"Have."

Wang Si replied.

"Isn't that still bad news?"

Chen Qun took the official document with a wry smile and browsed through it. Although Xia Houyuan retreated from Runan and Jiujiang, he went north from Xuzhou and returned to Fangqingzhou and other places.

But the soldiers and horses under his hands were after all the remnants and defeated generals after Guan Yu defeated Cao Xiu. Not only was their morale low, but they also lacked good weapons and equipment. They were able to confront Guan Yu in Lujiang, Jiujiang, Runan and other places, because Guan Yu had no intention of going north to attack.

Now that the Han army is preparing for a full-scale northern expedition, Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu's three-way army not only has elite personnel, but also has all kinds of weapons and equipment, food, grass and supplies, and has everything that one expects to find, forming a comprehensive crushing trend against Cao Wei.

Xia Houyuan knew that he was defeated by Guan Yu, and he also understood that if he wanted to stop the opponent, he had to find a good location. At the same time, if he wanted to do a good job, he had to sharpen his weapons first, and he needed better weapons and equipment, so he kept urging the rear to give him a new one. Provide a batch of supplies.

However, in order to win the battle in Bingzhou, Cao Rui provided all the main supplies to Guanqiu Jian, and the rest had to support Sima Yi's main defensive pressure on the front line. No thick military uniforms for autumn and winter clothes were prepared for him.

If it hadn't been cold in autumn this year, and it wasn't the time to supply autumn clothes, I am afraid that in two or three months, when the autumn and winter weather cools down, Xia Houyuan's troops would probably wear spring and summer single clothes to fight the Han army. .

"Let's write back to the general. Let's just say that the court can't produce so many things for the time being. We need to wait until October of this year for new food and taxation."

Chen Qun hesitated for a moment, and then said: "If there is a real shortage, I hope he can make up for it on the spot."

Supplement on the spot?

Everyone understood what he meant.

Qingzhou Qiguo area has a sturdy folk customs since ancient times.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion is the hardest hit here.

With the decline of Cao Wei, the people in Qingzhou continued to turmoil, and it was also a place where there were many rebels and uprisings.

Now that Cao Wei has lost the whole of Henan, and the local government in Qingzhou is on the verge of collapse. It is obviously impossible to rely on the government to collect taxes to make up for it.

So this is added on the spot, which is probably a plunder.

But everyone thought about what was going on, and how to do it was another matter.

No one said anything.

Anyway, they are not from Qingzhou, so life and death in Qingzhou is none of their business.

As for Chen Qun?

He was from the Yingchuan family.

In his eyes, Qianshou was just a pile of mud legs and means of production. Chen Qun didn't care about the lives and deaths of these people. Anyway, Qingzhou might be captured by the Han army in the future, so it might as well be used to supplement the Wei army.

Wang Si received Chen Qun's request for a receipt, so he bowed his hands to Chen Qun, retreated to his seat and began to write a reply letter to Xia Houyuan.

After a while, Zhongshu Supervisor Liu Fang and Zhongshu Ling Sun Zi hurried in.

Chen Qun raised his head and saw that there was something wrong with the faces of the two of them, so he asked, "What happened?"

Liu Fang put the two official documents on his desk and said in a low voice, "Sikong, these are the documents just sent from General Cheqi in Hanoi."

Chen Qun showed the same solemn expression.

Cao Wei was restructured after Cao Pi proclaimed the emperor. It coincided with the Han Dynasty that there was a Zhongshu Supervisor. In other words, the Han Dynasty learned from the historical Cao Wei reform and carried out the separation of powers among the three provinces. It only added the Menxia Temple that was only available in the Western Jin Dynasty. .

It’s just that Cao Pi did this in history to suppress the Shangshu system, which is in charge of the country’s government affairs, because the Shangshu system is basically aristocratic families. system.

Therefore, in history, Zhongshu Supervisor Liu Fang and Zhongshuling Sun Zi were extremely powerful. According to historical records, the two were in power for a while, and even Cao Shuang was able to take power because of their support.

But now, due to Cao Wei’s weakness in the face of the Han Dynasty, Cao Pi gradually had to compromise with the aristocratic family in the middle and late stages, and now Cao Rui’s period, he has fully cooperated with the aristocratic family, making the aristocratic family group grow stronger again, and the Zhongshu system has naturally become a supporting role. , the Shangshu system still monopolizes government affairs.

Now the official documents from all over the country will be sent to the Zhongshujian first, who will sort out them, and then send them to Shangshutai for disposal by officials at all levels in Shangshutai.

Of course, Chen Qun and his left and right ministers are in charge of major matters, and ordinary officials and even Zhongshujian can handle minor matters.

However, today's official documents were sent by Liu Fang and Sun Zi, who are the supervisor of the Zhongshu and the order of the Zhongshu, and they have no control over the affairs of the Zhongshujian. This is enough to prove the importance of these two documents, which made Chen Qun fight. Twelve points of spirit.

He picked up the two official documents, glanced at them hastily, and then his face changed drastically.

All the Shangshutai officials in the entire Mingguang Palace stared at him, and when they saw Chen Qun's face, they became worried for a while.

I am afraid that there is another problem in the frontline war.

"Let's stop here for today's political affairs. Liu Fang, Sun Zi, and Wang Si stay here and call Shangshu's right servant She Weizhen."

Chen Qun put down the official document in his hand, and said with a slightly trembling voice.

Many officials at Shangshutai looked at each other with mixed emotions, some were relieved, some were expressionless, and some were full of sadness, and slowly exited the Mingguang Palace.

In the final analysis, most of them came from aristocratic families, and Cao Wei's disadvantage in the front line would greatly affect the families behind them.

Therefore, most of Cao Wei's officials can't say that they are loyal to Cao Wei, they can only say that it involves their own and family interests, and they are forced to be tied to the broken ship of Cao Wei.

But now, the war is so rotten, and if they lose one after another, they may have to consider whether to change their family...

"Sikong, what happened?"

After the crowd left, Wang Si stepped forward and asked puzzledly, "Could it be that Zhuge Liang has already reached Hanoi?"

"It's more serious than that."

Chen Qun said in a deep voice, "Let's talk about it after Wei Shangshu arrives."

"Yes."

Wang Si had no choice but to hold back his thoughts and sit down.

Wei Zhen came in after a while.

As Cao Rui's confidant, Wei Zhen's position is not high, he is just the right servant of Shangshu and the servant.

But everyone knows that he represents Cao Rui's eyes and ears in Shangshutai.

Right now Cao Rui is suffering from injuries and is recuperating in the palace, so Wei Zhen has to accompany him most of the time.

After Wei Zhen came in, he bowed to Chen Qun with some doubts, and then asked, "Sikong, what's the matter with calling me?"

Chen Qun didn't say anything immediately, but hesitated for a while, and asked first, "How is your majesty's health recently?"

Speaking of this, Wei Zhen smiled wryly and said, "The arrow pierced His Majesty's body and almost hurt his internal organs. His Majesty was blessed by heaven, but it didn't heal so quickly after all."

Chen Qun understood the meaning of these words. There should be no danger to his life, but the situation is not particularly good.

Chen Qun thought about it for a while, then sighed and said: "General Cheqi has entered the paperwork, he is a step too late, Gaodu County has already been captured by Shen Chen, and Bingzhou."

"What? Bingzhou fell?"

"How is this possible? Didn't the Huns help?"

"Could it be that the Huns have rebelled again?"

"I don't know what's going on there yet. General Cheqi has already sent someone to investigate."

"However, according to the content of the document, the Han army has tens of thousands more cavalry. General Cheqi said before that Zhuge Liang's cavalry has disappeared."

"What should we do? If Bingzhou is lost, wouldn't the Han army be able to directly attack Yecheng?"

Below, Wang Si, Weizhen, Liu Fang, and Sun Zi looked at each other in blank dismay, each with a terrified expression on their faces.

Setting up an ambush in Bingzhou is already their greatest hope for a comeback. Cao Rui has high hopes for this, thinking that as long as they can defeat, even Shen Chen, Cao Wei can get a hard-won breathing time.

But now this bad news has almost made everyone terrified.

Because Bingzhou's plan failed, it meant that Cao Wei would no longer have a chance to turn defeat into victory. In addition, he lost Henan before, so now the big Han is encircling Hebei on three sides, and the whole of Hebei is already in danger.

"Do you want to tell His Majesty about this matter?"

Chen Qun looked around at the crowd and asked.

Wei Zhen said almost instinctively: "For such a big event, of course."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered the question Chen Qun had asked him about Cao Rui's current physical condition.

Chen Qun looked at him.

All eyes were also on Wei Zhen.

Wei Zhen suddenly became hesitant. After hesitating for a while, he still said: "But if you don't tell His Majesty, the Han army will also come to the city. What should we do?"

"Perhaps we can only tell His Majesty."

Liu Fang said: "Now there are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Yecheng. After training for a while, they should be able to fight the enemy. They should be sent to Shexian County immediately to prevent the enemy from attacking from Fukouxing. It should be His Majesty's order"

That's the problem.

If Guanqiu Jian is gone, and Bingzhou is occupied by the Han army, then from Taihang Baxing, they can directly kill Yecheng.

The two closest ones are Baixing, which can go to Gong County, which is Hui County in later generations.The other one is called Fukouxing, which can go directly through the Taihang Mountains to Sheguo County, also known as Shexian County.

Baixing is not bad, because Sima Yi has now retreated to the Heishan area, which can be regarded as defending against the attack from the southwest of Yecheng.

But Fukouxing, people can kill directly from here to the gate of Yecheng.

So these must be guarded against.

Hearing this sentence, Chen Qun could only let out a long sigh, stood up and said to everyone: "Then go see Your Majesty."

After saying that, he went out of the hall, but his expression was as if lost to the extreme.

With Chen Qun's wisdom, besides seeing that Cao Wei had no chance of a comeback after the battle, the most important thing was that he was afraid that the news would severely stimulate Cao Rui and make him suffer from an on-the-spot attack.

If Cao Rui died again at this juncture, then Da Wei would be completely hopeless.

I hope His Majesty can make it through.

Chen Qun came out of the Mingguang Palace, looking at the warm sunshine outside, thinking sadly in his heart.