Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1299 Hibernation
Over these days, Sima Yi had figured out some of the thoughts of the new King of Wei.

Perhaps it was because Cao Pi was suppressed too harshly when Cao Cao was alive, so that Cao Pi had a strong rebellious mentality towards some of Cao Cao's practices during his lifetime.

Whether it was personnel appointments or domestic and foreign affairs, Cao Pi was trying every means to change Cao Cao's policies. The most important manifestation of this was in the selection of officials he relied on.

Sima Yi did not understand at first why Cao Pi was so resistant to the Cao and Xiahou clans. Logically, the Wei State was founded on the Cao clan, and the Cao and Xiahou clans should have been the most solid force in the Wei State. But why did Cao Pi do everything to exclude the ministers of the Cao clan? Wasn't this an act of cutting off one's own wing?
Although many members of the Cao and Xiahou families initially favored Cao Zhi in the competition for the crown prince, Cao Pi has now come to power, and Cao Zhi has the stain of having once defected from the Cao family. No matter how you look at it, he cannot pose a threat to Cao Pi, right?

Later, Sima Yi thought about it again and again, and felt that the most likely answer was not with Cao Zhi, but with Cao Ang.

The fact that Cao Ang was still alive and had been enfeoffed by the State of Jin and had territories on the Korean Peninsula was no longer an open secret in the State of Wei. Sima Yi believed that this move was very similar to the strategy of encircling three sides and leaving one side vulnerable in a siege, and was a blatant conspiracy of a ferocious tiger.

Xionghu's behavior was equivalent to deliberately leaving a bridge of communication between Jin and Wei, implying the possibility of a peaceful resolution between the two countries in the future.

This has a terrible impact on the hearts and minds of Wei officials. When Wei was strong before, these officials who follow the wind might still cling to the big tree of Wei, but now Wei is obviously on the defensive. Although there is hope for a turnaround, many people have lost confidence.

During the previous battle of Yecheng, most of the Jizhou gentry had taken the opportunity to rebel against the Cao family, and in the end Xiahou Dun didn't even have time to suppress them. If the Jin army had not captured Yecheng so quickly, Sima Yi even felt that many Yingchuan factions would have taken the opportunity to surrender.

Now the State of Jin has launched a war of annihilation against the State of Wu. If the State of Wu is destroyed, Sima Yi dare not imagine how many people in the State of Wei will secretly collude with the evil tiger.

In the future, as the State of Jin grows stronger, will this hidden danger suddenly erupt one day? Will it manifest itself in the form of some officials of Cao Wei following Cao Ang, the true heir of the Cao family, betraying Cao Pi and the State of Wei and surrendering to the evil tiger?

You must know that when Cao Cao was alive, he valued talent over morality and gathered many very talented officials. However, although these people were talented, their moral standards were very low. Many of them were good at changing with the wind, and they could place themselves above the State of Wei for their own personal interests.

Therefore, Sima Yi could understand Cao Pi's approach. Soon after he ascended the throne, he had to face tremendous pressure from the State of Jin. There were few people around him whom he could trust, so he must have been very eager to replace them with his own confidants.

Chen Qun obviously took the opportunity to gain Cao Pi's trust and introduced the Nine-Rank System, a high-sounding way to renew the blood of the Cao Wei court. Moreover, the timing was very good, as it was a critical period for Wei to abdicate and replace the Han Dynasty. At this time, all officials could only have one voice, and no one would be so blind as to sing a different tune.

The introduction of the Nine-Rank System also encouraged the trend of abdication. Even if there were a few wise men among the officials, they would not dare to stand up and risk their own heads at this time.

However, Sima Yi discovered that he, as the minister of state, had also been excluded from Cao Pi's core circle. Sima Yi was actually quite dissatisfied with this. He had devoted his life to the Cao family in the past few years, but had always been subject to suspicion and lived in fear. It was not easy for Cao Cao to give him an explanation before his death, but in the end he ended up with this situation?
After all, Sima Yi was only in his twenties at this time. Although he acted maturely and prudently, he still retained a lot of youthful vigor in his heart. Now, watching himself being marginalized with cold eyes, he felt a sense of injustice in his heart. He might as well have refused to take up a government position or even defected to the State of Jin!
Thinking of this, Sima Yi began to envy Chen Qun. Among the officials of Cao Wei, Sima Yi actually admired Chen Qun more than Zhong Yao. The reason was that Chen Qun had a keen sense of smell and was very good at taking sides.

When Liu Bei was in Xuzhou, Chen Qun saw that Liu Bei was unable to suppress the Xuzhou gentry, so he resolutely defected and joined Cao Cao. Later, under Cao Cao, he married Xun Yu's daughter and infiltrated the core circle of the Yingchuan faction. When Xun Yu lost power, he decisively cut ties with Xun Yu. Surprisingly, his position has remained quite stable.

Although Chen Qun did not become a regent, he was able to stay in Xu Du, which obviously showed that he had gained a considerable degree of trust from Cao Cao.

In the two years between Guan Yu's attack on Xu Du and the Battle of Yecheng between Wei and Wu, several Cao Wei officials, including Wei Feng, staged several rebellions in the Guanzhong Sili area, causing considerable trouble to the Wei rear. At that time, Cao Cao was in charge of Yecheng, so the pacification of the rear was handed over to Chen Qun, who lived up to the trust and suppressed the rebellion very beautifully.

In this series of events, what Sima Yi admired most was that Chen Qun attributed a considerable part of the credit to Cao Pi in Xu Du, and when the situation of the dispute over the crown prince was still unclear, he stood firmly on Cao Pi's side.

Facts proved that Chen Qun made the right bet again this time. After Cao Cao's death, Chen Qun was rewarded by Cao Pi. The Nine-Rank System was proposed by Chen Qun, which meant that in the next ten to twenty years, all the officials promoted by Cao Wei would recognize Chen Qun as their sponsor. He would definitely be the only candidate for the prime minister in the future.

The idea of ​​the Nine-Rank System is indeed suitable for the current Wei State. It can redivide interest groups in a way that is acceptable to everyone, while secretly excluding the old people from Cao Cao's time and replacing them with candidates who are more loyal to Cao Pi.

Sima Yi lowered his head, thinking that there were many hidden talents in the court, and he still had a lot to learn. Well, just go on like this, after all, there was still a long way to go.

A few miles away from the King of Wei's palace is the emperor's palace. Now this place is dilapidated and has not been repaired for a long time. Liu Xie is sitting in the middle hall, writing the fourth abdication edict.

The person kneeling on the other side of the table was Cao, who had chosen a woman from the Cao clan to marry Liu Xie to replace the queen after Cao Cao killed Queen Fu.

She gently pinched the loose ink with her five fingers and ground it lightly in the inkstone. Her movements were very light and the sound was extremely subtle, as if she was afraid of disturbing Liu Xie.

She lowered her head and glanced at Liu Xie out of the corner of her eye, but found that the other party was not paying any attention to her. Instead, he was choosing his words very seriously, with a very serious expression on his face.

But it was precisely because of this that Cao felt uneasy. You have to know that this was the edict that forced Liu Xie to abdicate. Logically speaking, when these words were written, he should have been full of anger and dissatisfaction, but Cao did not see the slightest bit of anger on Liu Xie's face. What Liu Xie was writing seemed to have nothing to do with him.

After an unknown amount of time, Liu Xie finally finished writing the last stroke, then he stood the silk upright and read it several times before nodding his head in satisfaction and stamping it with his seal. He spread the silk on the table to let it air dry, raised his head and smiled at Cao, "This time, the choice of words and sentences, the use of the pen, are the most satisfactory to me, I'm afraid it will be hard to surpass it later."

"The King of Wei should be satisfied."

When Cao saw this, she became even more frightened for no reason. She put down the ink stick in her hand, leaned over and kowtowed to Liu Xie.

Liu Xie asked, "What are you doing?"

Cao said in a hoarse voice: "The King of Wei has committed such a treasonous act. He is my elder brother. I feel deeply guilty. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Liu Xie said calmly, "What Cao did has nothing to do with a woman like you."

"Besides, abdication is also destiny. I have already let it go. What do you still care about?"

"I haven't touched you in the past two years. If you are afraid of being implicated, I will let you leave the palace after I abdicate."

Cao kowtowed repeatedly and said, "I am already your Majesty's woman, and I will be your Majesty's woman for life. No matter life or death, I will never leave you."

After hearing this, Liu Xie stood up and walked to the window. He stared toward the east for a long time before he sighed and said, "What a pity."

Cao doesn't understand, what a pity!
My own destiny, your majesty's future, or the Han Dynasty?

Nanchang.

Sun Quan lay on the couch and slowly opened his eyes. His mind was still a little dizzy and his memory was in a mess.

After a long while, his mind gradually came back to normal, and the memories before he fell into a coma flooded into his mind.

He raised his neck and found that his whole body was weak. The pain and numbness in his abdomen reminded him that he was indeed stabbed in the abdomen and fainted.

I was careless. That bastard Sun Kuang actually hid a dagger and stabbed me!

Then Sun Quan was a little panicked. What happened next?

Was Sun Kuang arrested, or did he turn the tables and take control of the situation?

He quickly looked around and found that it was his bedroom. He couldn't help but feel relieved. So, Sun Shao Yanjun did a good job and stabilized the situation?
Sun Quan then remembered that there were Jin troops besieging the city outside, and he immediately became anxious again. He had been unconscious for how long. Could it be that the Jin troops outside the city had already noticed that something was wrong?
Oh no! If we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to ambush the ferocious tiger!

Thinking of this, he opened his mouth and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Someone come!"

"anyone there!"

Hearing the sound, there was a chaotic voice at the door of the house, and someone said, "Is he awake?"

"Why isn't anyone watching in the house?"

The guard at the door nervously explained, "Madam Xu came to see us and just left. The maid who was supposed to take over has not arrived yet."

Sun Quan became even more displeased after hearing this. What is this "he and his"? He can't even call me the king. I will punish him severely later!

Then the door was roughly pushed open and several people walked in. Sun Quan tilted his head and was about to say a few words to teach them a lesson, but suddenly his eyes widened and the words he was about to say turned around in his throat, like a chicken with its neck pinched and waiting to be slaughtered.

Why are the people coming in wearing Jin army uniforms?
(End of this chapter)