Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1327 Emperor
Ma Chao looked at the gift list in his hand, which contained everything from silks and satins to antiques and treasures. Some of these things were things Ma Chao had seen in Xudu before, and they were all used in the palace. When he saw them at that time, he was envious for a long time.

He looked up at the Jin envoy standing in front of him, and a nameless anger rose in his heart. He snorted coldly: "You Jin people are really brave!"

"Although there is a saying that when two countries are at war, envoys will not be killed, but we Liangzhou people don't care about this. What we want is revenge!"

"You, Jin, killed my Xiliang soldiers and slaughtered my clan members and their families, and you still have the nerve to reason with me!"

"Someone, take him down and chop him up!"

Immediately, soldiers rushed forward, tied up the envoy, and were about to take him out and behead him.

Ma Chao had been observing the envoy's expression and found that he was not panicked at all. Instead, he showed a gloating smile. His heart skipped a beat and he stopped his men and shouted, "What are you laughing at?"

The envoy showed a look of regret, "What a pity, why didn't the general kill him?"

"General, you don't think that we, the envoys, are not prepared to die at any time before we set out, right?"

Ma Chao thought of the early days of the Han Dynasty when Han envoys were rushing to go on missions to their deaths, and could not help but curse: "What a bunch of people you don't know what to do with. What benefits did the King of Jin give you?"

"It's nothing more than high office and generous salary. Do you know that when a person dies, everything is gone?"

"Besides, how can you, the rebellious people, compare with the Han envoys?"

The envoy sneered, "Making trouble?"

"Excuse me for being blunt, but the Wei Kingdom is the rebel right now, right?"

"What did the emperor of the former Han Dynasty say when he abdicated?"

"Now, our Jin State is recognized by the emperor of the Former Han Dynasty. The imperial seal is in our possession. The Mandate of Heaven is ours. How can you compare with us?"

"General's ancestors served the Han Dynasty and made outstanding contributions. General Fubo was feared by the border people. Now the general is so unworthy. Isn't it a shame for our ancestors?"

"You!" Ma Chao's face turned purple, and he drew out the long sword from his waist, pointed at the envoy and said, "Are you really not afraid of death?"

"Are you here to negotiate peace, or to seek death?"

The envoy sneered and said, "To be honest with you, General, I was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission. Even if I die, I will have fulfilled my mission."

"General, if you can give my lord an excuse to send troops, you can just kill me. After that, my lord will avenge me a hundredfold or a thousandfold."

"General, don't you understand why I am so cruel?"

"Because when the general invaded Jizhou earlier, he allowed his soldiers to kill my entire family. If I hadn't been entrusted with the mission by His Majesty, I would have been killed by the general!"

Ma Chao looked at the official's thin body, obviously not a martial artist, but he looked like he was ready to drag himself down with death at any time. He couldn't help but feel annoyed. Why are all of Xionghu's men like this? They are even more crazy and difficult to control than the soldiers from Liangzhou!
He had been disgusted by the Jin army since the last battle of Jizhou until now, in the past two years since Wei lost Luoyang. The further the enemy fought, the more they fought with him. He led his men for wealth and glory, and for food to eat, not to fight to the death with the enemy!
Thinking of this, although Ma Chao felt a little embarrassed, he still pretended to be magnanimous. He sheathed his sword with a swish and said with a slightly relaxed expression: "You are quite courageous."

"Liangzhou respects brave men. I'll give you a chance to speak."

After hearing this, the envoy calmly stated Yuan Xi's request for a temporary ceasefire. If Ma Chao did not harass the people living in the border areas of Luoyang, Jin would reward him with money and goods. The dozen or so carts sent this time were the deposit.

After the envoy finished speaking, Ma Chao was quite surprised. "That's all? Any other conditions?"

The envoy said, "That's all, Your Majesty."

Ma Chao was silent for a while. To be honest, there was really nothing to gain from the Sili region. If he plundered the people in the border areas, at most he could only steal some people and food. To be honest, it was far less attractive than the things on the gift list just now.

But the more this happened, the more suspicious Ma Chao became. How could Xionghu do business at a loss?
He asked tentatively, "Just for me?"

The envoy said: "Of course there are some for others as well."

Ma Chao asked, "For example, Han Sui?"

The envoy said calmly: "Even if I know, I cannot tell you."

"Nonsense!" Ma Chao slammed the table, "You guys are trying to sow discord again?"

The reason why the word "again" is used is because the last time Ma Chao went to Hongnong to marry the girl from the Yang family, he once suspected Han Sui because of the smeared letter, and afterwards he had many conflicts with Han Sui.

But as time passed, Ma Chao gradually discovered that there was something wrong with the letter. It seemed that it was a ploy to turn against himself and Han Sui!
Although he realized that he had been deceived, his relationship with Han Sui had already been damaged. Seeing the envoy's expression, he naturally felt that the envoy was still trying to alienate Han Sui from him. The envoy said, "General, you think too highly of yourself. With the current strength of Jin, there is no need to alienate Han Sui."

"Your Majesty is worried about the safety of the people under your rule, so you use money and goods to exchange for the safety of the people. It's normal that the general can't understand it. After all, Liangzhou doesn't care about human lives."

Ma Chao snorted coldly, doubts rising in his heart. The other party was so confident, was it really for the people?

He couldn't help but doubt it, as he had suffered losses at the hands of Yuan Xi several times, and the opposing strategist was also extremely powerful, having defeated Cao Wei's strategists and even Cao Cao himself in successive battles. He himself did not have so many tricks, and if he really fell into the trap of the vicious tiger, he would probably die without knowing how he died!

Little did he know that this was exactly the effect Yuan Xi wanted. Because of his experiences over the years, Ma Chao was wary of everyone, and Yuan Xi wanted to take advantage of Ma Chao's mentality and make him work but not put in any effort in the next battle.

The envoy saw Ma Chao's expression and said at the right time: "What your majesty wants is that the two sides live in peace in Sili for the next two years, and each side only needs to send troops occasionally to make a show of it and get away with it."

"And the general does not need to worry. The Jin State will have connections with the Cao Wei court and Han Sui, and will not make things difficult for the general."

Ma Chao was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, but then he remembered something and his face changed slightly. He whispered, "Including Han Sui?"

The Han family, to which Han Sui belonged, had actually always been more powerful than the Ma family. Han Sui's official position was also higher than Ma Teng's. When they started the army, Ma Teng was more like Han Sui's vanguard, so this was also a concern for Ma Chao.

No matter how hard he tried, he could only be Han Sui's assistant, so Ma Chao's idea at that time was not only to get Ma, but also to suppress Han Sui.

This idea would be difficult to achieve without the help of Cao Wei, so Ma Chao became Cao Cao's adopted son, wanting to start a new business, eventually suppress Han Sui, and take over Liangzhou.

But Han Sui was also cunning and treacherous. He had been very close to Cao Cao and the Cao Wei royal family over the years and was quite trusted by Cao Wei. In particular, the territories Cao Wei had allocated to him in recent years were all in Liangzhou, while the territories allocated to Ma Chao were in the Sanfu area and the border of Liangzhou. In this situation, it was obvious who was more valued. No wonder Ma Chao was wary of Han Sui.

In addition, Ma Chao had fought with Cao Wei for several years, and most of his wealth was gone. There was a serious shortage of soldiers in Xiliang, so he was forced to recruit soldiers from the Sanfu area. Han Sui, on the other hand, controlled Liangzhou and unified forces of all sizes, while also recruiting soldiers. In the long run, the gap between Ma Chao and Han Sui would only get bigger and bigger.

Now if Ma Chao wants to make a comeback, he can only recuperate for a while, recruit soldiers and horses, strengthen his own strength, and then take advantage of the right opportunity to enter Liang Province, squeeze out Han Sui, and unify the forces of all sizes in Liang Province.

He now sees very clearly that even though he is Cao Cao's adopted son, to the current Wei Emperor Cao Pi, he is just a chess piece that can be abandoned at any time.

The only way to jump out of the chessboard is to occupy Liangzhou and become a local emperor. Then, you can take advantage of the contradictions between Jin and Wei to get the upper hand and not be controlled by others!

Therefore, the arrival of the envoy from Jin State was like offering him a pillow for when he fell asleep, and Ma Chao was naturally tempted.

Yuan Xi had seen through Ma Chao's psychology before and knew that he had big ambitions. People with rebellious nature are like this and will never submit to others. So Yuan Xi extended an olive branch at the right time, allowing the seeds of restlessness in Ma Chao's heart to take root and sprout.

Therefore, it was not about how strong-willed the envoys were or how valuable the gifts given by Jin were, but about grasping Ma Chao's intentions, which was to win over his heart.

When Jin State had the advantage in strength, it began to use diplomatic means more frequently. This approach could achieve more long-term benefits with smaller losses. However, only a strong force could use this strategy. If it was weak, who would listen to you?

The envoy said a few more words secretly, implying that in the future dispute over Liang Province, Jin could support his forces. These words made Ma Chao even more frightened, because from his point of view, if Jin could only win over Han Sui, then he would have no chance at all!
Thinking of this, he said, "Okay, go back and tell King Jin that since he wants to stop the war, I will agree."

"And you can tell King Jin that if you give me more benefits, I may not sit idly by and watch Liangzhou."

The envoy knew that Ma Chao had taken the bait, so he smiled and said, "I will definitely bring back the general's words to the king."

Just as Yuan Xi sent envoys to try to widen the rift between Ma Chao and Han Sui and then plot to seize Bingzhou, a unified understanding had already been formed in the court of Xu Du.

Cao Wei moved its capital.

Strictly speaking, Xu Du was not the capital of Cao Wei, but Yecheng was. Xu Du was for Liu Xie to live in, but now that Yecheng has been captured, Xu Du will sooner or later be lost.

The fall of Luoyang dealt the final blow to Cao Wei officials and generals who still wanted to resist in Xu Du.

If the Jin army went south from Luoyang to Wancheng as they did last time, they could cut off Xu Du's retreat route. At that time, the Cao Wei officials would be trapped in a jar and it is possible that they would be caught in one fell swoop. So these days, they have become anxious and have submitted petitions one after another, requesting Cao Wei to move to Chang'an.

Cao Pi watched the civil and military officials performing in the court and felt inexplicably bored and powerless. Why did he work so hard to get to this position?

Woman? How capable do I still have?
Power? Fell asleep from exhaustion from reading memorials every day?

Satisfaction? If you keep losing battles and territory, where is the satisfaction?

He couldn't help but curse in his heart, damn the throne, is the position of the Emperor of Wei cursed?

(End of this chapter)