I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 316 Sima Yi’s little trick

"General, there is someone outside claiming to be Nong Huanfan, the chief minister of Cao Wei, who has come to seek refuge with you, General."

"Huan Fan?" Li Heng was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what he was doing, put on his clothes and led the others out.

"General, I have heard of Huan Fan," Lu Zhi said, "He is a talented person!"

"It's all about talent! We are most in need of talent right now! Especially the talent from Cao Wei!"

There was still snow falling outside the city. Li Heng put on his cloak and walked out of the city. He saw a group of people from a distance.

He hurried over, got off his horse, and saw a man in his fifties and a group of young people in long clothes who looked like officials.

"May I ask who you are, Duke Huan?" Li Heng stepped forward, and a group of soldiers followed and surrounded Li Heng.

Huan Fan quickly said: "Huan Fan, come and pay homage to the Han general!"

"This is Li Jian!"

"I have inquired about a new kind of salt in Luoyang, which is different from the general's new salt. Although only a small amount is sold, it has already caused competition among some officials."

After a full meal, Huan Fan couldn't help but burst into tears: "The general treats me with great kindness, I will go through fire and water for the general!"

Huan Fan sighed again and said: "Sima Yi seized power without authorization, Cao Shuang is so stupid that my family members are all in danger!"

"What the general said is absolutely true!" Huan Fan wiped away his tears and said, "After Sima Yi takes power, he will block the trade routes between the two countries!"

"See the general!" Huan Fan suddenly became excited.

"So, Sima Yi will definitely block the trade route!" Dong Hong said.

"What does the general mean?" Dong Hong was slightly startled.

Li Heng said: "That's right. Xiangyang was lost, Nanyang became the front line, and Xu Du was close at hand. Cao Wei had long had strong opinions about the loss of Xiangyang. Cao Shuang increased his troops, but had no intention of sending troops to Xiangyang. Sima Yi came to power, In order to ensure his subsequent prestige, he will definitely use troops against Xiangyang!"

Huan Fan said: "Sima Yi will definitely use troops against Jingzhou to ensure his prestige!"

"There is no need to be polite, Duke Huan. I am very happy that you can come to me."

Li Heng smiled and said: "New salt is not difficult to make. There are countless skilled craftsmen among the people. If we get our new salt and try it for a while, it may not be impossible to make it."

Li Heng also ordered people to prepare wine and food, and entertained Huan Fan warmly.

"I'm afraid it's not just as simple as blocking the trade routes!" Li Heng said.

"Bring Duke Huan into the city quickly!"

After rushing for many days, Huan Fan was extremely haggard and almost fell down while walking. Li Heng rushed over to help him.

Others were also quite shocked.

"The matter has come to this, why does Duke Huan need to add to his sorrow?"

Moreover, the new salt has been out for more than two years, and the ancients were not fools.

"Does the Duke of Wei not want new salt?" Lu Zhi asked.

"The State of Wei has its own new salt!" Lu Zhi was shocked.

Huan Fan was taken all the way in and was first given a hot bath.

"How many more troops can Cao Wei mobilize?" Lu Zhi asked Huan Fan.

Huan Fan was the chief minister of agriculture and was in charge of Cao Wei's household registration, fields, finance, etc.

He was very clear about the number of farms and the deployment of troops in various places.

"Yuzhou and Yanzhou can mobilize another 100,000 troops. Xiangyang's current strength is 30,000. Sizhou originally had 100,000 elite troops, but Cao Shuang added 50,000!"

Everyone couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

Cao Wei deployed 60,000 troops in Yangzhou, with troops in Youzhou and Bingzhou, and hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Guanzhong. Unexpectedly, there were so many troops in Yuzhou and Yanzhou!
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the third year of Yanxi, the number of merchants in the free trade town between Xiangyang and Nanyang not only did not decrease, but actually increased. Li Heng sent scouts to investigate many times and found that Wei State not only did not publish any news about blocking trade routes, but began to encourage it.

On the 25th of the first lunar month, the letter sent back from Luoyang confirmed this.

Luoyang issued the latest decree to promote the commercial development of Jingzhou, and the court fully supported the use of Shu money.

When these news reached Xiangyang, Xiangyang undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief.

Even Huan Fan felt that Sima Yi would not launch a war rashly.

Entering February, Li Heng received an official letter from Luoyang, written by Sima Yi himself.

In the letter, Sima Yi cordially greeted Li Heng and elaborated on the preciousness of the friendship between Han and Wei.

Finally, he expressed his attitude and was willing to work for peace between the two countries.

For this reason, everyone in Xiangyang actually had a good impression of Sima Yi and couldn't help praising Sima Yi's magnanimity.

But Li Heng said: "When Sima Yi wants to attack his enemy, he will first say some nice words to paralyze the opponent. The nicer Sima Yi says, the more troops he recruits."

Everyone was doubtful of Li Heng's words.

But in any case, Li Heng began to actively prepare for war in Xiangyang. He had a hunch that Sima and his son should start mobilization work in Wei.

Luoyang did indeed begin to undergo huge changes in February.

First, Sima Yi sent people to arrest Cao Shuang's confidant. After patiently counseling Cao Shuang's confidant, the confidant was suddenly influenced by Sima Yi's benevolence and confessed Cao Shuang's rebellion.

Then, Sima Yi got a list of names from who knows where.

Next, Master Sima began to arrest people with the list.

Among the list are Xia Houxuan, He Yan, Deng Yang and others.

After catching these people, Sima Yi sent a "merciful" official to talk to these people.

As a result, these people were "influenced", admitted that they had rebelled, and also confessed that Cao Shuang had rebelled.

As soon as Sima Yi saw the confession, he sadly reported these facts to Cao Fang at the court, and then told in tears what Cao Pi and Cao Rui had entrusted him.

He knelt in front of Cao Fang, crying and shouting that he was unworthy of his trust in the late emperor.

In the end, the courtiers were moved by his loyalty and courage, and they all expressed their indignation that they would deal with Cao Shuang's accomplices seriously.

In the next few days, the spring rain falling from Luoyang was red.

As many as a hundred people were implicated, dozens of people were killed, and thousands of people were implicated and killed.

On the ninth day of February, Sima Yi ordered an attack on the Cao Shuangyi tribe.

As soon as this decree was issued, it immediately aroused opposition from the officials.

Didn't you, Sima Yi, point at Luo Shui and swear that you couldn't stop Cao Shuang?
But Sima Yi defied all opinions. Sima Shi led his men to capture the Cao Shuang clan as quickly as possible, and then beheaded all those people outside Luoyang City as quickly as possible.

The heads piled up, puddles of blood formed outside Luoyang City, and the executioner's knife was chipped.

After Taiwei Jiang Ji heard this, he was so angry that he fell ill in bed.

The rule of the political game is that after taking power, a few of the original supporters can be selected and killed, leaving Jiang Ji dispensable.

Although Sima Yi didn't kill him, he didn't pay attention to it either.

Because he has more important things to do.

Sima Yi re-appointed a group of officials and brought out Cao Wei's own new salt, quickly gaining a large number of supporters.

At the same time, he appointed his eldest son Sima Shi as General Wei and began to actively mobilize the army.

(End of this chapter)