The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 428 Who can do it?

Luoyang, Taiji Hall.

"Mr. Sun, please don't be restrained and sit down."

Cao Mao waved his hand, and Sun Yi sat aside cautiously.

Cao Mao looked at him with a smile, "I've been really busy these days and haven't been able to find time to see General Sun. I feel really bad about it."

Sun Yi hurriedly said, "I, a guilty minister, dare not accept such courtesy."

"You hold the imperial seal in Wu, commanding all the military forces at Xiakou and serving as General of the Guarding Army, Marquis of Shaxian. You are a descendant of the Wu bandits, yet you hold the rank of general. You fear Heaven and know your destiny, and you understand the ways of good and bad. You have resolutely led your people and returned to your great country. Not even Weizi's flight to Yin or Yue Yi's escape to Yan could compare to you."

Cao Mao sighed, then said, "Now you are appointed as the Minister of the Interior and the Governor of Jiaozhou, and you are summoned to the Imperial Court to summon the three officials."

Sun Yi hurriedly stood up and thanked Cao Mao.

Cao Mao gestured for him to sit down again. "There are no outsiders here, so you don't have to feel restrained. I want to know something about the situation in Wu. I wonder if you can tell me."

"Your Majesty, just ask."

"I heard that Wu's granaries are overflowing with food, enough to support an army of 100,000. Is this true?"

Sun Yi answered seriously, "That's how it was back then. Sun Jun has been on many expeditions over the years, and he's been extravagant, so we're no longer as well-off as we were back then."

Cao Mao asked some tentative questions, but Sun Yi's answers were always not accurate enough.

Sun Yi was forced to surrender to Cao Wei. If Sun Chen had not wanted to kill him, he would definitely not have come here.

Although he ran here, Sun Yi still had some feelings for the Wu Kingdom.

If you want to obtain some core secrets of Wu from him, or ask him to work for Wei and help deal with Wu, it may not be easy.

It seems that this person can only be used as a nominal title to lure the generals of Wu to surrender.

Cao Mao asked a few more questions and then discussed other things with Sun Yi, such as literature, poetry and prose.

Speaking of this, Sun Yi's expression was obviously much more relaxed.

The two men discussed for a long time, wrote poems to each other, and talked about literary talent. Finally, Cao Mao sent someone to send Sun Yi back.

Only after Sun Yi left did Zhong Hui come out from the side.

He picked up the document left by Sun Yi and carefully examined it for a long time before speaking, "Your Majesty, leave this matter to me. I will definitely not let Your Majesty down."

"However, Ding Feng is just a general. If we replace the opponent with Quan Shang."

Cao Mao's attitude was very firm.

"No, just write it to Ding Feng. Don't worry about Quan Shang. He won't live long."

Zhong Hui wanted to use Sun Yi to divide the ministers within Wu, and at the same time to deceive Sun Chen to see if he could provoke his murderous intentions.

The first person Cao Mao wanted to get rid of was Ding Feng.

In Cao Mao's mind, Ding Feng ranked even higher than Lu Kang.

Although Lu Kang is a good fighter, he is an outstanding descendant of a prominent family. He will protect the interests of his family and will not be too aggressive when attacking. If the clan is threatened, he can also change the clan.

But Ding Feng is different. People from humble backgrounds are often the most difficult to deal with.

Seeing that the emperor was so determined, Zhong Jian didn't say much.

Zhong Hui took his things and left, ready to officially start the work.

Only then did Cao Mao take some time off and return from the East Hall to the West Hall.

Cao Qi was sitting in the hall at this moment, looking around curiously. When he saw Cao Mao suddenly walk in, he was so scared that he quickly stood up and bowed deeply again.

"His Majesty."

It can be seen that he has become a qualified member of the Wei royal family and knows that he must always be afraid of the emperor.

Cao Mao returned to his seat, sat down without any courtesy, tilted his head and looked at his younger brother.

"Qi, who told you that I was going to kill you?"

Cao Qi said very straightforwardly: "It is the East Sea Xiangshi Zuan."

Cao Mao shook his head.

"He taught you how to survive, and you betrayed him like this?"

"He talks about General Wei all day long in the country. He also told me that the General and General Wei are very kind to the royal family and that your actions will lead to the demise of the Wei Dynasty. I think he has the intention of rebellion, but he doesn't act because he doesn't have the strength."

Cao Mao smiled and said, "This man is Sima Zhao's confidant. After Sima Zhao came to power, he appointed him as your prime minister. It seems that he was placed by your side to deal with me."

"It's only because Sima Zhao was defeated by me that he keeps talking about this all the time. Did he ever try to persuade you to rebel?"

"No, sire, will you really kill me?"

Cao Qi was three years younger than Cao Mao. He was just a little boy with a simple and straightforward personality.

Cao Mao looked at him with complicated eyes.

"You are my only relative in this world, and I will not kill you."

Cao Qi breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The two brothers are not close.

When Cao Qi was young, he liked to stay around Cao Mao and listen to the strange stories he told him.

But when he grew up a little, he was unwilling to see me anymore. He imitated his mother, acting arrogantly and calling me a bastard all the time.

Of course, in the end, it was their father who proved through practice that there was no difference between legitimate sons and illegitimate sons, and they could be beaten equally.

If he got angry, he would even beat the queen.

After that, the two brothers had no more contact with each other.

After not seeing each other for a long time, the scenes of the past were still vivid in his mind. Cao Mao thought that when the two brothers met, they would have a lot to talk about, and they could talk about their childhood and tell stories from their youth.

But when the two sat down, the atmosphere was not as warm as Cao Mao had imagined.

I don’t know if it was because of Cao Mao or Cao Qi, but they just sat there without saying a word for a long time.

Cao Mao wanted to say something, but when he saw the childishness on his brother's face, he shut his mouth again.

"From now on, you will stay in the palace for the time being. You are still young, so I will find some playmates and teachers for you. You can study in Luoyang first."

Cao Qi didn't understand why his brother wanted him to stay, but he was not happy in Donghai.

Being watched every day and not even being able to go out, for a lively and active teenager, such a life is really worse than death.

When Cao Qi heard what his brother said, he didn't even ask if he could go out. When he heard "a few playmates", he became a little excited.

He had no friends or teachers in the East Sea Kingdom. The person in charge of teaching him was Fang Fuling, who had a stern face all day long and refused to talk to him about anything other than what was in the books.

He's had enough of this kind of life.

"Your Majesty, are you serious?!"

Cao Mao said angrily, "How can I deceive you?!"

"You have to study hard. At the very least, you have to learn to the point where you can compose a poem in seven steps, right?"

Cao Qi was suddenly terrified and bowed deeply to Cao Mao again, trembling with fear.

Cao Mao was silent for a moment.

"Don't be afraid, we were just joking."

"Just go and study in peace."

Cao Qi was taken out of the West Hall.

Cao Mao sat alone in the hall, looking around with a somewhat empty look in his eyes.

"His Majesty!!"

Zhang Hua's voice came from outside the door, breaking the silence in the hall.

Cao Mao looked up and saw Zhang Hua walking into the hall with a smile on his face, holding a document in his hand.

"Your Majesty, something big has happened in Shu!"

Zhang Hua happily handed an article to Cao Mao.

"I heard that this was written by a famous scholar in Shu. It has caused a sensation in Shu and has even spread beyond Shu!"

“It’s called ‘Hate the Country Theory’.”

When Zhang Hua mentioned this name, Cao Mao knew what was going on.

It seems that the last failure has exacerbated the internal conflicts in Shu. Qiao Zhou wrote the theory of hating the country a year in advance.

Although Cao Mao knew the content, he still read the article again.

A smile appeared on Cao Mao's lips.

This is a big killer.

The dissatisfaction of the local faction in Shu Kingdom was finally vented. This may not stop Jiang Wei from going to war, but it will accelerate the internal division of Shu Kingdom, and the conflicts will become increasingly greater in the future.

When contradictions accumulate to a sufficient extent, surrenderists will emerge.

This was a disaster for the people of Shu, but great news for the people of Wei.

Cao Mao put away the document and sighed, "It really is like using writing as a sword."

Zhang Hua also laughed. "Once this article is published, the morale of Shu will definitely be damaged. Jiang Wei was no match for General Deng to begin with. Now that morale is low, he will be even less able to face General Deng directly."

"Originally, there was a trend of Shu and Wu uniting, but that ended with Sun Jun's death. Sun Chen was completely unwilling to join forces with Shu. He even wanted to send people to reclaim the grain he had previously given to Shu. When the Shu envoy came to persuade him, Sun Chen told the envoy that if Shu wanted the grain, it would have to exchange it for cities!"

At this moment, Zhang Hua really loved Sun Chen, the "famous general of Cao Wei".

It is obviously wrong to say that Guanqiu Jian was the best general against Wu. Sun Chen was the best general of Wei against Wu.

First he killed his own brave generals, then cut off his allies, all of which made the State of Wei laugh out loud.

With such a great general, why should the Wu Kingdom worry about its demise?
Cao Mao felt that this was a bit outrageous at this moment.

Didn’t Sun Jun give Sun Chen instructions about what to do next before he died?
What the hell did this guy do?
Compared with him, Cao Shuang was a wise and brave man.

Cao Mao put aside his hatred of the country and said seriously, "Maoxian, I think the day of achieving great unification is getting closer and closer."

"Both Shu and Wu have experienced serious internal problems."

"The world, which has been in chaos for so long, will finally end in our hands."

Zhang Hua's expression also turned serious.

"Your Majesty, are you ready to take action?"

"It's not time to send troops yet, but we can give them some more firewood to make their fire burn brighter. Maoxian, I intend to revitalize the school and serve as my eyes and ears."

"Who do you think among the people around me can take on this task?"

Zhang Hua narrowed his eyes.

"I think there is someone who is most suitable to handle this matter."

"Oh? Who?"

"Emperor Liu."

(End of this chapter)