The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 518 Don’t Be in a Hurry to Die

Many people look down on Deng Ai, thinking that he destroyed the Kingdom of Shu just by luck.

However, being able to lead the soldiers across the more than 700 miles of human forbidden land, then rolling down the cliff, and then leading this exhausted army to defeat Zhuge Dan's guards head-on, and then break through Chengdu, is simply a god descending to earth and a miracle in the history of war.

Many people felt sorry for Deng Ai and thought that his death was totally unjust.

However, this guy really sat in Liu Chan's position, and in the name of the emperor, he appointed civil and military officials, and appointed the governor of Yizhou, without reporting anything.

He had no intention of rebelling. To be honest, after he captured Chengdu, even if he incorporated the army of Shu, he was no match for the main force. He was able to defeat the Shu with a smaller force. Now you want to repeat the same feat when facing Wei, even with its most elite central army and a large number of commanders and powerful generals?
If he dared to order a rebellion, all his soldiers would have to run away first.

Their families are all in Wei.

Since you don't want to rebel, why do things that will anger the emperor?
Cao Mao predicted these situations, but he was not too panicked.

The commander-in-chief this time was not Zhong Hui, and Zhuge Dan was still relatively rational. Moreover, there were people like Chen Qian. Even if Deng Ai did these things, they would not take action directly. They would still have to send a letter to ask for their opinion and then take action.

As long as it doesn't cause civil war or chaos in Chengdu, there will be no problem.

At this moment, Cao Mao led everyone out of the city again, his destination was Hanzhong.

Ministers including Zhang Hua expressed their opposition to the emperor's behavior.

Although Shu was conquered, it was not yet completely unified. There might still be rebel soldiers, and there was no guarantee that the surrendered generals would stab you in the back. The roads in Shu were difficult to travel, so it was best not to go to Hanzhong.

But Cao Mao also had his own ideas.

He was not only the emperor of the Wei people, he was the emperor of the people of the world.

Is there any emperor in the world who doesn’t even dare to go to his own territory?
He went to Hanzhong and summoned ministers and nobles there, and at the same time let the people of Shu know that the new emperor had arrived.

Cao Mao had a lot of thoughts in his mind.

At this moment, Cao Mao was already the emperor with real power. He insisted on going to Hanzhong, and no matter how much the ministers opposed it, they could not stop him.

Zhang Hua and others had no choice but to send someone to inform Chen Tai and Du Yu, who were in Wudu, Hanzhong at the moment, to make preparations to welcome the emperor into Shu.

Soon, Yin Damu's entire army was dispatched. Cao Mao sat in the chariot, wearing the armor of his ancestors, gazing majestically at the front.

Officials along the way came to greet them and clear the road. Yin Damu was very vigilant and was unwilling to let anyone get close to him. It was Cao Mao who took the initiative to allow local officials to come and pay their respects.

For local officials, only those who reached the rank of county governor could get the opportunity to meet the emperor. For county magistrates and the like, that was almost impossible, although their appointment also required the emperor's approval.

Cao Mao insisted on going this time for the same purpose: after pacifying Bashu, Yongliang and Bashu would become the focus of the court's governance.

It’s not a bad thing that Cao Mao can inspire the officials along the way.

Most of the county governors of Yongliang are not here at the moment. The two governors took them away when they went to war. These county governors were to lead troops to fight in wartime.

Cao Mao met many local officials along the way, and gave them rewards of varying degrees, regardless of their rank.

Although this slowed down Cao Mao's marching speed, the local officials were extremely happy.

When they arrived at Yangping Pass, Chen Tai, who was reorganizing Hanzhong, came to greet them.

He brought some of the latest news.

Cao Mao directly pulled him into his carriage and asked him to report.

"Your Majesty, the Shu Kingdom has been destroyed. Deng Ai killed Zhuge Zhan, the Shu ruler surrendered, and the generals and governors throughout the kingdom also surrendered one after another."

Cao Mao was stunned for a long time. Although he had known that this would be the result, when he actually heard the news of the demise of Shu Kingdom, Cao Mao still felt mixed emotions.

Thinking back to the days when he was imprisoned in the Taiji Palace, and then thinking about how he had actually led the troops to conquer the Kingdom of Shu.

The gap between them made Cao Mao feel a little uneasy.

The demise of Shu Kingdom officially sounded the prelude to great unification.

At this moment, the State of Wei has already gotten back on track and is not in a hurry to change emperors. The next step would be to play the song of the demise of the State of Wu.

Cao Mao calmed down and asked, "Jiang Wei also surrendered?"

Chen Tai nodded, "He surrendered, too. However, General Zhong Hui, the commander of the army, believed he had ulterior motives and ordered him to be brought here. He is almost reaching Hanzhong."

"Oh?"

Cao Mao was a little surprised, because he knew why Jiang Wei surrendered in history.

He discovered the conflict between Zhong Hui and Deng Ai and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to stir up trouble. He also secretly sent people to deliver letters to Liu Chan, asking Liu Chan to delay for a while so that he could think of a solution.

Obviously, Jiang Wei also discovered the problem this time and wanted to take the opportunity to cause trouble.

However, before he could make any plans, Zhong Hui saw through his plan.

It was not surprising that Cao Mao was seen through, but it was surprising that the person who saw through him was Zhong Hui.

You know, Zhong Hui's love for Jiang Wei had reached a certain level of madness. Historically, after getting Jiang Wei, Zhong Hui obeyed him in everything. They traveled in the same car, ate at the same table, and slept in the same bed. His love for him had reached its peak.

How could such a person attack his own idol?
Cao Mao thought about it and thought that perhaps it was because Zhong Hui was no longer the commander-in-chief this time, and he could easily find the problem from the perspective of a staff officer. Or perhaps it was because Zhong Hui was no longer worried about being persecuted for his great achievements this time, so he did not turn a blind eye to Jiang Wei's behavior.

He is worthy of being called the Zhang Liang of the times.

Cao Mao was still a little delighted, as he really wanted to meet this legendary Shu general. He had heard of his great name for a long time.

Under the leadership of Chen Tai, Cao Mao officially entered Shu.

Two people were the first to be pulled over to meet Cao Mao.

One of them was called Jiang Bin, who was the son of Jiang Wan and the brother of Jiang Xian, while the other was called Wang Han, who did not have a very prominent background.

The two surrendered when they were left with no other options.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

The two men bowed to greet him, but Cao Mao helped them up.

"It doesn't have to be this way."

"Since you have surrendered, I will forgive you both. From now on, you will be ministers of the Great Wei."

Cao Mao said seriously.

At this moment, the two ministers also secretly raised their heads and looked at the Cao Wei Emperor in front of them.

This is a tall and handsome young man. Although he has not grown a beard yet, his face is unusually calm, without any of the restlessness and frivolity of youth. There is a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, but it is not so obvious.

Wearing armor and a military cap, he looked extremely heroic.

Apart from anything else, this appearance alone is enough to make the King of Shu feel ashamed.

Jiang Bin couldn't help but sigh in his heart, what a handsome emperor! No wonder he is so talented and wise!
People of this era firmly believe that those who can do extraordinary things must have different appearances, either extremely good-looking or extremely ugly. After all, being extremely ugly can also be considered a strange appearance.

Regardless of whether they like you or not, if your ugliness is distinctive enough and can be classified as unusual, then people will pay attention to you. Anyway, you have to be distinctive and different from others. The more different, the better.

This tradition has been passed down for a long time, and even in the future, some emperors liked to use strange appearances to "disguise" themselves.

In ancient times, founding emperors or emperors with particularly good reputations were also generally believed to have strange appearances.

Compared with Cao Mao, Liu Chan's appearance was obviously too ordinary.

Cao Mao comforted them with a few words and then led the rest of the ministers into the city.

The two men followed at the end, just watching Cao Mao from a distance. Jiang Bin then sighed: "What a handsome face he has, a face like that of an emperor."

Wang Han's expression was also a little complicated.

"He even dared to come to Hanzhong in person, showing no fear of our leader at all, yet he hasn't left the palace in years."

Cao Mao finally entered Hanzhong.

Hanzhong was not as prosperous as Cao Mao had imagined. Due to years of expeditions and even the recent wars, Hanzhong looked very dilapidated. There were ruins everywhere, many houses were burned down, and the whole city was under martial law. Cao Mao didn't know how the people here lived, but he could tell by looking at the city that it was probably not very good.

After arriving in Hanzhong, the first thing Cao Mao did was to lead his ministers to offer sacrifices.

The people Cao Mao wanted to worship were the late General Zhengxi, Marquis of Bochang Minting, Xiahou Yuan, the late Governor of Yizhou, Zhao Yong, the late General Chariots and Cavalry, Marquis of Zouzhuang, Zhang He and others.

Of course, many soldiers who died in the war against Shu and the war against Shu over the years are also worshipped together.

The ministers performed the sacrifice in a very solemn manner, and those who surrendered also had to participate.

At this time, the troops escorting Jiang Wei finally arrived in Hanzhong in a hurry.

The sergeant in charge of the escort was now filled with anxiety.

He looked at the prison van worriedly.

Jiang Wei was locked in the prison van at this moment. He looked weak and dying.

The soldiers were very scared of this. Jiang Wei had tortured them badly along the way. He refused to eat or drink water and was determined to die. The escorting soldiers could not bear to see him die in the prison car, nor did they dare to untie him. If they wanted to feed him, they were worried that he would bite off his tongue.
Everyone in the group was exhausted at this moment. They did not dare to rest along the way and ran towards Hanzhong with all their might.

When the military officers in charge of the escort learned that the emperor was already in Hanzhong and did not need to be escorted to Chang'an, they almost burst into tears.

OK, great.

Finally, I don’t have to suffer this anymore.

When Chen Tai learned that Jiang Wei was coming, he came to recruit him.

Seeing his old rival dying, Chen Tai was filled with mixed emotions.

At this moment, Jiang Wei slowly raised his head and saw Chen Tai in the distance.

The two looked at each other for a moment before Chen Tai said, "Take him down from the prison cart and remove the cloth from his mouth."

"But, General, this man is determined to die."

"It doesn't matter. He's going to die anyway. It's not too late to let him talk to his old rival before he dies."

Chen Tai said calmly.

(End of this chapter)