The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 520: Duke Anle

Before Liu Chan and others arrived, several secret letters from Chen Qian had already reached Cao Mao.

Sure enough, just as Cao Mao had thought, Chen Qian told Deng Ai in detail what he had done and said that he was taking him to meet the emperor.

Cao Mao looked at Chen Qian's secret letter without any emotion in his heart.

To be honest, any emperor who saw a military general behaving like this would probably kill him. Well, even if he didn't kill him, he would at least imprison him directly.

After all, Deng Ai's actions were too dangerous.

This is simply a crazy act of showing disrespect to the emperor and being proud of one's own achievements. This is arrogance to the extreme.

But Cao Mao was fine. After all, he had known about Deng Ai and his character for a long time. Deng Ai really had no intention of rebelling, and this man was so talented. Of course, it was not possible to ignore him. After all, his behavior could not be encouraged, but killing him for this reason was not appropriate either.

When Cao Mao calmly handed the letter to Zhang Hua, Zhang Hua almost jumped up.

It can be seen that this talented king's ability to cultivate his energy still needs improvement.

"Your Majesty, this, this!!"

Zhang Hua was so frightened that he turned into Deng Ai and could not speak clearly.

Cao Mao was very calm, "Mr. Mao, do you only now understand what kind of person General Deng is?"

"I know that General Deng is a man of few plans. Although he can handle government affairs, he lacks political strategy. I never thought that he would reach this point!"

"To confer the title of Emperor and to sit on the throne of the Son of Heaven, this is indeed..."

Zhang Hua pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with a suitable adjective.

Cao Mao sighed, saying that Deng Ai was indeed worthy of his name, as he had forced even the most talented minister of the king to be at a loss for words.

Indeed, such things are still a bit too shocking for contemporary people.

Zhang Hua said seriously, "Your Majesty, this must be dealt with severely. Do not show mercy! Otherwise, I'm afraid others will follow suit!"

Cao Mao didn't think there was any need to worry so much.

Any normal person would not have the courage to imitate Deng Ai's behavior.

Apart from Cheng Ji, no one around him dared to do such a thing.

For someone with such thoughts, even if you punish Deng Ai severely, you cannot stop him.

Cao Mao pondered for a moment and said, "I have my own plans. You should go back and rest first."

After seeing off Zhang Hua, Cao Mao immediately welcomed another guest.

Now Cao Mao was temporarily living in the county magistrate's mansion and there was no palace or anything like that. When this man walked into the study, he turned around and closed the door, then sat down next to Cao Mao.

This person is the current school official Liu Lu.

"The Shu Kingdom has perished."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!!"

Liu Lu said with a smile.

Cao Mao's expression turned cold.

"Then there's no need for him to stay. You should go first and let him commit suicide out of fear of the crime. And then, take out the evidence you've collected. I don't know what else to do."

Liu Lu narrowed his eyes and said, "Your Majesty is merciful. He allowed this bastard to live for so long. Now that he has conquered Shu and made great achievements, no one in the world dares to question Your Majesty anymore. This bastard's clan should also suffer the corresponding punishment!!"

Well, what they were both talking about was of course Sima Zhao.

Sima Zhao launched the war to destroy Shu in order to quell the regicide incident. Through this war, he was able to barely gain a foothold.

The same was true for Cao Mao. Through this battle to destroy Shu, his fame and prestige directly surpassed those of the previous emperors.

No matter how wise they were, wouldn't they still suffer at the hands of Shu?

But Cao Mao directly destroyed the Kingdom of Shu.

This is not just absorbing Sima Shi's legacy, this is directly surpassing the wise kings of all dynasties. Even if Cao Mao died now, his status would definitely be higher than Emperor Ming and on par with Emperor Wen who founded the country.

Well, the founding emperor of the Wei Dynasty was Cao Pi, just like the founding emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty was Sima Yan.

At this point, General Wei should go and see his elder brother and his father.

At the same time, the liquidation of the Sima family can proceed normally.

With Cao Mao's current prestige, it would be extremely easy for him to kill a large family that had committed misconduct, and no one dared to say anything.

Of course, Cao Mao still had to strike a balance. He had to protect many people who were involved with the Sima family to some extent, otherwise even his own general would have to be killed.

Many things no longer need to be handled in person by Cao Mao, and he will never be disappointed.

After Sima Zhao's death, the rest of the people can be dealt with slowly by themselves.

As for Sima You, after pacifying the world, he was asked to fight against the annexation of the big families. If he did well, the big families would want his life, and if he did not, he would want his life.

Cao Mao gave Liu Lu instructions for a long time before Liu Lu said goodbye and left.

Liu Chan was now walking towards Hanzhong. When he learned that Cao Mao was in Hanzhong, Liu Chan was relieved.

I can finally take a break. If I continue on this journey to Luoyang, I’m afraid I’ll be exhausted to death!

Not only Liu Chan, but many other old ministers also thought so.

Because there was no Chengdu Rebellion this time, the Shu ministers were relatively well-preserved, with few casualties. Cao Mao was standing on the road, surrounded by many generals, waiting for the arrival of Liu Chan and others.

The two sides soon saw each other, but Cao Mao was not in a hurry to leave.

He stood on the chariot, staring calmly in the direction of Liu Chan, with a half-smile on his face. This ancestral smile made him look very dangerous.

At this moment, Qiao Zhou said something in Liu Chan's ear. Liu Chan changed his walking posture, took small steps, and walked quickly towards Cao Mao.

"Liu Chan pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor!!"

Liu Chan said his name loudly.

At this time, Cao Mao just got off the chariot. He walked steadily to Liu Chan, chuckled and helped him up.

"Lord Shu, there's no need to do this!"

"The Lord of Shu has understood the will of heaven and the current situation, and has abandoned evil and joined the light. This has saved many parts of Shu from the scourge of war, and the people have been able to survive. This is the Lord of Shu's contribution to the country!"

Hearing these words, Liu Chan raised his head and smiled awkwardly.

His smile was so harmless that Sima Shi couldn't bear to kill him.

Cao Mao grabbed his hand and asked, "After the Shu Lord surrendered, were any of the soldiers humiliated or embarrassed?"

Liu Chan hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, they are all very respectful to me, but this road is really difficult to walk on! It's really difficult to walk on!"

Hearing Liu Chan's words, Cao Mao laughed out loud.

"A real man is not afraid of death, so why would he be afraid of traveling?"

Liu Chan sneered, "Your Majesty is so powerful that you are naturally fearless. I am afraid. My body is almost falling apart."

Cao Mao looked at him and said to his attendants, "The Lord of Shu is honest and straightforward!"

The generals chuckled.

Seeing this scene, many ministers of Shu Kingdom just lowered their heads, unwilling to see their emperor being ridiculed in this way.

Cao Mao then looked at the rest of the people.

Crown Prince Liu Xuan was in his thirties. Like his father, he had an honest and loyal look and was extremely respectful towards Cao Mao.

In history, this prince also died during the Chengdu Rebellion.

In fact, after Deng Ai entered Chengdu, he did not hold them accountable for their past responsibilities, including Guan Yu's family, who were also pardoned. Later, when Zhong Hui arrived, he did not hold these people accountable. However, Zhong Hui was later killed, and Chengdu became a mess. The soldiers went on a killing spree, and a situation of revenge occurred.

Then many officials were killed and Guan Yu's clan was exterminated.

The happiest person was undoubtedly the Emperor of Wu. He wished he could tell this story to his ministers every day. Look, this is the consequence of surrender!

Cao Mao looked at the prince and said, "He looks quite like his father. Has he ever studied the classics?"

The prince looked a little nervous and stammered, unable to speak.

Cao Mao smiled.

Liu Chan only had one tough guy, the King of the North, the rest were weak, including Liu Chan himself. Look at the neighboring Wu Kingdom. Although Sun Hao was an extremely foolish king in the end, they were still quite tough.

Sima Yan once said to Sun Hao: I have set up a chair here, waiting for you to sit on it!
Sun Hao told Sima Yan: I also set up a chair like this in Wu!
Sima Yan also asked Sun Hao to write a poem, in which Sun Hao wrote: "In the past I was your neighbor, and now I am your subject! I offer you a cup of wine, and may you live forever!"

Well, it's Sima Anshi who has such a good temper. If you had Sima Zhao or Sima Shi in your place, they would have scattered your ashes.

Of course, this also shows that although both surrendered, Sun Hao was more tough.

At this time, Cao Mao also met with other ministers, such as Dong Jue, Fan Jian, Liao Hua and others.

The old ministers must have extremely complicated feelings at this moment, especially the old generals, who said nothing and just lowered their heads.

Cao Mao met with everyone, and soon he saw Deng Ai standing not far away.

Deng Ai's eyes were particularly bright, and he was staring at Cao Mao at this moment.

Before Cao Mao could speak, Deng Ai walked up to Cao Mao and bowed to greet him.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"Very well, Mr. Mao, please follow General Deng and ask him about the important matters he wants to report. I will also host a banquet to entertain all the ministers."

Zhang Hua understood and looked at Deng Ai, "General, please come with me."

Deng Ai was very impatient and quickly left the place with Zhang Hua.

Cao Mao brought the civil and military officials of Shu Kingdom into Hanzhong City.

Liu Chan looked around in surprise. So this is what my Hanzhong looks like. I haven’t seen it for a long time. I didn’t expect it to have changed so much.

Cao Mao brought them back to the county magistrate's mansion. Cao Mao sat in the upper seat, and Liu Chan sat next to him, in the first position.

Cao Mao said, "Now that the Lord of Shu has surrendered, I am greatly pleased. I will specially confer upon him the title of Duke of Anle County!"

"Duke Anle, what do you think?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!! Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

Liu Chan's face was full of joy and he couldn't help but stand up and express his gratitude.

He had never thought that the other party could be crowned a king. Being crowned a duke was already very good, and he was even a county duke, which meant that he could still eat and drink well and live happily in the future.

(End of this chapter)