Sima Yi's Three Kingdoms Collection Collection

Chapter 169 Collecting public opinion and helping Cao Cao rise to power (5)
"You heard it just now. He said that he has great ambitions in his chest, and he wants to hone himself into a genius who combines Zhang Liang's wisdom, Xiao He's ability, and Han Xin's talents. He is the only one who can take on great responsibilities." Yu's gaze quietly turned to the south where Prime Minister Cao's Mansion is located, as if looking very deeply, as if he wanted to penetrate all the courtyards in the Prime Minister's Mansion, "Sima Zhongda is so conceited of his talent, I'm afraid it's not unusual. The courteous treatment can move him... If Cao Cao can comfort Sima Zhongda with the sincerity of Liu Bei's three-time visit to the thatched cottage to hire Zhuge Liang, maybe Sima Zhongda can still be used by him. If Cao Cao treats him as a servant, he will bully him with power I am afraid that Sima Zhongda will not be able to be loyal to his Cao family in the future... However, these are things for the future. I have said too much for my father today..."

Xun Yun listened quietly, curled his lips in secret disapproval, shook his head slightly, and said in his heart: Father, you really think highly of Sima Yi!What he said about becoming a genius who "gathers Zhang Liangzhi's wisdom, Xiao He's ability, and Han Xin's talents in one body to be the only one responsible for great responsibility" is nothing but frivolous and ignorant big talk!My father took what he said seriously. To put it more seriously, he is just a copyist in the prime minister's mansion, a clerk with a knife and a pen at his desk, how can he see anything special?Father is really old...

At this moment, I heard a servant shouting outside the hall door: "My lord, my son, Taiwei Yang Biao, Mr. Yang is here to visit."

When Xun Yu heard this, he quickly stood up from the couch, and with Xun Yun's support, he walked slowly to the entrance of the hall, stood firmly, and told his servants, "I invite Taiwei Yang to come to the hall to teach you!"

The servant responded outside, then ran to the gate to pick Yang Biao into the mansion.

Not long after, the sound of slow footsteps approached and stopped at the entrance of Yuxian Hall.But seeing a purple-robed old man with white hair and childlike face, kind face, and strange demeanor standing upright, he smiled inwardly and shouted: "Mr. Xun Ling, I'm really bothering you for visiting me again."

Xun Yu rushed forward to greet him, cupped his hands in salute and said, "Taiwei Yang is here, and Xun has lost his way to welcome him. Please forgive me for my sin."

While exchanging greetings, the two of them entered Yuxian Hall and sat down at the table of guest and host.

As soon as he sat down, Yang Biao took out a stack of memorials from the sleeve of his robe, gently placed them on the table in front of him, and then said straight to the point: "Xun Lingjun, I am here to visit your mansion today. He also has selfish intentions. To be honest, the old man went to the palace just now, and brought over some memorials that His Majesty gave you to read at the Shangshutai, and handed them over to Lingjun for you to dispose of yourself."

"Oh! Taiwei Yang just came from the palace? Since you came with the imperial memorial, please wait a moment for Taiwei Yang. After Xun has finished disposing of these memorials, how about I share my heartfelt song with you? " After hearing this, Xun Yu couldn't help but straighten his face, and called Xun Yun to fetch the stack of memorials for reading.

"Not busy, not busy. Just listen to the oral instructions brought by the old man about these memorials." Yang Biao waved his right hand, stopped Xun Yun, looked directly at Xun Yu, and said, "Your Shangshu Taihu His Majesty agreed with the memorial submitted by the Ministry to expand the [-] hectares of villages in Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Youzhou. There should be no delay in implementing it."

"Well...Your Majesty can see the value of the most important part of this stack of memorials at a glance, it is indeed the Lord! The old minister admires." Xun Yu slowly stroked the few strands of beard under his jaw, and couldn't help losing his voice He said with emotion, "What's your opinion on other memorials?"

"There is another memorial, which was written by Minister Wei Wei. Wei Shizhong believes that Prime Minister Cao's request to restore the official system of the 'Three Dukes' is really an act of publicity and selflessness, which is worthy of praise. But next, the officials must be asked to Re-clarify the scope of the power of the prime minister and the duties of the three lords, so that the prime minister and the three lords can 'perform their duties and fulfill their responsibilities, and jointly control the Han Dynasty'!" Yang Biao pondered for a while, then said slowly, "Your Majesty, Let the old man come to ask Xun Lingjun for advice, how should he treat Wei Xi's memorial?"

The Yuxian Hall suddenly fell silent, so quiet that only the "rustling" sound of the leaves outside the window being blown by the breeze could be clearly heard.After a long time, Xun Yu's slightly hoarse voice finally broke the silence: "My lord Taiwei, please tell your majesty that, in the opinion of the old minister, Wei Xi's memorial is really full of nonsense, and it is really disturbing." Listen—you might as well burn it right now!"

"Burn it?" Yang Biao couldn't help being taken aback, "Your Majesty Lingjun, please burn it?"

"Yes, burn it." Xun Yu nodded solemnly, "Besides, Your Majesty would better burn this memorial in front of Prime Minister Cao."

Yang Biao sat there blankly, and after a long while, he finally regained his composure, and murmured, "This suggestion from Xun Lingjun is really unexpected."

"What's unexpected about this?" Xun Yu smiled deeply, and asked in a somewhat complicated tone, "Master Yang is now in the position of Taiwei, and it is your duty to take charge of the power of the world's soldiers and horses. ——Then, Xun, let me ask you, are you confident that you can mobilize a single soldier of the [-] forbidden army under the command of General Xia Houshang, the commander of the forbidden army in the palace?"

"This... this..." Upon hearing this, Yang Biao muttered and couldn't answer.

"Prime Minister Cao's proposal is only to restore the position of the 'Three Dukes', not to restore the power of the 'Three Dukes'." Xun Yu said coldly, "To put it bluntly, he just set up the position of the Three Dukes to honor Lord Yang, Lord Wang Lang and Xun Yu. That's all, I won't give up the power of the prime minister that I hold in my hand to 'govern the government on behalf of the emperor and monopolize the hundred ministers'!"

"No wonder Xun Lingjun has been trying his best to refuse to take up this post of Sikong..." Yang Biao suddenly realized, and nodded again and again, "So you have already expected that Prime Minister Cao's request to reset the 'San Gong' official is a false pretense!"

"Not necessarily. In fact, even if Prime Minister Cao asked Xun to be a veritable Sikong, Xun would still refuse to accept it. However, what Xun has never figured out is why Prime Minister Cao recently reset the "Sangong" 'The official came to win over us?" Xun Yu frowned slightly, and said, "Since he brazenly beheaded Kong Rong, the stalwart official of the Han Dynasty and the doctor of the Taizhong, in the 13th year of Jian'an, Xun has never given any favors. He has done his best. Right now, he suddenly used his position as Sikong to win over Xun, what is his intention?"

"Alas!... If this old man knew that the position of Taiwei was a nameless cover used by Cao Mengde to win people's hearts, this old man would never accept it." Yang Biao slapped his knee with his right hand and sighed, "That day in the court hall Above all, the old man thought that Cao Mengde was a man of good conscience, and wanted to cut his own power to return to the Han Dynasty... Unexpectedly, in the end, he was still playing tricks, taking the yang and the yin! Tomorrow when he goes to court, the old man will be like Xun Lingjun, Resign from the position of Taiwei in public!"

"Lord Yang, wait a minute!" Xun Yu hurriedly persuaded him when he heard this, "It's better for Cao Cao to let the officials of the 'Three Dukes' coexist with his position as prime minister, than to abolish the 'Three Dukes' in one fell swoop. You and Mr. Wang Lang According to the positions of Taiwei and Situ, you can more or less check his power as prime minister. You must not resign from this position lightly. Probably Cao Cao was also accused by princes such as Sun Quan and Liu Bei of "taking the name of Han prime minister, in fact "Han bandits" had no choice but to reset the official system of "Three Dukes" to eliminate the ridicule inside and outside the court. However, according to Xun, it seems that Cao Cao's re-establishment of the official system of "Three Dukes" is not so simple..."

"Oh... When Xun Lingjun said this, I can't help but think of a strange thing that happened recently." Yang Biao listened, frowned and thought for a moment, then said in deep thought, "A few days ago, the admonishing doctor Dong Zhao visited the old man in person. A secret letter was presented to the mansion. The content in the secret letter violated the etiquette, so the old man rejected Dong Zhao on the spot. At that time, the old man thought that the content written in the secret letter was only the absurd opinion of Dong Zhao alone, and I didn't think too deeply about it, but now it seems that Dong Zhao's actions at that time were planned for a long time, and he was probably instigated by others..."

"What secret letter?" Xun Yu was slightly startled, "Let's talk about it and listen to it."

"Here! This is the secret letter..." Yang Biao took out a silk letter from the sleeve of his robe and hurriedly handed it to Xun Yu, "Actually, the old man came to visit today, and I also want to talk to you about this secret letter. Let's talk about..."

Xun Yu gently unfolded the secret letter and read it carefully.I saw it said: "Dong Zhao sent a letter to Yang Taiwei: In the past, Zhou Dan and Lu Wang, when the Ji family was prosperous, because of the career of the two sages, they became the young children of the king with the help of the two sages. Kaiyu; at the end of the world, Tian Dan drove away the crowds of the strong Qi, reported the grievances of the weak Yan, closed more than 30 cities, and welcomed King Xiang of Qi; There is a danger of being on the verge. The merits recorded in the past life are so strong. Today Cao Gong was overthrown in the sea, the ancestral temple was burned, he bowed his armor, fought around and conquered, despite the wind and rain, for [-] years, he wiped out the barbarians and wiped out the evil for the people, and restored the Han Dynasty. , Liu was enshrined. Compared with Zhou Dan, Lu Wang, Tian Dan and other Dukes, his majestic merits and virtues are like Mount Tai to Qiushi. Rewards do not show great honor, how can this be expected by the world? Please think deeply, Lord Taiwei."

After reading it quietly, Xun Yu slowly closed the silk letter, closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, then opened his eyes to look at Yang Biao, and said solemnly: "It seems that Dong Zhao has been greedy for profit, and he wants to be promoted by supporting Cao Cao." And in exchange for your own glory and wealth! Alas! It is shameful for such a scum to appear among scholars!"

As he said, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked quickly in the hall for a few steps, then stopped suddenly, and turned to Yang Biao, "Dong Zhaoke once told you what kind of honors and titles he would use to honor Cao Cao." The prime minister's majestic feats?"

"This... the old man sternly rejected him as soon as he finished reading his secret letter, so why would he bother to ask him these questions..." Yang Biao lifted his beard and said angrily, "Think about Dong Zhao In vain, after being called Dong Zhongshu, a great Confucian of the former Han Dynasty, he did such scandalous things that would shame our ancestors!"

"Taiwei Yang must not be so angry that he broke his body. In fact, if you read this memorial carefully, the meaning of Dong Zhao is also self-evident. The honor and reward he asked the court to bestow on Prime Minister Cao is by no means a county. A conferment like Yiyi can be compared..." Xun Yu followed his previous train of thought and said leisurely, "If Xun's guess is correct, the award and honor that Dong Zhao mentioned should belong to the Duke of the State. The noble, the gift of nine tins!"

"What... what?" Upon hearing this, Yang Biao immediately became tongue-tied, "The Duke of the State, the gift of Jiuxi? What an honor and kindness this is! It can be called the ultimate honor... The old man remembers that Wang Mang usurped the former Han Dynasty in the position of Duke An Han. In view of this, Emperor Guangwu once issued a clear edict to order that future generations should not falsely designate the ministers as Dukes of the state. Dong... Dong Zhao did this because he Violate the etiquette of my big man!"

However, Xun Yu slowly moved to the golden censer in the hall and stopped, without saying a word, just quietly watching the wisps of green smoke rising from the stove and turning into various strange shapes in mid-air Then, a melancholy look appeared in his eyes.

Yang Biao saw that Xun Yu was behaving strangely at the moment, so he also closed his mouth, observing him inexplicably, and stopped talking.

(End of this chapter)