The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 235 Pirate Empire Father and Son Fight for Hegemony
"He went to Zhuya?" Cao Cao asked casually, twisting a lock of beard around his lips, looking at the sparkling surface of Xuanwu Pool.

Cao Pi stood aside with his hands crossed. Just as he was about to speak, Cao Zhang took the lead and said with a big grin, "Yes, after he pacified Yizhou, he went directly to Zhuya."

Cao Cao raised his eyelids, and glanced at Cao Zhang angrily and amusedly: "He has pacified Yizhou, what are you happy about?"

Cao Zhanghan laughed twice, smacked his lips, rubbed his big hands together and remained silent, but his expression had already expressed his thoughts straightforwardly.Cao Cao smiled, glanced at Cao Pi and the silent Cao Zhi on the other side, twitched the corner of his mouth, turned his eyes back to the lake, and asked lightly: "Why, are you greedy? I want to be a Fuyi University too." General?"

"My son... my son dare not." Cao Zhang's cheek twitched, and he said quickly: "My son just thinks that there are four kings in the Han Dynasty, and the king of Yue is the weakest, but he has been the most popular in the past two years. According to this trend Go on, I'm afraid Wu Shu will be overshadowed by him within two or three years, and in a few years, I, Wei Guo, may also..."

"I'll be overshadowed by him?" Cao Cao interrupted Cao Zhang, the corners of his eyes twitched, and he let out two rough breaths.

"Yes, my son has this worry."

"Hmph..." Cao Cao snorted twice and raised his hand: "Zihuan, what do you think?"

Cao Pi said respectfully: "I don't think that the king of Yue can surpass the limelight of the father. The father fought for the Han Dynasty for 30 years, helped the building to collapse, and pacified half of the world. How could he be credited with pacifying a few people? Xiaodao, how many barbarians can be compared? The son of heaven added more honors, and my ministers thought that his intentions were not good, and he was suspected of giving rewards indiscriminately. The ministers thought that he should remind His Majesty on the table."

"Remind Your Majesty what?" Cao Cao sneered, "Can Your Majesty take back his order?"

Cao Pi heard Cao Cao's bad voice, licked his lips, and swallowed back the words that came to his lips.

"Zijian, what do you think?" Cao Cao turned his gaze to Cao Zhi.

Not long after Cao Zhi came back from Hanzhong, he was called to Xuanwu Pond before he had time to take a rest in Yecheng. When he arrived here, Cao Zhang and Cao Pi had already arrived. Cao Cao showed him the news about Sun Shaozuo in the Dahan Gazette that had just arrived. The emperor asked the emperor to turn Yizhou into Yizhou County of the Yue Kingdom, and the emperor issued an edict to appoint Sun Shao as the general Fuyi.He could see that Cao Cao attached great importance to this matter, and the summoning of him and Cao Zhang to Yecheng might also be related to this matter.

Cao Zhang expressed the same desire to subjugate the barbarians, but Cao Pi seemed indifferent, but Cao Zhi knew that Cao Pi was tricked once by Sun Shao and Yang Biao, and he declared in the Dahan Gazette that he wanted to subjugate the barbarians. He must have such thoughts. It's just that he is not as direct as Cao Zhang, he has to test Cao Cao's meaning first and then say it.

"I believe that the king of Yue is committed to conquering the outside world, whether it is public or private, it is something we should follow. Even if we can't follow suit, we should not obstruct it. It will give people the impression of jealousy and envy." Cao Zhi said calmly. Said: "Although the four kings have different surnames, they are all the people of my great man. They are the four pillars to support the great man. Between the four pillars, they should support each other, not oppose each other."

Cao Pi's face was a bit ugly, Cao Zhi's words were obviously aimed at him, he just wanted to say something, but saw Cao Cao nodded silently, as if agreeing with Cao Zhi's opinion, then closed his mouth again, and passed It took a while before he explained: "I'm not jealous of King Yue's achievements, but I just think that your majesty's rewards are too hasty. Only then won a Yizhou, and then he was promoted to the general of Fuyi, and then won another one." Yizhou, why should you be promoted? Besides, the barbarians don’t understand etiquette, and they are easy to move and uneasy. If you obey today, you will rebel tomorrow, and today you will be rewarded. What if the barbarians rebel again? Can the Great General Fuyi be deprived of it? Fame is an important weapon of the country, how can it be such a trifling matter?"

"Zihuan, if Sun Shao takes another Yizhou, how will His Majesty seal him?" Cao Cao thought for a moment, then suddenly interjected.

Cao Pi was silent for a moment, making people feel that he did not speak casually. "My son thought that he might be a general. Besides, there seems to be no more suitable position."

"Great general?" Cao Cao muttered to himself, "Could it be that my big man is going to produce another great general who is not a relative?"

Cao Pi suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and he understood Cao Cao's intentions, and couldn't help being furious.The Cao family is a foreign relative, and his younger sister Cao Jie is now the queen. It stands to reason that his father, Cao Cao, should be a general, but the emperor has never had this thought. General, if you revealed that you might make Sun Shao a general, wouldn't that be a big slap in the face of the Cao family?Father Cao Cao has been domineering and bossy in the big man for more than ten years. Could it be that he will suffer such humiliation when he is old?Cao Cao wanted to fight back, and he wanted to compete for the position of the great general, so he summoned Cao Zhang, the shepherd of Youzhou, and Cao Zhi, the prefect of Hanzhong, back.

In other words, Cao Cao was not satisfied with him, and he didn't want to give him this task.

The corners of Cao Pi's eyes twitched a few times, and then he became nonchalant again. There was nothing unusual on his face, but the peripheral vision of his eyes was fixed on Cao Cao's face.From his angle, he could only see Cao Cao's side face, and a brown age spot the size of a fingernail in the corner of his eye was particularly eye-catching.Cao Pi suddenly thought that his father was 68 years old this year, and in two years, he would enter his seventies.

It is rare to live in the seventies. Although the father has been taking fish oil equivalent to gold for the past two years, his body looks very good, but at this age, who knows when he will fall asleep and won't wake up again?The more Cao Pi thought about it, he remembered that in the past six months, his father had spent more time meditating and less time talking. He often called his children and grandchildren to Xuanwu Pool, and his eyes seemed to be on those children intentionally or unintentionally. Xun Xun, he used to think that his father was enjoying family happiness, but now it seems that this view is obviously naive and insufficient, his father should feel that time is running out, and he is nostalgic for this last time.

Thinking of this, Cao Pi couldn't help but hold his breath, and his mind began to work quickly.He suddenly regretted that Mo Di had only been focusing on handling government affairs in Yecheng for the past two years, and mistakenly thought that his father would soon make him the crown prince, but now it seems that his father did not have such thoughts at all, and he has always treated him badly. satisfy.He seemed to occupy Yecheng, but he did not occupy the heart of his father.

He's disappointed, he's angry, he's anxious.

Although the temperature in Xuanwu Pool was already very low, Cao Pi still felt his palms were sweaty.

"From my son's point of view, there is such a possibility, but..." Cao Zhi said lightly: "This is more like a hint from Luoyang. Your majesty or the prime minister may be reminding me that the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu should fulfill the oath they made in Wancheng. He paused, and then said: "Wu has mountains and Yue, Shu has Nanman, and Wei has Beidi and Xiqiang. If everyone uses their troops to conquer foreign countries, the pressure on Luoyang will be much less."

Cao Cao squinted his eyes and said nothing, as if he had fallen asleep. After listening to Cao Zhi's words, he hummed for a long time, but he didn't know whether he agreed or didn't take it seriously.But Cao Zhang nodded and said, "Why don't we also send troops to crusade, expel the Xianbei people and Wuwan people, and drive them out of the border of my Han Dynasty, so that my Wei country can also get a general Fudi or something." His eyes rolled , and said with a smile: "The king of Yue once told me that if we conquer the Xianbei people, he can sell us those sharp swords. Why don't we take this opportunity to strengthen our strength so that we don't have to buy swords from him every time? It’s always pushing three blocks and four blocks.”

"You have such an agreement with him?" Cao Cao suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Cao Zhang in surprise.Cao Zhang nodded with a smile: "Exactly, this was agreed when we were in Bohai, but after he helped me take down Xiangping City, he returned to Qiantang, and there was no movement between us, and I never contacted him again. "

"I'm a little strange." Cao Cao sat up, turned around and looked at the three Cao Pi brothers: "Why is the same iron from Xiapi turned into a sharp sword in his hands, but we can't make it out?" , can only buy from him at a high price?"

Cao Pi and others were stunned, and for a while no one knew how to answer Cao Cao.Cao Cao looked at them and asked again: "It is easy for a building to capsize when it enters the sea, but have you ever heard of his ship capsizing? Ziwen, there are a large number of merchant ships from the State of Yue traveling between Youzhou and the State of Yue every month. Did you hear about them capsizing?"

Cao Zhang murmured: "I've heard of some, but certainly not many. Yue's merchant ships are not only big, but also safe. Even those barbarian merchants like to take Yue's ships." He thought for a while, and then said: "I I remembered that when I was in Daliaokou, I went to see the drills of the Jiangdong Navy and the Yue Kingdom Navy. Although the Jiangdong Navy has a lot of ships, they are mainly small boats. division, but there are many big ships, and basically no small boats are used, and the Jiangdong Navy has no power to fight back."

"The boat is stable and the sword is sharp. No wonder he was like a fish in water at sea, and beat Sun Quan into a mess." Cao Cao mused, "Zihuan, who helped him remodel the warship?"

"I heard from Zidan that it seems to be a man named Ge Heng who has some relationship with Ge Xuan. By the way, Ge Xuan is also under Sun Shao's command. He even wrote to invite Zuo Ci and others to Zhuya." Cao Pi suddenly stopped, and after a while, he exclaimed: "I understand, Daoshu Academy!"

Cao Cao was stunned, and after a while, he smiled bitterly and said, "Zihuan, we understand too late, those people may never come back again."

Cao Pi also smiled wryly, and was a little embarrassed.He cooperated with Sun Shao and sent people to participate in the research of Taoism Academy. It was he who followed Cao Zhen's suggestion and tried his best to encourage Cao Cao to approve it. Unexpectedly, he inadvertently helped Sun Shao a lot.

"Hey, this stick has taken advantage of the old man again." Cao Cao laughed twice, slumped down on the table, and patted his legs lightly with his big hands: "We all want land, we want farmers, and we don't take craftsmen back." He is the only one who sees the wonderful use of craftsmen, and a large number of craftsmen will leave when we don't pay attention, and when we understand it, it will be too late."

"Those craftsmen can only make useless things. Who would have thought... Who would have thought that it would be like this." Cao Pi felt bitter in his mouth, and his face was a little hot.He never put these craftsmen in his eyes, what he wanted to catch was the aristocratic family, not to mention the craftsmen he gave to Sun Shao were the craftsmen in the original palace, those people only made luxury and useless things, and they also They made weapons, but they were mainly gorgeous, and their sharpness was no better than that of ordinary craftsmen, so they generously gave them to Sun Shao.

"So, he dared to leave only a few thousand soldiers in Qiantang, but he went on an expedition to Yizhou, so he was well prepared?" Cao Zhi raised his lowered eyelids and said in surprise, "What kind of sharp weapon does he have?" , can you guarantee that Qian Tang is strong enough to resist Sun Quan's army?"

"Sun Quan is in constant internal turmoil, what will he use to pay Qian Tang?" Cao Pi laughed, showing a bit of disdain.

"I don't think so." Cao Zhang replied: "From my contact with him, he is not the kind of person who pins his hopes on others. , Sun Shao is the kind of person who thinks about the future in everything, he looks very risky in war, but in fact he is not counting victory, he is counting defeat first, and he will never take risks."

"Ziwen, do you mean to say that King Yue, known for his boldness and recklessness, is actually a cautious person?"

"If you must say that, it's not wrong." Cao Zhang retorted unceremoniously: "If he hadn't been prepared, he could be so calm when he was in Wancheng? He could conjure up two thousand manuscripts overnight ? We seem to have not figured out how these Dahan communiqués were produced, right?"

Cao Pi was a little annoyed, Cao Zhang was reminding him of the Wancheng incident intentionally or unintentionally, and the Wancheng incident was a matter of being played around by Sun Shao.He really wanted to ask Cao Zhang if Sun Shao had already figured out how to use him to fight Xiangping when he was in Qingzhou, but considering that these purely emotional words were useless, he smiled lightly and avoided answering .

"Any strategy is worthless in the face of great strength." Cao Cao waved his hand suddenly, and said lightly: "Since we have fallen behind, don't think too much, Zihuan, You immediately start contacting Sun Shao, and tell us that Wei Guo is going to conquer Xiqiang, and I hope he can support us with some weapons."

"Xiqiang?" The three brothers of the Cao family pricked up their ears at the same time.

"Yes, Xiqiang." Cao Cao nodded, and said, "If he disagrees, it's not too late to change it to Northern Xinjiang. However, I still hope it's Xiqiang. The north is bitter and cold, and it's useless to take it down. It’s different, we can reopen the Silk Road if Xiqiang is calmed down, and Qingxu’s silk business cannot be done by Sun Shao alone.”

Cao Pi suddenly realized, and immediately asked: "Father, who will go to the Western Qiang?"

Cao Cao scratched the corner of his mouth: "I haven't made up my mind yet. The three of you have to think about the strategy of the Western Expedition. I'll see when the time comes. Whoever is better will go. Maybe...the old man will go to the expedition."

Cao Pi and the others glanced at each other, and they all saw enthusiasm in each other's eyes.Cao Cao said that it was just an excuse to conscript himself. He took this opportunity to test their level. If anyone has the ability to pacify Xiqiang, he may be the general of Fuqiang, and he may be the next general, that is, the next general. One term of Wei Wang.

Seeing Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi look at each other, Cao Pi couldn't help but sneer secretly. They probably thought that the friendship between Cao Zhang and Sun Shao would surely secure better conditions, but they forgot that Xia Houshang's daughter Xiahou Hui is now Sun Shao's concubine. As long as he sends Xia Houshang, he can definitely get better conditions. It is really unknown who will have the last laugh.

"I'm going to Zhuya?" Xia Houshang frowned upon hearing this, "Isn't that good?"

"What's wrong?" Cao Pi glanced at Xia Houshang: "Boren, are you willing to stay at home? If Xiqiang goes to war, half of our Wei State's strength will be transferred to Guanzhong. You should know that if these strengths fall If it falls into the hands of Ziwen or Zijian, we will never have a chance to stand up again. And if it falls into our hands, Boren, besides you and Zidan, who else can take on this important task?"

"I..." Xia Houshang hesitated for a moment, but said nothing with a bitter face.

"Boren, I didn't say you, a man, be careful in the world, and be infatuated with a woman all day, isn't it too heroic and short of breath? Du Xi didn't like you, really didn't wrong you."

Xia Houshang's black face suddenly turned red, and he stared at Cao Pi unhappily, without speaking for a long time.He is an important minister in Wei State, not only because he is Xia Houyuan's nephew and Cao Pi's confidant, but also because he is both civil and military, and has made outstanding achievements. Many people dare not despise him. , and even told people that he was small.Xia Houshang was very annoyed by this, but Du Xi was also an important minister of the Wei State and a celebrity in Yingchuan, so although he was unhappy, he dared not do anything to Du Xi.Now Cao Pi mentioned this matter face to face, which made him very unhappy.

"You and Zidan are my right-hand men. If you don't get along, who else can I rely on?" Cao Pi slowed down again, and patiently persuaded: "Zijian recommended Yang Xiu to Zhuya, obviously because he wanted to use Yang Xiuhe Sun Shao's old acquaintance came to get preferential terms, but no matter how good the relationship between Yang Xiu and Sun Shao is, can it be better than the relationship between you? Boren, you have helped me so many times before, why don't you want to help me again? "

Xia Houshang looked at Cao Pi's pleading face, and sighed helplessly: "Okay, I'll go to Zhuya, but it's up to man to plan and God to make things happen. I'm not sure if it will work out in the end."

"Don't worry, as long as you go, it will definitely succeed." Cao Pi breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled proudly: "Sun Shao, don't look at him as a scheming man, but he values ​​affection, and there are so many people who take the world as their own responsibility." Stupid. As long as it is said to conquer the barbarians, he will definitely support it. What you have to do is try to get him to agree to support the conquest of the Western Qiang instead of the Northern Conquest."

Xia Houshang nodded. If he conquered the north, it would probably be Cao Zhang who led the army. It had nothing to do with Cao Pi. Only Cao Pi who conquered the Western Qiang had a chance.

"Take more gold and silver. I heard that there are many strange things in Zhuya. You can buy more there, so as not to enter the treasure mountain and return empty." Cao Pi breathed a sigh of relief, patted his legs and said, "Sun Shao is really a good boy." You have good eyesight, you actually robbed such a good place, and those barbarian merchants brought him many rare things, which made him a fortune."

Xiahou Shang cast a glance at the envious Cao Pi, but didn't answer.Cao Pi felt Xia Houshang's unhappiness, and smiled again: "Okay, Boren, don't be so sad, don't you like beautiful women, I can tell you, there are many Xiyi women in Zhuya, and I, the Central Plains women It’s a different story. When you arrive at Zhuya, how do you know that your son-in-law won’t give you some kabuki? You’ve seen how generous he is to Guan Yu, right? He’s got [-] horses in one shot. Oh, this kid What a prodigal, two thousand war horses, how much does that cost? Guan Yu got these horses, how comfortable he is in Shu Kingdom? He is also Yue Zhang, why don’t you know how to get close to him? He is a big man now The richest man." The more Cao Pi talked, the more excited he became, he moved forward, leaned half of his body on the desk, leaned in front of Xia Houshang and said, "Bo Ren, do you know that those barbarian girls..."

Xia Houshang was stunned for a moment, looking at Cao Pi with a greedy expression on his face, he suddenly regained his energy, and his originally dull eyebrows and eyes became vivid.He and Cao Pi can get along well, largely because they have the same hobbies. They like rare things, beauties, and like to try all kinds of new and exciting and even perverted enjoyments.He has money, but in front of Zhuya and Nanhai's endless new and novel goods, no one thinks that the wallet can't be empty, especially the Yi girl, Xia Houshang has long been tempted, but the price of the Yi girl is too high, he hesitated for a long time, He hasn't done anything yet, so he still doesn't know what other differences these barbarian girls have besides their unique appearance. Usually, when they are mentioned by colleagues, they always have a mysterious look, which has long made his eyes thirsty.

Cao Pi leaned in front of Xia Houshang and muttered for a while, Xiahoushang looked at Cao Pi dumbfounded, Cao Pi chattered and laughed very obscenely, and Xia Houshang also laughed very obscenely, just from the smiles on their faces Looking at it, no one can believe that one of them is a prince of Wei who is capable of writing and martial arts, and the other is a general who is good at fighting.

"I'll go!" Xia Houshang slapped his thigh, then frowned, and reminded: "Zihuan, I think the king is a little unpredictable. You recommend me to go, and Zijian recommends Yang Xiu to go. Mind, with the wisdom of the king, can't he see the problem here?"

Cao Pi lowered his face and let out a long sigh: "Boren, to tell you the truth, I can't understand what he is thinking. Don't look at him as if he is very energetic, but I know that if it weren't for the fish oil, he would have died early. It won’t work. Sometimes, I really hate your son-in-law, if it wasn’t for the Zhuifeng powder and fish oil he offered, how could things be so complicated?”

These words were rebellious, but Xia Houshang knew Cao Pi very well, so he was not surprised to hear this. He opened his mouth, but didn't say anything, but Cao Pi saw it, and he stared into Xia Houshang's eyes: "Bo Ren, what do you want to say?"

Xia Houshang hesitated for a moment, then said slowly: "Who handles the fish oil that King Wei takes every day?"

Cao Pi rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, no."

(End of this chapter)