The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 289
Yang Biao woke up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache. He just moved his body, but he felt weak all over, his limbs were sore and weak, and his mouth was extremely thirsty.He called softly: "Water."

"Duke Yang is awake." A familiar voice came, followed by a rush of footsteps, and the Son of Heaven appeared in front of Yang Biao holding a cup of tea.Yang Biao was startled, turned over and was about to sit up, but was held down by the emperor.

"Mr. Yang, you are tired from a hangover. Don't get up. Just lie down." The emperor smiled and stuffed the tea into Yang Yu's hand: "Sun Qing came to see Mr. Yang, and saw that Mr. Yang was still awake. After saying a few words, he left, leaving behind this hangover tea, which he said was Ge Xianweng's prescription, and it has a miraculous effect."

The emperor babbled, his eyes filled with a relaxed smile, and it could be seen that he was in a very good mood.When Yang Biao thought of the scene where Sun Shao took advantage of the threat of the military parade to force Cao Zhang and others to swear not to start a civil war, he couldn't stop his eyes from getting wet.

"Your Majesty, I will have a few more years of peace." Yang Biao choked up and said, "Even if the old minister leaves at this moment, he can go to see the late emperor with peace of mind."

The Son of Heaven smiled and nodded, leaned one leg, sat on the side of the couch, took Yang Biao's generous palm, and patted lightly: "Mr. Yang, don't rush to see my father, I still have For some incomprehensible matters, I would like to ask Mr. Yang for advice."

Yang Biao met the emperor's eyes and nodded slightly.What the emperor was worried about, he knew very well in his heart, because he had been thinking about the same thing.Although the emperor was out of Cao Cao's control after the military elimination meeting, Luoyang was the weakest, so the emperor's worries did not ease a bit.The Western Expedition ended without a problem, and Jia Xu passed away in depression. The emperor was even more nervous, and he was afraid that the war would start again if he was not careful.As the emperor, he did not dare to mediate this dispute between Wu and Shu, for fear that no one would listen to him if he got ahead, and he would lose face in the end.However, he also knew that not showing up would be tantamount to admitting his incompetence, and the result would not be much better. In the face of this dilemma, all resourcefulness would be useless. If it weren't for Sun Shao's unexpected move, it would have developed into a What it will look like is really unpredictable.

"Mr. Yang, you said Sun Qing...why is he so loyal?" The smile on the emperor's face faded a little, and a confused expression appeared. They didn't pay much attention to the court, and it is self-evident that Sun Quan has a different heart. Sun Shao has never enjoyed the favor of my great man, why has he become the most loyal courtier instead?"

Yang Biao's eyes flickered, and he didn't answer the emperor's question immediately. He put the teacup to his mouth, smelled the medicinal tea, took a sip, tasted it, and said: "Dong Zhuo's chaos, Shandong The princes rebelled against Dong, and Yuan Shao was the leader of the alliance. However, the army only drank and held high meetings, and did not think about making progress. There were only two people who dared to enter the army. One was Cao Cao, who was just a brave general at that time, and the other was Sun Jian, who was only the prefect of Changsha at that time. Among the four kings in the world today, Cao Cao is one, and the Sun family is the second. Although the other Liu Bei is the uncle of the emperor, his imperial relatives are not worth mentioning at all compared to Liu Yu, Liu Biao, Liu Yan and others back then. Your Majesty, why is this so?"

The emperor frowned, not knowing what he meant. Not only did Yang Biao not answer his question, he asked him a question instead, which puzzled him very much.But he knew that since Yang Biao asked such a question, there must be his intentions.He thought about it carefully, shook his head and said: "I really can't figure it out for a while. Even if I am close to being a man, it seems that these four people will not be kings. Even if the Yuan family brothers are incompetent, except for the Yuan family, it seems It's not the turn of these four people. For example, your Hong family and Yang family are more qualified than them."

Yang Biao smiled, but said nothing.At this moment, an emperor, an old official, actually talked about such an abrupt topic naturally, but it seemed very natural, and no one felt that there was anything wrong.In fact, the Han Dynasty believed in the five virtues, and never believed that any dynasty could be passed on forever. Even the emperor himself believed that the Liu family would be replaced by another surname sooner or later. It was only a matter of time, especially when natural and man-made disasters were common At that time, everyone from the emperor to the ministers had this idea. Although they never spared no effort to suppress the rebellion, they had no doubts about their belief in the Five Virtues.It has been more than four hundred years since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, saying that the Liu family's Tianlu is over and should be given up to the world. When the throne was passed on to Dong Xian, the ministers at that time only said that Dong Xian was a sycophant, and did not say that the theory of abdicating the throne was treasonous.

The Yang family of the Hong family, as the surnames of the two great Han families together with the Yuan family, is indeed more qualified to be a native of the Han family than eunuchs like Cao Cao, and petty officials like Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Sun Shao. spokesperson for virtue.

"My surname Yang comes from Ji's surname, and I belong to Huo De. I was supposed to help the Yan Han, how can I replace the Han?" Yang Yu took the topic lightly, and returned to the main topic: "Actually, even if my Yang family has such ambitions, It will not be better than the Yuan family. The Yuan family has been in business for four or five generations, and even Cao Cao and Sun Jian are their subordinates. What happened in the end? Didn’t it disappear and people died after waking up? Yuan Shu died in Huainan, Yuan Shao died in Hebei, There was never a good end."

"Then why?" The emperor was even more puzzled.

"A Confucian family like Yuan Yang may be very profound in knowledge, but in terms of action, he is definitely not an opponent like Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Liu Bei. Failure is almost inevitable." Yang Biao held the cup in his hand, his eyes were a little erratic Looking at the ceiling, he seemed to be talking to himself: "Your Majesty, don't you think that what Sun Shao is doing now is very similar to what the late emperor did back then? If it had been 30 years earlier, people like Sun Shao would not have done that at all. A man with no knowledge and no ability. If he doesn't have a good family background, it may be difficult for him to embark on an official career."

The emperor's eyes flashed, and he suddenly understood something.He nodded silently.

"Emperor Guangwu advocated loyalty, filial piety, and morality. It is not a bad thing, but if it is done too much, it will be counterproductive. Looking at the 200 years after the Han Dynasty, compared with the previous 200 years, the achievements are far behind by thousands of miles? At the time of mourning, morality fell, and the world The gentry opened their eyes for Wang Mang, and during the time of his death, moral models emerged one after another, but they also brought serious disasters to the big man. Practicing utilitarianism, subjugation of the country, and morality almost subjugated the country, which is really ridiculous. "

"Then... what should we do?" The emperor was also confused.

"Your Majesty, why don't you take a look at what Sun Shao is doing." Yang Biao laughed softly. He fiddled with the lid of the cup in his hand, making a crisp knocking sound: "He didn't use his name for nothing, but for real profit, heavy industry and business, but He is not only interested in profit, he has great righteousness in his chest, which is one step ahead of Cao Cao, so he was able to become the most powerful kingdom of the Han Dynasty in just a few years, and he can become the most powerful pillar of His Majesty."

"It's a pity, if he had been born in the time of the first emperor, he might have become a famous official of a generation."

"No." Yang Biao shook his head: "If he was born at that time, he would only become an ordinary man who is not ashamed by a gentleman."

The emperor smiled, and he also knew that his idea was unreliable.He was silent for a moment, seeing that Yang Biao was breathing heavily, his face was flushed, and his expression was exhausted, he swallowed back the words that just came to his mouth, and said with a smile: "Mr. Yang is tired, take a good rest. If you have anything to say, we will return to Luoyang." Say it again."

"No, Your Majesty, the old minister has something to say." Yang Biao stretched out his hand to grab the sleeve of the emperor, and shook his head weakly: "The old minister is already eighty-four, and I don't know if the sky will see your majesty again. Your Majesty, Please allow the old minister to finish speaking."

The Son of Heaven looked at Yang Biao in surprise, and was shocked when he saw Yang Biao's face turn red ominously. He got up and wanted to call the imperial doctor, but Yang Biao stopped him.Yang Biao shook his head: "Your Majesty, it's okay. Although the old minister is weak, he has not reached that point yet. Your Majesty, please sit down and let the old minister speak softly."

The Son of Heaven was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help the tears in his eyes. He suddenly felt that maybe this was Yang Biao's last words. He didn't dare to neglect, so he knelt down respectfully in front of Yang Biao and listened intently.

"Sun Shao has a big man in his heart, and he is proud of me as a big man, but he loves the tens of millions of people of the big man, and he doesn't want anyone to hurt them." Yang Biao took a breath, his eyes sparkling He said to the Son of Heaven: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and all people in the world are His Majesty's subjects. It is His Majesty's nature to love the people like a son. If Your Majesty wants to continue the fire of the great man, you must not forget this sentence. This lesson is enough. It hurts so much, don't do it again. Otherwise, today's loyal minister Sun Shao will be the vanguard to destroy the great man tomorrow."

The emperor turned pale in astonishment, and looked at Yang Biao in a daze.Yang Biao gritted his teeth and stared into his eyes with bated breath, until the emperor nodded in despair, he breathed a sigh of relief, panted twice, and then continued: "Your Majesty, Lao Tzu said that governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. It is said that governing the country is easy. However, the veteran has been in politics for 60 years, and has never seen it easy to govern the country. When you meet with the old man, it is extremely difficult to govern the country. When the fire is big, it is easy to burn. The fire is small If it is not cooked, if the taste is strong, it will hide the freshness of the fish, if the taste is light, it will be difficult to get rid of the fishy smell.

The emperor couldn't help crying, he knew that Yang Biao was telling him not to act rashly, not to think that he could easily restore the glory of the great man, and not to expect to get rid of the four kings easily, they were already full-fledged, and now they get along very well, Wanting to break down one by one is tantamount to idiotic dreams.Once you are not careful, it will lead to disaster.He knew that every word Yang Biao said hit the nail on the head, so he nodded repeatedly without any intention of refuting.

"Be careful, be careful." Yang Biao let out a long breath: "Your Majesty, the old minister wants to spend a few days at ease, so please resign as prime minister."

"Ah?" The Son of Heaven raised his head and hesitated for a moment before asking, "Then... who should follow?"

"Gu Yong." Yang Biao's eyes began to diverge: "Gu Yong is the most suitable candidate. The general, the prime minister, and the Taiwei all have an inseparable relationship with Sun Shao. With them assisting His Majesty in the court, the Yue Kingdom will definitely It can become His Majesty's most reliable vassal state. As long as there is Yue State, the big man will not be in danger."

"Let my son Yang Xiu go to Yue to become an official." Yang Biao's voice became erratic: "Send the oath of the four kings to all counties and counties, and maintain comprehensive communication with Yue. The big man... the big man must... definitely Will ZTE again..."

The emperor cried bitterly and nodded repeatedly.

A serene smile appeared on Yang Biao's face, he slowly closed his eyes, and his big hand slowly slipped from the hands of the Son of Heaven.

On the fifteenth night of the first month of the fifth year of the Republic of China, Prime Minister Yang Biao died in the East China Sea at the age of 84.

Sun Shao and others were very surprised when they heard the bad news, and rushed to the boat of the Son of Heaven to bid farewell to Yang Biao's body.In front of Yang Biao's body, the emperor conveyed some of Yang Biao's last words with a heavy heart. Sun Shao and others made an oath to cooperate sincerely and help the great man together.Soon, the emperor ordered Gu Yong to be the prime minister to preside over Yang Biao's funeral. At the same time, he sent a six-hundred-mile rush to send Yang Xiu from Hanzhong to help the spirit. First, he took Yang Biao back to Luoyang for the funeral, and then returned to Hongnong for the funeral .

The next negotiation was a bit boring. Although everyone had their own thoughts, everyone felt sorry for Yang Biao's death. While bargaining and discussing the cooperation between the four countries, they wrote a letter to the emperor, requesting that Yang Biao be granted posthumous title and posthumous posthumous title .After some discussions, the emperor finally granted Yang Biao the Marquis of Huayin, and his posthumous posthumous title was Wen.

Because of Yang Biao's unexpected death, the original negotiation process was disrupted, so Sun Shao had to speed up the process. He successively reached agreements with Cao Zhang, Liu Bei and Sun Quan to further refine the conditions of trade and try to make both parties beneficial.For Cao Zhang, in addition to trade, there is also the matter of funding his Northern Expedition.Sun Shao suggested that Cao Zhang was looking for Nirvana (coal) in the Jinyang area. Now he needs a lot of coal for steelmaking and steam engines. Although there are coal mines in the Northeast, but the population is too small, it is better to give the business to Cao Zhang.Shanxi is a large coal mine in China. In the Han Dynasty, open-pit coal mines were already used. Cao Zhang also knew a thing or two about this. Now that he knows that these things can be exchanged for money, he is of course very happy and agreed with a smile.

Sun Shao then negotiated with Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and the discussion with Liu Bei was about cooperating to conquer southern Xinjiang. Liu Bei was afraid that Sun Shao would take the opportunity to enter his territory, so he only wanted to buy armaments with Sun Shao, and he didn't dare to ask Sun Shao to send troops to help. Shao secretly smiled, but pretended to be very unwilling, until Liu Bei approached Guan Feng to intercede, then reluctantly agreed, and at the same time agreed to pacify southern Xinjiang, and cooperate to open trade routes from central Shu to Funan and Tianzhu.

Among Wei, Wu, and Shu, Wu was caught in the middle by the Three Kingdoms, and there was no battle to fight. Fortunately, Sun Shao did not forget him. While signing a large number of purchase contracts, he told Sun Quan that there was good porcelain clay in Yuzhang County, which was used to Porcelain firing is the most suitable. If you find it, I will send the best porcelain workers here to guide me. I can underwrite the fired porcelain, and the price will definitely satisfy you.Sun Quan was skeptical, but judging by Sun Shao's appearance, he didn't seem to be teasing him, so he wrote it down first.

After talking about the business, Sun Shao finally said, now the world is at peace, Wu has no battles to fight, don't you feel wronged by raising so many soldiers?Let's disarm, take back some of those food towns, otherwise, no matter how many contracts I give you, you won't be able to make a fortune, and they will all be taken away by those people.Sun Quan became sensitive as soon as he heard this, and his eyes were obviously a little more vigilant. Sun Shao laughed and didn't say anything further. He knew that this was a thorn in Sun Quan's heart. He didn't need to say too much, Sun Quan would definitely This is how it is done.

At the end of the first month, after the tense negotiations ended, the East China Sea Alliance was a complete success, and everyone dispersed happily.The emperor took Yang Biao's body and left the East China Sea under the escort of the general Guan Yu who came to pick him up.After Guan Yu received the edict, just as Sun Shao expected, his heart was as beautiful as something, and he didn't feel that he was squeezed out at all.He immediately handed over the army to Zhang Fei according to Liu Bei's order, and gave some earnest instructions. Then he set off quickly with two thousand pieces and rushed to the East China Sea to meet him.After lingering with Sun Shao and Guan Feng in Donghai for a few days, they bid farewell.Before leaving, Sun Shao gave him a big gift—two hundred Liannu. Sun Shao said, after you arrive in Luoyang, first take over the military power of Baguan, make a good rectification, and install these Liannu in Baguan. If you defend the eight passes, you will defend Luoyang.With your divine power and these two hundred crossbows, I believe that no one will dare to move your tiger's beard against the displeasure of the world.Guan Yu said that he was in a good mood and high-spirited.

Guan Yu came with his eldest son Guan Ping and his second son Guan Xing.Guan Ping followed Guan Yu all his life, and this time he followed Guan Yu to Luoyang to take up the post, while Guan Xing stayed with Guan Feng, preparing to train with Sun Shaoli for a period of time before deciding to stay.

Liu Bei and Guan Yu traveled together, and the two slept together on the same couch, talking about the past years, as if they had returned to the time when the three of them fought together when they were young.At the time of parting, Guan Yu also solemnly said to Liu Bei, let Yide go about the Southern Expedition, Kong Ming has too many thoughts, he is already the prime minister, and it may not be a good thing to take control of the military power.Liu Bei agreed, and the two parted with tears.

Cao Zhang escorted the emperor back to Luoyang with Guan Yu with five thousand cavalry.Guan Yu is a great general, he is a chariot and cavalry general, and he will be a minister in the same palace in the future. More importantly, if he wants to go west, he must rely on the power of Shu and Yue. It is very important to have a good relationship with Guan Yu.Although Cao Zhang was not good at sycophancy, he had the same temperament as Guan Yu, and he got along very well with Sun Shao. Guan Yu liked him quite a bit, and the two hit it off right away.

Outside Luoyang City, Cao Zhang bid farewell to the emperor and rushed all the way back to Yecheng.After entering the city, he didn't even have time to wash up, so he asked someone to send the gift from Sun Shao to his wife, and he took a few personal guards and went straight to Tongque Terrace to meet Cao Cao.Cao Cao was listening to Cao Pi's report on his work. When he saw Cao Zhang, who was busy in the world, he motioned Cao Zhang to sit down and listen to Cao Pi talking about political affairs with a blank face.

Cao Pi had almost finished speaking, smiled at Cao Zhang, and then calmly finished the last two things, and then said with a smile: "Ziwen, you have worked hard, and you have fought wits and bravery with the kings this time, and your results are good. what."

Cao Zhang smiled, with a bit of reserve: "Brother, the award is just borrowing the majesty of the father."

"Lend my prestige?" Cao Cao twitched his lips, grabbed a piece of paper on the case and threw it over. The paper was dangling in the air, like a fallen leaf falling in front of Cao Zhang.Cao Zhang bent down to pick it up and took a look. It was the Dahan Gazette that contained the oath of the four kings breaking the chopsticks and not using swords in the territory of the Han Dynasty.

"Father?" Cao Zhang glanced at Cao Cao uneasily, and murmured, "At that time, the situation forced me to do so."

"Forced by the situation?" Cao Cao snorted and burst into anger: "I think you have wanted to say that for a long time."

Cao Zhang smiled awkwardly, the matter was exactly as Cao Cao said, but he dared not admit it, for fear that Cao Cao would get mad and ruin all the good prospects of the Northern Expedition.When Cao Pi saw him, he quickly smoothed things over and said, "Ziwen is straightforward, he is not bad in martial arts competitions with Sun Shao, but he is definitely not Sun Shao's opponent compared to these flamboyants, I think I suffered from Sun Shao's losses in Wancheng back then. But this alliance is pretty good, and overall, we didn’t suffer a loss.”

Only then did Cao Cao's expression soften a little, and he waved his hand at Cao Pi: "Since you think it's okay, then arrange a celebration banquet for Ziwen, and I'll have a word with this Zhuzi to see if he has any other It was tricked."

Cao Pi smiled, winked at Cao Zhang, and when he passed by him, he took Cao Zhang's hand affectionately and said, "Ziwen, talk to your father well, don't look at his scary words, but he has been talking about you many times. .”

Cao Zhang felt hot and nodded.After Cao Pi went out, Cao Zhang leaned in front of Cao Cao and squeezed out a flattering smile. The stern Cao Cao glanced at him, couldn't help laughing, picked up the jade ruyi in his hand and knocked on his head: "Go away! When did you learn to be as playful and smiling as Sun Shao, it's annoying."

Cao Zhang patted his head and smiled naively: "Father, Sun Shao is talking about Father."

"What did he say about me? He said something about me behind my back?" Cao Cao stood up, with his hands behind his back, and walked slowly to the edge of the stage.Cao Zhang hurriedly followed, with a look of righteous indignation: "He dares. If he wants to blame the father, how can I spare him?"

"Okay, stop bragging, you are no match for him." Cao Cao said with a smile, "Tell me, what benefits did your great general gain?"

Cao Zhang hurriedly took out the memorandum signed with Sun Shao from his arms, and explained to Cao Cao one by one. Cao Cao listened quietly, commenting a few words from time to time, but most of the time he watched the smoke like smoke in the distance. The wilderness of fog is silent.After Cao Zhang finished speaking, he stood silently behind him, looking at Cao Cao who was as silent as a statue.

"There are righteous men in the Kanto, and they raised troops to fight against the evil... The bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles..." Cao Cao suddenly groaned softly, his slightly hoarse voice was full of sadness, Cao Zhang looked from the side, faintly watching A little tear rolled down from the corner of Cao Cao's eye.After Cao Cao finished reciting the poem, he sighed for a while, raised his sleeves and wiped the corners of his eyes, and said softly, "I never thought that this Zhuzi, though young, has a heart of great compassion. Well, I will grant him once, and see if his dream can come true." .”

Cao Zhang let out a sigh of relief, and finally let go of his heart that had been raised for a long time.

"However, you didn't do enough this time." Cao Cao turned sideways and glanced at Cao Zhang: "You only thought about your relationship with Sun Shao, but you didn't make good use of Liu Bei and Sun Quan to contain him and let him get away easily. It was a mistake to resolve the dispute between Wu and Shu. Furthermore, it seems that the three important positions of general, prime minister, and Taiwei belong to each of the three kingdoms of Wu, Shu and Yue. In fact, these three are all from Sun Shao. It is difficult to move forward in the court, so you can only follow Sun Shao's command, which is very bad."

Although Cao Zhang didn't think so, but at this moment, he didn't dare to argue with Cao Cao, he just nodded.Cao Cao didn't look at him, thought for a while, and suddenly said: "He is either benevolent and righteous, or he is a hypocrite and treacherous. I don't know if your brothers Heli are his opponents. However, the old man can't see it anymore. I will leave it to you."

(End of this chapter)