In the eleventh year of Jian'an, on the 10th day of summer - June, only three days after the army marched westward, Cao Cao issued an edict in the name of the emperor: "Feng Wuzi - Cao Xiong as the marquis of Xiaohuai Township, with Qingzhou - Le'an County as the fief, 5,000 households in the food district, go to the fief on the same day, and do not stay in Xuchang!" ’

On June 11, he issued an edict again: 'The general of the chariot cavalry - Cao Hong is loyal to the martyrs, loves his relatives and worries about the country, and has made great contributions to the Jiangshan Sheji, and he has specially entered the hussar general to increase the number of food and euphemism by 2,000 households! ’

On June 12, three edicts were issued: 'Zhang Xiu, the general of the conquest, was brave and strong, meritorious in the battle, was crowned as the general of the chariot and cavalry, and increased the number of 1,500 households, and his son Zhang Quanyin was accepted by the general of the tiger Ben, and the father and son entered the court! ’

………………

Three edicts were issued in three days, just like three boulders thrown into the water, causing countless ripples, and everyone inside and outside the government and the opposition were surprised, and the military and civilian ministers were talking about it, and the topic of discussion was just two words - Lichu!

The traitorous male is old and weak, and it is imperative to establish a reserve, and the four sons of the Cao family, Cao Zhang, who has just led the army to the west, is equivalent to giving up the opportunity to compete, and Cao Xiong was named the Marquis of Xiao Huai and given 5,000 households, which seems to be favorable, but in fact he was kicked out.

The remaining two sons, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, will inevitably have a superior, and at this sensitive time, Cao Cao suddenly promoted Cao Hong and Zhang Xiu's officials, which is a bit interesting?

The courtiers all know that Cao Hong and Cao Zhi have a very good personal relationship, the former has clearly expressed his support for the fourth prince in public many times, not to mention Zhang Xiu, that is Cao Zhi's father-in-law, naturally fully supports his son-in-law, and more importantly, these two people are both generals with military power!

Since ancient times, when the emperor cultivates the heir, he will arrange several important ministers to assist him to ensure that his position is stable.

There is also news: Cao Zhi's confidants Ding Yi and Ding Xuan's brothers were appointed as subordinates of Cao Peng in the east and west of the Prime Minister's Mansion, these two official positions are not high, but they are in charge of the appointment and removal of officials below 2,000 stones, which can be described as small and powerful!

Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao gave a new mansion to Cao Zhi and his wife to live in, with a large courtyard of five layers before and after, more than 300 houses, nearly 1,000 slaves, maidservants, and personal soldiers, and countless gold and silver utensils and silk satin, which can be described as extremely honorable.

"The fourth prince is talented, and he is deeply favored by the prime minister, and he will be unspeakably expensive in the future!"

"The icing on the cake is not as good as sending charcoal in the snow, the fourth prince is about to win, I don't move at this time, and when will I wait?"

…………

From the beginning of the Cao family's brothers competing for the crown, the ministers faced a problem of standing in line, standing on the right side of the clouds, and being able to become a hero from the dragon; If you make a mistake, you will be retaliated against in the future, so be cautious!

Before the four sons seized the prince, the situation was chaotic, and the ministers could only show a smile when they met people, and the son could not be offended, and the son was not close, so he took a wait-and-see attitude!

Now it's different, all kinds of signs indicate that the fourth prince - Cao Zhi is about to win, and the ministers also have to express it, because it is too dangerous to say it early, and it is not worth much if it is late, and it is the best time to win but not win!

"The son of the Marquis of Changyi Ting, come to visit Zijian Gongzi and congratulate him on the housewarming!"

"The son of the Marquis of Changling Pavilion, come to visit Zijian Gongzi, and have a generous gift!"

…………

In front of Cao Zhi's new mansion~~ There is a lot of traffic, the visiting guests are day and night, the threshold is kicked off seven or eight, and the gifts are countless, and the back warehouse is full!

Even the important ministers such as Man Chong and Jiang Ji also acted, and they sent their sons out in person because of their bad status, and gave them rich gifts, this is the attitude of support!

In the face of the praise of the ministers, Cao Zhi was naturally very proud, and constantly held wine banquets in the mansion, drinking day and night, debauchery, and writing several poems in a row, all of which are fluent works, one of which is "Luo Shen Fu", which is also known as a masterpiece!

There are also some important ministers: Yu Ban, Xu Huang, Zhang He, Gao Shun...... But there was no movement for a long time, they had always been only Xiao Yi's horse, and seeing that Da Sima did not express his position, they naturally remained silent!

In addition, seeing Cao Zhi's spring breeze proudly approaching the storage position step by step, there was a person who couldn't sleep and eat, and went crazy with jealousy--Cao Pi!

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In the alley in the north of Xuchang City, there is a small courtyard, divided into two layers before and after, there are about 20 houses, the black lacquer gate outside, the bluestone steps, the decoration is extremely ordinary, there is no trace of wealth and nobility, only the courtyard wall is as high as more than one zhang......

The gate was usually closed, only a few servants lived, and they rarely interacted with their neighbors, and they declared to the outside that this was a Xuzhou merchant who had purchased an estate in the capital, but in fact, this was a private residence of Cao Pi!

Any son of the Prime Minister's Mansion will be given a mansion when he becomes an adult, and Cao Pi has more than ten mansions in Xuchang and Yecheng, but there are some things that are better done in a private house, such as Jin Zangjiao, or a conspiracy to seize the throne!

"Second son of Qiqi, all the adults are here one after another!"

"Very well, let them in!"

"No!"

At night, Cao Pi sat in the main hall, slowly tasting the fragrant tea, making a quiet and elegant appearance, but in his eyes, there was a raging flame - the fire of ambition!

There were more than ten dead henchmen, holding long swords and short knives, guarding the gate, back door, corner, and roof...... To prevent people from peeping into the courtyard, the entrances at both ends of the alley outside are also secretly arranged with people, and the slightest disturbance will be reported.

A moment later, under the guidance of the dead man, more than a dozen people in black walked in, all wearing wide cloaks, covering their bodies tightly, not to mention their appearance, and even their genders could not be distinguished!

"I'll wait to participate in the second son!"

"Excuse me, thank you for coming tonight, whoever is in the same boat with me will share the glory and wealth in the future!"

"No!"

When the doors and windows were closed, and the dead soldiers were firmly guarding the surroundings, these people took off their cloaks and bowed to Cao Pi, they were:

Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu, the young Zhuang faction among the clan generals, are deeply valued by Cao Cao, and are now in charge of the Imperial City Praetorian Guard!

Xin Bi, Xin Ping, born in a famous family in Hebei, was once a subordinate of the Yuan family, and later took refuge in Cao Ying, now one is the chief history of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the other is the main book of the Prime Minister's Mansion!

Chen Qun, the current Taicang Order, is responsible for all officials and military spending...... All of them are controlled by him, famous internal affairs talents!

There are also Yang Shuo and Deng Zhan...... and others, or for the wise man, or for the real power official, and the last person, the Prime Minister's Literature Peng-Sima Yi!

I'm afraid no one would have imagined that the unpretentious second son would use various methods of communication, recruitment, and bribery to gather a large number of talents to think that he was a henchman in seven or eight years!

Cao Pi convened everyone tonight, naturally not to drink wine and eat meat, and to recite poems to do the opposite, but to discuss a major matter: how to suppress Cao Zhi and seize the position of the prince!

"First and then the heir, to the long and push is the ancient common sense, if the brother is here, no one dares to compete with it, but the brother is dead, I am the eldest son, should inherit the inheritance!

Zijian disregards the family rules and ancestral system, and dares to peep into the position of the son, if he is eloquent, benevolent and loving, and has the ability to rule the world, this son abdicates and makes way for Xian, it is not impossible!

If the world falls into its hands, sooner or later it will be completely defeated, for the sake of the people of Li, for the sake of the ancestors and the ancestors, this son must fight! ”

Cao Pi got straight to the point and made clear the intention of competing for the reserve, this is a game of life and death, once you join, it is difficult to quit, especially as the eldest son, there is no advance or retreat, and if you don't live or die!

Don't you see what happened to the eldest sons of the abolished emperors in history, the prince of Qin, Fusu, the prince of Jingdi, Liu Rong, the prince of Jingdi, and Liu Ju, the prince of Wudi...... Even if the eldest son has no intention of competing for the throne, he will pose a threat to the successor, so it is not necessary to die!

In addition, Cao Zhi recently did "Luo Shen Fu": Neck Extension, Hao Quality Dew, Fangze Wuplus, Lead Huafu Yu, Cloud Bun, Eyebrow Lianjuan...... The peerless beauty described in it is said to be a woman surnamed Zhen, could it be his wife Zhen Dao?

Thinking that after Cao Zhi ascended to the throne, he would not only cut off his own head, but also dominate his own woman, Cao Pi breathed fire in his eyes, and vowed to fight to the death, otherwise under Jiuquan, his grave would be green!

"There is an eldest son in the family, and the state has a prince, so we can contact the ministers, jointly write to the prime minister, and set up the second son as the prince of Great Wei!"

"Our brothers contacted the clansmen surnamed Cao and Xiahou to fully support the second son and become the son of Wei as the eldest son!"

"This matter should not be rushed, if it angers the Prime Minister, I am afraid that it will backfire, if Da Sima Ken says a word, it is more useful than us to say a thousand or ten thousand sentences!"

…………

It's all grasshoppers on a rope, if Cao Pi fails to compete for the reserve, no one sitting here will end well, so they have offered suggestions and discussed how to turn the situation around!

However, everyone also knows that the decision of the prince is in the hands of Cao Cao, and the only one who can influence and change this decision is Da Sima, and the others are teeth grinded out, tongues are bitten, and a big hole in the head is found, which is also useless!

Until midnight, they still didn't come up with a good solution, everyone was a little depressed, Yang Shuo was impatient, while frequently touching the hilt of the sword, he looked at Cao Pi, obviously moved the idea of assassination!

Cao Pi pondered for a while, but shook his head firmly, Cao Zhi had many guards around him, not to mention whether the assassination could succeed, even if it was a fluke, who would dare to guarantee that he would not show his feet?

After his father entered old age, he was always worried that his sons would kill each other, and if he knew that he had taken the blood of his brother in his hands, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The secret meeting didn't dare to last long, Cao Pi asked everyone to leave separately, and went back to consider a way to turn things around, while he sat in the main hall, as if he had no intention of leaving!

"Second son, it's already dark at night, should we go back to the house?"

"Don't worry, close the gate, leave a gap in the back door, someone will come back in a while!"

"No!"

(End of chapter)