In April of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, the season had just entered summer. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Such a season was supposed to be a very beautiful season, but Lao Cao, who returned to Yecheng, fell ill in this beautiful season. To be exact, it was at the end of the meeting with Lu Ren that he fell ill less than a month after returning to Yecheng.

In such a situation, of course, some people will wonder if Lu Ren did something to Lao Cao, but Lao Cao said a word lightly on the sickbed to help Lu Ren clear his suspicion: "As Lu Yihao expected, Guyang is nearing his life!" Rao is Lu Yihao has the name of 'Immortal Master', and he can't renew his life for the lonely star, it's a pity! ”

Later, this sentence reached Lu Ren's ears, Lu Ren didn't say anything in front of people, but when he turned around, he hid in a corner where no one was, and looked up to the sky and scolded secretly: "Your sister can't renew your life with stars!" I gave you three years of life, but you don't want it! ”

Speaking of Lao Cao's illness...... Later, Lu Ren inquired and came to the conclusion that Lao Cao's illness should be caused by a stroke, because when Lao Cao was lying on the sickbed, half of his body couldn't move.

Lao Cao's brain was already wrong, and according to Hua Tuo's "wind and salivation", Lu Ren deduced that Lao Cao's brain should have a tumor or congestion or something like that, anyway, it was a cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, right? And Huatuo's acupuncture treatment of Lao Cao is somewhat similar to nitroglycerin or something. And Hua Tuo said that he wanted to have a brain surgery, and from the point of view of modern medicine, it was not good to remove the tumor or remove the bruising.

These are gossip, and it doesn't make sense to talk more, but although Lao Cao couldn't move after he fell ill, his brain was relatively clear, so he lay on the sickbed and began the last arrangement of his life. And the most important arrangement is, of course, the transfer of power to Cao Pi.

If it is the original history, Lao Cao died of illness in Luoyang, but Cao Pi was in Yecheng at the time, which caused many unstable situations when Cao Pi took over at that time, for example, Cao Zhangdu almost fought with Cao Pi. But the current situation is that Lao Cao almost handed over the eastern capital that should be handed over to Cao Pi, so Cao Pi's takeover work was relatively smooth, at least in the form of the surface.

On this day, Lao Cao finished explaining the matter to the staff on the sickbed, and then waved everyone away, leaving only Cao Pi. When there was no one else in the room, Lao Cao said to Cao Pi: "Zihuan, the big and small things that should be explained to you are almost the same, and being a father can be regarded as being able to breathe a sigh of relief." But now my father wants to ask you, after your father dies, how will you treat your relationship with Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Lu Ren? ”

Cao Pi thought for a while and responded: "Sun Quan and Liu Bei, if you don't have a good relationship for Jingzhou, you just need to wait for a fight between them." ”

Lao Cao snorted coldly and scolded: "Superficial! Can just waiting be useful? Do you think that it is really that simple for a father to take the initiative to join forces with Liu Bei to conquer the alien races in the Western Regions? ”

Cao Pi was stunned: "Father means ......"

Lao Cao said: "If the Western Regions Alliance Army is only those hundreds of thousands of horses, it is not a big problem, but the problem is that Lu Yihao found out that behind these hundreds of thousands of Western Regions Alliance Army, it is likely that there is a big country Guishan who is looking at it. Zihuan, you have to know that Guishuang's national strength is not inferior to Liu Bei and Sun Quan, if we just fight with us, how much will we suffer? ”

Cao Pi said: "So my father took the initiative to join forces with Liu Bei, did he want to drag Liu Bei into the water?" ”

Lao Cao said: "That's right, that's it. Zihuan, you can think about it, there is Sun Quan in Jiangdong and Liu Bei in Xishu, these two people are already very difficult to deal with, and now there is an additional Western Regions alien race, and then those nomads in the north are also our great hidden dangers. As a father, you don't dare to fight so many enemies at the same time, do you think you have the ability to fight these opponents at the same time? ”

Cao Pi hurriedly shook his head.

Cao Cao sneered, and continued: "So you remember, you should pay attention to the cooperation with Liu Bei on the Chang'an side." ”

Cao Pi nodded immediately, and he had a look of understanding. Who knew that Lao Cao looked at Cao Pi's expression, and immediately pulled down his face and said, "You think wrong!" For the alien races in the Western Regions, you must not keep thinking about retaining your strength! If you think so, wouldn't Liu Bei think so? If you fight again, you will be seen immediately. In this way, if the two sides are slack, then the Chang'an war will inevitably be mistaken for major events. Remind you again, there is still a Guishan behind the Western Regions Alliance, and if we fail to keep up with our actions and are established by Guishan in the western part of Liangzhou, then the situation will be even more dangerous. Once we lose it, we will probably never get it back. ”

After relieving his breath, Lao Cao added: "Liu Bei's foundation is mainly in Shuzhong, and we still have power in the land of Liangzhou, so after we beat the Western Regions Alliance back, it will be difficult for Liu Bei to fight for Liangzhou to win over us...... Well, I'm sure you'll be able to understand this by then. What I want to say is that Liu Bei's side must also be thinking about taking this opportunity to occupy a few counties in Longxi now, and we can let him occupy these counties for the time being. Because after those counties were occupied by Liu Bei, he Liu Bei had to directly face the Western Regions Alliance Army and Guishan's troops. Zihuan, I've already talked about this, you should understand, right? ”

Cao Pi lowered his head and thought hard for a while, then nodded to Lao Cao and said, "Father, don't worry, the child really understands this time." Those who have achieved great things should not care about the gains and losses of one city or one place. We gave up a few counties, in fact, we tied Liu Bei and us together to defend against the Western Regions Alliance, so that although we will spend a lot of troops and money on the front line of Chang'an, we can actually get more. And since Liu Bei helped us share part of the burden, we will have a lot of spare energy to deal with other things. ”

Lao Cao nodded and asked, "What else?" ”

Cao Pi muttered: "If Liu Bei really fights with Guishuang, then with Guishuang's national strength, most of Liu Bei's troops will also be restrained by Guishuang, and it is even very likely that Liu Bei will have to draw troops from the front line of Jingzhou, so that Sun Quan may not be able to sit still." ”

Lao Cao smiled with satisfaction: "Very good, you can really understand the intention of being a father in this way." Remember, Chang'an has to fight hard, because the harder we fight, the more Liu Bei will think that we want to grab Liangzhou one step ahead of them, so that Liu Bei will not stay. Moreover, this time the alliance with Liu Bei has the name of righteousness, and Liu Bei, a hypocrite, is not willing to lose to us for the sake of his face. You have to make good use of all these things. ”

Cao Pi said: "The child has written it down." ”

Lao Cao nodded and continued to ask: "There is also a Lu Ren, Zihuan, what are your plans?" ”

Cao Pi thought for a while and responded: "My father was originally in good health, and he ...... after meeting Lu Ren."

snapped, but Lao Cao, who was on the sickbed, slapped Cao Pi, who was kneeling in front of the couch, with his left hand that could still move, and then Lao Cao said angrily: "If you dare to do that, then the foundation of our Cao family will be over!" Besides, his father's illness this time has nothing to do with him Lu Ren. Not only did it matter, but he even wanted his father to live for another three years! Zihuan, Zihuan, what do you think you are thinking in your heart, and the father's heart will not be clear? I'm afraid you've been looking forward to dying for your father for a long time, right? ”

Cao Pi was shocked into a cold sweat, and hurriedly said: "Child, child don't dare!" ”

Lao Cao snorted coldly again: "Don't dare? What else would you not dare? Do you think I don't know that you are because Chong'er stayed with Lu Ren, and I am afraid that Chong'er will come back to compete with you for the position with Lu Ren's help, so I want to use the matter of my father's illness to turn against Lu Ren? As a last warning to my father, Chong'er will not come back to compete with you for the throne, and if you want to turn your face with Lu Ren, then the final result can only be that you can't keep the foundation of our Cao family! What you have to do now is to grasp the current situation and make more use of the help that Lu Ren will provide you!

"Let me remind you again, for Liu Bei and Sun Quan, you don't have to pay too much attention to it for the time being, what you have to do is to deal with the alien races in the Western Regions and the northern nomads who may take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. Only by doing these two things well will Lu Ren help you sit firmly in the big position; But if you don't do these two things well, you just wait for our Cao family's foundation to be isolated! ”

"This ......"

"Stand down! Go back and think about it yourself, and don't come to see me until you think it through. ”

"No, No, No......"

Cao Pi retreated resignedly, and Lao Cao fell on the couch and sighed secretly: "This kid is still a little unlucky...... It's no wonder that he hasn't dealt with Lu Ren much, and a few times he was either too young and ignorant at the time, or he was brutally rectified by Lu Ren or someone under Lu Ren, with resentment in his heart. That's it! Lu Ren, I have explained everything here, and the rest is up to you to do it. I'm tired, I'd better sleep for a while......"

said that he wanted to sleep for a while, but Lao Cao couldn't sleep on the couch. Just staring out the window blankly, Lao Cao suddenly whispered: "I always feel that I can't find someone who can talk to me at this time...... Maybe you can talk to Liu Bei and Lu Ren for a few words, right? It's just these two people, how could they come here to chat with me at this time? ”

After a slight turn of thought, Lao Cao remembered the Western Regions Alliance Army on the Chang'an side, and even what he brought reminded Lao Cao of his ambition when he was young, but his face was a little lonely: "Therefore, General Han Zhengxi...... Hmph, now I have already surpassed my ambitions back then, but have my ambitions and dreams really been achieved?

"Honestly, what I'm doing now is a lot different from what I originally wanted. Now it's rare to have a different race in the Western Regions for me to realize my dream, but for many reasons, I have to give up...... Alas, I really hope that I don't have to worry so much, and I can go to the last battle with peace of mind and happiness, so that this 'general who conquers the west' can deserve his name...... Forget it, I'm really tired, let's get some sleep......"

The slanting sun of the early summer afternoon shone on Lao Cao's body through the window, shining a little golden. At this time, if you look closely at Lao Cao's expression when he closes his eyes, you will find that there are loneliness, serenity, helplessness, unwillingness, and then there are many, many ......

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In the middle of summer and May, Lao Cao died of illness in Yecheng. Before he died, just like Lao Cao himself said, everything he should do and explain has been done, and he can't manage the rest of the things if he wants to.

According to Lao Cao's arrangement, Cao Pi took over the title of Duke of Wei, and Lao Cao's official positions were also fully accepted. As for these people like Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang, because Lao Cao openly handed over the seat to Cao Pi, these people couldn't make any noise, of course the one who should receive a marquis has it, but it is certain that he will be alienated by Cao Pi. And one of the more prominent things is that Cao Zhang's military power was all taken over by Cao Pi.

The only exception is Cao Chong. Let's put it this way, according to the etiquette at the time, Cao Pi must investigate Cao Chong for not going back to the funeral, just like in the original history, Cao Xiong simply committed suicide because he didn't go to the funeral, and when he met someone sent by Cao Pi. But now, Cao Pi simply didn't care about Cao Chong, as if Lao Cao didn't have Cao Chong's son.

Regarding this matter, some discerning people, such as Lu Ren and Xun Yu, understand that Cao Pi actually did not dare to pursue any responsibility from Cao Chong.

In fact, if you really want to talk about it, Lao Cao didn't publicly say anything about not wanting Cao Chong to go back to the funeral, but Lu Ren believes that Cao Pi has this attitude now, so it must be that Lao Cao has made some other arrangements, such as letting anyone come to see Cao Pi and the like, otherwise with Cao Pi's character, most of them will attack Cao Chong.

But these are not important now, the important thing is that Lao Cao's team was relatively smoothly handed over to Cao Pi. There must be some big and small problems that Cao Pi will face next, but I believe it will not be too difficult to solve them. As for whether Chen Qun will once again propose to Cao Pi the matter of the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, Lu Ren's attitude is that you can do whatever you like, but don't think about the bottom line of being called the king and the emperor.

There are some things that are Lu Ren's current political cards, but once Cao Pi has the idea of being the king and the emperor, then Lu Ren's next cards are not very easy to play. For example, once Cao Pi becomes emperor, then Lu Ren's political identity is difficult to locate.

To put it bluntly, Lu Ren's current political identity is a courtier of the Han Dynasty, and many things Lu Ren also does under the guise of the courtier of the Han Dynasty, so once Cao Pi becomes emperor, how should Lu Ren's team stand in the political rank?

Become Cao Wei's so-called courtier? Lu Ren is not the Sun Quan in history, and he doesn't have that at all! To put it mildly, our Lu Ren is not a temperamentless person, why do you Cao Pi want to be the emperor, but I have to help you pay for it?

So keep it as it is? It's also unlikely, because when playing politics, there is something called "identity equality", and if Cao Pi is called emperor, Lu Ren keeps his current identity unchanged...... Well, according to the original history, Emperor Liu Xie was Chan to give the throne to Cao Pi, that is to say, the identity of the suzerainty and the vassal state between the Han and Cao Wei fell apart, Cao Wei became the suzerain, and the Han retreated into a vassal state.

And if Lu Ren maintained the status of a courtier of the Great Han, wouldn't he become a vassal state of a vassal state? So isn't there a drop of several notches in terms of political identity? Then it will be very inconvenient to have a political dialogue. To put it mildly, Liu Bei followed up immediately after Cao Pi became emperor, and Liu Bei's banner was to inherit the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, so wouldn't Lu Ren have to become Liu Bei's vassal? Don't think it's a joke, in that era, this kind of "name" was the most important, and if such a situation really happened, Lu Ren had to give in to this "name".

Well, in the end, there is another way, that is, Lu Ren will be the emperor on his own territory like Liu Bei or Sun Quan, but Lu Ren is unwilling to do that from the bottom of his heart. Lu Ren is a modern person, a traverser, and he was born in the grassroots class, but in fact, he still has a grassroots idea of being rich and safe in his bones, and he is not interested in the so-called emperor at all.

And Lu Ren also understands one thing, that is, once he embarks on that road, many things will become uncontrollable. Once he embarks on the so-called road to becoming emperor, it is very likely that it will cause a kind of de facto national split, and the Liaozhou, Jiaozhou, Guangzhou, and Quanzhou (these are Liaoning, Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and part of Fujian), as well as Sanhan, Wadao, and Southeast Asian islands, will not be able to be incorporated into the territory of China for various reasons. You must know that according to Lu Ren's indignant thoughts hidden deep in his bones, he never wants to see the split of the country appear. As for the current situation...... Secession is secession, division is separatism, and the situation is different. In Lu Ren's own words, secession? OK. Split? Absolutely not!

There is another one, that is, Lu Ren understands that once he embarks on the so-called road to becoming the emperor, a group of people under his current command will immediately leave. It's hard for others to say, but the probability that Xun Yu will leave is as high as more than ninety.

Therefore, after Lu Ren received the news of Lao Cao's death, his first reaction was to prepare to suppress those wealthy clans in Cao Wei. The reason is very simple, in history, Cao Pi would give up Lao Cao's "meritocracy" and accept the nine-product Zhongzheng system proposed by Chen Qun instead, the biggest reason is to reach a political deal with those wealthy scholars, and use the political model of the scholars to exchange for the support of the wealthy scholars.

And now Lu Ren is able to jam the throat of those wealthy families in terms of "money bags", and then use this to stop Cao Pi's ambition to be the emperor, and even use persecution to make Cao Pi dare not take another step beyond the thunder pool.

Related things are being done, and Lu Ren doesn't have to worry about everything. At this point, Xun Yu was even more nervous than Lu Ren, just in the past few days, Xun Yu has almost never left the office. Until today, Lu Ren really couldn't stand it, so he personally threw Xun Yu into the lounge, and strictly ordered Xun Yu to take a good shower and sleep again, and he was not allowed to come out without sleeping for ten hours. Not to mention that Xun Yu couldn't sleep, Lu Renna had a "sleeping pill", that is, a sleeping pill with no side effects, into Xun Yu's stomach.

After tossing Xun Yu, Lu Ren remembered that he had to go to see Cao Chong. In fact, when Lu Ren received the news of Lao Cao's death, he immediately sent someone to put Cao Chong under house arrest, so as not to prevent Cao Chong, a kid, from becoming angry and bloody, and desperately going back to Hebei to mourn Lao Cao. And Lu Ren has too many things to do in the past few days, and he can't bother to take a look at Cao Chong, and he can only breathe a sigh of relief until now.

Without alarming anyone, Lu Ren came to the courtyard where Cao Chong was under house arrest. Outside the hospital, Lu Ren didn't hear any crying, but he heard the faint music of the huqin. And in this faint music of the huqin, Lu Ren also felt the deep sadness. After stopping and listening for a while, Lu Ren sighed to himself and said the name of this music:

"It's the ...... of "Lost Immortals"

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(PS: "Lost Immortal Introduction", one of the songs of Xianwu, the background music of the Seven Holy Abodes of Shushan on the map.) In addition, the bottle was ordered to go on a business trip yesterday and came back at noon today, so it was not updated yesterday, I hope you forgive me. Again, let's have a batch of tricks? It's about to go on a trip.,Bottle isn't very good at thinking about names.。 ）