Chapter 55: Continuing the Han Dynasty

Cao Pi was preparing to poison Cao Zhang, but even if it was poisoned, Cao Pi did not want to be noticed. What Cao Pi wanted was to poison Cao Zhang without knowing it, and then claimed to the outside world that Cao Zhang died suddenly.

The easiest way is of course to poison food or wine, but Cao Pi cannot guarantee that Cao Zhang is the only one who is poisoned. You should know that Cao Zhang also has a family member. If the poison is placed in food and wine, it will also be poisoned if someone eats it. Cao Zhang alone dies, Cao Pi can be said to have died suddenly, but if Cao Zhang's family dies suddenly, it would be too strange. At that time, Cao Pi may not be able to hide the long mouths of the world.

Moreover, the level of poison in the Three Kingdoms era was really not very good. Most of the poisons in the Three Kingdoms era were taken from nature and had not been refined and processed. There were only a few that were extremely toxic. Another thing was that the poisoning of Cao Zhang was shameless and had to be carried out in secret, which also increased the difficulty. Therefore, even if Cao Pi enjoyed the Central Plains, he did not find the right poison to poison Cao Zhang.

At this moment, Cao Pi suddenly remembered Hua Tuo who was locked up by himself.

Hua Tuo is a miraculous doctor, proficient in pharmacology and poisons. Although Hua Tuo did not taste all herbs like Shennong, he was the best in his understanding of poisons in the world.

Xu Du prison.

After several months of getting along, Hua Tuo and Wang Xiaohu have become friends who have forgotten their ages.

In fact, there are only two prisoners in the depths of this dungeon, Hua Tuo and Wang Xiaohu, so Hua Tuo and Wang Xiaohu have no other choice if they want to talk to others. In the past few months, they have become very familiar with each other.

Now Hua Tuo also knows that this time he is probably in danger. Hua Tuo does not want the medicine he has studied throughout his life to be lost, and Wang Xiaohu became the only person Hua Tuo could entrust.

When the two were free, Hua Tuo passed on his medical skills to Wang Xiaohu. After a few months, Wang Xiaohu had learned a lot of medical principles.

On that day, Hua Tuo was teaching Wang Xiaohu medical skills. The prison door opened and the prison head walked in with a smile.

The prison head came to Hua Tuo's cell, opened the door, and said respectfully: "Doctor Hua, Your Majesty is welcome."

Those who can be locked up here are not ordinary people. Take Hua Tuo as an example. Cao Pi actually called him and invited him personally. The prison leader naturally had to be respectful to Hua Tuo.

Hua Tuo sighed slightly and murmured: "What should be here is still here."

Hua Tuo walked to the corner and found a cloth bag on the ground. This cloth bag was brought in when Hua Tuo came. Hua Tuo took out a book from the cloth bag, handed it to Wang Xiaohu through the iron railing of the prison, and then spoke: "This book is what I have learned throughout my life, called "Qingnangshu". Now I will pass on this book to you, hoping that you can carry forward my medicine."

Wang Xiaohu was stunned. At this time, Wang Xiaohu felt that Hua Tuo seemed to be asking for funeral, which made Wang Xiaohu feel a little uneasy.

"What a pity, my child, I don't have more time to teach you..." Hua Tuo sighed softly, turned around and walked out with the prison.

As the saying goes, Hua Tuo has become a master of age. After many years of walking, he naturally has seen countless people. When Cao Pi arrested him, Hua Tuo knew that Cao Pi would never let him go. Now that Cao Pi invited him, there would never be any good things. Maybe Cao Pi would take this opportunity to take his life. That's why Hua Tuo took advantage of this and almost explained the things behind Wang Xiaohu.

However, what Hua Tuo did not expect was that Cao Pi did not kill him, but wanted to ask for poison himself.

Hua Tuo naturally knew that Cao Pi asked him for poison to murder others! Thinking about Cao Pi's viciousness, Hua Tuo, a kind doctor, had a trace of murderous intent in his heart for the first time.

"This Cao Pi is so vicious, he must not stay in this world, otherwise he will definitely harm more people!" Thinking of this, a bold idea suddenly appeared in Hua Tuo's heart. Hua Tuo smiled slightly, and then said, "The poison you want from Your Majesty is naturally..."

The news of Cao Pi's proclaimed emperor spread to various places, and Liu Bei and Sun Quan also responded differently.

When Sun Quan heard that Cao Pi was elected as emperor, he immediately sent an envoy to Xudu, expressing his willingness to submit to Cao Pi. Liu Bei scolded Cao Pi and issued a document to criticize Cao Pi.

However, although Liu Bei was very angry at this time, he was already filled with joy.

Over the years, Liu Bei's mood has been changing. Thirty years ago, Liu Bei wanted to be successful and be able to return to his ancestors; twenty years ago, Liu Bei wanted to support the Han Dynasty and reorganize the rivers and mountains of the Han Dynasty; ten years ago, Liu Bei wanted to be a county and a place, and become a prince; but now, Liu Bei hopes to ascend to the great treasure and become the best person!

With Emperor Xian here, Liu Bei's idea is definitely impossible. Liu Bei is the descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan and the emperor's uncle. With this royal family, it is no big deal to proclaim himself as King of Hanzhong, and people in the world will not say anything. But if Liu Bei was the emperor, it would be a ruthless thing. Even if Liu Bei was the emperor's uncle, he could not do such things while Emperor Xian was still there.

But now that Cao Pi deposed Emperor Xian, the Han Dynasty was completely destroyed, and this also cleared the last obstacle for Liu Bei to become emperor.

Liu Bei naturally could not bring up the matter of becoming an emperor himself. When talking about the skill of flattery, the officials under Liu Bei were no worse than those under Cao Pi. So all these "auspicious signs" suddenly flooded every corner of Yizhou like a volcano eruption.

Although Yizhou is not big, the so-called auspiciousness is not less than that of the Central Plains, and it is even more than that of the Central Plains! The ministers in Shu also used these auspiciousness to make a big fuss, saying that Liu Bei should follow the will of heaven to inherit the great throne.

At the beginning, some small officials said this. Gradually, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others saw that the time was almost right, and they also got involved.

At the beginning of the 26th year of Jian'an, the doctor Xu Jing joined hands with hundreds of officials from all over the country to jointly submit a letter to Liu Bei as emperor, but was rejected by Liu Bei. Three days later, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong wrote a letter to Liu Bei as emperor again, and Liu Bei rejected the request of the two again. Two days later, Wei Yan, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Yan Zhong, Yan Yan of Ba Jun, and Zhang Ren of Chengdu and other military generals jointly submitted a letter to hope that Liu Bei would inherit the throne, but Liu Bei still did not agree. However, this time Liu Bei's attitude was not as tough as before. Two days later, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei proposed to let Liu Bei become emperor and continue the throne of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei stayed at the throne of the two. Five days later, the ministers wrote a letter to hope that Liu Bei would become emperor again.

This time, Liu Bei finally agreed reluctantly, and then Liu Bei ordered people to calculate the auspicious day and time, prepare dragon robes, build jade seals, build altars and sacrifices to the sky, and begin to prepare for the emperor.

In April of the 26th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei sacrificed his sacrifice to the gods and sued the world, proclaimed the emperor in Chengdu, inherited the orthodox Han Dynasty, and changed the first year of Zhangwu. His wife Sun Shangxiang was appointed as the queen, his eldest son Liu Chan was the crown prince, his second son Liu Yong was the king of Lu, his third son Liu Li was the king of Liang, Zhuge Liang was the prime minister, Xu Jing was the chief magistrate, Zhang Song was the grand tutor, Pang Tong was the grand tutor, Guan Yu was the general, Zhang Fei was the general of cavalry, and he was the governor of Yizhou. Other civil and military officials also had rewards. Then the world was amnesty and Sichuan celebrated together.

After a few days of busyness, A Dou felt a little overwhelmed. The process of Liu Bei's proclaimed emperor was very complicated, and As the prince, A Dou naturally had to do things. In particular, many things had to be followed by the so-called ancestral system, which made this matter more complicated. A Dou knew nothing about these so-called ancestral systems, but some people understood very well that those who understood were directing Ad Dou what to do, so Ad Dou felt like he was like a puppet, and he was at the mercy of others for a few days. Now that he was finally finished, Ad Dou breathed a little relieved.

At the end of April of the 26th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei had just become emperor. At this time, the soldiers in Shu were very strong because Liu Bei called himself emperor and had sufficient food and grass. This made Liu Bei think that now was a good time to expand.

Liu Bei's expansion was nothing more than two options: attacking Wu and attacking Wei. To put it bluntly, he would either attack Jingzhou or Yongzhou. There was a huge difference between the ministers in the court as to which side to attack.

Originally, Sun and Liu were in alliance, but with Sun Quan's attack on Jingzhou, this alliance was also shattered. Now, Sun Quan has formed an alliance with Cao Pi, which makes the situation not too optimistic for Liu Bei.

Cao Wei occupied the Central Plains region and had the largest territory; Eastern Wu dominated the south, and there was a natural danger of the Yangtze River. Shu Kingdom relied on the difficult and dangerous road of Shu, and it was more than enough to defend. With the national strength of the three countries today, even if two of them united, it would be impossible to slap each other with one slap. It can be foreseen that there will be a protracted war between the Three Kingdoms, which is not impossible to fight for hundreds of years, just like the Warring States Period.

In the court, the ministers began to argue again.

"Sun Quan betrayed his faith and ignored the alliance and seized the land of Jingzhou. We should fight together for such a despicable act, so we should attack Wu and take back Jingzhou now." Guan Yu said strongly. The officials next to him who supported the attack on Wu nodded and praised him for his goodness.

At the beginning, Adou also heard the resentment in Guan Yu's mouth. Being careless and losing Jingzhou can be said to be the biggest stain in Guan Yu's life, so Guan Yu had long hated Sun Quan. In order to clean up this stain of his life, Guan Yu was the first to stand up and insist on attacking Wu and regaining Jingzhou.

"Your Majesty, although what Guan Junhou said makes sense, I think I should attack Wei now." Zhang Song stood by and continued: "Cao Pi has just become emperor, and his foothold is not stable. Zhong Yao and Zhang Ji have now been transferred to Xudu, and the new Yongzhou Governor Guo Huaiyuan is not as cruel as Zhang Ji Zhong Yao, so I think that attacking Wei is the best strategy now."

As soon as Zhang Song said, the officials who supported Zhang Song also nodded one after another. However, Adou next to him also heard the hint of hatred in Zhang Song's words.

Zhang Song was on an envoy to Xu Du, who wanted to offer Yizhou to Cao Cao, but was humiliated by Cao Cao. For people like Zhang Song who are arrogant, this is simply an irreconcilable hatred, so whenever he talks about Cao Cao, Zhang Song always gritted his teeth.

Liu Bei nodded above. Guan Yu hated Sun Quan and Zhang Song hated Cao Cao. This is something everyone knows. Now that these two people say this, although they make sense, they all have some emotional colors. Liu Bei dare not easily believe these words.

"Your Majesty, I think Lord Zhang Song is right." At this time, Zhao Yun stood up.

Liu Bei curiously asked Zhao Yun a lot. Zhao Yun has always been relatively low-key when he was discussing matters in court and didn't like to express his opinions. Unexpectedly, he stood up today.

"Zilong, tell me." Liu Bei said.

"Your Majesty, Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty, and it was a traitor. Both the human and the gods were angry. Your Majesty launched an army to fight against the traitors, just to meet the hearts of the people. When Your Majesty attacked Yongzhou, the righteous men in Guanzhong must wrap food and ride horses to welcome the king's army." Zhao Yun said.

"General Zilong's words are wrong!" This time it was Ma Liang who stood up. Ma Liang said, "Jingzhou is an important place for transportation, connecting all directions. If we occupy Jingzhou, we can attack Xiangyang from the north, and cross the Yangtze River from the east, we can plunder Jiangdong. Such a strategic place must be seized. Moreover, Sun Quan was able to sit in Jiangdong because his navy was strong. As long as we did not fight with his navy, we would definitely win."

Liu Bei nodded slightly, and at this time, the officials who supported the attack on Wei immediately jumped out and refuted Ma Liang's statement. The ministers were fighting back and forth, and the fight was very lively. After a long time of fighting, no result was achieved.

In the end, Liu Bei himself became impatient. At this time, there were only Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Zhang Fei and Adou in the hall without expressing their opinions.

Liu Bei looked at Zhang Fei and asked, "Third brother, tell me where should I attack."

"Emperor brother, I don't like Cao Pi and Sun Quan. If you say you want to fight, I will follow you!" After Zhang Fei said that, he thrust his stomach and smiled honestly.

Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong beside him cursed secretly, Zhang Fei is becoming more and more cunning, and always pretends to be stupid at critical moments. If Zhang Fei doesn't express his opinion, then Liu Bei will ask himself and the other two.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong looked at each other, and then Pang Tong shook his head slightly, and a shimmer flashed in Zhuge Liang's eyes and he sighed slightly.

"Prime Minister, Grand Tutor, what do you think I should do?" As expected, Liu Bei asked the two of them about their opinions.

Zhuge Liang immediately stood up and said, "I think what the previous masters said makes sense. There are pros and cons of attacking Wu and attacking Wei. This matter needs to be decided by Your Majesty himself."

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he retreated, and Pang Tong immediately walked out and said, "Your Majesty, I think that I should attack Wei and seize Yongzhou now. The so-called "Shu Wanglong" is the place where our great Han Dynasty is prosperous. When Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang was trapped in Shu, he also seized Yongzhou first, thus gaining the momentum of the world. Moreover, Yongzhou is vast and wilderness, with fertile land and abundant resources, and with four pre-Qin barriers as blockades, you can attack and retreat and defend, so attacking Wei and seizing Yongzhou is the best strategy."

Pang Tong said this and paused, and then said, "Although Jingzhou is convenient for transportation, it is a place of four battles, surrounded by enemies on all sides, easy to attack and difficult to defend. Besides, Jingzhou's waterways are crisscrossed, and the Jiangdong Navy is strong, it is not easy to attack Jingzhou. Even if we get Jingzhou, we have to face both Sun Quan and Cao Pi at the same time, so it is too much of a loss to attack Jingzhou!"

Liu Bei nodded and said, "What you all say makes sense, but since you have different opinions, I think you will discuss it later. It's not too late today, so why not retreat to the court first."

After the dynasty dispersed, Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang came out side by side.

"Shi Yuan, Your Majesty has already made a decision in his heart. Why did you stand up today?" Zhuge Liang said with a little melancholy.

"Kongming, why don't I know that Your Majesty wants to take back Jingzhou. But Sun Quan is not easy to deal with. Taking Jingzhou is just to quench thirst..."

"But Shi Yuan, Your Majesty has clearly made a decision, so how can you change it easily! Even if you object, it's just a waste of your words. It's better to spend more time thinking about how to assist Your Majesty in dealing with Sun Quan."

"Kongming, you and I have been together for decades. You should know my personality. Even if there is a little hope, I will try it out when I listen!"

"Hey... Shi Yuan, this... I really don't know what to say about you!" Zhuge Liang stomped his feet in anger, and then continued: "Shi Yuan, if Your Majesty attacks Wu this time, you must follow the army to go there. Tell Your Majesty more and go there and don't fall into Sun Quan's trick."

"What about you?" Pang Tong asked.

"If Your Majesty attacks Wu, the Jiangdong Navy will definitely go out with all its strength to disturb my transportation of grain through the Yangtze River, so I will be in Chengdu and ensure the supply of food, grass and supplies for the army." Zhuge Liang said.

Pang Tong nodded: "Yes, I am indeed not as good as you in this regard. Since you are here, I don't have to worry about the army's food and grass."

"Also, when I entered Sichuan, I set up a stone formation in Yufupu, but it could rival 100,000 strong soldiers. If the war ahead was not going well, as long as I retreated behind Yufupu, I don't have to worry about the pursuit of the Wu army." Zhuge Liang continued.

"Hehehe, Kong Ming, Kong Ming, you are still so cautious after so many years." Pang Tong smiled.

"Of course, war is a major event for the country! The place of life and death, the way of survival and death must be observed! Therefore, before sending troops, you must think of a way out and engage in caution!" Zhuge Liang replied seriously.

"But Kong Ming, your arrangement may not be useful!" Pang Tong said happily.

"How do you say this?" Zhuge Liang was confused. Could it be that he was wrong with being cautious or was he missing something?

"Kong Ming, have you noticed that all the civil and military officials have come out, and only one person has not come out yet." Pang Tong said, and suddenly laughed.

Zhuge Liang also had an amazing memory. He saw Zhuge Liang look around, then think about it, and then said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has not come out!"

"Yes, if I expected it was right, Your Highness the Crown Prince must have gone to convince His Majesty! I dare say that His Majesty will definitely not attack Jingzhou this time!"

"How can I see it?"

"I guess, Kong Ming, do you dare to bet with me?"
Chapter completed!