Chapter 38 Xu Shu's persistence

The matter of Ma Chao asking for land, official titles, and fiefs at the time of the battle spread quickly. This leading general's deeds was the first time in the Han Dynasty, so within more than a month after Ma Chao left, this incident became the focus of discussion among the people of Chang'an after dinner. Throughout history, there have been many people with good gossip. Now such a big gossip cannot attract people's attention.

Unlike the common people, the dignitaries and nobles in Chang'an City began to move on their own, and they all went to Ma Chao's home with gifts.

When Wang Jian went to war, he asked for property from the First Emperor. Not only did the Emperor agree to Wang Jian's request, but he also protected the Wang family's wealth for three generations. Now, everyone has seen that no matter whether Ma Chao can succeed in triumph, the Ma family's wealth for three generations cannot be escaped. Now that he has come to flatter the Ma family, it is a long-term investment that is stable and profitable.

On the other hand, A Dou also breathed a sigh of relief. The court had been in chaos for years and there was no more food and grass. The only possibility of sending troops out was to adopt the Hu method to support the war. The generals in the court were most familiar with this tactic of fighting to support the war, so A Dou sent Ma Chao to.

The Wusun people were also nomadic people. Speaking of which, the average quality of the cavalry of the Han Dynasty was not as good as that of the Wusun cavalry, so Adou could only select elite troops from the entire army. Finally, with Ma Chao's Ma family army, he gathered up 10,000 food and grass, which brought it to Ma Chao.

Jizhou, Pingyuan City.

The plains during the Three Kingdoms period were just a small county, and Liu Bei was once the magistrate of the plain county.

Pingyuan County is in the south of Yecheng, and now, Pingyuan County has become a fief of one person, and this person is Pingyuan King Cao Rui.

Cao Rui is Cao Cao's son and the eldest son born. Cao Rui's mother is Zhen's family who was sentenced to death by Cao Pi a few days ago.

There is a saying that the son is noble because of his mother. Since Zhen's death, Cao Rui has not been very popular with Cao Pi. Because of Zhen's reason, although Cao Rui was the eldest son, Cao Pi did not intend to make Cao Rui the crown prince. Now he has also removed Cao Rui's official position, leaving only one title. Cao Rui had no choice but to return to the fiefdom Pingyuan County and become the Prince of Taiping.

However, Cao Rui, the Prince of Taiping, is not so easy to be. The plain is too close to Yecheng, and the Zhen family, that is, Cao Rui's grandmother's family, was originally a great businessman in Yecheng, and even the entire Jizhou. It is precisely because of this that Cao Pi did not relax at all about Cao Rui and sent people to closely monitor Cao Rui's movements.

Cao Rui is also a smart person. He knows that the situation is very unfavorable to him, so Cao Rui is cautious all day long, for fear of being caught by Cao Pi.

However, recently, a news came from Luoyang, which made Cao Rui feel even more uneasy.

Cao Pi is preparing to move the capital, and this new capital is Yecheng!

If Cao Pi really moved the capital to Yecheng, Cao Rui would be like staying under Cao Pi's nose. What's more, the Zhen clan has a prestige in Yecheng. When Cao Pi came to Yecheng, he would inevitably have an intersection with the Zhen clan. If Cao Pi met someone from the Zhen family one day, he would think of Cao Rui, and maybe Cao Rui would be in trouble.

Speaking of which, Xu Du's position is indeed not suitable as the capital of Wei. Cao Cao's main enemy was Yuan Shao, Hebei, so Cao Cao chose the capital in Xu Du, which is far away from Hebei. Now, Hebei has become the hinterland of Wei. In comparison, Xu Du is too close to Jingzhou and Huainan. Jingzhou and Huainan are both Sun Quan's territory, and it is very unsafe to settle the capital in Xu Du. When Guan Yu flooded the seven armies to seize Xiangyang, Cao Cao changed his intention to move the capital.

After Cao Pi ascended the throne, he originally planned to use Luoyang as his new capital, so Cao Pi often worked in Luoyang. However, Liu Bei occupied Yongzhou, and Chang'an eastward, passing Tongguan and Hangu Pass, Hongnong was a plain with no danger to defend. The Shu Han army could approach the city of Luoyang. In this way, Luoyang became unsafe.

Cao Pi had no choice but to choose Yecheng as the new capital.

Now, the right general Xu Shu who was sent to Yecheng to deal with the capital relocation was sent by Cao Pi.

There is an inn in Waiyaozhan Town, Pingyuan County, and there is an ancient locust tree on the south side of the official road of the inn. According to legend, Qin Shihuang was seeking immortal elixirs and elixirs. When he was heading to Mount Tai, he returned not far away. He was sick of Pingyuanjin and rested under this locust tree when he was in Chang'an.

And now this ancient locust still grows with lush branches and leaves, like a dragon.

Cao Rui stood under the ancient locust tree, looked at the official road in the distance, and sighed softly.

"Your Highness, are you still worried about Your Majesty's move to the capital?" the eunuch next to him asked carefully.

The eunuch followed Cao Rui for many years and was loyal to Cao Rui, so Cao Rui did not hide it and said, "The father has never liked me. It was just that the plain was far away from Luoyang, so I could keep peace. Now that my father is moving the capital to Yecheng, the plain is right under Yecheng's nose. There will inevitably be some villains who will provoke discord. At that time, I may not be able to protect myself!"

"Your Highness, I am willing to share my worries for the young master..."

"Haha!" Cao Rui smiled self-deprecatingly: "I know you are loyal to me, but in this situation, unless you are a wise person, you can change your destiny for me against the will of heaven!"

After Cao Rui finished speaking, he turned around and looked in the direction of Pingyuan City, and said, "Liu Bei was the county magistrate in Pingyuan City. At that time, who would have thought that Liu Bei would become a prince and take one of the three parts of the world? Speaking of which, I envy Liu Bei, who could have helped Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong! Unfortunately, I was born late, otherwise if I could ask Zhuge Liang or Pang Tong for help, I would not be so passive today."

"Your Highness, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong cannot find the young ones, but the young ones can help His Highness find another person. Although they are not as good as Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, they are almost the same."

"What? There is such a great talent in the world! Tell me quickly, where is he?" Cao Rui asked hurriedly.

"Your Highness, have you forgotten that the right general Xu Shu who came to Yecheng this time was Xu Shu! Xu Shu was a fellow disciple of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong. When he was in Xinye, General Cao Ren was defeated by Xu Shu!" said the eunuch.

"Well... I just heard that Xu Shu is very slick, so how could he help me?"

After Xu Shu entered Cao's camp, he did not offer any advice. This is known to everyone in the world. Xu Shu never formed cliques on weekdays, but just did some trivial and irrelevant things.

"Your Highness, I heard that in order to seek Zhuge Liang's plan, Liu Qi, the son of Liu Jingsheng in Jingzhou, once urged Zhuge Liang to a tall building and removed the ladder. He took the ground as the reason why he finally asked for Zhuge Liang's plan. Why don't you imitate Zhuge Liang's plan?"

"Yeah, a good idea!" Cao Rui showed a hint of joy on his face: "Let's go, hurry up and make arrangements with me."

"Yes!" The eunuch hurriedly followed, but Cao Rui did not notice that a trace of success flashed across the corner of the eunuch's eyes.

Logically speaking, if it was too early today, it was enough time for everyone to arrive at the next station, but Xu Shu ordered everyone to enter the station to rest, which was a trend of not rushing to the road today.

Now it's just after noon, and there is still plenty of time. However, since Xu Shu issued the order, these servants are not willing to disobey, so they have to choose to rest temporarily in the inn. Speaking of which, this inn is not far from Pingyuan County.

In the room, Xu Shu was holding a book in his hand. The reader was enjoying himself. Next to him, the servant was helping Xu Shu to serve the tea, which was so comfortable.

Xu Shu seemed to be studying, but his mind had already flown elsewhere.

A few days ago, Xu Shu went to visit Cao Pi and found that Cao Pi's expression was not right. Later, after inquiring, he found out that Cao Pi was addicted to alcohol and sex recently, so he looked weaker.

If ordinary people say this, they will be fooled, but Xu Shu is different. Among the students of Lumen, only Xu Shu likes Huang Lao's health preservation and is most proficient in medical skills. When Xu Shu was in Jingzhou, he learned medical skills from Zhang Ji and Zhang Zhongjing.

The Wushi Powder was invented by Zhang Ji, so Zhang Ji is the most familiar with what symptoms will happen after taking Wushi Powder. When Xu Shu visited Zhang Ji, Zhang Ji told Xu Shu in detail the side effects and symptoms of Wushi Powder. The Dragon and Tiger Pill refined by Hua Tuo was several times more effective than Wushi Powder. So when Xu Shu saw Cao Pi, he found that Cao Pi seemed to have taken a large amount of Wushi Powder! At that time, Xu Shu had already judged that if Cao Pi did not quit quickly, his life would not be long.

After Xu Shu inquired, he knew that Cao Pi knew nothing about his poisoning. Xu Shu naturally would not tell Cao Pi that he was poisoned. On the contrary, Xu Shu began to draw up a huge plan, and the most critical part of the plan was Cao Rui!

As for the eunuch next to Cao Rui, it was the chess piece that Xu Shu had planted many years ago.

Xu Shu looked at the sky outside and calculated that Cao Rui should have come too.

Sure enough, as soon as Xu Shu's thought flashed, footsteps came from outside, and then the servant's voice came from outside: "Sir, the King of Pingyuan has arrived."

"King of Pingyuan? What is he here to do?" Xu Shu frowned in discomfort, and then said, "Let's go and welcome me."

Xu Shu led Cao Rui in, exchanged polite greetings for a few words, and then Xu Shu asked, "Dare you dare to be your Highness, what's the matter with you here this time?"

"Mr. Xu, I got a rare ancient book a few days ago. After reading it, I felt that it was extremely profound and difficult to understand. I have also found many children to come and study it together, but I have not been able to study it thoroughly. I have heard that Master Xu is well-educated, so I came to ask Master Xu for advice." Cao Rui said.

"Oh? Since it is an ancient book, I must look at it!" Xu Shu seemed very interested, and then said, "I don't know where this ancient book is? Have you ever brought it?"

"The ancient book is originally in my Pingyuan City. It is not far from Pingyuan City, and it is still early today. Why not go to Pingyuan to visit me with me?" Cao Rui asked.

"Okay!" Xu Shu nodded happily: "Since that's the case, I will clean up first, Your Highness, please sit down for a while."

Cao Rui pointed to the two-story building in front and said, "Mr. Xu, that ancient book is in the small building in front."

The small building did not build stairs, but only used a wide ladder to connect two floors. Cao Rui led Xu Shu next to the ladder and said, "Mr. Xu, the upper floor is full of ancient books collected below. Many of these ancient books are easy to be damaged because they are old and cannot be kept in touch with the ground, so I placed them upstairs, Mr. Xu, please!"

Xu Shu was not polite, so he climbed up the ladder and climbed up, and Cao Rui followed Xu Shu and climbed up.

As soon as Xu Shu went upstairs, he found that there was nothing on the upper floor, and there was no ancient classics mentioned by Cao Rui. At this time, Cao Rui, who had climbed up, waved his hand, and the person below immediately moved the ladder away.

"Your Highness, where are you... those classics?" Xu Shu asked.

Cao Rui knelt in front of Xu Shu and said, "Mr. Xu, please save me!"

"Save you?" Xu Shu was slightly stunned, then pretended to be suddenly enlightened, and said, "I understand. Liu Qi used this move in the past, so he used it. I didn't expect that His Highness today..."

"Sir, there is no place to go up to the sky or the ground here. There are only two of me. The words come out of the sir and I will never be spread. I would like to ask Lord Xu to save me. I will give you a good reward in the future!"

"Oh..." Xu Shu sighed helplessly, helped Cao Rui up, and said, "Your Highness, you don't have to do this. I'll just agree to you."

"Really?" Cao Rui's eyes lit up. He wanted to speak, but was stopped by Xu Shu.

"What is your highness asking, I know. I think about it..." After Xu Shu said that, he frowned and began to walk back and forth in the room. Next to him, Cao Rui looked at Xu Shu with anticipation.

After a long time, Xu Shu stopped and then spoke, "Your Highness, I have a story that I want to tell you."

"Mr. Xu, please listen carefully!" Before he knew it, Cao Rui had changed the name of Xu Shu to "Mr.". You should know that this "Mr." contains the meaning of a teacher. It can be seen that Cao Rui has already respected Xu Shu as a teacher.

"At that time, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, Yiren, was a hostage in Zhao, and happened to meet Lu Buwei. Lu Buwei took advantage of the strange goods of King Zhuangxiang, and went to Qin to travel to King Zhuangxiang. At that time, the father of King Zhuangxiang, the crown prince of the Great Qin, was favored by Mrs. Huayang, but Mrs. Huayang had no son, so Lv Buwei asked Yiren to be the mother of Mrs. Huayang and changed his name to Zichu. Later, Zichu was made the crown prince. After King Zhaoxiang of Qin died, King An ascended the throne and became King Xiaowen. However, King Xiaowen died three days after he ascended the throne, and King Zhuangxiang became King Qin."

Cao Rui can also be called a writer in the Three Kingdoms period, so he is naturally familiar with history books. Of course, he knows everything Xu Shu said.

Cao Rui thought about it slightly and asked, "Sir, do you want me to imitate King Zhuangxiang?"

"It's right." Xu Shu smiled slightly and then said, "The most favored person of Your Majesty is Empress Guo, but Empress Guo is three years older than his Majesty and is over forty years old. It is very difficult to give birth to children for Your Majesty. But if Empress Guo has no children after his Majesty a hundred years, he will definitely be in a difficult situation. Therefore, Your Highness can worship Empress Guo as her mother and let Empress Guo instigate Your Majesty to make Your Highness the crown prince..."

"No!" Cao Rui immediately shook his head: "Sir, do you know that if Guo hadn't slandered in front of his father, how could my mother die unjustly! Guo and I have a grudge against killing my mother, and this grudge is irreconcilable, how could I recognize the thief as my mother!"

"Well said!" Xu Shu smiled again and said, "Your Highness, do you know what the fate of Mrs. Huayang?"

"Well, I don't know this, sir, please give me some advice." Cao Rui asked, bowing.

"Haha, the matter starts with the death of An Guojun. When King Zhaoxiang died of illness, An Guojun ascended the throne. At that time, An Guojun was only over fifty years old, but he died suddenly only three days after he ascended the throne. It is said that An Guojun died after taking the soup sent by Prince Chu of Zhuangxiang."

"So, was An Guojun killed by King Zhuangxiang?"

Xu Shu nodded and continued, "Na Guojun An died because of the soup sent by King Zhuangxiang. After hearing this, Mrs. Huayang could not give up. So Mrs. Huayang went to King Zhuangxiang to question King Zhuangxiang. However, at this time, Mrs. An Guojun was already dead. King Zhuangxiang was already in power. He directly ordered people to build a Huayang Palace and place Mrs. Huayang in Huayang Palace. He would just have a cold tea and a simple meal every day. Mrs. Huayang was not allowed to meet outsiders, so Mrs. Huayang died of depression... So once Your Highness has great power, why not be afraid of Empress Guo!"

After hearing Xu Shu's words, Cao Rui nodded thoughtfully.

"Your Highness, do you know why I surrendered to Liu Envoy?" Xu Shu asked.

"I don't know, please give me advice."

"The envoy Liu is a man who can bend and stretch and fight and fail repeatedly, but never loses his anger. This is the way for a real man. Looking at the princes in the world who were able to defeat but not lose their ambitions, they will eventually achieve great things. The old emperor was defeated twice by Zhang Xiu, then by Chibi Sun Quan, and later by Tongguan Ma Chao, but he won half of the world. However, Yuan Benchu, who owned Hebei, even though he was defeated in Guandu, still had the power to fight again, but he was defeated by Guandu and was desperate to attack. This is a sign that his ambition was lost and he would never achieve great things!"

When Xu Shu said this, he paused and then said, "Your Highness, I have two strategies for you to choose from. If your Highness only wants to save your life, you can ask Your Highness to go to Liaodong to guard. Liaodong is located in a remote place and rarely visited. When Your Highness arrives in Liaodong, you can keep your life safe and worry-free. If Your Highness wants to create something big, you will recognize Empress Guo as your adopted mother..."

"Huh..." Cao Rui gave a breath slightly, then knelt in front of Xu Shu, bowed to Xu Shu, and then spoke: "Thank you for your advice. Although Rui is not talented, he also knows that since he was born in the world, he should be a real man! Rui remembers what Mr. Today says! If Rui can achieve wrong achievements in the future, he will definitely not forget his grace today!"

"Your Highness, I am just planning for you. Whether you can succeed depends on your own. Your Highness must remember one sentence: To be full will bring harm, humility will benefit. Before you have the power, be careful not to show your sharpness..."

Cao Rui personally sent Xu Shu out of Pingyuan City, watched Xu Shu's carriage disappear on the horizon, and then slowly turned back to the city.

In the car, Xu Shu had a smile on his face.

"Eunuch, you left early, but I, Xu Shu, will definitely repay you for your kindness in the past! What's more, he is still my disciple of Xu Shu. Can I not help him? Although Shu is not talented, the Cao family has occupied the land of the seven states, so he can offer it to two states..."
Chapter completed!