My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 579: Furious and helpless
In the twelfth year of Jian'an, it was March.

Outside the city of Xudu, now the capital of the Han Dynasty, it is spring again.

Thousands of miles of fertile fields are covered with newly born rice seedlings, and all things are bursting with vitality.

It was March 18th. On the highway to the south and east of Xu city, two groups of envoys suddenly arrived at the same time.

The Cao army commander guarding the city gate was well-informed. After seeing the banner of the newcomer, he knew that he was an envoy from a foreign vassal state.

"Alas, it's probably not a good thing, but we can't stop it, otherwise it will be the crime of 'blocking the king's road'. Forget it, let the people above worry about it."

The captain at the gate smiled bitterly and shook his head, not daring to make trouble. After checking the envoy's identity seal and confirming that he was sent by Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan, he let him in. However, the captain was cautious and sent dozens of riders to monitor and escort him, making sure that the envoy would not run around, but go straight to the corresponding county residence.

"County residence" refers to the office of each county in the capital during the Han Dynasty. It also serves as an inn where envoys from prefectures and counties stay when they come to Beijing.

After a series of communication procedures, in just one day, the contents of Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan's memorials were delivered to Xun Yu, and then known to Cao Cao.

As for the emperor, we will have to wait. Nowadays, the court meetings in Xudu are just for show, and all government affairs are handled by the prime minister's office.

……

When Cao Cao saw the memorials from Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan sent by Xun Yu, he only glanced at them and soon became furious.

"How dare you, little Liu Bei! He actually used the excuse of appointing a prime minister to humiliate me! Haha, retro? When did even Liu Bei start to raise the banner of restoring the old system?
I never thought that Liu Bei would oppose me one day. I thought he was a pragmatic person. "

After Cao Cao instinctively cursed a few times and vented his emotions, he felt a little better and regained his composure.

Xun Yu just listened to him venting quietly without making any comments.

After Cao Cao finished scolding him, he sighed and said to himself with the memorial: "Liu Bei has a big appetite. Haha, let Liu Zhang recommend him as the King of Hanzhong! He also recommended Liu Bei as the Grand Commandant, Zhuge Jin as the Minister of the Interior, Zhuge Liang as the Minister of the Chancellery, and Guan Yu as the General of the Guards under the pretext of restoring the three highest officials.

He had calculated that the position of Sikong had been occupied by me for ten years. He thought the position was too bad, so he refused to appoint one of his subordinates as Sikong!
He himself was the Grand Marshal. The previous Grand Marshal was Yang Biao, but the position had been vacant since he was removed after being punished by Gu.

I recommended Zhuge Jin to be the prime minister because I knew that Zhao Wen would die in anger after being dismissed by me.

I recommended Guan Yu as the General of Guards because I had seen that the villain Dong Cheng had been the General of Guards before. After the Xu Du Rebellion, I did not appoint another General of Guards and only let my trusted confidants take charge of the palace.

"I recommend Zhuge Liang as the Minister of the Chancellery, and Chen Deng as the Minister of the Court - haha, isn't this for you, Wen Ruo, and Hong Yu (Xi Lu). It seems that you guys can only share weal and woe with me. If the traitor Liu Bei is in power, he will not let you go."

With just a few words, Cao Cao analyzed Liu Bei's camp's calculations clearly as if he were seeing through fire.

The top civil and military positions listed by Liu Bei were either held by previous holders who were loyal and righteous men of the Han Dynasty. After Cao Cao killed them, they were never reappointed and remained vacant. Some of them were even later abolished during Cao Cao's official reform.

Or, the current holders of this position are all Cao Cao's staunch confidants, helping Cao Cao to commit atrocities. So Liu Bei proposed overlapping positions without fear of offending anyone, because he knew that these people would definitely not be able to be pulled over.

Xun Yu was reminded by Cao Cao and it was difficult for him to explain anything. He could only follow Cao Cao's words and then change the subject:
"Prime Minister, I didn't expect that Liu Bei only wanted to give up the position of Grand Marshal, but he appointed Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu as Minister of Civil Affairs and General of the Guards. Isn't he afraid that his achievements will be too great to be rewarded in the future? Although the Grand Marshal is the head of the Three Dukes, he is on the same level as the Minister of Civil Affairs. Isn't he afraid that Zhuge Jin will be worried?"

Cao Cao smiled bitterly and waved his hand in response to Xun Yu's worry. He did not think there was anything he could use to his advantage. "Wen Ruo, you still don't know Liu Bei as well as I do. Liu Bei's ability to win people's hearts and open their hearts is unmatched by the ancients.

Moreover, Zhuge Jin saved him from danger more than ten years ago, which was a great feat. Now that he dares to be one of the Three Dukes with Zhuge Jin, he must have another way to keep Zhuge Jin from being afraid. It's a pity that such a great sage went to Luoyang back then, but I couldn't force him to stay, otherwise there wouldn't be such a disaster today!"

Over the years, Cao Cao has regretted many times for not killing or forcing Zhuge Jin to stay.

But today, it was undoubtedly the most intense. Liu Bei even said that Zhuge Jin was equal to him and both were three officials, which shows the contributions of Zhuge brothers.

If he had known this day would come, and if he had been given another chance to choose, Cao Cao would have forcibly detained Zhuge Jin no matter what the cost or how much infamy he would have to endure!
As he thought about it, Cao Cao drew his sword in anger and chopped the table several times, cutting off two corners. Then he impulsively suggested:

"Wen Ruo, if I were to reject the part of this memorial requesting a title for Liu Bei in the name of the emperor,
But what about the part about the separate approval of the request to appoint Zhuge Jin as the Minister of Education and Guan Yu as the General of the Guard? Will it cause a discord between Liu Bei's civil and military affairs and create internal friction?"

Xun Yu was startled and quickly reminded him: "No! The Prime Minister has already deposed the three ministers and appointed only the Prime Minister. How can he change his orders every day? If we change the court's laws at will in order to alienate Liu Bei and re-appoint the Minister of Civil Affairs, wouldn't that undermine the prestige of our army and weaken the reputation of the court?"

Cao Cao thought it was right. Of course it was important to alienate the relationship between Liu Bei and Zhuge's family, but the dignity of the court was more important.

He cannot use the court's already decided matters as a bargaining chip to change them repeatedly, otherwise people in the world will think that he is afraid of Liu Bei. Once Liu Bei sends someone to criticize him, he will directly correct his mistakes. Then where will his face be lost?

What you have done cannot be changed, and you cannot admit your mistakes.

The request to confer the title of Shangshu Ling on Zhuge Liang was obviously not approved because the court could only approve one Shangshu Ling, and Xun Yu had already taken the position. The same was true for Xi Lu, who was the Shizhong.

Finally, Cao Cao considered and considered, it seems that only the request to appoint Guan Yu as the general of the guard is likely to be approved in principle - because the position of general of the guard was not officially abolished by Cao Cao after the Dong Cheng Rebellion. This position is different from the three dukes. The three dukes were officially abolished by the court, while the general of the guard was just "a vacancy for the time being".

After carefully sorting out these reasons in his mind, Cao Cao suddenly thought that this was the only way to disgust Liu Bei from this angle, and it was the safest way.

After figuring it out, Cao Cao sneered, let out a long sigh, threw the memorials from Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan on the table, and said in a self-deprecating tone:
"Then, in the name of the Emperor, I will refute all the requests in the memorial and reiterate the profound consideration of abolishing the three ministers and establishing only the Prime Minister in this chaotic era.

But remember to single out Yunchang's title and approve it separately. I will do the opposite and not confer titles on any other person, but only approve Yunchang's title of General of the Guard.

Let's see what Liu Bei will look like then! Will he still have the nerve to accept the support of Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan? He is so shameless that he is willing to take the title of Grand Marshal himself!"

Xun Yu was inspired by Cao Cao and said, "If this is the way to deal with it, then Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan's proposal to recommend Zhang Fei as the right general can also be approved.

Because the position of Right General was originally Lü Bu's, and seven years ago during the Xudu Rebellion, Dong Cheng and Lü Bu were killed together. Later, the Prime Minister felt that these two people were unlucky, so he never appointed them again, and the position remained vacant.

Of the four generals Liu Bei recommended, three overlap with important figures in the court, and this one does not. If he approves the recommendation, it will show that the emperor still has the power to decide and that his criticism is well-founded.

Cao Cao nodded and said, "Let's do this. Zhang Fei's right general has also agreed. Approve two of them and reject the rest. Let the world know that this is the emperor's intention!"

……

The strategy decided by Cao Cao and Xun Yu was slightly beyond the expectations of Liu Bei's camp.

Even Zhuge Liang felt at the beginning that Cao Cao would definitely completely reject Liu Bei's alliance memorial or ignore it.

Unexpectedly, Cao Cao had the courage to pick two points and partially adopt them, while rejecting the rest. Moreover, his reasons were written in great detail and with excellent writing and logic.

In this way, it seems that "the emperor is not absolutely a puppet of Cao Cao. The emperor also has his own opinions, and the ministers in the court also have their own ideas. Everyone has had sufficient discussion and has not been blocked by Cao Cao."

It was already the end of March when the approval process was completed. Then the envoys of Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan were summoned to the court. At the meeting, the Yellow Gate Order read out Liu Xie's order, reprimanded the envoys, and asked them to return with the imperial edict.

As for Liu Bei, since he was unaware of the unexpected change, he still followed the original plan and sent someone to submit a petition directly, saying, "I have heard recently that other prefects have advised Your Majesty to enfeoff me as the King of Hanzhong, but I personally think it is not possible."

At the same time, he stated that the civil and military officials under his command had indeed made contributions, and that he, Liu Bei, agreed in principle with Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan's suggestions to confer official titles on those people.

In the end, this memorial was finally delivered to Liu Xie, and it was delivered before Liu Xie sent back the order refuting Liu Zhang and Yuan Tan.

In addition, there was a separate memorial submitted in the name of Ma Chao, which also advised Liu Bei to be named King of Hanzhong. His father Ma Teng was also mentioned, saying that "my father was held hostage by the thief Cao and was unable to express his opinions. I guessed his mind and submitted the memorial on his behalf to prove my loyalty and filial piety."

These two subsequent memorials were naturally dealt with and refuted by Cao Cao one by one. However, Cao Cao did not want to bear the crime of blocking the king's way, so of course he would not embarrass the envoys, but only refuted them and sent them back with the imperial edict.

With the twists and turns of boats and cars on the road, time passed quickly and it was already April of the twelfth year of Jian'an.

The busy spring farming season had passed, and the reply from the Xudu court was also delivered to Liu Bei.

After seeing Liu Xie's reply, Liu Bei was also slightly surprised.

"The thief Cao actually asked Your Majesty to selectively approve part of the petition for official positions? He appointed Yunchang as the general of the guards and Yide as the general of the right. Did he single out these two items for approval?"

When Liu Bei saw this conclusion, he was also a little confused. He did not think about whether it would alienate the brotherly relationship between him and Yunchang Yide, but just felt that doing so would reduce the crime of Cao Cao's deception and puppetry and the weak Han Dynasty.

If people in the world do not understand the situation, they might really think that the emperor still has some real power and some opinions of his own, and that it is not entirely Cao Cao's manipulation.

When Liu Bei received the reply, Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu were not around, but Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Zhang Fei were. Liu Bei called Zhang Fei to test his mood alone.

Liu Bei was of course not polite to his old brother, and he said directly: "Yide, I didn't expect that Cao Cao, who held the emperor hostage, actually used the emperor's name to approve the appointment of Yunchang as the general of the guard and you as the general of the right. I have to congratulate you on this."

Zhang Fei was also stunned when he heard that the emperor actually approved his request. It was impossible to say that he didn't care, after all, it was a great honor. But his eldest brother's request for promotion was not approved, but his and his second brother's were approved. This matter was not easy to explain.

Zhang Fei didn't quite understand the struggles in the court, and couldn't help scratching his head and asking, "Why is there such an order? This...were the requests of the other left generals approved? Why was only the right general approved?"

Liu Bei hadn't reacted yet, and couldn't explain more to Zhang Fei for a while. But Zhuge Liang, who was standing next to him, had already seen through everything, and he waved his folding fan and explained to Zhang Fei:
"The thief Cao only approved the position of Right General. I'm afraid it's because Dong Cheng and Lu Bu died in the Xudu Rebellion. The thief Cao disliked the positions of these two people and it was unlucky. So, Yide, you took the position before Lu Bu died. Yunchang took the position before Dong Cheng died."

Zhang Fei was about to get angry when he heard this, but he didn't dare to say: "Hey! This... this is actually... this guy Lu Bu? Hey!"

Originally, he thought the Right General was very good and satisfied, and was grateful for his elder brother's kindness. But the emperor's idea of approving the memorial really made him feel a little aggrieved.

(End of this chapter)