My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 801: Three-Day Emperor
The 8th day of the eighth month, the 18th year of Jian'an, Luoyang Palace.

This day may also be the last day that the era name Jian'an was used.

Because on the day when Cao Zhen was completely wiped out by Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu, Cao Cao was holding a coronation ceremony to change the dynasty in the Luoyang Palace.

It was all very sloppy and untidy.

After being busy with a bunch of red tape until the afternoon, Cao Cao, who had already suffered a stroke, was almost exhausted. He was gasping for breath when he returned to the throne.

It was ridiculous, because Cao Cao in this life was about to lose Yecheng, and most of his Duke of Wei's fiefdom was also seized by Liu Bei - the entire Wei County, except Yecheng, had been lost. The rest of Jizhou was also almost lost.

In history, the entire Jizhou was the fiefdom given by Liu Xie to Cao Cao, the Duke of Wei, and Henei and other places in Sili were also given to the Wei State.

Cao Cao had a stable Wei Kingdom team, so when Cao Pi later became emperor, he was able to directly use Wei's reign title and original governing personnel.

Now all of this was almost lost, so when Cao Cao proclaimed himself emperor, he naturally felt embarrassed to call himself the Great Wei. Otherwise, he would have completely lost the basic base of Wei as soon as he ascended the throne, so how could he have the face to be the emperor?

In the end, Cao Cao could only hastily choose the name of "Qin" to match the territory he could stabilize in the short term. Everything seemed so hasty and so rudimentary.

Of course, the word Qin was not decided on in a day or two. It took more than a month to make the decision.

But even more than a month is still too short for such a big event.

When Cao Cao first decided on the name Qin, many people opposed it.

A large number of civil servants ran away when they opposed his usurpation of the Han Dynasty and his enthronement as emperor. This time, a small number of them ran away again in order to oppose his unlucky name for the country.

Those who ran away all felt that Qin was too unlucky. Although Cao Cao would indeed occupy mainly Qin territory in the future, if Luoyang was lost, he would definitely flee to Chang'an to build his capital.

But Qin was destroyed by Han. If you change your name to Qin, won't Liu Bei destroy you again?

Those who were particular about auspiciousness, superstitious, and believed in destiny were shaken by this, and many of them ran away.

But Cao Cao had no choice; he made the decision after careful consideration.

At that time, Cao Cao also found reasons to persuade everyone repeatedly: "Qin was destroyed by Chu, not by Han. The so-called unlucky saying is simply nonsense! Moreover, I made this decision in order to eliminate the accumulated evils of the Han Dynasty and restore the good governance in the ancient law that is worth learning from.

In the pre-Han period, Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing used Huang-Lao, Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan used a mixture of Wang Dao and Ba Dao, and both achieved good governance. Since Ming and Zhang, the country has been governed purely with Confucianism. The two emperors attached great importance to the Imperial Academy, and personally lectured in person as emperors, keeping track of the academic truth and falsehood of the world.

But after the Ming Dynasty, the emperor did not study for many years, and the private families took control of the right to annotate the classics for profit, which led to the decline of the Later Han Dynasty until today! Now I want to reform the old and establish the new, eliminate the accumulated malpractices, and I should correct the wrongs and restore the old and join the Legalist politics! It is appropriate to call the country Qin!"

Naturally, Cao Cao's words failed to impress many people, and those who should leave still chose to leave.

But his words are logically reasonable - this idea is actually somewhat similar to the logic of choosing country names during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in later generations.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of later generations, it was because of the warlords' infighting that "the emperor is the one with the strongest soldiers and horses." In the end, the new emperor who seized the throne could only change the country's name to a more ancient one to show that "the world is in such chaos today because there are too many treacherous ministers and villains, the world is declining and people's hearts are not as good as they used to be, so there is hope only if we restore the long-term stability of the previous generation."

The Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou dynasties actually went back further and further. Only Zhu Wen's Liang was his own idea. Li Cunxu's Tang was to restore the Tang Dynasty before Zhu Wen. When it came to Shi Jingtang, he could only restore the Jin Dynasty, a unified dynasty before the Tang Dynasty (although the Jin Dynasty was unified for only 52 years, it was still unified and lasted longer than the Sui Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty was directly destroyed by the Tang Dynasty after all).

Later, Liu Zhiyuan's Later Han was earlier than Jin, and by Guo Wei's time it could only be called Later Zhou. Zhao Kuangyin's Song was actually the descendant of ancient merchants at the beginning, so in theory, Zhao Kuangyin could be said to have traced his ancestry back to the Shang Dynasty.

This idea of tracing back to more ancient dynasties to establish a country's name is to show that one's own political legitimacy has a more ancient source. It is also a common idea in troubled times. It is considered to make full use of the fact that people in troubled times have a stable mind and miss the past.

All we can say is that Cao Cao had no choice but to find the option of picking the tallest one among the short ones as the situation had become so severe.

This choice was consistent with his territory and his idea of strengthening the Legalist politics. Even though the country's name was a little unlucky, this was the only option.

After Cao Cao chose this name for the country, most of those who ran away were ministers with real moral integrity or ministers who were pure corrupt scholars. In contrast, those talented but immoral Legalists who were recruited by Cao Cao through the "Only Talents" order did not run away. Instead, they were still willing to continue to serve as officials to gain benefits and stay in office for a while.

After all, there are so many high-ranking official positions that have been vacated, which these low-level talents would not even dare to think about.

Even if you know you may not be able to do this for long, it is better to have a taste of it first. Maybe when you are forced to surrender to Liu Bei in the future, you can get better treatment because of "having held a relatively high position before", otherwise Liu Bei may not even have heard of you.

At this point, Cao Cao's ruling group has been completely transformed and purged into a Legalist military regime. It has nothing to do with Confucian moral whitewashing, so I won't play it anymore.

However, this Legalist military group is very different from the previous situations of Yuan Shu or Dong Zhuo.

Yuan Shu had no program at all, but he wanted to pursue vested interests and rely on the credit of his Confucian family, which ended up being a mess.

Dong Zhuo had no political plan. Unlike Cao Cao, he had not read as many books. He lacked theoretical support for his actions and did not understand the Legalists. When the cost of ruling was not enough, he would just rob.

Cao Cao at least had a program, he just stopped acting and completely followed the Legalist approach, with severe punishments, heavy rewards, and strict assessments, that's all.

……

There were so many formalities on the day of enthronement that Cao Cao was busy until late at night before he had some free time.

"Is this how the emperor feels? It seems no different from usual? He seems to be even more deserted by his friends and relatives. In just a few days, so many people are missing from the court. They are all hiding, waiting for Liu Bei to come! Do you really think I don't know?"

Cao Cao sat alone quietly for a while, his heart full of self-mockery, and he showed no joy at being crowned emperor.

However, this was also the first time that he referred to himself as "Zhen" in private.

It's true that this word seems to have a kind of magic. Especially for someone like Cao Cao who has been fantasizing for many years but never dared to take this step, the moment he really said this word, he felt a pleasure as if his constipation that had lasted for many years was relieved.

He let out a long sigh and ordered the palace maids to help him go to bed.

When Cao Cao was the prime minister, there were always many beauties in the prime minister's residence and the Duke of Wei's residence, and the eunuchs he used were also very cautious. However, they were different from palace maids and eunuchs after all.

Most of the eunuchs he used today were left over from those who served Liu Xie before, mainly because the production process of eunuchs was complicated and too late. It was also because these people were unfamiliar, so Cao Cao did not let them do too much work, only letting them do miscellaneous work on the periphery and pass on orders.

The palace maids could be transferred from the prime minister's residence to the imperial palace in large numbers. They were all veterans and knew each other well. Therefore, when Cao Cao first ascended the throne, he entrusted all the personal affairs of the harem to the palace maids.

Because he was too tired today, Cao Cao soon fell asleep after being washed. The two palace maids who passed by his room gently massaged his temples, shoulders, neck, waist and legs for a while, and Cao Cao's breathing gradually became stable.

Experience told them that the emperor was about to fall asleep, so they skillfully and quietly stopped and left.

At this moment, a very light sound of footsteps was heard from far away outside the palace gate. It turned out to be Cao Ren, who was in charge of the overall defense of Sili, who came in person to ask for a meeting.

The maid who had just rubbed Cao Cao's neck politely stopped him and took him away. She lowered her voice and said, "Your Majesty has already rested. If General Cao doesn't have anything urgent to do, maybe we can leave it until tomorrow?"

Cao Ren obviously had urgent military information, so he was able to report it to the palace late at night. At the moment, he didn't care too much, licked his cracked lips, and sighed:
"The defeated soldiers reported that Zhou Yu had crossed the river at Chenggao and defeated Zi Dan who came back to help!"

The maid did not dare to neglect him: "In that case, General, you may go in, but His Majesty has already fallen asleep, so he will not send reinforcements overnight, right? Do you have to tell him such bad news on the day of His Majesty's ascension to the throne?"

The palace maid did not stop him, but simply relayed the truth to Cao Ren and let him handle it himself.

Cao Ren gritted his teeth and thought about it, but it didn't seem so urgent. It was still unknown whether Cao Zhen was alive or dead, or whether Chenggao had fallen, but he knew that the field battle had been defeated.

Even if Cao Cao knew about it immediately, what could he do? Cao Cao would never send troops out of the city to counterattack, as that would be handing the results of the battle to the enemy.

Liu Bei now hopes that Cao's army will not defend Luoyang City to the death, but send more people out of the city to fight in the field, so that Liu Bei can annihilate more of Cao's army in a more fair terrain environment.

Moreover, Cao's army is now in a state of panic and confusion. It is not easy for such an army to collapse in a city defense battle, and it is very easy to mutiny in a field battle.

The reason why Cao Zhen's troops collapsed so quickly in today's battle was that the morale of the people was unstable, which was also a very important factor.

"In this case, let Your Majesty have a good sleep and we will talk about it tomorrow." Cao Ren thought about it, and finally sighed and gave up, preparing to talk about it early tomorrow morning.

There's nothing I can do tonight anyway.

……

Little did they know that Cao Cao, who had been frightened and overworked recently, had already suffered from severe neurasthenia.

Patients with neurasthenia, even if they are old, always have particularly sensitive hearing and are easily awakened by the slightest noise.

Although the slight noise outside soon subsided and faded away, it still kept Cao Cao awake for a long time. Coupled with his suspicion, he almost stayed awake for half the night and did not fall asleep until four o'clock in the morning.

Cao Cao was even more stubborn, and didn't want to appear narrow-minded, so he woke up like a frightened bird at the first sign of trouble. Seeing that no one outside had to report at night, he comforted himself that it must not be a big deal.

As a result, because I fell asleep late, I overslept the next day and did not wake up until noon. Then, while washing up, I casually asked about the noise that seemed to have occurred last night.

The palace maid who served him also hurriedly told him that Cao Ren had come to visit, but she left after hearing that His Majesty had fallen asleep.

Cao Cao pretended to be surprised and asked what had happened. The people around him also relayed the story. He immediately sent someone to inform Cao Ren, who had returned early in the morning and was waiting for the news.

After hearing this, Cao Cao was shocked and angry: "Zhou Yu, you never let me have a peaceful day! You chose the day of my coronation to land and attack Chenggao! I have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Mengjin and Xiaopingjin!

Why didn't you report this important event earlier? I will personally lead the troops to rescue Zidan! In this time of national crisis, we should be united, and I will not abandon any general! "

The servants nearby immediately knelt down and confessed their crimes, and Cao Ren also came in soon.

Of course, he didn't wait outside all night. Cao Ren went back home, took a nap, and came back early in the morning.

A few hours later, Cao Ren apparently got more detailed information. When he saw Cao Cao, he reported in tears: "Your Majesty! It is confirmed that Zidan died for his country! Died at the hands of Zhao Yun!

This morning, just as the city gates were opened, our defeated soldiers fled back and brought back the latest situation! Hulao Pass has been lost! The two county towns of Chenggao and Xingyang have also been lost! "

After hearing this, Cao Cao couldn't help but shake, and even the palace maid next to him couldn't hold him up for a moment. Fortunately, Cao Ren was quick to grab him.

Cao Cao calmed down and then gritted his teeth and yelled, "Such a big thing, why didn't you report it to me overnight! If I knew, I would naturally lead the army to rescue Zidan!
It's not like I don't have soldiers to use! The hundreds of thousands of people in Mengjin and Xiaopingjin are not enough to take advantage of Zhou Yu's lack of foothold and destroy his troops first! Then I can fight Liu Bei!"

Cao Ren was stunned by Cao Cao's words, but he quickly realized that His Majesty was trying to win the hearts of the people and stabilize the soldiers.

Even if we had gone out to rescue him last night, Cao Zhen was already dead and nothing could have been changed. It was just that the news of Cao Zhen's death only came in after the city gates were opened this morning.

But Cao Cao could only act like this. When Gongsun Zan was besieged in Yijing Tower by Yuan Shao, he did not rescue him when his generals outside were besieging him. He also said, "If I save one person, the others will also rely on me to save them, and they will not be willing to fight to the death on their own."

Gongsun Zan's argument is clearly recorded in history books, not just in the novel. In the end, the historical results also proved that if Gongsun Zan did not rescue them in that situation, his generals would surrender to Yuan Shao one by one.

Cao Cao is powerless to save the situation today, but he has to act like he is different from Gongsun Zan, and he tries his best to do so.

After venting his anger, Cao Cao could not help but shout in anger in order to expand the impact: "The reason why the Han Dynasty fell in the past was because of women interfering in government affairs! Although I don't use eunuchs as my attendants now, how can women be involved in military affairs and block the way for people to speak out? Come on, behead the palace maid who was on duty last night to stop Zixiao! Hang her at the palace gate to serve as a warning to others!"

Cao Ren couldn't help but shudder when he heard this, but he had already guessed what his cousin really meant.

This is to use human heads to show that Your Majesty will "help in times of trouble" and to reassure the soldiers.

This kind of words, if spoken privately in the palace, would not have much of an encouraging effect, so they had to use a human head to arouse the curiosity of outsiders and ask about this story, thus naturally conveying how "united" Cao Cao was with his subordinates.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life!" The palace maid didn't know that she lost her head just because she said "Your Majesty is asleep, even if he is not asleep, he will not send reinforcements in the middle of the night", but she lost her head in the end.

Seeing that his left and right were hesitant, Cao Cao did not act immediately, as if he was waiting to see if he would issue another imperial decree to spare his life.

After all, although the woman in front of him was not a concubine, she had been slept with by His Majesty, and outsiders did not dare to kill her.

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and didn't bother to issue any more orders. He simply drew out his Yitian sword and chopped the palace maid to death with one blow.

This was the first order to kill that he issued after ascending the throne. How could it not count?
"Well, one by one, you still dare to hesitate after hearing my order? This time, considering that it is your first offense, it will be fine. If it happens again, those who hesitate will be punished as severely as those who are convicted!"

The Qin Emperor Cao Cao ordered his men to kill people, and if they were slow in killing, it was also a crime!

Others went over trembling with fear and cut off the head, then hung it at the palace gate as required, which soon attracted a crowd of onlookers.

Although people in Luoyang City were in a state of unrest, many of them felt somewhat relieved after seeing this scene and asking the reason.

It seems that Emperor Cao Cao is a man of his words. As long as the soldiers fight to the death, he will do his best to rescue them even if they are surrounded.

He would kill anyone who delayed his rescue to vent his anger on the besieged soldiers.

Judging from the situation, Luoyang City should be able to be defended.

(End of this chapter)