Three Kingdoms

Like thunder, the news sent back by Cao Cao not only resounded in Chongde Hall, but also thundered around Xu County and even within the larger area of ​​Yuzhou, leaving many people stunned.

Cao Cao resigns as prime minister!

In the Chongde Hall, the emperor and his ministers were naturally shocked by such a thing and were at a loss. Naturally, there was no immediate way to deal with it. Whether it was the so-called "self-report" or "supervision" before, in such an invitation In front of Ci Shangshu, it was like licking a dog and encountering green tea. Suddenly, the whole body was sore and weak, only one part was hard, and then he was pinched to death...

"You cannot steal high positions for a long time, and you cannot hold great power for a long time..."

After returning from the imperial court, Liu Xie went to the back hall and couldn't help but turn over the resignation form again. He cursed in his heart, old thief, don't you know this very well?

But looking back, Liu Xie felt something in his heart.

Cao Cao wrote in the table, "Overworked and overworked, physical and mental fatigue, premature aging of blood and vitality, nearly fifty years old, beard and hair are getting grayer, and becoming more and more drowsy..."

Fake!

This is fake! At least most of them are false. The only truth is that Cao Cao is indeed half a hundred years old now.

Liu Xie gritted his teeth.

How he himself had hoped that the old thief would get old and sick, but as a result, the old thief was so lively and energetic. Now that he has wandered around in Youzhou for a circle, no, half a circle, he has become "overworked, physically and mentally exhausted, and his vitality is prematurely declining"?

Who is Nima fooling?

But now the question is, why does the old thief cheat like this?

Do you really want to resign?

Liu Xie didn't believe it.

Perhaps in the early years, Liu Xie would believe what others said. Because when he was a child, he was not exposed to much wind and rain outside. He thought the world was what he thought it was...

Then, under the superficial obedience of the surrounding Huangmen eunuchs, he finally saw something different, and then he learned that even the noble stomach of the royal family could be easily poisoned.

That rotten cow bone is still engraved on his dignity.

It doesn't matter what others didn't say or what they said. What matters is what they did.

Liu Xie was unwilling to stay in Chang'an because he saw or felt something that "feared" him from Fei Qian's words and deeds and from the people around Chang'an, which he was completely unfamiliar with. He couldn't understand what he didn't understand, and he didn't even dare to understand it, so he finally avoided it, just like he kept avoiding the death of his brother Liu Bian, his beloved concubine...

Liu Xie took a long breath, causing the dust and sand containing the smell of blood that was rolling in his heart to settle again.

When people live, they must look forward and upward.

Because if you look down...

You stare into the abyss, and the abyss stares into you.

Liu Xie angrily threw Cao Cao's resignation form on the table, and then walked around in the back hall with his hands behind his back.

Like a trapped animal.

The trapped beast can only sharpen its claws on the wooden stakes and iron bars that trap it. Even if the claws may burst, bleed, and be damaged, it is still better than being pruned all day long. Once it is held in someone's arms and its claws are trimmed at will, it means that it will no longer have its own soul and become someone else's pet.

Even if we don't talk about the word "Emperor", are we being a human being or a pet?

Liu Xie walked around twice and suddenly remembered something. He walked to the table again, picked up the resignation form and looked at it. Sure enough, he saw a sentence, "This will make the king's affairs unfinished and all his previous efforts will be wasted"...

Is this a reason for resignation?

No!

This is a threat!

Liu Xie gritted his teeth, and then sneered from between his teeth.

He laughed at Cao Cao, but mostly he was laughing at himself...

Damn it, old thief!

One day...

……(` Dis’)……

"The old thief is resigning this time..." Shisun Rui sat in front of Huang Wan with a solemn expression, "How true or false is this?" 』

Huang Wan pondered for a while, shook his head and said, "Mostly retreat is the way to advance." 』

Shisun Rui also fell silent, and then sighed deeply, "The Han Dynasty is in a difficult situation..."

For veterans of the Han family like Huang Wan and Shisun Rui, many of the things they were accustomed to before have quietly changed, making them less able to adapt. For them, going back to the past may be their biggest wish in their consciousness or subconscious.

Because only by maintaining the same living conditions and political environment as they had before Dong Zhuo came to Beijing is the comfort zone they are familiar with, just like the shallow water area in a swimming pool, where the wind and waves are calm and you can reach the bottom by just stretching your legs.

But now, it's like being in the deep sea, with no coast to be seen and no bottom to touch. The only ship is Cao Pirates' pirate ship, and the captain has the right to throw them into the sea at any time.

On this day, can we not say that Yiju is paralyzed?

The two sat in silence for a long time.

Shisun Rui stretched out his hand and patted the table gently, his eyes seemed to be shining with some brilliance, "If..."

Huang Wan's gray eyebrows twitched, "That's inappropriate!" The Prime Minister just said that he was resigning, but he didn't mean it...especially the military power, but it is still in his hands..."

Shisun Rui was silent for a long time, then he stood up with his hands on the table and walked to the window, "We don't have much time left... How many days can we save this old and decayed body?" 』

The Shisun family was originally the surname of Fufeng.

If we talk about the inheritance of the Shisun family, we can trace it all the way back to Shisun Zhang in the Western Han Dynasty. The scholar Sun Zhang studied "Yi" from Wulu Chongzong, and later became a doctor. He moved to Yangzhou as a pastoralist, and became an official under the guidance of Dr. Guanglu. Naturally, his knowledge was passed down from generation to generation in his family. The Yi he received originally came from Liangqiu He. After him, Liangqiu's Yi was divided into three families, namely Shisun, Deng and Heng.

During the Hengling period, Shisun's family was also quite arrogant, but their family tradition was simple. In the early years, when Shisun Rui was an official under Liang Ji, his uncle Shisun Fen only gave him five pieces of silk as a gift, while Shisun Rui only gave him five pieces of silk as a gift. Sun Rui didn't have big fish or meat every day, but had salted fish for lunch. Of course, this may also be a deliberately created character, but in any case, Shi Sunrui's style was still considered clean at the time.

However, the Shisun family is really rich. It is said that the family wealth is in the hundreds of millions.

Such property would be envied by others in peaceful times, but in chaotic and turbulent times, it would be the source of disaster.

As a result, catastrophe naturally came later. Even though the scholar Sun Rui cooperated with Wang Yun to kill Dong Zhuo, he still failed to save his home. When Ma Chao subsequently invaded Chang'an Sanfu, he was also one of the nobles who packed up and fled. , all the way to Jingzhou...

A phoenix in distress is not as good as a chicken, not to mention that the Shisun family has a small surname and is not a phoenix at all. Fortunately, when Liu Biao was in Jingzhou, he treated these wandering nobles with courtesy. Of course, Liu Biao also meant to use these foreign gentry children to compete with the local Jingzhou natives, but these foreign gentry children had no people, no money, and only had the reputation of being in trouble, so what effect could they have?

Later, Shisun Rui followed the Jingzhou natives to surrender to Cao Cao, or it was not called surrender, because at that time, Shisun Rui was just Liu Biao's guest minister, and did not really serve as a minister under Liu Biao, and Cao Cao did not take him seriously.

Therefore, after Liu Xie knew that these people had been "missed" by Cao Cao, he deliberately recruited them and invited them into the court.

What Liu Xie asked them to do and what he wanted was not only clear to Cao Cao, but also to people like Shisun Rui.

Therefore, in the court, Liu Xie's dissatisfaction with Huang Wan was also seen by Shi Sunrui.

"Prime Minister Cao's move is to retreat in order to advance, eliminate rumors, and stabilize the situation..." Shisun Rui said slowly, "In terms of etiquette, you can only say goodbye after three invitations, but now... I'm afraid it's... As soon as His Majesty's words of rejection came out, there was no follow-up..."

Huang Wan frowned, "Junrong's intention...is to finalize this matter?" Not to mention the loss of military power, even if it is... it is inconsistent with etiquette..."

Shi Sunrui smiled bitterly and said, "In this world, is there any "property" left at the moment? 』

Huang Wan was also silent. After a while, he sighed, "Junrong, if this is the case... I'd better let me do it!" 』

"Zi Yan, you..." Shisun Rui was stunned for a moment.

Huang Wan sighed, "I thought I was going to die on the road with this broken body... But since the emperor needs it, what's the point of regretting it?" I had previously suggested that Prime Minister Cao should tell himself, but he felt that the time had not come yet... Now, even if Prime Minister Cao pretends to resign, it is indeed an opportunity... Junrong still has a family to take care of, and Lao Chen is alone... No For matters other than life and death, let the old man take the first step and do his testing. Junrong can raid the formation on the side to check the truth and falsehood, so as to follow up..."

Shi Sunrui naturally refused, but what Huang Wan said was true.

Huang Wan's wife was Lai, yes, she was Lai Min's sister. The situation was chaotic at that time, and Huang Wan and his wife were separated. His wife followed Lai Min to Sichuan and Shu with their children, and they lived in separate places from then on.

These days, once we separate, we may never see each other again for the rest of our lives.

If you are young, you still have some hope, such as what will happen in a few years, but Huang Wan is already old...

Scholar Sun Rui straightened his clothes, pushed Huang Wan to the front seat, and then bowed solemnly to Huang Wan.

Huang Wan didn't refuse. He just accepted it. Then he stood up, held Shisun Rui's hand, and whispered: "From today on, Jun Rong will not come again... Besides, if... if you are destined to meet me, That incompetent child, just for the sake of old age, just cares about it a little bit..."

"Rui, how dare you disobey me!" ’ Shi Sunrui paid his respects again.

This time Huang Wan did not accept it anymore, but returned the gift. The two of them were silent for a moment. Huang Wan called his confidants and sent Sun Rui away from the back door. He stood in the courtyard and looked at the courtyard. The old tree branch with almost all its leaves in the middle was silent for a long time.

Old trees may survive this year, but they may not survive next year.

"Old tree..." Huang Wan sighed slowly, "If it can't sprout new branches, it will only be used as a furnace..."

……(╯︵╰)……

The court of the feudal dynasty was separated from the people. The more feudal the dynasty was, the farther away it was from the people.

For example, many people laughed at the old farmer who thought the emperor should be working with a golden hoe and a golden pole, but they did not realize that they were actually laughing at the emperors, who had become a symbol and completely out of touch with ordinary people. Therefore, logically speaking, the people should not know about Cao Cao's resignation. Even if they knew it, it would just be an "oh". Those who should go to the fields will still go to the fields, and those who should go to work will still go to work.

But this time, many people actually knew it!

There was an uproar immediately.

And what is very strange is that the people who are making the fuss are ordinary people, while most of the nobles who like to talk loudly on weekdays are silent now. Not only are there fewer gatherings, but they also live in seclusion every day, and even their usual habits There is a lot less social interaction.

However, neither these nobles nor officials would prohibit the people from discussing this matter.

It didn't take long for the people to form two major factions. One side said that Cao Cao had done a lot of good things and should continue to be prime minister, while the other side said that if Cao Cao resigned, he would resign without Cao the Butcher. Can you still eat pigs with hair on them? In the streets of Xuxian County, as soon as someone said something good about Cao Cao, someone else said that Cao Cao was not very good, and vice versa. It almost became the most lively topic around Xu County. If we look at it in future generations, he will definitely be the most powerful person in the world. Mother's peak will not fall.

The strange situation makes many people find it incomprehensible, but those who understand are becoming more and more silent, hiding and getting sick whenever possible...

In a village shop outside Xu County, some people gathered in the shop to eat and drink.

After the autumn harvest, before entering the slack period, some labor is always required to repair water conservancy roads and other things. Anyway, for the officials, the labor force of the people is free. When they can be used, they will not be stingy and use it to death. However, the food they are given is repeatedly deducted. The top allocates twenty coins, and when it comes to the bottom, It would be considered good to have three or five articles.

After all, if you want to continue using these free labor forces next year, you have to give them some carrots. After finishing the repair work, hold a "dinner" to reward these civilian workers.

But such a small amount of money is naturally not enough to eat in the city, so we arrange it in a suburban shop like this. A straw shed is a shop, with a large hanging cauldron for stewing, earthen pots for cooking porridge, and Salty, sour and bitter pickles, sour wine mixed with water and then water, the outstanding ones are a bargain.

The common people are used to living a hard life. Although the sewerage smells fishy, ​​and it is impossible to use enough spices, it is just boiled in plain water. It will inevitably taste like feces and urine, but at least it is meat with some oil, so it is also very good. popular. Even so, it is limited. One bowl per person, and then paired with porridge cooked with old rice and mixed vegetables, plus some pickles, and sour wine doubled with water, it is quite a living. It’s dinner time.

What?

Catch fish to eat?

Do you really think fish are as stupid as some people?

In areas where residential buildings are concentrated and people are densely populated, whether it is a fish or a shrimp, it is almost as difficult for an ordinary citizen to survive, marry a wife and have children as it is for an ordinary citizen to make a fortune...

Except during the spawning period when fish and shrimp swim upstream on a large scale, it is considered good luck to see fish by the river on weekdays!

For most ordinary people, only those grass roots and tree barks with extremely bad taste can survive longer, but in the event of a famine, they will be finished in the same way. Only in areas that are sparsely populated and seldom visited on weekdays, can there be a large amount of fish and shrimp. However, the production and living conditions of the Han Dynasty did not allow these people to climb mountains and wading rivers, or go too far away from their residences to catch fish and shrimps.

Fish and shrimp will not leave their comfortable environment. Just like these people, if nothing unexpected happens, they will basically stay in the same place all their lives, face the same people, hoe the same land, dig the same ditch, and never There will be new changes, new life.

But now, it seems that something new has been mixed into the middle...

It was getting late, and as they were eating and drinking, perhaps because they were getting drunk, or perhaps intentionally or unintentionally, everyone started talking in twos and threes.

"Prime Minister Cao?" That’s a high official..."

"How about a high official? If you can't do it, then you can't do it!" 』

"Let's eat what you have. Is your work not tiring enough?" Go home after eating, is there no life at home? 』

"Hey, this is boring for you. After all, we are at the feet of the emperor, and we need to know a few things!" 』

"What happened at the emperor's feet?" Who will take another look at you? Don't take yourself seriously! 』

"Hey, let me tell you, I heard that Prime Minister Cao is not a good person... It is said that in Xuzhou back then, there was a killing of an entire village, and there was no one alive for hundreds of miles!" 』

"Yes, I heard about it too. He also cut off the flesh of living people, made meat pies, and gave them to the soldiers to eat..."

"Hey, what you said is so new. In today's world, that official doesn't eat people?" 』

"Hmm... So, maybe it would be better to get a new one?" 』

"What if it gets worse?" 』

"No matter how bad it is, how bad can it get?" 』

"..."

Ordinary people are the most patient. As long as they stutter, they can survive. Just like the weeds on the side of the road, as long as God gives a little rain, they may be able to take root and sprout and survive.

Therefore, for the people around Xu County, what happened to the people of Xuzhou back then can make them sigh, lament, and then scold each other for a few words, but after the scolding is done, forget it. They never thought about speaking out for the people of Xuzhou, nor did they think about what they would do if the fate of the people of Xuzhou fell on them that day.

They can't see far.

The reason why they can't see far away is because they can only stare at the thing in their hands in front of them and cannot raise their heads at all.

In ancient times, people lowered their heads while plowing the fields, and in later generations, they lowered their heads while scrolling through their mobile phones.

Looking up?

Unless suddenly one day, something in their hands...well, something in their hands fell...

While these people were laughing, rustling, eating and drinking, and gossiping about whether Cao Cao was good or bad, two or three civilians with a lot of blood on their faces staggered towards them. , when he saw everyone, he started to cry loudly, "Chen Sanlang!" No, it's not good... Someone led soldiers to rob... robbed Rou Niang and left! Also, I killed Mr. Chen..."

Among the crowd, a young and strong man suddenly froze. The bowl he was holding fell to the ground with a clang...