Chapter 658 Cao Rui's Choice

  Jia Kui defended Jiashi in time, and Man Chong followed closely behind and sent food to the army that fled to Jiashi. Only then did Cao Xiu have the opportunity to regroup the defeated army.

  Wu’s army pursued death and chased north this time, beheaded and captured more than 10,000 people, rode 10,000 cattle, horses, mules and donkey carts, and had countless military equipment, which can be regarded as a rare victory.

  Lu Xun learned that Jiashi had been occupied by the Wei army, and that Cao Wei's reinforcements had arrived, so he accepted it as soon as it was good, and slowly retreated.

   After Cao Xiu led his troops back to Shouchun, he made two lists: one was to apologize, and the other was to impeach Jia Kui.

  Jia Kui was not to be outdone, and also impeached Cao Xiu to underestimate the enemy, which led to Shiting's defeat.

  When Cao Rui learned that Shiting was defeated in the first battle, he became extremely irritable. Now that he received a memorial from the two of them, he wanted to throw the memorial to the ground on the spot.

  At first, I thought that this time the attack on Wu would be carried out in three ways, and there would be domestic response from Wu.

   Unexpectedly, when the internal response feigned surrender, the Da Sima on the East Road was actually ambushed.

  Jia Kui and Man Chong in the middle road attacked Jiangxia first, and then had to change their route to rescue Da Sima.

  Only Sima Yi on the West Road was more cautious. After learning of the defeat of Da Sima, he quickly stopped his march and stood at the border with Wu Lu.

  After receiving an edict to retreat, he led the army back to Xiangyang in its entirety.

  Cao Rui sat on the seat, his face was cloudy and clear, and the hand holding the memorial was trembling slightly.

  Within one year, one fiasco, one big defeat, he could already imagine what kind of situation he was about to face.

  The only good thing is that this time he doesn't have to bear the responsibility of defeating the soldiers.

  But he must find a person who will bear the responsibility this time, so as to block the mouths of the ministers.

   Obviously, this person can only choose one between Cao Xiu and Jia Kui.

  At this moment, I only heard the announcement from the servant, "Your Majesty, Captain Changshui will see you."

  Cao Rui woke up from his contemplation, "Let him in."

  The servant then preached, "Chang Shui Xiaowei."

   Duan Mo, Captain Changshui who was waiting outside, quickly responded, "Wei."

   Then he took off his shoes and stepped forward, saluting, "Minister Duan Mo sees Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live forever and be happy."

  Cao Rui nodded, "Get up."

   Then he said, "A seat."

   After Duan thanked silently, he knelt down carefully.

   "Lieutenant Duan, how is the investigation of the case that you were asked to investigate a few days ago?"

  Cao Rui asked.

  Duan Mo quickly replied, "Return to Your Majesty, I have already found out. Xia Houmao's complaints and slander were actually framed."

  Cao Rui looked indifferent, "Who framed Xia Houmao?"

   Xia Houmao's loss of grain and grass in Guanzhong once made Cao Rui furious, and he wished to punish him on the spot.

   It was just that the war was intense at that time, and his father Xiahou Dun had the merits of pacifying the world with Emperor Wu in his early years, so Cao Rui imprisoned him temporarily.

   Later, Longyou fell, Cao Rui returned to Luoyang, and at the same time took Xia Houmao back.

   It's just that after returning to Luoyang, Cao Rui's heart to kill Xia Houmao was not as strong as in Guanzhong.

  The reason is very simple. Taking advantage of Longyou's defeat, the aristocratic family began to take action.

  Cao Rui urgently needs support.

  The Xiahou family is related to the Cao family by marriage, and they are still the most staunch supporters of the Cao family.

   Unexpectedly, something went wrong again at this time.

  Cao Rui's aunt, Xiahouzhen's wife, Princess Qinghe played the emperor, Xiahouzhen once complained and slandered the emperor, and Xiahouzhen's younger brothers can testify to this.

  Cao Rui was furious when he heard this.

  Xia Houxuan's actions had already made him have certain doubts about the Xiahou Shang lineage of Xiahou's family. Now that he heard Xiahouzhu's disrespectful words, he was naturally furious.

   Violations of discipline by the rich and powerful are commonplace. Xia Houmao's misappropriation of food stored in Guanzhong was just a coincidence, and it was not considered a deliberate aid to the enemy.

   But if you dare to slander the emperor, it is a matter of political attitude, and political problems have always been big problems!

   Could it be that Xiahou Dun's branch is also estranged from me?

   Fortunately, at the last moment, Duan Mo, the captain of Changshui, spoke uprightly: "Princess Qingshui and Xia Houmao are at odds. I'm afraid there is something hidden in it. Why don't your majesty find out the facts before making a decision?"

  Cao Rui just realized that he still needs the support of Xiahou's family. If he killed the representative of Xiahou's family in a fit of anger, Xiahoumao, it would be very wrong.

  So Cao Rui ordered Duan Mo to investigate the matter.

  Duan Mo came here this time, and what he said was the result of the investigation.

    "Xiahouzhen kept many concubines, and Princess Qinghe was at odds with him. And Xiahouzhen's brothers did not follow the etiquette. Xiahouzhen had reprimanded them many times, so his group brothers felt resentful."

   "This matter is precisely the conspiracy between Princess Qinghe and Xia Houmao's group brothers to falsely accuse Xiahou Maer."

  Cao Rui had read the file a long time ago, and when he heard Duan Mo say it again, his irritability increased a bit.

   There are three most important branches of the Xiahou family.

   Needless to say, Xia Houxuan of Xia Houshang's branch took the lead in opposing himself to make the Mao family the queen, and looked down on the queen's younger brother.

  When he returned to Luoyang from Guanzhong, he was among those who took the lead in attacking Longyou's mistakes.

  When Cao Rui thought of this, he gnashed his teeth.

  Xiahouyuan's branch has many heirs, seven in total, and many of them are outstanding.

   It happens that the two most talented people died early.

  The third son, Xiahou, claimed to have military talent. He shot and killed a tiger at the age of sixteen, but died at the age of eighteen.

  The fifth son Xia Hourong was young but talented. He was able to write and read scriptures at the age of seven.

  The two sons died early, which is really deplorable.

  The second son Xiahouba is now a partial general. The fourth son Xiahouwei, the sixth son Xiahouhui, and the seventh son Xiahouhe are all talented and famous.

   It's just that these four people have too little qualifications, and they are not yet able to take on major responsibilities.

  The eldest son Xia Houheng, who inherited the title, is not even as famous as his younger brothers, let alone talented.

  How can this be the leader of the Xiahou family?

  As for Xiahoudun's branch, Xiahouzhu married Princess Qinghe because of his friendship with the first emperor, and served as General Anxi, named Liehou, and Chijie.

  Looking at his two younger brothers, they can even do the thing of framing his elder brother. They are not as good as animals. What else can they be expected to do?

  So the only hope is really only Xia Houmao.

  Cao Rui thought of this, and suddenly felt very tired.

  The Cao family, the pillars of the two great powers, suffered disastrous defeats within a year.

   Originally the most reliable foreign surname, Xiahou's family, now they can only come up with one Xiahouzhu.

   "Since Xia Houmao has no crime of disrespect, let him go."

  Cao Rui waved his hand.

  In the past few months, Xia Houzhu has been trembling every day, restless and tasteless, afraid that a servant will suddenly come and give him a white silk or a glass of wine.

  Until one day, a servant really came. Fortunately, he was empty-handed and said that he would take him to see His Majesty.

  When Xia Houmao was taken to the East Hall of the Tai Chi Hall, he didn't even have the courage to raise his head, but he just knocked his head heavily on the back of his folded hands.

   "Get up."

  Cao Rui's voice above is a little distant, and seems a little tired.

   "Thank you, Your Majesty."

  Xia Houmao stood up tremblingly, lowered his head, and stood there timidly, not even daring to look around.

   "I have found out that the crime of disrespect is that someone framed you, so you don't need to bear the charge. It's just that the reason for the framed person to blame you is too absurd."

  Cao Rui sneered, his face full of sarcasm, "Xiahou's family is the most valuable family of Liehou in the Great Wei Dynasty. I didn't expect such a thing to happen. We should rectify the family tradition."

  Xia Houmao listened quietly with his head bowed, not daring to make a sound.

"However, for the matter of storing food in Guanzhong, I think that for the sake of the late General Xiahou, I will spare you the death penalty. But living crimes are unavoidable. All the property in your family has no officials. It is used to buy military rations and pay for the food stored in Guanzhong. Do you have an opinion?"

  Xia Houzhen heard this, and hurriedly bowed and said, "It is His Majesty's great grace to spare your life, how dare you be greedy?"

  Cao Rui nodded, "Okay, since you know how to advance and retreat, then I will give you another chance. Let me ask you, do you often have money and food exchanges with that Kanto family?"

  Xia Houmao's legs softened when he heard it.

   "Your Majesty...Your Majesty, well, that's because I want to make up for the food in the Guanzhong, so I'm talking to them, they..."

  His teeth were chattering, and he was unable to speak, "They... agreed to buy a batch of grain. It is not intentional to make friends, Your Majesty!"

  Xia Houmao remembered that he had doubled the wool cloth from Longyou and sold it to a family in the Guandong, and his body was sweating profusely—I heard that the wool cloth from Longyou was produced in Hanzhong, Shu Kingdom?

   "Then you mean that you can get food from the Kanto family?"

   Cao Rui frowned when he saw Xia Houzhu's appearance. Xiahou Dun was the most powerful right-hand man of Emperor Wu before his death. How could he have such a son?

  Xia Houmao felt that this was an optional proposition.

   "Can...can...my minister, you can try, but I don't know if you can..."

   "Can it or can't it?"

  Cao Rui couldn't bear it anymore, and asked impatiently.

  Xia Houmao gritted his teeth, "I have traded grain with them before, and this year we also agreed to buy a batch of grain from them."

  My transaction with the Kanto family, as long as I have the heart, I can definitely find out.

  So you can't hide it, so it's better to admit it directly.

  In fact, the relationship between Xia Houzhu and the Kanto family is far closer than Cao Rui imagined. After all, things like woolen sweaters are not too tight in the Kanto family.

  There is no cotton this year, and it happened to be the Little Ice Age. Even the Huaihe River was snowed and frozen, let alone the places north of the Huaihe River?

  So as long as Xia Houmao can get a wool sweater, the Guandong family can bring him food at any time.

   "They are willing to sell food to you?"

  Cao Rui stood up and asked again.

"yes."

  Xia Houmao only felt that his underwear had become wet, and he knew that this time he made the right bet.

   "Okay! Let me ask you again, if I let you go to the governor Xu Qing Erzhou, would you be willing?"

  The emperor suddenly raised a question that shocked Xia Houmao.

  He raised his head in disbelief.

   Governor Xu Qing Erzhou?

   Isn't that more important than the governor Guanzhong?

  Cao Rui didn't go to see Xia Houmao, he walked back and forth, and said to himself, "Xiahou's family and Cao's family are related by marriage, the Great Wei was able to establish a country, and your Xiahou family has made a lot of contributions."

   "It is not an exaggeration to say that the two families are related by blood. As long as the Great Wei Dynasty is in one day, your Xiahou family will still be the most important pillar of the country."

"Now is the time when the country needs the help of Xiahou's family." Cao Rui stopped and looked at Xiahoumao, "You have friendship with the Guandong family, so I want to send you to governor Xu Qingzhou, do you understand what I mean? ?”

Xia Houmao was so moved that he lay down on the ground and kowtowed again, "Your Majesty is generous, how dare I refuse to die? I will definitely persuade the Kanto family to focus on the overall situation, not to be hurt by those close to them, and to see enemies quickly. "

  Cao Rui nodded in satisfaction.

  If Xia Houzhen really appeases Xu Qing's aristocratic family in Erzhou, then it is not in vain to spare his life.

  Thinking of this, Cao Rui took a file from the case and handed it to Xia Houmao, "This is the case file for examining your disrespect, and I will hand it over to you now."

   "As for Princess Qinghe's accusation of disrespect, I'll ask my servant to give her an instruction so that she won't easily believe the villain's words in the future."

   "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

   Xia Houmao shouted with tears.

  The emperor's actions were obviously beating Princess Qinghe to make her calm down.

   At the same time, it also shows that Princess Qinghe can no longer control herself.

  Thinking of this, Xia Houmao, whose tears were still wet on his face, suddenly had a thought. Doesn't that mean that if he raises concubines again, Princess Qinghe can only watch?

  No one thought that Xia Houmao, who was escorted back to Luoyang from Guanzhong, not only did not die in the end, but was moved from General Anxi to General Zhendong, and he was also the governor of Xu Qing Erzhou.

  The emperor's decision was beyond everyone's expectations.

When Xia Houmao returned to the mansion, he ordered people to tie up his two younger brothers, and then asked someone to invite Princess Qinghe, and in front of her, Xiahou Zizang and Xiahou Zijiang were ripped open, blood dripping, and only Next breath.

   Then it was announced that the two of them would be banned for one year, and if anyone dared to take a step outside the gate of the house, their legs would be broken.

  Although Xia Houzhen has no military strategy, he can manage his family's property to a prosperous future, so how can he be useless?

   Now seeing that all the property accumulated over the years has been confiscated, it really makes him want to strangle this vicious woman who wants to trap her husband to death.

  Seeing Princess Qinghe's extremely pale face and terrified eyes, Xia Houmao felt a burst of joy in his heart.

   "If anyone doesn't observe etiquette in the future, don't blame me for being cruel!"

  After Xia Houmao uttered a harsh word, he immediately asked people to pack his luggage. Time was tight, and he had to leave within three days.

  After Cao Rui appointed Xia Houmao as the governor of the two prefectures of Xu and Qing, he made the Yu family who had just returned to Luoyang from Yecheng as his concubine, the first person under the queen.

  At the same time, an imperial edict was issued to commend Zhu Ling and Wang Ling, praising them for their bravery and strategy in the battle of Shiting, planning to encircle Wu Lu.

   Regarding the mutual impeachment of Jia Kui and Cao Xiu, Cao Rui judged that neither of them was at fault.

   Even sent Yang Ji, the captain of the Tunqi school, to Yangzhou to enumerate Cao Xiu's previous achievements, comfort him, and reward him with a more solemn guard of honor.

  Jia Kui couldn't help being angry when he heard this: Although the emperor said that neither of them was at fault, he later sent someone to reward Cao Xiu. Does this mean that he was at fault by default?

   In this way, even if he has not received any punishment, he has already taken the charge of Shiting's defeat.

  Jia Kui has a strong temperament, and Yuzhou is on the edge of Yangzhou. Over the years, Cao Xiu has often used his power to provoke him.

   Now that such a incident happened again, Jia Kui couldn't swallow it, and fell ill all at once.

  He lay on the couch and said to his son Jia Chong, "If this happened during the Jian'an period, Emperor Wu would only punish Cao Xiu."

   "If it happened in Huang Chushi, Emperor Wen would only admit that it was his mistake."

   "When His Majesty came to power, Cao Xiu was rewarded. Alas, after three generations of the Cao family, its decline can be seen!"

  Jia Chong heard what his father said, but he didn't know what to say.

  (end of this chapter)