Chapter 140 A small boat with leaves
It is not known whether Sun Luban did it intentionally or unintentionally, but her body swayed slightly when she walked out, and Cao Rui saw it all.
Cao Tai and Xiahou Xuan were waiting outside the door. They saw Sun Luban walking out of the hall alone, twisting her waist slightly, but the ropes on her hands had been untied.
Who else could have untied it? There was no one else in the hall, so it must have been the emperor himself. Moreover, Sun Luban, who had been terrified before coming here, actually raised his head at this moment.
Cao Tai had a smile on his face, while Xiahou Xuan was trying not to laugh. The two of them walked into the house one after another with strange expressions.
"Xiahou Taichu," Cao Rui looked up at the two of them and said in a slightly drawn-out voice, "Go stand in the corner and face the wall for an hour."
Xiahou Xuan bowed and then stood obediently in the corner.
Xiahou Xuan was less than 20 years old, so he could be punished by standing in the corner. But Cao Tai, a general in his 40s, could not be treated in this way.
Looking at Cao Tai's forced smile, Cao Rui said, "I have received your spoils and will give you a credit for your contribution."
Cao Tai cupped his hands and agreed, "This is my responsibility. Your Majesty, all my troops have arrived in Shouchun. Are there any other assignments to follow?"
Cao Rui said, "The expedition against Wu has come to an end for now. I will be returning to the north soon. You should stay in Yangzhou and follow the orders of the Grand Marshal to prepare for training. You also fought at Ruxu in the past. After this great victory, do you have any idea about sending troops to Eastern Wu again?"
Cao Tai was silent for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, I think we should put more effort into the navy. There were many reasons why the Wei navy failed to cross the river in the past. For example, at Ruxu, they were blocked by the Eastern Wu, and at Guangling, the waterway was narrow and too long."
"Wankou has now been occupied by Wei. This is the first time that Wei has seized a stronghold along the river. If we use Wankou as a base to mobilize the navy, we may be able to compete with Wu on the river in a few years."
The Wei navy could not defeat the Wu navy, which was a common understanding among the three kingdoms. Cao Tai said this in front of the emperor, and he was not afraid of being blamed by the emperor.
Cao Rui nodded after hearing what Cao Tai said. It seems that the formulation of military strategies is almost all related to geography. There are two completely different ways of fighting with land along the river and without it. Even Cao Tai, who he always thought was brave but not wise, has such an understanding. It seems that Cao Tai is gradually getting the point.
Cao Rui praised: "With the General Zhendong assisting the Grand Marshal in the southeast, I am sure I can be more assured about the affairs of the southeast. If there are any major or minor events in the southeast, you can report them directly to me."
Cao Tai naturally agreed.
……
After dinner, Cao Rui was taking a walk in the courtyard of the palace to help digest his food.
To be honest, the southern expedition was very tiring. Not just physically, but mentally as well.
Liu Ye and Huang Quan were accompanying Cao Rui at the side. Cao Rui asked Liu Ye, "Has Minister Liu ever met Hua Tuo?"
Liu Ye thought for a moment and said, "I met Hua Tuo several times when I was in Yecheng. At that time, Emperor Wu had a headache and was in great pain, so he summoned Hua Tuo to treat him. However, Hua Tuo returned to Xuchang on the pretext that his wife was sick before the treatment was completed."
Cao Rui frowned slightly: "I have heard about this matter. Hua Tuo was later executed, right?"
Liu Ye said: "That's right. Hua Tuo deceived the court and disobeyed the court's call. According to the law, he should be exiled. But Hua Tuo couldn't stand the torture in prison and died in prison."
Liu Ye didn't take it seriously when he said it, and Huang Quan, who was listening, didn't show any special expression. What's so strange about a criminal dying in prison? There are many people who died unjustly in the world, and Hua Tuo is not the only one.
In those days, doctors were just one of the medical skills, and could not be compared with scholars who could enter the elegant hall. But Cao Rui himself understood how big a mistake it was to lose Hua Tuo.
Cao Rui sighed softly: "I wanted to ask Hua Tuo about the Five Animals Exercises. Hua Tuo once taught this to people, right? Can his disciples still find it now?"
Liu Ye thought for a moment and then said, "I seem to remember that Hua Tuo had a disciple named Wu Pu, who was particularly good at the Five Animal Play."
Cao Rui said: "Since there is someone who knows the Five Animal Play, send someone to summon Wu Pu to Luoyang, and remember to treat him with courtesy."
Liu Ye nodded.
Just as the two were talking, there was a rush of horse hoof sounds coming from outside the palace. Liu Ye first looked in the direction of the sound.
The messenger who could travel so quickly outside the palace must be delivering urgent military information. Now that the confrontation in Wancheng and Wankou has ended, where did the urgent military information come from?
The sound of horse hooves stopped at the entrance of the palace. After the tiger guards on duty outside checked the messenger, four of them led the messenger into the palace from both sides.
Huang Quan took a few quick steps forward, took the letter, opened it, and then turned around and handed the document to the emperor.
Cao Rui unfolded the document and looked at it for a few moments before he let out a long sigh.
Liu Ye and Huang Quan looked at the emperor in confusion. Cao Rui looked at the two attendants beside him and said softly, "Urgent news from Xiangyang, General Xu Huang, the General who Conquers the South, is seriously ill. I'm afraid he will die in a few days." Liu Ye and Huang Quan also changed their expressions.
As the saying goes, it is easy to get thousands of soldiers but hard to get a good general. Xu Huang is such a rare general. There are not many famous generals in the Jian'an period. Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren have died one after another.
Among the several generals from other families who were known as great generals together with Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and Le Jin had died long ago, Yu Jin was originally a good general but had a dark history of surrender, and only Zhang He and Xu Huang were still alive.
This afternoon, Cao Rui had just praised Cao Tai for having some of Xu Huang's style. Is Xu Huang going there too?
Cao Rui sighed and said to Liu Ye, "I am really a little sad. Please invite the general over for me and ask him to go out with me for a walk."
Liu Ye and Huang Quan left together. Shouchun City was not big, and after Cao Rui walked around the courtyard twice, Cao Zhen came to the emperor.
When Cao Zhen heard that the emperor had summoned him, he rode over quickly. Seeing the emperor's slightly sad expression, Cao Zhen asked, "Your Majesty has summoned me here at this time. Is there something wrong?"
"General, follow me." Cao Rui pointed to the door and walked out on his own. Cao Zhen had no choice but to follow him quickly.
The two men rode their horses towards the north gate, and the roadside was full of guards.
Cao Rui sat on his horse and said softly, "Xu Huang is seriously ill and his death is coming soon. This is the news just sent from Xiangyang."
"Is the general familiar with Xu Huang?"
"How can I not be familiar with him?" Cao Zhen's face also showed some sadness: "Xu Huang joined Emperor Wu from Yang Feng in the first year of Jian'an. He has served the Wei Dynasty for more than 30 years. I have known Xu Huang since I was young."
Cao Rui said: "The general is a generation older than me, and he knows these veterans. It's a pity that I haven't met Xu Huang yet."
"What kind of person is Xu Huang?" Cao Rui asked Cao Zhen standing beside him.
The two men rode slowly out of Shouchun's north gate. Cao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, from my perspective, Xu Huang can be said to be selfless."
"What do you mean?" Cao Rui asked.
Cao Zhen laughed: "I remembered an interesting story. Xu Huang was very cautious in his use of troops, and often predicted defeat before he could win. But if Xu Huang thought there was a chance of winning the battle, he would drive his soldiers on the road at high speed, and the soldiers often didn't even have time to eat."
"At that time, there was a saying among Xu Huang's army: 'If you don't get paid, it's Xu Huang's fault. Xu Huang himself always put public interests above his own, but he often treated other people in his army the same way as himself."
Cao Rui couldn't comment on it. It was not the emperor's business to ask about the harsh treatment of his own soldiers by the generals. Moreover, Xu Huang was a minister of the Cao family, and it was the Cao family that benefited in the end.
Cao Rui said, "General, do you like to take a boat? When I came to Shouchun from Luoyang, I came by land. Shouchun is next to the Huai River, and I have never taken a boat before."
"Tomorrow the general will lead the central army back to Luoyang, and I will also go to various counties for inspection. Tonight, the general will accompany me on a boat trip on the Huai River."
Cao Zhen said, "The saying of southern boats and northern horses has existed since ancient times. Our Qiao County is sandwiched between the north and the south. As a Qiao County native, we should be good at riding horses and boating."
Why is Cao Zhen so talkative today?
There were only oil tankers and small boats at the nearest pier in the north of the city. Cao Rui and Cao Zhen got on a small boat and sat down. The evening breeze from the river made them feel quite comfortable.
Cao Rui looked up at the starry sky, and the light and shadows of the stars were also reflected on the water. The moon was hanging in the east, and if you look east, you can still see the moonlight reflected on the waves of the Huai River.
Cao Rui said: "I still want to talk about Xu Huang. I heard that Emperor Wu had two different evaluations of Xu Huang from other generals. One is that Xu Huang 'drove straight into the enemy', and the other is that Xu Huang had the style of Zhou Yafu."
"I know both of these things." Cao Zhen said, "The so-called direct attack is an evaluation of Xu Huang when he attacked Guan Yu's camp during the Battle of Xiangfan. Guan Yu was very good at using troops. There were trenches outside his camp and ten layers of deer horns inside. Even with such defenses, Xu Huang still conquered it."
"The style of Zhou Yafu is nothing more than the fact that when Emperor Wu reviewed the troops at Mobei, Xu Huang's troops had the most orderly appearance. This evaluation of 'the style of Zhou Yafu' is, after all, an additional contribution to Xu Huang's merit of 'marching straight into the enemy'."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Is there still a famous general in the Wei Dynasty who is so good at attacking strongholds?"
Cao Zhen was silent for a moment. As a general, Cao Zhen was very familiar with the achievements and records of all the famous military officers in Wei. If there were any other famous generals like this, he would be able to name them without thinking.
Cao Rui saw this and added before Cao Zhen could speak: "I think Cao Tai has some of the feeling of Xu Huang's 'driving straight into the enemy'."
Cao Zhen was relieved by the emperor's words and said, "Cao Tai did fight well in this battle. But Xu Huang ignored the lives of his soldiers and drove them like cattle and horses when attacking. This is not something others should learn."
(End of this chapter)
