No matter how to kill Zhang Yi, that’s another story.
At this moment, Cao Rui was furious and just wanted to ask Zhang Yi face to face what he was thinking. Who gave him the courage to come and assassinate him?
Cao Rui's chest heaving as he breathed heavily, took three steps to the right and came in front of Zhang Yi who was restrained by three tiger warriors.
"Zhang Yi, the governor of Guanghan, right?" Cao Rui asked solemnly, his hands on his waist, his head lowered, "How dare you plot to assassinate me? Hmm?"
Zhang Yi, whose face was stepped on by the tiger guard, was unable to speak and could only make a whimpering sound.
"Let him speak!" Cao Rui looked at Zhang Yi angrily and waved his hand to signal the tiger guard who was stepping on Zhang Yi's face to move away.
Zhang Yi spat out a mouthful of red stuff that was hard to tell whether it was blood or saliva, sneered twice and said: "Cao thief! Do you know if there are still loyal ministers in the Han Dynasty? Is it empty talk to conquer the Central Plains and restore the Han Dynasty? Yizhou has its own righteous men!"
Jiang Wei, who was standing by, was about to step forward to cover Zhang Yi's mouth, but Cao Rui stopped him with his hand and said angrily, "Let him speak. I want to see what he has to say!"
Zhang Yi was obviously a little surprised, but he knew he was not far from death and was unwilling to miss this last chance to speak. He cursed again: "After the Prime Minister leads the army to defeat the Wei rebels, I will kill all nine clans of yours! Cao thief, you wait for your death!"
"In the end, it's the same old story for so many years. You keep calling me Cao thief and Wei traitor." Cao Rui looked at Zhang Yi with a frosty expression, "Zhang Yi, you opposed me when you were in Zhuge Liang's army. It's fine for us to serve different masters."
"But I am ready to accept your surrender and continue to let you serve as a 2,000-stone official. Why do you still want to assassinate me? You remember the kindness of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, but don't remember the kindness of me not killing you?"
Zhang Yi sneered, "The Han dynasty has been glorious for four hundred years. How can you, the Wei thieves, understand the loyalty of the Han subjects? Even if I fail to kill you, you will be recorded in history books like Nie Zheng and Fu Jiezi!"
"Foolish!" Cao Rui sneered, "What's the so-called 400-year-old Han Dynasty? Which Han Dynasty are you talking about? The Han Dynasty of Emperor Huan, the Han Dynasty of Emperor Ling, the Han Dynasty of Liu Bian, the King of Hongnong, or the Han Dynasty of Liu Xie, the Duke of Shanyang? Or the Han Dynasty of Emperor Chong and Emperor Zhi? What favors have these people given you?"
Cao Rui held up two fingers with his left hand and said, "I will not tell you about the replacement of divine weapons or the cycle of heaven, nor will I tell you about the state's major policies or the people's will. I will only tell you two things."
Zhang Yi wanted to yell again, but Jiang Wei, who was standing beside him, stuffed a cloth into his mouth, preventing him from speaking.
"First, I tell you, you can't be like Nie Zheng and Fu Jiezi."
Zhang Yi listened with eyes wide open. Cao Rui looked down at him with a cold expression: "The so-called sacrifice of one's life for justice is either to be grateful and have no regrets in sacrificing one's life, or to be in a situation of great benefit and harm and to have to fight hard to avoid danger and destruction."
"Although Wei and Shu are enemies, you are now invading my Longyou, not the time of Shu's destruction. The kindness shown to you by Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others is nothing more than promoting you to an official position and raising your rank."
"You want to assassinate me, but you are just seeking death and fame. How can you compare with Nie Zheng and Fu Jiezi?"
"I tell you, the history books will not record a single word about you. You are from the Zhang family of Qianwei County, and I will definitely exterminate your entire clan in the future as a reward for your actions today!"
Zhang Yi struggled and twisted his body, making a whimpering sound, but it was in vain under the suppression of the tiger guards.
"The second thing." Cao Rui's eyes were filled with contempt: "When Huan Fan arrested you, you could not uphold your integrity and submit to humiliation. When I wanted to pardon you, you ignored my mercy."
"Besides, how can I not believe that Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang will let you assassinate me?"
"If you act according to your destiny, then you have no moral integrity and no merit. I will only regard you as crazy."
The despair in Zhang Yi's eyes grew stronger, but at this time Cao Rui had already raised his head and no longer looked at him.
For those who wanted to assassinate him, Cao Rui not only wanted to kill the person, but also wanted to kill his heart.
"Huan Fan." Cao Rui took a deep breath and looked at the Wei Central Guard whose face was bleeding. "I only think that you made an unintentional mistake, but you brought this man to me and almost caused a dangerous situation. You can't escape the reason for oversight. You need to give me an explanation."
Huan Fan was already in tears at this moment, and he choked up and said, "I am indeed a sinner, please punish me to thank the world!"
Cao Rui said calmly: "The post of governor of Anding County is vacant. You should go to Linjing to take up the post tomorrow morning!"
"However, before you leave, you must personally execute this thief for me! Only this way can I vent my hatred!"
The tiger guards on both sides released Huan Fan's hands, and Huan Fan immediately knelt down and said, "I accept your order and thank you! Your Majesty, how do you want to deal with this thief?"
"Sikong!" Cao Rui turned around and looked at Sima Yi with a burning gaze: "What punishment should be given to those who plot treason and regicide?"
Sima Yi sternly bowed and said: "This crime deserves the death penalty! He should be beheaded!"
Cao Rui nodded without hesitation and said, "Drag him out, drag him outside and execute him immediately."
The two tiger guards, one on the left and one on the right, pulled Zhang Yi, who was so scared that his whole body was limp, out like dragging a dead pig.
The tiger guards who were waiting for orders outside the gate built a temporary execution platform ten feet away from the gate, and found a big axe from the ceremonial guard and handed it to Huan Fan.
The Central Guard General was a 2,000-stone official, and the Anding Prefect was also a 2,000-stone official. But one was beside the emperor, in charge of the appointment and dismissal of personnel in the Central Army. The other was in the remote Anding County, next to the Xiongnu, so how much future could he have?
Huan Fan, who was already impatient by nature, became even more resentful after this setback. After taking the axe, he swung it at Zhang Yi's waist without hesitation, as he was already on the execution platform, with his shirt stripped off and his mouth gagged.
One, two... It took seventeen or eighteen chop to complete the execution. After Huan Fan finished the execution, he walked into the door with blood all over his body, bowed to the emperor and stood quietly in the hall.
The upper half of Zhang Yi outside the door was still whimpering and wailing.
Cao Rui sat in the hall in silence with a sullen face, and no one in the hall dared to speak.
After a long time, the noise outside the door gradually disappeared. The guards first dragged away the remains, then fetched water to clean the steps and took soil to pad the yard again.
After a moment, everything outside seemed as if nothing had happened and everything was exactly the same as usual.
Cao Rui then sighed and said, "Zhang Yi wants to kill me, so I will kill him. This is the retribution I deserve."
"But you say," Cao Rui snorted and laughed, "Liu Bei and his party have only been in Shu for a few years? How did they raise such people?"
"Sikong, Shizhong, when did Liu Bei enter Shu?"
Sima Yi and Chen Jiao hesitated and dared not speak, only Yang Fu responded with a strong bow: "Your Majesty, Liu Bei conquered Chengdu in the 19th year of Jian'an, and it has been 13 years since then."
Cao Rui said: "In the thirteenth year, there were people like this who died for him. What if it were twenty or thirty years? How much more difficult would it be for me to conquer Wu and Shu by then?"
It was Yang Fu who responded again: "Your Majesty, you must use the divine weapon to act according to the situation, and you cannot set any limits."
Cao Rui stood up and flicked his sleeves: "I am tired, you all can go back. Bo Yue, come with me for a walk."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Jiang Wei followed the emperor and walked out together.
Sima Yi and Chen Jiao in the hall looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh.
With this happening so close to the end of the year, the emperor must have been in a very bad mood, but he didn't know what the war in the south was like.
……
For the Shu army, how to retreat well and beautifully has become the most important issue for the Shu army at the moment.
On the same day, the 26th, Zhao Yun, who received Zhuge Liang's order to withdraw his troops, had his soldiers take turns to rest during the day.
After nightfall, at midnight, Zhao Yun led 10,000 infantrymen under his command and quietly left the camp at night, heading south towards Shanggui City.
On the morning of the 27th, Zhao Yun led his troops to the outskirts of Shanggui. By noon, when Cao Zhen led his troops to Shanggui, Zhao Yun had already retreated calmly along the road from Shanggui to Xixian.
Cao Zhen had a total of 15,000 cavalrymen. He took away Dianman's 2,000 cavalrymen in Xinyang and left 500 cavalrymen in Xianqin. When Dianman sent people to look for him last night, he also sent Wenqin's 3,000 cavalrymen westward.
At this moment, General Cao Zhen had less than ten thousand cavalrymen with him. He had no time to chase Zhao Yun, but instead rushed to the outside of Shanggui City.
Guo Huai personally guarded the city wall every day, organizing the defense while looking out for the reinforcements from the Wei army like a resentful woman in the boudoir waiting for her lover to return.
The sound of horse hooves gradually came from the west. Nearly ten thousand cavalrymen were coming from the west. For a moment, Guo Huai couldn't even believe his eyes.
"Is it the reinforcements from Wei?" Guo Huai widened his eyes, pointed at the military formation in the west and asked Lu Pan beside him.
Lu Pan also looked relieved, and sat on the ground and laughed, "If it's not the Great Wei cavalry or the Great Wei reinforcements, what else could it be? Apart from the Central Army, where else in the world can we find such cavalry?"
"Such cavalry means reinforcements have arrived. You can tell by the flags!"
Cao Zhen led his cavalry and slowly approached Shanggui City eastward. When there was still a mile left, Guo Huai rode out of the west gate alone, holding up his governor's seal and went straight to Cao Zhen who was in front of the army.
Guo Huai defended the city for more than twenty days. The pressure and tedious affairs made this usually elegant general look extremely haggard.
"Greetings, General." Guo Huai sat on his horse, grinning and looking at Cao Zhen. As he smiled, tears welled up in his eyes.
"Bo Ji has worked hard!" Cao Zhen was the first to dismount, and Guo Huai also reacted and dismounted to greet him. The two looked at each other for a long time, and Cao Zhen patted Guo Huai's arm and said, "I knew Bo Ji was here, Shanggui must not be lost!"
"How's the city going?"
Guo Huai replied: "Shanggui City is still in the hands of Wei, and I still have more than a thousand soldiers who can fight."
"That's good, that's good." Cao Zhen was filled with emotion and said repeatedly: "Boji, let's go into the city together!"
Guo Huai asked, "General, why don't you ask where the Shu army is going? This morning, a Shu army of about 10,000 people returned from Longshan Road and headed towards Xi County."
"Just yesterday, Zhuge Liang seemed to have brought many people from the direction of Linwei and returned to the direction of Xixian." (End of this chapter)
