Chapter 239: Become a Duke! Promoted to a higher position [Subscribe]

"Love all, do not attack, respect the virtuous...know the ghosts, do not have fate, ascend to the sky, do not become an immortal..."

The pair of armored beasts left behind by Mozi have shells on their abdomens that look like turtle backs.

There are also spell patterns crisscrossing on it.

Between the spell patterns, there are characters left from the ancient seal script of the Spring and Autumn Period, which at first glance seem to be the ideological realm in the Mo Jing written by Mozi.

But the last two, ascending into the sky and not becoming an immortal, Cao Cao had never seen them in any of the relevant Mohist books.

Dian Wei touched the other armored beast with his beard again.

Its scales also trembled slightly, stretching to reveal its abdomen, but it presented a dotted pattern.

"The writing and dot arrangement on these two armored beasts may be related to Mozi's tomb, like a map of directions."

Wait for Ling Jin to come back and let him take people to Mozi's tomb again.

At this time, the two armored beasts fell to the ground and lay motionless.

Cao Cao took out the Xiantai Seal and tried to get closer to the two.

hum-

The symbols printed on it glowed faintly and fell on the two of them.

The textures on their armor plates seemed to be further activated, flickering and attracting spiritual energy.

When Cao Cao took out the ink bag, the two rolled up into a ball again and rolled into the bag by themselves.

The Mo Gong bag belonged to Mo Zi, and these two armored beasts might have stayed in it... Cao Cao thought.

After Ling Jin came back, he asked how to give orders to the pair of little creatures.

Using them to rob tombs and steal gold might be very useful.

Dian Wei glanced at Xu Chu with pride.

"How did you know you could use your tentacles to remove the armor of an armored beast?"

"When something soft touches the skin under the scales of an armored beast, the armor plates cannot tighten. This is a natural reaction, not ticklishness."

Dian Wei said proudly: "You use the urine bubble method to smoke the armored beasts so that they can't retract their armor. Sometimes it works, but that's all I have left."

"The governor."

Jia Xu walked into the study and said, "I have collected some information about the noble families in Jizhou and selected a few families with problems. We can start with them."

After pacifying Jizhou, the gentry will definitely take the opportunity to eliminate a group of them.

Release Yuan Shang and gather manpower. Cao Cao also needs to take some actions to encourage the nobles with disloyalty to join Yuan Shang so that they can be harvested as soon as possible.

Jia Xu handed over a list of Jizhou gentry.

"There are several families here who not only traffic in human beings for profit, but also use refugees from Wuhuan and Xianbei to exchange for furs, horses and other items. They also secretly raise private soldiers and control the area."

“As you go down the list, the higher up you go, the bigger the problem.”

In the early Han Dynasty, the Wuhuan were conquered by the Han people in large numbers and moved to Youzhou and Bingzhou to live.

Because they were good at riding and shooting and were brave in combat, they became part of the Han border army.

In his early years, most of Gongsun Zan's Youzhou cavalry were Wuhuan cavalry.

The Wuhuan people were mainly arranged to live in three counties in the eastern part of Youzhou.

By the end of the Han Dynasty, the court gradually lost control over the Wuhuan.

They began to plunder the Han people, and in turn became "warlords" occupying Han territory, enslaving the Han people.

During the reign of Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, because of the internal strife, they tried every means to win them over and bribe them.

Yuan Shao even used marriage to gain their help and make them his allies.

This series of attempts to win over the Wuhuan people deepened their arrogance.

When Yuan Shao and Cao Cao clashed, they took the opportunity to demand a large number of Han people as a condition to further strengthen themselves.

Among the information collected by Jia Xu, one was that Yuan Xi was contacting some Jizhou nobles who were close to his Yuan family through secret letters, asking them to secretly transport supplies and people to Youzhou in exchange for the Wuhuan's help again to fight back against Cao Cao.

"Some nobles sold Han people as slaves to the Wuhuan people."

Cao Cao frowned and said, "Kill all these nobles, and start with them!"

"They have some connections behind the scenes," Jia Xu reminded.

Cao Cao: "No matter how involved they are, we must root them out. If they dare to collude with outsiders, we will never tolerate them.

Let's go out for a few days to see how evil these nobles are in the local area."

"During the war, there were so many refugees that it was impossible to census them. Many of them disappeared and were detained and enslaved by the nobles. There were countless similar incidents."

Jia Xu: "Local officials also have problems."

Cao Cao changed the subject: "Where is Yuan Shang?"

"Headed north."

"When we invaded Zhongshan, most of Jizhou's civil and military officials surrendered. A small number of people took the remaining troops and evacuated northward. Where are they now?"

"They tried to join forces with the Wuhuan through the northern route, but were ambushed by General Han Sheng and his men. They were captured north of Dai County yesterday, along with Ju Su, Tian Feng and several other important officials who were previously dismissed or imprisoned by Yuan Shao. They are all on their way to Yecheng."

It's getting late.

Cao Cao left the study and prepared to return to the inner house.

I don't want to be robbed head-on.

Yin brought Rui and stared at Dian Wei with a fierce look.

"You pulled Yin's beard, and it came to seek revenge on you." Xu Chu gloated.

Yin came closer and tilted his huge tiger face to show Cao Cao the corner of his mouth where a whisker had been pulled out, with a look of aggrieved look in his eyes.

Cao Cao hit Dian Wei on the back of his head.

Yin twitched his beard and shook his head to indicate that it was not enough.

Cao Cao fanned him again, and Yin became happy. He stood close to Cao Cao and looked at Dian Wei triumphantly.

Dian Wei took out a small leather bag from his bosom, opened it, and found the fragrant donkey shank. He picked a piece of meat and handed it to Yin to apologize.

Yin stared at the entire leather bag, meaning that he wanted it all, otherwise it would not heal.

Cao Cao waved his hand silently, telling them not to follow him, and went back to the inner house first.

Yu Qing sat in the inner courtyard, eating grapes and spitting out the grape skins.

Her three fish friends traveled with her all over the world, from the Luoyang Palace in the past to the present Yecheng.

When Cao Cao was not around, Yu Qing would talk most frequently with the three fish and they would chat often.

Cao Cao came back, and Yu Qing stood up happily: "Your Majesty is back."

Cao Cao sat down in the seat she had given up: "My beloved concubine, what are you talking about with your three friends?"

Yu Qing stood behind Cao Cao and rubbed his shoulders and back:

"Just gossiping. Your Majesty, I want to have another boy with you. If I don't become the queen, I can still rely on a son."

As he spoke, he leaned forward, trying to bribe Cao Cao with his softness.

"Okay, give birth now."

Yu Qing got what he wanted. He picked up some fruit from the plate next to him, stuffed one into Cao Cao's mouth, and ate one himself.

----

The sun sets.

Cao Ang rode on horseback and entered Yecheng under the protection of his personal troops.

When Cao Cao went to fight at Guandu, he stayed by Xun Yu's side, learning how to govern and handle various matters.

Xun Yu came to Yecheng first. He stayed in Changyi and just arrived in Yecheng with the last batch of things that needed to be moved.

He was accompanied by several carriages.

After the war, Yecheng quickly recovered its prosperity and became densely populated.

There are many ancient buildings on both sides of the wide street.

Because it has not experienced the war destruction of Chang'an and Luoyang, Yecheng is the city with the best preserved ancient buildings.

There are newly built Han-style buildings and large courtyards with wide gates in the city.

There are also buildings left over from the Warring States Period, Qin Dynasty, and other periods long ago.

Cao Ang watched with great interest.

In the carriage accompanying him, someone lifted a corner of the curtain and was also carefully observing what he saw along the way, recording and analyzing various types of information.

When the team arrived outside Cao's residence, Cao Ang dismounted and shouted to the people in the carriage, "Sun Zhongmou, get off. We have arrived."

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a young man walked out. He was Sun Ce's younger brother Sun Quan.

The corners of his eyes were dark, and he stared at Cao Ang in anger but could not say anything:

"How can you be so rude, shouting in the street? Is this how Yanzhou treats guests and envoys?"

He acted like a little adult and tried to reason with Cao Ang.

Cao Ang reached out and pulled him down from the car: "If you say that again, I will beat you."

A gentleman will not suffer a loss in front of him.

Sun Quan endured it.

Along the way, he was brutally suppressed by Cao Ang several times, and he tried some means to counter Cao Ang.

But Cao Ang grasped a principle, using force to defeat cleverness, and when in doubt, he attacked Sun Quan.

Before Cao Cao went on the expedition, he asked him to listen to Xun Yu in everything.

Xun Yu told him that Sun Quan came to Yanzhou as a hostage so that he could see the strength of Yanzhou and use Jiangdong for his own purposes the next day.

Cao Ang asked, if I beat him, would that be considered a display of strength?

Xun Yu asked in return: "What if he appears to obey you but secretly bears a grudge and plots revenge?"

"Times!"

Cao Ang said: "That's because they didn't hit me lightly. My father said that might is right, and reasoning without strength to back it up is all nonsense.

I let Sun Quan be my follower. If he doesn't obey me, I will beat him. If he doesn't obey me, it must be because I didn't use enough force. I will double my strength!"

Xun Yu thought about it and felt that it would be a good idea to let Cao Ang teach Sun Quan a lesson.

Sun Quan came with a mission.

He has a good sense of the overall situation and will swallow his anger even if he is beaten so as not to bring trouble to his brother.

Sun Quan faced Cao Ang, he couldn't beat him, and he couldn't run away
After a period of time, he was really afraid of Cao Ang.

He no longer resisted whatever Cao Ang asked him to do. Occasionally, when he tried to reason with him, Cao Ang would use force.

At this time, the two came to Yecheng.

Cao Cao met with his sons and tested their academic performance.

In the following days, Cao Cao managed affairs in Yecheng and received and sent news from all parties.

In late June, he prepared to go out and visit various places in Jizhou.

Before leaving, he received an imperial edict from the emperor, which stated that because Cao Cao had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion, which was related to the country, he should be promoted to Duke of Wei by sending troops to pacify Jizhou and quell the rebellion in the world.

You should know that the title of "Duke" is above that of "Marquis", and is given the Nine Gifts, which allow one to report matters without calling himself a subject, and receive imperial edicts without bowing.

Jizhou became Cao Cao's actual fiefdom.

He also laid the groundwork for the reorganization of Jizhou.

At the same time, a group of Jizhou prisoners were sent to Yecheng, including Tian Feng, Ju Su and others.

In the government office, Cao Cao was looking through the list of recommendations selected by Xun Yu.

Among the recommended people from Hanoi County, he saw a special name, whose surname was Sima and whose courtesy name was Zhongda.

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(End of this chapter)