Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 587: Cao Wei Goes to War
In April of the eighth year of the Chu calendar, Cao Wei, which had completely swallowed up Liaodong after Gongsun Kang fled last year, and had now released its "pack of dogs" to tear apart a large number of people and land in the Chaohai Peninsula, Goguryeo, and Buyeo, could finally not resist seizing Bohai and officially declared war on the State of Chu!
Originally, after conquering Liaodong, although Cao Wei refused to recognize the mineral resources that Liaodong had mortgaged to Chu, it did not use military force against Liaodong Port and Andong Port like Gongsun Kang did.
And now the Wei State has already sent troops to the ports of Andong and Liaodong, ordering the Chu army to leave!
The strength of the Wei army was not comparable to that of the Yan army. The Liaodong navy, which had received Bai Tu's order long ago, directly abandoned the Andong Port, which had a much inferior geographical location and port, and joined forces to defend the Liaodong Port.
There are many mountains to the south of Liaodong Port, and several important mountain roads have been blocked by barbed wire trenches. Even the Wei army cannot capture it for a while!
At the same time, because of the official war, the Chu and Wei countries also completely terminated all transactions.
The State of Chu no longer needed to leave any room for maneuver. What had been decided more than a month ago was now officially announced - Cao Pi was named "Marquis of An Wei".
He accepted Cao Pi's own request and changed the title of "Duke" to "Hou".
The news had just reached the Wei capital Yecheng. After reading the letter, Cao Cao suddenly burst into laughter.
"Why is the king laughing?" Yang Xiu asked cooperatively when he saw this.
"I laugh at my Zi'ang. He has become successful and is capable of becoming the 'Marquis of An Wei'!" Cao Cao did not look like he was laughing out of anger. Rather, it seemed as if he was laughing with disdain and a smile.
Cao Zhi, who had been appointed as the crown prince, was still childish at this time, but he still echoed passionately: "When I bring my brother back in the future, this 'Marquis of An Wei' will still be my brother."
In order to promote Cao Zhi, Cao Cao decided to marry Yuan Xi's wife, Zhen Mi, the legitimate daughter of the Zhen family, to Cao Zhi shortly after he conquered the north.
But in fact, Cao Zhi was only sixteen years old this year. Maybe because he was holding three gold bricks at such a young age, he was not tall.
Anyway, Cao Cao would never admit that this is hereditary...
Upon hearing this, many Wei officials praised Cao Zhi for being "friendly to his brothers and respectful to his younger brothers", but Cao Cao did not comment on this. It can be noticed that Xun Yu and Yang Xiu also deliberately avoided the topic and did not say a word.
"Your Majesty, Zi'ang can and should be granted the title of nobility, but the action of the State of Chu is extremely disrespectful. I petition to lead the navy to attack Chu!" Xiahou Dun, who looked very mighty, stood up at this time.
It was clear that the Wei army had already launched a tentative attack on Liaodong Port, but Cao Cao really acted as if he had decided to go to war just because of the news.
"Since Yuan Rang has this intention, I will naturally agree!" Cao Cao looked very relieved.
Afterwards, as if it was the first day when the decision to go to war with the State of Chu was made, all arrangements were made. After the Wei army was ready, Yang Xiu suddenly advised that his own fleet should also join the Battle of Bohai Sea and unconditionally obey the arrangements of the navy.
He spoke with great righteousness and like a pillar of the country, so Cao Cao readily agreed.
But the other families were secretly cursing Yang Xiu for being shameless...
Although the Yang family was a big family, Yang Xiu had been expelled from the Yang family on the surface, but they did help him secretly. In addition, Yang Xiu had a good vision and followed the development of Cao Wei all the way. However, he could not compare with the big families who stood out among the northern gentry and wealthy families.
The so-called family fleet was smuggling ships. How many ships were there in Yang Xiu's fleet?
However, after Yang Xiu took the lead, Cao Cao did not say anything . He just glanced at the ministers present and especially "took care" of a few of them.
In the end, the major Wei clans could no longer play dumb and all promised to entrust their fleets to the Wei navy, vowing to share the glory and disgrace with Wei...
Although it was only officially agreed today, in fact anyone with a discerning eye could have seen this coming. After all, Cao Wei wanted to dominate Bohai Sea, which would be very helpful to the smuggling business of these Wei cliques. In their view, the Chu navy was like "a lean camel is bigger than a horse", so it was natural for everyone to "unite".
It’s just that before, everyone was just thinking about how to pay the least and get the most.
However, Cao Cao obviously did not give anyone this opportunity. If you wanted Bohai's meat and soup, you had to go and get it yourself!
Directly entrusting all the smuggling fleets to the navy for management is the most unfriendly to the major families among all foreseeable situations.
Although he finally chose to compromise under Cao Cao's silent pressure, many people began to feel that this wise and powerful King Wei... was a bit of a hindrance.
But at the same time, I also feel that Cao Zhi is much "better" than Cao Cao.
Based on their understanding of Cao Zhi's character and temperament, they knew that the environment in Wei would be more friendly to them after Cao Zhi ascended the throne.
Character refers to Cao Zhi's seemingly arrogant but actually weak personality, while temperament refers to Cao Zhi's innocence...
Therefore, when Cao Zhi had been made the crown prince and there were no other rivals, these powerful families would not have any particularly exciting ideas. After all, Cao Cao was not someone to be trifled with, so it would be better for them to quietly wait for Cao Zhi to succeed to the throne!
Before that, the thorn in their and Cao Wei's eyes was the State of Chu!
In fact, if it was profitable, since everyone shared the same culture and ethnicity, many Wei clans had actually "contacted" the Chu State privately. These were not normal business contacts, but contacts for deeper cooperation.
However, the State of Chu was too resistant to this, and even in normal trade, it united to boycott the Wei clan, which was engaged in large-scale slave trading for production.
Thinking about the many rules of the Chu State, it is obvious that... the Chu State is the most unfriendly to them!
Moreover, with academic examinations and imperial examinations now available, the State of Chu has already trained and promoted enough grassroots personnel, and it is difficult for them to "infect" the State of Chu with their own rules.
Therefore, Chu State was their great enemy with the same interests as the imperial court...
Although this time they would suffer heavy losses by handing over their fleet to the imperial navy , but... thinking of the State of Chu and Cao Zhi, the Wei clans gritted their teeth and endured it!
After the court meeting, Cao Cao could no longer conceal his fatigue at the cabinet meeting.
"Your Majesty...your health is the most important. Now that the plan has been decided, just trust Fengxiao and the generals from now on." Xun Yu said with some concern.
"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile." When Cao Cao was in the cabinet, he never called himself "I".
After forcing himself to be in high spirits and finalizing some other details, Cao Cao called out to Xun Yu when the cabinet was adjourned.
"Wenruo, from now on Zijian...may have to rely on you." Cao Cao said in a tired tone.
"My lord..." Xun Yu instinctively used the old name for a moment.
"Hahaha, nothing happened. I just asked you to pay attention to Zijian's marriage." Cao Cao changed his tone.
Zijian is Cao Zhi's courtesy name.
Because Zhen Mi had no children, Cao Cao had recently been arranging other marriages for Cao Zhi, such as Xun...
