novelAbuy Chapter 1403 Sima's Sorrow
Chapter 1403 Sima's Sorrow
Chapter 1403 Sima's Sorrow
Sima Yi came to Zhang Chunhua's courtyard, but saw Madam Fu, Madam Zhang, Madam Bai and other concubines, as well as Sima Liang, Sima Gan and other children, all there, standing outside Zhang Chunhua's ward.
Regardless of whether they were truly sad in their hearts, everyone had a sad look on their face.
Seeing this scene, Sima Yi frowned slightly and his heart sank subconsciously.
No matter how much he hated Zhang Chunhua, they had been married for many years after all, not to mention that they had been in love when they were young.
At this time, Zhang Chunhua was seriously ill, and Sima Yi could not help but feel some empathy and sadness:
In the past few years, hasn't my body been aging and my energy is not as good as before?
Time is unforgiving...
Seeing Sima Yi coming, all the concubines and children bowed to him.
Sima Yi waved his hand and walked straight into the inner room.
Perhaps there really is such a thing as a bond between husband and wife in this world. Although Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua had long been enemies, as soon as Sima Yi entered the room, Zhang Chunhua, who had been lying on the couch like a dead tree, suddenly opened her eyes.
Seeing Sima Yi in a slovenly, disheveled outfit and haggard face, Zhang Chunhua showed a look of relief and gloating, and even her voice became stronger:
"You came?"
Sima Yi stopped a few steps away from the couch and nodded:
"Yes, I'm coming."
Sima Yi really disliked the extremely strong smell of medicine in the room, not to mention that there was an indescribable foul odor emanating from Zhang Chunhua's body and the couch.
This made Sima Yi feel even more evil.
Perhaps sensing Sima Yi's undisguised deep disgust for her, Zhang Chunhua's lifeless face revealed a hint of self-mockery and resentment:
"If you don't want to, you don't have to come."
"But I'm here now." Sima Yi said indifferently, "The war is urgent. If my son hadn't begged me, would you have thought I was willing to come?"
Zhang Chunhua heard this and said sarcastically:
"Yes, if I wasn't going to die, it would be difficult for me to see you."
Sima Yi frowned:
"Are you sick and confused? You and I have not seen each other because you wanted to go on a hunger strike, which led to unrest in our home and our children. That is why we are not in harmony and we hate each other."
When Zhang Chunhua heard this, her long-ill body almost jumped up from the couch.
At this time, the old thief actually said such beastly words to my face?
Doesn't he know why I went on a hunger strike in the first place?
Zhang Chunhua's shriveled chest rose and fell like a broken bellows, and it took her a while to calm down.
Forget it, at this point, what is there to argue about?
Her gaze fell on Sima Yi again:
"I am about to die! You are in charge of important matters, I dare not delay Alang any longer, but there is one thing in my heart that I cannot let go of, so I want to ask you clearly."
"What's the matter?"
"Is my son safe in Xuchang?"
The "my son" Zhang Chunhua mentioned naturally refers to Sima Zhao who went to Xuchang to seek reinforcements.
Sima Yi nodded:
"Of course everything is safe and sound."
After a pause, he continued, "Doesn't Zishang write to you from Xuchang every month to let you know he's safe? Why are you asking me this?"
Zhang Chunhua said with the same sarcasm in her tone:
"Ah Lang is an extremely intelligent man. Could it be that because the war was not going well and his mind was restless, he didn't even hear what I asked?"
"Ah Lang, do you dare to say that when we sent him to Xuchang, was it really to ask him to go and find reinforcements?"
Before Sima Zhao went to Xuchang, Zhang Chunhua, knowing Sima Yi well, said to her son:
If it was a last resort, Sima Yi might not necessarily seek a way out for the Sima family at the cost of his own son's life.
Sima Yi was silent.
Seeing Sima Yi standing there without answering, Zhang Chunhua's resentment grew stronger.
But the longer Sima Yi remained silent, the more resentment in Zhang Chunhua's eyes turned into pleading:
"Alang and I were husband and wife after all. I gave birth to three sons for him. Ziyuan (Sima Shi) was defending Luoyang for Alang, but he was injured in the battle and died before me."
"The third son, Ziliang (i.e. Sima Gan), is young and suffers from intermittent hysteria (i.e. he has intermittent mental illness). It is unknown when his condition will worsen. If it does, he may not have a good end."
"It just so happens that my second son was sent to Xuchang by Alang. His safety is uncertain now. It's ok for Alang to hate me, but does he hate his own son too?"
Sima Yi finally spoke:
"Ziyuan is gone, and Zishang is the eldest of all the sons, and even the heir of all the sons. How could I not care about his safety?"
"If he doesn't gain more experience, how can he take over the Sima family in the future? Don't say anything more!"
Hearing Sima Yi's words, Zhang Chunhua looked at him steadily, and finally used up her last bit of strength and nodded imperceptibly:
"Well, I'll trust you just this once."
Sima Yi didn't say anything else, but turned around and walked out.
He didn't notice that Zhang Chunhua's eyes were following his figure behind him.
Her gaze changed from resentment to complexity, and then gradually dimmed until the last trace of spirit disappeared.
At the same time, breathing also stops.
-
The death of Mrs. Taifu's illness could not have come at a worse time, because at that time the entire Taifu's mansion was shrouded in the shadow of war.
The news that the Han army was approaching Weize Pass and that a certain Feng was personally leading the troops to attack the city made the entire Ye City a little restless.
Mr. Feng's reputation for being a good fighter is no less than his notorious reputation for being a vicious person.
Jingxing is one of the most important roads from Jin through Taihang Mountains into Hebei.
Weize Pass is the most important gateway to Jingxing. Once it is lost, the Han army will be able to enter Hebei through Jingxing continuously.
Therefore, when the Taifu's wife died of illness and was being buried, there was a constant stream of people and cars in front of the Taifu's mansion, and everyone was mourning the loss of their parents.
In the eyes of those who are not in the know, Madam Taifu is like his biological mother.
But most of those who came to pay their respects had other purposes:
The bandit leader is very powerful. Can the defender of Weize Pass stop Mr. Feng?
If not, when will the Grand Tutor lead the army personally?
In this tense and slightly panic-stricken atmosphere, Zhang Chunhua's funeral was kept simple.
Sima Yi, who took only three days to deal with Zhang Chunhua's funeral, looked even more tired and his body became more hunched.
If he put on farmer's clothes, from a distance he would look no different from an old farmer who has been carrying heavy loads all year round and whose back is finally bent by the load.
There's no sign of being pampered at all.
Sima Yi had his upper body almost bent over the desk, squinting his eyes, and looking with some difficulty at the documents being brought up from below.
After looking for a little too long, he felt his eyes were dry and had to rub them with his hands.
Until all the tears are rubbed out and your eyes feel better, then you can continue watching.
In fact, most of these documents are not very important.
The most important thing at the moment is naturally the war at the front.
No matter what happens, the battle report must be delivered to him as soon as possible. This is the rule set by Sima Yi.
As for the official business Sima Yi is currently handling, in the past, at least most of it would not have required him to review it personally.
In a certain county, more than a dozen farmers abandoned their farming and fled, and their whereabouts are unknown.
Some tuntian guests in a tuntian mansion rebelled again, and then were suppressed.
What county's taxes have not been paid on time...
There are many things to say, no big problems, but constant small troubles.
As a veteran of four dynasties, Sima Yi knew one fact very well:
Problems had already arisen in the Wei Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wen.
The problems we are facing now have already occurred during the reign of Emperor Wen.
In the final analysis, most of these problems can be traced back to one root cause, that is, local tyrants and aristocratic families.
Of course, we may have to add the Han Kingdom now.
The farmers fled from farming, perhaps they were hidden by the wealthy, or they may have fled to the Han State in the west.
When the Tuntianzu rebelled, it was most likely because the Tuntianzu governments and the big families colluded with each other, causing the loss of the Tuntianzu and making the Tuntianzu overwhelmed.
The failure to collect taxes is the most fatal and the reason is also the simplest:
The local tycoons have occupied all the arable land and are hiding the population. Where can we collect taxes?
When the Eight-Ox Plow spread from Shu in the early years, both the former emperor and the knowledgeable people in the court said that this was God's blessing for the Wei Dynasty.
Because from then on, the Wei Dynasty no longer had to worry about food problems.
Some people even took the opportunity to mock Zhuge Liang of Shu for his stupidity and Feng Mingwen for his ignorance, saying that they did not know how to keep such an important national treasure secret.
As long as the Wei Dynasty has sufficient food, the Shu area can be pacified in no time.
The appearance of the eight-ox plow did help the Wei Dynasty harvest more grain in the first few years.
That is why the Wei Dynasty was able to reorganize its army again and again to fight against the Han army despite repeated defeats in the west.
However, no one expected that after obtaining the Eight Oxen Plow, the Wei Dynasty would start to pay a heavy price after only a few years of good life:
The eight-ox plow greatly encouraged the greed of powerful families.
With the eight-ox plow, they could more easily take over the fields that they could not take over in the early years due to lack of manpower.
The trend of land annexation in the Wei Dynasty became even more intense after the appearance of the eight-ox plow.
All of this, in turn, caused the power of the aristocratic families to expand rapidly.
With the ability of the previous emperor, he tried to curb it many times, but in the end, nothing came of it.
Thinking of this, Sima Yi's expression became increasingly heavy. He put down the documents, stood up, walked to the window, and stood there blankly, with a thousand thoughts in his mind.
The Eight-Ox Plow was originally made by Feng Yong, so it was impossible for him not to know how useful this thing was for farming.
But with Zhuge's wisdom and Feng Yong's strategy, they only kept it secret for two or three years before sending it to the State of Wu and then spreading it to the State of Wei.
It is impossible that they did not know that the Eight-Ox Plow was more suitable for the Central Plains, but they still allowed it to spread. Were they really not worried at all?
still is……
Was it intentional?
The aristocratic families are like gluttons, devouring everything they can.
Even if the Wei Dynasty occasionally gained something, it would ultimately just become food for this glutton.
So Feng Mingwen had already seen the biggest weakness of the Wei Dynasty before he reached the age of twenty?
Thinking of this, Sima Yi was almost depressed.
Although Zhuge Liang was very wise, he still followed certain rules in his actions.
Feng Mingwen is very resourceful and his methods are unprecedented. Can he be said to be almost demonic?
Being an opponent to such a monster is really exhausting both physically and mentally.
"Feng Mingwen... Feng Mingwen... has a long-term vision..."
Murmuring someone's name, and finally uttering a sigh:
"There was Zhuge Liang before the Han Dynasty and Feng Mingwen after it. Could it be that the Yan and Han dynasties should not have ended?"
At this moment, the servant's voice sounded outside the door:
"Taifu, the doctor wants to see you."
When Sima Yi heard this, he quickly turned around, the fatigue on his face was swept away, and even his voice became a little excited:
"Quick, come in!"
Soon, Fu Gu, also looking tired, walked into the house.
"Lanshi, you're back!" Sima Yi stepped forward quickly, "Thank you for your hard work!"
Seeing the hopeful eyes of the Grand Tutor, Fu Gu paused, looked ashamed, and bowed:
"Hey, I'm here to meet you, Master."
"Get up, get up quickly!" Sima Yi helped Fu Gu up without waiting for him to finish his greetings, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Fu Gu stood up straight, not daring to look directly at Sima Yi, and lowered his head with a bitter smile:
"I am ashamed to have failed the trust placed in me by your majesty."
Sima Yi's expression froze, and his movements slowed down. He held Fu Gu's hand, patted her shoulder, and sighed:
"It's okay. This is what I expected. Come, sit down first and tell me in detail what their attitude is."
Fu Gu sat down as he was told.
Sima Yi asked someone to bring another cup of tea.
Perhaps because he was really thirsty, Fu Gu raised the cup and took a big sip despite the fact that the tea was scalding hot.
It can be seen that he was in a hurry along the way.
Taking the opportunity of drinking tea to sort out his thoughts, Fu Gu then spoke:
"He followed the order of the Grand Tutor and went to Pingyuan and the surrounding counties to discuss the issue of money and grain with the Qinghe Cui family and other big families..."
After a pause, he continued, "Ms. Cui agreed readily, but the amount he gave was very small, only 10,000 dan."
Sima Yi heard this and groaned:
"What can ten thousand stones be used for?"
For ordinary people, ten thousand shi might be a number that they would never see in their lifetime, but Sima Yi knew that for those aristocratic families, they could afford a hundred times more.
As for the military's consumption, it is only the monthly requirement for 10,000 people.
Plus now there are 50,000 more cavalry...
Sima Yi thought of the 50,000 Hu cavalrymen eating the horses' munitions, which directly doubled the Hebei army's food consumption, and he was so heartbroken that he almost couldn't breathe.
He subconsciously reached out and pressed his chest, his voice a little hoarse:
"They are simply short-sighted and ignorant! Don't they know that if the army is short of food, the soldiers mutinied, and they couldn't defend Taihang Mountain, Feng would enter Hebei and they would have a hard time?"
As he spoke, he suddenly became furious and smashed the teacup on the table to the ground.
I closed my eyes and leaned back on the table, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.
I thought that by asking Tuoba for help in advance, I could get ahead of Mr. Feng, but I didn't expect that the opponent would still be one step ahead of me.
The Han army could actually march outside the Great Wall in winter?!
What kind of monster is he to do such an outrageous thing?
More importantly, he actually did it!
Done!
This made his advance arrangements a complete joke.
What's even more ridiculous is that when the army was approaching, he was actually overwhelmed by these 50,000 elite cavalry and thought he had an additional 50,000 cavalry under his command.
At that time, no one thought about how much of a burden these 50,000 cavalry would be for Hebei.
Sima Yi opened his eyes and stared at the roof, without focus, just confusion.
Feng Mingwen, was all this part of your calculations?
I, your mother, am so much older than you, but I have always been played around by you.
Sima Yi had felt like crying more than once.
Fu Gu naturally didn't know what Sima Yi was thinking at this moment.
Seeing the Master so distracted, he wanted to comfort him but didn't know how to start.
We can only continue with the previous topic:
"Grandmaster, from what I have seen, the Cui family and other aristocratic families are not unwilling to pay money and grain, nor do they not have money and grain. They also know what will happen to their families if Hebei is lost."
"The reason why they have such an attitude is probably because they have some ulterior motive..."
"I know, of course I know..." Sima Taifu muttered, and then suddenly became furious, "Don't they just want me to offer them a higher price?"
He sat up straight and cursed loudly:
"Don't you just want Hebei to be the home of the aristocratic families? The Han army has already reached your doorstep, but you don't want to work together and are so greedy. What else can you be but a short-sighted coward?"
"A bunch of rats! Rats! You deserve to be hanged on a tree by Feng Yong!"
To make the world belong to the aristocratic families and keep it unchanged for thousands of years has been the greatest pursuit of the aristocratic families over the years.
As a representative put forward by the aristocratic families, how could Sima Yi not know what these aristocratic families were thinking?
Now seeing this possibility in Hebei, these people can no longer restrain themselves and are planning to force themselves to speed up.
Enter his mother!
Are they trying to have some fun before they die?