"You're called Zhou Buyi?" From Cao Chong's mouth, Cao Cao naturally knew the name of the boy who mocked his birth in public.
"That's right!" Zhou Buyi affirmed.
Cao Cao couldn't help but nod. Despite his young age, Zhou Buyi had an air of arrogance. He didn't panic in the slightest in the crowd and had an outstanding temperament. It was no wonder he could become Chong-er's playmate.
But praise aside, Zhou Buyi had mocked his second son in public. Cao Cao couldn't let him off so easily. If he couldn't give a proper explanation, he would still punish him. He would flog him.
As for whether Zhou Buyi would be beaten to death because of his young age? Hehe, Cao Cao didn't consider this.
"Since you're laughing so loudly, you must have your own opinion. Speak! If you can't, you'll be disrespecting the conference hall and be punished by military law! "Cao Cao's casual tone exuded the aura of an ambitious and ruthless person.
"Hmph!" Cao Pi sneered inwardly. Zhou Buyi? Cao Chong's playmate? Fine, today, your playmate will be flogged to death. In Cao Pi's view, what could a mere child say? It was just a joke.
Looking at his disposition, he did seem like an outstanding young man. Unfortunately, you're Brother Chong's playmate. If you die, don't blame me.
Everyone looked at Zhou Buyi. Some were curious, some were resentful, but most were sympathetic. What a pitiful child. He was young and ignorant, but he ended up harming his own family.
"What if I can answer it?"
"Hm?!" Everyone was stunned by this voice. It was simply too shocking. Usually, children like this would either spout nonsense or beg for mercy out of fear. But no matter which it was, it had nothing to do with the current situation.
This brat, this young brat, actually wanted to negotiate with someone, and this person was Cao Cao.
Who was Cao Cao? He was the King of Wei, the overlord of the north. Even the Han Emperor had to speak respectfully in front of him, not daring to say anything else. Yet, a child dared to speak in such a manner?
"What if I can answer it?" Zhou Buyi repeated his question.
Cao Cao also heard it clearly. He, Cao Cao, was the King of Wei. Who was not afraid of him? In fact, he was even known as the King of Hell Cao in Xu Province. The officials under his command also spoke with fear and trepidation. Who would dare to speak like this?
"Aren't you afraid of me?" Cao Cao asked Zhou Buyi.
"Why should I be afraid?" Zhou Buyi asked Cao Cao.
"Good!" Cao Cao suddenly laughed, "You are indeed my son's playmate! Since you said it, if you can answer it, how about this, what do you want? As long as you answer, I will give you whatever you want! "
Cao Cao was generous enough to make such a promise to Zhou Buyi.
"Really?"
"How dare you! How could His Majesty lie to you?!"
"Alright, I want His Majesty to take me and Cao Cao with you on this expedition!" Zhou Buyi raised his head and said to King of Wei.
"What?!" Everyone was shocked once again.
Expedition? War? Ma Chao of Xiliang had just been evaluated. Who was he going to fight? Very soon, the answer became clear.
"King of Han, Liu Mang!" The officials fell into a state of shock.
Cao Cao was also stunned. This brat actually guessed that he was going to go to war. If not for the fact that Cao Cao had just discussed it with Xun You and had not told the others, they would have thought that someone had leaked the secret.
"Brat, where did you hear that I am going to go to war?" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and asked Zhou Buyi.
"Do I need to hear it? Your Majesty hasn't held a meeting for a long time. Today, you suddenly held a meeting, so it must be something important. There are two kinds of important matters. One is the matter of offering sacrifices to the heavens. Your Majesty didn't go to the palace but chose to stay in King of Wei's residence. It must be related to government affairs! "Zhou Buyi spoke frankly with assurance. Now that Emperor of Han was a puppet, it was more symbolic than practical.
"If it's related to government affairs, Your Majesty asked about the matter of farming as soon as he opened his mouth! Grain is needed to provide disaster relief and raise an army. There hasn't been any disasters in Your Majesty's territory recently! "Zhou Buyi explained all his speculations to Cao Cao.
If an adult, or a sly old fox like Cheng Yu, could guess that Cao Cao was going to raise an army, Cao Cao wouldn't be surprised at all. They could be considered old friends of Cao Cao and were familiar with his every move. To put it bluntly, Cheng Yu and the others would know what Lao Cao was doing the moment he raised his butt.
Cao Cao was surprised that this young man was so observant.
"Alright, I promise you!" Cao Cao's words proved that this brat's speculations were correct.
"Your Majesty, Buyi was laughing at some adults for being short-sighted!" Zhou Buyi said.
"You ignorant brat, what do you know?!" Those who had criticized Han Hao earlier all jumped out, including many patriarchs of the major clans.
"I don't know much, but I know that General Han Hao is talking about distributing the land in Bing Province to the people! Bing Province is barren to begin with, and there have been many wars recently. As a result, the population has been reduced and the people have lost their homes. Less than a tenth of Bing Province is left! General Han Hao is encouraging people to have more children and distributing land to the people. This is a good deed and the best way! I believe that if this policy continues, Bing Province will definitely regain its vitality in less than ten years. In twenty years, Bing Province will be prosperous again! "Zhou Buyi said.
"However, some of the lords are afraid that Your Majesty will adopt General Han Hao's strategy and use it in other places, thereby damaging their land. They don't know that Yan Province, Ji Province, and You Province have plenty of land to distribute. Isn't that laughable?" Zhou Buyi looked at the other patriarchs with ridicule.
Zhou Buyi's words were mocking the nobles, saying that they were just like monkeys.
Since Cao Cao had touched the chicken that was Bing Province, they were afraid that Cao Cao would come and chop them up.
However, they didn't know that Lao Cao was based on the nobles. If they were touched, Cao Cao's foundation would be shaken. After all, Cao Cao's family was also a major landlord.
Everyone fell silent. It wasn't that they were afraid, but rather that this brat's words were too harsh. Although they were all noble, they were also prideful.
It was rare for someone to directly shed all pretense of cordiality and slap someone in the face. However, Zhou Buyi had done it.
If someone were to debate with this brat and win, they would be labeled as a bully. However, if they lost, their reputation would be tarnished. It would be called flying into a rage out of humiliation.
"Haha! Good, good, good! "Cao Cao broke the silence and applauded Zhou Buyi.
"To have such insight at such a young age, it is true that every generation produces talented people. I'm afraid that even Kong Wenju wouldn't be able to do what you did at your age!" Cao Cao wasn't stingy with his praise. Kong Wenju was Kong Rong.
Many students had racked their brains to think of a way to surpass Kong Rong.
This brat was Cao Chong's playmate. Judging from how he always made plans for Cao Chong, Cao Chong was probably the only one who could suppress him.
Cao Cao was happy that he had such a talented and intelligent son. If this brat was already so accomplished now, what would happen in the future? He felt that this brat would be comparable to Guo Jia and Xun You. In fact, he might even be a step ahead.
What if my son was assisted by this brat? With my son's intelligence and this brat's ability?
Cao Cao seemed to have thought of something. This kind of future was really good. He couldn't help but look at Cao Chong.
Originally, Cao Cao had chosen Cao Pi as his successor. After all, Cao Pi was old and he was the eldest son. Although Cao Cao refused to admit that he was old, he wasn't young either. When Cao Cao was buried, Cao Pi would probably be in complete control.
However, Cao Cao now had another plan. It was Cao Chong, who was in his arms.
Cao Cao loved his youngest son the most. Cao Cao also wanted to pass on his great empire to Cao Chong. However, he was afraid that there wouldn't be enough time. He was afraid that even if he passed on the throne to Cao Chong, Cao Chong wouldn't be able to hold on. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to suppress his older brother, Cao Pi.
However, things were different now. The brat in front of him gave Cao Cao another fantasy. Perhaps Cao Chong wouldn't be able to suppress Cao Pi, but what if Zhou Buyi joined the fray?
Although Cao Cao praised him, he couldn't pamper Zhou Buyi too much. He was also giving face to the other Shi Clan Heads, who had been angered by Zhou Buyi's words.
"However, a brat will always be a brat. How can he differentiate between right and wrong? Although he is only in Bing Province, he can't open his mouth. An ant's nest can destroy a thousand-mile dike. Once Bing Province is opened, Ji Province, You Province, and Yan Province won't be far away. How can an ignorant child like you be reasonable when it comes to matters of national affairs?! "Cao Cao scolded Zhou Buyi without the slightest trace of politeness.
"Yes, yes! It's already a great crime for such an ignorant brat to barge into the meeting hall. How dare he spout nonsense? If he was like this when he was young, what would he do when he grew up? Your Majesty, this person should be executed! "A Shi Clan Head suddenly knelt on the ground and spoke to Cao Cao.
"Your Majesty, this person should be executed!" The others all knelt down.
"Hmm?" Cao Cao frowned. These Shi Clan Heads were really ruthless. He was just a child, but they all knelt down and demanded that he be executed.
"Father, Father, Buyi, Buyi followed me here. If you want to punish someone, punish me!" Cao Chong also knelt down.
"Uncles, Buyi didn't do it on purpose. It's Cao Chong's fault. Can you punish Cao Chong? Don't hurt Buyi!" Cao Chong also knelt down and kowtowed to the other Shi Clan Heads.
All of a sudden, the heads of the Shi Clan were scared out of their wits.
Who are you? You're Cao Cao! You're Cao Chong! You're Cao Cao's son! You're Cao Cao's most beloved son! To put it bluntly, even if Cao Cao didn't become the emperor after Cao Cao passed away, he would still be a prince.
Now, a prince was kneeling down and kowtowing to them. Was he trying to kill them?
If Lao Cao saw Cao Chong kneeling down and kowtowing to them, he would definitely laugh.
Heh heh, then that would really be heh heh. Old Cao was a person who killed based on his mood. If things went wrong, you might end up dead.
Therefore, just as Cao Chong was about to kneel down, the other Shi Clan Heads also knelt down and yelled that they didn't dare.
They were simply riding a tiger and couldn't get off. In the end, they could only cry miserably. We won't kill Zhou Buyi, okay?! Young Master, please give us some face. Don't screw us over.
Everyone thought that Cao Chong and Zhou Buyi were close friends. The fact that Cao Chong was willing to kowtow to someone with a higher status than himself was enough to show their friendship.
However, Cao Cao discovered that his little bug seemed to be smiling strangely. Could it be his misconception? In Cao Cao's eyes, Cao Chong had always been well-behaved.
However, when Cao Cao looked at Zhou Buyi again, he confirmed this.
Because Zhou Buyi also had a trace of a sinister smile. It seemed that the two of them were in cahoots.
They had already discussed this beforehand. They were going to set out for this battle and let Zhou Buyi be the sinner. They weren't afraid that Zhou Buyi would die because they had Cao Chong, a great killing machine.
Who would dare to refuse Cao Chong's kneeling?
Seeing Cao Chong's little trick, Cao Cao didn't feel disgusted. Instead, he was overjoyed.
Because Cao Chong was too similar to him. In the past, they only looked alike in appearance. Now, even their inner selves were the same.
If Cao Cao was a great traitor, then Cao Chong was a small traitor.
Back then, when Cao Cao was transferred from the Xiahou Family to the Cao Family, he also played such a trick. Otherwise, why would Cao Song dote on him so much? Even the smile on his face was the same.
Hahaha! As the saying goes, if you love a boy, you love a boy. If you love a boy, you love a boy.
Emperor Han Ling was like this. Yuan Shao was like this. Now, even Cao Cao was like this.
Cao Cao's praise and Cao Chong's trick were deeply seen by one person. That person was Cao Pi.
He looked at Cao Cao's expression. He had seen this expression more than once before. That was when his elder brother, Cao Ang, was still alive.
At that time, whenever Cao Ang did something that his father, Cao Cao, approved of, Cao Cao would have this expression. It was a kind of recognition, a kind of affirmation, and an expression of looking at a successor.
As for Cao Pi, ever since his elder brother's death, he had been cautious and conscientious. He woke up early and worked late. In the end, he had never received such a look from Cao Cao.
"Why!" Cao Pi roared in his heart.
"Since everyone is not going to pursue this matter, then fine. Where are Cao Chong and Zhou Buyi?" Cao Cao suddenly spoke.
"Your children are here. Your subjects are here!" The two little ones walked out and shouted in a dignified manner.
"Zhou Buyi, although you are young, you have intelligence. Since you have answered, this king will definitely not go back on his word. Now, you and Chong 'er will accompany my army to battle!" Cao Cao was truly telling everyone that he was about to set out.
"Chong-er, I hereby appoint you as the Military Advisor. Zhou Buyi, you will be my deputy and assist Chong-er!" Cao Cao said to the crowd.
"What!" Cao Pi's hands trembled once more.
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