As soon as Fan Li left, Xiahouba and Xiahouwei brothers were ordered to come to the imperial study to meet them.
"The little minister Xiahou Ba Xiahou Wei visited His Majesty" The young Xiahou brothers saluted and worshiped together.
Cao Cao didn't directly beckon the two brothers to get up, but glanced at the two little eunuchs beside him who were holding the dust in his arms with a cold gaze: "You go and wait outside the door, no one is allowed to approach without my call." ” "No" The two little eunuchs agreed and exited the imperial study in unison.
"Zhongquan, go and see if the door is covered" Cao Cao was particularly cautious, and once again told Xiahou Ba.
Xiahou Ba agreed, turned around and walked to the door to check, and then turned back to Cao Cao to reply: "Your Majesty, the door has been closed, please teach Your Majesty." ” Cao Cao didn't directly explain what he meant, but took a sip of tea, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Zhong Quan, Ji Quan, your brother is now weak."
"Back to Your Majesty's words, the minister is seventeen this year."
Xiahou Ba replied.
Xiahou Wei slowed down a little by half a beat, and followed the second brother and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister is exactly fifteen this year."
"Alas" Cao Cao let out a long sigh, stood up with a tea bowl in his hand, and paced back and forth in the study: "Pinch your fingers and calculate, Miaocai has been killed in less than a hundred days, and it stands to reason that your brother should be allowed to keep filial piety at home for three years, and you should not be allowed to enlist in the army so soon." ” After a pause, the conversation changed: "But the national crisis is at the head, the Han army is pressing, and my Great Wei is the time to employ people, Xun Gongda and Cheng Zhongde issued a recruitment order in Hebei and the two states, one household and one ding."
Brother Xiahou, as the queen of the generals, should be an example for the people of the world, and among the seven of your brothers, especially the two of you, you are the most outstanding, skilled in bows and horses, so I recruited you to be a leader. ” It turned out that Xiahou Yuan had seven sons, the eldest son Xiahou Heng; He is eighteen years old this year, and his second son, Xiahou Ba, is sixteen years old this year.
The third son, Xiahou, said that he is 16 years old this year, and the fourth son, Xiahouwei, is 15 years old this year; There are also three sons in the downstream, named Xiahou Rong, Xiahou Hui, and Xiahou He, but none of them have a weak crown.
Among these seven people, Xiahou Heng is a Confucian scholar, who has been friends with Cao Pi since he was a child, and has been studying the way of governing the country.
After Xiahou Yuan's death, the posthumous marquis was also inherited by Xiahou Heng.
The second Xiahou Ba has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he used to learn from Cao Zhang, although his martial arts and strength are not as good as Cao Zhang's, but he can also be regarded as skilled in bows and horses, so he is deeply loved by Xiahou Yuan, and believes that this son has inherited his own military general genes.
The third son, Xiahou, said that Kong Wu, who was also born, was powerful, and just last winter, there was a story of shooting a tiger, but his mind was a little not very lively, and he was not very bright when he said it was good, and he was stunned when he said it was not good.
The fourth son, Xiahou Wei, is much inferior to Xiahou Ba and Xiahou in terms of martial arts, but he is smart and wise, and he has read poetry and books since he was a child, and he has never forgotten it.
Therefore, after Cao Cao's consideration, he ordered Xiahouba and Xiahouwei brothers to go out.
After listening to Cao Cao's words, the Xiahou brothers hugged their fists together, and Xiahou Wei replied: "Our Xiahou clan is deeply favored by the emperor, and we should go to the soup for the Great Wei, not to mention that the hatred of killing my father is not shared, at this time when all the people are soldiers, even if His Majesty does not summon it, our brothers will take the initiative to ask Ying to fight." ” Xiahou Ba echoed: "Ji Quan is very right, it is enough to have a brother and three brothers in the family to guard the soul of his father, and Shuquan has been shouting for the past few days to join the army, please allow Your Majesty."
Our brother swore to kill Xue Rengui and avenge his father."
Cao Cao stroked his palms and said: "Well said, although your brother is young, he has commendable ambitions, and I believe that Miaocai will be pleased under the Nine Springs." ” As he spoke, he turned around and sat down behind the bookcase, put down the tea bowl in his hand and said: "But Xue Rengui has been on the battlefield for more than ten years, and he has been powerful all over the world, and there are countless famous generals who have died under him. ” The Xiahou Ba brothers didn't know what Cao Cao meant, but they knew that there would definitely be something to follow, so they listened together.
Cao Cao really continued: "Now that Li Shimin died in Qingzhou, the Tang army retreated on all fronts, and the pressure on our army has increased greatly, so we have no choice but to recruit troops on a large scale from all over the country.
However, with the loss of the Central Plains, nearly half of the population of our Great Wei has been lost, taxes have been sharply reduced, and the treasury has been stretched."
Speaking of this, Cao Cao took a sip of the tea bowl, lowered his voice, and said word by word: "So I am going to form a team of Touching Gold Captains and hand them over to your brothers to command, increase revenue for the treasury, and maintain state expenditures." ” Brother Xiahou looked puzzled, and said in amazement: "Touching the golden captain, but our brother has now been appointed by His Majesty as a partial general, is it possible that His Majesty wants to demote our brother?"
"Hehe, the two virtuous nephews misunderstood" Cao Cao put down the tea bowl and smiled, pretending to explain mysteriously, "The so-called touching gold refers to looking for burial jewels in the tombs of some emperors, understand?"
Brother Xiahou was taken aback: "Ah, Your Majesty is letting our brothers rob the tomb" Cao Cao smiled and said solemnly: "It is precisely the soldiers who are not tired of deceit, in order to maintain the national strength of my Great Wei, we must do whatever it takes."
As for the imperial tombs on both sides of the Yellow River, I believe that there must be countless treasures in them, as long as these things can be excavated, they can enrich the treasury and continue to recruit troops to resist the northern invasion of the Han army, do you understand?"
Xiahou Wei hurriedly replied: "Xiaochen understands, if I am given a choice, I will definitely take someone to Luoyang to dig Liu Wei's ancestral grave, and dig all the imperial tombs of the Han Dynasty, which can be regarded as avenging my father." ” Cao Cao stroked his palm and praised: "Well said, the children can be taught to Chang'an and Luoyang, and there are imperial tombs, although to dig is to dig up the tombs of Liu Bang and Liu Xiu, maybe they can dig up the dragon veins of the Han Dynasty, destroy the feng shui of the Han Dynasty, and let Liu Wei turn from prosperity to decline." ” After a pause, Cao Cao continued: "This matter is very important, and it can only be done in secret, so as not to give authority to others, so I have chosen to put your brother in charge of this matter. ” "Thank you for Your Majesty's trust, our brothers will do their best to live up to Your Majesty's trust."
Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei bowed together.
Cao Cao handed Xiahouba a gold medal: "I will appoint your brother as the general of Faqiu Zhonglang, and secretly select five hundred elites from the army to form a team of golden captains."
He led them to disguise themselves and search for the emperor's tombs on both sides of the Yellow River, and tried to dig them up, and handed over the gold, silver and jewels they had mined to the treasury to replenish military supplies."
"The Ministers Obey the Order" The Xiahou brothers nodded solemnly, said goodbye together, and went out to prepare. t1706231537: