Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1250 Loyalty
When Sima Yi saw Zhong Yao coming directly to ask him questions, he cursed in his heart, thinking, isn't this making him the first to be criticized?

He originally just wanted to protect himself, but Zhong Yao's behavior seemed like he wanted to train himself to be a pioneer on the stage?

Has my impurity made me the target of public criticism?

Sima Yi was very confused. Logically speaking, among all of Cao Cao's officials, Zhong Yao was the most loyal and cautious one. But starting from Yecheng, Zhong Yao's actions could no longer be described as bold. They were simply overstepping the line. And now in these secret gatherings in Xudu, it was an understatement to say that he formed a clique. Strictly speaking, he was already plotting a rebellion!
But Sima Yi knew that since he was on this ship, he could not turn back. Although this ship might capsize, it was already the biggest one for Cao Wei. Who would have thought that the ship of Cao Zhi's faction would be sunk by the Yingchuan faction?
Seeing the three of them looking over, Sima Yi thought for a moment and then said, "Ming Gong's greatest enemy is naturally the fierce tiger."

"But Liu Bei should not be underestimated. As an ally of the fierce tiger, he also poses a considerable threat."

"Now, in addition to the need to unite with Wu and take the opportunity to let it attack the Jianghuai and Jingzhou regions, I think we should make some moves in the Xiliang region."

"We should encourage Ma Chao, Han Sui and other Liangzhou warlords to mobilize all the troops in Xiliang and march eastward to Bingzhou. We should use various means to weaken Gao Gan and weaken his power in Bingzhou. If we do so, the Southern Xiongnu and Western Xianbei will inevitably become disloyal."

"Then I will bribe the leaders of the two tribes privately, confer titles on them in the name of the Son of Heaven, and have them attack the fierce tiger together."

"The situation in Youzhou is already unstable. Wuhuan and Goguryeo may have rebellious intentions. Once the foreign Hu rise up, all ethnic groups in Youzhou will be in chaos."

"In this way, Xionghu will inevitably fall into the quagmire of the rebellion of the northern Hu people. He will have to face the three Xianbei tribes, Wuhuan and Goguryeo at the same time, and even the Gongsun family who have ulterior motives."

"Once he can't hold on any longer, he will be devoured by the wolves."

Xun Youyou frowned and said, "But this method may not work immediately."

"What the Prime Minister asked just now is that if we weaken the fierce tiger this winter, Zhongda's plan will have to wait until next year, right?"

Sima Yi listened and said, "I don't think it's a good idea to openly hinder Xionghu now."

"Don't forget, the banner you are raising now is to support the emperor and command the princes. Now that the Xianbei have invaded, Xionghu is at least defending against foreign invaders. If we openly attack Xionghu at this time, what will the world think?"

"Even if this matter needs to be done, it must be done by someone else. It is absolutely not something you can do yourself."

Chen Qun's face was gloomy. "I feel that we are too concerned about our reputation and that's why we are so restrained in doing things."

"When people fight for their lives, they will do anything they can. Xionghu is even more unscrupulous. We are already at a disadvantage. If we still care about our reputation, our hope of turning the tables will only get smaller and smaller."

"I do have an idea."

"If we can break into Black Mountain from Sili and occupy Xionghu's mine, we may be able to seize Xionghu's bamboo tube formula and raw materials that can cause fire and explosion."

"If we can get enough explosive bamboo tubes, and then send people to sneak into Jicheng and wait for an opportunity to assassinate Xionghu, the Jin State will fall apart in an instant."

"You should know that Xionghu's offspring are still young, and there are quite a few of them. If something happens to him, they will definitely fight among themselves. Then we will be able to turn the tables!"

Zhong Yao sighed, "It's not that easy to kill a fierce tiger."

"You think Ming Gong has never tried it?"

"The School Affairs Office has sent hundreds of spies to Jicheng, but less than ten of them have successfully entered the city, and in the end, not a single one of them has even approached the Xionghu Mansion. The School Affairs Office still does not know the detailed layout of the Xionghu Mansion."

"Xionghu is even more cautious than Ming Gong. His subordinates, the Procuratorate, have a complete set of identity identification methods, and it is extremely difficult for outsiders to conceal their identities."

"And what I'm most worried about is that Xionghu still has a card in his hand."

"That's the eldest son."

"Now that the Lord is seriously ill, I am very worried that there will be complications when the throne is passed on. If Xionghu takes advantage of this, I am afraid there will be problems when the Second Lord ascends the throne."

"But I agree with Changwen's idea. If we want to defeat the fierce tiger, the possibility of fighting in the battle formation is not great."

"So we must try to kill the fierce tiger himself."

"At the same time, we must try our best to get the Second Young Master to the throne, so as to avoid any problems in the middle."

Xun You said, "But you are still here, how can we persuade you?"

"I'm afraid this will only anger Ming Gong and make him think that we are hoping he will die soon, right?"

Sima Yi thought to himself, isn’t this the case?
What everyone is talking about now is not finding ways to make Cao Cao pass on the throne as soon as possible, or even hoping that Cao Cao will die now?

Thinking of this, he asked aloud: "Why is everyone so anxious?"

"Now it is winter, the weather is cold, and the Jin army is busy dealing with the Xianbei outside the pass, so it is unlikely to threaten Wei. At least we are temporarily invincible. Wouldn't it be better to sit back and watch the battle between Xionghu and Xianbei and intervene after seeing the situation clearly?"

Everyone listened, but no one responded. Finally, Zhong Yao looked at Chen Qun, who understood and said, "There is news that Duke Wei was lying on his sickbed a few days ago, and his words showed that he was dissatisfied with the second son." Xun You heard this and asked, "Does the Lord want to change the crown prince at this time?"

"Excuse me for being blunt, but the Third Young Master's followers are either dead or rebelling, and he himself is not a leader. If he were to fight against the fierce tiger, I'm afraid he would be in an even worse situation."

Chen Qun whispered, "It's not the Third Young Master, it's the First Young Master."

"Before a person dies, his thoughts may change drastically. What I am worried about now is that if Ming Gong misses the eldest son too much, will he reach some kind of deal with Xiong Hu and bring the eldest son back?"

Zhong Yao said in a deep voice: "What Changwen said is also what I am most worried about."

“When a person is about to die, his words and actions are often unexpected.”

"If you trade with Xionghu in exchange for some concessions from Wei State, and bring back the eldest son and make him the crown prince, how should we deal with it?"

"And I suspect that Xionghu probably has the same idea, otherwise his previous actions of taking advantage of the eldest young master are really hard to explain."

Sima Yi then gradually understood the real purpose of this gathering of Zhong Yao and the other two. It turned out that they had heard some rumors and they were worried about Cao Cao and wanted to find a countermeasure!

He suddenly felt a little funny. He was afraid that in the eyes of Zhong Yao and the other two, Cao Cao's actions would undoubtedly be a betrayal of the Yingchuan faction, making him the biggest traitor of the Wei State, right?
Sima Yi had already vaguely sensed that the Yingchuan faction had already regarded the Wei Kingdom as the Yingchuan faction's Wei Kingdom. They believed that the establishment of the Wei Kingdom was due to the indispensable contribution of the Yingchuan faction. Although they talked about Cao Wei, they actually looked down on the Cao Wei clan. If there was no Cao Cao, what would the Cao and Xiahou clans be in front of the Yingchuan faction?
At this time, an idea came to Sima Yi's mind. The Yingchuan faction had already become powerful. He was afraid that after Cao Cao's death, the Yingchuan faction would continue to erode the power of the Cao and Xiahou families, and thus take over their power.

If the Yingchuan School does this, what should I do?
Should I stick to the Yingchuan faction, or stand on the side of the Cao family?
If the Yingchuan School can do it, why can't I?

Sima Yi was immediately shocked. He was shocked by the thought in his mind. When did he have such ambition?
Could it be that after seeing the ugly behavior of the Yingchuan School, and knowing that those people standing at the top were actually just so-so in character, that he came up with the idea that he could do it too?
Sima Yi quickly buried this thought deep in his heart, and then said: "So the most urgent task is to quickly let the second prince ascend the throne."

"The king is seriously ill now. Since he is suffering so much, it might be a good thing for him to be relieved as soon as possible."

The three of them looked at Sima Yi in surprise, and Sima Yi looked at their expressions and sneered in his heart. Aren't they just waiting for others to say this first?
Since you want to use me as a gun, then I should just play my role well. Anyway, we are all in the same boat. I just need to keep pretending like this and outlast everyone else.

Zhong Yao said, "Is Zhongda planning to tamper with the medicine?"

"If this is discovered, it will be very dangerous, right?"

Sima Yi spoke up: "No, of course we wouldn't do that."

"Your Majesty, you must be suffering from illness. I heard that crispy candies can relieve pain. Liangzhou happened to send a lot of high-quality crispy candies. We can take this opportunity to present them to Your Majesty."

Xun You was a little puzzled and asked, "What kind of method is this?"

Sima Yi said, "I've had someone try it before. Eating a large amount of crispy candy in a short period of time can cause discomfort, including dizziness, blacking out, palpitations and shortness of breath."

Chen Qun was surprised and asked, "Is there such a thing?"

"Could it be that there is something poisonous mixed into the candy?"

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "No, I have tried it many times, as long as it is sugar, it will be fine."

"I suspect that the king's health deterioration over the years is also related to eating too much sugar."

"Sugar can relieve pain, but it can only temporarily delay it, not eliminate it. In order to continuously relieve the pain, you have to eat more and more."

"Especially when one is seriously ill, the amount of candy consumed will increase. In this way, as long as the king cannot bear the pain, he will definitely eat a large amount of candy in a short period of time."

"As for whether it is useful or not, we will know when the time comes."

"This thing is not poison, there is no evidence, it's just my personal guess. Even if I guess wrong, there is no harm, right?"

After hearing this, everyone nodded secretly. Chen Qun sighed and said, "We resorted to this strategy in order to keep Cao Wei alive. It was really a last resort."

Zhong Yao said in a deep voice: "This matter is all blamed on me. No matter what, we are the ones who have let you down."

"But I am willing to be punished by heaven, just to continue your ambition and conquer the world for Cao Wei. In order to achieve this, I am willing to put the blame on myself!"

Xun You and Chen Qun also echoed after hearing this: "Prime Minister, you are so righteous. It was you who saved Cao Wei. This loyalty is witnessed by heaven and earth!"

Sima Yi followed up with a few comments, thinking to himself, have you deceived yourselves as well? Isn't this just to protect yourselves?

But he didn't know why, but he felt a sense of pleasure rising in his heart. It seemed like it would be a good thing for everyone to abandon propriety, morality, and integrity together.

(End of this chapter)