The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 104 Full of holes
"I want to see their heads!! Before the sun sets tomorrow, I want to see the heads of all the rebels!!"

"Send a message to all the counties in Henan to station men on the roads. Do not let a single traitor escape!"

Sima Zhao roared angrily.

Several ministers remained silent, and no one wanted to anger Sima Zhao at this time.

Only Du Yu, the young and clueless man, was still trying to persuade him: "General, I think the most important thing right now is to minimize the impact of this incident and not let it get out of hand. The rebellion is currently only in Heyin. If we order arrests everywhere, they will definitely arrest innocent people to gain military merit."

"What does this mean, Du Jun?"

Xun Xu couldn't help but ask loudly, "In your eyes, are the county magistrates in Henan so despicable? Killing innocent people to gain credit? What do you want to say?!"

Du Yu's eyes flashed with disgust, and without further ado, he retorted, "Even ministers in the imperial court are trying to seize the main seat in the carriage to show off their power. It's not impossible for local officials to use heads to show off their achievements!"

Xun Xu gritted his teeth and stood up suddenly.

"you!!!"

Xun Xu was a flatterer and had no morals at all. Let's just say that Zhong Hui hated him very much.

Anyone who is disliked by Zhong Hui may not necessarily be a bad person, but he must be a person without integrity.

Xun Xu was very fond of show and always liked to take the main seat when riding in the same car with his colleagues. Many years later, he met He Qiao, who came from another prominent family. He Qiao did not give him face and took the main seat before him. Xun Xu was ashamed of sitting on the side, so he sat in another car. Du Yu's words were obviously a mockery of him.

Sima Zhao snorted coldly when he saw the two men clashing.

"With foreign invaders in front of us, why argue?!"

Du Yu was still a little angry, but Xun Xu said with a look of grievance, "It's not that I want to argue, General, it's Du Yuankai who is going too far."

"Okay. I'll take care of this matter myself."

"Go back now! These are just bandits. Tomorrow we'll hang their heads at the city gates!"

Sima Zhao seemed to be speaking fairly, but in fact he was somewhat biased towards Du Yu.

Even if Xun Xu saw it, he could only pretend not to see it and curse Du Yu in his heart.

You fool, it's rare to encounter such an easy-to-deal-with bandit. Wouldn't it be nice for everyone to get rich together and get promoted? Which county magistrate in Henan Province doesn't come from a prominent family?!

You bastard, you want to ruin our future, right?

Are you a loyal minister?
Sima Zhao said a few words to everyone before turning around and leaving the hall.

Thinking of this sudden rebellion, he felt a headache. He suppressed the anger in his heart, walked to the study, pushed open the door, and after a few steps, he found something wrong.

Sima Zhao raised his head.

But he saw a man sitting in the study, staring at him dimly with his one eye.

Sima Zhao trembled all over, and excitement flashed in his eyes.

"brother"

"General, close the door."

Zhong Hui, who was standing behind Sima Shi, spoke up to remind him.

Sima Zhao understood and quickly closed the door. He then walked quickly to Sima Shi and bowed deeply.

When he looked up, tears welled up in his eyes.

"Brother!"

"I have failed to live up to your high expectations again."

Sima Shi's skin was pale and he looked even thinner than before. His left eye was wrapped with black cloth, leaving only his right eye exposed. His eyes were deep and sparkling with brilliance.

"You didn't rush to kill the Guo family, and you also distributed power in the palace to the Guo family. You did a good job."

Sima Shi said softly.

Sima Zhao lowered his head but did not dare to speak.

He couldn't figure out whether his brother was mocking him or really praising him.

Sima Shi spoke again, "I originally wanted to let Guanqiu Jian relax his guard so that you could win over the generals." "Huh?"

"Zhuge Dan is afraid to get close to me because of the rumors, but you're different. Your reputation is better than mine, and you're less of a threat to them. If you come forward and win them over, the situation will be different. Once you issue the imperial edict to allow Guanqiu Jian to enter Luoyang, if Guanqiu Jian thinks I'm about to die, he'll undoubtedly disobey the edict and oppose the court. Then, we can settle the situation with a single battle."

"What a shame about this rebellion."

There was a hint of loneliness in Sima Shi's eyes.

Sima Zhao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "No wonder Lord Zhong asked me to issue an imperial edict to Guanqiu Jian. He wanted to make Guanqiu Jian think that you were doomed, so I was anxious to get rid of him and force him to raise an army sooner?"

"I'm really dying. So, we must get rid of Guanqiu Jian as soon as possible."

Sima Zhao quickly stood up and said, "Brother! You don't have to pay attention to this rebellion! It's a small matter. I've already sent nearly ten thousand cavalry to suppress it. By now, they might have already entered the city. What can those hundreds of people do?"

"While no one is watching, go back and rest now. Leave this matter to me. We will stick to the original plan."

"All right."

Sima Shi interrupted Sima Zhao's chattering. He wanted to say something, but suddenly he began to tremble. He clenched his hands and forced himself not to speak.

Zhong Jian, who was standing by, saw Sima Shi's condition and said helplessly, "This matter is not as simple as you think, General."

"Oh?? Just a few hundred people, how complicated can it be?"

Zhong Hui said calmly, "The Wei Empire has long been riddled with holes. If it weren't for the general's dedicated efforts to patch it up over the years, it would have been doomed long ago. Now, something like this has happened in Henan: a lunatic claiming to be the general has openly raised an army, forcibly killing officials and powerful individuals. If those with ulterior motives spread the story, I'm afraid this rebellion will spread across the land."

"What??"

Sima Zhao's eyes widened, and he asked stiffly, "Are you worrying too much?"

Zhong Hui narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

Only those in power know how intense the conflicts are within the Wei Dynasty today.

Only those who bully you know how badly you have been bullied.

The mergers of the powerful are becoming more and more ruthless, and the monopolies of the big families are becoming more and more fierce.

Merchants, wanderers, farmers, low-level officials, loyalists, refugees, craftsmen... countless people were living in dire straits.

Since the establishment of Cao Wei, there have been countless peasant uprisings, simply because the many wartime systems formulated by Cao Cao were too cruel and inhumane. Although these policies unified the north and avoided war, the oppression they caused to the people was unimaginable.

The reason why Emperor Wen Cao Pi, who was always complained by Cao Mao, had a good reputation among the people was that he made certain changes to his father's policies, to a certain extent breaking away from the wartime policies and reducing oppression.

However, after the Sima family came to power, conflicts among the people rose to a whole new level.

It was only because of the high-pressure policy of the Sima family that the rebellion in various places was suppressed and nothing major happened. In this kind of situation, once someone takes the lead, there will be many people who will follow suit. Don’t you see, many years after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, there were people who had nothing to do with the Yellow Turban Army claiming to be the Yellow Turbans who launched an uprising.

There are many people like Wang Yuan in various places in Wei.

If it were not for this, Sima Shi would not have dragged his sick body, abandoned his original plan, and rushed out. Now, he and Zhong Hui were very worried that this incident would become a chain reaction, completely triggering conflicts among the people and leading to endless rebellions in various places.

If such a situation really happened, the Sima family would be in big trouble.

"Order all provincial governors and generals to prepare to prevent large-scale banditry and rebellion among the people. Guanqiu Jian must be dealt with without further delay."

"General, please issue an order today to summon Guanqiu Jian to Luoyang to serve as Minister of Education."

"well."

Sima Zhao nodded dully.

Yin Damu was riding a horse and galloping towards Heyin at full speed.

Unlike the Hu cavalry under his command who were shouting and extremely excited, Yin Damu frowned and his eyes were full of worry.

He already had a general idea of what was happening in Heyin. His Majesty's former defense assistant, Guo Ze, had launched a rebellion and occupied the county town. Although the court repeatedly emphasized that Guo Ze was merely captured and abducted by the enemy and that the leader of the rebels was Wang Yuan, who had nothing to do with the Guo family, Yin Damu could not believe that a small county lieutenant under the emperor's feet would dare to launch a rebellion against the general.

What should I do now?

He had just taken office and his control over his subordinates was not strong enough, so he could not order them to stab Sima Ban who came with him in the back.

How can we help these fellow believers?
(End of this chapter)