The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 118 We Can Undermine Sima Shi

Jiao Bo looked at Liu Lu who was sitting in front of him and eating voraciously, and couldn't help shaking his head.

"In other words, you left Guanqiu Jun's residence early?"

"Yeah, luckily I ran fast enough, otherwise I would have been caught. By the way, how is Guanqiu Jun? Do you know his whereabouts?"

Liu Lu asked incoherently while eating meat in big mouthfuls.

Faced with such rude behavior, Jiao Bo did not get angry. He said calmly: "He is currently safe. I heard that he is under house arrest in the general's residence."

"However, war is unavoidable. Once the two sides go to war, Guanqiu Jun will certainly be killed."

"Sima Zhao will probably use him as a sacrifice."

"Boom."

Liu Lu suddenly turned the bowl in his hand upside down on the table and looked at Jiao Bo in front of him fiercely.

"Give me some powerful crossbows, and I'll kill Sima Zhao."

"Ah"

Jiao Bo snorted and glanced at Liu Lu.

"Do you think Sima Zhao is easy to kill? His mansion is heavily guarded inside and outside. Even a hundred of you wouldn't be able to get in. And every time he travels, he's accompanied by knights and armored soldiers. He's such a cautious man, you can't just kill him off."

Liu Lu scratched his head. "What should I do? Mr. Guo has already started a rebellion. I can't just do nothing, right?"

Jiao Bo was silent for a moment.

"If you truly want to serve His Majesty, I have an idea."

"What do you think!"

"The Ranger from Luoyang."

"Ok?"

"The knights-errant of Luoyang, and even the entire Henan Yin, are quite large, but in recent years there has been no hero who can command all of them."

"If you can tame these rangers and make them work for you, they might be of great help in the future."

Liu Lu was speechless and hesitated to speak.

"what happened?"

Liu Lu said helplessly: "How can you people look down on the Rangers to such an extent?"

"If this were Hebei, I could use my title as the noble lord to attract many heroes. But this is Luoyang. I'm an outsider who has only been here for a short time. I need everyone's approval to settle down here."

"Those heroes have been operating here for decades and have a great reputation. You want me to subdue the knights of Luoyang? How easy is that?"

"The heroes among the Rangers are not as bad as you think!"

“I can’t do that!”

Hearing Liu Lu's complaint, Jiao Bo chuckled.

"You are quite honest. I am not asking you to subdue all the Rangers. I am only asking you to increase your own power. There is no need to let them know who you are working for at the moment. Besides, you are not fighting alone. There are many people in Luoyang who can help you, such as me."

"You just said you wanted a crossbow, right?"

The weather was already very cold, and even Cao Mao put on a thick fur coat.

Inside the Zhaoyang Palace, the empress dowager held a sleeve stove in her hand, her expression rather gloomy.

Cao Mao sat next to her. During these days, Cao Mao would run to the empress dowager whenever he had time. He would come three or four times a day and simply treated Zhaoyang Palace as his own home.

Although the Queen Mother seemed tough, she was actually quite timid, otherwise she would have ordered Cao Mao to be confined to his house long ago.

"Mother, I've been harassed by the ministers these past few days. The students have also written petitions to me, and even the several imperial attendants have been trying to persuade me all day long. I haven't had time to come and see you."

Empress Dowager Guo glanced at Cao Mao and said, "This is your third visit today. If they hadn't pestered you, would you have just stayed here?"

"Yanshi, why do you say such absurd things?"

"You used to have a good reputation, but now everyone is insulting you." "Mother, it's okay. What's reputation worth? When Sima Yi broke his oath, how did his reputation compare to mine? How many people insulted him? But who insulted him to death?"

"Besides, it's not like I haven't gained anything. Haven't you noticed? The eunuchs in the palace have now completely surrendered to me. I know a lot about the goings-on in the palace faster than Sima Zhao!"

Cao Mao said happily.

"As the head of the harem, mother naturally needs these eunuchs. But I can't let mother bear the bad reputation, so it's natural for me to step in."

Empress Dowager Guo was quite helpless. Her relationship with her clansmen had become increasingly worse in recent days.

Guo Li and Guo Zhi haven't come to see me for several days.

This made the Queen Mother quite uneasy, as if she had been abandoned.

Cao Mao often came to see her, but he could not give her that sense of security.

Seeing the empress dowager's indifferent behavior, Cao Mao had already discovered the problem.

He smiled and said, "Mother, actually, I think it's a good thing that the ministers come to insult me."

"In the past, I really had nothing to give my ministers, and could only make empty promises. But now it's different. I suddenly realized that I can actually give them reputation. All I have to do is do something wrong, and then let them persuade me. I admit my mistakes and repeat this. Do I still worry that their reputation is not high enough?"

Empress Dowager Guo's eyes widened. "But if you do that, your reputation will be ruined."

"The emperor's reputation depends on what his ministers say. If they say he is a sage, then he is a sage. Of course, it also depends on whether his reign is long-lasting. If it is not, future generations will definitely criticize him."

"Don't worry at all, mother."

"You don't know yet?"

Cao Mao whispered, "The Duke of Wang, the Commandant of the Imperial Guard, has decided to formally assist you."

Empress Dowager Guo was horrified.

Wang Xiang is a newly rising moral leader, famous throughout the world. She had taken the initiative to win over this person for Cao Mao's sake and even promoted him. Now he is the Inspector of the Sili Army, which is even more remarkable and his status is extremely high.

Would such a person come to me?

Could it be that he pretended to surrender, deceived Cao Mao into speaking, and then told Sima Zhao directly?
Empress Dowager Guo quickly said, "Yanshi! Don't let yourself be bullied."

"What did mother say!"

Cao Mao shook his head. "He was overjoyed to learn that we, mother and son, are now united. He said that he didn't dare approach the Queen Mother because your clansmen were too powerful. They put their own interests above yours, so he didn't dare to join them and could only remain neutral."

"And now, these people have revealed their true colors and ignored you. I told him that I wanted to help you, and he agreed immediately. This has been going on for a long time. If the prince was not sincere, I would have been arrested by Sima Zhao long ago. How could I have the chance to sit by my mother's side?"

Empress Dowager Guo was stunned.

"He really is"

"Yes, mother, it's true. The Sili Xiaowei is already ours. If you don't believe me, I can have him come and see you!"

Empress Dowager Guo looked at Cao Mao in disbelief.

Cao Mao said again, "I've said it before, mother, you underestimate yourself too much and overestimate your family members too much. The prosperity of our Guo family is entirely due to you. If I had the chance, I could even bring over the Three Dukes, not to mention the Inspector of the Imperial Guards!"

"Of course, the Sima family is currently powerful, so we still can't fight head-on. I think we should use Wang Xiang to win over Lu Yu, Fu Gu, Cui Zan and other ministers, undermine the Secretariat, and then start with the Nine Ministers."

"Mother, Wang Su is now at home claiming to be ill and has said he will officially resign. His resignation will leave the position of Minister of Rites vacant. This is a good opportunity. We can push Wang Xiang into this position."

"The Grand Master of Ceremonies is the head of the Nine Ministers. As for the position of Inspector of the Capital, I have someone more suitable."

"Wang Jing, the governor of Jiangxia, I heard Sima Zhao thinks highly of him and is considering promoting him. He is a man of high moral character and can be entrusted with important matters!"

Cao Mao slowly told about his plan to overthrow the government.

"Currently, Lu Yu and Fu Gu are in the Secretariat. Lu Yu is a strong-willed man with great ambitions. All the ministers are willing to follow him. Sima Shi can tolerate him, but Sima Zhao is very wary of him. If Sima Shi dies, Sima Zhao will definitely promote him to the rank of Three Dukes and keep him away from the Secretariat."

"As for Fu Gu, he has extraordinary talents, but he is frail and sickly. I'm certain he won't live more than a year."

"After these two, the person who will take over the Secretariat will most likely be Cui Zan. If Lu Yu is forced to leave the Secretariat, he will definitely be dissatisfied. We can take the opportunity to win him over. Cui Zan is a quiet person who is unwilling to participate in disputes. We can force him to remain neutral."

Cao Mao slowly told his crazy idea.

(End of this chapter)