The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 120: Make your debut! Anshi!

"Your Majesty, what do you think of this?"

Sima Yan took a sip of hot wine, and hot mist came out of his mouth. Then he looked at Cao Mao who was sitting in front of him.

Cao Mao held an article in his hand and read it carefully.

"You scolded me, but you scolded me too hard. You have to scold yourself too. You have to show the helplessness and pain of someone close to you."

"You can't be a tough guy, you have to be a victim."

While Cao Mao was analyzing the article advising him, Sima Yan just felt a headache.

"Your Majesty, this is what I came up with after asking my father's scholars to revise it five times. Let's just leave it as it is. Why bother with so much?"

Cao Mao looked at Sima Yan seriously.

"Anshi! Have you forgotten your ambition?!"

"How can we just let it go when we're scolding the emperor?"

Sima Yan said a little aggrievedly: "I didn't mean to scold you, but you insisted that I write a letter to scold you."

"An Shi, if you want to become one of the top celebrities in the Wei Dynasty, you must do this."

Cao Mao put the article in his hand aside and began to analyze it carefully for Sima Yan.

"Your background is a plus. Unfortunately, when you were young, your family was so busy that they didn't have time to find allies to evaluate you. Instead, your younger brother has already been evaluated by several famous scholars. In terms of fame, you are already a step behind."

"However, given the current situation, we can't say there is absolutely no chance."

"Do you know how to become a top celebrity?"

Sima Yan asked hesitantly, "Writing articles and reading classics. Hmm, doing good deeds?"

Cao Mao sneered and shook his head.

"No, absolutely not. In this day and age, if you want to be a famous scholar, you don't need any talent or to read any classics. These are not important."

"So what's important?"

"The most important thing is to make others feel that you can write well, that you understand classics, and that you have done good things."

Sima Yan seemed to understand, "Your Majesty, do you want me to pretend?"

“It’s called marketing.”

Cao Mao motioned for Sima Yan to sit over, then analyzed the situation seriously, "Look, first of all, you have to create a persona. The loyal persona of the Grand Marshal, the filial persona of the Inspector of the Imperial Guards, and the bohemian persona of Ji Kang and the others. These are all necessary. If you want to be a famous scholar, you can't do it without a persona."

"Once you have a persona, you need to have a major event to publicize. This event must fit your persona. The more exaggerated, the better."

"Take the Sili Xiaowei for example. Look at him, lying on the ice to catch carp. If this matter gets out of hand, it will be hard for him not to be a famous scholar."

"It's not enough to just market your reputation yourself. We need to make friends with celebrities and let them praise you and build momentum for you."

"You are born with a unique appearance, handsome appearance, rich family background, and a kind and sturdy character. You have the foundation to become a famous scholar. As long as you manage it well, you can even become the number one famous scholar in Wei."

Sima Yan was stunned for a long time, "I don't really understand"

"No problem! You don't have to worry anyway. Just do as I say, and I will definitely make you the best scholar. From now on, it won't be you begging those scholars to come to your banquets, they'll be begging you to come and see them!"

Although Sima Yan didn't understand things like personal marketing, he was still quite moved by the beautiful picture that Cao Mao described for him.

"This article is your path to becoming a celebrity."

"Well, at the moment, your main character can be similar to the Taiwei. First, a loyal emperor character, then a virtuous friend, and finally a filial son. There's no rush for generosity or respect for the wise and humble."

"The writing style of this article is good, but the character creation is a bit lacking. How about this, leave the article with me and I will write it for you!"

Sima Yan scratched his head. "Your Majesty, this is an article criticizing you. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for you to write it yourself?"

"What? Are you worried that my words aren't sharp enough?"

“No, I’m afraid it’s too harsh.”

"Hahaha, don't worry, I know what to do."

Sima Yan felt somewhat touched. The more Cao Mao acted like this, the more embarrassed he felt.

"Your Majesty, I always feel it's wrong to sacrifice your reputation to fulfill mine."

"What's wrong with that? They'll all use me to become famous anyway. Instead of helping them, I might as well help you."

Sima Yan finally felt relieved. Then Cao Mao calmly asked about the situation outside.

"Alas, the situation is turbulent."

Sima Yan's face was full of sorrow.

"The rebel Wang Yuan has taken the county magistrate hostage and is hiding in the mountains. Minister Fu is leading his men in Henan to crack down on lawless officials. I heard my father chatting with his staff and heard that rebellions have broken out across Hebei, allegedly in response to Wang Yuan." "There are so many rebels in every region."

"Shu is also ready to make a move. Liang Yong has submitted several petitions, saying that they must find a way to stop Jiang Wei's looting next year."

Sima Yan said a lot, and finally added, "I also heard that Situ Gong is seriously ill."

"what?"

Cao Mao was stunned. When Gao Rou came to see him a few days ago, he was still in a fierce look. He didn't look like he was seriously ill at all.

"Mr. Situ is healthy, how could he be seriously ill? Who told you that?"

"Father! Yesterday, Father summoned many of his subordinates, including my uncle's men, saying that Lord Situ was seriously ill and asked them to come up with a candidate."

Oh no, they are going to attack Guanqiu Jian!

Cao Mao suddenly came to his senses.

Situ House.

Sima Zhao looked at Gao Rou in front of him with deep affection, with tears in his eyes.

"Mr. Situ, I heard you were seriously ill, so I came to visit you. Are you okay?"

Gao Rou had a stern and gloomy face and stared at Sima Zhao in front of him.

The two allies had completely fallen out at this moment.

Gao Rou has been lively and energetic these days, how could he be seriously ill?
Sima Zhao went straight to the door and said Gao Rou was seriously ill. What was he trying to do? Was he trying to imitate Emperor Wen of Han?
Do you want me to cry to death?

Gao Rou was also feeling angry.

He put so much effort into Cao Mao's affairs, but did not gain any real benefits. He did not receive any of the benefits promised by the Sima family. Instead, because of Zhong Hui, he lost the support of his ministers.

The Sima family actually dared to betray their trust! !
The old Situ was very angry. Now it seemed that they wanted to take away his position as Situ?

Did he really think of Naigong as a puppet emperor who could be bullied at will?
Sima Zhao actually did not want to offend this old ally, especially when facing Guanqiu Jian.

But there was no other way. The incident caused by Cao Mao was too big, and Gao Rou was a key link in it. For the sake of the Sima family's own interests, they had to reluctantly sacrifice the interests of their allies.

Anyway, they had already given up once, so when they needed to sacrifice someone to deal with Guanqiu Jian, they naturally thought of Gao Rou again.

They needed the high-minded and gentle Si Tu Wei to win over Guanqiu Jian.

Oh, it cannot be said to be winning over, it is just to use this position of Situ to invite Guanqiu Jian to return to the temple.

"I am still strong, so there is no need for you to worry about me, General."

Gao Rou acted very tough.

Sima Zhao looked around, lowered his voice, and said sincerely, "Don't misunderstand me, Lord Situ. I want to ask you to rest for a while. Just two months of recuperation will be enough."

"Even the passersby in Luoyang knew that Guanqiu Jian was planning a rebellion."

"We can't wait for him to raise an army and endanger Wei. We must deal with him first. Therefore, I want to use the position of Minister of Justice to invite him back to the imperial court. You know he will definitely not accept it. Then, we can declare him a rebel and command the people of the world to fight against him."

"Once we pacify Guanqiu Jian, your illness will naturally heal!"

Sima Zhao said this very confidently.

In response, Gao Rou just laughed.

Do you think Naigong will trust you again? It's easier to come down than to come back up, isn't it?
If I listen to your lies now and go home to recuperate, I will only recuperate until I die. This is pure suicide, suicide of my political life.

Sacrificing reputation can indeed solve many problems, but it will also bring many problems.

For example, this time, Sima Zhao really didn't want to take away the position of Situ. He just wanted to borrow it and really intended to return it.

But Gao Rou didn't believe it!

"The prince is seriously ill. Why not summon him to Luoyang using his position as Minister of Rites?"

Gao Rou reacted quickly.

Sima Zhao said helplessly: "Guanqiu Jian has such a great reputation. Only the position of Minister of Education can truly reflect the sincerity of the court."

"If he can accept becoming one of the Three Dukes of the Temple, I am willing to hold the whip and lead his horse. As an assistant minister, why can't you consider the interests of the people?"

"Since you want to show your sincerity, why not have the Grand Marshal resign and have him serve as Grand Marshal? Or perhaps even better, have the Grand General resign and have him serve as Grand General?"

"Can't the two of them think about the world?"

"you!!!"

(End of this chapter)