The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 121: Seeking Bixuanwen
Sima Zhao didn't expect that the old villain Gao Rou would be so tough.

His words were already very serious.

If they continue talking, I'm afraid they will completely fall out.

The two looked at each other, and the atmosphere became increasingly wrong.

"Haha. What Mr. Situ said is right."

Sima Zhao suddenly put away the fierceness on his face and grinned.

Gao Rou's expression remained indifferent, staring at the General Zhengxi in front of him. Sima Zhao did not feel embarrassed and asked sincerely, "Then, Master Situ, is there anything you want to teach me?"

Even though they had been together for a long time, Gao Rou was still shocked by Sima Zhao's shameless behavior.

You were just thinking about how to remove me, and now you want me to give you advice?
In my opinion, you might as well just commit suicide and hand over the position of General Zhengxi to Guanqiu Jian!

Although Gao Rou was very angry, she knew in her heart that turning against each other now would not be a good thing for either of them.

The Sima family holds the military power and has an army of more than 100,000 inside and outside Luoyang. This is their confidence. Even the three most powerful officials have to bow their heads in the face of military power.

Of course, Gao Rou is not Cao Mao. Although the previous incident made him lose his appeal, he is, after all, a veteran minister of three dynasties. His students and former officials are spread across various dangerous positions, and he is also an alliance with many ministers in the court. If the Sima family forcibly takes action against him, it will cause a crazy counterattack from the ministers, and the temple administrative system will collapse directly.

Neither side wants to confront each other head-on, so maintaining a cooperative relationship is obviously the best option.

But Gao Rou didn't want to smile at Sima Zhao anymore at this moment.

He has bullied me. If I don't remain tough now, will I have a good life in the future?

At this moment, Gao Rou was even a little worried that the Sima family would take action against him after dealing with Guanqiu Jian.

"General, the General Zhendong is stationed in Huai. Whether it's suppressing foreign tribes or resisting Wu bandits, he has made great military achievements. In addition to his military achievements, he is also a famous scholar admired by the world. Scholars all over the world admire his character. Are you worrying too much?"

When Gao Rou said this, the smile on Sima Zhao's face froze.

"Mr. Situ, this is my brother's opinion, not mine."

Sima Zhao still had a smile on his face, but it looked very creepy.

Gao Rou snorted coldly and asked jokingly, "Then why doesn't the general come in person to give the order?"

Sima Zhao's face flushed red, and he could no longer act out this scene. He stood up suddenly, waved his sleeves, and left angrily.

Gao Rou watched him leave coldly, and did not see him off. She just picked up the teacup in front of her and took a few sips.

"Father."

A young man turned and walked into the study. He looked very similar to Gao Rou, almost a younger version of Gao Rou. His brows were furrowed, and his face was full of worry.

"I saw the General Zhengxi leave angrily without even returning the greeting."

"Why are you bowing to him?"

Gao Rou was very displeased.

This man was called Gao Guang, and he was Gao Rou's youngest son.

He has been introverted and cautious since childhood, and treats others with humility and courtesy, but Gao Rou doesn't like him very much and thinks he is a little too cowardly.

"Father, didn't you say earlier that the general was seriously ill and that we couldn't offend them at this time? Why are you doing this now?"

"I don't want to fight Sima Shi, but now he wants my life. How can I back down?!"

Gao Rou said angrily, "If I resign today due to illness, who knows if I will die tomorrow?"

"He's too arrogant and overbearing. That's what people like Sima Zhao are like!"

"Without our help, he still wants to capture Guanqiu Jian? What a foolish dream!"

Gao Guang said with some concern: "We shouldn't get too involved in the dispute between the general and the general of Zhendong."

"Xuan Mao, when you're in my position, you can choose the wrong side, but you can't choose not to choose a side."

As Gao Rou spoke, she suddenly raised her head and looked at her son in front of her.

"You have been serving as Shangshulang for a long time. Would you like to be sent out to serve as an official?"

Gao Guang quickly saluted and said, "Yes."

Gao Rou hesitated for a moment, "If I asked you to be the governor of Lujiang, would you be willing?"

The corner of Gao Guang's eye twitched.

Gao Rou sighed, "Your eldest brother is now serving as an official under Sima Shi. I'm not worried about his future. As for your second brother, he's hot-tempered, uninhibited, and reckless. I'm worried about him leaving Luoyang. You're a cautious person, so even if you go to the countryside, I think you won't disappoint me."

Gao Guang fell silent.

It was easy for Gao Guang to be sent to a local government to serve as an official. After all, he had a father who was a prime minister. However, Lujiang County was a county under Yangzhou. The governor of Yangzhou was Wen Qin, and the commander-in-chief of the army stationed in Yangzhou was the general Guanqiu Jian. Going there meant that the third son of the Gao family had to stand on the side of Guanqiu Jian. If he did not, he would not be able to take office, and he would encounter "thieves" as soon as he entered Yangzhou.

If possible, Gao Guang really doesn't want to get involved in this kind of thing.

He asked helplessly, "Father, are you really going to use this to threaten the general?"

"Blackmail?"

"You asked me to go to Yangzhou because you wanted to stop the general from attacking you in the near future, fearing that he would force my family to join the General Zhendong, right?"

Gao Rou stroked his beard. "Sima Shi doesn't have much time left to live. I just want to get through this period. Sima Zhao is far inferior to his brother, so I'm not afraid of him."

"Besides, I'm not just trying to blackmail Sima Shi."

Gao Rou tilted her head and looked at her son, as if waiting for him to come up with the answer himself. Gao Guang was shocked, "Could it be that father is optimistic about the General Zhendong?"

Gao Rou laughed, very satisfied with his son's reaction ability.

"You are much smarter than your two brothers."

"Xuan Mao, if it were two months ago, I would have believed that the general would definitely win."

"But it's different now."

Gao Guang asked in confusion: "What's the difference?"

"emperor."

"The Emperor is different."

Gao Rou replied.

Gao Guang was very surprised by this answer, "Father, His Majesty is only a teenager"

"Yes, young man, do you know how Zhong Hui evaluated him? He is as good at martial arts as Taizu, and as talented as Chen Si. I want to give him another evaluation."

"Oh?"

"Mobi Xuanwen."

Gao Rou said seriously, "They all say that Your Majesty resembles Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen, but I think he is more like Duke Xuanwen."

"When we first met, this guy tried to drag me down. I knew then that he wasn't someone to be trifled with. Not long ago, I brought some people to reprimand him, but he didn't even refute me. He simply admitted it, completely disregarding his reputation. The eunuchs around him were practically ready to die for him. His panicked eyes, his way of hiding his incompetence and playing dumb, were exactly like Duke Xuanwen."

"So you spared those eunuchs?"

"But they are just some eunuchs, can they really defeat the general?"

"Don't misunderstand. The duel now isn't between Sima Shi and the Emperor, but between Sima Shi and Guanqiu Jian. Guanqiu Jian has such powerful support. Now, I can't predict the outcome."

Gao Guang still shook his head. "I really don't see how important His Majesty is. His edicts cannot leave the West Hall, and he only has a group of eunuchs around him. The general has an army of over 100,000, so it would be easy for him to deal with him."

"Really? When Duke Xuanwen wanted to get rid of Cao Shuang, Cao Shuang was already in power, so it would have been easy for him to kill him."

"But the general is not Cao Shuang!"

"Your Majesty is not Sima Yi either."

Gao Guang was speechless for a moment. He took a deep breath and made a decision.

"Father, I am willing to go to Huainan."

"But will the general agree?"

"Haha, I am the Prime Minister of the dynasty. It is not his turn to make the decision when promoting my own son."

"Old bastards!! A bunch of traitors!! Traitors!!"

"I swear to kill you!!"

Sitting in the study, Sima Zhao went berserk again.

Gao Rou's naked threat made Sima Zhao feel an unprecedented panic, and he could only use this anger to cover up his inner uneasiness.

Sima Zhao never thought that governing the world would be so difficult. Gao Rou, who was like a sheep in front of his brother, actually dared to threaten him head-on. Does this old thief still want to surrender to Guanqiu Jian?
Why, as soon as I took over, rebellions broke out everywhere, and the ministers rose up to attack me. Am I so easily bullied?!

Seeing Sima Zhao so angry, Du Yu, who had just returned to Luoyang, stood up again to persuade him.

"General, don't be angry, because as I said before, you can't force Situ anymore."

Du Yu never spoke ill of others behind their backs, but if he was forced into a corner, he would curse back directly.

Sima Zhao certainly understood what Du Yu wanted to say.

The last time Zhong Hui used Gao Rou to persuade Sima Zhao to ascend the throne, he teamed up with Sima Zhao to badly trick Gao Rou. As happy as Sima Zhao was at that time, he feels as helpless now.

He couldn't help cursing Zhong Hui in his heart. It was all because of this guy, he acted on his own!
But he didn't remember how happy he was at that time.

"So what should we do now?"

In front of Du Yu, Sima Zhao did not want to leave an impression of someone who would curse after using something, so he hid his dissatisfaction with Zhong Hui in his heart and asked helplessly.

Du Yu pondered for a moment before saying, "General, since you want to invite Guanqiu Jian to the court with the rank of one of the Three Dukes, you don't necessarily need the position of Minister of Rites."

"Why not appoint the Grand Commandant as Grand Tutor, and then use the Grand Commandant's position to invite the General Zhendong to come to the imperial court."

"Guanqiu Jian is a skilled warrior, and it is legitimate to ask him to serve as Grand Commandant. If he refuses, it will prove that he has rebellious intentions, and then we can call on the people of the world to attack him."

Sima Zhao's eyes lit up, "Yes, Zhongfu is my own family, but if Guanqiu Jian really took the position of Taiwei..."

Du Yu shook his head. "General, official rank is never the most important thing. The General's ability to command the world does not depend on his official rank, but on the Central Army stationed in Luoyang."

"If Guanqiu Jian had voluntarily abandoned the Huainan army, he would have been a general in name only, without any real power."

"it is good!"

"Just do as Yuan Kai said!"

Sima Zhao's mood suddenly brightened. He looked at Du Yu standing beside him and said happily, "Yuan Kai is much stronger than Shi Ji!"

"With a wise man like you as my assistant, what do I have to worry about?"

(End of this chapter)