The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 135 Yang Hu
Guo Jian was a little confused.

He wanted to avoid it, but he lacked the courage. He could only drink and take medicine, and did not dare to feign illness and resign.

He was afraid of General Xuande, the Queen Mother, and even more afraid of Sima Shi.

But Cao Mao's words gave him different ideas. He was somewhat tempted, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

"No, no, if my father knew about this, he would never forgive me."

This was exactly what Cao Mao wanted. He chuckled and whispered, "Uncle, if you trust me, I can help you."

"How can you help me?"

"I can tell the Queen Mother that you are seriously ill and ask her to dismiss my uncle. If the Queen Mother gives the order, General Xuande will definitely not be able to see it!"

Guo Jian was still very hesitant and did not dare to make a decision.

With this indecisive character, he is destined to have no chance of achieving great things.

Cao Mao had no choice but to continue, "If you don't want to resign, just pretend I didn't say anything. I believe General Xuande has his own ideas and will definitely not lead his people to die."

"What kind of person is General Xuande? He is from the dignified Xiping Guo family."

"alright!!"

Guo Jian interrupted Cao Mao. This was the sentence he least wanted to hear.

What great families, what powerful clans, why can't they wake up?

Did our family produce a Three Dukes? Or a Great General? The only linchpin of our family is the Empress Dowager. Yet these people are still lost in their former dreams, believing they are still the behemoth entrenched in Liang Province, that they were the ones who made the Empress Dowager, and even trying to get the skin of the tiger.
Guo Jian gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind.

"I quit!"

"I don't want to follow them to die!"

"It is not convenient for me to contact the Queen Mother. Your Majesty, please tell her that I am seriously ill and ask her to dismiss me from my post for the sake of our common family!"

Cao Mao grabbed Guo Jian's hand and said, "Uncle, leave this matter to me."

"Don't worry, from today on, you are safe."

For some reason, after hearing Cao Mao's promise, Guo Jian actually breathed a sigh of relief and felt a lot more relaxed. He knew clearly that this kid's promise would not have any effect.

After Guo Jian hurriedly left, Cao Mao's eyes showed joy.

Guo Jian didn't care much about power; he cared more about his own life.

Now that he is willing to let go, Cao Mao can persuade the Queen Mother to replace him with someone else as the Protector General.

As for whether to let the Guo family take on the role...

Hahahaha, even if I agreed, the Queen Mother might not agree.

The military power cannot be in his own hands, nor in the hands of the Guo family. If possible, Cao Mao really wants Yin Damu to take over, but this is impossible.

Cao Mao thought for a long time and felt that there was one person who was most suitable to be the General of Defense.

Cao Mao was not in a hurry to see the empress dowager. In the following days, he seriously considered replacing the leader of the imperial guards.

Sure enough, in the following days, Guo Jian stopped coming to the palace on the pretext of being ill.

Empress Dowager Guo was also very surprised and sent someone to inquire about the situation.

Guo Jian was seriously ill and could not get out of bed. The doctor said it was because he drank too much and fell drunk on the snow.

At this time, Cao Mao finally walked into the Zhaoyang Palace.

"What??"

"Pretending to be sick?"

Empress Dowager Guo looked a little angry. She looked at Cao Mao and said angrily, "I was so worried about him that I sent the imperial physician to see him and bring him medicine. These people are all bad people!!"

Cao Mao hurriedly said, "My uncle is actually helpless. He told me that he doesn't want to help General Xuande as an insider, but he also doesn't want to be a disobedient person, so he had to pretend to be sick."

After hearing these words, Empress Dowager Guo still looked unhappy.

"Doesn't he even have the courage to resign voluntarily?"

"Mother, the prince thinks this is a good opportunity!"

"Oh?"

"What did the prince say?"

"The prince said that the reason the Guo family was able to hold the position of general was entirely because of you, but the Guo family members are now unable to see through this and are acting recklessly, which is detrimental to you. You can use this incident to directly dismiss Guo Jian. On the one hand, you can win over Guo Jian, and on the other hand, you can intimidate the rest of the Guo family and let them know that you can make them rise or fall."

"And most importantly, we can find someone who is truly one of our own to take this position!"

Empress Dowager Guo's eyes lit up. "I understand! Are you asking the prince to serve as the Protector General?"

Cao Mao pursed his lips and said nothing for a long time.

He is a dignified Tiger among the Nine Ministers. Why would he be crazy to come to the palace to serve as a Guard General?

Besides, if Wang Xiang dares to use one of his family members to take over this position, Sima Shi can invite him to a banquet tomorrow.

Cao Mao shook his head. "The prince wasn't talking about himself, but someone even Sima Shi couldn't imagine."

"Oh?"

"Who is it?" "Yang Hu."

"Who? Who is Yang Hu?"

Empress Dowager Guo looked a little confused.

Speaking of this, Cao Mao was no longer sleepy. He hurriedly said, "Mother, this man is from the Yang family of Taishan. His grandfather Yang Xu was the prefect of Nanyang during the reign of Emperor Ling. His father Yang Xin was the prefect of Shangdang. His mother is the daughter of the famous Confucian scholar Cai Yong!"

"He was upright, learned, talented, a good writer, elegant, handsome, skilled in debate, loyal, and had an excellent reputation."

Empress Dowager Guo was not at all excited. She frowned and asked, "What is his relationship with Yang Huiyu?"

Yang Huiyu is Sima Shi's current wife and his second wife after Xiahou Hui.

Cao Mao whispered, "It's his biological sister."

"what?!"

Empress Dowager Guo was furious. "Are they replacing one of our own family members? They are replacing one of Sima's relatives!"

"Don't worry, mother. It's precisely because he's married to Sima Shi that he was able to take on this position. Mother, you don't know that although this man is related to the Sima family, he's a righteous man and doesn't want to get involved in the court's struggles. For years, he's been living in seclusion, and he's refused several invitations to serve."

"The prince said that this person has great righteousness in his heart and is not someone who helps the tyrant to commit atrocities."

"Besides, this man is my son-in-law."

"what?"

"His wife is the daughter of General Xiahou Ba."

In this era, aristocratic families intermarried so frequently that their relationships were so confusing that it was impossible to clearly explain them. Take Yang Hu, for example. He was born into the Yang clan of Taishan. His mother was from the Cai clan of Jiyang. His aunt was from the Confucian Kong clan. His aunt, Xin Xianying, was from the Xin clan of Longxi. His brother-in-law was from the Sima clan, and his wife was from the Xiahou clan.
Marriage is important, but not that important. When it comes to family ties, everyone can be related to each other.

Cao Mao's decision to have Yang Hu replace Guo Jian was not a sudden decision, but the result of repeated consideration.

Looking at Yang Hu's life experience, there was nothing wrong with his morality. It can even be said that he was one of the few ministers who had the spirit of the Han Dynasty.

In his early years, he was always reluctant to enter the officialdom. Later, Sima Zhao personally recruited him, and he had to come. After taking office, he was upright and never favored anyone. Later, he also performed well and achieved perfection in every position. He can be said to be Sima Yan's capable minister. Unfortunately, he died too early.
Cao Mao did not think he could win over this person to join him in dealing with the Sima family.

However, this person would not come to deal with him for the Sima family!

And the most important thing is that this person has never entered officialdom. If the empress dowager promotes him, then she will be his sponsor, and he will have no reason to be loyal to the Sima family.

He was in the palace. If Sima Shi was about to die of illness and ordered him to execute him, Yang Hu would not do it even if he resigned from his post.

If the Queen Mother ordered him to protect himself, it would be hard to say whether he would fight back.

He is neither Jia Chong nor Zhong Hui. Yang Hu is a simple man who keeps his promises, is approachable, open and sincere. This man is not from the Wei and Jin dynasties at all. He is very Han, and even has a bit of the Warring States period.

What Cao Mao cared about most was his talent.

There are only so many top figures in this era. If we could get help from one or two of them, the situation would not be so difficult.

If you want to defeat a top-level official like Zhong Hui, you have to find an opponent of the same level and compete with him.

But Empress Dowager Guo still couldn't understand. Xiahou Ba had already defected, and his sister was with Sima Shi. Would he come to help us?
Cao Mao smiled and said, "Mother, since the prince said this man would join us, he must be sure of it. Perhaps you could ask him to come and explain it to you in person."

Out of trust in Wang Xiang, Empress Dowager Guo nodded, reluctantly not opposing the idea.

The two talked for a while, and then Empress Dowager Guo let Cao Mao leave.

Cao Mao was a little anxious. He had to recruit this person before Sima Zhao did, but he was not afraid that he would not come. How could he not come if the Empress Dowager and the Emperor personally recruited him? If he didn't come, would he dare to come when Sima Zhao went to recruit him again?
This person is a rare person who cares about his reputation.

"His Majesty!!"

"A new cavalryman has come to pay his respects."

As soon as Cao Mao walked out of Zhaoyang Palace, Mr. Xu couldn't wait to speak.

Cao Mao was very helpless. He was clearly his own cavalryman, but he was always the last to know.

The Sima family really regards Wei as their own. They are really not polite at all. Why didn’t you at least notify me in advance?

"Which wealthy family's offspring is this?"

Cao Mao couldn't help but ask.

"It's Lord Situ's youngest son, Gao Guang!"

"Oh?"

Is the Sima family trying to win over Situ Gong? Didn't they have a fierce argument before?

Cao Mao met the youngest son of the Prime Minister in the East Hall. Gao Guang looked like a very honest and decent man. When facing Cao Mao, he did not have the slightest arrogance of a child from a wealthy family.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!!"

"Please get up! Please get up quickly!"

Cao Mao smiled and helped him up, holding his hand. "How can we meet here? Come with me to the West Hall!"

Gao Guang did not dare to refuse and walked cautiously beside Cao Mao.

"I was originally going to Huainan to serve as the governor, but the general forbade me. My father argued with them and was humiliated by them. Now he is ill and bedridden. I, the Palace Attendant, am their only hope to comfort my father."

Gao Guang looks a little sad.

The eunuchs behind him had joy in their eyes and looked at the emperor.

This is a good opportunity. If I can get the help of Situ Gong, then there will be no worries about achieving great things.
(End of this chapter)