The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 146: Studying Hard for Decades

Nancheng County, Yanzhou.

There was a carriage heading towards the south of the city, followed by armored soldiers in front and behind, which looked a bit intimidating.

The pedestrians were not surprised and quickly made way.

They didn't want to know the destination of the group.

A scholar asked with a smile: "Did the imperial court send someone to recruit him?"

"It seems so. Judging from the scale, they were probably sent by the General or the General of the Western Expedition."

The scholars started chatting, and when they talked about this recruitment, there was envy and pride in their eyes.

These people must be going to find Yang Hu.

Yang Hu came from a prominent family. He lost his father at the age of twelve. His filial piety and grief exceeded common etiquette, which made him famous. It was not until he grew up that he became known to the public. Xiahou Ba married his daughter to him, which made him even more famous.

The Yanzhou government recruited him as a clerk and a scholar four times, and the five governments also appointed him. Finally, even the general Cao Shuang wanted to recruit him, but Yang Hu always refused to serve and never held an official position.

Xiahou Ba later defected to the Kingdom of Shu, but Yang Hu was not implicated because of his sister. In fact, none of Xiahou Ba's children were arrested and executed. They were all pardoned. His daughter still stayed with Yang Hu, while his son was exiled to the border.

The incident of Xiahou Ba had little impact on Yang Hu. If he wanted to become an official, it would not be difficult.

But he chose to stay at home and cultivate his reputation. He regarded himself as a simple and honest person, just like a Confucian scholar. His reputation grew, and celebrities from all over the country praised him highly.

Sure enough, it was just as those scholars expected.

The group stopped in front of Yang Hu's mansion. A soldier came forward and told the servants in the mansion to get ready.

The entire Yang Mansion was in a panic in an instant.

When the servant brought the news to Yang Hu, Yang Hu slowly put down the scroll in his hand.

He was seven feet three inches tall, with fine beard and beard, and a graceful demeanor. He was wearing very simple clothes at the moment, kneeling in front of the desk, with his virtuous wife by his side. It was obvious that he lived a very comfortable life.

"Is it the General or the General Who Conquers the West?"

Yang Hu looked a little hesitant. Yang Hu had a very peaceful personality and had disliked fighting since he was a child, especially intrigue.

He saw the turbulence of the current political situation very early on, so he was unwilling to take up an official position and was always waiting for an opportunity.

Historically, he even refused Sima Zhao's call to serve, and in the end he had no choice but to take office only after the imperial decree was issued directly by the court.

Seeing her husband's expression change, Xia Hou asked, "Are you still going to refuse?"

Yang Hu smiled bitterly, "Madam, you don't know that I refused to take up a government post in the past because of the turbulent and critical situation. The current situation is even more dire than before."

"Are you talking about Huainan?"

"No, if there are no other changes, the Huainan incident will not be a big threat."

"Are you talking about Jiang Wei from Shu?"

"No, Shu's national strength is growing weaker, and Jiang Wei's offensive is like a spent bow, ultimately powerless to penetrate Lu's silk."

Xia Hou was a little surprised. "Then why do you say that the current situation is more dire than in the past?"

"The general has appointed Guo Zhi as the general of the guard. Is there anything more terrifying than this?"

"what??"

Xia Hou was very surprised, but Yang Hu explained: "Madam, the position of Guard has never been held by the Sima family since Cao Xi. It is as important as the position of Commander-in-Chief."

"Controlling the various camps of the Central Army and assessing military officers, the Guo family was able to aspire to this position in the past solely because their lord, Guo De, was Sima Shi's son-in-law."

"Wang Su also held this position due to his marriage, and therefore had a conflict with the Guo family."

"But the Guo family and the Sima family are not related, how can they take on this position?"

Xiahou shook his head blankly.

Yang Hu raised his head and said, "Something big is going to happen in the temple."

Xiahou looked at Yang Hu, and her expression suddenly became a little sad, and she couldn't help crying.

Yang Hu was horrified, "Why is Madam like this?"

Xia Hou then said, "You keep saying you don't want to serve, but you know everything about the government and are so concerned about official transfers. How can you say you have no intention of serving? Is it because of me that you are unable to serve?"

Yang Hu shook his head and quickly said, "Madam, how could you think that? I just don't want to get involved in those things, not because of you."

Yang Hu stood up, changed his clothes, and then formally led people to greet the officials from the temple.

When he saw the person coming, Yang Hu was very surprised.

The one who came was none other than Shi Zhonghuabiao.

Huabiao now looked far less dashing than before. He had thought that supporting the emperor would bring him great merit, but who would have thought that he would run into a troublemaker like Cao Mao.

Hua Biao was so frightened by him that he quickly feigned illness and resigned. Unfortunately, he happened to resign at the same time as Wang Su and Jia Chong. Sima Zhao was furious and would never agree to his request. He immediately scolded Hua Biao and asked him to continue in his position.

At this moment, he had to come here again as ordered.

The position of Shizhong depends on the person, and the powers and responsibilities vary greatly in the hands of different people.

Yang Hu obviously knew this person and hurriedly bowed to greet him.

"I didn't know it was Lord Hua who came. I'm sorry for not welcoming you from afar. I hope you can forgive me." Hua Biao hurriedly forced a smile. Although he was the son of Hua Xin, he didn't dare to offend the upstart in front of him. His sister was Sima Shi's wife.

"Why are you so polite, Mr. Yang?"

The two exchanged a few simple pleasantries. Both sides knew each other, but their relationship was only to the extent of knowing each other, so there was nothing much to say.

After the greetings, Huabiao took out the imperial edict.

"Yang Hu of Yanzhou, young and renowned for his virtue, filial piety, loyalty and brotherly love"

The beginning was naturally a round of flattery, after which Hua Biao said: "I specially appoint Yang Hu as the General of the Guards, in charge of the imperial guards."

Yang Hu was a little surprised.

The recruitment of officials in the imperial court is different from that of ministers.

If a minister, for example, Sima Zhao, Cao Shuang, or a local governor recruits him, and he agrees, he will become the other party's "disciple and former official", and the person who recruits him will automatically become the sponsor.

In this case, when he became an official, he was serving as someone else's subordinate, not as an official in the government.

If Sima Shi summoned him, he would serve in the general's office, not in the imperial court.

But this time the expedition was different.

This was not a recruitment by any minister in his private capacity. It was a direct recruitment by the imperial court, and the emperor directly issued an edict. In other words, if he agreed, he would be an official of the imperial court. There would be no question of nomination and private official. He would be a minister in the same court as Sima Zhao and others.

Yang Hu was unwilling to participate in those turmoil, but he also didn't want to waste his time.

He had originally rejected many recruitments, but those were all recruitments to serve as subordinate officials. Yang Hu did not really want to be a subordinate official, nor did he want to find a sponsor for himself.

As he himself said, the current situation is chaotic. If there is a sponsor, they can only live and die together. With Yang Hu's character, he believes that he would not betray his sponsor. For the safety of himself and his family, it is better not to find a sponsor for himself.

Even if Sima Shi or Sima Zhao sent people to recruit him.

He wouldn't agree either.

But now it is different, the government directly recruits people.

This made Yang Hu very hesitant.

Huabiao looked at Yang Hu who was silent in front of him, but he was not angry. He actually understood Yang Hu's thoughts very well.

In the current situation, who would want to join the government?
Since he couldn't even run away, why would Yang Hu be willing to come?
Hua Biao ordered everyone to leave for the time being, put away the imperial edict, and said to Yang Hu, "If you don't want to, there's no need to hesitate. This wasn't issued by your brother-in-law. It's an imperial edict from the Empress Dowager."

Huabiao whispered.

Yang Hu was even more surprised. The empress dowager's edict?
He also thought that the Sima family had recruited him with the order of the imperial court, wanting him to replace the Guo family's power.

But this is the Queen Mother's decree? The Queen Mother wants me to replace her clansmen?

Yang Hu was also a little confused at this moment. He could hardly understand the situation in the temple.

She knows that she is a relative of the Sima family, right?
The Sima family couldn't wait to give up their important position to the Guo family, and then the Guo family couldn't wait to give it back?

What is this?

Yang Hu frowned and asked hesitantly, "Why did the Queen Mother want to recruit me?"

"I don't know either. I just know that the Guo family's relationship with the Queen Mother hasn't been good lately. Guo Jian suddenly said he was seriously ill and wouldn't come. Perhaps the Queen Mother feels you're more trustworthy than her own people."

Yang Hu exclaimed, the Queen Mother actually had a conflict with her own clan?

He pondered again, and the fog in his mind suddenly dissipated, and he gradually understood the situation in the temple.

Was it because the emperor was close to the empress dowager, and the Guo family was close to the Sima family, which caused the empress dowager's dissatisfaction, leading to the strange situation where the Sima family began to strengthen the Empress Dowager Guo's clansmen, while the Empress Dowager Guo tried to weaken her own clansmen?

But even so, why did they let me go? I have no relationship with the Queen Mother.
Yang Hu was about to ask again, but Hua Biao rubbed his stomach and asked awkwardly, "Is there anything to eat here?"

Yang Hu quickly invited him into the house, ordered the servants to prepare a banquet, and began to ask him for more details.

Huabiao couldn't give much, and as a minister, he didn't seem to care about what happened in the palace.

Huabiao was not in a hurry to ask Yang Hu for an answer. After eating and drinking his fill, he was led by his servants to rest.

Yang Hu returned to the inner room, where Xiahou was waiting for him.

"My dear? How is it?"

Yang Hu was silent for a moment and shook his head, "I don't know either."

Xiahou could see the confusion in Yang Hu's heart. She turned her head and looked at the books on the desk. There were many books and they were messy, with all kinds of them.

Laws, classics, military strategies, and even lists of famous officials from the early Han Dynasty.

These books looked like they had been opened countless times, and some of them were spread out, filled with various annotations.

Yang Hu followed his wife's gaze and looked at the books.

His eyes gradually became firm.

"Get ready."

"Tomorrow, we will set off."

"Head to Luoyang."

(End of this chapter)