The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 174 The General Has Been Very Restricted

Luoyang, the General’s Mansion.

Sima Fu sat next to his nephew and was looking at him quietly.

There was absolutely no color left on Sima Shi's face.

The skin was extremely pale, so pale that it was a little scary.

His breathing was not steady, and every breath seemed so labored.

He seemed to be made up of nothing but bones. Even his hands, which were placed on the table, looked like dead branches, as if they would break if he exerted too much force.

At this moment, Sima Fu's heart was extremely complicated.

Although Sima Fu did not dislike this adopted son, he still felt relieved when he heard that Sima Shi was seriously ill.

Perhaps even Sima Zhao would be like this.

But at the same time, Sima Fu couldn't help but worry about the future.

When Sima Shi was still healthy, Sima Fu never worried about the future, whether it was the fate of the clan or his own safety.

But he was not so confident about Sima Zhao.

Sima Fu knew Sima Zhao's character very well. He seemed more docile than Sima Shi. In fact, that was just his outward appearance. Pretense was just pretense after all, not real.

He is much more irritable and cautious than his brother.

Sima Fu knew that once Sima Shi was gone, Sima Zhao would be the first to be wary of him.

Although they are of the same clan, when it comes to the throne, even the relationship between father and son is not so solid, let alone the uncle?
"Father Zhong."

Sima Fu hurriedly looked at Sima Shi.

Sima Shi asked, "Is it true that Zheng Mao has not made any unusual moves?"

"Really not. There was nothing wrong with the banquet. Zheng Mao didn't talk to anyone, he just drank. Afterwards, they all left and never met again."

Sima Shi judged that there was something wrong with Zheng Mao based on his reaction, so he sent people to keep an eye on him.

It turned out that Chen Qian had visited him not long ago, and he also learned that he was going to attend a banquet in the palace with Chen Qian.

Sima Shi thought there was a big problem, so he asked Zheng Chong and Sima Fu to go to the palace as well, mainly to see who else Zheng Mao and Chen Qian would contact.

Zheng Chong went to see if there were any hidden dangers in their classic debate, and Sima Fu went to check whether the people participating in the banquet had any connection with Zheng Mao.

Zheng Chong had already submitted a letter to Sima Shi, which detailed many aspects of classical debate.

Zheng Chong did not express his own position, but simply told the truth about what happened and what he noticed.

He just let Sima Shi make his own judgment.

Sima Fu also brought the same news and there was no problem.

Sima Shi pondered for a moment before saying, "We can send someone to their residence to keep an eye on these two people."

Sima Fu was horrified.

"Why did Ziyuan arrest them?"

"They haven't done anything wrong. Are they going to be arrested just because they've been in contact?"

"With a powerful enemy at our doorstep, doing this will surely lead to chaos!"

Sima Shi said seriously: "We are not going to arrest them directly. We are just sending people to their residences to instruct them to do some things like revise their etiquette and ask them not to go out in the short term."

"As Zhongfu said, with a powerful enemy at our doorstep, we absolutely cannot allow any chaos to occur in the court."

Sima Fu looked at Sima Shi in disbelief. He even wondered if Sima Shi had lost his mind due to his serious illness.

With your own power, it is actually no problem to arrest any minister you want. However, you must have a legitimate reason. The ministers are not fools if you put the Chief Censor and the Minister of Imperial Households and the Minister of Religious Affairs under house arrest for no reason!

They are not good people either.

"General, please think carefully!"

"Chen Qian is the son of the late Lord Situ. Many ministers in the court have benefited from his father's kindness. He is also very famous and has many friends."

"His elder brother, Chen Ben, even served as the General of Zhenbei, commanding a large army!"

"Among the four expeditions and four garrisons today, who else can be fully trusted except for the Western and Northern Expeditions?"

"If we force their family to join Guanqiu Jian, it will be disastrous!"

"This is especially true for Zheng Mao. He came from a distinguished family, was raised by General Hua, and was recommended by Minister Wang. His reputation was even greater, and he recommended even more people, including the Governor of Jingzhou, Wang Ji."

"Wang Ji was a powerful weapon against Guanqiu Jian, how could he do this?"

This is the problem with the current powerful aristocratic families. They all have extremely strong connections with each other, and if one of them moves, a large group will be provoked.

Originally, Sima Shi killed Xiahou Xuan, which caused the alienation of many major clans. He had no choice but to execute all of their clans and send them to accompany Xiahou Xuan.

At that time, Sima Shi's illness was not as serious as it is now. If he were to take action against these two people now, General Zhenbei might rebel first, for nothing else could happen. After all, Sima Shi always killed people and executed their entire clan.

The problem of General Zhendong has not been solved yet!
Don’t add another General Zhenbei!

"Father Zhong, I'm not going to kill them. I'm just trying to find something for them to do. The General Zhenbei is at odds with his brother, so he won't rebel over this. As for Wang Ji, although Zheng Mao recommended him, he doesn't have any dealings with them, so there's no need to worry."

Sima Fu frowned. "But why take such a risk? There's no evidence, just based on your speculation?"

Sima Shi said seriously, "Anything that can make Zheng Mao feel confident is definitely not something that can be easily dealt with. We must be on guard against it."

"Uncle, don't worry. I know we can't act rashly right now. Wang Xiang, Lu Yu, and Xun Yi once told me something terrifying when Minister Fu was still alive. I strongly suspect their confidence stems from what Lu Yu was planning to do." "However, given Lu Yu's personality, if he wants to do this, he'll probably wait until after I'm dead. We shouldn't be so hasty. No matter what, we can't rashly attack these people. We need to be more restrained."

The corner of Sima Fu's eyes twitched. So this is your choice after you have restrained yourself?

If you don't restrain yourself, do you want to imprison all the civil and military officials in the court?

Sima Shi continued, "Father, I intend to take you with me on this campaign. You will stay behind to guard the rear and be responsible for the army's supplies. If anything happens to me, you will take command of the army."

"Back then, my father entrusted me with the task, but I was too incompetent and unlearned to fulfill his wishes."

"If anything happens to me, please continue to support the clan."

Sima Fu's expression was complicated. "Don't talk about this anymore. Just focus on fighting the enemy."

Just as the two were talking, a soldier suddenly came in hurriedly and placed a letter in front of Sima Shi.

Sima Shi opened the letter, read it carefully, and then put it aside.

He looked at Sima Fu in front of him and said, "Secretary, someone has gone to report a major event to Guanqiu Jian. Guanqiu Jian has already begun to prepare food and fodder in a big way."

Sima Fu nodded and said, "Next, we will focus on dealing with Guanqiu Jian."

"No, Zhongfu, that's not the point. The point is that he actually started to prepare food supplies in a big way."

"If the spies he arranged brought news of the appointment of a Grand Marshal, he would naturally make preparations."

Sima Fu hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly realized what was happening and his expression changed drastically.

If Guanqiu Jian was planning to raise an army, he should have attacked swiftly, not giving the imperial court a chance to react, breaking through the defenses as quickly as possible and marching towards Luoyang. But now he was so openly preparing food and fodder. Was he afraid the imperial court wouldn't know about his plan?

He's not attacking! He's defending!

Sima Fu looked at Sima Shi in astonishment.

“It’s because of your illness.”

Sima Shi narrowed his right eye. "How can he be so sure?"

"Zhongfu, I'll leave the affairs of Chen Qian and Zheng Mao to you. I have other things to do, so I won't try to keep you here."

Sima Fu took the order and left immediately.

In the East Hall, Wang Xiang said seriously with a stern face:
"Your Majesty, Sima Fu and Zheng Chong took the initiative to find this old minister and came here voluntarily."

"I'm sure you noticed something strange happening at the banquet."

"This must be because Master Sima has become suspicious!"

Wang Xiang indeed noticed something was wrong.

Cao Mao looked very calm. Wang Xiang, Chen Qian and Zheng Mao were not stupid people, they could probably see it.

Cao Mao said seriously, "I think it was Mr. Chen who showed his fear, which made Sima Shi aware of the clues. However, he must not have known what we were going to do, otherwise he would have sent people to arrest us long ago and would not have hesitated for so long."

"He just suspected we were up to no good. But even so, we still have to be on guard."

"Master Sima is a ruthless person. Even if he has no evidence, he will definitely find ways to murder us."

"Teacher, we can't delay any longer."

"Now is the best opportunity. Guanqiu Jian hasn't raised an army yet, and Sima Shi hasn't attacked us yet."

"We must seize the opportunity now and complete our great task in time."

"If we wait until they start fighting, and you bring this up again, Sima Zhao will definitely take action directly, claiming you are colluding with Guanqiu Jian. And if we wait until Sima Shi becomes murderous, you will still die."

Cao Mao kept persuading Wang Xiang.

Wang Xiang was not an indecisive person. He was reluctant to be too radical before because the chances of winning were too small and he was afraid of losing his entire clan.

But as Cao Mao said, now is a good time.

Although it is still a bit risky, it is worth a try.

Wang Xiang gradually made up his mind.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will contact Chen Qian and other ministers to make a proposal at tomorrow's court meeting."

"Where is the Queen Mother?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will inform the Queen Mother. She will certainly give her full support and will not delay the important matter."

Both the emperor and his ministers made up their minds.

Cao Mao was a little excited. After all, this was the most critical link for him.

If he could win over all the ministers and powerful families in the court, it would definitely shake the foundation of Sima Shi's rule.

Given Sima Shi's character, he probably would not make any concessions. However, with the support of the Queen Mother, if Sima Shi chose to delay, the ministers could directly switch sides with the Queen Mother and let her directly order the implementation.

This will put Sima Shi in a very unfavorable position, and he will be caught in a dilemma!

This is not something that can be suppressed by your fifth-class title.

Next, be prepared for this violent attack!!!

There was a gleam in Cao Mao's eyes.

Wang Xiang was also very excited. If this went smoothly, he would instantly become a virtuous minister supported by all the officials. In the future, the Wang family would surely be even more prominent than the Sima family!

(End of this chapter)