The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 222 Don’t panic!

In the past, when ministers came to pay homage, they would enter one by one, or choose a leader to go in while the others waited outside.

This is because Emperor Wen once issued an order prohibiting the harem from interfering in state affairs.

The ministers still had to abide by these rules on the surface, so they did not dare to come to pay their respects collectively.

It was said to the outside world that it was the ministers who requested the Empress Dowager to review the matter, rather than the Empress Dowager participating in state affairs.

This is also the reason why the ministers are willing to support the empress dowager. The empress dowager's edict is effective now because the emperor is young. The ministers can reasonably make the empress dowager's edict ineffective because Emperor Wen has an edict.

But now, they no longer care about Emperor Wen's edict.

The ministers knelt before the Queen Mother, all with terrified expressions. Some were still crying, while others had grim expressions.

Seeing this scene, the Queen Mother was immediately frightened.

Not to mention the empress dowager, Cao Mao was also shocked at this moment.

What's going on? Aren't these the bigwigs in the Shangshutai?
Xun Yi was the first to raise his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Queen Dowager! Rebellions have broken out across the land!!"

Xun Yi slowly recounted what had happened today. Although he did not specify the reason, he recounted in detail what Deng Ai had told him in the letter.

Empress Dowager Guo's face was pale, and she sat slumped in the upper seat, trembling.

Cao Mao also looked a little dazed at this moment.

As soon as Xun Yi opened his mouth, Cao Mao concluded that it was Sima Shi who did it.

He was different from the other ministers. Although Sima Shi had been seriously ill since the court meeting, lying in his house all day long and not going out, and even unable to get up or leave his bed, Cao Mao was still very wary of Sima Shi, always feeling that Sima Shi was secretly doing something.

When he learned about the rebellion in Hebei, the first thing he thought of was that Sima Shi was using the previous incident of Wang Yuan to stir up trouble.

After all, the banner raised by the rebels in Hebei this time, in addition to protesting against the injustice in the court, was to attack Sima Shi and purge the court of corrupt officials.

This is the same banner that Wang Yuan and his team raised back then.

Then Cao Mao began to use this result to reversely infer Sima Shi's deployment.

First of all, Sima Shi may have made preparations before the court meeting.

Because Sima Shi knew what Lu Yu wanted to propose very early, but after knowing it, Sima Shi did not respond at all, and did not even go to Lu Yu to talk.

Shortly after that, Zhong Hui disappeared for a while.

To this day, no one knows what Zhong Hui did at that time. It is only said that Zhong Hui went to the central army.

Then, Sima Shi probably started to make arrangements after learning of Lu Yu's idea. He did not know that the ministers would rebel, but he was still prepared to deal with it. The response preparations at that time may not have been so intense, and were only adjusted later.

Therefore, it is very likely that Zhong Hui was responsible for deploying this matter.

Therefore, even when Sima Shi was seriously ill, there were many insiders in the palace, and he had not even gone out to meet with ministers many times, he could still continue to prepare activities and change his response because he was not the person in charge.

It was not until Lu Yu started working behind the scenes that Zhong Hui outside began to adjust his strategy and thought of plowing the land from the root.

That’s right, what Sima Shi did was plowing the land.

He directly plowed through all the powerful families in Hebei. Even those who survived suffered heavy casualties. In the Central Plains, although there were rebellions, the scale was far smaller than that in Hebei. Only a few large families were affected. It could not be said that they were plowing the land here, but just a blow, killing some powerful people.

But can Sima Shi accomplish such a thing?

If he only relies on the assassins in his hands, it will definitely not work.

But if there are generals from all over the place, it’s hard to say.

Among the four expeditions and four towns, people like He Zeng, Hu Zun, and Wang Chang were all very close to the Sima family.

There is no need to say much about the provincial governors. Except for a few, the rest were almost all arranged by the Sima family themselves.

Sima Shi's death squads are leading the charge, and these generals are assisting them. What ability do the powerful families and clans have to resist?
Are you talking about the slaves and private soldiers in their homes?
Well, the Lu family’s fortress was opened from the inside.

Cao Mao's thoughts were a little confused at the moment, but he already had a general idea of Sima Shi's next move.

Sima Shi jumped out of the imperial court and took action in the local areas, directly undermining the foundations of the aristocratic families, burning their farmland, killing their clansmen, and turning the families into families.
What a ruthless person!!

Up to now, it was difficult for the ministers to even suspect Sima Shi. They watched Sima Shi become seriously ill and then die, and Sima Shi did not have the ability to stir up so many rebellions in Hebei. As for the generals helping Sima Shi, it was only a few days since Lu Yu took charge of the Secretariat. How long would it take for Sima Shi's orders to reach Youzhou?

At this moment, Cao Mao suddenly understood what Sima Shi had asked: Who do you think is easier to defeat, Lu Yu or Gao Rou?

"My son! My son!!"

Empress Dowager Guo's exclamation interrupted Cao Mao's thoughts, and Cao Mao looked at her blankly.

Empress Dowager Guo was in a state of panic at the moment, staring at Cao Mao with her eyes, obviously wanting her son to make a decision. She had never faced such a situation before, with rebellions everywhere. Hearing this, she was almost scared to death, and all the ministers seemed to look at her, as if they wanted her to solve the problem.

Although Empress Dowager Guo enjoyed the feeling of being valued, this was too much, and she didn't dare to do it anymore. How did she know what to do?

Cao Mao stood up at this moment, frowning. "Such a big thing has happened in the imperial court. Is there no capable person among the ministers? They actually want my mother to solve this matter?!"

Xun Yi looked at the young emperor and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, the Minister of State is ill, the general has passed away. Rebellions are everywhere, we..."

"All right!"

Cao Mao interrupted him and said sternly, "Go find Situ Gong!"

"Let Lord Situ come forward and put down this rebellion!!"

Xun Yi quickly agreed and left with his ministers.

Xun Yi originally wanted to use this incident to fight for power, but when he learned that the matter had affected his hometown, he could no longer sit still. Now is not the time to fight for power. If he continues to fight now, his own clan might suffer!
After the ministers left, Empress Dowager Guo looked at Cao Mao and she almost cried.

"My Son"

"Don't be afraid, mother!"

Cao Mao did not pretend to be young at this moment. He knew that the Queen Mother was an extremely insecure person and he could not let her collapse at the moment.

"The ministers are just speaking seriously, hoping you will pay more attention to it."

"He Zeng was famous because of his filial piety. He had no merits of his own, let alone any military achievements. The army under his command was mostly composed of officers from aristocratic families. Since there was no war there, they were all very old."

"He failed to quell the rebellion in time, so he deliberately exaggerated the number of rebels, saying there were 100,000 rebels. How could there be 100,000 rebels in Hebei?!"

"If there really were a hundred thousand thieves, He Zeng would have lost his position and fled back to Luoyang long ago!"

Although Cao Mao's words were meant to appease the empress dowager, he also told the truth. He Zeng was a man with certain political talents, good at creating momentum, and good at analysis and calculation, but forget about him leading troops in battle.

Sima Shi didn't have any good comments about him. Sima Zhao liked him very much but never praised him for being so great. However, Sima Yan kept praising him in various ways. Well, it's not surprising for Sima Yan.

He believed that Sima Shi could start a rebellion, but he did not believe that Sima Shi could start a rebellion of 100,000 people. If Sima Shi had that ability, would he still need to use such means?
Seeing the relief on Cao Mao's face, Queen Mother Guo finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Is that so?"

"It's like this. This isn't the end of the Han Dynasty. The four generals are all heavily armed and stationed in various locations. The local counties and prefectures also have many soldiers. How can we allow these rebels to cause trouble?"

"The ministers were only momentarily distracted. These rebellions will soon be quelled. Look, even Deng Ai in Yanzhou was easily quelled, let alone those in other places."

Empress Dowager Guo finally relaxed. She cursed, "From what Xun Yi said, it seems that the Wei Dynasty is about to perish!"

Cao Mao comforted her a few more times, and only left Zhaoyang Palace after Empress Dowager Guo had completely calmed down.

After walking out of Zhaoyang Palace, Cao Mao's face became very ugly.

He did not like Sima Shi's behavior. These powerful families should be killed, but not in this way.

An uprising of this scale would cost countless lives and destroy countless families.

Although he learned that the Lu family had been wiped out, Cao Mao did not feel any joy in his heart. He was thinking about how many innocent people in Hebei would suffer from the war.

When Cao Mao returned to the West Hall, someone was already waiting at the door.

This person is Zhong Hui.

Cao Mao even saw some pride in his eyes.

"Shi Ji."

Cao Mao followed him into the hall and the two sat facing each other.

"Shiji has done a great job."

As soon as the two of them sat down, Cao Mao couldn't help but speak.

Zhong Hui immediately laughed. "As expected of a Saint King, Your Majesty, you won't be worried anymore, will you? After this turmoil, the aristocratic families have suffered heavy losses. Those prominent families have basically been defeated. Without their foundation, won't they want to profit from their clansmen? Fine, just kill their clansmen and see who else they can profit from!"

"Hahahaha, all the land, food, and wealth they've snatched from the people through all sorts of despicable means over the years are gone. Aristocratic families are nothing more than this!"

Zhong Hui completely ignored his identity as a member of a top family, and his words were full of disdain for them.

Cao Mao narrowed his eyes and said, "Shi Ji, if I can see it, do you think the ministers in the court can also see it?"

Zhong Hui nodded and said, "Once things calm down, they will definitely realize that something is wrong."

"So how does Shiji decide to deal with this?"

"I am your Majesty's subject. Will your Majesty watch me being killed by a powerful clan?"

"Your Majesty, the only way to suppress the ministers now is to join forces with the General of the Western Expedition!"

(End of this chapter)