The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 253: The Story of Gaopingling
The two sat in the inner room and exchanged greetings warmly.

Servants brought tea and placed it in front of them, followed by various delicacies.

The two had a very pleasant conversation, and Sima Fu even held Wang Xiang's hand affectionately.

They chatted about family matters for a while, and Wang Xiang told him the purpose of his visit.

"Master Taifu, I came here this time to ask you for a favor."

Wang Xiang did not hide anything and directly told Sima Fu that the emperor had summoned him, and later summoned his ministers, and now all his ministers refused to see him.

He told the truth completely without hiding anything.

Sima Fu listened to him very carefully.

"I see. Your Majesty is anxious to hold the festival."

Sima Fu laughed, "It seems that His Majesty is very worried about his ministers and believes that he is at risk of being deposed."

"Master Taifu, I really want to take charge of something big, but the current situation makes it really difficult to do anything. How many times have we proposed this reform? But every time it has failed."

"I believe that if the ministers cannot work together, this will not be accomplished."

Sima Fu slowly looked at Wang Xiang.

"Prince, you are usually very intelligent, so why can't you figure it out right now?"

Sima Fu's expression suddenly turned serious. He said to the servant who was serving tea, "Go out first, close the door, and don't let anyone come near."

The servant was stunned and then hurried away.

When they were the only two left in the inner room, the smile on Sima Fu's face finally disappeared.

"Taichang, the Prince of Qi is the son of Emperor Liezu, but wasn't he still deposed and enthroned?"

"What kind of person is the current emperor? Would he care about these things?"

Wang Xiang frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know about you, but when I look at the current emperor, I always think of my brother for some unknown reason."

"You may not know that this emperor is similar to my brother in many ways. He always appears weak to his enemies, but when he strikes, he is so swift and decisive. If he doesn't make a sound, he will be a surprise."

"When you told me these things, do you know what the first thing that came to my mind was?"

Wang Xiang shook his head.

Sima Fu asked quietly, "Where should the ministers go to hold such a sacrifice?"

"Then we have to go to Gaoping."

Wang Xiang suddenly realized, "You mean, Your Majesty wants to repeat the story of Gaopingling?!"

Sima Fu sneered, "Ma Long and Ji Kang in the central army are both the emperor's confidants."

"Yang Hu and Zhong Hui in the palace had already surrendered to the emperor."

"You said that the ministers were out at this time, heading for Emperor Ming's tomb, and the emperor suddenly sealed off Luoyang and appointed his own trusted confidant as the general to command the army of the whole country. What would happen?"

Wang Xiang only felt a chill coming from his back and rushing straight to his head. For a moment, he felt creepy.

"How dare he?!"

"Why wouldn't he dare? He has the army, the ministers, and the queen mother at his disposal."

"Back then, he had nothing, yet he dared to confront the general and refused to back down. Now he has everything. Our strength is not even as great as the general's. Will he be afraid of us?!"

Sima Fu said seriously, "I never thought that even someone like you would be dragged along by him."

"You still underestimate this emperor. You always think he doesn't dare to kill people, right?"

"Besides, what about those people under your command?"

"Those who can be persuaded by the emperor's words, are they still your men?"

"You're actually going to join forces with me to help the Emperor for them? The Emperor can convince them not to see you with a few words today, and he can convince them to come to him with a few words tomorrow!"

Wang Xiang was scolded by Sima Fu in person, and his mind suddenly became clear again.

He remembered the gentle smile of his favorite disciple. At this moment, that smile became so hideous, as if there was an invisible net waiting for him to fall into.

Looking at Wang Xiang's pale face, Sima Fu shook his head again.

"Think about it, how many people have fallen before the Emperor because of their disrespect for him? As his teacher, how could you make such a mistake?"

Wang Xiang said: "I didn't underestimate him, I just didn't expect it."

“I didn’t expect that he would dare to repeat the Gaopingling story again?”

Sima Fu laughed. "Indeed, when my brother told me this, I couldn't believe it. No one expected him to do this."

Wang Xiang continued, "Master Taifu, my disciple is a very cautious person. Even if such a possibility existed, I don't think he would do it. He is always cautious and doesn't like to take big risks."

Sima Fu waved his hand, "It's not important."

"You don't know that these days, I have placed all those who returned from the central army in the palace."

"There's no way to win over Yang Hu. We can only replace him and make him lose control of the guards."

"In addition, I also plan to replace the eunuchs and eunuchs around him, but this is not an easy task."

"If you want to join forces with me, then forget about helping the emperor. If those who follow you are not sincere, then abandon them as soon as possible to avoid getting into trouble."

Sima Fu spoke with awe, but Wang Xiang cursed in his heart. You just threatened me so much, was it really to weaken my power?

You and Gao Rou are not afraid, but if I don’t have these people to help me, how can I compete with you?
Do you want me to assist you with peace of mind?
Wang Xiang looked troubled. "Grand Master, all the ministers must work together. We can't talk about giving up. Otherwise, how can we handle this important matter?"

"I can probably guess why these people were bewitched. Chen Qian wanted fame, Zheng Mao wanted to protect himself, and Wang Jing was probably tempted by the events in Hebei."

"They will not follow the emperor, because we can give them more than what they want."

Sima Fu paused and continued, "So the Minister of Rites is still prepared to help the Emperor?"

"No, now that you've said that, I've finally figured it out. We can't be intimidated by him. Even though the Gaopingling incident is unlikely to happen again, we can't give him the chance."

"Master Taifu, I am willing to work with you to accomplish great things."

Sima Fu was somewhat disappointed. He had originally wanted Wang Xiang to weaken his own power on his own initiative, and then subdue him and use him for his own purposes.

But this old thief didn't fall for it.

However, Sima Fu did not rule out the idea of joining forces. His chances of winning were getting lower and lower. First there was Gao Rou, and now there was Wang Xiang. He was stuck in the middle, neither advancing nor falling behind.

Now the two of them have joined forces because Wang Xiang needs his help and he is the main one, so Sima Fu can accept it.

The two immediately began to discuss how to deal with the emperor of the empire.

In private, both of them took off their usual masks.

Their expressions became ferocious and sinister.

They came up with many methods that were enough to put the young emperor into a deadlock, leading him step by step to failure and destruction.

Henei County, Chen County.

The soldiers who were usually lazy were now standing guard at the city gate, looking into the distance vigilantly.

Pedestrians formed a long queue at the city gate.

Among these people there were merchants, refugees, and quite a few wanderers.

"Brother, this is not easy to handle."

Wang Yuan stood in the team, listening to the person in front of him whispering.

They were all dressed as merchants at the moment, standing beside a carriage loaded with goods.

Looking at the soldiers in the distance, Wang Yuan suddenly felt something was wrong.

Both Hedong County and Henei County strengthened the defense of their county towns, especially Henei County, because they were afraid that the rebellion in Jizhou would affect here, so they strengthened their garrison forces in all places.

It is much more difficult to capture this county town than before.

"Brother, do you want to take action?"

According to the original plan, they were preparing to launch a surprise attack, kill the soldiers at the city gate, and then let their troops rush into the county town.

However, now the city wall is full of patrolling soldiers armed with powerful crossbows, and the defense is very tight.

In this situation, even if it is a surprise attack, it may be difficult to break through, and we may have to stay here.

"You can't do it."

After assessing the strength of the enemy and ourselves, Wang Yuan gave up the idea of attacking the county town.

At least, the county in front of us cannot be attacked.

"Brothers, take your things and leave here first. We will go into the city to see the situation and exchange some food if possible."

The inspection at the city gate was very strict, but Wang Yuan was not afraid at all. He used the stolen pass and money to fool the soldiers and was able to enter the city.

Wang Yuan was really not afraid of being captured by the soldiers. He had served as a county lieutenant in the local area and he knew very well the moral character of these people.

After walking around the city a few times, I found that there were quite a few patrolling soldiers in the city, one wave after another.

This made Wang Yuan completely give up the idea of attacking the county town. He sent his confidants to find out if he could get some food through other channels.

"Brother, are we just going to give up like this?"

"Oh, who said that?"

Wang Yuan narrowed his eyes and said, "If we can't take the county, can we still take Wubao?"

"Let's see which big family's Wubao is outside the city. We won't be greedy, so we just rob that family, take the food and run to the mountains."

"I think many of these counties are frightened by what happened in Hebei. They may not dare to leave the city to pursue us. By the time they receive the order, we will have already run back to the mountains."

Several of his confidants looked at him with admiration. He was indeed the big brother, as he came up with a good idea so quickly.

"By the way, brother, the Sima family is in Hanoi, right? Why don't we just go and attack them? They must have a mountain of food."

"fart!"

"If we move others, these people won't dare to leave the city easily. If we move the Sima family, will they dare not leave the city to pursue us? By then, let alone food, we will lose our lives in Hanoi!"

"Don't be idle, send people to investigate. Look for those who are wealthy, have weak defenses, and aren't particularly famous!"

"Within half a month, we must complete our mission and return to the mountains. Otherwise, the people in the mountains will rebel!"

"only!!"

(End of this chapter)