The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 386 How Angry General Hu Zun Must Be

"It really is the rebirth of Emperor Wu of Wei!"

In his own mansion, Shi Bao once again gave his evaluation of the emperor.

Several good friends who came to visit him were all scared at this moment.

Since the autumn, the emperor's prestige seemed to have risen again, and the ministers no longer dared to evaluate the emperor in public.

Only Shi Bao dared to continue as usual.

Shi Bao continued with emotion, "The revival of the Wei Dynasty will be in the hands of Your Majesty."

During these days, Shi Bao lived a very leisurely life. This minister, who had certain accomplishments in both governance and military affairs, failed to be valued by the emperor and was directly thrown into the palace.

Shi Bao continued to interact with his friends as before and lived a leisurely life.

Shi Bao was never a hot-tempered person. Even though he lost his official position, he did not feel that there was anything to blame. He just felt that he had failed to govern Qingzhou well before and made the emperor disappointed in him.

Just as Shi Bao and his friends continued to encourage the emperor, several soldiers broke into the room very rudely.

Xiahou He immediately frowned, "What do you want to do?!"

Seeing the Minister of Rites, these armored soldiers showed no fear at all. The leader was Cheng Ji. He looked at Shi Bao coldly and said, "General, His Majesty invites you."

Shi Bao quickly stood up and looked at his friends. "Since His Majesty has summoned you, we should go as soon as possible without delay. You can all go back to the palace first. I will visit you after I am done with my work!"

Everyone was unable to get angry, so Shi Bao got in the car and drove all the way to the palace.

Shi Bao was not very afraid. During these days, he had not done anything bad, nor had he said anything bad about the emperor. He was praising the emperor everywhere, so he was very at ease.

Shi Bao is a very smart person and always behaves differently at different times.

Apart from his greed and lust, he is very powerful in other aspects.

He knew the emperor's vision and felt that the emperor would definitely use him. The reason why the emperor was not close to him was only because his behavior in Qingzhou displeased the emperor. But compared to those who were not doing their jobs, the emperor should still like ministers like him who had some talents.

Shi Bao was thinking in his heart as he walked all the way to the palace.

When he met Cao Mao in Taiji Hall, Cao Mao had a faint smile on his face.

"Shi Gong, come and sit down."

Cao Mao's attitude was relatively calm, so Shi Bao hurriedly thanked him and sat down next to him.

"I heard that Shi Gong has been very leisurely these days, visiting friends everywhere. Shi Gong has friends all over the world, which really makes me envious."

"Your Majesty, I haven't seen them for many years."

"No need to say more, I understand."

Cao Mao served tea and asked, "Do you know why I would rather use Hu Fen than you?"

Shi Bao hurriedly said: "Because it is not good for me to supervise Qingzhou."

"No, no, supervising Qingzhou is the job of the governor. Although it has something to do with you, it's not a big deal."

"That is because I have a flawed moral character."

Cao Mao then clapped his hands. "You're right about some things, you know? I can actually tolerate capable ministers with flaws. There's no such thing as a perfect person in this world. Everyone has flaws and faults."

"But greed and bribery are different from virtue. This is the cause of the collapse of the Wei officialdom. Because of this problem, even if you have talent, I dare not employ you."

Shi Bao hurriedly said, "I will definitely correct this."

Cao Mao shook his head. "No problem. I called you here not to discuss your virtues, but because something happened in Qingzhou and I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Zang Ai from Qingzhou, when the imperial court wanted to appoint him as the prefect, it seems you also contributed a lot to it?"

Hearing this, Shi Bao secretly thought that something was wrong.

Shi Bao did contribute to Zang Ai's ability to become an official in Qingzhou. The reason for this was very simple. Zang Ai was very good at managing things. He knew how to make money and how to distribute wealth.

He plundered the people and operated among them, and was able to accumulate a lot of wealth. What was rare and valuable was that this person only left a little money for himself, and used the rest of the wealth to manage his subordinates. Such a noble official was extremely admired by his superiors and subordinates.

Mr. Zang was an honest man. He never bought himself any property or carriages. He wore ordinary clothes and had no great pursuit of women. He distributed almost all the income he earned from the people to others. It was not only Shi Bao who worked for such a noble official. All the officials in Qingzhou worked for him.

Even when the emperor learned that he intended to dismiss Sun Yu, the governor of Qingzhou, the first person the ministers proposed to take over was Zang Ai. This shows that this man was also very virtuous in the eyes of the ministers in the temple, and the two sides must have had some contact with each other.

Shi Bao knew about Zang Ai's affairs and was extremely worried at this moment. Could it be that this person's bribery was discovered?
How can this be good?

He made a decision immediately, "Your Majesty, he bribed me with money and beautiful women, and I accepted his gifts, so I worked for him. Please punish him."

Shi Bao chose to confess.

The emperor would not call me here for no reason and ask me these questions. Only sincerity can change His Majesty's mind.

Cao Mao was also surprised at this moment.

This guy is indeed real. In the first week, this person was very close to me and his attitude was extremely respectful. I didn't know whether to say he was smart or cunning.

Cao Mao said again: "Don't worry too much. I called you in to ask about these things because Zang Ai has committed some crimes."

"Ah? I wonder what big mistake this person made?"

"He started a rebellion."

At that moment, Shi Bao felt his legs go weak. Cao Mao saw that his whole body was trembling. He took a deep breath and cursed angrily: "This son of a bitch! His entire family should be killed! How dare you do this?!"

Shi Bao cursed at the man.

Finally, he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I was blinded by greed and accepted favors from this man, so I worked for him earlier. However, I was completely unaware of this conspiracy."

"Mr. Shi, look, this is what I told you: Bribery is the root cause of official corruption. A shameless person like him can even hold a high position. If I hadn't sent someone to monitor him, would he have been able to rise all the way to the position of Governor? And what about in the future? Would he have become one of the Three Dukes?!"

Cao Mao was furious.

Of course, there were also greedy officials in the future.

Shi Bao was trembling at this moment and did not dare to defend himself.

Cao Mao gritted his teeth and said, "Just a few days ago, nearly ten ministers submitted a petition urging me to appoint Zang Ai as the governor!"

"Do all the officials in the court agree with his ideas?! Do they all think that my position is not legitimate?!"

"Traitors and rebels! They must be executed!"

At this moment, Shi Bao really cursed all the generations of Zang Ai's ancestors.

Damn it, you shouldn't be so deceiving. What are you crazy about?
"Mr. Shi, do you now understand the harm of bribery?"

"Look, this is the consequence."

"In this Great Wei, there are countless people like him."

Cao Mao said seriously, "The General Zhengdong was already ill and old, and now he's caused such a thing? Can you be fair to him? How furious must he be right now?!"

Xuzhou, Xiapi.

"Hahaha~~~~"

Hu Zun threw his head back and laughed so hard that tears came out. He waved the paper in his hand and showed it to the generals around him.

"Come, everyone, take a look! This Zang Ai actually wrote me a letter, asking me to make the King of Qi emperor and join him in a rebellion! He also said that the Qingzhou Governor, Sun Yu, has already agreed to his request, and that the county governors from all over the country will rise up together!"

"This is the list of all the rebels sent to me at once!"

Seeing this letter, the rough men around Hu Zun couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The newly arrived Xuzhou governor Hu Wei stood aside. Although they both had the surname Hu, he had no relationship with Hu Zun.

Hu Wei was from Shouchun. His father, Hu Zhi, was an important official of Cao Wei and served as the General of the Eastern Expedition. Like Hu Zun, Hu Zhi was a well-known honest minister. Hu Wei was influenced by his father since he was a child and was also upright and honest.

Once, the governor under Hu Zhi wanted to bribe Hu Wei with money. Hu Wei told his father about this, and Hu Zhi beat the governor with a hundred sticks and dismissed him from his post.

Another time, Hu Wei traveled from Luoyang to Jingzhou to visit his father. His family was poor and had no carriage or servants, so he rode a donkey and cooked his own meals along the way. When he arrived in Jingzhou and saw his father, Hu Zhi gave his son a piece of cloth. Hu Wei was very surprised and asked, "Where did such valuable cloth come from?"

Hu Zhi told him that it was the surplus from his salary and it could be used as food for his journey home.

After becoming an official, Hu Wei always regarded educating the local people as his mission. He advised Sima Yan many times in history, thinking that Sima Yan was too lenient, did not hold ministers who had committed crimes accountable, and failed to distinguish between rewards and punishments.

Cao Mao also valued his ability and character, which is why he appointed him as the governor of Xuzhou.

Hu Wei's personality was very much to Hu Zun's liking. Although they had only met for a few days, Hu Zun was very satisfied with the new governor.

Hu Wei said, "General, this governor's rebellion is definitely not something to laugh at."

Hu Zun waved his hand. "What do you know? Even with these governors, including the provincial governor, which one of them knows how to fight? I have received your majesty's kindness but have not been able to repay you. Isn't now the best opportunity?!"

"I've always wanted to clean up Qingxu, but I was worried I didn't have the chance. Now that this man is rebelling, it's the perfect time. Within ten days, just ten days, I can chop off his head and send it to Luoyang!"

Hu Zun's face instantly became serious. At this moment, even Hu Wei didn't dare to refute him.

The generals put away their smiles and waited solemnly for his orders.

"Send troops immediately. According to this list, round up all the thieves in one fell swoop. If anyone dares to let even one of them escape, I will hang him on a horse and drag him to death on the road!!!"

"only!!!"

"Whoever is the first to reach the summit and slay the general, I will also submit a petition to His Majesty requesting a reward. This is a gift from heaven for your military merit! Let's go!!"

"only!!!"

(End of this chapter)