The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 388 Calling on the World
"Mr. Pei!"

Pei Hui chuckled and asked the person in front of him to stand up.

"No need to be so polite, just sit down."

Pei Hui, the governor of Jizhou, was born into the Pei family of Hedong. He was a top figure in the family and the father of Pei Kai, the most handsome man in the world.

Pei Hui was a gentle person who never challenged others. He had a high level of attainment in Confucian classics. When Fu Gu and Xun Can were arguing about the classics and refusing to give in, it was Pei Hui who stood between them, explained the righteousness of the two schools, and understood their respective feelings, allowing them to reconcile.

His personal morals were also good. Even though he was not as clean as Hu Wei, he could be considered a gentleman of virtue. He was magnanimous, governed with gentleness, and would not exploit the people.

Cao Mao let him continue to serve as the governor of Jizhou because Jizhou had previously suffered a rebellion and could not withstand turmoil, and was more suitable for a gentle person like Pei Hui to govern.

Of course, there was also the idea of appeasing the emotions of the powerful families. People from humble backgrounds accounted for too large a proportion of the provincial governors, so a few people from powerful families were needed to balance the situation, otherwise the powerful families would oppose the emperor's employment standards.

After hearing Pei Hui's words, the man stood up and sat next to Pei Hui respectfully. He took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Pei Hui in front of him.

Pei Hui took the letter and asked with a smile, "How is Mr. Sun's health? I think we haven't exchanged letters for nearly a year."

The Qingzhou envoy quickly replied, "Mr. Pei, my governor is in good health. It's just that he has been busy with government affairs and hasn't been able to write to you often."

Pei Hui smiled and nodded, then opened the letter.

After just a few glances, the smile on Pei Hui's face froze. His eyes were full of astonishment, and he threw the paper away as if he had been electrocuted. He raised his head again and looked at the messenger in front of him, but there was no kindness in his eyes.

"Someone is coming!!"

"Take this man down!!"

Pei Hui shouted loudly, and immediately a soldier rushed in and pressed the messenger to the ground.

The messenger was shocked and hurriedly explained, "Mr. Pei! Please listen to me. My governor has no ulterior motives. He is truly acting for the greater good of the world. He has sent me here to discuss the benefits."

"Pfft~~~"

The messenger had barely begun to speak when Pei Hui's sword pierced through his body, stabbing him in the abdomen.

Pei Hui's face was no longer as gentle as before. His eyes were sharp as he stared at the messenger. "Traitor?! How dare you say anything?"

Pei Hui suddenly drew out his sword, and the messenger fell to the ground with a look of disbelief on his face.

The envoy had delivered letters to Pei Hui on behalf of Sun Yu many times. He had a good relationship with Pei Hui and was also eloquent. That's why Sun Yu asked him to persuade Pei Hui to start an army.

He really didn't expect that Pei Hui, who was always smiling and approachable on weekdays, would not even give him a chance to speak and would just attack him directly.

Looking at the envoy lying in a pool of blood, Pei Hui quickly sent someone to summon the ministers in the county.

He picked up the letter that was dropped on the ground and read it over and over again.

If Pei Hui had known that the envoy sent by Sun Yu was here to persuade him to rebel, he would definitely not have read the memorial.

Sun Yu had made preparations a long time ago. Before he kidnapped the King of Qi, he had sent people to various places to prepare for propaganda work. He didn't even have to wait for Cao Fang's approval.

Pei Hui confirmed again and again that there was nothing in the letter that involved him, and only then did he feel relieved.

Pei Hui was not willing to follow Sun Yu in making trouble. Several people in his clan were highly valued by the emperor. Even he himself had received several letters from the emperor before, asking him to govern Hebei well. His son Pei Kai joined the emperor's newly formed department, and his adopted son Pei Xiu was an important official around the emperor. It was heard that he would be promoted to Shangshu.

Considering the talents of his children and the degree of attention and favor paid by His Majesty, it would not be a big problem for them to get two of the Three Dukes within thirty years.

Besides, his family was in Luoyang, and several of his outstanding children were also by the emperor's side.

Is he crazy enough to rebel against Sun Yu?!
Therefore, the most decisive action was to kill the messenger, inform the court of the letter and the matter, and express one's determination.

When Pei Hui summoned many officials, their faces looked extremely serious.

"Mr. Pei! Sun Yu of Qingzhou is plotting a rebellion!"

"Um?!"

Pei Hui was confused. How could his subordinates know it faster than him?

Then he saw Beijia took out a notice and said seriously, "This was posted inside the city. Many people are talking about this. I have sent people to seal off the city and no one is allowed to enter or leave."

When Pei Hui saw the manifesto, he thought to himself that something was wrong.

"Quickly send someone to contact General Yang!"

"Something big happened in Qingzhou!"

Sun Yu not only sent people to contact Pei Hui, he also arranged people to publicize this matter in various places, mainly to win over more allies and undermine the stability of the enemy's rear.

The same thing is happening all over the place.

Sun Yu sent many people to Youzhou, Jizhou, Xuzhou, and even Yangzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou and other regions, hoping that they would raise an army to fight against the thief emperor. The newly appointed Youzhou governor He Zhen also met with the envoys soon.

He Zhen was from Lujiang. His father died before he was born. His family was poor and could not support him, so he lived with his uncle. In order to support his family, he made brushes and wove fans. He started to study when he was over ten years old. He showed his attainments in Confucian classics and began to enter the official career.

Later, Cao Rui heard that he was very talented in literature, so he asked him to write "Xu Du Fu". After he finished writing it, Cao Rui valued him even more.

This man later guarded the border and designed to kill Liu Meng of the Xiongnu, which frightened the Xiongnu and made them dare not rebel again for many years.

After learning about this, he made almost the same decision as Pei Hui, but he did not kill the messenger. Instead, he tied him up and sent him to Luoyang.

The situation is similar in Yangzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou and other places.

The newly appointed governor of Yangzhou, Fu Xuan, was well-known for his integrity and honesty. His grandfather, Fu Xie, had served as the prefect of Hanyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his father, Fu Gan, had served as the prefect of Fufeng in the Cao Wei Dynasty.

Although he came from a prominent family, Fu Xuan's parents died when he was young, and he lived in poverty and hardship. This made him develop an indomitable character, and at the same time he grew into a capable minister with a long-term vision and great talent.

When Cao Mao selected provincial governors this time, he chose people of this type: either they were from commoner families or they were from wealthy families but their parents died early.

Fu Xuan's only flaw was his bad temper and lack of tolerance. He would fly into a rage over trivial matters. The incident with Sun Yu completely enraged him. He immediately shouted "traitor" and rode off on his horse to find Guanqiu Jian, who was about to be appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Guanqiu Jian was shocked by him and thought he was talking about himself.

The situation is similar in the other states.

Cao Mao had a good eye for selecting people.

Although the provincial governors did not choose the wrong team, the prefect had many problems. When Sun Yu's manifesto to attack Gaogui Xianggong spread everywhere, many people were still shaken.

Correspondingly, riots and even rebellions occurred in various places.

After hearing the news, the generals hurriedly began to reorganize their troops and prepare to go and quell the rebellion.

Just as a rebellion against Cao Mao was unfolding in full swing, Sun Yu, who launched the rebellion, was almost on the verge of collapse.

"Waste!! Idiot!!"

"Someone, come! Take him away! Execute him!!"

In the Palace of Prince Qi, Sun Yu was furious.

His lieutenant, Wu Sheng, quickly begged for mercy, "Sir Governor! For the sake of our friendship, please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

Wu Sheng was the son of Wu Dun, one of the four bandits in Mount Tai. Among all the bandits, his family was the worst off and could not even become a prefect.

Sun Yu was almost furious.

"I told you to hold the front lines, how dare you run away?!"

Wu Sheng looked dejected and couldn't help shedding tears when he heard Sun Yu's questioning.

"Sir, we can't hold the city! Hu Laogou's army is skilled in battle, and its members are all veterans. When my men saw his flag, they didn't dare draw their bows and shoot arrows. I killed several of them, and then a captain rebelled. If I hadn't run fast, they would have captured me and handed me over to Hu Laogou!"

"Many of our soldiers are Hu Zun's former subordinates. They don't listen to us at all. Moreover, Hu Zun arrived too quickly. As soon as I arrived, his army was already at the gate of the city, and there were so many of them."

Wu Sheng kept explaining the reasons for his defeat.

Sun Yu's initial idea was very wonderful. He felt that since the emperor was so indifferent to Hu Zun, he should be willing to come to him for help.

If we can get Hu Zun's help, hold on to Qingxu, and get support from other places, and if Wu sends troops to help, there will be no worries about success.

Even if Hu Zun refused, he could rely on Qingzhou's excellent city defense and the large amount of food stored to hold out until the day when unrest broke out in various places.

However, things did not develop as he expected.

The main reason was that the Qingzhou army, which he had high hopes for, was no match for Hu Zun.

When Shi Bao commanded the Qingzhou army, he did not dare to show his teeth to Hu Zun. It can only be said that Sun Yu, who had never experienced war, thought the war was too easy. He thought that once the city gate was closed, the enemy would take a long time to break through.

Unfortunately, Hu Zun didn't think so. He directly mobilized elite troops and sent them out from three directions. He captured a city every day and killed a prefect every three days. Even the cities couldn't stop him. It didn't seem like he was going to fight, but just on the road. Wherever his army went, the place would be destroyed.

The gap between the two sides is really huge. These corrupt officials in Qingzhou are first-rate at exploiting the people and taking bribes, but when it comes to commanding troops and fighting, they are not good at even simple defense. Defense is not as simple as they think. It is not just about standing on the city wall and saying a few words to hold on. You have to calculate the pressure on all sides of the city wall, consider the status of the soldiers, the number of rotations, the allocation of supplies and so on.

Hu Zun was unstoppable and Sun Yu was really panicked.

If Hu Zun kept fighting like this, wouldn't he be a prisoner in a few days?!
"Take this man away and lock him up. I will personally lead the troops to guard the place!"

"Reinforcements will be arriving soon, no need to panic!!"

(End of this chapter)