The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 408 Get started

"His Majesty."

Wang Rong knelt in front of Cao Mao and spoke with a trembling voice.

Wang Rong was also a man who had seen the world.

However, in this situation, it was difficult for him to remain calm.

Cao Mao's move was really scary.

He never expected that after returning home, he would actually run into the emperor staying in his own mansion.

At that moment, Wang Rong's mind went blank and he was so scared that he didn't know what to say.

Cao Mao just stared at him coldly.

A cold wind blew, ruffling Cao Mao's clothes, but his face was as gloomy as water.

"Wang Rong, have I ever looked down on you in the past?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"Is it because your salary is insufficient and you are starving?"

"This"

"Tell me!!"

"No."

"Then why did you do such a shameless thing? I treated you like a national hero, entertained you with banquets all day long, and debated with you on classics. When you were only thirty, I appointed you as a Huangmen Lang in the Ministry of Personnel. Yet, you dared to embezzle and bribe, seize other people's property, and build a mansion for yourself."

"Those traitors in the Censorate were also recommended by you."

"Wang Rong, Wang Rong, are you still a famous scholar of the Wei Dynasty? Are you still a role model for scholars?!"

Cao Mao's tone became increasingly cold.

Wang Rong was trembling with fear. He could no longer hold back and quickly said, "Your Majesty, the people I recommended are not without talent. They were appointed with the consent of Duke Zheng. They were naturally talented and were definitely not appointed because of bribery."

"I didn't plunder any of your property. I just bought it with my own money. This isn't a crime."

"As for accepting bribes, they offered me gifts themselves, and I simply didn't refuse them. I never asked them for any money."

Wang Rong hurriedly explained.

Cao Mao suddenly sneered.

"I see. So, you're innocent. The money was all given to you by others, and the house you bought yourself. This official was appointed by Minister Zheng."

Wang Rong quickly changed his words, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

"That's not right. Didn't he just say he was innocent? How come he's guilty again?"

Cao Mao slowly walked in front of Wang Rong, lowered his head and stared at him.

"Wang Rong, are you guilty or not?"

Wang Rong slowly raised his head at this moment. For some reason, under Cao Mao's gaze, he was speechless.

Looking at Wang Rong who remained silent, Cao Mao laughed.

"Arrest him and send him to the Ministry of Justice."

"Thoroughly investigate his family wealth and all his clansmen, and capture them all."

"only!!"

The soldiers said yes and immediately took action. Wang Rong was thrown directly into the prison car and quickly left the place.

Cao Mao walked to Wang Rong's study and stood at the door. He looked at the large area of golden light in the room. There was no anger in his eyes, only unspeakable sadness.

He also didn't know how much blood and tears of the people were stained on the treasures in this room.

He also didn't understand why Wang Rong could be corrupted so quickly.

It is natural to pursue beauty and enjoyment. Everyone in the world has such a right, including the newly appointed Xuzhou governor Hu Wei. He likes to wear beautiful clothes, and this is not a problem at all.

The problem is that this cannot be achieved by exploiting the people, bribing and engaging in corruption.

During these days, Cao Mao improved the treatment of the troops, and various appointments also cost a lot of money. Disaster relief was the most expensive, but Cao Mao never felt the financial pressure. Why was that?

It’s because he kills people and robs houses from time to time.

These people are richer than each other. The fat pigs are so big that killing one can provide food for several years.

Soon, Cao Mao left here, and Wang Rong's mansion was officially confiscated and sealed off.

When Wang Rong got into trouble, Zhong Hui failed to arrive at his residence in time.

Because He Zeng's sudden appearance disrupted some of Zhong Hui's plans.

He Zeng and Zhong Hui's positions actually did not conflict, both of them were trying to help the emperor deal with his opponents.

But in terms of ideas, the two people are completely different.

When Zhong Hui learned that He Zeng was going to replace Zheng Chong as Sikong, he was stunned for a long time.

Zhong Hui disliked this person very much.

After He Zeng arrived at the Censorate, the first thing he did was to drive out Zhong Hui's people, claiming that he would carry out the rectification himself.

This made Zhong Hui even more unhappy, and the two began to argue. Wang Rong's news could not be concealed after all.

The day after he was taken away, the whole of Luoyang was in an uproar. It seemed that everyone knew about it, and the scholars were even more shocked.

The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove had a very high reputation among the people. In the eyes of those young scholars, they were the most virtuous people in the world. How could they be arrested?
In history, after Sima Zhao arrested Ji Kang, it also triggered a collective protest by ten people, and this time was no exception.

The scholars were very angry about this incident, so they immediately gathered together and rushed to Sima Zhao's mansion.

That’s right, this matter was handled by General Wei.

When General Wei woke up from the noise outside, he was still a little confused.

He didn't know what was happening outside.

He changed his clothes and then called the clerk who was responsible for guarding him.

"Mr. Li, what happened outside? Why is there such a commotion?"

Sima Zhao was very serious.

The clerk replied, "It's because the general arrested Wang Rong, the Yellow Gate Officer of the Ministry of Personnel. Ten people are dissatisfied and have come here to humiliate him."

Sima Zhao almost jumped up.

"Wang Rong? How could I?"

Sima Zhao also reacted at this moment. It must be that dirty guy who arrested people in his name again.

He knew Wang Rong. This guy had always been friendly with the Sima family. He also had a good relationship with his father. He was also said to be very talented. Why did the emperor arrest him?
It would be fine if you just arrested him, but why use your own name?

Sima Zhao was furious at this moment, but he was unable to explain.

At the beginning, Cao Cao held the emperor hostage and issued orders to various places in the name of the emperor. At least in Cao Wei, everyone believed that the orders at that time were really issued by the emperor. This was even more so at the lower levels. They all believed that it was the Han emperor who governed various places and issued edicts.

And now, Cao Mao has reappeared and is giving orders in the name of General Wei. It’s still the same principle. No matter what you think in your heart, as long as you are still in the territory of Cao Wei, you have to accept it.

Sima Zhao was filled with grief and indignation. He gritted his teeth and asked, "What else have I done during these days?"

The clerk shook his head. "That's what I don't know. But don't worry. Your Majesty will certainly not allow them to humiliate the ministers like this."

The other party left in a hurry without explaining clearly.

The more Sima Zhao thought about it, the angrier he became. Now he was simply a toy in Cao Mao's hands. He had to speak for the emperor during court meetings, and lend his name to the emperor when there were no court meetings. He had to submit all kinds of memorials to the emperor, and Sima Zhao didn't even know what memorial he had submitted today.

This is really going too far. Even your great-grandfather never humiliated Emperor Xian of Han like this. At least he told us!

Sima Zhao cursed in his heart, but he didn't remember that Cao Mao learned all these things from them.

Cao Mao had long anticipated the anger of the scholars.

But he didn't care about that.

Sure enough, the newly appointed lieutenant Guo Jian led the soldiers to attack and directly confronted these soldiers.

Guo Jian did not care about the identities of these people at all. He just warned them to leave quickly and sentenced Wang Rong to death.

Of course, these brave soldiers would not take these warnings seriously.

Even when Sima Shi was still alive, they dared to cause trouble.

Anyway, no one dares to take the risk of fighting them. The last people who fought against them were the Ten Eunuchs. Just look at their reputation.

However, these scholars did not expect that Guo Jian really didn't care about these things.

Guo Jian was originally a thug trained by the Guo family. He wasn't very smart, but he was quite capable.

Moreover, these scholars were not considered strong compared to Cao Mao. For people without morals, why would they care about their reputation among the scholars?

So, when Guo Jian saw that these people were unwilling to leave, he immediately ordered his soldiers to arrest them.

This was the first time the scholars had seen such a reckless man.

All we can say is that they were born too late and never saw the end of the Han Dynasty.

During the late Han Dynasty, the eunuchs were ruthless towards the leaders of these scholars, often arresting and torturing them to death.

Guo Jian could obviously do what the eunuchs could do. Within a moment, the soldiers began to scream. The sword skills they were proud of in their daily lives were completely useless when facing the armored soldiers. Some people had just drawn their swords when they were pierced through the body by the spears of the armored soldiers.

This sudden change scared the old guys who were hiding in the dark and ready to use these young scholars to force the emperor, so much so that they turned around and ran away.

Facts have proved that these people are not as good as the scholars in the late Han Dynasty.

If you want to capture the scholars of the late Han Dynasty, you need to at least mobilize the elite imperial guards. However, dealing with these scholars who are weak and exhausted due to drinking and taking drugs can be easily done by even some night watchmen. They were beaten and fled in all directions. Many scholars did not understand why they dared to attack them.

Those who usually acted high and mighty felt the power of the soldiers for the first time.

They never took these soldiers seriously. When they encountered patrolling soldiers blocking the road, they dared to use their carriages to hit these people.

However, when the soldiers no longer restrained themselves, these good-for-nothings were wiped out in a matter of moments.

Sima Zhao trembled as he listened to the noise outside.

Even if he didn't go out, he could guess what was happening outside.

When the screams stopped and the soldiers escorted people out of the door, and the sound of someone sprinkling water to wash the ground was heard, Sima Zhao couldn't help but shiver.

Then he walked into the inner room tremblingly, no longer wanting to ask the emperor for an explanation.

(End of this chapter)