The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 410 Appalling
He Zeng turned this celebratory banquet into a scene of surrender.

That day, he beat and killed three officials in a row.

All the ministers were terrified.

It’s not that the ministers had never seen people being killed, nor were they afraid of being beaten to death.

What shocked them was He Zeng's behavior. Without any trial by any institution, he privately stripped the three ministers of their clothes and beat them to death with sticks in front of all the ministers.

This is simply horrifying, and only Dong Zhuo could do this.

Of course, Sima Shi had also used it, so the ministers disliked him.

The atmosphere in the temple has been very lax in recent years. The collapse of etiquette has caused the ministers to lose a certain sense of awe. They are also pursuing a sense of transcendence beyond the world, but this blow from He Zeng seems to have knocked them back underground.

The ministers watched the scene in front of them quietly, and no one dared to speak.

When Dong Zhuo was around, there was still Yuan Shao who dared to draw his sword to fight him, but now, there was no such brave man at the banquet.

There may be some in the temple, but people like that will definitely not come to participate in He Zeng's banquet.

He Zeng asked the soldiers to escort the rest of the prisoners away, then put on a smile again and motioned the ministers to sit down.

"Don't be afraid. These people dared to rebel and were sentenced to death. I only beat them to death with a stick to spare them some pain."

"Everyone, your Majesty is wise and benevolent. Since he took power, our Great Wei has ushered in a prosperous era. The people are now prosperous, the world is peaceful, and the Great Wei dynasty is forever strong. Isn't this all because of your Majesty?!"

"I have been deeply grateful to Your Majesty. From now on, as the head of the Censorate, I will serve you with all my strength and show no mercy to those who commit crimes. I hope you will not forget your duty as a minister and will assist Your Majesty with all your heart and achieve great things. Otherwise, please do not blame me for disregarding our previous kindness."

He once said something very cold with great enthusiasm.

All the ministers dared not speak.

When He Zeng announced the end of the banquet, the ministers stood up tremblingly.

The atmosphere at this moment was very quiet, and the Wei Dynasty temple seemed to have lost its vitality in an instant.

Ministers in the past were always noisy and enthusiastic. Even when they went to court meetings, they would gather in groups of three or four, talking and laughing.

But at this moment, no one did this anymore. They quietly got on the carriage and quickly fled from here.

He Zeng sat in the upper seat from beginning to end and did not go to see them off.

At this moment, He Shao couldn't help but walk to his father's side.

"Father! What are you doing?!"

He Shao looked even more terrified.

"Your Majesty has granted you the position of one of the Three Dukes, and yet you commit such horrific acts. From today on, my family will be cut off from the world!"

He Zeng glanced at him calmly, "Do you think I shouldn't do this?"

"Is Father going to be a cruel official who will be infamous for eternity?!"

"Your Majesty is clearly using father as a weapon. Do you know what happened to those cruel officials? They either died at the hands of the ministers or at the hands of the emperor. Which one ended well?"

"If you do these things, one day His Majesty will eliminate you to appease the public anger. When that happens, our entire clan will suffer!"

"I really don't understand why my father would do such a thing."

Hearing his son's question, He Zeng was silent for a long time.

He wanted to say something but stopped himself. Finally, his body relaxed and he waved to his son, asking him to sit next to him.

"Shao, what is the crime of leading people to attack the emperor's convoy, imprison the emperor, and support a new emperor?"

"Exterminate the entire clan."

"So, do you think I was involved in this?"

He Shao hurriedly said, "Father, you took the initiative to help expose the crime, so how can you be considered an accomplice? Definitely not!"

He Zeng smiled and nodded, "Okay, okay, then let me ask you, accepting gifts from others, purchasing real estate in various places, and overstepping one's bounds within the palace, what crime is this?"

"Well, probably exile."

"What if Zhong Hui is in charge, and his assistants are all people who are at odds with me? And my rank is high, so I can use it to establish my authority over everyone. What do you think will happen?!"

"What kind of crime is it to assist General Wei in harming the Emperor?!"

"What kind of crime is it to promote one's own trusted associates to important positions in the military?!"

"What kind of crime is it to shield your foolish son from punishment?!"

He Zeng spoke faster and faster, but He Shao was unable to answer and his face became paler and paler.

He Zeng said disdainfully: "How can I not understand what you can understand?"

"If I were useless to Your Majesty, would you still be standing before me and questioning me?"

"You and I, father and son, would have been dragged out by Zhong Hui and beheaded in public long ago!"

"Who else can protect us except Your Majesty?"

He Zeng asked angrily, "Do you want to die now, or do you want to die later?"

At this moment, He Shao was speechless. He looked a little desperate. "But what should I do next?"

He Zeng snorted coldly, "It's very simple, stop taking other people's things, do your work in peace, and don't break the law."

"His Majesty will not kill those who are useful to him. Even if he has to throw the knife, as long as I do a good enough job, it will only be a dismissal."

"As for the revenge of the big families, just wait and see. Ten years later, as long as Your Majesty doesn't die early, these people won't dare to breathe a sigh of relief." He Zeng had already seen the future situation clearly.

It is simply a pipe dream to want to overthrow the emperor by relying on these insects today. It will offend the aristocratic families, so be it. These people are nothing anyway.

With the emperor as their backer, as long as they can make the emperor satisfied with themselves, their entire family will be the safest, and even Zhong Hui would not dare to harm them.

He Shao didn't dare to say anything more at this moment.

"His Majesty!!"

Zhang Hua hurriedly walked into the West Hall. He leaned close to Cao Mao's ear and whispered what He Zeng had done in the mansion.

"Your Majesty, this incident has caused an uproar throughout the city. I'm afraid it will soon spread throughout the country. The ministers are extremely angry."

"Why can't I be the Sikong?"

"Treating the ministers in this way will surely cause unrest in the world."

Zhang Hua was very worried at this moment.

He was worried about Zhong Hui, thinking he might be too radical and kill too many people.

But in front of He Zeng, Zhong Hui was considered a moderate.

This kind of cruel massacre by He Zeng completely tore the relationship apart and brought the court back to the Dong Zhuo period. After this incident, I am afraid that the entire court will begin to become depressed.

Zhang Hua felt that this was contrary to what His Majesty had originally said, which was to allow the scholars to speak.

When Cao Mao heard this, his expression remained unchanged.

He looked at Zhang Hua standing beside him and shook his head with emotion.

"Maoxian is still young."

"Maoxian, only severe punishments can bring order to troubled times."

"The Great Wei of today may seem peaceful, but the level of chaos is no different from that of troubled times. The administration is broken, and it's from the top down. To deal with such a situation, we can only resort to methods like He Zeng."

"You can call it cruel or horrific, but as long as it teaches officials to restrain themselves, that's enough."

"I need a period of cruelty to teach the ministers to fear and for the scholars to restrain themselves. This is for the sake of the whole world."

"There's no way to change things through gentle means. The Censorate has already taken the lead in accepting bribes. What effect can gentle means have?"

"Let He Zeng continue to take care of it."

"If the ministers are dissatisfied, let them make a fuss, and if they make a fuss, kill them."

"If local officials are vacant, then let meritorious soldiers and generals fill them. First, adopt the Qin law. Once the soldiers have made changes and cultivated talents, then we can discuss other matters."

"If we don't take action now, it won't be so easy to solve these problems later."

Zhang Hua suddenly fell silent.

Cao Mao picked up the memorial in his hand again and began to look through it. He was not worried about this matter at all.

This incident quickly began to ferment in Luoyang. Similarly, the news that Guo Jian arrested the scholars who were causing trouble also began to spread everywhere. When these two things happened together, the scholars felt like the sky was falling.

When Cao Mao first ascended the throne, they thought he was a benevolent ruler who saved the world.

Who could have thought that it would become like this.

They were very angry and very dissatisfied with the emperor.

However, they no longer dared to go to the streets to insult important officials because Guo Jian would arrest them. Similarly, the officials no longer dared to gather together to discuss important matters because He Zeng was still trying people.

Cao Mao's reputation in Luoyang declined rapidly, and in the minds of scholars he became a tyrant who was as bad as Dong Zhuo.

However, those who usually dared to speak out with sarcasm and ridicule disappeared without a trace.

Cao Mao felt that he had found a way to deal with these greedy, vicious and cowardly villains.

The ministers did not dare to object anymore, but Cao Mao's confidants could not help it at this moment.

The three ministers and many ministers from the Secretariat came to persuade him, all believing that He Zeng's behavior was inappropriate.

He Zeng should be dismissed.

This does not mean that these people are no longer loyal to Cao Mao, but that they still insist on practicing benevolent governance and despise this abuse of corporal punishment.

Those who were dissatisfied with Cao Mao were also gloating at this moment.

They felt that the emperor's behavior this time would undoubtedly cause him great trouble and make him lose the "support of the people."

He will undoubtedly lose because of the people's opposition, and he will not be able to remain rampant for long.

But Cao Mao's understanding of the people's will seemed to be somewhat different from what they knew.

"Your Majesty, he has never been tyrannical. These days, he has arrested ministers for all kinds of unfounded crimes, even framing them. The ministers are terrified. This cannot continue!"

Wang Chang frowned, extremely dissatisfied with the methods of this villain He Zeng.

"My Lord, I already know about this matter."

"He Zeng's methods are somewhat cruel, but isn't that Tao Qiuyi hateful?! I consider him my confidant, and he actually wants to commit regicide?!"

Cao Mao shouted angrily.

Wang Chang was immediately speechless.

(End of this chapter)