The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 414 Alternation
Liangzhou.

Some kind of grand ceremony is being held in the city at this moment.

A famous local witch is leading everyone to pray to various ghosts and gods, hoping that the ghosts and gods can protect their farmland and keep everyone from suffering from cold and hunger.

They wore masks, put on strange clothes, hung all kinds of feathers, held hook shields in their hands, chanted something in their mouths, and jumped back and forth.

The people gathered around them and slaughtered animals for sacrifice.

Wang Hun, the governor of Liangzhou, stood in the distance, watching the scene helplessly under the close protection of many armored soldiers.

If such a situation occurred in the Central Plains, it would certainly be punished by the temple. Such sacrifices are illegal, and the temple has its own legal sacrifices.

The legal sacrifice was called Nuo ritual, which was a solemn sacrifice led by the emperor himself.

The original purpose was to drive away ghosts and plagues.

By the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Nuo rituals had gradually become secularized and transformed into Nuo operas.

Because of the popularity of metaphysics at this time, the event became more grand, usually led by local officials, with nearly a thousand actors, and strict requirements in all aspects, from expelling plague and worshiping gods to celebrating peace.

This is an official sacrifice and is legal.

However, many sacrifices in Liangzhou were performed spontaneously by the people, which was illegal.

It will be severely punished by the government.

But this is Liangzhou.

Liangzhou has always been a place with a strong superstitious atmosphere, and the ghost-exorcism rituals handed down from the early Han Dynasty are still popular today.

Although doctors have replaced witches, witches in Liangzhou are still active and occupy the position of doctors in many areas.

"Envoy, does this need to be stopped?"

A newly appointed official asked.

Wang Hun shook his head.

"There's no need to stop it. You've just arrived in Liangzhou and you don't know how many obscene rituals there are. This isn't something we can stop right now."

"As long as these people don't raise an army to rebel against the court, let them perform the sacrifice."

"However, please do not report these matters to the imperial court, as it will only cause more trouble."

The officials obeyed the order.

Wang Hun turned around and left.

In this season in Liangzhou, there are strong winds and yellow sand all over the sky.

In the early Han Dynasty, this place was still a precious land, suitable for farming and grazing. The brave generals of Emperor Wu of Han who conquered the Hexi region made great achievements and were praised by later generations.

Hundreds of years later, the environment here suffered great damage. The lakes dried up, the forests turned into deserts, strong winds blew, and yellow sand covered the area. The further west you went, the worse the environment became.

The consequence of this was that Liangzhou's output became lower and lower, and the people became more and more miserable.

This created a fierce folk custom in the local area. The toughness of the people of Liangzhou was engraved in their bones, and the government was tired of worrying about Liangzhou again and again. The people of Guandong discriminated against the people of Guanxi, and the people of Yongzhou were called warriors, let alone the people of Liangzhou. Even the big families in Liangzhou were regarded as frontier warriors and were not valued by the big families in the Central Plains.

Various contradictions and conflicts have shrouded this place in war.

From the end of the Han Dynasty to the present day, countless wars have broken out here, and rebellions are the most numerous among all the states. Killing officials and rebelling is a common occurrence. Even provincial governors have been killed, not to mention prefects and the like.

The people of Liangzhou have a strong sense of regionalism. Whenever a famous person from Liangzhou takes the lead in rebelling against the government, the locals always stand on the side of the famous person from Liangzhou.

It is difficult for outsiders to gain their approval when they come here to serve as officials unless they can do a very good job.

When Wang Hun returned to the governor's mansion, a minor official was waiting for him.

"Envoy! General Zhenxi requests that you immediately travel to Chang'an to meet with him and discuss the conquest of Shu."

"what??"

When Wang Hun saw the letter in his hand, he was shocked.

Are we going to attack Shu?

How is this possible?

Wang Hun knew how difficult it was to defeat Shu. Although he successfully defeated Jiang Wei once, it was not easy for him to take advantage of this opportunity to seize some benefits from Shu.

Wang Hun could no longer sit still and hurriedly ordered his men to prepare carriages and horses to go to Yongzhou to persuade Deng Ai.

Traveling in Liangzhou is a rather difficult thing. Even Wang Hun, the governor of Liangzhou, has to be very careful when traveling and needs a large number of armored soldiers to protect him, otherwise it is easy for something to get into trouble.

Wang Hun hurriedly left Liangzhou and headed towards Chang'an.

As the general governor of Yongliang, Deng Ai could give orders to the two governors.

The reason why Cao Mao dared to use Sima Shi's confidants without hesitation was definitely not because of the reason that he was the general's son-in-law. Just look at the generals' confidants who followed Cao Mao, and you can get the general idea.

The generals and confidants who followed Cao Mao were all promoted and given additional titles.

Some of them soared to the position of General Zhenbei, some fulfilled their long-cherished wish and became one of the Three Dukes, some were showered with honors, and some held great power.

Cao Mao gave them what they wanted.

This is why Cao Mao dared to use them with confidence, and this is also the reason why they would support Cao Mao.

What matters is not who inherits the general's legacy, but who can bring them tangible benefits and give them what they desire.

Wang Hun came all the way to Chang'an. Although Yongliang was not good in other aspects, its roads were good. In the past, Guo Huai had repaired the roads in Yongliang in order to provide timely reinforcements to various places and resist the invasion from Shu. The roads between various places were flat and wide, and many carriages could pass at the same time.

Wang Hun arrived in Chang'an, rested for a day, and went to meet Deng Ai the next day.

The Wang family wasn't having an easy time these days. Wang Hun and Wang Xiang were from the same clan, though they had split up and were no longer part of the same lineage. They still suffered after Wang Xiang's fall from power. When Wang Hun arrived at Deng Ai's residence, the Wei general, the Western Guardian, was squatting by the side of the courtyard, looking at the vegetables in the gully.

At that time, people liked to build a vegetable garden inside the courtyard wall and grow various vegetables, and the things planted were different in different seasons.

When Deng Ai noticed Wang Hun coming, he stood up. He looked a little dusty and his clothes were not very clean.

If Deng Ai had gone to meet guests in this manner in the past, he would certainly have been considered rude and would have caused a quarrel.

However, this is the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and everyone can have their own personality. Even if you go to meet your friends without wearing any clothes, no one will look down on you. You may even get the reputation of a celebrity.

Therefore, Wang Hun didn't care at all about Deng Ai's dirty appearance.

Deng Ai was a man who didn't like to talk much and was not very enthusiastic towards others.

When he saw Wang Hun coming, he just bowed simply and had no intention of greeting him.

The two men walked into the inner room one after the other. After Wang Hun sat down, Deng Ai finally spoke, "Wang, Wang, Governor Wang."

"I asked you to come here because of your son's matter."

Wang Hun was confused, "Rong?"

He frowned. His son was just a Huangmen Lang, and he still needed Deng Ai to summon him? ? Had he committed some crime?

Wang Hun suddenly felt a little worried.

Could it be related to the affairs of Qingzhou?

Just when Wang Hun was confused, Deng Ai took out a letter from the side and handed it to him.

"This is a letter from His Majesty. Please read it yourself."

Wang Hun picked up the letter and began to read.

This was a letter written by the emperor to him. At the beginning, the emperor severely reprimanded him and accused him of not disciplining his son well. Then, the emperor listed the impeachments made by the ministers against his son.

Seizing farmland, accepting bribes, using one's position to recommend others, and extorting military commanders
Wang Hun just glanced at it casually for a few times before his eyes went dark.

"This is impossible!!!"

Wang Hun jumped up suddenly and stared at Deng Ai in front of him.

"My son has always been a refined gentleman, and he doesn't care about money. I've always taught him to be indifferent to material possessions. He's only been in office for a few months, how could he do something like this?"

Deng Ai was very calm.

"A group of ministers are impeaching us. We have evidence."

Wang Hun gritted his teeth and looked at the letter in his hand again.

Sure enough, after accusing Wang Rong of crimes, the emperor listed many pieces of evidence used by his ministers to impeach Wang Rong, and the evidence was conclusive.

At this moment, Wang Hun tightly grasped the letter in his hand, his face flushed, and he staggered a few times.

Deng Ai saw blood oozing from his mouth. Wang Hun screamed and fell headfirst.

At this moment, Deng Ai panicked. He quickly stood up and shouted for a doctor.

Several doctors hurried over and carried Wang Hun away.

Deng Ai stood at the door, watching Wang Hun being carried away, and couldn't help but shake his head with emotion.

Wang Hun's health was not very good to begin with, and now that he was so angry, he was afraid that something might happen to him.

Wang Rong was a famous figure admired by the world just a few months ago. Why did he become like this in just a few months?
Deng Ai couldn't figure it out, so he wrote down the situation here and sent it to Luoyang.

The envoys flew quickly from Chang'an to Luoyang. Deng Ai's envoys had not yet arrived in Luoyang, but the envoys from Luoyang came to Chang'an again.

The visitor was the new governor of Liangzhou, Sima Wang.

"Meet General Deng."

Sima Wang saluted respectfully.

Deng Ai looked at him and nodded, saying, "You performed great service in defeating Jiang Wei. Your Majesty should have promoted you then. Why wait until today?"

Sima Wang was horrified. Zhuge Xu beside him hurriedly stood up and said, "Ahem, General, this is because Sima Jun's contributions are so great that His Majesty needs to make proper arrangements. That's why it has only arrived today."

Although Zhuge Xu was not very good at fighting, he was very good at saving his life.

He knows what to say and what not to say.

As for Deng Ai, he is sometimes quite stubborn and a bit reckless.

Sima Wang said seriously, "General, when I came here, His Majesty gave me many instructions. I would like to borrow 3,000 soldiers from you to accompany me to Liangzhou."

"Oh? What do you want a centaur for?"

"I want to govern Liangzhou."

Before Deng Ai could say anything, Zhuge Xu beside him widened his eyes.

Govern Liangzhou? ?
How dare you talk such big words just after you arrived?

Why are all the people in Yongliang so unreliable?

Deng Ai pondered for a moment. "I can lend you the troops, but you'll have to prepare the subsequent food and supplies yourself. I'll rotate the troops and won't keep the same army stationed in Liang Province for long periods of time."

"Thank you, General!!"

(End of this chapter)