The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 426 Brothers
During the Cao Wei period, it was extremely serious for the emperor to praise a prince for his wisdom.

Cao Mao brought Cao Ju back to the palace.

The reason why Cao Mao met Cao Ju and Cao Qi was that he had some arrangements for them.

Like Cao Yu, Cao Ju was an old man from the royal family. However, Cao Ju was more famous among the royal family because he had passively competed with Cao Mao for the throne in the past.

If you want to appease the royal family, you can actually achieve a lot by starting with Cao Ju.

Cao Mao had to change the clan members' stereotype of the emperor. Not every emperor would persecute his own clan.

Cao Mao placed high hopes on these princes. Of course, Cao Mao would not make all his relatives kings like An Shi did, giving them land, money, population, and army, and fully trusting them.

Doing so is simply courting disaster, and the harm will be even greater than the rebellion of the kings in the early Han Dynasty.

However, even without military and financial power, the princes can still exert a certain restraining effect on the powerful families at the local level.

The Inspectors were like the eyes of the emperor, but they had vested interests with the local powerful families, and some were even relatives. Cao Mao could not say that future Inspectors must be chosen from humble backgrounds, so other eyes were needed.

The princes could communicate with the emperor by letter at any time, and they would not have much interest in the local clans unless they planned to rebel.

Taking the initiative to get close to the big families in the local area, even if the princes dare to do so, the big families may not dare to do so.

Cao Mao wanted to have his eyes spread all over the world so that he could grasp the world's developments at any time.

Of course, the Wei Dynasty still needs a secret service agency today.

Cao Wei had its own secret service agency. The editor during Cao Cao's time was also called Dianxiao, and Cao Mao appointed Guo Jian to such a position.

However, this position has basically been in a state of decline since the end of Emperor Wen's reign.

Until now, we no longer have the ability to detect traitors.

It would be difficult for Cao Mao to restart this department in a short period of time.

Cao Mao treated Cao Ju very well, and they talked and laughed together. Although Cao Ju was afraid, he forced a smile.

Cao Mao held a banquet in the East Hall, and those who came included Cao Yu, Xiahou Xian, Cao Yan and many other clan members.

The arrival of these people finally made Cao Ju feel a lot more at ease.

Xiahou Xian's attitude towards Cao Mao was the most respectful. When the emperor came to the central army and wanted to use money to "bribe" the soldiers, he even thought about changing the emperor's mind.

But later, as Cao Mao frequently went to the central army, the changes in the central army became more and more significant, and morale soared.

In just one year, the central army became completely different from the one Xiahou Xian had taken over.

The current central army truly has the feeling of the early days of Cao Wei.

Moreover, Cao Mao held a very high position in the central army, and he was very familiar with many generals and captains. Xiahou Xian felt that the emperor's control over the central army probably surpassed that of several previous emperors. He might not be as good as Emperor Wu, but he had surpassed Emperor Wen.

Cao Mao's influence was still fermenting among the generals in various war zones. After all, he was the first one to improve the treatment of soldiers after he took power.

Cao Yu, who served as the Minister of the Imperial Clan, was probably similar to Cao Ju. He was timid and afraid of things, and obeyed Cao Mao's orders. He had no opinions of his own and was an invisible man like Zheng Chong.

As for Cao Yan, he was the most enthusiastic. Ever since he came in, he had been praising the emperor and never stopped talking.

"Your Majesty, this is the first time you've held a family banquet. In the past, when the Ming Emperor held a family banquet, he would only summon a prince and ask him to bring his legitimate son. There has never been such a thing as multiple royal family members gathering together!"

Of course, compared with Emperor Wen, Emperor Ming, who was able to make use of the royal family, was more reliable.

Cao Mao smiled and said nothing.

Cao Yan looked at Cao Ju who was standing beside him and said, "Your Majesty, the current emperor is extremely benevolent and righteous towards the royal family. As soon as he took power, he allowed the royal family to return to their fiefdoms and gave them many rewards. God has bestowed upon the Great Wei a wise ruler. This is the revival of the Great Wei."

Cao Yan brought out his past attitude towards Sima Shi.

This actually subtly increased his importance in Cao Mao's heart. Although this guy had limited moral standards and had participated in the affairs of deposing and enthroning emperors with Sima Shi in the past, but based on his status and mouth, he could still be close to him.

No wonder Sima Shi would use him.

Everything my father-in-law left for me is a treasure.

Using this guy to appease the royal family should be able to achieve good results.

At this moment, Cao Mao looked at Cao Yu beside him again, and suddenly some ideas came to his mind.

It seems that compared to Cao Yu, Cao Yan is more suitable to be the Zongzheng?

This time Cao Mao asked Cao Ju to come because he actually wanted him to replace Cao Yu, because Cao Ju was more famous and timid, which could appease the royal family and reduce the obstacles of the Secretariat.

But now it seems that Cao Yan is the most suitable one.

He is shameless enough and willing to climb up.

If he were allowed to be a member of the royal family and allowed to go to various vassal states to brag about this, many people would probably change their views of him.

Just when Cao Yan was talking to them excitedly, the last person arrived late.

The person who came was Cao Fang, King of Qi.

When Cao Yan saw this person, he was speechless.

Meeting at this moment would inevitably be a little awkward. After all, it was Cao Yan who helped Sima Shi to handle the matter of submitting the petition to depose and enthrone the King of Qi.

Cao Fang did not take this matter to heart. He bowed to everyone and then sat down next to them.

At the beginning, too many people wrote to the emperor to depose him, and almost all the ministers in the temple followed Sima Shi. Cao Fang didn't think of holding grudges against them one by one.

The arrival of the King of Qi made Cao Yu and Cao Yan somewhat nervous, but Cao Ju felt more relaxed. Compared to himself, the King of Qi seemed to be a greater threat. If anyone was to die, he should be the first to die.

This made Cao Ju feel a lot more at ease.

Cao Mao started talking at this moment, "It is such a wonderful thing that all of us in the Cao family can gather here."

"There are no outsiders here, so I'll just say it straight."

"Over the years, my Cao family's kingdom has gone through many twists and turns. If it weren't for people like us, how could the Great Wei have persisted until now?"

"This is all thanks to Your Majesty."

Cao Yan smiled and offered a flattering remark.

"In the future, I hope that everyone's efforts will be the credit. The Wei Empire still needs the support of our own people. Nowadays, powerful families in various places are exploiting the people and committing crimes. Things like this cannot be easily solved by the governor. We can only rely on the royal family members in various places to do these things."

Cao Mao did not hide his thoughts and expressed his true thoughts in front of several people.

"I am a descendant of the imperial family. I know how the imperial court treated the imperial family in the past. However, this will no longer be the case. I will have you assist the imperial court in various places, stabilize the country, and complete the great cause that several generations of us have failed to accomplish."

After hearing what Cao Mao said, Cao Ju finally realized that he didn't need to die?
Does the emperor still need them?

Cao Yan was overjoyed. The emperor wanted to make use of members of the royal family, and this was his chance.

Cao Mao looked at Cao Yu and said, "Prince of Yan, you are an elder in the imperial clan. I originally wanted to have you take charge of the clan affairs, but you are already very old. I really don't want you to continue to work so hard. I plan to let you return to your fiefdom and take charge of the situation in Hebei."

Cao Yu had no dissatisfaction with this at all.

He didn't want to stay in Luoyang at all and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Cao Mao looked at Cao Yan, who was eager to try, but deliberately glanced at Cao Ju who was standing aside. "Prince Pengcheng, are you willing to take on the position of the current Zongzheng?"

Cao Ju was a little hesitant.

To be honest, he certainly didn't want to stay in Luoyang. Although the emperor had no intention of moving him now, it was hard to say what would happen in the future.

Besides, how can working in the imperial court be more interesting than playing around in the fiefdom?

Sima Shi had never made things difficult for him in the past. He lived quite well in his fiefdom and didn't really want to be the Chief Clan Leader. However, he was afraid that he would offend the emperor if he refused.

At this moment, he saw Cao Yan with a nervous look on his face and immediately had an idea.

"Your Majesty, I think the Marquis of Pingle is more suitable for this position."

Cao Mao then looked at Cao Yan and said with a smile, "Marquis of Pingle is a suitable title, but Marquises are always fond of military affairs. I wonder if the position of Zongzheng is unfair to him?"

"No grievance, no grievance, I am willing to serve Your Majesty!"

Cao Yan hurriedly stood up to express his loyalty.

At this banquet, Cao Mao said a lot of things, and these people naturally understood what the emperor meant. He wanted them to act as messengers and help the emperor convey his messages.

Even someone like Cao Ju understood what the emperor meant.

In the following days, Cao Mao met with them from time to time, until this day, King Cao Qi of Donghai also came to Luoyang.

Cao Mao naturally came to greet him in person.

King Cao Qi of Donghai stepped down from the carriage with an uneasy look on his face and traces of tears on his face.

He looked somewhat similar to Cao Mao, except that he was younger, thinner, and had a timid air.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

When he saw Cao Mao in the distance, he hurriedly bowed deeply to pay him a visit. In his panic, he didn't even care about getting his clothes dirty.

Cao Qi, King of Donghai, was Cao Mao's half-brother.

Cao Mao was the eldest son of a concubine, while Cao Qi was the legitimate son.

But in the eyes of King Ding of Donghai, there was no difference between them, and he beat both of them.

However, Cao Qi still had a mother to protect him, but Cao Mao did not.

At this moment, Cao Qi was so scared that he burst into tears again.

The emperors of the Cao family have always had a tradition of persecuting their younger brothers.

The current emperor has only one younger brother.

At this moment, Cao Qi couldn't help but think of the rumors he often heard when he was in Donghai Kingdom.

By the way, it seems that those rumors were told to me by my brother!
Would he force himself to compose a poem in seven steps?
But I can’t write poetry at all!

I should have studied harder earlier.

Cao Mao looked at the little guy in front of him and couldn't help but chuckle, then stepped forward and helped him up.

"Long time no see. You've grown so tall now. How are you? Have you learned to write poetry now?"

After hearing this, Cao Qi's eyes turned red and he was about to cry out loud.

Cao Mao looked at him, raised his head and laughed.

(End of this chapter)