The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 48 The Cunning Emperor

It only took Cao Mao one day to become familiar with everyone around him.

Whether it was the four eunuchs of humble origins, or the eunuchs and guards who were scholars.

Cao Mao had a certain great affinity.

In history, under the same strict supervision, he even instigated the people arranged by Sima Zhao to rebel and organized an armed force of more than 300 people in the palace.

These people died with him.

Cao Mao treated others kindly and cordially, which was different from the important figures in the court.

Moreover, in this era, although the emperor's prestige was declining, it had not yet fallen to the point where "the emperor can only be the one with the strongest army and horses."

Cao Mao's appeal among middle and lower-level people was also not weak.

Probably because the general had not returned to the court yet, no one came to Cao Mao to pay homage to the ancestor or issue any new edicts.

In the prison called the imperial palace, Cao Mao was left to fend for himself.

However, Cao Mao didn't want to be idle for a moment. During this period of time, he led those people to wander around the palace. No matter who he met, he would stop and talk to them.

Soon, everyone in the palace knew the character of the new emperor.

He is different from previous emperors.

He is a warm and kind person.

They will even take the initiative to ask for these people's names.

Among them, many had served Cao Fang for nearly ten years, but their names were unknown to the emperor.

For these bigwigs, there is really no need to get close to these people.

Being able to let them serve oneself is the greatest favor to them.

Somehow, this matter got to the imperial court, and most of the officials were disdainful of it.

Why does the new emperor despise himself so much?
He hangs out with lowly people all day in Yuancheng, and it's even more so when he arrives at the imperial palace. We should find a teacher for the emperor as soon as possible to teach him the truth and distinguish right from wrong.

Early in the morning, Cao Mao opened his eyes, yawned, and sat up.

Mr. Li quickly knelt before him and wanted to put on his shoes.

"Bo Xun, it's just putting on shoes, I can do it myself!"

"How dare you."

Mr. Li crawled over and put his shoes on him.

"Then I'll bother you!"

Li Sheng shuddered, "Your Majesty, please don't scare me. This is my duty."

Cao Mao stood up and went to wash up.

Sitting in the hall and looking at the food in front of him, Cao Mao greeted everyone warmly again.

"Bo Xun, Gong Yu, Zi Shun, Yan Cheng! Come here! I can't finish all this food by myself. Come and eat together!"

Li Sheng and others felt their legs go weak.

"Your Majesty, how dare this servant eat with you?"

"What's the big deal? If you really don't dare, then take it to the side and eat it. Look at you skinny guys, you're all holding it!"

Li Sheng hurriedly bowed again, "Your Majesty, I dare not do this! We will be punished for this. Please forgive us, Your Majesty!"

"Yancheng, go close the door!"

"Who can punish you for hiding here and eating?"

"I'm here to protect you, don't be afraid, just eat!"

Cao Mao was very powerful, so how could they dare to refuse? The four of them knelt aside, their faces full of confusion, and they didn't dare to eat.

"There's no one here, so what are you afraid of? Just eat. We'll go get Zhao Cheng, Jiao Bo, and the others to come over and eat together some other day!"

The four of them didn't say anything, and their expressions were extremely complicated.

After finishing his meal, Cao Mao went out. He would go to Zhaoyang Palace to pay a visit to the empress dowager every day.

The empress dowager did not see him every time. Most of the time, she would pay her respects outside the palace. Even when she paid a visit, Cao Mao did the same every day and never neglected it.

Walking in the palace, Cao Mao was very enthusiastic. When he saw eunuchs, guards, and soldiers in the distance, he would call out their names and chat with them.

It only took Cao Mao a few days to memorize the names of quite a few people.

He paid a visit to the Queen Mother again, but still did not meet her. After the visit, Cao Mao returned to his residence.

"Zhao Cheng!"

"Your Majesty." There were two eunuchs in front of Cao Mao. Zhao Cheng was one of them, responsible for running errands for Cao Mao.

"Go to General Zhengxi's residence again today and tell him that I miss him very much and ask him to come to me as soon as possible."

"only!"

"Uncle Jiao, you should go to the General's Mansion and find Lord Jia. Tell him that I have something important to discuss with him and ask him to come as soon as possible."

"only!"

This was Cao Mao's daily routine. He had gone to see Sima Zhao several times, but Sima Zhao used the excuse of having something to do and had not come yet. The same was true for Jia Chong. Cao Mao sent Jiao Bo to see him every day.

If you can't go out, you have to let them in.

Afterwards, Cao Mao began wandering the palace again. He felt a bit like a monkey who had just been named the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, with nothing to do all day but run around the palace, meet all sorts of people, and actively chat with them, all of whom were frightened and terrified of him.
In the General Zhengxi's Mansion.

Sima Zhao looked at Jia Chong in front of him with surprise in his eyes.

"Mr. Jia, what are you doing?"

At this moment, Jia Chong looked a little decadent, with a pale face, blurred eyes, and not in a very good mental state.

Jia Chong shook his head and said, "I am fine, but I have to deal with the daily affairs of the imperial palace, which is a bit tedious."

"Huh? Complicated??"

Jia Chong pursed his lips, he didn't know how to explain.

Damn Guo!
Why not find someone else but a chatterbox?

Every day, the eunuch would pile up the monitored content in front of his desk, and Jia Chong would feel that he had difficulty breathing.

Cao Mao was a talkative guy. He ran around the palace everywhere and talked to everyone he met. All his words had to be written down to prevent him from contacting the outside world through people in the palace.

From time to time, he would also express his thoughts, such as hoping Zheng Chong would be his teacher, or hoping Sima Fu would be promoted to a noble title, and these people had to be written down.

These records would be delivered to Jia Chong in the evening, and Jia Chong did not dare to let others read them on his behalf, for fear of missing out on anything important.

This has resulted in Jia Chong's current workload being somewhat excessive.

He then recorded the important parts and sent them to Sima Shi.

It seems that the general's workload is now increasing at a visible rate.

This was Cao Mao's deliberate blessing for the general.

Jia Chong was silent for a moment before he said, "General, the Emperor has been doing nothing these past few days, spending all day enjoying himself. If this continues, something terrible will happen sooner or later."

"I believe that a suitable teacher should be arranged as soon as possible to teach Your Majesty, so that he can study with peace of mind and not cause any more trouble."

Sima Zhao was suddenly embarrassed.

"Should we wait until my brother comes back to discuss this? This is a serious matter."

"You don't know, the affairs of this temple are really complicated."

Sima Zhao said helplessly, "With the new emperor enthroned, it is natural to reward his officials. However, the reward has yet to be decided."

Jia Chong was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized, "It's because of what happened on the day of my ascension to the throne."

"Yes, they're all staring at me now. That tyrant king is just talking nonsense, promising dukedoms and princely titles, and offering generous rewards to ministers who support him. But how can that really be possible?"

"The titles of nobility in the imperial court cannot be given away lightly. This will bring down the imperial court. These ministers don't care about the imperial court at all! They only care about their own interests!"

Sima Zhao said this with gritted teeth.

The Sima family had long regarded the State of Wei as their own, so they still cared about these things. They really tried to solve local problems, increase fiscal revenue, and cut expenditures. After all, neither Sima Shi nor Sima Zhao wanted to ruin their own things.

But the giants that are quietly rising at this moment don’t care about these things at all.

It doesn't matter if you drain the pond to catch all the fish.

It was as if the temple and the emperor had nothing to do with them.

They want titles, land, fame, official positions, and more money! !

They don't care whether too many titles will cause financial difficulties for the country, nor do they care whether this burden will eventually be passed on to the people or whether it will trigger civil unrest. They don't even care about the emperor, so why should they care about these things?

Ever since Cao Mao offered the reward that day, many people have been keeping an eye on this matter.

They even persuaded Sima Fu to accept the reward.

He also wrote a letter to Sima Zhao, hoping that Sima Zhao would accept the reward.

Was their goal to reward the Sima family? No, they simply wanted to eat meat with the Sima family. If they could persuade the Sima family to slaughter livestock for their meat, they could get a share of the meat soup.

But this animal now belongs to the Sima family, how can it be slaughtered?

How cunning this guy is!!!
ps: Cao Mao was a typical example of a person who sells his father's land without feeling any regret. The aristocratic politics is definitely the most disgusting system and era in Chinese history. These inhuman people don't care about national interests at all. They are selfish through and through, and are parasites in the temple. I really can't understand why some people say nonsense like the Wei and Jin Dynasties were absurd and beautiful. It was completely absurd, and the "beauty" was cooking in the pot!
(End of this chapter)