The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 626 Treat everyone equally

When the news of the failure of the Jiangdong rebellion came, Cao Mao was not surprised at all.

The other party's thinking is simple and crude, but no matter how crazy Sun Hao is, he will definitely leave his confidants to guard Jianye.

Don't think that a madman has no confidants.

His uncles, his father's old subordinates, and those who were promoted and rewarded by him, and those whom he valued for marriage.

These are his confidants.

The big families hope to persuade these people to rebel, but it may not be easy.

Cao Mao knew that similar things would often happen in the State of Wu in the future, especially the general Ding Gu who guarded Jianye for Sun Hao.

He will soon want to launch a rebellion, and he will conspire with Shi Ji and others to replace the emperor.

As a result, the idea was stopped due to internal opposition.

From the time Sun Hao came to power until he was captured, there had actually been rebellions and fights within the Wu Kingdom, most of which were directed against this mad emperor.

As a result, these people were slaughtered, and Wan Yu, who supported Sun Hao to ascend to the throne, also died at the hands of Sun Hao.

Cao Mao looked at the document in his hand, just shook his head and put it aside.

We still have to take action before Sun Hao starts to harass the people and complete the unification. Sun Hao's harassment of the people is different from Puyang Xing's harassment of the people. Puyang Xing was harassing the people for things like water conservancy and reclamation, while Sun Hao was just harassing the people for his own enjoyment.

The population in the south is not large to begin with, so how could they withstand Sun Hao's turmoil?

The problem Cao Mao faced now was Wu's defensive tactics.

If you want to break this shell, you can only accumulate strength patiently.

Or you can expect Sun Hao to go crazy one day and lead his army to attack, or attack alone.

Cao Mao was not joking. In history, Sun Hao really had the idea of going to Luoyang.

It is said that an alchemist told him that Sun Hao should become the king of a unified country, and that the people of the Central Plains were waiting for him to inherit the throne. Then he took his queen, son and queen mother, and prepared to happily go to Luoyang to become the emperor of a unified country!

He brought more than a thousand people with him, but these people were not combat troops at all.

As a result, when these people were halfway through their journey, they encountered a heavy snowstorm. Even his closest soldiers said that if they encountered the enemy, they should surrender immediately!
Later, because the road was blocked and the ministers persuaded him, Sun Hao finally ended this farce.

It was because of this incident that Cao Mao felt that this guy was not normal at all.

Of course, Sun Hao is still quite powerful when he is sober.

He valued those who could fight, tortured the powerful families, exiled and relocated them at will, redivided the counties, and enfeoffed a large number of royal family members as kings, constantly dispersing and disrupting them. The problems of the powerful families in Wu State were surprisingly solved in his hands!

This fully proves that only a tyrant can solve the problems of the big clans.

He never gets close to anyone. He had a very good relationship with the Lu family, but in history, after Lu Kai's death, he immediately turned against them, arrested and exiled the other family members, and even dug up their graves. Ding Feng was extremely loyal to him, but as soon as Ding Feng died, he attacked Ding Feng's family again.

Such behavior has effectively solved the problems of the large clan, but it should not be imitated.

This is really disheartening.

At the end of the confrontation between the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Wu, the ministers of the Eastern Wu were always expecting the Western Jin army to invade, while the ministers of the Western Jin Dynasty kept persuading the emperor not to send troops to the Eastern Wu.

One side wants to be unified, while the other does not want to be unified.

Strange, strange.

Just as Cao Mao was looking at the letter in his hand, Yang Zong walked in quickly. Seeing that Cao Mao was busy, he did not disturb him but just stood aside.

Cao Mao picked up a pen, wrote a few letters, and sent them off before looking at Yang Zong.

"Mr. Yang, how is it going?"

"I've already given instructions to General Ma. He'll keep an eye on Mr. Guo. Your Majesty, don't worry."

Cao Mao suddenly laughed, "The officials over there must be very scared now, right?"

"How can we not be afraid? The last General Your Majesty sent to protect the Qiang caused quite a stir, and now they've sent another one. They probably think Your Majesty is going to do something again."

"That's fine. Mr. Guo is a serious person. If those people are afraid of him, it will be much easier for him to do things."

At this moment, Yang Zong just looked quietly at the Emperor in front of him, seeming a little dazed.

Cao Mao touched his face and asked curiously, "What is Yang Gong looking at? Is he looking at the emperor's aura?"

Yang Zong burst into laughter.

Obviously, he also knew the situation in Wu.

"I don't know how to read the qi, but I just feel that Your Majesty has become different now than before."

"What is the difference?"

"I can't really put it into words, but he is indeed much more approachable than before."

"Ever since Sun Hao ascended the throne, I have become much more approachable in the eyes of the people."

Yang Zong laughed again.

Yang Zong was very happy that his emperor had undergone such a transformation. Since the death of Sima Shi, the emperor had changed greatly. He was as cold as a governing machine and had completely lost any vitality. Although he always had a smile on his face, there was an unspeakable indifference beneath the smile.

But the emperor is now alive again, just like he was in Yuancheng.

This is all a joke.

Yang Zong was quite pleased with this change. This change had all occurred after the birth of the crown prince. Sure enough, he had been right. With a child, His Majesty would no longer be so cold and aloof. Yang Zong chatted with Cao Mao for a long time before saying goodbye and leaving.

When he walked out of the Taiji Hall and headed towards the palace gate, someone suddenly grabbed him.

"Mr. Yang!"

Yang Zong looked at the person in front of him and returned the greeting.

"Mr. Xin? Why are you here?"

The person who came was Xin Chang, a relative of Yang Hu's family, who was also somewhat related to Cao Mao.

These people are now retiring in their positions as the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and these positions have become completely empty now.

They have lost all their power and no longer interfere in the government. Unless they hold part-time positions in other departments, the titles of Three Dukes and Nine Ministers are purely honorary titles.

At the beginning, those old people were arranged to these positions by Cao Mao. They could not interfere in anything. They had extremely high status but no power. They could only watch others achieve success.

However, these people are not completely useless. Cao Mao used them to find fault with other service departments, which was also a form of supervision and urging of the service departments.

Xin Chang was a victim of this honorary title.

This kind of honorary official title, no matter how high the position, becomes unimportant because it has no real power.

These people can no longer gain any benefits for themselves or their clans, and cannot even maintain their extraordinary status.

Not long ago, one of his relatives was arrested by the Ministry of Justice, so he wanted to go to the Ministry of Justice to resolve the matter. Unexpectedly, not to mention Wei Shu, even the Shangshu Lang did not take him seriously and directly asked him to leave.

Others treat a Shangshulang much more politely than they treat themselves.

This was a little hard for Xin Chang to accept.

During these days, he has been trying to find ways to improve the status of these old ministers. He has written to Cao Mao several times, hoping to restore some of the power of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers.

Yang Zong is an old acquaintance of his.

Xin Chang smiled and said, "I have come to pay my respects to Your Majesty. Lord Yang, I have a great favor to give you."

Yang Zong glanced at him and asked, "What are the benefits?"

"Your Majesty is doting on your eldest son too much. This behavior is detrimental to the empire. Why don't you, Lord Yang, join me in admonishing Your Majesty?"

Hearing Xin Chang's words, Yang Zong's face instantly turned ugly.

He knew what these people were thinking, and wanted to use this incident to boost his reputation, right?
Yang Zong narrowed his eyes and motioned the other party to come closer.

"Mr. Xin, what do you think of Sun Hao of Wu?"

Xin Chang looked at him in astonishment, "Why would Lord Yang ask me this?"

"I'm just curious. Sun Hao is brutal and tyrannical, yet few ministers dare to dissuade him. Your Majesty is kind and righteous, and you're only slightly happier after having a firstborn son, so you want to dissuade him."

"Are the ministers of Wei more valiant than those of Jiangdong? Or is His Majesty too merciful?"

Hearing this, Xin Chang was furious. "How can you compare Your Majesty with that lunatic from Jiangdong?"

"Since Lord Xin also believes that the current emperor is a sage king, then please return home and stop bothering him. How much do you love your eldest son, but he still needs to be advised by people like you? You are just looking for trouble."

Yang Zong cursed a few times, then shouted into the distance: "Where is Cheng Ji?!"

Cheng Ji quickly led the soldiers to this place, "What happened?"

Yang Zong pointed at Xin Chang in front of him and said, "Don't let people like this in anymore!"

Xin Bi was furious, "I am your Majesty's closest relative."

Before he could finish his words, Cheng Ji grabbed him and walked towards the door. Xin Chang stumbled as he was dragged away, feeling only anger, "How dare you humiliate me like this? Let me go!!"

Cheng Ji didn't pay any attention to his shouting and just dragged him out.

Yang Zong sneered and watched the man being taken away.

These dogs can’t find anything to do all day long!
When the world is unified, I will get rid of you first!
Let you all go to Nanzhong to enjoy a peaceful life!

Yang Zong walked out of the palace quickly. He still had a lot of things to do.

Because of his outstanding performance in Yongliang, Cao Mao secretly gave Yang Zong an extremely important task, which was to thoroughly investigate the major families in various places.

Cao Mao was different from Sun Hao. He was a benevolent monarch. He would not exile a clan on fabricated charges. However, if these clans were not clean in themselves, then Cao Mao should not be blamed.

Cao Mao always treats everyone equally. No matter how big your clan is, as long as you do something illegal, you must be punished!

Yang Zong's current thorough investigation is focused on public land. After Hu Zun's last thorough investigation in Qingxu, the big families have become more restrained, but the Wei Dynasty is very large, with a large population, and there are all kinds of people, and many of them do not learn their lesson.

After the military farming system was officially abolished, the jackals were biting each other with saliva hanging from the corners of their mouths.

Wang Su's son is a typical example.

Yang Zong was ready to give them a hard time.

As for the clan he was currently investigating, Yang Zong looked down at the impeachment content in the letter in his hand.

Huangmen Lang Yang Xiu, and the Yang family he belonged to.

Oh, Your Majesty is in trouble this time.

(End of this chapter)