The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 86 Hunter and Prey

Sima Zhao was stunned by Sima Fu's change of expression. He no longer dared to pretend and honestly took on the attitude of an elder. He said sincerely, "If he leaves, how will things in the palace be arranged?"

Sima Fu saw that Sima Zhao had changed his attitude. He was no longer as aggressive as before and his attitude became more gentle.

He consoled him, "Zi Shang, I really don't understand. You command 130,000 troops, and with the support of generals from all over the country, you can command an army of over 200,000. Why are you so afraid?"

"If you were afraid of Guanqiu Jian's rebellion, I could understand it. But I cannot understand why you are worried about the Emperor starting an uprising in Luoyang. What do you have to be afraid of? How can the Emperor alone compare to the 100,000 troops under your command?!"

Sima Zhao lowered his head and dared not answer.

Sima Fu continued, "If you're worried about the Queen Mother, then Guo Jian only has about 4,000 soldiers under his command, and the entire Guo family has less than 10,000 people. Why should you worry about him?!"

"I heard that you replaced the Changshui Captain Guo Zhi with the Palace Captain Yin Damu, and appointed Yin Damu as the Changshui Captain."

"Now, the only army left in the hands of the Guo family is Guo Jian's army."

"What are you afraid of?"

Faced with his uncle's questioning, Sima Zhao hesitated for a long time and said hesitantly: "My brother told me not to look down on the emperor."

"He told you not to underestimate the emperor, not to make you worry so much! The enemy now is Guanqiu Jian, who has 80,000 elite troops under his command. That's what you should be worried about. How can the emperor be considered a formidable enemy?"

"In my opinion, you might as well hand over all the military power in the palace to the Guo family."

"What??"

Sima Zhao stood up suddenly, his eyes wide open, and looked at Sima Fu in disbelief, "Zhongfu, what do you mean? My brother spent a lot of effort to come up with this..."

"Listen to me. First, things are different now than they were in the past. Ever since Guo De was killed and Gao Rou suffered a blow, the Guo family has lost the strength to continue to compete with us. Aside from the title of Queen Mother, they no longer pose any threat."

"Secondly, you may know Guo Jian better than I do. He is just a cowardly and foolish villain."

"Even if such a person had an army of 100,000, he would not be our opponent, let alone the army in the palace. It is even questionable whether he can mobilize these people."

"Besides, you just said that the general left an order that if anything goes wrong, the emperor must be taken."

"According to the current situation, apart from that idiot Guo Jian, who else would dare to replace Zichu? Even if you bring him to the imperial court, the ministers will have to hide and not dare to accept your orders."

"Let's hand over the power to the Guo family first. If something goes wrong with the general, let Cheng Ji take charge. If it succeeds, it will be because the Guo family failed to monitor it. If it fails, then let the Guo family be the mastermind."

Sima Fu narrowed his eyes and began to analyze the situation for Youzi seriously.

After he said this, Sima Zhao suddenly saw the light and his mind was enlightened.

Regardless of this man's ability, he really listened to the advice. He immediately changed his original opinion, stood up, and bowed deeply to Sima Fu.

"If it weren't for Zhongfu, I would have almost made a terrible mistake! According to what Zhongfu said, no matter what happens in the end, we can blame it on the Guo family, killing two birds with one stone. But Zhongfu, what if they sided with the emperor?"

"If that fool Guo Jian could lead the 4,000-plus soldiers we arranged to defeat your 100,000-man army, or if he had the courage to do so."

"Then our family would have been replaced by them long ago. If they fully support the emperor, that would be even better. We can catch them all in one fell swoop!"

Sima Zhao's eyes lit up and he quickly changed his attitude again. He started to flatter Sima Fu and praised him shamelessly.

Many ministers felt that getting along with Sima Zhao was a very enjoyable experience.

Sima Shi never flattered any minister. He was serious and not good at speaking. But Sima Zhao was different. He was very good at winning over talents.

Even young men like Du Yu were treated seriously, and thus he gained the loyalty of a large number of talented people.

In fact, if one has such ability, he is already a qualified successor.

Compared with other dynasties, it is considered an upper-middle class successor.

Many second-generation people can't even reach his level.

Sima Zhao fully accepted Sima Fu's opinion, believing the Guo family should be pushed out to bear the brunt of the blame. Sima Zhao also had other plans for Sima Wang. He angrily declared, "The traitorous General Jiang Wei has seized Heguan and Lintao from Didao, causing panic in Yongliang. The General of Chariots and Cavalry is seriously ill and unable to send troops. I suggest that Zichu be sent to Yongliang to resist the invaders!"

Sima Fu stroked his beard and nodded in agreement.

In recent years, Jiang Wei's offensive has become more and more fierce. This is the seventh large-scale attack, and the Sima family has been devastated.

Sima Zhao had to deal with quite a few problems. Apart from Guanqiu Jian within the country, the Shu and Wu countries outside were also not peaceful and were ready to make trouble.

Some people say that Guanqiu Jian seemed to have connections with the State of Wu, which is even more frightening.

If Guanqiu Jian started a rebellion, Zhuge Dan responded, and Wu and Shu sent troops together, the Sima family would probably be wiped out on the spot.

Every time Sima Zhao thought of this possibility, he felt cold hands and feet and a stuffy chest.

Speaking of Jiang Wei, Sima Fu sighed helplessly. This Jiang Boyue from Tianshui had caused them great trouble. In this year's battle, if Xu Zhi had not killed Zhang Yi in Xiangwu, who knows where Jiang Wei would have fought. Although Zhang Yi was defeated, the Wei army also paid a huge price. After Jiang Wei's reinforcements arrived, they further crippled the Wei army.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Jiang Wei's next wave of attack will be even more ferocious.

However, this is not what they should consider now. To resist foreign aggression, they must first stabilize the country. As long as Guanqiu Jian is still alive, Sima Zhao will feel uneasy!
The two were talking when they suddenly heard a scream and saw a servant rushing into the house in a panic. The servant looked extremely frightened, his whole body was trembling, and he was completely enveloped by fear.

"General, General, General, he, General"

Seeing the servant's appearance, Sima Zhao jumped up suddenly, ignoring Sima Fu beside him, shouted and rushed out. Sima Fu looked at the scene in amazement, then he narrowed his eyes, lowered his head and sighed.

Is the general going to die?
Although he had this guess in his mind, Sima Fu suddenly felt that his shoulders seemed to be a lot lighter for some reason.

When Sima Zhao rushed into the inner room, he saw Zhong Hui sitting beside his brother, gently wiping his tears.

"Brother!!!"

Sima Zhao knelt on the ground and was about to cry bitterly.

Zhong Hui quickly stood up and said, "General! The general is fine. He just woke up once and fainted again. You don't have to worry."

"The doctor didn't say it explicitly, but the general will definitely recover."

Zhong Hui began to explain, but Sima Zhao looked dazed and didn't seem to hear what he said.

He crawled in front of Sima Shi and looked at his skinny brother lying on the bed. Sima Zhao could no longer control his tears.

"Brother, you can't leave. I can't live without you."

"Brother, even though you usually beat and scold me, and I've also said bad things about you in private, I know that the world cannot live without you."

Zhong Hui was stunned for a moment, looked at Sima Zhao in front of him with some amusement, glanced at Sima Shi again, and did not interrupt him.

Sima Zhao continued, "I will definitely take care of the affairs both within the imperial court and outside. If my brother is gone, I will make sure all those traitors are buried with him! And those doctors, not a single one will be spared!"

Sima Shi remained motionless, his eyes closed.

Sima Zhao cried for a long time before he wiped his tears and looked at Zhong Hui beside him.

"Mr. Zhong, now is a critical moment. I will send others to guard my brother. You will temporarily serve under me and provide me with advice."

Zhong Hui quickly interrupted him, "Ahem, General, there's no need to be so impatient. The general may not be in danger. It's not time yet. Please don't worry so much."

"The general's illness must not be known to outsiders."

"Especially, we must not let Guanqiu Jian know about this."

"Just pretend nothing happened and continue as usual. Never let anyone know the real situation."

"General, I'm here. You don't have to worry too much. Just focus on the things you have on hand."

(End of this chapter)