Chapter 19: Taking Chestnuts from the Fire

Chapter 19: Taking Chestnuts from the Fire

"Hahaha..." In the Sikong Mansion, the house was full of distinguished guests, with constant laughter and laughter.

Indeed, Sima Yue has been licking a lot in recent months.

Using a more elegant word to describe it is called "frugal and giving in", using an ugly word to describe it is "flattery".

But anyway, he licked it.

Sima Yi was very happy.

Sima Ying of Yecheng did not stumble, and even praised Sima Yue a few words, because Sima Yue secretly supported him as the crown prince.

This is a matter of trying to get both sides of the situation. The key is that it has not been exposed yet. It has to be said that it is a skill.

Lick the dog, lick the dog, lick it to the end, everything.

No, Sima Hui, the king of Fanyang, has been appointed as the general to conquer the south and will soon lead his army south to deal with the chaos in Jingzhou. If he had the means, he could take advantage of the situation and plant his confidants in Jingzhou.

Sima Gai, Sima Mo, Sima Teng, and Sima Yue are all the grandsons of Sima Yi's fourth brother Sima Kui. Their relationship is naturally unusual, and they can definitely be regarded as Sima Yue's foreign aid.

As for Sima Xin, the original governor of Jingzhou, he was defeated by the peasant army in Fancheng and died because most of his troops were sent to Shuzhong and there were no troops available.

“As soon as the general who conquers the south arrives, what will happen if Zhang Chang’s bandits are not killed?”

“The uproar is quite big, and the five prefectures of Jing, Yang, Yu, Xu, and Jiang are all If there is an impact, put an end to it as soon as possible, otherwise life will be ruined."

"The states in the south of the Yangtze River are in disarray, and they don't know what they are doing. The officers and soldiers collapse at the first touch, and they can't even defeat the refugees."

"Emperor Wu cut down the county soldiers, there were only military officials in the place, and it was difficult for a clever woman to make a living without rice, so there is no need to be too harsh."

"In this world, it is time to rebuild the county soldiers."

...

Everyone was talking happily and enjoying themselves.

Sima Yue frequently raised wine glasses to encourage people to drink, and everyone was in high spirits.

Director Wang put down his wine bottle and dealt with others casually, thinking silently in his heart.

Recently, my cousin Wang Yan summoned the descendants of the Wang family in Beijing and held a secret meeting, and Wang led him there.

During the meeting, Wang Dun pointed out that the prestige of the imperial court was declining, and the various states had an irreversible trend of becoming Fangzhen. In this case, it is better to send your own people to the states to seize local power as a source of assistance.

Wang Yan basically agreed with this view and had high hopes for Wang Dao, Wang Dun and Wang Cheng who were present. He believed that the three of them were the outstanding clan members of the Langya Wang family and they should be brave enough to take on important responsibilities and contribute to the success of the clan. Do your best to keep your family business prosperous.

Director Wang respects his cousin Wang Yan because his cousin is willing to stay in Luoyang, the den of dragons and tigers, and send all his brothers out.

According to the plan of Wang's descendants, Director Wang worked hard in the direction of Xuzhou and strived to become the governor himself. If you can't do that, get a clan king to stand in front and control everything behind the scenes.

Director Wang chose his friend Sima Rui.

Sima Jingwen, at least in terms of appearance and personality, is relatively easy to control and is the most suitable front desk cover.

But there is also a problem. Pei Dun, who heard the Pei clan, seems to be very interested in the Xuzhou governor, so he is facing strong competition.

Director Wang's recent gloomy mood is largely due to this.

At this banquet, I heard that Sima Hui, the king of Fanyang, was appointed as the general to conquer the south and went south to Jingzhou to quell the chaos, which made me feel even more depressed.

Conquer the south, conquer the south, what happens after the conquest of the south? Will he send a confidant to serve as governor or governor of Jingzhou? In that case, Jingzhou would belong to the lineage of Sima Yue.

Irritated! Didn’t Sima Yi and Sima Ying react at all?

"Ahem." Sima Yue cleared his throat.

When everyone saw it, they put down their wine bottles and sat back in their seats.

"The people attending the banquet today are all handsome men." Sima Yue smiled and said: "A year ago, I never thought that we would be in today's situation."

"The king's virtuous name, It was broadcast far and near, and noble men from all over came to invest, so it has the grand scene today." Yu Zhi said loudly.

Mi Huang glanced at him. In fact, Yu Zhi did not join the Sikong Shogunate, but he was relatively close, but he made a lot of nonsense here and made it seem like he was the chief staff member. Where did you put Cao Shangshu?

Well, Cao Shangshu was looking at everyone in the field, smiling and saying nothing.

Cao Shang's name in the book is Cao Fu. He is the youngest son of Cao Hong. He is over seventy years old and has high moral and prestige. He is now the military chief of the shogunate and the number one assistant.

"Zisong has passed." Sima Yue smiled and said: "Nowadays, famous scholars from Hebei Province go to Yefu, many scholars from Xizhou go to Chang'an, and many scholars from Henan and Jiangdong are attached to the king of Changsha. I am still far from here. A little, a little worse.”

He said this in a half-joking way, but there was also some truth in it.

Although many people came to the shogunate, overall, there was still a lack of talents.

Gan Zhuo, a scholar from Wudi, declined his solicitation.

Zu Ti, a scholar from Hebei Province, did not enter the palace because of his mother's death.

......

To put it bluntly, people either vote for Sima Yi or Sima Ying, why should they vote for you?

Things like fame and power can influence the choices of many people. This is the reality.

However, there are still opportunities.

Sima Yi, who was in power, recently dealt with an assassination incident. To put it simply, Sima Yi discussed important matters with Sima Ying of Yecheng, and the two of them took charge of government affairs together, but he ignored Sima Yong, the king of Hejian who was stationed in Guanzhong.

You know, when we first dealt with King Sima Ji of Qi, everyone had agreed that when the matter was completed, the emperor would be deposed and the King of Chengdu, Sima Ying, would be the emperor, and the King of Hejian, Sima Yong, would be the prime minister.

But Sima Jiong was directly killed by Huo Bin, without bothering Chang'an and Yecheng to help much, which made these two brothers very disappointed.

Fortunately, Sima Yi, the king of Changsha, had a clear mind and stabilized Sima Ying of Yecheng first. He discussed all matters big and small with him, and verbally expressed his willingness to accept Sima Ying as the emperor's younger brother and inherit the throne in the future.

This condition cannot fully satisfy Sima Ying.

What they want is the throne of the emperor. What the hell is the emperor’s brother? Furthermore, I haven’t seen the edict naming him the emperor’s younger brother. Are you deceiving me?

Fortunately, Sima Yi was willing to share the political power with Sima Ying, which temporarily stabilized him and prevented him from going crazy on the spot, which has been delayed until now.

Compared with Sima Ying, Sima Yongzhen didn't get much, so he was very angry and had a strong urge to kill Sima Yi.

Just a while ago, when Luoyang seemed to be in peace, Li Han, the former Sima Yong shogunate chief, now Henan Yin, and a Li family in Longxi, secretly contacted the minister Feng Sun and the minister Bian Cui and others, plotted to assassinate Sima Yi.

Yecheng Sima Ying was happy to see the success and acquiesced. After all, two people are in charge of state affairs, and it is better than him having the final say.

However, Li Han's plan was not kept secret. He was informed by Huangfu Shang, the former Qi King Sima Ji who joined the shogunate and the current Changsha King Sima Yi who joined the shogunate. He reported it on the spot. Li Han, Bian Cui and Feng Sun were arrested and executed. The hussar engaged Zhuge Mei and others. Former Situ Chief Shi Qianxiu fled to Yecheng.

Li Han's death means that Sima Yi and Sima Yong have officially broken up. Sima Ying of Yecheng probably has no patience to continue playing the trick of co-ruling the country. I heard that he has recently recruited a large number of troops, He also contacted the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu tribes to sharpen his sword, and his intention to go south was very obvious.

This incident is certainly bad news for the people of the Central Plains, and not good news for King Sima Yi of Changsha, but for King Sima Yue of East China Sea, it is not necessarily a bad thing, and can even be said to be an opportunity.

You fight against each other and fight until the end. Isn’t the rest all mine?

This cannot be said publicly, but everyone here understands it.

This is not the first time that the lord has done this.

Sima Lun and Sima Jiong were both beaten to death by him, and the situation in Luoyang opened up step by step. If Sima Yi died again, maybe he could go a step further, and everyone could follow suit. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

******

Outside the arsenal of Sikong Mansion, Shao Xun accidentally met two people: He Lun and Wang Bing.

After being introduced by others, I learned that they were generals of the East China Sea Kingdom. This time they brought more than a thousand soldiers of the Kingdom to Luoyang to listen to the king's orders.

"General He, General Wang." Shao Xun immediately stepped forward to salute.

"Hey, why be so polite!" He Lun took two steps forward, held Shao Xun's arm, and said with a smile: "We are all township party members, and we should help each other outside. From now on, we are all brothers. No need to be polite."

Shao Xun was a little surprised. Is a son from a military family so polite?

Like the Mi family, the He family and the Wang family are also East China Sea noble families.

The He family is new and has a weak background.

The Wang family is an old noble family. After Wang Lang of the Later Han Dynasty, they were married to the Tian family, and their family background is much better than that of the He family.

However, the Wang family is indeed powerful, but Wang Bing is not necessarily so. He was so warm and polite, probably because he was from a branch family, and his family background might not have been that good when he was a child, so he didn't have that much arrogance.

"Exactly." Wang Bing also said at the side: "We have just come to Luoyang and are not familiar with the place, so we have to stick together. There are many young Xu scholars in the king's shogunate, and there are also many young Xu soldiers in our army. General. Since Shao Jun is a native of the country, he is his brother and can be trusted."

Shao Xun bowed and thanked him again.

It's a bit outrageous. He actually felt the "warmth" of his hometown people. What a shame!

Region and township party were really an extremely important relationship in the medieval times.

"The two generals came with their troops, how can the King of Changsha be accommodating?" Shao Xun asked.

He felt a little incredible that the control was so lax now?

Qi King Sima Jiong drove all the kings’ gang members out of the city at that meeting. As a result, He Lun and Wang Bing led more than a thousand troops and horses and entered the city without any hindrance.

"The King of Changsha may have too much time to take care of himself." He Lun was more cautious and said nothing, but Wang Bing said nonchalantly: "Actually, he has already made plans to fight with the armies of Yecheng and Chang'an. , the more than a thousand of us are not many, but we are also a help, aren't we?"

Seeing that Wang Bing's big mouth said everything, He Lun no longer concealed it and added: "Changsha The king wooed the generals of the Imperial Guard, but the results were not very obvious. Some people secretly communicated with Yecheng and Chang'an, and some pretended to be crazy and acted like fools. There were not many who could be used by him. Furthermore, the Imperial Guard was also very complicated, and some were indeed brave and good at fighting. , some troops are using their weapons too much and are vulnerable. Now that the situation is urgent, they will naturally use whatever they can.”

“That’s it,” Shao Xun thanked him again.

The senior military general is good, he gets much more information than him. These two people will make more friends in the future.

"I heard that Shao Jun is the governor and guards a group of soldiers on behalf of Governor Mi?" Wang Bing asked again.

"Only more than two hundred people are in charge." Shao Xun said: "Two teams of strong men and three teams of children are not very good at fighting."

"Quite a few." After hearing this, Wang Bing's face relaxed, and then advised: "Find a way to gather more soldiers and horses."

"Exactly." He Lun also said: "Your Majesty, let me wait. Recruit the dead and expand the army to prepare for war. Uncle Shao can also follow suit. We still have too few people in Luoyang."

"Thank you two generals for your advice." Shao Xun bowed sincerely. .

The two of them saw Shao Xun performing the ceremony very respectfully, respecting their senior very much, and felt satisfied.

Sikong had already summoned them and ordered to recruit soldiers scattered throughout the country to expand his troops. Basically, he recruits as many people as he wants, and he figures out how to provide money and food.

They had a rough understanding of the group of soldiers stationed in Pan Yuan, but most of them were unable to fight. In addition, they had the responsibility of guarding the princess, so they gave up the idea of ​​annexing them. Seeing Shao Xun being so polite today made me feel happy, and as soon as my country party complex came over, I said a few more words.

Shao Xun probably also understood their thoughts.

Coming all the way from the East China Sea, it would be impossible to say that there was no hesitation and worry. Now it is indeed time to unite and help each other and work together for the Donghai people to gain a foothold in Luoyang.

So good.

(End of this chapter)