Chapter 39 Ask the right question

Chapter 39 Ask the right question

Chapter 39 Ask the right question
A series of military victories greatly eased the tension in the Jin court, so much so that Emperor Sima Zhong wanted to hold a court meeting. However, there were not enough officials in the capital and many people lost contact, so he eventually gave up.

The Grand Commander Sima Yi also did not want to hold a court meeting at this time.

If all matters were discussed openly, it would easily cause controversy and setbacks, and might even put one in a passive position. It would be better to discuss the matter in a small circle of people in private. He would make suggestions, the emperor would agree, and the matter would be settled.

Of course, the emperor needs to convene a meeting, not just a matter of your will. But this was not a problem for Sima Yi. Just a few days after returning from the "personal expedition" against Zhang Fang, Sima Zhong "took the initiative" to convene a meeting.

In addition to the emperor, empress, palace ladies, and Sima Yi, there were also several assistants from the court of the King of Changsha/Grand Marshal/Grand Commander/General of the Cavalry: Sima Wang Hu, Yuan Liu Yan, Zuo Changshi Wang Ju, Wenxue Du Xi, and Zhubu Zu Ti, etc. - because he held many positions, Sima Yi was qualified to open a government under many names, so he had multiple teams.

The question and answer session had already been held for a while, and Du Xi spoke eloquently: "Liu Shen, the governor of Yongzhou, was originally a loyal and courageous official of the court, but he had no choice but to serve in the Western Palace. He thinks of your majesty's kindness every day. Now you can send an envoy to the west to meet Liu Shen secretly, show him the imperial edict, and order the counties in Guanxi to raise troops to attack Sima Yong, which may force Zhang Fang to withdraw his troops."

The emperor Sima Zhong was in a trance, with a look of despair. It was not his turn to make the decision, so why bother pretending? Besides, he could not figure out the state affairs, as if his brain was not enough. Recently, he had become the "first warrior of the Jin Dynasty". He could always be seen on the most intense battlefields, and then led the royal army to turn defeat into victory. He was extremely brave, although he was forced to do so.

Queen Yang Xianrong was too lazy to talk nonsense.

She had no good feelings towards Sima Yi, and she still remembered the arrow that flew towards her. If she hadn't been lucky, she would have died by now. Not to mention, there was also the account of her father Yang Xuanzhi. Although her family was vague about it, how could she not understand!
However, she carefully concealed her emotions because she was afraid of death - if Jia Nanfeng could die, why couldn't she, Yang Xianrong, die?

"Your Majesty..." Sima Yi coughed and reminded.

He is only 27 years old this year, an age full of ambition and high spirits. If he was a little depressed a while ago, his spirits suddenly lifted after several consecutive big wins, and he felt that he might have a chance to win this game.

He was a man with strong execution ability and was able to listen to opinions with an open mind. After his subordinates proposed a plan, he would review it himself and do it if he thought there was no problem, such as ordering the Guanxi counties to raise troops to attack Sima Yong.

"Sima Wang is right. It's up to you, General." Sima Zhong came back to his senses, nodded and said.

Yang Xianrong looked at her husband speechlessly.

The person who just spoke was Du Xi, the literary officer of the Changsha Palace, the son of the famous general Du Yu, and not Wang Hu, the Sima of the Taiwei Palace. Wang Hu, whose courtesy name was Chuzhong, was a native of Chen County and came from a poor family. However, he was now a hot figure in the capital because he had killed more than a dozen generals from Hebei and defeated Lu Ji.

Du Xi and Wang Hu looked at each other and could see the embarrassment in each other's eyes.

"Your Majesty is wise." Sima Yi bowed and did not intend to correct anything.

After saying that, he signaled with his eyes.

"Your Majesty, I heard that there are many bandits in the Jianghuai area, and the people have no way to live in peace. Perhaps you can mobilize the armies from Yang, Jing, and Yu states to suppress them and restore order." Wang Ju, the left attendant of the Changsha Palace, stepped forward and said.

"This matter..." Sima Zhong subconsciously looked at Sima Yi.

Sima Yi nodded slightly.

"Let Wang Qing preside over it." Sima Zhong said.

"I obey your order." Wang Ju bowed and stepped back.

Wang Ju has recently shown his face.

He cleared the enemy forces in the south of the city with inferior forces. Although it was not the main battlefield, his performance was indeed good and was valued by Sima Yi.

The staff in the government considered that Luoyang alone was not enough to support the operation of the entire court, and they had to rely on other states. It happened that Jing and Yang were in turmoil and difficult to pacify, so they decided to send their own people south to take over these territories and continue to provide food for Luoyang.

After much discussion, Sima Yi finally made the decision to send Wang Ju, his most trusted confidant, to the south. Now it was just a matter of going through the process - it was impossible for him to take the soldiers with him, as there were not enough in Luoyang. Wang Ju could only rely on himself and use the righteous name of the court to quell the rebellion, which was actually not easy.

Sima Yi was delighted after he had mentioned two things in a row and both were accomplished.

Liu Yan, the official of the Imperial Guard, observed the situation and said, "The Grand Commander has won many victories, and the bandits are terrified. I heard that after the defeat of the bandit leader Lu Ji, his prestige has been greatly damaged, and no one listens to him anymore. There are also rumors in Yecheng that Lu Ji may be imprisoned."

Liu Yan, courtesy name Shiren, was from Weichang, Zhongshan, and was the son of Liu Kun's elder brother.

The generals of Hebei Province had never obeyed Lu Ji, and they would not listen to him after the disastrous defeat at Jianchun Gate. Lu Ji was afraid that he could not command many people now, and the next battle would depend on the generals of Hebei Province until Sima Ying replaced the commander.

Sima Yi pretended not to know and asked in surprise, "Is this really true?"

"It's absolutely true." Liu Yan laughed and said, "Someone in Ye Prefecture was instructed by the eunuch Meng Jiu to report that 'Ji had two hearts in Changsha'. Sima Ying was suspicious and sent people to the army to investigate. General Gong Shifan and others were all introduced by Meng Jiu, so they gave false testimony and stood on Meng Jiu's side. It's really ridiculous. Although Sima Ying has not yet deprived Lu Ji of his concurrent posts, it is estimated that he will do so soon."

Sima Yi laughed out loud.

He laughed heartily, almost to the point of tears, as if he was venting his emotions.

"This is all the work of the Grand Commandant." Liu Yan's face became serious and he said, "If there hadn't been a series of great victories, how could Lu Ji have ended up like this?"

"This is all thanks to the Grand Commandant," the staff said one after another.

Sima Zhong opened his mouth but said nothing.

Yang Xianrong had a proper smile on her face, as if she was happy with everyone else, but people who knew her could see that the smile was cold. "Eunuchs are bad people." Sima Yi slowly recovered his emotion, shook his head, and asked casually, "Why is Meng Jiu so angry with Lu Ji?"

"Meng Chao, Meng Jiu's brother, had a feud with Lu Ji. He once robbed the execution ground in public, saved a soldier in his tent who had violated military discipline, and questioned Lu Ji whether he would become the governor." Liu Yan said: "After Chao returned to the camp, he was worried about Lu Ji's revenge, so he wrote a letter about this and sent it to Yecheng. Meng Jiu read it and was shocked to hear that Chao died in the battle a few days later, so he suspected that Lu Ji had killed him."

"How did Meng Chao die?" Sima Yi looked at Wang Ju and asked.

The military report he read only vaguely mentioned that Wang Ju fought against the bandits, and Meng Chao was killed by Mi Huang, the governor of Yue Prefecture, in a panic. He didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but now he thinks it is too brief.

Theoretically speaking, the area south of the city was under the jurisdiction of Wang Ju. There is no problem in saying that Meng Chao died at the hands of Wang Ju, but what about the details?

Wang Ju was startled and immediately reported: "General, after the battle at Jianchun Gate, the bandits were in a panic and had no intention of fighting, so they retreated. Mi Du Hu led his troops to pursue them and killed Meng Chao at Pingchang Gate."

"Who killed him?" Sima Yi glared and asked, "I have seen Mi Huang twice. He is an honest man with little martial arts skills and can't lead troops. Don't tell me that Mi Huang killed Meng Chao personally. He doesn't have the ability to do so."

Wang Ju's forehead was slightly covered with sweat as he said, "Mi Huang's subordinate Shao Xun has obtained Meng Chao's head."

In fact, Shao Xun's name was originally mentioned in the military newspaper, but after Wang Ju read it, he learned about this person and found out that he was only sixteen years old and still a soldier, so he decided to suppress it and removed Shao Xun's name.

Not many people opposed this because everyone felt uncomfortable.

"Tell me carefully and don't talk nonsense." Sima Yi said.

Wang Ju had no choice but to narrate the entire battle process.

Sima Yi was stunned when he heard that Shao Xun dismounted his horse and beheaded Meng Chao in front of thousands of enemy soldiers as if no one was around,

Wang Hu and Zu Ti also raised their heads, quite shocked and somewhat fascinated.

Especially Wang Hu, although he was born into a scholarly family in a broad sense, he was born into a poor family and had suffered a lot since childhood. He did not have many prejudices and thought that he could make friends with Shao Xun.

It's a pity that the man is a general of the Yue Mansion, but he cannot be recruited under his command, which makes him a little regretful.

"General, please forgive me." Wang Ju lowered his head and said in fear.

Sima Yi looked at Wang Ju's graying temples, sighed, and decided not to investigate further. He said, "Give Shao Xun some gold and silk to honor his merits."

"Yes." Wang Ju agreed immediately.

Sima Zhong's mouth was wide open, obviously he had not yet recovered from Wang Ju's narration.

In front of so many enemies, he first fired three arrows in succession to scare away those frightened birds, and then collected their heads as if no one was around. How could this man be so brave?
Yang Xianrong sneered secretly.

That poor fellow named Shao Xun probably had a humble background, not even a poor family.

so funny.

Sima Yi, your staff are all very capable and honest people. With their help, you will surely win, right?

Let it be destroyed, she thought in a self-destructive way.

This imperial court only knew how to harm its own people. My father cooperated with Sima Yi wholeheartedly, but ended up dying of worry and fear.

This imperial court is only jealous of talented people, does not reward those who have made contributions, and does not punish those who have made mistakes. They are a group of jackals in human skin.

The court was in a state of disarray, with people shooting arrows at the emperor and the empress. How was this different from Cheng Ji who murdered the emperor in the street?

Destroy it, I'm tired, I don't want to act here anymore.

And there is Shao Xun, he must hate the court, hate Sima Yi, and take revenge on him severely, goose, goose, goose.

"There is one last thing..." Sima Yi looked at the emperor and the empress and said, "Your Majesty still has to make the decision on the peace talks."

"Ah? Oh! Negotiate peace." Sima Zhong nodded and said, "We should negotiate peace. With all the fighting and killing, there is no one to pound rice. What can we do? I don't want to eat meat anymore. The corners of my mouth are all blistered. Oh. The general always has ideas. I'll leave this matter to you."

The veins on Sima Yi's forehead were exposed.

The staff all lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.

"I obey your order." Sima Yi took a deep breath and said.

(End of this chapter)