Chapter 247: Chapter Therapy
Chapter 247 Talk Therapy (Additional updates, please give me a monthly ticket)
After Mi Huang returned to the capital, he never saw Sima Yue again because he fell ill.
No one knew what caused his illness, and Mi Huang didn't dare to guess. Anyway, Situ's health had not been very good in the past two years and was getting worse, so it was normal for him to get sick.
But the rumors that were spreading everywhere still made him unable to help but speculate.
Thinking of the end, I could only sigh.
He couldn't help but recall the scene seven years ago.
At that time, he was just an inspector, training the first army for the Prime Minister, and Shao Xun was just a sergeant.
Seven years have passed, and the world has been in turmoil, making it dizzying.
What has happened in these seven years may be more and more shocking than in the past twenty or thirty years.
It was as if something suddenly sped up, making people extremely uncomfortable, and then they subconsciously wanted to do something, but the situation got worse and worse, eventually leading to the point today.
"The Great Jin Dynasty is about to perish, right?" Mi Huang sighed helplessly.
Well, in fact, he didn't care so much about whether the Jin Dynasty would perish or not, it was nothing more than changing someone to be the emperor. But he cared more about his benefactor, after all, he was a member of the Sima family. When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?
Shao Xun probably wouldn't care much about Sima, unless she was a woman with the surname Sima...
Mi Huang grinned, looking very ugly.
"Grandpa." Mi Zhi walked over and saluted.
Mi Huang looked at his eldest son and saw that there were more than twenty people outside the door.
Some came from Hongnong and were old subordinates he met when he was the prefect of Hongnong.
Some of them were from Luoyang, junior officers who defected there after the purge of the imperial guards.
There is also a group of people who came from Donghai hometown and are the backbone of the family.
"Go, return to Songshan." Mi Huang waved his hand and said, "There are refugees everywhere now, you should manage it well."
"It's a good thing I listened to the advice and planted wheat last autumn." Mi Zhi said with emotion: "If it rains this autumn, I will plant it again to avoid the locust plague next year."
"I'm glad that you have an idea. Go ahead. Don't go back to Luoyang unless necessary. Train the farmhands well." Mi Huang waved his hand and said.
"Yes." Mi Zhi saluted and left with his subordinates.
There are more than 1,300 households in Songshanwubao, which can mobilize 2,000 strong men.
It was not easy for them to farm and train in the mountains and deal with the current situation.
But how easy is it nowadays?
No matter how hard life is in the mountains, it is safer than Luoyang.
Furthermore, when Luoyang is caught up in a great war, Songshanwu can also be used as a garrison point for Shao Xun to use.
Yes, it’s for Shao Xun.
Mi Huang had given up hope on the Imperial Guards.
After the Great Purge, the Imperial Guards no longer had the strength to actively attack the Xiongnu and could only defend around Luoyang.
Even if we were to fight the Huns in the field, we would have to fight in the city and it would be impossible to go on a long expedition.
He once had a long conversation with Shao Xun about military affairs.
Shao Xun believed that the first-class army was one that could attack deep into enemy territory, the second-class army was one that could attack within one's own territory, the third-class army was one that could defend within enemy territory, and the lowest-class army was one that could only hold its own territory.
The requirements for military quality for offense and defense are completely different.
The current imperial guards are probably between the third and fourth ranks, and are declining rather quickly.
From now on, they will most likely only be able to passively take the beating and defend the city.
As for the current situation in Luoyang, it would be impossible to defend it even if we defended it to the end.
It's difficult.
******
Mi Huang stayed in the capital until mid-June before he received permission to meet with Situ.
On June 16, he hurried to Situ Mansion.
"Greetings, Princess." When he saw Pei, Mi Huang bowed and saluted.
Concubine Pei returned the greeting and then said softly, "Don't worry, Zihui. Taiwei Wang, and the two chief secretaries Pan and Liu are all here. Just be careful with your words."
"Thank you, Princess."
Concubine Pei floated away.
Mi Huang sighed.
After learning that Situ was seriously ill, the princess brought the prince back to the capital and took care of him personally.
This made Mi Huang at a loss for words.
After tiptoeing to the bedroom, he saw Sima Yue half leaning and half lying on the couch, looking gloomy, listening quietly to Wang Yan's words.
Mi Huang took a quick look and almost shed tears.
Situ was already thin, and after a serious illness, he became so thin that his cheekbones protruded.
His eyes were a little cloudy and no longer as bright as before.
It seems that the interruption of the flow of Luo River was a huge blow to him.
"Situ." Mi Huang saluted.
Sima Yue turned his head and looked at Mi Huang, his eyes flickering and very complicated.
"Please sit down." Sima Yue raised his hand weakly and said.
Mi Huang sat down, lowered his head and said nothing.
Wang Yan continued, "The theory of prophecies and divinations flourished in the Later Han Dynasty. At that time, the Five Classics could not be changed. In order to advance, Confucian scholars constantly revised the classics and introduced theories of gods and ghosts. Many people believed in them, but there were also many unrealistic theories."
"Yi Fu is saying that the prophecies and divinations were created by Confucian scholars through interpretation of the classics and are not credible?" Sima Yue asked. Wang Yan stroked his beard and did not directly answer the question, but said: "In the Western Han Dynasty, there were nine chapters of the River Map and six chapters of the Luoshu, which were said to be the texts received from the Yellow Emperor to King Wen of Zhou. There are also thirty chapters, which are said to be the texts added by the nine sages from the beginning to Confucius to expand their meanings. Such as the River Map Chi Fu Fu, the River Map Di Lan Xi, the Luoshu Zhen Yao Du, the Luoshu Zhai Wang Bi, and the Confucius River and Luo Prophecy, etc."
"Then these prophecy books of the Han Dynasty were actually left over from previous generations. Over the past thousand years, countless people have handled these prophecy books, each with their own purpose, and there are also people with ulterior motives who wrote prophecies and sutras at random to achieve their ulterior motives."
Speaking of this, he cited several examples.
Sima Yue listened attentively, and his solemn expression relaxed a little.
Wang Yan had been quietly observing Sima Yue's expression, and he gradually felt relieved when he saw this.
He did not completely deny the theory of prophecies and divinations, but started with the large number of books on prophecies and divinations, pointing out that the contents of the books on prophecies and divinations were very complicated, that people in every dynasty had added their own ideas, and that the contents even contradicted each other as they evolved.
This is a classic rhetoric method. Even if 99.9% of the content of a book is correct, as long as there is a problem in 0.1%, you can focus on this point and confuse the audience, completely deny the book, and create a fixed impression on people.
Sima Yue was obviously trapped.
"After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone, Confucian classics became official learning. However, the affairs of the world are all-encompassing. How could the classics written hundreds of years ago cover everything? Therefore, Confucian scholars used the theories of prophecies and divinations to make up stories in order to prevent Confucian classics from being criticized. The perfect 'classics' can only be perfected by 'divinations'," Wang Yan added.
"At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang fabricated a large number of prophecies in order to seize power. At that time, prophecies were rampant, but Wang Mang not only did not ban them, but condoned and even rewarded them. However, after Wang Mang seized the throne, he immediately issued an order to ban prophecies, which shows that this was a good idea."
Sima Yue nodded slightly after hearing this.
Mi Huang couldn't help but nod his head. He felt that he was almost convinced.
"I have heard that wise and virtuous rulers all disdain the theory of prophecies and divinations." Wang Yan observed his expression and continued, "Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty once issued the map of prophecies to the world to define the prophecies and divinations and curb their development."
"Emperor Wu of Wei once banned internal learning and prohibited the theory of prophecies and divinations."
"Emperor Wu of the Qing Dynasty also banned the study of astrology and prophecy."
"So this statement is not credible, Situ, don't worry."
Wang Mang once frantically fabricated theories of prophecies in order to gain power, but immediately issued an edict to ban them after taking office.
After Liu Xiu pacified the world, he promulgated Tuchen in the first year of Zhongyuan (56), which actually stipulated the format of Chenwei. The final right of interpretation belonged to the official version, which was actually to curb the development of the theory of Chenwei.
However, this official behavior also made the theory of prophecy and divination a popular subject. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the theory of prophecy and divination was very popular, and Confucian scholars also used it extensively, even to the point where the distinction between longitude and latitude could not be made.
Even though the suppression began in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this doctrine had already taken root and could not be suppressed in a short time. At this time, it was still one of the compulsory subjects for the children of the aristocratic families.
Wang Yan said so much, it seems that he doesn't believe in prophecies very much, but ask him why he always studies prophecies and even tells fortunes alone at home?
"What Yi Fu said seems to make some sense." Sima Yue's face looked much better. He then looked at Pan Tao and Liu Yu and asked, "What do you two think?"
"Si Tu, this must be a plan of the Huns, aimed at alienating Si Tu and the Duke of Luyang County. It cannot be trusted." Pan Tao said immediately.
Liu Yu hesitated for a moment, as if he felt that this would not lead to civil strife, and that the overall situation should be given priority, so he echoed: "The prophecy is unreal. The Duke of Luyang County is arrogant and domineering, greedy for money and lustful, and has offended many people, or someone has slandered him."
"Whenever the prime minister mobilized troops, the Duke of Luyang County always sent troops to follow him. His loyalty and bravery are commendable." Mi Huang said.
Sima Yue hesitated, but finally nodded doubtfully.
When he first heard the news that the Luo River had dried up, his eyes went dark and he fell heavily to the ground.
After waking up, he wanted to ignore everything and kill Shao Xun on the spot. Fortunately, he was persuaded by people around him and finally stopped the surging murderous intent.
After being counselled by Wang Yifu, he felt much better and his murderous intent faded a lot.
But the thorn in my heart could not be pulled out, and instead it burrowed deeper into my flesh.
After we defeat the Huns, we will have to deal with this issue.
It is better to believe that it exists than to believe that it does not exist.
After thinking about the Xiongnu, he asked, "Shi Le attacked Julu, Changshan and other counties and conscripted a large number of people, up to 100,000. How should we respond?"
"Si Tu, this matter still needs to be handled by Wang Youzhou." Liu Yu replied: "Perhaps he can be ordered to take charge of the northern counties of Jizhou, take charge of military affairs, and wipe out Shi Le."
Sima Yue hesitated.
This was a name given to Wang Jun, and he was not very happy about it.
The best way was for Wang Jun to fight for the court, defeat Shi Le and then retreat, while Julu, Changshan and other counties would still be under the control of the court.
The court could give Wang Jun a title, but could not promote him or give him any territory. This was the bottom line.
"Let Wang Jun go in and suppress Shi Le first." Sima Yue said.
"Yes." Liu Yu agreed.
"The Xiongnu will definitely move south." Sima Yue added, "We need a commander for this war. Who can do it?"
Logically speaking, Sima Yue is the undisputed head coach, but due to his current physical condition, he is indeed unable to command - of course, there may be other factors.
Several people subconsciously looked at Wang Yan.
Wang Yan was the Lieutenant General and Grand Marshal of the Northern Army, so it was almost natural for him to command the imperial guards to fight.
Sima Yue glanced at Wang Yan and felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
In addition, he did not want to concentrate too much power in the hands of one person.
"Forget it." Sima Yue waved his hand and said, "Ask Cao Wu and Wang Kan to guard the ferry and prevent the Xiongnu from moving south. We can discuss the rest later."
After saying this, he looked at Mi Huang and asked, "Zihui, tell me in detail about your journey south."
Mi Huang stepped forward and described in detail the circumstances of his meeting with Shao Xun.
In his own way, of course.
For example, when Shao Xun asked for money, food and weapons, his tone was very bad. Mi Huang only mentioned that the land in the south was barren and the people were starving. Shao Xun's army was short of food, so he begged the court to transfer food from the Taicang warehouse for relief.
As such.
Sima Yue listened without making any comment.
Just as I was about to say something, I suddenly felt dizzy and felt very uncomfortable.
He could only wave his hands helplessly and said, "Send an order to Shao Xun to lead the troops north. As for the money, food and equipment, you will take care of it, Yifu."
"Okay." Wang Yan nodded and responded.
(End of this chapter)