Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 824 People’s hearts are in chaos 1

Chang'an, the state of Wei, is gloomy and condensed, and the Wei River is surging, but it cannot take away any dignity.

The entire Guanzhong was enveloped in a low air pressure.

Hedong was defeated.

Heluo was defeated.

To the east of Guan and Shaanxi, the Wei Kingdom has lost all, leaving only Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and Shuzhong.

Shu became self-reliant and became increasingly alienated from the imperial court, even cutting off access to the inside and outside.

Liangzhou is remote and prone to unusual events.

The state of Wei has fallen into an unprecedented predicament.

Above the imperial court.

Cao Chengsi roared: "It is really incompetent to the extreme. As a general, he has suffered such a huge defeat and almost lost his country and his family. Not killing him is not enough to win the hearts of the Wei Dynasty."

Director Cao died on the battlefield, but the others were kneeling in shackles in the hall. These people were all unkempt, and their prison clothes were in tatters. Some people had big mouths, and they could not stop drooling. These people The noble man in the past has fallen into this situation now. He has failed miserably. Someone must bear the responsibility.

If there is a king who dares to take responsibility, he will naturally be able to shoulder it.

But in the current state of Wei, the emperor is a baby, the queen mother is a concubine, Cao Chengsi wants them to die, and the other ministers are not qualified.

The only outcome for these generals who go on an expedition is death.

They were able to survive until now because Cao Chengsi was not sure that the Yan State would not directly attack Guanzhong. Now that Murong Ke was directly recalled by the gold medal, Cao Chengsi, a conspirator, immediately knew that his counterintuitive plan had worked. He immediately let go of his hands and feet.

Cao Chengsi's indignant voice could only be heard in the hall. The prisoners kneeling on the ground had their mouths gagged on purpose on the way here. As a result, they are all now basically mute. They are drooling uncontrollably because they simply can't shut up. Mouth.

All that could be heard was hoarse and unpleasant roars, and people flexing their teeth and claws to climb up and tell their grievances. Seeing this scene, the Queen Mother felt a little scared, and the Emperor was even frightened to the point of crying. The Queen Mother hugged the Emperor, He left a sentence, "This matter will be left to King Jincheng to deal with, and I will take the emperor away first to prevent these sinners from colliding with the emperor." After that, he left in a hurry.

The departure of the Queen Mother seemed to take away the last ray of light from the people in the palace. Their hands were still stretched forward, but they did not move. They just stared blankly at the back of the Queen Mother escaping in a hurry, and Cao Chengsi's forcible restraint. The smile couldn't help but become more and more obvious.

Cao Chengsi said without hesitation: "Drag him down and behead him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an official from the palace came out and said loudly: "King Jincheng, this is not in compliance with the laws of the Wei Dynasty. They are all clan members. First, Zongzheng must be convicted, and then they must go through the judgment of the Wei Dynasty. Even if they are sentenced Beheading will have to wait until autumn, and it will be reviewed again before it can be executed."

Cao Chengsi stared at him with eyes like tigers and wolves for a moment, and said sadly: "You should go talk to the families of the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dead soldiers. I will now bring these to our great Wei Dynasty." The defeated criminals will be cut to pieces with thousands of swords. Who is in favor of it and who is against it?"

His words were like glaciers shrouding down. He was obviously the first-class evildoer for the death of these soldiers, but he spoke so righteously and righteously. He was really shameless. The hall was silent. At this point, who could resist Cao Chengsi?

The guards standing outside the palace dragged these people away one by one. Their feeble struggles and roars full of blood and tears naturally could not touch people like Cao Chengsi. He sneered as he watched all his political opponents being dragged away.

Accompanied by several screams.

The ministers sitting on both sides couldn't bear to look at him. Cao Chengsi walked in the hall with square steps, slowly raised his arms, looked around at the ministers and laughed loudly: "Now that the traitor has been eliminated, the sacred Luo God will definitely protect him." Our great Wei Dynasty has a long-lasting state, and all your ministers should send congratulations and praise our great Wei Dynasty for its righteousness."

He smiled up to the sky and left the palace, and his followers naturally followed quickly, all beaming with joy.

After what happened, Cao Chengsi had almost no rivals in the Wei Kingdom. Naturally, their party members were on the rise, and their glory, wealth, and power were right in front of them.

The rest of the people in the palace left with heavy footsteps. What will the Wei Kingdom look like in the future?

Nobody knows.

The hot blood shed during the beheading quickly cooled to the ground and even gradually condensed into frost. The weather was getting colder, but it couldn't cool people's hearts.

After Cao Mao's death, the only assistant minister left was Cao Chengsi.

At the age of more than 20 to nearly 30 years old, he has become the general of the Wei State, the shepherd of Yongzhou, the official secretary, the governor of all military affairs inside and outside, and the title of King of Jincheng County.

This scene is quite similar to that of Cao Shuang back then, who also had such monopoly power.

The only difference was that Cao Shuang had an opponent like Sima Yi back then, while Cao Chengsi had no opponent.

Cao Shuang has a problem with his brain, but Cao Chengsi has no problem in political struggle.

Returning to the Jincheng Palace, Cao Chengsi immediately summoned his party members. Almost everyone had a strange light shining in their eyes, staring at Cao Chengsi with shining eyes.

Cao Chengsi took a deep breath and said slowly: "Everyone, now that all the traitors have been put to death, the Wei State is finally in our hands. It is time for us to help the State and protect the ancestral temple.

For some of you, I am going to send you out to serve as governors, and for some of you, I am going to increase your rank in the imperial court and replace all those traitors, so that our great Wei can be prosperous and prosperous! "

When the word "Zhongzhengyingchao" came out of Cao Chengsi's mouth, he was very solemn. However, some of his followers were not thick-skinned enough and could only hold back their laughter.

Cao Chengsi knew, and others also knew, that Cao Chengsi's move was to allow his followers to control power from the court to the local level. Everyone in power would do this.

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

Cao Chengsi's cousin asked this question, and Cao Chengsi said without hesitation: "Come with me into the palace tomorrow. First, I will replace all the guards in the palace, and then you will start to go to various places in our Wei Dynasty. Go and patrol those noble families.

We must get all the nobles on our side. Although the power in the court cannot be given to these nobles, their help is still needed locally. "

Everyone was stunned. Cao Chengsi did not talk about any good strategies for governing the country, but continued to strengthen his own power. This attitude was already obvious.

The next most important thing is to start to evade the emperor and the queen mother in order to seize power and usurp the throne. All other things must give way to this matter.

The next day.

Cao Chengsi led a group of cronies, replaced his private army with palace guards, and went to meet the Queen Mother and the Emperor.

The little emperor didn't understand this and just looked at it curiously. However, the Queen Mother realized that something was wrong. Her expression changed drastically and turned pale. Her beautiful face turned pale. She asked in horror: "King Jincheng, you lead the troops into the palace." , what is this going to do?”

Cao Chengsi knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice: "Queen Mother, I have received news that there are a few people in the palace guards who are accomplices of those traitors. I was worried that the Queen Mother and the Emperor were in danger, so I recruited people to be loyal to the Emperor. Warriors, replace those people to ensure His Majesty’s safety.”

A group of people were in the palace, and then they heard some sounds coming from outside, followed by some dragging sounds, and soon became quiet. Cao Chengsi smiled and said: "Don't worry, Queen Mother, these traitors only occupy a very small number of people." Partly, the Praetorian Guard is now safe.

The minister then resigned.

The Queen Mother was enjoying her wealth and honor in the palace, but she was busy with official duties, so she left. "

After Cao Chengsi said that, he left directly. Looking at Cao Chengsi's leaving figure, the Queen Mother realized that the man in front of her was not a loyal minister, and she might have fallen into a trap before.

She looked at the little emperor in the palace, with a trace of bitterness flashing in her eyes. How could the great Wei fall into such a misfortune?

Starting from Cao Shuang, there was no loyal and upright minister. There were only endless struggles and endless careerists. Now, even one person who can entrust the government to the government can't be found.

She originally thought that Cao Chengsi would be the one who could entrust her to her, but now it seems that it was just Cao Chengsi's disguise. He was also an ambitious man.

……

After Cao Chengsi left the palace, he felt extremely relaxed. After today's cleanup, his control over the palace suddenly increased to unknown levels. Although he could not completely control the palace due to his reputation in the government and the public, he felt that he could no longer control it for the time being. urgent.

The next thing to do is to cleanse the former political opponents. Those who are unwilling to surrender will be killed and exiled.

Cao Chengsi arranged the tasks step by step, but some people felt something was wrong, so they asked: "Your Majesty, aren't we going to recover Hedong and Heluo?"

Cao Chengsi paused and looked over with an expression that looked like a fool. Naturally, the man knew that he had said the wrong thing and quickly lowered his head. Cao Chengsi looked at the other people again, taking in everyone's reactions and immediately knew that many people All have questions.

So he pondered for a while and said: "Our army was defeated in Hedong and Heluo. The field army suffered heavy losses and will not be able to attack for at least a few years. You should all know this. Even if I don't know much about military affairs, I know There is a difference between defending a city and attacking a city, and you should know better."

Everyone nodded. This was the truth. Cao Chengsi added: "The Liang Kingdom occupies Heluo, but because of this, it faces the Yan Kingdom and the Han Kingdom. We, the Wei Kingdom, only need to guard the Weihan Pass and sit back and watch the battle in Guandong." .

As for the land east of Hedong, in the current Yan State, the counterintuitive plan has just begun to show results. The struggle between the Queen Mother of Yan State and Murong Ke will not stop for a while. If we attack Hedong at this time, wouldn't it mean that Murong Ke will follow Ji? Any chance of escaping from the city?

Instead of fighting Murong Ke again on the battlefield, it is better to wait for Murong Ke to die in Jicheng before we take action. As long as we do not attack the Yan State, the Queen Mother of the Yan State will never let Murong Ke cross the Taihang Mountains, and even we will soon We can hear the news that the kingdom of Taiyuan King Murong Ke has been renamed. "

Cao Chengsi had a good grasp of the psychology of the Queen Mother of Yan.

Naturally, Cao Chengsi's various actions could not be hidden from others, but at first, others did not react, and Cao Chengsi took the lead. After returning to the mansion, many ministers who opposed Cao Chengsi immediately began to Contact each other to overthrow Cao Chengsi's rule.

The fierce struggle between Cao Chengsi and other factions has completely forgotten the state affairs of Wei State, to the point where it is necessary to distinguish between superior and inferior, even to the point of life and death.

……

"Liangzhou rebels again!"

In Cao Chengsi's Jincheng Palace, the shogunate members all had sullen faces. He slapped his hands hard and said angrily: "A mere Liangzhou rebelled twice in just one year. This is a slap in the face of a big man like me. The general's face.

I don’t know how many people in the court are watching this king’s joke.

The last rebellion in Liangzhou was too merciful. This time, Liangzhou must be thoroughly cleansed so that Liangzhou can completely settle down. "

Cao Xu bit the bullet and said: "Brother Wang, the last rebellion in Liangzhou suffered heavy losses, so we will rebel again this time. If we suffer heavy losses again this time, our strength in Chang'an may be affected.

We need to be careful in quelling the rebellion this time. I'm afraid it's not possible to go on a killing spree in Liangzhou. It will arouse the resistance of the people in Liangzhou. The people in that place are fierce. Once they break away from the imperial court, it may be Dong Zhuo's past. "

Xiliang Dong Zhuo.

As soon as these words appeared, Cao Chengsi calmed down immediately. You are right. The fast land of Liangzhou is not easy to mess with. An accident will be the result of military chaos. Moreover, those Liangzhou people are all born They are good cavalry, brave and good at fighting. If the people from the Western Regions are let in again, it will be all over. and.

Cao Chengsi suddenly realized something, "Although the people of Liangzhou are strong, our imperial army of Wei is even stronger. But when we put down the chaos last time, we suffered heavy losses. Those Liangzhou people always seem to be able to predict the enemy." Yu Xian, something is very wrong with this matter.

Could it be that someone in the DPRK sent intelligence to the Liangzhou people and deliberately leaked the information about our army to the Liangzhou people, which resulted in the tragedy that our army suffered? "

Cao Xu immediately nodded wildly and said: "Brother Wang, it is very possible. In fact, when my brother went to Liangzhou to rebel, he felt something was wrong. Our heavenly soldiers are the elite of the Wei Dynasty. Even if they are brave in Liangzhou, they cannot be the opponent of my army. .

There must be traitors in the court. Although they are not involved in the secret, they are in high positions after all, and food and grass cannot be avoided by them. They just want to use the Liangzhou rebellion to weaken our strength, and then defeat us in Chang'an. . "

Cao Chengsi stood up and paced around, frowning and saying, "Yes, that must be the case. It seems that we can't go so quickly to this Liangzhou rebellion. We must suppress the news first. Let's go to Chang'an first to get rid of those who are interested in us." Find those with malicious intentions and kill them. The rebellion in Liangzhou is nothing more than a trivial matter. As long as Guanzhong is guarded, the four counties in Hexi are just desolate places. They cannot enter the sacred place of Guanzhong. When we free up our hands, as long as we run out of food , the people of the four counties will come to ask the king's army to enter the four counties."

hiss.

How cruel.

Cao Chengsi's understatement of food shortage was not a simple matter. The four counties in Hexi have always been unable to be self-sufficient. After the population in that land was relocated, it exceeded the upper limit of the population that could be accommodated. Therefore, the four counties have been unable to sustain themselves. It has always been an affiliated unit of Guanzhong because the four counties need food from Guanzhong to maintain their livelihoods.

If the shutdown cuts off the food supply in the four counties, within a few months, the four counties will be littered with corpses. This is no exaggeration. The number of dead people will not be 10,000 or 20,000, but 100,000, 200,000, or even More.

If there is only enough food in the world to feed nine people, but there are ten people, what will be the result?

Will everyone eat less to keep everyone alive?

will not.

The result would be a frenzied massacre, and it would be good if five people survived.

Cao Chengsi allowed so many people to die with just an understatement. Even his henchmen felt a chill spreading through their bodies.

Will Cao Chengsi be a good lord?

They were deeply suspicious.

In this world where Luo left countless imprints, all the saint kings have the same trait, which is excellence in personal morality, benevolence, and leading by example.

Starting from Bangzhou, the holy kings are all those kings who are extremely capable and loyal, because those kings who use the emperor's technique have been targeted by the Luo family and have achieved nothing, such as the one who created the Luo Kingdom's hundred-year absence from the Zhou Dynasty. King Zhou Xi, the maker of the Bloody King Ji.

He has the power and means. If Luo's moral standard is not so high, King Zhou Xi can use benefits, such as land grants, promotions, people, etc., that no prince can refuse, to pull Luo to the top. In his own camp, but unfortunately, he met Luo Shi, who refused to cooperate with such an emperor without hesitation.

So he could only sadly become a weak king of the state and was reviled by future generations until now.

Another example is King Zhou Yi. He was originally supposed to be a character who caused chaos in the country, but because of his benevolent character, the Luo family supported him and eventually achieved great achievements. Although he was not a holy king, in the Zhou Dynasty, It is a role that cannot be ignored.

For a thousand years, when choosing allies, Luo Shi has always given top priority to that person's character rather than purely looking at interests. This has influenced the world in a subtle way.

Until the Han Dynasty, in fact, there were still no big changes. People in the world had higher requirements for the emperor. It cannot be summed up by simply saying that a good man cannot be an emperor.

The emperor can kill decisively, but it is very simple and fair. The dignitaries want fairness. If the emperor doubles his standards, it means disrespecting his ministers. The dignitaries will dare to draw swords on the emperor, and the people of the world support this behavior.

Liu Qi, the former crown prince of Emperor Liu Heng of Han Dynasty and King Li of Jiujiang, died because of this. He killed Qi Gong's son. If Liu Qi had not been denounced at that time and everyone in the world would not be convinced, the laws of the Han family would have been destroyed.

Those emperors who were unwilling to abide by these rules, and those who thought they were supreme, became weak emperors, and even received an evil posthumous title. This is the choice of the people of the world.

In other words, people in the world don't like a mean and unkind emperor.

Under this kind of atmosphere, people like Cao Chengsi will naturally be questioned. However, in just a few decades, it seems that people like Cao Chengsi have become quite common.

and.

No one stood up against this kind of person as clearly as Luo Shi, so everyone in the world acquiesced to this.

Naturally, Cao Chengsi didn't know what these people were thinking. He had already begun to think about how to deal with his political opponents. Those people were like hidden insects, killing them endlessly. Why couldn't they just accept his rule obediently? Woolen cloth?

……

After a short investigation, Cao Chengsi discovered that this matter could not be investigated at all. After the clues reached a certain level, they would be cut off. He immediately knew that there was someone with a high status standing in the way.

But he at least proved one thing, that is, someone was really colluding with the rebels in Liangzhou. This fact made him shocked and angry. This was something completely beyond his expectation.

To a certain extent, he even doubted whether the Liangzhou rebels were taking orders from a certain force that was hostile to him. What was even more frightening was that he had no idea who was leading this force.

He thought that he had eliminated all the members of the auxiliary minister, and the rest were clearly his own and his allies. There were only a few people who did not belong to his side, but they did not have the ability to resist.

This is not normal!

At this critical moment, Cao Xu sent a very important message to Cao Chengsi, "The Queen Mother summoned her people to Beijing and brought her clan soldiers. Now they have entered the palace. It is said that she will give her clan members Make him a duke, and then take over the palace guard."

???

Cao Chengsi looked at Cao Xu speechless. After a long time, he asked in disbelief: "Let the clan soldiers enter the palace in a big way? We only know the result now?"

He is completely stupid. This thing is really weird. His control over the palace cannot be said to be 100%, but he cannot let an army enter the palace without knowing it.

Not to mention entering the palace, an army should have been discovered as soon as it entered Chang'an, and then was killed halfway by bandits holding Wei weapons.

Cao Xu smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Wang, this army is said to have only a few hundred people. They pretended to be ordinary people and entered in batches. After all, the Queen Mother is the master of the palace. She ordered some people to enter the palace. This is really normal. , we haven’t broken up with the Queen Mother, so naturally we don’t dare to do these disobedient actions.”

Cao Chengsi knew that Cao Xu was right. The queen mother and the emperor were the natural monarchs of this country. Even his ancestor Cao Cao almost couldn't control Liu Xie. This was the emperor's natural advantage.

But he still couldn't bear to have things out of his control.

"Follow me to the palace. I want to ask the queen mother what she wants to do by summoning such a tribe of soldiers. I also want to ask, do her people really want to be enemies of me?"

Enter the palace?

Cao Xu looked at Cao Chengsi in shock. In his opinion, Cao Chengsi was completely in a hurry and had completely lost his usual composure. He quickly advised: "Brother Wang, you are entering the palace at this time. Are you going to break up with the Queen Mother?

If so, then my brother thinks that it is enough to just send troops to besiege. But if not, then just treat it as if you don't know about it and send someone to inquire later.

It's just a few hundred people. The strength of our troops is far beyond what a few hundred people can match. My brother doesn't think you need to be so anxious. "

Cao Xu's words were very crucial. He successfully persuaded the angry Cao Chengsi to come back. He took a few deep breaths in succession, turned to look at Cao Xu and said, "We can't wait any longer. Put all the possibilities on the list together with Liang." The state rebels captured all the people who secretly communicated with Fengqu.

Then he fought with Liangzhou on one hand and began to prepare to seize power on the other.

It is too dangerous for the Queen Mother and the Emperor to remain in their positions, and they must be removed from power as soon as possible. "

Cao Xu hesitated to speak, and Cao Chengsi asked impatiently: "If you have anything to do, just tell me."

Cao Xu lowered his head and asked: "Brother Wang, according to the current practice, the previous monarch is usually given the title of Duke. We..."

Abdication will give dignity to the previous royal family. The Dukes of Longxi in Wei State, Liaoxi County Dukes in Yan State, and the Dukes in Liang State all have this model, but that is to seize the throne with a different surname, and let the other party flatter the ancestral temple.

If Cao Chengsi seizes power, both of them are from the Cao family, and it would be ridiculous to ask the young emperor to flatter the ancestral temple. Cao Chengsi frowned when he heard this and said: "The young emperor is still young. He accidentally caught the cold and passed away. ."

Cao Xu's body trembled, and he committed regicide again. Cao Mao died in the hands of Cao Chengsi, but he didn't expect that Cao Mao's son would also die in the hands of Cao Chengsi now. "Brother Wang, where is the Queen Mother..."

If the emperor is young, he can simply let him die young, and others will not think there is anything wrong. However, the queen mother is an adult and cannot be killed easily. It is difficult to cover up the people of the world. The regicide ascends the throne. Such a king was still in the era of Bangzhou when rituals were broken and music was broken, and his final end was not good.

Cao Chengsi cannot ascend to the throne with such a reputation.

Cao Chengsi pondered for a moment and said: "The Queen Mother, you have to think about it. A woman who has lost her husband and her son is always easy to handle. After all, she is a fool.

You deal with the emperor's affairs first. I hope to see the results as soon as possible. I can't wait to get to that position. "

He lowered his head and whispered: "Brother Wang, I understand, I will go down and make arrangements now."

Of course, Cao Chengsi would not rush directly into the palace and kill the emperor with a sword in his hand. That would be too rough. If he did that, the day he became emperor, he would probably rebel everywhere.

He had so many spies in the palace. It would not be difficult to give the emperor some medicine or cause an accident. The body of a child was too fragile.

To put it bluntly, even if Cao Chengsi does nothing, whether the emperor can live to be ten years old is still a big problem. Based on past experience, even for the royal family, if ten children can feed three or four, it is considered lucky. OK

However, Cao Chengsi was not prepared to gamble, he wanted the emperor to die safely.

His goal is very simple, that is to ascend to the position of emperor safely and fulfill his long-cherished wish.

He has worked hard for this goal for so long and almost gave up everything. He must not fail!

----

Regicide to seize the throne, conspiracy and coup, suddenly, the world seems to have returned to the era of broken etiquette and music. The death of one person represents the beginning of an era.

The death of Emperor Wei Shang was not unacceptable under ancient medical conditions, but everyone believed that he died of a conspiracy. This kind of suspicion did not require evidence, it just needed to be born from the heart.

Because people believed that regicide was an extremely likely thing to happen in that era, and the chaos of people's hearts in that era could be glimpsed from it. ——"Zhu Xia·Southern and Northern Dynasties"

(End of this chapter)