Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 400: Changes in Cao Wei
In the eleventh year of Zhengtong, a new era seemed to be just around the corner.

The Three Kingdoms were in a three-way balance of power, and the people continued to be grateful for the grace of God in this peaceful and stable life.

Each has its own differences, but each also has its own similarities.

For example, they all had a "prime minister" who was powerful and in control of the government, such as Liu Chan's prime minister Zhuge, Cao Rui's "Chen Ying", and Dayu's Zu Tianshi.

Among them, logically speaking, the one the emperor should be most afraid of should be Zu Tianshi.

After all, Zu Tianshi has experienced many years, and he even controlled the Taiping Dao before, holding both military and political power in his hands - most importantly, he has lived for too long.

But in Dayu, Zhang Cheng had great respect for Zu Tianshi, a respect that even surpassed that for his "father".

Liu Chan of the Han Dynasty was also very respectful to Zhuge Liang. However, in the Wei Dynasty, the newly appointed young emperor began to doubt Chen Ying's intentions. He felt that he was the Son of Heaven and should control all the power.

Does Prime Minister Chen Ying want to be like the prime ministers of the Chen family and assist the emperor, or does he want to be a prime minister like his grandfather "Cao Cao", controlling the government and imprisoning the emperor?
Or.
Did he want to be a prime minister like his father Cao Pi, who was first crowned a king and then abdicated and became the emperor in a straightforward manner?

These doubts lingered in his mind.

People's words are fearful, and three people become tigers.

This sentence does not mean that only three or more people must spread the rumor for it to become true.

As long as someone believes in his heart that this matter is true, he will firmly feel that this "tiger" has appeared.

To put it another way, "Once suspicion arises, the crime is established."

At this moment, Cao Rui was suspecting Chen Ying.

In the winter of the eleventh year of Zhengtong, Cao Rui hosted a banquet for Chen Ying in the palace. At the same time when Chen Ying entered the palace, the children of many noble families had gathered in Sima's mansion.

The emperor obviously wanted to consolidate the power in the hands of the aristocratic families, and they were no longer satisfied with the "Nine-Rank System" granted to them.

People are greedy.

If you give him ten thousand gold, he will want one hundred thousand gold. When he has one hundred thousand gold, he will want one million gold.

This is the situation where one is greedy for more after getting something.

Sima Mansion

Sima Yi sat there, looking rather old, as if he could not open his eyes and had no strength at all.

In front of him, Sima Zhao and others were sitting there, all with respectful looks on their faces.

In the courtyard, people from many aristocratic families, including the Xun family, the Yingchuan Chen family, the Langya Wang family, and the Zhuge family, were sitting here, waiting for something to happen together.

The sound of hurried footsteps was heard in the distance, and then the figure of a servant appeared in the yard.

"Your Highness, General."

The servant steadied his steps and said respectfully, "The Prime Minister has entered the palace."

The people sitting in the yard raised their eyebrows instantly, with excitement on their faces, and a smile appeared at the corners of their mouths involuntarily.

This is certainly a good thing, and something they have been planning for many years!
"Brother Zhongda."

Xun You sat there, his expression unchanged, his eyes sharp, "After this, the Chen family will withdraw from the territory of Wei, then, after Chen Ying leaves, the position of Prime Minister will probably belong to Brother Zhongda."

Sima Yi's expression remained unchanged. He just sat there calmly, with his head still lowered, as if he was asleep.

Sima Zhao on the side nudged him slightly, and he seemed to wake up suddenly. He looked at Xun You with a pair of cloudy and weak eyes: "Gongda, what did you say just now?"

His voice was hoarse and turbid, like some muddy water in a quagmire.

Xun You repeated what he had just said before he spoke again: "None of us have the talent of Brother Zhongda. Apart from Brother Zhongda, who else can take on the position of Prime Minister?"

Sima Yi sighed and shook his head. He waved his hand: "No way——"

The voice was drawn out, as if it was very weak.

"I can't be the prime minister in this state."

"At my age now, I am just hanging on with one breath."

"I just want to realize Cao Gong's wish and unify the world to repay Cao Gong's kindness."

"I think I'd better give the position of Prime Minister to you, Gongda."

Sima Zhao also echoed and said, "Uncle Xun, my father's health is indeed getting worse day by day. Uncle Xun is an old minister during the time of Cao Gong. Now that Chen Ying is gone, the position of Prime Minister must belong to Uncle Xun."

"Please don't refuse, Uncle Xun."

After three refusals, Xun You finally accepted the position of "Prime Minister".

Everyone in the yard had a happy smile on their face. They did not consider what they would do if Chen Ying did not leave Wei State or if Chen Ying did not resign as prime minister.

Because in their calculations, Chen Ying, who had entered the palace at this time, had already had a very fierce dispute with the emperor. Then Chen Ying should have drawn his sword, angrily rebuked the emperor, and then left, just like many of the Chen ancestors in the past.

After losing Chen Ying, this great helper, the emperor will become their "puppet" and plaything, and they will be able to make more regulations that are beneficial to the aristocratic families.

This is their plan.

This is the ending they wrote for Chen Ying, the emperor, and the Great Wei.

As for what will happen if the Chen family leaves and the Sima family becomes the dominant family or even usurps the throne?
Many noble families said, what does this have to do with us?
If the Sima family had not usurped the throne, would we have been able to take the throne? We were all subjects of others anyway, so what was the difference between being a subject of the Sima family and a subject of Cao Wei?
no difference.

Weiyang Palace
Great Hall
At this time in the aristocratic family's script, Chen Ying, who was supposed to fight with the emperor, was chatting and laughing with the emperor.

Cao Rui squatted beside Chen Ying with an excited smile on his face. He personally poured wine for Chen Ying and asked with a flattering smile while pouring the wine: "Uncle, was my mother really that beautiful back then?"

"Are you and my mother good friends?"

"Can you tell me more about my mother?"

Chen Ying smiled and tapped Cao Rui's forehead: "Okay, Your Majesty, go sit down quickly, and I will tell you what happened back then."

There were some memories in his eyes, and at this time Cao Rui had already sat in that position very obediently, looking at Chen Ying's face, and then waiting for Chen Ying to tell him the story of that year.

In fact, he did suspect Chen Ying of having bad intentions at the beginning. After all, he had such a father and such a grandfather.

His grandfather controlled the government and held the emperor hostage to control the princes. His father went even further and directly took over other people's countries and dynasties. With such precedents, how could he not be afraid?

After all, it's the same old saying. Precedents cannot be set. If something has never been done before, then there will probably be no successors. Even if there are successors, the person who does this thing will be scolded and will encounter many obstacles when doing this thing.

But if there is a precedent.
Then all kinds of monsters and demons will come out.

One hand, two hands, in the end, this matter will have a huge crack, and everyone will want to get a piece of the pie.

This is why no precedent should be set.

But later, when Chen Ying entered the palace without any scruples or hesitation, he began to suspect whether other noble families were spreading rumors. After all, for the Chen family, it was too easy to usurp the throne.

Even now, as long as Chen Ying returns to Guandu and shouts, "I will support the Han Dynasty, I will eradicate the treacherous and corrupt officials, and I will restore peace in the world," countless people will immediately follow Chen and fight against the treacherous and corrupt officials - even if the treacherous and corrupt officials are the orthodox Liu Han, even if they are Dayu, even if they are Cao Wei, who ascended the throne after the Liu family's abdication and followed the formal procedures.

Or, in other words, simpler.

As long as Chen Ying or the Chen family makes a call, just five simple words can make people all over the world and many noble families express their support for the Chen family.

Which five words?

"The Chen family wants to become emperor."

Yes, with just these five simple words, Chen could immediately ascend to the throne of the emperor.

Are you kidding me that my disciples and former officials are all over the world?
Therefore, when Chen Ying entered the palace, Cao Rui not only did not start to deal with Chen Ying or question Chen Ying as the aristocratic families expected, but his suspicion of Chen Ying decreased and his suspicion of the aristocratic families increased.

Therefore, Cao Rui was the most qualified emperor who was most like an emperor.

The emperor's suspicion was directed at everyone.

When Chen Ying entered the palace, his original thoughts were similar to those of the aristocratic families.

"Suspect me? Then I'm done."

But after he actually entered the palace, Cao Rui respectfully called him "uncle", and then directly said that he was bewitched by treacherous officials, so he invited him to the palace. Now that he saw him enter the palace, he had figured it out. This was all a treacherous plot by the children of the aristocratic family, and he sincerely apologized.

Just like a punch into cotton, the anger in Chen Ying's heart disappeared a lot, so the atmosphere eased a lot as both of them were calm.

What really made the atmosphere become the current "uncle-nephew harmony" was that Chen Ying knew Empress Wen Zhao in the past and knew some old stories between Cao Pi and Empress Wen Zhao. When Chen Ying mentioned them occasionally, Cao Rui liked to hear them very much.

Sunset West Mountain.

The people in Sima's mansion waited from day to evening, almost a whole day, but there was still no news from the palace. Their faces changed from excitement to confusion.

How is this going?

Sima Yi continued to sit there with his head down, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

The young emperor Cao Rui was much more cunning than his father. I'm afraid he had figured out the situation the moment Chen Ying entered the palace, and bowed his head to keep Chen Ying. As for Chen Ying, as long as Cao Rui softened his attitude and was respectful, he would definitely not be angry anymore.

This is what a gentleman can do to deceive others, and Chen Ying is a gentleman.

It was simply wishful thinking for these people to use such a petty trick to deal with Chen Ying. From the beginning, he never thought that Chen Ying would leave, nor did he think it would be so easy to deal with Chen's people.

When Xun You and others came to him, he just thought that Xun You was getting old and confused.

Perhaps the Chen family hasn't shown their power for too long, so these people have forgotten how powerful the Chen family is.

The sound of footsteps outside the courtyard sounded again. The people in the courtyard turned their heads to look at the person who came. They only heard the person whisper, "General, the Prime Minister has left the palace and returned home."

Wang Zhong, who was standing by, asked, "What's that look? Did the emperor issue an edict?"

The boy's voice became a little lower.

"The Prime Minister looked very happy, as if something good had happened to him."

"The emperor issued an imperial decree, conferring the title of First-rank Purple Gold Guanglu Dafu on the prime minister, and the title of First-rank Shangqing Dafu, granting him 10,000 gold coins, and granting him the purple gold Qilin robe made by the emperor."

The series of additional seals made everyone in the yard a little confused.

Didn’t the little emperor fight with Chen Ying?
Instead, he was given additional titles and countless rewards?
The silence was deafening.

In the twelfth year of Zhengtong, the aristocratic families of the Wei Dynasty and the Sima clan seemed to have begun to give up their own ideas and just worked diligently to develop the power of the Wei Dynasty.

As Cao Rui grew up, he began to become interested in the lands of Dahan and Dayu.

Suddenly, the war broke out again.

However, there was still the Han Dynasty between Cao Wei and Dayu, so the most wars occurred between the Han Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty. Sometimes, another small war would begin just after the previous major war ended.

This is something that no one can stop.

And in such circumstances, the power of the Sima family gradually grew stronger.

Sima Zhao and others were all generals in the army. For a time, except for Cao Shuang and others who controlled part of the military power, almost all the military power of the Wei Dynasty was controlled by the Sima family.

This is also something that cannot be helped. Many military generals in the Wei Dynasty have died out, and only Cao Shuang is still considered a great general.

From the 13th year of Zhengtong to the 24th year of Zhengtong, during these 11 years, the war between the Han Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty continued. The Prime Minister Zhuge Liang of the Han Dynasty also launched several expeditions to the east, hoping to conquer the Wei Dynasty before dealing with the Dayu Dynasty.

On the other hand, under the command of Cao Rui, the Wei Dynasty, with Sima Yi, Cao Zhen, Cao Shuang and others, resisted Zhuge Liang's attack and even had the strength to counterattack. The two sides fought back and forth, and it was very lively.

Just when the power of the Wei Dynasty was growing, and the Sima family's power, although rampant, was suppressed by Cao Rui and was unable to breathe.

The emperor fell ill.

The winter of the twenty-fifth year of the Zhengtong era.

Cao Rui lay on the bed with a dazed look in his eyes.

How old is he now? Thirty years old?
How could he be about to die of illness and not survive this winter?

He wanted to get furious, but he didn't know who to be angry at. He just murmured to himself in a low voice: "Cao Pi, Cao Pi, the country you left me, the country you asked me to protect--"

"I'm afraid I can't hold on any longer."

Cao Rui closed his eyes.

This old thief Sima Yi outlived his grandfather and his father. Now that he is dead, how come he is still alive and kicking?
Something is happening.

(End of this chapter)