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

Chapter 402 The Inevitable
Cao Mao was not a stupid person. On the contrary, he was very smart. He could even be considered the smartest person in the Cao family so far.

He analyzed the current situation and came to the conclusion that I should ask Mr. Chen to save me.

According to common sense, how could we find Chen Ying at this time?
In other words, any normal person would think that looking for Chen Ying at this time is the wrong choice.

why?
Because generally speaking, according to the current situation, the option before Cao Mao should be one of the Cao clan members such as "Cao Shuang" and "Cao Zhen". After all, they also hold some military power in their hands.

And looking for Chen Ying would be the worst choice.

This is because he not only has no military power, but now due to his serious illness, he does not even have the power of prime minister.

So when something goes wrong, he seems to be unable to do anything.

With such analysis and conclusion, a normal person would choose to immediately look for Cao Shuang and other clan members and ask for their protection. After all, they are all from the Cao family. If he loses his throne, wouldn't the "wealth and glory" of other clan members be lost as well?

But Cao Mao saw the deeper problem.

That is - can Cao Shuang and Cao Zhen defeat the great general Sima Yi? This is the most fundamental question, and it is also the question that determines the starting point of everything.

The answer is also obvious.

Can't fight.

During the more than half a month that Chen Ying fell ill, the Sima family had united many aristocratic families in the court and almost forced Cao Zhen and Cao Shuang out of the center of political power, leaving only a part of the military power in their hands.

The question is, is Sima Yi afraid of these military powers?

The answer is fear, but not really fear. After all, Sima Yi also had military power in his hands. Sima Yi, who had both military and political power, was no longer comparable to Cao Shuang and Cao Zhen.

Cao Mao exhaled slowly, letting out all the worries in his heart along with the breath.

He instructed the newly formed "Embroidered Envoy" beside him, with a cautious look in his eyes: "Tell Mr. Chen quietly that my situation is worrying. I hope he can think of a way to save my life!"

The envoy in embroidered clothes nodded slightly and left quietly.

Cao Mao sat there quietly looking at the moon in the sky. He read a lot of history books on weekdays and knew the powerful strength of the Chen family. At this moment, he suddenly felt a little more emotional.

"How similar is the situation I am experiencing today to that of the emperor of the Han Dynasty?"

"It's just that at that time, it was the treacherous people who wanted to usurp the throne of a certain dynasty, so the Chen family took action to avoid this disaster and endanger the world. Now, this matter in Langya is more like an internal political struggle than a usurpation of the throne by a certain dynasty."

"I wonder if Mr. Chen is willing to take care of my business."

Cao Mao's worries were not known to others. Even the envoy in embroidered clothes felt that Cao Mao was determined to succeed. If he could really persuade Lord Chen to protect the country, then everything would be fine.

Others may not know the power of Mr. Chen, but don’t these “embroidered robe envoys” know it?

Even though he was not the real "Embroidered Robe Messenger", he was just a person who occupied the title of Embroidered Robe Messenger.

After all, he is the one who controls these private matters.

At this moment, the Sima mansion was very lively. Most of the children from noble families gathered here, and there was singing, laughter and dancing in the yard.

The descendants of the Xun family also sat there humbly, waiting for the arrival of the owner of the mansion. They all knew very well that from the moment Cao Rui died and Chen Ying fell ill, the victory of this struggle belonged to this great general.

How could Chen Ying, who was seriously ill, fight against this great general?

There was still a bit of helplessness on Zhuge Ke's face. He had not expected that Sima Yi could outlast three generations of the Cao family.

Sima Yi was an old minister during the period of Cao Cao. At that time, the Sima family was highly trusted by the Cao family. Later, when Cao Pi ascended the throne, with the help of the "Nine-Rank System", the Sima family began to expand.

Zhuge Ke looked helplessly at the many young men sitting around him.

He couldn't help but glance at Sima Zhao and others beside him. Why was the next generation of the Sima family so competitive? The next generation of the Zhuge family didn't seem to be very prosperous and looked very mediocre.

Of course, this mediocrity is compared with the next generation of the Sima family and their generation.

"Brother Zhuge——"

Sima Yi, supported by Sima Zhao, walked slowly to Zhuge Ke's side. He squinted his eyes, and his cloudy eyes were filled with pride and arrogance.

He made no attempt to conceal his plans.

After all, in his plan, Zhuge still has a part of the role.

"Brother Zhuge is such a smart person, I'm sure you can guess why I'm looking for you without me saying anything, right?"

"I just don't know if Brother Zhuge is willing?"

Sima Yi had a kind smile, like an ordinary old man who was harmless to humans and animals, but Zhuge Ke was not fooled by his appearance. He knew very well what kind of person this "colleague" of his was.

This is a vicious "wolf".

Dancing with wolves and cooperating with wolves will inevitably lead to backlash from wolves.

So Zhuge Ke just kept silent. While he was silent, Sima Yi did not stop his "wooing". He just said lightly: "What I can promise to Brother Zhuge is definitely more than what the little emperor can promise to you."

"I am also from an aristocratic family, so I naturally know what the aristocratic families want most."

He used words full of temptation, word by word, as if the conditions were very ordinary. However, from the change in Zhuge Ke's expression, it can be known that those were not ordinary conditions. He even surprised Zhuge Ke himself, and he even felt that Zhuge's support was worth the price.

When Sima Yi stopped his "promise" or "temptation", Zhuge Ke was still in silence.

However, the person who said these temptations was not in a hurry, and just said: "Brother Zhuge, you can think about it again - after all, this is a big deal, a huge deal. Even if Brother Zhuge chooses to refuse to cooperate with me after leaving this door today, it doesn't matter."

"These are little things."

These are all small things?

Subconsciously, Zhuge Ke's expression changed slightly, and he understood the deeper meaning of Sima Yi's words.

Rejection is a small matter, so what is a big matter?

Snitching is a big deal
This was Sima Yi's warning to him not to tell on the secret, because if he did, it would become a "big deal" more serious than rejecting him.

After a long sigh, Zhuge Ke looked up at Sima Yi. In fact, the moment Sima Yi came to find him, he had already lost the so-called "opportunity to refuse."

How did he tell the emperor?

I said I rejected Sima Yi's request, I am loyal and patriotic, and I came to you? Not to mention the "price" that Zhuge would have to face after the leak, even just the questioning of the "Son of Heaven" would be enough to make them suffer.

Even Zhuge Ke could imagine the little emperor's tone: "What, the general wants to rebel? How did you know? The general came to you? So are you spies?"

And after refusing, can they really walk out of this room?
Sometimes, the “single-choice questions” given by fate are actually “all-choice questions”.

If Zhuge Ke and Zhuge family wanted to get out alive, there was only one path they could choose.

That is to accept the olive branch extended by Sima.

He chose to go along with Sima Shi, and then took control of the government, forcing the Cao Wei emperor to abdicate to Sima Yi.

This is their only way to survive.

"Don't think about it."

After a pause, he looked at Sima Yi and said, "Zhuge, just choose the general."

Zhuge Ke's status in the Wei Dynasty was not very high, like his younger brother in Shu Han, but he controlled a crucial part of the military force - the imperial guards, or the "Imperial Guards."

This is also one of the reasons why Sima Yi had to win over Zhuge Ke. Only by controlling the Imperial Guards can he control the imperial palace and the city of Chang'an.

Taking control of Chang'an City means that half of their plan is successful.

Chen Mansion
Chen Ying's serious illness was not a pretense, he was really sick.

After nearly half a month of recuperation, his body had recovered partly, but not much. When he heard Sima's actions at this time, he was not angry, but just sighed softly with a look of emotion on his face.

"Emperor Wen felt that he would rebel, but he did not see Sima take action when he passed away. Later, during the reign of Emperor Ming, Emperor Ming also felt that Sima would rebel, but unfortunately he did not see it either."

"Now, Sima Yi has finally revealed his true colors."

"He probably feels that he has full control over the court now."

After saying this, Chen Ying coughed twice, his face still pale as if he was sick: "But these aristocratic families are indeed a problem, a big problem. If we don't solve them, things will be really difficult to do later."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Ying wrote a letter and asked him to take it to the emperor.

After the embroidered robe envoy left, the servant next to him walked up to Chen Ying with a worried look on his face: "Sir, you'd better not worry about these things."

"Mr. Bian Que said that if you put aside those affairs and concentrate on recuperating, you can live another year. If you continue to work so hard, I'm afraid..."

The servant did not have the heart to say the following words.

But Chen Ying knew it very well.

He shook his head and sighed, "It's only half a year. What's the difference between dying in a year and dying in half a year? There is no difference. They are both just death."

Chen Ying stood there with a slightly indifferent look in his eyes.

He wants to plan everything before he dies.

The thirty-first year of the Zhengtong period.

After being seriously ill for a month, Wei Prime Minister Chen Ying quickly recovered and began to appear in the court.

In the same month, the emperor appointed Chen Ying as his teacher and called him the Imperial Teacher, ranking him above the Three Dukes.

The return of Chen Ying also made some ministers who were originally wavering but had already begun to vote for Sima Yi become more wavering.

But this does not affect what happens.

But what happened next put the bizarre turmoil in the court on hold for a while.

At the end of the 31st year of Zhengtong, Chen Ying returned to the ancestral land of the Guandu Chen family, that is, Guandu City, to worship his ancestors.

This was an ordinary event, but it became extraordinary because of the person who went with Chen Ying - the Emperor of Wei hid it from everyone and followed Chen Ying back to Guandu City to worship.

Because of this incident, Sima family temporarily stopped stirring up trouble in secret. As I said before, the children of Chen family are not scary, but Chen family is scary.

Before figuring out whether Chen was expressing support for Cao, Sima Yi decided that it would be better for him to be cautious.

After all, what he is least afraid of is "waiting" and "patience".

He had enough patience to wait for the prey to fall into his "pocket", so there was no need to take any risks.

Guandu City
Cao Mao looked at the scenery around him with a look of admiration on his face.

He had not expected that Guandu City was such a grand and prosperous city. He had never been out of Langya and always thought that Langya was the largest city in the world. But Langya was probably not even half the size of Guandu City!
He slowly supported Chen Ying as they walked on the street, like an ordinary junior.

As they walked, he asked, "Teacher, why did you take me to the Chen family's ancestral hall to worship? Is it just to intimidate the Sima family?"

He said with some doubt: "But, this can't be a deterrent for too long."

"As long as the Sima family is willing, they will be able to find out soon. The reason why the Chen family leader allowed us to go in and worship this time was just for your sake. The Chen family will not support the Cao family."

Chen Ying just coughed a few times. He looked at Cao Mao beside him and shook his head slightly, but did not tell Cao Mao about the magic of the Chen Ancestral Hall.

In the Chen's ancestral hall, there are treasures bestowed by ancestors to guard it.

This is something that the Chen family has slowly discovered over the past few hundred years.

He didn't know the specific function of the treasure, but they had figured it out over the years - when people who had worshipped at the Chen's Ancestral Hall made "agreements" or other deeply involved behaviors with other people, the "cause and effect" would be deepened, thus achieving the effective measure of "there are gods above our heads".

They called this treasure "there is a god above your head", but they didn't know what its specific effects were.

This time, he was also surprised that Chen Zexi agreed to Chen Ying's request. After all, the Chen family almost never allowed outsiders to worship. Even the last time the Yingchuan Chen family came to establish a relationship, they were only invited to worship in an unimportant small ancestral hall.

"Let's go."

Chen Ying said tremblingly: "Return to Langya!"

Chen's Mansion
Looking at the backs of Chen Ying and the other person as they left, Chen Zexi was a little puzzled.

"Why did our ancestors allow Cao Mao to enter the ancestral hall to worship?"

(End of this chapter)