Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 233 The cow succeeds the horse

The floor in the side room was already in a mess, and the servants who served him watched in silence as Sima Yu vented his inner resentment, not daring to make any noise for fear of getting burned.

When Wang Tanzhi came in, Sima Yu was still angry.

Sima Yu was sitting on the stool, leaning on the table with his left elbow and supporting his right leg with his right palm, still breathing heavily.

Upon seeing this, Wang Tanzhi said to the servants serving in the wing:

"You all get out."

As if they were pardoned, everyone hurriedly bowed their heads and left with rickets.

After all the servants left, Wang Tanzhi and Sima Yu were the only ones left in the room.

Wang Tanzhi sighed:

"The anger is so bad that your Majesty can burn the whole room to the ground, but it won't help.

"Now that the emperor is young and powerful vassals are rampant, the rise and fall of the Jin Dynasty rests on the shoulders of the king alone. Please take care of yourself."

There is no reason to rebel against a thief after only a thousand days of being a thief. When he thought that he might get burned and suffer disaster, Wang Tanzhi couldn't help but not worry.

Now that Huan Wen was conquering Yin Hao and appointed him as Shangshu Ling, Sima Yu immediately sent people to intercept and kill him.

But once Wang Tanzhi pointed Sima Yu's finger at the Huan family father and son, making them the targets of assassins, and the matter spread, it would become an inextricable feud.

Even if Huan Wen conquered the world, unless Wang Tan wanted to die, he would at most be deposed as a commoner and live the rest of his life like a wandering cloud and wild crane.

"Why not! Yin Hao also did this. If he hadn't sent assassins privately, he would have been able to force Yao Xiang to rebel, putting the country in danger of falling.

But Yin Hao is different. Yin Hao is a member of the gentry class, and this kind of precedent cannot be set.

Sima Yu immediately retorted:

But we cannot provoke such a dispute just because of Yin Hao, unless we can successfully remove Huan Wen, Huan Xi and his son, leaving the Huan family without an owner and triggering civil strife.

Wang Tanzhi cried out in his heart, how could the two things be compared.

"If I send an assassin today, I am just imitating him."

This will undoubtedly lead to the dispute between Jing and Yang developing into a secret assassination operation. Huan Wen will definitely retaliate and send people to assassinate close ministers around Sima Yu, such as Wang Tanzhi, Wang Biaozhi and others who have always taken a clear stand against the Huan family. .

Wang Tanzhi was shocked and quickly advised:

Sima Yu raised his head when he heard this. With his eyes full of bloodshot eyes, he gritted his teeth and asked:

"I want to send an assassin to intercept and kill Yin Hao. What does Wendu think?"

Of course, Wang Tanzhi was unwilling to say such words.

"This is absolutely not possible. Please think twice, Your Majesty."

"It was Yin Hao who single-handedly caused the court's predicament, but now he is going to Chu State to serve as a minister. If I don't kill this thief, it will be difficult to relieve the hatred in my heart!

No matter how you say it, Yao Xiang is just a Qiang man. Use despicable methods on him and just use them.

By then, let alone just trying to survive, all the nine tribes will be promoted to you.

Wang Tanzhi once served in Huan Wen's shogunate for a period of time, had many contacts with Huan Wen, and understood Huan Wen's temper. Generally speaking, Huan Wen followed the rules.

Now that Wang Tanzhi is assisting Sima Yu in fighting against the Huan clan, it can also be said that he has received a salary from the Jin Dynasty and is repaying his kindness, so he fulfills his duties loyally.

Assassination is not undesirable. Although there are failed cases such as Jing Ke, there are also successful cases such as Gongzi Guang (King Helu of Wu) sending Zhuan Zhu to assassinate King Liao of Wu and Yao Li to assassinate Gongzi Qingji.

In fact, even if Wang Tanzhi really suggested it, Sima Yu would not dare to listen.

If you want the Huan clan to have civil strife, you must successfully assassinate Huan Wen and Huan Xi, both father and son. If either party fails, you must be prepared to receive bloody revenge from the surviving people.

It is extremely difficult to accomplish this.

With Qing Ji's precedent, even if someone is willing to cut off his own arm and let his wife be killed by Sima Yu, he cannot gain the trust of the surviving people.

Wang Tanzhi bitterly advised:

"Your Majesty, intercepting and killing Yin Shenyuan can only be a temporary gain, but it will bring endless troubles.

"Although Yin Shenyuan died, it was harmless to Huan Yuanzi, but the king will be criticized by the world.

"Huan Yuanzi will definitely use this matter as a reason to question the king.

"Your Majesty! If you act like this, you will lose more than you gain!"

After Sima Yu heard this, he gradually calmed down. In fact, he was just impulsive and spoke in anger.

If an assassin were really sent to intercept and kill Yin Hao, Sima Yu would be afraid that Huan Wen would follow suit, and he would have to live in precarious fear.

Sima Yu said apologetically:

"I was so angry that I couldn't speak clearly. Thanks to Wendu's reminder, I found my way back and didn't go astray."

Wang Tanzhi finally felt relieved after hearing this.

The reason why Sima Yu was able to preside over the overall affairs of the court was simply because the emperor was young.

Although the Queen Mother came to the court to take the throne, it could not calm people's hearts, and the elders of the clan had to do it for them.

Sima Yu is one of the only two sons of Emperor Yuan of Jin Dynasty and the youngest of six brothers. The other one is Sima Xi, King of Wuling.

Since Sima Xi liked to train soldiers and martial arts, he naturally could not fall in the eyes of the Jiangnan gentry, who had always despised military strategists. Therefore, they can only infer that Sima Yu, who is good at talking about mysteries and more in line with their expectations, is in charge of power.

As Xie An and Wang Xizhi hinted that day, Sima Yu did not have the ability to match his status, but he was self-aware and would always ask for the opinions of his close associates in everything and would not make his own decisions.

It is also impossible to agree to Wang Tanzhi's advice in person and then act secretly behind his back.

Although Yin Hao's talent is not as good as Xie An's, his reputation at this time is much louder than Xie An's.

As a former leader of the imperial court, now he has become a minister of Chu, and who from the south of the Yangtze River can remain indifferent to this?

Yin Hao explained to his son the reason why he did not go to Jiankang on the grounds that he had no face to face his old friends. In fact, he was worried that he would be poisoned.

Therefore, since receiving the pardon edict and leaving Dongyang County, Yin Hao and his family traveled through the stars and nights and finally arrived at the border of Jiangzhou.

Huan Wen re-appointed Yin Hao so that Yin Hao could take the lead in promoting Tujuan, rather than wanting to kill him and frame the blame on Sima Yu, thus finding an excuse to launch an attack.

If you don't know it, you can't do it yourself.

Therefore, what was waiting at the state border was not an ambush, but people sent by Huan Chong, the prefect of Yuzhang who guarded Jiangzhou, to respond.

After Huan Wen learned that Huan Chong had successfully arranged for Yin Hao and that Yin Hao's family was being escorted to Xiangyang, he smiled at Xi Chao, who had recently been transferred to Zhongshu Ling:

"Maybe future generations will look back on the relationship between me and Yin Shenyuan and think it is a good story."

When they were young, Huan Wen was as famous as Yin Hao. When they were in their prime, they each controlled a power and competed with each other. However, when they were old, they were able to put aside their old grudges and work together to promote territorial separation in the Chu State, strengthen the national power, and lay a solid foundation for Huan Wen's Northern Expedition again.

Of course, this will only happen if Yin Hao is willing to cooperate.

However, some of Huan Wen's twists and turns are destined not to be seen in the annals of history, and future generations will only think that this is an Eastern Jin version of the peace between generals and prime ministers.

Xi Chao heard this and joked:

"The Duke of Chu should advise An Guo (Sun Sheng) to use Spring and Autumn writing style as much as possible when recording this matter, and not to be too detailed, so as not to let future generations see flaws."

Sun Sheng was Huan Wen's staff and was also ordered to collect historical materials of the Jin Dynasty and compile a national history.

This was not an arrangement by Huan Wen, but a task given by the court when Sun Sheng served as the general in charge of the Western Conquest under Yu Liang.

Empress Dowager Chu's father, Chu Pei, once urged Sun Sheng to complete the history of the country as soon as possible, but Sun Sheng excused himself from being busy with official duties and had no time to leave.

Chu Pei died of shame because of the failure of the Northern Expedition, and in the end he never saw the completion of the National History.

Of course, with Sun Sheng's current progress, even if Chu Pei survives until now, he will still have to wait.

When Huan Wen heard Xi Chao mention Sun Sheng's national history, he remembered an interesting story and shared it with Xi Chao:

"Does Jingxing know that the cow will follow the horse?"

Xi Chao nodded and said:

"Of course, poor Niu Jin lost his life because of this."

Niu Jin was a general of Cao Wei. He followed Cao Ren and Sima Yi successively and made many meritorious deeds. However, because a prophecy book called "Xuanshi Tu" contained the prophecy that Niu would succeed the horse, Niu Jin was jealous of Sima Yi and was sentenced to death. Sima Yi held a banquet to entertain him and poisoned him to death.

Huan Wen shook his head and said:

"I also visited Sun Canjun's residence yesterday, and after reading one of the historical records, I realized that after the ox succeeded the horse, he was not the general Niu Jin, but actually the junior official Niu Jin."

Immediately, Huan Wen and Xi Chao talked about what happened in detail.

It turned out that Xiahou Guangji, the grandson of Sima Yi and the wife of Sima Jin, King of Langya, was a romantic by nature. It happened that there was a minor official in the Langya Palace with the same name as Niu Jin.

Xiahou Guangji had an affair with a minor official, Niu Jin, and gave birth to a son. After Sima Jin died, Xiahou's son was established as King of Langya. He was none other than Sima Rui, the founding emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Emperor Yuan of Jin Dynasty.

Of course, in the eyes of future generations, the so-called "ox" character for "ox" after "horse" is more likely to be the character "liu".

After hearing this, Xi Chao shook his head and laughed. He didn't know where Sun Sheng collected this historical material.

However, Huan Wen could only joke about this matter in private with an absolute confidant like Xi Chao, but did not dare to spread it everywhere and attack the Eastern Jin royal family. His name was Sima, but he was actually named after Niu.

It is precisely because this matter also involves an important person, Sima Rui's granddaughter Sima Xingnan.

His grandfather was a bastard, so how could Sima Xingnan get away with it?

Once Sima Xingnan knew that it was Huan Wen who was causing trouble and humiliating her grandfather, father and relatives in her natal family, the consequences would be much more serious than taking a concubine.

I'm afraid that Huan Wen will have to wear inner armor when he sleeps with his wife in the future, and he won't dare to close his eyes all night long.

Therefore, even if Huan Wen could find evidence in historical materials, he was unwilling to make it public and use it to question the legitimacy of the Eastern Jin royal family.

As for Sun Sheng being recorded in the history of the country, the history of the country was not meant for contemporary people to criticize.

A hundred years later, someone inscribed the history of the country on a stone tablet and erected the stone tablet beside the thoroughfare, allowing passers-by to point out and discuss it, which ultimately led to the genocide.

Huan Wen said that he came across this historical material by chance when he visited Sun Sheng's mansion, but the real situation must be slightly different.

He did not specifically ask Xi Chao to keep his mouth shut.

Huan Wen mentioned this matter to him precisely because he knew that Xi Chao was tight-lipped. Xi Chao also knew the seriousness of this matter and naturally would not disclose it to outsiders.

(End of this chapter)