"My lord, yesterday I dreamed that I was covering Emperor Liezu. What do you think this is a sign of?"
In Zhaoyang Palace, Queen Mother Guo asked with a confused look.
Sitting in front of him was an extremely kind-faced old man.
The old man looked extremely kind, always had a slight smile on his face, and his eyes were clear. No one could bear any ill will toward him. At this moment, he was sitting respectfully beside Queen Mother Guo, listening carefully to Queen Mother Guo's words. ask.
"After the death of Emperor Liezu, the Queen Mother was busy with state affairs, exhorting the new monarch and entrusting virtuous ministers to work hard for Emperor Liezu's great cause. This must be a foreshadowing in the dream."
"My lord, your reputation is known to everyone in the world. There are some things I can only ask you about."
Empress Dowager Guo said with some sadness: "Your Majesty entrusted King Qi to me to teach him well. However, due to my lack of talents, King Qi was so unscrupulous and committed many evil deeds that he could not inherit the great legacy of his ancestors."
"I had no choice but to issue an order to depose him from the throne of emperor and drive him to the fiefdom."
"However, Emperor Liezu has no children. When he adopted King Qi, he wanted him to inherit Liezu's mantle, inherit his great achievements, and not forget to sacrifice to Liezu and enshrine his temple."
"The King of Qi does not have such virtue to do this."
"Emperor Liezu had nine younger brothers, one of whom died young, and six of them died early. Most of them left no heirs, except King Donghai Ding, who had many heirs."
"King Ding of Donghai, young and intelligent, was deeply favored by Emperor Gaozu. Later Emperor Liezu came to the throne, and he was particularly fond of him. He gave him the most rewards and made an exception for him to come to Luoyang. He held his hand and told me : These are my siblings!”
"Cao Mao, the son of King Ding, inherited his father's appearance and character. After King Ding's death, he voluntarily left his fiefdom, unwilling to enjoy himself, and stayed filial piety for King Ding for two years."
"He regards Emperor Liezu as his father and me as his mother."
"I often write letters to ask about my situation, and I go to the tomb of Liezu every day to worship."
"He is a humble man. When the sages in the court prepared to support him as emperor, he was afraid that he was not talented enough and would live up to my expectations. He refused many times and even wanted to commit suicide. Fortunately, he was stopped in time by the anti-auxiliary order."
“Now no one comes to worship Emperor Liezu’s temple, and no one can inherit his great deeds.”
"I want to adopt Gaogui Township Duke Cao Mao as the child of Emperor Liezu, so that he can succeed Emperor Liezu and become the legitimate crown prince. I wonder what the prince thinks?"
After Queen Mother Guo finished speaking, she stared at the face of the old man in front of her.
The old man was not surprised at all, he had the same smiling face from beginning to end.
The old man called him Wang Xiang.
The protagonist in the story of lying on the ice seeking carp!
Because he was extremely filial to his stepmother, he became famous at a young age and was known to everyone as a filial son. Later, he refused the conquest of temples many times and became famous.
At this moment, his reputation even surpassed that of Wang Su.
After all, humility and filial piety are the most important topics today.
He also took advantage of this to become the moral leader of Shilin at this moment.
Of course, he himself is also very capable, and his ability to manage government affairs is very good. After being recruited, his official career has made rapid progress, and now he has reached the position of great minister of agriculture.
Wang Xiang participated in the "candidate war" between Queen Mother Guo and Sima Shi, and cast a very important vote for Cao Mao, confirming Cao Mao's position.
In return, Queen Mother Guo also decided to canonize Wang Xiang, who had "made meritorious decisions", as a Guanglu Xun after the emperor succeeded to the throne.
Master Sima also attaches great importance to this moral benchmark.
The Sima family needs the support of this moral leader very much, and needs the moral leader to testify for them in the future. The Sima family is not usurping the throne without virtue, but is complying with the destiny of heaven.
Wang Xiang's connections are very strong and he is friends with many wealthy families. He will not panic at all when facing any emergencies.
After Queen Mother Guo spoke, Wang Xiang smiled and nodded.
"The Queen Mother is very considerate and can do this."
During the late Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was very common for childless people to adopt children from their brothers' families. This was the case for both Cao Rui and Sima Shi.
Empress Dowager Guo sighed and said: "I am just a woman, and I should not be involved in important affairs in the temple. Besides, there is already a precedent set by King Qi, so I am afraid that the wise men in the court will object."
Wang Xiang was also a little confused at this moment. He didn't know why the Queen Mother was so eager to build momentum for Cao Mao and make him orthodox.
Could it be that Master Sima regretted it?
It's impossible. He's not quite the same as his father. He's not someone who goes back on his word easily.
He tentatively said: "Queen Mother, since all the ministers have agreed to support the noble countryman, they will not object to his succession. He has inherited the mantle of Emperor Liezu, so how can the ministers object?"
The Queen Mother said helplessly: "I heard that someone in the court slandered the noble countryman and wanted to make him the emperor."
Wang Xiang suddenly understood.
Is this because he is worried that Master Sima will regret it, so he wants to finalize the matter and does not want another incident to happen?
Wang Xiang laughed. The matter of supporting Li was not only a matter of the Guo family and the Sima family, but also included the participation of these people.
Things that everyone has decided together cannot be changed at will by the Sima family.
This must be because after Cao Mao refused many times, Guo was worried that the Sima family would mention King Pengcheng again, so she was determined to make a final decision.
After all, she is a woman, and she has no patience for this.
"The Queen Mother is worrying too much. The establishment of an emperor is a major event in the world, and there is absolutely no reason to change it easily."
Wang Xiang said seriously: "What the Queen Mother said will definitely be supported by many talented people."
The Queen Mother nodded, "I felt relieved after hearing what you said. The noble countryman is young and filial by nature. When he comes to Luoyang, he should seek advice from a great sage like you. You should come as a teacher." Teach him and let him learn the principles of filial piety!"
The Queen Mother's words sounded like an order, but they were essentially a transaction.
And how dare Wang Xiang refuse the Queen Mother's order?
He hurriedly stood up and said with sincerity and fear: "I have no talent and virtue and dare not be your Majesty's teacher, but I will definitely assist and advise your Majesty so that he can live up to the mantle of Emperor Liezu!"
The deal is done.
Wang Xiang left the palace tremblingly on crutches.
The next day, the words of Emperor Liezu, the heir of Gaogui Township, swept Luoyang, and many moral people expressed their sorrow:
The King of Qi was immoral and could not offer sacrifices to his ancestors. However, the ancestors should not be sacrificed and should be adopted by the noble villagers with whom they had the closest relationship.
This just hit the Sima family's pain point.
After all, everyone knows how Emperor Liezu's sacrifices were interrupted.
Although the Sima family is now at its peak, it has not yet reached the perfection of Sima Zhao, and it is impossible to ignore such a big issue as Emperor Liezu's cessation of worship.
No one realized that the original fill-in-the-blank question of choosing one of the many clans had suddenly become a multiple-choice question between Cao Mao and Cao Ju.
Sima Zhao was furious and immediately summoned many talented people and asked them to come to his mansion.
Immediately, preparations were made to impose martial law in the city.
Just when Sima Zhao decided to have a big fight with this gang of dogs, a young and handsome man appeared here.
His appearance interrupted the meeting.
This man was tall, well-dressed, and had a bit of arrogance in his eyes, but he was different from Guo Jian. Everyone hurriedly got up to see him.
This person's name is Zhong Hui.
He was the youngest son of Zhong Yao, an important minister of Cao Wei. He became famous at the age of five. He was well-read and was valued by Sima Shi. Later he became an important staff member of Sima Shi.
He brought Sima Shi's orders.
"The general said: There are many loyal and good people in the court, and this is a good deed to plan for the death of our ancestors."
Sima Zhao frowned, stood up quickly, pulled Zhong Hui to his side, and sat him down.
"Shiji, what do the generals think? If he agrees to them, then he can inherit everything from Emperor Liezu... If something happens in the future, how can this be possible?"
Sima Zhao was about to ask how he would ascend the throne in the future.
Zhong Hui raised his head, his face full of confidence.
"With the general here, what are you worried about? How can we guess what the general is thinking?"
Zhong Hui had great respect for Master Sima.
Master Sima said that Zhong Hui was Wang Zuo's talent, and Zhong Hui also regarded Master Sima as his boss and assisted him with all his strength.
When Sima Zhao heard what the other party said, he was immediately discouraged.
Fortunately, Sima Zhao also trusted his brother enough and waved his hand and let everyone under his command leave.
"If I had known, I would not have supported Cao Mao. This guy has caused so many troubles before he succeeded to the throne. If he really succeeded, wouldn't it be worse?"
Zhong Hui said seriously: "Your Majesty has the virtue of humility and the style of a gentleman. Isn't this the blessing of the country? Besides, how can the general call your Majesty by his first name?"
Sima Zhao was stunned, and suddenly smiled bitterly when he looked at the young man in front of him who spoke and behaved more and more like his elder brother.
"Okay, okay, okay, you have the final say."
"Your Majesty is wise!!"
"The general is wise!!"
Zhong Hui suddenly laughed when he heard Sima Zhao's teasing.
"General, don't be impatient. These little tricks are totally worthless in front of the general."
"It's just grandstanding and asking for trouble."
"How dare the fluorescent fire compete with the sun and the moon?"
