The Queen Mother presented two mansions to Cao Yu and Xia Houxian respectively.
Because the two of them had traveled a long distance to come here and needed a rest, the Queen Mother did not stop them and let them go to rest.
After the two people left with the edict in hand, Cao Maogang said to the Queen Mother:
"I'm afraid mother and others won't let us meet easily again."
"I heard from the prince that the ministers wanted me to live in the Xuanwu Hall."
Upon hearing these words, the Queen Mother's face suddenly darkened.
Xuanwu Hall is definitely not a good memory for the Queen Mother.
Emperor Liezu Cao Rui often lived there.
This is because the officials did not allow Cao Rui to start renovating the Tai Chi Hall, and wrote letters to dissuade him. Cao Rui did not dare to go against the grain of the officials, so he built the Xuanwu Hall in the suburbs to raise beauties and handsome men. , Emperor Wen only inherited the empire of the Han Dynasty, while Emperor Ming also inherited some incredible things.
The interior decoration of Xuanwu Hall is even more luxurious than that of Taiji Hall.
The ministers actually thought that the Tai Chi Hall was too luxurious and wanted to send them to the even more luxurious Xuanwu Hall?
It makes people laugh just talking about it.
Queen Mother Guo frowned, "Don't worry, my son, do these people really think I'm easy to bully? As long as I'm here, I want to see who dares to take you away!"
"If the emperor is no longer here, can this place still be called a palace?"
Cao Mao was silent for a long time, and Queen Mother Guo was obviously confused about the current situation.
The ministers are different from the Sima Master. The Sima Master has many things to worry about, but the ministers do not need to care about these. The ministers monopolize the knowledge and the right to speak, and the entire public opinion is guided by them.
Even if they did something like imprisoning the emperor, public opinion in the world would still say that the ministers were doing it for the emperor's good and devoted themselves to teaching him.
To be an enemy of the ministers is to be an enemy of the whole world.
The Queen Mother's edict depends on whether the ministers recognize it or not. Only if they recognize it will it be effective.
Cao Mao laughed and said, "Mother, it's okay. These traitors will stick together in times of crisis, but when everything is in hand, they will fight with each other."
"Shang Shutai is not Yixin, let's just watch what they do."
"Are there no virtuous ministers in this world?"
Cao Mao added: "I am mainly worried about you. I heard that the ministers want to send someone by your side, maybe to monitor your words and deeds."
"They dare?!"
Queen Mother Guo was furious.
"Mother, you have to be careful about this. If they really send someone to keep an eye on you, pretend you don't know and appease the ministers so that they will no longer be wary of you."
"well"
Queen Mother Guo suddenly sighed.
"My son, we have been struggling for so long and done one thing after another. But now, why is the situation getting worse and worse?"
"What on earth have we done?"
"It was a waste of energy and achieved nothing. Even Master Sima died of illness himself."
"When he was here, I could still intervene in government affairs, but now I have done so much, but I can't even intervene anymore."
Queen Mother Guo was very frustrated.
She was bewitched by Cao Mao's words at first, and gradually became ambitious. She wanted to kill Master Sima and become the real leader.
However, after "putting in" so much effort, Queen Mother Guo found that her power was not as powerful as before. This would undoubtedly make her feel disappointed and even shake her belief.
What on earth am I doing?
What did I do?
When Cao Mao heard this, he looked dazed.
Cao Mao has experienced many setbacks. He accumulated strength in Yuancheng, but within a few days he had nothing. After coming to the temple, he accumulated confidants, and after a few days, he had nothing again.
Finally, he had his own confidants and could walk around the palace at will. Seeing that the ministers wanted to have nothing, they wanted to have nothing.
Cao Mao suddenly laughed.
"Mother, in the past, the Sima Master or the ministers did not bother to take action against us. They looked down upon us and thought we were not worth mentioning. But now, they have begun to take us seriously and want to take action against us."
"That's what we do."
"We are not as weak as you think."
"There are our people in the entire temple, almost everywhere, but we have not officially fought back and are still building up our strength."
"When the time is right, you will be surprised to find that we have done too many things, and you will become the most powerful Queen Mother since the founding of the Wei Dynasty."
"At least, if you issue an edict now, the officials will not dare not come, and they will not dare not bow their heads."
"It will get better and better in the future."
"I promise you, that day will not be too far away. I will make them kneel outside Zhaoyang Palace and apologize to you."
Cao Mao's eyes were extremely firm.
Queen Mother Guo looked at him and was speechless for a long time.
When Cao Mao walked out of Zhaoyang Hall, Zhong Hui was waiting at the door.
Seeing Cao Mao, Zhong Hui hurried forward and asked with a smile: "Is the Queen Mother a little disappointed?"
Cao Mao was stunned for a moment, this guy is really awesome.
"It's okay, I've already advised her."
Zhong Hui followed Cao Mao, and the two of them walked towards the west hall together.
Cao Mao told Zhong Hui what Wang Xiang told him.
Zhong Hui suddenly sneered, "Your Majesty, don't think that Wang Xiang is a good person. This incident must have happened because of him. He wants to use you to get rid of the three princes and replace him."
"If he sat in the position of the Third Duke, he would definitely be more terrifying and difficult to deal with than the ministers today."
Cao Mao suddenly realized, "That's it."
Zhong Hui added: "You don't have to be afraid of the officials. The officials dare not force you to do things. The most important thing now is that you have to subdue the guard general for your own use."
The guarding general is Yang Hu.
Cao Mao shook his head. Yang Hu was very capable and had good personal ethics, but he did not have the courage of Zhang Hua and others. In the past, he was afraid of the Sima family, but now he is afraid of the officials.
Moreover, he belongs to the largest family in the world and is a natural beneficiary. He has the same interests as the ministers.
Unlike Zhong Hui, he is a family man and will not betray his clan for his own sake.
As for the marriage relationship with the Sima family, among the many big families in the world, who is not married to the Sima family?
Xun Yi's eldest brother is Sima Yi's son-in-law, and now he still leads the resistance.
"I'm afraid this person won't be of use to me."
Zhong Hui laughed, "He will be used for you."
Cao Mao quickly looked at him and said, "Shiji, Mr. Yang is my uncle. He is also very smart. You don't want it."
"Your Majesty, don't worry, I'm not trying to force him out of conspiracy."
Zhong Hui raised his head and said seriously: "The ministers cannot tolerate him."
"He is completely different from the officials. Although he is a timid person, he can be regarded as upright. He is incompatible with the officials. The officials will be very afraid of people like him. If he cannot go along with the officials, the officials will reject him. , the only one he can seek refuge with is Your Majesty."
"From today onwards, Your Majesty will summon many casual knights to come to the Tai Chi Hall and summon them every day."
"I promise that Yang Hu will soon be owned by your Majesty."
Cao Mao immediately understood Zhong Hui's thoughts and nodded.
The two returned to the West Hall, and Zhong Hui then talked about the clan affairs, "I have made preparations. Taking advantage of the turmoil in Hebei, I will send people to send all the clans in Hebei back to their fiefdoms. This matter cannot be done." To communicate with the ministers, you must directly communicate with He Zenglai."
"He Zeng is a person who is extremely selfish. He only cares about his own clan and is greedy for life and afraid of death."
"A clan in Hebei has already died at the hands of traitors. As long as he uses this incident as a punishment and asks him to send many clans in Hebei back to the feudal country, why would he not dare not to obey?"
"By the time the ministers react, the clan members have already returned to their fiefdoms. If the ministers propose to send them back again, huh, it won't be that easy."
Zhong Hui said quietly: "Old thief Gaorou thinks very highly of himself. He thinks he is secure in the country, but he forgets about the enemies outside."
"When General Wei of Shu launched an attack, Yongliang was in a hurry, and he knew how difficult it would be to govern the country of Wei."
"Such a thing happened in the temple. General Chariot and Cavalry is seriously ill. Can Chen Tai and Sima Wang stop Shu's General Wei?"
Cao Mao was shocked, "You mean Jiang Wei will break through our defenses?"
Zhong Hui analyzed: "In the past, when Jiang Wei went on the Northern Expedition, he was unable to go out with all his strength because of Fei Yi and others. This time, although their Shangshu Ling was close to the eunuchs, they supported the Northern Expedition. Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition will be larger in scale this time." It will be huge and go all out, but Sima Wang has just arrived at Yongliang and does not have much combat experience."
"Although Chen Tai has experience, he is still responsible for internal government affairs and cannot face the enemy with peace of mind."
"It will be extremely difficult for them to resist. When they are defeated by Jiang Wei and ask for help from the temple, do you think this old thief Gao Rou can still laugh?"
"Who else in the DPRK can lead troops to fight?"
"Gao Rou? Zheng Chong? Xun Yi? Which one of them can do it?"
When Zhong Hui said this, Cao Mao suddenly had more ideas. He had indeed ignored this matter. Jiang Wei was still making trouble in the northwest of the Wei Dynasty!
If Jiang Wei really tears open Wei's defense line, Gao Rou and others will really be frightened. Those who can go to the front line to resist Jiang Wei are basically people from the Sima family, such as the high-ranking bosses in the court. Want to fight Jiang Wei?
Oh, let's just wash up and go to bed.
Cao Mao's expression became increasingly strange as he listened to Zhong Hui's eloquent speculation about the rapidity of the enemy's attack.
"Eshiji, from what you said, it seems like you admire this General Wei of Shu very much?"
Zhong Hui stopped quickly and smiled.
"Your Majesty does not know something. This man is a famous general in the world. He has repeatedly defeated many with less. Yongliang defended it with heavy troops, but he is still talking about him. As a surrendered general, he can achieve such a point in Shu. It’s really admirable.”
"If your Majesty can get help from this person, why should you fear these old dogs in the court?"
Cao Mao pondered for a moment and asked, "In the future, will it be possible for me to conquer this person?"
Zhong Hui fell silent.
"Your Majesty can send him off in a dignified manner."
"Of course, who can say clearly what will happen in the future?"
