Yecheng.
Sima Zhao was sitting in the upper position. He Zeng and Chen Ben were sitting on his left and right at this moment.
Sima Zhao looked at He Zeng and couldn't help but ask: "This rebel made such a big fuss before, why did he collapse as soon as I came here?"
He Zeng hurriedly replied: "This is all because of General Wei's majesty. When the rebels heard that you were coming, they were frightened and did not dare to be enemies of the temple anymore."
Listening to this flattery, Chen Benz couldn't help but close his eyes.
This guy really has no moral integrity at all.
He comes from a rich family, but he still looks like such a villain.
But Sima Zhao couldn't stand it and liked this trick. When he heard He Zeng's compliments, a smile flashed across his face, and he hurriedly said with a straight face: "This is because many ministers in Hebei cannot work together and have their own agendas." For selfish reasons!”
"The governors are doing their own thing and do not obey the orders of the superiors. The generals compete with each other for military merits and even intercept supplies. They are so audacious!"
He Zeng then looked at Chen Ben.
"General Wei doesn't know something, it's really because of some villain."
Sima Zhao just pretended not to see He Zeng's actions.
The situation in Hebei has been calmed down. He Zeng said it was very serious. In his petition, it seemed that Hebei had completely returned to the period of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
But in fact, although the turmoil occurred quickly, the Wei State was not a big Han Dynasty. The Wei State fully absorbed the shortcomings of the Han Dynasty's demise, including solutions to the rebels.
The governors and prefects of the Wei Dynasty all have military power, and there are four expeditions and four towns holding large armies to guard various places. It is difficult for a situation like the Yellow Turban Rebellion to quickly sweep half of the country, even if the army in Hebei is not as good as that of Northwest Huai Si's army was also fully armed and numbered tens of thousands. It was not that difficult to put down the rebellion.
He once described the situation as very serious, largely to cover up his incompetence.
He was not good at military strategy and did not know how to fight. This time, when so many wealthy families were in trouble, he was unwilling to take responsibility, let alone become a public enemy of the wealthy families in Hebei.
He can only blame everything on others, such as Chen Ben and Lu Yu.
When Master Sima and Zhong Hui were handling this matter, they did not inform He Zeng.
There are many reasons here. First, Zhong Hui doesn't like He Zeng at all.
Secondly, Zhong Hui wanted to find someone with status to stab Lu Yu in the back.
Thirdly, this person has a timid character and his family is very powerful. If he knew about this, he would probably betray him and not cooperate.
And He Zeng was always slow to get the news from the temple. Only now did he know that Master Sima was dead, and he didn't know that the era of competition among ministers had come.
Chen Ben is different.
Chen Ben was the main planner of the Hebei operation. He had always been at odds with He Zeng. This time, he pretended to compete for military glory and caused trouble for He Zeng at every turn, making it impossible for him to carry out his counterinsurgency work smoothly.
And He Zeng used himself to save others. If he found out that Chen Ben was in big trouble, he would definitely oppose him at every turn, leaving him in despair. Therefore, he did not doubt Chen Ben's position, but felt that this person was adding insult to injury.
In Sima Zhao's case, he knew everything that happened in Hebei.
He knew that Chen Ben carried out all of this in Hebei because of his brother's orders, and he also knew that He Zeng was probably unaware of it.
Therefore, today's questioning is just what Sima Zhao showed He Zeng, and it is not to investigate the responsibility.
This can be regarded as a disguised protection for Chen Ben.
Sima Zhao frowned and said seriously: "Although brother has passed away, I am still here. I will not be merciful to those ministers in Hebei who neglect government affairs or harm the public with private interests."
A smile appeared on He Zeng's face, and he raised his head and looked at Chen Ben.
Chen Ben remained calm and said nothing.
"Okay, you all go back first. I have to take a rest. General He will stay here."
"only!"
The ministers filed out, never staying by Sima Zhao's side.
After everyone left, Sima Zhao put away his seriousness. He smiled and looked at He Zeng, "Yingkao, don't worry. I am in the temple and I will not let you bear any fault. If there is a rebellion in the place, It's all because of Lu Yu's insistence, and the failure to suppress the rebellion is because of General Zhenbei."
"I know that without you, Hebei would not have been able to be pacified so quickly. You have made a great contribution this time."
"Even the big clans in Hebei should thank you. Without Yingkao, wouldn't the clans in Hebei have suffered greater casualties?!"
He Zeng's face was full of flattering smiles. He was the same type of person as Jia Chong. They were both from top wealthy families, but they looked like villains and were flattering. Moreover, this person's talents were not as good as Jia Chong's, otherwise he would be. Jia Chong will not act as a licking dog for Jia in history, and Jia Chong has always acted as a licking dog for Sima Zhao. How could he be a licking dog for licking dogs?
Sima Zhao liked to be friends with such people, not just to hear them praise him, but the most important thing was that these people dared to do things that ordinary ministers would not dare to do.
Let’s just talk about Jia Chong. Who else would dare to commit regicide except him?
"General, this is all what I should do. Besides, you were the one who put down the rebellion. How can you say it's my credit?"
"Yingkao, it would be great if all the ministers in the court could be as loyal as you."
He couldn't help but said: "Among the ministers, there are not many people who are as sensible as you."
He Zeng was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "Could it be that these people dared to embarrass the general when they saw that the general was gone?"
"Which of these traitors has not been favored by the general? How dare you do this?"
"General, is there anything I can do for you?!"
Seeing He Zeng who was eager to try, Sima Zhao's mood immediately improved a lot. Although this person was easy to flatter and didn't have many talents, he didn't need to be too afraid to use it himself.
"Don't be impatient, Yingkao. These people in the court can't go on messing around for a few more days. You don't need to do anything more. Just keep an eye on Hebei and don't make any more trouble."
"General, this is what I should do."
"It's just that the general doesn't know something, so Chen Ben deliberately made things difficult for me this time, making it difficult for me to carry out many things."
He Zeng directly complained to Chen Ben. When Sima Zhao listened to his complaint, he suppressed the smile in his heart and showed a very angry look, "Ying Kao, don't worry, I will definitely investigate this matter." !!”
The two talked for a long time, and Sima Zhao once again brought the topic to the ministers.
He expressed in a very subtle way that something unpleasant would happen to the ministers after returning to the temple.
And He Zeng also firmly stated that he would stand with Sima Zhao and would not allow others to bully him.
The matter was said to be very successful, and Sima Zhao sent him away.
Du Yu was just called in to discuss other matters.
After He Zeng left here, he hurriedly returned to his mansion.
"Father! You are finally back!"
He Zeng's son He Zun looked very anxious. When he saw his father coming back, he hurriedly wanted to speak, but He Zeng had the door closed.
He Zeng had two sons. Although He Zun was the eldest son, he was not a legitimate son, and the family's resources were not wasted on him.
He also served as a knight in the past, but because he liked luxury goods, he secretly colluded with palace craftsmen to make himself luxury goods for the emperor's exclusive use. He was impeached and dismissed by the officials.
The son of a general like He Zeng must stay in Luoyang. He Zeng's legitimate son He Shao stayed in Luoyang, even in the general's mansion.
But the deposed eldest son remained with his father.
He Zun hurriedly said: "Father, I have asked everything clearly."
"Things in the court are not that simple. I heard that when the general was still alive, the ministers had already begun to fight. Lu Yu and others controlled the power, including this incident."
"Shut up!"
He Zeng frowned and asked displeasedly: "Who asked you to ask about these things?"
He Zun had no choice but to explain quickly: "Father, these things are very important. The current situation in the DPRK."
"What is your identity? Do you dare to talk about important matters in the temple even though you have been deposed?"
He Zun felt very aggrieved. He was also running around for the benefit of the clan. Why couldn't his father see through what was going on in the temple?
To this day, I am still entangled with that Chen Ben.
But facing his father, he did not dare to refute. He just said helplessly: "Father, the court officials want to give our family a second grade. You don't know something. The Zhongzheng system is about to be reformed."
He quickly informed his father of several policies in the temple.
He Zeng finally stopped interrupting him and waited patiently for him to finish.
After He Zun finished describing many things in the temple, He Zenggang sneered, "So it's not that you went to ask them about the situation, but they found you and wanted you to be a lobbyist?"
"Father! What do you mean?"
He Zun said in disbelief: "Isn't this a good thing? How can you say you are a lobbyist?"
He never said with a straight face, "What do you know, you little brat?"
"This incident in Hebei is obviously because of Chen Ben. As for the temple incident, huh, what do these things have to do with you? If you have time to think about this, you should think more about how to get rid of your original notoriety."
He Zeng was very unhappy, cursed a few words, turned around and walked towards the inner room.
He Zun looked at his father who was leaving and hesitated to speak.
He sighed again.
Alas, this was originally a good opportunity for the clan to rise, but it was ruined at the hands of my father.
Entering the inner room, there was some disdain on He Zeng's face.
idiot.
What do these things have to do with our family? What's wrong with the current situation? Are you hungry? Or is it freezing you?
Do you really think that all those benefits are easy to come by?
Climbing too high or being too smart is not a good thing.
It's better to be stupid, and no one will be afraid of you. Everyone will win over you. Be a little person who follows the master, be carefree and protect the clan. Why bother to get involved in such troubles?
Both of his stupid sons couldn't see clearly what they were capable of, and they were eager to get ahead. After his death, the clan was afraid that something big would happen.
