"What do you mean, brother?"
Sima Guang looked hesitant and asked in a deep voice.
Sima Yi said unceremoniously: "The family has been passed down for thousands of years. It's fine that we unworthy descendants can't carry it forward, but we can't let the family die prematurely."
"We must find a way to get the Sui Emperor to abolish the imperial examination. It is best to restore the nine-level Zhongzheng system of the Wei and Jin Dynasties!" Sima Zhao said with a fierce look on his face and gritted his teeth.
Hearing this, Sima Guang shook his head helplessly and said: "His Majesty is so resolute and resolute today. The imperial examination system has been made a national policy by him. It is difficult for just a few of us to get him to cancel the national policy!"
"That's not necessarily the case!"
Sima Yi curled his lips slightly and said: "There is no dynasty that lasts for thousands of years, but there is a family that lasts for thousands of years. This is an eternal truth. Although your Majesty is wise and powerful today, he wants to change the rules that have been established for thousands of years on his own, hum!"
"What's your father's plan?"
Sima Master and Sima Zhao asked in unison.
Sima Yi glanced at his two sons and said with a smile, "Have you ever heard of Master Zixu?"
"heard about it."
Master Sima said: "This Taoist has become very famous in Hanoi in the past two years. It is said that he has magical powers that reach the sky, and he has the ability to summon gods and predict the future. What does father want him to do?"
Sima Yi still smiled and said: "Throughout the past dynasties, especially emperors with great talents and strategies like Yang Gao, what did they long for most?"
"Immortality!" This time it was Sima Zhao who said it first.
Sima Yi nodded: "How tempting is immortality! Even Emperor Qin and Han Wu couldn't resist it. In order to seek immortality, Qin Shi Huang sent Xu Fu to lead 3,000 boys and girls to go to sea. In order to seek immortality, Emperor Wu of Han finally came up with witchcraft. Disaster!"
"This Master Zixu turned out to be arranged by my father!"
Sima Zhao suddenly realized: "Father is really far-sighted and had planted this secret as early as two years ago. The boy was still wondering how this old Taoist priest had gained such a great reputation in two years. It turned out to be our Sima family. Help from behind!”
Sima Yi stroked his beard and smiled and said: "When Emperor Sui came to Hanoi, my father invited Master Zixu. Then he would take the stage and persuade the emperor to follow the ancestral system and restore the old rituals. It has the temptation of immortality. Coupled with the fact that my father is helping me, there is at least a 70% chance of this happening!"
"You...you...you are deceiving me!" Sima Guang said with a look of shock on his face.
"Jun Shi, you are too honest!"
Sima Yi glanced at Sima Guang with a displeased expression, and said with a straight face: "In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures should be taken. Now His Majesty is young and frivolous, and violates the ancestral etiquette. We, the ministers, must persuade His Majesty to return to normalcy! Jun Shi , haven’t you always opposed the reforms advocated by Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng?”
Sima Guang argued: "I am indeed opposed to the reform, but I can't deceive Your Majesty with the talk of ghosts and gods. How can I do such a thing if I don't talk about strange powers and confuse gods, and my brother is well-read in poetry and books?"
Sima Yi snorted coldly: "Aside from this, Jun Shi, do you have any other clever ideas? Could it be that you want to see the common people in the imperial court take charge of martial arts!"
Sima Guang let out a long sigh and said: "Brother, I can't convince you, but you can't convince me either! I just pretend that I don't know about this matter, and I don't want to know your plan. Whether it succeeds or not depends on my brother! Farewell!"
After saying that, Sima Guang stood up and left. Sima Yi looked at Sima Guang's leaving figure and shook his head helplessly. This younger brother worked hard and was a good scholar, but he lacked flexibility and was not the same person as him.
Sima Yi sighed, but although Sima Guang didn't want to get involved, he also promised not to leak the matter out. With his character, he would naturally do what he said. Thinking of this, Sima Yi no longer cared about the departed Sima Guang and left his two sons. He lowered his voice and continued planning.
. . . . . . . . . .
More than ten days later, Yang Gao's Luanjia arrived in Hanoi County. The Sima family, the head of aristocratic families in Hanoi County, had already taken the lead. More than a dozen wealthy gentry families came out of the city to greet him and praise his virtues.
Yang Gao also made a fuss and gave in, showing a harmonious appearance between the monarch and his ministers. That night, Yang Gao held a royal banquet at the governor's mansion to entertain many famous people in Hanoi County.
After half a drink, Sima Yi secretly winked. The head of the Wang family, Wang Jingxuan, who was already engaged to Sima Yi's son Sima Zhao, raised his glass and said loudly: "Your Majesty, there is a god in Hanoi named Zixu, who understands yin and yang. I have known it for five hundred years, and I have known it for five hundred years. There is a way to teach people to become immortals and live forever. Thanks to His Majesty's grace, the common people happened to meet this immortal who came and went without a trace yesterday."
Yang Gao's brows twitched slightly and he stared at Wang Jingxuan in front of him without saying a word. Wang Jingxuan was stared at for so long that he couldn't help but feel hairs on his back.
Sima Yi on the side couldn't help but be stunned when he saw this, secretly thinking that the emperor shouldn't have immediately asked Wang Jingxuan about the whereabouts of Master Zixu when he heard about the art of immortality, why he remained silent for so long.
This immortal is the top priority of Sima Yi's plan. If Yang Gao doesn't even meet him, then his plan won't even have a chance to be carried out.
At that moment, Sima Yi saw that Wang Jingxuan had been stared at by the emperor and was speechless, so he could only step forward and said: "Your Majesty, the common people have also heard of the name of Master Zixu. This man is an unpredictable person. I have known for five hundred years, and I have known for five hundred years. Your Majesty could not have summoned this person and used him to deduce the fate of the Sui Dynasty, and also seek the way to immortality."
Seeing Sima Yi jump out, Yang Gao's brows jumped again. As a new youth in the 21st century, Yang Gao simply does not believe in the so-called art of immortality in the world. Many emperors in the past dynasties have wanted to seek immortality. Qin Shihuang sent Xu Fu to lead three thousand boys and girls out to sea to find the elixir of immortality, but Xu Fu never returned.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was superstitious about immortals and was keen on enshrining Zen and offering sacrifices in the suburbs. He traveled to various places many times and spent extravagantly. In the later years of his reign, social conflicts became increasingly acute, with two million refugees in Guandong and frequent peasant uprisings.
Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, once laughed at Emperor Qin and Han Wu for being obsessed with alchemy and seeking elixirs, but later he also began to take elixirs, and in the end he failed to live forever.
As soon as Wang Jingxuan finished speaking, Yang Gao became alert. Throughout the dynasties, warlocks under the guise of immortality have been deceiving nine times out of ten.
But what surprised Yang Gao was that Sima Yi actually jumped out. Yang Gao believed that with Sima Yi's 97 points of intelligence, he would never be deceived by a charlatan. At this moment, Yang Gao's heart became more vigilant, and he vaguely felt that this matter might not be as simple as a charlatan.
"Preach the decree to summon Master Zixu!"
Yang Gao glanced at Sima Yi who was standing aside, and thought to himself: "I want to see what tricks you are playing!"
