After the deaths of Xun Yu and Xun You, Zhong Yao went on to become the leader of the Henan gentry. He was promoted to Dali and Prime Minister successively by Cao Cao. He was dismissed because of his involvement in the Wei Xi case last year, and now he has been re-appointed as Dali by Cao Pi.
Zhong Yao had a high status among the nobles in Henan. He had to express his position after Sima Yi's entire clan was wiped out. When he saw everyone discussing the authenticity of the letter in the palace, he did not worry about the embarrassment of reinstating his official position. He said: "Can you give me the letter?" Let me see? I don’t believe that Zhongda will treason, and Shuda and others are also dead. This matter is not that simple."
Cao Pi saw that Zhong Yao had a strong aura, so Hua Xin and Chen Qun decisively handed over the letter. He also wanted to see what the other party thought.
There were more than a dozen letters on the table, but the contents were concise and concise. After Zhong Yao browsed them quickly, he divided the letters into two piles.
"These so-called evidences are all letters, and none of them are evidence of Zhongda's handwriting of collaborating with the enemy. The letters on the left say that he colluded with Ji Miao, Geng Ji, Wei Huang, Guan Yu, Hu Xiu, etc. It is definitely a frame-up by someone with intentional intentions; In addition, the frame-up of Yang Xiu, the loss of Xiangyang, the beheading of Lu Chang, and even the failure of the late king's southern expedition are all nonsense. Although Zhongda is a commander of the Prime Minister's Army, he has no chance to command an army. He can cause trouble under the nose of the late king. ?”
Zhong Yao said a lot, and the whole article was based on his own subjective assumptions, but the last sentence mentioned Cao Cao, which made his argument stand firm instantly, and quickly attracted the support of many people in the palace.
Seeing that everyone was still thinking about it, Zhong Yao pointed to the pile of letters on the right and said: "These letters all seem to be from Sun Quan. It is difficult to determine whether they are true or false at the moment. On the surface, they say that Zhongda took bribes and failed to do things, so Sun Quan wanted to send assassins here. But I will raise some of the doubts here;
The first is the problem of General Yu Jin. He was defeated by Guan Yu and should be imprisoned in Jingzhou. Even Lu Meng was beheaded by Guan Yu. Who can save him to Jiangdong?
Second, Sun Quan promised to give Zhongda a kickback of 200 million, and asked the king to redeem General Yu from the Wei Kingdom for 1 billion. Not to mention whether this amount was too exaggerated, based on the tone of Sun Quan's letter, it seemed that he had already paid Zhongda. Otherwise, why would you continue to write letters to remind me? I have never seen a deal where you pay first and do the work later;
The third is the problem of assassins. Everyone knows Jiangdong's combat power. General Zhang can break through one hundred thousand with eight hundred, but Sun Quan's assassins can sneak into Yecheng quietly and wipe out the entire Sima clan. Why don't they come to the king if they are so powerful? ? "
Zhong Yao analyzed the problem and found that the content of the letter was indeed full of loopholes. Everyone in the palace whispered that they believed it, and they all speculated whether he was killed by other enemies.
Cao Pi was a little moved when he heard the last sentence. Now that Cao Hong has not caught the murderer, his own Palace of Wei is not safe. At this time, he thought of Xu Chu who was ill. He planned to send an imperial doctor to pay his respects tomorrow. If he was almost recovered, he would have to let him go immediately. Come and take charge of the dormitory.
"Do you have anything to add, sir?" Cao Pi interrupted the commotion and continued to ask.
"Your Majesty, Sima Changshi's family died unjustly. We can't listen to the slander and add insult to injury..."
"Your Majesty, I think this is a divorce plan by Liu Bei or Sun Quan. These assassins may be sent by them."
"Zhong Dali just said that if Sun Quan's soldiers don't have this strength, they must be assassins from Jingzhou..."
"Yes, yes, yes, Guan Yu took advantage of the death of the late king to deliberately assassinate the important ministers of Wei..."
...
"Are there any more?" Cao Pi found that these people were excusing Sima Yi, and they were all officials representing the Henan gentry. In addition, they were inferring the murderer. Some people guessed Jingzhou, some guessed Yangzhou, and some guessed it was Hu. people.
Cao Pi found that Taiwei Jia Xu was as steady as an old dog, and felt that the other party must have some insights, so he asked sincerely.
"Your Majesty, I have a different opinion."
Before Jia Xu could speak, a loud voice suddenly came from the back of the palace, and everyone looking for it turned out to be Dong Zhao.
Dong Zhao initially joined Yuan Shao's army and did his best under Yuan Shao's account. However, his younger brother Dong Fang was in Zhang Miao's army, and Zhang Miao had conflicts with Yuan Shao. Therefore, Yuan Shao listened to the slander and wanted to punish him. Dong Zhao used the excuse of paying an audience to Emperor Xian. Escaped and forced himself to become Zhang Yang's aide.
When Cao Cao was planning to welcome Emperor Xian to Xudu, Dong Zhao jumped around to help Cao Cao achieve his goal. After this battle, he became Cao Cao's absolute confidant. He was successively appointed to important positions such as Henan Yin, Jizhou Mu, Xuzhou Mu, etc., and initiated Cao Cao's claim to the throne and the founding of the country.
Dong Zhao completely offended the Henan nobles because he initiated Cao Cao's claim to the throne and founded the country, and he was politically excluded and suppressed. In order to balance the conflict with the nobles, Cao Cao did not fully protect Dong Zhao.
When Cao Pi ascended the throne as Queen of Wei, all the Henan nobles who supported him benefited. However, Dong Zhao, as a founding figure, was only appointed by Cao Pi as a general and chief craftsman.
He will be a great craftsman and be in charge of palaces, ancestral temples, mausoleums and other civil constructions. His rank is two thousand stones. In the prosperous times, he was considered a well-paid yamen.
Although the salary of a general as a great craftsman is the same as that of a county guard, the power and status he possesses are vastly different, which is considered to be a poor treatment for the founding fathers who have made great contributions.
Dong Zhao walked to the front of the palace, bowed to Cao Pi and Zhong Yao respectively, and then slowly said: "I have other different opinions on Zhong Dali's speculation."
"I'd like to hear the details." Zhong Yao frowned and nodded slightly.
Dong Zhao replied: "Let's not talk about the letters on the left for now. I also think that Sima Zhongda is not treason. After all, there is no benefit in taking refuge with Liu Bei. But the letters on the right about Jiangdong are worthy of discussion."
When Zhong Yao saw that Dong Zhao paused deliberately, he waved his hand to indicate that Dong Zhao should continue.
Dong Zhao nodded lightly and responded: "Actually, there is no need to guess whether Yu Jin is in Jingzhou or Jiangdong. Your Majesty will send someone to check it out. Secondly, regarding the issue of kickbacks and sales, I also recommend checking it out. Let’s check it later; let’s focus on the last point, that is, whether there are such powerful assassins in Jiangdong. Dali made the deduction based on the war in Hefei, and I believe that war and assassination are two different things.”
"Although there is a difference between war and assassination, they can also be regarded as the basis for inference. If Gongren raises different opinions, he should also provide the basis. Shouldn't he also send someone to investigate?" Zhong Yao smiled coldly.
Cao Pi was sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight, and suddenly felt a strange sense of relief. When the monarch saw that his ministers were in harmony, he was likely to be ignored by his ministers. A scene like this is very good. Maybe Sun Quan often had this experience, right?
Dong Zhao responded calmly and with a smile: "Of course there is evidence. Does Dali still remember Sun Bofu? How did he die?"
Zhong Yao was startled when he heard this, thinking that Dong Zhao was so powerful. He knew the answer but did not tell him, so he could only answer awkwardly: "It seems to have been a long time ago, right? At that time, I was restraining Ma Teng and Yuan Shao in Guanzhong. It was really I have no time to worry about Jiangdong’s affairs.”
"Sun Ce, the little overlord with great martial arts skills, is said to have been seriously injured by the three assassins even though he made the first move. He soon died of his injuries. Is this evidence sufficient?" Dong Zhao did not take Zhong Yao's face into consideration. , directly throwing out the facts.
