When Guo De came to the General's Mansion, an elegant and simple middle-aged man walked out with a smile on his face to greet him.

The man was tall, handsome, with a short beard, bright eyes, and a very friendly smile.

But seeing this person, Guo De shuddered and hurriedly attached himself to worship him.

The person who came was the general of the Great Wei Zhengxi, the Marquis Sima Zhao of Xincheng Township.

"How dare you let the general come to greet you..."

Sima Zhao helped Guo De up and said happily: "When I got up early today, I heard the birds chirping, and the sages in the house said that the moral guests will come, isn't it you?" ”

Guo De suddenly relaxed a lot, and he was no longer as vigilant as Fang Cai.

Sima Zhao took his hand cordially and led him towards the inner courtyard.

"You are your own family, you don't have to be so polite, see you in the future, you just call your uncle!"

Guo De was dragged all the way to the study, and Sima Zhao asked him to sit beside him.

Then he said to the little official: "Go and let Yan come in to meet his brother!" ”

Guo De hurriedly dissuaded.

"General, it doesn't have to be like this..."

"You don't have to bother! As it should be! ”

Sima Zhao held down Guo De, and it didn't take long for him to see a young man with a sad face walking in.

This young man is very similar to him Sima Zhao, both in terms of body shape and appearance, except that his hair is very long, longer than ordinary people, and his hands are the same, which can reach his knees.

Well, the young man is Sima Yan, and his appearance often reminds his grandfather of an old man who was far away in Xishu....

Sima Yan walked into the inner room and reluctantly bowed to Guo Dexing.

Sima Zhao was immediately furious, "How did I teach you on weekdays?!" Seeing virtuous people, or close relatives, can you be so lazy?! ”

Sima Yan was terrified, and hurriedly visited him again, asking Guo De for forgiveness.

Guo De hurriedly admonished, and Sima Zhao calmed down his anger and drove his son out.

Sima Zhao sighed and said, "This concubine is really not a weapon... Please don't blame me, I have been busy with state affairs all these years, but I have neglected to teach. ”

"The virtuous name of An Shi, the whole people in Luoyang know that you teach well, you really shouldn't be humble."

The two of them were polite for a moment.

Guo De then got into the subject.

"I wonder if my father-in-law is here?"

"Oh, he's still busy, if you have anything to do, you might as well just talk to me."

"It's the new king's business."

Sima Zhao laughed, "Wang Su sent someone to send a letter, I probably know everything, the noble township prince is indeed not suitable for inheriting the throne, I think, it is better to choose another person, as for the noble township prince, let him be his township prince in Yuancheng with peace of mind!" ”

Guo De stood up in a panic, looked at Sima Zhao who was smiling in front of him, and sat down again.

"General, the noble townsman is humble and has the style of Emperor Wen, this is a good thing, the more he refuses, the more suitable he is to inherit the throne, how can he be replaced?"

"Oh, but I've heard that this man is not virtuous."

Guo De was vigilant, Guo Zhi didn't say so in his letter, could it be that the Sima family was really preparing to meddle in the affairs of the palace?

He hurriedly said: "The reputation of the noble township prince for benevolence, righteousness and love for the people has also spread in the temple, and the ministers all say that he is humble and can be the emperor, and the emperor is still young, even if there are any evil deeds in the place, when he returns to the palace, there is such a loyal and good general, so naturally he does not have to worry." ”

Sima Zhao shook his head, "You don't have to worry about my brother, he doesn't have the heart to handle such a trivial matter." ”

Guo De's face twitched, is it a trivial matter to abolish the emperor?

Sima Zhao continued: "I'm not saying that Cao Julai should be the emperor, we can choose another suitable one in the clan, and it doesn't have to be a noble countryman, what do you think?" ”

Guo De said solemnly: "General, the matter of supporting the Son of Heaven is decided by the temple, not by me. ”

Sima Zhao was silent for a moment, is this Guo family determined to support Cao Chao?

He Cao Chao is so in line with the taste of your Guo family??

He tapped the wooden case in front of him lightly with his hand.

"Guo Jun.... Do you want my brother to go to Yuancheng in person to kneel to welcome the new emperor? ”

Sima Zhao's voice became low, his eyes narrowed, with a hint of murderous intent, Guo De only felt a chill rising from his back, and he was terrified.

"General, the Queen Mother said: I was a Chinese man with no talent, because I married a good wife, so I know a lot of truths, when I am young today, I may have done some evil things, but if I am worthy of a good wife as the queen, I will be able to make it change."

"The Queen Mother believes that all the virtuous women in the world are from the Sima family."

"If you feel that the townsman does not have the virtue to govern the world, you can naturally choose a good daughter in the family, and marry it to the emperor, so that she can follow the teachings..."

Sima Zhao was stunned, the chill on his face suddenly disappeared, and a gentle smile resurfaced.

"I see... Please wait, I'll go back as soon as I go. ”

Sima Zhao left, Guo De naturally knew in his heart that this must be to find his father-in-law to decide.

Guo De didn't wait too long, and after a while, Sima Zhao came back, but his expression was slightly embarrassed.

He sat down in front of Guo De and cleared his throat.

"In this matter, the general has already given an order."

Guo De hurriedly lowered his head to receive the order.

"General's Order: On October 5, the Emperor will succeed to the throne."

Guo De finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, after his family made a concession and was willing to make room for the Sima family in the harem, the Sima family was also willing to accept it.

"Thank you, General! Thank you, General Zhengxi! ”

Sima Zhao helped him up with a smile, "It's all a family, you don't have to be like this, go and prepare quickly!" ”

"Yui!!"

Sima Zhao watched Guo De leave with a smile on his face, and when Guo De left, a thin young scribe flashed out from the side and stood beside Sima Zhao, also staring in Guo De's direction.

The young scribe was tall and thin, with a fair complexion and a delicate appearance.

"General... Something isn't right. ”

"Oh? Yuan Kai... What's wrong? ”

Sima Zhao looked at his cronies, the grandson of Du Ji, the minister of Cao Wei, the son of Du Shu, and Du Pre, the Shangshulang of the Great Wei.

Although Du Zhen grew up in an official family, he was not a gentleman, he was well-read since he was a child, diligent in writing, and proficient in almost all fields.

His father Du Shu was at odds with Sima Yi, and he was very disgusted with the ministers, and he was assigned after the Gao Pingling Incident, and he couldn't even go out with him.

Three years ago, Sima Zhao discovered this young man, marveled at his talent, and hurriedly promoted him as his own cronie and recommended him to his brother.

After talking to him, Sima Shi married his sister to him on the spot, completely ignoring his family's pro-Wei stance.

Du Yu said seriously: "Today, Guo De is extremely frightened, as if he is afraid that the general will rebel, and he is extremely vigilant against you, and he is anxious to establish the township prince as the emperor, and even to the point where he has to be the township prince. ”

"I think there must be someone instigating discord."

"The general can send someone to investigate and see if anyone has contacted the Guo family recently."

Sima Zhao stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It's okay, even if it is Cao Chao, my family will not suffer, and I can still get a queen's throne and enter the palace justifiably..."

"General, don't be careless."

"Okay, okay, then according to Yuan Kai's words, send someone to investigate!"

Guo De hurriedly returned to the palace and went to see the queen mother, and soon after, Guo Jian, the general of the town guard, led more than 20 horses out of the palace, left Luoyang, and galloped in the direction of Yuancheng.

.......

And at this moment, Yuancheng has returned to its original calm.

Nothing seems to be happening.

"Gong Cao, look at it, these are all good deeds I have done these days!"

"Since your teachings, I have changed my ways, been dedicated to goodness, practiced benevolence and righteousness, and almost all of my family property has been donated!"

One person put the bill in front of Cao Chao and said righteously.

Cao Chao glanced at it a few times, "Your silk business almost monopolizes half of Jizhou, this won't make you bankrupt, right?" ”

The man smiled awkwardly, and hurriedly said: "The business is big, but the profit is small, you don't know how difficult it is to make a living now..."

Where would Cao Chao not know that the situation of businessmen at this moment is quite bad.

Wars, the collapse of the monetary system, and the annexation of powerful and powerful people, many reasons led to a major economic collapse in the late Han Dynasty, and later Cao Pi stabilized the economy of the north, and the merchants came out again, but unfortunately, this did not last long.

After compromising with the family, Cao Wei began to re-stipulate the system, such as the monopoly of salt and iron, which could only be operated by the government and prohibited by the private sector.

On the issue of alcohol, Cao later abolished the prohibition of alcohol, allowed the consumption of alcohol, and at the same time stipulated that it could only be operated by the government.

This so-called official operation is different from the temple management in the Western Han Dynasty, and can be understood as a family to operate.

And the big families are becoming more and more unpopular, and it is not enough to replace the temple monopoly, and there are even cases where they take people to openly rob and kill merchants and rob their goods.

At this time, they will not say anything nonsense such as not competing with the people.

Now these merchants, in addition to paying various taxes to the temple, also have to give gifts to the wealthy families in various places, usually directly from the profits, which is equivalent to protection fees, or tolls.

It is also at risk of being plundered by the powerful and annexed by the family at any time.

The status of the merchants became even lower, and the scholars said that they were not as smelly as the untouchables.

This is one of the reasons why they are able to respond quickly to Cao Chao, and they also need to be sheltered.

What's more, Cao Chao can also create more profits for them.

After getting Cao Chao's hint, these businessmen in Yuancheng took action and began to "invite names" for Cao Chao at any cost.

Cao Chao used to have a very high reputation among the Hebei rangers, and now, the "untouchables" in Hebei have also heard of this benevolent and virtuous man.

These ants, who are looked down upon by the big families, are the power that Cao Chao wants the most.