Chapter 89: The 'Three Dogs of Taichung' under Cao Shuang
He Yan, who had just bent over and got out of the carriage, took out a sweat towel from his sleeve and wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead.
He was not idle, and said with some displeasure: "Well, since Uncle Zhao is still entertaining other officials of the DPRK, I don't force Uncle Zhao to go out of the house to welcome them in person as he did in the past.
I went to the banquet hall by myself. The butler was still waiting at the gate of the palace to greet the arrival of other officials from the DPRK and the Central Government, and could also guide them.
After all, unlike me, they are already familiar with the way to Uncle Zhao’s house, as if they were back in their own house!”
The steward said: "Why do you really not need servants to guide you?"
He Yan waved his hand and said: "No need, I am still very familiar with Uncle Zhao's house!"
The steward said: "Then Prince Consort He, please just go to your own devices. I will not lead the way for you. After all, there are still many officials who have not arrived yet. They are not like Prince Consort He who often has the opportunity to be invited by the master to come to the house for a gathering."
He Yan walked in front and took a few steps into Cao Shuang's mansion. Behind him were the servants of He's mansion who brought gifts. As soon as they entered, the steward sent a servant to take him to the warehouse registration office.
Register the gifts sent by the house, and then store the gifts in the treasury. After that, these servants of the He house will be led by the servants of the house to the place where the servants of each house are arranged to eat, so that they can have dinner here.
He Yan quickly walked to the Cao Mansion Banquet Hall. After all, the weather was quite hot in Luoyang in the evening in July.
It's still cooler indoors with ice fans or other cooling devices. It's still a bit hot to stay outdoors for a long time.
Entering the banquet hall, He Yan first greeted Cao Shuang, who was kneeling at the banquet chair, and saluted. His previously ugly face became happy again the moment he entered the banquet hall.
It was very similar to the Sichuan Opera trick of later generations. He changed his face and said with a smile, "I'm a little late today. I hope Uncle Zhao will forgive me.
However, the gifts that I should bring to Uncle Zhao are not lacking, and all the gifts are taken directly to the treasury by the servants who came with me."
He Yan looked at the two dogs Deng Yang and Ding Mi who had arrived early and were chatting in the hall.
Of course, only the two of them were talking, and most of the other people did not mix with them. After all, the reputation of the "Three Dogs of Taichung" is still very bad.
People in the court generally try to stay as far away from them as possible for fear of being targeted by them. Although the current "Three Dogs of Taichung" have also restrained themselves a lot under the constraints of their immediate boss Cao Shuang,
However, the bad reputation they had established in the court in the past still made most courtiers tremble when they saw them.
After all, Ding Mi is now in charge of the school affairs office for Cao Shuang, and he may be able to control every move of each household of the Wei court officials.
It would be enough for them to arbitrarily fabricate a crime according to Luo Zijing, and it would probably implicate the whole family in the house.
Deng Yang was a native of Xinye, Nanyang (now Xinye, Henan Province), and was the successor of the famous Eastern Han Dynasty general Deng Yu.
He was already famous in Luoyang when he was young, but his appearance was said to be unattractive. Guan Ren called him "Ghost Man", "walking loosely, his muscles not tied up, sitting up and leaning forward, as if he had no limbs".
Emperor Ming Cao Ruishi successively served as Shangshu Lang and Luoyang County Magistrate. He later served as Zhongshu Lang and concurrently Zhongshu Lang. In Zhongshu Province, he was dismissed by Emperor Ming because of his flashy style with Li Sheng and others and was no longer appointed.
In the third year of Jingchu (239), Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui passed away and left an edict to order General Cao Shuang and Taiwei Sima Yi to assist the young master Cao Fang.
After Cao Shuang evaded Sima Yi's autocratic power, he restored Deng Yang, who was close to him, and appointed Deng Yang as the prefect of Yingchuan. Later, he was transferred to the rank of general, chief of history, and then moved to serve as minister and minister. As Cao Shuang's party member and confidant.
Later, in order to help Cao Shuang establish his prestige, Li Sheng and Deng Yang came up with an idea and suggested that Cao Shuang conquer the Shu Han. Cao Shuang obeyed.
In the fifth year of Zhengshi (244), Cao Shuang appointed Xia Houxuan as the general to conquer the west and the governor of Yong during the holiday. Instead of leading an army of 60,000 to 70,000 to enter Shu from Luo Valley, all Liangzhou military forces
However, because the transportation in Guanzhong and Qiang and Di could not meet the needs of the march, both the local area and the army were short of supplies and food. Moreover, Fei Yi, the general of the Shu Han Dynasty, led his troops to defend the mountains first, so Cao Shuang was unable to advance.
Both Yang Wei and Xia Houxuan, who joined the army, persuaded Cao Shuang to withdraw, but Deng Yang insisted on continuing to march, and he and Yang Wei, who joined the army, argued endlessly in front of Cao Shuang.
Yang Wei said angrily: "Deng Yang and Li Sheng will ruin national affairs and they should be beheaded."
Cao Shuang was dissatisfied and had no choice but to withdraw his troops, but Fei Yi had advanced to defend the rear of the Wei army. Cao Shuang was able to evacuate after a hard battle, with many casualties, and the cattle and horses he brought for transport were almost exhausted. Qiang, Hu and others The land was full of complaints against him, and Guanzhong was also wasted.
In the eighth year of Zhengshi (247), Cao Shuang followed the "Three Dogs of Taichung" plan and placed Empress Dowager Guo under house arrest in Yongning Palace. Empress Dowager Guo and Cao Fang cried when they said goodbye. From then on, Cao Shuang took full power.
However, such monopoly of power will further alienate the clan, courtiers and Cao Shuang, causing them to turn to their opponents.
Not only was Deng Yang uneducated, he was also greedy for money and lustful. He often accepted bribes. He once promised to grant Zang Ai an official position, but she gave it to Deng Yang as his father's concubine. Therefore, the capital said: "The official was exchanged for his wife Deng Xuanmao."
The most ferocious of the "Three Dogs in Taichung", Ding Mi is the son of Ding Fei, a military captain in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He refused to travel when he was young, but he was well-read and was a determined and talented man.
During the period of Taihe, Ding Mi often lived in Yecheng, borrowing empty houses from others and living in them.
At that time, the princes of Cao and Wei who were in Yecheng also planned to borrow a place. Unknown to them, Ding Mi had already borrowed the house before them, so he opened the door and entered directly.
When Ding Mi saw the princes and kings, he lay down with his hands crossed and shouted to his slave: "Who is this? Tell him to leave quickly." The princes and kings resented his rudeness and wrote to Emperor Wei Ming after he returned. He imprisoned Ding Mi and detained him in Yecheng Prison. Because he was the son of a meritorious official, he was immediately released.
Later, Emperor Wei Ming heard that Ding Mi had the demeanor of his father Ding Fei, and appointed him as a doctor in Duzhi. Cao Shuang, who was the general of the military guard at that time, because of his good relationship with Ding Mi, praised Ding Mi many times in front of Emperor Ming and suggested that Emperor Ming reuse him.
In the third year of Jingchu (239), Cao Shuang promoted Ding Mi to the rank of minister of Sanqi and transferred to minister.
In order to allow Cao Shuang to monopolize power, he conspired to ask Cao Shuang to suggest to Cao Fang that he should respect another auxiliary minister, Taiwei Sima Yi, as the Taifu, but he cut off the power that originally belonged to the Taiwei to record the affairs of the Shangshu.
At that time, Cao Shuang would still ask Sima Yi for his opinions on political affairs, but Ding Mi thought that Sima Yi had both great ambitions and popular support and could not be trusted, so he advised Cao Shuang not to ask Sima Yi about any big or small matters in the future;
Sima Yi could no longer control power in this situation, and was afraid of being persecuted again in court, so he began to claim illness and avoid it in the eighth year of Zhengshi (247).
In order to paralyze Cao Shuang and his subordinates and prepare to seize the supreme power of Cao Wei, Ding Mi was also confused and relaxed his vigilance.
Ding Mi was in the Shangshu Province at that time, and he often impeached and refuted officials and decrees, so the Shangshu Province could not operate normally.
At the same time, Cao Shuang, who was able to restrain him, respected him very much and would obey everything Ding Mi said. After that, he ordered King Le'an to go to Yecheng in the north, and sent Wen Qin to return to Huainan. These were all Ding Mi's strategies.
Although Cao Shuang continues to use him and let him be in charge of the school affairs office, after all, he still has some talents. Unlike Dan He Yan, Deng Yang usually only drags Cao Shuang back, but he does not continue to indulge him and let him continue to cause trouble for the minister.
Province.
Cao Shuang smiled and beckoned: "Uncle Ping, please take a seat. I don't care about gifts or not, as long as Uncle Ping can come and support me, that'll be fine!"...