Chu singer held the memorial in his hand and fell into deep thought.
He had already roughly guessed what he was going to do in this last case, but it was difficult for him to make a final decision.
Kill Sima Yan?
This was something that Taizu Sheng was criticized for in history, and Chu Ge also felt it was unnecessary.
At that time, Sima Yan was already over seventy years old after all.
Even if he really succeeds in his rebellion, how many years can he remain emperor?
Moreover, judging from the subsequent situation, the possibility of Sima Yan's rebellion being successful is not high. Just for this trivial hidden danger, it seems completely unnecessary to kill a founding hero.
Will not killing him affect Guo Zuo of the Great Sheng Dynasty?
Chu Ge still didn't believe it.
He even had some doubts about whether this direction was correct and wanted to continue looking for clues in other memorials.
But after thinking about it, the most likely thing about the "death of the second generation" was related to the usurpation of the throne by a powerful official. As Taizu Sheng managed the entire country in an orderly manner, other possibilities were very low.
"Thinking about it again, maybe there is something else I haven't noticed..."
Chu Ge fell into deep thought and went through all the things about Sima Yan in his memory from the beginning.
He had previously focused on preparing for the Zhou Ping case, so he had a relatively deep understanding of the people involved in this case.
"If we look at historical records, Sima Yan doesn't show much signs of expansion. Compared with Zhou Ping, he is simply a representative of a good official.
"There are only three records in history about Sima Yan's inflation when he was prime minister. Two of them were officials who violated his authority and he dismissed them from their official positions; the other was because he was jealous of an influential prime minister.
A talented official, but he took action to suppress this person, resulting in him not being reused...
"But these seem like trivial things.
"As the prime minister, you only dismiss these offending officials, which is quite tolerant. As for being jealous of that talented official, it is more like some kind of nonsense and a bit far-fetched.
"In my opinion, his biggest failure was that after he claimed to be ill and left the position, he recommended Zhou Ping, a fellow native of Lianghuai, to Taizu Sheng as the prime minister.
"When Zhou Ping was the prime minister, he did much more than Sima Yan. It is said that the reason why Zhou Ping was promoted was that he bribed Sima Yan in private. Of course, geographical reasons were also important.
“At that time, these officials were basically organized into interest groups based on geography. Sima Yan represented the Lianghuai Group, the largest bureaucratic interest group at the time, and after Zhou Ping became prime minister, he took over his leadership position.
"Needless to say, Zhou Ping's death was due to Taizu Sheng's deliberate connivance in order to eliminate the power of the prime minister and strengthen the imperial power. However, he himself was arrogant and arrogant and had no sense of crisis in political struggle, so he could be considered to have died unjustly.
"But Sima Yan's reason for execution... is really too far-fetched.
"The most important point is that Sima Yan has already given up his position and went home because of illness...
"Wait, this time..."
Chu Ge suddenly realized something and began to calculate Sima Yan's critical time at several key nodes.
"At the beginning of the Great Sheng Dynasty, Sima Yan resigned from his position within two or three years. It can be seen that Taizu Sheng was very happy at that time. Not only did he give him a lot of fertile land and a beautiful house, but he also married his eldest daughter to him.
's eldest son.
"At this time, Sima Yan was in his fifties.
"Ten years later, the Zhou Ping case broke out. Zhou Ping was recommended by Sima Yan. The two people had always had a good relationship. They were fellow townsmen and in-laws. After the Zhou Ping case broke out, more than 10,000 officials were involved, and they were involved for ten years.
But Sima Yan was not affected and remained the same, even appearing in the court from time to time.
"At this time, Sima Yan was in his sixties.
"Ten years later, Sima Yan, who was in his seventies, was again involved in the Zhou Ping case, and was killed by Sheng Taizu.
"This man... is just like Taizu Sheng, he has a long-lived constitution..."
After sorting out Sima Yan's age among these key points, Chu Ge suddenly remembered a joke, a joke about the lifespan race.
Putting aside the content of the joke, at this time, Sheng Taizu and Sima Yan were indeed trying to outlive each other...
Judging from the results, after Sheng Taizu killed Sima Yan, he lived for another three years before passing away. But judging from Sima Yan's stamina, if he had not been killed by Sheng Taizu, it is hard to say who of the two would have lived longer.
After all, when he was in his fifties, Sima Yan had already resigned from the position due to illness, but he was still active and active until he was in his seventies...
"Suppose Taizu Sheng did not kill Sima Yan.
"Further suppose that Sheng Taizu died two years earlier and Sima Yan lived two more years and successfully lived to the age of eighty, which is two or three years longer than Sheng Taizu.
"What will happen?
"Is it possible to succeed in rebellion?"
Chu Ge frowned, instinctively wanting to deny his guess.
"It's unlikely.
"After the rebellion is successful, he can indeed pass the throne and power to his son. Therefore, it cannot be said that there is no motive at all.
"However, people are over seventy years old and may die at any time. Not to mention whether they are old and confused, their bodies have no energy at all.
"Can you still rebel at such an age?"
Chu Ge thought for a long time and finally came to a conclusion that surprised even him.
"able.
"There is a precedent for this in history...
"At the turn of Chu and Wei, Sima Yi, who was already in his seventies, did exactly this, and he succeeded."
After coming to this conclusion, Chu Ge himself was a little surprised.
However, when comparing the experiences of the two, many issues do feel suddenly enlightened.
Chu Ge somewhat understood why Sima Yan had to die.
He was tricked by an ancient man from hundreds of years ago...
…
In the early years of the Chu Dynasty, a famous person once said a well-known saying: When the world is safe, pay attention to the generals; when the world is in danger, pay attention to the generals.
That is to say, when the world is safe, the person who poses the greatest threat to the emperor is the prime minister who is mainly responsible for running the country; but when the world is in chaos, the person who poses the greatest threat to the emperor is the general who leads the army.
I have to say that this is good advice, because those emperors who do not believe in evil have already been eliminated by the survival of the fittest.
And Sima Yi at the turn of Chu and Wei was both.
Sima Yi was just a minor official in the prime minister's palace at first. He was promoted step by step because of his outstanding abilities. By chance, he began to supervise the army and began his military career.
Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a military wizard, so he gradually established his authority and became the leading general at that time.
Of course, the emperor was aware of the danger, so he gradually relieved him of his military power and allowed him to hold high-level civil posts.
Later, the emperor died and the prince succeeded to the throne. Sima Yi was designated as the auxiliary minister and assisted the new monarch conscientiously. It seemed that the entire power transfer was very smooth, and the monarch and his ministers were happy and trusted each other.
But unexpectedly, a few years later, the new king also became seriously ill. And the new king's son was only more than ten years old when he succeeded to the throne.
Then, Sima Yi endured it for another ten years before finally planning to usurp the throne and succeed.
When talking about Sima Yi, there are two points that must be mentioned.
The first is that he is very good at pretending.
The second is that he directly destroyed the credibility of political promises for more than a thousand years.
The emperor at that time did not trust Sima Yi, so Sima Yi began to pretend to be ill at home. He endured it for nearly ten years, always looking like he was about to ascend to heaven. Not only did he deceive the emperor and the general, he even deceived everything about himself.
Close relatives and friends.
When the emperor sent someone to find out what was true, he looked like he was possessed by a movie king. He pretended to be dim-sighted and deaf, unable to hear clearly what the other party was saying. Moreover, when he drank medicine, he spilled the medicine and porridge all over the place.
My chest kept making the sound of being out of breath and about to pass away.
This scene was performed for nearly ten years, and finally the emperor lost his guard and believed that he was really old and would die in a few days.
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi persisted for more than three years under such circumstances and cleared all obstacles for future generations to usurp the throne.
More importantly, in the process of usurping the throne, he also destroyed the credibility of his political promises.
There was once an emperor who swore to his sworn enemy Shisui that he would never kill him, and then he fulfilled his promise and it became a famous story.
And Sima Yi also made an oath to stop the water, but then turned around and directly betrayed his promise, throwing all the oaths he had made before, and completely annihilating all his political opponents.
Therefore, he set a very bad precedent for the following troubled times. Starting from him, people in the future only believed that whoever had greater military merit could be the emperor, and any oaths had no credibility, so we entered a long period of
A period of great chaos.
…
Chu Ge was a bit dumbfounded: "Brother, I am over seventy years old and come home claiming to be ill, but all the people in the court and court are your people. No matter how I look at it, I look like Sima Yi..."
Chu Ge went around in a big circle and finally figured it out.
The main reason why he didn't realize this problem at first was that he had a God's perspective.
From the perspective of future generations, it seems far-fetched that Sheng Taizu killed Sima Yan.
However, if we can really close the fog of history again and put ourselves in his shoes, we will find that there are deep reasons for Sheng Taizu's decision.
Will Sima Yan rebel?
It would be better to ask this question: Did Sima Yi's monarch ever doubt Sima Yi at the turn of Chu and Wei?
Apparently he had doubts.
But this suspicion was resolved by Sima Yi in a very clever way.
He also claimed to be ill and refused to go to court. He also acted like he was old and seemed to be returning to the West in the next second. He also represented a huge interest group, and there were many important officials in the court who had a sworn relationship with him.
In fact, a careful analysis of Sima Yi's situation at that time will reveal that although he was an important minister, his power was still far inferior to that of the emperor.
However, he succeeded in seizing the position by relying on an incomprehensible trick.
Although there was certainly a reason why the emperor was politically stupid and naive while Sima Yi was cunning and shameless, but in terms of results, he was successful.
Does Sheng Taizu dare to bet that after his death, his imperial grandson will still be able to secure the throne like himself?
Do you dare to bet that once the throne is usurped, it will not usher in an unprecedented chaotic era of alien invasion like the turn of Chu and Wei?
Obviously, he didn't dare to gamble.
If we analyze it from the perspective of hindsight, assuming that the emperor Sima Yi, or the two emperors before him, had already made up their mind to find a reason to kill Sima Yi, then there would be no subsequent series of events.
Or there is no need for the emperor to take action, as long as Sima Yi can die a few years earlier, then his image in the history books should be: governing the people with talents, being both civil and military, supporting two dynasties, and loyal ministers for three generations.
But it was only when he was in his seventies and in the last two years of his life that he showed his true self to everyone.
So back to the original question: Is there anything wrong with Sima Yan?
Chu Ge could only say: I don’t know.
Because there is no way to verify all of this, even if we can go through the history of that time again, even from the perspective of a person in the game, there is no way to verify the possibility that it did not happen.
In his heart, Chu Ge was more inclined to believe that Sima Yan did not have any thoughts of rebellion at that time, and he was also willing to believe that this was just an unjust killing, but from the perspective of the emperor, he really could not afford to take this risk.
Thinking of this, Chu Ge sighed softly and finally determined the cause of Sima Yan's death.
If Sima is not dead, the two rivers will not stop.
At that time, officials from Lianghuai had an absolute advantage in the court. From Sima Yan to Zhou Ping, they continued to cultivate party members. The reason why Sima Yan was able to resign so simply was probably because he chose Zhou Ping.
This heir knew that Zhou Ping could protect his own interests well.
Sheng Taizu also wanted to support other forces to fight against the Lianghuai Group, but after all, the foundation of the Lianghuai Group was too deep and difficult to shake.
Then, let's just let Zhou Ping's power continue to expand and start another one.
As for Sima Yan, who was originally the true spokesperson of the Lianghuai Group, the outcome was naturally doomed.
Although Sheng Taizu was quite alive, he could not predict the future and had little confidence in this lifespan competition.
More importantly, there is no need for him to compare his lifespan with Sima Yan. After all, he is the emperor.
"Someone is coming.
"I want to personally interrogate Zhou Ping's relative, Li You."
Chu Ge knew that this interrogation would yield a very important piece of information. Li You would admit that before Zhou Ping rebelled, he had gone to Sima Yan, and Sima Yan's answer to him was: I am old. After I die, you can take care of yourself.
.
And this sentence will become the trigger for Sheng Taizu to make up his mind to kill Sima Yan.
As for this matter, who is wrong?
In fact, no one is right.
From the perspective of the emperor, it is the emperor's right; from the perspective of the ministers, it is the ministers' injustice; from the perspective of the common people, it does not matter who of you kills whom, as long as the country is stable, there should be no fierce political struggle.
, don’t let the people be displaced again, that’s enough.
If I must be wrong, I can only blame Sima Yi hundreds of years ago for letting future generations lie down and get shot!
…
At the same time, Huo Yunying acted as a "rebel" and once again gathered a team of six to seven hundred people.
But the bad news is that he still hasn't found General Gu Yuan who can let him hug his thigh.
Huo Yunying suspected that this might be because the game "Dark Sand" deliberately plugged this loophole.
If the real situation in history is followed, then as long as the player finds General Gu Yuan and obeys his instructions in everything, it is possible to pass the level lying down.
Obviously it fails to serve the purpose of testing players.
Therefore, Huo Yunying stopped worrying and prepared to propose to Marshal Peng to establish his own business in accordance with the established plan.
In the meeting hall, Marshal Peng smiled kindly: "Why do you come to see me?"
Huo Yunying knew very well that although Marshal Peng seemed to treat him well on the surface, he actually had a grudge against him.
The reason is very simple, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain.
When Sheng Taizu first showed his outstanding talents, Marshal Peng was obviously very happy, thinking that he had found a general and a talent that could be made.
But soon, Marshal Peng realized that Sheng Taizu's abilities were more than just a general.
In other words, Sheng Taizu's ability was superior to his.
Marshal Peng certainly hopes that his son can take over, so he will naturally distance himself and be wary of this outsider.
In troubled times, heroes who truly have the ability to unify are rare. When rebels from different forces fight against each other, only the strongest can win.
And this kind of battle is not necessarily an aboveboard military struggle, but may occur in any form.
Huo Yunying knew that if he wanted to pass the "rebel" status, he would probably have to break away from Marshal Peng and establish his own business, so he didn't hide it and directly explained his purpose.
"Peng Shuai, we now occupy the city of Chuzhou. Although heroes from all walks of life have come to join us and are developing rapidly, the world is in chaos at this time and heroes are rising together. There are countless opportunities outside of Chuzhou.
"Peng Shuai, it is certainly the best strategy for you to run Chuzhou and use it as a foundation for development. But we should also seize the opportunities from the outside appropriately.
"So, I hope you can allow me to take people out to explore."
Marshal Peng's expression was startled for a moment, then a hint of joy flashed across his face.
Obviously, he has long felt that this young man is not a creature of the pond, and staying with him is likely to be a disaster. Now that the other party has taken the initiative to leave Chuzhou, it is of course a good thing.
However, Marshal Peng did not show it too obviously, but pretended to think about it and then said: "Of course it is good for you to be enterprising.
"It's just...how many people do you plan to bring?"
Huo Yunying was stunned for a moment, but without thinking much, she replied: "Just take away the 700 people I am leading now."
Marshal Peng smiled helplessly, then shook his head: "I'm afraid there's something wrong with this.
"Although the opportunities outside are good, Chuzhou City is not yet stable at this time.
"The Northern Barbarian bandit general Dong Chengyun has always been eyeing Chuzhou City and may attack at any time. At this time, if you take away these soldiers, although they are not many in number, it will ultimately weaken our strength.
"If other generals see it, I'm afraid it will have some bad effects..."
Huo Yunying was stunned for a moment: "But the commander-in-chief..."
Marshal Peng waved his hand: "We will discuss this matter later."
After saying that, he sent Huo Yunying away.
…
After leaving the meeting hall, Huo Yunying returned to her room, full of doubts.
"Strange, what does Marshal Peng think?
"Since he has always been wary of me, he should be even happier now that I am leaving. Moreover, when I asked to leave, a trace of joy clearly flashed across his face.
"But why didn't you agree later?
"They also said that Chuzhou City is not stable and it will have a bad impact on other generals if they see it... These are obviously excuses.
"Could it be that... Marshal Peng means that people can leave, but his soldiers have to stay?"
Huo Yunying suddenly wanted to break through this layer, and couldn't help but suddenly realized.
From Marshal Peng's perspective, he didn't want Sheng Taizu to stay by his side, because Sheng Taizu was too capable, stronger than him, not to mention his sons.
But he didn't want Sheng Taizu to take away too many people.
On the one hand, these soldiers were all recruited under the banner of the rebel army. Strictly speaking, they were all soldiers under Marshal Peng. Let Marshal Peng send these 700 men to make wedding clothes for Taizu Sheng? Then he would definitely not be willing to do so.
Moreover, what Marshal Peng said does make some sense.
If Sheng Taizu took these people under him and left directly, saying that he was going to explore outside, but in fact everyone else could see that this was a separation.
So how can we lead this team?
What if other people make the same request?
Huo Yunying finally figured it out.
"In other words... I can leave, but I can't take all of my people with me.
"I can only take away a very, very small number of people, for example, select twenty or thirty from the middle...
