"Foolish!"
Situ Yuankui slapped his nephew's face, which he usually held in his palm and feared would fall and melt in his mouth.
Yuan Shu covered his face and looked at his uncle in shock. His heart and face were filled with panic.
"The people who have always rebelled are farmers. I've never heard of merchants turning the world upside down!”
Yuan Situ's eyes widened in anger as he gritted his teeth and said,""In the past, when the national treasury was empty, he would either target the commoners or the merchants. Now that the commoners are safe, how can he protect himself?”
"Uncle, did you expect Cao Hei to attack the Wei family granary?”
"Yes!"
Yuan Shu's heart was in turmoil after receiving his uncle's affirmation.
He subconsciously thought of the Wei family's eldest young master who had called him brother not long ago. It turned out that his brother had been pushed into the abyss by him.
"Why?"
"Gong Lu, Uncle will leave it to you today. The game of the Imperial Court is not a child's play.”
Yuan Situ stared at his nephew and said solemnly,""Cao Mengde was appointed as the provincial governor by the emperor and was given the emperor's sword. He has the power to kill and seize the entire Liangzhou.
Cao Mengde is your brother's classmate, and he is much more capable than you. Don't you know that?
When it comes to disaster relief and governing the people, even ten of you can't compare to Cao Mengde!”
At this point.
Yuan Shu's face was filled with dissatisfaction.
His uncle's words were too biased. He, Yuan Shu, Yuan Gonglu, was the legitimate son of a top-notch aristocratic family. The teacher he invited and the education he received were things that Cao Hei, who was a descendant of eunuchs, could not even imagine.
Even if his abilities were lacking, how could ten of him be inferior to Cao Hei?
Uncle, you must be old and muddle-headed. You thought of me as useless and lowly.
"Gong Lu, you don't seem to be convinced!”
"Nephew doesn't dare."
"Let me ask you, a few years ago, when the eunuchs were running amok, Jian Tu, the uncle of Jian Shuo, the eunuch of the Ten Regular Attendants, violated the law of traveling at night. Do you dare to beat him to death?”
"Nephew doesn't dare."
"Uncle, let me ask you again. When the Yellow Turban army broke out two years ago, you and Cao Mengde led the same number of troops, and his logistics supplies were still insufficient. Did you kill as many Yellow Turban soldiers as he did?”
"Nephew is useless."
" Uncle asked you three times. After the Yellow Turbans were over, you were rewarded according to your merits. Cao Mengde went to Jinan as Prime Minister, and you went to Henan as Yin. They were both in charge of the government. However, Cao Mengde dismissed eight-tenths of the officials in Jinan in less than half a year, shocking the entire dynasty, but he received the comment that 'the political education was great, and the county was peaceful!'”
When it came to other people's outstanding children and their own profligate sons, even Yuan Situ was no exception. He said emotionally,"What about you? With the support of countless Yuan family disciples, how are you doing in Henan? Putting everything else aside, have you recognized your own subordinates?”
"Nephew is inferior!"
Yuan Shu was scolded until he didn't dare to raise his head. His face was ashen. He could vaguely sense that his uncle was actually so dissatisfied with him.
His eyes turned as he thought of how to please his uncle and salvage his uncle's impression of him.
"With so many difficulties, the Yuan family has to use some methods to win the position of Liangzhou Provincial Governor for you. Only by placing some bets can you compete with Cao Mengde!”
"This bet is to rely on the Yuan family's power, the Wei family!”
"Asking the Wei family to contact the grain merchants of the Central Plains and not give Cao Mengde any grain, whether Cao Mengde surrendered because he used more than the amount of relief silver, or because Cao Mengde gritted his teeth and starved the people of Liangzhou to death, it was a ruthless move to put Cao Mengde to death!”
"Actually, I have a backup plan. Cao Mengde will force the Wei Clan to release the grain. Someone will secretly set a fire to the entire Wei Clan granary and completely destroy Cao Cao's career!”
"However, this will also end the lives of millions of people in Liangzhou. This is a plan to end the lives of the people. It will harm the heavens.”
" What I didn't expect was that Cao Mengde was also a ruthless man. He used the Emperor's Sword and secretly mobilized the soldiers of the Liang and You Provinces to raid the Wei family's granary. He also found evidence that the Wei family had hidden crossbows, colluded with the barbarians, and sold prohibited items!”
"One careless move and the whole game is lost!”
After Yuan Situ finished describing the entire plan, his nephew fell into deep self-doubt and could not help but say,"You're far inferior to your brother!"
If his nephew, Yuan Shao, was in Liangzhou, with the Yuan family's disciples and resources all over the world, he would most likely be able to compete with Cao Mengde. Forget about Yuan Shu.
Unfortunately, although Yuan Shao was older than Yuan Shu, he was the son of a concubine. Aristocratic families valued the order of seniority. Otherwise, it would be more suitable for Yuan Shao to take over as the head of the Yuan family in the future.
At this moment.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The butler knocked on the study door.
"Lord Situ, the Empress Dowager has summoned you in the Imperial Garden!”
"Change my clothes!"
Yuan Situ did not dare to delay and hurriedly left the study.
However, he didn't see the hatred in his nephew Yuan Shu's eyes when he raised his head. He clenched his fists tightly, and his nails dug into his palms. Blood flowed down the gaps between his fingers.
……
In the imperial garden.
Liu Hong was accompanying his birth mother, Empress Dowager Dong, admiring chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine.
Empress Dowager Dong had gone to Qingzhou for the summer and had just returned to talk to her son.
"Emperor, I heard that He Rong has been deposed?”
Empress Dowager Dong ordered the servants to remove the wine and replace it with pastries and tea.
"Yes."
Liu Hong nodded and replied," I've heard that He Rong is a jealous person. In addition, his elder brother, He Jin, openly went against the will of me and the officials in the court. In a fit of anger, I demoted them all."”
"It's good to be demoted. A woman from a butcher's family doesn't know the rules and doesn't have the attitude of a mother to the world. She even stirred up the harem!”
Empress Dowager Dong picked up a piece of chrysanthemum cake and put it into her mouth. After savoring it, she said,"Emperor, the position of empress is extremely important. You can't choose someone with such a background!”
Before she returned to the palace, she had heard that the Emperor had selected a royal consort and that the Emperor favored her deeply.
As the empress dowager, she didn't want a maid to replace a butcher's daughter as the empress.
"My son will remember this."
Liu Hong understood the Empress Dowager's meaning. He frowned and nodded.
Diao Chan's appearance was pitiable and her personality was gentle and pure. She was indeed not suitable to be the empress.
"However, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and the harem cannot be without a master for a day. Zhen will order the Shao Fu supervisor to choose an auspicious day to choose a concubine for the emperor!”
Empress Dowager Dong still felt that it wasn't safe. If the Emperor was in a good mood one day and called back He Rong, who had been demoted to Changle Palace, to be the Empress, that would be even more troublesome.
Why not choose a consort for the emperor, a consort that she liked.
"That's it."
Liu Hong was no longer in the mood to savor the tea. He stood up and said,""Mother, Zhen still has some memorials to deal with, so I'll return to Weiyang Palace first. You should rest more when you first return to Luoyang.”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。