Chapter 72: The times have changed

When Zhou Yang led his army back to Luoyang, the people on the streets were crowded, but the central government gave up a passage that was enough for the army to pass.

Everyone's cheers and the tall and majestic stone sculpture of Prime Minister Zhou not far from the city gate prove that this great figure who made great contributions to Luoyang has been deeply imprinted in everyone's hearts from generation to generation.

But Zhou Yang was not happy about it at all, because he returned to Luoyang this time, but with a different conflict.

The ministers in the court who came to greet him were headed by the three dukes including Zhong Yao and Hua Xin. They all showed polite attitudes to Zhou Yang as always.

Of course, there were Cao Zhen, Xiahou Ba and others, and these military generals once again looked at Zhou Yang with admiration.

Although Zhou Yang and they were the same generation among the Cao clan, he was a three-generation minister who followed Cao Cao from Luoyang to escape back to Chenliu and rose up in the army, and experienced many hardships together. Therefore, these rising juniors respected him very much.

The most important thing is that Zhou Yanggui was the prime minister of Wei and was even more powerful minister with heavy troops from Yong and Liang states.

Until now, the only thing that could make him feel relieved was that he did not return the third of the tiger and leopard cavalry power to Cao Rui.

Although this is one of the reasons why Cao Rui is afraid of him, it is also the key to Cao Rui still not daring to cut off his military power too drastically.

"Congratulations to Prime Minister Zhou for once again making indelible contributions to the country," Cao Zhen, the general who was second most famous in Wei State, rode his horse to meet him, and sincerely bowed his fist. "If Zhou Cheng had not been decisively supported the proposal of Lord Jia, more casualties would have been inevitable at this time, and the world would have been in a different situation."

"The last general should learn more from Prime Minister Zhou in the future." Xiahou Ba also said with a humble attitude.

However, Zhou Yang had no intention of begging them again, and just evaded them casually. After being a symbolic gift, he refused to work hard for a long distance, hoping to go back and rest early.

After returning to the Prime Minister's Mansion, he found a little bit of the feeling of returning to his home, but not because of this gorgeous and spacious mansion, but because of these people in the mansion.

As the reconnaissance captain patrolling the surrounding areas of Luoyang, Cao Lin rarely stays at home.

But when she heard that Zhou Yang was back, she immediately rushed over and met Su Chen from their respective duties.

There is also his grown-up son Zhou Kang. He heard that as Wei Ji handled the sale of salt in the pool and the reclaiming land of the refugee valley where the supervisor returned to his home, he had a tacit understanding with Xier, a local woman in Hedong. He just waited for his father to come back and agreed to the marriage.

Zhou Yang suddenly felt that he was really old, even though he was still a slight change on the surface, and even his hair and beard never changed.

However, as time goes by, my mentality gradually becomes more and more indifferent to many things.

Now that even my son is about to get married, I am afraid he will become a grandfather soon.

This is also the most gratifying news he has received since he returned to Luoyang.

"There is another situation, and I don't know whether it should be joy or sorrow." Su Chen said with a strange expression, "I received a letter from Mr. Zuo Ci some time ago, saying that he had obtained your research results from Zhou Lang and would be in Luoyang to wait for you to come back soon, but he has not been seen yet."

"Mr. Zuo Ci has always been a general criminal in Wei State. Have you encountered any accidents?" Zhou Yangqi said.

"It was indeed blocked halfway, but it was not blocked by the Wei army, but by his disciple Dongfang Shuo." Su Chen paused for a while, "This kid seems to be planning to use the master's research results as used and continue to ask you for credit."

"This is their own business of Danding Sect." Zhou Yang smiled faintly and said, "It's enough to send the final result to Luoyang. We don't have the leisure to care about the rest."

"I heard Zhou Lang's tone, it seemed that something was hidden in my heart." Cao Lin asked with concern.

"Lin'er has always been responsible for reconnaissance outside the city, and she still doesn't know much about the situation in the city." Su Chen, who knows more about various intelligences, helped explain, "Now, everything seems to be normal in Luoyang City, but in fact there are traps everywhere. You must be careful in your future."

"What happened?" Cao Lin said in confusion.

"Little Sister Lin'er is better off knowing about intrigue in the court." Su Chen said simply, "In short, it's best to be careful in the future and try to contact political figures as little as possible."

"I understand." Cao Lin said.

"Is there any news on Ye Xuan?" Zhou Yang asked.

"All news in the harem is completely blocked." Su Chen sighed, "Fortunately, there is our spy in the palace, so at least we know a little about the emperor's actions. The strangest thing is that before you come back, the emperor received the impeachment of Grand Marshal Cao Xiu to Lord Jia Kui."

"What's so strange about this?" Zhou Yang sneered.

"The entire army was not destroyed in the battle between Jiashi, and Cao Xiu was able to survive. Almost all of them depended on Lord Jia Kui for rescue in time." Su Chen said in surprise, "In theory, Cao Xiu should be very grateful to him."

"Maybe Cao Xiu was indeed very grateful to him, but as a minister and obeying the king, many things are often uncontrollably." Zhou Yang said with emotion.

"So that's it." Su Chen suddenly realized his heart and continued, "After Xu Huang, Le Jin and other generals who belonged to Zhou Lang's old subordinates died one after another, their military power was left to the hands of Wang Chang, Chen Tai and other young military generals. They all had one thing in common, that is, they rarely interacted with Zhou Lang on weekdays."

"These are all expected things. It seems that the emperor really plans to cut off our power." Zhou Yang remembered Sima Yi's words and felt mixed emotions.

"In addition, there are many faces such as Liu Fang and Sun Zi..." Su Chen suddenly felt a little unspeakable, but she stopped for a while and said, "They were both promoted from the attendant of the Sanqi in the court, and were continuously promoted to the left-right secretary of the secretary. In less than a few months, they were transferred to the Secretary-General, and even the titles of Marquis of Xixiang, Marquis of Leyangting, etc., and now they serve as Chief Secretary, and are added to the ministers, and they are both in charge of the court secrets."

"The emperor has so many troubles, but it is just to make others feel that it is not intentional, but it is even more suspicious." Zhou Yang smiled slightly, "It seems that in no time, the Handing Money House will soon be replaced by these two people."

"Handing Money House is the lifelong effort of Xun Yu and Wang Su, and it is also Zhou Lang's greatest capital." Su Chen said worriedly, "If you don't even have this to you, I'm afraid that the position of prime minister will soon become a decoration."

It seems that Sima Yi's analysis was completely correct. Cao Rui had already started to attack Zhou Yang, but he didn't notice it in advance.

However, the news in the harem was blocked, and even a person as powerful as Empress Dowager Guo seemed to be unable to contact Zhou Yang.

From this we can see that Cao Rui had already known that the death of Concubine Zhen was done by Empress Dowager Guo.

As for whether Zhou Yang participated, it is unknown.

However, Cao Rui chose to pretend to be stupid and pretended that Concubine Zhen was really committing suicide. Even Cao Pi felt guilty about this, and Cao Rui was indeed very talented.

So he successfully became the crown prince and finally ascended the throne like a fish in water and inherited the throne.

Nowadays, the former former subordinates of Xu Huang, the group of four Taishan bandits in Xuzhou, and the Heishan disciples such as Zhang Yan can no longer rely on. It is still unknown whether they can maintain the Handing Money House.

Fortunately, Sima Yi reminded him to make an early arrangement, so that there were Zhili troops such as Pang De, Zheng Hao, Zhao Qi, and Hao Zhu who were not controlled by the court, Wen Long, who was stationed in the court, and the plan to help Cao Cao gain more political capital, to follow the example of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to set up a mysterious personal guard mainly composed of Geng Long brothers.

These are Zhou Yang's family blockades, and they are the only strength that can make Cao Rui afraid and not be controlled.

If he still wanted to help the Cao family unify the world, even these families would be gradually stripped away without realizing it.

"Report to Prime Minister Zhou, the emperor summoned him." A guard came to report.

Just as Zhou Yang's thoughts were ups and downs, this was not good news, but he still had to change into his court robe and rush there immediately.

When we arrived at the palace, we saw Cao Rui reviewing the demolition.

As soon as he saw Zhou Yang coming to worship, he immediately stood up and helped him up.

Cao Rui was still very respectful to him as if he was to his elders, but when his eyes fell on the pile of music to dismantle, he showed a rather unhappy expression and sighed: "If Prime Minister Zhou had not personally directed the border defense of Yuzhou, the Grand Sima would have probably not be able to come back at this time."

Zhou Yang did not dare to attribute these contributions to him, and quickly responded: "It's all up to Lord Jia to lead the troops well and rushed to rescue him in time."

When Cao Rui heard Jia Kui, he said disdainfully: "Don't mention this person. The Grand Sima has already submitted two memorandums to demolish. One of them is to impeach Jia Kui and rescue it late, and almost destroyed the entire army of Grand Sima. The other is to express the merits of Prime Minister Zhou in this battle. The Grand Sima is so clear that I can't ignore it."

If he had not listened to Sima Yi's analysis before, Zhou Yang would have been a little surprised at this time, and might have even believed Cao Xiu's words.

But now it is another matter. Cao Rui obviously wants to use this matter to use Cao Xiu's hand to cut off Jia Kui, a minister who has made no less than Zhou Yang's contribution.

Zhou Yang saw his appearance and thought to himself that when Jia Kui went to rescue, Cao Xiu should try to pull the cage of him suggestively.

But Jia Kui is a straightforward person, and he is determined to serve the country. How could he get involved in such court disputes? That's why Cao Rui was so anxious to get rid of Jia Kui first.

"There is such a thing," so Zhou Yang did not speak out and pretended to be surprised, "If this is the case, then what will the emperor plan to deal with Lord Jia?"

"This person has no meritorious service to the country, and it is also implementing a road construction plan against Wu. In addition, the rescue of the Grand Marshal itself is not his position, but he was ordered to go there, so it is not easy to blame him." Cao Rui said coldly, "But both Wei ministers should live in harmony. Knowing that their colleagues are in trouble, the Wei army is attacked, and there is an army in hand, so it is natural to go to rescue him. So I would like to ask Prime Minister Zhou, how to deal with Master Jia?"...
Chapter completed!