At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Page 763

Chapter 1312 One thousand two hundred and twenty two Cheng Yu's big move

The cabinet was first established, Wang Can was the first chief assistant, and Cao Cao was the second chief assistant.

They have all experienced the days when the cabinet was first established and did not hold any specific titles or official positions.

Very early on, when Guo Peng had not yet established the Duke of Wei in Jizhou, the cabinet was able to take power because it was the closest department to him.

Later, Wang Can did not serve as the chief assistant of the cabinet, but became the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and Cao Cao served as the chief assistant of the cabinet.

At that time, Cao Cao was not in charge, and was also a temporary worker at the white board. It was not until the establishment of the Wei Empire and Guo Peng ascended the throne.

The power of the cabinet has continued to increase with the decline of Shangshutai. Today, the power of Shangshutai has been basically controlled by the cabinet.

The cabinet has transformed itself into a de facto minister, directly connecting with the Nine Ministries and handling government affairs.

From this point of view, Cao Mengde, the chief assistant of the cabinet, is actually in the position of Shang Shuling.

Cao Cao felt extremely happy to hold a lot of power.

But when he heard that Guo Peng had hung up the signboard of the South Study Room and transferred someone to the South Study Room to serve as the attendant and companion, he suddenly remembered that the cabinet had come all the way in the same way.

Because there is no official title and control, it is easy to take back the power after it has been given out. After having a formal title and control, it is not so easy to take back the power once it is given.

He also realized this truth gradually, anyway, Guo Peng never said it.

Now the cabinet has an official position, but it is not officially in charge, so it is not considered a minister, and he cannot be called a minister. It is not difficult for the emperor to get him.

It may be precisely because of this that Cao Cao felt that he was still very safe, because he was in charge of this power on behalf of the emperor, not the power of his position itself.

So Guo Peng will not deal with him like he did with Cheng Yu and Tian Feng.

He once thought he was safe, especially after Cao Ren retired.

But now, he felt that he might not be so safe.

Although he was not officially in charge and could not threaten the imperial power, Guo Peng still set up the South Study Room.

Guo Peng mixed up with a group of his Southern Study attendants and chatted about the world, and discussed government affairs by the way, instead of discussing government affairs with the cabinet's first assistant, second assistant and others.

This made Cao Cao feel uneasy.

He felt that the cabinet had done nothing wrong, and it was even more impossible to compare with Shang Shutai. If the emperor wanted to abolish the cabinet, it would not be too difficult, or simply deprive him of power.

While keeping the cabinet, it is necessary to set up the South Study Room to be close to the South Study Room.

Why would Guo Peng do such a thing?

Guo Peng didn't explain anything to him, because there was no need, the emperor could do whatever he wanted, especially for a real emperor like him, in order to maintain his own power, the emperor could do whatever he wanted.

It is superfluous to say anything to Cao Cao.

Moreover, during this period of time, what really attracted the attention of all officials was not the establishment of the South Study Room and the appearance of the group of attendants in the South Study Room, but the big move of Cheng Yu, the captain of the Sili School.

The first time Cheng Yu took action, he cleaned up the Yuan family in Runan. The Yuan family was severely punished, and the officials were terrified. After that, Cheng Yu hibernated for a month, collected evidence and launched an investigation, and quickly locked down the second batch of targets to be attacked. alright.

Then immediately start on the second batch of targets.

The scope of the second batch of targets is very wide, basically the entire imperial court is included, the nine ministries, the cabinet, the staff desk, and the Yushitai. people.

Zhou Wei and Sun Shao, two minister-level officials from the Ninth Ministry, were brought to Sili Xiaowei's Mansion to assist in the investigation.

Xu Zhi, the right-hand man of Yushi Zhongcheng Qiaorui, was asked to assist in the investigation.

One of the cabinet assistants, Meng Jian from Runan, was asked to assist in the investigation.

Wu Yong and Zheng Hui, two Sima-level officials on the staff desk, were also asked to assist in the investigation.

In addition, some small fish and shrimps were also taken away by Sili Xiaowei's mansion and asked to assist in the investigation.

It's called assisting in the investigation, and it's basically an interrogation. If you plead guilty, you'll be convicted. If you don't plead guilty, you'll be tortured.

Cheng Yu took people everywhere, except for the Ninth Department of Shangshutai who didn't dare to push because it was Cheng Yu's old department, the rest of the main court departments were annoyed by this.

It's impossible not to get annoyed, Cheng Yu directly led people to the official office and arrested them, his words were too fierce, he didn't save any face, he looked like a monster.

All government offices were hit, and the scene of the arrest was chaotic.

Frightened by Cheng Yu's prestige and the emperor's support for him, the heads of the various government offices did not dare to say anything, but they held a grudge, and tried every means to collect Cheng Yu's black information, trying to bring down Cheng Yu.

There were also some people who threatened Cheng Yu by telling Cheng Yu that he should stay on the sidelines so that we could meet in the future.

Cheng Yu didn't care.

He has already put life and death aside, what he wants to do now is to use power recklessly, to use power recklessly, to deal a severe blow to the treacherous men in the court, and to help Guo Peng complete the final liquidation.

Those who conceal and do not report will all be taken down!

Otherwise, I will be sorry for the power and trust Guo Peng gave him.

Cheng Yu thanked the guests behind closed doors, did not receive any visiting guests at all, and refused to accept any entreaties or begs for mercy.

The strong are afraid of the violent, and the violent are afraid of the desperate. Everyone is afraid of Cheng Yu.

For a while, the prestige of Sili Xiaowei's Mansion in Luoyang City increased greatly.

The high-ranking officials and dignitaries in Luoyang City, the wealthy sons and other people who used to walk sideways were all timid, walking with their tails between their legs and their heads lowered, for fear that Cheng Yu would catch something and throw them into the imperial prison to suffer.

Since the current period of time, no one has even successfully escaped from the imperial prison.

After entering the imperial prison, I have never seen anyone who can come out. It seems that everyone has pleaded guilty and executed. The entire Luoyang City officialdom is filled with a terrifying atmosphere. Cheng Yu is the creator and controller of this terrifying atmosphere.

And obviously, His Majesty the only one who could control Cheng Yu to suppress Cheng Yu didn't have this idea, so everyone knew that Cheng Yu was a vicious dog released by His Majesty the Emperor.

A vicious dog that would kill many people.

They didn't know what deal the emperor had made with Cheng Yu, and they didn't know why Cheng Yu seemed not afraid of death.

Cruel officials have never met a good end since ancient times. They either died on the street or were killed by the emperor. Cruel officials who can end well are not called cruel officials.

It's like Yang Qiu, the former cruel official who was once overthrown by His Majesty himself, isn't that a typical example?

How cruel Yang Qiu was back then, now Cheng Yu is even worse than him, doing such a thing of self-isolation from the officialdom...

Is Cheng Yu really desperate?

They don't know what Cheng Yu is thinking, but there is no doubt that Cheng Yu has indeed become the current public enemy of officials. Even officials who have not committed crimes have developed a bad feeling for Cheng Yu in such a group atmosphere, and feel that Cheng Yu is very cruel.

But Cheng Yu still went his own way.

He personally interrogated those officials of a certain rank in the imperial prison controlled by Sili Xiaowei's Mansion, and conducted very harsh interrogations on these officials. As long as he believed that there was any concealment or explicit resistance to interrogation, he would be punished immediately.

What kind of iron plate barbecue, what kind of bamboo and rattan fried meat, what kind of burnt meat, etc. It sounds good and wonderful, but it is actually an extremely cruel punishment.

Those officials who did not cooperate for some reason often suffered from such severe interrogation and suffered a mental breakdown. In the end, there were very few officials who insisted on not speaking.

Against this background, the officials' resentment towards Cheng Yu reached its peak.

chapter 1313 one thousand two hundred and twenty three Guo Jin's secret visit

Officials and imperial power are cooperative and antagonistic, and no official will not hate the minions of imperial power who are working for tigers.

Cheng Yu is such an excellent minion of the imperial power, so he naturally aroused hatred from many sides.

When Cheng Yu tortured these arrested officials, they would severely scold Cheng Yu.

"Cheng Zhongde! You must die!!"

"Cheng Yu! Even if I'm a ghost, I won't let you go!!"

"Cheng Zhongde! People are doing it, and the sky is watching! Don't think that you can die well if you do this kind of thing!!"

"Cheng Zhongde! I can't wait to eat your flesh! Drink your blood!!"

"Cheng Zhongde! One day I will put you in the frying pan and fry you into crispy meat!!"

Cheng Yu didn't care about this, and then executed more violently.

The interrogation room was always filled with a burning smell, which made people feel uncomfortable.

Those who can stay in the interrogation room with Cheng Yu for more than an hour are regarded as people with very good psychological quality, and most people can't hold it at all.

That smell really challenged the limit of human physiological endurance, and the officials all thought that only a ruthless person like Cheng Yu who was extremely ruthless could enjoy it.

But it doesn't matter, as long as Cheng Yu can hold on.

His face was full of indifference, and he looked very satisfied with the execution environment and the execution goal.

In fact, Cheng Yu's subordinates were also exchanging their views on Cheng Yu in private.

For example, Cheng Yu's past, Cheng Yu's future, and the royal family's settlement of Cheng Yu and so on.

They are not stupid, they feel that although Cheng Yu looks powerful and people are afraid of him, but now he has almost become a public enemy of officials.

It's good to have power, he can continue to act as a domineering power, but what will happen if he loses power?

As his subordinate officials, what will happen to them, the subordinate officials of Sili Xiaowei?

Some people will have such worries, worrying about when they will become cannon fodder for political struggles at the top.

Some people think that there must be a road when the car reaches the mountain, and the boat will naturally go straight when it reaches the bridge. If they don't have the ability to control their own life, then they should just follow the big flow.

But Cheng Yu himself had no such doubts.

Cheng Yu is very sure that he will die, and his end will definitely not be good. As a cruel official, he should have the usual tragic end of a cruel official, so that he can be regarded as a real cruel official.

But he doesn't care, all he needs is power, as long as he exercises power, makes him feel power, and holds power in his hands until he dies, that's enough, Cheng Zhongde's life is worth it.

Then, one day, a special visitor came secretly.

The visitor was named Guo Jin.

When the prince.

Henan Yin.

When Guo Jin came to visit, she was very secretive, with only one follower with her, and went directly to Cheng Yu's house to find Cheng Yu, and didn't want outsiders to know at all.

Cheng Yu couldn't think of why the current crown prince would come to see him.

Shouldn't the crown prince have no contact with cruel officials like him at all, and keep them far away?

Especially after Guo Jin became Henan Yin, he also had the status of an official. No matter how he looked at it, he shouldn't come to him unless he had something to say.

Could it be that this wave of sweeping up treacherous traitors I accidentally swept into the crown prince's minions?

This problem can be big.

Cheng Yu felt apprehensive, thought about it for a moment, and felt something was wrong.

But Guo Jin greeted Cheng Yu with a spring-like face.

This made Cheng Yu even more puzzled.

Guo Jin held the official position of Henan Yin, and Cheng Yu's Sili Lieutenant also held the position of two thousand stones, which was still higher than the two thousand stones. According to the official position, Guo Jin's status was higher than Cheng Yu's.

However, Cheng Yu was a senior in the officialdom and a famous evil star in Luoyang. Regarding this, Guo Jin assumed the attitude of a junior.

Cheng Yu was disgusted, but he didn't dare to put on airs in front of the crown prince, so he immediately admitted his cowardice, and quickly asked the crown prince to sit down, while he carefully accompanied him.

He was puzzled, with his current reputation and situation, how could the crown prince come to him in person?

Could it be that he accidentally injured the crown prince when he was cleaning up the traitors?

This made him feel extremely depressed and worried.

As for the royal family, he really has no intention of fighting against them, unless Guo Peng calls his name and personally asks him to do so.

"I don't know what your highness is here for?"

Cheng Yu looked at Guo Jin suspiciously.

Guo Jin just smiled.

"Cheng Gong, don't worry, my subordinates seem to be quite clean so far. If there is no accident, no one should fall into Cheng Gong's hands to eat iron plate barbecue. I still have a little bit of confidence in this point. of."

Guo Jin said that such a joke relieved Cheng Yu's doubts and worries.

"Since this is the case, why did His Highness come to Sili Xiaowei's mansion to look for the old minister?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm here because I really want to ask Cheng Gong about something very important."