Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1352 Position
Yuan Xi also tried to assassinate Kobinen once. He sent several waves of people from the Procuratorate, with different numbers of people, but the feedback they received at the end was that there was no chance.

This was certainly because the spies of the Procuratorate were almost all Han Chinese, who were already under greater surveillance and attention outside the Great Wall. The more important reason was that Kirby was an extremely cautious person.

Yuan Xi speculated that the reason why Cao Wei was able to successfully assassinate Kobe Neng in later generations was not only because Cao Wei and Kobe Neng had a good relationship at that time and Kobe Neng was old and weak, but also because of a large part of luck. After all, there have been countless assassinations in history, but only a few were successful.

Kobe is now in his prime, and his mind and physical strength are at their peak. It is difficult to deceive him under such circumstances, and Yuan Xi cannot wait until he is old to take action, so he can only find a suitable method for the current situation.

As for the decisive battle with the Xianbei army, it was the last resort with no other choice. As for how many people would die in the Jin State, it was difficult to estimate.

Therefore, Yuan Xi can only hope that Jia Xu and Sun Quan can give him some surprises, but it seems not very reliable at the moment.

Fortunately, the attack on the Xianbei tribe had caused great panic among the Central Xianbei. The Hu people outside the Great Wall had not experienced the fear of direct property confiscation brought by Wei Huo for hundreds of years. Now the destructive power of the Jin army was far beyond their imagination, turning the southern Xianbei region into a complete disaster area, just like what they did to the Han settlements after entering the Great Wall.

After these things were reported back to Jicheng, most people applauded. These were local people from Youzhou who had suffered greatly from the Xianbei, so they naturally felt relieved.

However, there were also a small number of people who complained that the State of Jin should follow the path of the kingly way, and now using barbarian methods to deal with the barbarians was lowering its status and damaging the reputation of the emperor.

Now these people jointly submitted a petition, requesting Yuan Xi to stop plundering and killing the Xianbei and to adopt a conciliatory policy, so as to demonstrate the magnanimity of the Celestial Empire.

Yuan Xi looked at several memorials, felt they were boring, and threw them aside. One of them happened to fall at the feet of Bu Lianshi who was copying the summary.

She picked it up and saw that the decadent words here made Yuan Xi unhappy, so she smiled and said, "How is this scroll written?"

"Bing Yuan, Guan Ning and others advised Your Majesty to follow the kingly way, win over all the people, and practice benevolence and righteousness among the Xianbei tribes, so as to attract talents and convert people from afar, and all the people in the world will come to you?"

"The emperor was furious and threw the tablet to the ground?"

Yuan Xi was amused and said, "The first sentence is very good, but the second one is unnecessary."

"Bing Yuan and Guan Ning were corrupt scholars. Although they were not bad at heart, the principles they held were more like those of modern Confucianism among ancient Confucianism."

This was the first time that Master Bu Lian had heard of such a statement. She asked in confusion, "This is the first time I've heard of such a statement. How is it defined?"

Yuan Xi said, "You know that Yuan is studying Meng's Yi, right?"

Master Bu Lian nodded, "I heard from my uncle that all the major families in the world have the right to interpret one or two classics. If they don't have it, they can't be considered a wealthy family."

Yuan Xi said, "That's it. The nobles rely on this to recruit students and disciples, and then recommend them to be officials and cultivate their own family network. From the Yuan and Yang families who control the court to the local tyrants who control the villages and counties, it's all the same."

Master Bu Lian said, "I still don't understand how they did it. Logically, it's just a book of scriptures."

Yuan Xi said: "This is the importance of the right to speak."

"If you trace it back, ancient Confucianism went through a lot of turmoil, and the most obvious dividing point was the burning of books and burying of scholars by Qin Shihuang."

"Qin Shi Huang liked Legalism and disliked Confucianism, so he vigorously suppressed Confucianism. Although he did not kill many Confucian scholars, his suppression of Confucianism was obvious. Many Confucian classics were either destroyed or hidden. During that period, Confucianism could be considered to have been discontinued."

"After Emperor Gaozu established his dynasty, he was constantly looking for books and arguments that could prove the legitimacy of the Han Dynasty in order to eliminate the influence of the nobles of the six kingdoms. So during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the imperial power began to use Confucianism to prove that the Han Dynasty was the Mandate of Heaven, in order to strengthen the imperial power's rule."

"But this set of Confucianism is mixed with too many private goods endorsing the Liu clan, and is actually completely different from ancient Confucianism."

"For example, the ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister; benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness; governing the country with filial piety; Confucius is the son of the Black Emperor, the emperor is the son of heaven; heaven and man are in harmony; the representative of man is the emperor, and so on, were all created during this period."

Bu Lianshi was surprised and said, "I know that the selection of filial and honest officials has become a tool for gaining fame and reputation. This is the origin of it."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Indeed, these remarks are nothing more than a tool for vested interests to control the discourse power."

"Just like the doctrine proposed by Emperor Wu of Han, which strengthened the imperial power and weakened the discourse power of the gentry, the people began to unearth ancient Confucian classics."

"As a result, this excavation has a problem. The ancient Confucian books and the Confucianism of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty do not match each other at all. It says Confucius is an ordinary person and the emperor is not the Son of Heaven. Mencius also said that the emperor is not important, and there is no divine right of the emperor."

"Since then, the debate between the two sides has never stopped. From that time on, Han Wu Confucianism was called Modern Text Confucianism, and the ancient Confucianism that was later discovered was called Ancient Text Confucianism."

"Originally, this ancient literature was a tool used by the nobles to resist the imperial power and form a check and balance, but a traitor emerged among them."

Master Bu Lian asked, "Who?"

Yuan Xi said: "Wang Mang."

"Before Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he had always been a supporter of ancient Confucian classics, so he also received opposition from most of the gentry. So with the support of the aristocratic families, he easily succeeded in usurping the Han Dynasty."

"However, after he ascended the throne, he did something that alienated him from the noble family." Bu Lianshi couldn't help but ask with anticipation, "What was it?"

Yuan Xi smiled out the window and said, "I've been listening for a long time outside, don't you want to come in?"

After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji, who had been standing outside for a while, came in with a tea tray. She smiled and said, "I just received new tea sent from the south, and I wanted to come over to let Your Majesty taste it, but I couldn't bear to disturb your interest, so I stood there for a while."

Bu Lianshi hurriedly stood up, took the tea tray, poured some for Yuan Xi and Cai Zhaoji, and then for herself.

Yuan Xi looked at the tea leaves, which were emerald green and fragrant, and asked, "This tea seems to be from Jiangdong?"

Cai Zhaoji nodded and said, "It was sent by Madam Cai of Kuaiji County. I am a distant relative of hers. I am surprised that she did not send it directly to the king, but took such a detour. I don't know what she was thinking."

Seeing the amused look from Bu Lianshi, Yuan Xi knew that their affair was still a secret. Bu Lianshi was the only one who knew about it in the inner house. He couldn't help but cough and changed the subject, "Although the climate over there is humid, it is indeed suitable for tea cultivation. In the future, whether it is for the nobles to buy or for ocean trade, it will be a top-quality commodity."

Cai Zhaoji said, "Indeed, in the past few years, Madam Mi's caravan also brought back several kinds of tea. I think the taste is much better than before. It is said that the tea this time was also cultivated by agricultural officials."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "Seed selection and breeding is one of the most effective ways to improve agriculture, but it takes a long time. The fastest time is several years, but it may take dozens or even hundreds of years."

"The profits are naturally not as high as those of businesses that trade at any time, but it is an act that benefits future generations. Even if it means losing money, it is worth it."

The three of them chatted for a while, but Bu Lianshi was still thinking about what they had just said. Seeing her expectant look, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Let me have some tea. Zhao Ji knows the rest of the history better than I do, so let her tell the story."

Cai Zhaoji put down the tea bowl and said with a smile: "Then I will add a few words."

"After Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he found the Zhou Dynasty's practice of the well-field system in ancient classics and began to implement the policy of returning land to the imperial court. Your Majesty calls it nationalization of land."

Master Bu Lian smiled and said, "This analogy is quite appropriate."

Cai Zhaoji sighed, "But this move really shook the foundation of the gentry. Taking their land was like taking their lives, so they rose up in rebellion and turned to support Emperor Guangwu. In the end, Wang Mang was defeated, and the study of ancient classics also suffered a serious blow."

"As a result, Guangwu naturally supported the Modern Text School, and thus brought back the Han Wu Emperor's approach, while the gentry chose the lesser of two evils and turned to the Modern Text School again."

Yuan Xi sneered and said, "So, most people have no principles. They just side with whichever side offers the greater benefit."

Bu Lianshi now understood why Yuan Xi was unwilling to pay attention to those Confucian scholars. She couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking that His Majesty also came from a noble family, so he might be considered an outlier.

Cai Zhaoji continued, "But ancient classics have been widely circulated among the people and cannot be eradicated. Not to mention the distant past, the Taiping Essentials actually contains anti-imperial rhetoric from ancient classics."

"In order to prevent the emergence of a second Wang Mang, the emperors after Guangwu came up with a compromise plan and proposed a strategy of integrating the present and the past in order to achieve a balance between imperial power and the aristocracy."

"This was a compromise strategy by the imperial power to cooperate with the gentry, and naturally it received the support of the gentry, so the gentry began to divide up the territory, divide up the right to interpret the classics, and became symbiotic with the imperial power."

"This matter was eventually completed by a certain great scholar, forming a unified system."

Master Bu Lian asked, "Who?"

Cai Zhaoji said: "The Fufeng Ma family, the great scholar Ma Rong."

Bu Lianshi exclaimed, "Is it the Ma family who gave birth to the Empress of Emperor Ming of Han?"

Cai Zhaoji said: "That's right."

"In fact, I am telling you this because I want to advise Your Majesty to be cautious with the Fufeng Ma family and even the Ma Chao clan."

Emperor Ming of Han was the son of Liu Xiu, and his empress was the daughter of General Fubo, Ma Yuan, who was from the Fufeng Ma clan.

This is also the reason why even though Ma Teng and Ma Chao rebelled in Liang Province, there were still many people in the court who supported and sympathized with them. After all, it was because of the good deeds of their ancestors.

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "I understand, so I didn't push Ma Chao into a desperate situation."

"After all, Ma Rong and my Yuan family still have a relationship."

Bu Lianshi knew a lot of secrets today. She couldn't help but ask, "What's the relationship?"

Cai Zhaoji sighed, "Ma Rong's disciple Lu Zhi was Yuan's strategist and military advisor. Although his time was short, he was nominally the advisor to all of Yuan's disciples, including your majesty."

"Given this relationship, if Your Majesty kills all of Ma, you will be criticized by the world."

(End of this chapter)