At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 314

Important members of the Kuai family were quickly imprisoned, which immediately made the entire Jingzhou family tremble.

As the saying goes: major cases depend on politics, medium cases depend on influence, and small cases depend on relationships.

Although this saying is ugly, it also points to the essence of the matter.

If a well-known family like the Kuai family was wiped out in an instant, it would definitely not mean they had committed an unforgivable crime, but would represent the will of the highest level.

The world is as black as crows.

No wealthy family would dare to say that they were completely innocent of the crimes Zhuge Liang listed for Kuai.

Just at the beginning, there were aristocratic families standing together with the Kuai family, criticizing Zhuge Liang, a young boy who did not know life and death.

only.

When the two leading figures of the Kuai family, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue, were imprisoned one after another, the voices that once supported the Kuai family disappeared like smoke in an instant.

In prison, Kuai Yue's hair was disheveled and his face was as pale as paper.

From the moment Chen Wen led his troops to break in, Kuai Yue already knew that the family was finished.

He was not as angry or hysterical as he imagined. He was terrifyingly calm from beginning to end. Even though he was caught in prison, he never said a word.

"This cell is dry, fresh, and ventilated. I have already told the jailer not to neglect sir. If you need anything here, please let me know."

Looking at Kuai Yue who never said a word, Chen Wen sighed in his heart and then said.

In any case, Kuai Yue is a famous scholar in Jingxiang. Even if he is imprisoned and sentenced, he should be given the dignity he deserves.

Kuai Yue bowed slightly to Chen Wen and said, "Thank you, General, for taking care of me."

Chen Wen waved his hand and said: "This is the order of the king. If you want to thank me, sir, please thank the lord."

Kuai Yue's expression moved slightly when he heard this, and his eyes that had lost their luster once again became slightly brighter.

He took two steps forward and walked to Chen Wen. He bowed deeply and said, "General, could you please tell me something for me? I want to see my lord."

Looking at Kuai Yue, whose face was full of earnestness, Chen Wen said: "I can take the words there, but whether I can see you or not is not something I can control."

Kuai Yue bowed to Chen Wen and said, "Thank you so much, General, for passing on the message. I will definitely remember it in my heart!"

Prince Chu's Mansion.

Zhou Qi heard Chen Wen's message, but shook his head and said: "There is no need to see Kuai Yue now. When the two brothers are imprisoned in the cell, they can just entertain him."

"As for the rest of the Kuai clan, they will be strictly investigated. Anyone who violates the law or commits adultery will be punished in accordance with the law."

"For those who have behaved themselves and have not violated the law, let them go after a review of half a year."

The purpose of Zhou Qi's attack on the Kuai family was to knock down the mountain and frighten the tigers, but he did not really want to kill all the Kuai family.

First of all, as a large family in Jingxiang, the Kuai family has a complicated network of relationships throughout Jingzhou. It does not mean that the matter is over just by arresting all the Kuai family members.

Over the years, the Kuai family has been married to almost all the aristocratic families in Jingxiang. If the Kuai family is to be completely eliminated, it will inevitably cause panic among all the major families.

Secondly, although Zhou Qi is committed to continuously suppressing the wealthy families, he has to admit that, at least at this stage, the talents of the children of the aristocratic families are indeed higher than those of the poor families.

This does not prove that children from aristocratic families are smarter.

It can only be said that the aristocratic family has a good family background and sufficient resources, so that they have received a good education since childhood, and have far more vision and knowledge than those from poor families.

Due to the different living environments of the two parties, the vision of the poor scholar also has great limitations.

This is the saying that it is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son.

This is true both in modern times and in later generations.

After all, scholars from poor families like Xi Zhicai and Xu Shu were only a handful.

Moreover, if the two of them had not been promoted and promoted by Zhou Qi, and given stage experience and use of what they had learned throughout their lives, they would not have been able to reach their current heights.

Throughout the history of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, people with names and surnames basically came from aristocratic families, and no matter how bad they were, they were local tyrants.

Even among those military generals, how many of them truly came from poor families?

Let’s talk about the familiar Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. Because of their ordinary backgrounds, they were devoted to Liu Bei after they were appreciated by him.

However, even Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were not from truly poor families.

Needless to say, Zhao Yun, according to "Yun Biezhuan" records: Yun is eight feet long and has a majestic appearance. He was selected by the county and served as a righteous soldier to Gongsun Zan.

At such a young age, he was able to lead a whole county of rebel soldiers and defected to Gongsun Zan. Is it possible that such a person came from a poor family?

As for Zhang Fei, he is also a well-known local powerful man with a high net worth.

Guan Yu, who looks most like a grassroots man, also has a family of poems and books.

It is not unreasonable to say that the poor in literature and the rich in military affairs are poor.

If poor people find opportunities to study, they may be able to change their destiny, while practicing martial arts is basically a dead end.

Why?

Does it cost money to work hard and learn skills from a teacher? Do you really think that someone is so talented that he can become a master by relying on his own understanding?

How can your body grow strong if you don't have enough to eat?

How can one become a strong general if his body is naturally inferior to others?

Therefore, the fierce generals of this period may not have come from aristocratic families, but their families definitely had a lot of money, otherwise there would be no way for them to train themselves and practice martial arts.

Although Zhou Qi began to pay attention to cultivating talents from poor families as early as when he served as the county magistrate of Anfeng.

It’s just that it takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people.

How difficult is it to cultivate truly useful people from the inside out?

Those who can truly take on important responsibilities are mainly children of aristocratic families, so Zhou Qi does not intend to completely destroy the aristocratic family.

What's more, although Zhou Qi is suspicious by nature, he is not a mean and unkind person.

When he first took charge of Jingzhou, Kuai Yue made a lot of contributions. Even if he wanted to attack the Kuai family for political reasons, Zhou Qi knew the rules and would not kill innocent people indiscriminately.

At least Zhou Qi did not intend to implicate those children of the Kuai family who had kept themselves clean and had not done anything illegal or disciplinary.

The reason why Chen Wen was asked to lock them up for half a year was also to shock other aristocratic families.

After Chen Wen left, Zhou Qi looked at Xu Shu and said with a smile: "I didn't intend to push the Kuai family to this level. I just wanted Kong Ming to beat them."

"I never thought that Kong Ming's methods were so brilliant. In just half a year, the Kuai family with its huge roots collapsed. Moreover, everything he did was in compliance with the law and was blameless."

Xu Shu also sighed: "Zhuge Kongming is indeed an outstanding person. Even if I were in his position, I might not be able to do better than him."

Xu Shu was not deliberately flattering Zhuge Liang.

It's true

Xu Shu was good at planning and military strategy, but he was obviously not as good as Zhuge Liang when it came to domestic affairs and dealing with those intricate relationships. Not to mention Xu Shu, throughout the history of the Three Kingdoms, perhaps no one can surpass Zhuge Liang in this regard.

Zhuge Liang not only has excellent political talents, but also has excellent skills, emotional intelligence, and character. It is precisely because of these qualities that he can not only save his own body from the attacks of the Kuai family and the Jingxiang family, but also be able to defeat the enemy. Counterattack, completely defeating the huge Kuai.

However, Zhuge Liang's ability to do this was inseparable from Zhou Qi's secret support, in addition to his outstanding political talents.

If Zhuge Liang dared to cause trouble like this without support from anyone behind him, he might have died inexplicably at home before the Kuai family could be moved.

This is no joke.

How can a family that can be passed down for a long time and become famous in the state and county be easy to compare with?

If they cannot defeat their enemies in political confrontation, they do not mind annihilating them physically.

However, Zhou Qi's attitude towards protecting Zhuge Liang was very clear, and he specially sent Xi Zhong, Dianman, Xu Yi and Xiang Lin, the top second generations of Chu State, to support him.

Under such circumstances, no family would dare to attack Zhuge Liang unless they wanted to be completely destroyed.

Kuai Yue should be glad that although he had such thoughts, he still did not dare to act on them.

Otherwise, with the secret protection of Chen Wen, the intelligence chief, not only would it be impossible for Kuai Yue to succeed, but it would even lead to a complete point of no return for the Kuai family.

If this were the case, Zhou Qi's attitude towards Kuai would not be as gentle as it is now.

A game should have game rules.

If you lose, you can only blame yourself for not being as good as others.

For those who dare to violate the rules of the game, Zhou Qi will let them know that he is the one who can really flip the table.

Zhou Qi gently stroked his beard and said: "The cause of this matter is that Zhuge Liang strictly reviewed the filial piety and integrity of local officials. Kuai Liang's imprisonment also involved the private return of recommended quotas by the family."

"I just took advantage of this incident to make the shady activities here known to everyone, making all the major families panic. Then I took the opportunity to propose the imperial examination system and change the existing talent selection system. What do Yuan Zhi think?"

Xu Shu pondered for a long time and said: "This is a serious matter. My lord, you should be cautious. You should push Kong Ming out and test the reaction of the big family first."

"With Kong Ming as a buffer, the lord can move forward and retreat freely."

"Even if the aristocratic family knew that the lord was behind this matter, their attention would be focused on Kong Ming and they would not dare to complain against the lord."

Hearing this, Zhou Qi had a strange look on his face.

Historically, Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang were close friends, but now Xu Shu is digging holes for Zhuge Liang.

If it were anyone else, and pushed to the forefront of this kind of controversy, there is a high probability that he would end up miserable.

Perhaps only Zhuge Liang, who has excellent political ability, can find a glimmer of hope in the stormy sea, and even turn danger into opportunity in the end.

Zhou Qi also strongly agreed with Xu Shu's words.

With Zhuge Liang as a buffer, Zhou Qi would indeed be able to advance and retreat freely in launching the imperial examination system.

What's more, he is also polishing Zhuge Liang.

History has long since changed, and Zhou Qi is also worried that Zhuge Liang will not be able to reach the heights described in the history books under different living circumstances.

Because Zhou Qi had high hopes for Zhuge Liang, he began to brutally train him.

The most important thing is that Zhou Qi hopes that after his son inherits the foundation of Chu State in the future, Zhuge Liang will not be the kind of prime minister who is deeply loved by aristocratic families, officials and people.

Pushing Zhuge Liang to the opposite side of the aristocratic family from the beginning can better protect Zhou Ji from being ignored by the aristocratic family, and also limit Zhuge Liang's power.

This is the way of balance in the heart of the emperor.

In the following time, under the instruction of His Highness the King of Chu, Zhuge Liang used the Kuai Liang case as a breakthrough to investigate the secret exchange of recommendation places between aristocratic families, and published the details of the case in the "Chu Newspaper" founded by Zhou Qi.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Under Zhou Qi's deliberate guidance, the middle- and lower-class people who had long hated the blocking of promotion notifications showed extremely strong hatred for the aristocratic families' secret exchange of recommendation quotas.

Many students from poor families even formed an alliance and came to Xiangyang to petition His Royal Highness the King of Chu, hoping to kill this trend.

Seeing that Zhuge Liang dared to attack the Chaju system, the aristocratic families had already secretly united and planned to launch a powerful offensive against him.

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang used public opinion and the tricks played by poor scholars to completely disrupt the plans of the wealthy family.

Today, Zhuge Liang has become the leader in the hearts of the poor scholars. They regard him as a pioneer in the new era against bad habits and old systems, and they all spontaneously defend Zhuge Liang.

This storm was centered in Xiangyang and gradually swept across the entire Chu State.

If it were in the past, when public opinion was controlled by aristocratic families, and people from poor families had to rely on aristocratic families, this situation would never have happened.

However, the layout had already begun when Zhou Qi became the head of Anfeng County.

Over the years, the quality of the top talents from poor families may be slightly inferior, but their quantity has become very large due to their population base, and they are fully capable of wrestling with the elites from aristocratic families.

Coupled with the fact that the "Chu News" founded by Zhou Qi deliberately guided public opinion, more and more poor scholars came forward and demanded the abolition of the original inspection system full of loopholes and the use of a fairer selection system.

As public opinion fermented, it was not only those poor scholars who were shouting, but even many virtuous people from aristocratic families began to speak out for the poor people.

Don't think that the celebrities from those aristocratic families are all extremely selfish and only care about the interests of the family.

In fact, there was no shortage of truly far-sighted and virtuous people in all dynasties. They had long understood the loopholes in the inspection system and eagerly hoped that the court could change the original selection system.

Unfortunately, these people are only a minority after all, and it is difficult for them to go against the general trend.

However, when this storm broke out in the Chu Kingdom, these virtuous and famous people gradually stopped being silent and demanded the establishment of a new selection system.

Of course, there are also some arrogant people in the family.

They feel that with their talents and learning, it doesn't matter what selection system the government uses.

This kind of people just watch this storm with cold eyes and disdain to participate in it.

Some noble families who danced most happily began to doubt that they must be vested interests in the imperial examination system, and they all asked Zhuge Liang to investigate these families strictly.

Zhuge Liang lived up to expectations. With Zhou Qi's secret support, he was able to find out exactly what happened, which led to many people being imprisoned.

Only then did the wealthy families know how much power the poor men had when they united.

They are worried that they will repeat the same mistakes and no one will dare to jump out again.

　Today is the last day of 2023. The brothers who can be seen here are all die-hard fans of this book. The author thanks the brothers for their companionship during this period, and also thanks everyone for their subscription support.

　　I just took a look at it a few days ago. Among the history books that were put on the shelves at the same time or even before and after, even if some of them have better grades than this one, most of them are eunuchs.

　　The days of writing a book after it is put on the shelves are lonely. Since there are basically no recommendations before it is put on the shelves, the popularity is increasing. After it is put on the shelves, there will definitely be fewer and fewer subscriptions, and the popularity will become lower and lower. Those who can persist will not not much.

　　I didn’t think too much, and persisted no matter the highs or lows, and planned to write this book completely according to the original idea.

　　I don't like to be sensational, I just like to write books silently. If there is any negligence, please forgive me. Liuyan is here to give you a compliment.

　　Finally, I wish all the brothers and sisters in this book good luck in the new year and good harvests in love and career. When you make a lot of money and become multimillionaires, don’t forget to come over and tip me as a leader, hahaha!

　　

　

(End of this chapter)