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

Chapter 316: The monarch and his ministers agreed to attack Chu

"Why is Mr. Ming upset?"

Xun Yu had followed Cao Cao for a long time and knew that his master had an extremely tough character. Even at the lowest point in his life, he always maintained a high fighting spirit.

At least when others were present, Cao Cao never lost his composure or showed his weaknesses.

But now, Cao Cao was obviously confused.

Cao Cao came to his senses, handed the letter in his hand to Xun Yu, and sighed: "In the past, Ziyi and I met in Xiang County, Pei State. I once witnessed him attack and kill Wang Ji in public, and then calmly retreat after drinking and writing poems. Bohemian.”

"Later, Ziyi fled to Qiao County and talked with me again and got to know each other. It can be said that we are as good as before and we have become a close friend."

"At that time, both of us were worried about the country and the people, so we fell asleep and discussed current affairs and criticized the shortcomings of the inspection and examination system. We talked about anything and everything."

"Zi Yi once said that day that if you have the ability in the future, you should re-establish the selection system: open selection, regardless of age, birth, or reputation. The best will win, and the weak will be eliminated. Only the best will be selected!"

"We even high-fived and vowed that we will work together to eliminate the shortcomings of selection in the future."

"Time flies, and I have gradually forgotten the promise of the past, but I did not expect that Ziyi still did not change his original intention. Even if he became a feudal lord on one side, he would still gradually fulfill his promise of the past."

"Now the imperial examination system has been abolished in Chu State, and instead the imperial examination system has been implemented. Scholars are selected by subject, regardless of origin or age, and only based on talent and learning. This allows everyone in the world to have the opportunity to use what they have learned throughout their lives and serve the country."

"Only for this reason, I am not as good as Zi Yiyuan!"

When Xun Yu heard this, he felt a little speechless.

No matter how criticized the imperial examination system was in later generations, we have to admit that this system was the pinnacle of the selection system in Chinese history, and even affected neighboring countries.

What really caused the imperial examination to deteriorate were those in power who restricted ideas, solidified the imperial examination model, and defined the scope of examination questions.

The essence of the imperial examination system is to provide a relatively fair platform for people all over the world, so that all those who study hard have the opportunity to enter the court and become officials.

Even though Xun Yu came from a noble family, and the Xun family in Yingchuan where he lived was also an example for the noble family, he had to admit that the imperial examination system promoted by Zhou Qi was indeed beneficial to the country and the people.

His face became extremely solemn, and he said to Cao Cao: "Ming Gong had an appointment with Zhou Ziyi in the past, and now Chu State has taken the lead in implementing the imperial examination system. Guanzhong may not be able to follow suit."

When Cao Cao heard this, his eyes shone with frightening light. He hurriedly stepped forward to hold Xun Yu's hand and asked, "Can Guanzhong really implement the imperial examination?"

With Cao Cao's intelligence, it was impossible not to see the huge resistance to the implementation of the imperial examination. If you are not careful, you will become alienated from the family and eventually break your own arms.

Xun Yu smiled and said: "Chu can implement it, why can't Guanzhong do it?"

Seeing Cao Cao's hesitant expression, Xun Yu continued: "The only thing Duke Ming is concerned about is the opposition from aristocratic families."

"But Duke Ming forgot that Guanzhong experienced the rebellions of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si. Coupled with the terrible military disaster and famine that year, most of the aristocratic families left their homes and stayed away from Guanzhong."

"Those who always insist on refusing to leave are also unable to leave their homeland."

"Nowadays, almost all the wealthy families in Guanzhong are members of Duke Ming's original team. Naturally, they cannot oppose Duke Ming's implementation of the imperial examination system."

"What's more, the imperial examination has been established in Chu State. As long as the regime is not quickly overthrown, the imperial examination is the general trend and no one can stop it."

"Even if Ming Gong follows suit, the aristocratic family will first focus on Zhou Ziyi."

When Cao Cao heard this, he suddenly realized.

He believed that with Zhou Qi's methods, since he dared to introduce the imperial examination system, he would not be afraid of opposition from the aristocratic families in the country, and the other party would also become the target of criticism from the aristocratic families.

As for why Xun Yu advised Cao Cao to implement the imperial examination, it was because Guanzhong had experienced wars for a long time and was already in dilapidated condition.

Even if Cao Cao worked hard over the years, it would be difficult to bring back the lost talents.

After all, Cao Cao is not the little tyrant in history who held the emperor hostage to command the princes. Yuan Shao and Zhou Qi, the most powerful people in the world today, no matter which one seems to have a better chance of taking over the world than Cao Cao.

The talents who had fled Guanzhong before would not seek refuge with Cao Cao again even if they had to make a choice.

There is no way to get the support of scholars from aristocratic families, and Guanzhong is in urgent need of a large number of grassroots officials, so they can only promote scholars from poor families.

This is also the foundation of Cao Cao.

However, once the Chu State's imperial examination system continues to be implemented, it will not only attract talented scholars from poor families all over the world to take the imperial examination, but even those talented people from aristocratic families who are pretentious may go south to the Chu State.

If Guanzhong does not take precautions before it happens, its foundation will be hollowed out by Chu State in a short time.

It was precisely because Xun Yu saw through this that he suggested Cao Cao open the imperial examination.

As long as Guanzhong also holds imperial examinations, even if it cannot attract poor scholars from outside, it can still retain talents within the country.

As for the family's counterattack, with Zhou Qi, the initiator of the imperial examination, it was not Cao Cao's turn to be attacked.

With Xun Yu's support and affirmation, Cao Cao seemed to have been given a shot in the arm. He immediately followed Zhou Qi's example and summoned the virtuous and poor men under his rule to come to Chang'an to discuss the establishment of the imperial examination.

At the same time, Cao Cao also replied to Zhou Qi with a letter.

Chu State, Xiangyang, Wangfu.

Zhou Qi looked at the letter in his hand, with a smile in his eyes, and sighed: "What a Cao Mengde, he is really courageous!"

Cao Cao's letter is also very simple: I dare not forget the promises I made in the past. Although I have many children in front of me, I do not want to fall behind others. The imperial examination in Guanzhong has been established.

Zhou Qi had previously written to Cao Cao, not only to remind him that he should also implement the imperial examination, but also to disturb his Taoism.

Unexpectedly, this move not only failed to upset Cao Cao, but actually helped him make up his mind to implement the imperial examination.

Faced with such a result, Zhou Qi had no regrets.

The abolition of the imperial examination system is the general trend. It is difficult for Zhou Qi alone to accomplish this. With the participation of Cao Cao, if Yuan Shao still clings to the imperial examination system, then as time goes by, the disillusioned scholars in Zhao will The princes will surely swarm towards Chu State.

In the short term, Yuan Shao can indeed be supported by the family.

However, even without the imperial examination system, Yuan Shao was still the first choice of the aristocratic family. Zhou Qi and Cao Cao were not that attractive to the aristocratic family.

The emergence of the imperial examination system only made the family more inclined to Yuan Shao.

In the long run, the population base of poor families will far exceed that of noble families. Papermaking and printing have begun to be implemented on a large scale in Chu State. This technology is not difficult. Zhao State, Guanzhong, and Xuzhou are also gradually implementing it.

As time goes by, countless talents will inevitably spring up at the grassroots level with a larger population base.

By that time, Chu State, which is determined to innovate, will become stronger and stronger.

On the other hand, the Zhao State, which is clinging to its old state, is bound to gradually decline.

This is a general trend and a conspiracy.

Unless Yuan Shao sends his troops south before that day comes and wipes out Chu in one fell swoop.

Zhao State, Yecheng, Imperial Palace. Yuan Shao looked at the information coming from the Chu Kingdom and Guanzhong, and couldn't help but said coldly: "It's just nonsense!"

"Since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the imperial examination system has been the foundation of the imperial court. During this period, I don't know how many talents were selected."

"Now that Zhou Ziyi and Cao Mengde have abolished the imperial examination system and established another imperial examination system, they are simply committing suicide!"

It cannot be said that Yuan Shao is short-sighted.

It can only be said that the butt determines the head. Yuan Shao originally came from the top aristocratic family and was also a vested interest in the inspection system, so he naturally respected the inspection system very much.

And since ancient times, when selecting talents, China has always looked at virtue first and then talent.

The first thing that the inspection and examination system recommends for filial piety, integrity, and talent is virtue.

On the other hand, the imperial examination system had almost no strict requirements on the moral character of candidates. The blind pursuit of talents, in Yuan Shao's view, was a sign of inferiority.

As for the imperial examination system being able to select more and better talents, Yuan Shao disagreed.

No matter how hard a student from a poor family works, due to his background, his knowledge and vision will never be as good as those from aristocratic families.

In Yuan Shao's view, talents who can truly stand on their own must come from aristocratic families.

Just when Yuan Shao was dismissive of the imperial examination system, some of the aristocratic families in the Zhao Kingdom were already panicking, worried that Yuan Shao would follow Zhou Qi and Cao Cao and implement the imperial examination in the Zhao Kingdom.

The Zhao Kingdom contains nearly seven levels of aristocratic families in the entire world.

If the imperial examination system is implemented, I don’t know how many aristocratic families’ interests will be affected.

As a result, representatives of aristocratic families soon came to the palace to inquire about Yuan Shao's story.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao's reply reassured them.

Even so, the aristocratic families in Zhao State still felt a strong crisis. After secretly communicating, they finally unified their opinions and jointly wrote to Yuan Shao, requesting to send troops to conquer Chu State.

"Cough cough cough."

In the bedroom, Yuan Shao coughed violently several times and felt deeply tired.

In the past two years, he felt that his health was getting worse and worse, especially when he was emotional, he would even cough up blood.

If we follow the course of history, Yuan Shao would have died of coughing up blood as early as last year.

However, in this time and space, because Yuan Shao had not experienced the blow of the Guandu defeat, his condition did not deteriorate rapidly, so he survived until now.

Even so, he also had some worries about his body.

Yuan Shao had lofty aspirations and wanted to wipe out the other princes and establish a unified and huge dynasty in his lifetime.

However, there are many factions in Zhao State, and it is difficult to unify the opinions on the southern expedition.

In addition, Yuan Shao fought Zhou Qi twice before, but failed to get any benefits in the end, which made Yuan Shao feel a little scared.

After all, Zhou Qi now dominates the south of the Yangtze River and has a solid foundation. He is not Cao Cao during the Battle of Guandu in history. Although he held the emperor in power to command the princes, he had been waging war for many years, with few soldiers and lack of food, and his rule in many places was not stable.

Yuan Shao's launch of the Battle of Guandu seemed hasty, but in fact he wanted to take advantage of Cao Cao's weakest moment to deliver a fatal blow to his opponent.

There is nothing wrong with this idea of ​​taking advantage of your illness to kill you, but it is a pity that God did not fulfill his wishes, and Yuan Shao was finally defeated in Guandu, and was completely defeated by Cao Cao.

If Yuan Shao had been physically strong at that time, relying on Hebei's profound heritage, he would have been able to regroup and compete with Cao Cao again.

It's a pity that Yuan Shao started coughing up blood after the defeat of Guandu. Even though he quickly put down the rebellions that broke out in the country due to the defeat of Guandu, he still died of illness in the end.

Even so, Cao Cao still did not dare to force the Yuan brothers too much. Instead, he chose to avoid it first, waiting until the Yuan brothers were fighting, and then took the opportunity to break it.

It was precisely because Yuan Shao knew how difficult Zhou Qi was that he rested and recuperated for several years.

Zhao State also took advantage of these years to completely control Youzhou and Bingzhou, and also wiped out the remnants of the Black Mountain Army and the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and Yanzhou.

Today's Zhao State can be regarded as having a strong military and strong horses, and a well-organized and harmonious government.

Even so, Yuan Shao still did not dare to start the war lightly.

After all, in the two previous battles with Zhou Qi, Zhao Guo wasted money and food, and finally came back defeated.

What surprised Yuan Shao was that several factions in the DPRK that had always been at odds with each other unexpectedly unified this time.

Previously, some people suggested that Yuan Shao attack Cao Cao first, or someone suggested that Yuan Shao attack Liu Bei first, or someone suggested that Zhou Qi should be attacked first, or someone suggested that he should recuperate first, or someone suggested that he should adopt a vertical and horizontal strategy.

Because there are too many talented people and too many factions under his command, there is no second Xun You who can serve as Yuan Shao's mastermind.

This also led to Yuan Shao, who was already somewhat scheming, to sometimes waver when faced with the different opinions of his subordinates.

Now, all the factions have united together and asked Yuan Shao to send troops to attack Chu.

According to them, if Liu Bei is attacked, Zhou Qi will definitely save him. If Chu is not destroyed, Xuzhou will be difficult to conquer.

As for Cao Cao, living in the middle of the pass, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is difficult to cause serious trouble, so he can ignore it for the time being.

As long as the Chu State can be destroyed, both Liu Bei and Cao Cao can make a decision at that time.

Yuan Shao said hesitantly: "If we attack Chu and Liu Bei takes the opportunity to cut off our food supply, what can we do?"

The judge came out and said: "Your Majesty, please canonize Liu Bei as King of Qi. I am willing to be an angel and go to Xuzhou in person to tell Liu Bei to change his court. Even if he cannot do so, he can still be made neutral."

Yuan Shao was very surprised and asked: "Zhou Ziyi and Liu Xuande formed an alliance based on blood, and their lips are broken and their teeth are cold. Zhou Ziyi has sent troops to rescue Xuzhou many times before, and Liu Xuande is famous for his benevolence and righteousness. How could he do such an unjust act?"

The judge said emphatically: "This moment is the same as that moment. Don't worry, Your Majesty, I have a countermeasure, and I will definitely be able to persuade Liu Xuande."

Yuan Shao said again: "Even if I can persuade Liu Xuande to stand still, Cao Mengde is a treacherous and opportunistic person. What if I fight with Zhou Ziyi and he wants to become a fisherman?"

Zhong Yao came out of the class and said: "Your Majesty, please canonize Cao Mengde as the King of Qin. I am willing to go to Guanzhong as an envoy. With my unshakable tongue, I will be able to convince Cao Mengde to raise troops to help your Majesty!"

As soon as Zhong Yao finished speaking, Yuan Ba ​​came out and said: "Your Majesty, please appoint Shi Xie as the pastor of Jiaozhou. I am willing to go to Jiaozhou as an envoy to persuade Shi Xie to send troops to attack Chu from the north and south with your Majesty!"

Seeing his ministers working together, Yuan Shao couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

In fact, ever since he felt unwell, he had wanted to devote all his efforts to wiping out the Chu State, but the major factions in the country had never been able to unify their opinions.

Now that all the ministers want to attack Chu, it can be said that they are united, so why worry about not succeeding?

Yuan Shao looked around at the ministers and said in a deep voice: "I agree to everything you asked. However, what you promised must be achieved, otherwise I will not be lenient!"

(End of this chapter)