The Maojin knife from the late Jin Dynasty

Chapter 271 Dai Yuan’s Persecution
  Sima Rui sent someone to investigate whether Liu Tai really put all his thoughts into Yongji Canal.

After all, it is not easy to get Liu Tai to implement the construction of Yongji Canal, but it is not difficult to verify whether the news is true.

With this step confirmed, Sima Rui no longer had any worries and could devote all his energy to closing the power vacuum left after Zhou Wen's death.

After all, Liangzhou, where Xiangyang is located, plays a very important role in containing Wang Dun, so Gan Zhuo was sent there immediately.

At the same time, Sima Cheng of the clan succeeded Gan Zhuo's original position as governor of Xiangzhou and firmly guarded Wang Dun.

Of course, Wang Dun could not be suppressed blindly. Sima Rui still increased his subordinate officials, rewarded Yu Bao and other ceremonial guards, and improved his treatment.

All in all, as long as you can frighten Wang Dun, try to appease him as long as possible.

To be honest, at least this year, apart from the fact that Zhao State is still having a headache to suppress the rebellion and can only defend the prefectures and counties near Chang'an, the Han Dynasty and the Western Jin Dynasty are all recuperating.

Like Liu Tai, who focused his energy on the Yongji Canal, the Jin court was not much better. After all, there had just been a famine this year, and it was not certain how much national power it had. Even Sima Rui was not as political as Liu Tai. The truth is true.

Because he was the emperor who was supported by the Wang family of Langya, Sima Rui was working hard to get rid of the constraints of the Wang family as he gradually gained power.

And as long as he cannot take back the rights from the family, he will never be able to exert all the strength of a normal country.

This is also one of the reasons why Liu Tai does not pay much attention to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Because Liu Tai understood that if he faced the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he would not be able to face the Eastern Jin Dynasty as a whole, or the local powerful, or the aristocratic families.

Historically, there are so many coincidences that the Eastern Jin Dynasty could survive.

But in the face of his steady advancement, to be honest, Liu Tai didn't think Jin Ting could resist it.

Unless someone can really let go of their own prejudices and allow these aristocratic families to give up their own interests and integrate together.

In Liu Tai's view, this person should be Zu Ti, and as long as Zu Ti is not relied upon by Sima Rui, there is no need for Liu Tai to think too highly of the Jin court and just go on at his own pace.

As Liu Tai completed the construction of a series of supporting facilities for the Yongji Canal, Liu Tai returned to Yecheng and began to prepare for the end-of-year scholar assessment.

Of course, the most important thing is to make these scholars feel that they care.

Jie Fei has been basically cleaning up various mansions in Ye City these days. After all, Cao Wei established his capital in Ye City, so the foundation of Ye City is still very good.

It's just that the former pavilions, pavilions, and various palaces have been destroyed beyond recognition in wars time and time again, but at least there is quite a lot of space in the vacated rooms.

And Liu Tai is also very simple. It is just like the Qing Dynasty exam method. The exam is conducted in one room per person. These candidates must live here until the exam is completed.

"The big bathhouse is very important. It must allow the scholars who enter the examination room to relieve their fatigue. Only when they are energetic can they perform at their best." Liu Tai looked at Jie Fei and said,
  “Before entering the examination room, students are required to take a shower and change clothes. They must wash off their fatigue before being allowed to enter the examination room.

Therefore, the door of every examination room is a large bathhouse.

When the time comes, students, wash away the dust when you come in and wash away the fatigue when you go out. This is the proper etiquette. "

"I understand, I will go and arrange the bathhouse now. But, Your Majesty, how many scholars will the bathhouse be arranged according to?" Jie Fei looked at Liu Tai doubtfully at this moment and asked Liu Tai about the number of scholars.

"Just follow the number of ten thousand people!" Liu Tai waved his hand and calmly said to Jie Fei.

When Liu Tai heard Jie Fei's words, he felt that the number of people was too many.

However, Liu Tai thought it was easy, because before the exam, he would randomly select a chapter of "Han Shu" and let them recite it.

If they can't even pass the memorization test, there's no point in taking the exam.

Of course, if you are as dumb as Deng Ai, you can also choose to write silently. Anyway, as long as you prove that you are familiar with "Han Shu" or "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", you can become a real test candidate and enter the examination room.

Of course, to modern people, it seems incredible to memorize an entire "Hanshu".

But the problem is that in this era, photographic memory should not be a basic skill if you want to be a top civil servant.

Just like if you are not proficient in memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics, it is like being a child and you may not be able to pass smoothly.

However, Liu Tai understood that his examination system was just a new one, and this time he would only select talents in one place in Hebei.

In the future, as the scope of control expands, it will be necessary for me to develop a complete scientific examination system.

Select talents layer upon layer, and at the same time reduce the pressure on your own talent selection as much as possible.

As Jie Fei left, Liu Tai immediately went to see Madam Xu, because Madam Xu would have to prepare all the bedding and clothes that the scholars would need. In particular, they would need professional massage hands, and they would need to personally rub the scholars all over their bodies. Bath and massage.

After receiving Liu Tai's order, Madam Xu also went to complete the task with a serious face.

However, there were more and more scattered matters in the entire examination, so Liu Tai handed over this matter to Xi Jian and asked Xi Jian to take charge of it.

After all, he is now considered the prefect of Yecheng and knows exactly how to mobilize the resources of the entire Yecheng.

At the same time, it is impossible for me to entrust this matter to Chu Hui, because Chu Hui's power is too great. If I leave this matter to him to preside over, then Chu Hui's prestige will be too high.

As for the other confidants, Cao Yi is currently holding on to Yongji Canal. There is no aristocratic family in charge of this thing.

Zhang Song mainly manages trade affairs. Whether it is the transactions with Xingyang, the transactions with Gou Xi, or the transactions with the Xianbei tribe, Zhang Song's shadow is all there.

Without these two people coming forward, the only ones who want to compete with Chu Hui are Yangman and Xi Jian.

And because Yang Man was born into a noble family, it was impossible for him to let someone like Yang Man, who was almost a representative of the noble family, preside over such work.

Therefore, after much deliberation, I chose Xi Jian, and Xi Jian seemed to be quite excited to take over this task.

For Xi Jian, this large-scale political activity to select talents is a bonus item no matter what.

At least compared to the current Yecheng Prefect, it is much better.

After Chu Hui arrived and began to survey the overall situation, Xi Jian also realized to some extent what it means to have misfortunes in three lives. The magistrate is attached to Guo; No one is comfortable sitting there.

And Liu Tai saw Xi Jian happily taking over such a task, and he felt that Xi Jian could do some cultural activities like this in the future. It's just that now Xi Jian still needs to take up the post of Yecheng prefect part-time. After all, even if he replaces Xi Jian himself, and someone else comes to replace him, he will probably be replaced at the rate of one person a month.

After all, this position really requires a strong background or high ability, and Xi Jian also has seniority, so there is really no one else who can hold this position concurrently for the time being.

But after Lu Chen and Wen Qiao got a lot of experience, they were qualified for this position. When Xi Jian left, they could take over.

Both Wen Qiao and Lu Chen couldn't help shivering at this time, maybe it was because of the cold weather.

In any case, as August passed and the weather began to gradually turn from hot to mild, students in relatively remote areas more or less began to set off to rush for exams.

After all, the construction of the Grand Canal has not yet been completed. Even if Youzhou wants to come here, it will have to rely on horses, not to mention counties like Jinyang. It will be even more difficult to take the exam in Yecheng.

At the same time, at this time, the head of the Zheng family in Xingyang saw that Zheng Lue had memorized the "Book of Han" and the Nine Chapters of Arithmetic. Even the various diaries and memorials of his family's ancestors, he had memorized them skillfully with a face. He couldn't help but show a look of satisfaction.

The Zheng family then said to Zheng Lue: "You have been preparing for the past few days, so you can take your entourage and guards to Yecheng, right?"

"Father, even if we are not far from Yecheng, we don't need to go so early, right?"

Zheng Lue was in a daze when he heard what the Zheng family said.

To be honest, Zheng Lue knew very well that if he passed the exam, it would be quite difficult for him to return to Xingyang in the future.

Unless Liu Tai sends troops to capture Xingyang, but in this case, no one can guarantee whether Xingyang is safe.

After all, Liu Tai's harshness towards the aristocratic family has been heard to some extent by the aristocratic family.

Even so, facing the powerful Liu Tai, the family is not unable to accept it.

After all, the rules set by Liu Tai are harsh, but for the aristocratic family, harsh rules are also rules, and as long as they are rules, the aristocratic family will have the genes to adapt.

Of course, Liu Tai's harshness is difficult for many big families to accept.

After all, the Jin Dynasty was a dynasty of aristocratic families, and the treatment of the aristocratic families was almost perfect. For them, the rules set by Liu Tai were simply life-threatening.

But for many small aristocratic families or powerful people who were suppressed by big aristocratic families, the rules formulated by Liu Tai were indeed harsh, but he himself was also suppressed in the Jin court.

Under such circumstances, there doesn't seem to be much difference between him and Liu Tai.

After all, even if Liu Tai wins Hebei now, he is still far from unifying the world, so Liu Tai still has a lot of room for growth.

For many small aristocratic families, they do not expect to be like those top aristocratic families who aim to control the government from the beginning.

I only want to be a county commander, and if I go to Liu Tai now, it will be very possible to achieve it in the future.

As for whether Liu Tai will go to unify the world, to be honest, just looking at Liu Tai holding the Han flag high and seeing that Liu Tai has occupied the power in Hebei, it would be strange to say that Liu Tai does not want to unify the world.

After all, the last force that held high the Han flag still worked hard to restore the Han Dynasty and return the old capital even if only one state was left.

"The governor of Liangzhou, Zhou Fang, is dead. With him as the governor, we can go all out in the Northern Expedition without being restrained by the rear.

But now that Zhou Fang is dead, the impact is quite large. It is even uncertain whether Zuti, the governor, will be dispatched to Liangzhou to be the governor.

All in all, you are going to Yecheng to take the exam anyway, so take the family merchant ship and leave early, lest something happens and you have to leave! "The head of the Zheng family said with a little worry.

"Will the ancestral governor leave?" Zheng Lue inevitably felt a little worried when he heard the words of the head of the Zheng family.

"I don't know, I just didn't know so I left early!" The head of the Zheng family looked at Zheng Lue and said seriously,
  "Even if you don't pass the exam, you will settle down in Yecheng first. I think the recent Jin court is quite strange, so I will wait and see for a while.

As for me, there is no need to worry. I, the Zheng family in Xingyang, dare not say it in other places, but in Xingyang, as long as there is no war, no one dares to take action against us! "

Zheng Lue nodded after hearing the words of the head of the Zheng family. For the aristocratic family, except for the uncontrollable variables caused by war, other issues are controllable for the aristocratic family. It just depends on whether the aristocratic family is willing to accept the facts. That’s all.

Generally speaking, aristocratic families mainly focus on surviving their own family, especially the Jin Ting family. There may occasionally be a few rare ones who are loyal to the country, but when more aristocratic families encounter unmatched dangers, they still choose to preserve their own family.

Because the Jin court itself promoted it in this way.

Therefore, Zheng Lue also believed his father's words. If there was a chance to surrender, then the Zheng family in Xingyang would definitely surrender in a real crisis.

But the problem is that the initiative in this thing is not in the hands of the Zheng family in Xingyang, but in the hands of Li Ji.

Under such circumstances, even the head of the Zheng family could not command Zhao Ju's soldiers. Whether Xingyang as a whole surrendered or resisted, in the end, Zhao Ju had to say the final words to make the decision.

To be honest, Zheng Lue didn't spend much time in Xingyang, and soon left Xingyang for Yecheng.

Not long after Zheng Lue left, Dai Yuan came to see Zu Ti again and said:

"The imperial court found out that there was a private exchange between Zu Cishi and Liu Tai. I wonder if Zu Cishi has anything to say?!"

"Ruosi, this is not the first time we have met. Why are you here this time?" Zu Ti looked at Dai Yuan and said, "You know very well that without this Xingyang trading with Liu Tai, We don’t even know the news about Liu Tai!”

"But the news about Liu Tai's construction of the Yongji Canal was handed over by Gou Xi!" Dai Yuan looked at Zu Ti and said in a deep voice.

"What are you going to do with this information? Will the imperial court launch a northern expedition against Liu Tai? Or will the current internal fighting within the imperial court become more intense!"

Zu Ti looked at Dai Yuan and said, "I would be irresponsible to the court by sending this news to the court!"

"You have disappointed His Majesty so much!" Dai Yuan said, "You said that His Majesty would trust you, and His Majesty has always believed in you and allowed you to continue to be in charge of Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Sizhou. But how did you repay His Majesty? You even hid the information. Don’t let His Majesty know!”

Zu Ti couldn't help but remain silent. He didn't expect that guy Gou Xi would suddenly report it.

After all, Gou Xi has always been outside the political system of the Jin court, because Sima Rui is considered the political successor of Sima Yue, while Gou Xi is Sima Yue's political enemy.

Although Gou Xi recognized Sima Rui as the emperor, in essence, he still listened to the announcement but not the tune in Xuzhou.

"So, your majesty has granted me the title of General for the Conquest of the West, Commander-in-Chief of Yan, Henan, You, Ji, Yong, and all the military affairs of the six prefectures. I have also been given the title of Regular Attendant of Casual Cavalry." Dai Yuan looked at Zu Ti and said, "You should Do you know what this means?"

(End of this chapter)