At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 266, Rogue Liu Bang and the Confucian Dilemma
November 9, the third year of the Han Dynasty.

Although it has entered winter, Chang'an City is extremely lively. First, after the autumn harvest, the Huns attacked the six northern counties of the Han Dynasty, robbed the Han Dynasty of tens of thousands of shi of food, and killed thousands of people in the border counties. This caused an uproar in the entire Chang'an City, and the people in the entire Guanzhong did not dare to attack. I believe that the Huns are so rampant.

The world at this time is not the world in the future. The Han people did not pay attention to the Huns from top to bottom. They were taught a lesson by Da Qin a few years ago and were beaten to a pulp. Even the Huns' Hetao area in their hometown was captured by Da Qin and established Jiuyuan County.

Further afield, Zhao general Li Mu annihilated 100,000 Huns in one battle, seized the Huns' home base, and established Daijun. This was a weak chicken. Unexpectedly, their big men were pecked by chickens.

While the current big Han was angry from top to bottom, he also didn't understand how the Huns dared to offend the big Han. The big Han could kill them with just one thumb.

After this incident, the whole Han Dynasty heard endless voices from the court to the people who wanted to attack the Xiongnu.

Hey, especially the governors of the border counties of the Han Dynasty, wrote letters one after another to attack the Huns. They were originally military generals. Xu Fan asked them to carry out construction. They might not be able to figure it out, and they might even mess it up, but they were too familiar with fighting. According to the Huns People dare to bully their big men, and they won't do it without giving them a lesson.

It can only be said that after the Qin Dynasty was wiped out, the generals of the Han army were extremely confident. They believed that the Han army was invincible. They could defeat a mere Huns with only one county. Even these prefects were afraid of their colleagues and worried about others. Take the credit for yourself, after all, the Huns had several counties close to the Han Dynasty.

But Xu Fan knew that Mao Dun was not so easy to deal with. To a certain extent, Mao Dun was the First Emperor on the grassland. He was the first to tell the Hu people that the grassland people were no worse than the farming people. The centralized state suppressed the steppe empire, that is, starting from the Huns, the steppe empire became the nightmare of the Central Plains dynasty for two thousand years.

Faced with such a powerful enemy, Xu Fan asked the governor of the border county to expand the army and prepare for war, and build city walls and fortresses to prevent the Huns from invading again. On the other hand, Xu Fan also felt that the grassland should be strangled in advance before the Huns completely unified the grassland. empire.

The Huns only annexed one Donghu people to bring such great harm to the Han people. After the entire grassland was unified, the harm caused by the Huns was unimaginable. Xu Fan did not want his Han people to be like the Han people in history. Repressed for sixty years. Obviously, it would be more beneficial for the Han to take the initiative to interrupt the formation of the Huns' empire at this time.

Therefore, Xu Fan discussed with the senior officials of the Han Dynasty and decided that after the spring plowing, he would gather 20 troops from the northern princes and northern counties, go deep into the grasslands, and launch a war against the Huns. At the very least, he would break up the Xiongnu Empire and create ten years for the Han Dynasty. Good external environment.

The second news that caused a sensation in Chang'an City was that the Han Dynasty and the Liaodong Kingdom exchanged land. Chen Yu gave up the entire Liaodong County. The Han Dynasty once again enfeoffed 20 vassal states this year. This news spread throughout Chang'an City through various channels, and quickly The hot spot that overwhelmed the Huns quickly became the biggest hot spot in Chang'an City.

After all, the Huns are far away, and no matter how powerful they are, they cannot break into Guanzhong. But these twenty princes are right in front of us. This is the largest enfeoffment in the world after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

These twenty princes and kings became the envy of the entire Han people.

What man wouldn't want to dominate a country and become the king of vassals?

No matter how generous the previous monarchs were, they would at most give you the title of a prince of ten thousand households, but this is different from being a prince. This is to start a country and build an inheritance of your own.

After the news spread, and these twenty princes and kings were confirmed, they became the monarchs that the wise people in the world could rely on.

The wise people in the world understand that since the Qin Dynasty was overthrown, the world will usher in an era of scholars. There are two completely different worlds between having dozens of monarchs to choose from and having only one monarch left.

Although Xu Fan introduced the imperial examination, he had completely changed the rules of the imperial examination. Thousands of scholars were selected at one time. The scholars who were tested in this way were so valuable that they were all arranged by Xu Fan to work with farmers in the countryside. Went to deal with.

If you want to leap over the dragon gate, take the exam for life, and become a county magistrate or other high official, you can't even think about it in the Han Dynasty. There are only more than 1,200 counties in the entire Han Dynasty, and there are simply not so many places for these people. But becoming a small official with a hundred stones disappointed the wise people in the world. The emperor placed too much emphasis on warriors and underestimated scholars.

Moreover, the sources of Han officials are not all from the imperial examination. Retired military officers, good private farming land, and outstanding craftsmen in factories can all become Han officials.

This led to the fact that although there was not much pressure to enter the officialdom of the Han Dynasty, the starting point was too low. After they passed the exam, they could only become a small official with hundreds of stones, and then they had to compete with the Han military, students from hundreds of schools, and even farmers and craftsmen. , the pressure of competition in the officialdom of the Han Dynasty was too great.

Although many scholars do not admit it, the reality is that they are not very competitive with the latter three, and their promotion speed in the Han officialdom is not even as fast as these people.

Of course, many scholars do not admit this. They think that they have amazing talents. It is not cost-effective to exchange their talents and learning for a mere eight stone rice. Therefore, the Han Dynasty passes a lot of Han officials every year, but even more are eliminated. This Let many people understand that being a Han official is not that easy.

What the scholars expected was for a wise king to discover his talents, to be a farmhouse minister in the morning, and to ascend to the emperor's palace in the evening, rather than to become a minor official.

The emperor cannot do this, but among the 20 princes and kings now, there may be famous kings who discover their own talents.

Lou Jing is a person who considers himself to be talented. He has been seeking refuge with the Han Dynasty for a year, but now he is just the head disciple of a farmer's family and the master of an agricultural college. This is completely different from what he originally imagined. He wanted to be a farmer. The channel is to enter the Han Dynasty officialdom, instead of wanting to be a master who teaches and educates people and a farmer's boy who deals with soil and pig manure all day long.

To be honest, the farmer's strength in the Han Dynasty is not bad. There is Da Sinong, one of the Nine Qings, and a merchant farmer with 2000 shi. However, after this year, he finally saw clearly that his teacher Xu Feng was too indifferent. He didn't care about the growth and development of the farm family at all, and his senior brother, the merchant farmer, was too honest. He preferred to go to the countryside to guide farmers in farming than to fight openly and secretly in the court.

If it weren't for the Han Emperor who admired him as a senior brother. It is impossible for him to become a prefect with 2000 shi. Who can believe that a prefect spends less time in the government office than in the farmland.

The farmer's family was too safe. If he wanted to get ahead, he had to work hard on his own. He had to seize every opportunity he could to climb up. So after the emperor divided the princes again, he decided to join one of the princes and use the knowledge he learned in the farmer's family. If you have the ability, you can become a high-ranking official and your official position will be glorious for your ancestors.

So Lou Jing came outside Peihou's mansion.

At this time, many people were already queuing up here. They all wanted to become Dr. Peihou and change their destiny.

At this time, people in line saw two soldiers dragging a Confucian scholar and throwing him out of the gate.

"Poof!" The Confucian scholar threw it to the ground in front of everyone.

Dozens or hundreds of people on the street looked at him in such a mess. Confucian scholars were the most concerned about face, so this situation made him extremely embarrassed.

"It's unreasonable. I thought that Peihou would be a wise master, but he despised our scholars so much. Such a prince will definitely fall. Brothers, what are you doing lining up here? What Peihou wants is not talents, but servants. , my fate today is your example.”

After hearing this, many people really left, and there was more than just Peihou among the princes in the world. Peihou treated this Confucian scholar like this today, and it was obvious that he was not an easy person to get along with.

There are more than 20 more princes in the world, and the scholars have become more reserved. If there is no grandfather here, there will be a grandfather here. If there is no grandfather everywhere, I can still take the imperial examination.

At this time, Liu Bang's uncle Lu Shizhi came out to teach: "Peihou said that Confucian scholars can only talk rhetoric and have no real skills. If there are still Confucian scholars lining up here, please leave. Our Peihou Mansion will not want you." "

"How could Marquis Pei look down on our family so much? You must know that my Confucian master, Kong Yu, is one of the nine ministers of the imperial court. Why do we Confucians have no real ability?"

"If Peihou does not apologize, we will mobilize people from hundreds of families to jointly refuse to serve Peihou."

"If you don't apologize, we will write to the emperor to punish Pei Hou."

I have to say that Confucianism in later generations was able to dominate hundreds of schools, and its exclusive respect for Confucianism has the basis of the times. Most of the people lining up here are Confucian scholars, and Liu Bang's words offended these Confucian scholars to death. What does it mean that Confucian scholars can only talk sweet words? , without any real ability, if this is confirmed, how can they, the Confucians, take refuge in Mingzhu.

At this time Liu Bang came out and said: "I actually want Nai Gong to apologize."

Liu Bang pointed at the Confucian scholar who was just thrown out and said, "Nai Gong asked him if he could lead troops in battle?"

"He said it was something the warrior did."

"Nai Gong asked him again if he knew how to open up wasteland for farming and build canals."

"In the end, he said that there are junior officials who can do this kind of thing."

"Nai Gong asked him again if he could build a blast furnace and make weapons and armor."

"In the end, he said it was a strange and obscene technique, and there are people with hundreds of skills to do it."

"Then what does Mr. Nai want him to do? He doesn't know how to fight or farm, and he doesn't know how to build a workshop. He also said that he wants a minor official to do it. It would be better for Mr. Nai to hire a minor official. What should he ask him to do?" Otherwise, I, the Marquis of Pei, would let him do it and direct everyone to do things."

"As long as you have some ability, Nai Gong will respect you. But it turns out that I have no ability and can only bark here. I really think Nai Gong's fist is not strong."

Liu Bang, who became more and more angry as he talked, directly rode on the Confucian scholar and beat him.

This moment completely shocked the Confucian scholars around him.

How could there be such a rogue monarch who would beat people with his own hands?

These Confucian scholars fled here immediately, and many scholars from hundreds of schools also fled here. Although they were not Confucian scholars, Pei Hou had such a hot temper that they were worried that they would be beaten.

After Liu Bang beat the Confucian scholar, he said: "Nai Gong is already over fifty, and you are no match for Nai Gong. You can't do anything in literature and martial arts, but you still have the nerve to say that you are a talent, bah!"

Fortunately, Liu Bang just wanted to teach him a lesson and left after the beating, but there were not many people left in line at his mansion.

Liu Bang: "Tell me what you are capable of. If you are like that Confucian scholar and only know how to command people to do things, then leave. I don't care for idlers here."

Lou Jing bowed his hands and said, "Farmer Lou Jing has seen Pei Hou?"

Liu Bang's eyes lit up and he said: "Farmer boy, I think your farming skills are not bad."

Lou Jing said: "A certain person studied at a farm for a year, read the "Agricultural Classic" and "The Book of Wealth" thoroughly, knows how to raise pigs and compost, and has guided ten villages to grow winter wheat."

Lou Jing understood from Liu Bang's words just now that Peihou was an extremely realistic person. He would only pay attention to people who were useful to Peihou, and he had to speak out his useful skills, so he spoke very carefully.

Liu Bang asked: "Can you grow sugar cane?"

Lou Jing said: "I have planted it, but the place where you want to establish a vassal state, Peihou, is Liaodong. The climate there is very cold and is not suitable for sugarcane cultivation."

Liu Bang smiled and said: "To be able to say this, it seems that he is a person with real ability."

Now the most profitable thing for the Han Dynasty is to plant sugar cane. Although Liu Bang also wanted to plant sugar cane, it was a pity that Xu Fan told them these northern princes that sugar cane cannot be grown in the north. He just used this question to test Lou Jing.

Liu Bang continued: "If you are willing to join Naigong, Naigong will give you a junior doctor position. If you can help Naigong cultivate 1 acres of land, you will be promoted to a senior doctor. If you can cultivate 10 acres of land, you will be a senior doctor. I have 100 million acres. The Prime Minister of the country asked you to be the one."

Lou Jing said excitedly: "I will do my best to serve you."

Lou Jing didn't expect that Peihou looked like a gangster, but he was so generous. He would give him the position of prime minister as soon as he asked. The prime minister of the princes and kings was equivalent to the governor of 2000 Shi. With this resume, he could still be around even if he returned to the Han Dynasty. A prefect Dangdang.

"Master Qi Qin of Mozi Academy has met Marquis Pei."

Liu Bang was a little surprised and said: "Are you not a Mohist?"

Qi Qin said: "I don't agree with the Mohist ideals. I can't take care of all things and save money, and I'm not used to the hard life. In my opinion, if you have the ability, you can live a good life, and if you don't, you can live a bad life. Like a giant, he has become Marquis, but he still wears linen clothes, wears straw sandals, and eats simple meals. This is simply ridiculous. So I only learned a skill from the Mohist family, but I am not a descendant of the Mohist family."

Liu Bang broke out in a cold sweat when he thought of the Mohist rules and regulations, which were stricter than the military rules and regulations of the Han Dynasty.

"It is true that Mohists cannot wait for idlers to do their job."

Then he asked: "What are you capable of?"

Qi Qin said: "I have studied in a steel factory for a year and can help Peihou build a steel factory. Although it is not as good as that in the Han Dynasty, a small steel factory is still OK."

Liu Bang said happily: "If this steel plant can be built, I will make you a senior doctor. If it can be built as big as the Chang'an Iron and Steel Plant, I will make you a senior doctor."

Qi Qin said: "The cost of the Chang'an Iron and Steel Plant is not low, and the refractory bricks, heavy baggage trucks, molds and other steel equipment needed by the steel plant need to be transported by big men, and thousands of qualified blacksmiths are needed. Only by transporting these After the materials were prepared, the steel plant was built. The Chang'an Iron and Steel Plant spent a huge amount of money and resources on building the factory building, building the blast furnace, and training the blacksmiths, which together cost the court hundreds of millions of dollars."

Liu Bang then smiled awkwardly and said: "Let's start with a small one. You must be self-sufficient in farm tools."

In order to prepare for the construction of Pei State, Liu Bang borrowed 5000 million from Xiong Xin. Liu Bang even borrowed money from his wealthy father-in-law and his fellow merchants. All the money was used to buy weapons and equipment, farm tools, and cloth. He really didn't have this. We have the financial resources to build such a large steel plant.

Qi Qin said: "Even a small steel factory will need many blacksmiths."

Liu Bang said: "There is no doubt about employing people, it is useless to doubt people. I will leave this matter to you."

Although Qi Qin was moved by Liu Bang's attention, he still said: "I took refuge with Peihou for my own glory and wealth, so even if Liaodong is desolate, I can bear it, but the craftsmen do not want to live in the desolate Liaodong." It’s hard to recruit blacksmiths.”

Liu Bang said: "Then pay several times the price to recruit blacksmiths and let them go home at a specified time. You can earn several years of money in a year. I think there will be many people willing to do this."

"promise!"

Then Liu Bang continued to meet with several people. As long as they had a certain skill, Liu Bang recruited them all, so that Liu Bang's Peihou Mansion was filled with all kinds of talents.

And other princes are similar to Liu Bang.

They had the notes of the four major princes opening up wasteland in their hands, and they knew that all kinds of talents were needed to establish a princely state. When they came to the wilderness, even farmers who knew how to farm were all talents.

But the more than twenty princes of the Han Dynasty had a common choice, which was not to recruit too many Confucian scholars into their team. Even though the Confucian scholars they recruited were all skilled in martial arts, or able to write Can count.

Now the Confucian scholars could no longer hold their heads high in front of the hundreds of schools of thought. No one looked down on the other among the hundreds of schools of thought, and the solicitation of these princes was the best advertisement for the hundreds of schools of thought.

Among the talents who took refuge with these princes, as long as they were children of farmers, students from Mozi College, and students from Water Conservancy College, they were all highly valued. Even their reputations had been ruined, and many followers of Legalism were also recruited.

It is obvious that Confucian scholars are the most numerous among the hundreds of schools of thought, and they even account for half of the disciples. However, the number of them recruited by the princes is far from being worthy of their proportion.

In particular, Liu Bang's beating of Confucian students caused a sensation in the entire city of Chang'an. Liu Bang's three questions made all Confucian students break their guard. This was to directly nail the Confucian students to the pillar of shame of useless people.

The disciples of hundreds of schools of thought spared no effort to publicize this matter, letting the people in Guanzhong and even the whole world know about it.

People all over the world are very practical. What you teach in Confucianism has no effect at all. Why should my children learn it?

If you study Confucianism, the princes will not want you. On the contrary, the children of the Mohist school, the children of farm tools, the children of the Water Conservancy College, and even the children of Luban College are all being snatched up by the princes of the world. It is clear at a glance which industry has a good employment situation.

So many Confucian scholars are wondering whether they should change careers. Confucius asked Lao Tzu for advice. Great Confucianism like Xunzi gave birth to Legalist masters like Li Si and Han Fei. Now we Confucians seek advice from Mohists, and farmers also learn from Confucius. After all, Confucius It has been said that when three people are walking together, there must be one teacher.

(End of this chapter)