I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 101 TNND, are you playing the secret game with me?
"Marquis Qi is really good at tactics. He can make clouds and rain with a flip of his hand. The people of Luoyang have been completely manipulated by him."

Among the three, the most arrogant man sipped the rice wine and said with emotion.

When Dong Cheng heard his companions mention Wang Jing, he remembered that the downfall of the Dong family the previous year started with Wang Jing's sudden rebellion. Although he, the nephew of Empress Dowager Dong, saw that the situation was not good and ran back to his hometown in Hejian County, he did not return to the capital in glory until Liu Xie succeeded to the throne and Dong Zhuo came to power.

Not long ago, Dong Cheng and other people from the Hejian Dong family were preparing to make a big move, but at the critical moment, Dong Zhuo died!

This time, it’s Wang Jing again!
With all the new and old grudges, it would be a miracle if Dong Cheng had any feelings for Wang Jing. Many people even thought that the Hejian Dong family was destined to have a "Wang". Otherwise, why was Wang Jing like the Dong family's nemesis, ruining all the good things for the Dong family every time?

Therefore, when Dong Cheng heard someone praising Wang Jing, he became unhappy and said indignantly: "Ziyou, why do you want to boost others' ambitions and destroy your own prestige?"

Next to Dong Cheng sat a burly man with a thick beard.

However, under this man's rough appearance, he actually had a somewhat elegant Confucian temperament. He echoed Dong Cheng and said, "Although Qi Hou is the bravest in the capital, he will definitely lose if he fights with us."

Wang Fu, Dong Cheng, and Zhong Ji all came from prominent families, and were the middle-class forces of the old party, a veritable vested interest group.

At this time, with the support of the Yuan family of Runan and the Yang family of Hongnong, these small and medium-sized families within the old party had secretly formed a political offensive and defensive alliance, intending to surround Liu Xie and consolidate or even expand their own power.

From this we can see that the so-called new party and the old party are not united internally, and each has its own interests and goals.

When their goals are the same, they can still act together, but once their interests diverge, they will immediately turn against each other. Wang Fu, Dong Cheng, and Zhong Ji are obviously not on the same side as Yuan Wei and Yang Biao, at least their interests are not completely consistent.

It's just that when it comes to fighting against Wang Jing, they temporarily have the same interests.

However, facing Wang Jing, who had 30,000 soldiers of the Northern Army and possessed strong personal strength, they did not seem to be very afraid.

This is because the current Yanhan Dynasty is still dominated by aristocratic families and powerful clans. Aristocratic families and powerful clans not only have many masters, but also have a solid foundation, and control a large amount of food, population, land and materials.

Taking the coalition of eighteen princes as an example, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu could easily gather a force ten times that of Dong Zhuo with just a wave of their arms.

Although these troops were hastily recruited from local militia and county soldiers, as long as they were willing to spend money and go through a few baptisms of war, they could be transformed into a strong army. Even if there were losses, they could be quickly replenished.

This shows how deep-rooted the foundations of the aristocratic families and powerful clans are, and this is also the basis for them to contend with the imperial power of the Yanhan Dynasty.

To the Northern Army, they were just warriors. No matter how strong they were, these children of famous families would not take them seriously.
You have to know that the noble families in every state and county of the Yanhan Dynasty had monopolized the knowledge and education of the whole world, and monopolized the recommendation and promotion of talents. Ordinary people had no access to books at all, and most people could not even read and write, let alone govern the country and make suggestions.

Therefore, more than 90% of the talented people in the world come from aristocratic families.

In the eyes of Dong Cheng and the other two, Wang Jing's use of a large number of talents from humble backgrounds was a betrayal of the aristocratic family. It was shaking the foundation of the aristocratic family and was a way of seeking his own death and isolating himself from the world.

Therefore, Dong Cheng, Wang Fu and others and the aristocratic families behind them were not optimistic about Wang Jing's future prospects at all. Instead, they placed all their chips on Liu Xie, hoping to get in touch with power and gain power in this way, and even take advantage of Liu Xie's personal rule in the future to fly to a position that they originally could not reach.

Now that the Yanhan Dynasty is on the verge of collapse, instead of helping the needy, they want to find a better position to suck blood from the dynasty.

I can only say that this is a very aristocratic family.

Wang Fu looked at Dong Cheng with a gloomy look, "Your plot has been foiled. Marquis Qi has mobilized Lü Bu to lead He Jin's former subordinates to Xiliang to quell the rebellion. It is obvious that he has learned that you secretly wooed two of Lü Bu's subordinates. Unfortunately, Cheng Lian and Wei Yue were unable to persuade Lü Bu to surrender to us."

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned this matter. Once he did, Dong Cheng was furious, his eyebrows trembling with anger: "These two people are really useless. They eat and drink from me, and take a lot of benefits, but they don't get things done for me."

Wang Fu sneered, "I have warned you long ago that there must be wise men around Marquis Qi who can give him advice and suggestions. Your crude plan has no chance of success. Even now, you have failed to achieve your goal, and our efforts to win over He Jin's former subordinates have gone to waste."

Among He Jin's old subordinates, there were a large number of local officers and soldiers from Luoyang. These people did not have much loyalty to Wang Jing, so in Wang Fu's view, they could all be won over. Moreover, he had already secretly bribed a number of people, who might be able to play a role at a critical moment.

Unfortunately, after Dong Cheng secretly fanned the flames, Wang Jing directly cut off the source of the trouble and transferred all his men to chase after Li Jue and others.

By then, it will be easy to identify who has problems and who does not.

Zhong Ji suggested, "Since we can't win over Lu Bu, maybe we can win over Xu Huang. He is good at training soldiers. If we send a call in the name of His Majesty, I'm sure he won't refuse."

Wang Fu didn't say anything. He just picked up the wine glass and drank silently.

After hearing what Zhong Ji said, Dong Cheng had an idea: "Maybe we can give it a try!"

Xu Huang has 5,000 elite soldiers from Hedong in his hands, and he is also the commander of the Hedong camp. If he can be won over, it will be a sure thing for him and others to assist His Majesty in following the emperor!

To the west of the city is the big market of Luoyang.

Even though it was late at night, there was still laughter, singing and dancing in Zuiyue Tower.

Everyone thinks that Zuiyue Tower is just a place where people drink and have fun, but few people know that it is also the headquarters of the secret guards and the intelligence transmission center of the entire city.

"Master, this is the intelligence compiled today."

"Well, let's go down."

Xun You picked up a two-finger-wide dagger and gently lifted the seal on the secret letter. In the flickering candlelight, he read the contents word by word.

After reading it, Xun You couldn't help but sneer: "Wang Fu, Dong Cheng, Zhong Ji? These three are really brave, they actually want to overthrow the lord."

It turned out that the conspiracy of Dong Cheng, Wang Fu and others had been secretly monitored long ago. They thought they were acting carefully, but they did not expect that the secret guards had taken over Yuan Shao's team. In addition, Wang Jing attached great importance to intelligence work and had sent people to establish a strict intelligence system in Luoyang City, which was equivalent to laying a dragnet.

Perhaps an old man selling sesame cakes on the street, a waiter holding a rag and bowing to people in a tavern, or even a prostitute who entertains people with her beauty in a music house, are all spies sent out by the secret guards to gather information.

The larger the passenger flow in a place, the more inconspicuous spies like this there are. Even the beggars on the street may be passing information to the secret guards!
The strict monitoring network collects intelligence information all the time, and then gathers it here in Zuiyue Tower and in the hands of Xun You.

Later, Xun You saw the news in the secret letter that Dong Cheng secretly tried to win over Lu Bu. Knowing that the matter was of great importance and that he had to report it to Wang Jing, he hurried to Xiyuan.

In the secret room, Wang Jing read the secret letter at a glance, then threw it into the brazier, with a cold look in his eyes: "It seems that our Majesty is a little uneasy."

Dong Cheng, Wang Fu and Zhong Ji, these three people are not famous now, but others don’t know their background. Doesn’t Wang Jing know it?
These three people were clearly the masterminds of the Yidaizhao incident in the future!

Unexpectedly, before Cao Cao became the prime minister and Dong Zhuo had already been killed, he became the target of this group of people and the big devil they wanted to overthrow.

"My Lord, what should we do with these people?"

Xun You also came from a noble family, so he naturally understood the horror of noble families. Killing people often does not solve the problem.

Even though Dong Zhuo was so powerful, he started a massacre in Luoyang City. Instead of making the noble families surrender, he attracted the princes to fight against Dong Zhuo, causing the whole country to rebel. The noble families and powerful families in the prefectures and counties chose their supporters and mobilized troops to attack Luoyang. Even after Dong Zhuo died, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others refused to withdraw their troops. They continued to question the legitimacy of Liu Xie's succession and wanted to establish a new king.

In history, Cao Cao only killed a so-called famous scholar, Bian Rang, and then lost Chenliu. He was led by the aristocratic families to bring in Lu Bu as an external aid, and then they attacked him in groups, and he was almost defeated and killed.

These are all bloody lessons, so Wang Jing naturally has to be extremely alert and deal with them carefully.

Compared to a visible enemy like Dong Zhuo, a soft knife hiding in the dark and stabbing at any time is obviously more terrifying. But Wang Jing already had a plan to deal with it.

"Gongda, do you know what the foundation of the family is?"

Xun You nodded and thought for a moment before saying, "Books, since Cangjie invented characters, all the wisdom and knowledge in the world have been passed down, and can be accumulated from generation to generation, producing qualitative changes. But how expensive are books? Only aristocratic families can afford to collect and preserve them, so that their children can receive the best education, thus widening the essential gap between them and ordinary people."

The ancients were not stupid. Perhaps their knowledge and vision were not as good as those of modern people in the Big Bang era, but they still knew very clearly the importance of knowledge.

Especially in this high-level martial arts Three Kingdoms, the various magical skills and methods can be said to have perfectly interpreted the six words "knowledge is power".

Whoever holds knowledge holds power.

Whoever controls the books controls the power.

In ancient times when the illiteracy rate was over 99%, those who had been educated and those who had not were almost two different species.

In the eyes of aristocratic families and wealthy families, an illiterate farmer is most likely just a standing ox or horse. Even in terms of "worth", he may not be as good as a working ox.

From this we can see that aristocratic families and wealthy families realized the importance of books early on, so they often monopolized book collections and only allowed "their own people" to read and copy them.

As for ordinary people, even those from poor families with relatively wealthy backgrounds, it is extremely difficult for them to have access to precious books and acquire knowledge. It can even be said that they are just dreaming.

How to break the monopoly of books by aristocratic families and wealthy families?
Improvements in papermaking!

The invention of movable type printing!

This is a difficult task for others, but for Wang Jing, it is a piece of cake.

Wang Jing immediately instructed Xun You: "Gongda, start collecting craftsmen tomorrow and bring them to Xianyun Villa. I want to do a big job this time."

Xun You was shocked, but also curious: "My lord, have you thought of a way to break the impasse?"

Wang Jing's eyes lit up, and he excitedly told Xun You about his ideas for movable type printing and improved papermaking. He then laughed out loud, "Haha, once these two technologies are developed, I will make books very cheap. By then, every family in my empire will be able to afford books, and everyone will be able to read. Will the aristocratic families and wealthy clans still be as high and mighty as they are today?"

Xun You opened the book suspiciously. Although Wang Jing always created miracles, this time, he was fighting against aristocratic families and powerful clans, so the use of force was of little significance.

He thought Wang Jing was just joking and really couldn't understand how to resolve this situation.

Unexpectedly, after listening to Wang Jing's specific ideas on movable type printing and improved papermaking, Xun You was also greatly shocked, and his mood was much more intense than Wang Jing: "How could there be such a wonderful idea in the world? In this way, the scholars of the world are really blessed. Such a great achievement is no less than Cangjie's invention of characters."

After saying this, Xun You looked at Wang Jing with respect. Although Xun You came from a noble family, he valued personal achievements and the interests of the country more, and did not regard himself as a vested interest holder. Therefore, he very much agreed with Wang Jing's move and believed that once this move was made, it would surely gain the support of people from humble backgrounds and even knowledgeable people all over the world.

In particular, the ancient literature and classics school within Confucianism advocates the idea of ​​Confucius that there is no distinction between the classes in the world. It does not pursue the monopoly of knowledge by one family or one surname, but rather educates all people and makes contributions that will last for thousands of years.

Xun You believed that the promotion of movable type printing and the improvement of papermaking would be conducive to the dissemination and development of knowledge, help improve the number and quality of talents, and increase the talent base of his own forces.

It should be noted that the most important carrier for the inheritance and development of civilization is books. Once a large number of cheap books are pushed to the public, the existing order will be completely subverted.

In fact, Cai Lun had already improved the papermaking technique in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and writing materials made great progress. They were much lighter and more economical than the oracle bones, bamboo slips, metal and stone, and silk used in the past.

However, copying books is still very labor-intensive, and only literate people can do it. Errors and omissions are inevitable, and it is far from meeting the needs of the development of Chinese civilization.

More than ten years ago, methods of copying and rubbing stone tablets came into being. Printing technology had taken shape at this point, but it still failed to be thoroughly promoted and popularized, and it was still missing the final step.

In history, movable type printing did not become widely popular until the Ming Dynasty, and it also gave birth to a whole new literary form - the novel!
Therefore, the movable type printing technology in Wang Jing's hands was actually developed more than a thousand years ahead of time, bringing the key to civilization change and using it to subvert the arrogant aristocratic families.

Not only movable type clay was used, but also the more advanced lead movable type!

It directly skipped the woodblock printing era of the Tang and Song dynasties!

Even Xun You, who was usually calm and composed, was astounded by Wang Jing and was shocked by the movable type printing technology that Wang Jing brought out.

Now that he has his own territory and the inheritance of the Mohist school, Wang Jing is clearly confident: "The aristocratic families want to monopolize knowledge and always hold the code of wisdom, but I want to break their monopoly and let everyone in the world be able to afford to read books, receive education, and become pillars of society."

There is no doubt that this is a key change that has driven the progress of civilization and will go down in history and be remembered forever.

Xun You was also very excited and even excited to be able to participate in this. Then, as a scholar, he bowed to Wang Jing and said respectfully: "I am here to thank the lord for his grace on behalf of all scholars in the world. The lord was born in a noble family, but he did not cherish his own things. Instead, he promoted education. Such achievements will surely set an example for future generations."

Wang Jing helped Xun You up and laughed, saying, "For the sake of the people of the world, you and I should work together. By the way, in addition to developing movable type printing, the improvement of papermaking must also be put on the agenda. You can call on craftsmen to carry out technical research and development."

Xun You was obviously surprised by Wang Jing's research and development model of concentrating manpower to achieve technological breakthroughs. He also realized the superiority of this method and praised it, saying: "This method is very good! But if the research and development is successful, how will the reward be?"

Wang Jing was very generous about this: "Money, official positions and even titles, for the sake of the world, I will not be stingy with rewards!"

This is the first time ever!
You must know that the Yanhan Dynasty began to promote Confucianism since the time of Emperor Wu. After Confucianism flourished, dissidents in academic circles were excluded. Only Taoism, Legalism and Military Science could still survive.

Other schools of thought, such as the once flourishing Mohist school, declined rapidly and even died out within a few hundred years and have completely disappeared.

Even a mechanical beast like the Black Lion once fell to the point of working for the Ten Attendants in exchange for payment, which shows how miserable his life was.

This is still the Mohist school. Even if an ordinary craftsman is clever and has the ability to create something beyond the reach of nature, he will only be scorned by Confucian scholars as having strange and obscene skills, which are said to be unworthy of being displayed in a refined manner.

Wang Jing now actually wants to promote craftsmen to be officials and grant them titles. If those high-ranking officials in the court, most of whom are from Confucian schools, knew about this, they would be furious.

Therefore, Xun You had to remind Wang Jing: "My lord, whether it is to grant an official position or to confer a title, it is probably not an easy matter. If you insist on doing it your own way, the powerful families and nobles will surely attack you and make things difficult for us."

The monopoly of academic studies by Confucianism is essentially the result of aristocratic families controlling the discourse power of Chinese civilization.

Therefore, when Wang Jing wanted to bring about reform, his enemies were not only the Confucian scholars, but also the aristocratic families behind them. The two were either interdependent or they were simply the same group of people.

(End of this chapter)