Sima Yi's Three Kingdoms Collection Collection

Chapter 75
Zhao Yan's complexion changed, he bowed his head slightly, and said: "Last night, when Zhao was ordered by His Majesty to go to the Confucian Mansion to ask a few questions about righteousness, principles, etiquette and law, Doctor Kong entrusted Zhao to pass it directly to His Majesty on the spot."

"According to the system of the Han Dynasty, any memorial to be submitted to the palace must first be handed over to the prime minister's office and Shangshutai for joint deliberation, and then presented to His Majesty for a decision based on its importance. As the special envoy of the inner court Yilang and Shangshutai, why? Do you go against the rules and go against the law?" Xun Yu said in a deep voice, his voice was surprisingly cold, "Aren't you afraid that others will accuse you of the crime of 'passing documents privately and interfering with the audience'?"

"Master Ling Jun's words really make Zhao die without a place to live!" Zhao Yan burst into tears when he heard it, fell to his knees with a "plop", and cried, "Zhao is dedicated to the country! , Geng Geng's loyalty can be shown to the sun and the moon, the practice of 'privately passing on documents' is true, and there is absolutely no heart to 'interfere with the saints'!"

Xun Yu's eyes flickered slightly, but his face remained unmoved. He continued to say coldly: "There is an old saying: 'The government should be unified, and the ministers should be harmonious.' This is the way to help the stability of the country. Last night Your Majesty, the Prime Minister, celebrated the conferment of Jin as Prime Minister, and wanted to share the joy with the officials. What a grand event to show your merits and virtues, and to please everyone! Your Majesty ordered you to go and ask Dr. Kong a few questions about righteousness, principles, etiquette and law. He should have returned to the palace immediately after inquiring clearly, and was not allowed to stay in the Confucian mansion to prevent Dr. Kong from offering congratulations to Prime Minister Cao.

"But you don't understand the general situation, so that Dr. Kong was delayed for two hours and did not come to the prime minister's house to congratulate, so that outsiders who didn't know it thought that Dr. Kong and Cao Cheng were similarly at odds."

Speaking of this, Xun Yu's voice suddenly raised a few points, and he scolded: "Mr. Zhao, this matter is your fault! You must immediately go to see Prime Minister Cao, explain the matter clearly, and take the initiative to lead it to yourself. It is to resolve the rift between Prime Minister Cao and Dr. Kong."

Zhao Yan couldn't bear his stern words, so he fell on the ground and burst into tears. After a long while, he murmured: "Your Excellency is determined to reconcile the good intentions of your lords. I understand it in my heart. I can absolutely follow your instructions. But, I dare to ask Lord Ling Jun: Prime Minister Cao and Dr. Kong will really blame themselves because of the explanation of the official. Can you dissolve the rift between each other?"

Having said that, he suddenly raised his head, presented the memorial again with both hands, stared at Xun Yu with tears in his eyes, and said, "Your Excellency, you should read the memorial written by Dr. Kong before we talk about it!"

Xun Yu sighed deeply, stretched out his hand to take the memorial presented by Zhao Yan, opened it lightly, and was shocked at once—the title of the memorial was too scary: "It is appropriate to revive the system of the king's body"!The content in the memorial is even more sharp:

The minister heard: The former kings were divided into nine Qi, the far and the near; "Spring and Autumn" included all Xia and outside Yi Di. "Poetry" says: "The closure of the base for thousands of miles is only for the people." Therefore, it is said: The residence of the Son of Heaven must be spoken by the public.The Zhou Dynasty was in decline, and the Six Kingdoms conquered it, and the bribes were granted to split the Xia.The system of Haojing and the degree of merchants have been recorded for a long time, so they are ambiguous.Qin and the world, the government did not follow the old, reformed the five classes, wiped out Houdian, built a city for thousands of miles, and erected a gate by the sea. He wanted to make Liuhe a district and Wufu a family. The family is facing the sea, and the watchman cannot be rescued.The sages and Han followed the same principles, and did not change them. They still follow the ancient law. Yingchuan, Nanyang, Chenliu, and Shangdang are near the three seas, and they are not feudal princes.Chen Yu thought: within a thousand miles, we can briefly follow the article of "Zhou Guan" Liuxiang and Liusui, all counties and counties are under the direct jurisdiction of His Majesty, and the emperor's family is respected.

When he read the last sentence, Xun Yu let out a long sigh of "ah", and then closed the memorial with a "snap", closed his eyes and looked up to the sky, with a sad expression on his face.

"Lord Lingjun...Lord Lingjun..." Seeing Xun Yu's expression, Zhao Yan couldn't help shouting in panic.

It took Xun Yu a long time before he opened his eyes, managed to stabilize the agitation in his chest, and asked in a slow voice: "Zhao Yan! Why didn't you persuade him not to play this memorial? You...why didn't you stop him?" He did that?"

"Lingjun... Lord Lingjun!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Yan immediately kowtowed and shouted, "You...you are wrong to blame this official! It was Dr. Kong who insisted on asking the official to forward this memorial to His Majesty. The lower official was so dry at the time, he didn't listen at all!"

Hearing this, tears welled up in Xun Yu's eyes immediately.He was silent for a moment, waved his hands, stopped Zhao Yan from crying, and slowly retreated to the couch and sat down, holding the memorial of "The System of Yizhun Retro Wangji" and fell into deep thought.

When Kong Rong presented this memorial at this time, he blatantly opposed Prime Minister Cao's full power and sole leadership of the government.Of course, his memorial came very ingeniously, and it can be called a "touchstone" for whether Cao Cao is still loyal to the Han Dynasty-if Cao Cao can follow what he said in the memorial, he will use his piece of "Qianli" If Cao Cao refused what Kong Rong said in his performance, he would have different aspirations, and it is inevitable that he will have the right to be authoritarian. suspect.

But no matter whether Cao Cao resigned or not, he will be extremely dissatisfied with Kong Rong from the bottom of his heart-this is using the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers to force Prime Minister Cao to cut his real power.Since Cao Cao personally welcomed the emperor into Xudu more than ten years ago, no high-ranking doctor dared to openly force Cao Cao to cut power by himself.As for the consequences of offending Cao Cao on such an issue, everyone knows it without thinking about it.

Finally, Xun Yu sighed heavily, and murmured: "Confucius, the sage of our ancestors, said: 'If you know what you can't do, do it. Ren, why do you regret it? Zhao Jun, go down now. Let me be alone here for a while..." As he spoke, two lines of tears welled up in his eyes, and slowly and silently flowed down his cheeks.

Sun Quan blamed Jingzhou
"The Prime Minister wants to issue a decree of seeking talents and send it to all states and counties!" Cao Cao sat on the main seat of the meeting hall in the main hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and ordered Yang Xiu, who was sitting in the chief seat on the lower right, "Mr. Yang Let’s draft the draft of this warrant for the truth here!”

Sima Yi and Xin Pi, who were sitting opposite Yang Xiu, couldn't help raising their heads to look at Yang Xiu.Sima glanced at Yang Xiu's face, a trace of jealousy appeared and then disappeared; while Sima Yi quietly stared at Yang Xiufu holding a pen and writing on the desk, with a thoughtful expression.

In the meeting hall, Yang Xiu's pen was dropped onto the paper, "swiping" repeatedly, and in less than half a cup of tea, he had already written the warrant manuscript, and presented it respectfully.

Cao Cao took the manuscript and read it carefully:
The ancients said: "The one who catches a bird has one eye. However, if you open one eye, you will not get a bird. The reason why a bird can fly far is the power of six wires. However, without the help of many hairs, it cannot fly far. ” To calm chaos and govern the country and secure the world, the power of all sages is not enough.When a virtuous man is gained, there will be no injustice, no restlessness in the country, and no honor for the king; but if a virtuous man is lost, there will be no chaos, no country will be in danger, and no king will be humiliated.Those who are loyal, honest and filial, honest and upright, and proficient in scriptures and rituals, even if they hide in caves and raise their ambitions in their households, they must not abandon themselves to the world. Please respond to the order of the prime minister and go to the court to become an official and jointly rule the emperor's house!

Cao Cao read it in a low voice, first nodded his head lightly, then shook his head slightly.

Seeing Cao Cao's behavior, Yang Xiu, Sima Yi and Xin Pi looked at each other in amazement.

Finally, Yang Xiu couldn't hold back anymore, and asked, "Master Prime Minister, could there be any omissions and inappropriateness in the manuscript? Please express it clearly, Mr. Prime Minister."

"Well... your manuscript is concise and concise, and it can be called the essence of the document. I really appreciate the truth!" Cao Cao praised a few words with a smile, but frowned slightly, and said seriously: "But, The principle of recruiting talents for the truth has always been "governing the peace and virtue, and rewarding the function of things"-although there are people who are loyal, filial, honest and upright, and well-versed in rituals, they cannot break through the enemy for the sake of the truth, and kill thieves and bandits , what's the use of it?"

As soon as these words came out, Yang Xiu and the others couldn't help being taken aback.The foundation of the official system of this dynasty is to rule the country by virtue. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "dismissed all schools of thought and only respected Confucianism", non-virtuous and upright people were not allowed to be recruited and appointed. This has been an iron rule that cannot be changed for hundreds of years.However, Prime Minister Cao said today that he wanted to abandon the method of "selecting people by virtue" and replace them with the method of "appointing people on their merits", which is really unimaginable!
Seeing Yang Xiu's suspicious expression, Cao Cao knew that his thoughts could not turn around for a while, so he said slowly, "Forget it, forget it, don't think too much about it. In the future, you will follow the truth for a long time, You will understand the essence of the real minister's "government of peace and virtue, and rewards for meritorious deeds". How about this, the real minister has just prepared a draft for this order of seeking talents, and now I will read it for you to listen to—Sima Yi, you Help record the truth."

After finishing speaking, he stroked his long beard, and raised his voice to proclaim: "A man who has practice may not be able to make progress; a man who is enterprising may not be able to do it. How can Chen Ping practice faithfully, and how can Su Qin keep faith and evil? But Chen Ping settled the Han industry, Su Qin Ji weak Yan. From this point of view, scholars are short, so mediocre can be discarded? If Siming thinks about this, then scholars will not be left behind, and officials will not lose their careers!"

As soon as he finished reading, Sima Yi just picked up his pen and finished writing.After writing, Sima Yi carefully submitted the manuscript to Cao Cao for review.

Cao Cao took a look, and couldn't help praising: "Heh! I didn't expect that Zhongda's calligraphy is actually painted with iron and silver hooks, which is powerful and elegant! Your skill in this brush seems to be not much worse than that of Zhong Yao!"

Sima Yi blushed a little, and said modestly: "Your Excellency, the prime minister, you are overwhelmed." He thought to himself: How can Zhong Yao's calligraphy be praised?The calligraphy of my classmate and good friend Hu Zhao is really "seeing hills and ravines in a square inch, with twists and turns to contain wind and thunder"!

He pondered for a while, and said to Cao Cao: "The Prime Minister's warrant is really close in words but far in purpose, and it is practical and established. However, according to the opinion of my subordinates, the entire text of this warrant is about the word 'scholar' , its title might as well be changed to 'Ji Shi Ling'."

"Yes." Cao Cao nodded, put down the manuscript of the "Order of Jushi", and picked up the manuscript of "Order of Seeking Talents" drafted by Yang Xiu, and looked at it carefully, with a low voice. He said to himself: "Huh! Kong Rong is a model of loyalty, honesty, integrity, uprightness, and literacy. But when he was the prefect of Beihai County, the political program was disordered and the general affairs were relaxed. What can he do? If Yuan Shaozhi succeeded in his treachery back then, he might just sit back and watch, with his hands tied, waiting to die!"

At this moment, Cao Hong stepped in from the door of the conference hall, clasped his fists to Cao Cao and said, "My lord, the special tribute envoy Lu Su sent by Sun Quan from Jiangdong came to ask for an audience."

"Special envoy of Sun Quan? Lu Su?" Cao Cao groaned for a moment, then said, "Take him to see Lord Xun Ling first."

"This..." Cao Hong said with some hesitation, "This Lu Su explained to his subordinates just now that he has gone to the inner court of the imperial palace to meet Lord Xun Ling, and Lord Xun Ling has asked Yang Jun's servant to accept his tribute gift first. He also Said, it was Xun Lingjun who reminded him to come to pay a visit to the prime minister..."

(End of this chapter)