Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 428 The Troubled Kong Rong

"Zhou Weiguo's contribution to recovering Pingzhou and helping me break Wuhuan is indispensable. I suggest Jin Zhoucang be Marquis of Liao." Liu Xie has his own ideas, and Cao Cao also has his own plans. It's a general of hussars or chariots. This is not what Cao Cao wants to see. It's better not to add an official but to be a noble, and the fief can only be a remote place.

Liu Xie thought that his efforts made Cao Cao make concessions, Long Yan was very happy, and ordered Xun Yu to draft an imperial edict, which Wang Can took back to Xuzhou.

After retiring from the court, Wang Can approached Xin Pi to offer the dowry. According to the agreement with Zhou Cang, Xin Xianying should be sent to Xuzhou to marry Dianman.

In May of the 12th year of Jian'an, Daqing, Xuzhou.On the first day, Zhou Cang was promoted to Marquis of Liao Dynasty, on the second day, Mi Fang was promoted to governor of Jeju, and on the third day, Wu Gang married Dianman.The whole state is jubilant and beaming.

Ten days later, Qu'a bid farewell to Zhoucang, and took his wife Lu Qiling north to Xuantu, Mi Fang and Gan Xiang walked with him.Yan's family missed Lu Bu's unmanned sweep sacrifice and Qu Fengxian stayed in Xuzhou.

"Why is Yuan Fang so preoccupied?" Zhou Cang and Zhou Wen suddenly asked while chatting.

"I have been thinking hard about why Cao Cao abolished the three princes and reset the prime minister, and why he only added the prince to the Marquis of Liao?" Conspiracy theorists always suspect that everything is a conspiracy. "Without Yuan Shao's check and balance, how will my lord get along with Cao Cao?"

This is the big problem. Without Yuan Shao's mediation, Zhou Cang and Cao Cao face to face, it is indeed more subtle.

"What does Yuanfang think?"

"The prime minister has a lot of power, so Emperor Guangwu set up three princes to divide his power. Cao Cao's move is nothing more than to centralize power. I'm afraid Cao Cao's ambition is more than that." Zhou Wen sighed, "The lord will become a thorn in his eyes and a thorn in his flesh. He There are two motives for choosing the Lord as Marquis of Liao: one is to beat the Lord so as not to become his obstacle; the other is to want the Lord to stay away from the Central Plains."

"That at least means that Cao Cao is still not hostile to me, right?" Zhou Cang said with a smile.

"Cao Cao originally had nearly 15 soldiers, but in Jingping Hebei, he must have at least 30 elite soldiers. In a year or two, he can gather 50 or [-] soldiers. It is very difficult."

"Why is Yuan Fang so depressed? Isn't it a good thing that the Central Plains will be stable from now on, and the people will no longer have to suffer from wars?"

Zhou Wen looked at Zhou Cang, your heart is really big.If Cao Cao sent troops to Xuzhou, how would he resist?Cao Cao's power is growing, what if Xuzhou's civil servants and military generals eccentrically switch to Cao Cao?
Zhou Cang reassured Zhou Wen and said, "Yuan Fang doesn't have to worry too much. As the saying goes, there must be a way for a car to reach the mountain."

Even though Zhou Cang said that, he felt a little uneasy. People's hearts will change. Cao Cao has already changed. Who can say for sure what will happen in the future.Maybe I really want to find a chance to meet with Cao Cao once, and it has been at least five years since I have had face-to-face communication with Cao Cao.

Zhou Cang's strategy for the current situation is: implement military expansion in the Northeast, vigorously develop production, enrich the population, and promote the economy.In Xuzhou, it is already necessary to rely on the role of the academy to break some ideas, instill new ideas, and infiltrate Cao Cao and the whole world, but its own ideas and theories have not yet taken shape.

The long-awaited debate finally broke out after the fighting subsided.It came so quickly that Zhou Cang was a little unprepared, and what surprised him even more was that the focus of the debate was not from Liaodong.It turned out that Kong Rong, who was sent by Cao Cao to build the Confucian Mansion and Confucian Temple, sparked a big debate.

After Kong Rong built the mansion and picked up the temple, he often had banquets and guests when he wrote books and lectures. Stealing Su Wu's cattle and sheep can be punished together!"

Sarcasm was fine, but he actually made his own remarks without hesitation. There was a man named Guan Qiuyang, his younger brother and his companions, who traveled together to avoid war. Because there was no food, Guan Qiuyang treated himself The younger brother said: "If you don't eat your companion now, the three of us will die together." So the two brothers killed the companion together, ate the companion and finally survived.After this incident was known, it was strongly condemned, but afterwards Kong Rong said to the people around him: "Guan Qiuyang cherishes the body bestowed by his parents, so it is only right to eat his companion. have eaten.If Guan Zhong ate Bao Shu and Gong Yu ate Wang Ji, that would be treason!And the person Guan Qiuyang ate was just a talking bird or beast, just like a dog ate a fox, or a fox ate a parrot, there was nothing strange about it.

Kong Rong also said: "Father and son, what kindness do you have? In terms of its original meaning, it was just an outbreak of lust at that time. What kind of love is there between son and mother? It's like putting something in an earthen jar temporarily, and it's like nothing when it's poured out." It doesn't matter." Kong Rong said again: "When there is a famine, there is something to eat. If my father is not good, I would rather give it to others."

This remark was disseminated and immediately caused an uproar. Such "destroying the Three Views" remarks are of course considered treasonous.The students of Xuzhou University condemned Kong Rong almost overwhelmingly.

Zhou Cang frowned when he heard about it. Did Kong Rong take some wrong medicine, or did he want to attract people's attention because he was unwilling to be lonely.This kind of one-sided denunciation is not the debate Zhou Cang wants, but how to fix it?

Zhou Cang recruited Zhou Chong and asked him to secretly choose some smart people as students, or enter the academy or in the wine shop, to participate in the debate, but the content of the debate should be changed, Kong Rong's words should be discarded, and the point of the finger should not be pointed at People need to focus on things. Zhou Cang designed three topics:

First, in times of crisis, in order to survive, for the sake of the country, is it possible to eat people?After all, King Wen of Zhou had eaten meat soup from his own son Bo Yikao, and Duke Wen of Jin Chonger had eaten thigh meat from Jie Zitui.

Second, Guan Qiuyang eats his companions, is it necessary to protect the bureaucrats and gentry first in a critical moment?Ordinary people's lives are not worth as much as a beast?
Third, on filial piety, what is filial piety?
There are too many classics related to filial piety. In the Analects of Confucius, there are [-] chapters where filial piety appears, and there are six chapters where Zi once said.Zengzi on filial piety, Xunzi on filial piety, Mencius on filial piety, and the "Book of Filial Piety".Among them, the one that is more comprehensive is the "Book of Filial Piety", which says: "The body and skin are treated by parents, and they dare not damage them. This is the beginning of filial piety. Standing up and practicing the way, making your name known to future generations, to show your parents, is the end of filial piety. Husband's filial piety, the beginning Serving relatives, focusing on serving the king, and finally standing up." Second, Zhao Qi wrote "Thirteen Classics Notes" and said: "There are three things about unfilial people in etiquette. "The family is poor, the relatives are old, not being a salary official, the second is unfilial; not marrying and having no children, and never worshiping the ancestors, the third is unfilial. Among the three, having no offspring is the greatest."

(End of this chapter)