Chapter 813 Who should be blamed for the chaos in the palace?
The official residence of the Shangshu Province was in a secluded place outside the palace, probably because it was not an office that was open to the public.
Fully armed soldiers stood guard at the gate, and there were two large stone lions standing majestically.
On the gate there is the image of Vajra. The emperor was a Buddhist, so on the gates of all government offices there were ferocious and angry Vajra guarding.
Luo Xianzhi sat calmly at the top. There were many people in the hall, but it was very quiet. The heads of various departments reported recent affairs to Luo Xianzhi in order.
According to common sense, the Shangshu Ling would not listen to the work of the subordinate departments, because the 24 departments of the Shangshu Province were of too low level. He only needed to listen to the opinions of the Shangshu Zuo Pushe and the Shangshu Zuo Pushe, and at most the reports of the six ministers.
But Luo Xianzhi believed that the court had three dukes and nine ministers, and two ministries, the Secretariat and the Chancellery, and still had to hold grand court meetings. So the Secretariat should do the same. Hearing both sides will lead to enlightenment, while hearing only one side will lead to confusion. Listening to the opinions of subordinates would help to control the Secretariat.
He was listening to the reports from his subordinates, little knowing that his every move could cause panic in the entire Shangshu Province. His frown would make people terrified, and his nod would make people smile.
In the recent case of aristocratic fraud, not many people died. The Luo family has never been the type to indiscriminately implicate others. Of course, it is not because they dare not kill, but mainly to prevent themselves from becoming a knife in the hands of others and a tool for others to eliminate political enemies.
And it is precisely this ability to accurately restrain oneself even in rage that makes people feel another kind of fear, that is, people who are difficult to manipulate and cannot control their emotions will eventually be used by others.
Even if Luo Xianzhi did not kill many people, he still made everyone feel frightened, because although he did not kill those people, there were too many people who were exiled from the clan annals.
What is the difference between this punishment and killing them?
Especially the most classic exile of the Luo family, which not only exiled the master family, but also exiled all those who worked for the master family.
The whole world knows that the Luo family loves to exile people. After this incident, a large number of people were exiled to Qiongzhou by the Luo family, and a new round of development began. They used to be nobles, and now they are gentry.
And until now, Shizuzhi's path to official appointment is still blocked by him. What does this indicate?
This shows that the case of the nobles’ counterfeiting is not over yet. He is still waving the knife in his hand, staring at everyone with a fierce look.
How can this not make people feel terrified?
Luo Xianzhi himself did not feel anything. He just handled government affairs step by step. As the Shangshu Ling, he had the power to promote officials, and he could make decisions for officials below the fifth rank.
This provided him with many conveniences to establish a grassroots official system that obeyed his orders and prepared for subsequent reforms.
The Minister of Personnel stepped forward and began to report on the selection of officials for this period. From the native places and surnames of most of them, Luo Xianzhi knew that they were from some low-level aristocratic families, but he did not say anything. It was an indisputable fact that most of the literate people were children of aristocratic families. Reading was a costly thing, and this could not be changed by promoting books.
Luo Xianzhi was just about to say that all these nobles should be gathered together for a basic assessment and all those who were unqualified should be screened out.
Unexpectedly, he saw his housekeeper hurried in, looked around, and then whispered in his ear: "Master, there is news from the north."
North?
Yan, Han, and Wei were all located to the north of Liang.
Luo Xianzhi said in a deep voice: "Everyone please withdraw first, I have something important to discuss with you."
…
There are five countries in the world today, including four countries in the Central Plains and one country in the Western Regions. Among them, Zhao in the Western Regions was the shortest established country, which was established after the conquest of the Hu people. The second was Liang, which was established before the princes swore the oath of Luo River. The third was Yan. The longest established countries were Wei and Han. The era of emperors was opened by Wei and Han.
The Wei Kingdom had already experienced five generations of kings. The Han Kingdom had fewer kings than the Wei Kingdom because Liu Chan lived longer, but it also had three generations of kings. By this stage in the founding of the country, basically all kinds of ills had begun to arise, and a round of reforms had to be started.
This problem was particularly serious in the Wei State. Since its establishment, this country had basically never maintained a balance in political power. Either the royal family was too powerful or the gentry was too powerful.
After the death of Sima Yi, the spokesperson of the gentry, the gentry of Wei suffered a major blow and lost the trust of the Cao Wei royal family. The gentry were no longer seen in almost any key positions.
Or maybe they should not be called gentry, but should be people from outside the family and are not trusted.
In fact, during the Cao Cao era, Cao Wei never trusted military generals from other families. As long as a general had a different family name, no matter how many military exploits he had, he could never become the commander of a field army, let alone command an army of more than 10,000 people.
Later, because the talents of the Cao Wei clan were naturally declining and in order to maintain the balance in the court, they began to increase the power of the gentry.
What really dealt a fatal blow to Cao Wei was actually the existence of Yan and Han.
In order to deal with these two powerful countries, the State of Wei had to make use of aristocratic families such as Sima Yi, and had to let the aristocratic families continue to make military achievements so that they could be promoted, and finally that incident happened.
Now the State of Wei would never allow itself to fail on the same problem twice.
But this raises another question. The reason why clan generals were not used in the first place was because after the death of the first generation of clan generals, Cao Wei no longer had any clan generals who could be of great use. Even people like Cao Shuang were able to hold high positions. One can imagine the quality of the Cao Wei clan.
In the Wei Kingdom today, clans are extremely important, eunuchs have great power, and there are even relatives by marriage. It feels like a return to the Later Han Dynasty. Apart from the gentry, anyone can be in power.
After Cao Mao came to power, he naturally wanted to change the status quo, but one person's power could not reverse the situation. People's behavior would be constrained by their cognition. No matter how talented he was, if he could not use the gentry, he could not stop the decline of the Wei State.
Cao Mao wanted to re-employ the gentry, but he immediately retorted, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten the lesson that my family almost lost the country?
If we reinstate the aristocracy now, who will bear the responsibility for the country's eventual demise?"
Cao Mao had no choice but to give up.
However, the eunuchs and relatives of the royal family were so rampant and lawless that they had aroused the dissatisfaction of many people. Cao Mao tried to comfort himself countless times that although these people were not capable of taking on important tasks, they were at least loyal. The Wei Dynasty was still stable, which was much better than being usurped by the gentry.
but.
Another defeat in Hedong was too much for Cao Mao to bear any longer.
In the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an.
Looking at the crowd of ministers in the hall, all of whom lowered their heads and said nothing, Cao Mao held the battle report in his hand, and his hands were shaking. He threw the report directly at the feet of the ministers.
After taking a few deep breaths, Cao Mao still couldn't suppress the surging anger. He shouted angrily: "Is this the answer you gave me? This is the result you gave me.
Hedong lost again?
How many times has Hedong failed?
Will you think that Wei has truly failed only when all of Wei's blood has run dry in Hedong?
Will you only realize what you have done after the soldiers guarding Chang'an are also destroyed?
Cao Lin, tell me, is this the promise you made to me that you will never lose?
Do you have anything else to say? "
Cao Lin, who stood in front of the army, walked out angrily, clasped his fists and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, it is not the soldiers of our Great Wei who have problems, but Murong Ke of Yan is too strong. I don't know why we were defeated by Murong Ke.
However, I have now gotten to know Murong Ke better. If I meet him again, I will definitely be able to defeat him."
He was still chattering, not knowing that Cao Mao's face was already filled with rage. Cao Mao interrupted him with an angry voice and shouted, "Shut up!
Murong Ke, Murong Ke.
How many of you said you could defeat him, but what was the result?
What I waited for was one failure after another. During the Zhou Dynasty, Wei and Qin fought for the land east of the Yellow River, but ultimately failed and even left behind so many laughing stocks.
Now my Wei State and Yan State are fighting for the Hedong area. If we still fail, do you know how many jokes will be made on my Wei State a thousand years later?
I can no longer tolerate you fools. I want to recruit talented people from the entire Wei, and even from Han and Liang. I don't believe that Murong Ke from Yan can stop my great cause from moving forward."
As soon as Cao Mao said this, the court fell silent. Cao Lin, who had seemed a little guilty just now, almost instantly put away that trace of guilt. His face turned cold, and then turned into a sad expression.
He knelt directly in the hall. Not only him, but most of the people in the hall knelt on the ground.
These people rushed to wail, “Your Majesty, please think twice.
Have you forgotten what happened to the previous emperor?
Have you forgotten that Cao almost lost the throne?
Are you being worthy of our Cao family's ancestors by doing this?
If you do this, won't you make your loved ones sad and your enemies happy?
Your Majesty, please give it more consideration.
This is what a tyrant emperor did!"
One after another, sounds rang out in the hall, mixing together and pouring into the ears and the head, as if someone was sawing wood next to your ears. Even the devil's sound could not describe Cao Mao's pain at this moment.
After experiencing this torture, the voices in the palace gradually became uniform, "Your Majesty, please think twice!
Your Majesty, please think twice!"
One sound after another, like a waterfall descending from the sky, rushing down with unstoppable force and pouring into Cao Mao's ears. This was the power of the collective, which made Cao Mao feel chilled and panicked. Who wouldn't panic?
Especially when you know that these people come from different factions and have different demands, but can stand together completely in the face of a possibly casual remark, how could Cao Mao not be panicked.
Faced with this situation, Cao Mao knew that he should not stay here any longer. He clenched his hands tightly, stood up and left here directly, full of anger.
After he left, the ministers in the hall stood up one after another. There was no joy on their faces. The emperor's reaction was somewhat beyond their expectations.
Normally, faced with such overwhelming opposition, the emperor should have obeyed, but this was not the case this time. This shows that the emperor did not think so, at least he did not succumb to such a small opposition.
"General, what should we do now? It seems that His Majesty still wants to continue the implementation."
Cao Lin said coldly: "That's absolutely not possible. This is my Cao family's kingdom. If the Gaopingling Incident happens again, will we still be so lucky and complete a comeback?
Absolutely impossible!
Therefore, we must now reject everything that may lead to the loss of the throne. This is our responsibility. If His Majesty the Emperor wants to act recklessly, we still have to persuade him to do so."
The ministers of the royal family surrounding Cao Lin all nodded in agreement when they heard this. This was their psychological state. They would never allow outsiders to take power again. Of course, some of them wanted to take advantage of the situation to preserve their own wealth and glory, and they definitely did, and they even accounted for the majority.
After Cao Mao returned to the harem, he became angrier and angrier when he thought about the events of the previous dynasty. This time he was determined not to make any concessions. He was not a puppet emperor, but an emperor with real power. He also had his own confidants who could ensure the implementation of power.
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here to visit you."
The eunuch hurried in and reported to Cao Mao. Cao Mao was full of doubts as to why the empress dowager came here. The current empress dowager was not Cao Mao's biological mother. After all, he was adopted to inherit the throne and was now a member of the main lineage.
The Queen Mother came in and said directly, "Emperor, I heard that you had a conflict with the ministers in the palace today, so I came to ask, are you okay?"
The angry look on Cao Mao's face eased a little, and he bowed to the Queen Mother, then sighed and said, "Hedong was defeated, and my Wei army has thrown away its armor and weapons, and it seems that Hedong is about to be completely lost.
My son was very angry. The court officials were too incompetent. My son planned to recruit talented people and imitate Emperor Wu to recruit talents to protect the country of Wei, but all the officials disagreed. "
The Queen Mother sighed slightly upon hearing this and said, "The Emperor should also be more considerate of the court officials. After what happened 20 years ago, our Great Wei is now paranoid and no one dares to take risks.
You haven't experienced that time, but I have. Those days are something I never want to experience again in my life. That kind of anxiety and fear, as if the sky is about to fall down. "
Cao Mao's face was slightly cold. It was the same excuse again. Even the Queen Mother said the same thing. He suppressed his anger and said calmly, "Mother, I know, so I have been enduring all these years.
But now I really can't tolerate it anymore. If this continues, Yan State will really march straight in to attack and destroy Wei State. Once Yan State seizes Hedong, it will have the national strength of Jin State in its heyday, or even be much stronger than Jin State.
During the Zhou Dynasty, when Qin and Jin were competing against each other, was there any time when Qin won?
If Jin had not been divided into three parts, Qin would not have had the opportunity to move eastward. What about now?
If we face a powerful Yan State, do we still have a chance to go east?
After losing Hedong, can Heluo still be defended?
After losing Hedong, what would the State of Yan do if it crossed the Yellow River and directly attacked Chang'an?
Mother, you are afraid that our Wei State will fall into the crisis of usurpation of the throne again. Don’t you worry that our Great Wei State will be in danger of being destroyed?
The son was very worried. He didn't want to destroy the ancestral heritage in his own hands.
Mother, have you heard about what happened in Liang State?
They became stronger and stronger, and even the emperor was able to control those nobles. They were able to wage war against the Han Dynasty for many years in a row, and the scale of each war was even greater than our Battle of Hedong.
If Liang State does not attack Han State now, but attacks the Heluo area of Wei State, how should we deal with it?
Can we really defeat the increasingly powerful Liang State?
The country's system must be changed now. If we cannot attract all the country's talents to the court, these talents will leave us.
Our Great Wei has become the Wei State of the past, the one with talented people who could not be used and who were eventually all sent to Qin. How ridiculous. "
In any country, the empress dowager is a crucial force. This woman who has the legal power to depose and enthrone emperors is the lifeline of almost all emperors.
Cao Mao said so much to the Queen Mother just to get her support and make her understand how critical the current situation was.
“How many Hu people are there in Yan State?
They are just a bunch of barbarians.
Mother, what will happen to us if we let the State of Yan enter Chang'an?
They will all become slaves.”
He was indeed very talented and easily convinced the Queen Mother. For someone like the Queen Mother who lacked a serious sense of security, the best way was to tell her that it was not safe now and that if she did not do as he said, irreversible consequences would occur.
But Cao Mao would never have thought that the Queen Mother would tell this matter to others as soon as she returned to her palace.
The reason why the ministers in the court made Cao Mao helpless was naturally because the empress dowager also stood on the side of the court officials and also did not support the gentry to regain power.
Now that Cao Mao had suddenly experienced such a drastic change in mood, these people immediately chose to go to the palace to seek help from the empress dowager, and let the empress dowager kindly persuade the emperor to give up this unrealistic idea.
But these people naturally didn't know that the Queen Mother had been persuaded by Cao Mao and was now on Cao Mao's side.
After all, the Queen Mother knew very well that even if a powerful minister usurped the throne, she probably wouldn't see it. After all, it was not so easy for a powerful minister to seize power, especially with previous experience.
But according to the current situation of Yan State, it is really possible that the Queen Mother could invade during her lifetime. The Queen Mother, who has lived a life of luxury all her life, could not endure the pain of being a prisoner.
When faced with the person who came to the palace to complain, the empress dowager replied, "The emperor has his own considerations. He is right. If this continues, our Wei may be destroyed by the people of Yan. Now resisting the people of Yan is the most important thing.
Anyone who is capable should be promoted, not just relatives from the royal family. It is impossible to select true talents from such a small range."
This answer coming from the Queen Mother's mouth was devastating to many people.
Cao Lin finally felt that this time was different from any previous times, and the emperor had really made up his mind.
"What should I do now?"
This is the question Cao Lin asked, and it is also the question facing everyone. The essence of this question is - "How can we keep our current wealth and glory?"
Cao Lin's think tank thought for a while and said softly, "General, your majesty wants to change now because of the failure in the Hedong battle. This failure is different from the past. The past was just an offensive and defensive battle, but this field battle was too tragic, so your majesty has a handle on it.
The second reason is that the reform of Liang State was a great success. It is said that the number of gentry in Liang State increased by 50,000 households. We all know what this represents. Your Majesty must have seen this and could not accept it, so he changed his previous style.
Didn’t the Queen Mother say the same thing?
Your Majesty is not only worried about the State of Yan, but also the State of Liang. After all, Bashu of our Great Wei was seized from Jiangdong, and Jiangdong is probably thinking about taking it back all the time.
It is almost impossible for us to change His Majesty's will.
Yan and Liang will definitely attack Wei. If we want to preserve our prosperity and wealth, there are only two possibilities. "
Two kinds?
In this almost hopeless situation, are there still two options?
Cao Lin immediately said, "Which two methods are they? Tell me quickly. If what you say makes sense, I will definitely reward you handsomely."
The think tank pondered and said, "There are only two ways, internal and external. The internal way is to make the emperor give up, and the external way is to make the threat from Wei disappear.
The emperor is wise and powerful. Could he have come up with these ideas on his own?
There must be some children of the aristocracy whispering in the emperor's ears, tempting him to use them. As a relative of the royal family, can you, the general, turn a blind eye to these treacherous ministers?
As long as these treacherous ministers are gone, the emperor will surely change his mind.
If the emperor still does not change his mind after the treacherous ministers are eliminated, then I really don’t know what to do.”
Clear out the emperor’s side!
Cao Lin almost drew out the sword in his hand. He never expected that his first idea would explode like this. This was not something a loyal minister like him should do. Moreover, this was said to be clearing the emperor's side, which meant forcing the emperor to obey.
After doing this, can I still be a subject to the emperor in the future?
Who was the last person to do this?
They are the princes who fought against the Han Dynasty!
But can it be the same?
At that time, the Luo family, which was at its peak, saved the lives of the princes.
At that time, there was Emperor Xiaoxuan of Han, a sage king who could be ranked among the greatest in history, who gave them wealth and honor.
Now what?
Can Cao Mao compare with Emperor Xuan of Han?
That's just a joke.
Is there still Luo's?
There is no Shenghen Luo in the world anymore, and the Wei Kingdom has never had Shenghen Luo. Shenghen Luo may be in some corner of the world now, fending for himself in the cold Liaodong.
The defender of the kingly way is no longer here.
Cao Lin's eyes flickered continuously, and he said in a deep voice: "I am a loyal minister of the country, and I will not be so disrespectful to His Majesty the Emperor because of this. Tell me the other method."
The think tank's eyes flickered continuously, and he slowly said: "The second method is more troublesome, that is to alienate the relationship between Murong Ke and the Emperor of Yan. Before the death of the Emperor of Yan, Murong Ke was asked to assist the young master, but the Emperor of Yan has grown up over the years, and there must be conflicts between him and Murong Ke.
Young people are the most rebellious. They are full of blood and energy, but they have no brains. As long as we send out spies and peerless beauties to lurk around the emperor, and then release some prophecies to sow discord between the Emperor of Yan and Murong Ke, we will surely succeed.
Murong Ke is a descendant of the Hu people. Although his surname is Murong, he is not a member of the Yan royal family. This is a relationship we can use."
These words made everyone ponder. The relationship between the young master and the regent has always been unclear. Even though Luo was a good example before, there were still many rumors even when Luo was regent. It can be seen how unreliable this relationship is.
"What about Liang Guo?"
Cao Lin asked again, and the think tank laughed, "General, I think Liang State doesn't need to be taken care of at all. As long as we defeat Yan State, can Liang State still stop us?
With Yizhou in the hands of the Great Wei, we can train our navy in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and then drift directly down the Yangtze River to destroy the Liang State, or any future Jiangdong country.
The king of this world is competing in the north. As long as the north is pacified, conquering the south will be as easy as a waterfall. There is no difficulty at all. I think the Liang State does not need to worry at all.
Using the south to attack the north is impossible even if the Holy King were alive!
The Emperor probably said that just to cause panic in the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, how could the Empress Dowager support the Emperor?"
ah?
These rather arrogant words made everyone suddenly realize that it was indeed because of what the emperor said that they actually considered the State of Liang on the same level to think about the problem.
If Luo Xianzhi knew these words, he would certainly burst out laughing. The current Liang State is indeed as they said, unable to compete with the northern regime. But is there anything unchanging in this world?
Who says that as the political power in the north changes, the land and population of Liang will not change?
If the State of Liang was trapped in the south of the Yangtze River, it would naturally be unable to resist the Northern Dynasties, but what if the State of Liang owned the entire area south of the Yellow River?
Who can still say that Liang State has no chance to conquer the world?
In the Wei Kingdom, the people who were discussing this naturally could not think of this. After thinking about the think tank's words, Cao Lin patted him on the shoulder and said appreciatively: "You said it very well. I will reward you with fifty gold and two beauties.
If you can make the king and his ministers of Yan State really turn against each other, I will reward you handsomely. When I present this idea to His Majesty, I will definitely mention your name."
After all the outsiders left, only Cao Lin, his son and brother were left. His son Cao Chengsi asked doubtfully: "Father, do you really want to present this idea to His Majesty?
My son always feels that although this idea is effective, it takes a long time to take effect. Even if I mention it to Your Majesty, it may not necessarily ease the current situation."
Cao Lin's eyes flickered constantly, and he whispered, "We can only try our best to save the situation. Are we really going to use the first method?"
Now everyone was silent, but almost everyone's eyes were flashing wildly, and a strange atmosphere was floating among the crowd.
The next day.
Cao Lin went to the palace to ask for an audience with the emperor. Cao Mao received him expressionlessly. Cao Lin bowed with a smile of surprise on his face and said, "Your Majesty, I am here to announce the good news to Your Majesty."
"oh?"
Cao Mao said calmly, "I don't know why you are so happy. My great general."
As if he hadn't heard the dissatisfaction in the emperor's voice, Cao Lin still said with a happy face: "Your Majesty, I have thought of a way to make sure that Murong Ke of Yan State is dead without a burial place!"
Cao Mao sneered in his heart. He simply didn't believe that Cao Lin's brain was similar to Cao Shuang's. How could he have any ideas? And if he really had any ideas, how could he be beaten up by Murong Ke so many times? So he casually said, "Since you have a way, then tell me. I am curious about what amazing plan the general has that can make a god of war like Murong Ke die without a burial place."
Cao Lin immediately revealed his plan to cause discord, and then waited for the emperor to speak with anticipation. Cao Mao's expression changed from carelessness to careful consideration. He did not expect that Cao Lin could come up with such a constructive plan.
Who came up with it for him?
Cao Mao did not believe that Cao Lin could come up with this idea. He knew that there was a think tank behind Cao Lin, which made him even more angry. The country obviously had great talents, but they could not enter the court and could only work in the general's court.
Cao Mao certainly knew why Cao Lin offered his advice, but this incident made him more determined to win over these great talents to the court.
If Cao Lin knew what the emperor was thinking, he would probably not know whether to cry or laugh.
Seeing that Cao Lin was still waiting for him to speak, Cao Mao said calmly, "General, what you just said makes some sense. I will hand this matter over to you. If you can kill Murong Ke without fighting, it will be a great achievement."
Seeing that the emperor was playing dumb, Cao Lin could only bite the bullet and ask, "Your Majesty, since we already have a way to deal with Murong Ke, can we stop talking about it? If we do something, the whole country will fall into the abyss, and the country of Wei will really not be stable."
Cao Mao frowned and said coldly: "General, I will not pin all my hopes on this method, not to mention the probability of success and the time it can take to succeed.
If the current system is not changed, will there only be one Murong Ke in Yan State?
What if the next Murong Ke appears?
What if the alienation plot fails in the future?
Are we going to pin our entire safety on the possibility that the King of Yan will always be a tyrant?
It's absolutely ridiculous.
General, please step back!
I have government affairs to attend to.”
Cao Lin walked out of the hall in a rather embarrassed state. The eunuchs and palace maids in the hall were all silent, as this was the first time they had seen the emperor reprimand the general so harshly.
After Cao Lin walked out of the hall, the warm sunlight shone down, warming his body and driving away the slight chill that had arisen in the hall. When he faced Cao Mao just now, he felt that he was going to die in the hall, and he believed that Cao Mao really wanted to kill him.
"In the eyes of the emperor, am I already a domineering official?
In the eyes of the emperor, am I a treacherous minister who is hindering the implementation of his policies?
In the eyes of the Emperor, does everything I have done have been done to oppose him?"
Cao Lin walked in the palace, feeling rather disoriented. He looked at the solemn red walls, the glazed tiles reflecting the light, and the towering buildings that stretched endlessly.
Without magnificence, there can be no greatness.
This sentence was very well said. Standing in the palace, Cao Lin felt so insignificant.
He felt fear like never before, fear of losing power, fear of his future safety. He trembled as he walked in the palace, then he felt warmer and warmer, and he forced himself to walk normally.
The moment he left the palace, he looked at the palace gate slowly closing behind him and took a deep breath.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, who has bewitched you?"
This is the question that Cao Lin is most curious about now.
Which aristocratic family appeared beside the emperor?
With the extinction of the Sima clan and the deaths of many people associated with the Sima clan, the aristocratic structure of the Wei State underwent tremendous changes.
From the establishment of Wei State, the Yingchuan gentry were of course the ones who benefited the most, including the Xun, Zhong, Chen, Guo and other families of Yingchuan. However, Sima Yi implicated quite a few people. After all, with the status of the Sima family, they had many marriages, and these people were basically wiped out. The Xun family was still in its heyday, and the Chen family declined quite a bit, but because of their large family size and wealth, they were still in a high position.
But then they encountered the incident of Cao's exclusion of the gentry. These gentry lost their power in the central government. It can be said that decades of planning came to nothing in one day, and they began to live in the same state as at the end of the Later Han Dynasty, waiting for the Cao Wei court to fail to resolve major issues and then invite them back.
During this process, the scholars who once lived in Hebei gradually returned. Guanzhong and Heluo were not their ancestral lands. They were all second-class people here. The people under Yuan Shao did not want to become officials in Cao Wei as they suffered too much discrimination.
After Murong Ke came to power, he began to win over the gentry, and these people began to return to Jizhou.
The gentry in Wei State now are mainly composed of the old gentry of Yingchuan and the gentry of Guanzhong. There are also many gentry who came to Shu after the conquest of Shu. However, the gentry of Shu like to stay in Chengdu and basically do not appear in Guanzhong. Therefore, those who appear around the emperor are most likely from Guanzhong and Yingchuan gentry.
Especially the Yingchuan gentry!
This group of people are far away from their hometown, and Yingchuan is not in the hands of Wei State. It can be said that this group of people are completely dependent on high-ranking officials and noble titles. As a result, the court now refuses to give them, and the relationship between them and their clan relatives and in-laws has reached a life-and-death point.
These people must be the ones whispering slander into the emperor's ears!
After Cao Lin got on the carriage, the murderous intent in his eyes was so stern that he could not hide it at all. "Your Majesty, I will definitely advise you well. The country of Wei will never be ruined in your hands."
The highest level of deceiving others is to deceive yourself. Cao Lin has undoubtedly reached this level. He now truly believes that if the nobles are in power, the Wei Kingdom will perish. Only if he holds power can the Wei Kingdom always be named Cao.
When Cao Lin returned to the mansion, he immediately summoned all his brothers and told them everything he had seen in the palace and what the emperor had said. Finally, he said fiercely: "Your Majesty rejected my proposal. It seems that this treacherous villain is more terrible than we thought. Your Majesty now does not trust his own relatives, but instead trusts those nobles."
Everyone cursed these damned nobles, saying that they were alienating the relationship between their clans and the emperor. They were indeed the source of troubles in the country and a group of villains who could not be trusted.
Only Cao Lin's son Cao Chengsi asked in confusion: "Father, what if there are no nobles around the emperor? What if it is really the emperor's own idea?"
Cao Lin said angrily: "How is it possible? His Majesty the Emperor has trusted the clan members for so many years, could he suddenly change his mind?"
Cao Chengsi murmured and said nothing, but he was thinking in his heart that the problem was that after so many years, anyone's patience would be worn out. He was really disappointing in these years. Basically, he never won against Murong Ke.
Even if the emperor trusted his relatives, he could not do so under such circumstances. After all, if he trusted his relatives, he would be captured by the Yan people and taken to Jicheng.
Cao Lin interrupted Cao Chengsi, but it was impossible to interrupt this kind of thought. Or rather, these people had naturally thought about this possibility, but this possibility was too terrible.
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became, so he simply stopped thinking about it. It would be better to set his sights on those gentry. As long as he killed all the reputable gentry, the emperor would not be able to find talents among them and would naturally continue to use them.
This is what Cao Lin and others think.
Everyone discussed for a long time but could not come up with a perfect idea. They could only leave in disappointment. Looking at everyone leaving the mansion, Cao Lin suddenly asked, "Chengsi, why is it so difficult to come up with an idea?"
Cao Chengsi bowed his head and replied, "Father, I think it is because you all know in your hearts that it is not enough to just solve the problem of the gentry. So after discussing the problem of just solving the problem of the gentry, you are still not satisfied. This is because you have fear in your hearts. If you don't eliminate this fear, you will never find a perfect solution."
Cao Lin seemed to recognize his son for the first time. He looked at Cao Chengsi seriously and asked, "So what do you think we should do?"
Cao Chengsi looked at his father and said word by word: "To solve the most fundamental problem, this is the only way."
Cao Lin was silent for a moment, then asked, "What is the most fundamental question?"
Cao Chengsi closed his eyes and opened them again, "Whoever raises the problem will be solved."
Cao Lin's breathing was a little rapid. He lowered his voice, as if he was worried that someone would hear him, and said, "But this was proposed by the emperor."
Cao Chengsi's words were earth-shattering, like a bolt from the blue, and he said with absolute certainty: "Then go and get rid of the emperor!"
————
There are so many books about Luo. From what I have seen, most of them focus on Luo's great achievements, including in terms of system, ideology, military, politics, and culture. However, this book is very different from those previous books. The angle chosen is unprecedented.
The least popular period in history was the chaotic period after the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty. During this long period of time, it seemed to fade due to the absence of the direct descendants of the Luo family.
The author wrote this book in the hope that through a large number of comparisons, he could extract the most precious things of the Luo family from the real and vivid examples that happened in this era of great change. ——"The Fission of the Chinese: After the Disappearance of the Luo Family" [Preface]
(End of this chapter)
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