Three Kingdoms: I rely on system loopholes to survive

Just as Zhong Ping had expected, Yuan Shu was indeed unwilling to let Zheng Xuan leave Yangzhou.

He was very fond of fame throughout his life. Although he wanted to hold an official position for Zheng Xuan but failed, thanks to Zheng Xuan's name, many famous people came to Yangzhou. Such a prosperous scene was no less than that of Luoyang in the past. As a landlord, Yuan Shu naturally felt proud of it.

Now that the two armies are at war, Zheng Xuan wants to leave, and Yuan Shu is full of confidence and regards Cao Cao as dust. How can he lose his pride for no reason and hand over the blame to the enemy?

Yuan Shu was reluctant, but Zheng Xuan had already written a letter to express his feelings, and he did not want to refuse. After careful consideration, he called Guo Tu, Yan Xiang, and Yang Hong to discuss the matter.

Guo Tu had always been at odds with Yan Xiang, and Zheng Xuan's followers had already offered bribes. Yuan Shu listened to Yan Xiang's words and wanted to persuade Zheng Xuan to stay and send soldiers to protect his followers. Guo Tu objected: "My lord, you have many soldiers and strong generals, why do you need to shrink and endure? Cao Cao has only the defeated soldiers of the Yellow Turbans, why are you afraid of them? He is the emperor and the ruler of the princes, and everyone in the world hates him. My lord has received the mandate of heaven and proclaimed himself emperor, and you can use the situation to punish the treacherous ministers. This is a good opportunity, and there is no reason for us not to win. My lord, you should be strong now. Keeping the master by my side will only create estrangement. Besides, there are thousands of classics and scriptures. Instead of being distracted by protecting them all the time, it is better to do it once and for all. My lord only needs to send troops to escort the master once, and he will be famous in the world and no longer have to worry about the future. Jiaozhou is a remote place, only you can survive, Yangzhou is rich, and it is a place for teaching. When Cao Cao is defeated and Yangzhou is stable, the master will naturally return. My lord, the holy emperor, must be able to see the current situation clearly. These humble opinions are just to make my lord smile. "

After Guo Tu's speech, his tone was ups and downs, and although his attitude was humble, there was no flattery in it. Yuan Shu felt that every word came from the heart, which made him feel relaxed and happy. He was about to nod, but could not help but ask Yang Hong one more question.

Yang Hong thought that the most important thing now was to fight against Cao Cao, so why bother to make trouble? If he agreed with Yan Xiang at this time, it would not only cause Zheng Xuan's dissatisfaction, but also make him difficult to deal with. He did not want to have any conflicts with Guo Tu. Moreover, given the temperament of his lord, if he regretted it one day, he might hold it against him for saying too much today.

Therefore, he just echoed Guo Tu's praise for his lord's insightful views, and said a few ambiguous words about the battle situation at the front, but did not clearly take a side or express his own bias.

Yuan Shu seemed to be thinking about something, and Yan Xiang wanted to say something else, but was beaten back by Guo Tu with "The lord has long-term vision and will make his own decision, why do you need to interfere?", so Yan Xiang could only shut up in anger.

Without Yan Xiang's nagging, Yuan Shu quickly decided to follow Guo Tu's advice and sent a team of elite soldiers to escort Zheng Xuan, Cai Yong and others to Jiaozhou for refuge. He even held a special banquet and gave them gifts of gold, jade, cloth and silk. Of course, Zheng Xuan was grateful for Yuan Shu's kindness and gave Yuan Shu the copy of the annotated scriptures he was compiling before leaving Yangzhou.

Yuan Shu's good name was widely known among the gentry, and he became more fond of Guo Tu.

Not to mention how Yuan Shu was doing, Zheng Xuan brought thirty ox carts and twenty-five disciples with him. Along the way, he was escorted by Yuan Shu's elite soldiers and supported by Liu Bei's Bai Li soldiers. During the past ten days, he did not encounter any bandits and entered the Guangxin city gate smoothly.

Outside Yangzhou, one could still see refugees and corpses everywhere, but after entering Jiaozhou, one could only see lush trees and weeds, with only mosquitoes bothering people and no sound of weapons. For a moment, Zheng Xuan thought that this place was a pure land on earth.

Therefore, even before he met Liu Bei, he had already developed a certain degree of favorability towards him.

As soon as he met Liu Bei, Zheng Xuan couldn't help asking why the area under his rule was so stable.

Liu Bei answered calmly: "The flood season has just passed, the sun is scorching, the Li people are hiding in the stream caves, and rarely move."

Zheng Xuan laughed when he heard this, and after a moment he mentioned what Cheng Bing had said in his mind: "Does the envoy really want to open a school to all, regardless of the noble or the common people?"

"To be honest, sir, I do have this idea. I have heard that Yao fought at the Dan River to subdue the southern barbarians; Shun repelled the Miao people and changed their customs; Bo Heng clearly explained the scriptures; Shuo and the ancient sages said that governance should put moral education first, cultivate virtue and strengthen the army, clarify the punishment and support the education, keep the good and remove the evil, and transform them into one." Liu Bei couldn't help but think of Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan who had fought in Youzhou over how to treat ethnic minorities. Both of them had long since turned into dust. I wonder what they would think if they could hear the method of governing ethnic minorities proposed by Zhong Ping?

"Oh? Bo Heng mentioned it..." Zheng Xuan thought about it carefully, "I wonder what the four words 'transform and unify' mean?"

Liu Bei's eyes flashed with light: "Let the Li people govern the Li people, set up Li officials and Li officials, grant them titles and salaries, and favor them with names, so that they can be easily controlled and they will have to run around and obey orders. That is, select Li officials to govern the Li people, grant them official positions, let them use the name and tools of the court to intimidate the tribes and raise their descendants. If they do not perform their duties well, they should be dismissed and punished, and replaced by Han officials. Set up Confucianism in Jiaozhou, build a Confucian temple, and set up temples and schools in all counties and towns, select scholars as instructors, so that people can be gradually civilized, change their old customs, and let them know the righteousness of monarch and minister, father and son, and there will be no disrespect and fighting."

"The horse is bound, the cow is bound, it means to control the four barbarians like cattle and horses are bound, is it to follow the old system of the Spring and Autumn Period? If you think about it carefully, it is different. When it comes to the current attitude towards the barbarians, it is nothing more than 'resist them when they come, and defend them when they leave'. If this method should be used... we can convert the barbarians into our own people, manage the fields, and recruit the barbarians. We can use their courage and also develop the land's fertility, so that they can live peacefully together."

The more Zheng Xuan thought about it, the more he felt that this method was ingenious. However, if he wanted the court to endorse the officials, the timing was not right. However, he heard that most of Jiaozhou was now controlled by Liu Bei. Once Liu Bei had the title of governor, he would have the power to appoint and dismiss officials in charge, so there was no need to rush.

"Bo Ji also has some connections with Yuan Shao. I will ask him to write to Yuan Shao later and ask for the post of Governor of Jiaozhou on behalf of the envoy."

Zheng Xuan thought that there was no need to rush, but after sitting for a while he could not help but immediately recommend Liu Bei as the governor to see whether this new system based on the vassal system could really solve the chaos caused by foreign races.

Liu Bei was keenly aware of the excitement in Zheng Xuan's words. He replaced the cold tea in front of Zheng Xuan and poured a cup of warm tea for him. After Zheng Xuan drank the tea and calmed down a bit, he continued, "Wei Yan submitted a petition for me a few days ago. There will be news around the end of the month."

Zheng Xuan communicated with several of his disciples quite frequently. Although he didn't know everything about Jiaozhou, he still had about 50% to 60% understanding of it. Therefore, he also knew about Shi Xie's situation. At this time, his attention was not on Shi Xie. Instead, he frowned and said, "This matter is of great importance. It is better to have an extra layer of protection."

He looked seriously into Liu Bei's eyes and said, "I have brought a copy of the Xiping Stone Classics with me and intend to reopen the Imperial Lecture in Jiaozhou."

Liu Bei immediately understood that Zheng Xuan wanted to use his influence to attract academic officials to Jiaozhou, but he did not expect that he would use a copy of the Xiping Stone Classics.

This is really...

"Master said, 'There is no distinction in education.' If you want to rebuild rituals and music in this barbaric land, how can I not lend a humble hand?"

However, the two people who met for the first time smiled at each other.

(End of this chapter)