Three Kingdoms: I rely on system loopholes to survive

On the second day, when Liu Bei was discussing matters, people from the Wu, Shi and Xian clans really brought up the issue of elementary education. At first, when these people heard Zhong Pingxian's theory of studying, they just regarded it as a fantasy and praised it just for the sake of face. But now that they found that this matter was actually feasible, the opposition grew day by day.

"In the past, Lord Shang made reforms by 'burning the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents to clarify the laws', so that the people would focus on farming and fighting, and not be confused by empty words. If they do not know, they will be simple and easy to lead; if they know, they will surely act inappropriately, be arrogant in their words, and speak recklessly. Therefore, Laozi said: 'The ancients who were good at practicing Taoism did not enlighten the people, but made them stupid'."

"Moreover, there are many books, and it is easy to make mistakes when copying. Once errors are passed on and recited, there will be chaos. Therefore, the ancient kings ruled by doing nothing and did not show books widely. The nine chapters of the Book of Documents were stored in the government office and not distributed. The works like the Mo of Zhao Gong were all handed over to the upper officials to correct the public. If we spread them widely now, there will be no law to govern the country, and the world will be in turmoil."

After listening to these objections one by one, Liu Bei bowed and walked out, nodding slightly.

Zhong Ping was calm and refuted loudly: "Duke Zhou assisted King Cheng and spread the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents to show the common people etiquette and morality, so the people knew filial piety, respect for elders, and great order. The Book of Songs says: 'Let's celebrate and rejoice, celebrate and rejoice', which means that etiquette and music complement each other to educate people's hearts; Mencius said: 'Good governance is not as good as good education to win the people', why is that? 'Education and enlightenment are established, and all evil and evil are stopped'. Now that elementary education is opened, the common people can understand the meaning, know where the laws and regulations are, understand the flow of education and enlightenment, and be enlightened, then disputes will cease and the fields will be at peace."

"Teacher, you said that there are too many copies of books, and the errors will increase if they are copied and passed on, so you want to put the books aside and not pass them on. Isn't that throwing the baby out with the bathwater? The Jijiupian, Erya and Mengzi are all the final versions in the school, and the annotations of Zheng and Cai are also adopted. They should be widely disseminated to check the errors. In the past, the Qin Dynasty stored the classics in Afang, but they were destroyed overnight. Now the classics are placed in the high cabinet, and the Yellow Turbans burned them all to scorched earth."

"The Book of Zhou says: 'Use the three things of the village to teach the people and make them happy'. Yi Yin carried the tripod and the sacrificial vessel to serve Emperor Tang, and Fu Yue was promoted to the position of a builder. All of these are because education has not stopped in the grass and marshes. If we follow the advice of Lord Shang, Fu Yue must be imprisoned in Fuyan, Yi Yin will be a cook forever, how can Shang Tang have a wise man? 'Teach the people for seven years, so that they can go to war' is the way of a sage."

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Xian Gao was the first to stand up, his eyebrows gloomy: "'When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they will know honor and disgrace'. If people's livelihood is not established, forcing education is like asking the hungry to pick up chopsticks and the cold to take off clothes. It will definitely cause chaos. For my lord, this matter is not appropriate and should be discussed later!"

Zhong Ping sneered: "Is it for the envoy, or for the private interests of the clan?"

"you!"

Xian Gao's face flushed and he was about to speak when Liu Bei stopped him.

"Stop arguing." Liu Bei leaned forward slightly and glanced at the three people sitting below with angry faces. They had no choice but to swallow the insults in their throats, and drank water at the same time, no longer looking at Zhong Ping.

"The rice in the county has already been harvested twice, and water conservancy is just beginning to develop. Mulberry, hemp, and kudzu are sold in Jingzhou. Cangbi and Baiyu are also sold in Xuzhou and Yangzhou. Panyu and Gaoyao salt are sold to the government. Doctors and sorcerers are all in the counties. The people are free from the suffering of disasters and diseases and are self-sufficient, all thanks to your hard work. If we don't promote education here at this time, wouldn't it be a waste of manpower and your hard work?"

Liu Bei's words saved face for several people. Although they still stood on Zhong Ping's side, they found a way out and looked better. However, after the meeting, Xian Gao still complained a few words like "The lord is too partial to Bo Heng", which caused the other two to nod in agreement.

As soon as Xian Gao left, Wu Jun and Shi Lu looked at each other and secretly went to find Shi Yi, a county official. Since Shi Xie surrendered, Liu Bei actually took control of Jiaozhou. After being recommended as a governor, he still made him the governor of Jiaozhi and also treated Shi Yi and Shi Hui with favor, appointing Shi Yi as a county official and Shi Hui as a chief clerk.

Shi Hui always obeyed Shi Xie and was grateful for Liu Bei's benevolence, so he performed his duties conscientiously and never made any mistakes in the matters he handled.

But Shi Yi is different. Shi Yi firmly believes that Shi Xie has only lost his ambition temporarily. Now Liu Bei has raised a tiger to harm himself. They will always have the time to make a comeback, and then Jiaozhou will eventually be in the pocket of the Shi family.

Therefore, when it was discovered that Liu Bei was bent on promoting Zhong Ping's idea of ​​elementary education and that many of his subordinates were dissatisfied with him, Shi Yideng's opportunity had finally arrived.

"Zhi Tong, Bo Heng has great ambitions. I think he is ostensibly trying to promote elementary education, but in reality he wants to dig up our foundation. Why don't we..."

Wu Jun made a throat-slitting gesture.

Shi Lu quickly pressed Wu Jun's arm and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Zhong Ping has been in the city these days, and he is guarded by Li Meng. If there is any disturbance, how will it end? I think it is better to do something to his paper mill and assassinate him after he leaves the city." "Touch the paper mill?" Wu Jun couldn't help but shrink back. "Have you forgotten how the lord dealt with those clan members before? Other things are fine... I think it's better not to touch this paper and movable type, right?"

Shi Lu thought about the fate of those bold people and stopped talking for a while. After a while, he looked at Shi Yi and said, "If that doesn't work, why not use voodoo? Zhi Tong, I heard that there are spells among the voodoos that can kill people without being seen. Is there really such a method?"

"Zhong Boheng is a Taoist, I'm afraid I can't curse him to death, not to mention the complicated things to prepare for the ritual, and he needs something close to his body. It would be faster to just chop his neck with a knife."

Shi Yi almost couldn't control the contempt on his face: These people are such cowards that they even believe in curses.

Different from Shi Wu who was half-believing and half-doubting witchcraft, Shi Yi only believed in real swords and real guns. At most, he would sigh that the time was not right for him. In his opinion, if there really was such a vicious method in the world, the Li people would not have been forced to hide in the mountains and forests. Besides, he had killed a lot of Li people, and now they are still alive and well, aren't they?
What a joke.

The three people present sneered in their hearts at the same time.

Shi Yi thought he had concealed it well, but he didn't know that his arrogance had already been noticed by the two men, who also complained in their hearts: "Everyone looks so humble, I wonder if he still remembers how he became a member of the lord's army? Maybe he didn't get beaten enough?" In comparison, Wu Jun and Shi Lu even thought that if Zhong Ping could give up promoting elementary education, he would still be a good talent in the world.

Although the three men looked down on each other, they still appeared to be in harmony and finalized the assassination.

At the end of the year, provincial governors would send accountants to report to the emperor on various matters under their jurisdiction. All counties were compiling accounts and records. The Bookkeeper Sun Qian, the Deputy Governor Jian Yong, the Capital Official Guo Yuan, the Gongcao Cheng Bing and others were all busy sorting out the records. Liu Bei also had to put more energy into reporting to the emperor.

This year, the kudzu cloth of Jiaozhou and the fine wine of Cangwu are of the best quality. Most of the accountants will present these two items to the emperor. Under the name of offering, they can also make Jiaozhou's products circulate. At that time, people were suffering, but the clans and wealthy were willing to spend thousands of gold to pursue rare items. Merchants pursued profits, and by doing this, they could open up more trade routes and circulate the economy.

Shi Lu was sure that this was another unorthodox method proposed by Zhong Ping. Given Zhong Ping's character, if this matter passed through his hands, he would definitely supervise and check it personally to ensure that there were no mistakes, so he proposed to carry out the assassination five days later.

"Zhong Boheng is weak, but has wisdom. I have a retainer who is no worse than Zhuan Zhu and Nie Gai in ancient times. He will definitely make that kid go there and never come back."

Wu Jun offered to provide an assassin.

Shi Yize said: "I am an official of the prefecture and I have a way to transfer Li Meng away so that he can no longer perform his duty of protection."

"good."

The three of them looked at each other and smiled.

Finally, it was decided that the assassin would disguise himself as a wine worker and blend in with the wine sellers. He would wait until Zhong Ping relaxed and then kill him with one strike before dispersing.

(End of this chapter)