The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 107 Intolerable
"This was proposed by Lu Pushe during the Shangshu meeting."

Fu Gu took out a letter and placed it in front of Sima Zhao.

Sima Zhao picked up the paper in surprise and began to read it. After just a few glances, his face turned red again and he almost exploded.

"You old bastard! You're going too far!"

"This is too much!"

Sima Zhao screamed and felt his body swaying, almost falling to the ground. Fu Gu was horrified and hurried to support him.

Sima Zhao almost gritted his teeth.

"Let's go, we need to tell our brother about this now!!"

"what??"

Fu Gu's eyes widened. Isn't the general still unconscious?

Before he could react, Sima Zhao took him out of the study and walked towards the side yard. Soon, the two of them came to a house. The soldiers at the door saw Sima Zhao and hurriedly made way. Sima Zhao led Fu Gu into the house.

"General!!"

Fu Gu hurriedly saluted.

Sima Shi looked at him in surprise, then glanced at Sima Zhao and replied calmly, "Don't be so polite, just sit down."

Sima Zhao did not give them much chance to talk. He walked up to him with the document in his hand and handed it to Sima Zhao.

"Brother, look"

"Lu Yu, this bastard"

Before Sima Zhao could finish his words, Sima Shi interrupted him, "Don't be rude to Lord Lu!"

Sima Zhao simply shut his mouth.

Sima Shi looked at the document in his hand and frowned unconsciously.

Sima Zhao saw that his brother's hands began to tremble.

The policy that Lu Yu summoned all the ministers to discuss was about the Zhongzheng system. Lu Yu believed that under the current Zhongzheng system, many talented people still had no chance to come to the fore, and this should be changed. When evaluating talented people, the focus should be on their family background. A virtuous family can naturally teach virtuous people. However, many official positions in the country have always been vacant. He hoped that the Ministry of Personnel could directly recruit children from high-ranking families and use them as officials.
Seeing these discussions in the Secretariat, Sima Shi's brows twitched.

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this thing, but if you think about it carefully, there are huge problems.

First of all, the biggest problem with doing this is that it creates a monopoly on official positions. Although family background is now an important assessment criterion, it is not the only criterion. Poor families can still change their destiny by studying classics. If a family does not have talented people who can resist the trend, it may gradually decline.

However, once the rank of an individual is transformed into the rank of a family, then official positions will be monopolized by these aristocratic families from then on. People from large families will become high-ranking officials regardless of their talent, while people from humble backgrounds will not get a chance to stand out no matter how talented they are. And the one in the Ministry of Personnel is even worse.

The Ministry of Personnel was a key agency under the Shangshutai, responsible for the selection and promotion of officials. However, this selection was not directly carried out by the Ministry of Personnel, but rather through consultation with local Zhongzheng officials. If the Ministry of Personnel were to appoint directly, this trend would be strengthened, and even the review process would be omitted, with direct recruitment being the sole means.
No aristocratic family today would refuse such a policy. How wonderful it would be! A family with generations of officials would be born. If Sima Shi were also from the perspective of an aristocratic family, he might agree.

But the problem is that the Sima family is no longer a purely aristocratic family. Their position is that of the rulers of the world.

Sima Shi and Sima Zhao even regarded the Wei Dynasty as their own.

How could these two fail to see the devastating impact this policy would have on the Wei Dynasty? If this continued, the humble would have no chance of advancement, and officials everywhere would be filled with incompetent and unethical nobles. How long could the dynasty last? Wouldn't it be doomed within a century?

This is also the reason why Sima Zhao became furious after taking a look at it.

These bastards don't care about the world at all. They'd rather destroy the entire Wei Dynasty for their own sake, right?
Sima Shi was much calmer than Sima Zhao. After reading it, he took a deep breath, calmed himself down, put the things away, and looked at Fu Gu in front of him.

"Lan Shi, you are a true loyal minister."

Fu Gu said calmly, "In fact, when Lord Lu brought up this matter, I was also hesitant."

"I also have a clan, and I also have useless children."

"My descendants will be able to serve as officials for generations to come, and the family will be well supported. Who can refuse such a good thing?"

"Then why did you come to tell me?"

Sima Shi asked.

Fu Gu replied, "I believe that in some things, excess is as bad as deficiency. The current system already heavily favors the powerful families. If it were to change like this, the world would be in danger. If the world were to perish, how could there be generations of prosperity?"

Sima Shi nodded with satisfaction and said with emotion, "There are not many wise and far-sighted people like you in the court." Sima Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "Even a world-renowned scholar like Lu Yu doesn't have your foresight! His greed will bring him disaster sooner or later!"

Sima Shi said calmly, "Lord Lu has a different idea. He doesn't care about his descendants. He just wants to make further progress."

"I've suppressed him for too long, and he's starting to feel a little bit resigned. If this matter is handled well, will you still be able to suppress him?"

Sima Shi looked at Sima Zhao.

A fierce gleam flashed in Sima Zhao's eyes, "I can suppress it!"

Sima Shi didn't speak for a long time, and there was a flash of disappointment in his eyes.

Sima Shi's operation could not be considered very successful. After all, it was a sarcoma removal surgery that took place in 254 AD, and the trauma after the operation was still tormenting him. Historically, he was already seriously ill when he went to war against Guanqiu Jian, and he was not much better at this moment.

But in this situation, Sima Shi's troubles suddenly increased, and became more and more, leaving him no chance to rest at all.

The palace, redress, Guanqiu Jian, persuasion, leaks, clans, celebrities, rebellion, and now Lu Yu is leading the attack.
A series of events made even a strong man like Sima Shi feel tremendous pressure.

He had never been so tired before. Sima Shi spent the busiest few months of his life, with troubles coming one after another and intensifying.

When did all this start to happen?
The new emperor ascended the throne? Or rather, after the dethronement?

Sima Shi felt his weak body and looked at his brother in front of him, feeling even more depressed.

After I leave, can my brother really take care of these things?

Father, will I ever let you down?
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. Sima Zhao saw something in his brother's eyes. He lowered his head, feeling full of self-blame.

He really wanted to bear it all by himself, and he didn't want his seriously ill brother to be busy for him anymore.

Why, I just can't do it?!

"Zhao"

Sima Zhao raised his head and saw Sima Shi struggling to sit up. He was shocked and stepped forward to support him, but Sima Shi forcefully pushed his hand away.

Sima Shi sat in the upper seat coldly, looking at the two people in front of him.

"How's the rebellion going?"

"Brother, you are right. A rebellion has broken out in Ping County. Sima Ban is responsible for killing Liang Chonggong. I have already sent people to intimidate him."

Sima Shi said calmly, "Lan Shi, please inspect the various counties in Henan to see if any officials have killed innocent people. If so, deal with them on the spot without reporting them. Rectify all areas and prohibit them from harassing the people and killing innocent people."

"Zi Shang, you should send Du Yu to Ping County now to quell the rebellion there, gather the troops, restore order in the area, and appease the people's grievances."

"Also, have Xun Xu write a petition to the imperial court requesting the reinstatement of his position as Imperial Eunuch, stating that this was His Majesty's idea and that he had no choice."

"Draft another imperial edict for Guanqiu Jian, asking him to enter the imperial court as soon as possible to serve as Minister of Education."

Sima Shi said a lot of things in a row, and the more Sima Zhao listened, the more confused he became.

"Brother? Do we really have to do this? If we inspect all the counties, every single one of them in Henan will be punished. Wouldn't that cause even greater chaos?"

"Sima Ban is one of us. Arresting him would cause unrest in the clan."

"As for the Imperial Household, how could Xun Xu possibly be willing to submit such a petition? I'm afraid the ministers in the imperial court will be furious?"

"And Guanqiu Jian, is now really the time to deal with him?"

Sima Zhao felt something was wrong with every one of Sima Shi's orders. Wasn't this just exacerbating the conflicts? There were already enough internal conflicts, and if this continued, wouldn't they explode completely?

Sima Shi said calmly, "Just do as I say. Go and call Zhong Hui in."

"it is good"

Sima Zhao stood up, but hesitated and said, "Brother, there is one more thing about Zhong Hui."

"Oh?"

(End of this chapter)