The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 160 Wang Taichang

"The evil woman Lu Ban of Wu wields great power in the government and supports her relatives outside the family. She previously murdered her brother and now even intends to murder her own sister."

The Wei State once again began court discussions.

The ministers started eating melons again.

This time, it was still the Wu Kingdom that was at issue. After Sun Quan's daughter, Sun Luban, married Quan Zong, she began to actively seek power. The daughter of Quan's family was made queen, and the Quan family, as foreign relatives, were treated with favor, with five of them being granted titles.

Including Sun Jun, who is now the Prime Minister and General, his sister also married to the Quan family, and he himself flattered and served Sun Luban. The two of them colluded with each other, making the Wu court even more chaotic, and Sun Luban herself was in power and her position was as stable as Mount Tai.

Because Sun Luban hated Sun He's mother, she ordered Sun Jun to execute Sun He and killed her own brother.

Now he wants to take action against his own sister.

Listening to the news about Wu, the faces of the Wei officials were filled with smiles.

The Three Kingdoms today is not competing to see who has stronger national power or who has a stronger momentum of advancement. Everyone is competing to see who is worse, to see who is not as bad as before.

After eating the melon and criticizing the many evil policies of the Wu traitor as usual, the court finally got to the point.

The first person to submit a letter was actually Shangshu Ling Lu Yu.

"The Minister of Rites has resigned due to illness and returned home to recuperate. The Minister of Rites is the head of the Nine Ministers, responsible for the sacrificial offerings. I have heard that the great affairs of state, such as sacrifices and warfare, cannot be taken lightly. The Minister of Rites must select a virtuous scholar from the court to assist the sage king. This cannot be delayed. Please select a great sage to fill this position."

Lu Yu spoke first and talked about the position of Taichang.

For a moment, there was a gleam in the eyes of all the ministers.

Many ministers had some ideas about this position.

Even if he is not in charge, he would like his clansmen or relatives to take the role.

The temple suddenly became quiet. Lu Yu glanced at Wang Xiang who was sitting in the distance. Wang Xiang slowly lowered his head to express his gratitude.

Because of Cao Mao's instructions, after Wang Xiang actively created a good character for himself, he began to contact his allies and wanted to seek the position of Taichang.

The first person he looked for was Lu Yu.

Lu Yu was only one year older than Wang Xiang, but whether in terms of background, talent, or seniority, Wang Xiang was no match for Lu Yu.

There are many uneducated people from high-ranking families in the government, many of whom have climbed up through the connections of their fathers and grandfathers and have no talents of their own. The Three Dukes and Nine Ministers are also different from before. Although they cannot be said to be without authority, they are not practical units.

But the Secretariat is different. As the most important institution to maintain the operation of the regime, there are very few good-for-nothings here. The people here are all selected by Sima Shi himself.

The head of the Secretariat was Sima Shi. The Sima family could give up the positions of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to the wealthy families, but they would never give up the Secretariat. Whoever held the Secretariat would be the actual controller of the world.

The position of Shangshu Ling was originally held concurrently by the Sima family. After Sima Shi's death, Sima Zhao took over the position concurrently.

But Sima Shi certainly could not do everything himself, so the deputy of the Secretariat became the actual person in charge of the Secretariat, and that person was Lu Yu.

There were quite a few ministers following Lu Yu, and since he was a truly capable minister, Sima Zhao did not dare to be rude to him.

Sima Shi still did not attend today's court meeting. Sima Zhao sat among the ministers and secretly controlled the court meeting.

Zhong Hui immediately looked at Sima Zhao.

When Wang Su left, Zhong Hui found Sima Zhao, hoping that one of his own could take up this position. Because Zhong Hui wanted to do justice to the classics and to handle this matter, he had to have the full support of the Taichang. If he could be the Taichang, it would be even better.

Zhong Hui was eager to try.

To be honest, Zhong Hui's qualifications were still not enough to be the Minister of Rites, and his achievements were probably not worthy of being the head of the Nine Ministers.

Although he is very famous, he is not old enough and his achievements do not meet the standards. If he were to be directly appointed as the Minister of Rites, it would cause dissatisfaction among many ministers.

Sima Zhao was also extremely troubled.

At the beginning, the two Sima brothers had a very good relationship with Zhong Yu. Zhong Yu brought the young Zhong Hui out to play with them, and they had known each other since they were young.

Later, Zhong Hui's talents became more and more obvious, even overshadowing his brother's brilliance.

Zhong Hui also admired Sima Shi very much, and served as his right-hand man, enjoying his deep trust.

Sima Zhao also liked this young man who was ten years younger than him but showed extraordinary talent.

However, Zhong Hui's character flaws made Sima Zhao very helpless.

Sima Zhao did not want to offend Zhong Hui, but he also did not want to offend so many ministers because of him.

How could Zhong Hui possibly be the Minister of Rites now? What merits had he achieved? If he dared to confer such an honor upon him, the court meeting would be unable to proceed.

Sima Zhao looked at others, perhaps he could let another confidant take over this position?

After Lu Yu opened the conversation, the Secretary of State Xun Xi immediately stood up. Xun Xi was the son of the Grand Commandant Xun Yu. Of course, he followed the same old routine: he was praised and became famous at a young age.

Oh, the person who commented on him was the famous official Chen Qun. Chen Qun commented on him entirely because Xun Xi was very talented when he was young. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was Xun Xi's brother-in-law!
He was filial, had a great reputation, and was knowledgeable. When he grew up, he became a famous scholar. Later, when Sima Yi came to power, he was very happy when he saw him. He thought that he was very similar to Xun Lingjun, so he promoted him to be a Palace Attendant. Later, he was promoted step by step and became a close confidant of the Sima family.

When Cao Shuang was in power, he rescued the persecuted Fu Gu, which brought him greater fame.

Because he is very popular, many people regard him as the successor of Xun Lingjun, and many people like him.

When Sima Zhao saw that it was him who stood up, he immediately felt relieved.

Zhong Hui also smiled, full of confidence.

After all, this person was promoted by Sima Yi, so there is no doubt about his position.

When the ministers saw that it was him who stood up, they immediately stopped thinking about anything else. If this person wanted to participate, there was really no need to fight for it. Xun Yi had many friends in the court and was deeply favored by Sima Zhao. It was really not worthwhile to compete with him for the position of Taichang.

When Wang Xiang saw the other person stand up, a hint of astonishment and nervousness flashed in his eyes.

Xun Yi usually doesn't like to participate in these things. Like Wang Guan in the Secretariat, he is a taciturn person. Why would he take the initiative to stand up today?

Wang Xiang looked at Zhong Hui and Sima Zhao and immediately frowned.

Oh no, has Zhong Hui taken a fancy to this?
With Zhong Hui's qualifications, he naturally could not serve as Taichang, but he did not have to take the position himself. It would be enough as long as a minister close to the Sima family took the position.

Wang Xiang immediately understood what went wrong, that classic!

Taichang was responsible for promoting candidates for Confucian classics studies and was the most suitable official title for classics ranking, so he was favored by Zhong Huisuo!
Wang Xiang did not lose his composure and quickly thought of a countermeasure.

But Wang Xiang discovered that there was not a trace of worry in Lu Yu's eyes. He had clearly vowed yesterday that he would let him take the position, but at this moment he just sat down without even looking at Minister Xun, as if these things had nothing to do with him.

Xun Yi looked at everyone, bowed, and then spoke: "Everyone, I believe that the Duke of Wang, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, is highly respected and knowledgeable in Confucian classics. He is fully qualified to take on such an important position!"

At this moment, the faces of several ministers changed drastically.

The smile on Zhong Hui's face disappeared instantly, and he stared straight at Xun Yi.

He suddenly looked at Sima Zhao again, but found that Sima Zhao's face was also shocked. He widened his eyes and looked at Xun Yi blankly.

It can be seen that this situation was not anticipated by Sima Zhao.

The most surprised person was probably Wang Xiang. His heart was completely different from his calm expression. It was like a turbulent sea of emotions. Was this Lu Yu's arrangement? How did he manage to pull Sima's trusted aides to his side?

The ministers listened to Xun Yi's words and looked at Wang Xiang again.

In these days, the most prominent minister in Luoyang is still Wang Xiang.

Ever since the story of the Dongtang Banquet spread among celebrities, Wang Xiang's attainments in classics also became known. It is said that he was not well-known before because he was introverted and unwilling to debate, but the emperor exposed his talent.

Some people also said that Wang Rong was drunk and accidentally circulated the part of the Taixuan Sutra that Wang Xiang had annotated for him. Wang Xiang's understanding of the Taixuan Sutra was different from that of everyone else, and was somewhat similar to that of Wang Su.

Wang Su himself was a world-renowned academic master. Even people like Ruan Ji and Ji Kang did not dare to say that they could compete with Wang Su in talent. The evaluation of "the two Wangs of Taixue" immediately spread in Luoyang.

It is believed that Wang Xiang and Wang Su are equally skilled in the study of the Taixuan Sutra.

Wang Xiang was very good at this kind of reputation-building work. Within a short period of time, his reputation as a scholar of classics became known to everyone.

From this perspective, there seems to be nothing wrong with him serving as Taichang.

What's more, this was proposed by Xun Xi. Xun Xi has always been close to the Sima family. His ideas are probably the same as those of the Sima family, right?

The ministers did not object and all approved of this candidate.

Several ministers who served as the Three Dukes also expressed their agreement.

The pressure suddenly came to Sima Zhao.

Sima Zhao looked at Xun Yi blankly, then looked at the other ministers and said, "We can discuss this next time."

Obviously, he was not happy with the choice.

The ministers looked at each other for a few seconds, and did not continue to force him, and ended the court meeting in a hurry.

Wang Xiang was no longer worried at this moment. No matter what method Lu Yu used to get Xun Yi to stand on his side, since he had spoken this time, the matter was settled and there was no need to worry at all.

This made Wang Xiang very happy. He was appointed as Taichang and would later become the head of the Nine Ministers.

This will bring more benefits to the family and promote more young talents, so it can make peace and form alliances with many families, and at the cost of this, obtain help from other big families.

As long as he takes this position, Wang Xiang will be able to get rid of his current position of only being able to cheer others on, and formally establish his own team, have his own disciples and old officials, have his own allies, and have the cost and foundation to win over others!
Thinking of this, Wang Xiang became full of energy!
(End of this chapter)