The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 210: Steady
Because Gao Rou only gave Cao Mao two vacancies for the position of colonel, Cao Mao considered carefully and finally decided on two candidates.

Ji Kang and Ma Long.

Needless to say, the reason for choosing Ma Long was that he was the most capable general under Cao Mao's command except for the Huainan army.

The reason why Ji Kang was chosen was because he was famous enough.

In today's era, officials pay less and less attention to their talents. The most important things are family background, reputation, connections, etc.

There is no need to say much about Ji Kang's family background. Apart from his status as a noble family, he was also a relative of the Cao family. There was no problem with his origin, and his reputation was even less of a problem. Among the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Ji Kang and Ruan Ji were considered the two most prestigious leaders.

Ji Kang was close to Cao Mao and had a firm stance. Although he was not strong in political and military affairs, he did not care about the Sima family or any other big families. He cared about the world and was willing to die for it.

That's enough. It doesn't matter if he can't fight. Ji Kang is not a messy person. With Ma Long's ability, it will be no problem for him to teach Ji Kang while reorganizing his own army.

As for letting a famous scholar serve as a captain in the army, this is very common nowadays. Ruan Ji also served as an infantry captain, and later generations often called him Ruan Infantry.

The Queen Mother directly issued an imperial decree to appoint these two as captains.

This imperial edict was firmly supported by the Secretariat and immediately passed down to the Central Army.

This quickly caused a new round of chaos in the central army.

Sima Zhao, who was nominally in command of the central army, had no intention of objecting to the decree when he learned of it. He waved his hand to express his firm obedience.

He was even happy.

Because the two captains to be replaced in the imperial edict were both Lu Yu's men.

One of them was Lu Yu's son-in-law Hua Yi.

When Sima Zhao saw the imperial edict, he immediately concluded that Gao Rou was competing with Lu Yu for military power. After all, this was an edict directly issued by the Secretariat, and the Shangshu Tai was controlled by Lu Yu. However, Gao Rou's influence in the Secretariat was enormous, so this was definitely Gao Rou's intention!
Since Gao Rou wanted to seize Lu Yu's military power, why would Sima Zhao object?

Support! Support! Absolutely support!

So, when Hua Yi saw this imperial edict approved by the Empress Dowager, the Secretariat, and the General's Office, he was completely stunned.

What have I done to deserve being treated like this?

Even generals don’t get this treatment.

No matter how tough Hua Yi was, he dared not disobey these three strengthened imperial edicts. The orders from the Secretariat were obviously not enough to compete with these imperial edicts. Not to mention him, even Lu Yu had to admit defeat when he saw such a thing.

Immediately, changes took place in the central army. Hua Yi and another captain were replaced, and Ji Kang and Ma Long became the new captains.

At this moment, the two had not yet gone to the military camp to take up their posts, but were paying a visit to the Queen Mother in Zhaoyang Palace.

The Queen Mother sat at the top, the Minister of the Interior sat on the left, and Cao Mao sat on the right.

The two men sat in front of them, Ji Kang's face was very calm, while Ma Long looked very happy.

Ma Long's eyes were full of anticipation, he really wanted to do something.

For someone like him, every opportunity is so rare that he must give his all and not miss any of it.

The Queen Mother smiled and said, "I don't know anything about military affairs. Since this is my son's idea, then you should follow it. But don't let my son down."

Gao Rou glanced at the Queen Mother and didn't add anything else, just reminded them not to make mistakes.

Gao Rou originally wanted to suppress them and then blame the incident on Lu Yu in order to provoke a conflict between the emperor and Lu Yu.

But after some thought, Gao Rou gave up the idea.

Given Lu Yu's cunningness, if he had noticed this, he might have used it to form an alliance with the emperor directly, complete the task on his behalf, and turn himself into a villain.

Gao Rou was still somewhat wary of Cao Mao, so he gave up this plan.

But even so, he still did not forget to give Cao Mao some eye drops. He said, "Queen Dowager, everyone obeyed this imperial decree except Lu Yu, simply because one of the people being replaced was his son-in-law."

Gao Rou shook his head and said, "He treats the central army as his own, even disobeying the imperial edict."

"Sima Zhao and Lu Yu were at odds, and he expressed his agreement with the imperial edict, which allowed them to be replaced smoothly."

"If it weren't for Sima Zhao, this thing wouldn't have been accomplished?"

Gao Rou sneered, "How ridiculous! When we want to get things done, Sima Zhao becomes the one helping us, while Lu Yu becomes the one hindering us."

The Queen Mother frowned, very displeased.

The two of them said a few more words and then let them leave.

Cao Mao led them out of Zhaoyang Palace. After leaving Zhaoyang Palace, Ji Kang could not help but say: "Your Majesty, the ministers in the court should not be trusted!"

Cao Mao was stunned and looked at him.

Ji Kang frowned, "My good friends are actually celebrating, saying that a prosperous era is coming, but I feel that a chaotic era is coming."

"Although Sima Shi was cruel, he was also very talented. Now that he is about to die, those who want to succeed him are all greedy. The policies they proposed, after just one listen, make me feel horrified!"

"If all these policies were implemented, the world would become a plaything of the aristocratic families, and the people would become their slaves, enslaving them for generations, with no law or order."

Ma Long disagreed. He shook his head and said, "I don't think so. You don't know, the people are not as weak as you think. If someone oppresses them recklessly, they will definitely fight back."

Ma Long had just said a few words when he suddenly realized that he was in front of the emperor. His face turned pale and he quickly lowered his head.

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Xiaoxing is right."

Ji Kang looked at Ma Long and said, "You're right. This will cause a popular uprising, but what happens next? Someone will lead the people to overthrow the previous dynasty. Then, these leaders will become the new aristocratic families, and they will continue to exploit the people. This cycle will repeat itself."

Cao Mao said, "Therefore, I will let you two serve as captains."

Cao Mao pointed at Ma Long and said to Ji Kang, "This man is extremely loyal and righteous. When Lord Linghu was humiliated, no one dared to collect his body. It was this man who came forward to bury him again and observe mourning for him."

Cao Mao did not introduce the other party's talents first, but instead talked about his righteous deeds.

Sure enough, after hearing these words, Ji Kang looked at Ma Long with a much better look in his eyes. He couldn't help but nodded and said, "He is truly a righteous man!"

Cao Mao then said, "Xiaoxing has practiced martial arts since he was young. He is brave and skilled in military affairs. Even Deng Ai, the governor of Yanzhou, values his talents."

Ma Long's eyes widened. Really?
"Therefore, I want this person to reorganize the central army and drive out those who don't understand military affairs and only know how to drink and take medicine!"

Ji Kang immediately laughed, "Shouldn't you kick me out first?"

"Therefore, you should drink less and absolutely not take any medicine. From now on, you should listen more to Lord Ma's advice, learn his methods of reorganizing the army, and follow him to establish two capable and battle-hardened central military camps. What do you think of my central military camps?"

Ji Kang didn't have any ideas, he just nodded decisively.

"it is good."

He looked at Ma Long who was standing beside him and said, "I don't know much about military affairs. Please teach me more in the future."

Ma Long said hurriedly: "I dare not, I dare not, I will definitely assist you with all my strength."

Cao Mao gave them many instructions before sending them out together.

Cao Mao had high hopes for both of them. At all times, the army was the most important.

At present, he must constantly strengthen his control over the many armies. By the time he unifies the world, his prestige in the army will probably reach a very high level. At that time, he will lead the army several times in person. Even if he cannot go to the battlefield in person, he will have to pretend to go to Chang'an or Huainan to win the hearts of the army. Then he will have the confidence to deal with the aristocratic families.

If it really doesn’t work in the end, Nai Gong will learn from Huang Chao!
The two left the palace together.

Cao Mao was unable to rest, as he still had a lot of things to do. He sent Zhang Hua again to summon another minister in the temple.

And this person was none other than the Shaofu Zheng Mao.

In Cao Mao's plan, the Cao clan is an indispensable part. In fact, the Cao clan is the most powerful aristocratic family in the world. In the war with the aristocratic families, they should play a greater role.

The suppression over the years has forced them to stand on the side of the Sima family.

Later, even members of the Cao Wei clan offered to help the Sima clan. For example, Cao Zhi's son Cao Zhi had a good relationship with Sima Yan and Sima You. This staunch member of the Wei clan became a prefect in the Western Jin Dynasty because Sima Yan liked him very much. However, he was ultimately dismissed for supporting Sima You. How absurd is this?

Why were these clan members willing to help Sima Yan and his men? It was because the Cao Wei government did not regard them as human beings at all, but the Sima family would use them instead.

Cao Mao now wants to release these people and let them play the role they should play.

Cao Mao suddenly felt that he was working for Emperor Wen, making up for his mistakes bit by bit.
Cao Mao didn't wait too long. He waited in the East Hall for a while, and then Zhang Hua brought Zheng Mao here.

Zheng Mao seemed to have realized that he would be summoned a long time ago.

Cao Mao looked at Zheng Mao who was coming and couldn't help laughing. "Jun Zheng looks even more majestic than when he was in Yuancheng!"

"Your Majesty has become more stable than when he was in Yuancheng."

"Well, actually, the reason I called you here this time is to lift the restrictions on the royal family and allow them to return to their fiefdoms so that they can become the cornerstone of the empire."

"If possible, I would also like to give them some power so that they can monitor the local prime minister and officials, and suppress the local aristocratic families and powerful clans."

"what???"

(End of this chapter)