The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 211 Is he really a genius?
"Your Majesty, this."

Zheng Mao now just wants to take back what he just said.

What prudent? This is even more extreme than what you did in the beginning to exonerate Xiahou Xuan!
The Wei Dynasty spent nearly thirty years suppressing the royal family. Can they be released just like that?
Do you think the officials in the court will agree?
Zheng Mao almost said the four words "wishful thinking".

Zheng Mao's positioning is different from that of Wang Xiang, Chen Qian and others. He is a self-preservationist. What he wants is to live a stable life and not be involved in these struggles.

After finally getting rid of Sima Shi's whirlpool, the emperor threw out a bigger whirlpool.

This royal family matter is definitely the most thankless job.

Almost no one wants to see the royal family become powerful.

When the imperial clan is powerful, it will suppress the power of the aristocratic families. This is what happened with the Sima clan. To suppress these powerful aristocratic families, the Sima clan granted great titles to the imperial clan members and gave them great power. These princes were indeed very powerful in the local areas, but once there was unrest in the imperial court, it immediately led to the Rebellion of the Eight Princes.
Zheng Mao said seriously, "Your Majesty is from the royal family. I understand your compassion for them. However, Your Majesty, you are now the emperor of the world, not a vassal of the Wei Dynasty."

"I know you have different opinions on Emperor Wen's policies, but Your Majesty, why do you think Emperor Wen wants to implement those policies?"

Cao Mao said seriously: "Suppress the eunuchs to prevent the emergence of the Ten Attendants, curb the princes to prevent the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and then use the Zhongzheng System to return the power of conscription to the imperial court."

In Cao Mao's view, many of the policies implemented by Emperor Wen were not intended to bring disaster to the Wei Dynasty.

His idea makes sense.

Cao Pi grew up in a time when the struggle between scholars and eunuchs was the most fierce, and Cao Cao himself had to work very hard to get rid of the label of being a eunuch and tried hard to integrate into the group of scholars.

After coming to power, Cao Pi was anxious to stabilize the domestic situation. He did not have his father's prestige and military achievements, so he wanted to eliminate those potential threats one by one.

The first thing he thought of was eunuchs. He probably recalled the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, and immediately abolished the Ten Attendants and replaced them with outstanding young people. This was also to win over these talented people from the people, let them stay by the emperor's side, cultivate feelings, and establish the emperor's direct power.

He then thought of his relatives by marriage. In order to avoid another relative of the emperor becoming a general, he ordered that relatives by marriage could have titles but were not allowed to take on important tasks.

He was also worried that the power of the harem would become too strong, so he killed the wise and powerful Queen Zhen and appointed another queen.

In order to prevent the local government from controlling the selection of talents, he used the Zhongzheng system to bring the selection of talents back to the hands of the temple.
After dealing with these people, Cao Pi finally set his sights on the royal family and began to suppress them with all his might, making the princes miserable. In the end, some of them would rather be Sima Taishou than be princes of Cao Wei.

It can be said that Cao Pi's actions were not smart enough, but they definitely cannot be said to be insane. Many systems were not established in a bad direction in the early stages of their establishment, and they all had certain positive significance at the time.

However, Cao Pi probably did not expect that he would die so early, and he did not expect that his son would suffer the same fate.

Cao Mao felt that Cao Pi was the opposite of Sun Quan. If he had lived longer, his reputation in history might have been much better.

At that time, he had begun to accept the advice of Hua Xin, Wang Lang and others, and began to govern the country with peace of mind and restore the people's strength. He also abolished many of the extreme policies established by Cao Cao during the war. If things had developed normally and Cao Pi had lived another 20 years, perhaps the situation would have been different.

Of course, at this point, no matter how much Cao Mao thought, it was useless.

To deal with a ferocious beast like the aristocratic politics, one must summon the feudal lords to fight against it. If that is not enough, then one can release the eunuchs to disrupt the politics. If that doesn't work, then one can use the relatives by marriage. The empress herself can then go against the original Emperor Wen.

As for whether they would eventually cause a tragedy in the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao Mao was not too worried. Now the world was still unstable and there were competitors outside, so no one dared to give up easily.

After hearing Cao Mao's answer, Zheng Mao was also puzzled. Since you know everything, why do you still have such a crazy idea?

Cao Mao said, "I am not denying Emperor Wen's policies. I just want the royal family to have a better life. Do you know what kind of life they have been leading these years?"

"They kept changing their fiefdoms and were on the road all year round. Some of them even couldn't support the people in their mansions and had to borrow food and money from others."

"How can I bear to watch my clan suffer like this?"

Zheng Mao said seriously: "If Your Majesty just doesn't want the royal family to suffer, then you only need to improve their treatment and allow them to own some property."

"Yes, yes, this is what I want!"

Cao Mao hurriedly spoke.

Zheng Mao hesitated to speak.

That's not what you said just now. Didn't you say that you wanted to increase his power and let them monitor and manage the place?

Zheng Mao knew in his heart that the emperor was going to take it step by step and slowly remove the ropes from the clans. Zheng Mao also knew the emperor's purpose, which was to release the clan members in order to suppress court officials and the big families.

Zheng Mao was once again in a dilemma. If he helped the emperor, then if a fight really broke out between court officials and princes in the future, the officials would have to reflect on where the problem lay.

If we can't kill the emperor and the princes, can't we kill you?

But if he refused the emperor now, unless he could get rid of the position of Zong Zheng as soon as possible, otherwise, he would be targeted by the emperor and he would have to stop him. Zheng Mao, who was good at judging people, knew best how terrifying the emperor was.

Looking at the troubled Zheng Mao, Cao Mao smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng, as Guanglu Xun, is in charge of the Zongzheng, and there are so many things to do. Do you have any candidates to recommend to me for this position?"

Zheng Mao trembled all over.

Yes, yes, this is what I want!
In this era, the position of Zong Zheng is a sinkhole.

It's truly a thankless job. If you do it well, you won't get any benefits. If you don't do it well, you will suffer. If you do nothing, you will also offend people.

This position was given to Zheng Mao by Sima Shi, but Zheng Mao didn't want to do it at all.

Zheng Mao quickly pondered, wondering who should he push out to take the blame? He looked up and felt Cao Mao's meaningful gaze. At that moment, Zheng Mao shuddered, and he suddenly remembered someone.

"His Majesty!!"

"Pengcheng Wang Ju is a virtuous man with high moral standards, known throughout the world. He is worthy of being the chief minister of the clan!"

Cao Mao burst into laughter.

I still remember that when we were in Yuancheng, Cao Mao publicized this man's benevolence every day. I didn't expect that Zheng Mao would return it to me at this moment.

You want a wise man from the royal family? That must be Prince Pengcheng. Who said that? You said it yourself!
"Okay, I'll handle this matter myself. Lord Zheng, during this period, I think it's best for you to stay in the mansion and not get involved in those messy things. Otherwise, it will definitely be disadvantageous to you."

Cao Mao's words sound like a threat, but they are actually a kind reminder.

The ministers had already started celebrating in advance and even began to divide up the vacancy left by Sima Shi's death, but Cao Mao still felt that whoever celebrated the most now would die the most miserably in the future.

Zheng Mao accepted the order, reported to Cao Mao about the recent work in the Zongzheng Mansion, and then left.

After he left, Cao Mao sent someone to call one of his attendants to come.

"His Majesty!!!"

Sima Yan soon appeared in front of Cao Mao. He sat next to Cao Mao and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I haven't been out for several days. My father won't let me go out. If you hadn't sent someone to invite me, I don't know how many days I would have stayed here."

"By the way, You was sent to the palace?"

Cao Mao nodded and said, "Yes, I will stay with the Queen for a few days and then I will have to go back."

"I threatened this brat earlier, saying I would send him to the palace to be a eunuch. Wouldn't he have been scared to death?"

Cao Mao burst into laughter. "No wonder he was so frightened when he first arrived. It must have been you who scared him."

The two of them laughed and joked for a while before Cao Mao said with a serious face, "Alright, I called you here for business. We can talk about other things later. Let's talk about business first."

Sima Yan also quickly sat up straight.

"Your Majesty, please give me your orders. What do you want me to do?"

Cao Mao asked, "Do you want to be one of the Nine Ministers?"

"what?"

"I?"

Sima Yan's solemn expression suddenly collapsed. He looked at Cao Mao blankly and said, "Your Majesty, I haven't even put on my crown yet."

"Don't be afraid. I'm asking you to be the Zongzheng. This position is different from the other nine ministers. It's for members of the imperial clan with high prestige. You don't need to do anything. Just stay in this position."

Cao Mao said slowly.

"Your Majesty said I'm prestigious, I admit that, but am I also considered a member of the royal family of Wei?"

"Why not? Is the Queen not related to you?"

Sima Yan smiled bitterly and said, "But I'm only a teenager. How can the court officials dare to agree to this?"

In fact, Cao Mao really thought that Sima Yan was suitable to be the Minister of the Imperial Clan. Although Sima Yan's other abilities were not outstanding, his interpersonal skills were very good. He could get along with anyone. Don't you see how happily he and Cao Mao get along now?

He is a generous and honest person, and is a good match for the royal family.

Unfortunately, as Sima Yan said, he was too young. If he was forcibly appointed as the Chief of the Imperial Clan at the age of just over ten, the ministers in the temple would be in an uproar.

In the imperial court, it was rare to see a minister who was thirty years old, and those who were forty years old were already considered outstanding people.

Generally speaking, the government will still suppress ministers, especially in terms of age.

Otherwise, if you become one of the Nine Ministers when you are just over thirty years old, and one of the Three Dukes when you are just over forty years old, and you have the merit of destroying a country, what will you do next?

What will be the future rewards? Will you be given a nominal title and kept in cold storage? Or will you be granted a mansion and a duke title?
That’s right, I’m talking about Zhong Shiji.

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Well, since you don't want to, then we can only choose someone else."

"Who do you think is more suitable to do it?"

"How is my father?"

"Um???"

ps: I would like to recommend my friend’s old book “Entering Unscience”. I seem to have been recommending him three books in a row, but he still hasn’t finished writing it. It seems that I wrote too fast.

(End of this chapter)