The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 284 The World of Morality
The sage that Xiahou Xian was referring to was Xunzi, the ancestor of Xun Xi.

This passage comes from the "On Military Affairs" chapter, and its general meaning is: Those with strong personal martial arts skills cannot defeat those who are well-trained, those who are well-trained cannot defeat those who are driven by interests, and those who are driven by interests cannot defeat the benevolent and righteous army of the king.

There is nothing wrong with this principle itself.

However, as the moral society of the Han Dynasty continued to strengthen, this statement was gradually distorted by the literati.

They believed that giving too many rewards to soldiers and treating them too well would be imitating the tyrannical Qin State and using interests to drive soldiers, which was wrong. They should use benevolence and righteousness to influence the army and let the army fight for justice.

But Cao Mao had objections.

It is true that an army that has faith in its hearts and fights for justice is invincible, but this does not conflict with the treatment!

Will you lose your faith and sense of justice if you are treated well?
There are mountains of food, but the soldiers are forced to suffer and fight for justice without full stomachs?

If you don't treat them well, why should you ask them to fight to the death for you?

Cao Mao's perspective is somewhat different from that of these literati. In Xiahou Xian's view, Cao Mao is the emperor, and the soldiers should fight to the death for him, regardless of whether they are treated well or not.

But in Cao Mao's view, he is the biggest leader of Wei, and these are his subordinates. What he has to do is to expand the scale of Wei, give employees better treatment, and make their lives better and better.

Only in this way can the Dawei Group prosper.

Is there any company in the world that just lets employees work themselves to death without giving them any benefits and just tells them about benevolence, righteousness and blessings?
This is how the literati viewed the soldiers, wanting them to become a truly benevolent and righteous army that would not be tempted by money.

But when it comes to themselves, the situation is different.

If we really want to uphold the belief in benevolence and righteousness, then shouldn't we let you, the scholars and officials, also experience hardship? Let you also take the lead in upholding benevolence and righteousness and become benevolent and righteous officials?

It is because of this twisted and perverted idea of rites and laws that, since the Later Han Dynasty, few emperors would go to the military camps to appease the soldiers. It was said that they were afraid that they would become a profit-seeking army like the Qin State.

Cao Mao looked at Xiahou Xian, who looked anxious, and suddenly burst into laughter.

These arrogant scholars.

Even a strong man like Sima Shi could not escape such arrogance. They looked down upon the power at the bottom. They always boasted of their morality and righteousness, and their words were eloquent and logical.

They think they are the elites of the world and turn a blind eye to the grassroots people who are actually doing the work.

I don't understand what kind of power these people have.

Cao Mao's face was so determined that he said, "Lord Xiahou, I think that this well-treated army is not the same as the Qin army in the past."

"These are all benevolent and righteous men, fighting for benevolence and righteousness. I have heard the sage say: I have made a mistake. The actions of a sage can change customs and habits, and their teachings can be applied to the people, not just for themselves!"

"Now that the soldiers have done something righteous, if I do not reward them, won't they be like Zigong?"

"Reward the righteous army. This is not to turn them into a profit-seeking army, but to strengthen their faith and make them continue to fight for righteousness."

"From now on, we should govern the army according to Xunzi's teachings and encourage this with Confucius's teachings. This is benevolent governance."

If Cao Mao were to fight with the old man Xiahou Xian, Cao Mao would not necessarily win. But if we talk about the classic debate, even if you had ten Xiahou Xian tied together, they might not be able to defeat Cao Mao.

Xiahou Xian was speechless at this moment. He felt that there was something wrong with what Cao Mao said, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

He was helpless and could only let His Majesty announce the matter.

Ma Long reacted very quickly and informed the entire army of the incident.

Sure enough, these "interested forces" became even more excited. They shouted one after another, and their fighting spirit became even higher. Even though the emperor did not actually implement it, he just painted a big pie for them, which made them so excited.

After all, under the concept of moral governance, no one has thought about improving the treatment of soldiers for many years since the death of Emperor Wu.

The lower-level soldiers, merchants, farmers, and even grassroots officials of the Wei Dynasty all lived a miserable life.

And the salaries of these senior people are extremely high.

They lived a very luxurious life, to the point of expanding their toilets, preparing perfumes and ointments in the toilets, setting up crimson mosquito nets, mats, and mattresses, and arranging ten beautiful women to stand in the toilets, having them dress up gorgeously and serve guests when they went to the toilet.

After the guests go to the toilet, the beauties will take off their clothes, change them into new clothes and then send them out.

Clothes that have been used in the toilet cannot be worn again.

Once, Sima Yan got a piece of precious fire-washing cloth, made it into clothes, and went to Shi Chong to show off. Shi Chong wore very ordinary clothes, but asked fifty servants to wear the same fire-washing cloth to welcome the emperor.

There are countless things like this. The madmen of the Wei and Jin Dynasties built their madness on the blood and sweat of countless ordinary people.

They are huge parasites, entrenched in the country, madly sucking the blood of the lower class. When the common people watched their children die of hunger, they were using sugar water to wash the pots.
Cao Mao vowed to change all this.

The Wei Dynasty was not poor at this moment. After the accumulation of Emperor Wen and Emperor Ming, the treasury was quite rich, which could completely change the lives of some lower-class people.

Improve the treatment of the lower-level soldiers, reduce the tax burden on the lower-level farmers, ensure the safety of merchants, and give grassroots officials the opportunity to stand out. The power formed by these people is the most powerful.

This force is extremely powerful. If this can be achieved, even if Sima Shi and Sima Yi crawl out of their graves together, they will not be able to shake Cao Mao's position.

These soldiers at this moment are the best proof. They look at the emperor with fiery eyes, start talking to each other, and are full of fighting spirit, which is completely different from their state half a year ago.

Ma Long stood quietly not far away, looking at the emperor with eyes full of approval.

In fact, Ma Long had wanted to improve the living conditions of the soldiers for a long time, but as a newcomer in the army and an airborne lieutenant, he did not dare to speak rashly.

It is really not a good idea to let the general speak about this matter, otherwise he would be suspected of trying to win over soldiers and build his own private army. Moreover, scholars like Xiahou Xian would not be happy about it, as it is inconsistent with their moral concepts.

Now that His Majesty has come forward in person and talked about this matter, Ma Long is quite excited.

After what happened today, the training of the central army will go more smoothly in the future, and the combat effectiveness will definitely be greatly enhanced.

Cao Mao did not stay only in Ma Long, he also visited several other camps.

He did not show favoritism and rewarded the soldiers with outstanding performance in each camp. Cheers gradually rang out in all parts of the central army.

The soldiers had never thought that the emperor would come to the central army in person, and they had never thought that the emperor would want to improve their treatment and give them such rewards.

By the time Cao Mao arrived at the last place, Xiahou Xian was completely numb.

But he still said: "Your Majesty, now all the camps are our own people, but this Yueqi is the only one. Do you want to find a reason to replace him?"

Cao Mao listened to his words and looked into the distance.

In the distance, there was a captain wearing heavy armor and training with the soldiers.

This man looked very similar to Sima Shi, but his eyes were much softer. He was working very hard at the moment. When he saw the emperor coming, he hurriedly stopped training and came to pay his respects with several soldiers.

This man's name is Sima Jun.

He was Sima Yi's seventh son.

I have to say that Sima Laozei is quite good at having children. All his sons are pretty good, and none of them are particularly bad.

The strongest one is naturally Sima Shi, and the second strongest one is not Sima Zhao, but the seventh one Sima Jun.

Sima Jun was intelligent since childhood and was the most prestigious young man in the entire Sima family. He was proficient in both civil and military affairs, was able to study classics, and understood warfare. Historically, it was this person who proposed the appointment of Wen Yang. He also advised Sima Yan and did many things that were beneficial to the people.

Historically, when the people in the northwest learned of his death, they cried all the way. The local people spontaneously erected a monument for him, and all the elderly and prestigious people bowed down after seeing the monument.

And this person is still serving as a captain in the central army.

Only he could implement the training method that Ma Long mentioned. He trained with the soldiers and clearly defined rewards and punishments. When replacing many generals of the Sima family, Cao Mao said: This person can be kept.

Xiahou Xian was a little worried. After all, this guy was Sima Zhao's younger brother. If he was left in the central army as a captain, there was no guarantee that he would rebel one day.

But Cao Mao was not worried at all.

In his eyes, this person is also one of the many legacies left by Sima Shi.

I can even use Sima Yan, so what about Sima Jun?
This person has talent, whether it is for governing or fighting wars, and most importantly, he is good to the people and knows where the power of the country comes from. Among the children of noble families, there are very few who have such ideas.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!!"

Sima Jun bowed to meet him, but Cao Mao hurriedly helped him up.

"Why is the captain so polite?"

"She often mentions you, but why doesn't she come to visit us in the palace?"

Sima Jun said seriously, "Your Majesty, the central army is training. How can I leave the training ground without permission?"

Cao Mao laughed and said, "Lord Xiahou told me that your battalion performed very well last time, second only to Captain Ma. In the next competition, maybe you'll take first place?"

Sima Jun said seriously: "I will definitely go all out!"

"Okay! Next time, I will come and see it myself. Captain, please don't neglect me."

"only!!"

"Well, were there any outstanding performers in the last competition?"

(End of this chapter)