The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 346 Attack
Another Wei Dynasty meeting.

However, the atmosphere in the temple has changed.

The three dukes sat at the top of the ministers respectively. Wang Su was in high spirits. Having realized his dream of becoming one of the three dukes, he had already put Wang Xiang's affairs behind him. He wanted to accomplish something big to prove his ability as one of the three dukes.

Although the current emperor is good at dealing with troubles, he is willing to listen to advice. As long as we assist him wholeheartedly, there is still great hope of establishing an unprecedented prosperous era.

Besides, I am still young!
Wang Su was respected by everyone because he was good at studying classics, but in fact, he was only thirteen years older than Sima Shi.

At over sixty years old, he is still quite young among these ministers.

Not everyone is a tough guy like Zhong Hui, who can charge towards the third level at the age of thirty.

The ministers in the temple have all come up through layers of trials and tribulations. Their experience in local positions alone may be decades long. Especially for those who have reached the top level, they can be considered young at the age of sixty.

It is the prime time of life.

Wang Su was full of confidence in himself. Putting aside personal grudges, Cao Mao was undoubtedly a very capable monarch, and the situation of the Three Kingdoms had dragged on for a long time. If he could accomplish the feat of unification under his own hands and assist the emperor in ushering in a prosperous era, would Wang Xiang dare to step on him to ascend to the throne? A single word from him could make him infamous for eternity!

Just as Wang Su said, this was a person with a strong sense of selfishness. It was for this reason that he chose to work hard to make progress and not hang out with the ministers.

Zhuge Dan, who was sitting in front of him, looked even more tough.

The general, who cared most about his face, was extremely angry at this moment.

I just arrived at the temple, and you guys set fire to the granary, right?

Do you think you don't take me seriously?

He was also filled with anger.

Not to mention the ministers, the emperor's policies in recent days are simply retrograde in their eyes.

They felt that it was necessary for them to save the Wei Dynasty and not let it fall into the hands of treacherous villains.

The patience of the ministers had probably reached a limit, and they were ready to take action, which immediately changed the atmosphere of the court.

Cao Mao looked at them calmly. Even though the situation had become so bad, Cao Mao was not overly angry. He analyzed the current situation very calmly.

Cao Mao had a clear understanding of the several factions in the current court.

After being severely beaten, the Aristocratic Family Alliance slowly gathered together again, and it was still a very terrifying force.

All officials in the world come from wealthy families. Even if there are occasionally a few poor families like Wang Jing, they are disciples of wealthy families. Wang Jing was promoted by the Cui family.

There's no other way. The books are in other people's hands. If you, a commoner from a poor family, want to become an official, you have to study. If you don't join an aristocratic family, where else can you get knowledge?

Emperor Wen has actually always been committed to the education cause of the Wei Dynasty.

From an objective point of view, although Emperor Wen of Wei did many foolish things, it cannot be said that he made no contribution to the country.

During the Huangchu period, Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, restored the Imperial College in Luoyang, appointed 19 doctors, and recruited talented people from all over the world to study.

During the reign of Cao Mao, the number of Taixue students had reached more than 2,000.

At the beginning, Cao Pi set up the Five Classics examination method according to the Han system. Those who passed the examination could be appointed to positions such as Secretary, Prince's Sheren, and Doctor.

This to a certain extent eliminated those good-for-nothings and provided a source of talent for the Wei kings. At the same time, Cao Pi promoted Confucianism in various places, established schools, and shouted: Rule the world with the Imperial Academy, and teach the cities with the schools!
Although there were many incompetent people in the Wei Dynasty, there were also many truly talented people. Especially compared with the Wu and Shu Kingdoms, there was no interruption in the supply of talents, and educational institutions played a big role in this.

But neither the Imperial College nor the schools in various places could solve the problems of the big families.

The Wei and Jin dynasties were different from the later dynasties. Books were still rare at that time, printing had not yet appeared, paper was still very valuable, and knowledge was still passed on through family. Not to mention enlightenment, advanced knowledge theories were monopolized.

Like Zhu Yuanzhang later, he could go on a killing spree, killing many of his ministers, and then summon the rest to work for him, but Cao Mao could not do it. It was not that Cao Mao was cowardly, but that he did not have the base. Scholars all came from prominent families. If you kill all the prominent families, what will you rely on to govern the world?

He couldn't hold an imperial examination to recruit people. While holding an imperial examination might improve the quality of officials, the only participants were the children of wealthy families. Ordinary people couldn't even touch books. Even if they had money, they couldn't buy knowledge. They didn't even have the qualifications to receive an education. What kind of examination would you take part in?

When He Zeng said that he wanted to kill all these people, Cao Mao asked him: If we kill them, who will rule the world?

This was not because Cao Mao wanted to hear He Zeng's flattery, but because it was what he really thought.

There are not many talented people who can be used in the first place, so how can they withstand such killing? If a few people from the Secretariat kill them, who can replace them?

At this moment, Cao Mao was looking at the ministers under his command, with many thoughts in his mind.

Xun Yi looked at Guo Zhang, who immediately stood up and bowed deeply to Cao Mao.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Wen issued a decree that officials should be promoted based on their performance and appointed and dismissed based on five assessments. However, the current Duke Zheng has arbitrarily promoted his own cronies and openly colluded with the Supreme Court to frame people. He has dismissed those who were not close to him and promoted his own people. The people he promoted have no record of performance and have not passed any assessments."

"Officials' transfers and promotions all depend on his single word, which makes officials all over the world feel disheartened."

"Your Majesty, I have heard that clear rewards and punishments, and orderly promotions are the principles of governing the world. However, you are acting on your own will, disregarding political achievements and virtues, and wantonly managing personnel according to your own ideas. This will bring unrest to the country!"

As soon as Guo Zhang said this, there was a dead silence in the temple.

Although Guo Jun keeps calling Zheng Mao and blaming Zheng Mao in his words, everyone knows who he is talking about.

His spearhead was directed directly at the emperor.

After all, the emperor was the most willful person. Even the Minister of the Interior and the Grand Marshal made their own decisions without consulting the other ministers. This was probably the first time that the other ministers had challenged the emperor during a court meeting.

The honeymoon period between Cao Mao and Xun Yi and others only lasted a few months.

Of course, they didn't want to fall out, otherwise they wouldn't be scolding Zheng Mao.

Cao Mao did not speak in a hurry, he glanced at Zhong Hui.

Zhong Hui shook his head slightly at him, and Cao Mao sat quietly in the upper seat without commenting.

"Oh, what qualifications do you have to represent the world and write a petition?"

"Didn't you only get your position as Shangshu after His Majesty took office? What are your political achievements? What are your virtues? What assessments did you pass?!"

Wang Su stood up immediately.

You can deny the emperor's character, but you can't deny his judgment in appointing people! What's wrong with his appointments? Aren't the transfers and promotions of officials at all levels appropriate?!
How can you, a young man with no talent and no morals, have the right to speak here?
Guo Zhang was also young. He was originally arranged by Sima Zhao to be a Shangshu Lang. The reason he could become Shangshu was entirely because "there are no tigers in the mountains". Guo Zhang had some literary talent, but this literary talent was nothing in Wang Su's eyes.

Even when Wang Su met Guo Zhang's father, he treated him as an equal and did not indulge him at all.

Guo Zhang was not angry either. The main reason he could sit in his current position was because he was young, energetic and dared to take risks. If he retreated now, he would have no value in staying in the Shangshu position.

He saluted Wang Su very seriously.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I'm afraid that in your eyes, the entire court is filled with people without talent or virtue."

"I truly cannot take on such an important task!"

Guo Zhang suddenly bowed towards the emperor.

"Your Majesty!! I resign!"

At this moment, Yuan Liang and other ministers and assistant ministers of the Secretariat stood up and paid homage together.

"Your Majesty!! We are incompetent and we resign and return home!"

After the Secretariat, ministers from various institutions also stood up.

At this moment, there was a vague feeling that all the officials were writing letters to force the emperor.

But Xun Yi remained motionless.

As the leader of a large clan, if he also stood up, there would be no room for easing the situation.

So he just sat there, waiting for the emperor to speak to him.

Wang Su was furious when he saw the ministers trying to force him to abdicate. He shouted, "Are you planning a rebellion?!"

"Has there ever been a minister like you in this world?!"

"How dare they collude and force the Emperor?!"

But at this moment, all the ministers lowered their heads and completely ignored Wang Su.

Cao Mao sat in the upper seat and looked at them calmly. It seemed that what he had done recently was quite successful, otherwise he would not have pushed them to such a desperate situation.

This is how they treated Sima Shi in the past, and now they are treating me this way.

Cao Mao looked at Zhong Hui again, and at this moment, Zhong Hui slowly walked out.

"Your Majesty, what the ministers say is reasonable."

"The appointment of officials must be carefully considered and is not a decision that can be made lightly."

"According to the opinions of the ministers, we should assess the achievements, talents, and conduct of all officials, and promote, advance, and dismiss them accordingly according to the standards left by Emperor Wen."

"From now on, promotions and appointments will be made according to this standard. No exceptions will be made based on the status of the Ministry of Personnel or the Minister of State."

"A general must first know how to command the troops; a ruler must first achieve results. He must rectify the administration of officials, eliminate the lawless, incompetent, and mediocre, and ensure that everything is carried out according to the rules."

The moment Zhong Hui opened his mouth, Xun Yi actually became extremely alert.

He was very worried that Zhong Hui would set a trap for his ministers again.

But after hearing what Zhong Hui said, Xun Yi fell into deep thought.

The transfer and promotion of officials has always lacked an accurate standard. If it were in the past, Xun Yi would never agree to Zhong Hui, because if this system were established, the rights and interests of the aristocratic families in personnel rights would suffer huge losses.

But now the highest decision-making power on personnel matters lies in the hands of the emperor, who can arrange officials and ministers at all levels at will.

If a restriction could be made so that the emperor could not make arbitrary arrangements, well, the officials are all family members anyway, and the final determination of political achievements and evaluation of virtues will still be handled by their own people.

Besides, it’s not a bad thing to take the opportunity to kick out those idiots from the big clans.

(End of this chapter)