The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 383 Why Didn’t I Participate

"Your Majesty!!!"

As soon as Cao Mao opened his eyes, Zhong Hui rushed into the West Hall in a hurry. Cao Mao had never seen Zhong Hui so anxious.

"Your Majesty! There was a debate in the East Hall. Why didn't you tell me?!"

Cao Mao was stunned. "Didn't Shi Ji go out of Luoyang to inspect the officials in Henan?"

Zhong Hui's expression at this moment was extremely complicated, filled with loss, annoyance, regret, and unwillingness.

It can be seen that Zhong Hui was very upset after missing this debate.

Seeing Zhong Hui's expression, Cao Mao could only express regret.

I did it on purpose.

His debate with the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove was not a debate at all. Cao Mao's purpose was not to convince them. It was just a way of guiding public opinion.

When Cao Mao debated with Zheng Chong in the East Hall, was it to convince Zheng Chong?
Cao Mao was not a great man, so there was no need to do this.

He just wanted to change the current atmosphere through this incident. Cao Mao had no evil intentions towards the four old men in Shangshan. They practiced in the mountains honestly and did not do anything harmful to the world. However, in order to combat the current trend of seclusion, he had no choice but to hang these four people up and punish them.

The current trend of thought among scholars is too negative. They do not admire Xiao He and Zhang Liang who made great achievements. Instead, they admire those celebrities who hid in the mountains and forests and lived in seclusion.

It can be seen from Ruan Ji's previous words that people of his generation believed that this kind of seclusion from the world was the highest spiritual pursuit, which could not be compared with fame, wealth and power.

But when his nephew said it, he went even further: Those who want to stand out and achieve great things are not moral people.

This shows that the scholars' thinking is becoming more and more radical, but it is radical in the direction of giving up.

What Cao Mao wanted was not to defeat these seven people, but to strike down this negative trend of thought. Cao Mao could ask anyone about this matter, but the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove had the greatest reputation, so Cao Mao chose them to conduct the debate.

After all, they are the idols of Dawei, and their stories are more popular and easy to become "hot searches".

But in this kind of situation, he has to avoid Zhong Hui. Although this guy should be able to think of what he wants to do, he may get too angry and stand on the side of the Seven Sages to attack him. To fight against the Seven Sages, he has to rely on power and force, and add hidden undercover agents to solve the problem. If Zhong Hui is added, it will be disastrous if things get out of control and he can't win over them.

Zhong Hui sat next to Cao Mao and was very upset.

"Your Majesty, the news has spread everywhere. The scholars are all talking about this!"

"Even outside of Luoyang, you can hear it. Many people are debating the ambitions of the Four Elders and the Three Heroes. They even come to ask for my opinion."

When Cao Mao heard this, he immediately felt better.

These seven people had a great influence. One can imagine how great the uproar among the scholars was after Sima Zhao executed Ji Kang, which forced Sima Zhao to admit his mistakes and express regret.

The effect of promoting through them is still very obvious.

Of course, it is not realistic to completely change the trend of thought through just one debate, but Cao Mao is not in a hurry. What our Wei Dynasty lacks the least is such celebrities. In the future, they can come a few more times to continue suppressing the thoughts of escaping from the world, empty talk, and inaction. Under the leadership of the celebrities, the situation will always improve.

At the beginning, Emperor Ming chose to reverse the situation by cracking down on those who did nothing but talked big in the temple, but he was unsuccessful.

Apparently, only thought can defeat thought.

This Wei Dynasty needs a new idea.

It just so happened that Cao Mao was very good at debate, and his family's Si Tu was also a master of governance classics.

Looking at Zhong Hui who was still complaining, Cao Mao said, "Shi Ji, please don't be so. This time it's because you are not in the court, so it's not a problem. But, Shi Ji, who do you think has greater ambitions, these four sages or the three heroes?"

Zhong Hui was stunned for a moment.

Zhong Hui was a person who attached great importance to fame and achievements. After all, he talked about establishing unprecedented achievements all day long. However, he was also a literary youth, and he admired those who did not care about fame and fortune and were unrestrained.

Such conflicting thoughts appeared in one person.

Zhong Hui fell silent immediately. He slowly said, "I still think that Xiao He and others have greater ambitions."

"As Your Majesty said, after achieving unparalleled fame, I should emulate Marquis Liu and pursue the great truth in the mountains and forests. This is what a minister should do!"

Obviously, Zhong Hui combined these two ideas, after all, there was the precedent of Zhang Liang.

Zhong Hui has always admired Zhang Liang. In history, his nickname was Marquis Liu of Wei.

Zhong Hui suddenly remembered something and looked at Zhang Hua who was standing at the door. "Look at you, how can you look like a descendant of Liu Hou? Zhang Yi is from the same clan as you. He is imprisoned in Luoyang. Why don't you go to see him and comfort him? You just stand here and flatter and please His Majesty! Do you think you can achieve merit this way?!" Zhang Hua was actually not ugly.

Even if he doesn't reach the level of Pei Kai, Cao Mao, Wei Guan and others, he is definitely handsome.

But he didn't understand why Zhong Hui was so against him.

I always scold myself suddenly.

Zhang Hua initially hated Zhong Hui very much and would always fight back, but now, Zhang Hua has become numb. You can scold me all you want, anyway, you are older than me, so I will just respect you as an old man.

If one day Zhong Hui stopped scolding him and even praised him, Zhang Hua might not be used to it!
Cao Mao suddenly remembered this person and asked, "How is Zhang Yi doing here?"

Zhong Hui replied, "Your Majesty, since being imprisoned, this man has refused to eat or drink and has been making a lot of noise. However, I don't think he truly intends to die."

"If a person really wants to die, how can others stop him?"

"He probably just finds it difficult to step down. If Zhang Hua can comfort him, he can still be kept. Even if he can't serve Wei, he must be guaranteed survival."

"If he can survive, then the people of Shu and Wu will not be willing to fight to the death."

Zhong Hui spoke of the people of these two countries with a hint of disdain on his face. He glanced at Zhang Hua and waved his hand, "Go and visit your relative. I have important matters to discuss with His Majesty. This is not for you to listen to."

Cao Mao nodded towards Zhang Hua, not afraid that Zhang Hua would be disappointed. The two of them had been spending more and more time together, and Zhang Hua had become Cao Mao's absolute confidant, closer to him than those who had initially defected to Cao Mao. Cao Mao would ask for his opinions and thoughts on everything, and he knew almost everything Cao Mao was doing. He was a real confidant.

Although his official rank was not high, no one dared to look down on him outside the Taiji Hall. Even though he was young, everyone called him Mr. Zhang.

Only someone as petty as Zhong Hui would curse at him and call him by his name.

After Zhang Hua left, Zhong Hui finally said, "Since Zhuge Liang, Shu and Wu have frequently sent envoys, but they were usually sent by eunuchs, never by the Nine Ministers."

"This time, Shu sent Jiang Wan's son, Jiang Xian, to Wu. He was one of the Nine Ministers in Shu and held a high position of power."

"This is because my Great Wei has sage kings and famous ministers, and they are beginning to fear."

Zhong Hui was somewhat pleased with himself at this moment. Apparently, he considered this to be his own achievement.

Well, that actually makes sense.

Xiahou Ba was a Zhong Hui fan. He always advocated the "Zhong Hui threat theory" in Shu State, saying that if Cao Wei reused this person, we would be in danger.

As a result, now Shizhong Zhong Hui is appointed as the Shangshu, which is an extraordinary appointment. It would be strange if they were not afraid.

Cao Mao said seriously, "If Sun Jun and Jiang Wei join forces, things might get a little troublesome."

"Hahaha, this is impossible!"

Zhong Hui was very confident. He said, "They exchanged envoys, but that doesn't mean they completely trust each other. Because of past experience, the Shu people dare not easily trust the Wu people. There are ministers in the country who hate the Wu people as much as they hate us. As for the Wu people, Sun Jun does have some foresight and understands the pros and cons, but the people around him are all insects!"

"They're still killing their own people. Sun Quan's daughter had Sun Jun kill her sister, and this has implicated many people."

"Sun Jun has to rely on the power of the Wu clan. His two sisters married into the Quan family and the Zhu family respectively. It is impossible for him to deal with the clans, which makes their situation worse and worse."

Zhong Hui expressed his guess.

He believed that Shu and Wu were completely different. The wealthy families in Shu did not live very well, with limited resources and many people to divide. On the other hand, the wealthy families in Cao Wei were treated very well. Jiang Wei had been attacking them for years, forcing them to bleed. This was something the wealthy families could not tolerate. We have always been fleecing the government, so how can we let the government fleece us?

Therefore, Zhong Hui guessed that the ministers in Shu would certainly lose their fighting spirit. As long as something happened to Jiang Wei, they would be a group of lambs to be slaughtered. For those who have lost their fighting spirit, even the largest army and the strongest checkpoints would be of no use.

This was not the case in the State of Wu. The wealthy families in the State of Wu lived a comfortable life and enjoyed it. Once someone came to seize their territory, they would resist fiercely. Of course, if things reached an irreparable point, they would directly give up resistance and would never shed a drop of blood for the government.

Therefore, if one wants to achieve unification, one must start with Shu.

Cao Mao was a little surprised. Zhong Hui's prediction at this moment was almost consistent with historical developments.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to interfere with Wu; they'll fight amongst themselves. However, Shu is different. Their most intense conflict is only over the Northern Expedition. Therefore, Your Majesty should try to intensify the internal struggle within Shu."

“How to aggravate it?”

"This is very simple. Your Majesty does not need to mobilize a single soldier."

"Just appoint another general to fight against Shu."

(End of this chapter)