The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 397: Shuffle, New Cards

Of course, this is why Cao Mao asked Zhong Yu to be in charge of Zhong Hui's affairs.

Zhong Hui wanted to expand the scope of the Sun Yu case and use it to get rid of more small fish. In fact, Cao Mao supported his idea, but Zhong Hui was a little too radical in the execution process.

In order to prevent the ministers from interfering, Zhong Hui decided to kill them all.

Once these people die, there will only be places left for them, and there will be no chance for them to be used, so the ministers will naturally not care about them.

Among the many local officials, the most vicious ones have already been dealt with by the eunuchs, and those who are left now at most fail to meet Zhong Hui's requirements, and there is no need to deal with them.

If the cleanup were carried out according to Zhong Hui's standards, there would not be many people left in the Wei Dynasty.

Although Zhong Hui is easy to use, one must be very careful when using him, especially when one's ideas differ from his.

In order to prevent Zhong Hui from getting angry, Cao Mao released his own brother to look through his list.

Zhong Yu's personality was completely different from Zhong Hui's. He was calm and generous, so he could naturally see the inappropriateness in his brother's list and correct it.

Unfortunately, Zhong Yu's position was too vague and could not be fully trusted, so he needed a clan member like Xiahou He to review his list.

This is what is called balance in the temple.

Cao Mao said helplessly: "Shi Ji, your brother is talented, how can you let him stay in the palace all the time?"

"Some ministers advised: Lord Zhong can be appointed as the Shangshu."

Zhong Hui frowned immediately.

He spoke again, "Your Majesty, let's not talk about my brother's affairs, but if you don't make up your mind to kill these officials now, you will definitely regret it later."

Cao Mao looked at the list in his hand again.

"Shiji, why do you let such a small matter bother you?"

"Is it true that when it comes to civil administration, there is only one Sili region?"

"Implementing the performance evaluation system in all regions and commencing the first imperial examinations for the Wei Dynasty at the end of the year are the things you should be responsible for."

"And then there's the matter of school."

"Back when Emperor Wenming was still around, he repeatedly requested that local governments build schools to educate talented young people. Students from the Imperial College who weren't eligible to take the exams were eventually assigned to local governments to take charge of school affairs."

"But what about now?"

"How many officials are there in schools across the country who are actually doing their jobs? It's already August. How much time is left until the end of the year?"

"Shouldn't this school and the promotion of local talent be given priority in performance evaluations?"

Cao Mao asked a lot of questions in succession, and Zhong Hui was unable to answer some of them.

Indeed, compared with the things Cao Mao ordered, clearing out the officials in the Sili area seemed less important.

Zhong Hui said seriously, "I will definitely get these things done."

Cao Mao then discussed another important matter with Zhong Hui: the reform of the temple was about to officially begin.

According to Cao Mao's original idea, he would establish an institution capable of governing the world with the Secretariat as the foundation, and the six secretaries were also renamed by Cao Mao.

Cao Mao had this idea a long time ago.

Zhong Hui was no stranger to this, and now the time had finally come to implement it.

The new Secretariat was headed by Wang Chang, who was in charge of all matters of the Secretariat, similar to the prime minister.

His left and right deputies were Xun Yi and Chen Tai respectively.

Xun Yi was more responsible for checking and receiving, while Chen Tai was responsible for supervision.

As for the other six ministries, Zheng Mao was naturally the Minister of Personnel. It was not that Cao Mao was targeting one person, but that this person was indeed useful. The talents he promoted were real talents.

The Ministry of Justice was headed by Zhong Hui.

This does not require much explanation, it is just to make the ministers obedient.

Cao Mao originally wanted Lu Qin to lead the Ministry of Revenue, but after much deliberation, he finally chose Lu Zhi.

In terms of reputation, Lu Qin has greater reputation, but in terms of ability, Lu Zhi is better. Moreover, Lu Zhi has sufficient experience in local administration and is known for his integrity. He is one of the rare officials who will care for the people. It is obviously more beneficial to let such a person be in charge of the Ministry of Revenue.

There is no need to think too much about the Ministry of War, Chen Qian can take the position.

The Ministry of Rites originally planned to let Lu Qin take the position, but Cao Mao thought about it and finally decided to let Pei Xiu take the position.

Because Pei Xiu is good at speaking, will not be easily deceived, and has a quick mind, when it comes to developing education or other careers in the future, Pei Xiu must do something.

The choice of the Ministry of Works finally fell on Du Yu. After all, Du Yu was one of the few people who was interested in this area and able to get things done. Ma Jun was better than him, but Ma Jun was definitely not as good as Du Yu as an official.

Cao Mao, however, further expanded the Secretariat and the Imperial Household. This was because Cao Mao's workload was too heavy, and in addition to the administrative offices, he also needed a large decision-making body. Lu Qin, Zhong Yu, Wei Shu, Ji Kang, Jiao Bo, and others were assigned to the Secretariat and the Imperial Household respectively.

Cao Mao was ready to mobilize the cavalry and let them play their true role.

As for those old ministers who were replaced, Cao Mao directly sent them to the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. You can see for yourself, whatever is lacking will be filled, and the Duke is too lazy to care.

Cui Zan was very excited to replace Chen Qian and became the Chief Justice of Wei, and the other people who were replaced were also forced into the ranks of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers.

This personnel transfer was relatively quick, probably because of the Qingzhou incident, the ministers did not have much intention of resisting.

Of course, maybe it’s also because of this season.

In this season of harvest and beheading, no one dared to provoke the emperor easily.

Cao Mao sat alone in the West Hall. On the wall in front of him were hung all kinds of papers, each with the names of ministers and officials written on it.

Cao Mao raised his head and looked at the densely packed lives with a tired look on his face.

After struggling for so long, I finally figured out the cards I have.

The current lineup is finally worth a look.

Cao Mao really didn't want to even take a second look at the past lineup of the temple and local officials.

If it were put in the game, among all the civil and military officials in the court, few would have an ability value of over 70. Looking at the local people, their ability values are all around 50 or 60, and their loyalty is all below 30.

Looking at this lineup, I have no intention of continuing. I have to replace these people and strengthen the lineup before I can continue.

This initial strengthening has been achieved. After Cao Mao's reshuffle, the current lineup has very good capabilities. Even if it cannot reach the super lineup during the time of Emperor Wu, it is already the strongest at this moment. With this trump card, we can govern the Wei Dynasty with confidence and boldness.

Huainan, Tugao.

"General, the rebellion in Qingzhou has no impact on Huainan at all. We can retreat now!"

It was Lü Ju, the General of the Cavalry of the Eastern Wu, who spoke.

Lu Ju was the son of Lu Fan, the former Grand Marshal of Wu. Over the years, his military achievements were extremely outstanding. He won victories in every battle and was very famous. He was deeply loved by his soldiers and the people of the entire Eastern Wu also respected him very much.

But precisely because of this reason, Sun Jun was extremely wary of him.

If there was anyone in Wu who could become a general through his own strength, it would definitely be Lu Ju.

In front of a truly battle-hardened general, Sun Jun always felt inexplicably irritated. He seemed a little jealous of Lu Ju. Every time Lu Ju spoke to him, he always felt that the other party had other purposes, just like now.

Sun Jun narrowed his eyes. "Why have you been trying to get me to go back since we went to war?"

"Don't you think you are no match for Cao Zei?"

Lü Ju was not too rude to the young deputy general. He explained, "General, now is not the best time to go to war. Cao Cao has entrusted Guanqiu Jian with an important task and asked him to command the surrounding troops. We don't have many troops and we have come from afar."

Sun Jun was very dissatisfied. "We've already come here, what's the point of talking about these things?"

"Preparing an army and preparing food supplies, are you just here to take a look? Why didn't you tell me when we were discussing this important matter? Are you telling me now just to embarrass me?!"

Lu Ju was also a little angry at this moment. Didn’t I try to dissuade you when you were discussing important matters?

You were the one who insisted on coming, but now you have no chance. If you don't withdraw your troops, do you have to give Guanqiu Jian a wave before leaving?

Seeing the atmosphere become tense, General Zuo Liu Zan felt even more bitter.

Liu Zan was a fierce general of the Eastern Wu. In every battle, he would always lead the troops, and his men would follow him into the palace. He was invincible and extremely brave.

However, Liu Zan was ill at the moment.

His condition became increasingly serious and even began to affect his marching and deployment.

Liu Zan agreed with Lu Ju's opinion that the troops should be withdrawn. However, if he spoke for Lu Ju now, it would only exacerbate the conflict between the general and the cavalry general.

Liu Zan was silent for a moment before he said, "If the general is unwilling to evacuate, why not feint an attack on the city and wait for the enemy's rescue? If we can defeat the enemy's reinforcements, we can withdraw with the supplies and this will be a worthwhile trip."

Liu Zan's idea was very simple. Cao Cao knew that he was coming to attack, and the surrounding counties would definitely send troops to rescue him. At that time, as long as he could defeat one of the reinforcements, he could shout victory and return to Dongwu.

In this way, the general's face is saved, and he is not afraid of getting into a difficult battle by winning the battle quickly.

Sun Jun's mood improved a little. "Okay, then let General Lu take charge of the feint attack, and General Liu and I will be in charge of the ambush."

Lu Ju had no choice but to accept the order.

He didn't know why Sun Jun insisted on commanding the war himself. You have never fought any major battles, not even against the Shanyue. How can you think you can defeat Guanqiu Jian?
Why don't you let him be the commander when we go to war, and you just wait in the rear to reap the credit?
Why should it be so?
Lu Ju reluctantly led his soldiers to attack Tuogao.

At this moment, the two armies of Cao Cao had quietly arrived on both sides of them, ready to chop off Sun Jun's head.

ps: I have a cold and am not in good condition. I will post the last chapter tomorrow. Thank you brothers for your understanding and support.

(End of this chapter)