The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 402: Birds of a feather

"Your Majesty, this should have been done long ago."

Sitting in the carriage, Cheng Ji was still chattering about what had just happened.

"You have been in the palace, and you have no idea how vicious these people are. Among the ministers and celebrities in the court, none of them are not greedy."

"Let's talk about Wang Rong, the famous scholar you often summoned."

"You also appointed him as a Huangmen Lang in the Ministry of Personnel."

"On the surface, he's a distinguished scholar who doesn't care about money or fame. He talks about classics and is a close friend of Ji Kang and others. He's a well-known scholar, right?"

"But does Your Majesty know what kind of person he is in private?"

Cheng Ji said indignantly: "This person is extremely greedy for profit!!"

"He is a clean and honest scholar before Your Majesty, and a selfless sage before Ji Kang!"

"He owns dozens of mansions in Luoyang, as well as countless gardens, fields, and water mills. He almost seized the fertile fields that my brother was awarded for his military exploits. Every time I see my brother, he brings up the farmland, but he never responds."

"My brother won't let me tell His Majesty about this! He says we come from humble backgrounds, crude warriors, and His Majesty favors distinguished scholars and hosts banquets. If I tell His Majesty that a guest of His Majesty's wants to seize our farmland, it will anger His Majesty. He also says that if His Majesty punishes Wang Rong for this, we will be attacked by scholars all over the world."

"I just can't understand why those who steal people's farmland are not punished, but those whose land is stolen are scolded instead?"

Cheng Ji seemed to have been holding it in for a long time, and at this moment he couldn't help but vent.

Cao Mao paused, then suddenly raised his head and looked at Cheng Ji.

"You're saying that my captain of the Central Army, the captain of the Palace who is always in my presence, is being blackmailed and threatened, and that someone is trying to steal my farmland?"

Cao Mao really couldn't help it at this moment.

Cheng Ji had already forgotten his brother's advice. He complained, "I am not from a high family, so what can I do?"

"Those sons of powerful families are only moral when facing the emperor or those more powerful than themselves. When facing those less powerful than themselves, they are no different from jackals. People say that Wang Rong and his beloved wife would calculate their wealth day and night with ivory counting sticks. Others say that after he became a Huangmen official in the Ministry of Personnel, he began openly demanding money."

"Anyone who can provide him with farmland and money can be recommended by him to the Minister of Personnel and thus have the opportunity to become an official."

"His door has been almost broken down these days."

At this moment, the veins on Cao Mao's forehead were about to bulge.

Celebrities? ?
That's it? ?
Cao Mao was very good to Wang Rong. In order to enable the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove to play their due publicity role, Cao Mao appointed officials to these people and let them do what they were best at.

Banquets were often held in the East Hall to entertain them.

This is the most we can do, right?
Do you still have to do this to your father?
How long have you been an official? You've already started hoarding farmland and gardens and started to engage in corruption?
Although Cheng Ji did not produce any evidence, Cao Mao believed his words about 80% because he vaguely remembered that in history, Wang Rong, when he was the governor of Jingzhou, sent people to plunder gardens and develop real estate in various places, and then he was captured by the then Sikong Xun Yi.

Although Xun Yi came from a prominent family and was not good at politics or ability, he was indeed honest.

When Sima Yan learned about this, his ministers suggested that he punish Wang Rong. Sima Yan was kind-hearted and could not bear to see others suffer, so he made him pay a fine and dismissed him from his position as Governor of Jingzhou.

Then he was appointed as governor of Yuzhou!

It was still Sima Yan's usual style. The people of Jingzhou cheered, while the people of Yuzhou took to the streets and cursed!

Cao Mao was immediately furious.

He didn't say anything, his face was very gloomy, but Cheng Ji continued to speak.

"This is how the world works. It's the same for all officials, no matter what kind. Shi Bao, a skilled warrior, was corrupt. He Zeng, a renowned minister with good governance, was also greedy."

"Even the son of the Minister of Personnel, He Chu, who had a reputation for being honest and upright, and whom you dismissed, Prince He Renjiao!"

"When my brother wanted me to be his attendant, he looked for this person."

"This man is well-known. Everyone says he's very capable and will definitely be a good local official in the future. But do you know? He's obsessed with money. He loves it like his life. His private wealth is greater than that of his father and grandfather combined."

Before Cheng Ji could finish his words, the group had already returned to the palace.

Zhang Hua, who had just finished his work, walked out and saw Cao Mao's gloomy face. At this moment, Zhang Hua was also shocked.

"Your Majesty, what happened?"

"Let's talk after we go in."

The group walked into the hall.

At this moment in the Censorate, Zhong Hui was checking the many lists of people who had recently entered and left the Censorate. One official after another was escorted out of the Censorate by his men.

Zhong Hui has been waiting for this day. Since the death of the general, these people have become more and more daring.

Of course, they did the same when the general was around, but they were a little more restrained.

Zhong Hui finally saw the shivering clerk standing in the middle.

Zhong Hui waved his hand and the clerk came over to him.

"You were the one who brought His Majesty to the Censorate?"

Zuo Xi felt his scalp tingle at this moment. He was just a low-level official from a humble family. Fearing that he could not complete his mission and wanting to stand out, he spoke to the emperor. But he never expected that things would develop like this.

Your Majesty is so furious that the world will probably be flooded with blood.

People don't dare to offend the emperor, don't dare to offend Zhong Hui, so will they not dare to offend themselves?
If they investigate and say that all this is because of me, then won’t my whole family be killed together?
He hurriedly explained: "Mr. Zhong, I came here to report my mission, not..."

"No problem, you did great!"

Zhong Hui interrupted him directly, then looked him over and said, "You have a respectable appearance. How about this? Send someone to bring your family to Luoyang."

"Whether you are involved in this matter or not, they will not let you go. From now on, you will be my Huangmen Lang. My Ministry of Justice is short of manpower."

Zuo Xi was stunned.

What is this ups and downs?
Jumping from a local clerk to a Huangmen Lang all of a sudden? Aren't there supposed to be assessment criteria?

Zuo Xi was not in a hurry to accept the order. He bowed again and said, "I have no talent. I am afraid I am not qualified to hold such an important position."

"I'm not asking you to come and become a Lang directly. I definitely want you to make meritorious contributions first. My Ministry of Justice is most in need of manpower, so there's no need to refuse!"

"only!!"

When Zhong Hui was preparing to set up the Ministry of Justice, Cao Mao took great pains to change the names of the six ministers, not only for the sake of pleasantness and convenience, but also to show that they were different from the past.

This is a new department, not a renamed version of the original department. Don’t you see that the responsibilities are different?
Zhong Hui did not plan to use the original Huangmen Lang and many subordinate officials. He wanted to form a completely new team.

Zhong Hui had three criteria for selecting people: the first was that they had to be good-looking, the second was that they had to be talented, and the third was that they had to come from a humble background.

In today's world, it is really difficult to find any cruel officials, let alone someone like Zhang Tang, even someone like Man Chong is hard to find.

The so-called fair officials of the Wei and Jin dynasties were only fair when dealing with their political enemies and the common people. The so-called cruel officials were only cruel when dealing with the common people.

After all, the marriage relationships among the big families are very complicated.

Everyone is a relative, so it is difficult to take action even against someone who has committed a crime.

The best solution Zhong Hui could think of was to select some capable people from the bottom of society to work for him. These people from the bottom of society did not have such concerns as relatives, so they could kill without hesitation and were not afraid of being punished themselves.

Zuo Xi did not dare to disobey and quickly agreed.

Zhong Hui wanted to say something, but he saw the child hiding behind Zuo Xi.

After just a few glances, Zhong Hui's expression became a little complicated.

"how old are you?"

"I'm thirty-one."

"How many sons do you have?"

"That's it."

"Then have more children."

Zuo Xi was speechless. This person was really rude. Even though Zuo Xi kept saying that his child was not good-looking, he would still feel uncomfortable when others said so.

However, he could not express his dissatisfaction to this person. At this moment, this person was the only one who could protect him.

He looked at his son again and said, "I hope you can achieve great things when you grow up, so that they will all know that they were wrong!"
Zhong Hui asked the two of them to leave first, and he continued to check the many documents of the Censorate.

At this moment, Cheng Ji had already told Zhang Hua in detail what had happened.

After hearing this, Zhang Hua remained silent for a long time.

His reason told him that if the emperor did this, it would definitely cause greater unrest and seriously damage the emperor's reputation.

This reputation will certainly be worse than Sima Shi's, and he will become an unjust king in the eyes of scholars all over the world.

But Zhang Hua was also angry about what happened in the Censorate.

Before Zhang Hua became famous, he had experienced many hardships and had seen the true faces of traitors.

If even the Censorate is in this state, then we really have to deal with it.

Zhang Hua looked somewhat helpless. He sighed, "Such an action will undoubtedly provoke resistance from the great clans, and even affect the Wu and Shu kingdoms, making them even more determined to resist the Wei Dynasty."

Cao Mao had a stern face and spoke in a low voice.

"Then get rid of them all at once."

"I just realized that leaving their positions vacant is better than letting these insects continue to run things."

Zhang Hua didn't say anything else. He already understood that the emperor had made up his mind.

Of course, His Majesty now has the ability to eliminate the thieves. Although this may be accompanied by some twists and turns, overall, there should not be any major problems.

If only Zhong Hui could control himself a little.
(End of this chapter)