The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 482 No Need to Do It Yourself
"Greetings to Your Majesty!!"

Just as Zheng Xiaotong was about to bow and kneel, Cao Mao hurriedly helped him up.

"You don't have to."

Zheng Xian took the initiative to pay her respects.

Zheng Xiaotong then led the two of them into the main hall. Zheng Xiaotong requested that the emperor sit in the upper seat, but Cao Mao insisted on letting Zheng Xiaotong sit there on the grounds of his elder status.

Zheng Xiaotong said seriously, "Your Majesty, according to etiquette, no one except the Queen Mother can sit in the upper seat before Your Majesty."

Only then did Cao Mao sit in the upper seat.

He is worthy of being the grandson of Jingshen Gong. Look how much he observes etiquette and laws.

Zheng Xiaotong felt increasingly uneasy about the two people's sudden visit. Could they have come for Wang Su's matter?

But don't let yourself get involved in this matter!
Zheng Xiaotong was raised by Zheng Xuan himself.

However, when it comes to Zheng Xuan's level, he is not so strict when it comes to educating children.

He liked his grandson very much and respected his choice and would not force him to inherit his knowledge.

Zheng Xuan was an outstanding educator. He perfectly implemented the principles of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and teaching without discrimination.

Cao Mao first exchanged greetings with his father-in-law. No, it should be his great-grandfather-in-law.

Previously, Zheng Xiaotong traveled to various places with an imperial seal to govern the unruly local officials and made great contributions.

After returning from the local area, Zheng Xiaotong stayed in the mansion and rarely went to the palace.

In fact, this is not true. The Shizhong is the head of the eunuchs, and his most important job is to stay by the emperor's side, give him advice, and solve the troubles he encounters.

This was the job that Zhong Hui did, and it was also the reason why a Minister of Justice could enter and leave the palace freely every day.

If it were any other Shangshu, he would not be allowed to appear beside the emperor unless there was something important.

The title of Minister Zheng Xiaotong is somewhat unworthy of his real name.

Cao Mao greeted him warmly for a long time.

"Duke Zheng, look at this Situ Wang."

The words Zheng Xiaotong least wanted to hear finally happened.

But Zheng Xiaotong said firmly at this moment: "Your Majesty, Lord Wang Situ is also a master of Confucian classics. I am aware of his attainments in the classics. However, his Confucian classics have gone astray!"

Zheng Xiaotong actually didn't know what Wang Su had recently annotated.

But this is not important. What is important is that he went astray. If he did not go astray, then his family's tradition of passing on classics had gone astray.

Cao Mao was a little surprised.

That's not right. Wang Su did not criticize Zheng's school of thought this time. His annotations this time can include everything and will not easily offend any school. It's not that your knowledge is not good enough, it's that your generation is wrong, and it can be solved in one sentence.

Why do you say that the other person has gone astray as soon as you open your mouth?
At this moment, Cao Mao looked at Zheng Xian again.

My mind suddenly became clear.

Cao Mao nodded.

"I dare not speak lightly about matters concerning classics."

"It's just that recently, I learned about the dispute between the Wang School and the Zheng School. I heard from the virtuous ministers in the court that the Zheng School was at a disadvantage because you were too busy with your affairs and could not spare the time to debate with them."

Zheng Xiaotong complained in his heart, which immoral person said this?

Cao Mao said, "I would like you to take the position of Shaofu. The Nine Ministers are currently busy, and the affairs of the Shaofu are handled by the Shangshutai. You can concentrate on studying the classics. What do you think?"

Zheng Xiao agreed and was very reluctant, but the emperor had already said this.

How could he object?
He saluted hastily, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Cao Mao offered a few more encouraging words before finally saying, "Back then, the Master of the Classics combined ancient and modern texts, which reduced the conflict among the various schools of thought. The current prince wants to combine Confucianism and metaphysics, and his idea is the same."

"In fact, you can discuss this matter with him calmly."

Cao Mao also showed him the way.

Cao Mao had already seen that the grandson of this Jingshen Gong did not seem to have a high level of attainment in classics, and that he would not be able to fight against Wang Su. Like Zhuge Zhan, he was implicated by the reputation of his father and grandfather.

Wang Su's current idea is to integrate many schools of thought. At this time, he probably doesn't want to stir up the dispute between ancient and modern times again.

The two sides may still have common ground.

After throwing this person into the retirement group, the next thing Cao Mao had to consider was the appointment of Lu Qin.

After returning to Taiji Hall, Cao Mao did not indulge in Zheng Xian, but directly ordered to summon Lu Qin.

Lu Qin came as ordered, but he was not in a good mood.

He was forced to stay by the emperor's side, saying that he would be sorry for the people of Hebei if he left.

But when he stayed, he was deceived by Cao Mao again and again.

Cao Mao promised him several times that he would be appointed as the Minister of Rites.

Then Pei Xiu came up. Later, they said they would appoint him as the Minister of Works, and then Du Yu came up.

Later he said that he would be allowed to enter the Censorate, and then turned around and let Guanqiu Dian in.

By now, Lu Qin's heart has calmed down.

Never mind, isn’t it good to be a Sanqi?
His Majesty didn't summon me all day long, so I just stayed at home and read some books.

When he learned that the emperor summoned him, Lu Qin subconsciously felt that the emperor was preparing to make promises for him again.

As expected, when they met, Cao Mao spoke first: "Xun Pushe was appointed as the Grand Coachman by me, and now the Secretariat is short of a Pushe."

Lu Qin's eyes lit up.

"I intend to let Zhong Hui take over."

Lu Qin was a little surprised. He didn't even make any promises this time. You called me here just to tell me this?
"But Zhong Hui's position has become vacant."

Lu Qin's eyes lit up.

"I intend to let Wei Shu take over."

Lu Qin was completely calm, "That's how it should be."

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Originally, I wanted to have you join the Secretariat. However, the affairs of the Secretariat are very busy, and I couldn't bear to let you work so hard, so I mostly assigned young people to the positions."

Luchin did not refute.

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Therefore, I intend to make you the Minister of the Interior. From now on, you will stay by my side, be my arm, and share my worries. What do you think, Lord Lu?"

Unlike Zheng Xiaotong, Lu Qin was very clear about what he meant.

He was a mediocre person as a palace guard and could do nothing. It would be different if he could be promoted to a Palace Attendant.

He was involved in many important affairs of the temple.

But isn't this just empty talk?
Won’t someone else show up in the end?

Although Lu Qin was unsure, he still accepted the order.

Cao Mao's subsequent actions proved that this was not just empty talk. He immediately drafted an imperial edict.

Nowadays, the overall transfer of officials in the Wei Dynasty has become much more formal. After arguing with Xun Yi and others in the past, Zhong Hui combined the past systems and came up with a more comprehensive promotion method, which mainly combined the officials' political achievements, age, place of origin and other factors.

The previous laws were aimed at officials such as prefects, who were not allowed to serve as chief officials in their own hometowns or the hometowns of their in-laws. Zhong Hui made it more stringent, and no one from county officials upwards was allowed to serve as chief officials.

In other words, the situation in Wei Dynasty where the magistrate of Yuancheng County was appointed by a local prominent family would no longer occur.

However, the emperor was not restricted by this system. Even the strictest and most comprehensive laws in ancient times did not dare to include the emperor.

If a prince breaks the law, he can be punished the same as a commoner, but the emperor cannot break the law. The purpose of the law is to serve the emperor.

When Cao Mao lacked power, he could still be restrained, but now, that is impossible.

If the emperor wants to employ people, he can break this restriction.

Of course, if it was too outrageous, such as directly promoting Zhong Hui to be the Minister of the Chancellery, or promoting Zhang Hua to be the Minister of the Chancellery, it would definitely be met with great opposition from the ministers.

However, Cao Mao's transfers were not exceptional.

The person he promoted most exceptionally was Zhong Hui. However, Zhong Hui's abilities were evident and his contributions were numerous. He contributed at least half of the credit to the assessment, rectification and promotion of officials. Who dared to say that he did not deserve the credit?
The transfers of other ministers were all reasonable, even He Zeng's position as Sikong was very reasonable. He was promoted from the position of General Zhengbei. It would be strange if he did not serve as one of the Three Dukes after entering the temple from the position of General Zhengbei.

Lu Qin accepted this fact with astonishment.

Cao Mao then asked the newly appointed minister to sit next to him.

"Mr. Lu, I know you also have a family tradition of studying Confucian classics. What do you think of Wang's teachings?"

Lu Qin immediately said, "Your Majesty, the prince is a man of great talent. His teachings should be established as one of the official schools and promoted as much as possible."

"Okay, you will review the memorials regarding the classics first. If there are any important matters, you can report them."

The eunuch system was equivalent to Cao Mao's secretariat. These people participated in decision-making, that is, they were responsible for helping the emperor review memorials from all over the country and various miscellaneous matters. If there was no secretariat, Cao Mao would be exhausted just by dealing with these matters.

Lu Qin was an upright and impartial person, which was why Cao Mao promoted him.

Cao Mao's administrative system has become stronger. At present, the Shizhongtai and Shangshutai are already very perfect, and there is no need for too many adjustments in the short term.

This is the good thing about the Wei and Jin dynasties: these three agencies cooperated with each other, so the emperor would not be so tired and did not need to do everything himself.

Cao Mao has already brought the best and most outstanding talents into the temple administrative system. With the current configuration, as long as there is peaceful development, the Wei Dynasty will definitely become stronger year by year. This is the benefit of having abundant talents.

Now that the Shangshu Tai is operating at full speed, it has begun to make breakthroughs in the various fields they are responsible for, including agriculture, industry, and commerce.

Each Shangshu is not an ordinary person. They are competing with each other and want to achieve some results.

What Cao Mao should do now is not to interfere randomly, but to support them and let them give full play to their talents.

If this continues, the gap in national strength between Wei and the other two countries will become larger and larger.

Cao Mao could also turn his attention to the two distant countries and begin to consider launching a war of annihilation against them.

(End of this chapter)