The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 505: Just a Knife
"That's just the way it is."

Cao Mao was still sitting in the Taiji Hall, but the person sitting next to him was different.

The person sitting next to him at this moment was Zhong Hui.

Upon hearing that the King of Jibei was coming, Zhong Hui came to pay him a visit with great joy.

After all, this is the son of King Chen Si. Everyone knows that King Chen Si is a famous scholar who can compose a poem in seven steps and is a talented person in the world. His son must be extraordinary!

Zhong Hui came with great interest, but after taking a look at Cao Zhi, he said goodbye and prepared to leave.

It was Cao Mao who quickly grabbed him.

In fact, Cao Zhi is not ugly. He has a handsome appearance and a tall stature. He is a very good man.

However, perhaps because he was too afraid of Cao Mao, he looked a little timid, and the forced smile on his face made him look a little mean. Moreover, Zhong Hui's expectations of him were a little too high.

When you find out that he is not as good as you expected, you will naturally be very disappointed.

Cao Mao talked a lot with Cao Zhi, and then asked someone to take him to meet the empress dowager, while he left Zhong Hui and Guo Ze behind.

He asked Guo Ze to tell the story to Zhong Hui again, actually he also wanted to compare it with what Cao Yan had just said to see if there was any problem.

What Guo Ze said was not much different from what Cao Yan said. Compared with Cao Yan, Cao Mao still trusted Guo Ze more. If he said so, then there was basically no problem.

Cao Mao looked at Zhong Hui and said seriously, "That's what happened."

"What do you think of Gong Shahong, Shi Ji?"

Zhong Hui looked up with disdain. "This man is nothing more than a broken sword, discarded after becoming useless. Why should we pay attention to him?"

Cao Mao's eyes lit up.

The reason why the problems of the big families are difficult to solve is because the ones who do the work are the big families!

If you ask Zhong Yu about this question, the answer you get will definitely be different.

Zhong Yu would tell Cao Mao that traitors like Gong Shahong must be executed.

Because the annexation of land is a common behavior of many big families, you expect to let them deal with themselves, which is obviously impossible.

Therefore, there are very few people who can use it.

There are warriors like Hu Zun, who made their fortunes through military exploits; there are people like Zhang Hua, who came from humble backgrounds and suffered hardships since childhood; there are gentlemen like Guo Ze, who will carry out Cao Mao's orders; and there are people like Zhong Hui, who don't care about the interests of their family as long as they can establish merit.

He doesn't even have a family of his own. Do you expect such a person to have a clan concept?

He is an extremely selfish person, and even his family is a burden to him.

But I have to say, it feels really good when such a person stands on your side!
Cao Mao looked at him and asked, "Then who is the one wielding the knife?"

"Of course it's someone like Liu Ji."

Zhong Hui sneered and said, "Your Majesty, people like Gong Shahong were propped up by them to do things like this. Killing one Gong Shahong will only bring about a second and a third. This is not fundamental governance."

Cao Mao pondered for a moment, "So that's how it is."

Guo Ze was very angry at this moment. He said, "If that's the case, then we should arrest Liu Ji and the others!"

Zhong Hui glanced at him and said, "What crime can we accuse you of? These powerful families are not local tyrants. If a powerful family uses force and plunder, a county magistrate would be enough to catch them. But how can a powerful family leave any evidence when they do things?"

Guo Ze asked in return, "Are we just going to let them go like this?"

Zhong Hui then looked at Cao Mao, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

"Isn't that what the governor is for?"

Cao Mao said, "I intend to have the provincial governors strictly investigate the status of public land and punish those who encroach on it!"

Zhong Hui laughed, "Your Majesty's idea is just to knock down more swords, but it can't do anything to the person behind the scenes."

"So, how do you think we should deal with the person behind this?"

Speaking of this, Zhong Hui was not sleepy at all. He smiled and rubbed his hands, which was enough to show his inner excitement.

His expression at this moment seemed to be telling Cao Mao, you should have asked me this earlier.

The root of this matter is actually the issue of annexation among large families.

In history, ministers like Zhang Hua racked their brains to solve this problem, but various policies failed to be implemented.

Cao Mao wanted to know what solution Zhong Hui would come up with if he were asked to solve this problem.

Zhong Hui pursed his lips and asked, "Your Majesty, when Qin conquered the six kingdoms, the nobles of each kingdom occupied the local areas and gained immense power. However, by the beginning of the Han Dynasty, these nobles had lost the ability to oppose the imperial court. Why was this so?"

It’s because of Liu Jing.

Cao Mao wanted to answer this, but he pretended to be ignorant. "I have heard something about it. It seems to be related to the policy of Lingyi. I don't know the details."

Zhong Hui smiled and said, "That's right. It's because these great clans were relocated. They were forced to leave their homeland and go to the interior of the country to take charge of guarding the imperial mausoleum. The emperor called this a gift to them."

Guo Ze suddenly realized, "We also let them guard the imperial tomb?"

Zhong Hui shook his head and said, "No."

"In the early Han Dynasty, places like Chang'an were very poor and lacked population, so the wealthy families were relocated here and even changed their surnames."

"But not right now."

Zhong Hui suddenly looked at Cao Mao and said, "Your Majesty, after destroying Shu and Wu, Your Majesty should reward the world!" "Oh?"

"How to reward?!"

“Reward land!!”

"Both Shu and Wu have vast tracts of land. If it weren't for these meritorious officials in the court, Your Majesty wouldn't have been able to accomplish the feat of unification. Therefore, to accomplish this great unification, you must reward these people!"

"Take back the lands of these two countries and give them to these great tribes!"

"Let them head south!"

Migration of the elite to the south???

Cao Mao widened his eyes and looked at Zhong Hui in astonishment.

Zhong Hui continued, "There's a lot of land in the south, but very little that can be cultivated. Don't the big families love to annex it? Let them go south and annex it. Even if they want tenants, let them develop it themselves!"

"In just a hundred years, the Southern Kingdom will surely be revitalized!"

Cao Mao had thought about relocating the powerful in the past, and forcibly relocating the powerful in the country and the powerful in Shu and Wu, but he had never thought of rewarding the powerful families with land!
This is the same principle as the gift in the early Han Dynasty.

I recognize your merits and have awarded you a large tract of land in the south. Why? You refuse to go? Are you unwilling to accept my gift? Are you trying to disobey my order?
If we could achieve great unification, given our reputation at that time, it would really be feasible.

It’s true, wasn’t the South developed by these big tribes?
They like to occupy land and annex other lands, so it is a good idea to let them go to the south to do it.
Before Cao Mao could speak, Guo Ze could not help but sigh, "Mr. Zhong is right. We can let them go to the Southern Kingdom!"

Zhong Hui hadn't noticed it before, but now he suddenly realized that Guo Ze had some of the demeanor of a famous scholar.

Cao Mao had no choice but to let Guo Ze go to Zhaoyang Palace first to discuss other matters with Zhong Hui.

"Shi Ji probably knows about Deng Ai's affairs?"

Zhong Hui was not surprised at all. "I already knew this. I advised Your Majesty back then that Deng Ai can be a general, but not a commander-in-chief. You can let him do things, but you can't let him make decisions."

"This person is greedy for success and quick profit."

Zhong Hui listed a lot of shortcomings, although these shortcomings seemed to be quite appropriate to describe himself.

Cao Mao was very quiet and did not interrupt Zhong Hui.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to go. I will definitely be able to keep an eye on Deng Ai!"

Zhong Hui suddenly spoke.

Cao Mao glanced at him and said, "Shi Ji, don't be anxious. Now is not the time."

Zhong Hui, however, was a little impatient. "Your Majesty, now is the right time. Deng Ai clearly wants to destroy Shu this time."

"Ok??"

Zhong Hui grabbed the teacups in front of himself and Cao Mao, put them on the table, and then placed them in the two corners.

"Your Majesty, look, this is Dazhong, Gansong. This is Hancheng, Lecheng."

"Now, Jiang Wei wants to send troops to join forces with the Qiang and Hu people in Liang Province, that is, in Longxi. He wants to use their strength to strengthen his own army. If he can win, he will occupy Liang Province. If he cannot win, he will take these Hu people back. Shu Kingdom is short of manpower."

Zhong Hui dipped his hand in the tea and drew two lines.

"Your Majesty, look"

"This is where Deng Ai's army is."

"I'm certain that if Jiang Wei dares to send troops to Liang Province, Sima Wang's troops will hold their ground, Pang Hui's troops will attack Dazhong and Gansong, and Deng Ai will attack Wujie and Qiaotou."

The two horizontal lines drawn by Zhong Hui directly divided the battlefield.

Cao Mao widened his eyes. Why did these two lines look so familiar?
Zhong Hui said proudly, "When the central army arrives here, what do you think we should do?"

Cao Mao subconsciously looked towards Hancheng Lecheng.

Zhong Hui laughed and picked up the teacup representing the two cities. "The central army can attack this place directly."

"When Jiang Wei discovers something's wrong, it will probably be too late for him to return to defend. If Deng Ai succeeds, the Hanzhong defense line will collapse. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to destroy Shu?"

When Zhong Hui finished painting, Cao Mao suddenly woke up.

Isn't this the same strategy Zhong Hui used to conquer Shu in history? A three-pronged attack?

The difference is that in history, Jiang Wei went to Dazhong to station troops because he was ostracized by Huang Hao, but now Jiang Wei led his troops here to send troops to Liangzhou.

Cao Mao suddenly came to his senses.

Deng Ai was deliberately luring Jiang Wei, hoping to seize the opportunity to seize Hanzhong and destroy the enemy's Hanzhong defense line! !

Cao Mao's original idea was just to inflict another heavy blow on Jiang Wei, but he didn't expect that Deng Ai's appetite was so big.

Zhong Hui looked anxious. "Your Majesty, this matter cannot be delayed. Please allow me to proceed here! I am willing to hold Deng Ai hostage and prevent him from doing anything detrimental to Your Majesty!"

Cao Mao suddenly looked at him.

"Okay, then Shiji will get ready."

"Follow me."

"I will go to Chang'an and personally fight against the Shu bandits!"

(End of this chapter)