The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 534 Only Children Make Decisions
Cao Mao's appearance in the prison this time was not a sudden decision. Liu Lu had sent people to keep an eye on Yang Zong a long time ago.

They had been keeping an eye on him for some time. After learning that Yang Zong had been arrested again, Cao Mao finally showed up and began to actively recruit him.

Cao Mao was not obsessed with collecting celebrities, but he did not like to collect capable officials.

However, in an era where local governance depends entirely on the quality of officials, talent is really, really, really important.

If a state can get a powerful governor, the whole state may take off, just like Wang Ji who served as the governor of Jingzhou, Deng Ai who served as the governor of Yanzhou, and Zhou Tai who served as the governor of Yuzhou.

These people obviously all had outstanding performances. Wang Ji governed Jingxiang very well. Deng Ai dismissed many incompetent officials in Yanzhou, promoted outstanding talents, opened up land and governed the people. The same was true for Zhou Tai.

If a county or a prefecture could be governed by outstanding talents, the improvement to the local area would be tenfold or a hundredfold!

An emperor may not know anything, but he must be proficient in finding and employing talents.

Cao Mao led Zhang Hua away from here.

Cao Mao secretly watched the situation outside. He was very happy with everything that happened to Yang Zong.

"Luoyang has become different."

"Sooner or later, the whole world will be like this."

Zhang Hua firmly believes this.

Just when Cao Mao returned to the gate of the imperial palace, he saw soldiers blocking a man. The man was very anxious and was saying something loudly.

Seeing this person, Cao Mao jumped off the carriage and walked up quickly.

The person who was blocked here was Ma Jun.

Seeing the emperor suddenly appear, both the soldiers and Ma Jun were startled and hurriedly bowed to greet him.

Cao Mao hurriedly helped the master in front of him up.

If we say that the national strength of Wei State is growing so rapidly today, Mr. Ma in front of us must have made some contribution.

Not to mention his many previous agricultural inventions, Mr. Ma's greatest achievement was helping to improve smelting technology, which brought Wei State's smelting technology to a higher level.

The invention of agricultural tools has its limitations. Take the curved plow for example. It is suitable for areas like Huainan, but once it reaches the north, its function and effect are not that great. The waterwheel is similar. The effects it can produce in different places are also different.

But this smelting technology is different. It is the basis of all steel products and can be used in weapons and farm tools.

This level of improvement will have a huge impact on the country's productivity.

Ever since Ma Jun improved the smelting technology according to Cao Mao's requirements, Du Yu set up large smelting plants in various places and began to focus on iron smelting. The ironware of the Wei Dynasty was being updated and productivity was constantly increasing.

Cao Mao simply loved this great inventor.

Most importantly, this guy is a complete tech geek.

He doesn't like joining gangs or taking drugs or drinking alcohol. His biggest hobby is playing with iron and wood!
Where can we find such talents?

Cao Mao hurriedly helped him up, then looked at the soldiers beside him with displeasure.

The soldier saw the emperor's displeasure and quickly apologized.

Ma Jun said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I don't blame you, I don't blame you."

Ma Jun was also very annoyed at this moment. His stuttering became more serious due to his nervousness, and he couldn't speak at all.

Cao Mao saw his embarrassment and did not get angry with the soldiers. He just smiled and pulled him into his carriage and then entered the palace.

"Don't worry, Lord Ma. Minister Du is still busy arranging matters in Shu. He might be a little busy. No matter what it is, just tell me."

Cao Mao comforted him and drove into the palace.

Then he took his hand and walked down, taking him around the palace, introducing the situation in the Taiji Hall to him as they walked.

As he walked, Ma Jun finally calmed down.

"Your Majesty, I have come to see you today. I was looking for Minister Du, but I couldn't find him because the matter was urgent. So, so, so..."

Cao Mao nodded and asked with a smile, "What exactly is going on?"

Ma Jun said, "Your Majesty, there are two people in Shu. I, I am willing to plead, plead, plead for them."

Cao Mao was stunned for a moment, but not surprised.

The Fufeng Ma family is an extremely large family, just like the Zhuge family, spread all over the place. It is normal for Shu to have people or relatives from their clan.

Cao Mao asked again: "Who are these two people?"

"Pu Yuan, Li, Li, Li Xuan."

Ma Jun mentioned two names.

Cao Mao was stunned for a moment.

Ma Jun explained, "Li Xun came from a prominent Shu clan, the Zitong Li family. His father, Li Ren, was a renowned scholar in Shu. He was once friends with Yin Mo and studied under Sima Hui, Song Zhong, and others. Their family inherited skills in arithmetic, divination, medicine, crossbows, and mechanics!"

"Their family has passed down many classics, including the Five Classics, various schools of thought, and various studies. However, this person prefers skills and does not like classics, so he is not taken seriously."

"Pu Yuan is a famous craftsman in Shu. He is very skilled in making knives and is proficient in iron smelting."

Cao Mao immediately knew who the two people Ma Jun were talking about.

During the Three Kingdoms period, each country had many great inventors, and Shu Kingdom had two of them. It is said that the Zhuge Crossbow was originally designed by the Li family, and Pu Yuan was a skilled craftsman who made knives for Zhuge Liang.

Cao Mao suddenly slapped his forehead.

How could I have forgotten these two people?
He quickly looked at Zhang Hua who was standing beside him. Zhang Hua already understood what was going on and said hurriedly, "I will go find these two people right now!"

"Don't let anyone embarrass them! Invite them here as soon as possible!"

Cao Mao issued an imperial edict.

After Zhang Hua left in a hurry, Cao Mao held Ma Jun's hand again, his eyes full of admiration.

He is worthy of being the master of my family. If Ma Jun hadn’t mentioned it, Cao Mao would have forgotten that there were such two talents in Shu Kingdom!
Li Xun's family has inherited various mechanical inventions, and Pu Yuan's smelting technology is also very powerful. If these two people can help Ma Jun, it will be a great improvement in all aspects!
"If it weren't for Ma Gong, we would have almost missed out on these two great sages!"

Ma Jun was a little embarrassed. He shook his head and said, "I don't deserve it."

"Don't worry, Ma Gong. Once we find their whereabouts, we will bring them to you!"

Cao Mao then asked about his recent research direction.

When talking about his major, Ma Jun stopped stuttering and spoke excitedly and fluently.

The more excited Ma Jun is, the more he stutters, while the more excited Deng Ai is, the less he stutters.
If these two people meet, they won’t fight, right?

At this moment, Zhang Hua began a comprehensive search.

Li Xun was easy to find. He served as the Right General of the Central Army in the State of Shu and was one of the first ministers to follow Liu Chan to the imperial court. He was now in Luoyang.

When Zhang Hua came to the door, the man was very scared.

He was not young anymore, had a long beard, but was not very tall.

After he was moved to Luoyang, he remained invisible. His official position was neither too high nor too low. He had no political achievements and only held the official position because of his background. It was not easy for him to become an official like Dong Jue and others.

He was ready to stay in Luoyang to retire, but suddenly there was a commotion at the door, and then a young man led a large group of soldiers and rushed in.

Seeing this scene, Li Xun was so frightened that his beard trembled.

"Are you Li Xun?"

"Exactly, exactly. What are your instructions?"

Zhang Hua hurriedly helped him up with a smile, "Lord Li, don't be afraid. Someone recommended you to His Majesty, and His Majesty asked me to invite you to the Taiji Hall!"

Li Xun widened his eyes and looked at Zhang Hua blankly.

Anyone have a recommendation?

I have a bad reputation in Shu. People say that I am obsessed with material things and do not study classics. I don’t have any relatives in Wei. Who would recommend me?
But he had come to this point, and he didn't think the people of Wei had any reason to deceive him. He thanked the young man in front of him again and again, then changed his clothes and hurried to the palace.

Cao Mao didn't expect Zhang Hua to be so quick. He was even chatting with Ma Jun when Zhang Hua sent Li Xun in.

This person was quite timid, but Ma Jun was very happy. When the two met, Li Xun had not even had time to say a few words to Cao Mao, but Ma Jun had already pulled him over to exchange craftsman's experience.

Li Xun, who had looked timid just now, had his eyes shining when he talked about various machines, and he was very happy chatting with Ma Jun. When talking about family Confucian classics, the classics of Li Xun's family seemed to come from the Fufeng Ma family, which brought the two closer together.

Cao Mao was not surprised at all. The two big families were definitely related in some way.

Seeing that the two craftsmen had left him aside, Cao Mao was not angry. He just watched them chat with a smile.

Zhang Hua now began to search for the whereabouts of the craftsman.

Compared with Li Xun, who held an official position, Pu Yuan was more difficult to find.

Zhang Hua had no choice but to find those Shu officials who knew him and began to entrust them to help with the search.

At this time, Yang Zong finally walked out of prison.

His crime was not serious, and it was not actually a disturbance. There was no physical violence between the two sides, and no economic losses were caused.

Therefore, he was only detained for three days as a warning.

Yang Zong walked out of the dark cell and couldn't help but stretch out his hand to block the dazzling light.

An official stood in front of him. This person was the chief officer of the prison.

"Mr. Yang."

"Your Majesty has an edict."

The man held a jug of wine in his left hand.

"Here is the Saint's wine you wanted to buy that day."

The official held a cloth bag in his right hand. "This is the seal of the Imperial Guard."

"Your Majesty, please make your choice."

Yang Zong looked at his two hands, took a step forward, and snatched the wine jug from the official's left hand.

He hung the wine jug on his belt, and when the official was stunned, he reached out and took the bag.

"The young man imprisoned next to me is innocent. We can investigate whether someone is forcing him to take the blame."

As Yang Zong spoke, he opened the cloth bag and took out the seal and other items inside. He looked at the clerk in front of him again.

"Find out as soon as possible!"

"Weiwei?"

ps: I have been updating frequently for a few days and my back hurts so much that I can't sit still anymore. I will take a day off and make up for it later.

(End of this chapter)