The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 658: Towards Great Unification

"Your son and grandson, Cao Mao, have now defeated the bandits and brought peace to the country. The world is unified. I have come to pay tribute to our ancestors!!"

The time for sacrifice finally arrived.

This was the largest sacrifice performed since Cao Mao came to power.

The ministers stood outside the temple in a grand procession. Cao Mao stood alone at the front. Accompanied by many ceremonial officials, he slaughtered livestock and carried out this grand sacrificial ceremony.

Liu Chan, Sun Hao and others all came out to support Cao Mao.

Their standing here represents that Cao Mao has ended the chaos of the Three Kingdoms.

Following Cao Mao's announcement, the etiquette officer led the ministers in kowtow repeatedly.

Then a series of eulogies were read out. These eulogies were all written by famous figures in the country, and each one was absolutely a rare masterpiece.

It can be seen that Pei Xiu has made a lot of preparations. Just from these articles, it can be seen that Pei Xiu definitely started preparing for this matter a long time ago.

After the sacrificial text was read, another clan elder came out and announced Cao Mao's political achievements to the ancestors so that they would feel pleased.

This elder was Cao Ju. Logically speaking, Cao Yu was more suitable for this task, but Cao Yu was far away in Yan State and so old. Asking him to rush over from Yan State at a high speed would be intentional murder.

Therefore, Cao Mao asked Cao Ju to be in charge of this matter. This wise clan member who had competed with Cao Mao for the throne in the past was now trembling as he read out Cao Mao's political achievements. No one knew what he felt deep in his heart.

Then Liu Chan and Sun Hao came forward and apologized to the ancestors of the Cao family for their past sins of not knowing the will of heaven. They claimed that they had learned that the will of heaven was with Wei and were willing to serve the emperor of Wei wholeheartedly from then on and never dare to have any second thoughts again.

Then, the Queen Mother also made an official appearance. As an elder, she praised Cao Mao's contributions, affirmed Cao Mao's great cause, and encouraged Cao Mao to be more diligent and achieve greater achievements.

Finally, Cao Mao was responsible for the finishing work.

He announced the change of the reign title to Ganlu in order to promote elegant governance.

Pei Xiu's arrangements for this sacrifice were very thorough, without any mistakes. From the positions of the ministers, clan members, and even the "captives", to the various sacrificial supplies, the recitation of the ceremonial officers, etc., everything was in full compliance with the rules.

This is not an easy task. Not everyone can organize an event like this with more than a thousand people and all of the participants having high status.

When the sacrificial ceremony was over, Cao Mao was very happy. The huge rock hanging over his heart finally disappeared, and he felt a lot more relaxed.

After a series of tedious ceremonies, Cao Mao ordered his ministers not to be negligent in the future and to govern the world well and serve as pioneers for the king.

All the ministers obeyed the order and accepted the emperor's teachings.

Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, Pei Xiu found the opportunity and hurried to his side.

Cao Mao looked at Pei Xiu standing beside him and said with a smile, "Mr. Pei, your arrangement this time is excellent. I am very satisfied! You are very thoughtful! Hahaha, you actually asked Duke Anle and Marquis Guiming to recite the eulogy together, and the content is still the same. How did you get them to recite it willingly?"

Pei Xiu smiled and said, "It is only because of your majesty's majesty that Sun Hao dares not refuse."

"Hahaha~~"

Cao Mao laughed again.

"Is there something you want to ask of me, Mr. Pei?"

"Don't dare!"

Cao Mao motioned Pei Xiu to follow him and then walked down the platform.

Pei Xiu followed Cao Mao obediently, with his head lowered, showing unusual obedience.

Cao Mao suddenly asked, "Is it about this school? I abolished Emperor Wen's policies, which resulted in no one available in various places. So you feel very troubled and want to persuade me to reinstate Emperor Wen's policies, right?"

Pei Xiu hurriedly said seriously: "Absolutely not!"

"Your Majesty has implemented benevolent policies, allowing all scholars to participate in the examination, no longer judging by family background. This is a major benefit to the world. How could I oppose this?"

"Oh?"

Cao Mao glanced at Pei Xiu with a smile in his eyes, "Then Pei Jun is very confident about this matter?"

Pei Xiu was stunned. He cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, I will do my best to complete this matter. However, I may not need the help of the Ministry of Personnel. Instead, I need the help of the Ministry of Revenue."

"You want to solve this matter with money?"

"That's right, Your Majesty. As long as the salaries of academic officials in schools across the country are high enough, there will definitely be people willing to take on the positions. While this isn't a perfect solution, it does address some of the issues."

Cao Mao pursed his lips and said, "Mr. Pei, the world has just been pacified, and money and grain are needed everywhere. I have already exempted taxes in Shu and Wu, but after years of war, all places need money and grain for construction."

"I will ask the Ministry of Revenue to help you, but relying solely on money and food to solve the problem is probably not easy."

"I think so too. I have another idea."

Pei Xiu said softly, "There are more and more students in the Imperial Academy nowadays. If we could send them to various places to serve as academic officials, and set a deadline, then Imperial Academy students who want to participate in the assessment would have to do this first. They would be scored based on their performance in the local area, with those who are excellent being ranked first. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Cao Mao was a little surprised. Was he planning to arrange an internship?

Cao Mao frowned. "It's not impossible to do so, but the circumstances in different places are different. If we all go there at the same time, it will take a very long time to travel from Luoyang to the Southern Kingdom. Wouldn't that be unfair to the students who have traveled so far?"

Pei Xiu smiled and said, "As long as His Majesty agrees, we can always find a way to solve the rest of the problems."

"Okay, then you go and come up with a specific solution. If it's feasible, I can agree to it!"

Pei Xiu left with a smile. Zhang Hua waited for Cao Mao beside the carriage. After helping Cao Mao get in, Cao Mao told him about the incident.

"Minister Hua is extremely dissatisfied with Minister Pei and is unwilling to go to the Ministry of Rites again."

"I think that although Minister Hua is upright, he is completely inflexible. If the various departments of the Secretariat cannot communicate with each other, I'm afraid it will be difficult to accomplish anything."

Zhang Hua expressed his concerns.

Cao Mao said, "This is why I asked you to be his deputy."

"He doesn't understand these things. You should always know that. You should assist him more and help him complete these things. Pei Xiu is a person who is good at doing things, but he is lazy by nature."

"You should spend more time with Pei Xiu. What Zhong Hui said the other day was very true. Without enough talented people, it would be difficult to create a prosperous era."

"Now that we have recovered Shu and Wu, we are already short of officials. If we were to recover other areas, I'm afraid there would be no one left."

The two returned to the Taiji Hall together, and Zhang Hua stood guard at the door very skillfully.

As for Cao Mao, he had another very important person to meet.

It’s better to meet him secretly.

That’s right, it’s Liu Lu.

Liu Lu had been waiting for Cao Mao's arrival in the East Hall. When he saw his emperor again, Liu Lu hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Liu Lu looked exhausted, as he had just arrived from Liao.

The two hadn't seen each other for a long time and had a lot to talk about.

Liu Lu first congratulated Cao Mao on his great achievement of unification, and then talked about things in the north.

"General Yang will soon be impeached by the court. Wen Yang has repeatedly led his troops on raids outside the Great Wall, frightening both Goguryeo and the Tuoba tribes. They have sent envoys numerous times, hoping General Yang will discipline him."

Liu Lu smiled bitterly and said, "My people just arrived at the Yuwen tribe, and the Yuwen tribe was destroyed. At present, I have only arranged people among Tuoba and Goguryeo."

"My spies in Goguryeo said the King of Goguryeo was extremely dissatisfied with Wen Yang's behavior and wanted to ambush him, but was afraid of provoking a Wei attack, so he sent someone to contact the Tuoba tribe."

"I think General Yang is not worried about causing war at all. He just wants to govern Liao well and doesn't care about anything else."

Cao Mao listened calmly to Liu Lu talking about the situation outside the Great Wall.

"We can't send out any more troops now. The world has just been pacified, so we should focus on domestic affairs. We can deal with these people outside the Great Wall at any time, so there's no need to be so anxious."

"Alas, there are too many places to govern now. Yang Hu is so anxious because of the situation in Liao. But I really can't give anything to Liao now."

Liu Lu hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the empire has just begun to settle, so this is understandable. You don't have to worry. These places will eventually be governed."

Cao Mao nodded, "That's definitely the case."

Liu Lu then reported the rest of the matters. Now the Dianshifu had completely extended its reach into the Hebei region. Liu Lu's people were also found in various places in Youzhou, and everything had been investigated clearly.

The two chatted for a while, and Liu Lu couldn't help but sigh: "I never thought that this Dianshi Mansion could reach its current level."

He looked at Cao Mao again.

"Just like Your Majesty, when you were in Yuancheng, you never thought you would reach the point you are at now."

Cao Mao laughed and asked Zhang Hua to get some wine.

The two of them took a few bites.

"Unconsciously, many years have passed and I have become a father."

"Yes, who could have imagined that time flies by? Back then, I was just a fugitive fleeing to Yuan City. If Your Majesty hadn't taken me in, I would have died by the hands of the government. The first time I saw Your Majesty, I knew in my heart that Your Majesty would accomplish great things!"

"Oh? Why is this?"

"Because Your Majesty is different from other nobles. I have seen nobles who take in rangers, but those people either take in rangers to train thugs, to show off their own uniqueness, or simply for fun."

"When His Majesty saw me, the pity in his eyes was real. He even gave me a piece of cake to eat."

Liu Lu grinned, "From then on, I knew that His Majesty was a man who would accomplish great things. This is the benevolent ruler those heroes talked about!"

"Hahaha, I don't remember it so clearly."

"Ever since His Majesty entered the palace, he seems like a completely different person. He's become a little scary, but now it's better. He's just like he was back in Yuancheng."

"This great unification still has some effect."

Liu Lu scratched his head and said.

Cao Mao raised his wine cup.

"Come, this is for the great unification!"

"only!"

(End of this chapter)