The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 673 Opening!
Cao Mao looked at the two people in front of him with a smile.

Many things need to be changed little by little.

It is time to severely suppress this "mysterious" faction that has gradually grown stronger since the Later Han Dynasty.

Everyone in this era was infected by this, even the historians.

It’s not that no one in other dynasties believed in these things. They did believe in them, and the history books of other dynasties often recorded some metaphysical events, but the frequency was not as frequent as in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

In this era, it seems as if all the gods, demons and monsters have come out together.

Almost every day, Cao Mao would hear his ministers report that gods had appeared somewhere or that mysterious visions had occurred somewhere.

Occasionally, there were a few people who were visited by Taizu in their dreams. In addition to Taizu, some gods also liked to visit them in their dreams.

Every time Cao Mao heard the imperial guards report these things, he felt that these gods and Emperor Taizu were really too busy.

Especially Emperor Taizu, who was not idle even after his death, and continued to appear in dreams for his subordinates all day long.

When Gao Rou was executed, the jailer who was in charge of guarding him said to his attendants:

He had a dream at night, in which he dreamed that Gao Rou was being taken out, so he hurried to stop them. He saw Gao Rou being taken into a hall by several soldiers.

There was a nobleman sitting above, whose expression could not be seen clearly. He said to Gao Rou angrily: I entrusted the important matter to you, but you bewitched my son, failed my grandson, and now you are harming my great-grandson. I will make sure that your entire family dies!

Gao Rou was so frightened that he kowtowed.

Later, the man came to his senses.

Cao Mao suspected that this guy was taking drugs while working, or was simply lying in order to get some reward.

But this is the trend of the whole world.

It's really a strange era.

If you want to deal with thoughts, you can only use a completely new thought.

Qiao Zhou is a relatively flexible person. If he can be used well, he can definitely play a significant role.

Just like Wang Su, his contribution to the Wei Dynasty was not low at all. To a certain extent, he curbed the negative trend of metaphysics, forced the two to be combined into one, and reshaped the thoughts. In terms of merit, he can be ranked among the top three.

Cao Mao didn't want to say anything more. As a referee, he was only responsible for giving orders and making judgments. Many other things still had to be done by themselves.

Cao Mao waved his hand and sent the two men out.

Xun Xi's attitude towards Qiao Zhou finally improved a lot, and there was a smile on his face.

The two of them walked out of the Taiji Hall together, and Xun Yi finally spoke, "I have long wanted to meet you, and I never expected to meet you today. Is Your Majesty planning to reopen the official school?"

Qiao Zhou heard some uncertainty in Xun Yi's words.

If new assessment content is to be added, it will certainly have a huge impact.

Qiao Zhou took a deep breath, remembering the instructions from His Majesty, and said, "When Your Majesty asked me about the classics, I often told him about Xunzi, and Your Majesty loved him deeply because of this."

"He repeatedly inquired about Xunzi's teachings and believed that everyone in the world should study them."

"Hahaha, that's how it should be."

Xun Xi's mood suddenly became very good.

The emperor likes Xunzi!
Good thing!
"It's just that, Lord Xun, the Xunzi hasn't been annotated for a long time, and much of its content is incompatible with current events. I'm afraid that if I promote this book, I'll be attacked, not to mention that I'm just a surrendered minister."

Hearing Qiao Zhou's words, Xun Yi immediately raised his head and said righteously, "What are you talking about?!"

"How are you different from us now?"

"We are all His Majesty's ministers, assisting the Holy King. We shouldn't bring up these matters!"

Then, he sincerely took Qiao Zhou's hand and said, "How can we back down when it comes to serving the king?!"

"Xun Yi grabbed Qiao Zhou's hand and wouldn't let go, pulling him into the carriage! Your Majesty doesn't need to worry now!"

Cheng Ji was reporting the situation outside the palace to Cao Mao.

Cao Mao chuckled. At this moment, he was playing chess with Zhang Hua.

Since having a child, this crazy ruler has finally taken some time out for entertainment activities and plays chess with people around him from time to time.

"That's good, Cheng Jun, look at this situation, who has the advantage?"

"His Majesty!!"

Cheng Ji actually didn’t understand these things, he didn’t like playing chess, but he guaranteed that his majesty was right.

Cao Mao smiled and withdrew his hand, "You guessed wrong, I lost, Maoxian is better!"

Zhang Hua hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this must not be spread out. If Minister Zhong gets to know about it..."

Cao Mao stretched his neck and said, "It's still interesting to play chess with you. There are wins and losses. Unlike Anshi, sometimes it's difficult for me to lose to him even if I deliberately want to."

Cheng Ji quickly said, "I think Your Majesty deliberately lost to Zhang Jun this time. Otherwise, how could Zhang Jun defeat you?"

Cao Mao glanced at Cheng Ji and asked, "Are you thinking of becoming an official again?"

Cheng Ji was stunned for a moment, then shyly scratched his hand and said, "Your Majesty, my brother is almost a commander of the Four Commanderies, and I'm still a lieutenant here."

Hearing this, even Zhang Hua couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.

What a foolish man he is!

I wouldn't trade your position as a captain for Zhengbei.

Why would anyone want to leave this position in such a hurry?
Zhang Hua couldn't even imagine how furious his brother would be if he knew what he was thinking. As a lieutenant in the palace, he stayed by the emperor's side all day, clearing the way for him when he traveled and keeping watch when he slept.

It can be said that even if this captain went to the central army alone, Xiahou Xian would not dare to come out to greet him with a salute, but he would have to come out to greet him with a smile.

This is something that many people long for.

You never know when the emperor will be in a good mood and with just one word he can make your title surpass those who conquered the north and the east, and no one dares to say anything more.

Cao Mao sighed deeply and looked at Cheng Ji. "Well, since you've always wanted to be a general, why don't you just be a miscellaneous general? Go to Youzhou, serve under the Grand Marshal, and fight for a title with Wen Yang."

Cheng Ji's eyes lit up, and he asked happily, "Your Majesty, are you really willing to let me go?"

Cao Mao was very displeased, "Did I imprison you here?!"

Cheng Ji realized that he had spoken out of turn and quickly apologized.

"Forget it, you should go today. When the Great Sima goes to war, he will either not move or make a big splash. If you don't go now, I'm afraid it will all be over by then!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

Cheng Ji, who thought he had made a lot of money, stood up with a silly smile. Suddenly, he remembered a very important question.

"Your Majesty, if I leave, who will protect your safety?"

"Oh, there's no shortage of people taking this position, just go ahead!"

Cheng Ji bowed again and left with a smile.

Zhang Hua shook his head, "If his brother knew about this..."

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Everyone has their own aspirations, and they cannot be forced."

"Since he is eager to make achievements on the battlefield, let him go."

Zhang Hua asked, "What about the position of the Palace Captain?"

"Just choose someone from the royal family."

Cao Mao seemed to have already chosen someone. He said, "Let Man Changwu take the position!"

Zhang Hua suddenly realized that this person was indeed more suitable for this position than Cheng Ji.

Cao Mao then started talking about the affairs of the world.

"Today, Chen Tai and others are in Wu, Deng Ai is in Shu, Guo Ze and Ma Long are in Yongliang, and they are all handling local affairs."

"Inside the imperial court, the ministers were still discussing state and county affairs. Pei Xiu and others were dealing with school affairs. Qiao Zhou and others were thinking about classics. Ji Kang and others were working on changing the literary style. Shangshu Zhong and others were thinking about how to curb the annexation of cultivated land."

"The Grand Marshal is still in Youzhou, preparing to attack the Hu people outside the Great Wall."

“Too many things will only make things chaotic, and in the end, nothing will get done.”

"For now, it's enough to get these things done. Maoxian, we need your help with all these things."

Zhang Hua knew that the emperor had to pay attention to many things, but he didn't know there were so many. Moreover, each of these things was very important and could not be taken lightly.

Cao Mao said seriously, "We can leave the affairs of Wu and Shu to them for the time being. If any trouble arises, it won't be too late to intervene. However, there are a few matters in the temple that must be completed as soon as possible."

"I think the first thing to be done is the farmland issue."

"Zhong Hui originally submitted a memorial to ensure that farmers have farmland and that the land of the great families does not expand without limit, but his policy was too radical."

"I agree with the few areas he mentioned."

Zhang Hua sat down and listened to Cao Mao's words.

"Besides Zhong Hui, Du Yu and Lu Zhi also told me about this matter."

"I think we should balance the ideas of these three people."

"First, we must restrict these powerful families. I have decided to follow Zhong Hui's suggestion and designate the amount of farmland and tenants they can own based on their official titles. If they exceed this limit, they will be punished for usurping power."

"What do you think, Mao-sen?"

"How should the shelter be carried out?"

Zhang Hua did not answer but asked instead.

Cao Mao replied, "Zhong Hui believed that officials could only protect themselves and not their relatives."

Officials did not need to pay taxes, and their tenants naturally did not need to pay taxes either. This caused the big families to compete with the state for labor. Zhong Hui believed that ministers could only take care of themselves and could no longer protect other relatives from paying taxes. At the same time, he imposed restrictions on the arable land and land that ministers could own.

When Zhang Hua heard this, he immediately shook his head.

"I'm afraid this is a bit inappropriate. We can formulate it according to the ranks of the officials."

"Yeah, I think so too. Take a look at these."

Cao Mao took out some memorials from the table and handed them to Zhang Hua.

These are exactly what Zhong Hui, Du Yu and others reported.

Zhang Hua read it very carefully. He read it several times before saying, "Your Majesty, I still think Minister Du's memorial is more reasonable."

"Yes, Zhong Hui is really too radical. Regarding the issue of restricting officials, we should follow Du Yu's ideas."

"However, the protection of farmers still needs to be done according to Zhong Hui's ideas."

"Du Yu's ideas are too naive."

(End of this chapter)