The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 737 Falling into the trap
The system of hereditary succession without interruption and hereditary decline actually first appeared in the Wei and Jin dynasties.

The original fixed inheritance of titles was divided into two types. Under ordinary hereditary succession, the title would be reduced by one level each time it was passed on.

This system came into being because Sima Zhao expanded the content of titles. By the time of Sima Yan, there were so many people with titles, so these people were distinguished. Some titles could be passed down without increase or decrease, while some titles had to be continuously downgraded.

During the Tang Dynasty, the royal family was also included in this system. By the Song Dynasty, hereditary titles were basically replaced by downgraded and non-inherited titles.

The person responsible for this matter in history was Pei Xiu.

At this moment in Luoyang, most of the officials were angry.

Wang Chang sat in the upper seat with a stern face, his face ashen, and he said nothing.

Zhong Yu knelt aside with a very respectful look.

"My Lord, my brother has indeed gone too far. The ministers have made great contributions and have been awarded titles."

Zhong Yu had just opened his mouth when Wang Chang interrupted him.

"Zhong Yu, don't say anything more."

"I have a good relationship with you, and I have never had any grudges against Mr. Zhong. But this time, I really have nothing to say to him. Please go back."

Zhong Yu sighed deeply, "Prince, our two families are quite close, and we are family."

"Zhong Hui's ideas were a bit radical, but he was also considering the greater good of the country, not just himself."

Wang Chang looked at him in surprise, "Does Mr. Zhong think I'm just a selfish person?"

"By reducing the number of noble titles, we can weaken the powerful families, prevent the emergence of new powerful families, and reduce the burden on the government. Don't I understand this logic?"

"Only your brother knows the world's affairs, and we are all fools?"

Wang Chang angrily slammed the table in front of him, "We all know this!"

"But is that how things are done?"

"Even if we want to reform the nobility, we have to consider how quickly it can be done. There are so many major issues going on in the world right now: migration, work-for-relief, schools across the country, and taxation. Nothing has been fully accomplished yet!"

"Your Majesty, during your visit to Yongzhou, discovered the shortcomings of the administration and issued two imperial edicts in quick succession!"

"Why is there such a situation?"

"It is because of people like Zhong Hui who are too eager for success, who don't know how to be content, who ignore the fundamentals of the world, who only see what they want to see, who only care about their own achievements and ignore the dangers!"

"He still hasn't understood his own mistakes, and he still dares to blame me!"

Wang Chang said angrily, "Please, Master Zhong, please leave! lest we become enemies from now on!"

Zhong Yu was helpless.

In the last meeting of the Secretariat, Zhong Hui proposed to gradually weaken the titles, which immediately caused great controversy. Wang Chang believed that Zhong Hui's idea was not suitable for the current situation and decided to terminate the meeting.

Then he was severely criticized by Zhong Hui.

Zhong Hui believed that he only cared about his personal gains and losses, and his own title, and did not care about the interests of the whole world at all.

Therefore, he believed that Wang Chang should be dismissed and he should directly lead the Secretariat.

Wang Chang immediately ordered Zhong Hui to be expelled.

The conflict between the two sides was completely intensified.

This made Zhong Yu's scalp tingle.

This time he came to beg for mercy, but Wang Chang had already been offended too badly. If it weren't for the past friendship between the two families, he would have kicked Zhong Yu out.

Zhong Yu could only continue, "When I return this time, I will definitely discuss this matter with my brother. Please don't worry!"

Without waiting for Wang Chang to answer, he stood up, bowed, and turned to leave.

After walking out of the mansion, Zhong Yu slowly raised his head, his eyes full of fatigue.

He really was powerless to stop his brother's mischief.

The emperor's favor to his younger brother was too much.

My younger brother's behavior has become more and more outrageous over the years, becoming more and more arrogant day by day. He wants to accomplish things that would take more than a hundred years to complete in just one day.

If this continues, he believes that one day his brother will cause a huge mess, and then he will be buried with his own ambition.

Zhong Yu knew very well what kind of person the emperor was.

With the support of several close followers, Zhong Yu got into the car and immediately started coughing.

He is much older than Zhong Hui and is no longer young.

The driver immediately drove away and soon disappeared from the road.

At this moment, Zhong Hui was busy sorting out the many documents in his hands. These contents were all about the many problems existing in the current title.

Pei Xiu was sitting next to Zhong Hui at this moment, with a look of sorrow on his face.

If he had known this would happen, Pei Xiu would never have dared to mention the title to him.

Just before the meeting at the Secretariat, Cao Mao came to Pei Xiu and urged him to finish the school work as soon as possible. Pei Xiu knew that Zhong Hui had almost thought about the tax issue, so in order to find him something to do, he told Zhong Hui about his two ideas in the past: the subdivision of titles and the reduction of titles.

According to Pei Xiu, after seeing two new ideas, a normal person's first reaction would be to think about the problem and then call together his confidants to discuss it.

But he never expected that Zhong Hui would bring it up at the Shangshutai meeting the next day and ask him to explain it to everyone.

When Pei Xiu saw the looks people were giving him, he knew that something was wrong and he was in big trouble.

Sure enough, at this moment, he was tied up and boarded Zhong Hui's pirate ship.

He couldn't help but persuade her, "Minister Zhong, this matter is of great importance and cannot be easily resolved. It cannot be implemented in a short period of time. Your Majesty has not yet returned. Why not suppress this matter for now and discuss it again when Your Majesty returns? What do you think?"

Zhong Hui glanced at him and said, "It was you who first proposed the reform of the nobility system, and now it's you who's backing off." "Look at the reactions of the ministers. Do they seem willing to agree?"

"Besides, should His Majesty be allowed to implement something considered unkind like this? What are we doing?"

Pei Xiu really couldn't understand what the person in front of him was thinking.

He explained again, "Minister Zhong, these two of mine are just immature thoughts. The matter of the title is of great importance, and it also involves the royal family. Your Majesty has spent so much energy to appease the royal family. If your words were to get out, it would frighten the royal family and make your Majesty's efforts go to waste. How could you bear it?"

Zhong Hui nodded. "What you said makes sense. That's why we need to discuss this. The title isn't a problem right now. I'm not going to implement this policy today or tomorrow."

"I brought this up in the Shangshutai because I wanted to hear the ministers' opinions and see if there were any deficiencies that could be addressed."

"I never thought that all the ministers were petty people who only cared about their own titles and didn't care about the rest of the world."

Pei Xiu fell completely silent, not knowing what to say.

Just at this moment, footsteps were heard outside, and Zhong Hui looked at Pei Xiu with a smile.

"Here comes Wang Chang's lobbyist!"

He quickly stood up and prepared to greet his brother.

But when Zhong Hui walked out the door, he found that the person who came was his son, Zhong Yong.

"Father!!"

Zhong Hui glanced at him, then looked outside, "Where's my brother?"

"Father! My uncle has been feeling unwell since leaving Shangshu Ling's house. He is currently staying at home. I came here specifically to inform you!"

Zhong Yong's face was pale and he looked extremely frightened.

Zhong Hui narrowed his eyes, turned around and walked back to the study, sitting next to Pei Xiu.

"My elder brother, in order to suppress me and stop me from opposing Wang Chang, is feigning illness to deceive me."

Pei Xiu frowned, "Mr. Zhong is sick? You won't go to visit him?"

Zhong Hui waved his hand. "Brother is strong and healthy. He can beat three people like me. How could he fall ill?"

"It's just a trick. Let's get on with the big business."

Zhong Hui continued to talk about the matter, and Pei Xiu didn't say anything more.

But Zhong Hui's speech was no longer as fluent as before. He paused after a few words and was lost in thought from time to time.

Suddenly, Zhong Hui slammed the document in front of him.

"That's all."

Zhong Hui said helplessly: "You go back first."

Pei Xiu bowed and fled away. Zhong Hui then asked Liu Yuan to prepare the carriage and horses.

Liu Yuan quickly prepared the carriage, and Zhong Hui got on and headed towards his brother's residence.

Liu Yuan sat in the car with him. Seeing Zhong Hui looking a little absent-minded, he asked, "Teacher? What happened?"

Zhong Hui sneered.

"Knowing it's a trap, yet still falling for it, don't you think such a person is stupid?"

Liu Yuan was a little confused, "What's the plan?"

But Zhong Hui did not answer him.

When the carriage arrived, Zhong Hui swaggered towards the inner room.

Seeing his nephews crying and bowing to him, he waved his hand to stop their crying and asked them to go to the outer courtyard.

When he walked in, Zhong Yu was lying on the bed and the imperial physician was taking his pulse.

Zhong Hui did not bow and walked to his brother's side.

He lowered his head and looked at Zhong Yu lying on the bed.

"Brother, I'm here. There's no need to do this anymore."

Zhong Yu slowly opened his eyes, his eyes bright.

Zhong Hui was not surprised at all. He just asked the imperial physician to leave, sat down next to his brother, and looked sideways at the door.

"Why is it that no one in the world can understand me except Your Majesty?"

Zhong Yu just looked at him, "Shi Ji, I may not be able to hold on any longer."

Zhong Hui's hands trembled. "Alright, I'll wait for His Majesty to return and discuss this further."

"It has nothing to do with this. I'm old now. I took medicine and drank alcohol when I was young, but my body is becoming weaker and weaker. Shi Ji, I can no longer help you solve your problems."

"You're still strong! Why are you scaring me?"

Zhong Hui looked at his brother unhappily.

The two brothers looked at each other.

Zhong Yu shook his head. "Shi Ji, I'm afraid you won't make it through this year. At my age now, I have many children and grandchildren, and I've achieved success and fame. I have no regrets. The only thing I can't let go of is you."

"What will you do if I leave?"

Zhong Hui tugged at his collar, his expression becoming increasingly irritable.

"You're still young, and you're still strong!"

(End of this chapter)