The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 168 Liu Bei's Dividend
Zhuge Liang asked the question tactfully.

But how could Xu Shu not understand his meaning?

Instead, he simply said to Liu Bei:

"When he traveled south from Luoyang to Xiangfan, he saw some signs of the peaceful atmosphere of yesteryear along the way."

"Upon entering Sichuan, one truly appreciates the name 'Land of Abundance,' which is indeed well-deserved."

"Now that our lord commands the lands of three states, I am but a man of limited wisdom and capacity, and have no ideas to offer. I can only urge our lord not to forget the past humiliations and to strive for a better future."

Liu Bei was not satisfied with this answer and took the initiative to ask for further guidance:

"I have recently been trying to improve my domestic affairs, but I always feel that things are complicated and I don't know where to start. What advice does Yuanzhi have for me?"

Xu Shu touched the remaining red mark on his wrist and said:
"The affairs of a nation are military, criminal, financial and grain matters. However, these depend on human effort, and ultimately, they all come down to selecting the virtuous and capable."

"To accomplish great things, one must prioritize the people. Yuanzhi's words are truly insightful!" Liu Bei nodded slightly.

"However, although I possess three provinces, they are still not as vast and rich as the Central Plains. How can I attract talented people?"

Xu Shu: "My lord is benevolent and virtuous, and has always been able to win people's hearts!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei pointed to Xu Shu's hand and shook his head with a smile.

Xu Shu's gaze dimmed involuntarily.

He sighed a few times, then looked up and said:

"Please forgive my bluntness, my lord, but you have been living in Jiangnan for a long time, and the people of the Central Plains no longer know the benevolent name of Liu Yuzhou."

“In places like Luoyang, Yingzhou, and Ruzhou, the Cao family, father and son, have been supporting the gentry for many years and have won their hearts.”

“These places happen to be the gathering places of the world’s most talented people. If we acquire them, the resources of scholars will be inexhaustible.”

Upon hearing this, everyone, including Liu Bei, showed a solemn expression.

Not just because Xu Shu finally told the truth.

Furthermore, Xu Shu was originally a scholar from Yingchuan and had served in the Central Plains for a long time.

His views are very representative.

Two years ago, Mi Wei was serving as the Western Commandant of Jiangxia.

One night, he woke up in the middle of the night and consciously took advantage of the strategic opportunities in both Jingzhou and Yizhou to find a way for the Shu Han to defeat the strong with the weak.

Now, almost three years have passed, and all those initial ideas have come true one by one, even better than expected.

One important reason for this is the ability to predict history.

However, judging from Mi Wei's experience along the way, this is not unrelated to Liu Bei's years of cultivating "people's hearts" in Jing and Yi.

Because of Liu Bei's pioneering efforts, Mi Wei and others were able to maximize this advantage at the right time, producing a devastating effect.

Mi Wei himself summarized this advantage as the "Liu Bei dividend".

This kind of benefit works well in Jingzhou, and it also works well in Yizhou.

But outside of those two places, in Longyou, it's not so effective.

It is necessary to supplement this with military might, strategic planning, and winning over the enemy, as well as to seize the opportunity to exploit the Wei army in Guanzhong's temporary inability to advance westward, in order to barely succeed.

Otherwise, how could Meng Da have failed to persuade Jiang Wei to surrender and been chased for dozens of miles?

Although Longyou may not be far from Yizhou, they have heard of Liu Bei's name to some extent.

But ultimately, there's still a veil between them.

Only by witnessing Liu Bei's power and virtue firsthand can this benefit be fully realized.

However, in Liangzhou, the effects were even faster because of the additional "Ma Chao bonus".

But that's about it.

Once they entered Guanzhong, Mi Wei and his group became known as "Shu traitors" and were hated by everyone.

Only Feng Yi, Zheng Gan, and Lu Shuihu of Anding, who were also "thieves," were willing to pay attention to them.

But most of them were just looking for a free meal or clothing, or for mutual support.

Scholars like You Chu and Yang Fu, who had served in the Guanzhong Plain for a long time, preferred to drown themselves or die in battle rather than surrender.

Because they don't benefit from the "Liu Bei bonus" at all.

And even more remote than Guanzhong are the core hinterland of the Central Plains, such as Luoyang, Yingzhou, and Ruzhou.

This kind of benefit is completely useless.

After all, it has been a full fourteen years since Liu Bei's defeat at Dangyang.

Before Dangyang, Liu Bei spent seven years traveling south to Jingzhou.

In other words, Liu Bei had not appeared in the heart of the Central Plains for more than twenty years.

If we consider ten years as a generation in officialdom, this spans two whole generations of scholars.

What reputation and benefits are left?

Next, whether the troops from Yizhou march out of Qin Chuan or the troops from Jingzhou head towards Wanluo.

Apart from the slight room for maneuver in the "reverse Cao Ren bonus" in Wancheng, Nanyang, the rest are all tough battles.

Now let's get back to the present.

Xu Shu had already spoken, and finally cast aside his last bit of concern, or rather, he was ready to throw caution to the wind and began to speak freely on the spot: "Just now, Kongming said that Wei has many talented people, and my lord said that it is because the Central Plains is vast and rich in resources, which is one reason."

"But I believe that the reason why Cao Wei was able to attract scholars was that the Wei court inherited the Han system, which was improved and perfected over the years, so scholars from the Central Plains vied to serve it."

"If our lord wishes to compete with the Wei court for talent, he must uphold the great cause of restoring the Han dynasty, but he cannot have only empty titles without substance."

"In my humble opinion, we can start by reforming the system for selecting officials, learning from others' experiences to improve ourselves."

These words prompted a range of thoughts among the crowd.

Mi Wei blurted out unconsciously:

"The Nine-Rank System for Officials?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Shu looked at Mi Wei and said with bright eyes:

"Are you the renowned Liangzhou warrior, praised by everyone in Sichuan?"

Well, it's internationally renowned now.

Mi Wei looked embarrassed and had no choice but to admit it.

After all, this matter has already been linked to Lao Liu's personal image.

Fortunately, Xu Shu praised the younger generation as formidable and began to tell everyone about "lessons from other mountains".

The system of nine ranks of officials, or the nine-rank system of officials.

The origins can be traced back to the time of Cao Cao, but it was Chen Qun, a minister of the Cao Wei dynasty, who formally proposed and established the system.

It is worth mentioning that Chen Qun has now risen to the position of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

He was also an old friend of Liu Ba, Liu Bei's Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

The "Shu Code," which Liu Ba helped to formulate, was one of the foundations of the Shu Han system.

From this perspective.

Chen and Liu were good friends.

They are also direct competitors in the area of ​​"law".

According to Xu Shu, the Nine-Rank System for Officials was an improvement on the recommendation system of the Han Dynasty.

The recommendation system of the Han Dynasty, after several hundred years of development, had gradually become controlled by local scholars and powerful families.

During the late Han Dynasty, local figures of integrity and public opinion were highly sought after, and scholars gained fame and entered officialdom as a result.

This "appointment based on evaluation" system effectively encroached upon the Han court's power to appoint officials.

For example, the "Monthly Appraisal" held by Xu Jingtang and his brothers in Runan was so popular that even Cao Cao, a descendant of an official, had to try to get a rating.

However, it's probably because I've experienced it firsthand and know the pros and cons well.

Later, after Cao Cao came to power, he consciously centralized the "personnel power".

As it has evolved, it has become the system of nine ranks of officials.

Specifically, this involved establishing the position of Zhongzheng Guan (中正官) to evaluate scholars throughout the land and determine their ranks.

This would replace various independent commentators from the public, or rather, officially recognize their status.

In this way, the custom of entering officialdom through public opinion was not fundamentally changed, and there was less resistance to reform;

At the same time, the use of human rights has been brought back to the central government in a public manner.

It can be described as having the best of both worlds.

However, as a person from later generations, Mi Wei was certainly aware of the drawbacks of this system.

Most importantly, when the officials in charge of evaluating a person's abilities, they would take into account, to a large extent, the person's family background and the power of their fathers and grandfathers.

If one's father and grandfather were high-ranking officials, then one's son is naturally destined for a high-ranking position.

His father and grandfather held important official positions, so his son is guaranteed to be a man of integrity.

The father and grandfather were just corrupt officials who did heavy and mundane tasks, and the son will only be able to do odd jobs in the future.

As for those who aren't even given the chance to do menial tasks, then I'm sorry, you're not qualified to be an official.

Over time, this led to a situation where "the upper class had no poor families, and the lower class had no powerful families."

The so-called "powerful clans" of the Wei and Jin dynasties originated from this.

But then again.

Although Miwei was well aware that this thing would grow into an extremely deformed monster in the future.

But wasn't the "Nine-Rank System" only proposed less than three years ago?
Currently, most people only see its benefits and are unaware of the hidden dangers.

Or even if they are aware of it, because they are beneficiaries, they are happy to see it happen.

And these are either "stupid" or "bad" people.

Intertwined.

It was a powerful factor that could determine the fate of the world.

Whether you like it or not.

If one desires to conquer the world, one cannot ignore its existence.

(End of this chapter)