The crisp drink rushes over the tip of the tongue and brings a warm surge in the throat, like cracked buds cascading on top of each other, which is indeed suitable for enjoying the flowers on a snowy day. Cai Ji played with the wine cup in his hand, thinking that it would be a pleasure to be able to sit side by side with the man next to him and listen to the wind and snow on such a sunny day. It's just that the words came to his lips, "Mr. Feng Xiao came today, I'm afraid it's not just to invite Lone to drink a bar?" ＂

Facing Cai Ji's straightforward questioning, Guo Jia held the wine cup in his hand, pointed to Cao Pi who was testing archery with others not far away, and said leisurely, "Cao Gongzi seems to have adapted to the Qihou Mansion." ＂

"That kid has been working hard. Cai Ji nodded with feeling. In fact, if it weren't for Cao Pi's efforts to cater to Cai Ji and Qi Ying, Cai Ji might not have been able to handle the relationship between her and Cao Pi until now. After all, the age gap between Cai Ji and Cao Pi psychologically is much greater than the physical age gap.

Guo Jia looked sideways at Cai Ji, who was only six years older than Cao Ergongzi, and raised the corners of his mouth and teased, "The Lord is obviously in the prime of his life, why is he always old-fashioned?" ＂

Cai Ji raised his head and smiled bitterly in self-deprecation, "That's how it is to be alone." ＂

"That's it. Looking at Cai Ji's innocent expression, Guo Jia sighed and put down the wine cup as if giving up, turned to a gloomy expression, and solemnly reminded Cai Ji, "The Son of Heaven has made enemies with Cao Cao, and I ask the Lord to prepare early." ＂

"Mr. Bonghyo has heard any rumors? Cai Ji frowned slightly and asked. It is said that the Son of Heaven is dissatisfied with Cao Cao, which has long been a well-known secret to the world. Especially this time, Cao Cao opened a branch in Yecheng, and the contradiction between him and the Son of Heaven was completely made public. However, these points alone are not enough for Guo Jia to come to him in person. Cai Ji believed that the man in front of him must have received some unknown information to warn him so strictly.

Sure enough, the next moment, Guo Jia's delicate long eyebrows were extremely rare to screw together, "Dong Cheng seems to be secretly calling the princes to resist Cao in the name of the Son of Heaven." However, Jia also learned about this matter from other people's letters, and there is no conclusive evidence. ＂

Although Guo Jia said that he had no evidence. But Cai Ji believes that the news he received is at least sixty percent credible. This is not only because Guo Jia was born in Yingchuan and has always had dealings with the Yingchuan strategist circle. What's more, because in the original history, Liu Xie did send an edict to Dong Cheng and ordered him to summon all the princes to save him. However, the final result ended with Dong Cheng being betrayed by his own slaves, Cao Cao finding the edict and beheading Dong Cheng and other ministers. Could the situation Guo Jia is talking about at this moment be the edict of this time and space? Thinking of this, Cai Ji couldn't help but mutter, "Dong Cheng? Emperor? Didn't Cao Cao notice it? ＂

Guo Jia shook his head and said, "Cao Cao is afraid that he is waiting for the Son of Heaven to make a decision for him." ＂

Guo Jia's statement made Cai Ji smile in understanding, "Mr. Feng Xiao is always so to the point. ＂

But the look on Guo Jia's face became more solemn, "The lord also thinks that Cao Cao will take the Han dynasty?" ＂

"Nope! I thought that Cao Cao would not take the Han Dynasty. Cai Ji shook his head quite confidently. Seeing Guo Jia's suspicious look, she added, "At least before accepting the family." Cao Cao will not take the Han dynasty. ＂

"The lord means that once Cao Cao subdues the family, he will usurp the Han? Guo Jia hesitated for a moment and asked rhetorically. It is true that he has already seen that the Han family has exhausted its popularity, but when it comes to the topic of usurping the Han at this moment, Guo Jia is still a little taboo.

"Exactly. Cai Ji replied.

Guo Jia hurriedly asked, "Then the lord thinks Cao Cao can accept the family?" ＂

"No, you can't. Cai Ji replied very simply. Cao Cao pursued absolute monarchy. Before him, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms and replaced feudalism with counties; After him, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system. After the annexation of the relative power, it opened the prelude to the continuous concentration and strengthening of the imperial power of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Although Cao Cao is a minister. But he has the heart of an emperor. Historically, in order to pursue the ultimate monarchy. He was on the same page as the family that represented the bureaucracy. Don't say that the oppression on politics is the physical extermination of Cao Cao, and he is not merciless. And the deep-rooted family is also unwilling to give in. Until Cao Cao's death, the open and secret struggle between the two sides did not end.

"So, Cao Cao won't usurp Han? Guo Jia smiled self-deprecatingly as soon as he spoke, as if he didn't believe that Cao Cao would give up the dragon chair for such a reason.

"Probably not. Cai Ji looked up at the heavens. The debate over whether Cao Cao was loyal or traitorous lasted for thousands of years. Some people believe that Cao Cao was a loyal minister, because he did not usurp the Han until his death. Some people think that he is a traitor. Because he used the Emperor of Han as a puppet, and even his son Cao Pi usurped Han and established himself after his death. But in Cai Ji's view, Cao Cao is an idealistic doer. In order to realize the ideal in the heart, unscrupulous means. The Son of Heaven was an important tool in his eyes, and it would be very troublesome without it. But there's no respect for the tool. It's just that Cao Cao didn't realize his ideals until he died, and Liu Xie, as a tool, lived longer than him. So he had to be succeeded by Cao Pi to deal with the rest of the endgame.

However, Guo Jia does not know the direction of history, so naturally he will not accept Cai Ji's judgment lightly. But seeing that he waved his hand noncommittally and said, "Cao Cao said that the emperor can also subdue the family, so why be obsessed with this." ＂

Cai Ji asked rhetorically, "The family of those who are in chaos today." With the 500-year-old prestige of the Han family, he can't subdue the family, how can Cao Cao subdue the family with only a rich family background? ＂

Guo Jia was asked by the girl next to him, he was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly at himself, "The Lord is reasonable, but if Jia cares, it will be chaotic." ＂

In fact, Guo Jia's grasp of the situation at the end of the Han Dynasty was not inferior to Cai Ji from later generations, but these days he has been too entangled in whether Cao Cao will usurp the Han, so he has ignored many essential things. At this moment, after being reminded by Cai Ji, Guo Jia immediately clarified his thoughts and no longer dwelled on Cao Cao's usurpation of the Han Dynasty. But seeing that he looked around, after confirming that there were only him and Cai Ji, he suddenly shook his long sleeves and respectfully waved his hand to Cai Ji and said, "Jia dares to ask here, does the Lord still have the heart to protect Han?" ＂

Yes, whether Cao Cao will usurp the Han Dynasty is certainly a major event that shocks the world, but for Guo Jia and other Cai retainers, Cai Ji's current position is the focus of his life. Historically, the left and right sides have not been offended, and the result is that both the left and right have been offended. Especially in this tense moment, not taking sides is being hostile to all forces, and it is more troublesome than standing on the wrong side. Therefore, Guo Jia and the others must know Cai Ji's exact position, so that they can formulate strategies according to the situation and their own strength.

However, Cai Ji did not directly answer Guo Jia's question, but told the story by himself. "Lone once heard a monk from the Western Regions say that there is a ship in the Western Regions, named Theseus, which sails on the vast ocean, and every time a wooden board decays, it is replaced with a new board. After hundreds of years of tinkering, one day the planks on board were replaced. Is this ship the Theseus? Or another new ship? ＂

The Theseus is a very old thought experiment. From the works of the Greek writer Plutarch. Later philosophers often used the "Theseus" to inquire about the essential properties of things, especially whether an object is only the sum of its parts. In fact, such problems arise in every field, from business to human body. For example, if the top management of the business has been merged or replaced. Should this company inherit the original business name? If metabolism causes new cells to replace old cells, and new blood to replace old blood, is this person still the same person?

Guo Jia, who was in troubled times, naturally thought of the change of dynasty from the issue of the "Theseus". But seeing that he was silent for a moment, he pushed the question to Cai Jidao, "According to the Lord's opinion." Is this ship still the same as the original? ＂

In Lone's view, as long as the person who travels the boat records all the affairs on the ship. Let those who come after know where the ship came from. Whatever happened on board, it was still the Theseus. When Cai Ji said this, he saw Guo Jia beside him with surprise in his eyes. But Cai Ji did not stop because of this, but raised his voice and said loudly, "China is such a big ship, sailing on the vast ocean. Over time, the planks had deteriorated and had to be replaced with new ones before they could continue to run. Previously, Shang had changed the ship's board, Zhou had changed the ship's board, and Qin had changed the ship's board. Han also changed the plank. Mr. Bonghyo asked Gu if he had the heart to protect Han. Lone can only say that before replacing the rotten shipboard, Lone will not abandon Han lightly. ＂

Guo Jia looked at the woman beside him, feeling both strange and familiar. What is strange is Cai Ji's revealing heart, and what is familiar is the resolute eyes. Guo Jia remembered that he once said to Jia Xu: "I am willing to help Cai Ji assist the Han family to dominate the world in my lifetime." Now it seems that he and Jia Xu may have underestimated Cai Ji.

The rotten shipboard refers to the great families who corrupted the world, and also refers to the weak and incompetent Han family. Since Cai Ji is determined to replace the plank of the big ship of China, it means that what the woman in front of her is pursuing is not a family and a business, not a dynasty and a country, but the eternal foundation of China.

For the first time, Guo Jia had a feeling of disobedience in front of Cai Ji. But he was not discouraged, jealous, or afraid. The reason why a hundred birds are facing the phoenix is because the phoenix can soar above the nine heavens. At this moment, Guo Jia only felt that his heart was surging, and he sincerely hoped that God could give him a little more time, so that he could accompany the woman next to him to achieve great things all the way.

Seeing Cai Ji at this time, he looked back and asked, "Mr. Fengxiao, are you still satisfied with Lone's answer?" ”

Guo Jia immediately retracted his thoughts and bowed solemnly to Cai Ji.

Guo Jia's response made Cai Ji smile with relief. Cai Ji, who is well versed in history, knows very well that the path he has chosen is full of thorns. Because the rotten planks of the ship will not be willing to be replaced, they will struggle, they will resist, and they will even threaten to die together.

In the spring of the seventh year of Jian'an, the preliminary examination in Yecheng was held as scheduled, and more than 2,000 scholars finally participated in the imperial examination, which was far larger than the Donglai imperial examination of that year, and of course the competition became more and more fierce. After two rounds of screening, the number of scholars who obtained the qualification for the palace examination was locked at 120. Perhaps in order to relax the scholars who had tried for two rounds in a row, or to further observe the demeanor of these 120 people, Cao Cao held a banquet in the Yecheng Mansion on this day to entertain the shortlisted scholars. The scholars who were worried about not being able to figure out the direction of the wind in the palace test would certainly not give up such an opportunity to show themselves in front of Prime Minister Cao Cheng. As a result, for a while, the prime minister's mansion was lit up with lights, and a group of guests gathered and the lively scene of the city.

The carriage carried Sima Lang and Sima Yi through the bustling street market all the way to the Prime Minister's Mansion. As a scholar who has passed two rounds of tests in a row, Sima Yi also received an invitation from the Prime Minister's Mansion. However, compared with the night banquet of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the second son of the Sima family was obviously more interested in the people who went to the banquet. Dan saw him lift the curtain of the car and look around with interest at the scholars who were going to the Prime Minister's Mansion outside the car, and then turned around and smiled at Sima Lang, "Cao Gong's night banquet said that only the shortlisted scholars were invited, but according to Yiyi's eyes, there are far more than one hundred and twenty scholars who went to the banquet today. ”

Sima Lang looked up at Sima Yi and said earnestly, "Gong Cao set up a banquet tonight to evaluate the scholars. Even if you haven't passed the first or second test before, as long as you can have a good performance at the banquet tonight, you can also win the attention of Cao Gong. Zhongda, although you have been shortlisted for the palace examination, tonight's night banquet must not be taken lightly. ”

"Oh? Is the night banquet of the Prime Minister's Mansion more important than the imperial palace test? Sima Yi raised his long eyebrows and asked playfully.

"Zhongda, Cao Cao is suspicious, and he can't allow others to play tricks in front of him." Sima Lang sank his face and warned Sima Yi again. It must be known that Sima Yi has always claimed to be sick at home, and used wind paralysis to prevaricate the recruitment from various forces, and it was not until this time that the noble son showed his feet. With Sima Lang's understanding of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will not let go of Sima Yi, who had deceived him, after learning about this. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity of the imperial court to open a science and take scholars, Sima Lang sent his subordinates to escort Sima Yi to Yecheng to participate in the scientific examination. And Sima Yi did not disappoint Sima Lang, he not only easily passed the first test and the second round of tests, but also left an excellent impression on the examiner. It's just that seeing Sima Yi looking disapproving of the night banquet at this moment, Sima Lang couldn't help but be a little worried that his second brother would "make a mistake" again tonight.

It turned out that Sima Lang's worries were completely unnecessary, although Sima Yi had the intention of waiting for the price to sell, but he also knew that with his current status and identity, he had no capital to play tricks in front of Cao Cao. Therefore, in the face of his brother with a solemn face, Sima Yi immediately restrained his joking heart, bowed his hand and said, "Brother, rest assured, Yi will never take the lives of more than 100 members of the Sima family as a child's play." ”

Sima Lang stared at Sima Yi for a long time, and then immediately stretched out his hand to support the other party's shoulder and encouraged, "Zhongda, your wisdom is above that of your brother." If you can seize the opportunity of this opening, your achievements will far surpass that of being a brother. Cao Gong has promised the world's scholars that those who win the first place in the imperial examination can worship Zhonglang. ”

Indeed, for a young scholar, serving as a Zhonglang as soon as he comes out of office can definitely be called promising. But Sima Yi's ambitions clearly go far beyond that. In his opinion, whether it is Zhonglang or a doctor, they are just small characters who look at people's eyes. In the current troubled times, the people who really hold the real power are the princes who hold the power of the military like Cao Cao and Cai Ji. Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help but turn his head and laugh at himself, "What about Zhonglang?" Even if the official worships the three dukes, it is just a clay tire and wood plastic. ”

"Zhongda ......" Sima Lang knew that his younger brother was alluding to the fall of power in the Han family, but the current situation made him speechless.

"That's it. Prime Minister Cao Cheng said that he would rule the world with scholars. Sima Yi said, turning his gaze to the Prime Minister's Mansion, which was gradually becoming clear outside the car. (To be continued......)