"If you want to capture a new territory, but lose the old territory that has been in operation for a long time, this is more than worth the loss for the lord and Cao Cao, because occupying a place is not only as simple as occupying the land, but also needs the support of the local scholars. Without the support of the nobles, even if they occupied it, it would be difficult to manage that place well, and it can only be described as difficult. ”

"Therefore, neither the lord nor Cao Cao will be willing to accept the use of the territory that he has operated for many years in exchange for another place without roots, because that means that the newcomers need to spend a lot of energy and time to win over the local scholars, which is extremely deadly in the era of continuous fighting, because as long as other princes take advantage of the new lord's unstable foothold to attack, the new lord is difficult to defend, he not only has to defend against foreign enemies, but also has to be careful at all times that the local scholars and outsiders should be together, Kill one in the back by surprise. ”

After Yan Xiang explained, Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui seemed to understand a little, and both nodded, but Ji Ling showed a look of disdain, and he said: "You are too alarmist, what is so great about the mere scholars, no matter how horizontal they are, can their necks be harder than our knives?" If you don't obey, wouldn't it be nice to kill them all? ”

As soon as Ji Ling's words came out, even Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui frowned, although they didn't understand politics, they knew that what Yan Xiang said was not false.

The origin of the scholar clan can be traced back to the pre-Qin period of the "scholar" class, which was a specific social class with a certain status in ancient Chinese society, and later evolved into a general term for the learned. Originally, it may have referred to the warriors of the same clan as the clan chiefs and dignitaries at the end of the primitive society, and when they entered the class society, they became part of the ruling class.

Because in ancient times, only the children of nobles above the rank of scholar had cultural knowledge, so the scholar became the title of a person with certain knowledge and skills.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the wars between countries increased, the role of foot soldiers increased, the role of chariot warfare and warriors decreased, and the status of soldiers also rose or fell. In order to expand their influence and consolidate their position, some doctors tried to recruit people to make a statement, and many scholars took refuge in them. There are also some taxis

In order to solve economic difficulties, they went to hold funerals for people, as a tribute, or to run industry and commerce, and some people engaged in private lectures and imparted cultural knowledge, and since then there have been a group of scholars specializing in cultural activities in Chinese history. They traveled to various countries, were active in their thinking, and made great contributions to the emergence of a situation in which a hundred schools of thought were competing in the field of ancient Chinese scholarship and to promoting the development of culture and science.

During the Warring States Period, the struggle for hegemony and annexation wars were more intense, so the lobbyists of the Qin and Twilight Chu came into being. They travel from country to country and act as lobbyists, represented by the Zonghengjia. At this time, the practice of raising scholars of feudal lords and magnates in various countries was also prevalent. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the connotation of Shi underwent further changes. When a scholar is called a scholar, it can refer to a soldier in the army, and it is often a general term for officials who serve in the central power and prefectures, counties, and counties.

In the Han Dynasty, scholars attached great importance to the name of the scholar (that is, personality fame, character and integrity, and intellectual ability), once they became a celebrity, utilitarian official positions would follow one after another, so the scholars believed in the motto of righteousness, self-cultivation, family, governance, and peace in the world, and adhered to the feudal program and the famous religion; Or flashy socializing, forming friends, boasting to each other, and selling fame. In the later period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, among the scholars, the style of discussing the topic of the character was extremely prosperous. However, this kind of human and material problem is a non-governmental activity.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was advocated, and most of the bureaucrats started with scriptures, and by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the situation of successive generations of ministers was gradually formed, so that the landlords of the clan could participate in the political power by virtue of their family background.

In the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, land annexation was very serious, and a powerful landlord force of bureaucrats, merchants, and landlords was gradually formed. The Eastern Han Dynasty was established with the support of powerful landlords, and as a result, powerful landlords enjoyed political and economic privileges in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Politically, they controlled the central and local powers, economically annexed land, ran estates, and gradually became a famous family.

Runan Yuan's and Yingchuan's Xun clan are their representatives, so Ji Ling doesn't know the height of the sky, and shouting to eradicate the scholars by force is simply a fool's dream, even the emperor needs to rely on the support of the scholars in order to maintain the stability of a country, not to mention the local princes, if the princes of a place have a bad relationship with the local scholars

The nobles are not simply big families, they even have their own armed forces, and have mutual benefit and mutual salvation agreements, once their common interests are threatened, they will unite to resist the common enemy, whose power is even feared by the princes.

Now Cao Cao has committed unforgivable evil deeds in Xuzhou, of course he can't get the support of the scholars, so even if they occupy Xuzhou, it will be difficult to gain a foothold there, so they must find another place where there is no bad relations with the local scholars as a territory, in order to develop their strength steadily, otherwise, just to deal with the endless riots and rebellions, they are already exhausted, what else to talk about strengthening their strength?

Seeing that Ji Ling was so short-sighted, Zhang Xun could only kindly remind: "General Ji Ling, the power of the scholar clan is very great, but it is not said that it will be destroyed." ”

Yan Xiang also made it clear: "The Runan Yuan clan of our lord family is the Shi clan, does General Ji Ling still think that the Shi clan is easy to yield and bow down?" ”

After moving Yuan Shu and his family out, this Ji Ling understood what was going on, but he was still stubborn and unconvinced: "The lord's family is a famous family of the fourth and third princes, and the protégés are all over the world, how can they be compared to other scholars?" ”

Yan Xiang said: "General Ji Ling is right, but even so, there are as many other families as stars, and ants can still shake big things, let alone the scholar clan? ”

Seeing that Yan Xiang couldn't argue, Ji Ling simply snorted coldly, turned around and put on a look of ignorance.

Seeing this, Zhang Xun didn't want to waste time by letting the two of them continue to argue about this topic, so he said to Yan Xiang: "Lord Yan Xiang is right, let's continue to talk about it!" ”

Yan Xiang nodded and said: "It is precisely considering the relationship between the scholar clan, Cao Cao, like the other princes, will not easily give up the territory he has operated for many years, and take great risks to occupy a place that does not belong to him, so although General Zhang Xun arranged the 100,000 troops given to you by the lord in various places on the border, pretend to show Cao Cao, Cao Cao is a smart person, and when he sees this move of the general, he will not act rashly." ”