Wei Yan wanted to ask Shixun about academic questions, but Shixun nodded and agreed. So I listened to Wei sarcastically ask: "Satire is a public discussion of state affairs, every word is profitable, but not morality, I don't know why?" ”

Shi Xun replied calmly: "Because Confucianism talks a lot about morality, and claims profit, but the country cannot exist without profit, so it is not issued by others." If all the sages are spittle, what is the benefit of the words? "It's not that I don't talk about morality, the problem is that there are too many people in society who are moral and closed-mouthed, and they have said everything that should be said, so I don't need to expand this proposition again, just talk about the benefits that they ignore.

Wei was slightly stunned when he heard this—it was obvious that he didn't expect Shi Xun to give such an answer. Originally, Confucianism talked more about morality and less about interests, which was correct, but the result was that as soon as Xun mentioned the affairs of the relevant countries, he only talked about benefits and rarely talked about morality, so of course Wei Zijing should take advantage of it to ask - are you despising morality? Is it the belief that profit comes before morality?

Of course, the other party is a scholar who has accumulated years, and it is not so easy to be defeated, in Wei Wei's imagination, there are two possible ways for Xun to answer: first, it is to leave it clear, saying that I have not mentioned morality, but it is just word of mouth, and it has been distorted by some of your villagers; The second is hypocrisy, saying how important interests are, so it must be said. Unexpectedly, it was Xun who played a trick of "sealing and closing", dialing thousands of pounds in four or two, there were no loopholes in his words to catch, and he didn't show any personal tendencies at all.

Ren Ran couldn't help but interject and asked: "But is it the public that righteousness and profit come first?" ”

Wei Wei squinted his eyes and glanced at Ren Lan, and said in his heart, good friend, your question is not only unreasonable, but also rude. It is unreasonable. Confucianism advocates morality. As a Confucian. Who would say that profit comes first? Speaking of rudeness, since you ask so, don't you suspect that Xun is putting interests above morality? Even if you doubt his character and theory, you should turn a corner, and the twists and turns are euphemistic.

Shi Xun didn't think it was wrong—his identity was here, and it was really unscrupulous to be angry with a young man in public—so he continued to be vague: "What is the so-called succession? Swim from it. The gentleman is in the front, and the disciple is in the back; When it comes to trouble, the disciple is in front and the gentleman is in the back. The beneficiary also has food and clothing, and the righteous have their own strengths, and they take measures according to the situation. How can a king not speak of profit, and the people not be hungry, but can be righteous? ”

The students follow the teacher out of the house, and of course the teacher goes ahead. The students walked behind, but they encountered some danger. Do students have to shrink back too? Detached from the actual situation, how can it be extravagant to talk about the precedence? If the monarch refuses to speak up and makes the common people unable to eat, can he still educate them and be moral?

He said the last sentence redundantly, and Ren Lan thought that he was sick with his words, and immediately cross-examined: "Zi said: 'Since ancient times, there has been death, and the people have no faith and cannot stand. 'Who is the ruler who does not speak of profit and cannot be righteous? ”

It is recorded in the Analects that Zigong asked Confucius for advice on how to govern, and Confucius said: "Sufficient food, sufficient soldiers, and the trust of the people." "These three are enough. Zigong asked again: "I have to go, which of the three comes first?" "If I can't do it all, which one should I abandon first? Confucius said, "Go to the army." "We can put the issue of national defense aside for a moment. Zigong San asked: "I have to go, which of the two comes first?" "Which of the remaining two should be thrown first? So Confucius said, "Go and eat." Since ancient times, there have been deaths, and the people have no faith and cannot stand. ”

What Confucius meant seemed to be that it didn't matter if you were hungry, as long as the people trusted the monarch and were willing to be educated, it would be a good thing. Therefore, Ren Ran asked, isn't this contrary to what you said? Was Confucius wrong, or are you wrong?

Shi Xun pursed his lips and couldn't help laughing: "What's more, you don't understand." If the people don't believe, how can they have enough food and soldiers? There are those who believe in the people, but those who cannot eat and the country is not strong? Confucius taught with benevolence, how could he want to make the people starve and kill? "You want to say that Confucius was not afraid of starving the common people, right? Can he still claim to be benevolent and the ancestor of a hundred sages?

Ren Ran was stunned and couldn't answer, so he had to turn his eyes to Wei Wei for help. Wei sarcastically said Who asked you to deviate the topic, and also quoted the words of the sage in vain? Old friend, your brains and mouth are not sharp enough, so let's drink and eat with you honestly, and listen to me and Shixun have a good answer. At the moment, he took a deep look, his posture was quite low, and he asked Shixun: "Is it known that the king of Wei issued an order to raise the virtuous in the previous year?" ”

It's Xun Xin who said that this is not nonsense, the year before last I was still doing the Wei State Zhongshu Order, the national decrees, theoretically must be drafted by my Zhongshu, even if it is Cao Cao's own handwriting, or the will drawn up by the secretary and the subordinates, it has to be reviewed by our hands, how can I not know? He didn't answer at the moment, just nodded slightly. Wei sarcastically said: "Satire can be recited silently, is it a public invitation to listen, is there no mistake?" ”

So he began to memorize the article: "Since ancient times, the king of Zhongxing has been ordained, and he can't taste the wise man and gentleman who rules the world with him!" And he is virtuous, he has never been out of Lu Lane, how can he be lucky to meet? The ears of those who go above do not ask for it. Today's decision has not yet been made, and this special talent is also urgent. 'Meng Gong is Zhao and Wei Lao is superior, not Teng and Xue Dafu'. If it is available later, then how can Qi Huan dominate the world? Is there anyone who is fishing in Weibin by brown jade today? And you have to have no thief sister-in-law to receive money and have not met the ignorant? The second and third sons are clearly and ugly, and I am the only one, and I have to use it......"

Before Shi Xun could answer, Chen Yi next to him said first: "Zijing is well-read and has a strong memory, and there should be no mistakes or omissions." ”

In this article, known as the "Seeking Talent" in history, Cao Cao put forward the slogan of "meritocracy" for the first time, requiring all localities to recommend talents, not to be rigid in moral quality, scholarly style evaluation, just to see if there is ability. In the original history, this decree was promulgated in the fifteenth year of Jian'an, corresponding to this timeline, which should be next year. However, history has changed, and Cao Cao's power has expanded rapidly, so there is a shortage of talents, and this decree was issued three years in advance.

However, then Chen Qun suggested that the nine products were upright, and it was Xun who created the imperial examination, which solved the problem of lack of talents relatively satisfactorily, so Cao Cao would not be like the original history, and then issue the "Don't Abolish the Short-term Order" and "Don't Limit the Conduct of the Virtuous" a few years later, then it's hard to say.

Wei Wei recited Cao Cao's "Decree to Seek Talents", and the question he asked was: "My Han Dynasty rules the world with filial piety, and the title of the Son of Heaven is crowned (most of the emperors of the Han Dynasty have the word "filial piety". Such as Emperor Xiaowen, Emperor Xiaowu, and Emperor Xiaoling. etc.). And morality. Therefore, in the first year of Emperor Xiaowu Yuanguang, he first ordered the county to raise filial piety and honest officials, and used it in today's ...... "When it comes to the Zhongzheng system, the imperial examination system is also good, it is just the new rules of the Wei State, and the Han Dynasty is still recommended by the local governors to be filial piety and Maocai, as the main way to take the scholar - "Gai filial piety is filial piety to relatives, and Si Neng is loyal to the king." Honest officials are diligent and diligent. Today, the king of Wei is only talented, not as good as morality, contrary to the law of the ancestors, and abandoning the teachings of Confucianism. Is it the public secretary of Wei, and he is also hindered? ”

Scholars are moral, and state officials are even more moral, and if they are talented but not virtuous, I am afraid it will be difficult to be loyal to the king. It is difficult to love the people, but Cao Cao proposed "meritocracy". Contrary to this traditional principle, why didn't you, as an important minister of Wei at that time, dissuade it?

Yes Xun couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and said in his heart, Are you really the Wei Zijing who left his name in the history books? This kind of question can be asked by others, just ask it...... Why do I think it's weird?

Wei sarcastically said that he was indeed seen in the annals of history, although there was not much pen and ink, but because the deeds were quite thrilling and suspicious, so Shi Xun still had a little impression, and after a little pondering, he recalled it. It is said that this person "has a heavy name, and everyone from the prime minister to the prime minister is devoted to him", so he was recommended by Zhong Xuan and was appointed by Cao Cao as the West Cao Peng. However, when Cao Cao went on an expedition to Hanzhong and fought against Liu Bei, Wei Wei conspired to rebel in Yecheng, but was only denounced by his comrades, and was killed by Cao Pi, who stayed behind.

- Actually, Xun didn't remember that the comrade who denounced Wei Wei was the captain of Changle at the time, named Chen Yi......

There are many doubts in the case of Wei Wei, and there have been many speculations in later generations. One of the doubts is that he is a small Xicao Peng, with no soldiers and no bravery, does he want to seize Yecheng just by "renaming"? Isn't that nonsense? Therefore, later people suspected that Wei Weishi was instigated by Liu Bei's general Guan Yu, who was guarding Jingzhou, and wanted to echo it in the north and south.

Second, the Wei Wei case involved many young bureaucrats, including Wang Cang's two sons, Liu Wei's brother Liu Wei, Zhang Xiu's son Zhang Quan, and the son of Song Zhong, the great Confucian of Jingzhou, all of whom eventually lost their heads. "The Biography of Wang Cang" quoted the "Article Chronicle" as saying: "When Taizu was in Hanzhong, he heard that Zongzi was dead, and sighed: 'If you are alone, you will not make Zhongxuan have no queen.'" "The Biography of Liu Hui" said: "Wei is sarcastic, and Di Wei is led by irony, and he should be punished." Taizu Ling said: 'Uncle Xiang does not sit on the younger tiger, and the ancient system is also. Tehara didn't ask. ”

Some people speculate that the fathers and brothers of the second generation of these officials were all in Jingzhou, so Guan Yu, who guarded Jingzhou, could use Guò Wei to plot against them. However, if you think about it more carefully, Zhang Xiu was originally an independent force, and his son's political tendencies are absolutely impossible to be similar to Wang Cangzi and Song Zhongzi of Liu Biao's former ministers. And it is said that Wen Qin, the son of Wen Ji, a cavalry general who was born in Qian County, was also involved in the case and was tortured in prison, but in the end, it was Cao Cao who read Wen Ji's many years of companionship and hard work to avoid his death - Wen Qin has nothing to do with Jingzhou.

Therefore, some people speculate that this is just an unjust case created by Cao Pi to purge the opposition, and he not only killed thousands of people because of this, but also forced Zhong Xuan, Yang Jun and other incumbent officials to resign, thus completely consolidating his position as the heir......

It is estimated that on this timeline, there will be no more Wei Wei plotting against him, one is that Cao Cao's base camp is no longer in Ye, and the second is that Jingzhou has fallen into his hands early, and the third is ...... Zhang Xiu has not hung up yet, Wang Cang is also different from history, married Cai Wenji as his wife, and currently has a son and a daughter, but there are no two sons.

The problem is that according to the records of various books, although Wei Wei satirized this person "has the ability to confuse the people", he was belittled by people of insight such as Liu Ye, Fu Xun, Liu Hui and others, Liu Hui once warned his brother Liu Wei and said: "I look at Wei Wei, do not cultivate virtue, but focus on doves and doves as a business, flashy and unreal, this directly stirs up the world and sells fame." "You don't have much to do with him. In other words, this guy is flashy and frivolous, and his moral character is not very good. If you are a square person, jumping out to accuse Cao Cao of "meritocracy", you are "not cultivating virtue", how can you still be qualified to ask such a question?

But after thinking about it again, maybe it was a later thing to push forward, and it was precisely because Wei was motivated to rebel (whether it was an unjust case or not) that later generations recorded all the words that scolded him - to put it bluntly, this is called an afterthought. Could it be that if I am Hongsuke, no one will scold me all over the world? Not necessarily. But if I can get a good death, those words will eventually be annihilated, and only good words will be recorded in history.

He turned in such a big circle in his head, and he couldn't help but answer a little slower, and just as he was about to speak, Zhou Budo suddenly stood up, first arched his hand towards Shi Xun Gong, and then turned to Wei Wei: "If there is something to do, the disciple will obey it, and Zijing's suspicion can be solved." (To be continued......)

PS: Yesterday, a friend proposed that Zheng Hun is a native of Kaifeng, Henan, and this Kaifeng is not today's Kaifeng, in its south, between Kaifeng, Zhongmu, and Wei, and it still belonged to Henan Yin at that time. In other words, according to the principle of recusal, Zheng Wengong should not be attributed to Henan as Yin Ye. This issue is indeed my negligence, but if it is modified, it may involve a lot of money, so I will leave it alone for the time being.