The weather in Xiangyang was gloomy, in early winter and October, and it rained lightly in the afternoon.

The dripping raindrops hit the eaves with a tinkling sound.

After everyone sat down and talked to each other, Wang Cang took the initiative to ask Pang Tong: "Pang Tong, this time you went north to Yingchuan to visit Mr. Sima Decao, what did you get?" ”

Pang Tong said: "Mr. Decao is very knowledgeable, I have discussed with him for a long time, and even built a grass house where he lives, and often talked with him, and I have gained a lot and helped me solve a lot of academic doubts." ”

"Then what does he think of the general trend of the world?"

Wang Cang asked.

Pang Tong wondered: "How can Mr. Zhongxuan be interested in the general trend of the world. ”

"My family is in the north, and I'm worried."

Wang Cang made an excuse.

In fact, he really doesn't like Jingzhou, he wrote several poems in history, expressing his helplessness about living in Jingzhou and his yearning for his hometown and the north, so recently I heard that Liu Xie returned to Luoyang, and wanted to know if the world would be peaceful and when he would be able to return to the north.

Before Pang Tong could speak, Shen Chen shook his head and said, "Brother Zhongxuan, don't think about going back to the north, at least for ten years, the north will not be peaceful." ”

"But the Son of Heaven has already arrived in Xuchang."

Wang Cang defended: "If the Son of Heaven can exert himself to govern the country, maybe he will soon pacify Henan, Liu Yuanjun will be enshrined a few days ago, maybe the Son of Heaven will order to come, so that the army of the Emperor will go north to help the Son of Heaven clear the Quartet." ”

Liu Biao himself is an unminister, will he help Liu Xie?

Shen Chen sneered in his heart, but this kind of thing must not be said nonsense, so he said: "Brother doesn't really think that the Son of Heaven has real power, Cao Cao is a traitor in troubled times, the so-called flattery of the Son of Heaven is just a coercion of the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and the business that Zhang Yi did not complete back then has been done by him Cao Mengde." ”

Coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes?

Everyone looked at each other, this operation was not actually invented by Cao Cao, but created by Zhang Yi during the Warring States Period.

According to the "Zuo Biography", Zhang Yi suggested to King Qin Hui that he should send troops to Luoyang from Guanzhong, seize Zhou Tianzi, and then use Zhou Tianzi's authority to give orders to the princes of the world, which is called "coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes".

However, Sima Cuo, another minister of King Qin Hui, was opposed, he believed that the hijacking of Zhou Tianzi would easily cause the public anger of the princes of the world, and they would inevitably join forces to crusade together, so there was no need to bear such a notoriety, and he should first destroy Shu, occupy Shu and strengthen himself, and then plot the whole world.

In the end, King Qin Hui chose Sima Cuo's suggestion, sent troops to attack Shu, captured the land of Bashu, and later built Dujiangyan by Li Bing and his son, since then Sichuan has 800 miles of plains, so the Qin State has gradually become stronger, and when Qin Shi Huang sent troops to sweep Liuhe, he unified the universe.

Therefore, Zhang Yi's coercion of the Son of Heaven to order the princes is actually a failed strategy, but it is the so-called time and time. The same strategy can only work miraculously under certain conditions, like Cao Cao's use now, it is very successful.

However, Wang Cang felt that Shen Chen's words were wrong, shook his head and said: "Cao Cao is also regarded as an official eunuch, how can he be so contrary to the people's hearts?" Aren't you afraid that the world will ask for it? ”

"So that's where camouflage comes in."

Shen Chen said: "Didn't Cao Cao play the name of welcoming the Son of Heaven? But let's think about it, the Son of Heaven is now in Xuchang, all the soldiers and horses are controlled by Cao Cao, and there are Cao Cao's people around him. ”

"This is just Ah Chen's conjecture, at least I don't see that Cao Cao is persecuting the Son of Heaven now, is it because all the soldiers and horses are controlled by Cao Cao, does it mean that the Son of Heaven is also controlled?"

Wang Cang still has a different opinion.

Shen Chen thought for a while and said: "Naturally not, it's just that if there is no strong reinforcement outside the son, there are no soldiers and horses inside, how can the power in your hands be displayed?" It's not that Cao Cao says anything, he listens to anything, isn't this coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes? ”

Wang Cang said with a smile: "Back then, Duke Zhou upheld power and returned to power after King Cheng grew up. Bo Luhou was in power when Emperor Xuan was young, and when Emperor Xuan came of age, he also handed over power, shouldn't he be assisted by ministers when the Son of Heaven was young? This in itself is a normal thing, nothing unusual. ”

During the Han Dynasty, the status of Duke Zhou and Huo Guang was still very high, don't look at the family that was destroyed after Huo Guang's death, but the problem is that Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty did not exterminate Huo Guangquan because he leaned towards the government and the opposition, but because his wife and children were not angry, and they had to make trouble before they were destroyed by Liu Xun.

Including Liu Xun himself, as well as throughout the Han Dynasty, all the emperors respected Huo Guang very much, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty was the hero of the Qilin Pavilion, and Huo Guang ranked first. When Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, they all sacrificed and rewarded Huo Guang.

Therefore, at that time, those who praised those who were very virtuous although they were in power and in the opposition, all put Zhou Gong and Huo Guang together as examples.

Of course.

The antonyms of the two of them are basically Wang Mang and Dong Zhuo, and later Cao Cao had to be added.

Shen Chen also smiled: "I think that a person should be judged regardless of his deeds, my brother thinks that Cao Cao is Zhou Gong Huo Guang, but he doesn't know that he is Wang Mang Dong Zhuo." Let's ask Zhou Gong and Huo Guang, will they slaughter hundreds of thousands of people under their rule? Will Zhou Gong and Huo Guang wantonly kill celebrities and force them to oppose Yanzhou Haoqiang? A virtuous person may be cruel in his heart, but a cruel person will not be virtuous in his heart. ”

Wang Cang was silent for a while, not because he was overwhelmed by Shen Chen, but because he considered that Shen Chen came from Xuzhou, he might have seen too many tragic scenes, so he was biased in his opinion of Cao Cao, and he didn't want to debate with Shen Chen on this issue.

Seeing that the atmosphere on the field was a little awkward, Xu Shu said: "Even if you don't care about your deeds, you should look at it later, there is no need to make a conclusion so early." ”

"Don't you think Cao Cao's atrocities are enough to tell the whole story?"

Shen Chen was very puzzled.

Wang Cang said softly: "People may be brutal, but they will also change, who can know what he is like?" Maybe at that time, for Cao Cao, the slaughter of Xuzhou was also a last resort. ”

Xu Shu also said: "Yes, whether it is to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, or to serve the Son of Heaven to beg for ministers, we will see it in the future, and this matter will not be discussed." ”

"That'...... All right. ”

It was the first time Shen Chen had eaten deflated, and it was the first time he had seen him so stubborn after getting along with Wang Cang for so long.

He turned his head to look at the others, only to find that everyone, including Pang Tong, had a calm expression on their faces, and no one seemed to affirm Shen Chen's opinion.

At this moment, Shen Chen had a lot of thoughts in his mind.

It was difficult for him to understand why these people chose to turn a blind eye to the naked slaughter.

After thinking about it for a long time, I suddenly remembered the "Seven Mourning Poems" that Wang Cang once wrote, and those words and sentences that depict the scene of troubled times are the answers.

Shen Chen finally understood the reason, he was a little sad for a while, and he couldn't help but sigh softly in his heart.

I see.

He thought to himself.

This is the difference between ancient and modern values.

When Wang Cang came to Jingzhou from Chang'an, he saw a woman throwing her baby in the grass.

But what about Wang Cang?

His choice was not to look sideways, and then left in peace in the carriage.

You must know that although Wang Cang went to Jingzhou to avoid trouble, he is not an ordinary person, his grandfather and great-grandfather are both three princes, with a prominent family and a lot of money.

Such a big man, casually send a little kindness, give a little money and food to the low-level women, maybe he can save the baby.

But he didn't have the slightest intention of helping the woman, and when he arrived in Jingzhou, he immediately wrote a "Seven Mourning Poems" to worry about the country and the people.

It's like a war in a Middle Eastern country in the future, and a rich boy took a private jet to go around that country and saw countless tragic scenes.

However, this son-in-law did not choose to contribute money and efforts to help those miserable people, but took a lot of photos, and when he turned around, he posted on Moments and said: "Look, the children of this country are really pitiful." ”

Sounds ironic.

But for the people of the time, it was nothing.

Because they are upper-class people.

They just feel that this kind of war is very bitter.

As for the people at the bottom, in a word, it's my business.

The same is true of Cao Cao's massacre of the city.

Later generations were born in the era of peace, and they were once exposed to it, and they were very indignant at the atrocities of the Japanese invaders, so they saw the present and looked at the past, and thought that Cao Cao's slaughter of the city was wrong and had not been washed.

But for people at the time, it didn't seem like a big deal.

Even if it was slaughtered, they would not have too many negative views of Cao Cao, at most they felt that this person had killed too much.

Even a humble gentleman like Xun Yu only tactfully told Cao Cao not to conquer Xuzhou, and did not make too much comment on Cao Cao's massacre of the people.

In the final analysis, in the eyes of the scholars of the Han Dynasty, the people at the bottom are not as good as grass.

Before the Tang and Song dynasties, there were countless powerful ministers.

But what about after the Tang and Song dynasties? How many powerful ministers have you had?

It is because before the Tang and Song dynasties, the government was controlled by the family gatekeepers.

Without the imperial examination system, the people at the bottom will never have a bright day.

Including the Han, Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was a struggle between the emperor and the wealthy families, and those top wealthy families were qualified to confront the emperor.

Like Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, he can be regarded as the founding emperor, and once asked the ministers with great expectations what kind of emperor he was, and then he was immediately scolded by the courtiers to numb, saying that he was not even as good as Emperor Han Huan and Emperor Han Ling, and he was an incompetent and faint monarch.

As a result, Sima Yan didn't dare to let go of his fart.

What if this thing was changed to the Qing Dynasty? It was already dragged out and cut by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

So what these so-called famous families lament is not actually this troubled world, nor is it pity for the people at the bottom.

But because of the arrival of troubled times, the power of their wealthy family is not there.

What Wang Cang misses is the prosperity of the family during the period when his grandfather and great-grandfather were the third princes.

He desperately hoped that the imperial court would put down the rebellion, and then through the shadow of his ancestors, he would return to the imperial court to take up an official position and regain his family's prestige.

As for the suffering of the people at the bottom, it is still the same sentence.

What the hell is going on?