Wuhan Palace, Pavilion in the Lake.

The autumn of Wuhan is different from the autumn scenery of the northern country, the lake is still decorated with greenery, and the fish swim among the lotus acres.

Liu Bei sat in the pavilion in the lake, looking at the autumn scenery, and said melancholy: "At the beginning of the year, I Shang and Yun Chang gathered here, laughing and talking about the past, but now Yun Chang is no longer there. ”

"Please mourn Your Majesty!"

In order to avoid arousing Liu Bei's sadness, Fa Zheng changed the topic and said: "Your Majesty, according to the scout's report, Cao Cao died in Luoyang last month, and now he is succeeded by his son Cao Pi, and he will be amnesty to the world. ”

"Huh!"

Liu Bei looked surprised and said, "Cao Mengde? ”

As he spoke, Liu Bei sighed slightly and said, "Cao Mengde has been fighting with me for thirty years, and he is a hero of the first generation, and now he will eventually die and return to the Nine Shadows." ”

Zhuge Ke, who was still young, interjected and said: "Your Majesty, Cao Mengde usurped the throne and stood on his own, and he was a traitor for the country. Now that you are sick and dead, you should be happy about it, how can you be sad about it? ”

Liu Bei looked at the lake and was silent.

He was entangled with Cao Cao in this life, a friend in his early years, an enemy in his middle age, and a lifetime of intertwining between friends and foes. The reason why he did everything against Cao Cao was not because he hated Cao Cao very much, but because he did not agree with Cao Cao's three views, and it showed that Cao Cao had a great influence on him.

Now hearing that Cao Cao died of illness, Liu Bei let go of the hatred between him and Cao Cao at this moment, and replaced it with his sadness for Cao Cao's death.

Seeing Liu Bei's expression, Huo Jun felt something. He knows very well that Cao and Liu are also enemies and friends, appreciate each other, hate each other, and have a great relationship.

For example, in history, after Cao Cao died of illness, Liu Bei sent Han Ran as an envoy to Cao Wei to mourn Cao Cao and make friends with Cao Wei. It was only because Cao Pi was not allowed that Han Ran did not succeed. During this period, although Liu Bei wanted to kill Wu, there was also the friendship between Cao and Liu.

Huo Jun poured a cup of tea and moved it to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei picked up the steaming tea and asked, "Who does Zhong Miao think Cao Mengde is?" ”

Huo Jun was silent for a while, and said: "Cao Mengde violated the national power, and the world will be guilty of it. However, he relied on trickery, deceit, and power, and conquered excessively. The power shook the whole sea, but the people were afraid of its prestige, but did not cherish its virtue. Xi Xu Shao commented: 'A capable minister who governs the world, a traitor in troubled times. 'In troubled times, as a traitor, Gai is so! ”

The evaluation of Cao Cao by generations of people in the past is often praise and disapproval, and Huo Jun is the same. He recognized Cao Cao's talents, but not his qualities. If it was because he was Liu Bei's courtier, he didn't even dare to admit Cao Cao's ability, it would be a joke. After all, to belittle Cao is to indirectly insult Liu.

"Zhong Miao's words are the same!"

Liu Bei held the teacup and sighed: "I knew him when I was strong, Dong Zhuo was in turmoil, and the princes alliance was against Dong. The heroes were cowardly and incompetent, but Cao Cao defeated the outnumbered soldiers, even though they were defeated in Bianshui and almost died, they can be described as loyal to the Han family. Unfortunately, the situation changes suddenly, and loyalty is easy to change! ”

Cao Cao's life is a good interpretation of what it means to be a 'dragon slaying boy who eventually becomes an evil dragon.' 'In the past, he eliminated traitorous officials and served the Han family loyally. In the end, due to the great changes in the current situation, he embarked on the road of becoming the king and opening the country.

Feeling a little nostalgic, Liu Bei restrained his mood and asked: "Filial piety, can Cao Pi succeed to the throne?" ”

Fa Zheng pondered a little and said: "Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, in addition to promoting and rewarding, only to order Chen Qun to carry out the Nine Grades of Officials Law, and to place Zhongzheng in the county, to treat the township, and to rank and pull out the scholars. ”

Hearing this, Liu Bei put down the teacup and asked: "The Cao family has innovated the inspection with the nine products of Zhongzheng and won the hearts of the people in the Central Plains. Now my Han needs to be reformed and investigated, so as to be the fault of the Han? ”

The Southern Han and Northern Wei dynasties were in a competitive relationship, and each side copied and borrowed from the other's political system, but it had self-adjustment.

For example, in the early capital governor system, Liu from Er Liu appointed Huo Jun as the temporary governor due to the special war. Later, with the normalization of the war zone, the governor became a permanent official position. Cao Cao copied the governor's post and supervised the state military. Or Cao Cao reformed the tax law, and the new tax of the Southern Han Dynasty evolved itself from the tax system of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Today, Liu Bei saw that the Cao family was reforming the Nine Grades of Officials Law, and he was afraid that he would fall behind, so he asked everyone if they wanted to reform the probation system.

"Your Majesty, my country cannot practice the Nine Grades of the Righteous Law!"

Wang Cang straightened his waist and bowed his hand, and persuaded: "There are many people who have fled from the south in my Han Kingdom, such as people from Huaibei in Xuzhou, or people from Nanyang in Jingbei, or people from Guanzhong and the Central Plains. Today, filial piety and honesty do not distinguish between origins and ranks. If you follow the example of the Wei people, how can the overseas Chinese be safe? Chu and Wu Shi are in humble positions, so how can they deal with themselves? ”

Historically, in the middle of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the reason why the Southern Dynasties wanted to set up a large number of overseas Chinese counties was not that the Southern Dynasties were idle. Instead, in order to safeguard the rights of the exiled warriors in the north, the Southern Dynasty had to set up overseas Chinese counties for resettlement.

For example, in the Zhongzheng system implemented during the Wei and Jin dynasties, most of the lintels of the Central Plains scholars were higher than those of the Southern scholars. The southern scholars can go out through the local states and counties, but the Central Plains scholars who don't have a hometown can't go out of office.

Therefore, starting from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in order to ensure the emergence of the Central Plains scholars, a large number of overseas Chinese counties were set up locally, and then overseas Chinese states.

If the Southern Han Dynasty wants to implement the nine-product Zhongzheng system, it will inevitably make a big move, and it will seriously damage the interests of the Wu and Chu people. Although Wang Cang is a high-ranking clan in the Central Plains, as Liu Bei's secretary general, Wang Cang must remind Liu Bei not to fool around.

Fa Zheng stroked his beard and smiled, and said: "Your Majesty, the nine-grade system made by the Cao family divides talents into nine products, and people can use them, and those with high lintels may be able to raise the upper grades, which is no different from the system of filial piety and honesty in the Chinese and Han Dynasty." If there is any merit in the meantime, only according to the grade of the talent and appoint the official position, so as not to overuse the material and use the small material. ”

"Is it like that?"

Liu Bei frowned and thought slightly, and said: "The system of nine products is a policy for the Cao family to attract scholars, and to correct the old move of filial piety, honesty, morality and talent. My Han Dynasty follows the old system, the county guards filial piety, and Shangshutai breaks its ability. I am afraid that I will repeat the shortcomings of the Chinese and Han Dynasty, such as children's rumors, Mao Cai, and I don't know books; Cha Xiaolian, his father does not live. ”

Huo Jun pondered for a long time and asked, "I wonder if Your Majesty can hear about Yangjia's new system?" ”

"When Emperor Shun was in the past, because of filial piety and Maocai, Zuo Xiong asked to play 'all living chapters and sentences, and the scribes can play them, so they should be chosen.' At that time, because of the name of Yangjia, the minister called it Yangjia new system. ”

"When the county of Fanzhou raised Mao talent, filial piety, to the end of the scholar's platform, to test its virtual and real talents, to see how talented. Those who do not accept the order will be punished for their crimes. Those who can be successful in the above are not limited to young age or old age. ”

"Zuo Xiong carried out scientific research, when Chen Fan, Li Ying, Chen Qiu and other more than 30 people had to worship Langzhong, the three of them were famous all over the world, and they were the best men of the world. For more than ten years, the atmosphere of the Chinese and Han Dynasty was revitalized, and then due to Zuo Xiong's illness, the new system was shelved. ”

"Now that I am at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Your Majesty is better to change filial piety and restart the new law in order to promote the good governance of the two Han Dynasty. His Majesty divided the categories into sections, so that the prefecture and county Maocai, filial piety and honesty to the Shangshu scientific examination, so as not to bow down to filial piety and honesty in the prime minister's years, and also to avoid repeating the disadvantages of the Chinese and Han Dynasty. ”

The enlightenment of China's scientific expedition was very early, not from the Sui Dynasty, but from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although Zuo Xiong's new system lasted for a short time, it had a great impact on later generations.

Even the nine-product Zhongzheng system, which was prevalent in the Wei and Jin dynasties, was implemented for a period of time, and Cao Wei also restarted the examination system due to the emergence of drawbacks.

The Southern Han Dynasty has been a grass platform team for a long time, Liu Bei was called the emperor not long ago, filial piety and Maocai were personally assessed by Zhuge Liang, and there were no mistakes, but Liu Bei didn't care.

However, because of the knowledge of later generations, Huo Jun often thought about how to integrate the imperial examination system into the examination system and promote the innovation of the examination system. Today, with the implementation of Cao Wei's Jiupin Zhongzheng system, and the new Yangjia system as an excuse, it just promotes the reform of the election system of the Southern Han Dynasty.

Of course, it is impossible to completely adopt the imperial examination system, after all, the environment is limited, and the popularization of books is limited. It is rare to be able to combine the examination system with the imperial examination system and evolve a new electoral system suitable for the Southern Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei stroked his beard and asked, "What does that mean by the king?" ”

Huo Jun sorted out the thoughts in his mind and said: "Your Majesty, according to the minister's estimation, there are six or seven thousand filial piety people who have been promoted by the two Han Dynasty, but the names left by the handsome are so few. In the troubled times, there are many junjie, and the civil and military are full, not because there are more people than peace, but because of the opportunity. Therefore, the minister appeared in the market, and the prime minister was famous in fishing and farming. ”

"In the opinion of today, it may be possible to increase the number of filial piety in counties and counties. Hundreds of people have tested the family law, and whoever is handsome will be a superior person. There are not many people are not enough to show their ability, there are thousands of heroes in the world, all heroes have entered the world from filial piety, such as big fish have entered His Majesty's house. ”

"Color!"

Liu Beiduo recognized Huo Jun's words and praised: "Ten thousand people have won warriors, but now people are not crowded, how can they be warriors." There are many capable people in the world, and now they can be as you say, more filial piety and honesty, enter the Beijing division and take the exam, and only those who are talented in politics can be appointed officials. ”

As he spoke, Liu Bei waved his hand and said: "Zhong Miao is also the leader of the Shangshu affairs, so he can discuss the new system with Kong Ming and Xiaozhi, and he should get rid of the shortcomings of the Han Dynasty, which is better than the Nine Grades of Zhongzheng Law practiced by the Cao family." ”

"No!"

(End of chapter)