In the court hall, after hearing what He Yan said about the major bad policies, the old ministers became furious, and some of the old ministers even turned blue with anger.
At this time, Shangshu Deng Yang didn't wait for the veterans to retort, and immediately followed He Yan's words while the iron was hot:
"Yes, what He Shangshu said is true. In the land of Jizhou, the local products are rare and the life is simple. Since ancient times, there have been few benevolent and virtuous people. How can it be like Xu, Yong, and Yuzhou, which have produced countless heroes in the past hundred years? Hero. But in today's world, all the nine-rank officials, big and small, are held by the Jizhou clan. If this continues, it will probably delay national elections. Therefore, Yang believes that the power of local officials, big and small, should be restricted!"
As soon as Deng Yang finished speaking, one person strode out of class, intending to refute. When everyone looked, it turned out that this person was the family of Guang Luxun and Lu Yulu.
Lu Yu, who was born in Zhuojun, Hebei Province, had a look of dissatisfaction on his face after hearing what Deng Yang said. He retorted to Deng Yang:
"This is a big fallacy! Jizhou is a great country in the world. Just now, two ministers, He Pingshu and Deng Xuanmao, said that local products are precious, life is simple, and there are no benevolent and virtuous people in ancient times. Yu Shi disagrees. In Yu's opinion, Before the Yellow Emperor, Jizhou indeed lacked talented people, but since the arrival of Tang and Yu, Jizhou has already become a source of saints and a treasure land of emperors. Above the East River in Jizhou, since the Xihe River, north of the Nanhe River and south of the Yishui River, there are thousands of miles of fertile soil. China is truly the meeting place of heaven and earth, the intersection of yin and yang. China has many talented people. How can the upright officials from this place bring trouble to the country?"
At this moment, everyone in the court, including Emperor Cao Fang, knew very well that the reason why Deng Yang and Lu Yu wanted to argue about the superiority of Jizhou and Yuzhou was all because of the faction of General Cao Shuang, most of whom were People with surnames from Yuzhou in Henan, such as Xia Houxuan, He Yan, Deng Yang, Li Sheng, Ding Mi, Huan Fan, Bi Gui and others all came from Yuzhou.
Among the Taifu Sima party, Lu Yu, Sun Li, Liu Fang, Sun Zi, Gao Rou, and even Fu Gu were mostly from Jizhou, Hebei.
Therefore, the dispute between Jizhou and Yuzhou was actually a battle between Sima and Xiahou Cao.
As early as the Han Dynasty, when the powerful families were in the ascendant and under the imperial examination system, this kind of state-territorial concept and regional discrimination had already emerged.
Decades ago, when this dynasty had not yet replaced the Han Dynasty, many Yingchuan families vigorously advocated the so-called theory of the superiority of Yingchuan in Runan. Even families from Runan and Yingchuan counties in Yuzhou were arguing about it. Competing in secret.
During the reign of Emperor Taizu Wu, the great Confucian Kong Rong also wrote an article "On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Ruying", which specifically discussed the superiority of the two counties.
The royal family of this dynasty came from Qiao County in Yuzhou, while the Sima family had been developing in Jizhou, Hebei since the end of the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, the struggle between the Cao and Sima parties naturally included the regional conflict between Yuzhou, Henan and Jizhou, Hebei.
Just when Shangshu Deng Yang and Guang Luxun Lu Yu were at loggerheads, a young man named Lang Guan slowly walked out of the train. When everyone looked up, they realized that the people in front of them were the newly crowned secretaries Lang Zhonghui and Zhong Shiji, the youngest son of the late Grand Tutor Dingling Marquis Zhong Yao and the younger brother of Wei County Grand Administrator Dingling Marquis Zhong Yu.
It is said that this son has been talented and eccentric since he was a child. He is not only good at strategy, but also inherited the strengths of his father Zhong Yao. He is good at calligraphy and has the miraculous skill of imitating other people's handwriting.
Cao Shuang looked at the aggressive young man in front of him and couldn't help but feel a little more fearful in his heart.
In addition, Cao Shuang has naturally heard about Zhong Hui's ability to imitate handwriting. Xun Xu, his most effective adviser, was Zhong Hui's nephew. Xun Xu once owned a sword worth a million dollars. It was placed with his mother, Mrs. Zhong, Zhong Hui's eldest sister.
Zhong Hui also fell in love with the sword at first sight, but how could Xun Xu, who loved the sword as much as his life, be willing to give up his love? So Zhong Hui, who was good at calligraphy, came up with a plan. He imitated Xun Xu's handwriting and wrote a letter to Mrs. Zhong asking for the sword. When Mrs. Zhong saw the letter, she thought it was her son who really needed the sword, so she sent someone to bring it. The sword was sent to the place mentioned by the 'son', and Zhong Hui used a trick to get the sword. His profound attainments in calligraphy can be seen from this.
Thinking of this, Cao Shuang felt a little more disgusted with the opportunistic Zhong Hui. It seemed that Tai Chu's refusal to make friends with Zhong Hui made sense. For no reason, Cao Shuang's thoughts drifted to eight years ago:
That year, in the early years of the reign of the late emperor, Zhong Hui, who was only twelve years old, suddenly became very interested in the emerging metaphysics. Students of this dynasty loved to mix the thoughts of Lao and Zhuang with Confucian classics, thus deriving a new Confucianism that was different from previous Confucian classics, which was called metaphysics by both the government and the public.
This metaphysics study method was pioneered by his cousins Xia Houxuan and He Yan. Therefore, Zhong Hui, who had long admired his reputation, went to visit Taichu, who was the leader of metaphysics at that time, and wanted to make friends with Taichu. However, Taichu did not He believed that this child who was more than ten years younger than him was too cunning and cunning, so he declined Zhong Hui's offer of friendship.
Zhong Hui was worried about this, and at the same time he tried his best to study metaphysics and wanted to surpass Taichu. After so many years, he finally made great achievements.
Nowadays, the most famous young scholars in the capital who study metaphysics are, besides Wang Bi, his disciple who wrote commentaries on "Laozi", Zhong Hui, who wrote the "Four Books", is the most outstanding.
These two men have made great achievements in the studies of Lao Zhuang and Zhuangzi, and they have great potential to compete with the older generation of metaphysical leaders He Yan and Xia Houxuan.
Wang Bi was introduced to him by He Yan long ago, and Zhong Hui became very close to Sima Division of the Central Guard Army after Xia Houxuan refused to befriend him.
As Zhong Hui's voice came to mind, Cao Shuang's thoughts were pulled back.
When Zhong met Deng Yang and Lu Yu, they were having a difficult debate, so he planned to find another way to refute the other party from another angle. He smiled slightly, and then said:
"Deng Shangshu, I have something to say, please enlighten me. Today's scholars should attach equal importance to talents and virtues, and they should not be neglected. However, the evaluation of talents and virtues of scholars in this dynasty happens to be only the local, large, and high-status elders of various ethnic groups. Only in this way can we make a clear conclusion. Therefore, the big and small actually shoulder the important task of recruiting talents for the country. However, Deng Jun and He Shangshu believed that Zhongzheng should be abolished and his power should be restricted. If they really do this, then the important task of recruiting talents for the country should be left to Who is better? Therefore, one would think that the power of the Zhongzhengguan can never be abolished. I only hope that Your Majesty, the General and all the gentlemen will investigate it thoroughly!"
After hearing Zhong Hui's words, the old Hebei clan members of the Sima Party in the DPRK were full of praise for the young man.
Fu Gu, who is a Taifu and a middleman, also immediately took advantage of the situation and said:
"What Zhong Shiji said is very reasonable. I also believe that talent and virtue are one and the same thing and cannot be separated. Among the Five Classics studied by scholars of my generation, the great meaning is virtue. From this point of view, if there is no virtue, Where do the talents come from? The Zhongzheng officials, big and small, are all elders of various ethnic groups who are familiar with the classics. It is only right for them to evaluate and recommend talents, so Zhongzheng must not be abandoned!"
At this time, a handsome and dazzling middle-aged minister came out of the class train. This was none other than the eldest sister of Emperor Cao Fang, the eldest sister of Emperor Cao Fang, the husband of Princess Qi, the father of Li Tao, the servant of the minister, Li Feng, and Li Anguo. .
A few years ago, at the annual banquet of Yuan Dynasty on New Year's Eve, Li Feng and Xia Houxuan, who was then the Central Guards Army, happened to be sitting together. There happened to be a minister who was good at criticizing others sitting next to him. After he was drunk, he saw him. Sitting next to him were two dazzling colleagues. He took a closer look and saw that they were Xia Houxuan and Li Feng, so he took advantage of the wine to make a comment for them that became a legend among the government and the public:
"Xiahou Taichu is as bright as the sun and the moon in his arms, and Li An's country is as decadent as the jade mountain is about to collapse."
Cao Shuang was surprised when he saw Li Feng leaving work. The reason why he was surprised was entirely because of Li Feng's inaction in the temple.
Although Li Feng was quite talented and famous, he had acted somewhat opportunistically in the temple over the years. He had both sides. After the death of Emperor Ming, in less than two years, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were attached to the general Cao Shuang and the Taifu respectively. Sima Yi, but Li Feng, who was supposed to be a general, was never clear about his attitude. On the one hand, he had a close relationship with Taichu, and on the other hand, he tried every means to gain the respect and appreciation of Sima Shi.
Not only that, there is also a nursery rhyme circulating in the community:
"The power of Wu'an is as hot as soup, the Taifu and his son are as cold as jelly, and the Li Feng brothers are like wandering lights."
Cao Shuang understood that the power in Wu'an was as hot as water, which naturally meant that he was in power. The Taifu and his son were as cold as milk, which naturally meant that Sima Yi and his son were gradually losing power. As for this wandering light, it was originally a kind of evil spirit with eight heads, eight faces, and omnipresent in the legend. This was naturally meant to be a mockery of the Li Feng brothers, who were like this wandering light, with a head and a rat at two ends, wandering around.
At this moment, not only Cao Shuang himself, but also other members of the Generals' Party and the Taifu Party felt a little surprised when they saw that he wanted to make a speech. In order to avoid various partisan trivial matters, this servant, Pushe, often took sick leave. Unexpectedly, he would suddenly speak in the court today.
Li Feng saw that Zhong Hui and Fu Gu had been debating talent and virtue for a long time, and he wanted to help Cao Shuang, so he continued the topic and said:
"Feng disagrees with what Zhong Shiji and Fu Lanshi said. I think talent and virtue are obviously very different from each other, how can they be said to be the same? In the past, Chen Ping, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, was not famous for his virtuous name. Wu Qi, the famous general of the Warring States Period, He also killed his wife to seek a general. Although these two were not virtuous people, they were good ministers and generals that the country could rely on. Therefore, Feng thought that nowadays, if the Zhongzheng officials simply select virtue first and select talents, they may be in danger. We missed out on many great talents like Chen Ping and Wu Qi!"
Emperor Cao Fang, who was already familiar with Confucian classics, found it quite interesting to see everyone discussing their differences from political opinions to academics.
The views of Zhong Hui, Fu Gu and others are that equal emphasis is placed on talent and virtue, or that talent and virtue are essentially integrated. Li Feng's view is that talents and virtues are different and cannot be confused.
Cao Fang had already made up his mind to reform the system, so he only thought about it for a long time. When he saw that no one in the court spoke for the time being, he said:
"What you all said just now is quite reasonable. However, I think that nowadays, Zhongzheng officials only select scholars based on their aristocratic families. Selecting talents purely based on their virtues and family status will indeed miss many talents. Therefore, I have decided , let the general preside over the elimination of the Zhongzheng monopoly in the election first, and the other restructuring matters will be discussed in detail at a later date. Dear sirs, do you have any objections?"
Seeing that the emperor also favored Cao Shuang, the ministers of the Taifu Party knew that it was useless to talk more. If they continued to sing the opposite view in the court, they were afraid that it would lead to disaster, so they kept silent and no longer refuted Li Feng's views.
