Just when Cao Wei was preparing to conquer Shu in full swing, Sun Quan, the emperor of the Wu Kingdom in the south, was receiving a young scholar who had fled from Qingzhou to Soochow.
This young scholar's name is Yinfan.
In recent days, the name Yinfan has been mentioned frequently in Jianye.
Not only is he handsome, but he is also talented.
Most of the young scholars who fled to Soochow from the north were impressed by him, and gradually formed a small group headed by him.
It's just that the scholars from the north have no foundation after all, and there are no promising families in Jiangdong.
Therefore, the Soochow officials who accepted them could at best separate them from ordinary people, but if they wanted to go further, it would only depend on everyone's luck.
Yinfan waited for several months, but in the end he was only assigned to be a minor official.
He finally couldn't bear it anymore, and as a scholar returning to the south, he wrote a self-recommendation memorial to Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, comparing himself with Wei Zi and Chen Ping, and asked to see Sun Quan.
After Sun Quan saw the memorial, he was surprised by the loudness of its tone. In addition, he had just ascended the throne and it was the time to win the hearts of the world, so he made an exception to receive Yinfan.
After Yinfan entered the palace, he faced many guards holding swords and halberds without squinting and his demeanor was calm.
When Sun Quan saw this, he felt two points of approval in his heart.
Then he specially selected a few questions about current affairs to ask Yinfan, but saw that Yinfan answered them in an orderly manner.
Even after answering, Yinfan took the initiative to state the current situation, spoke eloquently, and was personable and very expressive.
Finally said:
"Your Majesty, Dong Zhongshu gave Han Xiaowu a peerless beauty in the past, and today I will also give your Majesty a beauty. This beauty is the "New Law" carefully compiled by Cao Wei."
"When Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty first established the world, he ordered Xiao He to regulate the law and regulate the laws of the world. However, since the Han Dynasty, there have been more than ten families of commentators on the law, and there are countless contradictions in them."
"Your Majesty has great authority over the world, so he needs the laws of the world to be unified to govern the people. I am not talented, so I have the courage to send you the "New Law" to help your Majesty to unify the world as soon as possible."
At this point, he actually recited "New Law".
Sun Quan took the "New Code" submitted by Yinfan and compared it, and found that it was word for word.
He first heard Yinfan's words and realized that they were reasonable. Then he was even more happy when he got the "New Law".
After the meeting, Sun Quan felt that he was a talented person and asked Hu Zong who was present: "What do you think of this person?"
Unexpectedly, Hu Zong looked down upon Yinfan:
"I first observed this person's letter, his exaggerated tone was like Dongfang Shuo, and then I looked at his words and deeds, his clever words and sophistry were like Ni Heng. But after listening to his words and strategies, I found that his talent is far inferior to these two people."
After hearing what Hu Zong said, Sun Quan frowned slightly, obviously not liking what Hu Zong said.
In fact, Wu State, like Shu State, also has conflicts between foreign forces and local forces.
Most of the representatives of external forces were elders who followed Sun Jian and Sun Ce in their early years, such as Cheng Pu, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, etc.
Most of these people come from the Sishui and Huai River areas to the north of the river, and can be called the Si-Huai Group.
In the early days, most of the Sihuai Group was in charge of the army, while the Jiangdong Group was in charge of politics, with Sun Quan in the middle.
It's just that most of the elders of the Sihuai Group have withered by now. Especially since the Yiling War, the Jiangdong family has risen rapidly and has begun to take control of the military.
Playing with balance is the instinct of every qualified emperor.
The imbalance between the two sides is naturally not what Sun Quan wants.
So while suppressing one side, he also had to cultivate the other side.
The "Ji Yan Case" that implicated Zhang Wen was actually a means by Sun Quan to suppress the Jiangdong family.
What's more, when Sun Ce took control of Jiangdong, he killed too many people from the Jiangdong family, which caused a huge rift between the Sun family and the Jiangdong family.
Although Sun Quan has tried his best to mend the relationship between the Sun family and the Jiangdong family over the years.
But deep down in his heart, he was actually quite wary of the Jiangdong family.
Sun Quan was able to meet with Yinfan in an unusual way, naturally because he had the idea of cultivating non-Jiangdong local forces.
But how could he express his thoughts to Hu Zongming?
What's more, in Sun Quan's eyes, Yinfan is a talent after all.
It was just that when Sun Ce became the prefect of Kuaiji, Hu Zong, who was only fourteen years old, was already Sun Ce's disciple.
In addition, Hu Zong himself was the minister who helped Soochow formulate laws and regulations.
Therefore, when Yinfan was evaluated like this by Hu Zong, Sun Quan couldn't express his feelings immediately, so he had to ask again:
"Then what position do you think is more suitable for Yinfan?"
Since Hu Zong was not optimistic about Yinfan, he naturally would not propose too high a position:
"He is a talkative person. We cannot let him govern the people. Why not try to arrange a small position for him first."
After hearing Hu Zong's suggestion, Sun Quan said disapprovingly:
"He is now known as the leader of the scholars returning to the south, and his reputation is not small. He was previously assigned the position of a minor official, which has already aroused criticism from others."
"If I arrange a small position for him again, I'm afraid the world will say that I don't recognize talents. Now is the time to win people's hearts, so this move is probably inappropriate."
When Hu Zong heard what Sun Quan said, he thought it made sense, so he asked:
"Then I wonder what position your Majesty plans to assign to him?"
Sun Quan had already made a plan: "The thing he talked about most just now was the prison sentence. It would be better to appoint him as a prisoner."
Tingweijian is one of the chief officials of Dali Temple and is in charge of punishment and prison.
This position is not too low.
Going up further, there is Tingwei, one of the three nobles and nine ministers.
Although he felt that the official position given by His Majesty was too high, Hu Zong heard Sun Quan's tone and knew that his mind had been made up, so he did not refute it.
Yinfan was able to meet the emperor because of a memorial, and he rose from a petty official to a prisoner. In the eyes of many people, they only thought that he had won the appreciation of Sun Quan and was a popular person in the eyes of the emperor.
Thanks to his deliberate friendship, many ministers of Wu State were willing to associate with him.
Among them, two people admired Yinfan the most.
One is Zuo General Zhu Ju, and the other is Tingwei Haopu.
Hao Pu's identity is rather special.
He was originally from Jingzhou and served Liu Bei.
When Liu Bei entered Shu, he made Hao Pu the prefect of Lingling.
When Lu Meng attacked three counties, he planned to surrender Haopu.
Later, when Han and Wu divided Jingzhou equally, Wu returned Hao Pu to the Han.
Later, Soochow betrayed its alliance, Lü Meng crossed the river in white clothes, and Hao Pu returned to Soochow again.
In this chaotic era, surrender is not a shameful thing.
But this kind of repeated voluntary surrender behavior ultimately makes people suspect that there is something wrong with this person's character.
Therefore, Hao Pu has an indelible stain on his body, and he is always ostracized intentionally or unintentionally.
The arrival of Yinfan suggested that Sun Quan pay attention to the laws and implement new laws, which invisibly showed the presence of Tingwei, who was in charge of the prison.
In addition, Yinfan is also a surrendered person, and the identity recognition has invisibly brought the relationship between the two closer.
As Yinfan's boss, Hao Pu had a great liking for Yinfan. With Yinfan's deliberate approach, the two quickly became close friends.
Hao Pu not only showed his admiration for Yin Fan many times in front of others, but he also often lamented that Yin Fan was so talented that he was really underqualified to be a court eunuch.
So under the propaganda of Zhu Ju and Hao Pu, Yinfan's reputation suddenly spread throughout Jianye City.
With a great reputation and being a popular person in front of His Majesty, Yinfan's house has been very busy in recent days, with traffic and people coming and going.
Even General Wei's whole body is intertwined with it.
Wuchang and Jianye are both the centers of Soochow, and information between the two places has always been exchanged.
What happened in Jianye soon spread to Wuchang.
Taichang Pan Jun, who stayed with Lu Xun in Wuchang, was furious when he learned that his son Pan Zhu not only had contacts with Yinfan, but also sent him money and food.
He wrote a letter on the spot to scold:
I have received great kindness from the country, and I am willing to repay it with my life. When you are in the capital, you should be respectful, be close to the virtuous, and admire the good. Why do you make friends with the captives and pay them with food? When I heard this from afar, my heart was trembling, my face was hot, and I was feeling melancholy and exhausted. If someone is careless, he will go to the envoy in a hurry and receive a hundred rods to urge him to pay.
Not only did he scold his son, but he also sent an envoy to give his son a hundred canes in person, and even asked him to get back the money and food he gave away.
When people around him heard this, they were all puzzled by Pan Jun's reaction, thinking that Pan Jun had gone too far.
General Lu Xun couldn't stand it, so he came to the door in person to persuade him:
"Your Majesty admires Yinfan, why does Chengming hate this person alone? Even if Chengming doesn't want to associate with Yinfan, he can just let the young master cut off contact with him."
"Now I am punishing your son with a stick and asking him to take back the things given to others. This will not only offend Yinfan, but also be inconsistent with etiquette and be laughed at by the world."
Pan Jun sighed: "If this is not the case, how can I understand my aspirations?"
Like Tingwei Hao Pu, he was originally a minister of Liu Bei, and guarded Jingzhou with Guan Yu as a ruler.
However, Pan Jun had always been at odds with Guan Yu. After Sun Quan took Jingzhou, he surrendered to Soochow.
But unlike Hao Pu, Pan Jun was from a wealthy family in Jingzhou. Because of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's subsequent actions to suppress wealthy families, he was more inclined to Soochow.
After all, Soochow does not restrict the privileges of aristocratic families.
Suppressing the Jiangdong aristocratic family is only the need of the upper-level political struggle, and does not conflict with the privileges of the Soochow aristocratic families.
More importantly, the status of officials from Jingzhou is delicate. They can survive alone as long as they remain neutral. There is no need to participate in the struggle between the Sihuai Group and the Jiangdong Group.
Whether Hao Pu is too ambitious or ignorant, that is his business.
What Pan Jun has to do is not to let His Majesty feel that he, who was also born in Jingzhou, has the intention to get involved in this kind of thing.
As for the possibility of offending Yinfan, Pan Jun didn't care at all.
"No matter how much Yinfan is appreciated by His Majesty, he is just a lucky person. He seems to have suddenly become noble, but in fact he has no foundation. Even if I offend him, what should I fear?"
Lu Xun knew that Pan Jun had always been upright, so when he heard his words, he didn't try to persuade him. He just sighed:
"If you are lucky enough to come in, even the ministers will come to visit you. This is a misfortune for the country."
"Nowadays, there are more and more people who are lucky to be admitted. Unfortunately, we are all far away from His Majesty and cannot persuade him face to face."
When Pan Jun heard this, he was moved: "The general seems to have some ulterior motives?"
Lu Xun looked around.
Pan Jun understood and asked all the servants to step back.
Lu Xun then said:
"When His Majesty first came to the throne, he newly established the Zhongshu Dian School Secretary to supervise the central and local state and county clerical affairs. Lu Yi was the Zhongshu Dian School Master, and now he is gradually becoming more and more powerful."
"Some people say that he makes subtle decisions, complains about flaws, accuses people of crimes and corrects rapes. I will hear the subtleties, but I don't believe it at all."
"Unexpectedly, a few days ago, one of Lu Yi's retainers broke the law and was killed by Zheng Zhou, the prefect of Jian'an. Lu Yi then framed Zheng Zhou. Now, your majesty has asked someone to imprison Zheng Zhou."
Speaking of this, Lu Xun showed a worried look on his face:
"From this point of view, Lu Yi is a cruel person with a cruel nature and profound usage. He is actually a villain."
"I thought that before Lu Yi left, now there is another Yinfan who talks cleverly. What is this if not more people are lucky enough to come in?"
When Pan Jun heard this, his color changed immediately:
"How can a governor, an important minister of the country, be easily imprisoned because of the words of a mere villain? If things continue like this, how will the law of the country survive? The villain will become more powerful and prosperous, and the country will suffer misfortune!"
Lu Xun smiled bitterly: "The prince once wrote to your majesty to remonstrate on this matter, but your majesty did not accept it. What can I do?"
When Pan Jun heard this, his expression became even more ugly.
In the past, Cao Cao first set up the post of school official in order to increase his visibility and promote his generals and officers.
Now His Majesty is following Cao Cao's example in setting up the post of school administrator, and his intention is self-evident.
Later, Cao Cao's school officials Lu Hong and Zhao Da tried to make fun of others and often got into trouble. Therefore, there was a saying at that time: Don't be afraid of Duke Cao, but be afraid of Lu Hong. Lu Hong is okay, Zhao Da will kill me.
Lu Xun and Pan Jun are both smart people who can see the big from the humble. From Zheng Zhou's incident, we can deduce that if this continues, Lu Yi will become the Lu Hong and Zhao Da of Wu as soon as possible.
Remembering that His Majesty seemed to dislike listening to his ministers less and less since he ascended the throne, they couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Although the general and I are far away from your majesty, how can we turn a deaf ear to the villains in the country? I would like to write a letter with the general to advise your majesty."
Pan Jun said decisively.
Lu Xun was overjoyed: "Chengming has a reputation for being upright. His Majesty will surely wake up after hearing your words!"
While the two were discussing how to persuade Sun Quan, in Wuling County, Jingzhou, a group of barbarian officials were hiding in the mountains and looking down the mountains.
Wuling has many mountains and rivers.
The unique terrain prevents Wuling from forming large tracts of cultivated land like in the Central Plains.
But at the foot of the mountain, there are small flat areas separated by mountains and hills. These discontinuous small flat areas are the main farmland of Wuling County.
Han officials and wealthy families built manors on these flat lands, and at the same time forced the barbarians who had lived here for generations to help them farm.
In the past two years, in addition to grain, these manors have also grown quite a lot of sugar cane.
Growing sugar cane will occupy cultivated land. If there is less cultivated land for growing grain, grain production will naturally decrease.
Since Soochow's sneak attack on Jingzhou, they experienced the Battle of Yiling again. Years of wars have seriously damaged Jingzhou's economy. Over the years, Jingzhou's food production has been insufficient.
Otherwise, Lu Xun would not have asked Sun Quan to open farmland to his many generals because of the lack of food in Jingzhou a few years ago.
It's just that counties like Nanjun and Jiangxia were originally the main grain-producing areas in Jingzhou, so most of the newly opened farmland was planted with grain.
But places like Wuling, Lingling, Guiyang and other places in the south of Jingzhou are not important places.
The Shu Han gang are willing to pay high prices for raw sugar. Growing sugar cane is much more cost-effective than growing grain!
Coupled with the Quyuan plow, it is most suitable to be used in such a place.
So these days, whose manor doesn’t only grow enough food to eat, but also grows sugar cane?
It's just that the grain output is already small, and sugar cane has occupied at least half of the cultivated land.
In the past few years, the owner of the manor has become increasingly wealthy.
But there are more and more people going hungry down there.
The first to starve to death were, of course, the barbarians who had been bullied.
Barbarians are also human beings, and they have a desire to survive.
The strong desire to survive made the barbarians start to become restless.
In the eyes of the simple barbarians, the first thing that should be destroyed was the lush sugar cane forests at the foot of the mountain.
In the past few years, the Han people have destroyed their homes and planted sugar cane wherever they could.
At the same time, they continued to capture young people from the village and help them grow sugar cane.
So this sugar cane is the root of all evil.
After the sun went down, the sky gradually darkened.
The barbarians on the mountain took advantage of the thin night cover, like cunning wild beasts in the mountain, to rush down to the manor down the mountain.
The guards in the manor quickly noticed the abnormality and sounded the alarm.
"Barbarians, barbarians!"
The leader of the guard hurriedly climbed up the wall of the village. When he saw the situation outside, he couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Even as night began to fall, as far as the eye could see, there were densely packed figures all around.
A fire soon lit up not far away. It was the barbarians who pushed down the straw piles and started to set fire to the ground.
There were even more barbarians holding wooden sticks, tree trunks, bone sticks, etc. in their hands and rushing towards the wall.
"Fire the arrow!"
The arrow feathers flew downward, and the barbarians fell down one after another, but they did not make those behind them flinch.
Their eyes flashed with anger, they shouted slogans that were incomprehensible, and they continued to charge forward without fear of death.
"Hold on!"
All the guards were not allowed to rush to the wall and defend it to the death.
They knew that if barbarians broke into the manor, no one would survive.
What they didn't expect was that a fire broke out in the manor at some point, and at the same time, people kept shouting.
"what happened!?"
"The barbarian slaves working there rebelled!"
"What did you say?"
…
In early August of the eighth year of Jianxing, the Wuxi barbarians in Wuyang County, Wuling County, rebelled, burning manors and destroying farmland. The barbarian officials in other counties heard about this and responded one after another.
For a time, the barbarian rebellion in Wuling County expanded rapidly, and counties fell one after another, with a tendency to spread to Lingling, Hengyang and other counties.
When Sun Quan heard about it, he recalled Lu Dai who had put down the Jiaozhou rebellion overnight and asked him to garrison Changsha to prevent the rebellion from spreading further.
At the same time, he pretended to be Taichang Pan Jun and urgently summoned Jingzhou troops to prepare to march westward to quell the chaos.
