My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 48: Liu Xuande, a loyal and patriotic person; Zhuge Jin, a filial and righteous person

Xun Yu was still very diligent in his work, even though he only learned about the news that this mysterious sage had confronted Ying Miheng and instructed Kong Rong in the evening.

He immediately got on the carriage and headed straight to the palace construction site. It took him a lot of effort to drag Kong Rong back who had already escaped.

Kong Rong was very depressed. He didn't want to be as hardworking as Xun Yu, but Xun Yu was a higher official than him, so he had no choice but to work overtime if he was caught.

It was already late, and many processes on the construction site had been stopped. The workers would not return to work until dawn the next day. At present, only a few small boats were transporting huge trees mined from Songshan back and forth on the newly excavated river tributaries.

Although Xun Yu doesn't know much about construction coordination, he is still better than Kong Rong - after all, in all the Three Kingdoms games, his political value is always no less than 98.

As the saying goes, an expert knows the ins and outs of a business. After a quick inspection, Xun Yu concluded that the new construction coordination method that the mysterious sage had thought of for Kong Rong could indeed save a lot of workload in transporting building materials.

After all, the cost of water transportation is one twentieth of that of land transportation. For such a huge piece of wood, even a little extra distance on the ground will cost money.

Digging and tamping the earth to build the palace walls was the workload that needed to be done in the first place. According to the calculation of the new overall plan, after changing from random digging to digging ditches at the same time, the total transportation distance of the rammed earth was greatly shortened, which was also a lot of work.

"This person must be a great talent who is good at scheming. Brother Wenju, can you tell me his name? Was he sent by Qingzhou?"

Given Kong Rong's insight, his understanding of Zhuge Jin's value was not as thorough as Xun Yu's.

Seeing that Xun Yu attached so much importance to him, he had no choice but to tell him everything: "This man's name is Zhuge Jin, he is from the Zhuge clan of Langya, and he is here to present a petition and meet the emperor on behalf of General Zhendong Liu Bei."

When Xun Yu heard the name Liu Bei, a hint of vigilance flashed in his eyes.

But in this life, he had never had any deep contact with Liu Bei, and it was impossible for Liu Bei to come to Xu Du to join Cao Cao and become an official in the capital.

Therefore, Xun Yu's alertness was only fleeting, and he murmured faintly:
"I don't know when this person was recruited by Liu Bei. With such talent, it would be great if he could stay in the capital and work directly for the court."

Xun Yu knew that thinking alone would not solve the problem, so he hurriedly said goodbye to Kong Rong and returned home, and then asked Geng Ji to bring the memorials from Liu Bei and Lu Bu so that he could study them carefully.

Xun Yu had read these memorials the day before yesterday, but he was not in a hurry to approve them, as he still had to consult Cao Cao on some issues. Now that he knew about Zhuge Jin's affairs, of course he had to deal with them urgently.

Xun Yu thought carefully and rewrote his additional opinions, preparing to hand them over to Cao Cao tomorrow, asking Cao Cao to order a meeting with the envoys from Xuzhou.

……

In the first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao still attended court on court meetings days.

Historically, Cao Cao did not dare to attend court until he killed the counselor Zhao Yan and completely offended Liu Xie.

But this day was not a regular day, so Cao Cao just took care of daily government affairs in the Sikong Mansion early in the morning.

Those who wanted to see him regarding important matters would come directly to the Sikong Mansion to discuss their affairs.

At the beginning of the morning hour, Xun Yu arrived at Sikong Mansion.

Given his status, the guards outside certainly wouldn't stop him and let him in directly.

Xun Yu went straight into the front yard and walked until he reached the last gate away from Cao Cao's study, then turned into the signing room on the left.

Sima Lang, who was working in the side room, immediately stood up to greet him.

Xun Yu indicated that there was no need for courtesy and asked in a low voice, "Does the Minister have time?"

Sima Lang replied respectfully: "We are dealing with daily memorials and there are no visitors. Please wait for a moment while I go and pass on the message."

As he spoke, Sima Lang went inside to ask for instructions, then came out soon and invited Xun Yu to come in with him.

Inside the room, there was a short and fat middle-aged man in his early forties with a big beard. He was sitting on a low couch with a sword in his hand. The brush in his hand was as sharp as a sword or a spear, and he was reviewing the memorials in a grim and disorderly manner. It was Cao Cao.

Cao Cao finished his instructions quickly, threw the things in his hand aside, and casually motioned Xun Yu to sit down and talk: "Wen Ruo came early today. Let me guess, could it be that you have discovered some great sage that you can't sit still and are in a hurry to recommend him?"

As soon as Xun Yu sat down, he quickly stood up and bowed to praise him: "Sikong Mingjian, your guess is really accurate."

Then, he made a long story short and reported all the information he had learned from Kong Rong yesterday, as well as Zhuge Jin's other performance.

Cao Cao stroked his beard. The order in which he listened to the reports was different from what Xun Yu heard from Geng Ji yesterday. Geng Ji wanted to vent Xun Yu's anger, so he first reported Zhuge Jin's deeds of fighting against Ying Ni Heng. As for helping Kong Rong save money and effort, it was just a bonus in Geng Ji's eyes.

Xun Yu came to report today in order to recruit talents for the country, so he first mentioned Kong Rong's contribution, and only mentioned Zhuge Jin's innovations in Confucian classics at the end.

But it was precisely this order of reporting that made Cao Cao feel a little bit of praise at first and then criticism.

Cao Cao stroked his beard and said, "He is good at building coordination and saving manpower? This is a good thing. He should indeed assist Kong Rong in doing things. But the fallacies and heresies he said later are not worth mentioning..."

Xun Yu was puzzled for a moment: "Why did Sikong say that? I don't understand. Zhuge Jin's theory has clear outlines and objectives, and the essence and purpose are clear. It really sees what the predecessors have not seen. It fills the gaps since Dong Zhongshu and Gongsun Hong, and it can also warn the monarch to put the people first..."

Cao Cao raised his hand and said, "I don't believe that after three hundred years of Han Confucianism, no one has seen the mistake of Dong Zhongshu. The so-called sages and Confucianists are also created by the times. Dong Zhongshu and his ilk rose to prominence during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, so naturally they could only cater to the 'virtue' that Emperor Xiaowu wanted to believe in."

If Confucianism had been respected in advance during the time of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, perhaps the great sages of the time, such as Jia Yi, would not have explained it the same way as Dong Zhongshu.

Emperor Xiaowu was as warmongering as Qin Shihuang. If Dong Zhongshu had told Emperor Xiaowu that 'the purpose of ruling the world is to benefit the people, not to let the emperor use the money saved after ruling the world for other ostentatious things', would he still be valued by Emperor Xiaowu?
Therefore, this theory may be useful in governing the world, so that the rulers in the peaceful world will not forget their original intentions and put the people first. But in the chaotic world now, it is completely useless. All the money and food in the chaotic world must be used to strengthen the army, provide food, and annex the princes. His great principles are still too far away! "

After being refuted by Cao Cao, Xun Yu suddenly felt sad, but at the same time he was amazed at Cao Cao's quick reaction. He was able to see through the interests behind the academic attitude in an instant, which showed that he was really shrewd and calculating.

He knew that Cao Cao's words were extremely practical, and that his admiration for hegemony was on the same level as that of Qin Shihuang and Emperor Xiaowu.

But I don’t know, if the world is reunified in the future, will Cao Cao be able to remember his original intention and use the internal friction saved by the Legalist policy to benefit the “people” again?
"Forget it, this issue is too far-fetched. Let's take it one step at a time. Why bother arguing with Meng De?" Xun Yu thought to himself and decided to suppress the urge to argue.

Perhaps he himself did not even know that his later doubts about Cao Cao's "purpose of unifying the world" originated from this moment.

Some people regard unifying the world as a means to stabilize the people. Stabilizing the people is the ultimate fundamental goal and the original intention.

Some people simply regard unifying the world as a goal in itself. When they achieve this, they never think about what to do next.

Xun Yu was unable to calm down for a long time, so much so that Cao Cao found it strange:
"Why is Wen Ruo distracted? Does he think what I said is inappropriate? It's just a little bit of debate, it's not worth mentioning. But Zhuge Jin was able to refute Ni Heng in public, which is enough to make people happy."

Cao Cao was open-minded in his speech and didn't care about the face issue when talking to superiors and subordinates. He thought Xun Yu was embarrassed, so he gave Xun Yu face.

Xun Yu came back to his senses and pleaded: "In any case, please tell me how to approve the petition submitted by Liu Bei and Lu Bu of Xuzhou? Should we summon the envoys Zhuge Jin and Chen Deng who submitted the petition? I think we can try to retain them."

Cao Cao had a lot to do and could not remember some details clearly, so he asked first: "What official positions did Liu Bei and Lu Bu ask for in their petitions?"

Xun Yu had done his homework, so he answered immediately, "Liu Bei said that Lü Bu helped suppress the rebellion of Yuan Shu's accomplices Cao Bao, Xu Dan, and Zhang Kuang, so he recommended Lü Bu to be the governor of Xuzhou.

Liu Bei claimed that after he completely conquered Guangling County, which was partially occupied by Yuan Shu, he found more evidence of Yuan Shu's disloyalty. In addition, Yuan Shu's general Sun Ce had recently defeated Xu Gong of Wu County, forcing Yangzhou Governor Liu Yao into a desperate situation, leaving only Dantu (Zhenjiang) County.

Now the Yuan rebels in Xuzhou have been completely eliminated, but the Yuan rebels in Yangzhou are getting worse. Liu Bei asked the court to allow him to continue to pursue the Yuan rebels, saying that Yuan Shu would sooner or later have the intention of usurping the throne, and he was willing to disregard his own interests and do his best to eliminate the traitors for the court. "

Xun Yu roughly relayed the content of the memorial that Zhuge Jin instructed Liu Bei to write.

After hearing this, Cao Cao was also surprised at Liu Bei's "devotion to the country".

"How could Liu Bei be so open-minded? He only wanted to fight against Yuan Shikai for the country? He even ignored the fact that two-thirds of Xuzhou, which was his base, was taken away by Lu Bu in the process of 'suppressing the rebellion'? He continued to devote himself to fighting against Yuan Shikai?" Cao Cao found it unbelievable.

He had always thought that Liu Bei was a great man, but he had never expected that he had such an idealistic side.

Of course, he quickly realized that this might just be Liu Bei's empty talk after he knew that he could not take back Xia Pi, and he wanted to do a favor and make fewer enemies.

"Liu Bei has been so patient, he should not be underestimated. But he is thinking about the country this time, so it would be a good idea not to reward him greatly. Otherwise, how many foreign lords would obey the order of the Xudu court? Well, for the sake of buying bones with a thousand gold coins, I have to give Liu Bei a promotion this time.

As for Lü Bu... we can't let him off so easily. If Liu Bei wants to sell him well, the court can sell him well, but we can only sell him a little bit, so that Lü Bu will still be dissatisfied, so that he will resent Liu Bei and they will restrain each other. Well, I already know how to deal with him. I will summon Zhuge Jin and Chen Deng to see me first!"

Cao Cao also figured it out. Official positions are empty, so it doesn't matter if you give them a higher rank. In today's world, the key to how much territory you can have in a local area is whether you have enough soldiers and horses.

Otherwise, even if he gave Yuan Shao's title of general to Liu Bei, it would be useless. As long as Liu Bei did not have enough soldiers and horses, he would not be able to take over much place.

In this case, why should I be stingy with an empty title?

After Xun Yu received Cao Cao's instructions, he immediately conveyed the order and sent someone to the Xuzhou county residence to notify Zhuge Jin and Chen Deng to come for an audience.

(End of this chapter)