My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 577: The Han Dynasty Can No Longer Have a Prime Minister
Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu discussed it and decided to set off from Hefei to Wuchang for an inspection for a few months.

This will not only make it easier to discuss important matters with Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang later, but also make it easier to deal with possible changes in the Jingzhou direction in the future.

However, before they set off, they received the first round of letters from Liu Bei in Hefei, asking Zhuge Jin for advice on the subsequent matters of persuading him to ascend the throne and conferring an official title.

Guan Yu and Lu Su happened to be together, so they didn't have to send messengers to go from house to house to collect opinions. Zhuge Jin took the opportunity to hold a closed-door meeting with Guan Yu and Lu Su in the old residence of the shogunate in Hefei to unify internal opinions first.

The ideas of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong had already been summarized and sorted out in the letter. Zhuge Jin read it carefully with Guan Yu and others first to synchronize the information.

Upon learning that Pang Tong advised Liu Bei to first let his allies petition the emperor to make Liu Bei a king and to test the waters to gauge the reaction of the world, Zhuge Jin also strongly agreed with this suggestion.

"This is a very good argument. The lord is now enjoying great prestige. You should take this opportunity to show off your power. Only by mixing the ways of the king and the tyrant can you better win the hearts of the people." Zhuge Jin made a casual comment, and then he could not help but use his foresight as a time traveler to directly give the answer to Guan Yu and Lu Su for their consideration.
"My lord and my second brother probably haven't decided what title to use for the title of king. This is not mentioned in the letter. In my opinion, it would be better to write 'King of Hanzhong' in the letter of persuasion. Emperor Gaozu was named King of Han, and his fiefdom also included Hanzhong. Later, he launched a northern expedition to regain control of the Three Qins and destroyed Zhang Han and Sima Xin.

Now that the lord has occupied Hanzhong, if those who persuade him to ascend the throne directly ask for the title of King of Han, it will give people a chance to criticize him. It is more appropriate to add the title of King of Hanzhong."

Zhuge Jin did not have to do much work. He directly took the credit for determining the specific name of the person who persuaded him to ascend the throne. Why not copy the ready-made answer?
After hearing this, Guan Yu and Lu Su also felt that this title was indeed appropriate, and at the same time they admired Zi Yu's sharp insight even more.

After all, he was a great sage who was famous for his ability to see the big picture from the details and to see things clearly as if they were within reach. After reading a few sentences of the letter, he immediately came up with a plan for improvement.

"The title of King of Hanzhong is a great one, it's so appropriate. Even if I have to decline it in the end, just hearing it makes me feel proud." Guan Yu couldn't help but stroke his beard and exclaimed.

The point was left unturned, and everyone continued to read the letter and discuss it, working out the subsequent details.

Zhuge Jin read Liu Bei's letter and asked him a difficult question. Liu Bei wanted to know how to recommend official positions to his civil and military officials so as not to offend the remaining loyal Han faction in the Xudu court too much, so as not to hit too wide a range and force all the civil and military officials in Xudu to join Cao Cao's side.

Liu Bei had already discussed this issue with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, but he didn't have any definite answers, so he wanted to hear more opinions.

After reading it, Zhuge Jin was somewhat embarrassed, but he knew that if he did not express his opinion, Lu Su might not dare to express his opinion either, so he said a few words to start the discussion:
"Yunchang, Zijing, this is a very tricky matter. I have some humble opinions, and you can help me to discuss them. Do you think that if the lord can avoid the positions of those officials in the court who are still loyal to the Han Dynasty and not siding with Cao Cao when submitting the petition, can he avoid offending too many people?"

Zhuge Jin had this idea because he wanted to use his foresight as a time traveler. For example, he had read history books and knew that when Yecheng rebelled against Cao, a group of people including Geng Ji, the Shaofu, and Wei Huang, the Sizhi of the Prime Minister's Office, started the rebellion.

Since Liu Bei was worried that the random recommendation of officials would have too much impact and force too many people to the opposite side, forcing them to become die-hard supporters of Cao, he could have asked people to find out what official positions Geng Ji and Wei Huang held now, and then avoid these positions when recommending officials, so as to avoid their worries that "in the future, when Liu Bei gains control of the world, he will definitely use his subordinates to squeeze out our positions."

Of course, Zhuge Jin also knew that his suggestion was actually a little difficult to explain and implement, such as why to avoid these people and why not avoid others. So he just closed the door and used a negotiating tone to throw out some ideas.

In fact, he knew that doing so would definitely not work, but as long as he inspired Lu Su, and then Lu Su helped him improve and come up with guidelines, it would still be possible.

If you have a think tank around you, you should use it like this. The prophet of the time traveler is only responsible for inspiration and leadership, and the gaps are filled by Zhuge Liang, Lu Su and other people with real skills.

As expected, after hearing this, Lu Su thought about it for a while and felt that the operability was too poor. It was difficult to grasp the standard for drawing the line between which officials could be represented and which could not be represented.

Lu Su then cautiously reminded: "What you said is of good intention, but it is not easy to implement. How do we know which of the civil and military officials in Xudu are staunch supporters of Cao and which are still loyal to the Han Dynasty? It is too difficult to find out the truth.

Secondly, even if we find out the truth, if we deliberately avoid certain people when we are advising officials, if Cao Cao sees the clues, won’t it harm them instead? Therefore, I think there should be a principle for how to draw the line when advising officials. "

"Then according to Zijing's opinion, how can we have principles?" Zhuge Jin did not show any displeasure at being refuted, and he still responded cheerfully.

He was just proposing an idea and pointing out a direction for the people below him. As for how to do it specifically, Zhuge Jin never expected his idea to be implemented directly.

"Zi Yu has always been a wise and resourceful person. He was not at all upset when being refuted today. Could it be that he had it all planned out long ago and just wanted to test us?" Seeing how easy-going he was, Lu Su was a little unsure.

At that moment, Lu Su carefully sorted it out again, and then followed the direction given by Zhuge Jin and reluctantly came up with a specific principle that could be implemented:

"I do have some humble opinions. My lord has made a name for himself throughout the world by defeating Cao Cao. He wants to commend his civil and military officers, and naturally he also wants to be innovative and emphasize that our army's actions are always the opposite of Cao Cao's - this is also what my lord always says.

What was the biggest rebellion that Cao Cao had done this year? It was nothing more than framing Zhao Situ, which led to the death of a loyal and righteous old minister. Cao Cao framed Zhao Situ in February, and then abolished the old system of the three dukes and asked Ma Teng to persuade the emperor to appoint him as prime minister.

Afterwards, in April and May, the Lord and Yide fought bloody battles with Xiahou Yuan and Cao Cao successively, which lasted for half a year. It can be said that before our army went out this year, although we did not explicitly state that we were going to fight Cao Cao for the case of Situ Zhao, the case of Situ Zhao was definitely an important crime of Cao Cao mentioned when our army swore an oath.

Now that Cao Cao has been completely defeated, we should try our best to maintain the righteous cause and raise the banner of restoring the old system of the Han Dynasty, emphasizing that Cao Cao's dethronement of the three officials and establishment of a prime minister were despicable and shameless acts of rebellion in an attempt to puppet the emperor and bring disgrace to the country.

After this is said, the lord can submit a petition to restore the Three Dukes and re-nominate the Three Dukes. In addition, he can name several officials in Xudu who were more obviously guilty in the Zhao Situ case, such as Shizhong Xi Lu and Shangshu Ling Xun Yu. Then, when the lord is recommending civil and military officials in our army, he can recommend Shizhong and Shangshu Ling separately, and like the Three Dukes, they can "remotely lead" outside.

As for the other nine ministers and ministers, as long as there are no ones who are obviously supporting Cao Cao, we should be lenient and not recommend officials with the same positions as them. Nowadays, Cao Cao's confidants are mostly the chief secretaries, Sima, Sizhi, Caoyuan, and subordinates of the Prime Minister's Office. As for the court officials, most of them are just filling in the numbers and have no real power. So as long as you avoid those officials who are sidelined when recommending officials, you don't have to worry about offending people."

Lu Su's speech was eloquent but also clear and organized. He quickly put into practice Zhuge Jin's vague and unworkable ideas.

The few sentences he used to describe the political ecology of Xudu were also very familiar and recognized by everyone. Because more than six years ago, Chen Lin mentioned it when he wrote an article for Yuan Shao, and Lu Su just quoted it.

At that time, Chen Lin wrote that "the ministers and secretaries were in charge of the court meetings, and the officials were just officials." Nowadays, most officials have high positions but no real power.

Zhuge Jin was also really surprised by Lu Su's idea of "detailed implementation" and didn't know how to comment on it for a while.

The main reason was that Lu Su's statement had deviated further and further from the history he originally knew, which made Zhuge Jin feel powerless: if things continued to develop in this way, his foresight as a time traveler would be lost and become ineffective even faster.

Zhuge Jin couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, thinking to himself in panic, "Listening to Zi Jing's analysis, Cao Cao's move of 're-appointing the prime minister' has been completely nailed to the pillar of shame of 'reversing history', and is a typical example of a powerful official undermining the emperor...

If our army really submits this report, then won't we be able to slap ourselves in the face in the future? When Liu Bei reunifies the world, there will be no chance for the position of prime minister, right? Because the position of prime minister itself has been given a very bad symbolic meaning. Then my second brother will not be able to be the prime minister of the Han Dynasty in the future. After the Han Dynasty is revived for the third time, there may be no prime minister..."

When he thought of this, it was impossible for Zhuge Jin to say that he did not feel panic and confusion.

Because the idea that "Zhuge Liang will become the prime minister in the future" is the most deeply rooted T0-level cognition in the minds of people in later generations who understand history.

However, precisely because history was moved forward so many years, especially because the Battle of Hanzhong was fought eleven or twelve years earlier, the rebellious act that Cao Cao had just committed before the Battle of Hanzhong was moved forward from "conferring titles of duke or king" to "re-establishing the position of prime minister."

In this way, the historical infamy that the act of "re-establishing the prime minister" carries is destined to be much heavier, and the key is that it did not come at a good time.

Thinking about it this way, everything makes sense - in history, when Liu Bei was completely convinced that the "imperial court was a puppet", Cao Cao did the bad thing of conferring titles of duke and king, so after Zhuge Liang took control of the Han Dynasty, he resolutely did not do these two things, and Zhuge Liang was ultimately only the Marquis of Wuxiang.

Sometimes, what one can and cannot do is also shaped by the "historical records" left by the enemy. This is a complex secondary chaotic system.

After being depressed and confused for a long time, Zhuge Jin finally accepted this reality: Never mind, an official position is just a title. In fact, the key is the real power structure. As for the official in power, does his specific name matter?
If there is no prime minister, he can still go back to using the titles of Situ and Sikong. At most he will actually hold the power of the prime minister.

Being able to do things and implement one's governing philosophy is the key. As for the title of the official position, it is not important!
Zhuge Jin is a man of practical work, and his second brother is also a man of practical work.

They are not the protagonists of historical time-travel novels. Those time-travel novels use official names that only appear in later dynasties to make the protagonists "reform the official system and promote historical progress". This is just to make readers feel more involved and reduce the cost of understanding. Some are to recycle historical memes or satisfy stamp collecting, so that those historical novel writers can make more money.

After thinking this through thoroughly, Zhuge Jin stopped worrying about it.

"Zi Jing's words are very good! This idea is very creative. I was blind to it before. Yes, the lord has always emphasized that his actions throughout his life were 'the opposite of Cao'. Now, he is no exception.

I also agree that when recommending officials, we should emphasize "deposing the three dukes and re-establishing the prime minister" as one of Cao Cao's crimes, and then our army should "restore the ancient ways and the laws of the Han Dynasty". The three dukes, the Shangshu Ling, and the Shizhong can all be recommended directly!

By the way, I originally thought that the lord should be given the title of Grand Marshal and King of Hanzhong. Now it seems that is this position of Grand Marshal necessary? "

The reason why Zhuge Jin was inclined to become the "Grand Sima" was naturally because in history Liu Bei was promoted to the position of Grand Sima and then was given the seal of the Left General.

(Note: The titles of Left General and Marquis of Yicheng were both returned and replaced by Grand Marshal and King of Hanzhong. The seal and ribbon of Yuzhou Mu were not returned, because Yuzhou Mu was a local official and did not conflict with Liu Bei's new position. It was okay for a lot of local governors to remain.)
However, Lu Su obviously did not know history, so he had no obsession with the title of "Grand Sima". In the end, Lu Su, in a pragmatic and impartial manner, made a fair analysis:
"I also think that the position of Grand Marshal may not be necessary. My lord was already the General of Chariots and Cavalry before. To be promoted to Grand General or Grand Marshal, one must return the seal and ribbon of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. But now there is no Grand General in the world. The so-called General of Cavalry was just given by Cao Cao to Ma Teng, who is not worthy of the title.

If the lord retains the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, it is already the highest rank among the generals. There is no need to give it up for the Grand Marshal. In contrast, the positions of general and minister can coexist. It is better to recommend the lord's official title as Grand Commandant, so that he can hold both the positions of General of Chariots and Cavalry and Grand Commandant at the same time without having to give up the title.

And the key is that this can show the lord's firm attitude towards restoring the three dukes and respecting the old system of the court, and set an example. The Taiwei was originally the head of the three dukes. The lord has the real power in his hands. What does it matter if the Taiwei is still the Grand Marshal? "

After listening to this, Zhuge Jin nodded frequently and had to admit that Lu Su's talent was really practical, realistic, and honest. He did not seek fame, and did not give up practical benefits for the sake of vanity.

It does have some of the minimalist working style of later generations, "Don't add entities unless necessary."

"Well, I am not as clear-sighted as Zijing in this matter of status and moral principles. Let Zijing write the reply letter to the lord this time. After he finishes writing, I will review it. If there is no problem, the three of us can sign it jointly."

When Lu Su saw that Zhuge Jin adopted his plan, he was very excited. He finished writing his memorial and opinions on the same day. Zhuge Jin reviewed it and signed it together with Guan Yu.

The next morning, Zhuge Jin, Guan Yu and Lu Su boarded the fleet to Wuchang, while the messenger who delivered the return letter rode at full speed back to Shu.

In just half a month, the messenger returned to Jiangzhou. Liu Bei also temporarily returned to Jiangzhou from Zitong to celebrate the New Year. After receiving the reply from Zhuge Jin and Lu Su, he discussed it with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong and asked for their opinions.

After reading it, Zhuge Liang felt that this detailed plan was very simple and stable, but there was indeed nothing wrong with it. It also achieved the ultimate in occupying the moral high ground to strike at Cao Cao.

Because his elder brother's name was signed on it, Zhuge Liang could not criticize it any more. He just suggested some minor improvements and finally made the final decision.

Finally, Zhuge Liang expressed his own judgment: "This strategy is indeed prudent and simple, but it is not like what my brother would do. My brother has always been able to take a broad view and summarize the main points, but he would not think so solidly... Yunchang certainly does not have this ability. It seems that Zijing must have made a lot of efforts in this strategy."

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then he took the reply and read it carefully again and again, and couldn't help but smile:
"The details don't look like Zi Yu's doing. It seems that Zi Yu has been getting more and more free in the past two years in Guandong. He must focus on the big picture and let Zi Jing handle the small details. But as long as it is safe and sound, why bother about how the process was reached? Immediately have someone contact Brother Ji Yu and have his people submit a petition according to this request. Do the same with nephew Xian Si."

(End of this chapter)