My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 787 Cao Cao's desperate struggle

The reasons and opportunities for reform that the Zhuge brothers jointly came up with for Liu Bei ultimately won the admiration and praise of the entire audience.

From Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to all the civil officials and staff, no one found any fault, so naturally no one opposed.

After discussion, everyone agreed that this reform of "the county still has the right to nominate candidate candidates, and the court will conduct a unified examination to eliminate those with poor knowledge", combined with the small sweetener of "abolishing the law of alternating labor service and limiting the three-mutual law", would be enough to shut up the vested interest groups such as the world's aristocratic families and powerful people.

Even if someone else jumps out to oppose, they will only be a few cats and dogs and will not amount to much.

While Liu Bei had an army of 600,000 to 700,000 to fight against Cao Cao's 300,000, with a double advantage in troop strength and an absolute advantage in weapons and equipment technology and quality, he could have used the wartime system to eliminate the rebels together with Cao Cao, and could have easily accused the rebels of "collaborating with Cao."

Therefore, the initial prototype of the "Imperial Examination System" reform was finally finalized at this high-level meeting at the beginning of the 18th year of Jian'an.

The specific implementation details will also be discussed within one month.

Of course, the name "Imperial Examination System" may not be used right from the start in this life.

Zhuge Jin was not a radical. In his opinion, substantive reforms and leaving room for the court to proclaim its power were more important, and the name was not important.

If it continues to be called the "Cao Ju System," but in reality it is just new wine in an old bottle, then there is nothing wrong in not changing the name for the time being.

Not changing the name first can also better confuse opponents and prevent them from uniting to oppose so quickly. By shutting their mouths, we can achieve gradual reform in a boiling frog-in-warm water manner.

Therefore, the new law can only be regarded as a "recommendation system with accompanying assessment" for the time being.

Local governments still use the old method to nominate candidates, and the court is responsible for reviewing the examinations.

After determining the content and scale of the reform, the next key is the specific timing and progress of the reform.

Regarding this issue, the Zhuge brothers and several other important civil officials discussed it behind closed doors and finally suggested to Liu Bei: in the first month of this year, the part about showing favor to officials and soldiers throughout the country should be announced first.

That is, the two good policies that benefit officials and the military, namely "prohibiting Cao Cao's system of forced service by soldiers across states" and "limiting the scope of application of the original three mutual laws of the Han Dynasty," should be announced first.

Let the officials and soldiers be happy, and after two or three months, when the busy spring farming season of the 18th year of Jian'an is over, the agricultural persuasion and civil affairs work will also come to an end, and then we can deploy the second-hand leak-plugging work.

That is to say, by April, it can be announced that "the court will conduct additional examinations on the candidates recommended this year, but you are allowed to recommend several times more candidates from your local areas so that the court can take its time to select."

The specific work of selecting candidates for the imperial examination was generally not reported until the autumn of each year. In the later imperial examination era, the "provincial examination" level examinations for selecting talents for the central government, such as the examination for Juren, were also called "Autumn Examination" and were completed in the autumn.

In the Han Dynasty, there was no fixed time limit, and the quota for the year had to be used up before the end of the year. There was no central re-examination before, so local governments could complete the examination in autumn or winter.

In the future, Liu Bei would standardize this time limit and require each county to report all candidates in the autumn. No one would be allowed to submit their candidates after the deadline. This would be equivalent to the "Autumn Examination" in later generations, except that there would be no exam and it would still be a recommendation system, so it would be more appropriate to call it "Autumn Selection."

After the local "autumn election" is over, the selected people are given a winter to receive news and travel. They must rush to the capital in early spring to take the imperial examination, which is equivalent to the "spring examination" in later generations.

In the next few years, the "autumn selection and spring test" model will be steadily implemented.

The first autumn selection will begin in the autumn of the eighteenth year of Jian'an, and the first spring examination will be at least in the spring of the nineteenth year of Jian'an.

Considering that it is now the first month of the 18th year of Jian'an, Luoyang is still in the hands of Cao Cao. Liu Bei does not know whether he can capture Luoyang within the next year, whether it will be destroyed even if he captures it, and whether he can afford the spring test next year.

So when making plans, Liu Bei discussed with Zhuge brothers and others and made two preparations:
We will wait and see when the autumn election comes. If the army has already captured Luoyang controlled by Cao Cao by then, then the first spring examination of the Han Dynasty next year will be held in Luoyang. This will be a major event for the whole country to celebrate, which will be enough to show the new atmosphere of the rebirth of the Han Dynasty.

If Luoyang was still in the hands of Cao Cao during the autumn election, the remaining time would probably not be enough for preparation. The first spring examination in the 19th year of Jian'an would be held in Liu Bei's fiefdom, Wuchang County, Jiangxia Commandery.

In the future, the second spring examination of the Han Dynasty will be moved back to Luoyang.

Anyway, Wuchang County was considered a "crossroads of nine provinces" in later generations, with convenient transportation. It was located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River, and water transportation was very developed. Even if it was a scholar from You and Ji in the north, it would be in time to rush to Wuchang for the exam within three months.

Liu Bei's camp's current sea-going ship technology is very strong, far surpassing the same period in history. It is comparable to the shipbuilding level of the late Song Dynasty in history, and it may even approach the Ming Dynasty if it continues to develop.

At that time, even if there were not enough civilian transport ships, Liu Bei would ask Zhou Yu to prepare a sufficient fleet at Tianjin Port to transport scholars from You and Ji states.

These two territories were the farthest from Wuchang under Liu Bei's rule. As long as the government provided ships and transported the scholars from these two states, they could come from other states with more convenient transportation.

This is the deal for now.

……

The words are divided into two parts.

As for Liu Bei, during the entire first month of the 18th year of Jian'an, apart from allowing the military and civilians to rest and celebrate the New Year, most of his energy was focused on discussing official selection and personnel reforms.

As for the resumption and advancement of the war, it would take at least until April of this year. Anyway, the war had been suspended during the coldest winter, so it didn't matter if we waited a month or two longer to avoid the busiest time of spring ploughing.

Cao Cao's camp on the other side would naturally take advantage of this breathing time from the second half of the twelfth lunar month to the beginning of spring to quickly reorganize the battle line, adjust the deployment of troops, and make a desperate effort to suppress the rebels within the court.

As mentioned earlier, after Cao Cao was defeated in the Battle of Guantao, he temporarily retreated to Yecheng and insisted on staying in Yecheng for another month and a half.

He did this to prevent the situation on the Hebei battlefield from completely collapsing. At the same time, he used Cao Cao's own flag to gather tens of thousands of Cao's defeated troops in Hebei.

However, after holding out from early November to the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Cao Cao could no longer hold on.

Finally, in the early second half of the twelfth lunar month, he hurriedly left Yecheng, taking several thousand cavalry with him, and quickly returned to Luoyang to take charge of the situation.

From the end of the twelfth lunar month, the overall situation on the Hebei battlefield was returned to the control of Xiahou Dun, who put up a final desperate resistance.

Because during this period, Xun Yu in Luoyang had already asked Cao Cao for help many times, because two conspiracies against Cao Cao were discovered in Luoyang.

Although these conspiracies were exposed at an early stage and crushed as quickly as possible, the urgency of the situation did not ease.

Cao Cao knew that if he didn't return to Luoyang, something might happen to his old nest, so he had to abandon Hebei in a hurry and return overnight.

The fatigue from the expedited round trip travel inevitably caused Cao Cao's health condition to deteriorate further.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, two days before Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin met to discuss the imperial examination reform, Cao Cao finally rushed back to Luoyang City.

After entering the city, Cao Cao just rested for a night and recovered a little. He did not dare to slack off at all. The next morning, he summoned Xun Yu and other high-ranking civil servants in Luoyang. When Xun Yu came to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Cao Cao was sad for a while and felt very sorry for Xun Yu.

"Wenruo, I'm sorry!" Cao Cao apologized sincerely, tears streaming down his face.

Xun Yu also looked sad, but calm: "Why do you say that, Prime Minister? It's all for the country."

Although Cao Cao did not point it out, Xun Yu had already guessed what Cao Cao was apologizing for.

Sure enough, the next second Cao Cao sighed and said, "Gongda's life or death is still unknown, but I heard that he was captured by Zhuge Jin, and he must have been injured, but I don't know how serious his injury is.

I failed to protect him, and even lost the camp, so that the military advisor who stayed in the central army tent was captured! I have fought in my life, and I have never been defeated so miserably. A guard who escaped back said that Gongda was at least stepped on by a frightened warhorse, and the injury must be serious, alas..."

Cao Cao still didn't know whether Xun You was dead or alive. He only knew that Xun You was captured. This was the only explanation he could give to Xun Yu.

I have ruined the life of my nephew, so I owe him a big favor.

Even though Cao Cao was already dissatisfied with Xun Yu before, he had to be more tolerant and kind to the Xun family this time because Xun You was likely to die from his injuries.

It was only then that Xun Yu confirmed the latest news about his nephew. He couldn't help but shed tears. He sighed for a while and then said some polite words to save the situation:
"Prime Minister, you don't have to blame yourself. Gongda at least has a glimmer of hope, but Zhongde has been confirmed dead. Just the day before yesterday, we received a report from Puyang saying that Liu Bei had someone make a cloth man with Zhongde's name on it and burn him like Dong Zhuo did back then. This is really too humiliating!"

At this moment, Xun Yu really felt that Liu Bei's punishment of Cheng Yu was a bit too much. Not to mention that they each served their own masters, but it was a bit too narrow-minded to not let go of the counselors and officials of the enemy camp even after their death, and to expose their crimes to the public.

Xun Yu certainly knew that Cheng Yu had done many excessive things, such as making special dried meat and killing the families and hostages of the soldiers who were wrongly conscripted. But Xun Yu always felt that Cheng Yu's harm could not be compared with Dong Zhuo, and it was too much to curse and burn him after his death.

However, Xun Yu did not know what kind of official selection and reform the Zhuge brothers were planning. If he knew, and knew that Zhuge Liang would attribute this "initial opportunity for reform" to Cheng Yu in the future, Xun Yu would never speak up for Cheng Yu.

In the future history, that was the "trigger leading to the reform of the imperial examination system", so how could the noble families in the world sympathize with Cheng Yu! It would be good enough if they didn't hate him to death.

Cao Cao and Xun Yu exchanged information with each other and learned about the latest deterioration of the situation on various fronts. After sighing for a long time, they finally synchronized all the bad news.

After fully understanding the situation, Cao Cao could not help but lament: "The situation has deteriorated to this point. Liu Bei has temporarily stopped his offensive because of the cold winter, but when the spring comes, the war will resume. How long can Yecheng and Xuxian hold out?
Suiyang has already been lost, and Chen County will be lost soon. When Yecheng and Xu County are also lost, the court will no longer have any land east of Hulao Pass and Taihang Mountain.

"Wen Ruo, tell me, should we start considering moving His Majesty west? Can you keep Luoyang in order while I am away? If I don't move His Majesty, will I be able to leave Luoyang in the future? Will Luoyang fall into chaos again when I leave next time?"

Cao Cao very straightforwardly put forward the issue that worried him the most and discussed it with Xun Yu.

What he is most worried about now is that "only by returning to Luoyang can the situation in Luoyang be calmed down. Once he leaves, Luoyang will become chaotic again."

Historically, the reason why Cao Cao was unable to expand outward in the later period of his rule, and the four military campaigns against Sun Quan, Ma Chao, Zhang Lu, and the Battle of Hanzhong with Liu Bei, all ended in failure, was that Cao Cao in the later period did not dare to leave Yecheng or Xu County for too long.

As time went on, once Cao Cao left the core, it was easy for someone inside to jump out and rebel against him. At first, he could leave for one or two years, but later he could only leave for most of the year, or even less than half a year.

In such a short period of time, Cao Cao's military deployment cycle was cut into pieces. Basically, after a small victory, he had to return to the court to claim credit and to appease the ambitious people in the rear.

If Cao Cao had not won a victory or even suffered a minor defeat in the Battle of Hanzhong against Liu Bei in history, he would have had no choice but to retreat. He knew that if the battle continued for a long time, even if he did not lose on the battlefield, he would probably lose politically, as there was a powder keg behind him.

The situation Cao Cao is facing now is obviously several times more critical than after he lost the Battle of Hanzhong to Liu Bei in history. How could Cao Cao dare to leave Luoyang easily again?
But the problem is, when Emperor Liu Xie was moved back to Luoyang a few years ago, he had already made it clear: returning to Luoyang from Xu County was the right thing to do. Luoyang was originally the capital of the Han Dynasty, but it had fallen into disrepair and was destroyed by war, so he temporarily moved to Xu County for a few years. But as long as I return to Luoyang this time, I will never leave Luoyang again!

Xun Yu was very aware of this, and in the past two years, he had entered the palace many times to appease Liu Xie. Especially when Cao Cao was in a disadvantageous situation in the war, Liu Xie would summon Xun Yu and ask him about the situation in an indirect way.

And Xun Yu always assured Liu Xie: The Duke of Wei will not let Your Majesty suffer the fatigue of traveling by boat and carriage again.

Now Cao Cao had the idea of "if the war situation is unfavorable again and Luoyang is threatened, move the emperor again". If Xun Yu supported it, wouldn't it be a slap in his own face? He made several promises in front of the emperor, which was considered deceiving the emperor.

There was no room for ambiguity on this issue, so Xun Yu could only insist on speaking to Cao Cao about his principles:

"Prime Minister! Think twice! Your Majesty has repeatedly stated that he will never leave Luoyang and will never move the capital again! If you insist, then... the pen of future historians will be as hard as iron. How can you prove your determination? How can you prove that you are different from... from Dong Zhuo?"

When Cao Cao heard Xun Yu say the word "Dong Zhuo", the nasolabial lines and other wrinkles on his face twitched involuntarily, and it was obvious that he was trying hard to suppress his anger.

He calmed down for a long time before saying, "I don't really want Your Majesty to move the capital, but I'm afraid there are treacherous people in the court who want to collude with Liu Bei! If Liu Bei's troops approach again next year, who can guarantee that there is no one in the Luoyang court who is colluding with Liu Bei?

What if I don't move Your Majesty, but there are traitors in the court who secretly kidnap the emperor when Liu Bei's army approaches Luoyang and go to meet Liu Bei? I bear the heavy responsibility of the world's military and state, and I can't always stay in Luoyang to watch and protect Your Majesty from being kidnapped by traitors. Putting the emperor too close to Liu Bei is giving opportunities to scoundrels! "

Xun Yu was so shocked by Cao Cao's bizarre worries that he was speechless for a moment.

It turns out that the prime minister was already worried that when Liu Bei's army finally approached Luoyang, would someone collude with insiders and outsiders to kidnap the emperor and surrender to Liu Bei?

It’s true that someone might try this kind of thing, but whether they can succeed is another matter.

The prime minister stayed in Luoyang to take charge of the army guarding the palace. Was he just there to eat for nothing? But I wonder if any of those guards were bribed by the courtiers who opposed the prime minister, or if they were temporarily sent away by the emperor on some pretext... These possibilities are unlikely.

After thinking it over, Xun Yu advised Cao Cao: "Prime Minister! If you are just worried that someone wants to kidnap the emperor and surrender to Liu Bei, just strengthen the palace guards, but don't move the capital!
At most, we can give the imperial guards more flexible authority, allowing them to make prompt decisions and kill all those who try to break into the palace when they find that the situation is extraordinary. That's it, don't make a fuss about it."

After hearing this, Cao Cao rubbed his temples, still feeling unwilling. He always wanted to increase the intensity a little to ensure that Liu Xie would not dare to do anything desperate.

This is the biggest weakness of Cao Cao's camp right now. The cities on the front line may be lost later, but these are not the biggest threats.

As long as Liu Bei failed to capture Hulao Pass, break through the three passes south of Luoyang, and approach the city of Luoyang, the emperor would not be given the slightest chance to escape and surrender to Liu Bei.

The palace ban and security must be strengthened, and the authority of the guards must be more flexible. Everything must be increased! And it must be done at your own convenience.

-

PS: I am very sorry that I have been preparing a new book and revising a draft in the past three days. So I took a day off for this book and used a leave note.

There are too many things to think about, and the two books are intertwined, and I can't switch my thoughts back.

Fortunately, the new book has a little bit of clues, and the topic should be okay. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be set in the late Northern Song Dynasty (but with some elements of the Water Margin world), first fighting Fang La, Song Jiang, and the six thieves, then dealing with Zhao Gou and fighting the Jin people,

The time for completing this edition and launching a new one has not been determined yet, but I will try my best to connect them so that you don’t have to wait.

Thank you for your continued support.

(End of this chapter)