Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 153 The Imperial Court's Eagerness for Talent

In the first year of the Tianyou era, just as Gu Shou Pass was captured by Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu, and the messenger delivering the victory report was still en route...

Within the Great Yao, after Emperor Ling issued the "Summoning of Worthy Men" edict, requiring the feudal lords of all directions to send hostages to the capital, the governors and generals of various regions, knowing that this edict was mainly aimed at them, did not openly resist. Instead, they sent their unimportant sons born to their concubines to the capital to fulfill their obligations.

As for who this recruitment order is actually aimed at?
They were idols promoted by the strongest clans in various regions, and virtuous individuals within these powerful families who had gained fame from a young age. Upon hearing of their talents, Suwang specifically requested that they come to the capital.

In the thatched cottages where no commoners came and went, and where learned scholars gathered to chat, the imperial envoys were like lecherous men in later generations, coming from all over the country to find out where local talents privately met.

These powerful and influential families avoided the imperial envoys who repeatedly came to the local areas to solicit talented individuals.

Local officials did not give up either. They hired busybodies to keep watch on the talented individuals. As soon as the talented individuals went out, they would swarm around them and demand that they respond to the imperial court's call for appointment.

Xuan Chong: If I hadn't lived in this era myself, and I were to read history in the future as an outsider, I would always feel that those virtuous and talented people were being pretentious when I saw the court sending officials to them. But now I understand that "virtuous and talented" does not mean that they are of noble character, and the court is not necessarily eager to find talented people.

The court was so eager for talented people. Da Yao's fast horse carried the court's orders and galloped along the official road, as if to inform a filial son who was away from home to return for a funeral.

If the court's recruitment of virtuous and capable individuals was truly intended to "entrust them with important responsibilities," and if giving up positions in the court allowed these talented individuals to make a difference, they would be eager to serve. However, Emperor Ling's current "edict to recruit virtuous and capable individuals" is more about suppressing signs of rebellion in the provinces.

…workbook…

Xuan Chong explains: This major hexagram, which seeks to recruit talented individuals, cannot be viewed from a modern perspective. Even the Song and Ming versions of this hexagram do not reach this level.

Due to the low literacy rate, local governments relied heavily on powerful families for taxation and labor levies. Even a minor official managing a post station was often a descendant of a prominent clan. The favors he received from his family far outweighed those from the imperial court, since only the clan's private school could provide this minor official with the opportunity to study from a young age.

During the Song Dynasty, printing technology became widespread. Books and literacy were no longer monopolized by the most powerful families; even young people from relatively well-off families in villages could become literate and become low-level officials. In other words, the powerful families in the area could no longer completely monopolize control at the lowest levels.

Therefore, the once prestigious Wang and Xie families, whose connections could extend throughout a prefecture during the Tang Dynasty, had already entered the homes of ordinary people during the Song Dynasty.

This became even more evident during the Ming Dynasty. The economically powerful families of the Jiangnan region could no longer monopolize even the county magistrate position. Capable officials could be cultivated from humble backgrounds, and the imperial power could effectively threaten and kill court ministers. In reality, at this point, subjects were no longer qualified to stand before the imperial power; they were merely slaves.

When ministers like Yan Song and Xu Jie, who were essentially at the "Three Dukes" level, fell from power, local county officials followed suit in purging them—something unimaginable in the Eastern Han and Wei-Jin periods.

Similarly, Xuan Chong's previous life also involved "knowledge monopoly" and "what can the academic cliques do to me?"

Knowledge monopoly means that one can do whatever one wants because the governance system cannot find a substitute structure.

…The key to the power of aristocratic families lies in their control over the pathways of knowledge dissemination…

The values ​​of the bureaucracy during the Ming and Qing dynasties cannot be used to understand the values ​​of the upper class during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, bureaucrats were civil servants with established positions within the system, while bureaucrats during the Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties were like "private enterprises" in comparison. Private enterprises may seem to offer better pay and benefits, but they also come with greater pressure, and superiors can issue various tasks without regard to rules, and work targets can be changed arbitrarily.

The court is now controlled by Suwang, and that's how it is. The "spirited and talented young men" who fall into his hands will become "corporate slaves" who are exploited to the point of being useless, taking the blame for all the dirty work and hard labor. They will not receive any benefits, and in the end, they will be kicked aside after being drained dry at the age of thirty-five.

The virtuous reputation of those who were recruited was lost; they were tainted by scandals in the court and returned to their hometowns to die in despair.

The saying goes, "When the time is right, everything is in harmony; when the time is wrong, even heroes are powerless." Those local families all studied feng shui and metaphysics, and they could tell that if they went to Yaodu, they would not have good fortune, but if they stayed in their hometown, they could have a steady and lasting life.

Xuan Chong's social science understanding: Here, "luck" refers to "the forces that can be borrowed" when doing things.

Those talented individuals were renowned throughout the region from a young age. Were they truly born with extraordinary abilities? Perhaps their families simply cultivated their public image and reputation, and taught them how to navigate interpersonal relationships in the community.

This is "fortune." Under the blessing of such "fortune," virtuous people begin to act from a young age, judging disputes among neighbors and determining who is good and who is evil. They decide the use of public lakes and mountains by various villages. The people of the area praise them, therefore they are virtuous.

This is equivalent to the work of local judges and the media in later times. The key to this work is ensuring it's "uncontroversial" to be considered virtuous. If the court forces officials to perform this task, it will cause widespread resentment in the localities. That would be tyranny.

For talented individuals, being recruited to the capital meant losing all their accumulated local resources and becoming no different from ordinary people; their social connections and influence in their hometowns would be quickly depleted by the court. This was used to recruit local resources.

Xuan Chong subtly mocked himself: Unless you have a built-in cheat code, you can't be confident that you're gold and shine wherever you go. Otherwise, well, back in my past life when I was young, how many capable older brothers of mine initially thought they were gold, started their own businesses, plunged headlong into unfamiliar fields, and ended up looking disheveled and ridiculed for "lacking vision"?

The Great Yao's recruitment order quickly became the hottest topic in the entire Great Yao, even overshadowing the border wars.

For most people within those aristocratic families, the arrival of these "talented individuals" in the capital had no impact on them. In fact, the family lacked resources for local propaganda, allowing collateral branches to begin to rise in status.

During his control of talent selection in the capital, Su Wang also recruited some impoverished young men who aligned themselves with him. These impoverished individuals readily responded to the call.

Those talented individuals who were unwilling to respond, despite their widespread reputation in the village.

The Grand Duke began questioning the talented individuals who "did not respond to the call to office." In the Heluo region, a talented scholar was stopped by the governor and questioned: "All the other talented individuals responded to the call to office, why didn't you?"

Just like in elementary school, teachers set the pace and suppress those children who lack social experience but have a strong backbone: "If other classes can do it, why can't we?"

…Psychological bullying should only be used against the weak…

In Bo County, Wu Fei happened to receive a summons from the imperial court. Wu Fei, dressed in military attire, stood beneath the catapult at Gu Shou Pass and met the envoy.

This imperial envoy traveled north, hoping to meet Wu Fei in Huangyu City, but was told that Wu Fei was already at the front lines. Along the way, he encountered village officials and soldiers from various places who came to "inquire," and he couldn't have come at all without a travel permit.

However, upon arriving in the north, the imperial envoy, seeing the ruined Gushou Pass and the corpses of Hao soldiers buried in the pit, lacked the courage to voice many of the questions he had prepared. He could only hastily report the imperial edict and announce the order to summon Wu Fei back to the capital, stating that the court would dispatch another general.

As soon as the imperial envoy spoke, the many soldiers who came to receive the decree mutinied on the spot. Coincidentally, the people next to Wu Fei were the soldiers who had experienced the "Palace Collapse Incident".

Hearing that the court was summoning the general to court again, they became extremely agitated, shouting, "There are treacherous people in the court! Don't deceive us!" "General, you cannot go back! They want to harm you!"

After all, everyone remembers that Jupiter was summoned back by the court and then disappeared inexplicably, and there has been no explanation for it to this day. Instead, Suwang smeared him as the mastermind behind the palace coup.

The soldiers were naively afraid that Wu Fei would be tricked. Well, even though they knew that Wu Fei was much smarter than them, "that dog King Zhou is now sitting on the throne and has not yet rewarded these soldiers who fought so hard. This shows that there are treacherous people in the court who have deceived the emperor."

The soldiers' anger in the camp grew stronger. The imperial envoy, already locked in by the murderous aura, trembled with fear.

Someone said, "General, you cannot leave the camp. We are fighting hard to advance. How can you abandon us?"

This was still relatively mild. Some people, however, held knives directly to the envoy and said, "This person must be a spy sent by the false Hao to disrupt our army's morale!" After saying that, they were about to draw their knives and slash at him.

It was only thanks to the envoy displaying Gong Qian's token that Wu Fei managed to pull him into the tent, saving him from certain death. Meanwhile, Wu Hengyu, who was outside the camp, arrived just in time and used his prowess to quell the unrest.

…Resentment doesn't accumulate overnight…

Wu Hengyu's personal guards were outside the tent keeping order, shouting "Quiet!"

But these personal guards were also adding fuel to the fire: "Don't worry, everyone, the general will never abandon you."

Inside the military tent, the problem remained unresolved, and Wu Fei also wanted to understand the current situation in the court.
The messenger said, “The emperor wishes to see the general, but the general is busy with military affairs and cannot go. Could you send your son in his place?”

Wu Fei said, "I only have one son, who has just learned to walk, and he is far away in the southern border. How can I face the emperor?"

After the envoy remained silent, he inquired whether Wu Fei had a wife during his three years in Bo County.

Wu Fei paused slightly, then scratched his head: "Many of my comrades in the army have died, leaving behind orphans. I couldn't bear it, so I adopted them as my sons. Is this what the envoy intended?"

The envoy immediately shook his head. Who was the general's "adopted son"? Everyone in the court knew.

At this point, the envoy himself gave a wry smile. The court had sent such a talented man as Wu Fei to the north to lead the army, so why hadn't they arranged for a royal daughter to marry him? And Wu Fei himself was quite absurd; he had achieved such great feats, yet he had not married a proper wife.

Of course, tracing back the cause and effect is all a matter of chance. The late emperor originally intended to arrange a marriage for a member of the imperial clan, but due to his sudden death, the matter came to an end. As for the Li family woman that Wu Fei was originally to marry, the engagement was broken off. And right now, in Emperor Ling's harem...

This incident was one of the topics of ridicule among the young masters of Yaodu at the time. Some enthusiasts even painted a picture of Wu Fei as a grasshopper leaping out of the field and begging for a white jade cicada on a high branch.

But the past is the past; back then, the capital was a place of peace and prosperity. But now, the world is in chaos, and none of this is funny anymore.

The army most closely associated with Yaodu began severing ties with Yaodu from top to bottom. Many of the Dongshi army generals had already married into wealthy families in Bojun. The former boatmen, able-bodied men, and lower-ranking soldiers in the Dongshi army, after the women were given away following the fall of the city, also found families.

Wealth and women are key resources for winning over an army to fight, while official positions and rewards are related to loyalty. Wu Fei has now placed people in all the government offices in Bohai.

This army had already been bribed by Wu Fei. However, the imperial envoy did not realize that it was not only the Dongshi army that had been bribed, but the entire Bo County also did not want Wu Fei to leave.

…The government fails to understand the people's will…

The envoy returned to the court with the return gifts sent by Wu Fei.

Su Wang threw away the inscription "Da Yao is good, very good, very good" written by Wu Fei himself in the gift box, and cursed: "Several gold medals couldn't recall him, this kid has the ambition of a wolf!"

He had previously given Emperor Ling advice on regaining control of the Eastern Market Army, which was his own plan to use the recruitment of talented individuals to summon Wu Fei into Yaodu and then place him under house arrest.

Then he dispatched his men to take control of the army. He would gradually bring the army under his command. As for transferring the Eastern Market Army back to the capital, would the Bozhou region, due to its weak military strength, once again become scorched earth for the Hao Kingdom to plunder?

Su Wang didn't care at all. The Great Yao Kingdom encompassed the nine provinces and ten thousand regions; it didn't lack this one place. And between Yao and Hao Kingdom, there were still three regional military governors, including Zhu Liqiang, blocking the way. The world wouldn't collapse.

However, Wu Fei, who was equally adept at summarizing experience, anticipated his selfish and calculating schemes and prevented him from succeeding from the very first step.

When Suwang, a scion from a humble background, came to power, the difference in character between him and the scions from prominent families became apparent—the difference between the so-called evil deeds of powerful figures in the Former Han Dynasty and the benevolence of noble families in the Later Han Dynasty.

To use a metaphor from a modern perspective, it's like the New York police inspectors described a pattern: they weren't afraid of established gangs, but they were wary of newly emerging small gangs.

Established gangs have stabilized their interests and act within defined boundaries, taking into account the stability of the overall system. In contrast, smaller gangs are in a period of rapid expansion and prioritize immediate gains, without considering the potential disruption to the stability of the entire system.

The current state of affairs among various factions and political parties in the government is as follows: smaller factions, in their pursuit of rapid expansion, are willing to engage in short-sighted and selfish actions without any moral compass, disregarding the damage they inflict on the entire system.

The bald eagle's foreign control strategy follows this principle: continuously supporting non-mainstream elements in the parliaments of various states, creating instability in the system for a range of forces, including allies.

And so, after this scoundrel seized power, the Nord Stream project, a massive undertaking that had taken ten years to complete, was abruptly halted. The bigger picture? The scoundrel: What's the bigger picture? Can you eat it?
Xuan Chong described it with extreme disgust and contempt: "The current eunuchs like Da Yao Su Wang are like this. Once they gain power, they want to expand at all costs, only caring about immediate interests and disregarding the damage to the system. They are extremely selfish, shameless, and have a very low moral standard."

Under the dynastic system, those who hold governing power must suppress powerful aristocratic families to the death, but they must be doubly vigilant against the scheming of scholars from humble backgrounds.

Poor families are also part of the feudal dregs. Just because their size is too small compared to that of large aristocratic families does not mean that their extremely evil reactionary attributes should be ignored.

Using his control over the military and local areas, Wu Fei swiftly quelled Yao Du's malicious intent! But did Wu Fei truly defend himself in all areas?

In some areas of feudal superstition, Wu Fei was always blocked by his "teacher" and had little contact with them.

…System: All guidance is under control. In order to deal with the situation, partial access has been authorized…

In the repaired central palace of Yaodu, Wu Long, a Taoist priest under Su Wang, joined the alchemist team of Da Yao.

At this moment, Wu Long, in the name of the Tian family, invited disciples from various sects to participate in a competition of alchemy techniques. As the disciples entered, a crane unfurled a couplet on the lintel of the palace gate: "Yellow sprouts and white snow, the abode of immortals; jade herbs and rare flowers, the home of Taoist priests."

This was supposed to be a grand gathering, but Suwang, the celestial leader, focused on the theme of "Plague-Averting Pills." He demanded that all families keep the well-being of the people in mind, not only to vanquish demons and monsters but also to ward off evil and disasters for the common people.

Each of the immortal sects revealed their unique methods.

Among them, the disciples of Qinghua Sect showed off their alchemy skills, proudly saying: "When I put my medicinal pills into the water, passing merchants will not be afraid of miasma or plague."

The Qingyuan Sect disciple then released a swimming dragon: "This creature of mine is a spirit of the pure water. When it swims in the river, those who come and go will bathe in it and all their illnesses and evil spirits will be dispelled."

While all the disciples of the sect were engaged in a magical duel.

Wu Long: "All of you immortals are extraordinary talents, but words are not enough. I would like to ask you to find some examples in the world to test them, so that we can determine the superiority or inferiority of each sect and school."

(End of this chapter)