After Cao Cao sent Chen Yi away, he arranged for his wife Ding to stay in Qian County, took Liu with him, and immediately set off for Beijing.

He received another letter from his father in Chenliu.

Xu Shao received a letter from Xu Xiang inviting him to Beijing at his home in Pingyu, Runan, and he thought about it for a long time and decided to go to Luoyang after the New Year.

He ordered his family to send the letter to his cousin Xu Jing, and Xu Xiang invited him as well.

Xu Shao is a general, and when he is young, he talks about ethics and comments on characters. Xu Jing's words are resting, and when he was young, he had the reputation of being a good person. Because Xu Shao and Xu Jing both have high reputations, Runan people say that there are two dragons in Pingyuyuan. The reason why the two of them are famous all over the world is because of the "Yuedan Review". The Yuedan review is known as the "first comment" in the world, and there are many people who have soared because of the high evaluation of the Yuedan.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the system of selecting officials, which was mainly based on inspection and recruitment, had the huge defect of emphasizing "morality" over "talent", and "morality" was the first priority in selecting scholars. However, morality is a very vague concept, so it is inevitably tainted with a heavy color of "rule by man".

The reputation of "morality" mainly depends on the creation of public opinion, and under the inspection system that attaches importance to character observation and recommendation, rather than examination, it is very important to obtain the affirmation and praise of important figures in society in advance.

At that time, if you wanted to enter the office, you had to rely on "personnel" to become famous, and you had to be extraordinary, and gain great fame.

In the later period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the heroes of the gate lord clan praised each other, self-flaunted, and the topic of the rumor was prevalent for a while, what "the name of the township", "the language of the people", "the name of the world", etc., formed a kind of social public opinion, and the quality of the public opinion determines the future of the person being evaluated.

As a result, the wealthy families who presided over the public discussion had great authority, and those who could recognize talents and raise scholars enjoyed a great reputation. They not only have a significant influence in the world of public opinion, but also can influence the employment of the imperial court to a certain extent.

For example, before the second disaster of the party, whoever was favored by Li Yi's grandfather, Li Ying, would immediately carp jump over the dragon gate and be worth a hundred times. Li Ying's fellow villager Nie Jibao is a child of a small family. After his colleague Du Zhoufu recommended him to Li Ying, Li Ying called him to his home. Nie Jibao sat on the cow coat under the stone steps, and talked to Li Ying slightly, and Li Ying said: "This person is regarded as a national soldier." ”

Later, as he said, it became a great weapon of the country. But if it weren't for Li Yingpin's question, Nie Jibao would inevitably die of old age.

Some famous scholars who are not officials, contemporary Confucians, because they are good at discovering and appreciating characters, can also influence public opinion. Such as Guo Tai, who has never been a master for life. As Chen Ye, who is clothed, Fan Fan, a celebrity in the reclusive township, is a very authoritative talent appraiser, and Xu Shao, the leader of the "Yuedan Review", is a titan figure who shakes the government and the opposition.

Xu Shao and Xu Jing used their fame to recommend sages to the imperial court, especially those who were virtuous but poor.

Among them, the "Six Sages" recommended by Xu Shao are the most famous. They are Fan Zizhao, Yu Chengxian, Li Shucai, Guo Ziyu, Yang Xiaozu, and He Qia. All six of them were from humble backgrounds. Fan Zizhao is a headscarf seller, Yu Chengxian is a pastoral supervisor (cattle herding and chariots), Li Shucai is a farmer in the countryside, and Guo Ziyu is a saddle horse official. That is, the postman who delivers the letter.

After Xu Shao's comments, these people were immediately promoted by the local county guard. After the six became officials, they were all able to govern the township and county with their talents and virtues, and won the praise of the people.

It's a pity. This kind of behavior of arguing for misconduct and disharmony with personal feelings was soon abolished due to the occurrence of the party rebellion, and the evaluation of the Qing Dynasty was expressly forbidden by the imperial court.

Xu Xuan, who was the Taishou of Runan at the time, admired Xu Shao's name. took the initiative to find Xu Shao to recruit him to engage in Gongcao. Xu Shao is upright by nature, not good at socializing, and has a strained relationship with his colleagues. He eventually abandoned his official position and went home. After that, the government recruited him as the government again, and the court also wanted to award him the Yanling County Order, but he refused one by one.

Xu Jing is one year younger than Xu Shao, and the two fell out because of political discord, and Xu Shao no longer ignored Xu Jing. Xu Jing, whose life is in a difficult situation, can only rely on a horse to grind noodles to survive.

A few years ago, Liu Yi, a native of Yingchuan, succeeded Xu Xuan as the Taishou of Runan County, and Xu Jing only then got a small position in the history of Pengshi in the county, but his life was still very poor.

Xu Jing was overjoyed when he saw Xu Xiang's letter and immediately decided to go to Beijing.

………………

Xu You hurried to Gaotang City in Qingzhou Plains County.

Gaotang is a very famous place, and it was the famous capital of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Xu You was ordered by Wang Fen to invite Hua Xin and Tao Gao to Jizhou to conspire together.

Xu You, Tao Gao, and Hua Xin are all friends and have been familiar with each other for a long time. After listening to Xu You's introduction, Tao Gao readily agreed.

They went to find Hua Xin together, but Hua Xin categorically vetoed it without hesitation. Hua Xin said: "This matter of abolishing the Son of Heaven, how can we be a little person like us to participate, haven't you seen the fate of Yi Yin and Huo Guang?" Wang Yuanjun was tempted by Master Xiangkai, and he was bold enough to dare to do such a thing. You see, he is going to die this time, and he will be punished by the Nine Clans. In my opinion, Brother Qiu Hong should not go, and Ziyuan had better leave Jizhou Mansion and go back to Nanyang to avoid trouble. ”

The two laughed at Huaxin and had no courage, so they immediately set off for Jizhou.

………………

After He Jin went down, he did not return to the house, but went directly to the house of Sima He Hao of the General's Mansion.

He Hao welcomed the general He Jin into the study.

In the study, Yuan Kui, the head of the Yuan family's gate valve, was chatting with his nephew Yuan Shao.

The general and Yuan Kui exchanged pleasantries, saluted each other and sat down.

"Sit down, sit, sit." He Jin beckoned his staff to sit around him, and then said, "Old Situ's words are not wrong, Your Majesty has successfully won over Li Yi, a barbarian who doesn't understand anything. Now Your Majesty's determination to abolish the throne is beyond your imagination. ”

"Oh." Yuan Kui said in surprise, "Your Majesty can agree to the expansion of the Northern Army?" ”

"Disagree. He said that there was no money in the treasury and that it was enough to keep the Northern Army of 30,000 men. He Jin said, "Taiwei Zhang, Cui Situ and Yang Biao, and Lu Zhi have read too much, and in this case, they still want to persuade His Majesty to turn back in time to avoid a bloody massacre in Luoyang." It's pedantic, it's still old Situ who is sober, and sees that this matter is irreparable, so he has to fight to the death. ”

Yuan Kui said with a smile: "The general doesn't have to worry, if it really comes to life and death, the gate lord clan can still weigh the pros and cons and support the general." ”

"It is understandable that the bureaucrats of the clan do not want to see eunuchs usurping their power or their relatives in charge, so they want to do their best to maintain this balance." Yuan Shao said, "But Your Majesty himself does not want to be swayed by others, he wants to change the status quo, so their persuasion and efforts are ultimately in vain." ”

He Hao said: "Kill the traitorous eunuch, the general can completely control Luoyang and grasp the authority of the country, at that time, Your Majesty will come back from Jizhou, and you can't think of establishing a prince." It's just that this seems to be against His Majesty's wishes, and he seems to be more reluctant to see the general than the traitorous eunuch. ”

"How can everything go well?" He Jin smiled and nodded, "We can't underestimate the power of the traitorous eunuchs, let alone despise the clan of the gate lords in Beijing, or that sentence, I hope that Lao Situ can persuade the gate lords in Beijing, including Xu Sikong, so as not to implicate too much and hurt the vitality of my big man." ”

"I tried my best to convince them." Yuan Kui said with a smile, "I have already told me about the general's divisive plan just now, and I hope they will look a little farther ahead, so that they can also avoid the disaster on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month." ”

"Especially Xu Sikong, I have to make a few more trips to the old Situ." He Jin admonished.

After He Jin sent Yuan Kui away, he immediately asked He Haodao: "Boqiu, can Mr. Zijiang rush to Luoyang on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month?" ”

He Hao smiled and said: "Will there be any mistakes in what Mr. Zijiang promised?" Rest assured, the general, he will come as scheduled. ”

He Jin pondered for a moment, and then asked, "What about Mr. Xu Jing?" Can it be there before the year? ”

"With Mr. Zijiang's hint and Xu Sikong's letter, Mr. Zixiu will definitely come day and night." He Hao said, "I have privately sent someone to pick it up along the way, it shouldn't be a problem." ”

He Jin nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is now a Zhongguan in his left hand and Li Yi in his right hand, and his strength is strong." He must have thought he was sure of everything. ”

Yuan Shao smiled and said: "We have carefully prepared this strategy for two years, and it should be the general who is sure of nine out of ten." ”

"The forces of the eunuchs, like Your Majesty, also have their left and right hands to help, and their left and right hands are in the light and in the dark. Mingli is the huge gate valve of the Xu family, and secretly is Dong Zhuo's 30,000 Xiliang army. Now, we have figured out how to separate the Xu's gate valve and the eunuch. If this plan is successful, even if we can't pull the Xu's Gate Valve over, at least they will not be able to work together against us. ”

"The second is Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo is an old treacherous and cunning person, he is not a good person himself, he does not hesitate to spend a lot of money in order to get the relationship with the general, what kind of loyalty does this kind of person have? His subordinate Li Ru is an old friend of Boqiu, he is Dong Zhuo's confidant, and he has a great influence on Dong Zhuo. Li Ru has been lying on his back for more than ten years to avenge his family revenge, how could he let go of this opportunity? ”

"If everything is done according to our plan, we will remove all the left and right arms of the eunuch, and the eunuch will have to bow his head and wait for death. After the deed was completed, the general not only eradicated the traitorous eunuchs, but also avenged His Majesty, and his reputation was skyrocketing. After the general assisted the government, he made great efforts to revitalize the Han Dynasty, and his world-class exploits will surpass that of Zhou Gong and Huo Guang back then. ”

He Jin smiled cautiously and said, "Originally, this was said too early, we should be cautious and not make mistakes." Zhao Qi and that Kong Rong in the house, one is old and fine, and the other is as careful as a hair, you have to be careful, don't show them the flaws, so as not to cause endless trouble. ”

"I know, don't worry, General." Yuan Shao said confidently, "It's just that Your Majesty has rejected the expansion of the Northern Army, so Brother Ling can find an excuse to inspect all parts of Henan, and the weapons we transferred from the arsenal will also find a chance to be shipped out of Luoyang." (To be continued.) )