Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 64: Ancient and Modern Values
The weather in Xiangyang was gloomy, early winter in October, and it began to rain lightly in the afternoon.

The pattering raindrops hit the eaves, making a tinkling sound.

After they sat down and chatted with each other, Wang Can took the initiative to ask Pang Tong, "Pang Tong, this time you went north to Yingchuan to visit Mr. Sima Decao, what did you get?"

Pang Tong said: "Mr. Decao is very knowledgeable. I discussed with him for a long time, and even built a thatched cottage where he lived. I often talked with him. It was very rewarding and helped me solve many academic doubts."

"Then what does he think of the general trend of the world?"

Wang Can asked.

Pang Tong wondered: "Why is Mr. Zhongxuan interested in the general trend of the world?"

"My family is all in the north, so I'm worried."

Wang Can made an excuse.

In fact, he really doesn't like Jingzhou. He wrote several poems in history, expressing his helplessness for living in Jingzhou and his yearning for his hometown and the north. So recently I heard that Liu Xie returned to Luoyang, and wondered if the world would be peaceful. When will I be able to return to the north.

Before Pang Tong could speak, Shen Chen shook his head and said, "Brother Zhongxuan, don't even think about going back to the north. There will be no peace in the north for at least ten years."

"But the Son of Heaven has already arrived in Xuchang."

Wang Can argued: "If the emperor can work hard to govern, Henan may be pacified soon. Liu Shijun made an offering a few days ago. Maybe the emperor ordered the emperor's army to go north to help the emperor wipe out the dissatisfied officials from all directions. .”

Liu Biao himself is a disobedient minister, so he will help Liu Xie?

Shen Chen sneered in his heart, but he definitely couldn't talk nonsense, so he said: "Brother, don't you really think that the emperor has real power? Cao Cao is a traitor in troubled times. What Zhang Yi did not complete has already been accomplished by Cao Mengde."

Rely on the Son of Heaven to command the princes?
Everyone looked at each other. This operation was not invented by Cao Cao, but by Zhang Yi in the Warring States Period.

"Zuo Zhuan" records that Zhang Yi suggested to Qin Huiwang that he send troops to Luoyang from Guanzhong, capture the emperor of Zhou, and then use the authority of the emperor of Zhou to issue orders to the princes of the world. This is called "taking the emperor to order the princes".

However, another minister of King Qin Hui, Sima Cuo, opposed it. He believed that kidnapping the emperor of Zhou would easily arouse the public indignation of the princes of the world, and they would inevitably be united and attacked by them. Therefore, there is no need to bear such a bad name, and the Kingdom of Shu should be eliminated first. , Occupy the land of Shu to strengthen yourself, and then plot the whole world.

In the end, King Qin Hui chose Sima Cuo's suggestion, sent troops to attack Shu, and captured the land of Bashu. Later, Li Bing and his son built Dujiangyan. Sweep heaven and earth and rule the world.

Therefore, Zhang Yi's coercion of the emperor to make the princes is actually a failed strategy, but as the saying goes, one moment and another moment.The same strategy can only work miraculously under certain conditions, as Cao Cao is using it now, and it is very successful.

However, Wang Can felt that Shen Chen's words were wrong. He shook his head and said, "Cao Cao can be regarded as an official. How can he be so against the people's hearts? Isn't he afraid that the world will punish him?"

"So that requires camouflage."

Shen Chen said: "Didn't Cao Cao play the name of flattering the emperor? But think about it, the emperor is now in Xuchang, and all the soldiers and horses are controlled by Cao Cao. Cao Cao's people are all around him. It's just to control the emperor, can't you see it?"

"This is just your conjecture, Ah Chen. At least I haven't seen that Cao Cao is persecuting the emperor. Does it mean that the emperor is also under the control of Cao Cao because all the soldiers and horses are controlled by Cao Cao?"

Wang Can still disagreed.

Shen Chen thought for a while and said, "Of course not. It's just that today's emperor has no strong support outside, no soldiers and horses inside, and power in his hands. How can he show it? It's not that Cao Cao just listens to what he says. Order the princes?"

Wang Can said with a smile: "Duke Zhou inherited power back then, and returned to him when King Cheng grew up. Marquis Bo Lu took power when Emperor Xuan was young, and handed over power when Emperor Xuan became an adult. Shouldn’t the minister be assisting you when you’re in trouble? This in itself is a very normal thing, nothing unusual.”

During the Han Dynasty, Duke Zhou and Huo Guang had a very high status. Although Huo Guang’s family was destroyed after his death, the problem is that Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty did not exterminate Huo Guangquan because of his power over the government, but because his wife and children did not live up to expectations. It was Liu Xun who made trouble.

Including Liu Xun himself, and the entire Han Dynasty, all the emperors respected Huo Guang very much. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty was the hero of the Qilin Pavilion, and Huo Guang ranked first.During the reigns of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, there were sacrifices and rewards to Huo Guang.

Therefore, at that time, when praising those who were very virtuous despite their power, they all put Zhou Gong and Huo Guang together as examples.

of course.

The antonyms of the two of them are basically Wang Mang and Dong Zhuo, and Cao Cao had to be added later.

Shen Chen also said with a smile: "I think one should treat a person regardless of his deeds. My brother thought Cao Cao was Zhou Gong Huo Guang, but he didn't know that he was Wang Mang Dong Zhuo. May I ask Zhou Gong and Huo Guang, would they slaughter hundreds of thousands of people under their own rule? Will Zhou Gong and Huo Guang wantonly kill famous people to force Yanzhou tycoons? A virtuous person may be cruel in his heart, but a cruel person must not be virtuous in his heart."

Wang Can was silent for a while, not because Shen Chen argued, but because Shen Chen came from Xuzhou and probably saw too many tragic scenes, so he had a biased view of Cao Cao, so he didn't want to talk about this issue. Debate with Shen Chen.

Seeing that the atmosphere on the field was a bit awkward, Xu Shu said, "Since it's a matter of opinion, we should look at it later. There's no need to make a conclusion so early."

"Don't you all think that Cao Cao's atrocities are not enough to explain everything?"

Shen Chen was very puzzled.

Wang Can said softly: "People may be cruel, but they can also change. Who knows what he looks like? Maybe Cao Cao had no choice but to slaughter Xuzhou at that time."

Xu Shu also said: "Yes, whether to coerce the emperor to order the princes, or to serve the emperor to beg for disobedience, we will look at it in the future, and we will not talk about this matter."

"OK then."

It was the first time for Shen Chen to be deflated, and it was the first time he had seen Wang Can be so stubborn after being with Wang Can for so long.

He turned his head to look at others, but found that everyone, including Pang Tong, had calm expressions on their faces, and no one seemed to be sure of Shen Chen's opinion.

At this moment, Shen Chen thought a lot in his mind.

It was difficult for him to understand why these people would choose to turn a blind eye to the naked massacre.

After thinking about it for a long time, I suddenly remembered the "Poem of Seven Sorrows" written by Wang Can. Those words and sentences describing the scene of troubled times are the answers.

Shen Chen finally understood the reason, felt a little sad for a while, and couldn't help but sighed softly deep in his heart.

So this is ah.

he thought.

This is the difference between ancient and modern values.

When Wang Can came to Jingzhou from Chang'an, he saw a woman throwing her baby in the grass. Those who heard such a tragic situation were sad and wept.

But what about Wang Can?

His choice was to turn his head and not look, and then leave in a carriage with peace of mind.

You must know that although Wang Can went to Jingzhou to avoid disaster, he was not an ordinary person. His grandfather and great-grandfather were both Sangongs, with a prominent family and a wealth of wealth.

Such a big man, if he shows some kindness casually, and gives some money and food to the low-level women, maybe he can save the baby.

But he didn't have the slightest intention to help the woman. When he arrived in Jingzhou, he immediately wrote a "Poem of Seven Sorrows", worrying about the country and the people.

It's like a war in a certain Middle Eastern country in later generations, a certain rich son took a private jet, went to that country for a tour, and saw countless tragic scenes.

However, this son-in-law did not choose to contribute money and efforts to help those miserable people. Instead, he took a lot of photos and posted them on Moments later, saying: "Look, the children in this country are so pitiful."

It sounds ironic.

But to the people at that time, it was nothing.

Because they are upper class.

They just feel that such a war is very bitter.

As for the people at the bottom of the water are hot, in a word, it's none of my business.

The same is true for Cao Cao's massacre of the city.

Later generations were born in a peaceful era, and they had been exposed to it, and were very indignant at the atrocities of the Japanese pirates. Therefore, looking at the present and observing the past, they think that Cao Cao's massacre of the city was wrong and there is nothing to wash away.

But for the people at the time, they thought it was nothing.

Even if it was massacred, they would not have too many negative views on Cao Cao, at most they felt that this man killed too much.

Even a humble gentleman like Xun Yu just tactfully told Cao Cao not to conquer Xuzhou, and did not make too many comments on Cao Cao's massacre of the people.

In the final analysis, in the eyes of scholars in the Han Dynasty, the people at the bottom were not even as good as grass.

Before the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were countless powerful officials.

But what about after the Tang and Song Dynasties?How many powerful ministers have there been?
It is because before the Tang and Song Dynasties, the government was controlled by aristocratic families.

Without the imperial examination system, the people at the bottom would never have a bright future.

Including the Han, Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was a struggle between the emperor and the aristocratic families. Only those top aristocratic families were eligible to confront the emperor.

Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, can be regarded as the founding emperor. He once asked the officials what kind of emperor he was with full of expectations, and was immediately stunned by the officials, saying that he was not as good as Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. He was an incompetent and stupid emperor .

As a result, Sima Yan didn't dare to fart.

What if this matter were changed to the Qing Dynasty?It was dragged out by the Qing emperor and chopped down.

So what these so-called famous families are lamenting is not the troubled times, nor the pity for the people at the bottom.

But because of the troubled times, the power of their aristocratic and wealthy families is no longer there.

What Wang Can misses is the prosperity of the family when his grandfather and great-grandfather were Sangong.

He desperately hopes that the imperial court can put down the rebellion, and then return to the imperial court to take up an official position and regain the family's prestige through the shadow of his ancestors.

As for the suffering of the people at the bottom, that's the same sentence.

None of his business?

(End of this chapter)