Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, there has been a custom of marrying brothers with different surnames and having children with different surnames.
This was the case with Liu Guan and Zhang, and the same was true with Yuan Xi's sworn brother Sun Li. After becoming sworn brothers, both parties swore to live and die together and could not break their promises.
It is common to become brothers, but it is not common to adopt an adopted son, because this is a custom spread from the merging of Liang Qiang and Hu. It was not a custom of the Han people at the beginning. With the fusion of Han and Hu, it gradually spread to the Central Plains and began to flourish in the Tang Dynasty.
The most typical example is of course Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu. They were both called father and son. They did not need to change their surnames and had no inheritance rights.
However, this was not acceptable to most of the Confucian gentry in the Han Dynasty.
So when Guo Jia heard Yuan Xi's proposal, his first reaction was that he heard it wrong.
When the cold wind blew, he was mostly awake. What on earth did the Yuan family want to do?
Yuan Xi smiled slightly, he was forced out by Guo Jia because he had no time.
He sighed, "Brother Fengxiao, you also know that what you said when you left is no longer a secret among my father's family."
"Regardless of whether my father cares about it or not, it's hard to say for what purpose other people have or whether they are targeting brother Fengxiao."
"So I will go to Beixin City in a while to take my husband with me."
Guo Jia saw that Yuan Xi had told the truth twice and knew that there was no room for change. He said angrily: "I won't give you any advice anyway."
Yuan Xi hummed and said: "Anyway, if you can't come up with any ideas, you have to follow me."
Dong glanced secretly at Guo Jia and then at Yuan Xi.
Guo Jia didn't expect Yuan Xi to be so persistent, so he said helplessly: "Just leave. If you want an heir, you can have an heir yourself. What are you trying to do with my child?"
Yuan Xi smiled slightly: "Brother Fengxiao, have you ever heard about me?"
Guo Jia was slightly startled: "Although Jia lives in seclusion, he still knows some gossip. The young master fought in Xuzhou and attacked Qingzhou. The reputation of the fierce tiger is very loud."
Yuan Xi added: "Does the young master know how I ended up here in Beixin City for three years?"
Guo Jia shook his head.
Yuan Xi said: "Hearing is false, seeing is believing, so I want you to see it with your own eyes."
"But Beixin City is far more dangerous than Ye City. We are surrounded by enemies on three sides. You and I may not be able to come back."
"If that's the case, I will have no chance of succeeding. I blame my brother for not coming up with ideas and killing both of us."
"Because I have no heirs, Brother Fengxiao's child is my adopted son. The Yuan family will naturally adopt him to me and continue my legacy."
"When the time comes, the last one will be Brother Fengxiao."
Guo Jia's face froze. Are you so threatening?
This plan is very poisonous!
Ms. Dong lowered her head, listening to this answer that was like child's play. When she saw Guo Yi also wanted to raise his head, she quickly pushed his head down.
Yuan Xi waved his hand: "I won't delay your family reunion these days. After all, I don't know when I will come back. Of course, I may not come back."
After Yuan Xi left, Guo Jia, Dong family and Guo Yi stood in the snow in a daze. The cold wind blew and Guo Jia sneezed.
Mrs. Dong hurriedly said: "Husband, it's better to go back to your room first."
Guo Jia said depressedly, "What the hell is going on!"
He said to Guo Yi: "You can stay in my cabin first."
After hearing this, Guo Yi wiped his nose and obediently went into Guo Jia's small dark room.
Dong didn't understand why and said, "The house Yi'er and I live in is big enough for the three of us."
Guo Jia hugged Mr. Dong and walked back, "You will have plenty of time to spend with him from now on!"
"I don't know how many days I can live. My son is about to be robbed. What do you think I should do?"
Before Mrs. Dong could react, she said, "What do you think my husband should do?"
Guo Jia hated the fact that iron cannot be made into steel and said: "As a woman, your brain just works too slowly!"
"Of course I'll take advantage of these few days to have another one!"
When Yuan Xi returned to the house, he saw Cao Xian waiting at the door, while Wu Zhao was hurriedly packing things in the corner.
Yuan Xi went over to take a look and saw a tablet in the corner with Cai Yong's name written on it, a burner of incense and a bowl of meat, and he understood that Wu Zhao was worshiping his ancestors.
He stopped Wu Zhao and said, "I will leave it for a day to worship ancestors. What are you going to do now by putting it away?"
Wu Zhao said softly: "I thought the young master wouldn't come back until a long time later, so it wouldn't be good to have this in the house."
Yuan Xi went over and took three sticks of incense, lit them and inserted them into the incense burner. After worshiping for a while, he said, "What's so taboo about this?"
Wu Zhao was moved and speechless for a moment.
Yuan Xi looked at Cao Xian, and Cao Xian quickly said: "I won't say anything."
She learned about Wu Zhao's true identity from her mother, Huan, and also understood that his identity was shady. Moreover, Wu Zhao was highly valued by Yuan Xi, which was tantamount to Yuan Xi's opposition. How could she dare to say anything?
Yuan Xi shook his head: "That's not what I asked. Are you going to worship your ancestors?"
Cao Xian's face darkened: "My surname is Cao now."
Yuan Xi and Wu Zhao looked at each other and thought that Cao Xian's experience was indeed tragic. His father was killed, his mother was robbed, and his last name was changed to that of his enemy.
Yuan Xi said: "Just be patient for now, there will always be a solution in the future."
Cao Xian felt sad and happy at the same time, bowed his head and said: "It's enough to say that you have a master. I will always remember the kindness of the master."
The seven-day Chinese New Year holiday passed quickly. Yuan Xi traveled back and forth to many places in the past few months, almost without stopping for a moment. This was the first time he took such a long break.
Now that he was suddenly free, he felt like he had nothing to do. He stared at the falling snowflakes outside the window in confusion. This kind of weather was not suitable for training soldiers or gathering food and grass. He could only postpone it depending on the situation.
Cao Xian came over with a large pile of bamboo slips, staggered to the table, and placed the bamboo slips one by one on it.
She said aloud: "This is a collection of essays copied and compiled by Sister Wu Zhao and Sister Concubine. Sir, please see if it fits."
Yuan Xi opened a scroll and saw that the bamboo slips had very thin strips with densely written writings on them. He said, "Don't be too tired. Take your time in everything."
Cao Xian knelt behind Yuan Xi and helped squeeze his shoulders, "Sister Wu Zhao and Cao Jie really didn't get much rest at night these past few days, so after they finished writing, they slept in the study and asked me to bring it over to show the young master first.
"
Yuan Xi said: "You have all worked hard, you should go and rest."
Cao Xian's face turned red: "I have been accompanying the young master these past few nights. He has had a good rest."
Yuan Xi looked at the bamboo slips and felt Cao Xian pressing against his back, a little impatient to move.
Cao Xian is the eldest of the three sisters, several years older than Cao Jie, and her body is already well developed like other sinful noble women.
Although he has not taken the final step with Cao Xian yet, apart from that, the two of them have basically done almost everything they should and should not do.
And Yuan Xi had to admit that although Cao Jie was more famous in later generations, at present, Cao Xian's appearance is more outstanding.
Moreover, regardless of anything else, Cao Xian has a very outstanding talent.
The movements are very dexterous.
Yuan Xi lamented that he was not a good person, he just hoped that he could do his best in human affairs.
Although everyone's miserable life in the world is different, and there are many people who are more miserable than Huan's mother and daughter, this does not mean that what Huan's mother and daughter experienced is natural.
Compared with Zhao Yuntai Shi Ci, Guo Jia Gao Lan and these people, although they also have low points in life, as men, as long as they have outstanding abilities, they can always find some opportunities to change their destiny.
But for women, the opportunities are much less.
Cai Zhaoji, Zhen Mi, Yuan Xing, Zhen Rong, Huan's mother and daughter, Mrs. Du, and even Hong and Lu Lingqi all have the helplessness of women. Their efforts to change their destiny are extremely insignificant in the face of the torrent of the times.
Small and powerless.
This is true for women of the noble family, let alone ordinary people. Thinking of the thousands of years of efforts of later generations to slightly change this situation, Yuan Xi deeply feels that what he has to do now has a long way to go.
The first thing on the bamboo slips is the Han Code.
To govern a place, a strict and sound legal system is the most basic guarantee.
The second is the official selection system.
The Han Dynasty's Chaoju system existed in name only at this time, but the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng system in later generations was even more outrageous.
The key point is that the official selection system has always been in the hands of a few people and basically operates on favors and self-interest. From selecting scholars to promoting filial piety, honesty and talents, nothing can escape this framework.
For thousands of years, the selection system has undergone countless subtle improvements with the changes of the times. Yuan Xi does not think that he can advance it to a thousand years in one leap. His current ability is not enough for him to establish a complete imperial examination selection system.
.
Wanting to make positive improvements was extremely difficult for him who was not familiar with the operation of ancient officialdom.
He thought hard, the key to selecting officials, is it the people or the system?
Damn it, it would be great if Guo Jia had figured it out earlier and made suggestions for himself.
When Yuan Xi was on a mission to Xuzhou, he also met Chen Qun who proposed the nine-level Zhongzheng system. If he could come up with the idea himself, Chen Qun might not be able to come up with a better system.
The way to be an official is to balance. How to balance the relationship between noble families, good families, and common people, and come up with a distribution method that all three can benefit from and accept. This is absolutely impossible for Yuan Xi to accomplish alone.
The progress of any system cannot be separated from the social reality at that time. To improve it, a large group of people need to pool their wisdom and efforts, but Yuan Xi's people in this field are simply blank.
Only by occupying your own territory can you recruit more talents, and things are back to where they started.
The more he thought about it, the more confused his mind became. He couldn't help but shake his head. Cao Xian's slender hand stretched out from behind and massaged his temples.
Yuan Xi suddenly felt a lot more relaxed and asked casually: "How can we recruit more nobles to serve?"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he actually burst into laughter. Cao Xian was just a girl, what could she do?
Cao Xian was startled, the young master is asking me?
She subconsciously said: "I am not very talented and knowledgeable. I really don't know these complicated things."
Yuan Xi sighed, he was indeed too impatient.
He just wanted to comfort Cao Xian, but he heard her say: "I only think of one way."
"My original biological father was also a famous contemporary. He had a wide network of friends and had friendships with many scholars."
"If the young master spreads the news about rescuing our mother and daughter, his reputation will rise. There will be many people in the world who are dissatisfied with the Cao family. Maybe they can come and make friends with the young master?"
Yuan Xi thought to himself how he had forgotten this incident. Just as Wu Zhao's identity could be exploited when the time came in the future, raising the banner of righteousness was the fastest and most effective way.
His body suddenly shook. What troubled him before was Cao Cao's problem of controlling the Yellow Turban Army. At this time, Cao Xian's words made him think of a possibility to deal with it.