"Thinking of the emperor Tang and Yu, and saving the people from their misery." [Letter to my younger brother]
Chen Ji didn't say a word for a long time. Only now did he really agree with Chen Qun's decision: "This matter should be reported to the country as soon as possible."
"What Aweng said is true," Chen Qun said, "The former general is in Henan, adjacent to Chenliu, and is always paying attention to any movement there. The matter of high officials sneaking back home and coming into contact with Zhu Ling and others has long been known.
The former general inquired and found out, and now it should be reported to His Majesty."
Chen Ji turned aside and looked at Chen Qun thoughtfully: "So, Cao Cao wants to set an example to the court? No," he shook his head again, turned around again, and denied
Said: "In general, it is for the sake of strong power."
Cao Cao personally stood in the way between the two Yuans to prevent them from joining forces. Although it was the greatest show of goodwill to the court, it indirectly expressed loyalty and position. However, this position was not firm, and its performance was not as good as Chen Ji's.
Even in Chen Ji's view, it was full of selfish calculations. Cao Cao planned to plot Xuzhou mainly to allow himself to dominate the two states and strengthen himself. At that time, neither the Yuan family nor the court could underestimate him and sway
Between the two, you can get the greatest benefit by going left or right.
Calculated in this way, Cao Cao is undoubtedly an unstable factor. I wonder if Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai saw this clearly, or if they had already taken corresponding precautions.
"Is the Yuan family a tolerant person?" Chen Qun listened to Chen Ji's doubts and said with a confident smile: "If Yuan Shao really believed in General Cao without doubting it and used him in high positions, they would have been Yanzhou shepherds, so what?
Will it be like today under Tian Fen's control?"
Chen Ji suddenly remembered that although Tian Fen, the governor of Yanzhou, was appointed by the imperial court, he belonged to Yuan Shao's camp. If the emperor wanted to win over Cao Cao, he should have dismissed Tian Fen and appointed him to take over. The reason for the delay was probably because the emperor knew it well.
Cao Cao was a human being, so during the process of discussing cooperation, he was unwilling to take the initiative and award "names" prematurely.
Between the imperial court and Cao Cao, there must be one person who sets an example first, and the person who takes action first will definitely fall into passivity and become the one who wants others, and will be at a disadvantage when talking about interests. The Yuan brothers hate each other
It is impossible to be close and sympathizing with each other in one day. The imperial court has enough strength and opportunities to defeat them one by one. Although it will pay a huge price without any external help.
But in comparison, the person who should be worried the most is Cao Cao. He has no other choice. He can either follow the Yuan family and become a rebellious minister who is deeply feared by them, or he can become an able minister of the court. But the court cannot take the initiative to let go.
To win over Cao Cao with a low profile, the two lacked the necessary mutual trust and interests, just like the mutual trust between the Sun family and the imperial court last year, which was completely based on the painstaking mediation of Zhou Yu and others.
Therefore, Chen Qun followed Chen Ji to the court this time and shouldered such a mission.
As long as Cao Cao still loves the court, as long as Xun Yu and others can try to change his position, Chen Ji will no longer reject this person. After thinking about the whole story, he said: "Everything you said makes sense."
, you can make the decision on everything at home from now on."
Chen Qun couldn't help but feel moved, and he spoke a few words modestly.
"To the emperor Tang Yu, to serve as the pillar for the emperor." Chen Ji waved his hand, motioning his son to walk up the slope, and said: "Everyone who is a minister should be like this. However, the prince's teacher has made the same mistake before, and you can take it as a lesson.
It’s important to reflect on yourself all the time.”
Although he didn't know whether Chen Ji was reminding him to take Wang Yun's "headstrongness" as a warning or Wang Yun's "disobedience" as a warning, Chen Qun didn't take it to heart. Not to mention that his character has always been famous.
He was gentle and calm, even if it was Wang Yun's behavior, he would not learn it: "Thanks to Aweng's teachings, it is said that 'the one who has gained the Tao will have many help, and the one who has lost the Tao has few help'. The prince was arrogant in taking credit, and thus lost the Tao.
Gradually, I became a lonely and widowed person. Now the Xun family, the Zhong family, and the Guo family are all conspirators like me. There are many people helping me, and the story of the princes will no longer be the same."
According to Chen Ji and others, the reasons for Wang Yun's defeat were just a few, and neither Chen Qun's temperament nor their intelligence would make the same mistake.
He secretly relaxed his mind and planned to let the juniors do what he wanted from now on, while he would just look after him.
Chen Qun had already walked up the slope and stood beside Chen Ji. He looked into the distance and saw the scene that Chen Ji had been looking at just now; a vast expanse of farmland stretching along the river into the distance.
of the horizon.
These farmlands are divided into different owners, some of which are owned by local powerful men. They occupy the best fields on both sides of the Ba River, and use the most labor-saving and convenient water drainage, waterwheels and other equipment. They only need to send a few strong men to take turns to step on it.
, there will be an endless stream of river water nourishing the farmland.
The fields adjacent to these powerful people were the farmland belonging to local farmers. The land in the farmland had always been wide and flat. When formulating the farmland operation system, the emperor also referred to the concepts of later generations of farms and cooperatives, and did not engage in individual households.
Instead, they focused on large-scale collective operations. Therefore, although the fields in farming were rarely close to rivers, they organized farmers to dig many canals and divert water from Weihe River, Bashui, Dinghu and other places, so they did not worry about production.
In this hot and dry weather, the fields of the government and powerful officials began to show their extraordinary ability to withstand drought, and the seedlings in the fields were all lush and green. Chen Qun saw this and thought to himself, the fields established by the imperial court in various counties in Guanzhong
As long as the Jing, Wei and other rivers do not dry up, the court can minimize the negative impact of this drought.
"This year is a severe drought." Even standing in the shade of the tree, Chen Ji's throat felt dry. He frowned and continued to look at the fields.
Chen Qun's face was not as heavy as Chen Ji's, and he said softly: "Yes, I told Du Zixu when I met him in Luoyang that the imperial court had given Sili, Yong, and Liang as early as last winter.
Bingzhou and others issued an underground edict, requiring officials from various places to inspect river works, repair ponds, and invest in purchasing grain. They have been preparing for a rainy day for half a year, which shows the court's intentions! In my opinion, various places have been prepared for droughts for a long time. Even if this severe drought breaks out,
It won’t be too serious if you get up.”
"Drought is natural. You should not underestimate the power of God." Chen Ji has seen strong winds and waves. Although he has never seen the court's unanimous attention to drought this time, his past experience tells him that this is still far away.
Not enough. He stared to the west, stretched out his hand and said, "Look over there."
Chen Qun looked intently and saw that in contrast to the bright green seedlings here, the seedlings growing in the farmland a little further to the west looked listless due to the heat. Some farmers were struggling to carry water by the river.
, trying to irrigate the water in the canals into the fields that showed signs of drying up. Some of them were short of labor, so they had to mobilize the whole family, old, weak, women and children, to transport buckets of water shoulder to shoulder.
"When there is a drought, those powerful families can rely on their manpower and savings to survive the difficulties, but how can these small farmers do it? When their livelihoods are cut off, they will either sell their children, pawn their fields and houses, or they and their entire family
Those who don’t want to be slaves will team up with others, make noise and cause chaos together, and become refugees who are regarded as the ‘big enemy’ by the government.” Chen Ji said worriedly: “If the drought is more severe this time,
Although the imperial court has abundant grain reserves and adequate preparations, a slight negligence on the part of the temple officials can cause instability in the situation!"
Chen Qun listened silently, and his face became heavy. Now the imperial court is still conquering Shu. If the battle to conquer Shu remains unresolved for a long time, and there is a drought, how can the imperial court cope with the food and grass gaps in the two places? Will the princes of the imperial court still be able to cope with the shortage of food and grass in both places?