Seeing Cai Zhaoji biting her lip, Cao Ren thought she was too excited.
After all, who wouldn't be excited about something like this?
You know, if you follow the regular steps in the Han Dynasty, if a young man wants to stand out and become an official, he must first go through the steps of studying, seeking evaluation, being filial and honest, etc.
In addition, family status and relationships are even more essential...
For example, "study" means becoming a disciple of a famous person and being recommended by him.
In the past, both Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei went to "Fengshi Mountain" to worship Lu Zhi as their teacher. Lu Zhi recommended Gongsun Zan to the court, who had a low-ranking family but had a father-in-law who was a prefect. As for Liu Bei, he had no background or connections, so he could only be his disciple.
Where can I stay cool?
Let's talk about "asking for evaluation". The most convincing one in the world is naturally the Yuedan evaluation. No matter who it is, once it is evaluated, its worth is a hundred times higher. It has been spread in the world. This is the saying "what is praised is like the rise of a dragon, and what is demoted is like falling into the abyss". This is the truth.
Those talented people with "high moral character" are naturally more likely to be promoted to officials through the inspection system.
However, now that we are in troubled times and the imperial court is still in danger, how can we find the time to promote talents?
For this reason, I got close to Cao Cao, became his disciple, and gradually participated in the affairs of Yanzhou, and finally took charge of my own affairs and was awarded an official position. This is what many people dream of!
Will Cai Zhaoji and Lu Yu refuse?
Obviously not!
The temptation of "reaching the sky in one step" is not small!
"Miss Cai Yan, Master Lu Yu, if there is no problem, let's set off immediately and rush to the Chenliu County Yamen Office!"
When Cao Ren said this, he suddenly thought of something. "By the way, Miaocai... do we have a larger carriage here?"
"Miss Cai Yan and Master Lu Yu probably don't know how to ride horses..."
"This..." Xia Houyuan frowned. "My eldest brother went to fight against the Yellow Turbans. In order to 'escort the military rations,' all the carriages were mobilized. Where can we find carriages in the Qiao Pei Military Camp?"
Cao Cao during the Yanzhou period was actually poor and did not have so much food and grass. However, in order to confuse the Yellow Turban thieves and boost morale, he deliberately recruited carriages and pretended that there was enough food and grass... to increase his momentum.
For this reason, there really are no carriages in the Qiao Pei military camp.
this…
Cao Ren frowned, he wouldn't let this guy Lu Yu and Miss Cai Yan go to Chenliu County on foot or on horseback, right?
It was a bumpy ride, but Lu Yu didn't care. Can Ms. Cai Yan bear it?
"I remember Master Wei Hong's farm is nearby. Miaocai, could you send someone to borrow a carriage from him?"
Wei Hong is the richest man in Chenliu. In the past, when Cao Cao and Chenliu raised his army, he received great support and help from him. Therefore, now that Cao Cao has taken control of Yanzhou, he has also become the largest merchant in Yanzhou as he wished. He can be said to be a leader in official circles and commercial circles.
Double harvest, extremely high status.
"I'll send someone right away." Xia Houyuan nodded and immediately ordered the deputy general to go to Weihong Farm.
certainly…
Neither Cao Ren nor Xia Houyuan knew that Wei Hong had met "Yinlin" before.
As a descendant of Liehou Wei Qing and a well-known big businessman in Chenliu County, Wei Hong planned to go to Luoyang to buy a house and settle down in Kyoto two years ago, but he happened to meet the "Yinlin" siblings who were traveling south to find relatives.
He gave the siblings a lot of money, and Yinlin's response to him was sixteen words - "Luoyang will be in chaos, merchants will suffer, they will be penniless, life and death will be uncertain!"
At that time, Wei Hong was doubtful, and out of caution as a businessman, he decided to wait.
But not long after that, Dong Zhuo confiscated the properties of wealthy merchants in Luoyang, and burned the imperial capital with fire. There were mourners everywhere, corpses were everywhere, and the ancient capital was in ruins.
Every time he thought about this place, Wei Hong felt frightened.
If so, when he settled in Luoyang at that time, even if he had a fortune, wouldn't it be... that he would fall into the hands of thieves and his life or death would be unpredictable! Doesn't this confirm Yinlin's prediction?
It is no exaggeration to say that Yinlin's sixteen words were a life-saving grace for Wei Hong!
After that... Wei Hong searched for the whereabouts of "Yinlin" again and tried to repay his kindness, but...where is the news about Yinlin?
Later, he heard that Cao Cao was led by Yinlin to seize Yanzhou, so Wei Hong did not hesitate to provide generous financial support, which could be regarded as fulfilling his "favor" to Yinlin.
Unexpectedly, because this move made him jump into the circle of scholars in Yanzhou, and his reputation doubled.
…
Not far from Qiao Pei Military Camp, there is Wei Mansion Farm.
"Borrow a carriage?" Wei Hong raised his eyebrows with a wisp of beard. "Who is so wealthy? He actually wants General Cao and General Xiahou to prepare carriages to greet him?"
"It's Ms. Cai Yan and her younger brother." The lieutenant general reported truthfully. "This younger brother is amazing. He is familiar with "Sun Tzu's Art of War" at the age of fifteen and has a thorough understanding of it. He heard how many books Cai Yong's family collected, and he read as many as he could.
Write down how many! He is the strategic talent that Mr. Cao is looking for so hard!"
"What?" Wei Hong looked surprised, why did he not believe it?
Since he entered the circle of scholars, in order to be elegant, he has always read some military books. Naturally, he has also read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, not to mention understanding...
If no one explains it, you won’t be able to read it fluently, let alone comprehend it!
How could a fifteen-year-old young man with no battlefield experience or formation of troops understand this difficult and obscure art of war?
It sounds a bit ridiculous no matter what!
"General Cao Ren and General Xia Houyuan probably know only a little about "Sun Tzu's Art of War". How can we judge that this young man is familiar with it?" Wei Hong waved his hand. "There are quite a few people pretending to be 'Yinlin' to defraud money, but you can pretend to be familiar with it."
"Sun Tzu's Art of War", if you want to be among the top leaders of Yanzhou, this is the first one."
At this point, "Come on..." Wei Hong called to his servants. "Prepare the carriage. Let me test whether it is true or not!"
Speaking of this, Wei Hong suddenly thought of something. "By the way, Xun Wenruo and Xun Gongda who came to visit today are also brought with them. Listening to their conversation, it seems that they are familiar with the art of war... Before recommending them to Cao Gong, and
Please help them test the true qualities of this fifteen-year-old boy."
In short, a servant prepared a carriage and went to invite Xun Yu and Xun You.
Speaking of which, Xun Yu and Xun You, the uncles and nephews, came here because of Cao Cao's "order to seek talents." Today, they specially came to visit the richest man in Chenliu County, the famous scholar Wei Hong, to find out the truth. Who would have thought that they would be dragged away?
Verify the authenticity of what a fifteen-year-old boy learned!
Xun Yu and Xun You were sitting in a carriage. They were talking to each other along the way.
"Uncle..." The elder Xun You called Xun Yu, who was a few years younger than him, uncle. "Do you think a fifteen-year-old boy can really understand the essence of "Sun Tzu's Art of War"? And... Cai Mansion has three thousand volumes of books.
Can he really keep these books in mind?"
"Gongda, let's not talk about that young man." Xun Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. "Let me ask you, do you know Cao Cao? Do you know when he completed his annotations on "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu? When did he write about this art of war?
A deeper understanding?"
Hiss...this...
Although I don't know what connection Cao Cao has with this fifteen-year-old boy.
But, Xun You wants to know?
Today, the first person to annotate "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, what did he go through!
That is to say, how did Cao Cao, whom they were about to join, become?