The Prime Minister's Mansion was full of people, and there was an endless stream of people who came to report on official matters, and asked for instructions. Everyone spoke as little as possible, and waited quietly aside, reviewing what they wanted to report, and waited until the Prime Minister came in.
, go to class immediately, and complete your tasks as quickly as possible in the most concise language.
Everyone knows that the Prime Minister is desperate now and doesn't know when he will suddenly collapse.
In fact, it is already a miracle that he can survive to this day. For two consecutive years, the imperial physician in the palace has made an assertion to him, asking him to pay attention to the spring. This sentence sounds very relaxed, but it is actually very serious and does not mean anything.
It's so simple to ask him to pay attention, but it actually means preparing for the funeral.
But Zhuge Liang survived two springs. Although he was bedridden during the two springs, when the spring passed, he miraculously stood up again. This made many people feel that God was in the dark.
There are gods taking care of the prime minister, otherwise there is no way to explain such a thing. To a certain extent, Zhuge Liang's illness and survival played an important role in re-stabilizing the Shu Han court.
Among the three forces in the Shu Han Dynasty, Wei Ba's power is in the army, mainly distributed in Jingjiao and Chengdu. In Chengdu, he has informants, but he has no power. Xiang Lang and others evacuated Chengdu, leaving Wei Ba in
The voices in the court became weaker. Li Yan's power was in Guanzhong. It took him two years, and with the help of Wei Ba, he finally took initial control of Guanzhong. After Wang Ping was killed and Huo Yi was transferred from Xin'an, Guanzhong
None of the generals dared to confront Li Yanming.
Zhuge Liang's power lies in the court. He has the transcendent status of a father-in-law and has unparalleled influence on the emperor. He also has unusual methods in political struggles and the game of people's hearts. Li Yan has been operating in Chengdu for so many years.
It also failed to really shake his foundation. As soon as he returned to Chengdu, he regained control of the situation.
For many people, Wei Ba is a god general on the battlefield, while Zhuge Liang is a god in the court, capable of doing anything and doing nothing against him. As long as he lives, no one can defeat him.
Even Wei Ba couldn't. Even though he used countless methods, he still couldn't escape the scope defined by the prime minister. The only difference between him and Li Yan and others was that he was stronger and more difficult to eliminate.
Zhuge Liang was not in the lobby. Yang Yi and Gu Tan were sitting in the lobby. Behind them, in the inner room, Zhuge Liang was kneeling in official uniform.
Zhuge Liang sat facing east with his eyes closed, like an old monk standing still. His beard and hair were much whiter and thinner, and his face was as gray and tired as a gaunt wood. There was a hollow bronze incense burner with a branch pattern on the table in front of him.
A wisp of green smoke curls up, and a light fragrance fills the nose in the room.
There were two boys sitting next to the case: one was Zhuge Zhan, who was ten years old, and Zhuge Pan, who was eleven years old. They both wore their hair in adult buns and wrapped their hair with scarves, making them look like they had been crowned.
Like etiquette.
The three of them were silent. Zhuge Zhan and Zhuge Pan sat across from each other, each of them flipping through an official document and reading it carefully. Zhuge Liang closed his eyes and breathed slowly, as if he hadn't heard anything.
"Prime Minister!" There were footsteps at the door, and Gu Tan walked in quickly: "Memories from Hanzhong."
"Wei Ba or Li Ping?"
"Li Ping." Gu Tan said: "He asked the Prime Minister's Office to deal with the military resources and money for the army's expedition, and specifically mentioned the horse armor."
"Okay, but first, check Guanzhong's accounts to see if there is any corruption."
"Here." Gu Tan responded, turned around and went out. In fact, he didn't even need to come in to report, he could still know Zhuge Liang's answer. Li Yan's reaction was what they expected, and Zhuge Liang wanted to use this reason to investigate Guan Zhong.
accounts.
If a general sits on one side and says that there is no corruption at all, no one will believe it. This is an unspoken rule that everyone knows, otherwise the rights have no meaning. You can truly live without money.
There are probably only one and a half people who pocket money: one is Zhuge Liang, who sat in Guanzhong for several years and did not pocket any money, but owed Wei Ba a large sum of money; the other half is Wei Ba, who himself did not reach out to take the money, but
The Wei family relied on his rights to run the industry and didn't know how much money they made from it, so it can only be counted as half.
After Gu Tan went out, Zhuge Liang asked softly: "Do you know why I can investigate Li Yan's corruption?"
Zhuge Zhan and Zhuge Pan looked at each other, and Zhuge Zhan said crisply: "Because my father is upright, he can be upright."
"What do you think?" Zhuge Liang turned to look at Zhuge Pan: "What do you think of this matter?"
Zhuge Pan was a little nervous, and after a while he said: "The one who calculates more wins."
Zhuge Liang sighed secretly and patiently explained: "What you said is all right, but the emphasis is different. Zhan'er said that keeping one's body upright, so one can upright others, is Tao. Tao is the foundation, and Tao is born when the foundation is established.
As my son said, he who calculates more will win. It is skill. Skill is the weakest, and skill is the weakest. However, if the body is not upright, how can one correct people? The name is not right, and the speech is not smooth. Even if you have power, it will be difficult to convince the public, and you can only rely on it.
Force is weak. Only by walking in a straight line and speaking the truth can we use weakness to control strength. Do you understand?"
"Father, I understand."
"Father, I understand too."
"Well, you are still young. It is indeed a little difficult for you to talk about this now. But a scholar cannot be lofty and perseverant. The responsibilities are heavy and the road is long. Being benevolent is to take one's own responsibilities, which is heavy, and to sacrifice oneself is to be far away. The country is difficult, and every day
A man with a moral heart should disregard personal gains and losses in order to save the building from collapse. If he is preoccupied with personal gains and losses and is afraid of difficulties and dangers, how can he be morally responsible?"
The two little men bowed down to receive the instruction in a serious manner.
…
The eight-hundred-mile-long Dongting, leading to distant mountains and swallowing up the Yangtze River, is vast and majestic, stretching across boundless cliffs.
Two giant ships are cutting through the wind and waves, fighting bravely for the lead. Battle flags are flying on the ship, drums are beating like thunder, waves are rolling behind the ship, and water droplets are splashing.
"Quick, quick, quick!" Pan Zhu jumped up and down on the deck, roared loudly, and spit flying everywhere. There was no shadow of a scholar anywhere, and he looked like a soldier. He stamped his feet and yelled: "You idiots,
I told you that these two days of competition have been going on for a long time, but you just refused to recharge your batteries and were dazzled by the waists of those barbaric women. Are you feeling better now? Are your legs weak and your back sore? Let me tell you, today
If you lose to Chen Biao, I will put you in confinement for a month."
The soldiers looked ugly. They could feel that Pan Zhu was really anxious. If they lost to Chen Biao, it was entirely possible that they would be imprisoned for a month.
On the giant ship a hundred steps away, Chen Biao sat in his flying hut and kept issuing orders. He was not as excited as Pan Zhu, but he also did not dare to take it lightly. He abandoned his high position as the governor of Nanhai and was willing to go to
If a partial general under Wei Ba offends Sun Quan, it will be impossible for him to return to Wu to serve in the country, and he will have to go all the way.
Now, Wei Ba asked him to compete with Pan Zhu in the basic skills of water warfare. Whoever wins will get the opportunity to command a giant ship. The loser can only serve as deputy and can only command ordinary ships in wartime.
They are of the same age, and neither of them has the opportunity to fight on the front lines. If they want to wait until old age and retire, they will have to wait until the end of the year. Fighting for the first place at this time is equivalent to fighting for the first place for the rest of their lives. How can we take it lightly?
For Chen Biao, there is another point that prevents him from giving in. Zhou Yin and Ding Feng, both from Lujiang, have become important generals under Wei Ba because of their different experiences. Zhou Yin, in particular, is the one who Wei Ba tried his best to follow.
Wu Guo snatched it. He didn't pay much attention to Zhou Yin back then. Now he has come full circle and is competing on the same stage again. How can he lose to Zhou Yin?
Pan Zhu and Chen Biao tried their best to maximize their training results during this period. The two giant ships advanced through the waves, refusing to give in to each other.
On a building boat in the center of the lake, Wei Ba stood with his hands behind his hands. His eight-year-old son Wei Zheng stood on a chair, building a pergola with his hands and looking into the distance.
"Who's fighting now?"
"General Chen seems to have caught up, and General Pan is a little weak." Wei Zheng replied crisply: "He was too aggressive at first, not as stable as General Chen. I think he can be a fighting general, but not a general.
"
"It's too early to make a conclusion now." Wei Ba said with a smile: "Remember, don't jump to conclusions easily. It's difficult to fully evaluate a person based on temporary gains and losses. We are horse racing, not horsemen, do you understand?"
"I understand." Wei Zheng said with a smile: "In horse racing, it is more objective to look at the results. Horse racing is based on experience, which is too subjective."
"You're right, kid, I'm proud of you." Wei Ba patted Wei Zheng on the head and laughed.
"General, as a general, shouldn't you have the ability to recognize people?" Yang Hu asked puzzledly: "If you only rely on the results to speak, will there be any mistakes?"
"You are right. If you simply base your judgment on the results of the game, you will inevitably miss something." Wei Ba nodded slightly, put away his smile, and explained seriously: "However, governing a country is not about playing chess, and you cannot rely on it.
One or two geniuses alone are not as good as ten average talents. Human energy is always limited, who can master everything? Even if there is such a person, he is only one in a million. Isn't it possible that there is no time like him?
, we just let politics run its course? Ordinary people are the foundation to ensure stable development. As long as there is such an environment, geniuses will naturally stand out and become transcendent and outstanding."
He paused and then said: "Xiangma, it is inevitable that the teacher's heart will be used for his own purposes. He may be dedicated to serving the public good, or he may be using Xiangma as an excuse to promote him and get close to him. Aren't those thousand-mile horses who have no chance of being one and the same have become lost treasures?
Comparing the two, it is more fair to establish a horse racing mechanism, what do you think?"
Yang Hu nodded: "What the general said is true."
Lu Kang also said: "As the general said, there is no perfect strategy in the world, and the most important thing in politics is balance. A relatively fair horse racing system is much better than a horse racing system based on the teacher's own use. Even if one or two thousand-mile horses are missed, it will still be better.
It won’t make people feel unfair. Just like Wei’s nine-level Zhongzheng system, the intentions may be good at first, but over time, it will inevitably deteriorate like the original promotion of filial piety and integrity, and become a tool for the powerful to monopolize talent.”
"You are absolutely right." Wei Zheng turned his head and said seriously: "Only those who rely on themselves to fight are true heroes. Those who rely on inheriting the ancestral industry are nothing more than parasites. They have nothing to brag about. They only know how to fight.