EBE Chapter 279 Capturing Sima Yi to be a beast of burden! Visiting the Sima family with Xun Yu in tow?
Chapter 279 Capturing Sima Yi to be a beast of burden! Visiting the Sima family with Xun Yu in tow?
The Sima family was undoubtedly the local tyrant in Wen County.
But even the most powerful local tyrant is now part of Cao Cao's territory in Wen County.
Those who dare to disrespect Su Yu will face severe consequences!
Sima Fang, being such a cunning old fox, would naturally not allow the Sima family to take that risk.
Soon, Sima Fang, along with Sima Lang and Sima Yi, went to the entrance to greet Su Yu.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Sima residence.
Su Yu stepped down from the carriage, accompanied by Xu Chu and Xun Yu.
Anyone with inside information about the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat should have grabbed their bucket and run the moment they saw Xun Yu appear!
Unfortunately, although Sima Fang was observant and had keen hearing, he was not as capable as Sima Fang.
However, none of his family members had ever actually worked in the Minister's office, so they didn't know the depths of the Minister's office.
He quickly invited Su Yu and the other two into his residence.
Xun Yu cupped his hands towards Sima Fang and said:
"I apologize for the sudden intrusion today, Master Sima."
Sima Fang smiled apologetically:
"Lord Xun is joking."
"The reason why my Sima family can live and work in peace in Wen County is inseparable from the protection of Minister Cao."
"It is an honor for the Sima family to have Commandant Su and Lord Xun, as important ministers under Minister Cao, as guests of the Sima family."
Upon hearing this, Xun Yu blushed.
Just imagine how busy Xun Yu was on a daily basis!
Xun Yu, who is so busy, actually had the time to accompany Su Yu to the Sima family as a guest.
Something's definitely fishy going on!
Su Yu smiled and said:
"You're too kind, Master Sima."
"I have long heard that you, Master Sima, are skilled in raising children. Today, I have come here specifically to learn from your experience. I hope you will not trouble me, Master Sima!"
Sima Fang, unaware of Su Yu's true meaning, quickly replied:
"Commander Su is a master strategist who can win battles from afar, just like Marquis Liu reborn."
"It is a blessing for the young men and children of my Sima family to have the opportunity to listen to the teachings of Commandant Su."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Yu's eyes lit up:
"Lord Sima, is that truly what you think?"
This made Sima Fang lose confidence.
He felt that Su Yu's gaze... seemed... a little dangerous!
The group entered the main hall and took their seats.
An awkward atmosphere ensued.
Sima Fang's intuition told him that Su Yu and Xun Yu's purpose was definitely not simple!
As for Su Yu and Xun Yu, Xun Yu was too embarrassed to speak up first.
Su Yu, on the other hand, was scrutinizing the expression on Sima Yi's face.
His nonchalant demeanor does have a bit of Guo Jia's air about him.
If you were to say that this guy was the old fox who led the Sima family to its peak, probably no one in this world would believe it.
Sensing Su Yu's gaze, Sima Yi cupped his hands and said:
"What advice does Your Excellency have for me?"
Su Yu smiled and said:
"I don't deserve your advice."
"I just feel that Young Master Yi is a man of great talent, living a life of quiet seclusion in the city!"
Before Sima Yi could reply, Sima Fang quickly waved his hand and said:
"Commander Su is joking."
“My son Sima Yi is nothing more than a country bumpkin.”
"This scoundrel is always elusive and ignorant of etiquette and manners. He's already eighteen and still not married. It really worries me a lot."
Sima Fang's intention was to get Su Yu to focus more on his eldest son, Sima Lang.
after all.
Just a quarter of an hour ago, the father and his two sons had discussed and decided to send Sima Lang to Cao Cao's camp to serve as an official.
Just then, Su Yu and Xun Yu arrived.
If he could get the recommendation of Su Yu and Xun Yu, and with the favor of recommending Cao Cao for an official position in the past, Sima Lang would definitely be considered to have latched onto the biggest power in Cao Cao's camp!
You can't slow down the speed of your promotion!
Unfortunately, Su Yu didn't even glance at Sima Lang; he just kept staring at Sima Yi.
"Lord Sima, why not let Young Master Yi serve as an official?"
Su Yu seemed not to understand Sima Fang's hints and continued to ask him for information about Sima Yi.
Sima Fang had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer:
“My son is too unruly. It’s one thing for him to cause trouble for the family members within the manor, but how can I allow him to go outside and cause trouble for others?”
"is it?"
"But in my opinion, Young Master Yi is exceptionally talented and has the potential to soar to great heights."
Su Yu's high praise for Sima Yi caused Sima Fang to break out in a cold sweat.
But deep down, Sima Yi himself was somewhat proud.
No matter how cunning and shrewd Sima Yi was later.
Sima Yi at this point is ultimately just a young man who can't even be considered a novice.
Su Yu, however, was a man of great renown.
It's like one day, someone you only ever see on TV suddenly comes to your house as a guest and praises you in front of everyone in a very serious and earnest way.
They say your knowledge is very solid and you have the potential to become an academician!
Even the most carefree and irresponsible person will develop a certain degree of vanity and experience a great deal of inner satisfaction because of this.
Sima Yi was also among them.
Suddenly, Su Yu changed the subject and said to Sima Yi:
“Zhongda, talented people should not be buried.”
"Do you see Lord Xun beside me?"
"It's a real shame you didn't participate in the recruitment he initiated last time."
"If you participate, you will definitely win first place!"
Upon hearing this, Sima Yi felt an unbearable itch in his heart, as if thousands of ants were crawling on him.
The word "recruit" did not exist in the late Han Dynasty; it was a later term introduced by Su Yu.
Before the Nine-Rank System was established, there were three main ways to become an official.
The first type is called the "recommendation system".
Nominally, it examines a person's character and talent, with character carrying more weight than talent.
As a result, many people in this era have "artificially created" numerous allusions.
For example, the well-known stories of Kong Rong sharing pears, Lu Ji carrying oranges, and lying on ice to catch carp.
All of this was to cultivate a good reputation among scholars.
But this thing is rather unstable; if you create it, I create it, and everyone will create it.
When it comes to selecting officials, family background and personal connections still come into play.
The second type is called recommending filial and incorrupt officials.
Each state has a fixed number of slots per year, but usually only two or three.
Therefore, those who could be recommended for the position of filial piety and incorruptibility generally came from very strong families and started with official positions with a salary of over 600 shi (a unit of grain).
The third option is to start from a minor official position.
If there is a vacancy in an official position, one can fill it by being promoted to a higher rank.
However, those who could be promoted by minor officials were mostly of relatively low rank. Good official positions were not available on the market and all ended up in the pockets of powerful families.
In addition to these three, Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, invented a fourth: selling titles and official positions!
It's commonly said that if you pay enough money, you'll get an official position.
That's how Cao Song got his Grand Commandant experience card back then.
But don't rush to laugh at Liu Hong.
Upon closer examination, the way Liu Hong "invented" to become an official is not a good thing for top-tier and first-class families.
For example, the Yuan and Ju families, who used to be able to become high-ranking officials with just a little effort, now have to pay money!
Take Cao Song, for example. According to the Cao family's standards, he was not qualified to be one of the Three Dukes, but he actually managed to get a year's trial period.
For other top-tier and first-class families, Cao Song's actions were nothing short of cheating, stealing the cake that originally belonged to them!
And now.
Su Yu's invention of "recruitment" was actually the prototype of later examinations, and can also be understood as the prototype of the imperial examination.
But if Su Yu isn't mentally ill, he won't launch a full-scale imperial examination at this critical juncture.
As mentioned earlier, Su Yunong's recruitment is currently mainly aimed at scions of aristocratic families.
This was not so difficult for established families to accept.
Otherwise, if a large number of poor and impoverished nobles were to emerge and compete with them for the already limited number of high-ranking official positions, the powerful families would definitely regard Su Yu as the enemy of the world in no time!
There is an old saying that goes well.
Like boiling a frog in lukewarm water, things must be done step by step.
For example, Sima Yi at this moment.
They have shown some interest in this new method of selecting officials, which is called "recruitment".
Otherwise, according to the family's principle of filling vacancies, the best resources would definitely be provided to his eldest brother, Sima Lang, first.
But recruitment is a different story.
If Sima Yi's performance was better than Sima Lang's, the officials selected for the position would have a higher starting point than Sima Lang.
Seeing that Sima Yi was no longer the carefree and nonchalant person he used to be, Sima Fang exclaimed that he was doomed!
I don't know if it was a misjudgment.
Sima Fang had a strong intuition that his second son was about to be tricked into becoming a beast of burden!
……