Chapter 384 Joke

During the period after Cai Yong left, there were actually many people who persuaded Lu Bu to ascend to the throne.

Guo Jia just nodded a little, but the others were different. Some were very direct, and even Li Ru came to persuade them.

"You don't want me to be promoted?" In the teahouse in Nanshi, Lu Bu sipped tea, listened to a ditty, glanced at Jia Xu and said with a smile.

"If my lord really has this intention, the number and weight of the people who have been persuaded are enough now, so why should I talk more? If my lord does not have this intention, what is the use of my words?" Jia Xu sat cross-legged and took a sip of tea. , looks like the image of Buddha that came from Tianzhu during the Sui Dynasty, and it looks even more like a shaved head.

"You should see clearly. If everyone was like Wen He, there wouldn't be so many things." Lu Bu leaned back and said with some emotion.

Don't underestimate Cai Yong's influence. Putting aside his status as a great scholar, how many children of Lu Bu's civil and military officials studied at Chang'an Academy?

In this era, his mentor was second only to his father. In addition, Cai Yong and Lu Bu had been friends for many years, and his position was always that of the emperor. Even though Lu Bu was powerful, Cai Yong still stood firmly on the side of the emperor and worked hard. Maintain the relationship between Lu Bu and the emperor.

Now that Cai Yong is dead, it is equivalent to untying the shackles of the civil and military forces under Lu Bu. At the same time, the imperial party has also lost a core figure. Naturally, a large number of people hope that Lu Bu will succeed the Han Dynasty.

This is what Guo Jia said about following the trend. Lu Bu is going to Han Dynasty at this time. There will definitely be some objections, but in this land of Guanzhong, no one can make any waves, and those who do can be easily wiped out.

During the crusade against the princes of Guandong, Lu Bu took advantage of the situation and wiped out the world. In this way, with the power of pacifying the world, Lu Bu did not need to worry about whether the throne was stable.

Of course, Liu Xie's problem must be handled well, otherwise his reputation will still be criticized.

"Slowing down may be more beneficial to the Lord." Jia Xu nodded in agreement. In fact, if Lu Bu wants the throne now, he can easily get it, but there is still a difference in how he gets it. According to Guo Jia's meaning, it is naturally no problem, but There will still be criticism, and with the power Lu Bu now has in his hands, if he wants it, he can definitely get it in a more honorable way. Why should it be so urgent sooner or later?

If Lu Bu accepts Guo Jia's suggestion, Jia Xu will not stop it. If he does not accept it, Jia Xu will not object. From this, we can probably see Lu Bu's attitude.

Obviously, Lu Bu wants to take his time in a more dignified way, which is good. At least in Jia Xu's opinion, this slow-cooking method is more suitable for the current Lu Bu.

Young people are radical. Although there is nothing wrong with it, they don't know that slowness also has the charm of slowness.

But why does the lord always stare at his hair?

Jia Xu couldn't help but touch her bun. Is there anything wrong?

The Six Divisions have now stabilized, and Lu Bu's daily life has returned to the leisurely days of hanging out or spending time with his wife and concubines at home. Now it is much easier than when Xun You handled official duties alone. Xun You would sometimes follow Lu Bu out for a walk.

Since the Xun family was taken to Chang'an, although Xun Yu did not come, Xun You became more dedicated and conscientious. Although Cao Cao acted badly, this trick was actually quite good.

Although Lu Bu was free, his ministries could not be free, especially as the second scientific examination day was approaching and his daughter also gave birth to a son named Ma Qiu. Yan was worried about her daughter's health and went to take care of her personally. Diao Chan and Wang Yi were pregnant again. , the family is busy again.

Things always come together inexplicably, and even Lu Bu, who is well-informed, cannot explain this phenomenon. When he is free, he is really free, and when he is busy, he becomes busier and busier.

After all, it was all trivial matters. Lu Bu was able to quickly sort it out. The second scientific examination lacked the backbone of Cai Yong, but the pattern was established. Lu Bu continued to invite people like Yang Biao and Zhong Yao to take charge, and refined the rules. , invited talents from various academic fields to review the corresponding dossiers and give evaluations.

In short, it is about screening out enough talents.

In this second imperial examination, 3,000 people came, twice as many as the last time. However, 800 people were admitted. Now there is basically no shortage of officials in the imperial court. Next, Lu Bu began to clean up the accounts. After three years of corruption, Investigating and punishing corrupt officials together can not only appease the people, but also deter these new officials, and at the same time eliminate a batch of defective products.

After all, many people had a wait-and-see attitude for the first imperial examination, and only the batch of talents who came to the imperial examination could be seen. However, due to the shortage of talents, those who had some ability were used.

Because of the need to maintain stability, Lu Bu turned a blind eye to these corruption matters, but now that there is no shortage of talents, these old scores should be settled.

Lu Bu was not lenient at all when dealing with this. When the evidence was solid, officials and bribers were punished together, ranging from being punished with a rod to being exiled, to being beheaded in severe cases. At the same time, his wife and children were also implicated. It can be said that the method was extremely ruthless. .

But at the same time, Lu Bu raised the salary of grassroots officials again. Officials at the county magistrate level had their salaries doubled. The salaries of Han officials were not low. Now they have been doubled, which is enough to live a prosperous life. This can be regarded as allowing officials to live a prosperous life. There is no need to worry about livelihood. Officials can live a good life without corruption. We cannot let everyone lose interest in being an official.

After three years of this liquidation and appointment and dismissal, Lu Bu suppressed some of the unhealthy tendencies brought about by officials with imperial examination backgrounds before they really emerged. Although he didn’t know how long he could suppress them, as long as people still had confidence in the imperial examination, as long as the academy As more and more talents are cultivated, there will be no need to worry about insufficient officials.

He has to create some sense of crisis for the officials who have already taken the position, and at the same time, the candidates who have not yet taken the position can also keep an eye on these people, forming a kind of unreliable supervision.

Supervision...

Lu Bu rubbed his temples. He naturally had supervision methods, but compared to the increasingly complex officialdom, this supervision method became a bit weak.

If it is done by the people, firstly, it will easily lead to injustice, and secondly, it will also make the court a knife for some people to eliminate dissidents. The people can do it, but there must be restrictions.

Now that the world is undecided, it is not yet suitable for full promotion, but in today's four states, the current methods are not too outdated.

Various matters were not completely resolved until the third month after the imperial examination. The various princes and officials in the court who had been waiting for Lu Bu to usurp the throne were disappointed to find that Lu Bu did not seem to have any disobedience because of Cai Yong's death. .

Thinking about it, if Lu Bu really has this intention, does it matter whether he has Cai Yong? In the final analysis, the two parties did not have a strong friendship, and they did not mean it in the first place.

"Brother, it seems that there is a traitor who wants to stir up trouble." Guan Yu looked at Liu Bei at the Prefecture of Feng Yi and said solemnly: "It seems that the Taiwei has no intention of seizing the throne."

Liu Bei also breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said: "It's best not to have it yourself."

With that said, he threw the letter in his hand into the brazier. If it was true, all Liu Bei could do was hang up his hat and leave. It was purely a dream to do anything to Lu Bu in Guanzhong.

Although Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both in the army, and after the last battle, they also have military power. But if they want to use this military power to deal with Lu Bu, it doesn't matter what Lu Bu does, the people under their command will rebel against them first. It is impossible to defeat Lu Bu in Guanzhong.

Moreover, Lu Bu's recent moral admonitions to the army are also in line with the wishes of the three Liu Bei brothers. Lu Bu wants to prepare for the attack on the Central Plains, but he can put the people first in his heart. There is no way to dislike such a person. Now Lu Bu refused to seize the throne, which also relieved the three brothers.

The forces that were secretly scurrying in the court gradually calmed down as time went by. Many people completely gave up on similar thoughts. Even if there were still those who wanted to go against Lu Bu, without support, they could only continue to lie dormant.

Perhaps even more disappointed are the princes of the Central Plains.

The counselors under Cao Cao and Yuan Shao all predicted that Lu Bu would most likely usurp the throne after the imperial examination, and they were already gearing up for a joint crusade against Lu Bu. The two sides had even secretly established an alliance. But this time, without the previous constraints, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were able to come up with something. Their troops are more than last time, starting with one hundred thousand. The two families have joined forces, and Cao Cao already has a Liannu in his hands. He is confident that he will have a big battle with Lu Bu.

But Lu Bu didn't take the move and missed this opportunity to seize the throne. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao could only watch and sigh, and continued to lie dormant to prepare for the next battle.

But that's fine, Cao Cao now has mature production technology of repeating crossbows. If he delays, he will have more and more repeating crossbows. When they fight next time, he will be able to catch Lu Bu off guard.

Yuan Shao was actually actively imitating the Lian Nu, but he couldn't do it before Cao Cao, but he did find out something strange from Guanzhong.

"Railway?" Yuan Shao looked at everyone in confusion and frowned: "What's the use of this?"

Tian Feng thought: "Before, there were wooden rails in Guanzhong to transport goods. I once sneaked into Guanzhong to check. This thing can indeed make wooden rail cars faster and transport goods more conveniently. However, the wooden rails are extremely easy to break. Now it is replaced by rails to replace wooden rails to facilitate the transportation of supplies. "

"At the same time, the subway lines to Nanyang and Luoyang are being laid. It seems that Lu Bu is also actively preparing for war." Xu You sneered on the side: "But this move is extremely stupid! It is actually a self-destructive move!"

"What does Ziyuan mean by this?" Yuan Shao looked at Xu You.

Xu You sneered and said: "My lord, the railway tracks are made of iron. The distance from Chang'an to Luoyang and Nanyang is 1,500 miles. How many iron ingots are needed to build 1,500 miles of railway tracks? How many can be made? Weapons, how many iron mines in Guanzhong can make Lu Bu do this? Just looking at these two railway tracks is enough to severely damage Guanzhong's vitality.

What's more, will ordinary people secretly dismantle the railway tracks? This move is totally worth the loss. In my opinion, if he wants to lay the ground, let us ignore it. This move is enough to seriously injure Lu Bu's vitality. The weapons originally used for fighting have become so-called rails. When the time comes, what will he, Lu Bu, do with me? Military attack? Next time we fight, our army will win! What Lu Bu did was a big joke! "