Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 464: Wei State Government
After Liu Ye reported Chu's request to "jointly build Tuyin Port" back to Yecheng, a great debate broke out in the Wei court.
Although military advisor Guo Jia strongly opposed it, most of the ministers in charge of internal affairs, led by Xun Yu and Chen Qun, agreed...
Guo Jia was indeed Cao Cao's most trusted adviser - not only was he resourceful and good at strategy, but he also came from a humble family and did not have many conflicts of interest. At the same time, he seemed cynical, but his loyalty to Cao Cao was beyond reproach!
However, most of Guo Jia's suggestions were on military strategy and domestic affairs... Guo Jia was not ignorant, but he was more inclined to "comment" and analyze the impact of domestic affairs on military strategy, and was "too lazy" to actually govern.
Of course, Cao Cao also knew that Guo Jia’s “laziness” was partly due to his unstable character, and partly because Guo Jia’s body really couldn’t take it. If Liu Bei hadn’t facilitated the Han Emperor’s entry into the Pass, which cut off the destiny of the Han and Wei dynasties and indirectly reduced the pressure on Guo Jia to transfer destiny, Guo Jia would have died.
From the perspective of military strategy, Guo Jia believed that Chu's navy had been sailing on the sea for a long time, often traveling to Liaodong and even overseas, and that Chu's armor was strong and Chu's soldiers were powerful, so they could not be equated with ordinary southern naval forces...
Normally, in everyone's impression, when the Northern army goes to the South to fight, because of the hot and humid climate and the presence of miasma, their strength will be discounted, and if it is a naval battle, the discount will be even greater; similarly, when Southerners come to the North to fight, the cold and dry climate, as well as the generally taller physical advantages of Northerners, make it difficult for them to be compared with the Northern Army once they engage in a land battle in the North.
This not only applies to generals, but also to Ji-zao's soldiers, who are also affected by the quality of the population in the "source area"!
However, Guo Jia felt that the navy of Chu had already overcome the climate incompatibility. As for physical fitness... ordinary people in Chu could often eat meat, occasionally eggs and milk, fresh fish from the coast, pickled fish and pickled vegetables from the inland were also eaten on a daily basis...
Especially recently, the State of Chu has even gone so far as to encourage the popularization of Qi cultivation among the people. The daily meals of ordinary people are probably comparable to those of the grassroots generals in the elite troops of the State of Wei!
The gap in physical fitness is no longer a problem. Even if there is a gap, I am afraid that Wei is lagging behind...
Therefore, Guo Jia believed that handing over Tuyin Port to the State of Chu was equivalent to opening a gap in the rear.
However, Chen Qun and Xun Yu have different perspectives...
The enemy is coming from the sea and is an isolated force deep in the territory. It is very inconvenient for them to get supplies from Liaodong or the south. As long as they can defend Tuyun City, what can the navy alone do?
What’s more, this time the purpose is to trade for Chu’s new sea vessels!
If the Chu navy was really that strong, it should have obtained the other side's ship structure as soon as possible and started to imitate it.
Otherwise, if our navy collapses at the first blow, won’t we be forced to land as well?
Moreover, Chen Qun also had his own considerations - Wei State only agreed to give Tuyin Port to Chu State, and the Chu people could not leave the range of sixty miles, but... Wei State did not agree, and others could enter the range of sixty miles!
Doesn’t the State of Chu want to do business in Tuyin Port?
It would be entirely possible to blockade Tuyun Port, only granting access to a limited number of caravans, and turning Tuyun City into a real trade hub.
In this way, it will be convenient for privileged caravans to jointly lower prices, and Tuyin Port can only serve as a distribution center for materials, while Tuyin City controlled by the Wei State can easily develop into a large commercial city that is no less than Shouchun and Wancheng!
Moreover, according to the conditions agreed upon by Liu Ye, Tuyin Port was only the military port part, which could be blockaded by the State of Chu, while the port itself could accommodate merchant ships of the State of Wei, which the State of Chu could not stop.
Chen Qun's argument was supported by the vast majority of Wei officials, and even Xun Yu was persuaded, which further persuaded Cao Cao.
In general, Wei did not hesitate too much and agreed to Chu's assistance in the construction of Tuyin Port - handing over the land of Tuyin County along the coast for 100 miles and 60 miles in length and width to Chu.
However, regarding the specific development plan for Tuyin County, Chen Qun and Xun Yu, the future father-in-law and son-in-law, once again broke out in an argument!
"Mr. Xun is wrong. With the official caravans of Wei alone, not only will all the needs of our great Wei be entrusted to Chu, but are the court's ships really enough? Who will distribute the goods imported from Tuyin throughout the country, or even to Liaodong and Bingzhou?" When Chen Qun was discussing politics in the court, he naturally would not call Xun Yu "father-in-law".
Even though they are just engaged now, Chen Qun's performance can be described as "brave".
"This time the court has purchased a batch of seagoing ships from the State of Chu. Why is that not enough? Tuyin Port is also accessible to the court and is used exclusively by the court. Why not? Besides, the court will hire each company or buy the qualification with money."
…
"Tuyin County is originally a lower county. Even if Tuyin is driven by the port and can develop further in the future, at most it will only be raised to the commercial tax of a middle county. How can there be a special tax? Previously, we encouraged every household to take the initiative to purchase goods from the State of Chu!"
"In the future, the status of Tuyin County will naturally be different from that of other counties. Once Tuyin Port is opened, it will be directly connected to the sea of Chu State, which will naturally be different from the previous situation."
…
Cao Cao felt a slight headache when he heard the quarrel between the two. Cao Cao himself didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse to "untie" the noble families before...
The quarrel between Chen Qun and Xun Yu was nothing more than drawing the line of interest between the aristocratic families and the imperial court!
Who is Chen Qun?
He came from a famous family, a descendant of the Yingchuan Chen family. The Chen family's family background was no less than that of the Xun family, and Chen Qun was also engaged to Xun Yu's daughter.
Because Xun Yu was a more upright person and was more close to Cao Cao, although he came from a noble family and was involved with the interests of the noble families, he paid more attention to the interests of Cao Cao's group, or the interests of the Wei State, so most of the northern noble families regarded Chen Qun as their hope in the court.
One of the most famous things Chen Qun did in history was that he promoted the "Nine-Rank System" - which could be considered a continuation of the "Recommendation System". Its essence was to standardize the "Recommendation" process, to give the power of recommendation to the Zhongzheng, big and small, and to have clearer standards.
In the history without the white map effect, the Nine-Rank System had already appeared during the Cao Cao period. After Cao Pi became emperor, he completely implemented the Nine-Rank System into a written document...
In theory, the Nine-Rank System was a higher form of the Recommendation System. In theory, because the standards were clearer, it was effective in clarifying the administration of officials.
However, on the one hand, starting from Cao Pi, the emperors and powerful officials of the Cao family had a bad relationship with the Cao family and gradually began to rely on the aristocratic families. On the other hand, this system, which was controlled by the great and small Zhongzheng, and controlled the selection and promotion of officials, had too much trust in "human nature" from the beginning...
The so-called "effectiveness" was too short-lived. The Nine-Rank System quickly became an official selection system with even clearer barriers and more monopolized by aristocratic families than the "Recommendation System", causing the gentry, who controlled almost all the channels for upward mobility, to completely transform into aristocratic families.
Even Emperor Ming, Cao Rui, who succeeded Cao Pi, seemed powerless to deal with the over-expanding aristocratic families. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the system of recommending officials several times, but was rejected every time by court officials.
It can be said that it was the formal implementation of the Nine-Rank System that made the gentry become the symbol of the powerful aristocratic families. In the Gaopingling Incident, the aristocratic forces led by Sima Yi killed all the warlord forces such as Cao Shuang. It was also during the Three Kingdoms period that the aristocratic families officially began to overwhelm the warlords and became the mainstream...
The Sima family, who were themselves raised by the aristocratic families, naturally continued to use this system. By the Western Jin Dynasty, there was already an unpleasant situation where "there were no commoners in the upper ranks, and no gentry in the lower ranks."
Perhaps the current Chen Qun has not thought about the consequences of the "Nine-Rank System", but what we can know at present is that Chen Qun definitely considers the interests of the aristocratic families more.
Chen Qun's current position in Wei is similar to that of Lu Kang in Chu - both are responsible for coordinating the aristocratic families... but he does not have Lu Kang's qualifications.
At the same time, he did not have Lu Kang's support for his own king and his own court, so Cao Cao's "use" of him was only to value this channel for communication with the aristocratic families!
Xun Yu was more inclined towards the Wei Dynasty, but the result of ignoring the interests of the aristocratic families was that the aristocratic families did not regard Xun Yu as their "spokesperson".
From the perspective of aristocratic families, Chen Qun is their "Lu Kang", but in Cao Cao's view, only Xun Yu and Chen Qun can be considered "Lu Kang".
Regarding the matter of Tuyin City, Xun Yu agreed with Chen Qun's opinion and thought that the State of Chu could be promised...
However, the father-in-law and son-in-law had disagreements on the development of Tuyin City.
Or it could be said to be a concentrated outbreak of inherent differences!
The State of Wei had long hoped to learn from the commercial tax system of the State of Chu and cut both commercial and agricultural taxes severely.
However, it encountered widespread opposition from the northern families. After all, for the north, commercial tax... isn't it just a tax collected from these corrupt officials and wealthy people?
Land is taxed, commerce is taxed...
Then why should we accompany you?
After the Han Dynasty court was out of control, although Cao Cao stabilized the situation with the help of a group of civil and military officials, his legitimacy was severely hit. In order to avoid collapse, he ceded part of his power to the northern aristocratic families, and mainly adopted peace-making measures with the aristocratic family group to which the Yuan family originally belonged.
Cao Cao even personally married Yuan Xi's wife, Zhen Mi, the daughter of the prominent Zhen family in Yecheng, as a sign of appeasement.
What? Zhen Mi is Yuan Xi's wife? Cao Cao: Isn't that better!
The root cause is that Cao Cao gradually felt overwhelmed by the rapid development of the Chu State and decided to try a different approach. The rise of the Chu State was too idealistic, and there was actually a simpler way to replicate it...
It’s just that this is a very dirty job and cannot be done by the “Great Wei Court”, so it can be done more “efficiently” by using the aristocratic families instead.
This requires mobilizing the enthusiasm of the aristocratic families and the powerful, that is, allowing them to obtain some of the benefits. This can also directly bypass the aristocratic families and the powerful's resistance to change!
The situation in which the Chu State was the first to take the lead and relied on its technological advantages to forcibly smooth over internal differences could not be replicated, because the southern gentry had never seen Bai Tu's approach before, while the northern gentry... had already seen Bai Tu's results.
If Wei did not take other "shortcuts", it would have no chance.
Inevitably, when facing the collective opposition of the gentry, the State of Wei would be more restrained than in history...
