Cai Mansion.
Cai Yong was reading a volume of ancient books.
Since Dong Zhuo was killed, he was arrested and imprisoned by Wang Yun's order, and was later released by Liu Cheng.
He did not enter the court again, but concentrated on being responsible for the Imperial Academy and his studies.
He rarely paid attention to the disputes in the court.
Now he is in charge of Taixue affairs and compiling history at the same time, which makes him feel very fulfilled.
"Master, Master Kong wants to see you."
A servant came to the door and reported.
Cai Yong raised his head and asked, "Kong Rong, please invite him in."
"promise" Cai Yong put down the wooden tablet, stood up and walked to the front hall.
Cai Yong was twenty years older than Kong Rong.
With his fame and status, there was no need to go to greet him.
However, his reputation was compromised in the Dong Zhuo incident, and he very much needed to get Kong Rong, the 20th grandson of Confucius. support.
Kong Rong walked up the steps and bowed his hands to Cai Yong and said: "After learning, Kong Rong came to see Mr.
Cai."
Cai Yong smiled and stretched out his hand to support him: "Master Kong, you're welcome.
Please come into the inner hall to serve tea."
"Thank you Mr.
Cai.
Mr.
Cai can just call me by name.
Mr.
Cai invites you first."
Kong Rong lowered his attitude.
The two of them were polite and humble, and finally walked into the inner hall together.
On a low table by the window, the two of them were sitting on their knees facing each other.
A little girl came over with a charcoal stove and a kettle and placed them next to it.
There was a charcoal fire burning in the charcoal stove, with a kettle on it, and a tea set and tea leaves on the tray next to it.
Cai Yong introduced to Kong Rong: "This is my daughter Cai Yuan, nicknamed Zhenji Zhenji.
Please come and see Kong Shaofu soon."
Cai Yuan made a standard Wanfu gift to Kong Rong: "Cai Yuan has met Kong Shaofu" Kong Rong looked at Cai Yuan and said, "Miss, she is naturally beautiful, well-informed and well-educated.
She is beautiful both inside and outside.
She is blessed to be a noble person."
Cai Yong laughed and said: "Haha, that's the good news for Cheng Wenju."
It was popular to make tea in the late Han Dynasty.
When the water was about to boil, Cai Yuan opened the lid of the kettle and put a handful of tea leaves into the kettle.
Once the tea boiled, she lifted the teapot and poured tea into two tea bowls.
Rinse the tea bowl clean.
At this time, the fragrance of tea still remains in the tea bowl.
Pour the tea again and the fragrance will be stronger.
"Master Kong, Daddy, please have some tea."
Cai Yuan stretched out her hand and made a gesture of invitation.
Kong Rong picked up the tea bowl, took a sip slowly, and praised: "Good tea, Miss, good craftsmanship."
"Master Kong is so complimentary," Cai Yuan said softly.
At this time, Cai Yong took a sip of tea and asked: "Wenju, it has been a while since you came to Chang'an to take office.
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How do you feel that the atmosphere in the court is now much different than before?"
Kong Rong shook his head and sighed but said nothing.
Cai Yong was surprised and asked: "Could it be that this official is doing well in the civil examination?"
Kong Rong raised his hand to Cai Yong and said, "Mr.
Cai, with all due respect, the government agencies in the imperial court seem to be a little colder and less humane these days."
When Cai Yong heard this, he smiled and said: "Wen Ju's observation is meticulous.
It is true.
However, Wen Ju's words are not entirely correct.
Rather than being a little colder, it is better to say that the enforcement of laws and regulations is stricter and there are more rules.
In some cases, the imperial court has more restrictions and assessments on ministers and officials.
Now the imperial court has to conduct inspections at the end of every year.
Officials are subject to performance appraisals and if they fail to meet the standards, the court will issue stern warnings and accountability.
If the performance continues in the next year, they will be deprived of their official status.
After being deprived of their official status, they can retake the imperial examination, but there is only one chance. .
In addition, the imperial court’s rewards for officials with outstanding political achievements are still very generous.”
"In the past, governance was still based on the rule of men.
Now, there are signs of moving closer to the rule of law, but it is not entirely the rule of law.
It is a combination of both.
I still agree with the current method of governing the country that combines both.
The pure rule of man depends entirely on the officials themselves and their personal connections.
As you can see, the fragmentation of the Han Dynasty is actually not unrelated to the pure rule of man."
Kong Rong frowned and said: "Cai Gong, if the current momentum continues, our Confucianism will gradually weaken, and hundreds of schools of thought will rise.
Once they get up again, they will try to It will be difficult to suppress it.
Look at the situation now.
Even craftsmen and doctors can become officials.
Isn’t this a mess?
Is it true that the officials of the Han Dynasty are so worthless?”
Cai Yong was silent for a moment and said: "The situation you mentioned is indeed true.
The imperial court did intend to support hundreds of schools of thought, but it did not suppress Confucianism.
That's what I thought.
Since the imperial court did not suppress Confucianism, it only supported it.
Hundreds of schools, this shows that the imperial court is not rejecting Confucianism.
We Confucians are not afraid of competition.
Is it possible that Wenju is afraid of competing with hundreds of schools of thought?"
Kong Rong's eyes widened: "I'm afraid that even if the imperial court wants to support hundreds of schools of thought, they will not rise again overnight.
Today, my Confucian family is still the dominant one."
Cai Yong smiled and said: "That's right.
Almost all the people in the court are from my Confucian school.
No matter what happens, they will not help other schools of thought."
Kong Rong was still indignant: "That's what I say, but the imperial examination conducted by the imperial court does not look at family background, only talent, learning and conduct.
From now on, we, the nobles, will no longer be able to speak in the court."
Cai Yong sighed: "Wenju, I understand your concerns, but this is the government's policy strategy and established national policy.
It is the general trend and cannot be changed.
Instead of complaining and sighing here, we should focus more on educating some useful talents. , after all, the children of noble clans actually have more advantages than the children of poor families.
As long as they cultivate them carefully and strive for their own success, it is easier for the noble clans to produce talents."
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Kong Rong also knew that there was nothing left to say on this matter.
Since the court had already set the rules, it would be difficult to change them.
Especially if it was set by Liu Cheng, it would be even harder for them to change.
"Okay, let's not talk about this for now, but the court treats officials too harshly, isn't it?
When I go to visit colleagues and friends in the court, I have to be monitored, day and night, without interruption.
Every move I make is watched. , is it too much for the court to do this?”
"Why is this happening?"
Cai Yong said in surprise.
Kong Rong shouted: "Of course now, all my friends and court ministers and officials who have had contact with me are afraid of being implicated and dare not interact with me anymore.
What are they going to do?
Also, a few days before I took office, The lower-level officials are quite cooperative.
These days, All these officials were obedient to me.
They agreed to what I said, but then turned around and forgot about it.
This was clearly someone behind the scenes.
I, the young master, am a puppet in name only.
I will resign tomorrow and will not return.
I concentrate on my studies in my hometown in the countryside.”
Cai Yong frowned and said: "This is indeed a bit too much, but when you say you are resigning, it is a bit emotional.
You have to think about the overall situation.
Tomorrow I will go find someone to ask what is going on.
Don't worry yet. , you can’t solve the problem in haste, come on, come on, let’s drink tea first.”
The next day, Cai Yong arrived at the door of Xun Yu's house in a carriage, but did not go in.
He waited until Xun Yu was waiting before he got out of the carriage and shouted: "Master Jia" Xun Yu turned around and saw that it was Cai Yong.
He quickly stepped forward and cupped his hands and said, "It turns out to be Master Cai.
I am polite to you, but I have something to do with you."
Cai Yong said: "I do have something to ask Xun Lingjun for advice."
"Then quickly invite Master into the house to serve tea."
Cai Yong waved his hand and said: "There is no need to serve tea.
I just want to ask Xun Lingjun, since the imperial court transferred Kong Rong from Beihai to the imperial court as the Shaofu, why did it send people to monitor and follow up day and night and disturb the officials under the Shaofu?
All to him The imperial court did not trust him so much, so why did they transfer him to Chang'an and just send someone to put him in chains?
I want to ask, is this the intention of the imperial court or someone else?"
Xun Yu was surprised and said: "I really don't know that this matter happened, but I can check it out and see if I know which yamen person is following and monitoring Mr.
Kong's mansion."
Cai Yong shook his head and said: "I don't know.
If I knew better, I wouldn't find you here.
I would go directly to their superior to reason with you."
Xun Yu said: "Well, now that Master has come forward on this matter, I will send someone to investigate and I will give you a reply tomorrow.
What do you think?"
Cai Yong said: "No, I will get an answer today.
If there is no answer, I will stay at your door and won't leave."
Xun Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly.
As the old man got older, his temper became more and more like that of a child.
He had to say: "Well, I will send someone to check now, and I will also ask the master to come into the house to rest for a while."
"No need, I'm just waiting here."
As a person who abides by etiquette, Xun Yu did not want to offend Cai Yong.
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Although his daughter was the wife of the Protector, this status did not make him afraid.
The reason why he respected Cai Yong was only because of his literary attainments.
With old man Cai Yong here, Xun Yu couldn't just walk away, so he could only send someone to investigate the matter immediately.
The official who was sent came back soon.
He whispered next to Xun Yu, "He's from the Bronze Mirror Department."
This result surprised Xun Yu.
It seemed a little inappropriate for the Bronze Mirror Division to target Kong Rong.
After all, the Shaofu was also one of the Nine Qings.
No matter how suspicious the Bronze Mirror Division was, he couldn't do this blatantly, but then he thought about it.
After all, Kong Rong was transferred from Beihai to the Shaofu.
A few years ago, this Kong Shaofu was one of the main princes who fought against Dong.
After the war against Dong, Kong Rong stayed in Beihai for several more years.
The Bronze Mirror Division It is reasonable for this person to intervene in the investigation.
Xun Yu thought for a while and asked: "Why did the Bronze Mirror Division investigate Kong Shaofu just because he served as Beihai Prime Minister and participated in the war against Dong?"
“It is said that within a few days after Kong Wenju took office, he contacted the ministers of the DPRK and China, visited old friends, and even had contact with military generals.
His behavior was unscrupulous”: