Xi Chao originally invited Chen Caozhi to stay in his apartment, but Chen Caozhi declined. After entering the city, he went directly to Gu Mansion and met Gu Kaizhi. Gu Kaizhi smiled and asked, "Have you met the Lu girl yet?"
Chen Caozhi smiled and said, "Thank you, Madam, for sending me the message."
Gu Kaizhi laughed loudly, because when he talked about Zhu Yingtai, Gu Kaizhi immediately said angrily: "Shangzhi and I went to Xie's Mansion twice to visit Zhu Yingtai, but we were told that Zhu Yingtai had not returned from outing, and we didn't want to see him at all.
It’s okay for us not to make friends like this.”
Chen Caozhi explained: "Changkang, I can't blame brother Yingtai for this. Mrs. Xie seems to be unwilling to let her enter the Xifu. She has made every possible excuse. Yingtai is effectively under house arrest. Think about it, has Zhu Yingtai ever done anything in the past two months?"
Show up?"
Gu Kaizhi suddenly said: "I see, I wrongly blamed Brother Yingtai." He also said: "Mr. Xie is really strange, why she refuses to wish Yingtai to enter the Xifu? Isn't Xie Youdu in the Xifu!"
Chen Caozhi said vaguely: "There may be reasons that are not humane to outsiders. I came back this time to urge Zhu Yingtai to become an official on the orders of Grand Sima Huan."
Gu Kaizhi's father, Gu Yuezhi, had returned to Jingzhou last month, so Chen Caozhi went to see Gu Kaizhi's uncle. The censor, the Prime Minister Gu Minzhi, just exchanged pleasantries.
At the time of Shenshi, Chen Shang came back from Situ's Mansion and was very happy to see his sixteenth brother. He asked why he was returning to the capital. He also asked about Ran Sheng. Chen Cao told him one by one and asked Ran Sheng to come and pay homage to his third brother Chen Shang.
Chen Shang didn't care about having more disciples. Since it was the sixteenth brother who made the decision, it made sense. He didn't ask any more questions and said: "Sixteenth brother, later come with me to the Situ Mansion to meet the King of Kuaiji. His Highness the King of Kuaiji has given instructions."
I, if you return to Jiankang, go see him as soon as possible."
Chen Cao thought: "Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji, is in charge of all internal and external affairs and is the ruler of the court. Now that the new king has just been established and Huan Wen's authority is getting stronger, Sima Yu must be worried. He summoned me because he wanted to know more from me.
Huan Wen’s intention.”
Chen Caozhi had dinner at Gu Mansion, took a bath and changed clothes, and then went with his third brother Chen Shang to visit Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji. He originally thought that Sima Yu would lament the decline of the royal family, but unexpectedly, the Yayan Teahouse in Situ Mansion was full of guests.
An elegant gathering of talks about Lao Tzu's intentions or unintentions was going on. Sima Yu, waving his tail, participated in the debate with great interest, and said in a loud voice: "The reason why the heaven and the earth can last forever is because they do not generate themselves. That is why the saints follow them.
The body comes first, and the body exists outside the body. Isn’t it selfless? So it can be selfish——”
Chen Shang was the Chief Secretary of Situ Mansion, so he walked into the Yayan Tea Room without being informed and whispered a few words in Sima Yu's ear. Sima Yu then said: "Please come in. Cao Zhi is a master of debate. We have him for tonight's conversation."
Participating will definitely make you happy.”
Chen Caozhi went inside to pay homage to the King of Kuaiji, and also bowed to everyone in Qingtan, and then took his seat. However, the vast hall of Jueya's room was filled with the smell of tartar. There must have been many people who had come here after drinking and wearing wide robes and long sleeves, as if there was no one else around.
, emotional and eloquent, it is said that Wushi Powder can activate thinking and inspire inspiration——
Chen Caozhi looked at these enthusiastic talkers with cold eyes and thought to himself: "These people are really eager to die if they hear the truth in the morning." He knelt down and listened for a while. Although the mystical principles were quite impressive, they were often too entangled.
It doesn't look like a discussion of principles, but more like a battle of spirits.
When Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji, saw that Chen Cao was silent, he said: "Cao is the first person among the younger generation to talk about things. Please have a private discussion about heaven and earth."
Chen Caozhi bowed to Sima Yu and said: "All the sages have discussed it, but this theory has been exhausted, and Cao Zhi dare not repeat it."
Sima Yu saw that Chen Caozhi had shocked everyone during his debate that day, but was silent today. He must have something on his mind. He immediately waved his tail and asked everyone present to continue talking. He returned to his study and invited Chen Caozhi to meet him.
This was the second time Chen Caozhi visited the study of King Sima Yu of Kuaiji. It still had an agarwood stove and plain curtains, and Sima Yu still looked like he was holding the tail in his hand and the wind was scattered.
Sima Yu asked Chen Caozhi about his intention to return to Jiankang this time, and also asked Chen Caozhi about his situation in Xifu, and Chen Caozhi answered them one by one.
Sima Yu was silent for a while and suddenly asked: "It is rumored that Duke Huan is going to evacuate to Qiaozhou and conduct a large-scale inspection of households. Is it true?"
Chen Cao said: "Your Excellency Xi will go to the capital with me this time to bring Duke Huan's seven-note memorial. I think it will be presented to the case of Da Situ tomorrow."
Sima Yu asked: "What are the seven cheap things?"
Chen Cao's way: "First, the cliques in Jiangzuo are similar, and the Qing Dynasty debate is heated. It is better to suppress exaggeration, eliminate competition, and not allow people to grow; secondly, the household registration is small and it is not suitable for a Han county, and the official system is redundant.
When people are busy with things, it is better to combine official and provincial positions so that everyone can perform their duties; thirdly, machine services cannot be stopped, and regular writing should be limited to a certain date; fourthly, it is appropriate to distinguish between elders and younger ones, and reward loyal officials; fifthly, praise, criticize, reward and punish,
It is appropriate to accept the truth; sixthly, it is appropriate to observe the previous code and study diligently; seventhly, large households hide refugees privately without indigenous people, national taxes are lost, and there is a shortage of laborers. It is appropriate to check the household members in large numbers, implement land separation, and strictly enforce laws and prohibitions.
, no hiding of secrets allowed.”
After listening to what Chen Caozhi said about the seven cheap things, Sima Yu closed his eyes and pondered for a long time. He said for a long time: "It is not difficult to implement the first six things. It's just that this matter of soil destruction, I don't know what Duke Huan is based on?"
The Eastern Jin Dynasty had previously carried out three large-scale civil wars. They were the civil wars presided over by Prime Minister Wang Dao in the fourth year of Emperor Taixing of the Jin Yuan Dynasty. This time the civil wars established the Qiaozhou, county system and guest system. Qiaozhou, Qiaojun
It was to resettle the refugees who crossed to the south, and the guest system was also the shadow household system. It stipulated that the first-ranked official, the second-ranked tenant could not exceed forty households, and the third-ranked tenant could not exceed thirty-five households, and so on.
, the aristocratic family has more tenants, more than forty households, ten times or a hundred times. The Chen family of Qiantang is only a second-class noble family, and they also occupy forty households. Of course, this is determined by official rank. Among the family members
The more officials there are, the more customers will be given. Moreover, after the official dies, the house will not be taken back. It has been accumulated from generation to generation, so it is naturally huge——
The second large-scale civil war was the civil war presided over by Yu Liang in the second year of Xianhe, Emperor Cheng of the Jin Dynasty. This time the civil war mainly involved the establishment of new household registrations and the taxation of farmland and rice. Due to Su Jun's rebellion and Wang Dao's opposition, it had little effect.
The third time was during the Xiankang period, when brothers Yu Bing and Yu Yi presided over the real household registration, so that all the princes and below were correct, and Tu Duan had white registration. Since the Taixing period, when Wang Dao presided over the Tu Du and established Qiaozhou County, the household registration of the Eastern Jin Dynasty
There are yellow and white nationalities. The indigenous residents of Sanwu use the yellow nationality, and the refugees in Qiaozhou counties and counties use the white nationality. Because the refugees do not have land, they do not have to serve and pay taxes, and they often rely on the aristocratic family, the Yu brothers' policy of eliminating land.
It is to cancel the preferential treatment for overseas Chinese, cut off the white nationality into the yellow nationality, and turn the foreigners into indigenous people, who will also pay taxes and serve the country. However, in order to strengthen their own strength, the Yu brothers did not include some of the refugees they found in the yellow nationality.
Instead, they were included in the army to serve as soldiers. Historical records say, "Yu Yi sent his troops to the Yangtze River, and Jingzhou and Jing Prefectures were registered as households for military service. The scholars were common people." Although the Yu brothers created a considerable army through this great land break,
army, but at the same time, it also led to "the common people are in disgrace", which greatly lost the support of the people. After Yu Yi's death, the Yu family quickly declined, which is not unrelated to this——
Since Chen Caozhi presented these seven cheap things to Huan Wen, and the focus was on the examination of the records, he naturally made great efforts to study the previous three major examinations of the records, and said: "The general intention of Huanjun is to implement the system of drawing one.
Cancel the Huang and Bai registrations in Qiaozhou counties and counties, read the household registration, and establish new registrations."
Sima Yu asked: "Is it possible to do this?"
Chen Cao said: "Your Majesty, this strategy of destroying the land was proposed to Duke Huan."
"Oh?" Sima Yu raised his eyebrows, stared at Chen Caozhi, and asked slowly: "What is Caozhi's consideration?"
Chen Cao said: "The number of registered households is far lower than the actual number of households, and there are very few households that serve and pay taxes for the country. It is thought that the implementation of land extermination will make the country rich, and the court will have corvees that can be collected, and there will be
Wealth and silk."
Sima Yu thought for a long time, nodded, and asked: "Who will be in charge of this matter, Duke Huan?"
Chen Cao said: "It is initially decided that Xie Youdu will be the host, and Zhu Yingtai and I will be the assistants."
Sima Yu felt relieved when he heard that it was Xie Xuan and Chen Caozhi who was in charge of this matter. However, he heard Chen Caozhi say again: "Your Majesty, I have a suggestion. This territorial separation will inevitably involve a wide range of interests, involving the interests of the great clans in the north and south.
I foolishly thought that if the Mainland Minister and Xie Youdu could jointly take charge of this matter, we would be able to balance the great clans of the north and the south."
Lu Shi can be said to be the leader of the Sanwu gentry clan. The Great Tu Duan first involves the interests of the four surnames of Wu County and the four surnames of Kuaiji, the eight major families in Jiangdong. Chen Caozhi had ulterior motives in recommending Lu Shi to implement Tu Duan, but Lu Shi must have also
Willing to take responsibility.
Sima Yu also felt that there should be someone representing the interests of the Sanwu gentry to participate in Tuduan. After listening to Chen Caozhi's recommendation of Lu Shi, he was very happy with it. He talked secretly with Chen Caozhi until late at night and was very happy.
…
On the morning of June 22, Zuo Min Shangshu Lu Na sent his official Liu Shangzhi to invite Chen Caozhi to a luncheon at the Lu Mansion. After talking about business, Liu Shangzhi said with a smile: "The Mainland Shangshu went to Yangzhou recently.
You can go to the banquet with confidence."
Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi went to Lu Na's residence. Chen Caozhi was now also a high-ranking official and had not returned to his former glory. Lu Na met them in the main hall, exchanged a few words, and invited him into the study for a long talk.
Lu Na dismissed the boy servant who was waiting on him, looked at Chen Caozhi, and asked: "Cao Zhi entered the capital yesterday?"
Chen Caozhi responded: "Yes."
Lu Na asked: "Have you ever seen Wei Rui?"
Chen Caozhi was slightly embarrassed and replied: "We met by chance in Xinting."
Lu Na had already guessed it. He sighed softly and asked, "What if Cao Zhi cannot marry Wei Rui?"
Chen Caozhi responded: "I will never marry for the rest of my life."
Lu Na was silent. There was silence in the study for a long time. Lu Na said slowly: "I highly appreciate Cao Cao's ability and political integrity. How could I not know that you and Wei Rui are in love with each other, but you also know the difference in family status.
Alas, I, Lu Na, can't choose a husband for my beloved daughter. It's really a shame. Last night I thought hard about a way. If you are willing to follow my words, I would like to marry Wei Rui to you——"
Chen Caozhi's heart beat faster and his palms were slightly sweaty. His expression remained calm and he respectfully said: "Please make it clear."
