The Collection of The End

——AD 174——

The Northern Luoyang Lieutenant, as the name suggests, is a military position responsible for the security and defense of northern Luoyang. At the same level are the West, South and East Lieutenants. This kind of position is generally only set up in "super large" cities. Because if there is only a single county captain... he can't control it.

However, the Northern Lieutenant appointed by Cao Cao was the worst among the four.

Unlike the other three divisions, which include a large number of residential buildings, east and west cities, and workshops and commercial ports, the northern part only has the palace and the residences of many high-ranking officials and nobles, and the head of any family has the power to ignore the small subordinates.

Zhang Rang arranged Cao Cao here, obviously because he suspected that the guy who stole his singer and embarrassed him was ordered by a group of officials who were dissatisfied with the eunuchs. He also took the opportunity to knock Cao Song, who has been in the limelight recently. As for the possibility that Cao Cao himself is the prisoner... …He probably never even thought about it.

At this time, in the study room of Cao Mansion, Cao Song, Xiu Mu's chief clerk, was talking to his son.

"Mengde, if you take one wrong step in this position, you will end your official career. Do you know that?" After leaving his son to Cai Yong to teach him, Cao Song was not worried about Cao Cao's own abilities at all. He was only in areas where Cai Yong was not good at. ——For example, in politics, he would come forward to guide Cao Cao, and this kind of "guidance" looks more like a heart-to-heart talk between officials at the same level than a father and son.

"My son knows." Cao Cao responded, "The key is 'balance'."

No matter what the essence is, Cao Cao now has the "right" to deal with illegal and prohibited incidents in the entire northern Luoyang, and those officials and nobles with dirty hands have a wonderful dual view of low-level officials in such positions.

If you are too strict with them, you are "challenging authority." If you are afraid of their power and shrinking, you are "following the crowd." No matter which side you lean towards, you will always anger some people and be suppressed or idle. Therefore, keep a good balance. The most important thing is to prevent both sides from grasping the situation.

"My father doesn't think you understand what 'balance' is." Cao Song raised his chin and gestured towards the courtyard where Cao Cao lived.

Cao Cao came back from snatching the singer Zhang Rang wanted, and seemed to be preparing to take her as a concubine. Not only did Cao Cao offend Zhang Rang, but even Ding, who had been excited to introduce his son to the legitimate daughter of the family, was quite dissatisfied - you asked to marry someone else Before becoming a wife, the daughter of the family took a concubine. Was she trying to get married or enmity?

"If you want to extinguish a fire, in addition to watering it, you can also light a bigger and stronger fire next to it." Cao Cao replied: "If I provoke another powerful person, my mother will be worried about me." safety, rather than rushing to get married."

"You want to provoke another one?!" Cao Song stared at him speechless for a moment.

"Among the Ten Constant Attendants, Zhang Rang has a good relationship with Zhao Zhong and Feng Xu. Provoking them will only arouse the hatred of the same enemy. Duan Gui, Cao Jie, and Hou Lan are neither friends nor cliques. They focus on making money. It is difficult to offend them." Cao Cao talked eloquently, "Jian (Jian) ​​Shuo, Cheng Kuang, Xia Yun, and Guo Sheng are at odds with the first three because they are not favored by His Majesty, and they are always domineering. We can start with them to cause trouble within the Ten Constant Attendants." Conflict, and mother naturally does not know such secrets, so she should not care about the singer anymore when she is worried."

Then how do you know! ? Cao Song hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not ask. After all, his son was an adult and it was normal to have his own secrets.

"You must ensure your own safety," Cao Song finally said: "Shi Changshi is under the guidance of Wang Yue and has superb abilities. If you want to deal with him, it will be difficult to escape unscathed."

"So the father wants to deal with them personally?" Cao Cao looked at him with a strange expression: "The son just wants to deal with their relatives who are taking advantage of others."

"...Go back to your room, now!"

————

When Cao Cao secretly investigated the crimes of his relatives, hoping to find an opportunity to punish them, Xu Shao, a famous scholar from Runan, and Xu Zi came to Luoyang and temporarily lived in the north of Luoyang.

So a large number of visits came one after another, and Cao Cao had to interrupt his actions.

Xu Shao and his brother Xu Jing were the most famous talkers at this time. They would organize a gathering to evaluate famous people in the world at the beginning of each month. The invited participants depended on their location at the time, which was called "Yuedan Commentary". ".

At this time, the ways to become an official were roughly divided into two ways: "chaju" and "zhengpi". If you were famous, it would be beneficial to both. Therefore, Xu Shao's "Yuedan Commentary" was flocked to by many people.

However, since the total number of famous people is limited, it is impossible for several new people to emerge for his evaluation every month. Therefore, Xu Shao compiled the evaluation of people over the years into a list. There are no new people to comment on in the Monthly Review. At that time, those on the list whose evaluations have changed due to their actions are selected for "re-evaluation". Although there is the possibility of a second increase in popularity, if their own evaluation drops, those who have been "re-evaluated" He will become the laughing stock of the month.

Because the list was first published in Xu Shao's hometown, Runan Langya, it is also called the "Langya List".

"Mengde," Yuan Shao, who was dressed in casual clothes, followed Cao Cao, who was wearing the dark blue and ink official uniform of Beibu Lieutenant, and looked at the endless stream of carriages and horses in front of the Xu family gate: "If I run to let that Xu Zijiang Give me a review, what do you think he will say?"

"What else could it be?" Cao Cao glanced at him: "'Fourth Generation and Three Dukes, bow to those who see him.'"

"No, no," Yuan Shao didn't hear Cao Cao's joke at all, "I have asked, not to mention those scattered participants, Xu Zi's evaluation of people generally only has three sentences, which is roughly: 'Someone in a certain place, how... With his talent, he can be anything."

"That is 'Yuan Shao of Luoyang, a man of three talents, who can be the county magistrate'." Cao Cao replied.

Like him, Yuan Shao was promoted to Xiaolian when he came of age and was appointed magistrate of Puyang County. He will take office soon, but Cao Cao doubts whether he can manage a county well.

"If you want to ridicule him, it's more straightforward to say, 'A county magistrate's talent can serve as the Three Lords'." The "substitute" interjected from the side.

"Hey hey hey~ 'Three Masters of Talent' or something like that, Meng De, you think too highly of me." Yuan Shao really didn't understand and was giggling and scratching his head.

"..." Cao Cao looked at his "substitute" speechlessly.

After he was officially appointed as the "Luoyang Northern Lieutenant", there was finally a significant difference between Cao Mengde and his "stand-in". The "stand-in" seemed to dislike the official uniforms that were mostly dyed blue, and changed the blue and black colors into Red and white color scheme.

"Don't be in a daze. Have you forgotten what you are here for this time?" The "substitute" pointed to the jam in front of the Xu Mansion.

Yes, sorting out traffic is also the responsibility of the "Luoyang Northern Lieutenant". Other trivial matters include cleaning the streets when the emperor comes, keeping watch at night, catching night wanderers and other trivial matters. Of course, Cao Cao does not need to do these things himself, as the yamen has its own The petty officials carry out the duties according to the law.

However, if the chief insists on participating, that is a different matter.

"Do it! Get rid of these guys blocking the road!" Cao Cao suddenly paused the five-color long stick in his hand toward the ground and shouted to the military officers behind him who were whispering and watching the officer's joke.

This five-color long stick is made of cork and wrapped with five colors of cloth and silk thread. Not only does it have no lethality, it will even bend when you hold it horizontally. It is specially used to maintain the power in northern Luoyang. In terms of public security, unless it is confirmed that there are outlaws or foreign enemies invading, and there is an order from a superior, no sharp weapons such as swords are allowed to be used - with so many royal relatives and high-ranking officials, those small military officials cannot afford to accidentally hurt someone's family members. .

However, before coming here, Cao Cao had already made it clear to them: "The people who rushed here to ask Xu Shao for evaluation must be relatives of frustrated officials. Just fight, I can handle this level of trouble myself."

"Ouch!" "Why are you beating people indiscriminately!" "We just asked to see Mr. Xu Shao, what mistake did we make!" "Who is your superior? I want to report him!" "Do you know who I am? Jian Shuo has to do it. Call me uncle—ouch!”

Cao Cao heard a certain key name in the chaos, so he immediately chased and beat the man with Yuan Shao, and shouted: "I am investigating the case under the orders of Zhang Rang, the permanent servant! Anyone who obstructs will be punished!"

"Just wait and see--" The seekers surrounding the Xu Mansion fled one after another, and the street became smooth again. When there were carriages, horses, and sedans approaching at the corner of the street, they all turned around when they saw the five-colored stick.

Cao Cao asked a group of military officials to arrange five-color sticks at the entrance of Xu's mansion, and then Shi Shiran took Yuan Shao and his "double" into the mansion to pay a visit - the concierge did not dare to stop him.

"Mr. Xu! Come and see what talents I have?" Yuan Shao called out before reaching the living room.

Since this day was not the day of Yuedan Criticism, Xu Jing, one of the Xu brothers, went out to collect information, and only Xu Shao was at home. He did not comment on what Cao Cao had done outside before. He just looked at Yuan Shao and said: "Wang Zuo is so talented. Take over the land of three states.”

"Sanzhou? Not Sangong? Wait..." Yuan Shao sounded quite disappointed, and then he began to think blankly about which one was bigger, Sangong or Sanzhou.

"As for Mr. Cao, we can't say." Xu Shao looked at Cao Cao, shook his head and did not comment directly.

"I don't want to know either," Cao Cao glanced at the "substitute" beside him: "My talents are beyond what ordinary people can see through."

"Hmm, that's good," the "substitute" responded.

"The method of stimulating generals is useless against someone." Xu Shao couldn't see the other Cao Cao: "Master Cao, if you have nothing else to do, please go back."

"I'm not here to ask about myself," Cao Cao looked at Xu Shao: "What is Mr. Xu's evaluation of 'Meilin'?"

"Hmm..." Xu Shao pondered for a moment and said: "[Jiangzuo Plum Grove, the talent of Qilin, can conquer the world]."

"Hehehe...hahaha!" Cao Cao laughed up to the sky and walked out.

"Ah, Meng De, wait for me -" Yuan Shao woke up from his daze and hurriedly followed.

"This person..." Xu Shao looked at Cao Cao's back and finally expressed his previous judgment about him: "'A capable minister in times of trouble, a traitor in troubled times'?"