Chapter 321: Distinguishing the Confucians

To put it short, Wu Fan returned to Yecheng, hurriedly had breakfast, and finished washing up, and it was almost nine o'clock in the morning.

The morning court is about to begin.

Moreover, Wu Fan was one of the protagonists of the morning dynasty this morning, and he had to arrive at Xuanhe Palace before all civil and military officials.

When he walked out of the hall, he met many foreign civil and military officials who also stayed in the inn. When he saw Wu Fan, everyone greeted him, and his enthusiasm was as usual. Wu Fan nodded to everyone and responded, but he thought to himself: After a while, it will only be more than ten minutes. The relaxed and casual expressions on these people's faces at this time, I don't know what kind of rapid changes will occur.

You can imagine that dramatic scene. It's really exciting.

Thinking of this, Wu Fan took a big stride and arrived at Xuanhe Palace first before everyone.

Later, more than 200 civil and military officials also arrived one after another. Still, just like yesterday, because there were too many people, only a small number of those with outstanding qualifications and merits stood in the hall, and most of the rest could only stand outside the hall.

After everyone, including Wu Fan, stood in the hall, they began to wait quietly, waiting for the arrival of the new emperor Cao Chong. After about ten minutes, Cao Chong was still missing. Some people below began to whisper and shake their heads from time to time, thinking that Cao Chong had just ascended the throne, which was not a good sign.

Wu Fan had different ideas from everyone else because he knew Cao Chong far better than others. In his opinion, Cao Chong must have had some unscrupulous reasons, which would delay the time he went to court.

While wondering what the reason was, a eunuch from the rear of the palace turned out and looked into the court. He saw Wu Fan standing on the steps of the main seat. He hurriedly walked a few steps to Wu Fan and whispered:

"Sima Wu, His Majesty felt a cold last night and got dizzy and weak this morning. Therefore, the youngest person came to inform Sima Wu that the morning court would be presided over by Sima Wu. Regarding the reform, Sima Wu can promulgate and implement it in accordance with the terms mentioned yesterday, without any worries."

Wu Fan nodded. Sure enough, the reason why Cao Chong failed to come to court was the same as he had guessed.

However, when Wu Fan thought of Cao Chong's death in history, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Cao Chong must not make any mistakes now. Not to mention anything else, although his reforms were replaced by Cao Chong's brothers, although they would not deny them all, they would definitely not implement them in full. In that way, his efforts would be put to waste.

Moreover, for long-term considerations, the whole country will inevitably suffer for a period of pain after the reform, and both officials and the people will be somewhat uncomfortable in the new environment. In this case, I need Cao Chong's support even more to suppress the voices and opinions of the conservative opposition.

Thinking in his heart, Wu Fan decided to go to the palace to see how Cao Chong was in a state of illness. Now, according to Cao Chong's appointment, he will preside over this morning court himself.

So, after the eunuch left, Wu Fan coughed a few times, causing the whispering below to stop. Then, Wu Fan said loudly:

"Just just now, the eunuch in the palace told me that Your Majesty was unwell due to the cold at night, and he could not attend court today. However, because today's morning court is very important, Your Majesty ordered me, Wu Fan, to preside over the presidency, and everyone was not allowed to leave."

As soon as Wu Fan said this, everyone resolved their doubts. Those who once thought that Cao Chong was lazy and lazy in the government were quite ashamed at the eyes of his surrounding ministers.

However, as for what Wu Fan claimed, this morning court was very important, everyone had a new question: I wonder how important a morning court can be. Is it more important than supporting Cao Chong ascending the throne yesterday?

How could they know that compared to today's morning dynasty, all the important meetings of all dynasties in the past, including Cao Chong's ascension to the throne yesterday, are incomparable to today, and they are not on the same level as today. In common words in writing, this is an epoch-making milestone morning dynasty with epoch-making significance.

Just listen to Wu Fan continue:

"The reason why this morning court is important is that it is related to the future of our country and nation. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is closely related to every Chinese, whether it is a civilian, a wealthy businessman, a beggar, or an official."

After pausing, Wu Fan looked around the puzzled faces below and said word by word:

"The theme of today's morning court is summarized in only two words: reform."

"reform?"

"What does this mean?"

"Our calendar is very perfect, what else should we reform?"

"Shh, don't talk, first listen to what the reform mentioned by Sima Wu said."

...

When civil and military officials inside and outside the hall heard the word "reform", they reacted in various ways. Some were confused, some questioned, some inquired, and some showed great interest in this.

Wu Fan put his eyes away from everyone's faces, turned to look at the bright sky outside the court, and said:

"The purpose of this reform is: we cannot just look in front of us, and we must look at it as long as possible. Compared with the surrounding wild tribes, our country is very powerful, and it can determine its survival by the commander. However, with the vastness of the world and the vastness of the territory, who can guarantee that there is only us in this world? Only us is a powerful nation? Be prepared for danger in times of peace and be prepared; in order for our country and nation to truly become stronger and stand proudly on the top of all countries and nations in the world, I therefore ask Your Majesty for a series of reforms across the country, including the weakening of Your Majesty's existing power."

Wu Fan did not really say that Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, and North Africa all have civilized races. Because the current Chinese people generally believe that China is the center of heaven and earth. Although there are tribes around, they are all backward nomadic peoples, and the gap with the Han civilization is not an ordinary big one.

In this case, it is said that there are other civilizations and races that are far away and cannot reach, and like us, they have established a country and developed an extremely brilliant civilization. The civil and military officials of the court will definitely not believe it. With this doubt, they will also have a one-sided negative attitude towards Wu Fan's proposed reforms. It is better to use this vague concept method to vaguely stop. Although it seems a bit lacking in strong arguments, no one can overturn this vague argument.

In addition, Wu Fan believes that only he is the only one who knows about the world, and that Xiao Qiao knows, should not be easily shown. It is best to bring considerable value every time he says it. However, Wu Fan still has no idea how to achieve this value maximization, but he just has such an idea in his heart.

Let’s talk about the situation in the court. After Wu Fan said something clearly at the beginning of the throne, he turned his head and looked at a civil servant who had been standing next to the main seat. The civil servant of the eunuch understood and walked forward a few steps, unfolded a scroll in his hand, and began to recite in detail the fifteen reform plans that Wu Fan told Cao Chong yesterday.

Just as Wu Fan expected, as the eunuchs and civil servants thought out these fifteen plans one by one, the expressions of civil and military officials in the court suddenly changed, from being relaxed and casual, to being surprised, stunned, and then to being whispered and discussed like a pot, until in the end, many people shook their heads and shouted "No"; the scene during this period was really a bit dramatic.

These fifteen reforms have made drastic moves, cutting off the feudal centralized system to almost fragmentation. Among those officials who shouted that they were unlucky, there were only these three types of people: they were old, corrupt scholars, and relatives of the Cao family.

The relatively young officials did not respond very strongly to this, whether they were supporting or opposing it.

As for those civil and military officials who had a good relationship with Wu Fan, most of them did not express any opinions. In fact, they expressed their dissent because they were silent. However, dozens of officials who had the closest relationship with Wu Fan clearly expressed their support for Wu Fan's reforms.

As a result, hundreds of civil and military officials inside and outside the court quickly formed two major factions: support and oppose reformists. Those who maintain neutrality, that is, there is almost no attitude towards reform. It is no wonder that, after all, in this era, people deeply cultivate the creed that "every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the country." Even the common people are like this, the civil and military officials in the court are even more unscrupulous.

Because they knew very well that these fifteen reforms were used on the foundation of this country, and that success or failure had an immeasurable huge impact on the fate of the country and the nation. Taking all the reforms in all previous dynasties, compared with this reform, it was like tickling the old man and slashing the back with an axe.

In addition, due to the reforms proposed by Wu Fan, many of them are targeted at officials, such as the double sentencing of officials in violation of the law, the titles cannot be inherited from generation to generation, etc. These reforms deeply hurt the interests and power of the conservative opposition, which made them feel uncomfortable and shouted at the top of their lungs.

Wu Fan glanced at the situation below and reached out to signal. The personnel from both sides who were arguing below immediately stopped and looked at Wu Fan in unison.

"Sima Wu, I said frankly. The system of the country is like a drum, and the people are kept in the drum; they cannot know too much, and the drum cannot be destroyed. Then the monarch and ministers work together to hold the drumsticks, and the drum sounds are loud and rumbling. Only when the people are confused at the center of the drum, can they have no complaints about heavy taxes when the country is in financial difficulties, and no hatred for the conscription when the country suffers from military disasters. Now, these fifteen reforms are like adding axes and hammers to completely smash the drums, letting the people out of the drums, and knowing too many things that they should not know. Then when the country imposes heavy taxes again, the people complain everywhere; when the people forcefully capture the strong men to serve as troops, the people even fight back, and the country will defeat them without attack."

The person who spoke in front of Wu Fan was the old minister Yang Biao. This man was once a minister under Emperor Xian, but was later forced to join Cao's camp and become a minister under Wu Fan's Second Army. His comprehensive performance was considered to be conscientious, especially when Wu Fan's wife and daughter were trapped in Xihe County, he led his troops to him personally.

In general, Wu Fan was quite satisfied with Yang Biao's performance.

However, as an old minister with conservative thoughts, especially the concept of emperor reign and people's fish and meat, Yang Biao was unable to understand the measures of Wu Fan's reform to guide the people's freedom of thought, appropriately alleviating torture, and directly electing officials from the people, and even believed that these measures would cause chaos in the country. Therefore, Yang Biao, who has been taciturn since joining Cao's camp, could not help but stand up and expressed his opposition to Wu Fan.

Originally, Wu Fan asked everyone to stop talking, and wanted to directly announce that the reform must be implemented regardless of whether everyone opposes or supports it. At this moment, seeing that the great principles that Yang Biao said seemed quite similar, many civil and military officials inside and outside the hall nodded in agreement, and even some people who originally supported Wu Fan's reforms also became swaying.

Wu Fan realized that he had to refute a few words to win supporters. Although he had the determination to overcome all obstacles to implement reform, if he could win as many supporters as possible, the effect of reform would naturally be better.

From this, Wu Fan responded:

"Mr. Yang, please forgive me for saying that it is time to change your way of thinking. The taxes of the state are not only enough to ensure the normal operation of the country, but also can save a large amount of surplus every year. The reason why financial difficulties in disasters in all dynasties is due to the royal family's squandering, bureaucrats, and embezzlement of the government and the reforms I advocated, while inspiring the wisdom of the people, also increase the punishment of officials and perfect supervision of the quality. These three-pronged approaches will surely make officials fearful and force them to be honest and self-disciplined. The royal family is also weakened by their power and cannot be as luxurious as the previous dynasty. Therefore, when the disaster year comes, the treasury's deposit can be dealt with, so why do we need to impose heavy taxes? As for military service, I would like to ask every minister on the scene again: Why must we force the people to become troops to resist foreign enemies instead of calling them to spontaneously as they become troops to defend their homes?"

Wu Fan's question made everyone look at each other and didn't know how to answer it. Because this has been the case in all dynasties, there were relevant laws that could capture men and exile in wartime, and no one has thought about this issue from a different perspective like Wu Fan.

Moreover, war will kill people. If it weren’t forcing the strong men, how many people would voluntarily serve as troops to defend the country?

Everyone thought Wu Fan’s problem was really a bit inexplicable.

Wu Fan waited for a while and saw that no one answered, he said:

"This is where our thinking should be changed. The reason why the people are forced to resist foreign enemies is because we know that if this is not the case, there will be very few people who voluntarily serve as troops to resist foreign enemies. The reason is actually very simple, because the people do not love this country. At least, the people do not love her as much as their parents. As for why the people do not love this country? You might as well imagine that if parents keep their children in the dark, create fear and confusion with their children's growth, and strictly restrict their children's thoughts and do their best. When such children grow up, how many will love their parents from the bottom of their hearts?"

After hearing this, many people present suddenly realized the truth, nodded and praised it, and felt ashamed that they had never thought so?

As a result, there were more people supporting Wu Fan’s reform. Compared with the number of opponents, the two sides had formed a 2:3 trend.

Of course, the diehards in the opposition did not want to see this situation. One of them stood up and said loudly:
Chapter completed!