At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

The biggest enemies no longer exist, who else can stop Guo Peng's way forward?

In other words, even if someone wants to block, those who don't want to be blocked will swarm up, tear up and eat the blocking forces.

Guo Peng's progress is also their progress. The greater Guo Peng's progress, the greater their progress.

If Guo Peng became the emperor, wouldn't these people become Conglong heroes?

Can't they get this huge achievement, and thus get the wealth of the family for many generations?

The stronger Guo Peng is, the better they are. The higher Guo Peng's status is, the higher their status is. They complement each other, and they have long been integrated into one, and they no longer have other ideas.

No matter what, they must push Guo Peng to go up. In this era without any guarantee, Guo Peng is their only guarantee!

Guo Peng stayed in Luoyang for a few days, met with officials of all sizes near Luoyang, and rode around the villages, townships, and counties around Luoyang that were under construction, and felt very good. At the same time, He also took Guo Jin and his little friends by his side, giving them advice.

"As a master, you can't always stay in the city, you have to go out often, go around, go deep into the people, discuss and communicate with the old farmers who are farming in the field. The old farmers are seldom literate, but they are ours. Root, Ajin, you have to remember that agriculture is the foundation of the country, and if the life of the old farmers is not good, your life will not be good either."

Guo Peng told Guo Jin some big truths that the high-ranking people need to know, and let Guo Jin know what his friends and roots are, and who his enemies are.

The most ordinary people are his foundation and friends. If their life is not good, his life will not be better.

Guo Jin observed the fields with Guo Peng, looked at the hard-working farmers in the village, got off their horses and walked in the fields, felt the smell of the soil, and looked at the lush growing grain, and seemed to feel something.

Guo Peng asked Guo Jin, Lu Yi, Xia Houshang, and Cao Zhen to go down to the field to help the old farmer weed, and experience the difficulty of farm work. After working for a long time, the four of them were so tired that they couldn't straighten up and collapsed. Gasped in the ground.

Guo Peng has deep expectations for them, expecting them to take over their careers and continue to move forward, so they need to be transformed to a certain extent.

It is always good to let them experience the hardships of the people.

During his stay in Luoyang, Guo Peng also went to the place where he and Lu Zhi greeted Liu Xie at the beginning, looking for memories of the past, feeling the way he came here, and once again confirmed his determination not to let Liu Xie go. Lost myself.

When the most critical moment is approaching, one's heart must be calm and firm, and one cannot be shaken by anything in the future.

The emperor's hegemony is only in a moment or even in a thought, no matter what happens, it can't shake his determination and will.

Whoever dares to stop will be brutally cleaned by him.

The process of ascending to power is bound to be accompanied by brutal political purges.

Some will die, some will live, some will be demoted, and some will be promoted.

No matter who it is, nothing can stop his footsteps.

It has been 12 years since I arrived in Luoyang at the age of 18, a dog for 22 years, and a human for four years.

Over the past 22 years, the 34-year-old Guo has already had a firm heart and is unshakable.

In the next life, he will become a well-deserved master.

But just when Guo Peng was about to leave Luoyang and return to Yecheng, he suddenly received a letter.

It's not that the owner of this letter is very important, nor is it a high-ranking official, nor is it talking about any important military affairs.

Zhuge Jin, a newcomer to Guoying with a low status, was talking about a trivial matter.

Zhuge Jin wrote to say that he finally got a letter from his younger brother Zhuge Liang in Jingzhou.

Zhuge Liang told him about his life in Jingzhou these years, expressed his longing for his brother, and said that he decided to send the coffin of his uncle Zhuge Xuan back to his hometown for burial, and he also returned to the clan by the way.

After Guo Peng finished reading the letter, he smiled and looked at his son Guo Jin who was by his side. Without saying anything, he replied a simple letter to Zhuge Jin, saying that it was very good, and suggested that Zhuge Jin take this branch. The family moved to Yecheng, don't go back to Xuzhou.

Guo Peng was actually very sure that after getting the news from Zhuge Jin, it was very unlikely that Zhuge Liang would stay in Jingzhou and not come back.

And before, when Guo Peng decided to return to Yecheng, he asked Cheng Yu who was in Yecheng to issue an order.

He said that he would hold a talent discussion ceremony in Yecheng, and select talented and virtuous people to enter his shogunate at the ceremony.

Regardless of the age, place of origin and past achievements of the visitors, the officials of the State of Wei are selected.

Yes, it is a Wei official, not a Han official.

It would be somewhat inappropriate for such an ingenious selection of officials to be carried out in the name of the General Han Chariot, but it is very simple to carry out in the name of the king of Wei.

Guo Peng has the final say on everything in Wei Guo, and the selection of Wei officials is also dominated by Guo Peng. Guo Peng decides, and no one else can interfere.

Chapter 631 640 Zhuge Liang in Jingzhou

Up to now, it is already well known to everyone who is more promising between Wei officials and Han officials.

Ever since Xun Yu was exiled to the Cheqi General's Administration Office, he no longer had Guo Peng's favor, but anyone with a bit of political savvy knew that Wei officials had a better future than Han officials.

Except for a few old-fashioned royalists who are not easy to use, most people have actually agreed with the dominance of the Guowei political group led by Guo Peng, at least in the bottom of their hearts.

Actual domination has arrived, so can nominal domination be far behind?

The various configurations of the Guowei political group were not built according to the territory of the so-called "Wei State" limited to Jizhou.

This scale, this level, and this level of work are completely built according to the specifications of the central government of an empire, and everything that is done is also the work of the central government of the empire.

The supporting measures of the Wei State were completely prepared by Guo Peng in order to replace the Han Empire to rule the whole country better and more smoothly in the future.

Ready now, when the time comes, with an order, Wei officials from all over the country will quickly throw away the titles of Han officials, throw the flag of Han into the garbage dump of history, raise the banner of the Wei Empire, and everything will start again , no change, just a change in name.

This kind of change is the most straightforward, smoothest, and most terrifying.

Because this is something that Guo Peng has done long ago, and only waits for an opportunity to announce it to the world.

After the enfeoffment of the Eight Kingdoms, the existence and majesty of the Han Dynasty was like a candle in the wind, even the symbolic meaning almost disappeared.

After the Hongnong Mutiny, the Han Central Committee was physically wiped out, leaving only a name and nothing else.

At this moment, Guo Peng chose to hold a talent discussion ceremony to select Wei officials, and he also had the idea of ​​testing the hearts of the world's gentry children.

If there are many responders, it proves that not only at the level of the army and ordinary people, but also among the scholars, the Guowei regime already has enough popular support.

If this is the case, then when Wei replaces Han, there will not be any major obstacles, but it will be a matter of course, and it is something that everyone in the world supports and looks forward to.

If there are not enough responders, then now is still not the right time. We must continue to increase our efforts at the cultural and propaganda levels, and we must increase our efforts to crack down on conservative royalists at the political level.

At that time, Xun Yu will be the first to be attacked, and his unlucky followers will also be hit by the autocratic iron fist one by one.

Guo has never been weak in his methods of attacking political opponents, let alone hesitant. The reason why he did not beat him to death with a single punch is because slow torture is more deterrent than a single punch to death.

This is a temptation, which belongs to Guo Peng's temptation to the scholars of the world. Whether to accept it or continue to resist depends on all scholars.

Guo Peng believes that smart people will definitely choose to support, and dull people will choose to resist.

Up to now, the preparations are almost done, Guo Peng's wings are almost full, and he is about to start a series of operations of his own.

Even if these scholars don't support it, they will only end up with a dead end.

I'd like to see if you support it or not.

Therefore, Guo Peng instructed Chen Lin, an imperial literati, to write an article, which fully reflected the intention of selecting Wei officials in this talent discussion ceremony, spread it to the counties and counties under his jurisdiction, and sent people to Jingzhou to spread it quickly in order to get news Spread the word in Jingzhou as soon as possible.

This is Guo Peng's other kind of cultural war besides the military war against Jiangdong.

Naturally, military means can be used to deal with Jiangdong, but psychological warfare may be more effective in dealing with Jingzhou.

But in fact, Zhuge Liang chose to return or did a psychological struggle.

When I first received Zhuge Jin’s letter, not long after Zhuge Xuan’s death, Zhuge Liang had just buried Zhuge Xuan, and continued to study at the Xiangyang Academy founded by Liu Biao. He did not consider returning to the north at all.

Xueyuetang was the official school founded by Liu Biao in Xiangyang. After Luoyang Taixue was burned down, Liu Biao gradually gained a foothold in Jingzhou, so he founded Xueyuetang a few years later.

Because of Jingzhou's safety and Liu Biao's reputation as one of the eight chefs, a large number of northern scholars were attracted to the south. The academic center of the Eastern Han Dynasty was transferred to the Xuexuetang in Jingzhou. study.

At that time, there were endless wars in the north, and only the Linzi official school founded by Guo Peng in Linzi could attract some scholars and students, but because of the frequent wars, it was not as attractive as the Xiangyang Academy.

Zhugexuan had been in Jingzhou for several years. Seeing the endless wars in the north, he no longer had confidence in returning to the north. He felt that the Zhuge clan needed to settle down in the south of the Yangtze River, so he began to concentrate on researching ways in Jingzhou and laying out a network of relationships.

The Zhuge family in Langya is not a first-rate gentry, and even among the second-rate gentry, it can only be regarded as a low-ranking family, even worse than the Guo family from which Guo Peng was born.

The Guo family is still well-dressed, and has been in charge of legal interpretation for generations. It has a place in the central court that is close to hereditary status, while the Zhuge family belongs to the small local gentry in Xuzhou.

The Zhuge clan like this naturally did not have a good development prospect when they arrived in Jingzhou.

Zhuge Xuan himself was able to gain a foothold because he was Liu Biao's subordinate official, but this was not enough for the Zhuge family to gain a foothold.

Zhuge Xuan devoted all his attention to making connections, and finally got involved with the major families in Jingzhou, Cai, Kuai, Pang, and Huang, which laid a good foundation for Zhuge's foothold.

He worked hard, walked on thin ice, worked hard for several years, and even helped Zhuge Liang arrange a marriage with Huang Chengyan's daughter while he was sick.

Afterwards, Zhuge Xuan exhausted his efforts and died. Zhuge Liang was helpless in grief, inherited the relationship network left by Zhuge Xuan, managed it carefully, and propped up his appearance.

He was still young and hadn't yet reached adulthood, but in order to meet Zhuge Xuan's expectations, he performed the crown ceremony when Zhuge Xuan was seriously ill, took the word Kong Ming, married his wife Huang, and established the Zhuge family's facade. Let Zhuge Xuan go with peace of mind.

After Zhuge Xuan's death, Zhuge Liang continued to study in the school hall while managing his life, improving his knowledge, and became friends with Meng Jian, Shi Tao, Cui Jun, and Xu Shu, making friends and learning from each other.

I had a decent life.

As a result, the situation in the world changed drastically. First, Yuan Shu rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor, established the Chen Kingdom, and then was defeated and eliminated by Guo Zifeng, the general who conquered the North.

I thought that the world would restore stability, but the Hongnong court came to enfeoff the eight countries, tearing the world apart. The scholars in Jingxiang heard that Liu Biao had the intention of proclaiming justice, and they opposed it. They discussed this matter wantonly in the school hall, which aroused great public attention. .

Zhuge Liang did not participate in the discussion, but Liu Biao was indeed forced to be unable to become the king. However, following the changes in Xuzhou, Tao Qian became the king, which caused a full-scale resistance from Xuzhou people, and Xuzhou fell into war.

Soon after, Tao Qian died of illness, and the chariot and cavalry general Wei Gong Guo Zifeng entered Xuzhou. Since then, the Central Plains have basically settled down.

After hearing the news of the turmoil in Xuzhou at that time, Zhuge Liang's heart raised his throat, for fear that his family would suffer misfortune.

Later, when he learned that Xuzhou was pacified by Guo Peng, and got Zhuge Jin's family letter shortly afterwards, Zhuge Liang felt at ease.

It was at that time that Zhuge Liang learned that Zhuge Jin was called into the mansion by Guo Pengpi and became Guo Peng's subordinate official to work for Guo Peng. Zhuge's family was safe.

Zhuge Jin then hoped that Zhuge Liang could go home instead of staying in Jingzhou.

Jingzhou is very dangerous.

Chapter 632 The general trend of the world is in Wei

Jingzhou is indeed dangerous, but Zhuge Liang didn't think so when he returned to the north.

Because for him, Jingzhou means a lot.

Zhuge Xuan lost his life to open up the situation for him in Jingzhou, but Zhuge Jin let him go back. Is this worthy of Zhuge Xuan's painstaking efforts?

Zhuge Liang didn't want to be sorry for Zhuge Xuan's painstaking efforts.

Moreover, the situation in the world has not changed. Guo Peng has generally unified Hebei and the Central Plains, but the situation is not clear, the war is still in chaos, and Jingzhou is still very safe.

The separation of the two brothers may not be beneficial to the family inheritance.

But then, the situation in the world changed again, and it was still a catastrophe——

The emperor died, unfortunately lost his life, the whole Hongnong was turned into fly ashes, the Han family was on the verge of collapse, lost the emperor, and the people of the world were confused and restless, not knowing what to do.

This kind of emotion also spread in the school hall. Thousands of scholars and students in the school hall felt panic because of this, and some even cried and ran wildly in the street because of this, so that they hurt themselves.

Zhuge Liang is also one of them, a member of all living beings who can only passively respond to the general trend of the world.

Afterwards, General Cheqi and Wei Gong Guo Peng announced the westward expedition to the land of Kansai, annihilating the Liangzhou people who caused the death of the emperor and the collapse of the court, and avenged the emperor.

Although successful, the death of the emperor is a foregone conclusion, and the collapse of the imperial court is also a foregone conclusion. There is still no way to say how the general situation of the world will go.

Who does the new emperor belong to?

Who is the family member of the Liu family?

No one knows, and no one dares to say, because the world is actually divided, making it almost impossible for the emperor to gain the approval of the people of the world.

Without a Han emperor, can there be a unified Han Empire?

In the Tianxia Academic Center, there are scholars and scholars gathered from various states, but no one can come up with a conclusion.

Because they all know in their hearts that it is not them who really use the qualifications and power.

But in the north, the famous chariot and cavalry general Wei Gong Guo Peng who is fighting in the east and west.

The Central Plains was basically pacified at an unimaginable speed. Scholars and scholars from various states who did not take root in Jingzhou thought that Jingzhou was no longer a good place to go.

They came to Jingzhou at the beginning because the Central Plains was still in chaos and in the midst of war. In order to avoid the war, bandits and yellow scarves, they had to flee to Jingzhou for refuge.

This is the main reason, and the establishment of the school is a secondary reason.

Now that the Central Plains is settled, it is very stable under the rule of Guo Peng, and the reputation of the Yecheng Academy is gradually rising. The education team led by Cai Yong and Yuan Si, the only heir of the Yuan family in Runan, is sitting in the Yecheng Academy. Still quite hopeful.