At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

For a long time, although it has not been seen in plain text, this rule exists and exists in everyone's heart.

Even if the mud-legged people who were born in Li Shu entered the Taixue and studied, they could only be auxiliary officials at the county level at most, and they could not be officials above the county level.

That is to say, you can never hold a local position or a central position with more than a thousand stones.

This is an unspoken rule in the officialdom of the Wei Empire.

This rule has been in operation since the Guo Wei regime was not so powerful.

Restrict the upward path of the mud-legged people who were born in Li Shu, in exchange for scholars' acquiescence and ignorance of this phenomenon.

Because Guo Peng wants to develop a rural system and needs a large number of grassroots officials to help him with farming projects, although the scholars are unwilling, they are powerless to stop them, so they can only accept their superiority as soon as they see it.

After all, they don't have that much population to cover every township and every village in the entire Wei Empire, and they don't even bother to do such low-level positions.

Who wants to be with the mud legs all day long, and deal with the mud every day, and get a bad smell.

But now, this matter seems to have changed—Guo Peng seems to be modifying this rule to a certain extent.

This surprised them.

Although the county magistrate did make great contributions and even lost a son for it, can this be compared with the rules set by everyone?

Will the rule that has been in operation for a long time be abandoned?

He just lost a son, but we have to lose our high status!

Some people's minds suddenly opened up, looking at the emperor and Liu Di, their eyes were full of unkindness and anger.

The Li Shu officials who were born like Liu Di were very excited and full of longing in their hearts, feeling that if Liu Di was really allowed to be the county magistrate, they would all have the hope of going to a higher level in the future.

Now that he is an official, who doesn't want to go further?

Who wants to spend their whole life just wandering around the county?

Moreover, Wei State officials have a term of office, including village heads and township heads and all local officials.

If you can't be promoted, you have to go around all the time, change to another place and become an official once, come for another five years, and reincarnate again, and there is no hope of promotion.

This is one of the reasons why many officials lose their aggressiveness and become mediocre or even corrupt officials.

But now, the emperor seems to intend to tear a hole for them, so that they can see hope.

A ray of hope bloomed from the darkness where no light could be seen.

However, the shady curtain that covers the light is just the painted skin that scholars rely on for their livelihood.

The emperor actually wants to tear off their painted skins and let these humble people with clay legs take the same positions as them?

What a joke!

We are high-ranking scholars, and our families have been officials for generations, at least two thousand stones for generations. We were born to rule these mud legs. How can these mud legs step on our heads?

Some people wanted to stand up and question this decision, but they didn't dare to face the power of the emperor.

The emperor who just fought such a big victory, the emperor who just wiped out two clans, this... I really don't dare.

They are quite contradictory. They want to go, but they dare not go.

But it is related to everyone's interests. If you don't stand up and question it at this time, what if it really becomes a practice in the future?

Everyone's privileges will be violated, political status will be shaken, and the cultural advantages that have been monopolized by so many years of hard work will also be challenged.

Take a step back now, who knows how the emperor will push forward?

If you are a county magistrate now, what if you become a sheriff in the future?What about governors and central officials?

A group of people exchanged glances in private, thinking that they should stand up, but no one dared to take the lead.

Seeing that the matter was about to be settled, Zhou Chen, a member of the Ministry of War, bit the bullet and stood up.

"Your Majesty, according to the practice of our dynasty, officials of Liu Di's background can only serve as county magistrates in the county, and have never surpassed this level. Liu Di can be rewarded for his meritorious service, but such things as promotion, it will inevitably involve... Too big, please think twice, Your Majesty."

Someone stood up and took the lead, and immediately a few courageous people were willing to stand up.

"Your Majesty, this matter is too involved. If it is used by someone with ulterior motives, I am afraid it will be difficult to deal with it."

"Your Majesty, without rules, nothing can be achieved. Since the rules are established, they should be used. Otherwise, if everyone does not abide by the rules, the country will not be a country."

"Please think twice, Your Majesty."

The three stood behind Zhou Chen, expressing their support for him.

Then the atmosphere of the whole scene became very sinister.

Officials from Li Shu's background showed displeasure.

Some were still gnashing their teeth, their faces flushed.

Some simply showed resentment towards these scholars and officials, as if they planned to step forward to bite them and beat them severely if given the chance.

No one can bear this face-to-face suppression.

Of course, there were also those who stood by and watched silently, mainly because the emperor hadn't spoken yet, so they didn't dare to stand up, for fear that what they said was not to the emperor's taste, and they would be punished by the emperor.

Everyone has been an official under the emperor for some time, and they are no strangers to some of the emperor's handling methods, so when they saw the warriors stand up and fight for their interests, they were still very moved.

But if you are moved, you should go to see a play.

Otherwise, if the emperor blows it up, where should I go to reason?

Sure enough, the emperor looked at the four officials and was furious.

Guo Peng slapped the table in front of him hard.

"Absurd! Our country of Wei has always distinguished rewards and punishments. Liu Di lost his flesh and blood relatives because of state affairs. He put state affairs before family affairs and devoted himself to serving the country. If such a dedicated person does not let him occupy a high position, how can he correct the country's morals? Is there a clause in the law of the State of Wei stating that he cannot be a county magistrate? Show it to Gu to see!"

Well, the emperor is starting to play a rogue!

Chapter 1126. What does the one thousand 130 six emperors want to do?

Although the emperor's actions were indeed rogue, the emperor was right.

This unspoken rule is an oral agreement, similar to a convention, there is no written rule, and it has been in operation for a long time before the founding of the country.

Therefore, after the founding of the country, Wei Luli had no laws at all to prevent officials from Li and Shu from ascending to high positions.

It's just that everyone does this by default. After all, no one wants to bear such a dishonorable name.

Restricting people's way of ascension can be done in secret, but if it is done in a fair manner, not only doing it but also talking about it, it will be ugly.

Originally, everyone tacitly agreed with each other, that's what they did, and no one thought of violating it.

As a result, the emperor suddenly used the fact that there was no legal regulation, and he wanted to appoint Liu Di as the county magistrate of Ye County.

To be honest, there is nothing wrong with the program.

According to Liu Di's resume and achievements, there is no problem with letting him serve as the county magistrate, and Wei Lu also supports it.

Not to mention the county magistrate, as long as he has enough credit and experience, Liu Di can theoretically hold any official position.

Even if it is the chief assistant of the cabinet, even if it is the order of the minister, as long as the credit is enough, he can be in charge.

There has never been any explicit provision in Wei Law regarding the legislative scope of officials to restrict their origin. No matter what your origin is, you are theoretically qualified to be a high-ranking official, and there is no problem at all.

But the problem is that the officials don't take the law of Wei seriously, but take the unspoken rules between them and the emperor very seriously.

They think that Wei Law is just for people to see, and any kind of rules that anyone can see is definitely not the most important. The most important rules are invisible but intangible but real.

So what really matters is not what Wei Lu said, but what the emperor did.

It was an agreement between the emperor and the scholars before him to limit the way for Li Shu's children to become officials.

As a result, if you say no now, you don’t want it. This is very dangerous.

This is a dangerous start.

You can abolish this rule and ignore the agreement. After that, what will you do that is even more inconsistent with our agreement?Do you still want your political reputation as the emperor?

Tian Feng felt that this was a very dangerous signal. He felt that the emperor seemed to want to use this unprecedented victory to do something.

Cheng Yu also felt that this was the emperor's probing move, using Liu Di to test the bottom line of the scholars, paving the way for a better breakthrough of this bottom line.

Xun You also felt that the emperor seemed not satisfied with the current political environment, and did not take a good rest after the end of the war as everyone thought. The emperor seemed to want to make troubles.

Xi Zhong also felt that this matter seems to be just a matter of whether a county magistrate or not, but if it is really expanded, it will inevitably affect the operation of the entire Wei State officialdom.

Anyone with a little bit of political awareness knows that this is the emperor's tentative move. This matter is by no means simple, but...

No one dared to stand up and speak out, no one dared to speak out the emperor's mind.

Today is different.

Some people were anxious and wanted to stand up and say something, but they didn't listen to their steps at all.

I wanted to do this in my heart, but my body betrayed its own will very honestly.

Don’t dare, just don’t dare, very clearly dare not.

He knew that he had to stand up to protect his own interests, but he didn't dare, because the emperor he was facing seemed to be invincible.

The four of Zhou Chen who stood up suddenly fell into a helpless situation.

Then it was no surprise that he became the emperor's key target.

"The meritorious ministers are not rewarded heavily. In the future, will there be people who will do their best for me, Wei?"

"If something like this happens, won't someone say behind their backs that they treat heroes harshly?"

"Gu has always been rewarded and punished clearly. It is clear what should be rewarded and what should be punished. Now you don't let Gu reward Liu Di, do you want Gu to be ridiculed by the world?"

"Or is it that you are jealous of the virtuous and capable, and cannot tolerate people with noble morals ascending to high positions, so as not to hinder you from taking advantage of the opportunity?"

"When I think that there are people like you next to Gu, I shudder! How can you have the heart and responsibility to be an official? If the officials of Wei State are like you, the country will not be a country! In a few years, Gu will be destroyed. Your Majesty!"

Then Guo Peng dismissed the four with a wave of his hand, and hurried back to his hometown to farm.

With a few light words, Guo Peng dismissed the four accompanying officials who accompanied him on the Northern Expedition, rushed back to his hometown on the spot, and seized all official benefits.

And they will also be on the emperor's blacklist. From then on, their political future is very slim.

"Such people are doing official business by Gu's side, and Gu doesn't know it. This is also Gu's dereliction of duty, but the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Officials are both responsible for sending these people to Gu's side. Zhang Zhao, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, each fined them one month's salary as a warning."

"According to the order!"

Someone immediately carried out Guo Peng's order.

"Liu Di, from today onwards, you are the magistrate of Ye County with a rank of one thousand shi. I hope you will do your best to serve the country in the future. Gu will never let anyone who does his best to serve the country be wronged. You will not be deprived of the rewards you deserve."

The emperor didn't give anyone else any chance. After punishing them, he made a final decision and personally appointed Liu Di as the county magistrate of Ye County.

Seeing that Guo Peng dismissed four people from their official posts for his promotion, Liu Di was overwhelmed with gratitude and could only kneel in front of Guo Peng to express his absolute loyalty to him without knowing what to say.

"Your Majesty's great kindness, I have nothing to repay, but I can only dedicate this body to Your Majesty, and let Your Majesty drive me!"

Those officials who were born in Li and Shu looked at Liu Di enviously and excitedly, each with their own thoughts.

Today is Liu Di, but tomorrow may not be them.

The times have changed, they no longer need to be suppressed below the county level, but have the possibility to go up to serve as chief officials and grasp the real power!

Liu Di is No.1, and they will also become the second and third!

The flame of hope, which was about to be extinguished, began to burn blazingly again at this time.

Officials from humble backgrounds are in the mood of watching a drama, because they are indeed not involved in this kind of matter, and most of the officials from scholarly backgrounds have their own ideas except for a few who are as calm as water. Not a good thing.

The emperor just promoted a county magistrate now, what next?

After that, the emperor promoted three officials from Li and Shu to serve as county magistrates of Bohai County, Qinghe County, and Wei County, and promoted a group of county officials who had made contributions to the county government.

Judging from this situation, the emperor seems to be planning to raise the ranks of Li Shu officials directly to a higher level, allowing them to serve as county magistrates, and they can be transferred to the county government as important auxiliary officials to assist the county guard in managing the affairs of a county.

This scope was suddenly expanded a little bit, and the promotion channels for Lishu officials were opened up a little bit.

This made some people a little nervous, a little worried, and a little uncomfortable.

These days, those whose ancestors have never been sheriffs are ashamed to call themselves humble.

In any poor family, at least one of the generations of ancestors has been a county prefect, a two-thousand-stone official.

The future generations will not say, but at least this scale can be called a poor family, otherwise it is just a simple local tyrant, who can only dominate the local area and be a small official.