Although Cao Cao promoted the people selected by the imperial examination, he did not strip the power of the rich and powerful families. Therefore, the rich and powerful families were only unhappy that these lowly people actually lived with them in the court.
The aristocratic families who had originally planned to do something did not say anything when they saw that Cao Cao had only made these commoners officials and that they were far from threatening them. Moreover, their official positions were still the same, so they did not say anything.
This was because Cao Zhi had seen through the thoughts of these aristocratic families a long time ago. Although they were very powerful and each of them was also a human among human elites, they were also very realistic.
If Cao Cao attacked their positions and affected their interests, then they might not hesitate to fall out with Cao Cao. However, if Cao Cao only promoted the Humble Class and did not affect their interests at all, they did not need to provoke Cao Cao.
After all, they didn't dare to provoke Cao Cao's anger. They could still judge which was more important.
It was precisely because Cao Zhi saw through the aristocratic families 'mentality that he persuaded Cao Cao. Although the imperial examination system and the three provinces and six ministries system were good, they were not easy to operate on a large scale. They had to be slow and steady, like boiling a frog in warm water. They had to disintegrate their power without alerting the aristocratic families. This way, they could minimize the backlash from the aristocratic families.
Cao Cao agreed. With his vast experience, he could naturally understand what Cao Zhi was saying. Actually, even if Cao Zhi did not mention it, he would not have killed the aristocratic families. Seeing that Cao Zhi actually wanted to nag about such a matter, he could not help but put on a serious expression and pretended to be serious."My son has underestimated me."
When Cao Zhi heard Cao Cao's words, he couldn't help but be stunned. Then, he slapped his forehead and came to his senses. Cao Cao was a rare hero of his generation. How could he not have considered this? He was thinking too much.
Cao Zhi laughed bitterly in his heart.
The Battle of Red Cliff had caused Cao Cao to lose a lot of his strength and prestige!
At this point, Cao Cao and the aristocratic families had taken a step back. Cao Cao did not touch their official positions. They were still in the same positions as before. The aristocratic families also tacitly approved of Cao Cao's decision to use the Humble Class for the imperial examinations and did not cause any more trouble.
In the Prime Minister's residence, Cao Cao was pacing back and forth in the hall, his expression gloomy.
He hadn't noticed it at first, but after Cao Zhi's suggestions and reforms, he was now aware of the hidden dangers brought about by the strength of the aristocratic families.
After the reform of the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system, Cao Zhi presented a detailed list of Cao Wei's officials, and Xun Yu presented the source of Cao Wei's land, property, and population taxes. This became even more clear.
More than 70% of the officials in his territory were from aristocratic families!
All the usable farmland in his territory had now been controlled by nearly 40% of the aristocratic families!
If the land was like this, then there was no need to talk about taxes and population.
Over the years, these aristocratic families had eaten up the population and taxes of Cao Wei under his eyes. The amount of data was simply unimaginable!
What shocked Cao Cao even more was that the data showed that for a few years, not only did the population registration of Cao Wei not increase, but it even showed a negative growth!
Even if it was a war, it shouldn't be so much less!
The only possibility was that these people had been eaten by these aristocratic families. In other words, these people had been secretly poached by the aristocratic families and became the "black accounts" in the hands of these aristocratic families.
This kind of arrogant behavior was simply treating Cao Wei as a fat sheep that had no ability to resist and was drinking blood without any scruples.
Cao Cao looked at the data in his hands. The more he looked at it, the more afraid he became. The more he looked at it, the angrier he became and the more he gritted his teeth.
These sons of the aristocratic families were all sucking the Cao family's blood!
If not for Cao Zhi's reminder, he would probably still be busy fighting and would not have noticed this serious problem.
If this continued, even if he unified the world, he would still end up as a piece of cake for these aristocratic families.
Considering the consequences, he, who was already suspicious, became even more worried about the aristocratic families.
If these aristocratic families were not dealt with, Cao Wei would not last long.
Just as he was thinking about this, Cao Zhi came to visit Cao Cao and report to him about the work in Luoyang. Cao Cao also told Cao Zhi about this idea.
When Cao Zhi heard that Cao Cao was beginning to realize that the root of the chaos in the world was behind the aristocratic families, he laughed and bowed."Father is wise, but in my opinion, the aristocratic families have already become powerful. We can only slowly weaken them and not act rashly.”
Cao Cao nodded his head. He thought about how the conflict between the aristocratic families had been going on for a long time and that it was not something that could be resolved in a short period of time. He temporarily put this thought aside and decided not to worry about it for the time being.
The so-called work report was actually about the distribution of work in Luoyang after Cao Zhi left. To put it simply, after Cao Zhi, the person in charge, left Luoyang, could he rely on the two Ding brothers to maintain the normal operation of Luoyang? It would not be to the extent that once Cao Zhi left, the system would not be able to operate.
And the facts proved that these two brothers not only maintained the development of Luoyang, but also did a good job. Now that Luoyang was in their hands, the Great Wei Academy had been expanded even more and had a larger scale. Moreover, because these two were once part of the scholars 'group, it was not difficult for them to recruit scholars. Under the circumstances where the two brothers vigorously promoted the imperial examination system, countless Cao Wei scholars rushed to Luoyang.
After all, although the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system had been changed, the imperial examination system was now only available in Luoyang. Cao Zhi, the Minister of Personnel and Minister of Rites, had not had the time to do anything else.
The current level of education in Luoyang could basically be considered the highest in Cao Wei, excluding Yedu.
Apart from that, the garrison system in Luoyang was also operating normally. The annual income it brought was several times that of other places. The amount of cultivated land had also expanded unprecedentedly. There was basically no wasteland in the huge Luoyang! All of them were used reasonably!
Most importantly, not only did Luoyang receive more taxes, but the people also received more!
When he saw that Luoyang only collected a small amount of tax, but could obtain a higher income than the government and the people, Cao Cao was really shocked and could not say a word.
He had never imagined that Luoyang, which was originally a wasteland and basically a wasteland, could actually obtain such a huge profit in just a year.
Moreover, this profit was increasing year by year!
Cao Cao was truly stunned.
Very quickly, he turned this shock into a deep anger towards the aristocratic families.
All these years, how much blood had these aristocratic families eaten from him!
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