At night, Luoyang, Sikong Mansion.
Sima Yi sat in the middle of the hall, with his wives, concubines and children sitting on both sides, each with a desk.
The Sima family of Henei had never liked extravagance. After Sima Yi became Sikong, there were only six dishes for dinner at home every day.
In addition, there were many rules in the mansion. After the meal was announced, everyone quickly picked up their dishes and rice, as if someone was urging them from behind.
When Sima Yi finished his meal, he put his chopsticks on the bowl. After a few breaths, everyone in the hall put down their chopsticks.
Sima Yi stood up and walked out, saying, "Son, follow me."
"Yes." Sima Zhao answered vaguely, swallowed the food in his mouth, quickly got up and followed.
The two walked through the courtyard one after the other and came to the side yard where the study was located. Sima Zhao followed his father's back and when he reached the door of the study, he quickly stepped forward and pushed it open.
Sima Yi walked in without looking around, and Sima Zhao gently closed the door behind him.
After sitting down, Sima Yi said, "Tomorrow is Zishang's graduation day."
"Tomorrow, your father will go to the Imperial College with your Majesty to attend the graduation summary of the third batch of students."
"Zishang, you will graduate tomorrow. Do you have any experience?"
Sima Zhao was always a little nervous when facing his father's questions. Except for his elder brother Sima Shi, his father usually had a cold face at home, and he was no exception.
Since I started studying at the Imperial College, I would be called to the study to chat at the end of every month. I didn’t know whether it was because my father really cared about me, or because my brother was not around and I was the only one he could ask for advice.
Sima Zhao thought for a moment and said, "If I were to talk about what I learned from my one-year experience at the Imperial College, the biggest lesson is that life is not easy and we need to do our best."
"It was fine when I was studying the scriptures. Although the principles the doctors talked about were a bit more profound, they were not fundamentally different from what I learned at home."
"I only felt the difficulty when I was studying criminal law and general affairs. As a local official, I often have to take into account the law, human relations, the people, and the court."
"At the beginning of the month, the Minister of Justice Gao came to the Imperial College to give lectures. He told us about his past as an official and a official."
"My son just sighed that you can't understand these things just by sitting in the study and studying hard. You still need to practice in real life."
Gao Rou? Sima Yi laughed in his heart, but his expression did not change at all.
Sima Yi nodded slightly: "So the difficulty you feel is more about 'ruling people' rather than 'studying'?"
"That's right." Sima Zhao nodded repeatedly.
Sima Yi finally laughed and said, "When it comes to academic research, I am no match for those doctors at the Imperial College."
"But when it comes to governing people, even if Gao Rou and the six ministries and nine officials were tied together, they would not be as good as one finger of my father."
When Sima Zhao heard his father's words, he straightened his upper body and leaned forward slightly, cupped his hands and said, "Please give me some advice, father."
Sima Yi said, "I was appointed Shang Shu Pushe when I was only forty years old, and I was appointed San Gong before I was fifty. Do you know why?"
Sima Zhao said sincerely: "Of course my father has the talent to help the people and save the country!"
Sima Yi sneered: "No matter how important talent is, it can only be ranked second. Even if you have the talent of Lu Wang and Yi Yin, if you don't have a king to drive you, you are just a defeated dog on the side of the road."
Sima Zhao bit his lip and said, "That means my father is favored by the emperor! When the late emperor was alive, he put my father first, that's exactly what he did!"
Sima Yi nodded: "Only if you can win the favor of the emperor can you be truly useful and make a career."
"But why did the late emperor trust me?"
Sima Zhao said: "We should still use my father's talents!"
Sima Yi said with a smile: "There are so many talented people in the world, how can I be missing?"
"The late emperor trusted me because whenever he encountered trouble, I was always by his side, offering him advice and making plans, which often worked!"
Sima Zhao scratched his head, revealing a hint of confusion and embarrassment.
According to what my father said just now, he was able to become a high official because the late emperor favored him. He was favored because of his talent, and with talent, he also had to judge the situation.
Which one is the most important?
Sima Yi did not explain this: "In a place like the Imperial Academy, it is already good that you can think of these things. As you said, the right way is to practice and learn slowly in practice."
"It is true that being an official requires talent and knowledge, but it also requires tactics."
Sima Zhao asked: "What means?"
"Then let me give you an example." Sima Yi said, "When my father was forty, he was the chief secretary of the prime minister. When he was forty-five, he was the general of the army and stayed in Xuchang."
“How can I convince people?”
Sima Zhao asked: "Is it because of your talent? Or because of the trust of the late emperor?"
Sima Yi shook his head: "Others cannot see your talent, and using your reputation to pressure others will only lead to ridicule."
Sima Zhao asked in confusion: "Then how did father do it?"
Sima Yi stroked his beard with pride: "It shows the dignity of the court position, the dignity of the behavior that makes people fear, and the caution of the words. This is the key point."
"For cunning people, force them to be brave. For brave people, force them to be distant. For honest people, tie them up with reputation."
"As for the majority of mediocre people, it is enough to suppress them with their official positions."
Sima Zhao thought he understood half of what he heard: "My father is very talented, but I can't learn from him yet. Maybe I need to hone my skills for a few more decades."
In fact, Sima Zhao was overthinking it. He might not be able to learn all of Sima Yi's skills even if he studied for his entire life.
Sima Yi smiled and said, "Let's talk about the future of your class of students."
"The first batch of students who graduated are now farming in Longyou, and there is no intention to recall them. Judging from the opinions of your majesty and Guanglu Xun Yang Yishan, I am afraid they will be kept for another year." Sima Zhao interrupted, "The first batch graduated in the first year of Taihe, and now it is the third year of Taihe."
"Does that mean we have to cultivate the land for three years?"
Sima Yi nodded: "The second batch of students went to Guanzhong and were also scattered in the basic positions of managing military farms."
"Zi Shang, if my guess is correct, you will also continue to be sent out to manage the military farms."
Sima Zhao was the second son, and had been taken care of more by his elder brother and mother since he was young. He sighed at this moment: "If it is true as father said, then I will leave Luoyang and leave father's side."
"The previous two sessions went to Longyou and Guanzhong. I wonder where they will go this time?"
Sima Yi said calmly: "It will probably be Huainan."
Sima Zhao's eyes lit up: "If it's Huainan, wouldn't it be closer to my brother!"
"I received a letter from my brother last month. He has been working as a secretary in Yangzhou for a year. His reputation is quite good. He has just been transferred by Jiang Gong to the warehouse department."
"My brother also said that at the end of the year, when the states submit their budgets, he will come to the Shangshutai in Luoyang as a state budget official to report!"
"He has a good political reputation?" Sima Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "He is just a clerk, how can he have a good political reputation? It's just that Jiang Zitong did it for my sake."
"As for asking Ziyuan to make suggestions for the state, maybe Jiang Zitong asked him to stop by and go home. How can someone in his twenties make suggestions for the state?"
"Tomorrow I will write to Jiang Zitong and ask him not to send Ziyuan back."
Sima Zhao stuck out his tongue, feeling that he had let his brother down: "Father, you and I both know that my brother is talented, how could it not be his own talent?"
"Talent?" Sima Yi sneered, "For an ordinary scholar, it would be a blessing to be able to work in a prefecture at the age of fifty! How can one be employed in his early twenties?"
"Zi Shang, there are two kinds of rules in this world."
"The first type is what you learn in the Imperial College. You first become a Lang, then enter a county as an official, or are recruited to various prefectures and counties."
"Make achievements, and then be promoted step by step."
Sima Zhao seemed to understand something: "Father, what about the second one?"
Sima Yi said: "The second rule is power and connections."
"Who is whose old friend, who is whose student, who is from the same county, who is related by marriage. Promotion and advancement, employment and dismissal, are all in this network."
Sima Zhao frowned: "Is it the same in the world? Father has always asked me to study the classics, but he never told me these things."
"Isn't it enough to just learn?"
"Then today, your father has said, no."
Sima Yi looked at his eighteen-year-old son and said, "If your grandfather had not recommended Emperor Wu as the Northern Commander of Luoyang in the Luoyang Order, how could our Sima family be so prosperous today?"
“No matter how talented you are, you still have to wait for an opportunity.”
Sima Zhao ignored his father's words. After all, he was the son of Sikong, so why should he worry too much about his future?
However, Sima Zhao still mentioned: "Father, a classmate from the Imperial College came to see me two days ago and said that he graduated in the same year as me."
"I asked him carefully, and found out that he was from the same county as ours. His surname was Shan, his given name was Tao, and his courtesy name was Juyuan. He also said that he was a distant relative of mine."
"I asked my mother and found out that this person really existed. Shan Juyuan's father is my mother's cousin."
Sima Yi frowned slightly: "From the Shan family of Huai County?"
The mother of Sima Yi's wife Zhang Chunhua was the daughter of the Shan family. However, Sima Yi never liked to get close to relatives, so this family never came to look for him.
Sima Zhao nodded in agreement.
Sima Yi said: "It took him two years to graduate from the Imperial College. He is not a great talent, but he is barely a useful person."
"Since he is related to my family, please choose a day to bring this Shan Juyuan back to your house and pay respect to your mother. If I am home at that time, I can give him some encouragement."
Sima Zhao was overjoyed. This was the first time his father had promised him something that would earn him face in front of his classmates. "Thank you, father. My classmate didn't say this, but I think it would be a great thing for him to be received by your father."
Sima Yi laughed and did not delve into it. "By the way, Zishang, a family in Wen County sent a letter a few days ago saying that the Ministry of Personnel will summon Wang Xiang, the magistrate of Wen County, to the court. He will come to visit you then."
"Wang Xiang is a well-known person. He used to be the deputy driver of Lü Qian in Xuzhou and served in the state affairs for a long time. I will invite him to have a banquet at my house, and you can come with him."
Sima Zhao was somewhat surprised: "He had already been the deputy governor of Xuzhou, how come he became the magistrate of Wen County? How could he have such a resume?"
Sima Yi said calmly: "Wang Xiang was selected as a talent, and this is the system of the court. If he wants the title of talent, he must go through such a process in the Ministry of Personnel."
Sima Zhao said "oh" and asked again: "Father, how old is this man?"
Sima Yi said: "He is only five years younger than me."
Sima Zhao curled his lips and said, "He is so old and only just became a county magistrate. Can he be considered a talent? Father still wants to see him?"
Sima Yi shook his head: "You don't understand."
"Wang Xiang was selected as a talented scholar last year, and his brother Wang Lan was also selected as a filial and honest official last year. The Xuzhou gentry think highly of these two brothers."
"The Wang family of Donghai is not on good terms with me, so I will help the Wang family of Langya."
"Plus, since the clan entrusted me with this, it is hard for me to refuse."
Sima Zhao became even more curious: "How could these two brothers be so highly valued by the state of Xuzhou? What talents do they have?"
Sima Yi laughed and said, "Zi Shang, have you heard of 'Lying on the Ice to Seek Carp' and 'Wang Lan Fighting for the Poison'?"
Sima Zhao naturally shook his head.
Sima Yi said: "You will know after some time." (End of this chapter)
