Chapter 55 4. Sima's hidden power

It was still Sima Yi who was mature and experienced, able to control his emotions freely. In an instant, he regained his calm and calm face: "Speaking of He's Jade Bi, Brother Wei remembered something. Brother Zhi, you guys here The jade of Jingshan Mountain has been famous since ancient times. There is a cloud in ancient books: "The essence of the age star falls on Jingshan Mountain and turns into jade. When you look at it from the front, it is bright, and when you look at it from the side, it is gorgeous. Bianhe It was obtained as a gift to the king of Chu, and later entered into Zhao and enshrined in Qin. The first emperor ruled, carved it as the seal of his command, and Li Si wrote it in Xiaozhuan, which has been handed down from generation to generation. "Even the jade seal handed down by His Majesty today is carved from this Jingshan jade. It was made! Lord Cui Yan and Lord Mao Jie in the Prime Minister's Mansion have always been envious of this kind of precious jade. Before Brother Wei came to Jingshan this time, they all mentioned this matter to Brother Wei, but they didn't know Brother Zhi Have you collected some raw materials or carvings of Jingshan Jade here?"

When Sima Zhi heard his words for the first time, he was taken aback for a moment, but immediately came back to his senses, raised his face and looked at him with a grin, and silently gestured to Niu Heng who was standing beside him.Niu Heng didn't seem to be surprised by all this, and handed the brocade box that he had been carrying in front of Sima Yi. "What's in this box?" Sima Yi was a little stunned. "It's the rarest turquoise jade among our Jingshan jades." Sima Zhi smiled and pointed at the brocade box, "Second Brother Zhongda, please open it and enjoy it!"

Sima Yi never expected that this Sima Zhi could be so predictable, that he had already prepared gifts for himself to take care of himself, honor Cui and Mao, and other officials—he took a deep breath, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly Shoot straight at Simazhi.Sima Zhi was a little uncomfortable being looked at by him, he quickly suppressed his smile, and said in a low voice: "Second brother Zhongda, my father has already ordered me to prepare a few green pine jade carvings for you as a gift for the imperial court. The gift from China Communications Tour..." It turned out to be the careful planning of Uncle Sima Hui!Only then did Sima Yi smile, stretch out his hand to open the brocade box, and three oval green pine jade inkstones jumped into his eyes.They are all glowing with green crystals, and under the sunlight, there is even a faint layer of pines and cypresses that seem to be there or not. They look really simple, elegant and exquisite.

Seeing this wonderful and rare jade quality, Sima Yi suddenly felt a little familiar when he was in a trance.He stretched out his fingers to touch the surface of the jade inkstone lightly, and a fresh and cold feeling that he had known before suddenly entered his heart, which gave him a flash of inspiration.It turns out that this is the same quality jade as Fang Ying's green pine yaoqin!No wonder he always felt as if he had seen them somewhere...In an instant, Fang Ying's "clever smile, beautiful eyes and hopeful" face reappeared in the depths of his heart, and his heart waved immediately. It's rippling...

"Second Brother Zhongda, Second Brother Zhongda..." Sima Zhi saw that something was wrong with his expression, so he hurriedly called a few times from the side. Sima Yi came back to his senses quickly, and hastily bit his lips hard with his teeth, suppressing the unrestrained thoughts in his heart, and let the rippling mind come back.He straightened his face, still looking at the three green pine jade inkstones carefully, and said leisurely: "Just now, Yi was thinking in his heart that if Master Cui and Master Mao saw such high-quality jade inkstones, they would definitely feel strange. happy……"

"Second brother Zhongda, although my younger brother lives far away in Jingzhou, I have heard for a long time that the two adults Cui Yan and Mao Jie are great scholars in the northern land. They are honorable, clean and flawless, and obey the morals." Sima Zhi's eyes showed a trace of disdain, "but I don't know that they like these things outside of the body as much as ordinary people..." Sima Yi waved his hand slightly, and said calmly: "Brother Zhi, you underestimate the integrity of these two adults. They really love jade, but not the treasure of jade, but the virtue of loving jade. "Confucius's Family Talk "In the past, it is said: "In the past, a gentleman was more virtuous than jade, warm and moist, and benevolent; meticulous with chestnuts, wisdom; honest but not sloppy, righteous; hanging down like a pendant, etiquette; knocking, its sound is clear and long , in the end, it will be joyful; flaws do not hide the beauty, and the beauty does not hide the flaws, it is loyal; Fu Yin is pangda, trustworthy; Qi is like a white rainbow, the sky is also; the spirit is seen in the mountains and rivers, the earth is also; Guizhang is special, the virtue is also; there is nothing in the world. The noble one is the Tao. The poem says: When you think of a gentleman, he is as warm as jade. Therefore, a gentleman is precious.' Lord Cui and Lord Mao are rare sages and gentlemen in the world. It is not because of the green pine jade in Jingshan that it is not enough to respect and respect him. both!"

Sima Zhi heard him speak so high-soundingly, and thought to himself: This Second Brother Zhong Da is really interesting, he even gives someone a gift by quoting scriptures like this, I don't know if it is bookish or official, it seems there is still something So a little bit strange. However, after a while, Sima Yi's next words became very simple and realistic: "Brother Zhi, you can select some loyal and reliable people with real talents from among the disciples of your uncle, and draw up a list—— Take it back for my brother and present it to Master Mao Jie, who will be named and used one by one."

"Okay! Pei Qian, Shi Tao, Meng Gongwei, and Cui Zhouping are all outstanding talents among the three hundred disciples of my Qingyun Villa, and they were all cultivated by my father. They are grateful to my Sima family Naturally, it is extremely profound. Did Second Brother Zhong Da put them in Xudu Prime Minister's Mansion or Jingzhou Shepherd's Mansion?" "Well... Judging from the current situation, they may be temporarily assigned to positions such as county magistrate, county lieutenant, and county government officer in Jingxiang." When Sima Zhi heard this, he couldn't help being surprised: "With Pei Qian, Shi Tao and others' good character and learning, it's better to be the county magistrate and sheriff, why do you put them in the middle of the county? The job of being a beneficiary? This is really overkill..."

"Unknown to Brother Zhi, Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, Han Song and others are quite favored in front of Prime Minister Cao. They also made a list of recommendations for the governors and county magistrates of various places in Jingxiang to Cao Prime Minister. Most of them are relatives and disciples of their Kuai, Cai, and Han families. Originally, this kind of nepotism would not work with Prime Minister Cao, but Prime Minister Cao just relied on their light cavalry to take Jingxiang North. You can't help but give them a little bit of noodle." "Oh?... These Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, etc. are really addicted to power! Before Liu Biao was alive, he was not satisfied with seeking personal gain and covering the sky with one hand, but he wanted to plant cronies and sell officials for personal gain in front of Cao Cao, the new master. They How complacent! How dare you stand up and meddle in Jing Xiang's personnel arrangement with your tail still dragging behind your ass?"

"How do you say that? What are they still dragging their tails on?" Sima Yi's eyes froze and he shot at him. "Brother Zhongda, you don't know. Zhuge Liang is Cao Cao's confidant, right? But his wife and uncle is Cai Mao, and his sister Zhuge Ling's husband Kuai Qi is Kuai Yue's nephew. Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and the others How dare you blatantly propose marriage? Is that Prime Minister Cao really so easy to be tricked by them?" "Well...so that's the case." Sima Yi said to himself slowly, and he also recalled that he saw the name "Kuai Qi" on the recommendation list submitted by Kuai and Cai that day. , he was about to be recommended by Kuai and Cai to be the prefect in Nanyang.With a thought in his mind, he said to Sima Zhi, "Let's do this! Brother Zhi, you should seize the fact that Kuai Qi is Zhuge Liang's brother-in-law and write an anonymous report letter, and bring it back for Brother Mao Jie to investigate and deal with it." .”

"This...is this okay?" Sima Zhi nodded first, and then asked suspiciously. "You can't be wrong if you listen to Brother Wei. Of course, this letter of report will not immediately cause any direct damage to Kuai Yue and Cai Mao, but it will give Lord Mao Jie and Xun You military division a big blow." This is an excuse to take advantage of the opportunity, thus gradually weakening the trust in them from Prime Minister Cao. Dr. Kong Rong said very brilliantly: "Three people make a tiger, soak in the glue-removing paint." In the future, Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and their recommendation The use list will definitely be discarded. As long as this recommendation list is discarded, Pei Qian, Shi Tao, Meng Gongwei, Cui Zhouping and the others can advance in order in those favored positions and advance with merit. How secure is that? Solid! Didn’t my uncle once say that—”You can bend and stretch, and you can stretch and bend; when you bend, you bend, and when you stretch, you stretch; when you bend, you stretch, and when you stretch, you bend; keep more than enough to prepare for any eventuality.” Brother Zhi, please This proverb is given to Pei Qian, Shi Tao, and the others to savor carefully. As long as Brother Wei and your brother Boda are around, you will all be successful in the future, and your official career will be successful!" "Okay." Sima Zhi nodded deeply.Sima Yi suddenly remembered another thing, and said to Sima Zhi: "When you, Pei Qian, Shi Tao and the others should go to see Lord Mao Jie, Lord Mao Jie will definitely test your knowledge of classics in person. Lord Mao He himself specializes in "Mencius", and once said that "half of "Mencius" can determine the world." You should review "Mencius" several times, and it is best to be able to sum up some practical experience. In this way, In the examination room, you don’t have to worry about being failed by him.” ""Mencius"? Sigh... don't worry about that." Sima Zhi laughed when he heard it, "My younger brother, Pei Qian, Shi Tao and the others have already memorized this book by heart, and we have written all the notes in it." I bought a big box, and there are many experiences recorded on it..." Sima Yi glanced at him sideways, and said meaningfully: "Don't use those classics and articles as a stepping stone to gain fame and then throw them away. Just talk about the book "Mencius", Yi sincerely appreciates it." The motto in the book is "to live in the mansion of the world, to set up the right position in the world, to walk the avenue of the world, to be free with the people when one achieves one's ambition, to follow one's own way without one's ambition" - this kind of strong character is worth remembering for life what!" "This...Second brother Zhongda taught you the right thing. My younger brother will definitely engrave your words in my heart." Sima Zhi blushed, and hurriedly nodded in agreement.Sima Yi, on the other hand, said that he didn't dare. Sima Zhi's thoughts moved suddenly, and he finally plucked up the courage, and asked Sima Yi cheekily: "Second brother Zhongda, I would like to ask you a question. According to your opinion, in the future, I will enter the officialdom and be a high-ranking official in the court." How many products can you get?" Sima Yi didn't answer his question immediately, but quietly looked at the jade-like Shenbi Lake at the foot of Xiuyun Peak for a while, and said slowly: "What is your official rank? If it is according to your In the current situation, you should be qualified for the important position of Fang Zhou's good shepherd. Brother Zhi, I hope you don't focus on being a high-ranking official, but focus on doing great things... In this way, your future will naturally be limitless." Sima Zhi who was listening was startled: when he was friends with Zhuge Liang's classmate in Qingyun Villa, he also said this to himself...