Chapter 385 The helplessness of lack of talents
According to the original history, even after the prime minister died of illness, there were very few local factions in the Shangshu Taiwan led by Jiang Wan. A capitulationist like Xiang Qiaozhou could not even hope to gain real power, and allowing him to become a professor was already a compromise.
The local faction really began to gain power after Fei Yi's death. After Chen Zhi came to power, he found that he could no longer suppress his power and had to start appointing local officials.
But now, while Jiang Wan and Fei Yi were still there, Ma Di saw many local officials at the Chancellery. Among them are not only collaborators, but also many die-hard capitulationists from the past.
Even the old man Qiao Zhou entered the Chancellery, which Ma Su could not have imagined.
So Ma Su was a little nervous for a while. Could it be that after he and the Prime Minister left Chengdu, the local faction put pressure on Jiang Wan and Fei Yi? Could it be that the previous beatings were not hard enough, making the local faction feel like they are no longer good?
I examine my body three times every day. Have I given him face? Did I hit him hard enough? Am I too kind?
Thinking of this, Ma Su's murderous intention began to fill the air. If the localists were really causing trouble and hindering the Northern Expedition, he wouldn't mind holding a Dujiangyan snorkeling competition outside Chengdu.
Although the influence was very bad, Ma Su never cared about his posthumous reputation. Even if he wanted to commit suicide for this, Ma Su would be quite happy.
But the difference was that Fei Yi smiled and patted Ma Di on the shoulder, indicating where he was.
"You Chang, you are so nervous. In fact, all the local officials are surprisingly honest now." Fei Yi smiled and reassured Ma Su not to be nervous, and then explained to Ma Su in a leisurely manner.
"Not only are they very honest, but these local officials have become staunch supporters of the Northern Expedition. For example, Qiao Zhou supported you when you were in Nanyang and Chengdu was not confident. It means that the heavens are blessing Han, and the general who conquers the Northern Expedition will definitely be great." Win."
"This group of local officials is no longer hostile as before and can cooperate."
"Haha... This old guy really knows how to choose the right time to present his certificate of surrender." Ma Di shook his head gently, speechless at Qiao Zhou's Sichuan Opera change of face.
"What else can we do? Since they have chosen to cooperate, is there any reason not to use it?" Fei Yi spread his hands and his face became a little more serious.
"The Prime Minister went to supervise Yongzhou and took away most of the Prime Minister's Palace. Those are most of the talents of our Jingzhou fellows. When Gongyan and I jointly recorded the ministerial affairs, we didn't have many people to use. Yizhou I’m busy with official duties, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”
"Fortunately, the local people have lost their prestige and their power has been greatly reduced under the handling of You Chang and the Prime Minister. In addition, the situation in the Northern Expedition is very good now, and most local officials are willing to cooperate."
If they were still the original capitulationists who had not been dealt with, had a large number of local forces and private soldiers in their hands, and were uncooperative, Fei Yi would not dare to use them even if he died of exhaustion. However, now that the local capitulation faction has basically been castrated, and they are willing to cooperate under a heavy blow, it is not impossible to use them at this time.
Especially since this group of people is no longer in power, but they still retain some local connections and influence. For example, there are a large number of students under Qiao Zhou who hold official positions at the grassroots level, and they are still willing to obey Qiao Zhou's words.
Using people who are willing to cooperate has created great convenience for Shangshutai, and many things have become extremely smooth.
After all, in the final analysis, Qiao Zhou's group just had no confidence in the Northern Expedition and were unwilling to bleed for it. The situation in the Northern Expedition is now very good. They have definitely succeeded in following the dragon, so naturally they will not pessimize at this time.
They are just cowards, not stupid.
However, Ma Di still had doubts about this, scratched his head and asked,
"Is Chengdu still so short of talent? Is it necessary to use local officials? In the past few years of the Northern Expedition, I feel that there are many new generals?"
"Nonsense! Don't look at how quickly you have accumulated military merit. Talents who have the choice will be given priority to run under your command. We at the Secretariat can only pick up some talents that you don't want to use!" Fei Yi He was obviously very resentful about this, so he rolled his eyes and said speechlessly.
In the past few years, the Shu Han people have formed a consensus that if they follow Ma Di, promotion will only take a few battles. A large number of young talents from the Jingzhou and Dongzhou factions crowded into Ma Di's tribe just for the easy military success.
As a result, all their own talents from Jingzhou were given priority to supply Ma Su. Even many people whose families originally wanted to study literature and pursue official careers temporarily switched to studying art of war, preparing to follow General Ma in the Northern Expedition.
Because of this, even though Shu Han is currently short of talents, there is no shortage of capable talents under Ma Di. On Fei Yi's side, the shortage of people almost drove Fei Yi crazy.
Under such circumstances, Fei Yi's use of a group of local officials who had the ability and correct stance can only be said to be a helpless compromise.
Ma Su just laughed and made no further comments.
It was obvious that he had taken advantage of him, so what else could he say? What if Fei Yi wanted someone from him?
However, Ma Di was relatively understandable to Fei Yi's helplessness. I had the same feeling when I faced the local nobles in Longxi County.
It was only with the support of the Prime Minister and the great model worker Li Mu that these powerful families were forcibly eliminated.
This problem is actually a problem that has troubled the Shu Han Dynasty since its founding. The Shu Han people had read books, and there were too few knowledgeable talents.
The Shu Han Dynasty does not lack people now, but it lacks people who have read books and learned strategies.
After all, no matter what, you can't let an illiterate person who doesn't understand anything serve as a county magistrate, right? If you want your territory to be stable and taxable, you must hire knowledgeable people.
The set of Longyou paper that Ma Su created in Longyou has now been promoted, and at least within the Shuhan area, the price of paper has been cut in half. However, the price of learning has not been reduced because of this, and people who should not be able to afford it still cannot afford it.
There are many reasons for this, the two most important problems are the need to copy books and the interpretation of classical Chinese.
Because of these two difficulties, a large amount of precious knowledge is still monopolized by aristocratic families. This meant that no matter how the imperial court looked for talents, they were only from noble families, and no suitable young people from poor families could be found at all.
Ma Su had actually considered what to do about this matter, but it was all delayed because of the Northern Expedition. Now that Fei Yi mentioned it, Ma Su thought of this issue again.
"It's really time to think about how to expand the scope of education... At least we can't let the rich have a long-term monopoly on knowledge." Ma Di pondered, his eyes lost in thought,
"Since I have nothing to do for half a year, why not... figure out the printing technique first?"