Chapter 268: Chiefs of Each Faction Xu Shu was the second in the Mohist school, purely because the chivalrous spirit in his heart had not yet died out, but what he learned did not have much to do with Mohism. Xu Shu, who was born a knight-errant, was extremely talented, but he took the wrong path when he was young. Although he can still make up for it now, it is almost impossible for him to reach the level of Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun. But it is more than enough to be the second in the Mohist school. After all, after years of confrontation with Confucianism, the Mohists have given up their original stubbornness and started to pursue universal love and impartiality as the highest pursuit, abandoning the military and knight-errant ways. After all, under Tian Ze's rule, there is not much need for rangers. One Qingliu can be worth ten rangers. With a senior brother like Mo Chen, who was directly recruited by Tian Ze for official use, the Mo family did not attach too much importance to the Hundred Schools Inheritance List. The requirement for the second place is just to convince the young disciples under his command. And Xu Shu just met this condition. Talented, good at fighting, and loyal. His light and agile sword skills make him half a military general.
…… After Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi took their seats, the latter played black first. The two men remained silent, and after a hundred steps, each of them showed a solemn look. Chess is like a person. Just by observing the chess moves, the two of them understood who each other was. Each of Zhuge Liang's steps was extremely precise and flawless, and he took control of the situation with just a wave of his hand. Every move Sima Yi made was very orderly. Although seemingly ordinary, it contained murderous intent. "I've long heard that the chief of the eclectic group is a genius who is good at learning from various schools of thought and is well versed in all the principles of hundreds of schools of thought. Today I see that it is indeed true." Looking at the situation on the chessboard, Zhuge Liang exclaimed sincerely. On the surface, he was firmly in the winning position and the black pieces seemed to be forced into a desperate situation, but he always failed to sense the chance of winning. Every time he felt he was about to win, his opponent would use unexpected means to break through, and even have the energy to fight back, which almost made him suffer a loss. The opponent's formation was quite similar to his, extremely stable, but also quite different from his, with a bit more viciousness. At this moment, he deeply felt the terrifying person in front of him. What a strong enemy! Among the hundreds of schools of thought, the four with the highest value are actually Confucianism, Legalism, Military Science, and Miscellaneous Schools. Xu Shu can also be considered half. Among them, Confucianism is the mainstream and the former orthodoxy. Being ranked first means being the best among the young Confucian scholars in the world. Not to mention the Legalists, who were Confucianists on the outside and Legalists on the inside. The Legalists made great contributions to Tianze's success today. Being able to be ranked as the chief minister, he will definitely have a place among the ministers under Tianze's rule in the future. Its chief was previously Lu Su, but as he came of age, he was replaced by Fa Zheng. But what made Tian Ze quite regretful was that after Lu Su went south to Jiangdong to visit his friends, he never came back and should be playing with Zhou Yu now. Fa Zheng had no intention of staying either, because Gongsun Zan seemed to treat him well. Fa Zheng had a clear distinction between what he loved and hated, and even though he knew Gongsun Zan was incapable of accomplishing anything, he was unwilling to abandon him.
The military strategist was the foundation for ending the troubled times and was a talent that various princes were vying for. Pang Tong was at the top of the list, but he had no intention of staying. The reason is very simple. There is no room for Tian Ze to display his talents here. He doesn't like the unskillful style of fighting that relies on overwhelming troops. On the contrary, Sima Yi, a eclectic person, once expressed his feelings to Tian Ze and wanted to stay. Although the Miscellaneous School is not ranked high among the Hundred Schools, and many of its members are mediocre people who are good at everything but not good at anything, it is also full of all-rounders and geniuses, and is no less than any other school in terms of top talents. In other words, these top talents can almost all be called generalists. Whether it is Zhuge Liang, Fa Zheng or Pang Tong, none of them specializes in one thing, but is just good at different things. Sima Yi can sit on the top of the generalist, and his gold content is not much worse than Zhuge Liang. While Zhuge Liang was lamenting how difficult Sima Yi was, Sima Yi's heart was also in turmoil. Taking a deep look at the evildoer in front of him who was two years younger than him, Sima Yi felt for the first time what it meant that there are always higher mountains than the one before. He was intelligent since childhood. Although he was taught by his family, he always behaved modestly and politely, never relied on his talent to be arrogant, and rarely showed off his talents, but he had a deep sense of pride in his heart. Especially after awakening his own talent, he felt that he would definitely be at the top of the world's civil officials. However, he did not win this game! If we judge by age, he actually lost. At this point, both sides already knew the outcome of the game, and it was a draw. "You are the chief of Confucianism and the youngest among all the chiefs of other schools. You are indeed worthy of your reputation. It is hard for me to imagine that you are so young and yet you have such ability." A glimpse of the whole picture shows that neither he nor Zhuge Liang were good at chess. Moreover, it was more like the two sides deploying their troops rather than playing chess. He didn't lose, and Zhuge Liang didn't win. To have such an outcome, even if Zhuge Liang was slightly inferior to him in military strategy, the difference was definitely not much. "My lord asked me to come and see the future prime minister of the empire. After meeting him today, I really learned a lot." Sima Yi looked at Zhuge Liang in front of him and let out a breath, as if he had completely let go of the knot in his heart. Although he had heard many rumors about Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi ultimately believed that seeing is believing. Now that they had met and fought for the first time, he was afraid that the rumors were true. "Thank you for the compliment, brother." Zhuge Liang's expression changed slightly, but he smiled humbly. Although it was just a few words, he sensed the message behind it. The person in front of him might be the other person who will be working with him and Boyan in the future. Tian Ze told Zhuge Liang almost everything he knew, even his ideas about the future structure of the imperial system. If nothing unexpected happens, the future empire's chess player will not be the emperor. The emperor will gradually fade into a symbol, a belief, and retreat behind the scenes. The power of the prime minister will be strengthened again and dispersed at the same time to become the real leader. And this number will not be too many or too few, three to seven people. The person in front of me is probably one of them. "You and I are very similar, but not quite. I seem to be more like your opposite." Sima Yi looked at Zhuge Liang steadily and said in a complicated tone.
At this time, Sima Yi was not yet the sinister person who would later violate the Luoshui Oath. Having received the most formal education from an aristocratic family since childhood, he now has ambitions and behaves very properly. Tian Ze could sense Sima Yi's current mentality, so he did not look at him differently. After all, he was not so suspicious and would not easily abandon someone after he had done his job. Sima Yi had no reason to rebel. Moreover, even if Sima Yi changed his personality later on, he had Zhuge Liang to keep him under control, and without the help of the noble families, he could not pose much of a threat. A truly stable regime will never entrust the safety of the country to one individual. Tian Ze has now established a stable political power and talent system. He is confident that there will be no shortage of talent in the future, and it is even more impossible for Sima Yi to usurp power after killing many heroes. (End of this chapter)