Mythical Qin: I, Gao Yao, will never be a eunuch!

Listening to Xiao He's righteous words, Dou Guan's face was full of astonishment. He opened his mouth, but found that he could not refute what Xiao He said. Because Xiao He quoted almost all the words of Mencius, and as a person who also studied the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, Dou Guan was very familiar with these principles.

"Okay, come here!" Xiao He waved his hand and shouted, "Please invite this gentleman down and treat him well! There must be no mistakes!"

"Yes!" The attendants beside him responded in unison, and then stepped forward, politely preparing to take Dou Guan away.

"Okay, Xiangshang, it's really late today, you should go back and rest early." After saying that, Xiao He said no more and turned to walk towards his room.

In fact, Xiao He knew very well that he would never betray Gao Yao. The reason why he said the following words to Dou Guan was nothing more than to take this opportunity to attract Dou Guan in return. After all, if Dou Guan could be successfully retained, it would undoubtedly add another force to the Southern Territory.

Although Dou Guan's talents in other areas may be mediocre, he has an extraordinary ability to judge people. If he is allowed to work in a personnel-related position, he will certainly be able to do it with ease and give full play to his own advantages. In this way, not only can we recruit a useful talent for the Southern Territory, but we can also learn more about the affairs of the court in return, which is naturally a good thing for the Southern Territory.

After sending Dou Guan away, Xiao He immediately started writing letters. The letters were naturally for Gao Yao. This seemed to be just a recruitment, but in fact it was more than that. This showed that the court knew a lot about the situation in the southern border. In the previous test, Dou Guan did not directly answer Xiao He's question, but Xiao He had already found a loophole in the other party's answer.

Xiao He was definitely not the only person being recruited. As long as the southern border was not blocked, these people could enter the southern border at any time, and then persuade officials at all levels and even generals in the southern border to surrender. Xiao He had to admit that this method was indeed very good. It was most appropriate to recruit people while the court was strong. Even if not all of them could succeed, as long as one out of ten people rebelled at a critical moment, the impact on the southern border would be immeasurable. This was the most poisonous part of this plan.

What Xiao He didn't know at this time was that after Dou Guan left Xiao He's residence, Cao Shen happened to see this scene in a carriage at the entrance of an alley not far away.

"Have you found out?"

At this time, Cao Shen no longer looked drunk. Although he reeked of alcohol, his eyes were clear. After Cao Shen finished speaking, a soldier reported in a low voice,

"We have found out that the other party entered Nanhai County three days ago and just arrived at the county town this morning. His name is Dou Guan."

"It's him indeed." Cao Shen nodded upon hearing the name, and couldn't help but sighing slightly. He and Xiao He were responsible for different things. Ever since the last assassination attempt in Gao Yao's mansion, the entire Nanhai County would know clearly even if a stranger entered.

It was just that the person in charge of this matter had always been Cao Shen, not Xiao He, so Xiao He didn't know much about this matter. With the news that the court announced the expedition to the southern border, and the southern border's military operations against central Fujian, the entire southern border's contacts with the outside world were almost 80% less than usual. Except for some fixed caravans, the contact with other counties was almost completely cut off.

There were even many people in the southern border, and even merchants, who began to relocate. Gao Yao knew about this, but he personally ordered that these people should not be intercepted, including the merchants. They could leave if they wanted to. At this time, there were definitely very few people who took the initiative to enter the southern border. After all, no one was sure whether they would be coerced by the southern border and liquidated by the court.

Dou Guan was a scholar with an extraordinary temperament. He traveled in a carriage. No matter how you looked at him, he was a noble. How could he not attract attention? Not long after Cao Shen left Xiao He's mansion, someone came to report that this person had entered Xiao He's mansion. Naturally, this attracted Cao Shen's attention.

Cao Shen came here specially to wait because someone had come to recruit Cao Shen in the name of the court and the conditions offered were no less than those of Xiao He. However, Cao Shen did not waste any words and directly killed the person without even a response. The body had already been buried. This was also the standard style of military generals. Compared with civil officials, military generals were often more loyal.

This is not nonsense. The subsequent aristocratic families, including the imperial examinations, actually followed the same path. Restricting the spread of knowledge is actually the best way to curb the rebellion of the lower classes. The aristocratic families monopolized knowledge for their own interests and to prevent others from thinking too much and affecting their ruling status.

The fairness of the imperial examination is actually relative, because it was destined from the birth of the imperial examination system. In fact, it is just a disguised fairness. Although it gives people the opportunity to learn knowledge, if you want to succeed through the imperial examination, you have to learn fixed knowledge texts. In these knowledge texts, whether it is the reviewer or the article to be tested, they are inseparable from the key words: loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. It seems fair, but in fact it is just to let all scholars deeply understand this concept.

This is why many emperors of all dynasties would say that as long as the scholars are stable, the world will naturally be stable. Most people live on the poverty line every day, so they have no mood to think about other things, let alone study and learn to read. This is also called cage rule by later generations.

Scholars know more and think more, and they begin to compare and feel unfair, and then they begin to incite the people around them, gradually forming a group and confusing people. This is also one aspect of the benefit of knowledge monopoly to national management, and this is why Cao Shen was worried about Xiao He.

Although Cao Shen understood culture, he was primarily a military general. Military generals cared more about friendship than literati. Facing the lobbying of the court, Cao Shen's choice was to kill the other party as soon as possible. This was also the explanation Gao Yao gave to Cao Shen before leaving, to monitor him secretly. Cao Shen did indeed secretly deal with more than a dozen officials and generals in the army. These people did not report or arrest the court visitors after contacting them, but chose to keep the matter secret. These people have basically been dealt with by Cao Shen. Of course, they will not be killed, but imprisonment is inevitable.

Now, a thrilling war is imminent, and the situation is extremely urgent. Obviously, these people can no longer be allowed to continue to serve in their original positions. After all, if they are not careful, it is very likely to cause unpredictable chaos and trouble.

At this time, there was news that someone went to Xiao He's residence. Cao Shen trusted Xiao He from the bottom of his heart. However, considering the current complex and severe situation, Cao Shen did not dare to take it lightly. For the sake of caution, he decided to go there in person.

Speaking of Dou Guan, Cao Shen had also heard of him and knew that he was a close friend of Xiao He. But at this moment, Cao Shen was unsure and had no idea what choice Xiao He would make. Moreover, according to the previous discussion and arrangement, he would leave Nanhai County tomorrow. Once he left, the military and political power of the entire Nanhai County would fall into the hands of Xiao He alone. If Xiao He had other ideas at this critical moment, the southern border would be in extreme danger! Although Cao Shen believed in Xiao He, the matter was serious, so he had to think more and deal with it carefully.

After careful consideration, Cao Shen finally made up his mind that he must take some action just in case and never let any accidents happen.

So, he decisively ordered: "Quickly notify the Shadow Secret Guards to deliver an expedited letter to the lord immediately. We must do everything we can to report the latest situation of Nanhai County to the lord truthfully, and implore the lord to return to Nanhai County as soon as possible to preside over the overall situation and make corresponding decisions!"

The subordinate only responded respectfully, "Yes!" Then he quickly took the order and left to carry out the important task assigned by Cao Shen.

The Shadow Secret Guard was an extremely special and mysterious message transmission unit carefully created by Gao Yao. Gao Yao and Cao Shen were the only two people who knew the existence of this message unit. Each member of the team was a smart and intelligent person carefully selected from the army. Even Erniu, the commander of Gao Yao's personal guard, had only heard of the name of such a unit, and knew nothing about its specific functions and operation methods.

This unique management model is one of Gao Yao's clever ways to control his subordinates. Just like the black powder troops that only Xiao He knew about, and the personal guards camp that only Gao Yao and Erniu jointly led and knew the inside story, Gao Yao always adhered to the principle of "letting those who should know know, and keeping those who should not know ignorant" to control the overall situation for these confidential forces.

"Also, immediately inform the people below that if they find Dou Guan stepping out of the county city, they must kill him on the spot. We must eradicate the roots and put an end to future troubles!"

Upon hearing the order, the subordinate did not dare to be negligent in the slightest and hurriedly clasped his fist and responded, "Yes!" Then he left quickly like a gust of wind to carry out the task assigned by Cao Shen.

Now that the war in the southern border is imminent, Cao Shen knows that questioning Xiao He at this time is likely to cause a crisis of trust. It is not appropriate for him not to go to the Zhentuo area. At this time, stability must be maintained, and getting rid of Dou Guan is the best way. However, he cannot be eliminated in the city, otherwise it will definitely cause dissatisfaction in Xiao He. It is naturally best to get rid of him after leaving the county city, so as to ensure that there will be no accidents in a short period of time.