The daughter of Yuan, Runan and the wife of Yang, Hongnong, made Mrs. Yuan unique. Her 60th birthday was also particularly grand. People with some status have arrived. If they don’t arrive, they are not qualified enough.

Sun Ce could have gone later, and even showed up. He was busy recently and he really couldn't get rid of himself. However, he still went there early. First, since he wanted to give face, he just gave it enough. Second, his mother, Empress Dowager Wu and aunt, Mrs. Sun, would also go there, and he couldn't go there anymore, and he, as a junior, was still not too late.

Mrs. Yuan was surprised by Sun Ce's early arrival. She ordered Yang Xiu to hand over the welcome to others, accompanied Sun Ce throughout the process, and turned to Empress Dowager Wu. Mrs. Sun praised Sun Ce for being proud of Sun Ce, saying that Sun Ce was as arrogant as he was ten years ago, and his innocent heart remained unchanged. She also praised Sun Ce for treating his younger brothers and sisters well, and even Yuan Yao was no exception, and made great progress with Sun Ce.

Empress Wu was a little embarrassed, but in front of Mrs. Yuan, she really couldn't say anything.

Yang Xiu accompanied Sun Ce to the backyard to talk. The Yang family has several industries, and each has a special back garden, most of which were designed by Cai Jue, which was very elegant. Yang Xiu invited Sun Ce to the backyard and ordered people to guard the hospital door so that they would not let idle people disturb them.

Sun Ce's carriage and horse were parked outside. When the officials who came to the banquet saw it, they would definitely seize this opportunity to ask for a meeting. Sun Ce would be very upset at that time.

The two of them talked for a while, and Sun Ce said to Yang Xiu: "Dezu, I lack a competent Shangshu Ling. You should recommend a few candidates. Be cautious in doing things, just write your own skills and have a high level of knowledge."

Yang Xiu pondered for a moment. "I am the most suitable one."

Sun Ce shook his hand. Shangshutai was originally a very important institution, and it was the leader of the inner court. His official salary was not high and his power was greater than that of the three dukes. However, Sun Ce was unwilling to let this trend develop, so he deliberately restored the original function of Shangshutai, which was equivalent to a secretariat institution. Shangshutai was mainly responsible for drafting, forwarding, providing consultation, and not participating in decision-making. It was too wasteful to let a talent like Yang Xiu be a Shangshuling.

"I have other arrangements for you."

Yang Xiu thought for a while and said, "How about Xie Ying?"

Sun Ce did not argue. Xie Yan was over thirty years old, strong in his youth and good knowledge. After experiencing Chang'an, he became more and more calm and cautious in his work, and was able to serve as the Shangshu Ling. His only disadvantage is that he is from Kuaiji and Xie Xianying's father. He has a close relationship with the Yuan family and is prone to being nepotist.

Seeing that Sun Ce did not speak, Yang Xiu said again: "How about Huan Jie?"

Sun St. Sun thought about it and nodded. Huan Jie was the former official of Sun Jian and was currently the prefect of Wuling. In recent years, he has cooperated with Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang and Li Tong, and his performance is remarkable. Zhou Yu has recommended him before and the Prime Minister's Office has also recommended it. However, he plans to adjust the county system, and there are too many vacancies in the prefect, so there is no adjustment to Huan Jie for the time being.

Besides, it is a waste to let Huan Jie be the Secretary of the Shangshu Ling, so such people should do some practice.

“Is there any more?”

"Liu Xian."

"Liu Xian has enough knowledge and ability, but his qualifications are too shallow."

Yang Xiu scratched his head a little. "There is another candidate, but his temper is really bad, I'm afraid I can't get along with my colleagues."

"who?"

"Ni Heng."

Sun Ce was slightly stunned. He knew that Ni Heng had cooperated with Yang Xiu to do things and helped Yang Xiu a lot, but after he surrendered to Chang'an, he did not see Ni Heng or Kong Rong. "Where is Ni Heng now?"

"It's in Jianye City." Yang Xiu laughed out loud. "He and Kong Rong traveled to the northern border, far away to Liangzhou. He wanted to go to the Western Regions to see it. Liangzhou was bitter and cold, so Kong Rong couldn't stand it, so he came back. During this trip, Ni Heng's vision widened and his arrogance surged. As soon as he arrived in Jianye City, he scolded Xun Yu so much."

Sun Ce was surprised. "Is there anything wrong? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"The king hasn't heard of it. First, because Ni Heng is indeed knowledgeable, the Ru Ying clan cannot refute him and is unwilling to expose his shortcomings; second, Ni Heng has a bad reputation and no one wants to make a name for him, just pretending that he does not exist."

"You didn't say anything?"

Yang Xiu shook his head. "He has a bad temper and is unwilling to be restrained. He is not suitable for walking in front of the king. It is safer to bury his head and write."

Sun Ce nodded. "Then can he be competent for the Shangshu Ling?"

"He is a real evil dog, like a mastiff in the snow mountain."

Sun Ce smiled. He understood what Yang Xiu meant. After saying so many people, the one Yang Xiu wanted to recommend the most was probably Ni Heng, but he was also worried about Ni Heng's temper, so he finally said that he used some provocation method to let him choose it himself.

"Why did he scold Xun Yu?" Sun Ce asked again.

"Does the king still remember the entrusting Xun Yu to prepare etiquette?"

Sun Ce snorted. "It has something to do with this?"

Yang Xiu laughed again and told the whole story. Speaking of which, Ni Heng came to Jianye and Xun Yu's articles. After Xun Yu and others published articles on etiquette and law, they were printed throughout the world. Ni Heng was on the frontier and saw the articles a little late, but he quickly wrote a letter to Xun Yu and criticized Xun Yu's articles in large numbers. After receiving Ni Heng's letters, Xun Yu felt that Ni Heng's words made sense, so he contacted him and wanted to discuss this issue, but Ni Heng's whereabouts were uncertain, which was delayed a lot of time, so he delayed it.

Ni Heng originally didn't want to pay attention to Xun Yu, and refused to even reply to the letter. He was determined to go to the Western Regions to see the world. Later, Kong Rong was unwilling to leave and had no choice but to return. Ni Heng came to Jianye and met Xun Yu. Xun Yu was very happy and held a banquet to greet Ni Heng, but Ni Heng was not grateful at all. In front of everyone, he criticized Xun Yu again. Xun Yu himself was nothing, and none of the participants had a good impression of him, so he tacitly ignored him.

Sun Ce suddenly realized that there was a story behind Xun Yu's passive and slacking off work.

"Will Ni Heng come today?"

"Who dares to invite him?"

Sun Ce smiled. "I didn't expect that you, Yang Dezu, were also afraid. Today, the birthday of the Lingtang will be fine. Let him enter the palace tomorrow and I will meet him alone."

"Master, his mouth is so smelly."

"Is his mouth smelly than Gu's big soles? If he speaks rudely, Gu will use Gu's big soles to slap him."

Yang Xiu laughed out loud. "I often think to myself, looking at the world, if anyone can impress this person, it is the king."

To see Ni Heng, we naturally need to understand the dispute between him and Xun Yu. Sun Ce immediately asked someone to find Xun Yu. Xun Yu was talking to Yang Biao and other old ministers in Chang'an in the hall. When he heard that Sun Ce summoned him, he was quite surprised and rushed over.

Sun Ce didn't go around the circle, and went straight to the point, asking him directly what he was arguing with Ni Heng.

Xun Yu was very surprised. "Don't the king know?"

Sun Ce seemed to be smiling. "I'm afraid no one wants to know about this."

A layer of fine beads of sweat suddenly emerged from Xun Yu's forehead. He bowed his hand and wanted to say something but stopped. Seeing this, Sun Ce couldn't bear to squeeze him anymore and waved his hand. "Do not bring up family scandals, it's normal for human nature, and doctors don't have to care. This is not your responsibility."

"Uh, I... feel ashamed."

"Don't worry, even if you are ashamed, I will leave you a foothold." Sun Ce asked Xun Yu without any restraint and sat down and spoke. Xun Yu thanked him, sorted out his thoughts a little, and started from the beginning.

He followed Sun Ce's order to sort out the changes in etiquette and law, and wanted to legislate the rituals for the new dynasty. After writing the first few articles, there were differences between the main writers, and after several discussions, they failed to reach a conclusion that everyone could agree with, so the subsequent articles could not be written.

The fundamental reason for the differences is that the etiquette and law seem clear, but in fact it is difficult to explain it clearly. There are many different opinions, and there are even many places that contradict each other, and people's attitudes towards etiquette and law are different. In terms of classics alone, there are three types of etiquette, namely "The Literature of Zhou", "The Literature of Etiquette" and "The Book of Rites". Here, there are different differences between modern texts, ancient texts, and family rules and learning methods, which makes people confused, let alone the ancient rituals discovered recently in the collection of ancient steles.

But the most troublesome thing is not this. The most troublesome thing is that the etiquette system in the book is not the same thing as the actual etiquette system. Many times the book says one thing, but the actual execution is another thing. No matter how big the difference in classics is, after all, there are words there, but the actual execution of etiquette system is impossible to start. What can be explained clearly may be the things in recent decades. With Cai Yong and Yang Biao, the old ministers who have experienced the matter, can still say one, two, and three. Going forward, who knows?

The most typical example is the Fengshan ceremony. Since Qin Shihuang, Han Wu, Guangwu, Han Zhang, and Han An, the capitals of Han have visited Mount Tai to Fengshan in the east, but no one can explain the specific etiquette of Fengshan. King Wu made such a contribution, and going to Mount Tai to Fengshan in the future is almost inevitable. How to formulate Fengshan ceremony is definitely not an optional thing, and it must be serious.

Xun Yu didn't want to make mistakes in this matter, so he would rather be more conservative and make more preparations. After receiving Ni Heng's letter, he felt that Ni Heng's views were very inspiring, so he wanted to discuss them with Ni Heng. He never thought that Ni Heng had no reply at first, but later when he arrived in Jianye, he criticized them in a head-on manner, criticizing their previous efforts worthless, saying that they were all working behind closed doors and wasting time and public funds.

Sun Ce was surprised. Only then did he realize that the etiquette system was so complicated. "What is Ni Heng's reason?"

"In addition to the two aspects mentioned just now, what Ni Heng disagrees most is that his ministers and others do not have a broad vision and are limited to the Central Plains ritual system. He believes that if you seek rituals from the books, you cannot only focus on the etiquette of the court, but also include the etiquette of the people and even the barbarians. Since you have to make legislation for all ages, you cannot be confined to a corner, and you should spread all over the scholars and the common people, Chinese and foreign countries, and even the etiquette of the Western Regions should be paid attention to. The stones from other mountains can be used to capture jade. In this way, you can understand gains and losses, know how to abandon them, and control feasible rituals."

Xun Yu was very ashamed. "After listening to Ni Heng's words, I realized how frivolous it was to sit in a well and observe the sky.

Sun Ce and Yang Xiu exchanged glances, both of them were a little surprised. Ni Heng's ambitions are so great? No wonder Xun Yu has not made any noise recently. If anyone has changed, he is a little guilty when facing such a big problem and dare not act rashly.

"What are you going to do?"

"I beg the king to reconsider the candidate to preside over the matter."
Chapter completed!