Cao Mao's appearance at the prison this time had not been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Liu Lu had sent men to keep an eye on Yang Zong long before.
They had been watching him for some time. Upon learning that Yang Zong had been arrested again, Cao Mao finally appeared and took the initiative to recruit him.
It was not that Cao Mao had an obsession with famous scholars and liked collecting capable officials.
But in an age when local governance depended entirely on the quality of the officials, talent really was very, very, very important.
If a province gained a capable inspector, the entire province might soar, as with Wang Ji, the former Inspector of Jingzhou, Deng Ai, Inspector of Yanzhou, and Zhou Tai, Inspector of Yu Province.
These men had clearly all performed exceptionally well. Wang Ji's governance had sent Jingxiang soaring; in Yanzhou, Deng Ai had dismissed many incompetent officials, promoted outstanding talent, reclaimed land, and governed the people. Zhou Tai had done the same.
And if every commandery and county could be governed by outstanding talent, the boost to those places would be tenfold, a hundredfold!
An emperor could be ignorant of everything else, but finding and employing talent was something he had to master.
Cao Mao led Zhang Hua away.
Cao Mao stole a look at the situation outside. He was quite pleased to see everything that had happened to Yang Zong.
"Luoyang has already changed."
"One day, sooner or later, the whole realm will be like this."
Zhang Hua believed this without a shred of doubt.
Just as Cao Mao returned to the palace gates, however, he saw the armored guards blocking someone. The man looked very anxious and was saying something loudly.
At the sight of him, Cao Mao jumped straight down from the