Some officials of Great Wei had never liked change.
In the past, they had even opposed sending troops against the Shu Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom, arguing that neither should be attacked.
Of course, cowed by Cao Mao, they only dared entertain such thoughts in their hearts.
And when it came to the powers in the north, they were equally reluctant to go to war.
It was not that they thought frequent wars would hurt the common people at the bottom. Their hearts were not that kind. They merely feared that another bunch of mud-legged peasants and frontier Great Clans would rise through military merit.
If everyone developed steadily, no one could compete with those Great Clans of the Central Plains.
When it came to climbing the ranks, who could rival such behemoths as the Zhong, Chen, Xun, and Sima families?
Their starting points alone put them far above those frontier Great Clans and men of humble birth.
By sharing resources and supporting one another, they could easily control every important department at court, surrounding the emperor with their own people.
Countless people of their own shut everyone else out.
War, however, was the greatest uncertainty.
Especially in wars fought on the frontier, those who contributed the most were often the frontier Great Clans-the very people excluded by the Great Clans of the Central Plains. There would also be men from families that had not been particularly prominent, who fought their way out simply because they dared to fight and risk their lives.
Take Hu Zun and Guanqiu Jian. Without all those wars, could they have towered over the ministers and become the most prominent figures at court?
That was unrealistic.
The ministers at home opposed war because they feared it would spawn new interest groups that would carve up