Wei Ni

Compared with his father Chen Jiao's worries, Chen Qian didn't mind being involved in the power struggle among the Xiahou and Cao clans.

Because he was appointed by the government and participated passively, and felt that as long as he performed his duties impartially, he could stay out of trouble and did not need to worry about being implicated or held accountable in the future.

There are good examples out there.

Aren’t there enough ministers implicated in Wei’s previous fight for the throne?

Not to mention those who rose to great heights, there were also many tragic endings such as being deposed, exiled, executed, and having their entire families wiped out.

But Sima Fu was an exception.

He was first a literary official of Chensi Wang Cao Zhi, and later became the Prince's Secretary when Cao Pi was made the Crown Prince. Now he is the Minister of Finance in charge of the national finances. The reason for this is nothing more than his integrity and fairness, coupled with the protection of his family background, so he was able to stay out of the struggle for succession in Wei and it did not affect his current promotion.

Compared with the Sima family in Henei, the Chen family in Dongyang, Guangling is not a high-ranking family; Chen Jiao is not as good as Sima Yi, but the current disputes between the Xiahou and Cao families cannot be compared with the Wei succession struggle in the past.
Therefore, Chen Qian is quite satisfied with his current position as Sima of the Zhenhu Department.

Having worked in the Shangshutai first, and then accumulating military experience and military merit in the Central Army, will be of great benefit to my future career! Maybe in 20 or 30 years, I can become a general or a prime minister like the current Taiwei Sima Yi!
In this way, not only can he display his talents and ambitions, but he can also elevate the Dongyang Chen family to the ranks of the upper classes.

The future is promising and the price you pay is just to get involved. Why not be satisfied?
Of course, it's too early to think about this now.

Chen Qian knew that his top priority was to integrate into the Town Protection Department as quickly as possible while also trying his best to avoid being labeled as Xiahou Hui's minion.

At least, not until the power struggle among the Xiahou and Cao clans becomes clear.

This idea sounds like some people are greedy and don't want to give, but are greedy for rewards.

But Chen Qian felt that Xiahou Hui would do as he wished.

The reason is that Xiahou Hui, who was highly regarded by Emperor Cao Rui and promoted to General of Defense in just a few years, is no ordinary person!
This is actually true.

Xiahou Hui seemed to have a telepathic connection with him and kept a distance from him tacitly.

After he came to take up the post, he was welcomed with perfect courtesy, and the military affairs were explained in a businesslike manner, as well as the duties of the Sima. Then everyone went about their business and did not disturb each other.

There was no attempt to win him over by being courteous and open-hearted, or to deepen their personal relationship by spending time together with him.

The only change was that Xiahou Hui previously addressed him as "Brother Chen" according to his age in order to avoid his father's taboo, but now he calls him "Sima Chen" according to his official title.

For this reason, Fu Gu also persuaded Xiahou Hui privately.

Fu Gu, who implicitly regarded himself as a confidant, often stayed in the big tent after joining the job. In addition to handling military affairs on behalf of Xiahou Hui, he also gave many suggestions.

The most mentioned topic was to persuade Xiahou Hui to get closer to Chen Qian.

"Sima Chen is a hundred times more talented than me. He also has a wide circle of friends. If the general can make him his confidant, he will be of great benefit to the army in the future, whether it is going out to fight or recruiting talented people."

This is what Fu Gu said, without hesitation, he belittled himself.

But Xiahou Hui did not accept it. Instead, he dismissed the people and explained to him privately, "I have just been granted the post of garrison commander and the real power to command troops. I have attracted much attention from the government and the public. Now I should be loyal to my duties and not be too eager to make friends. I know that Sima Chen is a great talent in his time and I also know that he works diligently. In this way, the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, which is enough! There is no need to be too selfish and give others an advantage. Besides, the talent of Lanshi is still not useful to the times!"

This also made Fu Gu suddenly realize and he never mentioned it again.

Because he knew how Xiahou Hui planned to win over Chen Qian.

Sons of ministers like Chen Qian, whose fathers were very popular in the court, were well aware of how to protect themselves and their families. Maintaining a stable and unshakable position in the court was their primary concern.

As such, they would not easily pledge themselves to others. After all, with their current family background and status, they have already passed the stage of seeking "rare goods to occupy". If Xiahou Hui showed his sincerity to them, it would be counterproductive.

Because with Xiahou Hui's current status and power, he can only keep them friendly, but it is not enough to make them willing to take the gamble.

Therefore, if Xiahou Hui wanted to win over various types of people, there were only two things he could do.

First, understand the current situation.

When you are weak, don't try too hard to be annoying and make things difficult for others; when you are strong enough, it will not be too late for both parties to discuss ways to get along with each other.

The other is to show personal charm.

To be precise, it shows a person's future potential.

Being highly regarded by Emperor Cao Rui is only the foundation; personal talent and character are the most important.

The former lays the starting point, and the latter determines the achievement.

No one is willing to entrust their future to someone with character flaws.

Furthermore, Xiahou Hui was the son of a hero of Qiaopei, and was destined to come into conflict with the power of ministers as a pawn in defending the monarchy. As the son of a minister, he would never isolate his family from the ministers if he did not have enough assurance and confidence.

To put it bluntly, Xiahou Hui just needs to keep working hard.

Once you have enough strength, you will have no worries about no one coming to place bets and rely on you.

However, what Fu Gu didn't know was that the reason why Xiahou Hui didn't win over Chen Qian now was because he had another consideration - Emperor Cao Rui told him privately that after the attack on Liaodong, he would still be the one to lead the reform of the Shi family.

In other words, regardless of whether Chen Qian was willing or not, under the emperor's edict, he was forced to implement the new policy with Xiahou Hui and was forced to be labeled as a member of Xiahou Hui's faction.
Therefore, why should Xiahou Hui be in such a hurry when he knew that the emperor was going to be a "bad guy"?

Putting his mind on the preparations for the attack on Gongsun in Liaodong is his top priority.
As long as he could conquer Liaodong, wouldn't he be able to gain a firm foothold in the government and become one of the people that others could choose to depend on?

When you have the strength, everything will come naturally.

There is no need to lose sight of the main point.

Soon, he had the opportunity to be exiled from the capital.

However, after entering the fourth month of summer, the reason why Emperor Cao Rui had ordered the officials to calculate the labor force of each household in the counties and prefectures of the capital was revealed.

It's a big construction project~
Cao Rui imposed heavy labor service on the pretext that Shu and Wu were weak and the Luoyang Palace was in ruins.

As soon as the spring ploughing was over, the scholars and common people were conscripted to build the Zhaoyang Palace and the Taiji Palace, and the Zongzhan Temple, which was more than ten feet high and had a flying phoenix on top.

In response to this, Sikong Chen Qun, Shaofu Yang Fu, and Shizhong Gao Tanglong all advised against it, arguing that farming and sericulture were out of season.

But he couldn't change Cao Rui's mind.

He also wanted to flatten the Beimang Mountain and build a platform to overlook Mengjin, etc. However, he gave up the plan after being dissuaded by the Weiwei Xin Pi, thus making a concession to signal the ministers and officials not to advise him.

Xiahou Hui, who learned about the incident, would never miss the chance to be punished~ (End of this chapter)