Wei Ni

Emperor Cao Rui was very tolerant of others.

Although he did not listen to the advice of senior ministers such as Chen Qun, Yang Fu, and Gao Tanglong, he would not get angry, and sometimes even praised them for being loyal and upright ministers.

Although he would be annoyed by the displeasure of old friends or close friends, he would not take it to heart.

For example, the guerrilla general Bian Lan always gave harsh advice and refused to drink the water cast by the witch that Cao Rui had specially found when he was sick. This made Cao Rui so angry that his face changed, but he still did not punish him.

And now, after listening to the advice of Weiwei Xin Pi and no longer having the intention of leveling the North Mang Mountain, he issued an edict that no one should make any more comments on the construction of Luoyang Palace. Zhang Mao, who served as the prince's attendant, still wrote a petition to persuade Cao Rui, but Cao Rui just said with shame and annoyance, "Zhang Mao dared to submit a petition because he relied on his old friendship with Qiao and Pei", and then gave up.

But his magnanimity only extended to these people.

After Zhang Mao, Dong Xun, the military advisor of the prime minister, submitted another memorial to the emperor, in which he made a death-defying appeal against the evils of large-scale construction projects. This made Cao Rui furious, and he said, "Is Dong Xun not afraid of death?" He also planned to put Dong Xun in prison and sentence him to death. Finally, under the persuasion of the ministers, he changed his mind and deposed Dong Xun and demoted him to a commoner.

It was under such circumstances that Xiahou Hui submitted a petition to dissuade the construction of large-scale projects.
To put it nicely, he is not afraid of the emperor and is an upright minister.

But to put it bluntly, he was taking advantage of his favor and being arrogant, and was openly challenging the authority of Emperor Cao Rui!

After all, everyone from ministers to subordinates had advised against it, and Cao Rui had made respective decisions, and his intentions had been made very clear. Yet Xiahou Hui still came to make a fuss. Wasn't this a deliberate and malicious provocation?

When Emperor Cao Rui saw the memorial, even though he knew that Xiahou Hui was taking the opportunity to demote him, he still couldn't help but feel angry.

Fortunately, Xiahou Hui's advice this time was not as harsh as usual.

He merely used the reason that Shu and Wu had not yet been destroyed, and cited the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, who set an example by not wearing fancy clothes or painting or inlaying gold or silver on utensils to promote frugality, and asked Cao Rui to suspend his large-scale construction projects.

Finally, he earnestly advised Cao Rui to encourage himself by considering himself as the greatest emperor of all time.

He said: "Those who have achieved as much as the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor are praised in history and are great rulers; those who have understood the greatness of the universe but still have compassion for the green grass and trees are praised by the people and are saintly rulers. If Your Majesty is self-disciplined and works hard to govern the country, destroys Shu and Wu, completes the great cause of conquering the world, recovers the Western Regions and brings in the northern desert, and makes all nations come to pay tribute, reduces taxes and levies, and has compassion for the hardships of the people, then your achievements in civil and military affairs can be said to be unrivaled in history!"

These words eased Cao Rui's anger a little.

Because he suddenly felt somewhat pleased with himself.

When Xiahou Hui gave advice in his early years, he wrote "Fu on Afang Palace" comparing him to Qin Ershi; and now he is "as good as Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi", and people hope that he can pay more attention to people's livelihood and be praised as the greatest emperor of all time in the future.

This is a change as different as heaven and earth, hey!
Of course, he felt that his hard work over the years had yielded very gratifying results.
However, the gesture still needs to be made.

After reading the memorial, he pretended to be ashamed and annoyed and scolded Xiahou Hui in front of all the officials, and then issued an edict to the Zhenhu Department to move out of camp and station in Yecheng, Weijun, Jizhou at the beginning of May.

Under the pretext of recruiting soldiers to form a camp to protect the mountain.

Regarding this behavior, people in the court and the public felt that it was Xiahou Hui's lack of tact that annoyed Cao Rui, so Cao Rui transferred him away from the capital Luoyang so that he could out of sight and out of mind.

It was still seven days until midsummer May.

Therefore, after receiving the imperial edict, Xiahou Hui ordered all the soldiers to rest for five days and return home to say goodbye to their parents, wives and children. On the sixth day, they returned to the camp to pack up miscellaneous items and prepare to move to Yecheng.

The soldiers and generals had nothing to say. Following a general who loved to make trouble, such demotion was inevitable.

Besides, even if they had complaints, no one would listen.

When Fu Gu and Chen Qian came to the big tent to say goodbye to Xiahou Hui, they also took the opportunity to say a few words of advice.

Fu Gu is more direct.

With the words "General, you are highly regarded by Your Majesty. You are young and hold a high position. You should be less talkative and loyal to your duties. You must not disobey Your Majesty's wishes and cause your grace and honor to decline", he bluntly advised Xiahou Hui to focus on his official career and not do such reckless things in the future.

Xiahou Hui humbly accepted the advice and then refused, "Although I know that Lanshi's words are good advice, as a descendant of Qiaopei, I should put the country first and dare not follow the example of flatterers and appease the ruler!"

Ling Fu Gu looked at him deeply, then sighed and left.

Chen Qian was much more tactful.

He said, "The general is in charge of the army and is in charge of the conquests. The ministers are responsible for all the affairs of the court. If Your Majesty listens to the ministers' advice, there is no need for the general to submit a memorial; but if Your Majesty does not listen, it will be difficult for the general to change his mind even if he advises again. In this case, why doesn't the general take it easy, supervise the soldiers and practice martial arts diligently, and repay the country with the merits of the conquests?"

This made Xiahou Hui very happy.

In any case, this was the first time that Chen Qian persuaded him as an assistant.

It's also a good start to bring them closer together.

Therefore, after listening to him, Xiahou Hui considered his words, thanked him first and then said, "I know Sima has good intentions, and I also know that it is not my job to discuss the affairs of the court. But Confucius said, 'A ruler should treat his ministers with courtesy, and a minister should serve his ruler with loyalty.' Your Majesty has been generous in promoting me, and I should repay you with my life. Now I am just expressing my gratitude. Whether Your Majesty listens or not is up to Your Majesty; whether I advise or not is up to my duty as a minister. Sima's good words, I am sorry that I cannot listen."

These words left Chen Qian silent for a long time.

Finally, with a long sigh, he said solemnly, "Alas! Now I know why Your Majesty is so kind to you. I am also very honored to work with you!" He sighed and said no more. He just bowed and said goodbye, "General, I'll take care of you first. If you have anything to do in these five days, you can come to me and I will not refuse." I have shown my personal character a little bit, right?

Looking at Chen Qian's departing back, Xiahou Hui, who was sitting upright in the main seat, rubbed her hand on her chin, drooped her eyelids, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

But the happiness didn’t last long.

As soon as he left the military camp and returned to the mansion, Xiahou He, who had been waiting for him at the door, pulled him to the study.

"Sixth brother, my eldest brother asked me to pass on a message."

Without waiting for him to ask, Xiahou He said directly, "Big brother, why did you offend His Majesty? You are about to become a father, but you still don't think about being careful with your words and actions? And big brother said that if you don't give him a satisfactory answer, he will not prepare that matter for you."

What are you preparing for?
After a moment of silence, Xiahou Hui realized that what Xiahou Heng was referring to was the establishment of intelligence.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Xiahou He thought he had nothing to say, so he continued, "Sixth brother, don't blame me for blaming you. Even I can't understand it. Sixth brother is now the general of Zhenhu. It's not long before the family's reputation is restored. Why do you want to offend His Majesty? You know His Majesty's mind cannot be changed, and it's useless to say more. Why don't you just be patient for now?"

I can't tell you about this.
Seeing his sixth brother's face full of disappointment, Xiahou Hui couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Don't worry, Yiquan, I'm just leaving the capital temporarily, I'm not deposed by Your Majesty, it's not a big deal. Come, sit down first, I have something to tell you, when I'm not in the capital, please come to my house more often to take care of me."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Xiahou He.

"Sixth brother!"

Xiahou He frowned and shouted directly, "Sixth brother, you don't need to remind me of these trivial matters. I will arrange them properly. What you need to consider now is not these, but how to give eldest brother a satisfactory answer! Also, come up with an excuse to appease second brother!"

To appease brother Zhong?

Xiahou Hui raised her eyebrows.

Only then did he recall that the emperor had recently issued an edict, appointing General Cao Yanyan, the Tiger Guard, to guard Chang'an and transferring Xiahou Ba to Yecheng to form the Huyue Camp.

"As for Brother Zhong, I will explain it clearly when I get to Yecheng."

Waving his hands, Xiahou Hui was a little unconvinced. "I have tried my best to ask Your Majesty to transfer my brother to Yecheng, and it is definitely not to let him continue to waste his youth. Yiquan, please sit down first, and wait until you calm down before speaking. How can Yiquan not know what kind of person I am? How can you not know the importance of things?"

I just know what kind of person you are.
He replied angrily in his heart, but Xiahou He still sat down as he was told, and took a deep breath to calm his mind before he slowly persuaded him, "I know that you are loyal and cannot bear to waste people's money. But you should also know the current situation and not do useless things. This time, my eldest brother sent me here because he wanted me and you to go to the palace together to confess your crimes. Now, His Majesty only asked you to leave the capital, and did not remove you from your post and take away your troops. There is still a chance, but I hope you don't act on impulse."

It's just a matter of moving camp to Yecheng to set up camp!

It's not like there's no chance of coming back, is there any need for you to take this matter so seriously?
Xiahou Hui did not answer, but lowered his eyes and twirled his beard, considering how to give his elder brother Xiahou Heng a satisfactory answer without revealing the truth.

No matter what, the private intelligence issue must never be stopped.

And he also knew that his elder brother would definitely keep his word.

Seeing this, Xiahou He did not urge him.

But after a quarter of an hour, Xiahou Hui still had no intention of answering, so he could not help but remind him, "Sixth brother, it's getting dark."

If you don't go to knock on the palace gate now, you will have to wait until tomorrow.

"A gentleman is calm and composed. He is not startled by thunder that breaks the mountain, nor is he afraid of sharp swords coming at him."

Xiahou Hui opened his eyes, gave him a warning, and then said softly, "Yiquan, go back. Tell my elder brother, and say, 'Well, God will give great responsibilities to this person.'"

Is Heaven going to bestow a great responsibility on this person?
Moving camp out of the capital and heading for Yecheng doesn't count as "making their minds suffer, their muscles tired, and their bodies hungry"!

Could it be that Sixth Brother meant to be...
This time, it was Xiahou He's turn to remain silent. He just stared at Xiahou Hui.

He had a vague guess but didn't dare to be sure.

"Haha~"

But Xiahou Hui did not give him any more hints. Instead, he came over and pulled him up. "It's getting dark. Yiquan should go back."

"Oh, all right."

Xiahou He had no choice but to leave as he was told.

After returning to Anningting Marquis's Mansion and relaying the matter to Xiahou Heng, he asked, "Brother, does Sixth Brother mean that His Majesty will demote him soon?"

But the answer he got was a scolding, "Shut up! Don't mention this matter again!" (End of this chapter)