Wei Ni

The Zhongshujian was renamed from the Mishujian. It was in charge of confidential information and shared the power of the Shangshutai. Its initial power was not very great.

For example, during the reigns of Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen, Liu Fang and Sun Zi were still close ministers to the monarch, and they basically served as a buffer bridge between the Secretariat and the emperor.

He is noble and elegant, but has no real power.

But after Cao Rui ascended the throne, the power of the two of them expanded rapidly.

The most prominent example is Bi Gui, who served as a redundant servant of the Ministry of Rites in his early years. He submitted a memorial saying that the Minister of Rites Wang Si was not qualified for the position and should be replaced by Xin Pi. However, when Cao Rui consulted Liu Fang and Sun Zi, they slandered him by saying, "Pi is bright and upright, but he is stubborn and selfish."

Bi Gui was a minister in the imperial palace, and Xin Pi was an important official of the third generation. Even such identities could be destroyed by just one word from Liu Fang and Sun Zi. Especially Wang Si's position as Shangshu Pushe was recognized as incompetent at that time.

After this incident, Liu Fang and Sun Zi were given the title of "full-time official".

For example, Jiang Ji had submitted a memorial to the imperial court impeaching them for abusing their power, while Xin Pi, Wei Zhen and others had never associated with them.

Other subordinates who were not prominent but had integrity privately criticized him, and the people in the market ridiculed them for flattering and abusing their power, which was even worse than "Ajiu", who relied on nepotism to become the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat in his early years.

But to be honest, Liu Fang and Sun Zi still felt a little aggrieved.

Indeed, they were both flattering and abusing their power.

However, the premise of all this is that the emperor did it on purpose, and it was Cao Rui who asked them to "specialize" in it~
The cause of the incident was that when Cao Rui had just ascended the throne, he wanted to go to the Secretariat to check the documents, but was stopped outside the door by the then Shangshu Ling Chen Jiao. He was so ashamed that he left after hearing some straightforward words from him.

However, did Cao Rui listen to Chen Jiao's advice and leave? Did he really think that Chen Jiao's words made sense?

You know, Cao Rui had been brought up by Wei Emperor Cao Cao since he was a child, and he was even commented as "I have laid the foundation for three generations of yours".

How could such a person tolerate the power of ministers being above the power of the monarch!
It's just that he had just ascended the throne that year, and the four regents left to him by Cao Pi were all there. He had not yet established his authority as a king, so he endured it.

The way to control subordinates is to exercise checks and balances.

The Wei Kingdom inherited the Han system. Under the system in which Cao Pi had expressly ordered that harem relatives and eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in government affairs, members of the royal family needed to hold military power and guard foreign territories. Naturally, Cao Rui set his sights on the Zhongshu Jian, which was established to divide the power of the Shangshu Tai.

From then on, Liu Fang and Sun Zi's power grew by leaps and bounds.

As a result, it has now expanded to the point where it can even have a say in the appointment and dismissal of the three highest officials.

All the officials in the court knew the cause and effect of this matter, but the officialdom had its own tacit understanding and rules.

They could not openly accuse Emperor Cao Rui of dividing the power of the Secretariat, so they took Liu Fang and Sun Zi as targets and continued to target them.

In a sense, Liu Fang and Sun Zi suffered on behalf of Cao Rui.

Although they enjoy it.

Only by paying a price can you reap the rewards.

Especially since their profits far outweigh the costs.

Now, Xiahou Hui directly tore through this veil and spoke up for them, which deeply touched them.

For so many years, so many people have pretended to be ignorant while knowing the truth, and have pointed fingers at them and cursed them without asking why. Today, finally there is a reckless man who speaks out the facts and explains the whole story!

It doesn't matter whether Xiahou Hui was being pretentious or sincere, it doesn't change their deep feelings.

Because what’s important is that they have always wanted to hear and hoped that someone would say such words, but no one has mentioned it for more than a decade, not even those who flatter them.

Therefore, after hearing this, the two of them could not help but stare at each other in silence for a long time.

Of course, the feeling only lasts for a moment.

After years of ups and downs in officialdom, they quickly regained their composure and became alert - what did this reckless man want to get from them by acting like this?
"It's just some slander, not worth mentioning."

Liu Fang narrowed his eyes and spoke calmly, "Mr. Sun and I have been trusted and favored by your majesty. It is natural for us to be criticized by the court officials. How can it be said to be unfair? I appreciate Zhiquan's good intentions. It is better not to mention such words in the future to avoid any trouble."

I have so many lice that I'm not afraid of the itch, so don't even think about doing me a favor.

If you have something to say, say it. If not, leave quickly.

Don't play tricks!

Xiahou Hui understood the subtext instantly and did not feel embarrassed about being seen through or rejected.

Eat your food one bite at a time and walk one step at a time.

His intention of being noisy this time was just to open up the defenses of Liu and Sun, in the hope that they would not stand on opposite sides of each other in the future.

And this intention has been initially achieved!
Given the cunning and scheming of Liu and Sun, they simply refused to accept his goodwill instead of pretending to accept it and then taking the opportunity to ask questions to find out his intentions.

From this, we can see that the defenses of both of them have been loosened.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui also stopped while he was ahead. "I admire the open-mindedness of Mr. Liu Gongsun. Today I know why Your Majesty has appointed me as the Minister of the Central Secretariat! I hope that when I am criticized by thousands of people in the future, I can also be as calm as Mr. Liu Gongsun. The clean ones are clean! You two have many things to do, and it is getting late. I dare not disturb you any more, so I will leave first."

After saying this, he immediately stood up, bowed, and strode away.

Liu Fang and Sun Zi were left staring at each other in silence again.

He was criticized by thousands of people.
What does it refer to?
Just say goodbye, why are you making such a fuss?

Liu Fang was a little angry for a moment, but he still took a deep breath and thought carefully.

"Mr. Liu, in my opinion, Zhiquan is referring to the scholar family."

Sun Zi, who was also pondering, gave an answer more quickly. "The previous investigation of the scholar family was presided over by Yang Yishan, and it ended up in nothing. Zhi Quan was the initiator of the reform and investigation of the scholar family. If Your Majesty intends to restart the investigation of the scholar family, he will be in charge. This makes sense, and he will be criticized by thousands of people in the future. Otherwise, as he is the Central Guard, he cannot bear such a crime if he thoroughly investigates the previous bribery and buys official positions."

"Hmm." Liu Fang nodded slightly, responding with a nasal tone, squinting his eyes and stroking his beard as usual.

He is different from Director Sun Zi.

Sun Zi's strength lies in broad strokes, as he can even inquire into military affairs thousands of miles away; but his strength lies in his meticulous mind, as he often has insightful views of the truth in subtle details.

As Sun Zi said, he also thought that what Xiahou Hui was referring to was the investigation of the scholars' families.

But this is not the point.

Let me ask, what Xiahou Hui is going to do and whether he will be criticized by thousands of people, what does it have to do with these two people?

Today, Xiahou Hui does not have the power to shake their authority, and their clans have not annexed farmland or hidden the families of soldiers and soldiers to form a military unit.

Why Xiahou Hui revealed to them that he was about to stir up a hornet's nest is not the point.

The answer is simple.

It was nothing more than Xiahou Hui's way of getting close to them, implying that he and they were all slandered and criticized by the court officials, and he was just trying to seek warmth among the group.

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And they don't need to rush to respond to this.

As for how to decide, they have to wait until Xiahou Hui makes the matter public and see whether the current situation and interests are worth their support. It will not be too late to make plans then.

When placing bets, it is safer to first release the eagle after seeing the rabbit.

The real point is that Xiahou Hui pointed out more than once in the conversation just now that after he took on the position of Zhongshu Shilang, he was also advised by Emperor Cao Rui to learn more about his and Sun Zi's style of doing things.

When the title of the emperor was mentioned, Liu Fang did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

After all, even though he and Sun Zi have great power now, as long as Cao Rui shows the slightest dissatisfaction, they will be impeached by the court officials and labeled as treacherous ministers.

So, when Xiahou Hui repeatedly mentioned the emperor, was he implying that the emperor intended for them to work together with Xiahou Hui?

Liu Fang wasn't sure.

He would never think of finding an opportunity to test the Emperor Cao Rui's intentions.

You can try to guess your superiors’ intentions, but you can’t do it openly, otherwise you will follow in Liu Ye’s footsteps.

Of course, there is another possibility. Xiahou Hui was taking advantage of the emperor's power to deceive them, making them believe it and lend a helping hand in the future.

This possibility.
With Xiahou Hui's bold and reckless character, he can definitely do it!

Two possibilities, difficult to distinguish.

Liu Fang, who had been pondering for a long time but still had no conclusion, finally raised his doubts and asked Sun Zi what he thought about it.

Sun Zi lowered his eyes and thought for a long time.

It was early spring, and the wind and snow were still blowing. After a while, the office was dead silent and it was getting colder and colder.

Unable to bear the cold, Sun Zi stood up and walked to the corner, fetched some charcoal and added it to the stove. As he watched the charcoal turn from black to red and finally to white, he suddenly had an epiphany.

"Mr. Liu is from Youzhou, and I am from Bingzhou. But now I am afraid of the cold weather in early spring. It shows that we are both old."

Huh?
Why are you suddenly feeling sad for no reason?

Liu Fang, who was warming himself by the fire, turned his head, looking puzzled.

Sun Zi didn't look at him, still stirring the charcoal fire with the small iron pestle, and said in a leisurely voice, "On the other hand, Xiahou Zhiquan is about to reach the age of thirty, and is in the prime of his life. His clothes are very thin."

Hearing this, the confusion in Liu Fang's eyes disappeared.

It has been about ten years since they were given exclusive authority by Emperor Cao Rui, right?
Can he stay in charge for another ten years?

I don’t think so. After all, they are old now.

However, Emperor Cao Rui will still grant the "exclusive" authority, because the game between the power of the monarch and the power of the ministers will continue.

Especially, nowadays, aristocratic families are becoming more and more powerful.

So, who would Emperor Cao Rui choose to succeed them?

Liu Fang had the answer in mind.

It can only be the Xiahou Cao, and no more scholars will be chosen.

The reason is not only that he and Sun Zi have been in power for so many years, and although they have achieved certain results, they are far from what the emperor Cao Rui expected; but also because now the royal generals and the commander-in-chief of Qiao Pei are almost all dead. If he does not support them with all his strength, he may not be able to find anyone to defend the stability of the country.

"Xiahou Zhiquan is a descendant of Qiaopei."

As expected, Sun Zi continued, "Whether he is just pretending to be powerful or not, the emperor would like to see us lend a hand when the time is right."

Liu Fang nodded in agreement, "Mr. Sun is right."

Before Sun Zi finished speaking, he said, "Mr. Liu, you and I have supported Zhi Quan before, and our relationship has been quite harmonious."

You want to raise?

Suddenly, Liu Fang was stunned. (End of this chapter)