Wei Ni

"You are not afraid of the axe, but you are afraid of the paper?"

In the huge Nine Dragon Hall, Emperor Cao Rui sat alone behind a bronze table, examining the paper in his hand, and murmured with some curiosity, "Did the person who wrote and spread this nursery rhyme want to denounce Xiahou Zhiquan as a cruel official?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Er, who was standing respectfully below, lowered his head unconsciously.

Some words are better not to be heard.

Even though he was a confidant of Emperor Cao Rui and was the chief officer in charge of the affairs of the Beimangshan Manor School.

Yes, he is not the sergeant of Wuwei.

Instead, he was one of the leaders who had secretly held power in the school affairs office for more than ten years.

The "two" in Shi Er means that he ranks second in authority in the entire school office.

As for Xiahou Hui's previous request that he convey the message to the school officials not to mix in useless things when collecting intelligence, he claimed that he was unable to do so, but it was not a deliberate shirking of responsibility.

It is true that he has the power, but he dares not use it.

The reason was that when Emperor Cao Rui went to Beimangshan Manor to give orders that day, he asked the school officials to report all matters, no matter how big or small, to Xiahou Hui, and he dared not disobey!

How can a lackey hiding in the dark dare to have his own ideas and act on his own?

"How's the investigation going?"

Emperor Cao Rui just muttered to himself, put the paper down, closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand, and asked a question with some tiredness.

The question is so confusing that I don't understand what you are saying.

But Shi Er had been serving by his side for many years, so he naturally understood what he meant.

He immediately answered loudly, "Your Majesty, since the rumor started, I have ordered a thorough investigation. The rumor was first said by a guard of the Central Army, who said, 'Even if an axe hits me, I can still fight; my name is recorded in a book, and it cannot be refuted.' It was just a sigh of regret, but only three days later, it became what we say today. I think there may be something fishy, ​​so I ordered my subordinates to step up their efforts to find out who did it, but so far there has been no result, and my subordinates claim that there is no clue to follow."

It’s right that you can’t find it out.

It only took three days for the rumor to be changed and spread widely. With such quick wit and ability, how could it be possible for the school officials to catch it?

"Ah."

Nodding slightly, Cao Rui pondered for a moment before asking, "In your opinion, did he do this to hurt Zhiquan's reputation? Or did he have a grudge against him?"

With a start in his heart, Shi Er bowed down in fear and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not speak nonsense."

"It's okay. There's no one else here, so let's just say it."

"only."

Shi Er, who was prostrating himself on the ground, buried his head deeply, carefully considering his words, "Your Majesty, I think that the intention of that person to spread rumors is not to slander General Xiahou's reputation, nor does he have any resentment, but it is like Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword. He must have seen that General Xiahou's assessment of the central army's officers and soldiers was very effective, so he was afraid that Your Majesty would be pleased and order a thorough investigation of the court officials' competence, so he advised according to the old words 'I am not afraid of Cao Gong, but I am afraid of Lu Hong; Lu Hong is still okay, but Zhao Da will kill me'."

Cao Rui remained silent on this answer for a long time.

The hand that was rubbing the root of the nose also rested on his knees, as if he had taken a nap.

In fact, he already had the answer in his mind, but he asked Shi Er to answer it just to make sure of it.

Because he was smart since childhood and now has mastered political tactics, he was reluctant to admit that someone had seen through his intention of letting Xiahou Hui investigate the officers of the central army, and spread nursery rhymes to make the court officials share the same hatred of the enemy, thereby curbing his idea of ​​moving the School Affairs Office to the open and increasing its power.

Yes~
Examining whether the generals and officers in the central army are competent is just a cover.

Cao Rui did not even tell Xiahou Hui, the executor, about this - perhaps Xiahou Hui, who was granted the position of Central Guard General, thought that his intention was just to get him to wipe out the practice of bribery that Jiang Ji had used to gain power during his tenure?

To be honest, he did have this meaning, but it was secondary.

If the water is clear, there will be no fish.

How could there be no abuse of power for personal gain in the bustling capital?

Just don't take it too far.

Furthermore, among General Qin Lang of the Cavalry, Inspector of the Five Colonels Cao Zhao, Captain of the City Gates Cao Shuang, Captain of the Infantry Bian Lin and Captain of the Yue Cavalry Zhen Yi, who got the position after achieving merit?
In the central army stationed in Luoyang, the generals with a salary of two thousand stones or above were all people he trusted and loyal. It was not a big deal if there were some incompetent generals and low-level officers such as military commanders mixed in.

He doesn't really care.

This was also the reason why, after he learned that Xiahou Hui had completed his inspection, he sent someone to get the paper book as soon as possible, so that Xiahou Hui would not rush to submit a petition for dismissal.

Firstly, it is to take into account the face of Jiang Ji and Xiahou Xian.

It's impossible that we just transfer these two people and then thoroughly investigate a bunch of problems they caused during their tenure, right?
The other is that he wanted to keep it in suspense.

He knew that the officers who were not qualified had already resigned due to illness, and those who thought they could not be rated as competent were also actively seeking to be transferred to other places. In this way, the purpose was already achieved. Instead of announcing the results of the inspection, it would be better to keep it in suspense for the time being and use it as an opportunity to increase the authority of the school.

But what he didn't expect was that there were people in the government and the opposition who had sharp eyes and superior skills!
Before he could do anything, the road was blocked!
Hateful!
Cao Rui, who was feeling vaguely frustrated, was feeling very upset at the moment.

As a result, he began to feel somewhat dissatisfied with Xiahou Hui.

Obviously, when he was teaching me face to face, he had specifically reminded me to take it step by step.

Who would have thought that Xiahou Hui would finish the job in less than a month! His high efficiency and the big noise he made made people wary and aware of his intentions.

Alas, as expected, too much is as bad as too little.

A sharp knife can cut through the Gordian knot, but if the knife is too sharp, it will even cut through the table underneath the Gordian knot.

Our only plan now is to place our hope on investigating the families of scholars and see if my wish can be fulfilled by then.

Cao Rui calmed down and opened his eyes to look at Shi Er. "Wake up. You have been with Zhi Quan for nearly a month. How do you feel?"

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty."

Shi Er stood up quickly as if he had been pardoned, and answered without hesitation, "When I served as the general of Xiahou, I saw that the general was diligent in his duties, working hard every night, and was fair in his conduct. Can he be called a loyal and upright minister?"

Be diligent and fair in your work.
That's appropriate.

For example, Xiahou Hui stayed in the barracks for 20 consecutive nights, and Xiahou Xian, Cao Zhao, Cao Shuang and others also served in the central army for many years, but the total time they stayed in the barracks was less than 10 days, right? Qin Lang could do it, but he had accepted bribes before.

After making some comparisons in his mind, Cao Rui continued to ask questions.

"Did he ever doubt your identity?"

"Your Majesty, it should be none. In the past twenty days, General Xiahou has spoken to me less than five times."

"Did he have any contact with other people during this period?"

"Your Majesty, no. And the guard general Xiahou Hui has not returned to the palace or the office either."

"Just get down."

"only."

"Wait. Tell Zhiquan to make two books and send them to the palace and to me."

"only!"

After Shi Er left, Cao Rui sat in silence for a long time before he picked up the paper and started to look through it.

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Xiahou Hui’s notes were very simple.

One page records one person, first the name, position, actual responsibilities, then explain the reason for competence or incompetence, and finally add whether there is any illegal behavior.

This continued for several pages, and Cao Rui lost interest, so he started to read faster.

After turning four or five more pages, he looked carefully and found that Xiahou Hui had made comments on some of the generals and officers marked as competent.

Such as:
"He has a strong body and is extremely brave. He may be a general of Zhutu."

"He is thoughtful, cautious, and well-versed in military affairs. He may be able to lead an army one day."

"He is generous and righteous, and can earn the soldiers' utmost support. If he is promoted to a frontline commander, he may be able to ensure that the city passes are safe."

"He has the ability to master tactics and knows how to adapt to changing circumstances. It is a waste of talent to supervise 500 men!"

After flipping through the album, Xiahou Hui commented on eleven people in total.

Among them, only one was a gate commander, three were redundant officials with no actual duties, and the rest were supervisors of 500 people.

This made Cao Rui's face look a little ugly.

This is because regardless of whether they resigned due to illness or were considered incompetent by Xiahou Hui, most of them were the chief gatekeepers.

In other words, the situation of "capable ones being demoted and mediocre ones being promoted" among the grassroots military officers in the central army of Luoyang was even more serious than he had imagined. If this continued for a long time, the soldiers and generals might lose their fighting spirit and repeat the joke of "high-ranking and good generals being as timid as chickens" in the previous dynasty.

"Somebody come!"

Burying his head at his desk, copying down the names of the generals and officers who were being criticized, Cao Rui called out to his attendants, "Call Wang Yi."

"only."

The young eunuch on duty outside the palace responded and left.

After a while, a eunuch who was over sixty years old and had white hair on his temples, the most powerful official in the School Affairs Office, bowed and stepped into the hall, "Your Majesty, I, Wang Yi, pay my respects to you."

"Come closer."

"only."

"Ask Shi Er to fetch these people's resumes."

Cao Rui handed over the silk book with the name written on it, and asked with a sharp look in his eyes, "If Shi Er is transferred to another position, who can fill the vacancy as the head of Beimangshan Manor?"

"Your Majesty, Chen Liu is very sharp-minded and can be a replacement for his position in the military guard."

Wang Yi took the silk book respectfully, squinted his cloudy eyes for a moment, and gave the answer.

"Yes. Select another twenty people and have them obey Shi Er's orders."

"only."

At night, the moon is bright and the stars are few.

The west hall of Taiji Palace is the emperor's bedroom.

Cao Rui, who had not drunk and had fun all night and summoned concubines and beautiful women to sleep with him for some time, had no mood to sleep, so he simply put on his cloak and went out to look at the stars and the moon in the night sky.

The flickering candlelight on the stone railing in front of the hall cast swaying shadows on his face, making him look very eerie.

Reflecting his gloomy mood.

The second volume of the history of the eleven generals and officers had been sent to him, and he just took a look at it.

As expected, the seven commanders of 500 men were of humble family backgrounds and modest wealth, and were unable to meet the requirement of "if you want a Yamen, you must get a thousand horses"; and the only Yamen commander had been promoted before Jiang Ji took office as the Central Guard General.

As for the three redundant officials who were appointed by imperial favor,
This is the reason why Cao Rui is depressed and unable to sleep tonight.

These three people can produce thousands of pieces of silk.

The reason why they wasted five or six years in the army without being promoted to a real position or being granted the power to command troops was because they offended Xiahou Xian. After Shu invaded Yongliang, Xiahou Mao was transferred back to Luoyang. The three of them gossiped after drinking, saying that the court's decision was wise and that Xiahou Mao had no strategy to resist Shu.

Although what they said was true, Xiahou Xian was a human being and naturally could not swallow this humiliation.

So their careers came to a standstill.

After knowing the reason, Cao Rui, who had always admired Xiahou Xian, became angry at him for not fighting back.

Because among these three redundant officials, one was named Zhu Shu, the son of the late General and Marquis of Gaotang Zhu Ling!
When suppressing those who criticize our parents, we also have to consider who they are and what impact it will have, right?
Zhu Ling, who was described by the previous emperor Cao Pi as "more powerful than Fang Zhao and more meritorious than Jiang Guan", was suppressed in his official career after his death. Just imagine how many generals would be discouraged by this move! (End of this chapter)