Wei Ni

No, why did I only go to the Zhongshujian once? Don’t you know the reason? !

If you hadn't set the time so rigidly, would I have stayed out for the 20th and forgotten the agreement I had made with Liu Fang and Sun Zi to report for duty every three days while also taking on the position of Zhongshu Shilang?

As soon as he heard this, Xiahou Hui became angry.

As for the fact that the reprimanding letter was not delivered to the palace in time, he took the initiative to ignore it.

The emperor was used to being the only one in charge, and he could not stand the feeling of being ignored. So it was normal for him to take the opportunity to vent his anger when he sent Shi Er to inform him of the matter.

Just hear it and forget about it, don't take it to heart.

Hey, that’s not right!
Obviously, the emperor asked Shi Er to come here to grant him power and show his favor, rather than to give him instructions. Why did he suddenly blame me for something that was not my fault? Could it be that he asked me to take on the position of Zhongshu Shilang not just to give me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the government affairs of the court, but also for other purposes?

Shi Er, who was just retelling the story, became more and more unnatural when he saw Xiahou Hui fall silent.

After all, when Emperor Cao Rui scolded Xiahou Hui as a scoundrel, it was to show his closeness; but if the words came from someone else, they would have to raise their heads to face each other.
Without thinking about it, he quickly said goodbye, "Guardian, I have only conveyed your Majesty's instructions. I have other things to do, so I will take my leave now."

"Oh, all right, Shi-kun, please do as you please."

Xiahou Hui came back to his senses, nodded and handed over the paper and the letter, "This is the paper your majesty wanted, and I made the letter separately. I was just planning to have my servants deliver it to Simamen Yu's soldiers, and it happened that Mr. Shi came by, so I'll trouble you to take it back."

"only."

In response, Shi Er took it with a smile, nodded, and turned to leave.

But just as he turned around, Xiahou Hui stopped him again, "Oh, Mr. Shi, there is one more thing. When you go back, please ask the school official, when Minister Yang was ordered to investigate the families of the scholars, which was the last place he investigated? It would be best if you could also check the information of the previous military farm officials."

Sure enough, the rumors that Xiahou Hujun was stubborn and reckless were not false.
Didn't His Majesty instruct you to choose the most likely place to start a new campaign? Why did you choose the place that Yang Fu had failed in, instead of the easy one?

If the investigation fails at that time, how can we be worthy of your majesty's trust!

And since I was sent by the emperor to follow him, I won't be implicated, criticized for being incompetent, and then hidden away, right?

Shi Er turned around, still smiling, but his mind was in turmoil.

However, even if he had objections in his heart, he did not dare to comment on such matters. "The only thing is that I will definitely convey the words of the guard. However, I also know that the last place that Minister Yang checked was Luoyang. The guard was out supervising the troops before, so he did not know. The places that Minister Yang checked were only Yewang and Luoyang Diannong."

Luoyang Department of Agriculture.
Right under the emperor’s nose!
Even a man as upright as Yang Fu had to return home in defeat. It seems that this muddy water is more difficult to navigate than I thought.
After letting his troops send Shi Er away, Xiahou Hui returned to the pavilion with such thoughts in mind.

Wang Yuanji was vaguely aware of the tacit understanding between the two people, so she asked with concern, "My husband, was the person who just came a minor official in the office?"

"No."

Xiahou Hui smiled and avoided the question, fearing that his wife would worry. "I am a guard in the palace, sent by the emperor to get the paper book. Well, the emperor also took the opportunity to warn me not to forget that I am also the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and I need to show up at the Central Secretariat occasionally."

At this point, he deliberately showed dissatisfaction, "My dear, you know that the complicated military affairs have left me with no time to go home, so how can I take care of the matters of whether to report for duty or not?"

It also successfully diverted Wang Yuanji's attention.

"My husband, please don't speak nonsense. If others hear it, they might report that my husband has a grudge against me."

"Well, there's no need to be so cautious when talking at home."

"You never go too far wrong."

"Okay, as you wish."

Two days later.

After finishing his bath, Xiahou Hui first went to the Central Guard Officers' Office to find Chen Qian and Yu Song to learn about the recent affairs, and then went to the Secretariat.

As the deputy of the Minister of the Central Secretariat, the Minister of the Central Secretariat had his own office, which was quite spacious, and there was a fake assistant on duty outside the door. It was because of this fake assistant that Xiahou Hui, who had originally planned to stay for a while, show his face and then leave, had to stay.

"Meet Minister Xiahou."

After greeting, he relayed the story like this, "Mr. Sun recently told me to go and inform the Minister when he comes to the office. Now Mr. Sun has gone to the East Hall. According to past experience, he will be back in about half an hour. I wonder if the Minister is waiting in the office for a while? If so, I will go to the East Hall to wait for Mr. Sun now."

Why is Sun Zi looking for me?

Could it be that it is related to the reason why the Emperor blamed me for not coming to the Secretariat?
Xiahou Hui thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Since Mr. Sun has said so, I will wait."

"only."

When the fake assistant left, he also said considerately, "I will go to Taiji Hall right away. The left wing of the assistant minister's office is where the secretary and the clerk work. If the assistant minister has anything else to ask, please feel free to ask."

"it is good."

Xiahou Hui walked to the desk and sat down.

It must be because he had been absent from work for too long. The furnishings on the table were very simple, with only writing brushes, ink, sealant and a red-lined box; there were also some blank bamboo slips and cloth on the side of the table, but there was no document related to government affairs. He glanced at it roughly, and opened the red-lined box with a little curiosity, but found it empty and didn't know what it was used for.

He had no intention of interfering in the general affairs of the Secretariat, so he simply closed his eyes and rested.

He was reviewing the files concerning the Luoyang Department of Agriculture that had been sent by the school officials yesterday.

The efficiency of school affairs is still very high.

Just one day after he instructed Shi Er, all the detailed information and files were delivered.

Such efficiency should be because the reason that led to Yang Fu's previous failure was related to the emperor himself, so Cao Rui also ordered the school to investigate secretly.

It can also be seen from this that Cao Rui was very upset about this matter.

As for Xiahou Hui, if he had proposed higher requirements when taking over the matter, and used more drastic measures during the investigation and handling, there should be no problem, right?
Ding Mi mentioned this point when we were looking up information together last night.

He pointed out sharply that investigating the scholars' families was an offensive matter and it was impossible to break the impasse by conventional means - Yang Fu's failure was the best proof of this.

Therefore, if Xiahou Hui wanted to open up the situation, he had to ask Cao Rui to give him enough power. It was not the power to dismiss people, which Cao Rui, with his intelligence, would grant without any mention.

Instead, it can bypass the law enforcement power of the Chief Justice Gao Rou: enforce it according to military law!
Ding Mi has already found the reason.

He appointed the Colonel of Agriculture as the military commander. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, had just established the system of scholar-officials with the purpose of allowing the scholar-officials to follow the army. He asked Xiahou Hui to ask Cao Rui to transfer 2,000 soldiers to be in charge of the army and granted them the power to act at their discretion. In this way, he could directly enforce military law and violently break the nonsense such as "governing officials according to the law" and "there is no real evidence".

Furthermore, Wei’s military laws were always known for their strictness.

As long as it involves military law, some bureaucrats who want to protect each other should also consider whether they will be implicated and whether they can afford the consequences.

This will reduce the resistance to inventory.

In addition, Ding Mi also specifically analyzed the question of how long Cao Rui could support Xiahou Hui unreservedly.

It's not that he thought Cao Rui would abandon Xiahou Hui and use him as a scapegoat afterwards; but he openly stated that in the matter of investigating the Shi family, the only help Xiahou Hui could rely on was the support of Cao Rui, but Cao Rui's resentful mentality was not conducive to doing things.

Yes, he was saying that Cao Rui was eager to achieve success.

This can be seen from the previous vanity and excessive construction projects without regard for the national strength and people's livelihood.

The current Emperor of Wei is very impatient.

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Therefore, if Xiahou Hui cannot break the situation in a short period of time and achieve the results that Cao Rui expects, it will be difficult for him to get Cao Rui's support in the future.

In order to avoid this situation, Ding Mi suggested to Xiahou Hui that he should obtain the power of "holding the military order" before the investigation and take action with lightning speed after the investigation began.

Kill those who can be killed, and tear the faces of those who cannot be killed.

The more violent the means, the better; the bigger the incident, the better.

Only by stirring up both the court and the country could Cao Rui be put in opposition to the court officials, forcing him to continue to support Xiahou Hui stubbornly in order to prove that he was a wise monarch.

Of course, the premise of all this is that Xiahou Hui must obtain solid evidence to kill someone.

Even if there is really no basis, Cao Rui must be allowed to see the results of the investigation, which is exactly what he expects.

When the king is angry, blood will flow everywhere.

In the face of such authority, as long as Cao Rui could produce results that would benefit the country, he would not care whether there was evidence or whether there was suspicion of killing innocent people; the ministers and officials could not question whether it was right or wrong.

Yang Fu’s failure was not due to his inability, but because he did not have the right to kill.

Let me ask, if at that time, the Luoyang Department of Agriculture evaded the blame by saying that "the low output is due to frequent wars and the neglect of water conservancy projects; the low number of scholars is due to the fact that Your Majesty has been exhausted from building palaces", and Yang Fu directly killed the General of Agriculture on the spot for "slandering the reputation of the emperor", would the investigation of the scholars still not be carried out?
Yang Fu was known for his uprightness, and he made Cao Rui see the real benefits of enriching the national treasury and increasing the number of scholar households. Even if the court officials wanted to stop him, how could they change Cao Rui's mind?
“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures.”

After giving his advice, Ding Mi concluded, "Since Zhiquan has been entrusted with the duties of the emperor, he should not be bound by the usual rules. Otherwise, he will surely be blamed!"

Xiahou Hui deeply agreed with this.

Not only did he have the same idea, but also Fu Gu had come to his house to talk to him during his day off long before Ding Mi gave his suggestion.

While he was staying in the barracks at night to inspect the officers and soldiers of the central army, Fu Gu and Yu Song had several private conversations.

Unlike before, Yu Song, who had already accepted the recommendation and tied his future career to Xiahou Hui, also gave suggestions one by one on the matters mentioned during their first meeting.

Regarding the investigation of the Shi family, he also pointed out the key point in a subtle way, "Without decisive killing, nothing can be accomplished. Xiahou Hujun has been trusted by Your Majesty, so there is no need to pay attention to other things."

To put it bluntly, it is to suggest that Xiahou Hui act more "recklessly".

"I agree with Shumao."

Fu Gu, who was merely paraphrasing, was much more straightforward in his suggestion, "The emperor has been on the throne for more than ten years, and he has only a small amount of power to exercise. Don't you see that in recent years, despite the many admonitions from the ministers and officials, countless palaces in Luoyang and Xuchang have been built?"

First there were Yu Song and Fu Gu, and later there was Ding Mi, all of whom shared the same opinion, so naturally Xiahou Hui no longer had any other thoughts.

Therefore, he is now closing his eyes and thinking to himself, considering how to bring Wei Zhen along and persuade Emperor Cao Rui to grant him power.

Because the people who are directly or indirectly involved in the Luoyang Diannong Department have very special official positions and identities now.

At the beginning, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, first created the position of Lieutenant General of Agriculture, with an official rank of 2,000 stones, the same level as the prefect of a county, and under the jurisdiction of the Grand Minister of Agriculture. The military farms that successively set up officials of agriculture included Xuchang, Hedong, Hongnong, Henei, Yewang, Jijun, Yuanwu, Yingchuan, Xiangcheng, Weijun, Ye, Luoyang, Yiyang, Juyang, Nanyang, Chang'an, Lieren, Julu, Qichun, Shangdang, Xingyang, Xiaoping, Quwo, etc.

Among them, Luoyang, the earliest established city, was in ruins at that time (the first year of Jian'an, 196 AD) due to the devastation caused by war.

For example, when Emperor Xian returned to Luoyang, the emperor and his ministers were all hungry and exhausted. The Shangshu Lang and other officials went out to collect wild millet, and some of them starved to death between the walls.

Therefore, the Luoyang Diannong Department, which was initially established, attracted very few scholars and was almost an empty shell.

When Cao Cao led his troops to stay in Luoyang and built the Jianshi Palace, it was still deserted and overgrown with thorns. Later, when Cao Pi replaced the Han Dynasty and established Luoyang as the capital, he moved 50,000 families from Jizhou to Luoyang on the grounds that the capital was deserted. Although many people froze to death along the way or starved to death after arriving in Luoyang, it still made Luoyang Dian Nongbu truly worthy of its name.

Since Cao Pi moved the Shi family, there have been four people who have served as the General of Agriculture in Luoyang.

They were Wang Chang, Xu Ju, Guanqiu Jian and Linghu Yu.

Wang Chang, a native of Taiyuan, was an old friend of Cao Pi's. He was currently the governor of Yanzhou, and was given the title of General Yanglie and Marquis of Guannei. Last year, when Cao Rui issued an edict to the court officials to recommend a talented person (limited to one person), the person recommended by Taiwei Sima Yi was him.

Xu Ju (father of Xu Yun), a native of Gaoyang, Hejian, was a famous scholar in Jizhou and has passed away.

Guanqiu Jian, a native of Wenxi in Hedong, was a minister secretly in the palace of Cao Rui. He was currently serving as General Du Liao, Governor of Youzhou with Special Envoys, and Commandant of Protector of Wuhuan.

Linghu Yu, a native of Taiyuan, whose real name was Jun, was the nephew of Wang Ling, the current governor of Yangzhou. He was famous at a young age and had served in many positions before the establishment of the Wei Kingdom. However, during the reign of Cao Pi, he served as the guard of Herong. He wanted to punish Tian Yu, who had made great contributions in the battle outside the border, without any reason. Cao Pi imprisoned him and ordered him to "Jun, how stupid!" Later, he was pardoned and released, changed his name to "Yu", and after several job changes, he is now the General of Agriculture in Luoyang.

It can be said that those who successively served as the General of Agriculture in Luoyang either had close connections in the court or had a high reputation among the literati, and none of them could be easily held accountable.

No wonder even someone as upright as Yang Fu ended up in failure.

It’s difficult! (End of this chapter)