Wei Ni

Compared with Xiahou Xian's miserable life, Xiahou Hui has been living a much more comfortable life recently.

Firstly, the investigation of the Ministry of Agriculture was progressing smoothly.

After Linghu Yu no longer had to worry about being sentenced to death, he not only cooperated extremely well in the investigation, but also often volunteered to take on things that were not his responsibility.

For example, how to ensure this year’s autumn harvest for the land returned by the powerful and wealthy.

These fields were planted in the spring, but as the wealthy and powerful moved the tenants who were farming them away, the Luoyang Department of Agriculture was unable to spare any extra manpower to cultivate the fields, and they were left unattended.

It is a pity to let it go to waste.

In this regard, Xiahou Hui had to temporarily let the soldiers in the central army be busy, and then wrote a letter to Wei Zhen, asking him to make a decision with Emperor Cao Rui.

Because the investigation by the Luoyang Diannong Department would take at most half a month to complete, he also had to lead troops to Hedong, Hongnong, Henei Yewang and other places for investigation!

Wei Zhen’s reply came quickly.

It is claimed that there are not many common people around the capital where the nobles and dignitaries live, and the Minister of Agriculture cannot recruit enough people to come and farm. In addition, there are spring ploughing, summer weeding, and autumn harvest, and there are also firewood picking and mulberry picking. When the common people have no free time in the first three seasons of the year, how can the court let the common people ignore their own farming for the sake of the scholars' farming?
He directly relayed the Emperor Cao Rui's intention, which was to let Xiahou Hui let the soldiers continue to manage it temporarily until the court discussed the rules, and not to rush to other agricultural departments to conduct an inventory.

Well, Xiahou Hui had no choice but to give it a try and let his subordinates brainstorm.

Ding Mi and Yu Song said they were powerless to do anything about it.

They are indeed very intelligent, but they don't have the ability to make a man grow out of nothing.
At this time, Linghu Yu, who had a rich resume and had served in Luoyang for a long time, had the opportunity to show his abilities.

He proposed a feasible solution, which was to let Xiahou Hui obtain permission from the court to "lease" these fields out this year - the families of the scholars in the Luoyang Department of Agriculture could not spare any manpower, but the tenants and slaves in the families of those dignitaries who returned the fields were now very idle!

Well, it sounds like leasing, but in fact it is just apportionment.

Moreover, Linghu Yu's proposal was shrouded in selfish motives. He was trying to win the favor of the emperor by sacrificing the rights and interests of the powerful in the hope of alleviating his own guilt, but Xiahou Hui still praised him.

Any solution that can solve the problem is a good solution.

What does it matter if he has selfish motives?

It doesn’t matter to him whether the interests of the powerful are harmed or not. Anyway, he won’t be blamed.

Immediately, he used the excuse that a gentleman should not take away other people's credit, and claimed that the idea was thought up by Linghu Yu, so he was very "considerate" and asked Linghu Yu to make a memorial and let Shi Er present it to the emperor for his decision.

Linghu Yu naturally wanted it very much, and he got what he wanted.

The next day, the palace eunuchs brought the emperor's edict.

Letting Linghu Yu take full charge of the "leasing" of land to the rich and powerful meant that he would serve out the year and then decide his merits and demerits. In other words, if he "leased" well and satisfied the emperor when the land was collected in the autumn, his merits and demerits would be offset and his official position would be transferred to the same level.

Therefore, full of energy, he first thanked Xiahou Hui profusely, and then begged Xiahou Hui to leave the Luoyang Diannong Ministry office for seven or eight days to deal with other matters if possible.

To put it bluntly, he wants to use the power of others to force those powerful people to submit.

If Xiahou Hui was in the office, he would have to follow the law when discussing with those powerful people; but if Xiahou Hui was not there, he could succeed through hints, threats and other means.

For example, when it came to investigating the families of scholars, the emperor asked Wei Zhen to coordinate the matter, but the specific matters were handed over to Xiahou Hui.

Why is it arranged like this?

Isn't it just to have room for prevarication and buck-passing?

When the investigation was too strict and the powerful people had complaints, Xiahou Hui could argue that it was his superiors' request and told them to go to Wei Zhen if they had any complaints. Wei Zhen could then pass the buck to Xiahou Hui, claiming that he did not know the truth and would talk about it after he found out. Back and forth, time dragged on, and by the time they could no longer shirk responsibility, the investigation had already produced results!

The same is true for "leasing" today.

Linghu Yu is going to play the role of Xiahou Hui, so please ask Xiahou Hui to play Wei Zhen.
Therefore, Xiahou Hui, who knew the truth, was very understanding. He first went to the Central Guard Army Office and the Secretariat to take up duty, and then took his family to hide in the pine forest of Shiquan for a rest.

The reason why I ran so far is not just because April is the best time for an outing.

Moreover, some people from the fortress came to report a few days ago that the "clear tea" made by the craftsmen this year seemed to meet his requirements.

Well, the story of tea making has to start from the year he got married.

His wife, Wang Yuanji, loved tea and she would often brew tea and read in the pavilion in the afternoon.

But he really couldn't stand the tea soup with various seasonings such as onion, ginger, orange peel, pepper, etc. It was also at that time that he boasted to his wife Wang Yuanji that he would make a tea with a better taste.

It's similar to the joy of couples "gambling on books and splashing tea".

It is to achieve a very skinny feeling.

Following his instructions, Uncle Sun transplanted more than ten tea trees from other places and planted them in the Shiquan pine forest.

After that year, only three plants survived.

Three is enough for home drinking. Based on his memory from his previous life, he roughly explained the process of picking, withering, rolling, drying, etc. to the tea craftsman.

Then, the tea maker who was quite famous in other places took him four or five years to make a similar one.

It's just similar in shape. After Xiahou Hui soaked it, it came out right after you put it in your mouth.

Due to Xiahou Hui's lack of knowledge, the craftsmen tried drying, steaming and baking, but could not control the moisture of the tea leaves. In the end, they could only slowly explore by trial and error.

Now the tea maker actually told someone that the tea tasted a bit sweet (aftertaste) after drinking it, so how could he not go back?

You know, whether he can make tea to drink has a bearing on his image in his wife's mind.

The most important thing for a person is trustworthiness. He cannot just speak lies, right?
However, although the clear tea was generally successful, Wang Yuanji was not used to it and still preferred to drink it boiled.

It made him quite depressed.

What’s even more hateful is that his nephew Xiahou Zhuang looked disgusted after taking a bite.

And I asked him curiously, why is it so particular to just soak a few leaves to drink? It takes years of hard work.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Yuanji burst into laughter, and he almost couldn't help wanting to beat his son on behalf of his fourth brother.

Xiahou Zhuang returned to the capital Luoyang two days ago.

When he returned from the expedition to Liaodong last year, he asked his entourage to escort Xiahou Zhuang, who had been away from home for more than a year, to Taishan County to visit his fourth brother Xiahou Wei.

Coming back now is one of the reasons why he is so happy recently.

Because the fourth brother has engaged Xiahou Zhuang, the girl is from the Yang family of Taishan, and after she comes of age, she will become Sima Shi's brother-in-law.

The Yang family of Taishan was a famous family during the Han and Wei dynasties, and had been in the rank of 2,000-stone official for nine generations.

Such an in-laws' home is hard to come by.

But Xiahou Zhuang was somewhat indignant.

It's not that he was dissatisfied with the daughter of Taiyang clan, but that he was marrying a relative.

Xiahou Wei had served as the governor of Taishan County in recent years and had frequented many families with high prestige in the county. He was very impressed by Yang Hu and decided to marry his second brother Xiahou Ba's daughter to him. At this time, Xiahou Zhuang came to Taishan County to visit his relatives, so Xiahou Wei arranged a marriage for him as if it were a bonus.

No wonder Xiahou Zhuang complained in his heart. But Xiahou Hui was very happy to hear it.

Yang Hu still became his nephew's son-in-law just as the historical trajectory had shown! Should I write a letter to him and ask if he is willing to work in the Central Guard Office?

This was the first thought in his mind.

But after thinking about it, I felt it was inappropriate and put it out of my mind.

According to the original history, Yang Hu started to serve as an official only after Sima Shi died, so if I write a book now, it will be in vain.

The second thought in my mind was Du Shu.

To be precise, it was the name Yang Hu that made me think of Du Wuku, and then my thoughts extended to Du Shu.

Over the years, he and Du Shu have maintained a gentlemanly friendship.

The main reason is that Du Shu is a straightforward person. He is used to being alone and never makes friends with others. Even if others want to make friends with him, he is often unfriendly.

In order not to cause resentment, Xiahou Hui had no choice but to keep their peace.

Otherwise, find an opportunity to recommend him for a local position?

Ever since Cao Rui appointed him to be in charge of selecting disciples for the emperor, he must have been in the position of Zhonglang for a long time, right?
Well. After the Luoyang Department of Agriculture has finished its investigation, according to the agreement with the emperor, I need to submit a memorial to the emperor, saying that the military farming system is too bad and that it is illegal to inspect the local areas with school officials. At that time, I will change it to "inspecting the local areas with school officials or the emperor's disciples is illegal." First, let Du Shu's duties be vacant, so that I can privately find the emperor to recommend him.

"Father, Dad!"

Just as Xiahou Hui was lost in thought, Xiao Quji, who had grown a little taller, came running over and poked his calf with the small wooden sword in his hand. When Xiahou Hui opened his eyes, he shouted, "Father, let's go riding~"

"I want to ride a horse. Can I wait until Father finishes his tea later?"

"not good!"

"Little Quji, be obedient, father first"

"No, please hurry up, Father."

Leisure time is always short.

Xiahou Hui, who had been hiding in the Shiquan pine forest for nearly ten days, had to ride back to Luoyang under the urging of Ding Mi's letter.

The powerful families have already allowed the tenants to return to work.

Linghu Yu was quite resourceful and divided the rental output into 30:70.

Even 30% of the output might not be enough to feed the tenants, which was equivalent to the wealthy and powerful families making the tenants work for the Ministry of Agriculture for a year in vain.

Ding Mi also claimed that the Luoyang Department of Agriculture had already roughly completed the investigation, and as long as Xiahou Hui returned to sort it out, he could submit a memorial to the imperial court to draw a conclusion.

The efficiency is quite high.

But these were not the main reasons why Ding Mi urged him to return to Luoyang.

Instead, the prefect of Hongnong submitted a letter of resignation citing illness.

Like Hedong County, Hongnong was adjacent to Guanzhong. Therefore, during the reign of Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, in order to be able to provide timely support to the Yongliang War, the post of Diannong Commander was concurrently held by the prefect.

For example, when Du Ji returned to the court, Emperor Wen Cao Pi asked him why he had sent so few widows when he was in Hedong, while Zhao Yan, the successor governor, sent so many. Only then did the officials of the Wei court know about the strange story of "stranger women". Most of these "stranger women" were taken by the governors from the families of the military farms.

It is not difficult to guess why the Hongnong prefect asked to resign at this critical juncture.

It was simply because he saw the progress of the investigation in the Luoyang Department of Agriculture and felt that he would inevitably be held accountable by the court, so he resigned on the grounds of illness in order to preserve his official reputation.

After all, the wealthy and powerful who occupied the military farms of the Luoyang gentry would not be held accountable after returning the land. He took the initiative to resign, and the government should not make things difficult for him anymore.

Moreover, if one resigns due to illness, it will not be difficult to be reinstated in the future.

But if you are questioned and dismissed from your post, it will be difficult to resume your career in politics.

It's a way to avoid disaster.

Therefore, Ding Mi felt that since the prefect of Hongnong had resigned, Emperor Cao Rui would definitely summon Xiahou Hui to question him.

Whether the Hongnong Diannong Department still needs to be investigated, whether the intensity of the investigation should be adjusted, or even whether the investigation should be suspended, Xiahou Hui himself cannot be avoided.

Because for the imperial court, the resignation of the Hongnong governor would have a very bad impact.

First, other officials might follow suit.

The military farming system has been in place for decades, and there have been problems such as farmland being occupied, scholars being hidden, and unfair distribution of production in military farming sites across the country. Xiahou Hui's current investigation of the Department of Agriculture in the capital is just a starting point, and it is to be implemented throughout the country.

This brings up a problem.

If most of the military farms in various places were like the Hedong prefect, who was afraid of taking responsibility and asked to leave, wouldn't the situation be chaotic?
Putting aside whether the court has enough suitable candidates to serve as the chief agricultural official, the mere fact that a large number of officials have resigned one after another would be enough to cause panic in the counties, right?

Secondly, it concerns the national policy of Wei State.

The primary goal of the Wei State was to destroy Shu and Wu, achieve great unification, and replace the Han Dynasty as was destined by heaven.

Any policy and measure must compromise this goal. Therefore, internal problems, such as the collapse of the military farming system, can only be solved slowly, or even left alone for the time being.

Under these two factors, the ministers in the court would once again persuade the emperor to postpone the investigation.

Emperor Cao Rui, who didn't want to start a war, was very likely to stop while he was ahead and make his move when the time was right.

Ding Mi was able to figure out the interests involved.

He was also very anxious to tell Xiahou Hui the results of his calculations so that Xiahou Hui would not be confused and lose the emperor's favor.

It is no coincidence.

Sima Yi, the Grand Marshal who was far away in Chang'an, Guanzhong, also saw this matter very clearly.

The difference is that Sima Yi wants to "face challenges head-on."

However, since submitting a petition to return to the imperial court, Sima Yi began to hand over military power and other affairs. By April in early summer, he had prepared everything and could return to the capital at any time.

It was two months earlier than the time Emperor Cao Rui allowed him to return to the court.

This is also the result he wants.

Coming home early would make it seem like he was not obsessed with power.

But when the news came that the prefect of Hongnong asked to resign due to illness, Sima Shi took out letters from Sima Fu, Shi Bao and others, advising him to wait until midsummer May, and it would not be too late to set off back to Luoyang.

The reason, of course, is that there is no need to get involved in muddy waters.

According to the Wei system, the affairs of the military farming of the scholars were under the jurisdiction of the Taiwei Mansion. Once Sima Yi returned, he would inevitably be involved in it.

After hearing this, Sima Yi first sent his followers to pack up their luggage and other belongings, then looked Sima Shi in the eye and said softly, "Ziyuan's advice is enough to make me speak out. Now Ziyuan is inferior to Xiahou Zhi in power." (End of this chapter)