Wei Ni

When you're in a place of suspicion, it's hard not to have doubts about yourself.

For example, when Xiahou Hui looked at the silk copy of the "Methods for Examining and Assessing Officials," he couldn't help but wonder if Emperor Cao Rui had ulterior motives for this action, and he even speculated in a negative direction.

Although he knew that Cao Rui's move was to ask him to annotate the examination method and explain his suggestions.

But he was genuinely hesitant and found it difficult to put pen to paper.
It's not that the teaching evaluation method was well-designed—after a quick glance, he knew that this method could never be implemented!

The reason is simple: Liu Shao's examination method has as many as seventy-two articles, and he also added a supplementary "Explanation".

This is practically demanding perfection from bureaucrats!

From Emperor Cao Cao onwards, there were tens of thousands of officials in the court and local officials, but how many of them could meet his evaluation criteria?

It was nothing more than Ren Jun, Sima Lang, Su Ze, Huan Jie, and He Qia, among a few others.

And a definitive conclusion can only be reached after they have passed away.

For example, Jiang Ji, who was corrupt and embezzled during his early years as the General of the Guards, and Chen Jiao, the former Minister of Works who married into the same clan (originally surnamed Liu, but adopted by his maternal uncle and changed his surname to Chen, while his wife was from the same clan, surnamed Liu), should have been dismissed and reduced to commoners long ago according to the examination system; Cheng Yu, the former General of Chariots and Cavalry who committed the "meat-making incident," should have been removed from the temple of Cao Cao, the King of Wei, and condemned by the world.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui's first question after reading it was whether Liu Shao made all the decisions himself when he formulated this law, or whether he was instructed by Emperor Cao Rui, who was particularly fond of laws.

If it is the former, then Liu Shao's intentions are despicable!
After all, with his intelligence, he couldn't possibly be unaware that such cumbersome assessment rules had no merit other than adding trouble to the court officials and their subordinates.

But if it's the latter~
This must be why Emperor Cao Rui had someone copy it and place it on his desk.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui, who was more inclined to the latter, was truly hesitant about whether he should agree that this fixed law was perfect or criticize it frankly.

Logically speaking, he wanted to speak frankly and honestly, just as he had always been known for his outspoken and direct criticism.

But when he thought about how it was already the end of the first year of the Du Jing Chu era and the still-present crisis of powerful ministers within the walls, he wondered whether he should flatter them to avoid causing more trouble.

Anyway, it's only a year at most.

Moreover, Sun Zi's deliberate reminder today also subtly implies that he should not cause trouble.

After all, given his understanding of himself, if he felt it wouldn't matter if he spoke frankly and directly, there was no need for him to make things complicated, right?
Sigh, just as I expected.

Once suspicion arises in people's hearts, it becomes difficult to act with a calm mind.

After hesitating for a long time before picking up his brush to write, Xiahou Hui gently placed the brush down on the table and began to gently rub the bridge of his nose.

Since entering officialdom, he has been relentlessly pursuing merit and risking his life for countless years. Finally, the time for a power reshuffle is approaching in a year. With his current achievements and the favor he has received, he can say that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, he has been thrown into a precarious situation by the term "eagle-like minister".

The saying in the *Strategies of the Warring States*, "He who travels a hundred li is only halfway there at ninety," is indeed true.

But it's alright.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, he ultimately decided to stay true to himself.

Some things cannot be compromised.

Once you make concessions, you'll have to make countless more in the future.

He also knew that the historical Di Qing died of illness in just half a year.

"Politics is personnel management. Evaluating officials and rectifying corruption are good policies. Now Your Majesty has ordered Liu Shao, the Attendant Gentleman of the Palace, to compile the 'Evaluation Law for Officials' for the sake of the country. Although I, your humble servant Hui, am of low rank and have little influence, I dare not forget my duty to the country. After reviewing the seventy-two articles of the evaluation law, I humbly believe that although this law is comprehensive in all aspects, it is inevitably biased and does not fully understand the current situation of our Wei Kingdom. I fear it will be difficult to implement."

"When Emperor Wu founded his dynasty, he issued an edict to recruit talented individuals, regardless of their background. The reason for this was that talent was valued in times of chaos, while virtue was valued in times of prosperity. Now, since our Wei dynasty replaced the Han dynasty and received the Mandate of Heaven, the north is peaceful and the people are happy. However, the rebellious Shu and Wu still exist, so we cannot call this a peaceful and prosperous era. It can be said that we should still follow Emperor Wu's methods and not demand that all officials possess talent, virtue, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. The world is inherently turbulent, and truly perfect people are few and far between."

"Government decrees should be simple rather than complex. When Emperor Gaozu of Han entered Guanzhong, he established three laws, which pleased the people. If he had established thirty laws, Guanzhong would have resented them; if he had established three hundred laws, Guanzhong would have been overbearing! The current 'Evaluation and Assessment Law for Capital Officials' is the same. It has seventy-two articles, each of which is good, but it is too cumbersome. Your servant Hui believes that if this evaluation and assessment law is followed, all officials will think about their own conduct and have no time for their duties and government affairs. Overstaffing will be inevitable."

"The world is not yet at peace. Even insects and plants wish to find their place in the government, thanks to Your Majesty's diligent efforts in governing. The hearts of all officials and their assistants range from aspiring to high-ranking positions to serving as attendants to the emperor, and even those holding positions below the rank of two thousand piculs aspire to serve as staff officers in prefectures and counties. All wish to dedicate their talents and efforts to benefit the state and strive to be pillars of the Wei dynasty! How can you determine promotions and demotions based on minor flaws and minor transgressions, leaving them with no way to serve the country?"

"Xunzi's 'The Way of the Ruler' says, 'Determine the order of officials based on their virtue, and appoint officials based on their abilities.' Emperor Wu also said, 'If only honest and upright officials can be used, how could Duke Huan of Qi have become a hegemon?' In the past, Wu Qi killed his wife to become a general, which enabled the weak state of Lu to defeat the strong state of Qi; Chen Ping stole his sister-in-law and accepted gold, which caused the hegemon to destroy his own Great Wall. Therefore, I, your subject Hui, dare to advise that Shao's 'Methods for Assessing Officials' of seventy-two articles should be simplified according to the principle of appointing the virtuous and capable before being ordered by the court to discuss and decide on the matter."

He picked up his pen and wrote without adding a single stroke, completing the text in one go.

Seeing the densely packed, tiny characters filling the silk, Xiahou Hui breathed a sigh of relief. After gently blowing on the ink to dry and sealing it, he got up and left the office. He instructed the clerk on duty to deliver the documents to the East Hall before returning to his residence.

As for what Emperor Cao Rui will think after reading it, we should just wait and see.

Anyway, I have a clear conscience.

In fact, Xiahou Hui was simply worrying unnecessarily and making a fuss over nothing.

When his annotations were sent to the Eastern Hall, Emperor Cao Rui read them sentence by sentence. He smiled with great satisfaction and said, "He has indeed lived up to my expectations. Zhi Quan is still Zhi Quan."

He had his attendants send the "Methods for Assessing Officials" to the Directorate of the Imperial Secretariat, his initial intention being to reassure Xiahou Hui and prevent him from being influenced by the contents of Gao Tanglong's dying memorial, thus avoiding any suspicion that he was a "ambitious minister."

Yes, he meant well.

When Xiahou Hui returned from his campaign in Liaodong in his early years, he was transferred from General of the Garrison to General of the Central Army. In reality, this was just a lateral transfer, with no increase in his responsibilities or actual power. However, he was given the additional position of Attendant Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat, which gave him the power to review important court documents and to secretly report the merits and demerits of the court directly to the emperor. This was Cao Rui's way of rewarding him.

Cao Rui asked him to make annotations in order to remind him that he still possessed a special honor that other ministers did not have, and that he was still highly trusted.
After all, when he privately pondered, he felt that no one could match Xiahou Hui as a "minister of eagle-like valor"; by analogy, with Xiahou Hui's intelligence, he must also doubt himself and feel apprehensive.

Most importantly, Cao Rui, who considered himself still in his prime, felt that it was unacceptable to imagine that there were any ambitious ministers or those who would usurp power.

It's considered early, at least before you turn fifty.

It's not considered premature death until someone is over fifty.

Why create such panic among the officials and nobles?
Furthermore, if Xiahou Hui is appointed as a capable minister simply because of his outstanding abilities, wouldn't that be throwing the baby out with the bathwater and crippling ourselves?
He still has many things to do and needs Xiahou Hui to act as his pawn!

In cases like the previous investigation into the long-standing abuses of the Shi family, Xiahou Hui's knife proved very useful.
With this in mind, after he finished handling the general affairs in the East Hall, when everyone else was leaving according to etiquette, he kept Liu Shao, the Attendant Gentleman of the Palace who had accompanied him in governing, behind.

"Liu Qing, take a look at this."

Cao Rui gestured for Liu Shao to come forward and take Xiahou Hui's annotations. "Your assessment method has been submitted to the Ministry of Personnel several days ago. The reason I haven't ordered the officials to discuss it is because I have some reservations. Now that I see Zhi Quan's annotations, they are quite to my liking. You might as well take a look at them. Hmm, I'll summon Yu Yi, the Imperial Secretary, to discuss them with you."

After saying this, he got up and went to the west hall to rest.

When he summoned Yu Yi, the Imperial Secretary, he thoughtfully had some food and wine brought to Liu Shao.

After seeing this, Liu Shao had no appetite whatsoever.
It should be noted that he needed to accompany Cao Rui during the formulation of the "Examination and Assessment Law for Capital Officials," and Cao Rui took many opportunities to "instruct" him, often on his own whim.

To put it bluntly, the reason why the examination method had as many as seventy-two articles was that most of them were added according to Cao Rui's wishes.

Therefore, when Liu Shao heard Cao Rui claim to have some objections, his first reaction was that he was exhausted.
As an executor, what you fear most is the decision-maker's wavering mind.
In particular, Cao Rui summoned Yu Yi, a court advisor, to discuss the matter with him.

It's not that Yu Yi is difficult to get along with.

In his early years, when he, along with Yu Yi, Xun Shen, and others, were ordered to draft eighteen new laws, they got along very well.

Rather, he knew Emperor Cao Rui's purpose in involving Yu Yi.

The Yu family of Yingchuan were Confucianists, and their academic views advocated the fusion of Taoism (Xuan) and Confucianism.

When formulating the examination system, he followed the principles of "different talents lead to different official positions" and "talent and virtue are valued on an equal footing." However, under Cao Rui's guidance, he had to add many provisions that prioritized virtue over talent.

That's understandable, isn't it?

As for the emperor, the Wei dynasty had only ruled for a few years after replacing the Han dynasty.
It is understandable that one expects one's subjects to uphold virtue and have no improper thoughts.

Since Dong Zhongshu reformed Confucianism, emphasizing loyalty to the emperor and self-discipline, and prioritizing virtue over talent, Cao Rui's summoning of Yu Yi to discuss matters was nothing more than a way to maintain his own opinion and find a substitute to persuade Liu Shao not to be too influenced when reading Xiahou Hui's annotations.

To put it simply, Cao Rui felt that Xiahou Hui's suggestion of "appointing the virtuous and capable" was quite commendable, but he also did not want to give up the principle of "valuing virtue and winning loyalty," so he asked Liu Shao to consider both options.

Therefore, Liu Shao was very tired.

There's no such thing as having your cake and eating it too!
How many times would he have to revise the "Methods for Evaluating Officials in the Capital" before he could satisfy Cao Rui?

The answer is pessimistic. (End of Chapter)