Wei Ni

Xiahou Hui initially harbored prejudice against Jia Chong.

Because in the original historical trajectory, Jia Chong's actions throughout his life were despicable.

But he also knew that external factors could influence internal factors, and that Jia Chong, who had become his subordinate, might not necessarily remain morally corrupt in the future.

Especially after Fu Gu praised his talent, Ding Mi once again asserted that he would become a capable official no less than his father, and even advised him to take him on a trip.

This made Xiahou Hui begin to re-evaluate him.

After all, he had been in charge for more than two months, and he had gained something, such as the perspective of a person in a position of authority on people and things.

Do not choose people based on personal likes or dislikes, nor assign tasks based on personal relationships or enmity.

To put it bluntly, the standard for hiring people is based solely on ability, not personal preference; when doing things, one focuses on the result rather than the process; if something requires the help of petty people, corrupt officials, or enemies to be accomplished, then one should do one's best to make it happen.

That's why he casually brought up a topic to ask Jia Chong.

Whether Jia Chong can give a good answer is not important at all; what matters is that the two people have something to talk about and that they are fostering a friendly relationship.

Just casual conversation between superiors and subordinates~
The goal was achieved the moment the superior took the initiative to speak.

For Jia Chong, this question was like heavenly music.

From the day he was appointed to the General's Office, he had already prepared answers to current affairs and was looking forward to Xiahou Hui's possible questions at any time.

Because this is his true ladder.

Whether it's Fu Gu or Ding Mi, they are ultimately just subordinates.

Although he had gained the goodwill of these two people, he was not so foolish as to think that he had gained Xiahou Hui's trust and genuine respect.

"Reporting to the General, I usually accompany Chief Secretary Sun in handling the affairs of the Minister, so I do know a little about this situation."

Almost without thinking, Jia Chong lowered his voice and slowly replied, "Therefore, in my spare time, I have also pondered this matter and gained some insights. If the General does not consider me dull-witted, I dare to offer my humble opinion."

Alas!
You actually thought about this a long time ago?

So it seems you still really want to improve yourself.
Upon hearing this, Xiahou Hui's mind stirred slightly, a smile appeared on his lips, and his tone became very friendly, "It's just casual conversation, no need to be reserved. Gonglu, please feel free to speak your mind."

"only."

Nodding in agreement, Jia Chong said directly, "In my humble opinion, given the current situation, General, not fighting is itself a form of fighting."

That's it?

Do you think I don't know such an obvious truth?

The reason I asked you is that I don't want to wait too long!
Xiahou Hui's first reaction upon hearing the answer was this, but he showed no displeasure.

Having been immersed in this era for many years, he had long been accustomed to the way these literati and strategists spoke, always in a vague and ambiguous manner, only explaining things in detail after the superiors adopted a humble and inquisitive attitude.

This process of being humble and respectful to superiors and inferiors annoyed him, but he had no choice but to follow it.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui patiently gestured and said, "I would like to hear the details."

"only."

Jia Chong, responding again, still did not offer his opinion directly. Instead, he brought up an old matter: "When the late emperor was still alive, he twice attempted to thoroughly investigate the many long-standing problems of the gentry, such as concealing population figures, embezzling land, and privately assigning corvée labor. The first time, the Grand Minister of Agriculture was put in charge, but the matter was dropped. Later, taking advantage of the change of reign title, the current Minister of Works was put in charge, and the Grand General was given the authority to conduct a thorough investigation. However, after the Ministry of Agriculture in Luoyang completed its investigation, in accordance with the petitions of the officials, the matter was transferred to the Grand Commandant's office. At that time, the late emperor had already been on the throne for more than ten years, yet he was still constrained by the fact that the empire was not yet fully unified and could not forcefully implement his plan. Grand General, please forgive my bluntness, but deep-seated problems do not arise overnight. Conversely, the same applies."

Although the answer was irrelevant, it still deeply moved Xiahou Hui.

So-called accumulated problems are formed over time and cannot be eliminated overnight.

That makes sense, but Xiahou Hui didn't have that much time.
According to normal procedures, Emperor Cao Fang would only take charge of state affairs after getting married and around the age of twenty. However, given his suspected position of holding the power of the entire nation's military, neither the imperial family nor the court officials would wait until Cao Fang was twenty to allow Xiahou Hui to return power. Ideally, Xiahou Hui would have to relinquish power when the emperor was seventeen or eighteen, and a year or two later, following the example of Cao Zhen, he would request to be sent to guard the Yongliang or Huainan fronts.

So, all in all, he only has ten years.

During this period, he also needed to take down Cao Shuang, who had broken off relations with him, and suppress and kill Grand Tutor Sima Yi, who seemed to have relinquished power and retreated behind the scenes but whose every move influenced the court, in order to smoothly implement his policy proposals and form systems or unspoken rules. In fact, his time was very tight.

"What if I only seize the day?"

After a moment of silence, Xiahou Hui pressed on, "What does Gonglu have to teach me?"

"Your subordinate dares not presume to instruct."

He quickly offered a humble reply, then smiled faintly, revealing an expression of certainty. "If the General is only concerned with immediate matters, I have no advice to offer. However, I do believe that the General bears the heavy responsibility entrusted to him by the late Emperor, and the power he has been given lies in judging others." After saying this, as if realizing he had been too subtle and worried that Xiahou Hui might not understand, he quickly added, "In the present state of Wei, the General holds the reins and has the power to say 'no' to everything."

The right to say no?
With a slight raise of his eyebrows, Xiahou Hui pondered for a moment before smiling silently.

"good!"

They remained silent the rest of the way.

Time flows on relentlessly, day and night.

In the blink of an eye, it was already late autumn, September of the third year of Jingchu.

During these six months, the court of Wei was unusually calm.

Having been publicly humiliated in the imperial court, Cao Shuang, whether out of remorse or a desire to slightly alter his image in the eyes of the officials, has ceased recommending his confidants and rarely exerted any forceful influence over politics. He hasn't even recommended Xiahou Xuan for an official position; Xiahou Xuan remains a commoner!

To be precise, his proposal was rejected by Xiahou Hui.

During a court assembly, a court official submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating that the position of Commander of the Central Guard should not be left vacant for long and requesting that the court publicly recommend a suitable candidate.

Needless to say, this must have been at Cao Shuang's behest.

After all, in the capital Luoyang, no one was more qualified for this position than Xiahou Xuan.

Moreover, everyone knows that since Xiahou Hui's transfer, the Central Protectorate Army Office has remained under the acting jurisdiction of Yu Song, the Attendant Gentleman of the Palace, which is to say, under Xiahou Hui's control. If it weren't for Cao Shuang's instructions, no one would be foolish enough to openly clamor for the Grand General to relinquish his power.

However, Xiahou Hui, citing the empty treasury and the excessive number of officials in the court, claimed that he should follow Emperor Wen's simple and frugal style and, in this critical time, abolish the position of Central Protector of the Army and hand it over to Cao Zhao, who would later return to the capital to serve as Commander of the Central Army. After that, Cao Shuang could no longer compete for it.

He had no suitable reason. He certainly couldn't push Cao Zhao to Xiahou Hui's side just because of a position.

With Cao Shuang no longer causing trouble in the court, the relinquished Grand Tutor Sima Yi became even more "self-aware".

If it weren't for the occasional need to visit the Nine Dragons Hall to pay homage to Emperor Cao Fang, and the requirement to stand in the temple hall on certain special occasions, he would almost be invisible.

Yes, even nowadays, when the emperor is supposed to attend court every five days, he mostly misses the court due to old age and illness.

As for General Xiahou Hui, he was similar to Sima Yi.

Aside from appearing at the morning court, the officials in the East Hall of the Taiji Palace rarely appeared to discuss court affairs; all opinions were conveyed by the Chief Secretary, Sun Li.

And his opinions were almost all negative.

Apart from necessary measures to maintain the normal operation of the court, he rejected all other proposals or personnel changes on the grounds that "no such thing has happened since Emperor Wu", "the national treasury is in dire need of funds and cannot be increased", or "this matter is of great importance and cannot be changed arbitrarily".

Some who couldn't find a reason simply resorted to stalling.

The memorial was simply left in the central government without any instructions.

If officials from the government inquired further, he would simply say something like "Let me think it over" or "Let's wait and see" to brush it off.

In short, he openly acts like a rogue and pretends to be confused, relying on his power as the ruling general so that no one dares to force him.

As time went by and the incidents occurred more frequently, the officials and nobles all came to understand.

Xiahou Hui was waiting for them to come and compromise on their own initiative, to understand what it meant to have a new emperor and a new court, and who the current ruler of Wei was!

This made the officials in the government feel very frustrated.

You must understand that even when the late Emperor Cao Rui was alive, they wielded considerable influence and were known for their ability to dissuade or even change the emperor's mind! Why should they compromise with a newly appointed general?

The Wei dynasty replaced the Han dynasty with the endorsement of many people and was established by everyone together; even a general with an outstanding position is just a subject, so why should they be expected to obey orders?

But they had nowhere to vent their frustration.

If we accuse Xiahou Hui of neglecting his duties and making mistakes, he did approve all the necessary administrative documents to maintain the normal operation of the court. If we say that Xiahou Hui abused his power for personal gain and coerced his ministers into making concessions, he was simply playing a game of cat and mouse.
As for saying that Xiahou Hui lacked governing ability and only followed the old ways without doing anything, this is not questioning Xiahou Hui, but also questioning the vision of the late Emperor Cao Rui in choosing his successor!

Even Grand Tutor Sima Yi and General of Chariots and Cavalry Cao Shuang cursed him.

What worries the officials even more is that, based on their years of experience in officialdom, they know very well that if this situation continues, they will eventually be forced to compromise.

The reason is simple: the path to officialdom is never short of opportunists.

These senior officials and high-ranking ministers were unwilling to compromise, but there were also officials who wanted to advance further and have a bigger stage to showcase their talents and were willing to compromise.

Everyone knew that Xiahou Hui's greatest desire was to reform the bureaucracy and change the local talent selection system—as time went on, the court and the public knew who had advised Emperor Ming of Han, Cao Rui, on matters such as being a former protégé of the emperor and cracking down on corruption. This was the fundamental reason why the officials and nobles harbored resentment towards Xiahou Hui.

Those ambitious officials will eventually understand Xiahou Hui's purpose in exercising his veto power.

Therefore, they would seize the opportunity to submit memorials to Xiahou Hui, offering suggestions on such matters in order to gain his approval and thus obtain power.

The senior officials and high-ranking ministers of the court were powerless to stop this.

Even if they could stop it through a collective discussion in the East Hall after Xiahou Hui gave his approval, it wouldn't work.

After all, the sheer number of officials is what it is!
They can stop it once, twice, three times, or even ten times, but what about the eleventh time?

Xiahou Hui simply needed to instruct the General's Chief Clerk, Sun Li, to speak up; if one attempt failed, they could try again, and so on, countless times.

And if they obstruct the process too many times, their hatred towards lower- and middle-level bureaucrats will reach its maximum.

Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents, let alone hindering their career advancement!
At that time, they will not only face hostility from the lower-ranking officials of the court, but will also be criticized in the marketplace and regarded as incompetent and useless rats who have no intention of benefiting the country and the people.

Moreover, if Xiahou Hui were willing, for example, to encourage those who submitted memorials with a few words and give them hope, such voices could flow together, and more people would jointly submit memorials, eventually evolving into a situation where the will of the people could not be defied.

If these veteran officials and senior ministers still refuse to compromise by then, they will be abandoned by their own people and swept into the corner of history, just like yesterday's flowers.

Another reason why the officials in the court felt that Xiahou Hui was forcing them to compromise was something Xiahou Hui had been doing recently: whenever he was not involved in government affairs, he would go to the court hearings.

The Listening to Lawsuits Temple was originally named Pingwang Temple, but Emperor Cao Rui of the Ming Dynasty renamed it.

Because of his fondness for the law, the late Emperor Cao Rui often said, "Prisons are the lifeblood of the nation." Whenever he was about to adjudicate a major case, he would personally go to Tingsong Temple to listen to the proceedings.

Xiahou Hui went there under this pretext.

The difference is that he listens to every lawsuit, big or small, without getting tired of it.

"Even with the late emperor's wisdom, he dared not be negligent. Whenever he was about to adjudicate a case, he would observe and listen to the proceedings in order to see the smallest detail clearly. My talent and virtue are far inferior to the late emperor's. I should strive to make up for my shortcomings and listen to all cases, no matter how small, in order not to fail the weighty responsibility entrusted to me by the late emperor."

When court officials advised him that he did not need to attend court hearings so frequently, he gave this explanation, which was utterly dignified and righteous.

But in reality, he had ulterior motives.

He always went there with a case in mind!
The letter-throwing vessel previously set up in Luoyang, the capital, received almost no suggestions or strategies that would benefit the court. However, thanks to the anonymity it allowed, it received many letters about the illegal activities of powerful families, officials, and clerks.

Moreover, he also possessed the secret administration office, which had originally been directly under Emperor Ming Cao Rui, and had been handed over by the old eunuch.

Therefore, whenever he saw such a lawsuit, he would instruct his attendant Han Long to have the clerk investigate the truth and background of the matter beforehand. Then he would take the letter to the court hearing and hand it over to the presiding judge on duty that day, such as the Imperial Censor or the Court Judge Gao Rou, and have them arrange for people to investigate. He would then say that he would come back in a few days to ask about the results.

If the result is the same as what the school affairs department found, that's fine. The relevant officials can handle it according to the law, and he will not interfere with the other party's authority.

But if the result is different, he will directly intervene.

Their positions were unequal to each other, and he was also perfectly clear about the whole story, so naturally he was invincible.

After a period of time, the results were remarkable.

Not only did the atmosphere in the capital city change dramatically, with powerful families and corrupt officials no longer daring to bully the common people, but even letters denouncing the illegal activities of officials in the capital region began to appear in the letter-throwing pots. With such a solid reputation, it was inevitable that the scope of the letters would spread beyond the capital.

In other words, Xiahou Hui had already begun to reform the bureaucracy. (End of Chapter)