Wei Ni

The reason it is said that Xiahou Hui schemed against Guanqiu Jian out of personal motives is that his agreement to Guanqiu Jian's advice to stop vying for power with Cao Shuang was merely a temporary expedient.

Or perhaps, he knew very clearly in his heart that he was rushing headlong down the road to absolute power and the execution of those who opposed him.

Whether it's Cao Shuang or Grand Tutor Sima Yi, even if they don't have the will to oppose him now, he will eventually seize their power step by step and force them into a corner where they have no choice but to fight back.

The reason is what he has been determined to do since he entered officialdom.

The way of Heaven is constant; it does not exist because of Yao, nor does it perish because of Jie.

No matter how tyrannical Cao Cao was, how benevolent Liu Bei was, or how devoted Zhuge Liang was, nothing could change the fact that after the Battle of Yiling, the foundation for Wei's unification began to solidify day by day.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui, who had gone through many hardships and finally became the Grand General of Regent, now only considered how to make the Wei dynasty last longer and be more popular, so that it could become a dynasty as long-lasting as the Han dynasty.

Dynasties have a life, just like a person's life story.

Once born, we are destined to walk step by step towards death. During this process, we will inevitably get sick, get injured, and may even die suddenly.

Xiahou Hui wanted to keep the State of Wei healthy, with fewer illnesses and injuries, and to allow people to live as long as possible.

This is difficult.

As a person from later generations, he knew that there were many reasons that influenced the change of dynasties.

Some things are accidental, and some are inevitable.

If we were to find a more objective reason, it would be the issue of the distribution of benefits.

After all, in the eyes of the Chinese people, who have the deep-rooted belief that man can conquer nature, natural disasters are surmountable, while man-made disasters are the root cause.

Every change of dynasty is a process of redistribution of interests.

The distribution of benefits in the Wei Kingdom, established amidst the ruins of the Han Dynasty, had already been decided during the reigns of Emperor Wu (Cao Cao) and Emperor Wen (Cao Pi). Xiahou Hui had no right to comment, much less the ability to change it.

It's not that he lacks ambition or underestimates himself, but rather that one should be down-to-earth and realistic.

This allocation was the foundation upon which the state of Wei was established, and changing it would mean the destruction of the state of Wei.

Therefore, what Xiahou Hui could do was to slow down the solidification of class and the expansion of vested interest groups as much as possible.

In the era of imperial power, the process of dynastic change was essentially a process of replacement of old and new nobles.

But human nature is inherently selfish.

Once the ambitious new nobles replace the corrupt old ones, they will strive to maintain their superior status and firmly grasp their privileges. As time goes by, they will slowly become part of the old order. Therefore, class solidification and the expansion of vested interest groups are inevitable, and then the dragon-slaying hero will become the dragon himself.

From another perspective, the shift from "those who have the Way receive much support" to "those who lose the Way receive little support" is simply the inevitable cycle of dynastic rise and fall.
The biggest problem for the Wei Kingdom at present is that it does not have the same "righteous support" as other dynasties.

Firstly, during the early years of Emperor Wu of Han, Cao Cao, he was cunning, tyrannical, and constantly waged wars, showing no kindness or benevolence towards the country or its people.

People fear his power, but have no virtue to be attached to him.

During the reigns of Emperor Wen (Cao Pi) and Emperor Ming (Cao Rui), they were aware of this and, in order to consolidate the rule of the Wei dynasty, successively extended a great deal of goodwill to the scholar-official class.

However, this also led to the fact that the vested interests of the previous dynasty were transformed into the ruling class of Wei, inheriting almost all the filth and corruption that were originally intended to be completely eliminated.

Thus, the so-called end of the Han dynasty's reign and the exhaustion of its fortunes, with the Wei dynasty succeeding to the mandate of heaven, was nothing more than a change of surname and a self-destructive act, remaining at the level of "losing the Way and finding little support."

Another factor was that the unification of the north and the south was an inevitable trend, but the foundation of the Wei dynasty's rule was very weak.

Not only were the imperial clan generals and the Qiao and Pei commanders, who were loyal and capable of defending the state, not in a hurry, but also because the "Han abdication to Wei" was essentially the same as Wang Mang's earlier usurpation.

However, during the Former and Later Han Dynasties, the water was like a stagnant pool, so foul and unbearable that it was unbearable for both the gentry and commoners. Thus, the gentry and commoners had the idea of ​​finding someone to stir up this stagnant pool and see if they could clean up the foulness.

The sage Wang Mang and the Wei general Cao Cao were people whom the common people regarded as worth trying.

It is far from being a matter of morality for the Shang Tang revolution or the popular will for King Wu's conquest of Zhou.

Therefore, what Xiahou Hui needs to do now is to think about where to introduce streams into this stagnant pool and where to dig ditches to drain the filth, so that the Wei dynasty can become a "flowing stream that does not stagnate".

Inevitably, whether it's diverting or draining water, all those who benefited from the establishment of the Wei Kingdom will face a shock.

Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, who were both regents, were the first to be affected.

After all, they have now reached the point of maximizing their profits in this stagnant pool.

How could they possibly allow Xiahou Hui to "act recklessly"?

Therefore, facing external resistance from scholar-official families represented by Sima Yi, and internal constraints from Cao Shuang's restless ambition, Xiahou Hui, unable to make any progress, had no choice but to treat Guanqiu Jian as a pawn, using his loyalty to the Wei court to "recruit" Cao Shuang.

Everything is difficult at the beginning.

As long as Cao Shuang stops causing trouble and allows him to exert his power over the court officials and promote his political views, and gather a large group of like-minded supporters in the process, who will be able to rival him in the future?

And when the time came to turn against him, he, who was well-versed in the works of various philosophers, was not lacking in methods.

For example, a more sophisticated method, if you want to discard someone after they've served their purpose, is to create a temptation to make them leave on their own; a cruder method is to have your court officials perform a live funeral for your uncle, Bo Zhao, as Emperor Wen of the Former Han Dynasty did—everyone has heard of that!
Therefore, after failing to find a solution with Ding Mi, Fu Gu, and others that night, he had already thought of Guanqiu Jian. Even if Guanqiu Jian didn't come looking for him today, he would find an opportunity to meet him.

However, the smooth progress of things made him feel very complicated: he suddenly realized that he vaguely saw the shadow of the late Emperor Cao Rui in himself.

It's the purely political biological aspect.

Does climbing to a high position gradually erode one's humanity?

Will I, in the future, also only consider the pros and cons, regardless of right or wrong, and treat everyone as a pawn?

Know the universe, still pity the green grass.

He approached the former step by step; he distanced himself from the latter step by step.

The General of Chariots and Cavalry's Residence.

In the study, a lamp flickered dimly.

Cao Shuang sat alone, looking utterly weary. His eyes were fixed on the lamp wick that occasionally crackled with sparks, and his thoughts were as chaotic as the autumn wind swirling up withered leaves in a courtyard.

Guanqiu Jian came yesterday.

Xiahou Xuan, He Yan, Deng Yang, Li Sheng, and others also offered their suggestions.

Regarding whether to accept Guanqiu Jian's advice and reconcile with Xiahou Hui, these people almost unanimously agreed.

Cao Shuang was not stupid.

He was merely standing on a stage that gathered the world's most talented people, and therefore could not be called intelligent.

Therefore, he was well aware of the private considerations that these people agreed with.

How Yan persuaded him to agree first and take the opportunity to consolidate his power by gaining Xiahou Hui's favor? In reality, he harbored his own selfish desire to become Minister and not want to face unforeseen changes and be stripped of his official position.

Those who returned from Haidong, such as Deng Yang and Li Sheng, were eagerly awaiting official appointments from the court, and thus failed to see that Cao Shuang had rejected Xiahou Hui's goodwill at this critical juncture, dashing their hopes.

As for Xiahou Xuan...
Nothing has changed; the advice remains the same: Cao Shuang, whose reputation is not as good as his abilities, should not confront Xiahou Hui head-on.

But it was precisely because Xiahou Xuan's advice remained unchanged that Cao Shuang was sleepless tonight.

Before leaving, Xiahou Xuan bluntly pointed out the predicament Cao Shuang was about to face.

“Zhao Bo, forgive my bluntness, but the current situation is not whether you are willing to put aside your differences with my uncle, but that we cannot refuse Guanqiu Zhonggong’s proposal.”

Yes~
In fact, Cao Shuang had no choice.

If he rejects Guanqiu Jian's proposal and ignores Xiahou Hui's goodwill, he will face great difficulties in the court.

There are three reasons.

Firstly, those who depend on him will become disloyal.

The appointment and removal of officials in the imperial court could not be separated from Xiahou Hui, who held a dominant position.

If he ignores Xiahou Hui's goodwill, how can he promote his trusted confidants to official positions? How can he maintain the loyalty of his followers?
The latter will be met with disdain from the loyal ministers of the Wei dynasty.

Guanqiu Jian visited Xiahou Hui and him in public, so his attempt to reconcile them would soon become known to the court and the public.

If he doesn't accept it, how will the government and the public define him?

Arrogance and self-importance, a deliberate attempt to disrupt the court, and a lust for power that disregards the well-being of the nation—such behavior is bound to attract criticism.

In this way, many loyal ministers of the Wei dynasty would despise him, and even neutral ministers would stay away from him; having lost both morality and popular support, Xiahou Hui wouldn't need to do anything, he would simply cripple himself and have no chance of competing.

The latter is because he was already in the back of the line.

In terms of prestige, achievements, and reputation, he was at a disadvantage. If he wanted to have a chance of winning the power struggle with Xiahou Hui, he first needed to strengthen his own power base.

He had originally considered bringing in Grand Tutor Sima Yi to help him.

But this veteran official, who had served three dynasties, had such a keen political sense that he immediately requested to resign and extricate himself from the situation as soon as he saw a hint of trouble.

He then tried to win over General Wang Ling and Cao Zhao to his camp, but Wang Ling's attitude remained ambiguous, while Cao Zhao escaped the power struggle directly through the Emperor's secretary.

Who else could he win over to help him? He looked around the court and the country, but there was no one he could stand up to.

Now, Guanqiu Jian has come to find him, bringing with him Xiahou Hui's goodwill in relinquishing power, which is also an opportunity for him to strengthen his own power base.

But deep down, he didn't want to accept it.

It wasn't that he was on guard; Xiahou Hui had thrown him a poisoned bait: whether he had ulterior motives or not would become clear once he saw which official positions and responsibilities he would relinquish to place his trusted men in positions of authority.

He felt extremely frustrated!
Guanqiu Jian's so-called reconciliation was, in his eyes, coercion and coercion; Xiahou Hui's conditional concessions were tantamount to a silent message to him: "Hey! Come and eat!" (End of this chapter)