My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 563 Attitude is necessary, but attitude alone is not enough.
"Your Majesty is too kind, too kind..."

"Your Majesty is the ruler, and your subjects are your subjects—it is your subjects who should frequently visit Your Majesty in the Xuan Shi Hall."

"It is only because Your Majesty is busy with state affairs, and I am a relative of the Empress Dowager, that I dare not come to disturb Your Majesty unless there is something important."

With these words, Cao Shi gave a standard reply to Liu Rong's polite remark that "it's been a long time since I've visited your home."

Knowing that he had been being polite and that Cao Shi was also being polite, Liu Rong simply shook his head and smiled, without continuing the conversation.

However, Cao Shi's seemingly casual remark rekindled a sense of appreciation in Liu Rong's heart.

—In the Han dynasty, relatives of the empress and meritorious marquises were two completely different groups.

To be precise, civil officials, military generals, meritorious marquises, and nobles each have their own unique group identity.

For example, civil officials;
If they are purely scholar-officials pursuing a career in government, they are mostly arrogant and believe that they possess the truth of governing the country, and they disregard what others say—especially dissenting opinions.

The literati and officials generally held the other three groups—military generals, meritorious marquises, and nobles—in contempt.

In their view, military generals were mostly big-breasted but brainless, only knowing how to fight and kill—they only knew how to conquer the world, but had no idea how to govern it.

The ancestors of the marquises were mostly outstanding military generals, while their descendants were more likely to be dissolute and insignificant.

The nobles suffered even worse—they were directly labeled as 'favored officials' and had absolutely nothing to be praised for. They only gained honor and their entire families were elevated to high positions because of a woman who became the emperor's wife.

In short, scholars and officials looked down on all groups except themselves.

At the same time, he secretly hoped that one day he could join the ranks of meritorious marquises.

However, what they expected was not the merit of expanding territory or the glory of capturing generals and flags, but simply the ability to govern the country and be granted titles and high positions.

Clearly, this is not realistic for the Han Dynasty today.

Therefore, in the Han Dynasty today, the number of scholars and officials in the purest sense is extremely small.

This was true among ordinary people, and even more so in officialdom and the central government of Chang'an. Among a hundred or so people, you couldn't find such a bookworm.

In most cases, the civil officials and military generals of the Han Dynasty were not distinguished from each other.

— Civil officials may possess the talent to govern the country, but they may also choose to join the army, make meritorious contributions, and thus rise to a higher position to further utilize their governing abilities, which is their most basic path to development.

Military generals, possessing strategic acumen in battle, often consciously improve their cultural literacy in preparation for entering the court as officials and governing their regions in the future.

The two sides are intertwined, and there is rarely a clear distinction between them – few people accurately identify themselves as either "civil officials" or "military generals".

He would only say when being modest: "I come from a military background and have a coarse and vulgar temperament" or "I started out with pen and ink, but I am not good at martial arts."

But being modest is one thing.

That 'warrior' who claims to be from the military and has a coarse temperament is likely to be a master with considerable literary cultivation.

That 'scholar' who said he started with the pen and was lacking in martial arts must have been a skilled archer and horseman, a tall and strong man.

Therefore, there is a saying about the Han Dynasty today.

—Use force to control everything, and govern with words.

In short, it means gaining status through military merit and protecting that status through literary talent.

This is similar to the principle of governing a country: "To conquer the world on horseback, and to govern the world on foot."

While civil and military officials were not distinguished from each other, meritorious officials and nobles were in a different situation.

—The distinction between meritorious marquises and civil and military officials was not very clear.

As mentioned above, the title of "Marquis of Merit" was earned by meritorious military officers who were outstanding in their military careers.

After becoming a Marquis of Merit, he needed to consolidate and safeguard his position through political skills, because of the wise saying, "Use force to achieve everything, and use literature to maintain it."

Therefore, it can also be said that civil officials and military generals are not distinguished from each other, and their ultimate goal is to become a meritorious marquis.
Marquis of Merit rose from the ranks of civil officials and military generals. After becoming a Marquis of Merit, one needed to cultivate both skills—continuing to achieve great deeds and rise through the ranks of generals and ministers—in order to maintain the Marquis of Merit's status.

In essence, the three are not clearly distinct parties, but rather they achieve the same goal through two different routes.

Compared to these three groups, the noble relatives—more accurately, maternal relatives—are the special case of being completely alone.

Unlike civil officials who need the ability to govern a country and military generals who need military talent;
In principle, relatives of the mother-in-law do not need to possess any skills.

All it takes is for a relative to become the empress to qualify as a "maternal relative".

After becoming a relative of the emperor, one's talents are only revealed when the emperor uses them for his purposes.

For example, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Ming Dynasty, there were two brothers, Lü Ze and Lü Shi, who supported the Lü family through their military talents.

The Bo family during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Taizong Emperor also rose to prominence in the court thanks to Bo Zhao's military talent.

In the later years of Emperor Taizong and during the reign of Emperor Xiaohui, the Dou family's path took the first "different exploration" since the Han Dynasty.

First, there was Marquis Zhangwu, Dou Guangguo, who almost became the first maternal relative to become prime minister in the Han Dynasty, thanks to his noble character and ability to govern the country!
After Dou Guangguo's efforts failed and he missed the chance to become prime minister, the Dou family did not correct their course and return to the 'military route' tacitly accepted by the maternal relatives. Instead, they persisted and eventually reaped the rewards: Dou Ying.

The great Confucian scholar Dou Ying originally followed the path of "imperial relative/civil official," but the outbreak of the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu unexpectedly led him to achieve a path of being proficient in both civil and military affairs.

Thus, during the reign of Emperor Liu Rong, Dou Ying, who came from a powerful maternal family and was skilled in both literature and martial arts, naturally became prime minister.

From the above, it is not difficult to see that although there are extremely high degrees of connection among civil officials, military generals, meritorious marquises, and nobles, and few people possess only one identity, most of them possess two or even three, there is also a fairly clear hierarchy of contempt among these four groups.

—The Marquis of Merit held the highest position and regarded civil and military officials as junior scholars who had not yet achieved success and were not qualified to have an equal dialogue with him.

Military generals held a secondary position, with the ultimate goal of becoming a meritorious marquis, yet they also planned ahead, striving to become well-rounded in both civil and military affairs.

Once again a civil official, he held himself in high esteem, yet he was aware of the current state of the Han Dynasty, where only military merit could bring him closer. Therefore, he would consciously develop his military skills to compensate for his shortcomings.

As for maternal relatives, they are at the very bottom of this hierarchy of contempt, and are universally despised by the other three groups!
Most ambitious maternal relatives pursued military careers, while few pursued literary ones. Occasionally, there were those like Dou Ying, a chosen one, who could excel in both martial and literary pursuits.

The ultimate goal, however, was to 'shed' his status as a maternal relative as much as possible—to become, in the eyes of others, a Marquis of Civil Governance or a Marquis of Military Merit, rather than a despised maternal relative who was granted a title.

Against this backdrop, the interaction patterns among these four groups become quite obvious.

—Nobles and marquises, unless they are complete wastrels, will maintain basic literary and military talents and treat civil and military officials who are "less learned and less accomplished" with basic friendliness and goodwill.

After all, who knows when they might become equals with him? Moreover, they were granted the title of Marquis, making them the progenitor of the lineage, while he was merely a second-generation descendant relying on the legacy of his father and grandfather.

Civil officials and military generals could generally communicate on an equal footing, and it was even common for two people, one civil and one military, to become close friends and learn from each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses in a pure friendship.

As for maternal relatives, they can't get along with any of the above three groups—they are envious of maternal relatives' meteoric rise to power, yet they look down on them, while maternal relatives are half guilty and half resentful.

While proclaiming "I wouldn't stoop to their level," they simultaneously tried to become one of them.

Having understood all this, looking back at Cao Shi's seemingly casual phrase "I am a relative of the empress," the amount of information it contains is quite thought-provoking.

—What Liu Rong, and even those inside and outside the court, were most worried about regarding the Pingyang Marquis family was that the Pingyang Marquis family still considered themselves "the best of the founding fathers," focusing on their status as founding fathers and only regarding their current status as maternal relatives as an opportunity for the family's revival.

If this is the case, then the future Han dynasty will inevitably be in an extremely dangerous situation because of the existence of the Marquis of Pingyang's family.

Because becoming a maternal relative of the Marquis of Pingyang meant that a top-tier family of meritorious marquises, which had great influence on all matters of the Han Dynasty, became the maternal family of the Empress, the Empress Dowager, and even the Crown Prince and the Emperor of Han!
In this situation, it is still considered relatively mild for the Pingyang Marquis family to interfere in the matter of the crown prince's appointment by virtue of their political status as "meritorious marquises".
What's truly frightening is that the Pingyang Marquis family is still not satisfied with being the maternal family of the Empress and Empress Dowager, as well as the maternal family of the Crown Prince and the Emperor!

How exactly did Wang Mang usurp the Han throne in history?

Liu Rong had to be wary of this.

Cao Shi's phrase "I am a relative of the imperial family" undoubtedly indicates that the Pingyang Marquis family had a very clear understanding of their own position.

—The Pingyang Marquis family, who became maternal relatives, and the Cao family, who also held the title of Pingyang Marquis, were worlds apart!
The former mainly refers to the descendants of Cao Can, a meritorious marquis, who used their status as maternal relatives as a political asset.

The latter, on the other hand, focuses on the status of maternal relatives, actively downplaying the glory of their ancestors and the title of Marquis of Pingyang, even classifying it as a past glory of "the legacy of their ancestors, but alas, we are unworthy."

If Cao Shu were to present herself to Liu Rong as a member of the "Four Generations of Marquis of Pingyang," Liu Rong would inevitably have to reconsider whether or not to let Cao Shu become the second Empress Xiaojing, who would remain childless for life.

However, Cao Shi's opening statement, "As a member of the imperial family, I undoubtedly fulfilled Liu Rong's expectations of his wife's relatives, namely the Cao family of the Marquis of Pingyang, to the greatest extent possible."

—He only saw himself as a relative of the empress and a meritorious marquis, not a meritorious marquis and a relative of the empress!
Such a Pingyang Marquis family best served Liu Rong's interests and also best served the interests of the Han dynasty.

Of course, simply stating "I am a relative of the emperor" is far from enough.

This only reflects Cao Shi's attitude.

As we all know, attitude is essential, but it's not enough to have only attitude.

—Taking action but not showing attitude is 'bad attitude';
Having an attitude but no action is just playing with children.

Cao Shi had already made his stance clear: "I am a relative of the empress."

So, the next step is to take action.

To reiterate: in the hierarchy of contempt within the Han political system, meritorious marquises were at the very top, while relatives of the empress were at the very bottom.

Cao Shi made it clear that the Pingyang Marquis family was willing to give up the 'meritorious marquis' status at the top of the social hierarchy and instead voluntarily accept the status of maternal relatives at the bottom of the social hierarchy;
They have very sweet words.

The specifics of how to do it were to be demonstrated to Liu Rong by Cao Shi, rather than simply explained to him.

Of course, before doing so, Cao Shi could have discussed with Liu Rong the specific plans of the Pingyang Marquis family.

"I have indeed come to the palace today with a small matter to ask for Your Majesty's favor."

As Liu Rong expected, after a brief greeting and pleasantries, Cao Shi quickly announced his arrival.

Liu Rong previously said that he was too busy lately and therefore did not go to the Marquis of Pingyang's residence, and this is not a lie.

Cao Shi replied: "Knowing that Your Majesty is busy, I dare not disturb Your Majesty unless there is something important, which is also true."

Over the past year, especially in the last few months, Liu Rong has been incredibly busy.

As relatives of the Empress Dowager, the Pingyang Marquis family truly dared not disturb Liu Rong in the slightest.

Especially at this delicate juncture when the eldest prince is about to be born, the Pingyang Marquis family dares not stand out too much, lest they make a mistake.

Since Cao Shi dared to come today, he must have something important to say, and he absolutely had to come and talk to Liu Rong in person.

Clearly, Cao Shi also had this very clear understanding of the matter…

"Next spring, Your Majesty shall lead all the officials of the court to perform the Ritual of the Imperial Field and personally open the field to encourage the people to cultivate the land diligently."

"The Empress shall lead the noble families and relatives of the meritorious marquises to perform the silkworm-rearing ceremony in the Empress's quarters, so as to encourage ladies throughout the land to weave diligently."

Cao Shi's opening remark took an unexpected turn, causing Liu Rong to instinctively lean forward, his gaze becoming slightly more profound.

Then Cao Shi took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said cryptically, "Your Majesty is performing the ritual of the Imperial Field Ceremony. All officials, ministers, marquises, and nobles should naturally follow suit."

"However, I do not know how the rites for relatives of the empress should be conducted during the Jitian ceremony."

"Even the lady is unaware of the rites performed by maternal relatives during the silkworm-rearing ceremony in the Empress's quarters."

"Such a trivial matter should not have troubled Your Majesty, who has taken time out of your busy schedule to personally resolve my doubts."

"I, your humble servant, wish to take this opportunity to inquire of the Imperial Family of the Madam about the rites of planting rice fields and raising silkworms."

...

“In the past, I did not have much contact with Lady Li. I have wanted to visit her, but I am afraid of being presumptuous.”

"Then I shall dare to ask Your Majesty: In the past ten days or so, has Your Majesty planned to invite Lady Li to a banquet, or perhaps pay her a visit?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Shi frowned as if he hesitated, took a deep breath, and then bowed to Liu Rong.

"If so, I hope Your Majesty will take me with you at that time."

"If not, Your Majesty, please inform Lady Li on my behalf."

"Then, the Cao family, relatives of the imperial family, intended to invite Lady Li to a banquet, but had no way to do so, and thus resorted to this desperate measure..."

After he finished speaking, Cao Shi bowed deeply and did not straighten up for a long time.

On the imperial couch, watching Marquis Pingyang Cao Shi's seemingly ashamed but actually hesitant expression, a strange smile slowly appeared on Liu Rong's slightly surprised face...

(End of this chapter)