Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The lights in the study room in Xuchang Palace were bright.

Eight imperial attendants stood neatly in the empty space behind the seat on the right, watching the emperor review official documents, and watching the prime minister and six secretaries of state arriving one after another.

Among these people, Chen Ben was the most nervous and flustered. To be fair, the readability of the reports prepared by the other people was not much higher than that of Chen Ben. But his document happened to be placed first, so he became the one who was scolded the most.

Not to mention the young man Chen Ben, even if his father Chen Jiao were in such a situation, he would definitely not be any better off than him.

Sima Yi, who was standing in the middle of the study room in front of the six ministers, bowed awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty, I had a banquet at home today, and Minister Wei also attended, so I drank a few bottles. I didn't know that Your Majesty had summoned you tonight."

Wei Ji is also a general term.

However, Sima Yi looked better. Wei Ji was old and weak, and he had drunk a lot today, so he was already a little unsteady on his feet.

"Taichu, come and help him." Cao Rui pointed at Wei Ji helplessly and said, "You all take your seats. I asked you to come here tonight because I have something important to discuss."

"What are the current specific regulations between the Shangshu Taizhong and the official documents of each state and county?"

Sima Yi actually drank a lot, but being able to remain decent after drinking still requires great self-control and mental will. After sitting firmly, Sima Yi calmed down and said:
"Your Majesty, I would like to start with the document first."

"Yes." Cao Rui nodded.

Sima Yi said: "Your Majesty, the volume of documents in Taichung is the highest among all the central governments. I cannot know the specific details, but I do know the general figures."

"The number of bamboo slips used by the Shangshutai and the Privy Council each year is about 100,000 rolls. Assuming 30 slips per roll, there are always 3 million slips. They include documents, laws, classics, records, etc., as well as documents exchanged with various states and counties. As for Zuo Bo paper, it is indeed a bit expensive at present. It is not often used except for important letters."

"What about Zuo Bo paper? How is it used in Taichung and the Privy Council?" Cao Rui asked again.

Sima Yi thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Zuo Bo paper is really expensive right now. It is not often used in Luozhong and Xuchang except for important letters and when going on an expedition with the army."

Cao Rui wanted to ask about the style of writing used in the documents, but Sima Yi was talking about the amount of writing used. This was the first time Cao Rui had heard an official talk about this since he ascended the throne, so he did not correct him, but continued to ask:

"If we add up the numbers used by the Censorate, the Three Dukes and the Nine Ministers, can we expect to use five million bamboo slips?"

Sima Yi lowered his brows for a few moments, as if he was weighing it in his mind, and then he spoke again: "If you count the Chongwen Temple and the Imperial College, there are about five million pieces, but I can't be too sure at the moment."

"Your Majesty, if you want to know the exact number, the bamboo slips used by the court have been produced by the workshop of the General Works Bureau in Runan for decades, and then transported to Luozhong and other places. The archives are all there, and they can be checked at any time."

Cao Rui nodded slightly: "Are they all from Runan? This is the first time I know this."

"However, what I want to ask Sikong is actually the writing style of the Shangshutai. At present, are there fixed standards for the documents exchanged between the various departments and offices in the Taichung and between the prefectures and counties?"

"This... let me think about it." Sima Yi replied after a few moments, "As for the fixed standards of documents, I don't remember any. It's enough to say something meaningful and make things clear. There are not too many requirements."

"The official documents I read on a daily basis are basically those between the ministers of various ministries, the officials of various departments, and the governors of prefectures and counties. As for the ordinary documents sent by the prefectures and counties and the Secretariat, I have read less of them in recent years. They are all read by the ministers of various ministries."

Sima Yi passed the blame to his subordinate ministers, and Cao Rui was not polite either, turning his attention to the six ministers sitting upright in the hall.

The person sitting in the front was Wei Ji, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Cao Rui wanted to ask him first, but when he saw Wei Ji's elderly figure leaning on the seat, drunk and a little shaky, he sighed and turned to look at Fu Xun:
"Minister Fu is in charge of the Ministry of Works. This year, he personally went to various places in Hebei to supervise the grain transport. I think he is familiar with the documents in the ministry and the prefectures. What are the regulations for the documents of the Ministry of Works?"

Fu Xun was sitting here, and right behind him stood his nephew Fu Gu.

Fu Xun was a little embarrassed when the emperor called his name. He clasped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, the documents of the Ministry of Works are the same as what the Minister of Works just said. There are no special regulations for these documents within the Ministry of Works or between the provinces and counties."

"Where is the Ministry of Rites?" Cao Rui raised his hand and pointed at the Minister of Rites Xu Xuan.

Xu Xuan carefully bowed his hands in response, and his statement was not much different from that of Sima Yi and Fu Xun. The Ministry of Rites did not have many restrictions and requirements in its writing.

Cao Rui shook his head, looked around at everyone, and sighed softly:
"On weekdays, the official documents I see are either drafted by the six ministers of your ministry, or the petitions of the Nine Ministers, the governors of various states, the Privy Council, and the governors of various counties. Those who can sit in these positions are all officials who have served in the court for a long time, and the documents are mostly decent. I have never found any problems in them."

"But when I looked at the documents of the imperial guards today, I realized how serious the problem was. The eight imperial guards wrote eight different formats for me. I was annoyed even after just a cursory glance, not to mention reading them carefully."

"Pei Qing was beside me just now, and he also looked through it. Isn't this a big problem?" Pei Qian bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I made a mistake in this matter. Your Majesty gave me the power to temporarily supervise the Minister of the Imperial Guard, but I did not explain everything to them before they left Xuchang, and I did not have time to check after I came back. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Cao Rui just glanced at Pei Qian for a moment, and Pei Qian immediately understood, put his hands and shut up and said no more.

Pei Qian is considerate, and that's generally the case.

Cao Rui ignored Pei Qian and said to Sima Yi, "Sikong is the recorder of Shangshu affairs. This matter should be the responsibility of Sikong. I see that Sikong drank wine today. Is there any happy event? Can you hold the ink pen steadily?"

Sima Yi felt helpless, but he didn't dare to show it on his face. He stood up and said:
"Your Majesty, I have been with you in the Liaodong campaign and have not seen my second son for nearly a year. I miss him so much that I asked him to take a day off and came to my residence in Xuchang. We were reunited after a long separation, so I drank a little more today."

Cao Rui nodded thoughtfully: "Is it Sima Zishang?"

Sima Yi nodded: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It is Zishang."

Cao Rui smiled and said, "In that case, I am sorry to have disturbed Sikong's family banquet. How about this? I will let Sikong's second son take three more days off to show his filial piety."

"Minister Pei," Cao Rui looked at Pei Qian, "Tomorrow night, have the Imperial Household Deputy send ten jars of fine wine to the Sikong Mansion. Let's drink tomorrow."

"Your Majesty, this..." Sima Yi was a little confused.

Cao Rui smiled and said, "Why, isn't it enough?"

Sima Yi shook his head repeatedly: "I was just having a party at home. It is really my fault that I disturbed Your Majesty."

Cao Rui said: "I give you good wine, Sikong, just accept it. I have many ideas in my mind, but I haven't had time to summarize them one by one, so I need Sikong to sort them out for me."

"Bring a table." Cao Rui pointed to the table in the corner.

Xiahou Xuan and He Chuan immediately understood what was meant. They walked to the table one by one and lifted it in front of Sima Yi's chair.

Sima Yi sighed in his heart, but remained calm on his face. He picked up the brush on the table and dipped it in ink skillfully. It was a bit challenging to write down when drunk, but it was not impossible to complete.

Then just go ahead and write it.

Cao Rui cleared his throat, looked around, and then said loudly:

"The first thing I want to discuss with you today is the format of official documents for the court."

"Come, Xiu Yuan, tell everyone here, I asked you to investigate the military farming issue, what is the format of your document, and how do you write it?"

Chen Ben was in great misfortune today. Not only was he reprimanded in front of the emperor, but he also made a fool of himself in front of Sikong and his superiors. At this moment, he wished he could find a crack in the wall to crawl into and escape.

However, it was a bit unfounded for young people to care about these trivial matters. Sima Yi, Pei Qian and the other ministers were all waiting for the emperor to express his will, and no one cared about Chen Ben's face or whether his writing was good or bad.

Chen Ben bowed his hands in embarrassment and said, "Your Majesty, in the document I presented today, I first wrote a five-character poem based on what I saw and felt in the past ten days. Then I listed the things I had done one by one, excerpted the words of several officials and the people who settled in the garrison, and then made a summary."

Cao Rui pointed at Xiahou Hui and said, "Zhi Quan, how did you write it?"

Xiahou Huixing, perhaps because of his surname, was calmer than Chen Ben, and replied: "I wrote a long essay, the format is wrong, it's my fault."

Cao Rui nodded, then looked in the direction of the ministers:

"I sent eight imperial guardsmen to read the military farming report. What do I want to see? Where did they go, who did they meet, what did they think, and what can be done to benefit the government."

"In other words, what I want to see are all practical matters, and they just need to be meaningful. There is no need for any lyricism or literary talent. Are official documents the same as literature? Literature is literature, and official documents are official documents. They are not the same thing."

Should literature be literature and official documents be official documents?
Sima Yi and the other ministers just now were still somewhat confused about the main point, and even thought that the emperor was nitpicking. After Cao Rui's words came out, all the ministers sitting or standing in the study seemed to understand the emperor's fundamental meaning today.

Official documents need to be reformed!
Cao Rui glanced at Xiahou Xuan: "Taichu, you try to tell me what parts a common official document should contain?" (End of this chapter)