Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"I don't know."

After Sima Yi responded, he was quite polite and bowed to Xin Pi to congratulate him: "Brother Zuo Zhi has entered the cabinet today and has been appointed as Shang Shu Zuo Pushe. This is a further step forward. It is indeed worth congratulating! I wonder when Brother Zuo Zhi will prepare a banquet at home to invite his new colleagues?"

"If you only invite Sikong, it would be fine. But if you invite more, my family is poor and I am afraid I can't afford them." Xin Pi responded with a smile.

"Aren't you being modest?" Sima Yi greeted Xin Pi while walking to his desk and opening the dozen or so bamboo slips on it.

After a quick glance, Sima Yi did not find any information about yesterday's imperial edict. Fortunately, the imperial edict was issued last night, so it was no problem for Sima Yi to return to Luoyang today. If no one had informed him a few days later, Sima Yi would have to be alert.

"After Brother Zuozhi took over this position, what arrangements did Your Majesty make for Duke Wei Zhenzuo?" Sima Yi asked casually.

"Gong Zhen has joined the army." Xin Pi answered calmly.

"Join the army?" Sima Yi frowned.

Xin Pi smiled and said, "Didn't the general return to Luoyang from Chencang to recuperate? He is no longer in Chencang, so his position as the governor of Guanxi has been revoked. Your Majesty has allowed him to serve in the West Pavilion. He only needs to enter the palace for an hour in the morning, and does not need to be on duty every day and take turns to watch the night like you and me. Gong Zhen will be like Chen Situ, supervising Yongzhou, Qinzhou and Hanzhong, and will also be given the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry."

"As for last night's arrangements," Xin Pi said slowly, "there was nothing special about them. They were just some personnel matters. Du Zixu will go to Luoyang to serve as the Sili Xiaowei, Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel will go to Yuzhou to serve as the governor, and Huang Gongheng will be transferred to the Ministry of Personnel."

"Oh, there is one more thing. His Majesty ordered Xu Shizhong to concurrently serve as the Weiwei, saying that it was to reward him for his contributions in Jingxiang."

Sima Yi frowned again: "It's not a bad idea to reward Sun Quan with one of the Nine Ministers for his meritorious service. Besides, Xu Yuanzhi was once the Chief Censor and the Minister of Agriculture, so it's not surprising that he can be a Nine Minister again. But this concurrent post..."

"Yes, he holds the position concurrently." Xin Pi repeated: "The Minister of the Court concurrently holds the position of the Nine Ministers."

Sima Yi said thoughtfully: "It seems that the position of Shizhong is going to be completely transformed into a position of real power. Moreover, the power and responsibilities of the Nine Ministers have been gradually taken away by the Shangshutai. Now that the Nine Ministers have become part-time positions, won't they really become empty titles?"

"What real job does the Weiwei have? I know." Xin Pi shook his head slightly and counted on his fingers: "The responsibility of guarding the palace gates and the Forbidden City belongs to the Central Army. Now it is the job of the Central Commander Camp and the Five Colonels Camp. As for the official vehicles and the gates, they have long been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel. The only thing they manage is the arsenal. After Your Majesty established the six ministries, the Ministry of War has been clamoring to take over. Recently, it has also been under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council."

"It's already an honorary title like Guanglu Dafu. It's fine if I take on the concurrent post. What else can I do?"

Sima Yi said, "Among the nine ministers, there are still some who cannot hold multiple posts at the same time."

"What did Sikong say?" Xin Pi asked.

Sima Yi actually started to count the same as Xin Pi: "The Ministry of Rites is in charge of sacrifices, rituals, and mausoleum affairs, which overlaps with the Ministry of Rites to some extent. The guard duties of the Guanglu Xun have long been gone, and he is only in charge of some palace officials, which can be handed over to the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of the Imperial Household is in charge of the emperor's carriages, hunting, weapons, and livestock. Most of these duties cannot be abandoned. The same is true for the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Imperial Clan, and the Ministry of the Imperial Household. But the Ministry of Agriculture may be assigned to the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

Xin Pi nodded and said, "What the Minister of Works said makes sense. In short, Xu Yuanzhi's concurrent appointment as the Minister of Defense is just a start. How it will develop in the future will still depend on the court situation and the will of Your Majesty."

"Brother Zuo Zhi is absolutely right." Sima Yi said.

In fact, when Sima Yi and Xin Pi were talking just now, although they seemed to be in harmony, they were also testing each other.

Sima Yi returned from outside Luoyang. On his first day on duty, Xin Pi took the initiative to introduce yesterday's imperial edict to Sima Yi, which was an act of actively showing goodwill.

Afterwards, Sima Yi tried to discuss personnel and the system of Nine Ministers with Xin Pi. The fact that this topic, which was sensitive to ordinary officials but not a big deal to cabinet ministers, could be communicated smoothly also meant that there was no grudge between the two and it was a good start in terms of work assistance.

As for the address, Sima Yi always called Xin Pi "Brother Zuo Zhi", and Xin Pi replied by calling the younger Sima Yi "Sikong", and they both respected and were decent to each other.

I think the two of them can get along well.

It must be said that Xin Pi, with his former position as Shizhong, was promoted to Jiuqing first and then Shangshu Pushe within half a year, and at the same time he was allowed to enter the cabinet. He knew in his heart that there would be people in the court who would ridicule him for being promoted because he had served as Shizhong and was close to the emperor.

But Xin Pi didn't care.

Jian was favored by the emperor and held an excellent position. Xin Pi was so proud of this that he had no time to be afraid of what others said.
The two chatted for a long time, and then they heard hurried footsteps outside the door.

"Sikong, Lord Xin." He Chu walked in, bowed and said, "Your Majesty invites you."

Sima Yi stood up and asked softly, "Your Majesty, have you returned from archery practice?"

"That's right." He Chu nodded.

"Okay, Brother Zuo Zhi, you and I will go together." Sima Yi said with a smile. "Please, Sikong." Xin Pi was quite humble.

"please."

When the two men entered the study, Dong Zhao and Man Chong were already there. When they saw them come in, they nodded in acknowledgement.

"I have just returned from Yanzhou and would like to meet Your Majesty!" Sima Yi bowed.

Cao Rui leaned back on the recliner and nodded: "Sikong has come back from a long journey, and it must be very hard. The matter of clearing the garrison in Yanzhou has been done very well. With Sikong in Yanzhou, I have nothing to worry about."

Sima Yi bowed and said, "I am only following orders. I dare not say that I have worked hard. I thought I could finish the task in a month, but in the end I was busy for more than two months before I could complete it."

"Land has always been a troublesome issue." Cao Rui said with a smile, "At the end of the Han Dynasty, the warlords fought for many years, and plagues and natural disasters were rampant. There were few people and a lot of land. This is different from the situation Emperor Guangwu faced when he measured the land. Now you and I only need to consider how to reduce the number of military farms, and don't need to worry too much about the problem of the amount of land."

"It's not too late to measure the land and establish a system for the people and the land after Wu and Shu are pacified. For now, we should gradually reduce the burden on the people. The maximum tax rate of 35% after abolishing the military farms is much more lenient than the military farms, and it can be regarded as a good policy suitable for the current situation."

"Of course, the tax rate will still have to be reduced after the unification of the four seas."

"Your Majesty is right." Sima Yi responded, "Sun Yanlong and I agree that the military farming policy has too much impact. We should first allow Yanzhou to experiment for a whole year in the fifth year of Taihe, and then promote it in other provinces and counties."

"Okay, let's implement it step by step. Things will be better if we take it slow." Cao Rui nodded.

"Take a seat." Cao Rui waved his hand. "I called you here today to talk about something. It's already afternoon, and the general is usually away in the afternoon. Later, General Man will compile a summary based on memory and put it on the general's desk. Don't miss anything. In the future, when the general is away, General Man will also follow this precedent."

"I obey your order." Man Chong replied in a deep voice.

Cao Rui stood up from the recliner, walked slowly to the back of the desk, sat down, and then said:
"The fourth year of Taihe was dominated by war for me and the Wei Dynasty. I have personally visited Jizhou, Bingzhou, Youzhou, Yingzhou, and Yuzhou, and I have some experience with these five states."

"The first thing is that the Secretariat and the Privy Council should each make a summary of the political and military affairs of the fourth year of Taihe."

"There are still a dozen days until the end of the year. Get everything done and make it as appropriate as possible. I want to see it before the New Year's Day sacrifice to heaven."

"We obey your command." Dong Zhao, Man Chong, Sima Yi and Xin Pi stood up and saluted at the same time.

"The second thing." Cao Rui held up two index fingers: "I said before that I will not measure the land now. The time is not right. But I want you to do something equally difficult."

"Mr. Dong, General Man."

"I am here." Dong Zhao and Man Chong bowed at the same time.

"Xu Yuanzhi submitted a memorial to me in Jingzhou earlier, saying that there were many old men among the soldiers in Jingzhou, and there were also vacancies, which was indeed inferior to the army in Guanxi. At that time, I replied to him that we should put this matter aside for the time being, and focus on the war during the war, and discuss the rest after the war. Now it is time to put it on the table."

"All the prefectures and counties of the Wei Dynasty. Please note that I am talking about all of them, including Hanzhong Prefecture of Yizhou, the three vassal states of Yingzhou, and the Wuji Commandery of the Western Regions." Cao Rui looked at Dong Zhao and Man Chong and said, "I will give the Privy Council half a year to fully approve the military strength quotas of all places."

"I will not look at the data on paper. The specific strength of the foreign troops, prefecture troops, and Qiang troops stationed in various places must be approved to the same detail as the central army. They must be registered with names and surnames."

Dong Zhao asked, "Your Majesty, checking the soldiers is a serious matter, but just like the shortage of soldiers in Jingzhou, the officials and generals in various places will try their best to conceal it if there is such a situation."

"I'm not saying that we can't investigate, but when it comes to checking specific people like the Central Army, there will be more or less problems."

Cao Rui said calmly, "This is simple. I have issued an amnesty order to the Privy Council. If there are vacancies, impersonations, or empty salaries in various places, if you report it voluntarily, you will be pardoned and it will not be included in the Privy Council's evaluation. I promise that I will not investigate it again, no matter how serious the crime is. However, if you hide it and do not report it, the chief officers of the army, including the Sima of Qianshi and below, Quchang, Dubo, and Shichang will be beheaded, and the lieutenants of 2,000-stone and the Pian and Bi generals will be demoted to commoners and exiled 3,000 miles. The chief generals will be judged by me and the Privy Council."

Man Chong's face suddenly became solemn: "I understand. It is reasonable to be lenient and strict."

Cao Rui nodded and said: "I have issued an amnesty order. If anyone really does not repent, then he will be cut off from the court."

"As for the three vassal states of Yingzhou, just count the number that can be mobilized in case of emergency. As for the Wuji Commander of the Western Regions, I intend to fully restore the trade routes in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. We may encounter some problems in the future, so it is better to make some preparations early."

"Your Majesty is thoughtful and far-sighted. I understand." Man Chong agreed. (End of this chapter)