Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

As the emperor finished speaking, the eyes of all the ministers in the Minguang Hall were focused on Cao Zhen.

To everyone's surprise, Cao Zhen did not express his agreement or say anything against it. Instead, he stood up, bowed to the emperor, and sighed:
"Your Majesty's plans are as deep as the sea. I am gradually unable to keep up with your Majesty's pace. It is my fault as a general. I hope Your Majesty will punish me!"

Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen seriously for a few moments, then slowly said, "I was a little too quick in my steps. How can you say that it was the general's fault?"

"The Great Wei has thousands of cavalry and millions of spearmen, but it is still far inferior to the Wu Kingdom in naval warfare. Whether it is the general or the generals of Yangzhou, Jingzhou, and Guanxi, it is not your fault that you do not know enough about sea vessels. Since the emperor's uncle can lead a fleet of 10,000 people to Japan, then the fleet of 10,000 people can definitely enter the river from the sea and reach Wujun, Kuaiji and other counties. This is the general trend of the development of the Great Wei's military power, and no one can stop it."

"Your Majesty, I am ashamed." Cao Zhen cupped his hands.

Cao Rui smiled and said, "How about this. Next time when the fleet goes to Japan, I will order each state and each commander along the border to send a staff member or military officer to accompany them, record what they see and hear along the way, and pass it on to the commanders."

"Navigation is by no means a waste. It is a matter of far more benefit than harm to Wei." Cao Rui pointed at Chen Ben: "Chen Ben!"

"I'm here!" Chen Ben was sitting upright in the back, but unexpectedly the emperor called his name, so he hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Cao Rui: "General Louchuan led a fleet to Japan this time and recorded tens of thousands of words. Did you record anything during the voyage?"

"Your Majesty, I also have records, but not as many as General Cao." Chen Ben answered carefully: "I only recorded about 20,000 words."

"Twenty thousand words?" Cao Rui thought for a moment and said, "Well, after the emperor's uncle's records are sorted out, you will take the transcribed version to Luoyang. Make a report for the Luoyang officials, Chongwen Temple, and Imperial College."

"Can you do this well?"

Chen Ben was just a little gentle, but his talents were excellent. He answered without any hesitation: "I will definitely do a good job in this matter, Your Majesty, please rest assured!"

Cao Rui chuckled and said, "Don't forget to let Chen Jibi listen to it too!"

Chen Ben quickly agreed.

Most people in the hall smiled knowingly, treating this as a rare amusement.

Chen Jiao disliked his eldest son and liked his second son, and this matter had spread among the high officials in the court. Your Majesty asked Chen Ben to go to Luoyang to give a speech, which was a public matter. Letting Chen Jiao listen to his son's report in public was a private matter, and it was a disguised expression of support for Chen Ben.

……

The next day, in Shouchun Palace, in the study.

"Your Majesty, do you need to reconsider this matter?" Dong Zhao bowed and asked slowly, "The General Construction Office was originally an ordinary two thousand stone government office. Your Majesty has placed the General Construction Office under the direct command of the Privy Council, which is already a great importance to the General Construction Office. Now let Zhao Yan be on the same level as Liu Ye and Wang Guan, two privy councilors, it seems a bit too high."

Cao Zhen also said, "I have kept in mind what Your Majesty said to me in Guanghe Hall yesterday. But my thoughts are similar to those of General Dong. It seems inappropriate to promote the Chief of Works to a higher position."

Liu Ye and Wang Guan sat in the back, looked at each other, and said nothing more, but there was a puzzled look in their eyes.

As the Right Supervisor and Left Supervisor of the Privy Council, Liu Ye and Wang Guan certainly couldn't say anything! Only the two cabinet ministers, Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao, had the right to speak. If they said anything, they would really put themselves in a suspicious position.

It turned out that Cao Rui summoned two cabinet ministers and two privy councilors to the study today in order to promote Zhao Yan's position and make him the supervisor of the privy council.

The Privy Council already has the Right Supervisor and the Left Supervisor, so it is inappropriate to add a Central Supervisor. The word "Central" generally means that it is directly under the emperor. This is the case for the General of the Central Army, the General of the Central Army, the General of the Central Palace Attendants, etc. Just as the four generals are divided into left, right, front, and rear, it is appropriate to add a Privy Councilor Rear Supervisor.

But in the eyes of Dong Zhao and Cao Zhen, this was a bit too much.

Cao Rui sighed softly: "I just said one thing, and before I finished speaking, the general and Lord Dong were eager to refute it."

Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao bowed in response with a hint of embarrassment.

Cao Rui said again: "Doesn't the Privy Council now have six rooms: the Western Room, the Jingzhou Room, the Yangzhou Room, the Hebei Room, the Military Registration Room, and the Military Affairs Room? I think these six rooms are not enough, and we need to add a Navy Room, and then select one person from the two thousand stone officials who are leading the troops this time to serve as the Privy Councilor of the Navy Room."

"I think the general Liu Xia who commands the flagship is just the right person."

"Okay." Cao Rui clapped his hands: "Just these two items."

Dong Zhao sighed, "Your Majesty, I'll stick with what I said just now. Although the Chief of Works is important, it doesn't seem to be on par with the two Privy Councilors. The Wei navy has always been under the control of Yangzhou. Wouldn't it be too complicated to separate it from the other departments?"

Cao Zhen did not say anything this time, but lowered his head slightly and did not look at the emperor again.

The atmosphere in the study fell into silence for a moment.

Cao Rui stood up helplessly, with his hands behind his back, looking at Dong Zhao: "Let me ask Lord Dong, is it bad for the Great Wei if I establish this Privy Councilor and this Naval Office?" "There's nothing wrong with it." Dong Zhao responded with a bow.

Cao Rui frowned and said, "I wanted to explain to you the advantages of the generals and the navy in detail, but then I thought, even if I say a hundred or a thousand words here, it will be difficult for the generals and the navy to be taken seriously in front of you, so I will just let you see the benefits first."

"I will make a decision today. I will promote Zhao Yan to the position of Privy Councilor, in charge of the military affairs, and report directly to the West Pavilion. I will promote Liu Xia to the position of Privy Councilor of the Navy, and report to the Privy Councilor's Right and Left Supervisors. It's settled!"

"I obey your order." Since the emperor had said this, Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, Liu Ye and Wang Guan had no choice but to stand up and salute to receive his order.

After the four people left, Cao Rui sighed and said, "Come on, follow me around the palace. The study is really stuffy."

"As you wish." The attendants responded at the same time.

The four ministers of the Wei Dynasty now have different personalities and talents.

Wang Su is good at classics, ethics, and institutions, while Lu Yu is good at literature and is more knowledgeable about worldly affairs. Xu Shu is proficient in military strategy and human nature, while Pei Qian knows a little about everything and can be regarded as a jack of all trades.

Now it was almost February, and the weather in Shouchun was getting warmer than during the Spring Festival. Cao Rui was sitting in a pavilion in the woods of the palace, with four attendants standing on his left and right.
Cao Rui sighed, "When the four people from the West Chamber and the Privy Council were all here just now, I gave them some face and didn't say anything more."

"Do you know what makes me most impatient?"

Xu Shu replied, "I don't know."

Cao Rui said: "I have clearly explained to them the importance of the navy, but they still think that the navy and the sea fleet are not that important! The armies of Wei can all benefit from weapons and armor, but they still regard the supervision of the generals as unimportant and stick to the old ways!"

"I talked to them nicely, but they didn't listen and insisted on waiting for me to give them a forced order. Why bother?"

Pei Qian, standing in front of Cao Rui's left, also shook his head and sighed.

Cao Rui glanced at Pei Qian and asked, "Why is Minister Pei sighing?"

Pei Qian bowed and responded, "I am lamenting that Lord Dong and the general are too conservative and find it difficult to accept these new things."

"Since the first year of Taihe, the Wei Dynasty has defeated the Wu army in Huainan, recovered Hanzhong in Guanxi, pacified Liaodong, abolished military farms, and equalized taxes... All of these are the result of your majesty's foresight. Your majesty's military and literary strategies, heroic and decisiveness have been proven by facts one by one. It would be fine if they don't understand, but your majesty has so many wise deeds as examples. If they don't understand, won't they follow?"

"That's exactly what I meant! Minister Pei has spoken the truth to me!" Cao Rui reached out and patted the railing heavily, then sighed again.

Pei Qian's words were appreciated by the emperor, but in the eyes of the other ministers, they seemed like flattery.

Lu Yu was an honest man. He wanted to say that this was inappropriate and that the Minister of the Interior should focus on giving advice, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea of ​​giving a hint.

The reason is very simple. Although you and I know Pei Qian's behavior of flattering, there is nothing wrong with Pei Qian's words. He is just repeating your majesty's political achievements over the years!
It was really just repeated, and at the end some words were added to explain for Dong Zhao and Cao Zhen. From a factual point of view, there was nothing wrong with it.

What else can I say?
Of course it’s better not to say it.

Cao Rui didn't finish his thought, and he glanced at everyone again, then said, "I heard what Pei Qing said, what do you three think?"

Xu Shu thought about it and was the first to respond with a salutation:

"Your Majesty, I think the reason why the general and Mr. Dong are conservative is not because they are unwilling, but because they don't understand. Mr. Dong is old and can't bear the hardship of traveling by boat. The general is a member of the royal family and an important official, and he can't take risks."

"I was just thinking, if we choose a son from each of the General's and Lord Dong's families to accompany the navy on the next voyage to Japan, will it allow the General and Lord Dong to understand more? One should always trust the words of one's own children more!"

Cao Rui and Xu Shu looked at each other, thought for a few moments, and nodded: "I agree. Minister Xu will go to the West Pavilion to announce the decree later. I will do as you said!"

"As you wish." Xu Shu replied.

Although in theory, the emperor's power is unlimited and he can do whatever he wants. Just now, after Cao Rui communicated with Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao, he also relied on his status as emperor to forcibly end the dispute and issued an order.

But from the perspective of Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao, it seems to have a bit of the meaning of "rejecting advice".

As for what Xu Shu said just now, that he wanted Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao to send their children to join the navy so that they could learn more, in fact, he was giving the younger generations of these two people the opportunity to join the navy and make merit, which was almost like "bribery".

Bribing ministers is just a basic skill for an emperor. Xu Shu only gave a brief reminder, and Cao Rui understood it almost immediately. (End of this chapter)