Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 639: Planning a Big Event
Chen Jiao asked, "General, are you going to talk about posthumously conferring a title on Zhang He?"

Cao Zhen nodded: "One is for posthumous honors, and the other is for posthumous titles. Let's work out a plan for these two matters, and report it to His Majesty by express horse. We should be able to catch up with His Majesty's carriage near Jiashi. Whether we hurry or not, we should be able to send it to Luoyang in time."

Since Chen Jiao entered the cabinet, he has been active and proactive in handling daily government affairs, speaking at cabinet meetings, and discussing matters in the emperor's study. It can be said that whenever the two people in the East Pavilion wanted to speak, Chen Jiao always spoke before Sima Yi.

It was not easy to say anything about this kind of thing. It was just some order of precedence, and it did not involve such fundamental things as the scope of work, duties, and the Holy Heart. If Sima Yi asked about it, he would appear to be too narrow-minded, so he could only passively accept this situation.

In addition, he had a good relationship with Chen Jiao, and Chen Jiao was recommended by him to join the cabinet. Sima Yi often comforted himself with reasons such as his high position, Chen Jiao's age, and Chen Jiao's new arrival.

Following Cao Zhen's words, Sima Yi coughed lightly and said, "Since the general has brought up this matter, do you have any ideas in mind? You may as well talk about it. After all, Zhang He has been in Guanxi for many years and can be considered an old subordinate of the general."

Cao Zhen said: "Zhang He served the Wei Dynasty for thirty years and made countless contributions. He deserves a posthumous title. Although there is no precedent for posthumous titles during the Taihe period, Zhang He is the General of the Western Expedition. It is not a bad idea to use him to set this precedent."

"I will posthumously confer the title of General of the Cavalry and the posthumous title of Zhuang Hou. What do you three think?"

"Mr. Dong?" Cao Zhen looked at Dong Zhao sideways.

Dong Zhao took advantage of his age and pointed at Sima Yi and Chen Jiao: "Dongge, speak first."

Sima Yi was speechless for a while, paused for a few moments, and then said: "General, isn't the rank of Hussar a bit too high? Among the military officers, its rank is only below that of the Grand Marshal and the Grand General. Isn't it too honorable?"

Chen Jiao had some tacit understanding with Sima Yi on this matter, and added: "Let's not talk about whether the position is high enough, just talking about the cavalry, now the prime minister, the cavalry general Chen Changwen is still staying in Shouchun well, if we posthumously confer the title of cavalry, will it be a little hindrance in terms of etiquette? Now the cavalry general is Chen Changwen, and the chariot general is Wei Gongzhen, it would be better to posthumously confer the title of Wei general."

Cao Zhen was beaten back by a combination of punches from Sima Yi and Chen Jiao. He showed a little helplessness on his face and then turned to look at Dong Zhao.

Unexpectedly, Dong Zhao's words became even more straightforward.

"General, if what I said is true, Zhang He should not be given this posthumous title. Xu Chu, the former general of the Wuwei Army, was not given a posthumous title after his death. Wen Pin, Qian Zhao, and Cao Hong were not given a posthumous title after their deaths. Zhang He was the General of the Western Expedition during his lifetime, which was enough to show his favor."

"What I mean is that the posthumous title of Zhuanghou is good. The cabinet suggests that we take better care of him in terms of fiefdoms and give more to Zhang He's sons. That's it."

What Dong Zhao just said actually elaborated on a method of showing favor that was often used by the imperial court.

Take Zhang He for example. The title of Marquis of Zhou County and the fief of 4,500 households should have been inherited by the eldest son according to the usual rules, and the other sons would have been commoners.

However, if Zhang He's fiefdom of 4,500 households, which was one of the highest in the imperial court, was only granted to one son, it would be a bit of a loss. The imperial court could give 600 households to Zhang He's eldest son Zhang Xiong, 3,900 households, and give 200 households and a marquis position to each of the other three sons. This would not only increase the title of Zhang He's family, but also comfort Zhang He's spirit, and everyone would be happy.

Cao Zhen originally thought that when Sima Yi and Chen Jiao were bargaining, Dong Zhao would help him to fight for the throne. However, unexpectedly, Dong Zhao simply swung his axe and chopped off Cao Zhen's suggestion for posthumous title. Cao Zhen could not help but feel a little angry for a moment.

"Lord Dong, that's not what you said." Cao Zhen pointed at Chen Jiao and said, "Even if you don't posthumously confer the title of General of the Guards on him, can't you posthumously confer him the title of General of the Guards? Zhang He has made outstanding contributions. If Your Majesty opens the Imperial Ancestral Temple to worship him, Zhang He will definitely go in. Zhang He was loyal to his duty and died in office. Isn't this experience worthy of posthumous honors?"

Dong Zhao still had a stern face: "General, I really don't agree with this. Perhaps you don't know that when Your Majesty wanted to change Wei Gongzhen's title of General of Chariots and Cavalry to General of Chariots and Cavalry, I also disagreed."

"Why?" Cao Zhen was surprised: "I have never heard of this!"

Sima Yi and Chen Jiao looked at each other and almost simultaneously shifted their gaze to Dong Zhao.

Dong Zhao stroked his beard and said slowly: "General, the so-called general with important titles is inherited from the general titles during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. There are only four general titles: General, General of Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and General of Guards. According to the tradition of the Han Dynasty, generals with important titles have some power and responsibility to assist in the administration during times of chaos. In comparison, the position of Grand Marshal is not a permanent position."

"General, you may not know that after Cao Wenlie passed away, His Majesty once asked me whether to change you to the position of Grand Marshal, but I dissuaded him. Therefore, the position of Grand Marshal is now almost abolished and has never been mentioned again."

Cao Zhen's surprise turned into astonishment: "The general is the head of the military officers. I have never thought of asking for the position of Grand Marshal. But why did Lord Dong say that?"

Cao Zhen had been a little angry just now, but now it has disappeared. He realized that Dong Zhao had been doing this for several years, and he must have his own reasons.

Based on what Dong Zhao just said about dismissing the Grand Marshal and the fact that Lu Xun was previously appointed General Zhenxi instead of General Zhengxi, I think Your Majesty also supports Dong Zhao.

Sima Yi also joined in the fun: "What is your opinion, Lord Dong? We are all ears."

"Me too." Chen Jiao also said.

Dong Zhao said slowly: "In fact, I have always felt that the court should not have so many important generals."

"Take the general for example." Dong Zhao raised his eyes and looked at Cao Zhen: "The general is a senior general of the royal family. The position of the general is to command the troops and stabilize the country, not to lead the troops to fight. If the general is not a royal family, he is not worthy of this position based on his military achievements. General, am I right?" Cao Zhen was not annoyed: "The late emperor and your majesty want to use my status as a royal family member."

"That's right." Dong Zhao continued, "In fact, since the end of the Han Dynasty, the title of general has been given out too much. I still remember that during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, and Huangfu Song led the best troops in the world to encircle and suppress the Yellow Turban bandits, commanding more than 100,000 troops, but they were only three Lieutenant Generals."

"In my opinion, all the important titles like General of Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and General of Guards should be abolished. One general is enough! The four generals of the Western Expedition and the Southern Expedition should only be used when the ministers lead the army to fight for the emperor. In normal times, the four garrisons and four generals of the four directions are enough. Why do we need so many important titles?"

Cao Zhen understood at this moment.

Dong Zhao did not intend to challenge his authority. On the contrary, Dong Zhao respected and supported his position as the general. It was just that Dong Zhao attacked the generals above the fourth rank equally, thinking it was too excessive.

Sima Yi asked softly, "How did Lord Dong suggest that Duke Wei Zhen be given a title?"

Dong Zhao said: "Gong Zhen doesn't care about this empty position. I suggested that it would be enough to supervise the military of three states, but Your Majesty didn't listen. He rejected my proposal on the grounds that the title of Wei Gong Zhen would suppress the generals in Guanxi."

Cao Zhen sighed. He had wanted to fight for Zhang He, but he did not expect to find out about Dong Zhao's thoughts, which no one had ever heard of.

However, this is just the icing on the cake. It is better to have it, but it is not a big deal if you don’t have it.

Cao Zhen asked, "There should be no problem with the posthumous title of Zhuang Hou, right?"

Dong Zhao nodded: "Zhuang is very appropriate."

"I second the motion." Chen Jiao responded.

"I agree too." Sima Yi said.

Cao Zhen paused for a few moments, then spoke: "In that case, don't report the posthumous title to His Majesty, but the Sikong meeting minutes should record what the four of us just said."

"I write fast and I have memorized it all." Sima Yi nodded.

"Give him the posthumous title of Zhuanghou, and divide up another 1,500 households and divide them equally among Zhang He's other three sons, how about that?" Cao Zhen asked again.

If he raised any more opinions, he would really be at odds with Cao Zhen. All of them were Zhang He's own fiefs, and whether he gave more or less to his eldest son had nothing to do with the high officials of the court.

The three of them agreed.

"Well, Marquis Zhuang, the eldest son Zhang Xiong will inherit the title of 3,000 households, and the other three sons will each be granted 500 fiefs." Sima Yi paused and looked at Cao Zhen: "They will also be granted fiefs in Hebei?"

Cao Zhen thought for a few moments and said: "Give us some good places, choose some pavilions in Wei County."

"Okay." Sima Yi nodded.

After stopping writing, Sima Yi said softly: "I have something to tell you."

Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao and Chen Jiao all looked at Sima Yi.

Sima Yi said calmly, "Now in the Northern Palace in Luoyang, the Taichang Wei Dan is in charge of the princes' education. Wei Dan sent a letter from Luoyang to Shouchun a few days ago, briefly describing the princes' education. Prince Ye and the eldest son Cao Qi is intelligent and quick-witted. This is Wei Dan's evaluation."

"Everyone, you and I are both cabinet ministers. Your Majesty may not have thought of some things, but we still have to advise your Majesty. The eldest son Cao Qi was born in the summer of the second year of Taihe. He is six years old and has already started school." Sima Yi looked around at everyone: "In this case, should we plan for national affairs?"

At this moment, everyone's expressions looked a little strange.

Cao Zhen obviously understood, but kept silent. Dong Zhao leaned on the cushioned back of his chair, his eyes looking a little dull. Chen Jiao looked down at his desk, also silent.

The three of them all waited at the same time for Sima Yi to say those words himself.

Sima Yi coughed lightly and said, "Everyone, is it time for the Great Wei to appoint a crown prince? The eldest son of the legitimate wife should be appointed as the crown prince. This is a fundamental matter of state. Should we put it on the agenda?"

(End of this chapter)