Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

While Cao Rui and Guanqiu Jian were talking, an envoy from Shouchun came to the emperor and handed the letter to Lu Yu, the imperial attendant. Lu Yu handed the letter to Cao Rui, who opened it, read it for a few seconds, and then closed it again.

"Your Majesty," Lu Yu asked, "Should we reply to the cabinet's letter?"

"No need." Cao Rui said, "Shu County is not far from Shouchun. Let the messenger go back and tell him that I will speed up the march tomorrow morning. After returning to Shouchun, I will discuss these trivial matters with the cabinet slowly."

"As you wish." Lu Yu responded.

Cao Rui rode on his horse, looked toward Shouchun in the northeast, and took a long breath.

The letter sent by the cabinet said that Sun Quan had killed Lu Mao in Jiangdong, imprisoned Gu Yong for nearly two months, and was alienated from his ministers.

But compared with Sun Quan, although the Wei Dynasty looked much better on the surface, was it really like that inside? At least when they were told to make the prince a king and select cabinet ministers as the king's tutors, the cabinet did not say a word about it!
A few days later, in Shouchun, at Sima Yi's home.

Sima Yi prepared a banquet at home and hosted Chen Jiao, who was also a cabinet minister. After arriving in Shouchun, the officials' ceremony was much smaller than in Luoyang. Twelve hot dishes and the famous wine brewed in Qiao County were only for the two of them.

As for the responsibility of serving the banquet, it naturally fell on the shoulders of the two young men Sima Shi and Chen Ben.

The banquet started with some insignificant trivialities, but as the conversation went on, it gradually became more in-depth.

"Ji Bi, drink this cup to its full potential!" Sima Yi raised the wine jar.

"Okay, Zhongda, please." Chen Jiao responded, and the two of them raised their glasses and drank the wine at the same time.

After the wine jar was put down, Chen Ben and Sima Shi both filled their fathers' glasses with wine.

Sima Yi said, "Your Majesty will be returning to Shouchun in two days. You have been on tour for nearly two months. During these two months, many things have happened in the court. As cabinet ministers, I am afraid you and I will have to question them."

"Yes, Zhongda is right." Chen Jiao nodded. "What Pengcheng is doing is a problem for the Western Pavilion, and it won't fall on you and me. But Your Majesty will definitely ask about the navy that Jiang Zitong was asked to plan."

"Not just the navy." Sima Yi shook his head: "Don't forget something more important."

"Master Wang?" Chen Jiao raised his eyebrows.

"It's the matter of the prince's tutor." Sima Yi sighed softly, "The four princes who have been crowned as princes, even the infants have to choose a prince's tutor, and it's clear that they have to choose from the four cabinet ministers. Isn't it difficult for us?"

"If we choose well, we can still make some contributions to the court. If we choose badly, it will be a big problem!" Sima Yi paused and smiled bitterly: "I was wrong. It's not about how we choose, but that we have no choice. We can only listen to your majesty's wishes."

"Since the decree of ennobling kings has been issued, they are all kings now. The third son, the Prince of Shouzhang, and the fourth son, the Prince of Boping, there is nothing much to say about them. They have done nothing wrong and just live a peaceful life. But the Prince of Ye and the Prince of Changle, one is the eldest son of your majesty and was given the capital city of Ye, and the other is the grandson of Sun Quan and is in a suspicious position. In the end, someone will be embarrassed!"

Chen Jiao did not speak his mind as Sima Yi wished, but sneered: "Zhongda, why do you ask me such a thing? I remember clearly that your brother Shuda (Sima Fu) was the literary official of Prince Yongqiu during the Jian'an period, and then became the Zhongshuzi of the late emperor!"

"You brothers know much more about how to do this than I do!"

"If Ji Bi hadn't said it, I would have forgotten about it." Sima Yi smiled and said, "You were not in Yecheng at that time, so you didn't know the details of this matter. King Yongqiu was already in decline at that time, and Shuda went to King Yongqiu to resign. He said sincerely that he wanted to resign. Shuda lost his position, and the late emperor recruited Shuda. It was not that he came directly from King Yongqiu to the late emperor."

As Chen Jiao put some food into his mouth, he laughed out loud: "A gentleman can be deceived by his squareness. Prince Yongqiu is an upright gentleman, and Sima Shuda is the one who deceived him!"

"Whatever you say." Sima Yi shook his head: "That was the time, but in this situation now, I really don't know what to do."

Chen Jiao swallowed the tender fish meat in his mouth, put down the bamboo chopsticks, sat up and looked at Sima Yi: "Since Zhongda told me this, I believe he must have some ideas in his mind. Don't beat around the bush, Zhongda, just speak frankly!"

Sima Yi nodded and said, "It is really unruly for the four ministers to be the four princes' tutors. In my opinion, we should wait for Your Majesty to return and directly push the eldest prince to the position of crown prince! The title will be determined, and we won't have to worry about it."

"Zhongda." Chen Jiao sighed softly, "I didn't quite understand that day, why did you always want to push the Prince of Ye to be the crown prince?"

Sima Yi also sat up and said, "Isn't it a serious matter for the state to establish the eldest son as the legitimate heir? I am one of the Three Dukes of Wei and a minister of the cabinet who assists in the administration of the government. How can I not say such things?" Chen Jiao sighed again, "How can the Prince of Ye be the eldest son as the legitimate heir? Although he is the eldest, the status of legitimate and illegitimate children has not been determined. Concubine Mao is still a concubine, not the queen?"

"How big of a difference can this make?" Sima Yi shook his head. "There are only five ranks in the palace, and the highest rank, the Queen, is vacant. Among the noble concubines, there is only Noble Concubine Mao. Even if she is not the Queen, how different can she be from the Queen?"

"That's not a reason to establish him." Chen Jiao said, "Now the princes are all young, Prince Ye is only six years old, and Your Majesty is only thirty years old. It's not like you don't have children. How can you consider the crown prince? It's still too early!"

Sima Yi still insisted: "Whether it's early or late, it will be established sooner or later."

"It is necessary to establish a crown prince, but it does not necessarily have to be the eldest son!" Chen Jiao was a little impatient and said firmly: "How can a six-year-old child tell what is virtuous and what is not? It will not be too late to establish a crown prince when he grows up to twenty years old! The other princes may not be worse than the King of Ye!"

"I am not the eldest son in the family. When I was young, my family even gave me up for adoption. But now, I am a minister of the Great Wei Dynasty and the Minister of the Secretariat. Are there any of those legitimate brothers who are stronger than me?"

"It's your own business that Ji Bi stood out. It's because your clan is not blessed." Sima Yi shook his head and retorted, "That's not what I meant. I still think it's better to establish him earlier than later."

Chen Jiao was getting a little impatient with Sima Yi's repetitive words: "Why is Zhongda so persistent? It doesn't matter if he is enthroned earlier or later. The Cao family won't have the eldest son die young in every generation!"

Seeing that Chen Jiao's words were a little inappropriate, Chen Ben, who was kneeling beside him and serving the meal, quickly scooped up some wine with a wooden spoon, stood up and added it to Chen Jiao's wine bottle, and whispered a reminder:

"My Lord, please stop speaking of the princes in this way."

Chen Jiao was already a little irritated, and after Chen Ben blocked him with his body and whispered his dissuasion, Chen Jiao became even more impatient:

"Speak up, speak up! I'm talking to Sikong, why are you butting in?" Chen Jiao glared at Chen Ben, "You're so long-winded. If I had known this would happen, I would have brought your brother Xiu Yuan with me!"

Chen Ben stepped back, not daring to say another word.

Sima Yi and Sima Shi, who were standing opposite, had seen the scene. Sima Shi lowered his head first. They were indeed father and son. After drinking, they looked the same.

Sima Yi sighed: "Since Ji Bi is so insistent, I will no longer advise the Crown Prince on matters, okay?"

Chen Jiao calmed down and nodded, saying, "It should be so. Let Your Majesty decide who to elect and who not to elect."

Sima Yi said again: "In that case, you and I should compete for the position of tutor to the third and fourth princes."

Chen Jiao asked, "What is Zhongda's plan?"

"What's the plan?" Sima Yi said with a wry smile, "It's just that you and I are both in the East Pavilion, so we should have communicated in advance. Dong Gong of the West Pavilion is the Grand Marshal, the head of the Three Dukes of Wei. He is old and virtuous. He should be the tutor of the eldest son of the emperor. The general is a senior official of the royal family. According to the order, he should be the tutor of the second son of the emperor. You and I are far inferior to Dong Gong and the general. It is very reasonable to put them behind them."

"It makes sense indeed." Chen Jiao didn't think too much about it and nodded, saying, "Then let's do as Zhongda said!"

"Hmm." Sima Yi raised the wine bottle: "Come on, drink another one!"

Chen Jiao nodded in agreement and accepted the drink.

Sima Yi put down the wine jar and said with a smile: "Ji Bi, when you were the governor of Qinzhou, you talked with me by candlelight at night and said that you wanted to return to the central government. A few years later, with my recommendation, Ji Bi finally entered the cabinet. Looking back from today, have Ji Bi's wishes been fulfilled?"

Chen Jiao smiled and said, "People are never satisfied. After getting a lot, they always want more. Now that I have entered the cabinet, I will think about whether I can become one of the three ministers again in my lifetime."

"Three Dukes?" Sima Yi smiled and patted his chest. "There is no precedent in the Wei Dynasty for dismissing the Three Dukes due to astronomical disasters. I am in good health now. I can drink, eat meat, ride a horse and bend a bow. I think I can live another ten years. If Ji Bi wants a position as a Three Duke, he will have to look for it somewhere else. He can't find it from me."

Chen Jiao smiled bitterly: "How can I not envy Zhongda's good health? Since last year, I have been tired all the time. I think it will take a few years. I came to Shouchun, which is more damp than the Central Plains. I don't think I can live for many years!" (End of this chapter)