Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Cao Rui had met Xu Xuan in his study in the morning. Less than three hours later, when Cao Rui was still practicing sword and halberd dancing with Guanqiu Jian, Cao Shuang and Jiang Wei in the small martial arts arena in Shouchun Palace, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Liu Fang hurried in from outside and brought Cao Rui a piece of news.

"Your Majesty," Liu Fang presented the petition in his right hand with both hands, "Your Majesty, this is the petition that the Minister of Rites Xu Baojian just sent to the palace."

Cao Rui looked up at Liu Fang for a few moments and said, "You said he was sent to the palace himself?"

"That's right." Liu Fang nodded and replied, "Many people have seen it, it can't be fake, he sent it himself."

"Why does he come to the palace to deliver a memorial instead of staying in the Secretariat?" Cao Rui said casually, then took the document, opened it and looked at it for a few moments, his expression suddenly becoming gloomy.

"Your Majesty..." Liu Fang saw that something was wrong and asked carefully.

Cao Rui shook his head slightly: "It's none of your business. Go back first."

"As you wish." The Secretary of State had long been publicly ordered not to participate in government affairs, so Liu Fang responded decisively and turned away.

After Liu Fang left, Guanqiu Jian, Cao Shuang, and Jiang Wei, who had been practicing with Cao Rui, also looked over. Cao Rui waved the document in his hand towards them and said calmly:
"That's it for today. Although there are some unfinished business, we can continue the practice tomorrow. I have something important to do."

"As you wish." The three of them responded.

Not long after, in the study.

Cao Rui leaned back in the recliner, and the four attendants sat on the chairs. After Pei Qian slowly read Xu Xuan's memorial, Cao Rui spoke:
"Last night, Chen Jiao came to report this to me. He met Xu Xuan this morning, and he submitted a memorial to me this afternoon."

"I have just told you what he said to me this morning. Minister Pei has also read the memorial in the afternoon. In just half a day, three hours, he changed his mind and impeached Chen Jiao, saying that he was not considerate of me and threatened me with merits and favors in order to pursue his own selfish interests."

"I am a little puzzled. Isn't Chen Jiao usually very good? Why is he so bad now?"

Since it concerns cabinet ministers and chancellors, Cao Rui could just say it lightly, but it would be difficult for the attendants to express their opinions suddenly.

After a moment of silence in the study, Wang Su, who was very good at playing with etiquette, stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, I think this matter can be big or small, it all depends on how Your Majesty and the court view it. But allow me to say one thing from the perspective of etiquette. No matter why Xu Xuan wrote this memorial, he is the Minister of Rites and will not make mistakes on such etiquette issues."

"Oh?" Cao Rui raised his eyes and looked at Wang Su: "In this case, Xu Xuan impeached his superior Chen Jiao just for such a title issue, which is not wrong?"

"Indeed, it is correct." Wang Su added, "In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with what Minister Xu said. It is impossible for Chen Pushe to be unaware that this matter is against the etiquette, so he came to Your Majesty to plead for mercy, and it is indeed, as Minister Xu said, to embarrass Your Majesty."

Cao Rui nodded: "I understand what Wang Qing means."

"On the one hand, I am a king, and I should be considerate and gracious to my ministers. I cannot refuse their earnest requests. On the other hand, I am an emperor, and I should be ruthless. This is where the problem comes from."

Wang Su nodded: "Your Majesty is right, but if we want to discuss this matter in detail, we can look at it from another angle."

"Chen Jibi is a cabinet minister and also the Shangshu Pushe in charge of the three departments of the Shangshutai. Xu Baojian is his subordinate. It is unreasonable for a subordinate to impeach his superior, for a Shangshu to impeach the Shangshu Pushe, and for a cabinet minister to impeach. However, I think that Your Majesty should not suppress Xu Baojian from the perspective of state affairs, but should acquiesce to this matter!"

"This is the first time that a minister has impeached the cabinet since your majesty established it. If this is not allowed, all officials in the world will be subordinates of the cabinet ministers. Can the cabinet ministers not be impeached? It is not good for the national system. If the cabinet ministers cannot be impeached, they will become powerful ministers. I think this is not your majesty's original intention in establishing the cabinet!"

Cao Rui listened quietly to what Wang Su said, and then fell silent.

Things are slowly starting to get complicated.

Especially on Xu Xuan.

In this way, Chen Jiao really did something wrong in what Cao Rui thought was a minor matter. Xu Xuan's behavior also seemed inappropriate, but he became someone who should be encouraged!

Cao Rui took a deep breath and said, "My Lord, what should I do about this?" Wang Su asked again, "I only have one question for your Majesty."

"Tell me!" Cao Rui nodded.

Wang Su cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, do the ministers in the current cabinet have the same ideas as when Your Majesty first established the cabinet?"

Cao Rui was once again silenced by Wang Su, a great scholar of the time who was well versed in institutions and classics.

When the cabinet was first established, according to Cao Rui's idea, the cabinet only served as the emperor's secretary, assisting in handling state affairs, and specific government affairs were managed by their respective institutions.

In other words, the Right and Left Privy Councilors stayed in the Privy Council, and the Right and Left Shangshu Pushe stayed in the Shangshu Tai, instead of actually being in charge of government affairs as it is now, rather than being the emperor's assistants.

Cao Rui couldn't help but sigh: "When the court is hiring people and handling affairs, such disputes have to arise."

Pei Qian responded, "It is the time to employ people, so there is a dispute over employing people, hence this dispute!"

Lu Yu also spoke up and said, "Your Majesty, it is better to be quiet than to act. I think we should leave this memorial in the palace and wait and see how things develop."

"Okay." Cao Rui nodded.

The imperial court would never be as calm as a lake. If the imperial court was peaceful, it would mean that this potential energy was temporarily accumulated, waiting for an opportunity to explode.

Cao Rui gradually came to terms with the matter.

After Emperor Gaozu of Han established the Han Dynasty, the inner court, the outer court, and the princes were in chaos. In the original world line, which dynasty did not have internal strife after its establishment?

The Wei Dynasty was established more than ten years ago, and the political situation seemed to be calm and peaceful. This was only because the first emperor, Cao Pi, reorganized the court with his own stable team. In addition, Cao Pi died early, so the court was reorganized again. During the Taihe period, repeated foreign wars covered up internal conflicts, which suppressed the court disputes until today.

Shouchun in October is unusual.

After the Minister of Rites Xu Xuan submitted a memorial to impeach the cabinet minister and Shangshu Pushe Chen Jiao, Chen Jiao learned of this and immediately pointed out that this was Xu Xuan's personal revenge for an old grudge many years ago and that he was an internal traitor who was trying to sabotage the court's campaign against Wu.

After the two of them submitted petitions for several days, Chen Jiao, in a rage, came to the Shangshutai and pointed at Xu Xuan's nose and scolded him, saying that Xu Xuan was a spy from the State of Wu. Xu Xuan did not tolerate Chen Jiao at all, saying that he was disturbing the group, had no moral integrity, was unworthy of being a cabinet minister, and should resign on his own to avoid polluting the atmosphere of the Wei Dynasty.

A wonderful scene took place.

Chen Jiao and Xu Xuan, two fellow townsmen and people with grudges for many years, fought openly in the Shangshutai before being pulled apart. Chen Jiao was extremely ruthless, and Xu Xuan's left eye socket was bruised. Chen Jiao was also pushed to the ground by Xu Xuan and kicked in the neck.

More than thirty years of grudges were released at this moment like a volcanic eruption.

Cao Rui gave each of them fifty lashes of the cane and ordered Pei Qian and Xu Shu to split up into two groups and go to the Cabinet and the Secretariat to reprimand Chen Jiao and Xu Xuan for being unbecoming of a minister, but he did not comment on the core contradiction they discussed.

Then the storm arose.

In the Secretariat, except for the Minister of Personnel Huang Quan and the Minister of Civil Affairs Li Yan, the other three, Sima Zhi of Works, Wang Ji of War, and Xu Miao of Justice, all submitted petitions to support their colleague Xu Xuan.

It was privately rumored that the three men shared the same hatred for Xu Xuan. After all, no one wanted to be beaten black and blue by their cabinet superiors.

A storm is about to come. (End of this chapter)