Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chen Jiao understood that the emperor was using his love for Chen Ben as an excuse to forcefully end the topic.

If the emperor said this, no one would bring up this matter as inappropriate in the future, otherwise it would be a denial of your majesty's holy will.

Cao Rui saw Chen Jiao agreed, and then looked around at the other ministers. Seeing that no one had anything to say, he continued:

"Mr. Chen, it is not appropriate for you to sit in the position of Shangshu Pushe anymore. I will move you. After the death of Han Ji, the Chief Censor, at the beginning of last year, the court has not filled the vacancy of the Chief Censor."

"The emperor is now in Shouchun, and I, the Shangshutai, the Privy Council and other officials are all here. If there is no censor to supervise, it will not be a good thing for the country."

"Chen Qing, go and be the Chief Censor." Cao Rui said calmly, "I will send another edict to Luoyang, ordering the Censorate to move to Shouchun. Now is the winter of the seventh year of Taihe, and until the ninth year of Taihe, before the attack on Wu, I do not plan to move the imperial court, so I will stay in Shouchun, so that the Censorate can supervise the officials."

"I thank your majesty for your great grace!" Chen Jiao walked to the center of the study and kowtowed: "Your majesty's grace is as vast as the sea. This is the true meaning of 'learning from past mistakes and preventing future ones, curing illnesses and saving lives'. I am willing to change my ways!"

Sima Yi felt angry again.

The phrase 'to learn from past mistakes and prevent future ones, to cure the disease and save the patient' was clearly what he had just used to evade Chen Jiao. Now that Chen Jiao was thanking His Majesty, wouldn't he be ashamed?

Never mind. Today’s matter is not just one thing. Don’t worry if you have too many debts. Just bear with it.

"Stand up." Cao Rui raised his right hand and waited for Chen Jiao to stand up. Cao Rui said, "Although this is the case, this incident was caused by Chen Qing. I will issue an imperial edict to reprimand you and report this matter to all officials in the court."

Chen Jiao bowed and saluted: "I know shame and then I become brave. Your Majesty, please wait and see what I will do next!"

Cao Rui nodded and looked at Sima Yi again: "Sikong, it is not easy for you and I to get along well. I will not ask about the things Chen Qing said. Today, I will dismiss you from the post of Recorder of the Secretariat, and you will still be Sikong and Shangshu You Pushe. Are you willing?"

Although Sima Yi wanted to act as if he had done nothing and could withstand investigation, he was still possessed by some mysterious force and did not dare to speak out before he opened his mouth. Instead, he stood up and bowed instinctively:
"I will never say anything else. No matter where I am, as long as I can serve Your Majesty and the Great Wei, I will have no complaints!"

Cao Rui chuckled and even joked: "Sikong, if I want you to be a gatekeeper at Shouchun City, would you still be willing to work for me? Tell me something real."

Sima Yi nodded heavily.

Cao Rui looked around at everyone and said slowly, "What happened today was beyond my expectation. I'm sure you all hadn't thought of it before you came to discuss this matter."

"But what Lord Dong said just now is absolutely right. The Great Wei is not a Great Wei of a few ministers. The affairs of the court and the world are handled by the Secretariat, the Privy Council, the prefectures and counties, the military commanders at all levels, and countless petty officials. When the enemy comes, the generals will stop him; when the water comes, the earth will cover it. Today, I will reassign the duties based on this matter."

"The cabinet is a good thing. Although you are not in the cabinet, I cannot handle the affairs of state alone. I still need someone to assist me. The functions of the cabinet overlap with those of the ministers. When I have not selected a new cabinet, the four ministers will temporarily serve as cabinet ministers."

"Pei Qian, Xu Shu, Wang Su, Lu Yu!"

"I'm here!" The four attendants forced themselves to suppress the complex emotions in their hearts, stood up from their seats, and bowed to Cao Rui.

"I will give you three days. The Grand Marshal, the General, the Minister of Works, and the Minister of Justice will teach you how to perform your duties as a cabinet minister. However, you are not required to make decisions. You only need to compile suggestions for me."

"Your Highness obeys your order!" The eight people responded in unison. "Take your seats." Cao Rui coughed again, "Regarding the Secretariat, Sikong will be the Right Minister of the Secretariat, and I will appoint Huang Quan, the Minister of Personnel, as the Left Minister of the Secretariat, and Xin Pi as the Minister of the Secretariat, to serve in Jingzhou."

"Do you have any opinions, sirs?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" The ministers expressed their support in unison again.

Cao Rui added: "Now that we are mobilizing troops, the position of the chief official of the Privy Council seems to be insufficient."

"Mr. Dong."

"I'm here." Dong Zhao responded.

Cao Rui said, "Previously, the Right Supervisor and the Left Supervisor were not as good as the Right and Left Ministers. Today, I will promote the rank of the head of the Privy Council and make Lord Dong the Privy Envoy, responsible for all matters of the Privy Council. I will change the Right Supervisor Liu Ye to the Deputy Envoy, serving as Lord Dong's deputy, and jointly presiding over the Privy Council with Lord Dong."

Dong Zhao replied with a smile: "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, the general and I have been doing this kind of work before. Now that I have been appointed as the privy councilor, it is just the right position for me."

"It's rare for us to discuss matters here today, and to discuss various positions so openly. I will also make some other changes today."

"Minister Pei." Cao Rui pointed at Pei Qian and said, "Draft an edict for me."

"Yes." Pei Qian stood up in response, walked to the desk in the corner of the study room with familiarity, dipped the brush in ink and picked up the writing brush.

Cao Rui said: "Remove the title of General of Cavalry from Minister Chen Qun, and appoint him as the Chief Military Judge. He will be responsible for the military law and discipline of the entire process of preparing for the battle against Wu Yong. All of this will be handled by Minister Chen!"

"I understand. I have written it all down." Pei Qian responded with his pen moving quickly.

"Okay, that's it. I won't ask you any more questions." Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen again and said, "Since the general has left the cabinet, I have an important matter to entrust to you. This is my life and property!"

"Your Majesty, please tell me. I will do my best to complete it!" Cao Zhen stood up and bowed in response.

Cao Rui said, "Starting from next month, the 250,000 troops that I have agreed with you will begin to assemble and train one after another. I intend to let the general supervise the various armies for me, including the army's organization, training, armaments, military discipline, etc., all of which must be carefully inspected. This matter is the most serious, and the victory or defeat of the attack on Wu depends on this matter. Apart from the general, I really don't know who else can do this for me!"

Cao Zhen cupped his hands in response: "Your Majesty, rest assured!"

"To be honest, Your Majesty used me in the cabinet before, and I had to go through documents every day. Although I can do it, it is really painful. I have long wanted to go to the army. After all, I have never been away from the army for so long in all these years."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "In that case, the general will go and take a good look at the navy for me next month. The 50,000 navy was formed in a hurry, and the organization and training are not good. Although there is Lu Boyan, he is new to Shouchun after all. I am afraid that he will not be able to make a breakthrough for a while. The general is mature and prudent, and is a senior general of the clan. Please go and help Lu Boyan!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I'll leave this to you!" Cao Zhen patted his chest. (End of this chapter)