Chapter 14 Who is Zhuge
Beigong, in front of the duty room of Shizhong Temple.
Cao Rui ordered Zhong Yu, who was holding the reins, "Call out General Zhennan to me."
Zhong Yu trotted into the duty room. After a moment, a middle-aged man with a resolute face and short beard came out.
Huang Quan bowed deeply to Cao Rui who was sitting on his horse and said: "I am sorry that I failed to welcome Your Majesty."
"No problem." Cao Rui looked at the General Zhennan from Shu Han and asked, "General, you have been in Luozhong for a long time. Can you still ride a horse?"
Huang Quan was slightly stunned, then said: "I can ride a horse, and I am willing to follow your majesty."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "General Huang, please follow me."
Huang Quan bowed and saluted: "I obey your order."
The duty room of Shizhong Temple was not far from the east gate of Beigong, and several people slowly walked towards the palace gate.
When they reached the palace gate, Cao Rui asked the captain guarding the gate to give two horses to Huang Quan and Zhong Yu. Cao Rui rode the white horse in front, while Huang Quan and Zhong Yu rode the brown horses behind Cao Rui, one on the left and one on the right. The three of them walked towards the camp of the Wuwei Camp.
Although Wei inherited the Han system, there was a huge difference between the imperial guards of Cao Wei and those of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Since it is the imperial guard, its main purpose must be to guard the emperor and the capital.
In Cao Wei, the Imperial Guard was also known as the Central Army, and was an elite army directly led by Cao Cao and Cao Pi.
The capital city of Luoyang can be divided into three layers from the inside to the outside, namely the palace, the palace city and the capital city, and these three layers are respectively under the charge of Guanglu Xun, Weiwei and Zhijinwu among the Nine Ministers.
Under the rule of Cao Cao and his son Cao Pi, as the Wei Dynasty replaced the Han Dynasty, the guard system of the Han Dynasty was completely replaced by the guard system in Cao Cao's palace.
The Wuwei Camp in Cao Cao's palace had two commanders, both of whom were extremely brave.
The first commander was Chenliu Dian Wei, a man of great stature and strength, skilled in the use of axe and halberd, and the strongest among Cao's troops.
Unfortunately, brave generals always die in battle. Dian Wei was wounded dozens of times in the battle of Wancheng to protect Cao Cao. His son Dian Man is now serving as a captain in the Wuwei Camp.
The second commander of the Wuwei Camp was named Xu Chu. Xu Chu was loyal and powerful, and he once forced Ma Chao of Xiliang to retreat in the Battle of Tongguan, so he was named "Tiger Marquis". Cao Cao also compared Xu Chu to his own Fan Kuai.
Although Xu Chu was not very smart, he was cautious, law-abiding and taciturn, making him a perfect fit as the commander of the guards.
When Cao Cao died, Xu Chu was so sad that he vomited blood. This was probably how loyal he was to Cao.
The camp of the Wuwei Camp was located in the northeast corner of Luoyang City, next to the Luoyang Arsenal and not far from the Eastern Palace where Cao Rui once lived.
From Beigong to Wuweiying, Cao Rui was very familiar with this route.
Cao Rui rode a white horse and walked slowly along the road in Luoyang City. Today, the Wuwei Battalion, which was guarding the imperial palace, was running on both sides of the road.
Cao Rui said to Huang Quan beside him: "General Huang's family is still in Shu Han?"
Huang Quan hurriedly rode forward, only a horse's head behind Cao Rui: "My family is still in Shu Han. After I surrendered to Wei, my family was not implicated."
Cao Rui continued, "How could Liu Bei be so lenient?"
Huang Quan was silent for a moment. "Although I had no choice but to surrender to the Wei, since I have surrendered, I must be loyal to the Wei. Liu Bei knew that I was helpless, so he did not punish me."
Cao Rui nodded. Liu Bei was indeed kind and generous. Compared with his grandfather Cao Cao and his father Cao Pi, they were more narrow-minded.
But these people are no longer in this world, so there is no point in comparison.
Huang Quan once commanded a large number of troops in Shu Han, and his understanding of Shu Han was one of the best among all the ministers of Wei State.
"What do you think of Zhuge Liang? I heard that Zhuge Liang abused his power in Shu, and Liu Chan, the ruler of Shu, could not issue orders outside the palace."
Huang Quan replied solemnly: "I once served in Shu Han and I am quite familiar with Zhuge Liang."
"I think that rather than saying that Zhuge Liang abused his power, it is better to say that Zhuge Liang was monopolizing power." Cao Rui asked curiously, "How should we interpret the general's abuse of power and monopolization of power?"
Huang Quan explained: "I know a little about Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang was favored by Liu Bei and was promoted from a humble background. It can be said that he had a great favor with Liu Bei."
"Liu Bei first appointed Zhuge Liang as his military advisor and then as his prime minister. Whenever Liu Bei went on a campaign, Zhuge Liang would stay behind to help Liu Bei organize logistics and prepare food and fodder. He was quite capable."
"Shu Han is a small country with few talents. I heard that in order to gather national strength, Zhuge Liang issued all the government orders from the Prime Minister's Office. Zhuge Liang himself worked hard day and night. It can be said that he was diligent."
"This is what I call absolute power."
"Zhuge Liang never showed favoritism when he was in power, but always considered the interests of the country."
"So I think Zhuge Liang was monopolizing power, not abusing it."
Hearing Huang Quan's high evaluation of Zhuge Liang, Cao Rui felt deeply moved.
The first feeling I had was the cohesion of the people of Shu Han.
Shu Han was a small country with few generals, but in order to rally people's hearts, it had to be powerful and strong in its use of external forces, and all its ministers and generals had to cooperate with each other.
Liu Bei understood Huang Quan and did not kill Huang Quan's family. Huang Quan also understood Liu Bei and knew that Liu Bei would not kill his family.
This kind of understanding between a ruler and his subjects is extremely rare.
The second feeling is about Zhuge Liang.
As a person from later generations, Cao Rui deeply understood the greatness of Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang, with only one state, launched several northern expeditions to carry out Liu Bei's will, devoting himself to the cause until his death.
Zhuge Liang's talent and personal charm crushed all the ministers of Cao Wei.
Cao Rui's subordinate was Sima Yi, who took advantage of the young age of the Cao Wei monarch to seize power from Cao Wei.
Liu Chan, a mediocre man, entrusted all state affairs to Zhuge Liang, who remained loyal and dedicated to his country.
Although Wei and Shu were rivals, think about it, who wouldn't want to have Zhuge Liang as their subordinate? Who would want to have Sima Yi as their subordinate?
It is really a pity that I was born in the same era as Zhuge Liang but could not make use of him.
Cao Rui glanced at Huang Quan beside him and continued.
"If I let General Huang continue to lead the troops to fight against Shu Han, will General Huang blame me?"
Huang Quan bowed and replied, "I am the emperor's servant, so I should share his worries. I am a minister of the Wei Dynasty, and I will not show any mercy to Shu Han."
This could be true or false, but Cao Rui didn't care.
Listen to what he says and watch what he does. Although the words may sound good, how to do it depends on the actual actions.
The three men rode their horses slowly forward, and the camp of Wuweiying was not far away.
Upon hearing that Emperor Cao Rui was coming to inspect, Xu Chu and other generals of the Wuwei Camp lined up outside the camp gate.
When Cao Rui was still some distance away from the camp gate, Xu Chu came up alone, knelt down and paid great respect to Cao Rui.
"Your Majesty, I, Xu Chu, greet you."
Xu Chu's voice was choked with sobs. Cao Rui quickly dismounted and held up Xu Chu's arms with both hands.
Cao Rui looked at Xu Chu's angular face and said to the general who had been loyal to the Cao family all his life: "Marquis Hu, Marquis Hu, following my grandfather and father, my safety is now in your hands."
(End of this chapter)
