Chapter 164 Internal and External Communication
The so-called important capital area during the Wei Dynasty actually referred to the four counties and one Yin, namely Hedong, Pingyang, Henei, Hongnong, and Henan Yin.
Luoyang County, County Prison.
The old guard opened the door of the county prison, and two strong jailers escorted a fat old woman and pushed her into the gate.
A damp wind mixed with various unknown smells blew towards her, and the fat old woman in her seventies couldn't help but shiver.
A trace of fear appeared on her fat face, but in the blink of an eye it turned into an expression of disgust. The old woman used her elbows to push away the jailers who were holding her arms.
"Why are you pushing? Why are you pushing? I can walk by myself. I'm afraid your county magistrate will ask me to come out in a few days." said the fat old woman.
The two jailers looked at each other, with a hint of helplessness on their faces.
"Well, Chen, we won't detain you. Your cell is inside, next to Du's." said the older jailer on the left.
"Hmph," the old woman Chen walked inside, "Just wait, I'm General Wei's wet nurse. I'm afraid you don't know that General Wei just came back from a victorious battle in the south."
The old jailer said, "We are just following orders. It is not our place to ask about the affairs of the prefectural and county lords. Please come in."
The three of them gradually walked in and stopped at the door of a slightly brighter cell.
The young jailer on the right opened the cell door and said impatiently, "Please come in, Chen. We put you and Du in the same cell."
Inside the cell, there was only some hay in two corners on the cold floor. Du, who had been escorted in a few hours earlier, was curled up on a piece of hay, as if she had fallen asleep.
Mrs. Du was awakened by the sound of the door opening. She looked up and saw that Mrs. Chen was also being escorted in. She showed some joy.
The old woman, Mrs. Chen, continued to talk non-stop, with wrinkles on her face twitching: "Why is it so simple? Bring me a bed and bedding!"
Before Chen could turn around, the young jailer pushed her on the back and she staggered into the cell.
The young jailer muttered, "Don't you know where you are? Why are you showing off here?"
After saying that, the two turned and left.
At the same time, in General Wei’s mansion, General Wei Cao Hong, who was in his sixties, was paced around in a panic.
"How was the wet nurse captured by the Luoyang magistrate?" Cao Hong anxiously asked the housekeeper standing nearby.
The housekeeper hesitated and said, "Early this morning, Madam Chen went to the East Market to buy offerings for the gods. Perhaps the store owner or someone else reported it to the police, and that's why Madam Chen was arrested and thrown into prison."
"It's all the fault of Princess Linfen's family!" Cao Hong said hatefully.
The butler said, "General, would you like to ask His Majesty for mercy?"
"Tell me, I have just been reinstated for less than half a year, do you still want me to lose my job?" Cao Hong said to himself, "What a bullshit Wujian God, how can I let His Majesty know about this obscene worship?"
"If His Majesty knew, the nurse would die even faster!" Cao Hong said as he knelt down behind the table. "No, I have to write a letter to the Empress Dowager and send it to the palace later."
Cao Hong looked at the housekeeper and said, "Why didn't you report this to me earlier? You can go and deliver it yourself later!"
The butler nodded in agreement and didn't dare to say another word.
That afternoon, inside the government office of the Henan Yin.
Ji Xuan, the magistrate of Luoyang, was standing with his hands behind his back in front of Sima Zhi, the governor of Henan.
The post of Henan Yin was almost equivalent to the mayor of the capital city in later generations, while Luoyang Ling was roughly comparable to the district chief of the core area of the capital city.
Ji Xuan said, "Your Excellency, Empress Dowager Bian just sent Huangmen Wu Da to deliver a letter to me. This matter involves the royal family, and I dare not make a decision, so I took Wu Da to wait outside the door."
Sima Zhi raised his head and glanced at Ji Xuan. The Empress Dowager ordered you not to carry it, so you threw it to me?
Sima Zhi also has the surname Sima. Like the current Prime Minister Sima Yi, he is from Wen County in Henei. He is a close cousin of Sima Yi, but not even within the fifth degree of mourning.
Sima Zhi asked calmly, "This eunuch is called Wu Da? What does this person say?"
Ji Xuan lowered his head and said, "Of course I hope that Cao Hong's wet nurse will be released from the county prison..."
Sima Zhi knocked on the table and said, "Go back and persuade Wu Da to go back with you. I have never seen this person, and I have never heard his words."
Ji Xuan hesitated and said, "Your Excellency, but what about the Empress Dowager..."
Sima Zhi sneered: "So what? You are quite thoughtful. Do you want to go to jail too?"
Ji Xuan had a trace of cold sweat on his forehead: "I will let Wu Da go back to the palace first, and then tell him..."
"Just say what?" Sima Zhi looked at Ji Xuan.
"Just say that the Lord of the Mansion is not in the mansion now, so it is normal that Wu Da cannot see him." Ji Xuan said carefully.
"Go, you don't have to worry about this matter anymore. I will give an explanation to the palace." Sima Zhi said lightly.
"As for Chen and Du, just execute them in prison. I will explain this to Your Majesty."
Ji Xuan walked out as if he had been pardoned. Wei inherited the Han system, and the chief official of a county with a population of more than 10,000 was called a county magistrate. The chief official of a county with a population of less than 10,000 was called a county head.
Ji Xuan was not incompetent in the general sense. It was just that when it came to such important figures as the Empress Dowager and the General of the Guards, he, an official with a salary of 600 dan, was really powerless.
Sima Zhi looked at Ji Xuan's departing back, thought of what his cousin Sima Yi had said to him yesterday, and then picked up his pen and began to write a letter to the emperor.
Beigong, in the study.
Cao Rui had just finished his afternoon archery training and came to the study room after a short rest. Before he entered the room, he saw the Secretary of State Sun Zi waiting beside him.
"What's the matter?" Cao Rui asked casually.
Sun Zi presented a memorial with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the memorial sent to the palace by Sima Zhi, the governor of Henan Province, this afternoon. Please take a look at it."
"It was delivered to the palace this afternoon. Why are you giving it to me now?" Cao Rui glanced at Sun Zi and said, "Secretary Sun, what's the urgent matter?"
Sun Zi whispered, "It has something to do with the Empress Dowager and General Wei."
Cao Rui grabbed Sima Zhi's memorial and after taking a quick look at it, he threw it into Sun Zi's arms.
"What the hell is this?" Cao Rui frowned and said, "What the hell is Wujian God? How could Cao Hong's wet nurse and Princess Linfen's eunuch offer such obscene sacrifices?"
Cao Rui walked into the study, and Sun Zi followed behind him in quick steps.
"Your Majesty, I also asked about this temporarily. This Wujian God is probably some kind of Buddhist god from the Western Regions. I don't know how he appeared." Sun Zi replied.
"This Wujian God is not a big deal. I just want to ask, why can the Empress Dowager send the eunuch directly to find the Luoyang Order?" Cao Rui frowned.
"I remember that before I left Luoyang, Empress Dowager Bian and Empress Dowager Guo, my two elders, did not send eunuchs directly to the government offices, right?"
Sun Zi replied, "Your Majesty, indeed not."
Seeing Sun Zi's straightforward words, Cao Rui was a little suspicious, and then asked: "Was there any before that? Was there any during the Huangchu period?"
Sun Zi thought for a moment and said, "It used to exist, but it's gone now."
"Tell me in detail!" Cao Rui waved his sleeves and leaned back on the recliner.
"As ordered." Sun Zi said, "This kind of thing never happened during the reign of Emperor Wu."
During the reign of Emperor Wu? Cao Rui laughed in his heart. Emperor Wu was not Emperor Wu during the reign of Emperor Wu, so how could there be a harem?
Sun Zi continued, "It was around the third year of Huangchu when the late emperor led his army to attack the State of Wu for the first time."
"When the late emperor was away, Empress Dowager Bian wrote several letters to King Wei of Rencheng and King Yongqiu. When the late emperor learned about it, he was furious, so he issued an imperial edict to prohibit the harem from interfering in government affairs."
"Is it still related to Prince Yongqiu?" Cao Rui frowned. "I remember that the late emperor issued two edicts regarding the harem, right? It seems that one of them prohibited eunuchs from interfering in government affairs?"
"That's right." Sun Zi nodded. "In the first year of Yankang, when the late emperor had just ascended the throne as King of Wei and had not yet proclaimed himself emperor, he issued an edict stating that 'eunuchs who serve as officials are not allowed to be officials of various departments.' This edict has been engraved on the stone chamber in the palace."
"The edict prohibiting the harem from interfering in government affairs was issued in the third year of Huangchu, after the late emperor returned to Luoyang." Sun Zi explained in detail: "The late emperor said in the edict, 'Husband and wife interfering in government affairs is the root of chaos', and the ministers were not allowed to report to the empress dowager, and the empress's family was not allowed to assist in government affairs or be granted titles."
Cao Rui squinted his eyes and thought for a moment on the recliner.
Seeing that the emperor did not speak, Sun Zi continued to remind him, "Your Majesty, this matter is also related to Chen Huqi."
Cao Rui glanced at Sun Zi. Although Sun Zi sometimes mixed private opinions in his words, just like the last time Xin Pi pointed out the matter of Jia Kui.
However, Sun Zi had many years of experience in the palace, so if one wanted to get to the bottom of something, one could not do without him.
"Is this matter related to Chen Qun?" Cao Rui asked.
"I remember that the late emperor wanted to posthumously confer titles on Empress Dowager Bian's parents." Sun Zi explained, "But Chen Qun reported to the late emperor at the time, saying that the Zhou Dynasty had never had a system of posthumously conferring titles on relatives of the harem, and that the Qin and Han dynasties violated the Zhou Dynasty system, which led to the disaster of chaos in the harem."
"Is this possible?" Cao Rui raised his eyebrows and sighed, "What a good talk! He has cited the example of the Zhou Dynasty. Shouldn't these county marquises and township marquises be granted fiefs and titles?"
Sun Zi himself was a marquis, so he tactfully avoided saying anything.
Cao Rui shook his head: "It seems that the Empress Dowager is not so quiet in the harem."
"How is Empress Dowager Guo?" Cao Rui asked.
"Empress Dowager Guo did not cause any such trouble." Sun Zi said carefully.
Cao Rui nodded. Empress Dowager Guo was originally his stepmother, and it was good enough that Cao Rui did not cause trouble for her. Now Empress Dowager Guo was keeping to herself in the harem, and she must be quite tactful.
Cao Rui took a deep breath and said, "I do have a question. By doing this and reporting such a small matter to the Empress Dowager, isn't this a violation of the previous emperor's decree?"
Sun Zi thought for a moment and replied in a low voice: "That's right."
"Where is the eunuch that the Empress Dowager sent to find the Luoyang magistrate?" Cao Rui frowned, "Order him to be beaten to death."
(End of this chapter)
