Chapter 166: Kissing each other
North Palace, inside the West Pavilion.
General Cao Zhen carried a pile of documents to Dong Zhao's desk and clapped his hands after putting them down.
"Mr. Dong, I took a quick look at these matters and there is nothing particularly important."
Cao Zhen smiled and said, "Master Dong, just watch over it. If you have any special concerns, please tell me."
Dong Zhao was old and had some vision problems.
He raised his head from the document he was reading, glanced at Cao Zhen, shook his head and said, "These are things the general should do personally. I should review them."
Cao Zhen put his hands on his waist and said with a smile: "Mr. Dong and I have known each other for thirty years. It's okay, it's okay."
Dong Zhao shook his head slightly, then lowered his head and went back to work.
Cao Zhen also knew that these documents should be reviewed personally.
But before in the General's Mansion, these things were done by the Chief Secretary.
Cao Zhen was already accustomed to taking a general look first, picking out the most important ones to review personally, and throwing the rest to the chief secretary.
Old habits die hard.
But Dong Zhao was happy with it.
Power is an aphrodisiac and a stimulant that can rejuvenate people.
From being an idle guard among the nine ministers, he jumped into the Western Pavilion to assist in the military affairs of the country. In recent days, Dong Zhao has always had a sense of satisfaction that he made the right bet.
Zhong Yu knocked on the door outside and then walked straight in.
Zhong Yu bowed and said, "General, Weiwei, His Majesty invites you two to the study."
Cao Zhen nodded: "Wait a moment, we will be there soon."
"Mr. Dong, Mr. Dong?" Cao Zhen turned and looked at Dong Zhao.
Seeing that Dong Zhao was still trembling as he put down the brush, Cao Zhen walked directly to Dong Zhao and helped him up.
Dong Zhao was not that old. However, Dong Zhao was willing to let others think he was that old, except for the emperor of course.
He is over seventy years old, but he pretends to be old perfectly.
The two of them walked out slowly. At this time, Zhong Yu had already run to the other side to call Sima Yi and Wei Zhen.
After the four people gathered at the door of the study, Zhong Yu entered the study first, and then the four followed.
Sima Zhi knelt on the ground, and his face could not be seen for a moment.
"Sit down, everyone." Cao Rui waved his hand casually.
In the past few days, the four ministers from the West Pavilion and the East Pavilion have been either in their own duty rooms or in His Majesty's study.
The four of them sat down as if they were familiar with the place.
Cao Zhen didn't care who was kneeling on the ground, but Sima Yi, Wei Zhen and Dong Zhao all looked more or less surprised for a moment.
"Stand up, Sima Zihua." Cao Rui said lightly.
"Thank you." Sima Zhi stood up slowly.
When Sima Yi saw his family brother first kneeling on the ground and then standing up, his heart was filled with waves.
Is His Majesty angry? To be honest, Sima Yi has been with His Majesty for such a long time, and he has only seen His Majesty get angry a few times.
Could it be that Your Majesty dislikes Sima Zhi?
Cao Rui pointed at Sima Zhi and said, "My lords, do you all know Sima Zihua?"
Sima Yi wanted to find out the truth, but Wei Zhen spoke before Sima Yi could.
"Your Majesty, I am the lieutenant of Sili, and Sima Zihua is under my direct responsibility." Wei Zhen bowed: "Why is Sima Zihua here?"
Cao Rui said calmly: "Sima Zihua reported something to me this afternoon, and even claimed that he was guilty in front of me."
"As to whether Sima Zihua is guilty or not, I want to hear your opinions."
"My Henan Yin," Cao Rui raised his chin towards Sima Zhi, "tell all the ministers the whole story."
"As you wish." Sima Zhi's face showed a hint of fear.
Shouldn't Your Majesty reward me for this kind of thing? How can you accuse me of a crime when I am just being polite?
Sima Zhi resisted the urge to look at the ministers, and slowly narrated what had happened today without looking away.
Unexpectedly, Cao Zhen was the first to speak.
"Your Majesty," Cao Zhen said, "This is because Cao Hong's family members violated the law, not Cao Hong. Please forgive Cao Hong."
"General, do you think I want to punish General Wei?" Cao Rui snorted, "If we really want to punish Cao Hong, it's not because of the obscene sacrifice. Let's not talk about Cao Hong for now, let's talk about Sima Zhi first."
If it wasn't the matter of obscene sacrifice, what else could it be? Cao Zhen was a little confused.
Could it be that Cao Hong was communicating with the Empress Dowager in the palace?
Cao Zhen suddenly remembered that at the beginning of last year, about a year ago, the late Emperor Cao Pi was furious and wanted to put Cao Hong in prison.
When the late emperor gave the order, Cao Zhen was right next to him.
Last time... it seemed that it was the Empress Dowager who saved Cao Hong. Could it be that Your Majesty is afraid of this?
After Cao Zhen finished speaking, the other three hesitated for a few moments and did not speak.
Wei Zhen was thinking that since the general had already spoken first, it would be inappropriate for him to speak before the Minister of Works. Sima Yi and Dong Zhao, one middle-aged and the other old, had similar concerns.
Sima Yi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Sima Zihua is my cousin. I should not comment on his merits and demerits. Please avoid suspicion."
"I have roughly guessed it." Cao Rui nodded: "Since the Yin of Henan also has the surname Sima, maybe he is related to Sikong."
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Dong Zhao beside him spoke unexpectedly.
Dong Zhao said: "Your Majesty, Sima Zihua is my nephew's son-in-law, so I would like to avoid suspicion."
Cao Rui raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "How are Lord Dong and Sima Zhi related? Nephew-in-law?"
"That's right." Dong Zhao bowed and said, "The daughter of my younger brother Dong Fang is Sima Zihua's legal wife."
Cao Rui was somewhat helpless, and knocked on the table with his knuckles: "Don't avoid suspicion, I won't avoid suspicion today! One by one, Sikong comes first!"
Among the four ministers present, two were relatives of Sima Zhi, and the remaining one was Sima Zhi's superior.
If everyone is trying to avoid suspicion, how can we still talk properly?
"As you wish." Sima Yi said with a bow.
It was Sima Yi who made a fuss about this matter after he ordered Sima Zhi yesterday to arrest Cao Hong's wet nurse today.
Sima Yi correctly calculated that Cao Hong's wet nurse would be imprisoned, and that Cao Hong would seek help from the Empress Dowager, and even hinted to Sima Zhi to execute the two directly in the Luoyang County prison.
But the only thing Sima Yi did not calculate correctly was the emperor's attitude.
Cao Hong's family was involved in obscene sacrifices. In order to prevent the Empress Dowager from asking the eunuchs to interfere, the criminals were directly executed. Isn't this worthy of the emperor's praise?
Sima Yi was wrong, but not entirely wrong.
This style of scholars, which has been passed down since the time of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, would be praised as "capable ministers" regardless of whether Emperor Wu Cao Cao or Emperor Wen Cao Pi were in power.
Who knew that the emperor just didn't like this style of scholars?
With Sima Yi's political acumen, he had already keenly detected the emperor's subtle inclination from his words just now.
There are two points worth discussing in today's case of obscene worship of the 'Wujian God':
First, General Cao Hong violated the edict of the previous emperor and secretly wrote to the Empress Dowager in an attempt to shield the criminals and exonerate them.
Second, the Empress Dowager ordered the eunuchs to go directly to the government to ask them to release the prisoners.
Third, Henan Yin Sima Zhi did not meet with the eunuch and did not report to the court the private killing of the criminal.
Sima Yi noticed that when Cao Zhen spoke to defend Cao Hong just now, the emperor said that Cao Hong's matter would be discussed later and Sima Zhi would be discussed first.
The emperor was lenient towards military generals. Cao Hong was a clan relative and had made great contributions in Wancheng two months ago. It could be said that he was going to lift him up high and then let him go easily.
When the emperor just told himself and Dong Zhao not to avoid suspicion, his original words were "You are not allowed to avoid suspicion. Today I will not avoid suspicion either!"
It only took me two brief moments to think like this.
Sima Yi bowed and said, "Si Ma Zihua has not seen Huangmen, so his actions are right and wrong. He executed the two suspects of adultery in prison and acted at his own convenience as a prefect. In fact, there is nothing wrong with that."
"Sima Zihua's fault was that he failed to promptly report the Empress Dowager's order for the eunuchs to go to the government office, which caused Your Majesty to worry about this matter."
Cao Rui glanced at Sima Yi and said, "I understand what Sikong meant."
"Mr. Dong, please speak!" Cao Rui pointed in the direction of Dong Zhao.
Dong Zhao replied bluntly: "I think Sima Zhi did nothing wrong."
Cao Rui nodded gently: "What's the reason?"
Dong Zhao said slowly: "Arresting those suspected of engaging in obscene worship is the job of the Henan Yin. Although the two were executed in prison, they are just two suspects after all, so there is no need to pay too much attention to them."
"Not only is there nothing wrong with this, but Sima Zhi also dared not to meet with Huangmen. This should be commended."
What Sima Zhi called "sin" was actually just a matter of whether it existed or not.
Like Dong Zhao, he directly stated that he believed Sima Zhi was innocent and that the suspect could be killed. This statement was actually more upright.
Just like Cao Zhen defended Cao Hong, would the emperor blame Cao Zhen? If Cao Zhen did not defend Cao Hong at all, Cao Rui would think Cao Zhen was heartless.
In front of the emperor, why would you kill your relatives for such a small matter? It's not a serious matter of treason. It's the right thing to do to protect your relatives.
Dong Zhao did not bring up the topic of the Empress Dowager, but Sima Yi turned the topic to the palace.
Once compared, the gap between the two becomes apparent.
"Master Dong believes Sima Zhi is innocent, right?" Cao Rui turned his gaze from Dong Zhao to Wei Zhen: "What does Master Wei say?"
Wei Zhen said: "I believe that the law is the law. Sima Zhi's order to execute the suspect in prison without reporting it was already inappropriate."
Cao Rui nodded and then asked, "Sima Zihua, when did you become the governor of Henan? What position did you hold before that?"
Sima Zhi replied respectfully: "I was transferred to Henan in the second year of Huangchu. Before that, I was the Minister of Justice and the Governor of Yangping."
"Tingwei Zheng..." Cao Rui looked at Sima Zhi: "How long have you been in the Tingwei Office?"
"Your Majesty," Sima Zhi said respectfully, "I have served under the Minister of Justice Gao for one year."
"Fortunately, you became the governor of Henan early, otherwise you would have been imprisoned in the Bao Xun case." Cao Rui said slowly: "If the court judge encountered this situation, how would he deal with it?"
Before Sima Zhi became the governor of Henan, he did serve under the Chief Justice Gao Rou.
And what the emperor had just said about the case of Bao Xun made Sima Zhi extremely terrified.
(End of this chapter)
