"Rui'er, would you please let these women come before you one by one and recognize themselves?" Queen Mother Guo asked tentatively.
"It's all up to my mother to arrange." After Cao Rui nodded, he saw two chairs placed on the left and right in front of him, so he took the initiative to sit forward.
Seeing this, Empress Dowager Guo also took the initiative to sit on the chair to the left of Cao Rui and waved her hand gently. Sun Luban, led by the female official, slowly walked towards the two of them.
Cao Rui turned sideways and asked, "Mother, who are these five people on the right?"
Empress Dowager Guo smiled and said, "These five people come from military families."
It seems that Empress Dowager Guo counted Dahu among the five people from the military generals' family. It is not wrong. His father Sun Quan did get the title of "General" of Wei Dynasty, but he is a rebel now.
"Da Hu greets Your Majesty and the Queen Mother." Sun Luban placed her right hand on top of her left hand, palms facing each other, and arched them in front of her chest, then bowed.
Although "Da Hu" is Sun Luban's name, it has been used as a nickname.
Empress Dowager Guo nodded and said with a serious face: "Sun Jieyu, although you have been in the palace for several months, your visit to His Majesty today is also a courtesy to the royal family."
"Rui'er, his rank should be announced in public."
Cao Rui sat opposite and stared into Da Hu's eyes, suppressing his smile and saying, "Sun Luban, I will make you a concubine."
Da Hu bowed and kowtowed, saying, "I thank your Majesty and the Queen Mother."
Queen Mother Guo said, "Get up. This is not the first time I have seen you, so I will not say anything more. Please go down now."
"Yes, sir." Sun Luban stood up, bowed, and left.
Queen Mother Guo waved her hand again, and the woman sitting below Sun Luban followed suit and walked over under the guidance of the female official.
"Your concubine Jia Cheng pays respects to Your Majesty and the Queen Mother."
Empress Dowager Guo looked at Cao Rui and said, "Rui'er, this girl is the legitimate daughter of General Jia Kui, the Southern General. She is only seventeen years old and can be considered virtuous."
Cao Rui nodded and asked, "Jia Cheng, right? I have something to ask you, just answer truthfully."
"As you wish." Jia Cheng's face flushed slightly, but he showed no sign of fear as he responded gracefully.
Cao Rui asked, "How were you chosen to enter the palace?"
Jia Cheng replied, "Your Majesty, my father is serving as an official in another country, and I am living in my home in Luoyang with my mother, brother, and others."
The Wei Dynasty has always required the families of generals to live in Luoyang or Yecheng.
Cao Rui nodded and said, "I know this. Your father was given the title of General Zhennan by me personally at the beginning of the year."
Jia Cheng raised his eyes to look at the emperor's face, but lowered them for a moment and continued, "Earlier, an official from the Sikong Mansion came to my house to look for my mother. He said that he learned from the list of Shangshutai that I was still unmarried. He left my birthday and portrait and then left."
"A few days ago, I was taken to the palace by a carriage sent from my home. I don't know anything else."
Cao Rui turned to look at Queen Mother Guo and said with a smile: "Look, mother, the daughter of Jia Kui is quite knowledgeable and eloquent."
Empress Dowager Guo said: "Whether it is good or bad, I have asked someone to send all the pictures to the study. They are all selected by Your Majesty himself."
"As for whether to be generous or reserved, these are not up to me."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "I am really sorry for troubling you, mother. This is just a trivial matter, but it took you nearly two months."
"No problem, no problem." Empress Dowager Guo was waiting for Cao Rui's praise, and said with a smile: "The inheritance of the royal family's descendants is the top priority."
"I just wonder how many of the twenty concubines in my palace today will be able to give birth to princes and princesses next year."
Cao Rui coughed lightly and said, "This kind of thing is mostly a matter of luck. How can there be a fixed number?"
"Jia Cheng, I will make you a beauty, please leave now."
Jia Cheng imitated Sun Luban's behavior just now, bowed down and kowtowed, then left.
I have to say that this kind of cumbersome etiquette is really a necessary task in the palace.
If everyone is not personally questioned one by one, and if there is no sense of ritual, how can there be harmony and stability in the harem?
One by one, the women walked up to Cao Rui and Empress Dowager Guo and asked about their names, places of origin, and backgrounds. Some chatted for three or five sentences, while others chatted for dozens of sentences.
Today, the Wei harem is divided into five categories: Empress, Noble Concubine, Zhaoyi, Imperial Concubine, and Beauty.
Except for Maopin's noble concubine, Sun Luban and Guo Yao's concubine, the rest of the women were canonized as beauties.
If the titles in the harem are like ladders, the women entering the palace today still have many steps to climb up.
There is a long way to go.
After all this trouble, it was getting dark.
After meeting the last official's daughter, Du Li, the daughter of the former Shangshu Du Ji, Cao Rui yawned, stood up and said, "Mother, please dine with these women in the palace tonight."
Although Empress Dowager Guo did not dare to stop him, she stood up and asked, "Rui'er is not dining with me in the palace tonight? Where are you going?"
Cao Rui replied, "Mother, I promised Concubine Mao yesterday that I would dine with her tonight."
"What happened in the palace today," Cao Rui pointed at the twenty women in the palace and said, "I'll trouble you, mother, to take care of one or two of them."
Queen Mother Guo nodded and smiled, "I don't know whether Concubine Mao will give birth to a prince or a princess. Since you have agreed, Rui'er should go."
Cao Rui nodded, bowed and said goodbye to Queen Mother Guo before leaving. After walking a few steps, when he passed in front of Guo Yao, Cao Rui turned his head and looked at her, with some unspeakable meaning in his eyes.
Guo Yao was startled, but immediately nodded as if she understood.
It seems that His Majesty will come to my palace tonight... After returning from Changle Palace, you should take a bath first and then burn some incense!
……
Three days later, in Beigong, in the study.
When Cao Rui was reading the "Book of Songs" which Cao Zhi had just translated behind the desk, Zhong Yu walked in from outside the door with small steps.
"Your Majesty, the governor and the right general are already waiting outside."
Have Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai arrived?
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Let Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai come in, and call the general and the guards as well."
"According to the order."
Zhong Yu took the order and left. After a while, two generals followed Zhong Yu in.
Zhu Gai was tall, strong and fat, with beard on both sides of his face.
Compared with Zhu Gai, Qian Zhao is thinner and older, and his face and skin seem to bear some traces of the wind and frost of the north over the years.
"Your Majesty, I, Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai, pay my respects to you."
They both saluted.
Cao Rui smiled and stood up, walked forward to support the two men and said, "I have seen the Right General many times in Huainan, but this is the first time I have seen the Governor Qian."
Cao Rui pointed to the chair beside him with his left hand and said, "Both generals, please take a seat. There is no need to be restrained in front of me. All generals who are on external duty will have a chair to sit in front of me."
"I thank your majesty for your grace."
After Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai looked at each other, Qian Zhao sat in a position closer to the emperor, while Zhu Gai sat behind Qian Zhao.
Cao Rui did not hesitate and immediately asked: "Do you know why the two of you came to Luoyang under the order of the general?"
Qian Zhao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am here only to obey your orders. I don't know why the court summoned me."
Zhu Gai also hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I feel the same way. But I wonder if there is a war somewhere and they are planning to use troops?"
Cao Rui smiled and glanced at Zhu Gai: "How did the Right General guess?"
Zhu Gai smiled with a simple and honest look on his face: "When I was in Shouchun, I heard the Grand Marshal talk about some changes in the Luoyang court."
"But I roughly guess that it has nothing to do with me. I only know how to fight. Your Majesty summoned me here for war."
Cao Rui smiled and nodded, but he began to complain slightly in his heart.
I have seen how fierce Zhu Gai was when he was in Huainan, commanding his troops. Why did he pretend to be simple and honest when he arrived at the Northern Palace in Luoyang?
It is not known whether it was Cao Xiu who taught him, or perhaps the former emperor Cao Pi liked military generals of this style, and Zhu Gai continued the experience of that time.
Cao Rui said slowly: "I will not keep you in suspense, nor do I have time to play guessing games with you."
"I'll be frank. Last month, Zhang He, the governor of Yongliang, reported to the court that Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu, led his troops to Nanzheng in Hanzhong County, and seemed to be planning to invade Wei in the north."
"There are few soldiers in Yongliang, and the royal army won a great victory over Wu in the southeast at the beginning of the year. Therefore, after discussing with the ministers, I decided to transfer a total of 20,000 troops from Jingzhou and Yangzhou and station them in Chang'an."
"I want to choose you two to lead the army for me." Cao Rui's face gradually became serious: "Qian Qing, Zhu Qing, I have carefully read your resumes. Both the general and the guard have praised you highly."
"Do you dare to defend me in Yongliang against the invading enemies from Shu?"
For a moment, Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai both fell silent.
Qian Zhao's heart was already in turmoil at this time.
Unlike Zhu Gai, Qian Zhao was not actually a pure general. He was more like a composite governor who had guarded You and Bing for many years and was responsible for both military, political and civil affairs.
What Qian Zhao didn't know was that he had been in Youzhou and Bingzhou for so many years, and there were many generals in the court. Why would Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao think of him and recommend him to His Majesty?
Qian Zhao took a deep breath, bowed his hands solemnly and asked: "Your Majesty's order, I will go through fire and water! I just don't know why Your Majesty wants to use me."
Zhu Gai certainly had doubts in his mind and looked over at him.
Cao Rui stood up, walked to the tall map placed on the side of the study, and waved: "You two come over here too!"
Qian Zhao and Zhu Gai stood up and walked not far from the emperor. Their eyes were almost completely absorbed by this extremely detailed map.
Cao Rui pointed in the direction of Yongliang: "Now Yongliang has 20,000 foreign troops and 20,000 state and county troops."
"Zhang He led 15,000 foreign troops and stationed them in the area of Meixian and Chencang east of Longshan Mountain."
"Yongzhou Governor Guo Huai and Generals Hao Zhao and Lu Pan are stationed in Longyou."
"Xiahou Ba, the governor of Liang Province, is stationed in Wuwei. Lu Xun, the commander of the Qiang Guard, is stationed in Xiping County."
Cao Rui said in a deep voice: "If Shu invades the north, it will be Longyou and Guanzhong."
"Guo Huai is the first line of defense in Longyou. Xiahou Ba and Lu Xun can also reinforce Guo Huai at any time."
"If it is still not enough, Zhang He can go west to Longshan. If this happens, I will need the army stationed in Chang'an to either block the passage between Guanzhong and Hanzhong or wait for an opportunity to go west to reinforce."
"Do you understand this important task?" (End of this chapter)
