After the night banquet, Cao Rui was surrounded by guards and returned to his bedroom in the palace to sleep.
Early the next morning, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Wang Chang brought Wei Zhen's latest memorial sent from Luoyang.
"Master Wei's memorial? Here, bring it to me for a look." After hearing this, Cao Rui gestured to Wang Chang.
Wang Chang handed over the petition. After Cao Rui looked at it for a few seconds, he smiled, shook his head, and handed the petition back to Wang Chang.
Wang Chang showed a bit of surprise, Cao Rui smiled and said: "Wei Pushe is trying to persuade me to return to Luoyang as soon as possible."
Wang Chang said softly, "When your majesty was in Chiting and Hanzhong, the Wei Pushe reported every three days. After your majesty fell ill in Chencang, the Wei Pushe reported every day."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "The Minister of the Guards is worried that I will be like last year and will not return to Luoyang for a while while I am on a tour of the country!"
"Well," Cao Rui pointed at Wang Chang and said, "Pass the order down. The whole army will march to Luoyang tomorrow morning! The soldiers should be eager to go home."
Wang Chang bowed and responded: "I will pass on your order right away."
Cao Rui seemed to have thought of something: "The dew-receiving plate I saw yesterday, wasn't it made of copper? When we return to Luoyang, tell He Qia to melt it down and transport it to Luoyang after he takes office in Chang'an."
Melted?
Wang Chang was surprised and said, "Your Majesty, this thing is twenty feet high and is a whole. If it melts, won't it be destroyed?"
Cao Rui nodded: "Yes, it must be destroyed. It is useless to leave it standing in Chang'an City. It is better to take it back to Luoyang to be used as military supplies. Such a large copper pillar must weigh at least tens of thousands of pounds, right?"
"If they are not used up, have the Shaofu make some beautiful bronze vessels and give one to every person above the rank of Guannei Marquis in the Wei Dynasty."
"I just want to use this as an example. I don't seek immortality, and future emperors of the Wei Dynasty should not seek immortality or do such useless things, which waste people's money and time!"
This……
Wang Chang was stunned for a moment, then thought that this arrangement was in line with the emperor's style, so he agreed.
The next morning, at one o'clock in the morning, the entire central army marched eastward from Chang'an City.
Two days later, when the emperor arrived at Tongguan, Wei Zhen, who was far away in Luoyang, received the news that the emperor was leading the central army back and would arrive in Luoyang soon.
When the emperor returns to the capital in triumph, the welcoming ceremony must be extremely grand.
On the one hand, there are all kinds of ceremonial guards, weapons, drums, and entourage; on the other hand, there are the personnel and scale of the welcoming.
Before Your Majesty returned from Huainan last year, you sent envoys back to the capital to clearly indicate that you should not go more than thirty miles out of the city to avoid excessive waste.
But His Majesty didn’t say that this year!
Wei Zhen worked in the Shangshutai, and there was nothing to hide from others about such a major event as His Majesty's return to the capital. Therefore, within a few sticks of incense, almost everyone in the Shangshutai knew about it.
After hearing this, Xu Xuan, the Minister of Rites, sat behind his desk and thought for a few moments, then made up his mind immediately.
After slamming the table and startling the clerk who was reporting the news nearby, he stood up and walked quickly towards the Regent's Office.
Naturally, I have to ask Wei Zhen to take charge of this matter.
After Xu Xuan spoke passionately for a long time, Wei Zhen gently put down his ink brush and pointed to a chair beside him and said, "Minister Xu, why are you in such a hurry? Sit down first and talk slowly."
Xu Xuan was a little dazed when he was interrupted by Wei Zhen. He sat down and continued talking.
What about the Ministry of Rites not having any merits in its initial establishment, what about the Shangshutai being responsible for it and not the Taichang, what about Xu Xuan being sure to handle this matter properly and without any mistakes...
Wei Zhen nodded helplessly and said, "So, Minister Xu really wants to take on this matter?"
"That's right! Wei Pushe, I will definitely get this done!" Xu Xuan responded decisively.
"Well, let Minister Xu do the hard work for a while." Wei Zhen said, "There are three things you can do first."
"First of all, Grand Tutor Zhong Yao's legs and feet are getting worse and he is also very weak. One of the Three Dukes has already died, and the Minister of Works is still with the army, leaving only Grand Commandant Hua. If Grand Tutor Zhong doesn't go, the situation will be too embarrassing."
Xu Xuan swallowed lightly.
Ask me to invite Master Zhong? He is almost eighty years old. How can I ask him to go thirty miles out of the city to welcome His Majesty?
Don't die on the road!
Wei Zhen didn't finish yet, and continued:
"The second thing is, if someone from the court is going to welcome him, should someone from the palace also be going to welcome him?"
"Will Concubine Mao go? Will Concubine Sun and Concubine Guo go? Will the prince who just turned one year old go? Minister Xu needs to discuss all these."
The expression on Xu Xuan's face had turned into one of embarrassment.
Wei Zhen continued, "The third thing is that your majesty has always disliked extravagance, but the necessary pomp and ceremony cannot be missing. It depends on how Minister Xu coordinates it."
Xu Xuan bit his lip and said, "I understand. May I ask the Minister of Public Security, if I want to submit a petition to the palace, who should I submit it to? The Empress Dowager or Empress Dowager Guo?"
Wei Zhen knew that Xu Xuan was trying to curry favor with the emperor, so he replied bluntly: "Minister Xu asked me? Who should I ask?"
Xu Xuan knew something was wrong.
He clearly couldn't handle this matter, but he still wanted to take credit for it. So he didn't care about his face and bowed to the Shangguan who was younger than him:
"I am a lowly official and my words are not taken seriously. It is not appropriate for me to interfere in the affairs of the palace. Please ask the Minister of Defense to inquire for me. I will handle the other two matters properly."
Wei Zhen raised his eyes to look at Xu Xuan. It was not like Xu Xuan's style to go forward bravely when faced with difficulties. However, since he said so, Wei Zhen, as his superior, could not help but help.
"Okay." Wei Zhen nodded: "I will talk to you about the palace matters myself, and you can ask Master Zhong. If Master Zhong really can't do it, then don't force it, to avoid any trouble." Xu Xuan was overjoyed and quickly bowed in agreement.
Wei Pushe is indeed a kind person!
……
Upon hearing that Xu Xuan had to go out of the city thirty miles to meet him, Zhong Yao, who was ill, had weak legs and slurred speech, still agreed to go in person.
The eldest son, Zhong Yu, is approaching adulthood, and it is a good time for him to make progress in his official career. The emperor has returned victorious, and he should be very proud of himself. If Your Majesty takes it seriously, it will not be a good thing.
I am almost eighty years old and cannot walk, so I will take a carriage.
At least you won’t die on the road!
Zhong Yao agreed very readily and said that he would definitely go there in a carriage so that Xu Xuan could rest assured.
Master Zhong was so easy to talk to that Xu Xuan thanked him repeatedly, which made Zhong Yao say that the courtesy was too heavy.
Wei Zhen submitted a petition to Empress Dowager Guo to inquire about the matter, and her reply was quite direct.
No one is allowed to go to the harem!
Empress Dowager Guo was afraid of trouble and making mistakes that would upset the emperor, so she adopted this one-size-fits-all approach.
But the beauties in the harem all had objections.
Concubine Mao was anxious to bring the prince to the emperor to see, hoping that the emperor would give the prince a title as soon as possible.
Concubine Sun was pregnant, and she hoped to be treated pitifully so as to get more favor from the emperor.
The other beauties in the harem had the same idea.
The emperor had been away from Luoyang for more than half a year, and they had also been lonely for more than half a year. Their energy was pent up with nowhere to go, so of course they wanted to see the emperor as soon as possible.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Guo's action caused complaints from the women in the harem.
On the morning of the sixth day of July, all the ministers of Wei State gathered here, thirty miles west of Luoyang City.
Zhong Yao was old and of high status, so he sat in the pavilion with Wei Zhen and Hua Xin to enjoy the cool air. Wei Zhen even called two guards to come over, one on the left and one on the right, to fan Zhong Yao and Hua Xin.
After all, they are the Grand Tutor and the Grand Marshal, so they deserve this kind of treatment.
Those who were over sixty years old among the Nine Ministers and the Six Ministers could still get a seat, but ordinary officials with a salary of two thousand stones could only stand.
Welcoming the emperor is a physical job.
At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the emperor's large group of troops came from the west.
First, 10,000 cavalrymen were in the vanguard, galloping along the official road without stopping. The dust raised by the horses' hooves drifted far away, choking many ministers waiting on the roadside.
Gao Rou, the imperial judge, cursed: "Who is the blind man leading the army?"
After saying that, Gao Rou turned his head to look at Dong Zhao who was standing next to him: "Mr. Dong, you must give this man a good lesson!"
Dong Zhao was in charge of the West Pavilion in the palace, so he was also in charge of this matter. However, Dong Zhao seemed not to have heard it, pretending to be slow to react, and first said "ah", then turned to look at Gao Rou: "What did Wenhui say? Who should be punished?"
Gao Rou cursed inwardly again, but the expression on her face became kind.
While saying that it was nothing, he gently brushed away the dust that had just stuck to Dong Zhao's outer robe.
Gao Rou was not yet sixty years old, so naturally he could not get a seat.
Dong Zhao was old enough, and the seat he was sitting on had been taken away by Wei Zhen when the cavalry arrived.
When the emperor was not here, giving him a seat was considered as a gesture of consideration for the old ministers. If they were still allowed to sit after the emperor arrived, it would be considered as intentional harm.
After a while, the black and red banner flying high in the distance first caught the eyes of the ministers.
The so-called big flag is a large flag representing the emperor or commander-in-chief.
During the march, the big banner was often held by an extremely strong soldier riding a strong horse.
Four ropes were tied out from the middle of the flagpole, one each on the front, back, left and right sides, and each rope was held by a knight to keep the flag balanced and prevent it from toppling over.
This kind of skill takes a long time to practice.
Except for such ceremonial occasions, ordinary cavalry would not hold such a large banner when marching.
The big banner was held by five people together, and the distance between it and the emperor behind them was about nine meters, representing the supreme authority.
Seeing the great banner means seeing the emperor himself.
Cao Rui did not wear the extremely conspicuous golden armor. Wearing armor in summer was a torture. He just wore a long robe over the inner lining.
Who cares what the emperor wears? There is nothing wrong with it!
Cao Rui was dressed in pure white and elegant attire, riding on that majestic and tall white horse, heading eastward at a leisurely pace.
There were 10,000 cavalrymen leading the way in front, and more than 30,000 brave warriors of the central army behind them.
Waiting in front of him were all the important officials in the capital of the Wei Dynasty.
Plus the joy of returning from a great victory and the anticipation of being away from home for so long...
Cao Rui rode his horse to Wei Zhen and the others with a smile on his face. (End of this chapter)
