As the capital, Luoyang's main function was to serve as the administrative center of the Wei Dynasty, serving the emperor and government offices such as the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers.
Road closures and alerts are common.
There were tiger guards on both sides of the road to the North Palace. Cao Rui rushed back to the North Palace under heavy guard. He entered the courtyard where the study was located and went straight to find Dong Zhao.
Hearing footsteps, Dong Zhao and Man Chong looked up and saw the emperor in person. They stood up in surprise for a moment.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Dong Zhao noticed the emperor's gloomy expression and couldn't help but feel a little confused: "Isn't Your Majesty going to the Imperial College today?"
Man Chong moved a chair over with a look of courtesy. Cao Rui nodded and sat down. He looked at Dong Zhao and said, "I just received news that the Grand Marshal has passed away."
Dong Zhao was stunned for a moment, but his demeanor returned to normal immediately. He cupped his hands and said, "This is an accident, but the world is unpredictable. This is the law. State affairs are more important, and your health is more important. Your Majesty, please accept my condolences and do not be too sad."
Man Chong also said, "The whole country depends on your Majesty. I hope your Majesty takes care of himself."
Cao Rui sighed: "Two days ago, I first received the news that the Grand Marshal was seriously ill. At that time, the first thing I thought of was to stabilize the situation."
"Chen Situ has been sent out, Henan Yin has been sent out, and Shizhong has also been sent out. Lord Dong also asked me to go to Xuchang, and I agreed to all of them."
"But at this moment, when I heard the news of his death, I felt that those things seemed a little far away, and I felt even more sad and lost."
"On my way back from the Imperial College just now, I seemed to recall all the memories of my time with the Grand Marshal, and they kept turning over in my mind."
Cao Rui's eyes were slightly red. "I don't want to lose my composure in front of all the officials in the Imperial College. After thinking about it, I can only come to the West Pavilion to talk with you two."
Dong Zhao also sighed softly, walked to the side of the stove in the room, picked up the pottery kettle, poured a cup of warm water and placed it in front of the emperor.
When Cao Rui saw Dong Zhao handing him the water, he took a sip and put it down again.
Dong Zhao said: "Your Majesty, please accept my condolences."
"The Grand Marshal is an important minister of the state, a great general of the clan, and your Majesty's confidant and right-hand man."
"Now that he is gone, does Your Majesty feel like you have lost a helping hand?"
"That's right." Cao Rui nodded. "When the Grand Marshal was here, I didn't notice anything unusual. Now that the Grand Marshal is gone, I don't know who can replace him."
"Dong Gong suggested that I go to Xuchang, to take Ruxu and Jiangbei, isn't that the same idea?"
Dong Zhao said, "That's what I think. But today, in front of Your Majesty, I have something else to say."
Cao Rui took another sip of warm water and said, "Mr. Dong, please feel free to speak."
Man Chong quietly stood up and closed the door, then turned around and sat down without saying a word.
Dong Zhao said: "In my opinion, the most important thing about the Grand Marshal to the state is that he is one of the most important generals in the clan."
"Now that the Grand Marshal is not here, the only available Cao Xiahou is the Grand General. The rest of the Cao Xiahou are either mediocre or stupid, and are not up to the task."
"And those younger generals from the royal family are not yet able to take on the responsibility of governing a region."
Cao Rui nodded: "That's true."
Dong Zhao said: "Your Majesty has been in office for three years. I have seen that when Your Majesty employs people, the first thing you consider is ability, and secondly, it is best if you have some personal relationship with them."
"Either they are clan relatives, with a family connection. Or they are close friends, with a personal friendship."
"If you don't occupy any of them, your majesty will not be willing to use them."
Cao Rui sighed softly: "Mr. Dong is a wise man in the world. He has expressed my thoughts in just a few words."
"Liu Ye, Chen Jiao, Huang Quan and others were all sent out by me when I was the Minister of the Interior. The generals stationed in the four directions were also mostly those I observed during the war."
Dong Zhao nodded: "Your Majesty, this is the demeanor of a sage monarch. But your Majesty is a sage monarch, and not everyone in the world is a capable minister who has a personal relationship with your Majesty."
"There are countless officials and generals in the world. How can everyone have a personal relationship with Your Majesty? The Imperial Academy has just graduated three classes of students, and the Martial Arts Academy has only graduated one class."
Cao Rui asked in return: "What can I do? I am the emperor, and time has to pass year by year. I can't accomplish ten years' work in one year."
"To be honest, I don't want to entrust the 100,000 troops in the southeast to anyone else except the Grand Marshal. This is why I agreed to Mr. Dong's proposal and went to Xuchang and Shouchun in person."
Dong Zhao said: "Perhaps I can relieve your majesty's worries."
Cao Rui's frown relaxed a little: "Mr. Dong, please speak quickly. I'm waiting for your words."
Dong Zhao said, "I have three plans. Your Majesty, please allow me to present them one by one in front of you."
Cao Rui said: "Yes!"
Dong Zhao cupped his hands and said, "First, according to the current situation of Jingzhou and Yangzhou, we will change the system of military governors to the system of military supervisors."
"The governor holds the overall military power of a region, while the military supervisor only has the power to supervise and inspect, and command during defense. Within the military supervisor's jurisdiction, the generals and soldiers are not subordinate to each other, and there is no distinction between superiors and subordinates."
"The Grand Marshal, the Grand General, and Xiahou Boren in the past, all of these people ate, lived, and grew up with the late emperor."
"The late emperor could use the governor, but it was just a temporary policy. It suited the late emperor, but not Your Majesty."
Cao Rui nodded slightly, as if thinking about something. Dong Zhao said, "Comparing the military governor to the military supervisor is like comparing the governor to the provincial governor. The military governor has great power, while the military supervisor has little power. The provincial governor has great power, while the provincial governor has little power."
"The governor is like a local lord, and the military supervisor is the emperor's envoy."
Man Chong whispered, "If military supervision becomes a custom, then every time there is a war, won't the court or your majesty have to go to the front in person?"
Cao Rui looked at Man Chong from the side and said, "For the sake of state affairs, I will certainly work hard. Moreover, Wu and Shu are not strong enough to completely destroy the foreign troops."
Man Chong smiled awkwardly: "I made a mistake."
"That's fine." Cao Rui looked at Dong Zhao and asked, "Master Dong, do you have any other plans?"
Dong Zhao said: "Secondly, although the imperial clan relatives are not talented enough, their loyalty to the Cao family and your majesty is admirable. If you want to plan for the long term, your majesty should change the harsh rules that the previous emperor imposed on the imperial clan relatives."
"Those who need to be used should be used. For those clan members who are incapable, ask some scholars to assist and teach them."
"Forgive me for speaking frankly, but Your Majesty is the legitimate son of the late emperor and the legitimate grandson of Emperor Wu. You are also young and prestigious, so you don't need to be too wary."
Cao Rui did not express his opinion: "I understand. What about the third strategy?"
Dong Zhao paused and said, "The third strategy is to win the hearts of the ministers of the world for Your Majesty."
"The Great Wei has been established for less than ten years. If we want to make all the ministers in the world loyal to the Wei Dynasty, we must do something to win their hearts."
"Your Majesty, please issue an order to enshrine the ministers who have made contributions to the founding of the Wei Dynasty in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. If so, the ministers of the world will do their best to serve Your Majesty and the Wei Dynasty in order to gain a good reputation for eternity after death!"
Cao Rui was somewhat surprised to hear this: "Can he be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple? There was no such system before?"
Dong Zhao was also a little confused about what the emperor meant: "There was no such system in the Han Dynasty. There was only the old custom of burying the deceased next to the imperial mausoleum."
As if to avoid the emperor's misunderstanding, Dong Zhao explained: "Your Majesty, I just thought of the story of Yi Yin of the Shang Dynasty, so I proposed it. I have no intention of over-promoting my subject."
Cao Rui said: "I know that Lord Dong has good intentions, and I can fully understand the fact that he is entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."
"I agree to all three of the three strategies that Mr. Dong mentioned just now."
"Now that Zhao Yan is in Jingzhou and Chen Qun is in Yangzhou, the military supervision system already exists. We only need to maintain the status quo and no longer need to make a big announcement in the court."
Dong Zhao bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
This kind of change in the military governor system should be done quietly. If it is carried out with great fanfare by taking advantage of Cao Xiu's death, not only will Cao Zhen, who is far away in Chencang, have some ideas, but people all over the world will also have doubts.
Cao Rui continued, "As for the second strategy mentioned by Lord Dong, I have already freed my close relatives from their shackles in the past few years."
"Someone as talented as King Yongqiu can be in charge of literature at Chongwen Temple. But most people are still mediocre."
"If we must use these people, I think it would be more convenient to use the relatives. The Empress Dowager's Bian clan, Empress Wen Zhao's Zhen clan, and the families of the women in my harem can all be used."
"As for my relatives, I can use them when necessary and dismiss them when not, and that's fine, it's all my own opinion. But I can't be so free to use the royal family."
Dong Zhao cupped his hands and said, "I have not considered it carefully enough."
Cao Rui said, "But Lord Dong has reminded me. Starting from the fourth term of the Imperial College this year, I will send all the royal family members who are of the right age and have been canonized from all over the country to the Imperial College."
"If there is real gold, I will definitely use it. If it is not of great use, I will not force it."
Man Chong continued, "Your Majesty is wise. The fourth term of the Imperial College will begin tomorrow. Should we issue an imperial decree and notify all places as soon as possible?"
Cao Rui nodded: "General Man, send someone to call Zongzheng over to me now. I will talk to him in person."
"Yes, sir." Man Chong received the order and walked out.
Although Cao Rui did not intend to send Man Chong away, he objectively achieved this effect.
Cao Rui asked, "Who do you think is qualified to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple? How should we select them?"
Dong Zhao smiled and said, "I am over 70 years old this year, and I don't have many years left to live. If Your Majesty grants, I would like to ask Your Majesty for such a position."
As Dong Zhao said, he is indeed old now and there is nothing wrong with saying such things.
Dong Zhao was not shy about it, and Cao Rui did not hesitate at all: "Mr. Dong, we know each other well as a monarch and a minister. If that day really comes, Mr. Dong's position will definitely not be missing."
Dong Zhao stood up to thank him, but Cao Rui held him back with his hand: "Don't be impatient, Mr. Dong. You haven't answered my question yet."
Dong Zhao calmly replied: "It is not my place to advise Your Majesty in private on who should be chosen and who should not be chosen."
"But one thing is certain, only great achievements can be honored in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The Wei Dynasty was founded only a short time ago, and many ministers' descendants still hold important positions. Moreover, the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, the Secretariat, and the Privy Council must all have their own ideas."
"I think that Your Majesty should set a quota and let the ministers in the court discuss and compete for it. This way, it will show the value of being worthy of the Imperial Ancestral Temple."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Mr. Dong has many clever ideas. What should we set as the appropriate amount?"
Dong Zhao also laughed out loud: "Your Majesty, why not set up a smaller group this year and a larger group next year."
Cao Rui shook his head slightly in admiration, smiling without saying anything. (End of this chapter)
