Chapter 447 Key Personnel
After seeing Xiahou Xuan off, Sima Yi turned around and entered the hall.
Inside the main hall of the Xiangping City Governor's Mansion, the atmosphere was unusually relaxed and comfortable.
What other reason could there be? A victory in the battle! After six months of hard work, there was a harvest. His Majesty promised to double the fiefdom in Jieshi, so naturally everyone was happy.
From Sima Yi and Man Chong down, all the two thousand stone generals and colonels, as well as the leaders of the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes, all gathered in the tent.
Seeing Sima Yi coming in, Cao Rui coughed lightly and said, "This time, the Wei Dynasty conquered Liaodong and won, and you all contributed a lot. Just as I discussed the merits of you in Huainan and Hanzhong before, I will discuss the generals first, and then the merits of the two cabinet ministers when we return to Luoyang."
Sima Yi and Man Chong were both cabinet ministers, so naturally they had nothing to say. Sima Yi even felt a little bored.
It's boring indeed.
During the expedition to Shu, the merits of each general were clearly displayed before everyone. Zhang He and Qian Zhao rushed to Longyou to provide emergency assistance, Guo Huai defended Shanggui to the death, and Lu Xun attacked Baishui by surprise, which were indeed remarkable.
However, most of the effort in this expedition to Liaodong was spent on marching and transporting food. The actual level of Gongsun Yuan's army was completely incomparable to that of the two enemies, Wu and Shu.
Liaosui was easily conquered, and Xiangping was taken without much effort either. Gongsun Yuan, who was at the end of his rope, lost all his belongings in just one morning.
If we have to say who is more outstanding, perhaps only Liu Ye who led the army alone can be praised. It is really difficult to rank the rest of the generals like the expedition to Shu.
It was difficult but it had to be arranged! This was Cao Rui's job as the Emperor of Wei.
Cao Rui looked around at his ministers and said calmly, "Whenever I went on a campaign, I would always list the first meritorious service, and then rank them one, two, and three."
"General Liu Ye of Du Liao!"
Under the focus of everyone's attention, Liu Ye raised his head and walked forward, straightened the front of his robe, walked slowly and calmly to the center of the hall, bowed and said: "I am here!"
Cao Rui smiled and said, "In the first year of Taihe, I sent Liu Qing and the Central Commander Guanqiu Jian to inspect You and Bing. After Liu Qing's adventure in Liaodong, he served as the governor of Youzhou for more than two years. The merits of this expedition to Liaodong cannot be discussed only in terms of the battles, but the merits of these three years should be discussed together."
"Liu Qing's contributions, including making suggestions, formulating strategies, training troops, charging forward, and seizing opportunities, are enough to make him the first contributor to the Wei army's expedition this time!"
Liu Ye stood respectfully in the hall, and at this moment, an inexplicable feeling came over him. It was not nervousness, nor was it complacency, but the relief of having everything he had been thinking about come to fruition, as comfortable as letting out a breath.
Liu Ye cupped his hands and said, "I am able to work in Youzhou thanks to your Majesty's blessing. How dare I take credit for what I have done?"
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Don't refuse. Merit is merit."
"Liu Qing!" Cao Rui's voice became slightly heavier.
Liu Ye knew that the highlight was about to begin, and he quickly bowed to greet him.
"Remove Liu Qing from his title of General Du Liao and his post as Governor of Youzhou." Cao Rui deliberately dragged out the words and said slowly, "Appoint Guanglu Dafu Liu Ye as the Right Supervisor of the Privy Council and return to the Privy Council in the court to serve!"
Privy Council?
Liu Ye himself had thought of many possible outcomes. Some of them were to serve as a minister, some as a minister, some as a governor of Yingzhou, and even as a governor of Liaodong, but he had never thought of the possibility of serving in the Privy Council.
But now the Privy Council and the Shangshutai are in parallel, belonging to the West Pavilion and the East Pavilion respectively, and it is one of the most important positions under the cabinet ministers. It is vaguely similar to the six ministries and nine ministers, and seems to be even higher!
Liu Ye had been in the political world for many years, but he was not at all reserved at this moment. He bowed with great respect and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace! I have earned your favor with my humble contributions, and I can only repay your kindness by dying a thousand times!"
"Stand up." Cao Rui waved his hand.
Liu Ye knew that the emperor was going to discuss the merits of the next few people, so he stood up and stepped aside without saying anything.
Cao Rui said calmly: "Wen Qin, the general of the Left Imperial Guard, was armed and sharp, and broke into the battle array to capture the flag. He deserves the second place. Xin Pi, the imperial attendant, was in charge of the logistics of food and fodder, and tried his best to ensure that the army's food and fodder were not lost during the expedition. He deserves the third place."
"The rest of the generals, including Xiahou, Guanqiu, Sun, Dai, Jiang, Tian, Xianyu, as well as the generals of Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu, have all made contributions without fault. The specific fiefdoms and titles will be determined in detail by the Western Pavilion and the Privy Council before being issued."
All the generals in the hall saluted and responded, and everyone had a happy look on their faces.
The military is similar to the court, and even to all organizations in the world.
When it comes to merit, most people have no hope of being the first. Being evaluated as having made contributions but not mistakes, and being "shined by the sun", is enough to comfort them. The happiest person among them is Xian Yujing, who suffered the most losses in both battles.
After discussing the merits, he gave many words of encouragement and instructions, and then all the generals bowed and took their leave.
At this moment, there were only two cabinet ministers left in the hall, Sima Yi and Man Chong, three attendants Xu, Pei and Lu, and three people, Liu Ye, Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian.
After the general meeting, the small meeting is more important.
Seeing that everyone had dispersed, Man Chong, as a minister of the Western Pavilion, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, the Guanglu Doctor has been appointed as the Privy Councilor, I wonder what will happen to Wang Wenshu, the original Privy Councilor?"
Cao Rui nodded: "Wang Wenshu first entered the Secretariat and then the Privy Council. He has been by my side for three years. It is time to send him out."
"As you can see, the governors of Youzhou and Yingzhou are vacant. I will also arrange a military post in Yingzhou. Do you have any recommendations for the three key candidates?"
We actually recommend it? ?
The hall fell into silence for a moment.
Man Chong was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I am a minister of the Western Pavilion, and military affairs are my main job. Yingzhou was just established, and the four counties are not yet completely stable. There are also Goguryeo, Baekje, Buyeo, and the Three Han countries outside. I wonder what military positions Your Majesty wants to establish in Yingzhou?"
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Didn't I summon you to discuss this together? General Man, please tell me first, what military position should be established?"
Man Chong asked tentatively: "Your Majesty just dismissed Liu Ziyang as the General Du Liao. Why not set up a permanent General Du Liao in Yingzhou? Just like the Wei Dynasty set up the General Hu Wuhuan in Youzhou and Bingzhou."
Cao Rui nodded without comment, then looked at the others: "What do you think, Sikong?"
Sima Yi said: "I think we should station a permanent foreign army in Yingzhou and send an important general to supervise the troops there, just like Zhao Boran in Jingzhou and Chen Changwen in Yangzhou."
"What about you?" Cao Rui looked at several attendants again.
Several people either agreed with Man Chong or Sima Yi, and there were no new proposals.
Cao Rui said with emotion: "When I appointed Chen Situ as the military supervisor in Luoyang, I did not want to appoint a governor. But after seeing the current situation in Liaodong, I still need to appoint a governor to pacify the counties and suppress the rebellious ones."
Man Chong and Sima Yi's suggestions were rejected, and the two men understood His Majesty's intention almost instantly. His Majesty still did not forget to expand the territory in Liaodong and strive to incorporate Buyeo, Baekje, the Three Han, Goguryeo and other countries into the county system.
It seems that what is needed is a commander-in-chief who can fight, rather than a military inspector who is mainly responsible for defense.
Man Chong cupped his hands and said, "I understand your majesty's intention. I recommend Wang Chang, the former Privy Councilor and Right Supervisor, and Wang Wenshu to be the commander-in-chief of all military affairs in Yingzhou!"
Seeing Man Chong working so hard to recommend Wang Chang, Liu Ye seemed to have a feeling of unfulfilled wish. Between the Right Supervisor of the Privy Council and the Governor of Yingzhou, it seems that the Governor of Yingzhou is better?
Cao Rui nodded: "General Man's words are very good. Quickly summon Wang Chang to Xiangping to take up his post!"
"Yes, I understand." Man Chong bowed.
Key positions in the court are often filled by following the general trend and then giving a slight push. If the intention is too obvious and someone is forced to take the position, even a fool can see that it is a clique.
A wise man does not do this.
Cao Rui continued to ask: "Governors of Youzhou and Yingzhou, what suggestions do you have?"
Sima Yi took the lead and said, "Your Majesty, I recommend Grand Herald Cui Lin as the governor of Youzhou, and Minister of War Wu Zhou as the governor of Yingzhou!"
Cui Lin? Wu Zhou?
To be honest, these two people were not in Cao Rui's consideration before, and he never thought that Sima Yi would recommend these two people.
Cao Rui asked: "Sikong, it is appropriate for the Nine Ministers and the Shangshu to be transferred to the post of Provincial Governors. But why did Sikong recommend these two people?"
Sima Yi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Cui Lin was the governor of Youzhou in the early years of Huangchu, and his achievements were quite good. However, due to the slander of Wu Zhi, the former governor of Hebei, Cui Lin was demoted to the governor of Hejian, and was not promoted to the rank of Nine Ministers until the Taihe period. Youzhou needs capable ministers like Cui Lin to govern it in order to be stable."
"And Wu Zhou is the Minister of War, and he will surely be able to stabilize Yingzhou together with Wang Wenshu!"
(End of this chapter)
