Cao Rui heard Pei Qian's words and said with emotion:
"Nowadays, students of the Imperial Academy can enter the Imperial Academy directly in their twenties, and after they finish their studies, they can be assigned positions by the imperial court. Although farming is a bit hard and tiring, they don't have to face war and displacement, and they don't have to farm themselves."
"Sikong," Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi, "Taichang is from your hometown, right? I have heard before that he once farmed and studied in the county."
The current head of the Nine Ministers, Taichang, is Sima Yi’s fellow townsman from Henei, Changlin Chang Bohuai.
Sima Yi nodded and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Chang is an elder in my hometown. When the war broke out in his early years, he farmed in the Shangdang Mountains to avoid disaster. When Liang Ziyu was the governor, he recommended him to be an official, and Emperor Wu appointed him as a county magistrate."
Cao Rui nodded: "Compared with the scholars back then, the scholars of the Imperial Academy today are really more carefree."
"Just now, Sikong was talking about their assessment. I can still vaguely remember the names of several people. Is Fu Gu among them?"
"Yes." Sima Yi nodded. "Fu Gu was known as a child prodigy in Luoyang, and he learned to handle common affairs very quickly. Yang Yishan mentioned him in his report. The report said that the five best students in the Imperial Academy were Fu Gu, the nephew of Fu Xun, Zhuge Xu of the Zhuge clan of Langya, Chen Ben, the eldest son of Chen Jibi, Yu Jun, the son of Yu Dun, and Li Xi, the son of Li Wei."
They are all children of famous families.
Cao Rui sighed in his heart, and then said: "Now that these imperial students have returned from Longyou, it is time to plan their future."
"What does Sikong think?"
"This..." Sima Yi hesitated for a moment.
According to what the court had said when it sent Taixuelang to Longyou to cultivate land, after they had served in Longyou for three years, they would be granted official positions and given priority for promotion after returning to Luoyang.
The imperial court had not figured out how to resettle them at that time, so it just made a promise, and this delay lasted for three years.
Let them serve as officials in Luoyang? There are nearly 100 people, but they can't find enough offices for them to serve. If they are sent to the prefectures and counties, 100 people will be like a drop of water in the ocean, which will not make any splash and will not be of much use.
Sima Yi was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "I don't know at the moment, I hope Your Majesty will make a wise decision."
When Sima Yi was silent, Liu Ye had been thinking about this matter. Seeing the emperor's eyes looking at him, Liu Ye cupped his hands and said, "I think it would be better to let all the students of the Imperial Academy join the army."
Sima Yi was a little surprised and looked up at Liu Ye.
Cao Rui raised a smile and said, "Mr. Liu, do you want to recruit students from the Imperial Academy into the army? Tell me, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty," Liu Ye said with a bow, "The first batch of Imperial College students are the best scholars selected by the court from all over the country. Among them, people like Xiahou Taichu and Jiang Boyue have already served in the court and beside Your Majesty. These outstanding Imperial College students should go to the army."
Xiahou Xuan, who was sitting in the back, straightened his back even more after hearing this.
Jiang Wei is still in Man Chong's army at this moment. He has now become a general with a salary of two thousand stones. He was also promoted like Guanqiu Jian, but not as fast as Guanqiu Jian.
Sima Yi felt slightly dissatisfied when he heard this. If his eldest son Sima Shi had not encountered the Fuhua case, he would probably be a Sanqi or a Langguan in the Shangshutai. Why did he have to work so hard to gain experience in Yangzhou?
That's right, in the eyes of the people today, the capital, the emperor's feet, is the best place to be an official. Yangzhou is a remote place, better than Youzhou, only because Yangzhou is not bitterly cold in the south.
Cao Rui nodded and said, "What Liu Qing said makes sense. A hundred people would not be very useful if they were spread out among the prefectures and counties. Putting them in the army sounds good. But if they are to be in the army, what official positions should they be given?"
Liu Ye smiled and said, "Why don't we all go take care of the military rations?"
Cao Rui narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu Ye: "What do you mean by that, Mr. Liu?"
Liu Ye said, "Your Majesty, it has been more than 40 years since Emperor Wu started his army, and the system of the Wei army and the foreign army has been in place for ten years. Now that the country has not yet been unified, and the court has to station a large number of troops on the border, how to control the foreign army and prevent it from causing chaos has become a major issue."
"I have been in Youzhou for a long time, and I did not see with my own eyes the establishment of the Privy Council and the change of the governor to the supervisor. Chen and Zhao supervised the military affairs of Yangzhou and Jingzhou, probably for the purpose of internal and external checks and balances."
Although what Liu Ye said now was a bit sensitive, this was in front of the emperor and in a court meeting. The people present were all the emperor's confidants, so such sensitive topics should be discussed.
Cao Rui nodded: "Yes, I have such considerations. The governor has too much power, and I intend to control it a little."
"The Central Army can more easily reach Jingzhou and Yangzhou, so I only appointed military supervisors. Guanxi is remote, so I let the general supervise it in Chencang. Yingzhou is even farther away, so I let Wang Chang supervise Yingzhou. However, compared with the above three places, Yingzhou's area and military strength are indeed smaller, so it is not a big problem."
Liu Ye continued, "Your Majesty is thoughtful. I have been in Youzhou for more than two years, and I followed Your Majesty to pacify Liaodong. On the way back, I kept thinking about the future."
"Liaodong has been secured, and the overall situation of Wei is not a problem. The lands of Wu and Shu are all remote. Does Your Majesty have to lead the troops in person every time? If an important general leads the troops, how can the court check and balance them? I think that controlling the food and logistics should be the top priority, so I suggest that all the students of the Imperial Academy be responsible for the food and logistics."
Cao Rui understood Liu Ye's speech. The reason was simple: food and fodder logistics were the lifeblood of the army, and the Imperial Academy students were the emperor's disciples and politically the most direct descendants of his majesty. If they were in charge of food and fodder, it would be another means to control foreign troops.
Cao Rui knew that what Liu Ye said made sense, but he did not respond directly to this matter. Instead, he smiled and said, "It is now the fourth year of Taihe. I first conquered Huainan, then Longyou, and then Liaodong. I also gathered the Hu people on the grassland. The situation of the Great Wei being surrounded by enemies has also improved a lot."
"If we want to pacify Wu and Shu in the future, wouldn't it be wonderful for me to be a holy emperor in Luoyang and rule the country?"
Everyone laughed and praised His Majesty for his wisdom.
Cao Rui got a good answer, so he skipped the topic: "Since we are in Yecheng, I will have dinner with you today and call the governor of Weijun, Zheng, to come with us. I will set out for Gaoling tomorrow morning!"
"Yes, sir!" everyone responded.
……
At noon on the second day, Guanqiu Jian led two thousand cavalrymen to guard the emperor. The emperor's ceremonial procession slowly left the west gate of Yecheng and headed towards Gaoling.
Empress Wuxuan, these four words are the summary of Bian's life.
The rituals for offering sacrifices to Emperor Wu Cao Cao and Empress Wu Xuan Bian were complicated and solemn. After Cao Rui stood up to offer sacrifices in person, he turned to look at Sima Yi who was in charge of the ceremony:
"Sikong, I neglected to ask yesterday. Did Empress Wuxuan have any last wishes or last words before she passed away?"
Sima Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Empress Wuxuan did leave instructions."
It's just that the emperor might be a little unhappy to hear this will. If the emperor didn't ask, Sima Yi could use the excuse that he didn't remember it and wait for Empress Dowager Guo in Luoyang Palace to speak.
Since you asked, I have to answer it.
Cao Rui noticed something strange in Sima Yi's expression and asked in a low voice, "Why, is there anything you can't say?"
Sima Yi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, Empress Wuxuan left two instructions. One is that Your Majesty please take care of the Bian family, and the other is that Your Majesty please be kind to Prince Yongqiu and Prince Rencheng."
Cao Rui sighed softly and felt speechless.
The first thing is easy to understand. The Bian family did not enjoy much wealth during the reigns of Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen, or even felt a little mean.
Since Cao Rui appointed Zhen Xiang of the Zhen family as an official, the children of the Bian family were also granted official positions. This was something Cao Rui took the initiative to do before hearing the will, which seemed to be a kind of telepathic connection.
The second thing is a bit awkward, or not so natural.
Empress Wuxuan Bian had only three biological sons: Emperor Wen Cao Pi, Prince Yongqiu Cao Zhi, and Prince Wei of Rencheng Cao Zhang.
Perhaps it was because Cao Pi was too harsh on his close relatives during his reign, and Cao Zhang's death was also unclear, so Queen Bian always felt resentful. For Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang's son Cao Kai, she even left a will, which seemed to show that she did not trust the current emperor.
Moreover, this was a testament left by Cao Rui after he removed the shackles of his clan relatives and granted positions to all of Emperor Wu's sons, headed by Cao Zhi.
Don't you trust me that much?
Cao Rui took a deep breath and said, "I have appointed Prince Yongqiu as the Grand Herald, but Empress Wuxuan is still unaware of this. Sikong, go get me a piece of hemp paper and some ink."
Sima Yi was somewhat puzzled: "Your Majesty, what is this..."
"Go quickly!" Cao Rui frowned and raised his voice a little more heavily.
"Yes." Sima Yi didn't know why, but he quickly turned around and walked to the crowd of attendants to get paper, pen and ink. He also kindly asked Xiahou Xuan to help him bring a small foldable table.
After placing the small table in front of him, Cao Rui knelt on the ground, took the hemp paper in Sima Yi's left hand, and took the inkstone and pen from Sima Yi's right hand. He dipped the inkstones in ink and wrote an imperial edict in neat official script on the spot, appointing Prince Cao Zhi of Yongqiu as the Grand Herald, one of the Nine Ministers.
After writing, Cao Rui took out a small, shiny seal from his pocket. He didn't have any ink, so he just used a brush to dip some ink on it and printed it directly on the lower left corner of the hemp paper.
Cao Yuanzhong Seal. Sima Yi, who was standing nearby, saw clearly the four seal characters on the seal.
Yuanzhong was the emperor's courtesy name, and Sima Yi had never seen the words printed on this jade seal before. But the emperor clearly took the seal out of his bosom, so where had he used it before?
Cao Rui waved his hand slightly, and Xiahou Xuan took two steps forward. Cao Rui wiped the seal on Xiahou Xuan's sleeve to dry it, and then carefully put it back in his arms.
Cao Rui then stepped forward and burned the hemp paper in the bronze tripod. The smoke floated upwards and did not dissipate for a while, as if Empress Wuxuan Bian had received the message. (End of this chapter)
