As soon as Empress Dowager Guo finished speaking, not only was Cai Zhenji startled and stood up, but Cai Zhaoji and Feng Yuan, who were teaching the art of Hujia not far away, also stopped their voices for a moment.
Upon hearing this, Cai Zhaoji went back to her seat and sat side by side with her two sisters. Feng Yuan was in a state of confusion, not knowing what to do.
The empress dowager obtained the emperor's permission to add concubines to the emperor's harem. But what could she, an unfavored concubine of the rank of mere beauty, do?
In other words, apart from the three concubines Mao, Sun Zhaoyi and Guo Jieyu who came earlier, no one else in the palace could be considered "favored" in the traditional sense. The emperor himself seemed to have focused most of his energy on state affairs and foreign wars.
Su Huan, who gave birth to the third prince Cao Shou, was promoted to Jieyushi by the emperor just a few days ago, the same rank as Guo Yao, and she didn't even have the title of Zhaoyi.
"I don't quite understand what the Queen Mother said. My Huiyu is just a little girl, ugly and incompetent. How can she be worthy of entering the palace to serve Your Majesty..."
Empress Dowager Guo looked at her with a half-smile, and her voice gradually became softer until it could no longer be heard clearly. Her lack of confidence was fully revealed in front of the other people.
Cai Zhaoji sighed in her heart. Her own sister was not living up to her expectations, and as her elder sister, she had to speak up for her.
The Queen Mother has spoken to you in person in the main hall of Changle Palace. Is there any room for evasion? My dear daughter Huiyu, you have clearly been targeted by the Queen Mother! I just don't know if this is the Queen Mother's idea or someone else's idea.
"Your Majesty, Huiyu grew up under my care and has always been treated like my own daughter. Just now, Zhenji said that she was ugly and incompetent, which was indeed a humble statement. She was just worried about her daughter's future." Cai Zhaoji sat on the chair dignifiedly and looked at Queen Mother Guo: "May I ask the Queen Mother two questions?"
"Then she is beautiful and virtuous?" Empress Dowager Guo said with a satisfied expression: "What does Zhaoji want to ask me?"
Cai Zhaoji said, "Your Majesty has already moved to Xuchang, and everyone in Luoyang knows about this. If the Queen Mother is recruiting concubines for Your Majesty, should she go to Xuchang Palace or Beigong?"
"Send him to Xuchang, and he may stay in Xuchang for a long time." Empress Dowager Guo said calmly.
Cai Zhaoji asked again: "I wonder if Your Majesty is still kind and lenient to the harem?"
Zhao Ji wanted to ask if he was loyal, but when the words came to her lips, she found that the word "loyal" had nothing to do with the emperor's profession, so she changed it to "generous". She herself had suffered many disasters in her life and had never experienced the word "loyalty".
As expected, what is missing is what you want to ask the most. Cai Zhaoji had a miserable life, and this is what she thought of first when she thought of her closest younger relatives.
But what answer did she expect to get when she asked the emperor whether he was merciful? The Queen Mother's order and the Northern Palace's order could not be disobeyed, and she was just using the opportunity to ask questions to save a little dignity for herself and her sister.
When Empress Dowager Guo heard Cai Zhaoji ask this, she became more and more pleased: "The last time the harem took a concubine was in the first year of Taihe. At that time, it was because I and Empress Wuxuan pursued it together that Your Majesty agreed to it. Now it is the fourth year of Taihe. Three years have passed. This time, it was also because of my persuasion that Your Majesty agreed to take a concubine. I originally wanted to take ten people for Your Majesty, but Your Majesty only said five would be enough."
"I am an old acquaintance of Zhaoji, and Zhenji's husband's family is old acquaintances with Fengyuan's family, and also old acquaintances with me. If the daughter of the Yang family can enter the palace, I will take care of her, so there is no need to worry."
"What's more..." Empress Dowager Guo said with a smile, "When a girl is waiting to be married, she should consider her husband's family background, but she should also consider his appearance. There is no need to say more about the emperor's appearance. You can find out by asking him in Luozhong."
When Zhao Ji and Zhen Ji heard this, they looked at each other, stood up and bowed at the same time: "We will obey the Queen Mother's order."
"Sit down, everyone." Empress Dowager Guo motioned to the two of them with satisfaction: "There are many etiquettes in the palace. If we were in the folk, we would be considered in-laws and become a family."
"Don't worry, I will ask the chief of the clan to go to your house to propose marriage. I think the courtesy is sufficient for the Nine Ministers to come for this matter."
"Thank you, Queen Mother." Cai Zhenji said, "This matter is indeed serious. Please allow me and my sister to return home first and talk to our family about this matter."
"Okay." Empress Dowager Guo nodded slightly.
……
Unlike the tense atmosphere in Luozhong and Jingzhou, the news of the war had not yet reached the north. The four states of You, Bing, Ying, and Ji were still immersed in the joy of the pacification of Liaodong.
During the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, the people who felt the most deeply the so-called border achievements were not the princes and nobles living in Chang'an and Luoyang, but the people in the border areas such as You, Bing and Liang.
To the scholars and common people of Luoyang, suppressing the border threat was just a matter of who got made a marquis, who got more fiefs, and who gained power in the court.
For the people in the border areas, they no longer had to worry about the threat of Hu people invading the border, no longer had to save grain for the army's march, and no longer had to die on the battlefield as laborers and auxiliary soldiers. It was a great thing that was put into practice, and the emperor of Luoyang was increasingly praised as a sage monarch.
It is true that loyal ministers are born in border areas. From summer to autumn, scholars from the four states, counties and prefectures wrote countless articles praising the emperor in various literary gatherings, county schools and county schools. However, most of these articles have no appreciation value and are not worth sending to Luoyang by sensible local officials.
After Man Chong sent Jiang Wei, Cao Shuang and Cao Zhao outside Quanzhou City, he led a large group of troops along the predetermined route.
By the time Jiang Wei and Cao Shuang caught up with Man Chong on the evening of the 18th, carrying Kebi Neng's head, Man Chong's army had only reached Dongpingshu.
Kebi Neng's head was brought to the main camp, and Man Chong sent people to inform all the camps of this news and the fact that Kebi Neng had defected and was suppressed. For the central army, Kebi Neng's death was irrelevant, as he was just a Hu chieftain.
But for the 3,000 Xiongnu troops, this news was even more shocking. Liu Bao, who knew the details of that night, began to sweat in his tent. He was even more terrified by the fighting power of the Wei army and kept silently chanting "Long live His Majesty".
"Greetings, General." Jiang Wei and Cao Shuang had their meals in their respective military tents, bathed and changed into fresh clothes, and then were called in by Man Chong.
"Well. Zhaobo, Boyue, you two please sit down. I will also chat with you about border affairs." Man Chong pointed to the seat in front of him.
"Thank you, General, for the seat." The two men thanked him and sat down not far in front of Man Chong, one on the left and one on the right.
Man Chong asked, "Is Changsi still in Shanggu County to sort out this matter? When will he lead his army back?"
Changsi refers to Cao Xiu’s eldest son Cao Zhao.
Cao Shuang bowed and said, "General, according to my calculations, I estimate that Brother Changsi will not be able to return until around September 20th."
"On the one hand, we need to hunt down the fleeing Xianbei people in the surrounding areas to prevent them from causing chaos and give an explanation to Shanggu County. On the other hand, we need to wait for General Tian to lead his troops to arrive and hand over the Xianbei captives captured along the way to General Tian, who will then make the distribution according to the situation."
"These trivial matters will take some time. The two of us were able to catch up with the general today, all thanks to Brother Changsi's help in finishing the work. Otherwise, we would not have made it."
Man Chong nodded and said, "You three are all young talents in the Wei army. Zhao Bo is calm and resolute, Bo Yue knows how to act, and is thoughtful, prudent and mature. Before I sent you out, I never thought that you three could do this so well."
Seeing Cao Shuang and Jiang Wei laughing, Man Chong said, "Kebi was able to commit suicide. This is the best outcome for him and for Wei."
Cao Shuang bowed and said, "When I saw Ke Bineng kill himself with a knife, I was stunned for a long time. If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place? He is also a rare wise man in Xianbei after Tan Shihuai. Why did he have to make things difficult for Wei?"
Man Chong sneered and shook his head: "It's a good thing that Zhao Bo asked this question. I have known the general for more than 30 years, but it seems that the general has not told you this."
Cao Shuang was even more confused: "What did you say?"
"Many things in the world are unreasonable!" Man Chong said, "There are many kinds of people in the world. There are loyal and unyielding people, and there are upright and strong people. But most people are just people who go with the flow. Whether they are loyal or rebellious, it all depends on the situation or their imagination, and they have no fixed ideas!"
As Jiang Wei and Cao Shuang listened to Man Chong's words, their expressions gradually became serious.
"Take Kebi Neng for example," Man Chong continued, "If he wanted to rebel, what could the Wei Dynasty do to him if he did not respond to Your Majesty's edict at Yanmen? He could have fled north to Mobei or west to the Western Regions. The grassland is so vast, and the world is so vast. How could he not have a way out?"
"But he coveted the family's foundation and was unwilling to confront the Wei Dynasty, so he pretended to be submissive and submitted to the army. From Yanmen to Youbeiping, from Liaodong to Quanzhou, he got deeper and deeper into trouble step by step, until he had no room to hesitate. He rebelled and died."
"I have seen countless people like this, and most of them ended up with their heads and bodies separated."
If we talk about this experience of clearing out those who oppose the Wei Dynasty, in the current court, Man Chong dares to claim to be the first, and no one can claim to be second. The words that come out of his mouth are as persuasive as if they were rimmed with gold.
Jiang Wei sighed softly, "If this man dies, then he dies. But I wonder how shocked the people of the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu tribes to the north of You and Bing will be. After all, in the past 10 to 20 years, the Wuhuan and the Xianbei people who were attached to the Wei, Budugen and other tribes were submissive to the court, which was also due to the pressure from Kebi Neng."
Man Chong smiled and said, "The border issue is not something you two captains need to worry about. But you are both young talents, so it would be okay for me to talk to you. According to the court's thinking, there are two preparations for this matter."
"From now on, the imperial court will conscript the Xianbei, Wuhuan, Xiongnu and other Hu people into the army. If any Hu chieftain expresses his ambition and refuses to be conscripted, the imperial court will send troops to suppress him."
"At the same time, didn't the imperial court also conduct a pilot project in Yanmen County? The four counties that were withdrawn to the interior at the end of the Han Dynasty will sooner or later allow the Han people to move back." (End of this chapter)
