Chapter 81 8. Companion to a king is like a tiger

Today, Cao Pi summoned Chen Qun and Sima Yi, two chief ministers, to discuss matters in the side hall. From the very beginning, the atmosphere was somewhat inexplicably paradoxical: just four days ago, Cao Pi ordered the inner court to set up a special committee responsible for criticizing In the "Zhongshu Province" of Zhaoyongxi, Sun Zi, a doctor of Jijiu of Taixue, was the order of Zhongshu, and Liu Fang, the chief Yilang of Da Nei, was the supervisor of Zhongshu.In this way, he once again took an important step on the road to power: he divided the power of final adjudication of Shangshutai's memorials, allowing Zhongshu Sheng and Shangshutai to check and balance each other.

In order not to cause a violent reaction from Shangshutai, Cao Pi appointed Zhongshujian and Zhongshuling to be Sun Zi and Liu Fang who had a good relationship with Chen Qun and Sima Yi.He also hopes to minimize the shock of the ruling and opposition parties brought about by this separation of powers.At the same time, he also issued an imperial edict stipulating that the official ranks of Zhongshujian and Zhongshuling are always limited to the fourth grade, so that all ministers will always maintain a sense of superiority over Zhongshujian and Zhongshuling in terms of political status.In fact, he deliberately planted a "wedge" of internal and external discord between Shangshutai and Zhongshusheng, and deliberately inserted some contradictions between the personnel of these two key institutions, so that he can balance and control the two sides in the middle, and always stand on the same page. In the high position of king.

Shang Shu Ling Chen Qun must be secretly unhappy with Cao Pi's blatant checks and balances.Therefore, as soon as he entered the side hall today, there was a faint sullen look between his brows.But Sima Yi didn't get angry like Chen Qun, because Sun Zi, Liu Fang and himself were all from the Xun family of Yingchuan, and his relationship with them was well managed in private on weekdays. Qun, they even buy his "account" - he believes that the "two-in-one" operation of Zhongshu Sheng and Shangshutai can be completely achieved during his tenure as Shangshu Pushe.Cao Pi wanted to use Sun Zi and Liu Fang to deliberately check and balance himself and Chen Qun, I'm afraid it was wishful thinking.

"Sima Aiqing, some time ago you went to Hedong, Hanyang, Yelin and other counties to observe the locust disaster situation. It was really hard work for you. I have been busy with the trivial affairs of the military and the country, and I haven't had time to condolences to you." Cao Pi smiled all over his face. He pointed to the agate bowl on the jade table that was a tribute from the Kingdom of Qiuci.Sima Yi looked intently, but saw that the bowl was steaming hot, and bursts of refreshing aroma of porridge came to his nostrils.At this time, he heard Cao Pi continue to say, "This is a bowl of 'eight treasure porridge' made from the Jiahe rice offered by Meng Dajing. Just try it!"

Sima Yi's eyes turned red, and tears rolled down in strings: "It is the duty of a humble minister to visit the people to ask about hunger, to relieve disasters and to help farmers. Your Majesty bestowed this 'Eight Treasures Porridge' like Tianlong Well, how can the humble minister He De deserve it?" "Why can't Sima Aiqing be accepted? This is what you should accept..." Cao Pi picked up the agate bowl and slowly handed it to Sima Yi. While Sima Yi was rejecting, he glanced aside and saw Chen Qun looking at him indifferently. At that moment, his mind was secretly moved, and he played solemnly: "Your Majesty... Chen Lingjun is the chief assistant of the town and the leader of the hundred bureaucrats." Sir, since the flood of locusts in Henan, he has been worrying day and night. Before I and Wang Shilang went to Beijing for an inspection, he also told me to go to Beijing... How dare I be the kind of porridge bestowed by your majesty? Looking at Chen Lingjun's face and face?!"

When Cao Pi heard this, the expression on his face froze like stagnant water.His face was only stiff for a moment, and then he smiled brightly again: "Well... Sima Aiqing is right! You are right! I asked the servant to bring another jade bowl, and I will hold it for you two Aiqing personally. Divide the porridge with a spoon and give it to you..." "Your Majesty, you don't have to work so hard. I will always be grateful to you for your kindness to me." Chen Qun stared deeply at Cao Pi, and said leisurely, "Sima Pushe visited disasters on behalf of the king, and he has made great achievements. , should enjoy your porridge Ron's favor exclusively."

Sima Yi saw that he had transferred out the secret jealousy in Chen Qun's heart in a way of "four or two strokes of a thousand catties", so he secretly relieved his heart.He still resigned for a long time, but finally he couldn't refuse, so he had to take the agate bowl and put it down gently on the side of his seat.Then, he took out a sweet potato from his sleeve that was presented by Lao Yutou of Muyang County that day, held it in his palm, and praised Cao Pi with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty... please forgive me for my rudeness: I will do it right now!" Eat this sweet potato brought back from Hedong County together with the royal porridge you gave you, and you will feel that you are "worthy of the king's favor, and worthy of the trust of the people", and will feel sweet and delicious."

"Oh? This sweet potato was brought back from Hedong County? Why? Is it also an 'auspicious thing'? Does it taste delicious and sweet?..." After hearing this, Cao Pi looked at the sweet potato in surprise. And lo and behold, it is only as big as a fist, and its shape is very ordinary. There is nothing special about it, and there is no "auspicious omen" at all. Sima Yi, however, held the sweet potato reverently, looked straight at Cao Pi who was sitting on the throne on the dragon bed opposite, and said lightly: "Your Majesty Qi Zuo: The taste of this sweet potato is actually not very sweet, and even a little bitter. It doesn't have any "auspicious omen" either, it's just a mortal thing - but it was given to Weichen by an old farmer who met an old farmer when he was inspecting the disaster situation in Hedong County. 'Intention'...Your Majesty may not be clear, since the locust plague fell from the sky in the middle of last month, the people in the Henan area have almost used this thing to barely satisfy their hunger."

"This... this..." Cao Pi's eyes were fixed on the sweet potato, and beads of sweat had unknowingly dripped from his shiny forehead. "It's this thing, I'm afraid they won't be able to eat it for a few days! The victims are all over the mountains and plains, digging the ground three feet - no matter how many sweet potatoes there are in the field, it won't take long for them to be eaten up..." Sima Yi Looking down at the sweet potato in his palm, he still spoke calmly, but tears flowed down his eyes slowly. The expression on Cao Pi's face became more and more uneasy. It was as if sharp steel needles had been inserted into his dragon bed throne, making him unable to sit or lie down.

At this time, Chen Qun sighed deeply: "Sima Pushe, the people in Henan are relatively lucky. When the warlords separated their regimes and the Central Plains was chaotic, they didn't even have grass roots, bark, and white garlic. They have to dig and plan to get them to eat... Now, they still have sweet potatoes to satisfy their hunger, so it should be good..." Cao Pi was even more dumbfounded when he heard this.He gritted his teeth, his face froze, and he spoke slowly: "I was ordered by the heavens to found the country and comfort the people. How can I just sit and watch the hungry people in the world waiting to be fed? Sigh... Sima Aiqing, Chen Aiqing, Xin Pi and Huan Fan also spoke a few days ago. I have found you and complained about the sufferings of the people! After careful consideration, I have decided that for the time being this year, only 30,000 military households and scholar families will be relocated from Shuofang to settle in Gyeonggi. This bottom line, I absolutely cannot back down!"

Sima Yi pondered for a moment, turned his head to exchange glances with Chen Qun, and kowtowed deeply together: "Your Majesty cares about the hungry people, is as benevolent as Yao and Shun, and gracious to the whole world. You are truly a saint! Your Majesty, on behalf of Yuzhou, Sizhou, etc. Thousands of people are deeply grateful to His Majesty for your supreme grace!" When Cao Pi heard what they said, a sincere excitement appeared on his face.He waved his sleeves, straightened his figure, and said with a smile: "I am also a proud son of Confucianism. Don't you understand Xunzi's most reasonable and famous motto of 'love the people and be safe, and be good scholars and be proud'?" Chen Aiqing, Sima Aiqing, I also know that you have been secretly anxious about raising the military rations for the Southern Expedition. Don’t worry, I have personally raised hundreds of thousands of shi for your military rations, and they will be allocated to Taicang soon.” When Chen Qun and Sima Yi heard this, they couldn't help looking at each other: This His Majesty really has some skills, where can he raise hundreds of thousands of shi for military rations at once? ... After a moment of silence in the side hall, Cao Pi picked up a thick stack of memorials from the royal case, held it in his palm, frowned slightly, looked solemn, and said slowly: "By the way, there is one more difficult matter, I must I have to discuss it with the two lovers. Over at Yushitai, Dr. Hua Xin handed over a joint impeachment form to supervise Yushi. They impeached Taiwei Jia Xu——thinking that Jia Taiwei was dereliction of duty. And it caused the locust plague in Henan and the "green rainbow piercing the sun" phenomenon in Liangzhou, so Jia Taiwei should take the blame and resign..." Sima Yi and the two were surprised when they heard this: According to the system of the previous dynasty, although the position of the "Three Lords" is high, if there is a disaster in the "heaven, earth, and people", the current king must be punished and resign.Moreover, this system of exempting the "three lords" due to disasters has a specific corresponding relationship: the position of the Taiwei is in charge of the sky, so if there are disasters such as changes in the sky, droughts, solar eclipses, and locust plagues, the Taiwei will be punished. Resignation; Sikong's position is in charge of the land, so if there are disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, floods, etc., Sikong will be dismissed; Situ's position involves personnel, so if there are plagues, monsters, civil uprisings, etc., Situ will be dismissed .And this time, Hua Xin, the imperial historian, obviously gathered his subordinates to jointly impeach Jia Xu according to this institutional practice. "...The two lovers are also long-time Confucian scholars who are familiar with laws and regulations. How should I deal with these impeachment statements of Doctor Hua and the censors? What advice do you two have?" Cao Pi slowly raised his eyes, bright as lightning stared at them both. Sima Yi glanced sideways at Chen Qun who was sitting on his left.Chen Qun, as a minister, should naturally answer this question first according to the order of official rank.His eyebrows drooped, and he said with a straight face: "This... His Majesty: It seems to be an ancient rule to blame the disaster of locusts falling from the sky and the ominous phenomenon of 'green rainbow piercing the sun'. It shouldn't have been disobedient. However, Taiwei Jia also made immortal contributions to our Wei Youfu Guoyi. It seems that he can also be extrajudicially favored and should not be reprimanded lightly... This is really a dilemma, and the humble minister dare not speak rashly. "He said this verbally, but he knew it clearly in his heart: Hua Xin, the official censor, has always been dissatisfied with Jia Xu's status as a poor scholar in Xiliang, and always has a dark and private intention of "pull him off the horse and replace him". Finally caught the opportunity of "locust disaster from the sky" and "green rainbow through the sun", he naturally won't let it go easily——Hua Xin is stubborn, arrogant, arrogant, and arrogant, Chen Qun also knows it, so it's not easy to provoke him .Moreover, Chen Qun always likes to "float and wander", and he doesn't want to offend any party in the DPRK. He is at the time when Hua and Jia are fighting, but he still withdraws as usual and stands on the other side, not going to that place. Wading in muddy water. "So, Sima Aiqing, what's your opinion?" Cao Pi slowly cast his burning eyes on Sima Yi. Sima Yi gritted his teeth fiercely, arched his sleeves, straightened his face, and replied solemnly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for saying bluntly: I don't approve of the actions of Dr. Hua and the censors! Tracing back to the source, it is because of heaven and earth. The system of blaming the policy and exempting the three lords for disasters was originally a despicable act of blaming the ministers for avoiding the absurdity of the emperor when the Emperor Yong of the Han Dynasty became the emperor Liu Ao. To be ordered by the heavens, to revitalize the administration of officials, and to clarify the world, it is even more important to reform the past and reform the old, establish guidelines and establish disciplines to set an example for all generations! "Your Majesty, don't you always take Emperor Han Wen, a generation of sages, as a model? Emperor Han Wen once said: 'The people are born to be raised and governed by the emperor. If the ruler is not virtuous and the administration is uneven, it will be a disaster from the sky. There is no cure.' And the ancient emperor Shang Tang once said when he was praying for rain for the people: 'If one person is guilty, don't reach ten thousand husbands. If ten thousand husbands are guilty, let the other one be. The fate of the people.'Why don't your majesty abolish the evil system and act resolutely according to the motto of Emperor Wen of Han and Lord Tang of Shang? At that time, all the subjects of the world will be convinced!" After hearing this, Cao Pi sat there quietly, his face flickering, and he didn't say a word for a long time. Sima Yi knew that it would be difficult for someone like Cao Pi, who was full of vanity, to "blame himself and not transfer it to others" like Emperor Wen of Han, but because of the temporary locust plague and the astronomical phenomenon of "green rainbow penetrating the sun", he exempted Jia Xu from responsibility. , and it was really unfair, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to play to Cao Pi earnestly: "Your Majesty... to exempt the 'San Gong' from liability due to a disaster, this case should not be made arbitrarily! Disasters happen from time to time. Can it be sold out? There was still a severe drought in the Shang Tang era, let alone today's world? Jia Taiwei was dismissed today, and there is no guarantee that Zhong Situ, Wang Sikong and others will not be exempted in the future... But, they They are all veterans and important ministers who fully supported you during the battle for the establishment of an heir in the East Palace! How could you bear to drive them out of the temple by using the misty and distant disasters and heresies? This move is really painful for relatives and quick for enemies! I really don’t know Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and the others would be overjoyed if they heard that Jia Taiwei was dismissed and resigned! Besides, if the Southern Expedition is going to happen, there will be no senior officials such as Jia Taiwei, Zhong Situ, and Wang Sikong in the rear of the capital. It is inevitable, Your Majesty There will be worries..." Hearing this, Chen Qun couldn't help but be moved by it: "Your Majesty, I am very impressed after hearing Sima Pushe's words. Regarding the dismissal of Captain Jia due to a temporary natural disaster, it is indeed too harsh. Your Majesty, please think twice." Cao Pi was silent for a long time, and finally said slowly: "Well...Since the two lovers are so worried about my great Wei's foundation, how can I care about my face? After a while, I will Will hand down a handwritten edict to the "disastrous work" on the Yushitai to condemn the head of state, and return it to the shoulders. Is it the righteousness of Yu and Tang to sin against themselves? It will make all the officials devout, and then there will be a world. (sheng, calamity), don't impeach San Gong again.' What do you two lovers think?" Sima Yi and Chen Qun kowtowed their heads together on the seats, touched their foreheads to the ground, and couldn't get up for a long time. They respectfully praised: "Your Majesty' sees goodness as if it is already there, and obeys advice as if it is flowing." admire." The smile on Cao Pi's face disappeared as soon as it appeared, and his eyebrows frowned slightly: "However, Doctor Hua likes to be stubborn. If he gets angry for a while, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult..." At this moment, Sima Yi raised his head to look at Cao Pi, and replied gracefully: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, Dr. Hua is not what your majesty said, but he really dared to disobey the imperial edict. Make friends with Mr. Dong Zhao, Captain of Sili School. You can send Mr. Dong to proclaim the imperial edict on behalf of the emperor. Naturally, he will not lose his temper on the spot. "Actually, Dr. Hua is also a well-versed man, as the saying goes, 'You can sing whatever song you go to,' as the saying goes. If you are really worried that he will keep making trouble, you might as well transfer him to the post of Situ. Switch places with Mr. Zhong and take a look: I assure you that he will never have anything to say about this in the future..." After Cao Pi finished listening, his brows could not help but slowly unfurled, and he nodded thoughtfully.