Chen Qun raised his eyebrows in surprise, clearly unexpected by the emperor's appointment.
Cao Rui looked at Chen Qun, Cao Xu, Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, and Chen Jiao all turned to Chen Qun. Facing the attention of the crowd, Chen Qun hesitated for a second and slowly stood up after confirming that he had not heard wrong.
Yearning for sixty, Chen Qun's hair and beard had already shown signs of graying. But such a leader of the Yingchuan scholars from a distinguished background, when receiving the emperor's military appointment, his solemn and resolute expression unexpectedly exuded a trace of dignity.
Chen Qun solemnly bowed to Cao Rui and said, "Your Majesty, the servant Chen Qun will certainly not fail to fulfill your heavy trust. However, I have a suggestion and a question, please Your Majesty reply."
Cao Rui saw Chen Qun's serious expression, also straightened the collar of his robe: "Please speak, Chen minister."
Chen Qun said, "I have one thing to say, Your Majesty, when you first asked us ministers about the matter of attacking Wu, I said at that time that I did not suggest using military force."
"I am still saying the same thing now, I still do not suggest that Your Majesty uses military force against Wu. As soon as Wu invades, after I go to Jingzhou, I will be loyal to guarding the border and cannot bear the burden of going south to attack."
Cao Rui asked: "Then how will you do when you are in Jingzhou?"
Chen Qun thought for a moment: "Wen Pin has been governing Jiangxia for nearly twenty years, and no one in the world is more familiar with the city's geography, mountains, rivers, and terrain than Wen Pin. With Wen Pin in Jiangxia is enough; where I should go is Xiangyang."
Cao Rui nodded: "Your words are very true, and I also have this intention."
"I think that Sun Quan holds the southern bank of the Yangtze River and relies entirely on its navy. Daring to cross the river to attack Jiangxia is merely to strike when the enemy is unprepared."
"Now that the movements of the Wu army have been discovered by Wen Pin, the two armies must be in a stalemate, and there is nothing to worry about in the short term."
Chen Qun expressed agreement: "Your Majesty is wise, the territory of my great Wei's Jiangxia County is across the river from the Wu's Wuyang Commandery. After Sun Quan declared himself king, the Wu's central army has been stationed in Wuyang."
"At present, only the city of Xiangyang is on the southern bank of the Han River. Sun Quan's attack on Jiangxia may also be intended to divert troops and attack Xiangyang simultaneously, in order to achieve the goal of fully occupying the southern bank of the Han River."
Cao Rui sighed, "The descendants of Taiqiu Gong have such military strategy talent! Taiqiu Gong refers to the grandfather of Chen Qun, Chen Shu, the famous figure of the Eastern Han Dynasty from Yingchuan."
Although Chen Qun's military strategies had impressed Cao Rui, in reality, the scholarly community, or even more narrowly speaking, scholars from Yingchuan often accompanied the army in battle.
Xu Qiu, who was once Cao Cao's military strategist, was particularly skilled at finding opportunities between two arrays. Zhong Yao of Yingchuan also once commanded the troops of Guanxi several times.
In the Three Kingdoms period or the end of the Han Dynasty, scholars could serve as civil officials or join the military, and there was no clear divide. On the contrary, it was much more difficult for descendants of military families to become civil officials.
At the age of twenty-three, the emperor naturally felt a sense of being overbearing when mentioning his grandfather to an elderly minister who was nearly sixty years old.
Seeing the strange look in Chen Qun's eyes, Cao Rui explained, "I have no other intentions. I just received a military report from the palace at four o'clock in the morning today. After chatting with Chen Tai, the officer on duty of the Palace Guards Camp who is on duty tonight. He also has some thoughts about military affairs against Wu."
This time, it was Chen Qun who was surprised.
Seeing that the emperor mentioned his son, Chen Qun quickly bowed his hands: "How can the military of the country be discussed by one officer? Your servant will definitely punish him when he returns home."
Cao Rui waved his hand: "No problem. It was I who asked him. This time when Chen Yin goes to Xiangyang, take Chen Tai along with him. Serve as a military advisor in your camp."
Chen Qun bowed and said, "I thank Your Majesty for the favor on behalf of my son. I do not intend to take the central army with me on this trip to Xiangyang."
The central army of Cao Wei, or commonly known as the Central Army, often accompanied Cao Cao and his son Cao Pi in their campaigns all over the four directions. If Chen Qun did not take the central army with him, he would have to rely on border troops and county militia in Jingzhou.
Cao Rui asked in confusion, "Will you not take the central army to suppress the enemy? I originally planned to dispatch Zhang Heng to accompany you to Jingzhou."
Chen Qun replied, "Whether Sun Quan attacks Xiangyang or Jiangxia, I believe that the border troops and the soldiers of the state commanderies are enough for defense."
"During the reign of the late emperor, whether it was the rebellion in the Western Regions or the three campaigns against Wu, the central army was always deployed. Each time, it had to travel thousands of miles away and incurred enormous expenses and significant losses."
"The central army should remain seated in Luoyang to stabilize the country. I hope the emperor will consider my advice."
Cao Rui was uncertain for a moment, looking at Cao Zhen, who had participated in several campaigns in Jingzhou: "I'm not quite sure. What do you think, General?"
Zhang Hue had been stationed in the western front for a long time and was an old subordinate of Cao Zhen.
If Chen Qun's plan for going to Jingzhou was just defense, then there was indeed nothing to worry about. Cao Zhen also did not want to give up Zhang Heng and his troops to Chen Qun.
Cao Zhen replied, "If it is only about defense, I think it is feasible. Among the border areas, Xiangyang is closest to Luoyang, and it is sufficient to make temporary deployments."
Seeing that Cao Zhen, a royal family general, nodded in agreement, Cao Rui did not hesitate: "Then let it be as Chen Yin said."
Chen Qun said, "Your Majesty, I have another question to ask the emperor. I want to ask the emperor whether the invasion by Sun Quan this time will change the emperor's strategy of resting and cultivating people?"
Chen Qun's mission to Jingzhou will prioritize defense. However, Chen Qun is also worried that this time Sun Quan's invasion may anger the emperor and lead to a change in the previously agreed-upon strategy of allowing the Wei state to rest and recover.
Cao Rui spoke decisively: "No! Rebuilding national strength is the top priority. Sun Quan's invasion will not change my attitude."
Chen Qun nodded: "Then please wait for the good news of a decisive victory over Wu's troops."
Chen Qun mentioned the victory reports, not to boast about his certainty of winning, but because there has been too much warfare for the Wei state. It is a tradition before departure to boast a bit, and no one wants to say anything gloomy.
In fact, Cao Rui has already thought about Chen Qun's appointment for two months.
The power structure of Cao Wei was actually very distorted.
Taking the Eastern Han Dynasty as an example, the highest power in the Eastern Han Dynasty was held by the emperor. Below the emperor, there were three factions: the relatives of empresses and concubines, scholars, and eunuchs.
If we follow the original plan, the three factions should act like poker players, and when one of them appears, the other two should unite to achieve a balance of power.
But the reality was quite different. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the two emperors of Han, Zhong and Ling, had been ruled by the relatives of empresses and concubines and eunuchs combined, which was still not enough to suppress the scholars' power struggle.
Unable to bear this situation, the emperor had to step in as the arbiter. Twice, he launched the "Party Membership" Disaster, prohibiting some scholars from holding office by imperial order, maintaining a fragile balance.
However, during the reign of Emperor Ling, General He Jin, as a relative of the empress, was tricked by scholars such as Yuan Shao and became indecisive. The chaos of the world began from this moment.
The power structure of Cao Wei is even more distorted than that of the Eastern Han Dynasty, including only two groups: the Xaopei warrior class and the Youying scholar class. The Zuo, Xiahou, and other royal families also belong to the larger Xaopei warrior class collective.
The structure of balancing scholar families in the Eastern Han Dynasty, with a "two against one" system, became a "one against one."
Among the Cao family's kinship generals, the second-generation royals were left with only Cao Xu and Cao Zhen as two generals who could be trusted, making them in a transitional period between the first and second generations.
In contrast, among the scholars? They produced a succession of distinguished officials, with scholarly traditions passed down through generations, emerging one after another like green onions.
In the original timeline, it was the scholarly community led by Sima Yi who successfully carried out a coup to overthrow the foolish Cao Shuang and seize power.
Cao Rui of course understood that the scholarly clan needed to be balanced. But when the state was in urgent need of talent, who else could be used if scholars were not appointed to office?
Even if we take a step back, if it is absolutely necessary to cultivate a military general who is skilled in command from among the scholars,
Cultivating a sixty-year-old Chen Qun, whose ancestors have always been better in virtue, surely beats using a forty-something Sima Yi, isn't it safer?
