At first, Xu She couldn't quite understand the style of the emperor's words. But as their conversations grew more frequent, Xu She increasingly felt that the emperor was a good person to be with.
In fact, the essence of communication between the emperor and his officials is not too different from ordinary scholars. If the conversation goes well, things that cannot be said will naturally be said. If the conversation is not smooth, then business as usual, and you can answer whatever the emperor asks.
Xu Shi tried to hint, "Your Majesty uses the word 'floating beauty' really skillfully."
Cao Rui smiled and looked at Xu Shi, "For instance, you, Lord Xu, are not someone of superfluous splendor."
Xu Shi nodded, "I also believe that I am not someone of superfluous splendor, but Your Majesty, what kind of person do you consider to be a person of superfluous splendor?"
Cao Rui said, "Since Lord Xu asked, I will explain to you in detail."
"In terms of talent and virtue, the concept of 'superfluous splendor' refers to seeking virtue. In terms of alliances and factions, the concept refers to seeking alliances."
Xu Shi rode on his horse and remained silent for a moment after hearing the emperor's discussion. Only after a while did he ask, "Your Majesty, it is not easy to suppress superfluous splendor."
Cao Rui replied, "Of course, it is not easy. If it were easy, I would not have to say it myself."
"Lord Xu, you are to succeed Bao Xun as the Grand Secretary of the Censors. What do you think of Bao Xun?"
Bao Xun was a minister during the years of Jia'an and Huang Chu of Wei, and he had a feud with Cao Wei, who was then the prince, due to official business. He was also executed in the seventh year of Huang Chu for offending Cao Wei.
In fact, being repeatedly asked for opinions by the emperor was a very headache thing. Xu Shi was quite helpless but had to continue, "I think Bao Xun deserves the punishment."
Cao Rui gave Xu Shi a glance: "I just said that Lord Xu was not fooling me, how come he's fooling me again now?"
Xu Shi said with a frightened expression, "I...I don't know what Your Majesty means."
Cao Rui didn't mind much: "When the previous emperor killed Bao Xun, he called the Principal Justice Gao Rong to the palace and had Bao Xun killed by avoiding the Principal Justice. According to law, Bao Xun's crime should not be punishable by death."
"But I believe that Bao Xun had his own way of seeking death. Different from the previous emperor's view, I think Bao Xun frequently visited the palace to discuss the private matters of the previous emperor and made offensive remarks."
"When I was reading books in the palace, the things that Bao Xun advised the previous emperor about were mostly limited to the personal affairs and morals of the previous emperor. It seems like if the previous emperor went hunting or listened to music, it would lead to the downfall of the country, but very little was said about important national matters."
Cao Rui looked into Xu Shi's eyes: "Lord Xu, do you think Bao Xun was a deceptive and unjustly famous person?"
"This..." After thinking for a moment, Xu Shi said, "This trend cannot be allowed to persist; it is indeed an act of buying fame and reputation."
Cao Rui sighed lightly: "Yes, that's the act of buying fame and reputation. No matter whether it's Emperor Wu or the previous emperor, when faced with such things, maintaining authority is the best response. It is actually worse for a minister to focus on the personal matters of the ruler rather than discussing important national affairs."
"This is the first point I mentioned. Between 'talent' and 'virtue', I choose 'talent'."
Xu Shi nodded and said, "Does Your Majesty mean that those who flatter others with fine words are not as good as those who are loyal, upright, and have far-sighted vision with substance?"
Cao Rui smiled and asked, "Do I remember correctly that this saying was said by Guo Xuchuan and Emperor Wu during the Battle of Guandu before?"
Xu Shi nodded slightly: "Guo Jia's words are too famous. I've heard them a few times, and I can almost recite them."
Cao Rui said, "Guo Jia often utters grand words. According to his way of thinking, the comparison between Emperor Wu and Yuan Shao would not be just ten victories and ten defeats; it could even be fifty victories and fifty defeats. However, I think this saying is quite apt."
"For example, like when Kong Rong publicly advised literati Binyuan. Kong Rong had once advised Binyuan to take benevolence as his responsibility, serve the people and contribute to the world, rather than just cultivating his own character and maintaining his chastity."
Xu Shi thought for a moment and said, "I have also heard that when Liu Bei was interacting with Chen Deng, Xu Si, and others in Xuzhou, Liu Bei had once scolded Xu Si for seeking land and asking about homes without worrying about his country or saving the world."
Cao Rui was taken aback: "Seeking land and asking about homes? Was that a remark Liu Bei made about Xu Si?"
Xu Shi replied, "That's right."
Cao Rui looked up at the sky and took a long time before saying out loud, "Seeking land and asking about homes, one should be ashamed to see Liu Lang's talent."
Now it was Xu Shi's turn to be taken aback: "Your Majesty's words are truly exquisite."
Cao Rui waved his hand: "That saying is something I heard too. Let's not talk about Binyuan and Xu Si anymore. Let's discuss Emperor Wu's decree for seeking talent."
"Emperor Wu issued the decree for seeking talent three times. The years of Jia'an have passed, as have the years of Huang Chu. I didn't feel much about it when I was in the East Palace before, but until last year when I took office, upon reviewing Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen's words again, I read some new feelings."
"Is there anyone in today's world who is hiding their talents and treasures in a simple robe, fishing by the Wei River? And is there anyone who has stolen their brother-in-law's wife and accepted bribes but has not yet encountered someone who knows of it? Have you heard this saying, Lord Xu?"
Xu Shi replied, "I have heard it. It should be the first decree for seeking talent in Jian'an fifteen years."
Cao Rui sighed, "Yes, it is indeed the one from Jian'an fifteen years. Does Emperor Wu's statement of 'appointing talent regardless of virtue' only mean to select those who are unkind and uncivilized?"
"However, in the years of Jia'an, the art of governing and waging war was more important than cultivating one's own character. Attaining clarity within oneself is of no benefit to the people or to the success or failure of great enterprises, but rather a way to buy fame and reputation."
Xu Shi said, "I understand Your Majesty's meaning. If we must choose between talent and virtue, talent is more important than virtue. It's not that 'virtue' is not important; rather, 'talent' better meets the current needs."
Cao Rui agreed, "Indeed. Guan Zhong betrayed his ruler and served the enemy, and he was luxurious and lacking in propriety. However, Guan Zhong assisted Qi Huan Gong in uniting the feudal lords nine times. Confucius once said, 'Without Guan Zhong, I might have been wearing my hair down with the left lapel inside out.'"
Xu Shi asked, "The discussion of 'talent and virtue' has been explained by Your Majesty very clearly. What about the concept of 'alone' and 'party'?"
Cao Rui glanced at Xu Shi, "Does Lord Xu not know this himself? Does he need the emperor to explain?"
At this time, Xu Shi also smiled and said, "I understand. At the end of the day, Your Majesty is still correcting the weaknesses of the Han era."
Cao Rui said, "That's exactly the point. Since the end of the Han era, what were those three lords, eight talents, eight advisors, eight scholars, eight chefs, and eight dragons? Scholars evaluated each other's high and low status and used these evaluations as a basis to seek official positions. What is this putting the imperial court in?"
"Pang De Gong and Sima De Cao called Zhuge Liang 'the sleeping dragon' and Pang Tong 'the phoenix chick.' If this trend continues, since both dragons and phoenixes have emerged, do you believe that in the future there might be something like a 'lamb' or a 'tiger'?"
Xu Shi was dizzy by the leaping thoughts of the emperor. He immediately said, "This... perhaps, perhaps there will be."
Cao Rui turned his head and looked back from his horse. Zhang Fei, Jiang Wei, several chamberlains, Xie Yuan, and Jiang Wei were riding horses several zhang away from the emperor. They glanced over for a moment and then immediately turned back.
Cao Rui said, "Such appraisals among scholars are essentially discussions of factions."
"Since the end of the Han era, scholars have often prioritized trends and profit over filial piety and moral integrity. They form factions and comment on each other, praising them to the sky if they are in their own party, and tearing them down even more if they are from a different party as a form of punishment."
"Those called 'party people', this is what party people are. This is not just forming factions, but also destroying the state's system for selecting officials."
"Since the end of the Jian'an period, the court has used the Nine-rank Official Merit System to appraise scholars, which is to root out the mutual appraisal among scholars. Although in my opinion, there are also many shortcomings in the Nine-rank Official Merit System, it is at least a hundred times better than this scholar appraisal."
Xu Shi agreed, "Your Majesty is entirely correct. If it depends on party evaluations to become an official, how could someone from a poor family like mine in Yingchuan serve the country? I might still be just an county clerk."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Lord Xu is not the same. You have returned from Liu Bei's place, and Great Wei naturally will appoint you an official."
Xu Shi also nodded and smiled.
In fact, Cao Rui appreciates Xu Shi quite a bit. He is straightforward and honest in his words, and has served in both the provinces and as the Inspector of the Secretariat. This shows that he has experience in both local and imperial matters.
Moreover, from Xu Shi's conversation, it can be seen that Xu Shi is not the image of leaving Liu Bei's service and serving Cao Wei as forced as rumors suggest. On the contrary, it seems quite normal to change jobs, just like Chen Qun, Yuan Han, Tian Yu, and others who have worked under Liu Bei.
Thinking of this, Cao Rui prepared to ask Xu Shi his last question: "Lord Xu, you have also served as the Inspector General for nearly a year. In your opinion, what is the biggest problem with the officials in the court of Great Wei?"
Xu Shi didn't hesitate and directly said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the biggest problem with officials in the court of Great Wei is the lack of clear rights and responsibilities."
Cao Rui slightly widened his eyes and immediately asked, "Where are the unclear rights and responsibilities?"
Xu Shi said, "In my view, officials at the court often lack assessment in their actions. Although the court has assigned offices and positions, there is no clear basis for evaluating how much work has been done or how many tasks have been completed."
"When I served as the Inspector General, I also had responsibility for managing the governors of various states. However, although in name I had this responsibility, in reality, I could not manage and evaluate the deeds of the governors of each state."
"From this point of view, there are many positions in the imperial court that lack evaluation criteria. Over time, officials will inevitably become lax."
Cao Rui nodded: "I understand your meaning. Establishing clear rights and responsibilities and evaluating officials—that's what you're saying."
"I talked to the Grand General and the Minister of Justice yesterday about the various titles in the army. For example, the position of Jugao is only placed in the provinces, while that of Xiangyu is only kept in the army. Also, Zongjiang was not a regular position before, and it should be changed to a general title."
"Your title of Zongjiang, Lord Xu, I will exchange it for a general title after I arrive in Shou Spring."
Xu Shi said with a hint of trepidation, "I have not achieved anything of merit, how can I deserve a general title?"
Cao Rui said, "Lord Xu, you are starting to be modest again. From now on, there will no longer be a position of Zongjiang. Are you suggesting that you want to become a Xiangyu in the army?"
What can Xu Shi say? He can only respond with silence.
Cao Rui looked at Xu Shi and said, "There are countless complex matters in the army and the court. After this battle is over, it should be thoroughly reorganized. Lord Xu, when you arrive, accompany me back to the capital and help me sort out these systems, rights, and evaluations."
Xu Shi, sitting on his horse, bowed and said, "Your Majesty has such confidence in me, and I am willing to go to any lengths for Your Majesty."
(Chapter complete)
