The next morning, Sima Yi arrived early at the Northern Palace and entered the Eastern Study where he usually worked.
I gently pushed open the door and found that there was no dust on the furniture and decorations inside, which indicated that the eunuchs had just cleaned it yesterday.
After several incense sticks of time, Wei Zhening slowly walked in from outside. Behind him, there were still ten eunuchs who followed with various documents in their hands.
During the time that Your Majesty was not in Luoyang, Wei Zhen worked at the Ministry of Ceremonial, and naturally, he did not have occasion to enter the palace and come to the Western Study.
Today, I am going to bring all the documents from the Ministry of Ceremonial here.
"Wang Zhening arrived early today." Wei Zhen, who was more than one hundred meters away, proactively bowed and greeted Sima Yi.
"Not too late for Master Gong Zhen either," Sima Yi smiled as he looked towards the eunuchs following behind Wei Zhen, "Is the Ministry of Ceremonial so busy?"
Wei Zhen gave a slightly apologetic smile: "It's not that busy actually, each of the six departments and their sub-departments are fulfilling their duties in an orderly manner."
After that, Wei Zhen pointed to the documents held by the eunuchs: "These are mostly the records of the government's handling of various matters over the past six months."
"I brought them over from the Ministry of Ceremonial for two reasons: one is to have you, the Marquis of Song, take a look, and the other is to be ready for Your Majesty's consultation when he calls."
Sima Yi smiled and said, "Master Gong Zhen's thinking is really thorough! Come in, I have something to discuss with you."
"Wang Zhening dared not disobey? Marquis Sima Yi, please lead the way first." Wei Zhen extended his right hand, indicating for Sima Yi to enter first.
Sima Yi gently nodded, then walked in and sat down in his original place, even touching the smooth armrest of the chair with satisfaction.
After the eunuchs had filed out one by one, Sima Yi didn't hesitate and said directly, "Master Gong Zhen, last night at the banquet, I heard Your Majesty's words and it seems that there is a intention to grant a general amnesty."
"Is that true?" Wei Zhening was not aware of it.
"Yes," Sima Yi nodded, "Master Gong Zhen, your eldest son Wei Lie is still studying at home in Chenliu, and my son Sima Shi is also in Wenxian."
"It wouldn't be a problem if the two of us ask for permission together from Your Majesty. We can take advantage of this general amnesty to release all the scholars involved in the previous flimsy cases, wouldn't that be fine?"
Wei Zhen sighed lightly: "To be honest, I haven't seen Lie for a long time in Chenliu, and I often miss him in Luoyang."
"Marquis, please be at ease. I will discuss this matter with Your Majesty together with you!"
Sima Yi was overjoyed, and during the time when Wei Zhen was looking at the documents, he also talked to Wei Zhen about many things that had happened during the Western Expedition, and Wei Zhen replied with events in Luoyang.
One by one, you said a word and I said a word. There was a sense of tacit understanding between us.
As they were engaged in a lively conversation, there was a gentle knock on the door outside by an eunuch: "There is an imperial edict, Your Majesty is summoning Wei Pu She (a title for Wei Zhen) for an audience."
Wei Zhen and Sima Yi exchanged a glance, slowly wiping the smiles from their faces, and bowed towards Sima Yi, saying, "Please excuse me, Marquis. The emperor has summoned me; I will be back shortly."
"Don't worry, summoning from the emperor is a serious matter. Go ahead, Master Gong Zhen. Don't worry about me," Sima Yi replied.
Wei Zhen slightly bowed and turned to walk towards the study. However, he didn't know that Sima Yi had been squinting at him for quite some time from behind.
In the study, Emperor Cao Rui greeted Wei Zhen at the door, and upon meeting him, he grasped Wei Zhen's hands.
"Master Wei, your hard work and achievements are truly commendable! With you in charge of Luoyang and providing for the army, I must recognize your contributions to the war!"
"Wei Zhen humbly declined: "Your Majesty is too kind. I have only done my duty, and these are all within my responsibilities."
"However, just now Marquis Sima mentioned something to me that I think is quite reasonable, and I would like to report it to Your Majesty."
"What is it?" Cao Rui raised his eyebrows, curiously looking at Wei Zhen: "Please take your seat, Wei Pu She!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty." After Wei Zhen took his seat, he began speaking: "Marquis Sima wishes to accompany me to present our recommendation to Your Majesty. We want to take advantage of the general amnesty to free the scholars involved in the previous flimsy cases."
"The Minister believes it is most appropriate at this time."
Cao Rui looked uncertain.
Although Cao Rui was convinced that Wei Zhen would not join the same trench as Sima Yi, it is inevitable to have some thoughts because Wei Zhen's son Wei Lie was also on the list.
Cao Rui took a deep breath: "Indeed, it is a general amnesty! What about Xu Yu and Yuan Kan? Master Wei, do you think they should also be pardoned?"
Wei Zhen shook his head: "Whether to pardon these two, is truly irrelevant. What I want to discuss today is from the perspective of national security."
"How do you know?" Cao Rui said.
Wei Zhen was quite straightforward: "The Flimsy Case has imprisoned nearly two hundred scholars. The 'Four Clevers, Eight Competent, and Three Justices' need not be mentioned, but the rest are either from the scholarly families of Wanyang, Luoyang, Ruyang, and Ying or are the sons of high-ranking officials in Luoyang for the Great Wei."
"The Flimsy Case has been in place for over a year. If imprisonment is to serve as a form of punishment, I believe the time has already been sufficient."
Cao Rui sighed: "I am aware of that. The first party faction in Han Zhongdi's time, which was released from jail after the year of the Hua Shou year and the general amnesty."
"If I delay further, won't these people think I'm not as good as Emperor Han Huan?"
Wei Zhen explained: "Your Majesty is a wise ruler. There is no need to compare with such people."
"But the turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty was largely due to the party faction disaster."
"Since scholars could not hold official positions, they naturally harbored resentment towards the court and the emperor."
"And now the emperor has imprisoned the sons of high-ranking officials. Regardless of whether these people have repentant hearts, if this continues, it may cause grievances among the ministers."
Cao Rui remained silent.
Cao Rui's heart was as clear as a mirror with these things.
But clear is clear, and when it comes to doing it, it's still inevitable to be reluctant.
In the original history, the power of the Cao family was handed over to the Sima family, not in the same way as the Cao family replaced the Han dynasty with force, but more like a parasitic seizure.
In the original history, Sima Yi took advantage of his position as an official in the Great Wei and through matrimonial ties, governance, and military power, gradually gathered a group of high officials around him.
Sima Yi and the connections of the Sima clan from He Nan were almost identical to those of the high officials and important ministers in the Great Wei.
Before the Battle of the High Pingyi, Sima Yi's positive image allowed people to trust him.
After the political change and when Sima Yi's autocratic behavior was evident, there were still many ministers who supported Sima Yi.
It's not just a matter of brute force.
How much does this contain the dissatisfaction with the Great Wei?
In the original history, during the time of the will, the most crucial Liu Fang and Sun Zi both had their sons who were unable to take office due to the Flimsy Case. Sima Shi and Sima Zhao were also unable to take office.
Even He Yan was in the same situation.
They naturally resent the emperor and the Great Wei! People are not trees, they are bound to resent it!
Cao Rui knew all this, but also had no other way to deal with it. The basic requirement of politics is to win people's hearts. At the moment, it was indeed time to release them.
Cao Rui looked at Wei Zhen, "So it seems that I have to compromise after all?"
Wei Zhen kneeled down and said, "I wanted to help Your Majesty gain people's support, not just for myself as a minister!"
"Your Majesty, please understand!"
Cao Rui nodded, "I understand your intentions, Master Wei."
"There's no need to say more, I will agree to this matter. However, after these people are released, although they can live anywhere and are not limited by their original places of residence, they cannot take office for the time being!"
"I don't want this to get out. The Ministry of Personnel is under Master Wei's jurisdiction, so Master Wei will have to prevent it from happening. Do you understand?"
Wei Zhen pondered for a moment, then bowed and agreed.
Cao Rui added, "As for Wei Lie, Master Wei, do you want him to serve under the office of the Great Martial or the Great General? I will let them recruit him."
"Wei Zhen on behalf of Wei Lie, expressed gratitude to Your Majesty for the grace. It doesn't matter whether he serves in Chenjing or Shouchun. It's all up to Your Majesty."
Cao Rui nodded, "Wei Lie has come to Shouchun to report to me, and it's closer to Chenliu than Shouchun. Let him serve under the Great Martial!"
"Master Wei, please go first. Later, I will summon you and Marquis Sima together. At that time, I will decide based on your two opinions."
"Wei Zhen understood." He bowed and left.
Wei Zhen knew that the emperor's words meant not to reveal the matter just yet. He was to wait until he and Sima Yi requested it together, then he would agree.
After Wei Zhen left, Cao Rui stood up, with his hands behind his back, and walked towards the Western Pavilion.
There is also Dong Zhao there!
Dong Zhao is a truly fascinating person.
From his appearance, Dong Zhao seems very old. However, every time Cao Rui talks to him, regardless of his wise eyes or his robust voice, it is extremely incompatible with his actual age.
Cao Rui entered the Western Pavilion. Dong Zhao hurriedly stood up to greet him. They exchanged pleasantries for a few moments before Cao Rui directly moved on to the main topic.
Cao Rui laughed, "I haven't been in Luoyang for a long time, and I'm still not quite used to the fact that there's one less General in this Western Pavilion."
Dong Zhao also responded with a smile, "As the important official in charge of state affairs, General Chen Chang serves on the front line, so the Western Pavilion cannot always rely on me alone."
"Please Your Majesty, select someone else for the Western Pavilion to fill the vacancy left by General Chen Chang."
"Master Dong is straightforward!" Cao Rui laughed heartily, "I have traveled throughout the Great Wei, but I still prefer to talk with Master Dong the most."
"Cao Rui had a question for Dong Zhao, staring into his eyes and asking, "Master Dong, do you want to be the Chancellor or continue to serve in the Western Pavilion?"
Dong Zhao replied, "The other day, it was Your Majesty and I who spoke about the theory of name and reality. I said that, and I also wish to act accordingly."
"I am willing to serve Your Majesty in the Western Pavilion and do not wish to leave Your Majesty's side to serve as a nominal three-state official!"
"I hope Your Majesty will grant my request."
Cao Rui sighed and said, "I have a rough idea, but I still need to ask Dong Zhao directly."
"Cao Rui spoke directly to Dong Zhao, "Let's talk straight. I want to fill one more position in the Western Pavilion and three more positions as Attendants."
Dong Zhao bowed and said, "May I inquire, Your Majesty, whether the selection for the new Chancellor has been decided?"
Cao Rui nodded, "Let Chen Piaoqi return to Luoyang to retire."
Dong Zhao lightly nodded, "It is indeed fitting."
"Yes," Cao Rui also nodded in agreement. "However, regarding the four positions I mentioned just now, what are your thoughts, Master Dong?"
Dong Zhao stood up and walked to the position originally occupied by Cao Zhen, pulled out the chair, and indicated for the emperor to sit down. "Your Majesty, please take a seat first. Let me analyze this matter for you slowly."
Cao Rui nodded indifferently and sat in the chair originally occupied by Cao Zhen.
And Dong Zhao, standing in front of the desk, spoke candidly:
"First of all, I must say that both the Grand Martial and the Grand General are currently leading troops outside. The pressing issue at hand is not to continue consolidating power within the central army, but to establish internal control over external forces!" (This chapter concludes.)
