Mati smirks at his eldest son, neither angry nor upset, but still continuing to ask gently, "Do you want to enter the military and achieve military glory?"
Simaya nods: "Indeed."
Sima Yi continues to ask, "There are many ways to achieve military merit. Breaking a city, defeating an army, beheading a commander, capturing a flag, and holding out. Which do you want to establish?"
Simaya pauses slightly, blurting out, "Father, I want to follow the king's troops to capture Wu and Shu, and establish unparalleled merits!"
"Just being a vanguard is enough!"
"Very well, you have ambition," Sima Yi says. "If you become a vanguard, how many troops can you command and what great achievements can you make?"
Simaya purses his lips: "Father, I can command 5,000 troops to attack and defeat the evil that self-defends."
"Straightforward to lead 5,000 troops as a vanguard? Is it that easy?" Sima Yi mutters to himself, then looks up at Sima Shi:
"As the father, I accompany the imperial troops on the Western Campaign against Shu, from Luoyang to Chang'an, and then to Longyou, Qiyuan, and Hanzhong. I can say that I am familiar with all the important military information of both large and small campaigns."
"Do you know who the vanguard of this battle is?"
Sima Shi wants to enter the army and lead troops, but in reality, he doesn't have a particular fondness for the military.
The great Wei Dynasty currently does not value favorites or favoritism towards foreign families. The basic way to advance in the government is only through two channels.
Whether it is literature or military.
As a traditional scholar, the natural path for an official is to first pass the filial piety examination, then become a literary official. Afterwards, one may be sent to serve in various counties or remain at the Minister of War office and various government agencies in Luoyang.
Sima Shi, at the age of twenty, was imprisoned by the imperial court, which caused a sense of disillusionment and disappointment towards both the imperial court and its officials.
Lost on the eastern corner, gained in the mulberry tree. Unwilling to pursue the civil official path, the only choice before him was to become a military officer and lead troops.
In Sima Shi's twenty-year growth process, he had no profound understanding of the army. His father Sima Yi taught him only political and psychological matters, without any military knowledge.
The questions about military achievements and vanguard roles completely baffled Sima Shi.
Sima Shi struggled with himself for a while and sighed, saying, "Father, I am not aware of the western campaign. Please guide me."
Sima Yi nods: "At the battle of Lüeiyang, the vanguard was General Yan Shouzhi, who holds the title of Town West General. In the Battle of Chiuting, the vanguard was General Guo Hui, who used to be the Prefectural Administrator of Mian and is currently the General Commanding a Campaign against Shu."
"And during the campaign to conquer Hanzhong, the vanguard was none other than General Cao Zhen himself."
Sima Yi's eyes became increasingly sharp as he looked at Sima Shi: "Ziyuan, can you do such a vanguard role?"
Sima Shi felt a bit of pressure from his father's gaze and lowered his head to answer: "I was mistaken. Father, I originally thought that the so-called vanguard was just leading several thousand troops at the front of the army."
"But I never thought it was such an important position."
Sima Yi says: "General Yan Shouzhi is already in his sixties, and General Guo Hui was originally a fortunate person, but he is now over forty."
"This kind of title, such as Town West General and General Commanding a Campaign against Shu, cannot be achieved just by establishing military merits in the army?"
"Even if you are exceptionally intelligent and brave, but at the age of twenty, how many years do you have to endure in the army? Twenty years or thirty years?"
Sima Shi says: "It is my negligence. I didn't know these internal matters."
Sima Yi asks again: "Do you know how many soldiers died in the battle when the Wei Dynasty captured Hanzhong?"
Sima Shi purses his lips and does not answer; instead, he lowers his gaze and shakes his head to indicate that he is unaware.
Sima Yi's expression gradually becomes serious: "Ziyuan, you don't know the military affairs, and I am not surprised."
"There are countless high-ranking officials and noble families in the world. How many of them truly know the military affairs?" he says. "Lack of military knowledge does not prevent your wealth and status."
"But Ziyuan, just now you clearly said that you wanted to join the army, take command of troops, and achieve military merit. Yet, you don't even know these most basic things about the military. Saying '3,000 soldiers' or '5,000 soldiers' sounds like child's play. That's 3,000 lives or 5,000 lives!"
Sima Yi's voice is not loud, but when his sharp eyes lock onto Sima Shi's face, Sima Shi feels extremely uncomfortable: "What kind of army do you want to join and what kind of military merit do you want to achieve?"
"Sima Ziyuan, since you began your education, no matter how busy the imperial court affairs were, for over a decade, have I ever stopped imparting knowledge through words and example?"
"All that time spent reading books in Wenshan, our hometown, for over a year, it didn't prevent you from gaining weight or from having a child, but it wore down your sharpness and your ambitions!"
"You know the two characters for 'floating' and 'settling', but you can't bear to be patient? Such a lack of tolerance!"
Sima Shi instinctively wanted to run away, but hindered by reason, he dare not move. With each sentence from his father, as if hammering a nail into his heart, Sima Shi grits his teeth and clenches his rear molars, forcing himself not to tremble.
Sima Yi, as the Grand Marshal of the Great Wei Dynasty and having served as a recorder of the Secretariat for many years, truly assumed an air of authority in front of his twenty-year-old son. He was far from being able to withstand it.
"Sima Ziyuan! What are you avoiding?"
Sima Shi can no longer bear it, so he kneels down from his position on the chair, falls to his knees in front of Sima Yi, and looks up at his father with an earnest expression:
"Father, the emperor is in his prime, not much older than me. At twenty, I have this 'qualification' of being confined. If I really become an official, won't people hold this against me in the future?"
"Moreover, I regard these officials in the imperial court as nothing more than rotting wood and lifeless sculptures. They are nothing but noisy insects and dogs pursuing trivial matters. They don't care about the country, but only about what kind of herbs and drugs the scholars take!"
"I do not wish to associate with them!"
Sima Yi stood up and approached, using his fingers to pinch the flesh on Sima Shi's side of the face. He examined it for a moment before suddenly lifting his leg and kicking forward.
Sima Shi was completely unprepared, and he fell to the ground, covering his painful shoulder with his hand. He stared at his father in disbelief.
Sima Yi, with his hands crossed, looks down at Sima Shi from above: "Just now, I kicked you this foot, from a higher position and it was very easy to kick!"
"Do you feel any resentment?"
Sima Shi grinds his teeth and replies: "Father teaching a son is a natural thing. How could there be any resentment?"
Sima Yi says: "For twenty years, I have never beaten you, but today I am infuriated by your words."
"You have been kicked in front of me and can say such things. Why don't you talk about face in my presence?"
Sima Shi looks confused and unsure of what to answer.
Sima Yi adds: "As my eldest son, you naturally don't need to talk about face. As an official in the imperial court and serving as a subject, do you also need to care about face?"
"Because you don't like those in power in the imperial court and fear being mocked or pointed at, which might damage your reputation of 'nearly able to manage the affairs of the world,' do you refuse to be a civil official?"
"I tell you, the current state of the country is not yet stable, and both civil and military affairs are equally important. This is just a temporary thing. The attitude of Wu and Shu will not last for even ten years."
"In ten years, you will be thirty years old. By then, the country will be unified, and civil and military affairs will take separate paths. Warriors at that time will again become the blades in the hands of high officials in the imperial court, just like in Han times."
"Don't be the blade, be the one who holds the blade!"
Sima Shi kneels down again and sits up straight, lowering his head to listen to his father's instruction.
Sima Yi says: "Ziyuan, today I said some harsh words to you. It was not my intention to trouble you but to make you remember what I said today."
"The path of a civil servant is like a battlefield. If you do not advance, you will regress. There is no reason to retreat before you have even started."
"Father is not yet in my mid-fifties and has already held the position of a marquess. In another thirty or forty years, how could our family, the Sima family, not become a two-generation marquess?"
"How could the Sima family of Henan not be as illustrious as the Yuan family of Nanyang in the past?"
"Ziyuan, do not worry. With your father's support, you need not worry about the words of the little people!"
Sima Shi nods and says: "Thank you for your guidance, Father. I understand now."
Sima Yi asks: "What have you understood?"
Sima Shi says: "Do not be a sword in someone else's hand; be the one who wields the sword!"
"One's own destiny should be in one's own hands, not in the hands of others!"
Sima Yi is slightly taken aback, his son's words are not quite what he expected. Fortunately, he has already enlightened him and awakened his desire to serve in the government. The rest of the ideas do not make much difference.
At this moment, the steward of the Sima mansion gently knocks on the door: "Report, Master, Marquis Gao of the Judicial Yuan has arrived and is waiting in the antechamber."
Gao Ruan?
Sima Yi's voice grew slightly louder, addressing from outside: "Please wait a moment. I will be right there."
Having said that, Sima Yi bent down to support Sima Shi: "Come on, Ziyuan, let's go together and see the Marquis of the Judicial Yuan."
"Last year, I appointed the eldest son of Marquis Gao Ruan, Gao Jun, as a member of my household. Thus, we have gained some understanding with each other."
"Gao Ruan is not an outsider. I will speak with him, and Ziyuan should listen more than ask questions. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Sima Shi answers while pulling open the door and following behind Sima Yi as they walk towards the front hall.
After a moment, Gao Ruan, who was sitting and waiting on the chair, heard the footsteps of Sima Yi and slowly stood up, smiling and walked a few steps forward to welcome him.
"Zhida, it's been a long time. Your charisma remains the same! Congratulations on your great achievements this time and your favor with the emperor!"
Before the words had finished, Gao Ruan saw Sima Shi standing behind Sima Yi and asked, "Ziyuan has also returned from Wenshan?"
"Greetings, Marquis Gao," Sima Shi says: "I am the younger of your eldest son's students and I just returned from Wenshan today."
Gao Ruan slightly nodded, and Sima Yi pointed to the chair and said, "Brother Wenhui, please take a seat. I wonder what important matter today has caused Brother Gao to visit in person?"
Gao Ruan is not polite either. After sitting down, he directly answers: "I have come to see Zhida to say something of great importance."
"What is it?" Sima Yi asks calmly after sitting down.
Gao Ruan begins, "Do you remember the examination and assessment system that Your Lordship was ordered to oversee by the emperor last year?"
"I remember this matter quite well," Sima Yi nods in agreement, but secretly curses in his heart. What's the matter with Your Majesty ordering it? It was actually you who dug your own pit and had to accept it!"
Gao Ruan sighs: "I remember that the emperor was then in Gaigu. After receiving my memorandum and draft, His Majesty ordered pilot testing in the imperial court, military forces, and state governments."
Sima Yi nods: "I understand this matter well. The six departments took the Ministry of Engineering and the Ministry of Justice as pilot projects, the military took the Yangtze River region under the command of Marquis Xian as a pilot project, and the three provinces of Liang, Yuan, and Yu were taken as pilot projects in each state."
"This list was made at the time when I, along with the General, jointly determined it and then presented it to the emperor. How can I not be clear about it?" (This chapter ends)
