Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 18: A lot of help
The emperor said that Chen Qun and Sima Yi were friends of the late emperor, not his own friends.

From Wei Zhen's perspective, the emperor's attitude was already very clear.

The reason why Cao Rui asked Wei Zhen this question was certainly because Wei Zhen was his teacher, but a more important reason was that Wei Zhen was an extremely upright and rigorous person who never formed cliques for personal gain, and this was known to everyone in the court and the country.

With Wei Zhen's family background, he naturally had a place in the Wei court. Why should he be close to other important officials?
Since the emperor asked, Wei Zhen could only answer truthfully.

Wei Zhen thought for a moment and said slowly: "I think that Lord Chen and Lord Sima are the hope of the court. As for the country, I don't know."

Wei Zhen was telling the truth. Among the four ministers, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen were the ones who commanded the army because of their importance as relatives of the Cao family, and the emperor could not and did not need to replace them. It was not surprising that the two ministers who recorded the affairs of the Shangshu, Chen Qun and Sima Yi, became the objects of the emperor's concern.

After hearing what Wei Zhen said, Cao Rui sighed slightly: "I am only 23 years old, and the four ministers hold high positions and great power. I am not suspicious of them, but I am a little uneasy in my heart."

Wei Zhen nodded and said, "I understand your majesty's meaning, but the court is stable at the moment, your majesty does not need to rush, you must take your time."

Cao Rui looked at Wei Zhen and said, "It is right to slow down the process, but there must be a priority in slowing down the process. Which should come first, military power, administration, personnel, etc.?"

Wei Zhen thought for a moment and said, "The Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the country. Your Majesty can influence it with imperial edicts. The administrative power is not a concern."

"As for military power, the troops in various prefectures and counties are not a concern. The various Caos, Xiahou and their relatives and friends are leading troops outside. This is the old system of Emperor Wu and the previous emperor, and they have long been favored by the country. At present, not only do they not need to be weakened, but they should be strengthened."

Cao Rui interrupted and asked, "What about the central army? What about the central army in Luoyang?"

Wei Zhen shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty went to the Wuwei Camp a few days ago, and I believe he must know the attitude of Wuwei General Xu Chu."

"Although Chen Qun is currently in charge of the Central Army, the Central Army has been with Emperor Wu and the previous emperor for a long time, and it is far from being something that Chen Qun alone can command freely."

"What's more, the Grand Marshal and the General are both in Luozhong at this time. Chen Qun is only in charge of daily affairs. It is impossible for him to do anything else. He doesn't have the courage or the ability to do so."

Cao Rui heard this and said, "What if I want to remove Chen Qun's power to lead the central army?"

Wei Zhen answered decisively: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. Chen Qun already has several positions. In the future, Your Majesty can replace Chen Qun's real position of leading the central army with a nominal position."

Cao Rui nodded upon hearing this: "I understand. In fact, I think that military power is important, but personnel matters are also of the utmost importance."

"I want to promote a group of close and old ministers and clan members to rely on. I want to confer some positions on the Central Army and the Imperial Guard."

"Master Wei, do you think this is appropriate?"

At this time, it was Wei Zhen's turn to be puzzled: "If there is a vacancy, Your Majesty can select the virtuous and capable and issue an imperial decree to appoint them. I am in charge of the Ministry of Personnel in the Shangshutai, so Your Majesty's orders will naturally be fulfilled. How can there be any problem?"

Cao Rui explained: "Of course I know that I can just issue an edict. Regarding personnel elections, I am actually worried about the system of selecting officials."

"If it is for the present, I will naturally appoint my close friends to important positions. But if we consider the long term, we must select the virtuous and capable."

"Which virtuous and capable people should we choose? As the Minister of Personnel, do you have the ability to directly select talents from all over the country for me?"

Wei Zhen fell silent. Cao Wei's current talent selection system was actually a transitional stage from the recommendation system to the Nine-Rank System.

In short, prefectures and counties could recommend filial and honest officials based on their moral character, and the county's Zhongzheng could also rank people based on their family background and conduct.

The result of using both the imperial examination system and the Nine-Rank System was naturally a chaotic official selection system. In other words, if you want to select young officials, you either look at their family background or their moral character. The Nine-Rank System had just been implemented, and today, in essence, it is not much different from the Han Dynasty.

Cao Rui himself certainly knew about the imperial examination system of later generations, but in the current Three Kingdoms era, consolidating the ruling foundation and unifying the country was the top priority. How could he come up with this imperial examination system and push the aristocratic families to the opposite side? The emperor's problem made Wei Zhen feel troubled. From the current system framework, it was indeed difficult to solve this problem.

Seeing that Wei Zhen did not reply for a long time, Cao Rui looked at Wei Zhen and said softly: "Master Wei, what do you think of the Imperial College?"

Wei Zhen was puzzled: "Imperial Academy? Imperial Academy is a place for studying classics, and now the Imperial Academy has long been in ruins and no longer as grand as it was during the Han Dynasty. What does your Majesty mean by this?"

Cao Rui asked: "The prefectures and counties are too far away from Luoyang, but the Imperial College is in Luoyang, and the various situations of the students in the Imperial College can be evaluated in time."

"If students of the Imperial College can become officials, and talents from all over the country are selected to enter the Imperial College for evaluation, wouldn't it be possible to truly select people with outstanding talents and virtues?"

Wei Zhen was stunned. Isn't the Imperial Academy a place for studying classics? How did the emperor link the Imperial Academy with being an official? There didn't seem to be a necessary connection between the two.

Wei Zhen asked: "Your Majesty, will you directly select officials from the students of the Imperial College? This is unprecedented. Your Majesty asked me, and I don't know how to proceed for the time being."

Cao Rui thought for a moment and asked, "Who is in charge of the affairs of the Imperial College now?"

Wei Zhen replied: "The affairs of the Imperial College are currently being managed by the Grand Commandant Zhong Yao."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "The Grand Commandant is old and virtuous. I have only been on the throne for a short time and I need your maturity and prudentness. Master Wei, how about I go to visit Grand Commandant Zhong at his residence?"

Wei Zhen responded, "The Grand Commandant is a popular figure in the court. Your Majesty's personal visit to him is a gesture of closeness to the ministers, and I naturally agree with it."

After some conversation, Wei Zhen was ready to bid farewell to the emperor and return to the Secretariat, and Cao Rui also stood up to see him off.

Just as Wei Zhen was about to leave, Cao Rui asked casually, "Master Wei, are you willing to serve as my Shangshu Ling?"

Wei Zhen declined: "Humility is the virtue of a minister. Although I have a friendship with Your Majesty as a teacher, I do not want to take this position so suddenly. I hope Your Majesty will help me."

Seeing Wei Zhen's reluctance, Cao Rui could only nod and say, "I understand."

……

Just now, Cao Rui and Wei Zhen were playing solo. Now Wei Zhen left, and Zhong Yu, the imperial attendant, entered the study and stood in a corner waiting for the emperor to summon him.

Cao Rui glanced at Zhong Yu and asked, "Zhong Yu, is your father, General Zhong, still in good health?"

When Zhong Yu heard the emperor asking about his father, he quickly responded, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My father is in good health, but due to his old age, he has suffered from leg problems in recent years."

Cao Rui asked: "The Grand Commandant has a leg disease, does it affect his walking?"

Zhong Yu replied: "Your Majesty, of course there is some impact. My father's walking is not as good as it was in the early years."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "In that case, I should go to the Taifu's house to pay a visit. Zhong Yu, please lead the way for me."

Zhong Yu was a little flustered at this time: "Your Majesty, are you really going to come to my house? Can I let you know?"

Cao Rui glanced at Zhong Yu without answering and walked out the door.

Seeing that the emperor had already left the house, Zhong Yu had no choice but to follow him out quickly.

(End of this chapter)