Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 36 When hiring people
I have to say that my cheap dad is quite petty.

There are many reasons why Cao Cao was able to unify the north, and a small part of them was because Cao Hong saved Cao Cao's life and provided him with thousands of troops.

Cao Hong is rich, even richer than Cao Cao.

When a person has money, his relatives will always want to borrow money from him. The role of Cao Pi in this story is the relative who wants to borrow money.

Cao Pi had many friends and liked drinking, hunting, and literature. The salary of the General of the Five Officials was totally not enough to enjoy his romantic life.

Then I can only borrow money.

As Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi thought it would be easy to borrow some money. But Cao Hong refused to lend it and even spoke rudely.

This is how we become enemies.

At the beginning of this year, when the late Emperor Cao Pi was ill, a retainer of Cao Hong broke the law, and Cao Pi planned to implicate Cao Hong and execute him as well.

Cao Hong is an old minister, a member of the royal family. Is this still the Cao family's world? As an emperor, you have appointed people from Yingchuan to important positions, but you are so harsh when relatives of the royal family break the law?

This caused a huge uproar.

It was Cao Pi's biological mother, Empress Dowager Bian, who came out to mediate, saying, "If it weren't for Zi Lian, the relationship between Liang and Pei wouldn't be what it is today."

Empress Dowager Bian also asked Cao Pi's Empress Guo to plead for mercy and threatened Empress Guo, saying that if she didn't persuade Cao Pi well, she would let the emperor depose her.

With the joint efforts of the inner and outer courts, Cao Hong's life was saved, but he was demoted to a commoner and deprived of his official position, title and all property.

It was only after Empress Dowager Bian personally persuaded Cao Pi that he returned all of Cao Hong's property.

To be honest, it's quite disheartening.

Thinking of this, Cao Rui looked at Huang Quan: "What is Cao Hong doing now?"

Huang Quan was a little sleepy at this time: "I didn't hear clearly, Cao what?"

Cao Rui yawned again: "Cao Hong, Cao Zilian."

Huang Quan thought for a moment and said, "Cao Hong should be living in Luoyang now, and he has nothing else to do."

Cao Rui said: "Please remember Cao Hong and remind me tomorrow to assign an official position to him. The late emperor was somewhat unfair to Cao Hong."

Cao Pi was too harsh in suppressing the royal family. Why not start with Cao Hong to set a signal and see how the royal family reacts.

When talking about the late emperor, what else could Huang Quan say? He could only say yes repeatedly.

Huang Quan returned home after finishing his shift, and Cao Rui also planned to spend the night in the study and not return to the palace.

Cao Rui had no habit of reading, nor did he want to be a sage king. If he could let go and enjoy himself, he would definitely not stay in the study every day.

But what can be done? As the emperor of Wei, could Sun Quan ignore the attack on Jingzhou? Could he ignore the internal and external armies? Could he trust the balance of the court?

Everything depends on human efforts. People are forced to do things under circumstances.

It was late at night, and the candle in the study had gone out. Cao Rui lay on the couch, and before falling asleep he thought of Concubine Mao again.

It's not just about thinking about women.

After confirmation by the imperial physician, Concubine Mao was pregnant, which was undoubtedly good news for Cao Rui.

In the original history, Sima Yi was the only external factor for the fall of power in Cao Wei. As for the internal factors, the emperor died early and had no successor, which were more important.

Now, Concubine Mao was pregnant with Cao Rui's first child, which was enough to prove that the Wei Dynasty had a promising heir. If they could have two children in three years, the Wei Dynasty's royal family would be even more prosperous.

Of course, Concubine Mao made great contributions, and Cao Rui also made great contributions. After all, yin and yang complement each other.

I will go see Concubine Mao tomorrow. Cao Rui thought about it and slowly fell asleep. ...

The next day, in the study.

If you count carefully, Cao Rui has been in the study for more than twenty-four hours.

Liu was released in exchange for Huang Quan, and Huang Quan was released in exchange for Cao Zhen and Sima Yi. Only Emperor Cao Rui remained in the study without moving.

After a night's sleep, Cao Rui felt refreshed. After getting up in the morning, he invited Cao Zhen and Sima Yi from the Shangshutai.

It must be said that Cao Rui really liked to hold meetings. Meetings with the ministers, meetings with the assistant ministers... It was indeed more convenient to obtain information through meetings. Add to that regular reports, writing summaries, etc., and the workload of the ministers increased a lot.

But in those days, no minister complained that the emperor held too many meetings. Entering and leaving the palace and meeting the emperor was a symbol of favor and status.

All we can say is that if one person is willing to fight, a group of people are willing to be beaten.

Cao Rui looked at General Cao Zhen and said, "General, please tell me about the military situation."

Cao Zhen held the latest military report sent from Xiangyang and Shouchun in his hand, unfolded it and said: "Your Majesty, in Yangzhou, the Grand Marshal said that the local tyrant Peng Qi in Poyang, Wu State, started a rebellion and sent people across the river to report, hoping that Wei State would send troops to support. The Grand Marshal thought that we could try to attack Wancheng in the north of the river."

Cao Rui said nothing, but nodded to signal Cao Zhen to continue.

Cao Zhen continued, "In Jingzhou, after Chen Zhen's army arrived in Xiangyang, he led the Xiangyang garrison to repel Zhuge Jin. By the way, there is good news in Jiangxia."

Cao Rui asked: "What news?"

Cao Zhen smiled and said, "Your Majesty, some time ago you sent imperial censors to Luoyang to comfort the soldiers on the frontiers. Among them was a man named Xun Yu. Do you remember him?"

Cao Rui thought for a moment and said, "Xun Yu from the Xun clan, right? He went to Jingzhou."

Cao Zhen smiled and nodded. "When Xun Yu was about to reach Jiangxia, he learned about the invasion of the Wu army, so he summoned troops from the counties along the way to Jiangxia."

"After Xun Yu gathered nearly a thousand people, he arrived near Jiangxia City and scared off the Wu army outside Jiangxia City. They were indeed Jiangdong rats. At that time, Wen Pin was leading his army in Liyang County of Jiangxia County, and the main army was not in Jiangxia City."

Cao Zhen was smiling, but when he saw that Cao Rui had no smile on his face, his expression gradually became serious.

Cao Zhen asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, is there anything wrong?"

Sima Yi on the side also looked at Cao Rui with a little confusion.

Cao Rui asked: "Do you think this is a good thing? As an imperial censor, Xun Yu's job is to comfort the soldiers guarding the border on my behalf, not to lead them into battle!"

"Could it be that Wen Pin was incompetent and failed to inform the nearby counties while reporting the military situation to the court?"

Cao Zhen was silent for a moment: "Wen Pin has been in Jiangxia for eighteen years, I don't think it would have come to this."

Cao Rui said, "Yes, I also thought it wouldn't be that serious. Since Wen Pin informed him, then Xun Yu was just a scholar, and he was just passing by and encountered the assembled troops from various counties."

"And there's Wen Pin. Wen Pin is the governor of Jiangxia, and he was able to scare off Xun Yu with less than a thousand men. He was clearly a detachment responsible for reconnaissance, and Wen Pin even praised him for his achievements!"

Cao Rui's perspective was so unique that both Cao Zhen and Sima Yi were speechless for a moment.

Cao Rui asked Sima Yi: "Sima Qing, do you think Wen Pin is trying to please Xun Yu?"

Sima Yi was silent for a moment. "I have speculated that Xun Yuchen is someone I know, but he is not capable of leading an army. I am afraid the truth is similar to what Your Majesty has speculated."

Cao Rui nodded: "As the rear general and the Marquis of Xinye, does Wen Pin need to please the people of Yingchuan?"

Cao Zhen reacted at this time: "Your Majesty, if it is really as Your Majesty said, you should not punish these two people. The war is intense at the front, and it is the time to use people."

Cao Rui sighed softly: "Yes, it is the time to use people, and I don't have time to reward them. I just feel a little sad. Are all the generals of Wei like this now?"

(End of this chapter)