Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 74: Believe or not
Liu Fang thought for a moment and said, "There were not many major cases during the reign of the previous emperor, but there was indeed one case related to the court judge, but it was not handled by the court judge himself."

Cao Rui nodded: "Tell me what you think."

Liu Fang responded, "A few months ago, when the late emperor was still alive, he imprisoned Bao Xun for some reason. At that time, the court judge thought that the crime was not punishable by death, so he refused to obey. The late emperor summoned the court judge into the palace, and while the court judge was in the palace, he bypassed the court judge and ordered the execution of Bao Xun."

Cao Rui was puzzled and asked: "I know Bao Xun. He is stubborn and rebellious. He has refused to change despite repeated admonitions. He deserves death. But why did the late emperor have to avoid Gao Rou?"

Liu Fang showed some hesitation, Cao Rui saw it and added: "Don't worry, tell me the truth."

Liu Fang nodded and said, "Bao Xun has had a long-standing feud with the late emperor, so I won't say much about this."

"Bao Xun was once a minister, and he often mixed sarcasm with his advice, so the late emperor disliked him. Later, the late emperor ordered Bao Xun to leave Luoyang and serve as the right general of the imperial court. However, the then Shangshu Ling Chen Qun and Shangshu Pushe Sima Yi both recommended Bao Xun to serve as the chief censor."

"The first emperor had no choice but to use it."

Cao Rui heard the implication of Liu Fang's words and interrupted him to ask, "Chen Qun and Sima Yi recommended Bao Xun, and the late emperor had no choice but to use him? Why was he forced to do so?"

Liu Fang was silent for a moment and then said, "When the late emperor was the crown prince of Wei, he appointed Chen Qun as the prime minister's East and West Cao Yuan, responsible for the election of officials in Wei. The appointment of officials inside and outside the country was all done by Chen Qun."

"The previous emperor had four princes: Sima Yi, Sima Fu, Bao Xun, and Wang Chang. Sima Yi and Bao Xun were also colleagues."

"Chen Qun and Sima Yi have been in charge of selecting officials for a long time. They insisted on recommending Bao Xun. The late emperor did not want to be at odds with them. In addition, the Chief Censor was supposed to supervise all officials and always offended people, so the late emperor was patient for the time being and let Bao Xun be the Chief Censor."

Cao Rui nodded silently, motioning Liu Fang to continue. Although the emperor was nominally above all others, there were times when he had no choice.

Liu Fang continued, "When Bao Xun committed a crime last year, the late emperor ordered the court to conduct a strict trial. The court sentenced Bao Xun to five years in prison according to the law, but when the court handed the sentence to the three officials for execution, the three officials thought that the sentence was inappropriate and changed Bao Xun's sentence to 'fine two catties according to the law'."

The Three Officials is the general term for the three officials of the Supreme Court who assisted the Supreme Court in his work, namely, the Chief Justice, the Supervisor of the Supreme Court, and the Deputy Justice. They were responsible for reviewing the cases tried by the Supreme Court.

This was a story that happened half a year ago, not too far from now. As Liu Fang was making his statement, Cao Rui's brows furrowed even more as he listened.

Cao Rui asked: "Why did the three officials under the Supreme Court reject the Supreme Court's order? Is it related to Chen Qun and Sima Yi?"

Liu Fang just bowed and did not respond to the question. Instead, he said, "When the late emperor ordered the execution of Bao Xun, Chen Qun and Sima Yi both advised against it."

It's Sima Yi and Chen Qun again.

Of course, with the incident between Sun Zi and Xin Pi a few days ago, Liu Fang's remarks also raised a question mark in Cao Rui's mind. Since it involved key officials in the court, he naturally could not just listen to one side of the story.

Cao Rui thought for a moment: "The court judge Gao Rou sentenced Bao Xun according to the law. The late emperor was not allowed to add charges to his crime and execute him, nor were the three officials allowed to reduce his sentence. Is that right or wrong?"

Liu Fang nodded and confirmed: "Just as your majesty said." Bao Xun's result was simple, he was naturally executed by Cao Pi. But there are still many problems in Bao Xun's case. No wonder the political struggles of all dynasties started with a certain case and intensified.

Cao Rui asked again: "What about the three officials of the court?"

Liu Fang replied, "The late emperor ordered the school officials to arrest the three officials and put them in the imperial prison. But before they could deal with the three officials, the late emperor passed away. The three have been in the imperial prison for half a year."

Cao Rui snorted coldly, "If that's the case, I don't need to take care of the school affairs. Isn't the Imperial Prison under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court? Send an edict to the Imperial Court Gao Rou to ask the Imperial Court whether these three officials are deceiving the emperor. I want to see how the Imperial Court will deal with it, and then see if anyone will protect these three people."

It has to be said that every dynasty relies on people to get things done. The emperor gave the ministers power, so naturally he had to respect the ministers' authority within the scope of their duties. Otherwise, who would really work for the emperor?
This was the reason why Cao Pi had to appoint Bao Xun as the Chief Censor due to the joint recommendation of Chen Qun and Sima Yi. It was also for the same reason that Cao Rui now handed over the three officials who were arrested and imprisoned in the imperial prison to the Chief Justice for handling.

Let’s see if anyone comes forward later.

After Liu Fang agreed, he reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the report from Chang'an said that Princess Qinghe's report to the court on Xiahou Mao was actually written by Xiahou Mao's two younger brothers, Xiahou Zizang and Xiahou Zijiang."

Cao Rui was really a little surprised.

Two younger brothers helped their sister-in-law to cheat their own brother?
When Cao Rui meets Xiahou Mao in person, he will explain it to Xiahou Mao in detail. What can I do if my family is in misfortune?
Cao Rui actually didn't care about Xiahou Mao's family affairs. Although Princess Qinghe was Cao Pi's biological sister, so what? Love her as you like. Cao Rui didn't even want to care about Cao Pi's half-brother Cao Zhi. As long as he didn't cause any trouble, he would let him fend for himself.

The personalities of emperors are also different.

Cao Pi was different. Not only was he a literary youth with rich emotions, he also often cared about his subordinates' family affairs.

Take Xiahou Shang, who once had a very good relationship with Cao Pi, was the governor of Jingzhou, and was granted the power of "killing the living" by Cao Pi. Xiahou Shang's wife was Cao's daughter, and Xiahou Shang also doted on a concubine.

Cao Pi actually sent someone to kill Xiahou Shang's beloved concubine. When Xiahou Shang was heartbroken, Cao Pi still looked down on Xiahou Shang. Compared with Cao Pi, Xiahou Shang's methods were indeed not as cruel.

Cao Rui said to Liu Fang, "Liu Zhongshu, help me draft an edict for Gao Rou."

Liu Fang did not hesitate and moved directly to the desk to start writing.

Cao Rui said: "First, it is not advisable to be punished for speaking out. I also don't like my ministers to report each other for slander. The court judge did the right thing this time. In the future, we should not encourage such groundless accusations, lest it become a trend and put everyone in danger."

"Secondly, the court judge handled this matter well. Let the court judge give more advice on court affairs in the future. Praise the court judge for me."

Liu Fang wrote very quickly. Not long after the emperor finished speaking, Liu Fang had drafted the edict for him.

Why are Liu Fang and Sun Zi considered to be the emperor's confidants? They drafted edicts for the emperor every day, and all confidential documents the emperor saw had to pass through them, and they were also in charge of the review system. How could ordinary officials dare to anger these two people?
(End of this chapter)