Chapter 96 Rectify the style of study and curb the vanity
The Shiqian Hall was filled with the sound of hearty laughter. After the emperor came to court early, he summoned Cao Zhao, Cao Changsi, the regular servant of the cavalry, Cao Zuan, Cao Desi's brother, Cao Zuan, the general of Wu, and Guanqiu Jian, Shangshulang. Drinking in Shiqian Hall, throwing pots, chanting poems and having fun.
Cao Shuang, who had just been promoted to General of the Military Guard, was unable to come to the party because he had the important responsibility of surrounding the imperial city.
Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, and Cao Zuan have been accompanying Cao Rui since they were children. They are almost brothers who grew up with Cao Rui. Later, when Cao Rui was in the East Palace, Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, and Guanqiu Jian and others also tried their best to assist Cao Rui, who was the king of Pingyuan. Therefore, the current emperor's trust in Cao Zhao brothers and Guanqiu Jian is no less than that of Emperor Wen's trust in Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang and others. .
Furthermore, two years ago, the fathers of Cao Zhao and Cao Zuan, the Grand Sima and the Marquis of Changping, Cao Xiu and Cao Wenlie, died for the country, so Cao Rui doted on these two brothers even more.
The emperor, who was usually stern and dignified in the court hall, became cheerful and cheerful only now when he was in front of his brothers.
The emperor was making a bet with Cao Zhao. The two were betting on the accuracy of their respective pot throws. As long as whoever hit nine arrows in the pot first would win the bet, and their bet was Cao Zhao's good bow and An embroidered dark coat of the emperor. Cao Wei has always practiced frugality. As early as the time of Emperor Wen, even the emperor would not wear embroidered items. However, after Cao Rui succeeded to the throne, he slightly changed this rule, that is, the emperor could wear embroidered items. At this moment, he gambled with his embroidered clothes, which also showed his connivance and trust in Cao Zhao.
Cao Zhao has always enjoyed a high reputation among the princes of the clan. Some people commented that Cao Zhao had great talent for his time. And this is indeed the case. Cao Zhao was not only talented in literature, but also elegant and charming. Even the pot-throwing man The technique is also so exquisite.
Cao Rui and Cao Zhao each placed a pot with arrows in front of them. There were beans in the bottom of the pot to prevent arrows from popping out after entering the pot.
Cao Zhao was seen holding a teapot-throwing arrow in each hand. With a flick of his wrist, the two arrows drew two graceful curves in the air. With two jingles, the feather arrows were inserted into the pot. Cao Zhao repeated this four times. This time, eight feather arrows had been thrown in. Seeing that Cao Zhao was about to win the bet, Cao Rui had an idea and changed his strategy. When Cao Zhao's last feather arrow flew out, Cao Rui suddenly threw the remaining feather arrows in his hand. All the arrows were thrown towards Cao Zhao's arrow. The arrow was naturally disturbed and fell to the ground.
"How about it, Chang Si, let's consider this bet a draw." Cao Rui smiled, took Cao Zhao's good bow, and started playing with it.
"Okay, okay, I have to give your Majesty some face, hahahaha..." Cao Zhao said, and took Cao Rui's embroidered dark coat and put it on: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving me this embroidered coat."
[Note 1: After the death of Cao Xiu, Cao Zhao ascended the throne. Cao Zhao had a special personality and was favored by Emperor Wei Ming. He always slept with the same person. He tried to bet with the emperor on clothes, but failed to get anything. He often entered the imperial tent and walked out after taking it. This is how he sees relatives and pets.]
"This dress looks quite good on Chang Si." Cao Rui patted Cao Zhao on the shoulder. Cao Zuan and Guanqiu Jian couldn't help but laugh, and laughed together with the emperor.
At this time, a chamberlain walked into Shiqian Hall, bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, the school official sent someone to report that the students in Huanggong's Jiulong who formed a group without authorization and discussed state affairs have been detained in the Taipei School building. Xia Houxuan, a regular servant of the Rogue Cavalry, and Cao Xi, the deputy general of the Wuwei Army, have also been brought to the hearing hall. Please wait, Your Majesty."
"Okay, Chang Si, you go ask Taige to draw up a decree for me, and say: 'The teachings of the world change according to the teachings. Since the war, the study of classics has been abolished, and the younger generations have no choice but to follow the teachings. How can the teachings not be consistent? , Those who are about to be employed will not show their virtues? The officials who have learned a lot of scriptures can be appointed as herdsmen. Those who take the doctoral examination and promote them to high positions are urgently needed; those who are flashy and do not follow the Taoism should be dismissed.', Also, it was called Shangshutai, which issued an edict to the Three Dukes and the Imperial Doctors, instructing them to carve Emperor Wen's "Classics" into stone tablets and set them up outside the gates of Imperial College and ancestral temples, so that students could understand that the way to practice writing lies in pragmatism. Study. Go quickly."
[Note 2]: "Three Kingdoms·Wei Shujuan 3·Ming Emperor Ji": "At the beginning, the Luoyang ancestral temple was not completed, and the god was in the Ye temple. In November of the third year of Taihe, the temple began to be completed..." It shows that in the fourth year of Taihe, The Cao Clan Ancestral Temple in Yedu has been officially moved to Luoyang City.
"Yes!" Cao Zhaobo heard this and remembered the emperor's words verbatim. After saluting the emperor and saying goodbye, he turned around and left Shiqian Hall. After saying goodbye, Guan Qiujian and Cao Zuan also went back to their posts. Already.
After Cao Rui washed his hands in the copper basin handed over by the palace maid, he then ordered:
"To put it aside, I will personally go and teach these two boys a lesson."
"Wei." After receiving the order, the chamberlain immediately went to arrange the chariot.
Tingyi Temple is located in the northeast corner of the imperial city. It was originally named Pingwang Temple. More than a year ago, in the winter of the third year of Taihe, Cao Rui officially changed its name to Tingyi Temple. Tingyi Temple is divided into two rooms, the inner and outer rooms. The outer room is mainly responsible for making decisions about the palace attendants. The inner chamber was specially used to determine the culpability of the royal children.
Cao Rui came to the inner room of Yiyi Guan. This seemed to be a very ordinary house. The only furnishings in the room were a few cases and a bookshelf. On the bookshelf, there were all legal provisions that restricted the children of the royal family. Apart from that, Outside, there is nothing else.
At this moment, Cao Rui was sitting at the table. Cao Xi and Xia Houxuan were kneeling quietly in front of the case.
There was another uncomfortable silence. Cao Rui just enjoyed the silence, because this silence would only bring pressure to the ministers, but not to the emperor.
"I know I made a mistake, please punish me!"
Xia Houxuan finally couldn't bear the oppression and chose to speak first. However, although he admitted his mistake, his body was straight, which was obviously not really admitting his mistake.
Cao Rui couldn't help but smile in his heart when he saw Xia Houxuan's stubborn and rebellious appearance. But he still showed a very stern appearance.
In fact, Xia Houxuan still felt that he was not wrong in the first place. He was just leading all the clan princes and Taixue students to talk about literature. As for flashy meetings and talking about talents, it was none of his business. He just admitted his mistake. , just to give the emperor a step down.
But what Cao Rui wants is this step. He understands that Xia Houxuan is aloof and aloof, and does not bow his head easily. As his cousin, he is willing to give him a step down, which is already considered very good.
The reason why I used such thunderous measures to attack these so-called "flashy" scholars this time was actually because these celebrities' children criticized each other's scholars and directly interfered in the official selection activities of the central government.
You must know that the official selection system of this dynasty was the nine-rank official law formulated by Emperor Wen just after he took over the Han Dynasty, together with Yingyin Marquis Chen Qun. And this nine-rank official law was based on the evaluation of the virtues of scholars. They select talents based on their merits and demerits. Nowadays, all the scholars in Luoyang comment on the merits and demerits of talents without authorization, which naturally greatly affects the evaluation vision of Zhongzheng officials.
If it weren't for the fact that the scholars' actions affected the selection of officials in this dynasty, it wouldn't matter even if they praised each other to the sky. Cao Rui naturally didn't bother to care.
And when I used the school affairs office in a big way, I didn't really want to do anything to those noble sons and students. I just wanted to intimidate people's hearts and make them know how to restrain themselves. These people are all young leaders from wealthy families. , people such as Xia Houxuan, Zhuge Dan, Sima Shi and others are not only well-known, but also have real talents and learning, how can he be willing to move? There are also people like Cao Xi, who are the princes of the clan, and they cannot be because of such a big or small person. He was severely punished for his crimes, so he could only choose to forgive them and let them truly believe in him.
"Taichu, Uncle Zhao, I understand that maybe you have just been implicated this time, but you have to understand that one of you is a son of the clan, and the other is a royal in-law, and both of you are my brothers, whether now or in the future. , all need to rely on you. Since you have chosen to be the leader of this group of literati, you must learn to control them and make them be careful in their words and actions. Do you understand my painstaking efforts?"
"I know I'm wrong..." Xia Houxuan sincerely apologized this time. He understood that what the emperor said was true. I heard that Li Sheng, the literary aide of the former King of Pingyuan in the East Palace who assisted today, was responsible for bewitching the military guard general Cao Shuang. For participating in this flamboyant meeting, he was banned by His Majesty's decree for two years! And his brother-in-law, Sima Shi, was directly deprived of his official position as a regular servant by His Majesty, and he was thinking about it at home. Even he had just been moved to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Zhuge Dan, a third-rank official who was known for his impartiality, integrity and diligence, was also deprived of his official position by His Majesty!
Compared with Li Sheng, Sima Shi, Gongxiu Brother and others, Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi both understood that they had received training this time, which was an extra-judicial act of mercy by His Majesty the Emperor, and they were extremely lucky among misfortunes.
"Since you two have already acknowledged your mistake, I won't punish you two more."
Cao Rui stood up from his seat and stretched beautifully. A sly and humorous light flashed in his eyes at this moment:
"Actually, I called you two here this time because I have a more important task for you."
Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi were immediately curious when they saw the emperor's mysterious appearance.
Cao Rui took out a letter sealed with fire paint from his sleeve, stood up, and handed it into Xia Houxuan's hands. He patted Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi on their shoulders, and said earnestly:
"Taichu, Uncle Zhao, the task I have entrusted to you two this time is written in this secret edict. You can go back for the time being, and after discussing it, set off on a different day to complete it."
"O ministers, please obey your Majesty's orders!"
Seeing the emperor's solemnity, Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi did not dare to neglect him. After collecting the secret edict, they bowed and said goodbye and left.
At this time, the emperor seemed to suddenly remember something and called Cao Xi:
"By the way, Uncle Zhao, you should go to the Forbidden Army Guards Camp immediately and guard the camp for your elder brother. I think he must have something to say to me now."
"only!"
After Cao Xi sang "Nai", he paid his respects and left.
