After the feud between the emperor and his ministers was resolved, Xiahou Huifu had the favor of traveling with him.
However, driving with him for several consecutive days did not give him a chance to reprimand him.
Because Emperor Cao Rui has been too diligent these days!
He either stayed in the east hall to administer affairs until dusk, or went out to inspect various departments, such as listening to prison lawsuits, inspecting military equipment, inventorying arsenals, and recruiting officials from various states and counties to discuss corvee labor and inquire about the sufferings of the people, etc., just like a holy king coming to the court.
In this way, Xia Houhui and other ministers had no chance to persuade him.
The reason why Cao Rui was so diligent was because he was stimulated.
Sima Yi, the hussar general guarding Jingxiang, went to the temple not long ago to report the news about Sun Wu, claiming that Sun Quan became emperor on April 13 (Bingshen) in the southern suburbs of Wuchang.
The world finally ushered in the tripartite confrontation.
Moreover, Jiangdong and Bashu still maintain their alliance and are determined to fight against the dominant Cao Wei.
Although, it was foreseeable that Sun Quan, who was separatist in Jiangdong, would proclaim himself emperor.
But for Cao Rui, this news is very bad.
It is a subtle criticism of the two generations of Wei monarchs for their strategic missteps in Jiangdong.
Because if Wei Wen Cao Pi had not granted Sun Quan the title of King of Wu and given him the qualifications to establish an ancestral temple and divide states, Sun Quan's act of proclaiming emperor would have no legal basis. And if Cao Rui had not allowed the late Grand Sima Cao Xiu to launch the Shi The Battle of Ting wiped out the elites of Huainan in one fell swoop, and also destroyed the intimidation power that hung three feet above Jiangdong. Sun Quan might not dare to proclaim himself emperor—at least, he wouldn't proclaim himself emperor so quickly!
Therefore, Emperor Cao Rui's diligence has a faint flavor of knowing one's shame and then being brave.
Such a mentality will not last long.
After all, things have already happened, and no matter how diligent he is, he can't change the facts. As time goes by, his enthusiasm fades.
However, Xia Houhui was not in the mood to persuade him now.
He has also been very troubled recently.
One is that his eldest brother Xia Houheng used family methods against him.
Different from other Wuxun families who resorted to sticks and sticks, the gentle-tempered Xia Houheng's family rules after taking charge of the family were only to confine themselves to the house, and to sit on their knees in the ancestral hall after dark to think about their mistakes.
But Xiahou Hui would rather be beaten with a stick.
For no other reason, Xia Houheng was very angry at his flattery in Chonghua's apse, and actually made him kneel and sit in the ancestral hall for an hour after nightfall every day for a month.
And this was because he needed a chariot to accompany him to the palace, so he was given a light punishment.
Otherwise, I would have thought about it in the ancestral hall day and night.
But for Xia Houhui, it was equally unbearable.
It lasts for one month!
Kneeling alone in a dark, deserted ancestral hall, and not allowed to talk or read, and even yawning would be considered disrespectful, it would be better to just get a beating!
Even if Xia Houheng still feels unresolved after being beaten once, Xia Houhui can accept a few more beatings.
Another matter is related to the "favor" of Emperor Cao Rui.
When he was in Chonghua's apse, the emperor was particularly gracious and allowed him to keep his good horse in the palace's stables.
Xia Houhui was very grateful for this.
However, one day when he returned from traveling with the driver and took the horse back to the stable for placement, he happened to meet Weiyang Stable Order, who was in charge of the carriage and the horses in the stable.
What Weiyang Ming Ling said made him stunned on the spot, full of disbelief.
Because the horses and horses of other close ministers were not given by the emperor and were still owned by the Imperial Servants' Office, there was no need to pay the Imperial Servants' Office for the food of their mounts.
But Xiahou Hui's mount is different.
Since the emperor had given the horse to him, the imperial servants department had no obligation to raise the horse for Xia Houhui.
Otherwise, it would be unfair to other close ministers, causing the emperor to suspect that he favored one over the other, which would damage the reputation of justice.
To put it bluntly, what the Taipu Department means is that Xia Houhui has to pay!
As for how much it is~
The Weiyang Stable Order did not dare to neglect the horses from the Western Regions. Instead, they placed them together with the horses driven by the emperor and enjoyed the same honors.
Therefore, the food he eats every day is extremely luxurious and the expenses are huge.
At least, Xia Houhui's current official position of Sanqi Shilang is only six hundred dan, which is far from enough.
But the Weiyang Stable Order made Xiahou Hui feel relieved.
After first bowing to the north, he claimed that the emperor knew that Xia Houhui's current salary was not high enough to afford the daily consumption of his horses, so he only had to pay his official salary, and the rest of the difference would be borne by the young master.
After saying this, he did not hesitate to praise the emperor.
He also advised Xiahou Hui to be grateful and work diligently to repay the emperor's favor.
Xia Houhui was filled with indignation and expressed "gratitude" from the bottom of his heart!
He didn't dare to rest anymore and just stayed with him every day until he returned home at dusk. But his salary was also deducted?
And he also claimed that I have enjoyed the emperor’s favor and glory, so I must remember to be grateful?
The so-called knocking on the bones and sucking out the marrow is nothing more than that, right?
Therefore, when Xia Houhui listened to Weiyang's stable words, he almost couldn't help but blurt out King Qi Wei's eternal saying "Sigh, your mother is your maidservant"!
Cough! Cough!
I just wanted to say it but didn't say it out loud.
Moreover, what he wanted to scold was the Imperial Servant's Office, not the Emperor.
Of course, no matter how unwilling he was, Xia Houhui had no choice but to accept the facts and thanked Weiyang's order with grief and indignation before leaving.
Because he knew that this matter must have been done deliberately by Emperor Cao Rui!
In order to express the analogy he made with Qin II!
Don't think that the emperor, who is above us, will not hold grudges and cannot take revenge for personal gain.
Wei Wen Cao Pi once tied the skull to the saddle of Wang Zhong, who had eaten human flesh due to hunger during the years, as a joke!
Although the current emperor Cao Rui is not that unbearable, he can definitely do something as innocuous as deducting Xiahou Hui's salary through the Imperial Servant's Office.
Anyway, the emperor knew like a mirror in his heart that none of the nephews, nephews and descendants of the Xiahou family, the founder of the Wei state, would rely on this salary to satisfy their hunger.
I simply deducted it and let Xia Houhui understand that the power of the king cannot be violated!
However, what the emperor didn't know was that Xia Houhui was really worried about this salary.
It's not that he is stingy, it's that he is short of money
Although, the monthly money allocated to him by Xia Houheng, the head of the family, was enough to keep him at ease.
But he secretly raised many people!
When he left Luoyang in his early years and returned to Sangziqiao County to live in seclusion, he studied calligraphy and biography in spring and summer, and enjoyed hunting in autumn and winter.
And this hunting for self-entertainment is just a pretense.
In fact, every autumn and winter, he would work as a knight-errant incognito, accompanied by his old man at home. He traveled all over Henan, Yangzhou, Yanzhou and Xuzhou, and even went north to Qingzhou.
Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles~
Initially, his intention was to see how the people's livelihood was under the rule of Wei State, so that it would be helpful for him to become an official in the future.
But every time he saw Li people selling their children or daughters due to natural disasters, corvee labor, poor harvests or other reasons, or when he met lonely beggars on the road, he couldn't bear to buy or bring them back.
This kind of thing is very common in the homes of powerful people or powerful people, and it is just like having many slaves and servants in the family.
However, Xia Houhui brought back a lot.
In just three years, he brought back thirty or forty people.
And he did not treat these children as slaves. He not only paid for a Mr. Tong Wenmo to teach them how to read, but also asked his family members to teach them martial arts.
Because he suddenly remembered that in history, Sima Shi once raised three thousand dead soldiers!
It was these three thousand dead men that allowed Sima Yi to launch the Gaopingling Revolution and lay the foundation for the country to change its surname.
Therefore, he also wanted to imitate it.
The plan is to train these children as confidants and give them the opportunity to study and learn skills. If they have talents that can be put to use in the future, they will be quietly sent to the army or serve the Sima family under the guise of others. At a specific time, maybe
Can work wonders.
Naturally, all children have different qualifications, and not all of them may become successful.
But as long as one person is successful, Xia Houhui will gain a lot.
After all, thanks to the grace of survival and the reminder from childhood, there is no need to worry about their loyalty.
This is also the reason why Xia Houhui is in trouble now.
He spent all the money Xia Houheng gave him every month to support his children!
Originally, after becoming an official, he thought that his life would be easier, at least he would have enough money to sell a pot of bad wine in a wine shop.
Who would have expected that the emperor would deduct his salary?
In this way, how could he not feel angry?
well.
The most urgent task now is to find a way to make money.
Although it is said that a man should aspire to become a noble man and should not be greedy for comfort and become a rich man, but it is difficult to move forward if you are penniless~
And as those children grow older, the cost increases dramatically, and I can no longer afford it.
Therefore, when he was thinking in the ancestral hall every night, he was thinking about how to find a sustainable way to make money without being tainted by the smell of copper.
This is not because he pretends to be noble.
Rather, he was appointed as a minister of casual riding, and as a close minister of the emperor, if he devoted himself to seeking wealth, he would be impeached by the imperial censor or criticized by others, and it would also leave an impression in the emperor's heart that he was not worthy of being reused.
However, before he could think of a way, his eldest brother Xia Houheng lifted his punishment.
The reason was that he had found a marriage for Xia Houhui, and the two parties had almost reached an agreement, but unexpectedly the other party went back on his word, and his words were full of contempt.