In terms of cruelty to officials, Manchu favor was the most favored in the Cao Wei regime.
Not only did he kill Cao Hong's guests, he also imprisoned and tortured Yang Biao, the fourth and third prince.
But he was also a sharp blade in the hands of Wei Wu and Cao Cao.
When Yuan Shaoxiong was in Hebei Province, all the disciples and old officials in Lurunan County, his hometown of Sangzi, supported his tribe and refused to submit to Cao Cao's laws.
Cao Cao was deeply worried about this, so he appointed Manchu as the prefect of Runan.
After Man Chong took office, he recruited 500 soldiers, broke through more than 20 barriers of wealthy families, trapped and killed more than 10 commanders who caused chaos, registered more than 20,000 households with household registrations, and sent more than 2,000 private soldiers back to their homes to farm. Sang brought peace to Runan County for a while.
From this point of view alone, cruel officials are good officials in the country.
However, Emperor Cao Rui knew that the cruel officials that Xia Houhui claimed that Wei State lacked today were not the kind of cruel officials like Man Chong.
Gai Yinman Chong is also a scholar who abides by morality at heart. Although he enforces the law harshly and kills decisively, he will not do anything that is lawless.
Xia Houhui refers to a cruel official like Yizong in the previous dynasty——
Such people often come from humble backgrounds and have an innocent family background. They entered official careers or rose to prominence due to the emperor's appreciation, and were lonely ministers in the court. Therefore, they will only follow the emperor's will and are willing to serve as minions of hawks and dogs, without caring about reputation. Do not use morality as a rope, and bite any opponent under the emperor's explicit instructions.
Moreover, when they became angry and resentful, the emperor who actually benefited could still "comply with public opinion" and imprison them to appease public anger.
It can be said that these people are tools.
To exchange wealth and life for a period of grace and glory.
It is an extremely sharp knife in the emperor's hand that can be thrown away at any time!
Therefore, Emperor Cao Rui was moved by Xia Houhui's words at that moment.
Because Cao Rui has this kind of sharp blade that can cut down on the nobles, he can also attack the clan and Qiao Pei Yuanxun in the future. Xia Houhui doesn't even leave a way out~
well.
Looking at the temple today, who is there who is not limited to his own family, but who wholeheartedly plans for me!
Cao Rui was speechless for a long time.
After the emotion in his heart faded away, he moved his seat, put his knees together with Xia Houhui, and said slowly, "I know your loyalty now. However, it may be difficult for your advice to be implemented. Unless you don't want to take your advice. Policy, given the current situation in the temple, it is difficult for me to find someone who can be trusted as a cruel official~"
"Your Majesty, Hui Tie thinks this matter is not difficult."
Hearing this, Xia Houhui nodded gently to show respect, and lowered his voice and said, "The meaning of Hui is that your Majesty can follow Emperor Wu's orders to seek talents, set up the emperor's favor, and recruit handsome people from various states and counties. All the people you choose can be said to be good. Disciples of the Emperor, who were promoted by His Majesty from a young age, will be grateful to Your Majesty for your kindness, and will be driven by Your Majesty, and will also have the courage to serve the country and die without hesitation! And it is well known to the people of the world that Your Majesty has been fond of studying the law since he was a child. Those who are recruited to become disciples of the emperor will surely be many who can be entrusted with cruel officials."
After saying this, without waiting for the emperor Cao Rui to say anything, he added quickly, "Your Majesty, although Hui Fangcai denounced the shortcomings of the nine-rank official system, he also knows that in order to ensure long-term stability for the country of Wei, we must not abolish the law. Yes, we can only figure it out slowly. Therefore, by setting up the emperor's favor with Hui Jianyan, we can also increase the number of talents for the country, and divide the nine-rank official system into full-time posts."
Assume Emperor Enke?
Is the ninth-grade official system full-time?
After hearing this, Emperor Cao Rui's eyes, which were originally deep, suddenly shone like stars in the night sky.
He, who had always been worried about the excessive power of the gentry, suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
Because although the Wei State now implements the nine-rank official system, the inspection and evaluation system inherited from the previous dynasty has not been abolished, but it has not been paid much attention to, and it has gradually been included in the inspection and conclusion of the Zhongzheng system.
In this way, placing the emperor's enke within the inspection and promotion system will not trigger fierce opposition from the princes of the temple.
In particular, Emperor Wu once used the move of recruiting talents regardless of family status as an excuse, claiming that the swords and weapons in the world were not extinguished, and the court was in urgent need of learned people and brave men to defeat Shu, destroy Wu, and unify the world.
So, who can object?
Even though the nobles knew that this move would increase the power of the monarchy and make the game between the monarchy and the nobles more intense, they did not dare to stand up and oppose it clearly.
Nothing else.
All Cao Rui had to do was ask, "What do you mean, Emperor Wu's previous actions were wrong?" and the opponents would be so frightened that they would remove themselves and plead guilty.
The most important thing is that this move will win the support of some nobles.
In today's temple, many important ministers from the Wei and Wu Dynasties are still alive, and many of them came from poor families.
When Cao Ruiruo announced the addition of Emperor Enke, he used these people as examples to praise Emperor Wu's wisdom in delegating talents to the country in an eclectic way; and then encouraged them to imitate the sage Qi Xi (Huang Yang) who "does not shy away from external promotions." The trend of "not avoiding relatives when promoting internal affairs" implies that they can let their children, nephews, descendants or villagers enter the official position through the emperor's favor. This will win their praise!
To take a step back, regardless of whether Emperor Enke can implement it, as long as Cao Rui brings it up and lets the temple princes discuss it, it will disperse the cohesion of the noble clan.
Very easy to understand.
If it can be implemented smoothly, those important officials from poor families will have the same opportunity to gain the power to recruit talents for the country as well as the famous families. They will also continue to have disagreements with the famous families due to the competition for the right to speak, and eventually split.
After all, who would be willing to be a fly with a tail attached when the opportunity to be the head of a chicken is in front of him?
And what if it can’t be implemented~~
These people from poor families would defect and become staunch defenders of the monarchy.
Because they will think that it is the wealthy families that have blocked their room for advancement and stifled the opportunities for their descendants to become wealthy families in the future.
No matter what, Cao Rui will enjoy the success!
And it kills two birds with one stone!
The so-called divide the strong, support the weak and suppress the strong. It is nothing more than this.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Cao Rui feels cheerful and cheerful.
Of course, no matter how good the plan is, it can only be profitable after it is implemented.
He understood the power of Xiahou Hui's advice in an instant. In his excitement, he grabbed the other person's hand to show his closeness, and said earnestly, "Zhiquan's true knowledge and insight are deeply impressed by me!" Well, if the emperor's favor comes to pass, how about Zhiquan being my chief?"
Uh~
Don't kill me~
Xia Houhui was so excited that he hurriedly bowed his hands in salute, took out his hand without leaving any trace, and replied softly, "Return to your majesty, Hui is not suitable for taking charge. Fei Hui is not willing to serve your majesty wholeheartedly, but he is from a sensitive background. If you are taking charge, I'm afraid The nobles were suspicious and criticized each other, making this strategy counterproductive."
"Ah~"
First there was a sound of surprise, and then Emperor Cao Ruifang suddenly realized it, nodded and smiled, "What Zhiquan said is so true! So true! I was so happy for a moment that I didn't realize it."
After saying that, he grabbed Xia Houhui's hand again, held it and put it on his lap. He closed his eyes and thought about how to put the emperor's enke into action.
It also made Xia Houhui feel extremely tired.
I know you're trying to show your closeness, but between two grown men, why don't you hold hands every now and then?
My surname is Xiahou, not Cao Mingzhao!
Xia Houhui, who felt that his hand was crawling with thousands of ants, thought for a moment, then withdrew his hand again and saluted, "Your Majesty, Hui just said something about the administration of officials, and he hasn't finished yet."
Alas!
Haven't you finished talking about evil yet?
Emperor Cao Rui, who was interrupted from his thoughts, opened his eyes, raised his hand and pressed Xia Houhui's salute, "Zhiquan and I are sincere from the bottom of our hearts, no less than flesh and blood, there is no need to be too restrained, let me continue."
Okay~
Grabbing the hand again~
"only."
In response, Xia Houhui withdrew his hand again and said while pouring wine for the emperor, "Your Majesty, Hui secretly believes that political affairs include human affairs. If Your Majesty wants to have a civilized scene like that of the previous dynasty, and the peace of the world under Zhao Xuan, you must pay the most attention to it." Official governance. Because if the official administration is not clear, the laws and regulations will not work, and if the laws and regulations do not work, the evil will not be corrected! If your Majesty does not pay attention to personnel matters, even if the temple is conducive to good governance that benefits the country and the people, it will be nothing more than a mirror in the eyes of the state and county, and it will be nothing more than a mirror in the eyes of the common people in the world. It’s just empty talk.”
Human affairs~
Cao Rui, who raised his wine cup and drank slowly, was also thinking slowly in his heart.
Just a moment later, he suddenly laughed and asked, "Zhiquan's words seem to have something to say, right?"
Because his mind is as sharp as his, he already remembered Du Shu who had previously written a memorial in which he denounced the atmosphere of the court and impeached the Gongun princes.
Yes.
He had already vaguely guessed that Xia Houhui was going to defend Du Shuhui and make a recommendation.
Xia Houhui was not suitable to be in charge of Emperor Enke, but Du Shu was a good choice - all he had to do was name a respected minister and then hand over the actual execution power to Du Shu.
Du Shu had a clean family background, was fair, and never interacted with others. He was considered an outlier among the nobles.
The most important thing is that now he is not afraid of power and dares to speak out~
In other words, if Cao Rui does not hesitate to promote him, he can be trained to become the emperor's confidant, and even grow into the second full favorite in the future.
"You can know the elegant meaning of a stringed song after listening to it. Your Majesty is so smart, and I can't benefit you more."
After flattering him without leaving any trace, Xiahou Hui smiled sternly and said softly, "Since Hui entered the palace and accompanied him, he has rarely talked to the various knights, ministers and ministers, and has no close friendship. However, in getting along day and night, But he can roughly understand each person's temperament. For example, if you are sincere and simple like Du Wubo, your father died in a royal affair, and you are following your father's style. He said that he did not care about official career because of the disadvantages of the times, which is the meaning of overcoming loyalty. Now because he is released to the outside world He claimed to be ill and resigned from his post to live in seclusion, which was actually due to unclear personnel affairs. Although Hui was in a humble position, he did not dare to forget about the country. Now I boldly advise your majesty to reinstate Du Wubo into the dynasty. The temple is praised for its open-minded approach. Moreover, Du Wubo is not lacking in talent and learning, and his family background is clean. In the future, he may be worthy of being entrusted with important tasks by His Majesty."
"Um"
With a slight nasal sound, Emperor Cao Rui did not comment on Xia Houhui's generous words.
Not only was Du Shu's previous memorial too violent, recalling it without proper reasons would arouse dissatisfaction among the temple officials; it was also because he had already made a decision and could not change it overnight.
He did not refuse, but it was the benefits that recalling Du Shu would bring to him that made him excited.