Emperor Cao Rui lamented, "Da Sima has conquered Shu", which made Xia Houhui suddenly realize his negligence.
To be precise, his starting angle is different.
As a minister, he only saw the benefits of restructuring to the country, but he forgot that every time a temple implemented a restructuring, it involved many interests and many personnel.
There are laws of reward and punishment in the military.
The scholar's family followed the expedition, and if the war was victorious, the court would also give rewards in accordance with the law.
However, these rewards did not fall into the hands of the lower class scholars.
In this way, he suggested that the scholar family could use the merit of beheading to redeem their lives and obtain land, which meant that the imperial court would directly give the previous rewards for military achievements to the scholar family, which was a disguised form of harm to the interests of the generals who led them. .
Low-level officers such as Army Sima and Hundred-Man General have always been the core of the army.
Regardless of the instructions from the temple or the general orders from the war zone governor, they are terminated when they reach their level.
The interests of the scholar family were stripped from their hands, and it was inevitable that they would be angry. If not done well, they might even cause a mutiny.
This is the reason why Emperor Cao Rui sighed.
If the Great Sima Cao Zhen had not conquered Shu, but with his status and prestige in the army, he had proposed reform of rewards and punishments for scholars in the temple, other people in charge of the army would have supported it and implemented it vigorously, and the generals at the bottom would have been Forced to accept the general trend.
But now that Cao Zhen's prestige has been greatly damaged due to his failure in conquering Shu, how can he still have the opportunity to implement this kind of change?
What qualifications does a governor-general who has mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops without even a chance for a direct battle have to raise objections to the military system!
Aren’t you worried that the bottom class will lead a group to criticize, causing social unrest?
Moreover, the changes in the Shi family are now out of date.
After the Battle of Shiting and the Battle of Ziwu Valley against Shu, there will be no more military conquests in the three major war zones of Huainan, Jingxiang and Yongliang in the short term. When the major fronts are passively defended, it is proposed The military system of the scholar family changed, and those scholar families did not have the opportunity to behead their heads to record their merit~
For scholars, it is also very difficult to change their destiny, and change is nothing more than an imperial edict.
Naturally, it will not inspire them to do their best to serve the country and be happy when they hear the war.
In this way, as time goes by, ineffective changes will also cause those generals who have been stripped of their interests to find reasons to oppose, and they will make a clamor and force the temple to "continue to use the old system."
no way.
Now is not the time for peace in the world.
Under the external threats from Shu and Wu, the temples of the Wei State also resorted to taboos and would definitely not do anything that would destabilize the morale of the country's military.
Xia Houhui, who figured out the reason, was very silent as he followed Emperor Cao Rui back to the Feather Hall.
Although he was a little unwilling, he had to give in to the facts.
Alas, I have to wait until the time is right in the future to remonstrate to the emperor again.
I just don’t know whether the emperor will still be as compassionate towards the scholar family in the future as he is now.
With this thought, Xia Houhui also glanced at Cao Rui in front from time to time.
Emperor Cao Rui, who was sitting in the chariot, had already closed his eyes to rest his mind. From the tired face, it could be seen that he had hardly slept last night, but he could not see any emotion.
However, from the subtle expression of a slight frown from time to time, it can be inferred that he is thinking to himself.
Is it a balance between giving up and forcibly implementing it?
If nothing else, he should have put the reform of the Shi family on hold for the time being.
After all, he is the successor to the throne.
He didn't have the decisiveness to kill like Emperor Cao Cao, let alone the prestige of being true to his word.
Xia Houhui withdrew his gaze and speculated silently in his heart.
In fact, his hunch was correct.
Emperor Cao Rui's thoughts are no longer on the scholar family.
No matter how many suggestions or good strategies are beneficial to the country, they are all nonsense if they cannot be implemented. Continuing to dwell on them will only add to the troubles.
He is the emperor, and he has the entire country in his heart, and he does not have that much time to stay on one thing.
For example, what he is thinking about now is what strategy should be adopted in the war between Wei and Shu and Wu before he is unable to motivate the scholars to fight tooth and nail.
Mainly the tactics of the Yongliang front.
After all, there is nothing to worry about in Jingxiang and Huainan.
Due to the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Shiting, the only choice was to adopt passive defensive tactics against Jiangdong.
On the Yongliang front, although Cao Zhen failed in the attack on Shu, the losses of troops and horses in each department were not much, and the losses of grain, fodder and baggage were also within the tolerable range.
Therefore, Cao Rui thought carefully about Xia Houhui's advice yesterday.
In the future wars between Wei and Shu, will the Wei State put aside its pride of being far superior to the Shu State in terms of national strength and population, and implement the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, focusing on defense, in order to achieve the strategy of "Shu exhausts itself"?
Or is it to reward the three armies for actively preparing for war, so that when Shu invades again, they can find an opportunity to decide the outcome with them?
This kind of decision that interferes with the national destiny cannot be made lightly.
All the way back to the Feather Hall, Cao Rui still had no idea.
Simply put it down for now.
I plan to go back to Luoyang, Kyoto, and discuss it privately with Cao Zhen, Liu Ye, Jiang Ji and others.
So after entering the felt hall and sitting down, he brought the topic to Xia Houhui.
He asked with a smile, "When Zhiquan was in Shouchun, Huainan, he led twenty cavalrymen deep into the territory of Wu, killed more than a hundred people, and burned down the Fuling garrison. However, he was punished by General Zhengdong to serve as a city gate. I'm a pawn in January, do you have any resentment in your heart?"
Alas, sure enough.
His mind is no longer on Shijia
Hearing this, Xia Houhui sighed quietly, although he had already expected it.
After I put this thought aside, I couldn't help but find Cao Rui's question a bit funny.
That's Man Chong who was born as a cool official!
In the past, when Cao Hong's disciples broke the law, Cao Hong even asked Emperor Wu Cao Cao to come forward but couldn't save his life. How could he dare to be resentful?
"Reply to Your Majesty, no favors."
After thinking for a while, Xia Houhui responded respectfully, "Hui did not respect the general's orders and was greedy for merit. General Zhengdong did not take Hui's marching law. He was already widening the net. How could Hui dare to ask for more evil?"
After saying this, he paused and then added another sentence of apology, "Hui acted recklessly and failed His Majesty. His crime deserves death."
Li Changshi informed you of my private instructions?
Immediately, Emperor Cao Rui raised his eyebrows.
But he didn't pay too much attention to it. He nodded and said with a smile, "If Zhiquan can have a heart of introspection, he has lived up to my expectations. Well, General Zhengdong enforces the law strictly, so it is inevitable that Zhiquan will not record his achievements. However, Zhiquan went to Huainan In just a few days, the thieves of Wu were thwarted. It makes me feel very happy to live up to the reputation of the disciples of Qiao Pei. I will not be stingy with rewards. Let me tell you, what do you want me to reward you?"
Uh~
What an unexpected surprise!
Suddenly, Xia Houhui's eyes burned.
He was in a hurry to thank him, and after thinking about it for a while, he said this, "Your Majesty, Hui's achievements in Huainan are equal to his faults. I didn't dare to ask for a reward, but I also didn't dare to displease Your Majesty. Therefore, Hui boldly asks Your Majesty to reward him with some money."
It also made Emperor Cao Rui's smile freeze.
He couldn't understand why Xia Houhui was so keen on money and silk.
Previously, Xia Houhui was hunting for fun in Beimang Mountain in Luoyang. When Xia Houhui expressed his intention to reward him, he asked for his horse to be taken out of the palace for a mere salary of 600 stones. But now, he has clearly urged Xia Houheng to take Yang Yang. Several dozen hectares of land at the west end of the canal were allocated to Xia Houhui, but he still asked for rewards.
Is it possible that this son, like the later general Cao Hong, likes to make money?!
However, in the past, he was a school official. When he served as the Minister of Sanqi, he did not receive money or silk from others~
But Cao Rui was still very happy because he didn't understand.
As a monarch, the most fearful thing is that his ministers are greedy for power. As for those who like money and silk and stick to their duties and do not use power to enrich their own pockets, he is very pleased.
"Can."
After Cao Rui nodded lightly in agreement, he also joked casually, "Zhiquan once said that he had ambitions to become a rich man, and now it seems that the results are true! Hahaha~"
"Haha~"
After laughing a few times, Xia Houhui replied slowly, "Thank you, Your Majesty. His salary and family wealth are sufficient for his own use. However, after taking office in Huainan, he felt that purchasing a horse-drawn horse would be more convenient for making achievements on the battlefield."
"Shi Ming·Shi Bing" says: The spear is eight feet long and is called "矟" (槟), which can be held immediately.
The horse is a weapon for riding and fighting, and it is worth a lot of money.
Not to mention the approximately three-foot-long armor-piercing edge of the horse, which cannot be forged by ordinary craftsmen and iron. However, the selection of materials for the pole is strict, and it takes three years to make it, and the success rate is extremely low. Under such circumstances, ordinary generals cannot afford it.
Xia Houyuan had left one shot before.
However, Xiahou Ba, who was also fond of martial arts and had served in the army for a long time, was given the upper hand.
Xia Houhui wanted to buy it, so he had to raise money to buy it himself.
"Mazhao"
Hearing this, Emperor Cao Rui was suddenly enlightened and he expressed his praise, "It's very commendable that Zhiquan has the heart to make contributions!"
After saying that, he turned his head slightly and thought about it, as if he was remembering something.
After a while, he smiled solemnly and opened his mouth to say something. From the corner of his eye, he saw an eunuch walking into the felt hall with his head bowed. He asked the eunuch a question.
"What's the matter?"
"Report to Your Majesty."
The attendant quickly stopped, bowed his head and said, "Zhang Xiaoshi and others have returned and are waiting to be summoned outside."
"Um"
After softly agreeing, Emperor Cao Rui smiled, turned to Xia Houhui and told him, "Zhiquan, I have my own opinion on the idea that scholars can redeem themselves through merit, so don't talk to others about it. Well, it's already here." If nothing happens, Zhiquan will return to Huainan immediately."
Well?
Return to Huainan immediately?
I traveled hundreds of miles all the way and arrived at Xuchang yesterday. Today, noon has not yet arrived, so you are driving me back?
Could it be that something big happened to these school supervisors and they asked me to avoid them?
Also, where is the promised reward of money and silk?!
Xia Houhui was a little stunned.
It took him a moment to react, and he quickly bowed and left.