Cao Zhi was standing here with a kind expression on his face, but Yuan Kan was already quite anxious at this moment. Logically, such matters should be reported immediately to his direct superior, Wei Zhen, who was in charge of the election of Shangshu You Pushe. But isn't Wei Zhen stationed in the palace permanently, and it's his day off now? Although Yuan Kan did not want to be accused of making friends with Cao Zhi, he stood up and bowed due to etiquette: "Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will go find the Shangshu who is on duty today." After Chen Jiao became the Shizhong and Wei Zhen entered the palace, there were only four Shangshu in the Shangshu Tai on a daily basis, who were in charge of Zuomin Cao, Ke Cao, Wubing Cao, and Duzhi Cao respectively, and they also commanded the Shangshu Lang of the 25 Caos of the Shangshu Tai respectively. This is almost the prototype of the six ministries in later generations. "Prince of Yongqiu?" Xu Xuan, the guest minister, was looking at documents in the duty room. After hearing Yuan Kan's words, he asked in confusion, "Gong Ran, are you hysterical? Prince of Yongqiu is not in Yongqiu, so why is he here at the Secretariat?" "Mr. Xu, you should go and take a look yourself." Yuan Kan looked embarrassed. "Prince Yongqiu said that your Majesty appointed him as the deputy chief priest of Chongwen Temple a month ago, and he came to the Shangshutai to report this time." Seeing that Xu Xuan was still thinking, Yuan Kan could not help but urge him: "Mr. Xu, Mr. Xu?" Xu Xuan rolled his eyes at Yuan Kan and said, "I understand. You go first, I'll be there later."
After driving Yuan Kan away, Xu Xuan sat at the table and began to think. Yuan Kan has always been prudent. Since he said Cao Zhi was coming, then this must be true. The Prince of Yongqiu entered Luoyang, and he would not be able to leave Yongqiu without the permission of Your Majesty. In addition, His Majesty had also passed through Chenliu County during his previous southern tour. It must be that His Majesty and Prince Yongqiu had reconciled their differences, and that’s why he chose Prince Yongqiu to be an official in Luoyang! It only took a short moment to figure out the key. Xu Xuan stood up, straightened his robe, and then walked out slowly to the duty room of the Ministry of Personnel Cao. "I am Xu Xuan, the Minister of the Imperial Household, and I am here to greet the king." Xu Xuan bowed tactfully, which startled Cao Zhi, who was sitting. Cao Zhi quickly stood up and bowed back to Xu Xuan: "Greetings, Mr. Xu." Xu Xuan smiled and said, "I just heard from Doctor Yuan that Your Majesty is ordering the king to be the deputy chief priest of the Chongwen Hall?" "Chongwen Temple is not Chongwen Hall." Cao Zhi corrected him seriously: "Mr. Xu, your majesty set up this Chongwen Temple to promote your majesty's intention of 'respecting Confucianism and valuing learning' and 'putting classics first'." Cao Zhi had wasted nearly ten years, and now he had a real job. Even if it was a purely civil service job in collating classics and promoting knowledge in Luoyang City, Cao Zhi was quite satisfied and therefore valued it very much. Even if Xu Xuan said a wrong word, Cao Zhi would carefully correct him to feel relieved. People who have not experienced the abyss can hardly understand the feeling of being able to feel the sunshine freely on the flat ground. Cao Zhi now feels like he has to escape from the cage. "Yes, Chongwen Temple." Xu Xuan nodded and said, "May I ask your Majesty, how exactly does this Chongwen Temple promote education? The Shangshutai has not heard your Majesty mention this matter yet." Cao Zhi explained: "Mr. Xu, you know the Five Classics, right? The Five Classics are difficult to study and difficult to comprehend. Ordinary students cannot understand them. If we annotate them in vernacular..." Although Xu Xuan listened to Cao Zhi's serious narration, he didn't hear it at all. To put it bluntly, it was nothing more than His Majesty finding a civil servant to re-employ you, a prince who had been abandoned for many years! Actually, Xu Xuan didn't care where Cao Zhi was working. He just wanted to find some reasons to chat with this revived man. Yuan Kan just stood aside and watched the two of them quietly. The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of elections and performance appraisals. Yuan Kan, who was able to become a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel at the age of over 30 and a direct subordinate of Wei Zhen, was naturally an elite among the elites. Yuan Kan's father was Yuan Huan of Chen County, who was called "brave and brave" by Cao Cao himself. Yuan Kan recalled his father's comments on Xu Xuan, saying that although Xu Xuan was brave, he liked to speculate. Two years ago, when the late emperor was conquering Guangling, he encountered storms. Xu Xuan was the first to drive his boat to the late emperor's boat regardless of everything. He was rewarded by the late emperor and was promoted from a regular attendant to a guest minister. After the two chatted for a while, Cao Zhi stood up and said goodbye: "Mr. Xu, I will leave first." "Your Majesty, please go slowly." Xu Xuan said with a smile on his face, "Your Majesty, it seems that you should go to the palace to look for His Majesty now." "What Mr. Xu said makes a lot of sense." Cao Zhi nodded quickly, thanked Xu Xuan again, and then left. Cao Zhi had been silent for many years. This was the first time he felt kindness from a high-ranking official in the court. All of a sudden, his favorable impression of Xu Xuan increased dramatically.
The footsteps gradually faded away. Xu Xuan stood at the door and watched Cao Zhi leave the Secretariat. Before he left, he turned to Yuan Kan and said, "Gong Ran, we should talk to Duke Wei about this matter immediately." "Thank you, Mr. Xu, for your reminder. I will send someone to report it right away." Yuan Kan bowed and sent Xu Xuan away. He felt speechless for a moment. This person really wants to sell himself well in everything. About half an hour later, Cao Zhi finally arrived in front of the emperor's study. The palace was Cao Rui's office and home. Unless he was going out for a special trip or inspection, there was really no need to leave the palace. Cao Rui had already learned from the school affairs office that Cao Zhi would come to Luoyang today. Sure enough, before noon, Cao Zhi came to ask for a meeting. "Uncle, I hope you are well." Cao Rui stood at the door of the study and said this to Cao Zhi from a distance. Cao Zhi took two steps at a time and walked to the steps in front of the study room and bowed directly: "Your Majesty, I, Cao Zhi, greet you." Cao Rui did not help him, but smiled and said, "Uncle, please stand up and come in quickly. Let's sit down in the study and we can talk later." "As ordered." Cao Zhi stood up and went into the study, only to find Liu Ye and Yang Fu were both there. When the emperor stood up to greet him, Liu Ye and Yang Fu, who were originally sitting, also stood up. Cao Zhi also knew Liu Ye and Liu Ziyang very early on, but Yang Fu and Yang Yishan looked very unfamiliar to Cao Zhi. Cao Zhi knew this in his heart, and was even more cautious when he returned to Luoyang. Before Liu Ye and Yang Fu could say anything, Cao Zhi began to bow to them and said, "Hello, Mr. Liu. Who is this...?" How could Liu Ye dare to let a prince call him Lord Liu in front of the emperor? So he quickly responded: "Greetings, Your Majesty, please don't say that." Liu Ye then said to Cao Zhi, "Your Majesty, this is the newly appointed Minister Yang Fu, Yang Yishan." Cao Zhi was careful, Liu Ye was careful too, but Yang Fu was not so careful. Yang Fu bowed slightly and said, "Greetings, King Yongqiu. I am Yang Yishan from Tianshui." Liu Ye was cautious because he knew that the emperor wanted to employ members of the royal family and was afraid of losing the emperor's favor if he failed to handle the situation properly. Cao Zhi was cautious after being reinstated. In contrast, Yang Fu was fearless. Princes? What are princes? I am still a minister of the court! It can only be said that during the time of Emperors Huan and Ling and during the Huangchu period, the consistently bleak situation of the princes had always made the scholars habitually look down on them. During the reign of Emperor Ling, Emperor Huan's younger brother, King Bohai Liu Kui, was slandered for treason by the powerful eunuch Wang Fu. He was tortured in prison and forced to commit suicide. Even a eunuch could kill the princes cleanly and neatly, and no one would speak for them afterwards. What status could these princes have? Cao Rui of course took in their performance, leaned back on the recliner, and said calmly, "Uncle, do you have a place to stay when you return to Luoyang this time?" "Your Majesty," Cao Zhi said respectfully, "My previous house was taken back by the court a few years ago. Now I really have nowhere to live." "How can that be done?" Cao Rui frowned slightly. "Liu Qing, talk to the Shaofu later and choose a house in Luozhong to reward the emperor's uncle. The size should be based on the size of the residence of General Cao Hong." Before Liu Ye could reply, Cao Zhi stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have made no contributions to the country. How can I live in a mansion of the same standard as General Wei?" Cao Rui ignored Cao Zhi's words, waved his hand and said to Liu Ye: "Just tell the Shaofu. I summoned my uncle back to Luozhong to take up his post. If my uncle lives in a shabby house, it would be a loss of face for me." "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Cao Zhi stood up and bowed. Liu Ye also said, "Your Majesty, the residence of Prince Yongqiu has been awarded by the late emperor to Wu Zhi, the governor of Hebei."
"Wu Zhi and Wu Jizhong..." Cao Rui thought for a moment and said, "It's time to call Wu Zhi back to the court, but there doesn't seem to be a suitable position for him right now." Cao Rui glanced at Liu Ye and Yang Fu, then at Cao Zhi: "Uncle, you haven't seen the Empress Dowager for several years, right?" To be honest, how could Cao Zhi not want to see his biological mother? It was just that the emperor did not mention it, and he himself was not in a position to say it out loud. Cao Zhi nodded and said, "I haven't seen the Grand Empress Dowager since I returned to Juancheng from Luoyang in the third year of Huangchu. I wonder if the Grand Empress Dowager is in good health?" "Whether he is healthy or not, your uncle can go and see for himself." Cao Rui said with a smile: "Minister Liu, Minister Yang, you two should accompany Prince Yongqiu to see the Empress Dowager." "As you wish." Liu Ye and Yang Fu stood up and answered. After Cao Zhi thanked them repeatedly, he followed Liu Yang and the others out. The eunuch Bi Jin led the way, Cao Zhi walked in the middle, and Liu Ye and Yang Fu followed closely beside Cao Zhi, walking half a step slower. Up to now, the only two foreign ministers who had the right to ride horses in the palace were Cao Zhen and Sima Yi. Although Cao Zhi was the emperor's uncle, he was undoubtedly a foreign minister and had to walk on his own two feet. Cao Zhi missed his mother so much that he had no mood to chat with the two ministers. Yang Fu kept silent out of habit. At that moment, Liu Ye was also thinking about the relationship between the emperor and the royal family. First it was Cao Hong, then Cao Zhi. During the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, the court was dominated by a three-way struggle between scholars, eunuchs, and relatives of the emperor's wife. In today's Wei Dynasty, the warriors of Qiaopei and the scholars of Ruying are almost on equal terms. However, judging from your majesty's behavior these days, the status of military men and royal family members is rising. Should I also seek a military post for myself? Should I make some real military achievements besides being a staff officer? As they were thinking, they arrived outside the palace of Empress Dowager Bian. With Bi Jin leading the way, naturally no one could stop them. Cao Zhi stepped over the threshold and walked inside. Liu Ye and Yang Fu looked at each other and followed him closely. (End of this chapter)