April 8th, Luoyang, inside the North Palace. The two important office spaces, the West Pavilion and the East Pavilion, have been established for some time. For more than a month, almost all military affairs of the Wei army and foreign armies were concentrated in the general's mansion in Luoyang. Simple military affairs were naturally handled by officials in the general's mansion. Important military affairs that needed to be handled by the emperor and the general, or slightly urgent military affairs, were sent to the West Pavilion in the palace through the Secretariat. Government affairs are also average. Officials from the Grand General's Mansion and the Secretariat had no authority to enter the palace, and all matters had to be conveyed through the Secretariat. Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, Sima Yi, and Wei Zhen gradually got used to it. The senior officials in Luoyang also gradually knew the role of the West and East Pavilions. At this time, there was a eunuch standing outside the West Pavilion, tentatively sticking his head inside. "Is the general here?" Huangmen asked softly. After hearing the voice, Cao Zhen subconsciously looked up at the door. Which palace is this Huangmen from? Why doesn't he just come in?
Cao Zhen said in a deep voice: "What's the matter?" Huangmen walked slowly into the West Pavilion and bowed to Cao Zhen: "General, the Queen Mother has a letter for you." "Empress Dowager Guo?" Cao Zhen frowned. "Just send me a letter. Why are you acting like a thief?" Huangmen handed the letter to Cao Zhen with both hands, then stepped aside with a wry smile and stood with his back bent. The West Pavilion and the East Pavilion were both next to the emperor's study. There were no clerks or servants serving them, and there were no eunuchs or guards guarding outside the doors. There was no one outside the house, and only Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao were inside. Dong Zhao, who was sitting on the other side, obviously also saw this scene, but Dong Zhao remained silent as usual, neither watching nor stopping the annotations in his hand. After Cao Zhen read the letter roughly, he asked, "Have you gone to look for Sikong?" Huang Men replied: "Not yet." "Is this the only letter? Leave it with me." Cao Zhen nodded and put the letter aside on the table: "Go to the opposite side and invite Sikong and Wei Pushe to come over for me." Huangmen hesitated for a few moments and then responded yes. As a eunuch in Empress Dowager Guo's palace, I couldn't help but feel a little scared when I came to His Majesty's palace. The old eunuch who was beaten to death by His Majesty last month and who delivered the message to Cao Hong was the godfather of many young eunuchs in the palace. After Huangmen responded, he went to the opposite side to invite Sima Yi and Wei Zhen. Cao Zhen also looked up at Dong Zhao with a smile: "Mr. Dong, the Queen Mother has something to ask me and Zhongda. Mr. Dong, why don't you guess it?" Dong Zhao slowly raised his head, put down the brush in his hand, shook his head and said, "I won't guess." Cao Zhen said, "Mr. Dong, this is boring, isn't it? It's just you and me here, can't we still make jokes?" Dong Zhao thought for a moment and said, "If I really have to guess, the only thing that Empress Dowager Guo can discuss with the general and the prime minister is your majesty's family affairs. And she sent people here directly, it seems that it must be something that your majesty is also aware of." Cao Zhen laughed and said, "Mr. Dong is truly a wise man!" "Empress Dowager Guo asked me to discuss candidates with the Minister of Works to prepare for His Majesty's harem. And His Majesty personally agreed a few days ago."
"Oh?" Dong Zhao nodded gently: "Your Majesty's family affairs are state affairs, and it is reasonable for the Queen Mother to take the lead in this matter." "Where will we choose? How many women will we choose to enter the palace?" "Choose twenty people to come to the palace." Cao Zhen said, "I will explain everything in detail after Zhongda and Gongzhen arrive." After Dong Zhao heard what Cao Zhen said, he actually closed his eyes and began to rest. For Dong Zhao, who was over 70 years old and still came to the palace every day, he didn't want to waste any energy. After a moment, Sima Yi and Wei Zhen came over slowly. After the two entered the room, they sat down on the chairs nearby with ease. Sima Yi said, "How should this be done specifically?" Wei Zhen also looked over. Cao Zhen had left the letter with him, and the eunuch who had asked the two to come here had only given a brief account of the matter. "We need to select twenty people to enter the palace this time." Cao Zhen had no intention of handing the letter to Sima Yi, but dictated it directly. "Select five people from each of the four categories: nobles, military officers, officials, and common people." Cao Zhen looked at Sima Yi and said, "Your Majesty also agreed to this personally." Sima Yi was a little puzzled: "General, is this what the Queen Mother meant, or what Your Majesty meant?" Cao Zhen said: "That's roughly what the Queen Mother meant, but Your Majesty has also nodded too much." "The Queen Mother said that you and I should select some for Your Majesty first, and then report them to the Queen Mother for final selection, and then Your Majesty will come to choose personally." Sima Yi recalled that he had suggested this matter to the emperor in front of his horse several months ago in Shouchun. Sima Yi asked, "Twenty people... If we have to choose, military officers and officials are the easiest. Let Cao Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel find some files and select officials from all over the country who have girls of marriageable age. Then we can make a rough selection from the West and East Pavilions." Sima Yi mentioned the "West Pavilion and East Pavilion" in great detail. Compared with Cao Zhen's "you and me" just now, this also included Dong Zhao and Wei Zhen. "But for the daughters of the nobles and the common people, this matter is a little more complicated." Sima Yi looked at Cao Zhen: "Since that is what the Queen Mother said, does Your Majesty have any suggestions or requests?" "No." Cao Zhen shook his head and said, "I have never heard of what type of women His Majesty prefers." Sima Yi thought for a moment and said, "The most important thing to consider is age. Since the Queen Mother and Your Majesty have said that there are four categories to choose from, there is no need to worry about family background or anything like that." Dong Zhao interrupted and said, "What's the point of discussing this here?" The other three looked over, and Dong Zhao said slowly, "The Queen Mother was able to handle this matter because of your Majesty's instructions." "Instead of us trying to guess His Majesty's intentions here, why don't we go out and ask His Majesty directly? No one is stopping us from asking." Cao Zhen and Sima Yi looked at each other and burst into laughter. After a while, the four of them informed the eunuch on duty and went into the study together. Even if they were in the palace, they had to report to the emperor before they could see him. Cao Zhen made it clear to the eunuch that he was here to ask His Majesty about filling up the harem. Cao Rui smiled and looked at them: "Could it be that the Queen Mother sent someone to look for the General and the Minister of Works?" Cao Zhen nodded and said, "That's right. I can't figure out your majesty's intention, so I came to ask your majesty." "Everyone, please take a seat." Cao Rui said casually, "The Queen Mother told me that we would select twenty women to enter the palace together, so I also divided them into four categories. There was an incident last month, and I asked the Queen Mother to find the general and the prime minister to prevent the communication between the inner court and the outer court from happening again."
"You are all in the palace, so there is no communication between the inside and outside." Cao Zhen said: "Although these twenty people are divided into four categories, does Your Majesty have any more specific criteria?" Sima Yi also added: "For example, age, region, etc." Cao Rui thought for a few moments and said seriously, "If we talk about age, let's limit it to eighteen years old." Sima Yi said, "So it's from fourteen to eighteen?" Cao Rui shook his head: "Sikong is wrong, I mean to be eighteen years old." Sima Yi was a little surprised and didn't know why the emperor had such restrictions. Just now he thought of Emperor Wu Cao Cao, but he quickly regained his composure and said seriously: "Your Majesty, nowadays girls can get married at the age of fourteen, and most of them get married at the age of sixteen or seventeen." "Women who are still unmarried at the age of 18 are indeed rare." Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, and Wei Zhen also looked over, revealing some confusion. Cao Rui frowned and asked, "Is it really hard to find?" Sima Yi said: "If we only consider the people from the noble families, it should be difficult to find them." "Well then," Cao Rui said, "Try to find someone who is over 18 years old. If you really can't find anyone, someone who is over 16 years old can also be considered." "As you wish." Sima Yi glanced at Cao Zhen and asked, "Among the four categories your majesty has divided, scholars and officials are easy to find, but as for military generals and civilians, I really don't know how to choose." Cao Rui replied: "For military generals, choose one from the two thousand stone generals of the central army and the outer army. For civilians, choose one from Hebei, Yongliang, Qingxu, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou." Sima Yi said, "Then we will roughly select ten of them first, sort out the information and portraits, and then let Your Majesty choose?" Cao Zhen also wanted to ask a question, but he opened his mouth but still said nothing. Cao Rui noticed Cao Zhen's slightly strange expression and asked with a smile: "General, what do you want to say?" Cao Zhen coughed lightly, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, what Sikong just said are just some rough things." "When Emperor Wu was alive, Zhongda and I were still young. After the late emperor ascended the throne, he never asked his ministers to do things like selecting people for the harem." "Now that His Majesty and the Queen Mother have handed this matter over to us..." Cao Zhen hesitated and said, "From family background to age to details, there is no example to follow." "Also, we don't know what type of women Your Majesty likes, extroverted or introverted, or virtuous and kind? We really don't know what to do." "Hahaha." Cao Rui laughed a few times: "It's hard for you to let the general and the minister of work do this. How about I let the minister of the palace do it?" Cao Zhen quickly shook his head and explained: "I am not trying to shirk my responsibility, I just don't know what your majesty means." Cao Rui nodded and said, "I just mentioned age. If we talk about family background, who can compare with mine? Family background doesn't need to be considered too much. It is still necessary to be well-educated and well-mannered." "But when it comes to virtues..." Cao Rui asked, "Mencius or Xunzi, who do you believe more?" Cao Zhen was puzzled for a moment. Wasn't it for selecting people for the harem? Why did it involve Mencius and Xunzi? Sima Yi came to the rescue and said, "Your Majesty, what you are talking about is Mencius's 'The goodness of human nature is like water flowing downwards' and Xunzi's 'The human nature is evil, and those who are good are fake'?"
Cao Rui smiled and nodded. (End of this chapter)