Cao Rui asked in return: "Should we kill him?" Wang Su was stunned for a moment, then he clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, such words of life and death are beyond the reach of our ministers. Please make your decision." Cao Rui shook his head helplessly: "So Yuan Kan can be killed or not? Since the 'eight proposals' were rejected and the 'four proposals' were approved, let Yuan Kan be the first one." "Minister Wang, please write a note to the court judge for me." "Yes, sir." Wang Su stood up and went to the desk in the corner of the study. "Write the 'Four Discussions' we just agreed on to Gao Rou, and ask him to choose the 'Discussing Merits' item for Yuan Kan. As for Zhuge Dan and Xu Yun, sentence them according to the law." "Also, send someone to write these 'Four Proposals' to Liu Shao, and ask him and Lu Yu to come to the palace to talk to me about the progress of the law revision." "As you wish." Wang Su nodded, then dipped the tip of his pen into ink and began to write on Zuo Bo's paper. Cao Rui also stood up from the recliner: "Let's go first. I'm not in a good mood today, and the weather is hot, so I'm going to go swimming. Who among you four can swim?" The four of them looked at each other for a few seconds, and finally only Chen Jiao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am from Guangling, Xuzhou, and I learned to swim when I was young. But since I became an official, I haven't swum for many years."
People from Guangling... Cao Rui suddenly thought of something: "Is there an official with the surname Ji in the court? Or is there any noble family with the surname Ji?" Chen Jiao asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, which Ji?" Cao Rui walked to the table and wrote a large Chinese character "Ji". When the four people saw it, they all said they had never seen such a character before. "Forget it." Cao Rui put the pen on the table, turned around and walked out. …… In the afternoon, the water temperature of the swimming pool was just right after being exposed to the scorching sun. After swimming ten times, Cao Rui heard the eunuch report that Liu Fang had arrived. He stood up, put on a bathrobe, and sat on a chair, with a eunuch carefully wiping his hair behind him. Liu Fang had seen the emperor swim before, so he didn't make a fuss. But Wang Chang, who came with Liu Fang, couldn't hide his surprise. Cao Rui glanced at Wang Chang and then asked, "What do you want to tell me?" Liu Fang bowed and said, "Your Majesty has previously instructed me that if Huang Gongheng has any news from Yuzhou, I should report it to Your Majesty immediately." "That's true." Cao Rui nodded gently: "I won't read the letter. Tell me, how is Huang Quan doing in Yuzhou?" After Liu Fang unfolded the letter, he said, "Huang Quan has three things to report to Your Majesty." "First, Huang Quan has already made a rough inspection of the military farms in Yingchuan, Chenjun, and Runan counties." "After investigation, Huang Quan found that the lives of the farmers were quite difficult. If they were to share 50% or 40% of the harvest, they would have almost no money left at home after working hard for a whole year." "Huang Quan said that after more than a month of observation, the farmers became more motivated after the announcement of the 10% increase in distribution." The reason behind this is obvious. For a farmer, after working for a year, there is little left except for food and clothing. Compared with being able to save some food, no one is a fool! The enthusiasm must be higher. Cao Rui raised his eyes and looked at Wang Chang: "Mr. Wang, how is the situation of military farming in various parts of Yanzhou?" Wang Chang replied: "Your Majesty, there are no military settlements in Yanzhou, only civilian settlements, and the civilian settlements are mostly in the three counties of Dongjun, Chenliu, and Jiyin."
"But I think the farming in Yanzhou is different from that in Yuzhou. The rivers in Dongjun, Chenliu, and Jiyin are plentiful, and the land is better, so the farmers can harvest more, and there won't be a situation where they have no food left after working hard for a year." Cao Rui nodded and said: "The situations in each state and county are still different. Let's start with Yuzhou! Yingchuan, Chenjun, Runan, Huang Quan still has Liang, Pei, and Qiao counties to go to." "If we really want to compare the harvests, we have to wait until the grain is harvested. There is no rush." Seeing this, Liu Fang continued, "The second thing Huang Quan did was to report to His Majesty that he had doubled the salaries of the officials who were engaged in farming." "Huang Quan said that he found that the officials in charge of the military farms often used the villagers to work or do things that had nothing to do with farming. He believed that this was related to the fact that the officials in charge of the military farms were mostly poor." Is it because the treatment of the military farm officials was so poor that they had to exploit the military farm residents? Cao Rui signaled Liu Fang to continue. Liu Fang continued, "The third thing is that Huang Quan said that he plans to gather the farmers from each county to repair the river and build dams during the slack season." "Liu Zhongshu, write back to Huang Quan for me." Cao Rui said slowly, "Tell Huang Quan that he can do whatever he wants in Yuzhou." "It is right to increase the share of the income of the farmers, to promote it in each county, and to record the feedback. As for increasing the salaries of the farmers' officials and building water conservancy projects, I will not comment on these trivial matters." "It's already June. Ask Huang Quan to give me a rough plan on how to regulate military farming before winter. If it's good, I'll let other states implement it one by one." Liu Fang nodded: "I'll take note. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave." It was obvious that Liu Fang didn't bring a pen and paper to take notes. But Cao Rui didn't doubt Liu Fang's memory at all. As a confidential official, being able to remember everything he saw was just basic skills. Just after Liu Fang and Wang Chang left, Zhong Yu also walked in from outside. "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister requests to see you." Zhong Yu said carefully. "Didn't I tell him to go home today? Why did he come back to the palace this afternoon?" Cao Rui frowned and said, "I won't see him today. We can talk tomorrow if there is anything." "Yes, I will tell Sikong right away." Zhong Yu bowed and left. As he left, he was still curious, why did His Majesty not even see Sima Yi? What happened? At this time in the East Pavilion, Sima Yi was sitting in his seat and chatting with Wei Zhen. "Gong Zhen, it seems that it is time to clean up the various departments of the Secretariat. Now the problem is in the Personnel Department, but there are 25 departments in the Secretariat, and you never know which department will have problems again." "During the Huangchu period, after the late emperor re-established the Secretariat, he never established the positions of Shangshu Zuocheng and Shangshu Youcheng again. It seems that it is time to report to His Majesty and restore these two positions." Wei Zhen glanced at Sima Yi, but his heart was as clear as a mirror. In the first year of the Huangchu reign of the late Emperor Cao Pi, he selected Huan Jie, who had clearly expressed his support for him to be the crown prince, as the Minister of the Chancellery, and Chen Qun and Du Ji as the Ministers of the Chancellery. The Shangshutai of the Han Dynasty and the Shangshutai of the Wei Dynasty were two completely separate institutions. The Shangshutai of the Wei Dynasty was transformed from the Shangshutai of Cao Cao's Wei Kingdom. The Shangshu Zuocheng and Shangshu Youcheng, who were required in the Shangshutai of the Han Dynasty, were ignored intentionally or unintentionally. In the final analysis, it was the people in charge of the Shangshutai during the Huangchu period who wanted to seize power. Of course, there is nothing wrong with grabbing power. Who would want to give away the power in their hands to others for nothing? Wei Zhen nodded and said, "The Left Chancellor is in charge of the rules and regulations of the Chancellery, and the Right Chancellor is in charge of the money and grain seals of the Chancellery. This matter is of great importance, so why not report it to Your Majesty tomorrow and we will decide on it." Sima Yi smiled and nodded: "It seems that Gong Zhen and I have a tacit understanding on major issues." Wei Zhen's expression remained unchanged: "How could I refuse something that is beneficial to the country?" Sima Yi stood at the door with his hands behind his back, as if looking at something: "Zhuge Dan and Yuan Kan were involved in the case. Both you and I cannot escape responsibility. Let's think about how to explain it to His Majesty." Wei Zhen said sternly: "No need to argue, I am willing to resign the position of Shangshu You Pushe." Sima Yi turned around and sneered, "What is Gong Zhen thinking? Even if you want to leave, His Majesty will not let you go."
While the two were talking, Zhong Yu also walked into the yard. Sima Yi saw Zhong Yu coming towards him, and he stood there calmly, waiting for Zhong Yu to come over. From a distance of ten feet, Zhong Yu began to bow and said, "Your Majesty has ordered that the Minister of Works return home first and will see him again tomorrow." Sima Yi was stunned for a moment, then he looked confident, walked out of the door of the East Pavilion, climbed onto his horse, nodded to Zhong Yu, then shook the reins and rode out. Zhong Yu stood there with a strange expression on his face. Although His Majesty allowed the General and the Prime Minister to ride horses, neither the General of the West Pavilion nor the Prime Minister of the East Pavilion had ever ridden their horses into the yard. Sikong...what happened today? Even though Zhong Yu was inexperienced in politics, he clearly noticed that the trend today was wrong. There must be a reason why Cao Rui did not meet Sima Yi. When Sima Yi was at Chongwen Temple this morning, he said that anyone who took Wu Shi San would be banned from holding office, but He Yan later said that Sima Shi was among them, which caused Sima Yi to lose his composure in public. Sima Yi wanted to see the emperor this afternoon, and it must be for this matter. It would be better to wait for the results of Gao Rou's interrogation of He Yan and others before making a decision. After dinner, Cao Rui walked slowly in front, followed by a group of guards and eunuchs, and was walking towards the palace where Concubine Mao lived. Counting the dates, Concubine Mao should have become pregnant in early September last year. It is now almost mid-June and she is about to give birth. Cao Rui visits Concubine Mao every other day. "Has the imperial physician come today?" Cao Rui asked while stroking Concubine Mao's bulging belly. "Of course I have." Concubine Mao looked at Cao Rui gently and said with a hint of anger, "Three meals a day, the imperial physician would come to check the pulse after each meal, more frequently than His Majesty." "My pulse and everything are fine. I dare not trouble Your Majesty to worry about it." As she spoke, Concubine Mao turned around. "What's wrong? Are you angry with me?" Cao Rui asked with a smile. "How dare I!" Concubine Mao turned her eyes to Cao Rui and said, "Today, I heard that the Queen Mother has brought five more beauties for Your Majesty." "First, Sun Luban and Guo Yao were sent over. The day before yesterday, four daughters of noble families were sent over, plus today's five daughters of officials." Concubine Mao sighed softly, "The Queen Mother has explained these matters to me in detail. The heir of the royal family is the most important thing, and I am not jealous." "I am just worried about how your Majesty can bear it?" (End of this chapter)