Chapter 6 Ghostwriting In the afternoon, Cao Rui was walking in the palace wearing a thin robe. The eunuch Bi Jin held a copper plate in both hands. On the plate was a bunch of tempting purple grapes with water droplets hanging on them. Cao Rui threw a grape into his mouth, chewed it for a while, then pursed his lips and spit the grape skin on the ground. Soon a eunuch came over to pick it up. "The grapes of this era are still not sweet enough. They are ok for making wine." Cao Rui said to himself. "What did the late emperor say in his article?" Cao Rui turned his head and looked at Liu Ye. A man should keep his word, let alone an emperor. In recent days, Cao Rui has been sorting out the articles of Cao Cao and Cao Pi with two attendants. For this purpose, the emperor specially recruited Zhong Yu, the son of the great calligrapher Zhong Yao, as the imperial attendant. Zhong Yu inherited his father's excellent handwriting, which could be called a human printing press. With the top-quality Zuo Bo paper, the finished books could be preserved as works of art. Liu Ye remembered everything he saw: "Your Majesty, the original text of the late emperor is: 'When the red summer turns to autumn, there is still some heat. After a night of drunkenness, eat in the dew. It is sweet but not greasy, sour but not crisp, cold but not freezing, with a long taste and rich juice, and it can relieve restlessness and quench thirst.'" Cao Rui smiled and said, "The late emperor really never had any good food."
Liu Ye had been following Cao Rui for a long time recently and knew that the emperor was a casual person who could make jokes, so he responded according to Cao Rui's words. "I wonder if there is any fruit in the world better than grapes?" Cao Rui thought: "Of course there is, but you have no chance to see it." After a moment, Cao Rui seemed to have thought of something and said, "Bi Jin, take two kilograms of grapes from Liangzhou and give them to Minister Liu and Minister Xin, and give another two kilograms to the ministers." Bi Jin bowed and said yes, then instructed the eunuch beside him to do it. Liu Ye bowed his hands in thanks: "I thank your majesty for the reward. Thanks to your blessing, my family can also taste the flavor of grapes." Cao Rui waved his hand and said, "By the way, how many days have the four assistant ministers been working in the Shangshutai?" Liu Ye replied, "It has been seven or eight days since the grand court meeting. The ministers started working in the Shangshutai two days after the court meeting. So it has been five days in total." Cao Rui said, "It's time to find someone to ask. I have been away from work these days, and I don't know how the four ministers are doing with the administration." Liu Ye said: "I heard that the two General Caos are getting more and more impatient sitting in the Shangshutai." Cao Rui chuckled: "It's really hard for the two of them. Who should I ask?" Liu Ye reminded quietly: "Communicating the imperial edict is the responsibility of the Secretariat." Cao Rui looked at Bi Jin and said, "Go, invite the Minister of the Central Secretariat." Then he asked Liu Ye, "Does Mr. Liu exercise on weekdays?" Liu Ye shook his head. Cao Rui smiled and said, "Mr. Liu, in my opinion, this place is very spacious and we should dig a swimming pool." Liu Ye was puzzled: "What is a swimming pool?" Cao Rui gestured towards the empty space with his hands and said, "Look, this empty space is shaded by trees. Dig a square pool, inlay the sides and bottom with ceramic bricks, and then fill it with water." "In the hot summer, swimming in the pool can cool you down and exercise your body at the same time, killing two birds with one stone!"
Liu Ye hesitated and said, "Your Majesty is really creative. I heard that Emperor Ling of Han also dug a pool in the North Palace. If Your Majesty also builds a swimming pool, it may cause criticism in the court, right?" Cao Rui snorted, "I know the story of Emperor Ling of Han. In order to please him, the Ten Eunuchs built a nude swimming pool for him in the North Palace." "I have to wear clothes in my swimming pool. I am not as stupid as Emperor Ling of Han." "I have spoken out of turn. Your Majesty, please punish me." "It's okay. It's always a good thing to be able to give advice." There was a sound of hurried footsteps in the distance, and the footsteps slowed down as they approached Cao Rui. The visitor bowed and said, "I, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Sun Zi, pay my respects to Your Majesty." Cao Rui was in a good mood, and said to Sun Zi with a smile: "Minister of the Central Secretariat, please go to the Shangshutai to see the four ministers for me, and send some grapes over." Sun Zi replied, "I obey your order. Your Majesty, do you have any words for the four ministers?" Cao Rui said: "There's nothing much to say. By the way, the four of them should have dealt with a lot of things in the past few days. Let them write a summary." Sun Zi asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, how should I write this summary?" Cao Rui replied, "Let them study it themselves and bring it to me. Minister of the Central Secretariat, please go quickly. If it's any later, they will be off work and going home." Sun Zi bowed and took his leave. …… Chancery desk. Faced with the oppression of the four regent ministers, in the end it was Shangshu Ling Chen Jiao who took it all on his own. After Cao Pi replaced the Han Dynasty, he established Luoyang as the capital. Luoyang has undergone a large-scale renovation for only six or seven years. The Nan Palace, where the Shangshufang was located, was burned almost to ruins during Dong Zhuo's Luoyang Rebellion and remained in ruins for about twenty years. In the 24th year of Jian'an, when Guan Yu attacked Xiangyang, Emperor Wu stationed troops in Luoyang to improve the city defenses. He recycled the construction waste on the ground of Nan Palace and used it to repair the city defenses. During the six years of the previous emperor's reign, the Nangong Palace was only cleaned up. Apart from the emperor's palaces, the only thing that could be used was the Shangshutai. Therefore, the only option was to let the Minister of State, Chen Jiao, take care of it. Chen Jiao gave up his duty room and split it into a large room for the four regents to work in. The ministers also gave this room a name, called "Assistant Government Pavilion". It's funny to say that Chen Jiao moved to share a room with Shangshu Pushe Wang Si. Here, Sun Zi came to the Shangshu Terrace with the grapes sent by Cao Rui. In the Regent Hall, four people sat at their desks. Chen Qun and Sima Yi were working seriously at their desks, while Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen had their legs on the desks. Seeing Sun Zi coming, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen stopped chatting and walked to the door to greet him with a smile. Cao Xiu asked, "Grand Secretary, has His Majesty sent an edict?" Sun Zi put down the food basket in his hand and saluted respectfully to the four ministers. Chen Qun and Sima Yi also stood up from their seats. Cao Zhen said, "Brother Yanlong, why are you so distant? What did you get?" Sun Zi replied, "Your Majesty sent me to the Secretariat to bring some grapes to the four ministers."
After the four of them bowed and expressed their gratitude, Sun Zi began to ask the main questions. "Your Majesty also asked the ministers to write a summary of the state affairs in recent days." Cao Zhen said loudly: "Your Majesty asked me to write a summary. What summary should I write and how should I write it?" Cao Xiu also said, "Yes, I have read a lot of documents from various places and armies. But the documents were all written by my chief historian. Can I let someone else write this summary for me?" Chen Qun had a blank expression on his face, while Sima Yi had a hint of smile on his face, as if he was watching a joke. Sun Zi replied: "Your Majesty's original words were to ask the four ministers to write a summary together. I hope the four ministers will understand your Majesty's meaning for themselves." (End of this chapter)
