Chapter 71: Continuous Disputes (Seeking Follow-up Reading) While Lu Xun and Pan Jun were discussing the military and national affairs of Eastern Wu, in Shouchun City of Yangzhou, Cao Wei, Grand Marshal Cao Xiu was also worried about the military and national affairs of Wei. Cao Xiu finished reading the letter on the table with a frown on his brow. There was even a hint of anger in his expression, and he actually threw the letter directly to the ground. Cao Xiu stood up, put one hand on his waist, pointed at the letter on the ground with his other hand and said angrily: "Jia Kui dared not obey my orders. Doesn't he know that I am the Grand Marshal? How hateful! Bo Ying, how should we deal with Jia Kui?" Jia Kui was the governor of Yuzhou, responsible for commanding the provincial and county troops in Yuzhou. Logically speaking, Cao Xiu was the commander of the military forces in Yangzhou, so it seemed that he had no control over Jia Kui, who was in charge of Yuzhou. However, Cao Xiu was appointed as the Grand Marshal by the new emperor Cao Rui this year, and the Grand Marshal was responsible for national conquests, so it seemed that he could control Jia Kui. A few days ago, Cao Xiu received an imperial edict from Luoyang ordering him to gather his troops and prepare to march south to fight. Based on this edict, Cao Xiu wanted to order Jia Kui to lead his troops to move to Shouchun, but Jia Kui refused. Jia Kui said in the letter that he would wait for the imperial edict from Luoyang before taking any action. After replying to Cao Xiu in this way, Jia Kui completely angered Cao Xiu and made him lose his temper. Cao Xiu looked at his Grand Marshal and Chief Secretary Feng Ping. Feng Ping said, "I'm afraid Jia Yuzhou still has some grievances against the Grand Marshal, so he is using the imperial edict to put him off."
Cao Xiu snorted coldly: "If that's the case, don't blame me for submitting a petition to the court to impeach him. Bo Ying, I will make the statement and you will write the draft." Feng Ping naturally agreed, and according to Cao Xiu's wishes, he wrote a letter impeaching Jia Kui and sent it to Luoyang on a fast horse. It was common sense for officials to report conflicts to the court. Jia Kui dared to refuse the transfer order from Grand Marshal Cao Xiu, which obviously showed that he was not completely unprepared. After writing a letter to reject Cao Xiu's transfer order, Jia Kui also wrote a memorial explaining the whole process and sent it to the court. In fact, Cao Xiu ordered Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui to assemble in Shouchun, the capital of Yangzhou. There was nothing wrong with this order from a military perspective. As the governor of Yuzhou, Jia Kui would naturally gather his troops in Runan, where Jia Kui was located, if he gathered his troops in Yuzhou. Runan was right beside the Huai River, and if he went downstream along the Huai River, he would reach Shouchun, which was located in the middle reaches of the Huai River. Shouchun is an important town in Jianghuai. Cao Wei, located in the north, had to rely on two water transport trunk lines if it wanted to attack Wu from the south in Yangzhou. The first route was to depart from Shouchun and follow the Feishui, Shishui, Chaohu and Ruxu waterways to the Yangtze River. However, this waterway had been divided between Wei and Wu. Wei stationed a garrison in Hefei to the north of Chaohu Lake, while Wu set up a fort at Ruxukou to the south of Chaohu Lake to defend against the enemy. The second route also starts from Shouchun, goes downstream along the Huai River, and reaches Guangling through Zhongdushui. No matter which route you take, you must start from Shouchun. In addition to Yuzhou, the northern army and food supplies had to pass through Shouchun if they wanted to go south. As early as Cao Cao's time, the army and baggage went south from Yecheng, crossed the Yellow River in Liyang, entered the Woshui River through the canal, went south into the Huaishui River, and also assembled in Shouchun. In fact, Cao Wei paid more attention to the importance of water transportation than Shu Han and Eastern Wu. There is no need to explain the importance of Shouchun. From this we can see that the dispute between Cao Xiu and Jia Kui had nothing to do with getting things done, but was entirely about process issues. Ultimately, it's just a conflict between these two people. A few days later, in Luoyang, in Beigong's study. Cao Rui looked at the memorials submitted by two important local officials. One was from Grand Marshal Cao Xiu, impeaching Jia Kui for not following the order to mobilize troops. The other was from Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui, stating that Cao Xiu issued the order without a clear order from the court. Jia Kui said that he would only mobilize troops to Shouchun after receiving a clear edict from the emperor. The two documents were placed on the emperor's desk. The conflict between the two frontier officials could only be dealt with by the emperor himself. Cao Xiu was a royal minister, and Jia Kui was also an important official as the governor of Yuzhou. He had been pacifying Yuzhou for many years and had made great achievements. He was a capable official who could organize the army when on horseback and comfort the people when on foot. Cao Rui was at a loss as to how to deal with these two ministers who were diametrically opposed to each other. It is definitely not appropriate to give each of them fifty lashes. When the army is about to march south to attack the Eastern Wu, how can the main general of the army be punished before the battle? If Jia Kui is dealt with according to Cao Xiu's words, who will lead the army in Yuzhou? At present, there is no better choice than Jia Kui.
As the emperor, Cao Rui could only raise the two high and lower them gently to appease both sides. If he punished any one of them, Sun Quan in Jiangdong would laugh his teeth off. The two letters were naturally delivered by Sun Zi, the Minister of the Secretariat who was in charge of confidential matters. After delivering the letters, Sun Zi stood aside, waiting for further instructions from the emperor. Cao Rui also took the opportunity to ask Sun Zi, who handed over the two letters, "Secretary Sun, when encountering disputes among ministers, how did the late emperor handle it?" Sun Zi bowed and said, "This kind of thing naturally requires your majesty to make your own judgment, and it is not for me to comment. But...but since the reign of the previous emperor, the Grand Marshal has always been quite critical of Jia Yuzhou." Cao Rui asked: "Is there such a thing?" Sun Zi nodded, "That's right. Jia Yuzhou is a man of integrity and uprightness, and the Grand Marshal has always been at odds with him. When the Emperor was conquering Wu in the third year of Huangchu, he wanted to grant Jia Yuzhou the power of temporary authority, but the Grand Marshal dissuaded him." "I remember that the Grand Marshal said that Jia Yuzhou had a strong character and always looked down on other generals, so he should not be granted the power of pretending to be an emperor. But the late emperor did not grant Jia Yuzhou the power of pretending to be an emperor." Cao Rui was unaware of the conflict between the two ministers, and then asked: "Does Jia Kui really look down on the generals?" Sun Zi shook his head slightly: "Jia Yuzhou is just a straight-laced person." Cao Rui nodded when he heard this, without thinking any further. Just as Sun Zi was explaining Jia Kui's character to the emperor, Xin Pi, the attendant in the study, refuted him. Xin Pi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say." Cao Rui was a little surprised. Xin Pi was a straightforward person who always spoke his mind. But this was the first time that Xin Pi interrupted other ministers when they were making their own comments. Cao Rui looked at Xin Pi. Sun Zi also turned his head slowly and glanced at Xin Pi from the corner of his eye. Xin Pi said: "Your Majesty, don't you know the personal relationship between Sun Zhongshu and Jia Yuzhou? I think Sun Zhongshu's words are a bit biased towards Jia Yuzhou." Cao Rui's expression remained unchanged. He looked at Sun Zi again and said, "What kind of personal relationship do you two have? I really don't know." Sun Zi bowed his head slightly and responded, "In my early years, I was in Hedong County with Jia Yuzhou. Jia Yuzhou persuaded me to serve as a county official. Later, I went to the Prime Minister's Office and recommended Jia Yuzhou to the Prime Minister's Office to serve as an official in the court." Sun Zi bowed and said, "This is the private friendship between me and Jia Yuzhou." Cao Rui nodded calmly: "I understand. I will not avoid relatives when promoting talents. Moreover, Sun Zhongshu and Jia Yuzhou are both my assistants. Sun Zhongshu, you can go down first. I will call you to draft an order after I have figured out how to deal with this matter." Sun Zi bowed respectfully and said, "I'll take my leave." Then he slowly walked out of the emperor's study. (End of this chapter)