As the Minister of Personnel Yang Ji walked into the study, Cao Rui looked up at Yang Ji, raised his hand and threw the document reported by the Ministry of Personnel to the ground.
Yang Ji bowed and was about to step forward to pick it up, but the emperor stopped him.
Cao Rui stared into Yang Ji's eyes and asked, "What did Minister Yang pick up? Don't you remember the official you chose yourself?"
Yang Ji was forty-three years old at the time.
Cao Rui had been on good terms with Yang Ji when he was in the Eastern Palace, and after he ascended the throne, he made Yang Ji his confidant.
In the past, when Cao Rui visited Xu Huang who was still ill, he sent Yang Ji, who was then the captain of the cavalry.
After establishing the six ministries, Cao Rui took the initiative to appoint Yang Ji as the Minister of Personnel, replacing Wei Zhen.
Yang Ji looked up at the emperor in surprise, but saw the emperor's dissatisfied face.
"Minister Yang, I want to ask you, do you know about Wang Xiang's story of 'lying on the ice to catch carp'?"
Yang Ji was already getting nervous, his nails digging into his flesh, and he clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I heard something in the Shangshutai."
Cao Rui then asked, "So do you think this strange thing about Wang Xiang is true or false?"
Yang Ji swallowed and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know. I don't know whether it's true or not."
Cao Rui's anger grew even stronger, and he asked, "You are the Minister of Personnel of the Great Wei, not one of those foolish men and women in the market. How can you not tell the difference between truth and falsehood? Knowing that this man was seeking fame and misleading the people, you actually appointed him as the governor of Henan?"
"Who gave you the signal?"
Yang Ji hesitated for a moment and replied, "Wang Xiang took out a letter from Xuzhou Governor Lu Qian, which detailed that the governance of Xuzhou was entirely due to Wang Xiang's contribution."
"The letter said that the local people once had a ballad: 'The prosperity of Haiyi is due to Wang Xiang. The country is not in vain, thanks to the Beijia.'"
"What kind of bullshit ballad is this?" Cao Rui glanced at Yang Ji and said, "How could such a ballad be made up by ordinary people? It must be a flattering act by local scholars to flatter Wang Xiang."
"Do you believe me? I can make up ten songs like this for you."
After these words were spoken, Yang Ji and Xu Shu both looked up at the emperor.
Cao Rui sneered: "The emperor is no longer an emperor, the king is no longer a king, thousands of chariots and tens of thousands of cavalry are marching to Beimang."
"There is a Han in the west and a Han in the east. Only when the deer enters Chang'an can there be no such trouble."
"The thousand-mile grass is so green! Ten days of divination will not bring any growth!"
After saying this, Cao Rui ignored the surprised looks of the two men and looked at Yang Ji and asked again: "So, it was Lu Qian who asked you to appoint him?"
Yang Ji gritted his teeth and said, "Lü Qian's letter only said that Wang Xiang's talent and ability are enough to be in charge of a large county."
Cao Rui asked again: "So you appointed Henan Yin like this? If I don't look at it and the ministers don't mention it, will it be accepted like this?"
Yang Ji was silent for a few moments, then he knelt down and bowed: "I am guilty! Your Majesty, please punish me!"
"Raise your head!" Cao Rui looked at Yang Ji with a look of disappointment: "You only let me punish you, but you didn't tell me why? Raise your head, I will tell you!"
Yang Ji raised his head, but looked at the ground and did not dare to look at the emperor.
Cao Rui said, "Your father Yang Ke was stationed in Xuzhou for a long time and was on good terms with Lü Qian. You must take Lü Qian's recommendation seriously, right?"
"Yes." Yang Ji replied in a deep voice.
Cao Rui said, "You have always selected officials for the Wei Dynasty, and you only look at their ability, not their background. There are always people in the court who compare you to Mao Jie and Cui Yan in the past, saying that you treat scholars poorly and will surely suffer disaster in the long run. Is that true or not?"
"Yes." Yang Ji responded again, lowering his head even more deeply.
Cao Rui sighed, "Several things have happened at the same time. Wang Xiang is about to be selected as an official, but he has such a good reputation in Luozhong. You are worried that if you don't give him a good position, he will be criticized again. You are afraid of rumors, right?"
After being asked three questions by the emperor, Yang Ji could no longer resist and kowtowed, saying, "I am guilty. Your Majesty, please dismiss me from my post to thank the world!"
"Why thank the world? You should thank me!" Cao Rui stared at Yang Ji and said, "I asked you to take charge of the Ministry of Personnel for me, and this is how you manage it?"
Yang Ji stopped talking and just leaned forward without saying anything.
Cao Rui sighed, stood up and walked forward, personally helping Yang Ji up: "I just hate that you can't stand your ground! Deduct one year's salary as a warning!"
Yang Ji was stunned.
He had never seen His Majesty so angry, but even when he was so angry, he only raised the punishment high and let it go lightly without really punishing him severely.
Cao Rui said: "I am not asking you to be a cruel official like Zhidu and Zhang Tang. I am just asking you to keep my position in the Ministry of Personnel and guard this gate for me."
"Don't you know what I mean? Either you don't know, or you are just taking chances and thinking I won't investigate this person further."
"I will tell you today that I will not only investigate this matter thoroughly, but I will also abolish the power of the provincial governors to recommend outstanding talents, and I will also remove Lu Qian from office. Is Lu Qian my governor, or is he the governor of Xuzhou, a family of scholars?"
Yang Ji bowed and said nothing more.
The emperor's obvious difference in treatment would surely make Yang Ji the focus of the entire discussion. Why did Lü Qian suffer misfortune and the world no longer have talented people, but you were only fined one year's salary? Just because you are the emperor's confidant, you can be treated differently?
But Yang Ji didn't care about these.
His Majesty's intentions have been clearly laid out before me. If I continue to disobey, I'm afraid the only option waiting for me is to be dismissed from office and return home.
Cao Rui looked at Yang Ji and said, "Ministry of Personnel, I really hate Wang Xiang. In my court, I do not allow such people who seek fame and deceive the people to be promoted. Isn't he the magistrate of Wen County? Then transfer him to a lateral position."
Yang Ji clasped his hands and agreed: "I obey your order. I wonder where your majesty intends to send Wang Xiang?"
Xu Shu listened quietly beside him.
Xu Shu had been serving the emperor for more than a year and was the attendant who was most compatible with the emperor's temper.
In other words, Xu Shu had the dignity of a senior official, but also had the rare spirit of a knight-errant in his early years.
Xu Shu served in the Jian'an and Huangchu dynasties for many years, and the atmosphere at that time did not allow him to express himself. But now, Your Majesty appreciates Xu Shu's heroism, so Xu Shu is by the emperor's side, and it is rare that he does not have the corrupt official airs of ordinary officials.
Cao Rui has always lacked such a person by his side.
Just now Xu Shu proposed to kill Wang Xiang. If it was during the reign of Cao Cao, he would have killed him and no one would have dared to say anything.
Today, Cao Rui did not kill Wang Xiang, which was just a way of showing respect for the laws of the Wei Dynasty.
But respect is respect, Wang Xiang was originally a county magistrate with a salary of 600 dan, so is it not possible not to give him a good position or transfer him to a higher position?
of course can.
Cao Rui pointed at Xu Shu and said, "Minister Xu, tell me one place!"
Xu Shu said calmly: "Why not let him do the Dragon Order?"
Long Le?
As the emperor of Wei, Cao Rui had heard of the name of this county but could not remember where it was.
Seeing the emperor frown, Xu Shu explained: "Your Majesty, Longle County is west of Dunhuang. Yangguan and Yumenguan are both under the jurisdiction of Longle County."
Cao Rui nodded slightly, and then looked at Yang Ji.
Yang Ji understood and said, "The border areas have long been poorly governed, and the magistrate of Longle County has not been appointed for many years. We should let Wang Xiang go there to spread the word and educate the people."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Minister Yang, please go back to the Secretariat. You know what to do next."
Yang Ji bowed deeply, and then he had the opportunity to pick up his petition, pack it up, put it in his arms, and then left.
After Yang Ji left, Xu Shu, who was standing beside him, also felt a little sad.
"Rumors can kill people." Xu Shu said softly, "I'm afraid that when Minister Yang returns to the Shangshutai this time, he will really become a person that everyone points fingers at."
Cao Rui said expressionlessly: "As an official for the Great Wei, why should I be afraid of what others say? I appointed him to such an important position as the Minister of Personnel, and I did not send him to Dunhuang."
"If he still has to collude with others and worry about the opinions of scholars after taking this position, I can tolerate him the first time, but I am afraid he will be courting death the second time."
"I just want him to be a lone minister."
"But I am also a little sad." Cao Rui looked at Xu Shu: "You said that I have been so far away from seeking fame in recent years, why is Wang Xiang still misleading people in Luoyang?"
Xu Shu thought for a moment and then answered, "I think that it is because Your Majesty is cleaning up the atmosphere in Luoyang that such a person has not appeared in Luoyang for a long time. Wang Xiang from Xuzhou just arrived in Luoyang and jumped up and down so eagerly that he could confuse the people for a while."
Cao Rui shook his head helplessly: "Then it's my problem?"
Xu Shu quickly explained: "It takes more than a few years to change the customs and habits among scholars. It takes a long time to educate them. As long as the examinations and recommendations continue, it will be difficult to stop such things."
Cao Rui sighed, "The imperial examination system must exist. Can I come up with an imperial examination system now? The Wei Dynasty does not have the conditions for this."
Xu Shu frowned slightly, not knowing what the 'imperial examination' was.
Cao Rui did not explain: "If we take away the power of the state's Maocai, it would be fine for the county to select some filial and honest officials and appoint them to small positions of 500 or 600 dan. Maocai can only be appointed to 2,000 dan at most, which is a big problem."
Xu Shu said, "I just said that Wang Xiang should go to Longle. I am afraid the scholars will scold me again."
Cao Rui raised his eyes and looked at Xu Shu: "Why, Minister Xu is afraid of what people say?"
Xu Shu smiled and replied, "I am not afraid of what people say in my life! But after I mentioned Long Le just now, I remembered that Dunhuang County has not had a governor for more than 20 years."
"We might as well take this opportunity to elect a new leader. Didn't Your Majesty mention the Western Trade Route before? It's a good opportunity to govern it."
Cao Rui nodded: "Okay, I will choose one person."
"When I was in Chang'an in the past, I saw that Chang'an magistrate Cangci was cautious and methodical in his work, and was also familiar with the affairs of Guanxi and quite diligent."
"Go and talk to Dongge and appoint Cangci as the governor of Dunhuang. Ask him to meet with Sima Fu when he passes through Wuwei and study the trade in the Western Regions in detail, and then report back to me."
"As you wish, I will go and tell you right away." Xu Shu bowed and agreed. (End of this chapter)
