The matter of Ke Bineng had been discussed, and Liu Ye was about to leave, but suddenly he remembered something and asked with a bow:
"Your Majesty, I have another matter to report, which is about the Privy Council."
Cao Rui asked, "What happened to the Privy Council?"
"That's right." Liu Ye considered his words carefully. "Xuchang was one of the five capitals of Wei, and it was also the capital of the Han Dynasty during the Jian'an period. There was no shortage of palaces and government offices. For example, when the Secretariat came to Xuchang this time, all the ministers, secretaries and clerks from the Minister of Works on down moved into the old site of the Secretariat during the Han Dynasty. But the Privy Council that I lead for Your Majesty has no place to handle official business."
Cao Rui was puzzled. "If you have nowhere to stay, why did you say it today? Where was the Privy Council in the past few days?"
Liu Ye bowed awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty may not know that the Privy Council has more than 200 officials, and they were all sent to the Shangshu Office a few days ago. This morning, the Shangshu on duty in the office came to me and said that the Shangshu Office urgently needed to be repaired, so he asked the Privy Council to move to another place for duty."
Cao Rui looked up at Liu Ye's expression and sneered, "Yes, the Xuchang Shangshutai is an old building. It wouldn't hurt to repair it. Which Shangshu came to you to tell you that?"
Cao Rui could hear the complaint in Liu Ye's words just now. He was clearly taking the opportunity to report the border affairs to file a complaint with the Shangshutai.
Although Cao Rui would not change his likes and dislikes because of such a small matter, since things have come to this, it would not hurt to ask, which would make Liu Ye feel a little better.
Liu Ye said softly, "It was Minister Wu who told me this. What Minister Wu meant was that I should find a place to move out within three days."
Wu Shangshu refers to Wu Zhou, the Minister of War. The Ministry of War where Wu Zhou worked was under the jurisdiction of Sima Yi, the Minister of Works and the Right Minister of the Ministry of War.
This is a roundabout way of complaining to Sima Yi.
Cao Rui was also aware of the fact that when discussing the military affairs of Yangzhou a few days ago, Sima Yi called Wu Zhou from the Ministry of War and Fu Xun from the Ministry of Works, two people under his charge, to discuss the matter together.
As an emperor, it is not easy to control Liu Ye and Sima Yi for such trivial matters. Who would not have some thoughts? Liu Ye's complaint was reasonable, and Sima Yi summoned Wu and Fu to discuss the matter together, and the reason was sufficient.
Just deal with it.
"Okay, I understand. Since the Shangshutai wants to drive you away, I can't say anything to them about such a small matter." Cao Rui gave Liu Ye some face in his words, and then said: "Xuchang is an old capital, and there are not many other things, but there are many empty houses. The three dukes' mansions in the Han Dynasty are still empty, right?"
"It's still empty." Liu Ye answered, and it was obvious that he had a preliminary understanding of where the vacancy was in Xuchang City: "In the 13th year of Jian'an, Emperor Wu abolished the Three Dukes system and restored the prime minister. The residences of Yang Biao, Zhang Xi, and Zhao Wen, who had previously served as the Three Dukes in Xudu, have been vacant since then."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Since Liu Qing is so familiar with it, I will hand over these three connected courtyards to your Privy Council. You can either make do with them first, or connect them, or renovate them. It's all up to you. However, I have one thing to tell you."
"I respectfully listen to your instructions." Liu Ye bowed his head slightly.
Cao Rui said, "In the second year of Taihe, I established the Right Supervisor and the Left Supervisor in the Privy Council. The original intention was to imitate the Shangshutai, where the two chief officials had a clear division of labor. I have seen these days, from Yecheng to Luoyang, Luoyang to Xuchang, Liu Qing almost regarded the Left Supervisor Wang Weitai as his deputy, right?"
Perhaps it was because during the more than two years that Liu Ye served as the governor of Youzhou, he became accustomed to making decisions on his own in the state and brought this work style of "saying one thing and doing another" to the Privy Council. Cao Rui could ignore other matters, but this situation was absolutely unacceptable.
Liu Ye was already regretting his bad mouth. If he hadn't said that, he would have left the imperial court by now. He could only bow and say:
"Your Majesty is teaching me that I was a little inappropriate in my official duties. I will have a good talk with Wang Weitai when I go back, and I will never let this happen again."
"That's right." Cao Rui nodded. "Liu Qing, you are the Right Supervisor of the Privy Council. Now that General Dong and General Man are not in Xuchang, you should be in charge of military affairs. Let Wang Weitai handle the affairs of the Privy Council."
Although Liu Ye was frightened, he felt that the matter was not serious after hearing the emperor's words, so he cupped his hands and said, "I understand."
"Go."
"According to the order."
After Liu Ye left, Cao Rui ordered the guards to call the attendant Pei Qian. Not long after, Pei Qian hurried in from the duty room not far away.
"Greetings to Your Majesty."
Cao Rui turned his head slightly, motioned Pei Qian to sit down, and then recounted what had just happened. Pei Qian replied: "Liu Ziyang and Wang Weitai have completely opposite personalities and work styles. The Right Supervisor is more valuable than the Left Supervisor. Now that the Right Supervisor is more powerful than the Left Supervisor, Your Majesty should just correct their omissions."
Cao Rui shook his head and said, "Wang Chang was transferred from his post as Right Supervisor to Yingzhou. Although there were rumors in the Privy Council that he was harsh, he and Wang Guan got along very well. The Shangshutai also has Right and Left Deputy Ministers, so how could there not be such a thing? Or is it that Liu Ye himself is ignorant of the situation."
"Since I have already talked to him, then this matter ends here. I will also take good care of the Privy Council. The current Privy Council is still set up by various departments, and there is not much difference from the previous structure of the General's Mansion. It is time to make some changes."
It must be said that Cao Rui had fewer and fewer ministers accompanying him on his way back from Youzhou. The eight imperial attendants, who had doubled in number, were also sent to the counties around Xuchang at the same time. Among the four imperial attendants, Xin Pi stayed in Luoyang as a minister, Xu Shu went to Xiangfan for emergency assistance, and Lu Yu had to escort the Xiongnu back to Taiyuan, leaving Pei Qian as the only imperial attendant by his side.
Pei Qian was the only one left, but he did not feel uncomfortable at all. Being alone beside the emperor and having his exclusive use was something that many court officials dreamed of.
Pei Qian bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, since the organization of the Privy Council is somewhat out of date, why not follow the organization of the Shangshutai and transform each Cao into a ministry? Perhaps there is no need to use the word 'minister'."
Cao Rui nodded slightly: "This is feasible. Pei Qing, you come and plan this for me. When you have a basic idea, come and talk to me about it."
"As you command." Pei Qian stood up and saluted: "Please give me three days, Your Majesty, so that I can draft a draft."
"Okay." Cao Rui agreed.
……
After ten days of traveling, the Minister of the Left, the newly appointed Guanxi Guardian General Wei Zhen, also hurriedly arrived at Chencang from Luoyang. The Right Winged Guard General Cheng Xi's 10,000 cavalrymen followed Wei Zhen and his entourage in Chang'an and went to Chencang together.
Whenever the Wei Dynasty used troops, Wei Zhen would stay in Luoyang to assist in government affairs and guard the rear. This was the first time Wei Zhen left Luoyang since the first year of Taihe.
As the general, Cao Zhen personally led the officials and generals in Chencang City to welcome Wei Zhen. This was to show his respect for the new Guanxi, and Cao Zhen also wanted to get along with Wei Zhen himself. He also prepared a banquet in his mansion and wanted to host a banquet in the evening.
Wei Zhen of course agreed.
At night, in the general's mansion north of Chencang City, Cao Zhen personally greeted him at the main hall door.
"Gong Zhen came here in a hurry and didn't rest for long in the afternoon. Now I invite you to a banquet again. Isn't it a bit inconsiderate?" Cao Zhen, wearing a brocade robe, said with a smile to Wei Zhen who was walking towards him.
Wei Zhen bowed and smiled, "Haha, General, you know I've been traveling for ten days, so it's really thoughtful of you to host a banquet today."
"Please, Gong Zhen."
"General, please."
After the two of them politely declined, they finally walked in arm in arm, and the Right Winged Guard General Cheng Xi followed behind them. Seeing this, all the people attending the banquet stood up to greet them. The General's Chief Clerk Du Xi, Sima Fei Yao, Assistant Secretary Yang Dan, Assistant Secretary Deng Ai, plus Cao Zhen, Wei Zhen, and Cheng Xi, there were seven people at the banquet today.
Everyone knew that this was wartime, so there was no dancing or music at the banquet. Soldiers filed in and served wine and food. There were only twelve dishes in front of each table, four vegetarian dishes and eight meat dishes.
As the general, Cao Zhen naturally sat at the top. On the left side of the hall sat Du Xi, Fei Yao and Deng Ai, and on the right sat Wei Zhen, Cheng Xi and Yang Dan.
The guests and hosts took their seats and exchanged greetings for a while. After the banquet began, Cao Zhen also raised his wine bottle towards Wei Zhen:
"Gong Zhen, please."
"General, please."
After the two drank, Cao Zhen also began to talk about business: "Gong Zhen took ten days to get from Luoyang to Chencang. The journey was indeed a bit tight. I have also read the military report sent from Luoyang a few days ago. I wonder what Gong Zhen has to teach me?"
It seems that this private dinner was actually a business conversation, but it just happened to be held at the banquet. (End of this chapter)
