The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 192 Zhuge Liang recruits talents for Liu Bei, gaining another ministerial-level official (2nd update)
No sooner had Yuan Xi left than Zhuge Liang ordered his men to prepare a banquet.

This banquet was specially prepared to entertain Gao Rou, the cousin of Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou. Gao Rou was of illustrious status and exceptionally talented, making him worthy of such a solemn reception from Zhuge Liang.

As soon as Gao Rou arrived at the banquet, she heard Zhuge Liang say that Yuan Xi had already set off for Ye City. She was momentarily stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

Recalling his time in Shangdang, Yuan Xi was in tears and spoke earnestly. It was only thanks to his cousin Gao Gan's persuasion that he was able to stay. However, not long after following Yuan Xi to Zhengding, Yuan Xi went to Yecheng on his own.

For a moment, Gao Rou couldn't figure out what Yuan Xi's real purpose was in making a special trip to Shangdang to invite her here.

Zhuge Liang did not expose him, but used the excuse that "there was an urgent summons from Ye City" to evade the question. He could not directly tell Gao Rou that Yuan Xi had gone to Ye City to curry favor with his father, Yuan Shao, in order to compete for the position of heir.

If that's really what she said, given Gao Rou's personality, she would probably turn around and go back to Shangdang without saying a word.

Furthermore, it was Zhuge Liang, not Yuan Xi, who truly wanted Gao Rou to enter Zhending. In Yuan Xi's eyes, entertaining Gao Rou was far less important than persuading Yuan Shao to go to Ye City to escape the summer heat in Zhongshan.

Zhuge Liang also greatly appreciated and understood Gao Rou.

During the long-term confrontation with Cao Wei, Zhuge Liang carefully studied many of Cao Wei's civil and military officials. Among them, Gao Rou, who had served as the Minister of Justice in Cao Wei for a long time, caught Zhuge Liang's eye.

Judging from Gao Rou's actions, he is strict in enforcing the law and upright in character, making him a rare and incorruptible person.

When Cao Cao was granted the title of Duke of Wei, Gao Rou was serving as a court official. At that time, soldiers like Song Jin deserted from the front lines at Hefei. Many in the court advocated severely punishing their families as a warning to others. Only Gao Rou stepped forward, overruling the objections, arguing that harsh punishments would not only fail to stop desertion but might also incite unrest. He earnestly persuaded Cao Cao to use kindness and compassion to win over his subordinates. Ultimately, Cao Cao heeded Gao Rou's advice and spared the lives of many deserting soldiers' families.

After Cao Pi ascended the throne, rumors and slander against him circulated widely in the streets. Enraged, Cao Pi issued a strict decree: "Anyone who dares to criticize will be executed, and those who report will be rewarded." This decree sparked a wave of false accusations, with many using it to frame others for personal gain. Seeing this precarious situation, Gao Rou directly petitioned Cao Pi to rescind this egregious decree, but Cao Pi refused to listen. Left with no other option, Gao Rou became extremely cautious in handling cases, often imposing only fines for minor offenses and minimizing wrongful convictions.

On another occasion, Imperial Censor Bao Xun, due to his upright character, repeatedly offended Cao Pi. Cao Pi, harboring resentment, fabricated a baseless charge, using the blatant fabrication of "calling a deer a horse," to convict Bao Xun and hand him over to Gao Rou, then serving as the Minister of Justice. Cao Pi's intention was clearly to use Gao Rou to eliminate Bao Xun. However, Gao Rou, realizing the injustice and uncovering the truth, resolutely refused to carry out Cao Pi's order. Enraged, Cao Pi directly removed Gao Rou from his position as Minister of Justice and appointed a new official to forcibly execute Bao Xun.

Such things are enough to prove that Gao Rou is indeed a person of upright character, unyielding in the face of strength, and fair in enforcing the law.

In addition, Gao Rou made many achievements in respecting Confucianism and advising the emperor to curb extravagance, which shows his outstanding character.

This is a talent worthy of a high-ranking official.

The world is in chaos now. Although Liu Bei has not yet publicly raised his banner in Hebei, he will definitely need to recruit talents from all over the world if he wants to achieve great things. A wise minister like Gao Rou, who is exceptionally talented and upright, is an important figure who can assist a wise ruler, restore order to the chaotic world, and revitalize the court!

Compared to the civil and military officials in Ye City who followed Yuan Shao, who were constantly forming cliques and engaging in infighting and backstabbing, with the virtuous and foolish, the loyal and the treacherous mixed together, the difference between them was like heaven and earth, and their superiority was immediately apparent!
Looking at Gao Rou, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but think of Fa Zheng, Yi Ji, Liu Ba, Li Yan, and others who had worked together to formulate the "Shu Code" back then.

Now that Liu Bei's strategic direction has changed, he can no longer rely on talents like Fa Zheng who are well-versed in law in the short term.

Zhuge Liang used Yuan Xi to transfer Gao Rou to Zhen Ding so that, once Liu Bei officially raised his banner in Hebei, there would be someone knowledgeable in law to help formulate new laws suitable for Hebei. Gao Rou is only twenty-seven years old this year, the perfect age to make great strides.

After a few drinks.

Tao Sheng, the prime minister of Changshan Kingdom, who was also attending the banquet, patted his chest and invited Gao Rou to serve as the "legal officer" of Changshan Kingdom, in charge of criminal litigation matters.

Tao Sheng was also a clever man. He knew that with Gao Rou's background and talent, it was a waste of her abilities to serve as a legal clerk in Changshan Kingdom.

But Tao Sheng also understood that even if Gao Rou became a legal clerk, it would only be a stepping stone for her. She would surely rise step by step in the future. His invitation now was simply to establish a friendship so that when Gao Rou was promoted in the future, she would remember their past relationship and take care of him, her old boss.

Before Gao Rou could agree, Zhuge Liang spoke up: "A mere legal clerk is probably not enough. Has Prime Minister Tao forgotten that although the 100,000 surrendered Black Mountain soldiers are cultivating land within the territory of Changshan Kingdom, they are not under the jurisdiction of Changshan Kingdom, but are directly under the Left General's office. This was also the promise the Left General made to Zhang Yan and the others."

"Oh dear, I completely forgot about that!" Tao Sheng slapped his forehead and turned to Zhuge Liang, asking, "What does Military Advisor Zhuge think is the best course of action?"

Zhuge Liang deliberately paused for a moment, then looked at Gao Rou and asked, "Brother Wenhui, if you don't mind, you can concurrently serve as the 'Judicial Clerk' in the Left General's Office, in charge of judicial trials and lawmaking. In this way, Brother Wenhui can take into account the situation in Changshan and the special circumstances of the 100,000 Black Mountain garrison farmers, without worrying about not having enough authority."

Tao Sheng, failing to grasp the deeper meaning behind Zhuge Liang's words, immediately clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Brilliant! Strategist Zhuge's suggestion is truly brilliant!"

Gao Rou understood Zhuge Liang's hidden meaning and immediately hesitated.

Upon closer listening, Zhuge Liang was essentially subtly shifting the focus: if Gao Rou were directly invited to serve as the Legal Clerk in Liu Bei's Left General's Office, Gao Rou would certainly refuse to avoid suspicion; however, he first had Tao Sheng invite Gao Rou to serve as the Legal Clerk in Changshan, and then asked Gao Rou to "concurrently" serve as the Legal Clerk of the Left General, emphasizing that this concurrent position was to handle the special circumstances of the 100,000 Black Mountain garrison farmers, rather than to directly become Liu Bei's subordinate.

In this way, Gao Rou wouldn't have to refuse out of consideration for appearances, and would instead carefully weigh the pros and cons.

After pondering for a long time, Gao Rou did not give a definite answer immediately, but said, "I am still inexperienced. I have neither the experience of a legal officer in a prefecture or state, nor the experience of handling judicial trials of 100,000 people and formulating laws. Perhaps I should assist the council for a while before making a decision?"

To put it simply: Gao Rou wants to try out the job for three months before deciding whether to make it a full-time position.

Zhuge Liang did not force Gao Rou to make this decision. As long as Gao Rou was willing to stay in Zhengding, Zhuge Liang had a way to have Gao Rou concurrently serve as the "Judgment Officer" in the Left General's Office.

He then said, “In that case, please let Brother Wenhui first serve as the legal officer of Changshan State, and at the same time act as the judicial officer of the Left General’s Office. In this way, both local criminal justice and the judicial affairs of the Black Mountain garrison can be taken care of.”

　Update 2 is here!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)