Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Yangzhou, Shouchun City.

The New Year's Festival in the seventh year of Taihe was more grand and solemn than ever before.

The most important reason was that the emperor went on a tour to Shouchun to celebrate the New Year.

After three consecutive years of requests in the fourth, fifth and sixth years of Taihe, the emperor of Wei finally agreed to the request of the people of Yangzhou. In December of the sixth year of Taihe, he set out from Luoyang on a dragon boat, passing through Luoshui, Yellow River, Caoqu, Woshui and Huaishui, heading towards Shouchun.

Under the personal supervision of Jiang Ji, the governor of Yangzhou, the palaces in the city were completely renovated. The renovated Shouchun Palace was several times larger than the narrow palace that was converted from the prefectural residence in the first year of Taihe, and occupied one-fifth of the area in the city.

Although Shouchun Palace is far inferior to Xuchang Palace, it is the best they can do for a city like Shouchun which is not very big, has many soldiers stationed in the city and has too many houses. They can't drive out thousands of people in Shouchun City just to build a palace, which would really cause trouble.

Of course, the rammed earth city walls had to be renovated, and new colorful flags were placed on the tops of the city walls. Even the six original city gates and two sluice gates on the four sides of Shouchun City were rebuilt, making it look like a new city.

It seemed that the whole Yangzhou was gearing up to the event, with people from top to bottom working together to attend it.

It was not just to welcome the emperor's arrival, but also to celebrate the official promotion of Shouchun City from the capital of Yangzhou to one of the five capitals of the Wei Dynasty.

What goes up must come down.

The original five capitals of the Wei Dynasty were Luoyang, Chang'an, Yecheng, Xuchang and Qiao. Chang'an, Yecheng and Xuchang were all huge cities, but Qiao County was a little shabby.

There are two reasons why Qiao County became one of the five cities.

First, Qiao County is the ancestral home of the Cao family, and its political symbolism is extremely obvious. Second, Qiao County is an important town on the banks of the Woshui River, which is the only waterway for Wei to connect the Yellow River and the Huai River, and has dual tasks in military and water transport.

However, by the sixth and seventh years of the Taihe reign, the Wei Dynasty's rule had become stable and secure, and there was no need to establish another Qiao County outside of Luoyang and Yecheng to win over the people of Qiaopei. In addition, the emperor himself did not have the nostalgic feelings for Qiao County like Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen did. Luoyang and Yecheng were the truly important heartland of the Wei Dynasty, and the position of Qiao County became even more precarious.

Furthermore, the defensive status of the southeastern border of Wei was different from that of Jian'an and Huangchu. At that time, the front line against Wu was still in Hefei, and even Shouchun was often in danger. When Cao Cao and Cao Pi used troops against Wu, they often used Qiao County as a reserve base for supplies and military. Now this function has been replaced by Shouchun.

Thanks to the court's accurate timing and opportunistic operation, the battle line was pushed to the river more than two years ago. Shouchun City, which is the actual military stronghold, water transport hub and heavily armed city in the southeast of Wei, is more important than Qiao County.

When the imperial court issued the decree in Luoyang, the students from Qiao County were even filled with righteous indignation. They gathered more than 200 scholars from Yuzhou and came to the east gate of Nangong near the Shangshutai to express their indignation. They gathered for half a day. Xu Xuan, the Minister of Rites on duty that day, tried to persuade them for a long time, but the students refused to disperse and became more and more noisy. It was not until Wu Zhou, the Minister of War from Pei County, Yuzhou, came out to persuade them that the crowd gradually quieted down, but they still refused to leave.

It was not until Cao Rui himself heard about this that he felt it was fresh and strange and issued the highest instruction, asking Sima Yi, the Sikong and Shangshu You Pushe who was in charge of the power of the Shangshu Tai, to go to the Nangong Shangshu Tai in person to explain the matter to the students.

Sima Yi was always responsible for the affairs of the Secretariat, and he could not escape. Sima Yi had no choice but to go to the Secretariat and explain to the students in person that Yuzhou already had a capital in Xuchang, and there could not be a second one, so as to avoid the dissatisfaction of the states. If the scholars continued to argue, they would be against the court, and he would report it to Guanglu Xun for punishment.

Since their own future was at stake, the students reluctantly left.

However, a few days later, rumors spread in Luozhong that Sima Sikong looked down on people from Yuzhou. Even Sima Shi, who had just transferred from Yangzhou to Luoyang as a Shangshu Lang, was ridiculed for many days by scholars from Yuzhou in Luozhong.

The tenth day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of Taihe.

Liu Ye was sitting leisurely in the office of the Privy Council in Shouchun, reading the reports sent to the Privy Council by local officials of Qing and Xu states and officials dispatched from the Imperial Household Department.

As two prefectures on the east coast of Wei, Qingzhou and Xuzhou have a long history of shipbuilding. Although they cannot manufacture large ships and warships of tens of feet or tens of thousands of hu like the two shipyards in Chaohu Lake, they can manufacture some small and medium-sized ships that are convenient for coastal transportation and river crossing.

The four counties of Qingzhou, namely Le'an, Beihai, Donglai and Chengyang, and the three counties of Xuzhou, namely Donghai, Xiapi and Guangling, all undertook some shipbuilding tasks to a greater or lesser extent.

The two reports in front of Liu Ye were the summary of the shipbuilding capacity survey conducted by the supervisors and local officials. Qingzhou and Xuzhou did a good job at this time. It took only more than a month to thoroughly understand the situation and compile a report to the Privy Council.

Yes, it is the Privy Council.

The role of the General Works Bureau grew day by day. In addition to the responsibilities of the copper and iron officials of the whole country, the General Works Bureau also took on the functions of supervising the manufacture of military equipment and shipbuilding. Originally, there were only two general craftsmen in the General Works Bureau, Ma Jun and Pei Hui. The number of general craftsmen increased rapidly, and there were as many as five general craftsmen, who were responsible for the Luoyang General Works Bureau, Juchao Shipyard, the copper officials of the whole country, the iron officials of the whole country, and the prospecting of minerals.

The West Chamber and the East Chamber, namely the Privy Council and the Shangshutai, also started arguing over the ownership of the General Works Supervisor. Of course, both sides argued for the sake of the Wei Dynasty, each had their own reasons, and questioned the other side at the same time.

Of course, it was not to question loyalty and ability. No matter which side said such words, His Majesty would undoubtedly be suspicious. The reason they used was that the other side was too busy and difficult to manage, and their side was more efficient.

Perhaps there was some element of performance in this, in order to avoid giving the emperor the impression that the East and West Pavilions were overly harmonious and competing for power with the emperor. Man Chong and Sima Yi argued fiercely for several days, even to the point of being somewhat hostile to each other.

Faced with this situation, Cao Rui simply dealt with it coldly and gave both of them fifty lashes.

On the one hand, the Chief of Military Affairs was assigned to the Privy Council, and on the other hand, Man Chong was transferred from the Privy Council to a post in charge of military affairs in Jingzhou, and his former general was promoted to General of the Southern Expedition. Zhao Yan was transferred back to the Privy Council and was only responsible for the Chief of Military Affairs, and was directly led by the Western Pavilion.

Later, when Cao Rui had a private conversation with Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao, Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao also frankly admitted that there was some support and even instigation from Man Chong.

Seeing them admit it honestly was enough. After more than two years of transfer, Cao Zhen's condition and energy gradually recovered, and he could begin to take normal responsibility for the responsibilities of the Privy Council of the West Pavilion.

"Report, report! Urgent news from Huaiyin."

A blue-robed clerk came running in from the Shouchun Privy Council where military reports were received, shouting as he ran.

Liu Ye frowned and looked out the door. Huaiyin? What could possibly happen in Huaiyin?
"Reporting to Mr. Liu, urgent news from Huaiyin." The blue-robed clerk bowed and saluted, then presented the document with both hands.

Liu Ye checked the sealing wax on the wooden box, and after confirming that it was correct, he used the dagger on the table to break it open and took out the bamboo slips inside.

There were only a few dozen words on it: "The fleet has returned from Japan. It did not stop at any place from Donglai to Japan. The army is intact and is now resting in Huaiyin."

After reading it carefully several times, Liu Ye put the wooden slips back into the wooden box, stood up and walked to Wang Guan's room which was not far away from him.

"Weitai," Liu Ye raised the wooden box in his hand, "The fleet has returned to Wei. Why don't you join me in reporting this to His Majesty?"

"Very good. I'll follow Brother Zi Yang's advice." Wang Guan nodded in agreement.

Shouchun City was not big, and in less than a quarter of an hour, the two met the emperor in the study of the Shouchun Palace.

Compared with the previous years, Cao Rui's face was not only handsome but also more resolute, perhaps because he had a short beard, or perhaps because the emperor had gradually immersed himself in military affairs in recent years. When he practiced martial arts, he was no longer limited to sword and archery in the palace, but often led thousands of elite cavalry in the central army to train in battle formations.

You are not lacking in bravery, wisdom and strategy. Even General Wen Qin of the Left Feathered Guards once lamented that your majesty's ability in leading cavalry is among the best in the central army.

The elite cavalry in the world are all in the Wei army, which is already a high evaluation. Cao Rui also confidently claimed to his ministers that as a general, he is not afraid of any battle.

Liu Ye and Wang Guan saw it in person, and although they were impressed, they did not find anything unusual.

They had all seen Emperor Wu Cao Cao's ability to command troops and the bravery of the previous emperor. After all, he was the emperor of the Cao family, and the current emperor's military strategy was just following his father's and grandfather's.

Cao Rui took the document, glanced at it, put it aside, and said with a smile: "I actually got them to do it. Liu Qing, Wang Qing, I have to tell you the truth, I didn't have much hope before."

Liu Ye sighed, "Who says it's not true? The Wei navy has always been weak. Previously, Sun Quan of Jiangdong and Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong communicated by sea, and the court had been unable to stop them. Now that the Wei fleet has just been formed, they were allowed to sail to Japan. It was not easy for them to return safely."

Wang Guan nodded and said, "The General of the Tower Ship and the Patrol Sea Censor have lived up to the expectations of the court and Your Majesty, and they deserve to be rewarded."

Cao Rui said, "They deserve to be rewarded. Liu Qing, quickly send a message to Guangling and order the fleet to stop here and wait. Order the general Cao Zhi and the patrol censor Chen Ben to return to Shouchun as soon as possible. I want to reward them personally."

"As you wish." Liu Ye replied.

To be honest, when the Wei court planned the first voyage in Luoyang, no one had any idea. In this era, sailing is still a rather mysterious and highly professional thing.

Just about two years ago, the Japanese envoy Nan Shengmi sailed to Daifang County, then went to Liaodong by land, and then arrived in Luoyang with the diplomatic delegation.

Although it was normal for a great country to pay tribute to a distant country, the people of Luoyang usually saw small countries in the Western Regions and the Hu people of little status on the northern grasslands, and they did not feel the slightest bit of novelty. The arrival of the Sushen and Wa envoys made the people of Luoyang feel fresh.

Earlier, when Cui Lin and Cui Deru were the Grand Heralds, they had already made a conclusion that those small countries in the Western Regions claimed to be envoys, but in fact most of them were just unscrupulous merchant caravans pretending to be envoys.

Cao Zhi, the emperor's uncle and Grand Herald who was in charge of foreign affairs, gradually showed his expertise in this area.

Cao Zhi was a man of brilliant literary talent and extensive knowledge. During his more than three years in office, he led the officials of the Honglu Temple to compile all the information about the Western Regions, Lingnan, Qiang, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Wuhuan and various foreign countries over the past 400 years of the Han Dynasty into a book, which was presented to the emperor last year, during the sixth year of Taihe. It became a legend in Luoyang.

After the Chaohu factory built the ships of the ocean fleet, finding a suitable person to lead the troops and ships on a long voyage became an urgent issue that needed to be resolved.

Regarding such urgent but unimportant matters, Cao Rui's attitude was always to accept suggestions and ask officials in the court to recommend suitable people to lead the fleet on the voyage.

Although almost all the sailors in the fleet were experienced people who had been trained in the Huai River and the Yellow River for more than a year and had trained countless times on the coast of Xuzhou, the fleet also selected some people from Qingzhou and Yingzhou who had sailed around the Bohai Sea and even been to Japan as guides, but for a fleet of more than 10,000 people and ten large and small ships, leading this task was still a challenging and even life-threatening matter.

The ocean is inherently frightening, but that's why conquering it is a true sign of courage.

The Grand Herald Cao Zhi and the Palace Attendant Chen Ben were the first group of people to recommend themselves to Cao Rui.

As a Palace Attendant, Chen Ben, Zhuge Xu, Yu Jun and Li Xi continued to stay in the palace as attendants after Xiahou Xuan, He Chuan, Xiahou Hui and Fu Gu were all transferred to other posts in the fifth year of Taihe.

Cao Rui still understood some of Chen Ben's thoughts.

At the beginning of the sixth year of Taihe, the Inspector of the Capital Du Xi Du Zixu exchanged positions with the Governor of Qinzhou Chen Jiao, and Chen Jiao returned to Luoyang from Qinzhou to take up his post.

Perhaps it was because he was too old, or perhaps it was because family affairs were difficult to resolve and Chen Jiao's second son Chen Qian was often known for his wisdom, there was a rumor in Luoyang that Chen Jiao wanted to ask the emperor to pass the title to his second son Chen Qian based on his merits.

Of course, Cao Rui would care about the people around him. After Cao Rui performed martial arts one day, he asked Chen Ben in person. Chen Ben, who had always been simple and honest, burst into tears in public and knelt down to ask the emperor for mercy and not to question his father about such family matters.

If it were an ordinary emperor, he might have interfered with the inheritance of the title of such a marquis. But Cao Rui was different from ordinary emperors. He didn't care which son Chen Jiao liked more. He just comforted Chen Ben with a few words and promised him a good future.

Cao Rui also knew clearly that Chen Ben volunteered to go to sea, he just wanted to make some achievements, earn some face for his father, and have more ballast. Once a young man in his twenties made such a decision, he would forget about life and death. Anyway, he hadn't encountered any real danger yet, so what was the point of worrying?

Cao Rui wanted to help this young man who was eager to make achievements, so he naturally agreed. (End of this chapter)