Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Similar to Chen Ben, Cao Zhi got the title of general in this way.

After Cao Zhi submitted his petition, he went to the North Palace to request an audience with the emperor. After all, he was the emperor's uncle and one of the nine ministers, the Grand Herald. If he didn't even see him, it would only chill the hearts of the royal family and might even lead the court officials to misjudge the direction of the wind.

Cao Rui didn't want Cao Zhi to go.

During the Taihe period, Wei envoys reached the border of Sushen, which was later known as the Heilongjiang River, and obtained key waterway information from Sushen. The caravans sent by Liangzhou also reached as far west as Shule, one of the 36 states in the Western Regions, which was almost near Kashgar in later times, and further west would reach the Pamir Mountains.

But in the stereotype of Luoyang officials, Youzhou, Yingzhou, and Liangzhou were all wild places, and if the children of the family had some prospects, they would not be sent to such a frontier place to suffer. The deep-rooted discrimination for hundreds of years could not be changed by just a few years of development during the Taihe period.

Sending a fleet to try to sail to Japan would be no different from being demoted 3,000 miles away. Cao Rui did not want Cao Zhi to take the risk of going so far.

What if I died? What if I got sick on the ship? What if I fell off the ship? What if I encountered some kind of accident in Japan and couldn't come back?

Cao Rui didn't want to get into this kind of trouble.

But when Cao Zhi himself came to the study room of the North Palace in Luoyang, he passionately stated his ambitions in front of Cao Rui. He wanted to use his status as a royal family member to truly do some pioneering work for the Wei Dynasty, rather than staying in the Honglu Temple in Luoyang.

The feelings are sincere and touching, the words are tearful and come from the heart...

Since Cao Zhi insisted so much, Cao Rui was entangled in his heart for a long time, but finally did not refuse. What Cao Zhi said was also reasonable, so let him go.

Therefore, the court gave Cao Zhi the title of General of the Tower Ship, and he led more than 10,000 soldiers and ten ships to start this voyage.

Now it is time for Cao Zhi and Chen Ben to return victoriously.

Shouchun and Huaiyin are about 600 miles apart. Cao Zhi and Chen Ben, as the generals of the tower ship and the imperial censors of the sea, arrived outside Shouchun on the 18th day of the first lunar month.

Cao Rui led the chief officials of the West Pavilion, East Pavilion, Secretariat and Privy Council, and personally went out of the east gate of Shouchun City to welcome them.

Cao Zhi and his companions had not received any advance notice and had planned to enter Shouchun City before meeting the emperor. They were not prepared for this matter. It was not until the cavalry responsible for the escort, relying on their scout instinct, saw the emperor's banner a mile outside the city from afar that they hurriedly informed Cao Zhi.

Cao Zhi first ordered all his entourage to dismount and walk, and then he and Chen Ben disregarded their dignity and trotted forward to meet them.

"Your Majesty, I, Cao Zhi, pay my respects to you." Cao Zhi bowed, his eyes full of sincerity. "I have traveled thousands of miles across the sea and months to and from the sea. Fortunately, I have fulfilled your mission! How can I deserve your Majesty to condescend to see me for my humble contribution? I feel guilty."

Chen Ben also said the same thing, but just like before in Luoyang Beigong, he shed some tears. There are always some people in this world who are more sentimental than others.

Cao Rui walked forward, helped Cao Zhi up, and carefully looked at Cao Zhi's tanned and weathered face, and sighed:
"Uncle, you have suffered a lot! You will get on the carriage with me later and follow me to Shouchun Palace."

Cao Zhi did not act hypocritically, but readily accepted it, and then bowed to the cabinet ministers, privy councilors, and chancellors who came to greet him.

Sima Yi and Cao Zhen nodded politely in response. Both of them were close confidants of the late emperor. They had a long-standing feud with Cao Zhi, and it was almost ingrained in their bones. The experience of living in the same court in the past few years had not changed that in the slightest.

On the contrary, Dong Zhao, the Grand Commandant, was more enthusiastic: "General Cao has worked hard for nearly four months on the sea. He has made contributions to the country. The title of General of Louchuan existed in the Han Dynasty, but the first General of Louchuan of Wei Dynasty has gone further than the Han Dynasty and brought more glory to the virtue of Wei Dynasty!"

"Mr. Dong, you are too kind. This is my duty." Cao Zhi bowed and returned the greeting. In the past few years when Cao Zhi was an official in the court, he tried to downplay his status as a prince. Whenever he interacted with court officials, he would confirm the title by his official title. The previous Nine Ministers and the current General of the Louchuan were all like this. Before Cao Rui set off, he also casually told his ministers to call Cao Zhi the general.

But when Cao Zhi saw two new faces among the six ministers, he was surprised for a moment.

Xin Pi explained, "General Cao may not know that Minister Wei of the Ministry of Civil Affairs passed away in Luoyang three months ago, and was succeeded by Minister Li. Minister Fu of the Ministry of Works was also not in good health after the winter, so Minister Sima was ordered to transfer from the Imperial Household to the Ministry of Works."

Cao Zhi nodded slightly, and then bowed to the newly appointed Minister of Civil Affairs Li Yan and Minister of Works Sima Zhi.

In today's Wei Dynasty, the power and responsibility of the Secretariat are becoming increasingly important, and the six ministers are more important than the nine ministers.

Sima Yi's cousin Sima Zhi was transferred from the post of Grand Coachman to the post of Minister of Works. This was not because of Sima Yi's face, but because Sima Zhi himself worked hard for a year in the sixth year of Taihe. He responded to the court's call as Grand Coachman and traveled around Yuzhou, Yangzhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, urging the court to close civilian settlements in these four states. The position he obtained through hard work was very stable.

Last year, under the situation of comprehensive abolition of civilian settlements in Wei Dynasty, all civilian settlements in various states across the country were completely abolished, and the taxes on self-cultivating farmers were generally limited to 35%.

There were few border wars in the fifth and sixth years of Taihe, and the country enjoyed two rare years of stability, which gave the Wei Kingdom time to calmly deal with its internal systems.

Of course, the necessary military settlements, the farming of the Qiang people in Guanxi, and the semi-militarized civilian settlements in Yingzhou were still preserved. Nowadays, military settlements can only be found in border areas facing the enemy, such as Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Qinzhou, and Hanzhong.

For the entire central government of the Wei Dynasty, local officials of prefectures and counties, and even Emperor Cao Rui himself, handling these matters for a whole year was not much easier than fighting a major battle.

Sima Zhi became the new Minister of Works, and the Minister of Civil Affairs was personally chosen by His Majesty, who chose Li Yan, who surrendered from Shu. This was something that no one in Luozhong had expected.

After Li Yan and Li Zhengfang surrendered to Wei, they entered Luoyang and were granted the title of Marquis of Chengdu by Cao Rui. They were given a fief of 1,000 households, similar to the title of Marquis of Lu Xun, who was granted a county. In terms of specific positions, they were given the titles of Guanglu Dafu and Shizhong, and their daily duties were for consultation, so they could not be considered as Shizhong.

In terms of talent, Li Yan was still good enough, after all, he had served as the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat in Shu. As for character, talent and virtue, Cao Rui did not need to consider so much.

According to Cao Rui's own theory, Li Yan abandoned Liu Zhang and joined Liu Bei, and abandoned Shu and surrendered to Wei. In essence, it was Li Yan's own bad luck that he did not live under the rule of Wei. This is why there were so many twists and turns. If he was an ordinary scholar in Yuzhou or Jizhou, he would not have experienced these bad things for decades.

In addition to the adjustments of Li Yan and Sima Zhi, there were also some changes in the Nine Ministers. After the death of Tai Changlin and Shaofu Lu Qian, Wei Dan took over the post of Tai Chang, the post of Tai Pu vacated by Sima Zhi was filled by Miao Xi, and Han Xuan took over the post of Da Honglu after Cao Zhi left.

As for the position of Shaofu, it is currently vacant and there is no one to fill it yet.

And Grand Tutor Hua Xin also passed away in the first month of last year.

These are all inevitable things.

The positions of the Dukes and Ministers, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, were originally the product of seniority in the court. In the past few years since Cao Rui ascended the throne, many dukes and ministers have died. Wang Lang, Zhong Yao, Hua Xin... The three dukes who founded the Wei Dynasty have all reunited with the previous emperor.

Cao Rui was not in a hurry. He waited patiently for Cao Zhi to finish greeting his colleagues before he prepared to get on the carriage.

After Cao Rui got on the carriage, he lifted the curtain and beckoned, "Chen Ben! Come and ride with me and my uncle!"

Chen Ben was in a trance for a moment, and quickly agreed to welcome this unprecedented favor. (End of this chapter)