Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The emperor's carriage slowly drove in from the east gate of Shouchun, and the ministers followed on horseback. The team passed through the streets where flags were flying and soldiers were on guard, and headed towards Shouchun Palace.

The King of Chu loved thin waists, and many concubines in the harem starved to death.

Now that the Emperor of Wei loves martial arts, these high-ranking officials have to pretend to be both civil and martial. It is just a political gesture for the emperor to see.

The journey was not long, Cao Rui and Cao Zhi chatted about family matters in the carriage, and time passed quickly. In the spacious imperial carriage, Chen Ben, a 20-year-old patrol censor, had a tense face and sat nervously by the door, not daring to move.

Cao Rui didn't even talk to Chen Ben. But allowing him to ride in the same carriage was already a great favor to the young minister.

When the team arrived and the Grand Coachman Sima Zhi ordered the carriage to stop, the driver pulled the reins and slowly stopped the carriage. Chen Ben actually seemed dazed.

"What? Wait for me to ask you to leave?" Cao Rui teased with a smile.

"It was my negligence. I will obey your order." Chen Ben bowed his head in apology with embarrassment on his face, then lifted the curtain and walked down the vermilion-painted wooden stairs. Then he stood carefully at the side with his hands behind his back, waiting for the emperor and Cao Zhi to come down.

The attendants waiting at the palace gate smiled when they saw this scene. Zhuge Xu, who was standing on the far right, raised his chin slightly and quietly greeted Chen Ben.

Cao Rui didn't know the details, and he and Cao Zhi walked into the Minguang Hall in Shouchun Palace one after the other. Since it had been explained that the Shouchun cabinet ministers, the Privy Council, the Shangshu, the Shizhong, the Sanqi and others would all watch the performance together, everyone followed without hesitation.

After entering, Chen Ben was surprised to find that he could even get a chair to sit on in the Minguang Hall just by virtue of his hard work at sea.

Even though he was only at the end, it was still much better than the imperial attendants who could only stand at the end of the hall!
There are four imperial attendants currently serving the emperor. In addition to Zhuge Xu, Yu Jun, and Li Xi, Zhong Yu, the eldest son of the late Grand Tutor Zhong, also returned last year.

Since Wang Su's son, Prince Yong, returned to the Northern Palace as a minister, the period of mourning in Wei was set at 25 months as stipulated by Wang Su. The reason why Zhong Yu did not return to his post as a minister of imperial guards after the mourning period was that the emperor ordered him to study in the Imperial Academy for a year to prevent him from being missed by the Imperial Academy's education.

Cao Zhi sat in the seat closest to the emperor and introduced in a loud voice: "This time, we have been at sea for nearly four months, more than ten days on the way there and more than ten days on the way back. We stayed near Wa for about two months. Each voyage lasted more than ten days. We wanted to return to Wei before the New Year, but because of the bad weather in Wa, we stayed for a few more days, and thus returned to Donglai later."

Cao Rui thought for a moment and nodded slightly: "I have also read the military report you sent from Huaiyin a few days ago. The fleet went north from Chaohu to Shouchun and entered the Huai River, passed Huaiyin and entered the sea, then went north along the coast to Donglai County in Qingzhou, crossed the Bohai Sea to the east, then passed the strait south of the Three Kingdoms of Korea and Tsushima to the east, and finally arrived at Japan. The emperor's uncle is worthy of boasting in front of me."

Cao Zhen responded, "It is common to sail north from the coast of Xuzhou to Qingzhou and Youzhou, but it is a great feat to sail from Donglai to Waguo to replenish supplies."

"It is not my own achievement. It is the result of the joint efforts of the court and the Privy Council. I am just the arrow that shot out of the bow." Cao Zhi replied: "This time the fleet set out from Donglai and crossed eastward. If it were not for the good ships, sufficient water and food on board, and your majesty's many instructions, the fleet would never have been able to do such a thing."

Cao Rui smiled and pointed at Zhao Yan: "You will supervise the construction of good ships for Wei. Let Ma Deheng come to Shouchun to see me, I will reward him."

Zhao Yan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, although Ma Deheng has made contributions, it was all due to your Majesty's assignment and ingenuity."

Cao Rui chuckled and teased: "Then according to what Zhao Qing said, what should I give myself as a reward?"

"Your Majesty's power and virtue are beyond compare, so how can you admire yourself?" Zhao Yan flattered with a smile.

Everyone in the hall also laughed along.

Cao Zhen looked at Zhao Yan sideways and said, "Doctor Zhao knows about this, but the ministers in Minguang Palace today may not know all of it. It would be better for Doctor Zhao to introduce some of it to your colleagues." "The general is right." Zhao Yan stood up and bowed to Cao Rui for instructions.

Cao Rui just waved his hand and agreed with a smile.

As Zhao Yan introduced word by word and with great emotion, the ministers in the palace also began to marvel.

Although Cao Rui did not know how to build ships or sail on the sea, he did have some basic logic.

The ship must have power, with sails when there is wind and oars when there is no wind. The ship must be stable, the cabin must be as watertight as possible, the center of gravity must be low, the side of the ship must be high, and there must be ballast.

In the fifth year of Taihe, Cao Rui summoned Ma Jun to Luoyang, and obtained the information on Wei's shipbuilding history, as well as the shipbuilding method of Wu provided by the surrendered people of Wu. Using the method of controlled variables, he began shipbuilding experiments in Luoyang.

Ma Jun was indeed ingenious. With the almost unlimited manpower provided by the emperor, he tested the ship model at an extremely fast speed and successfully made a prototype ship that was ten times smaller in proportion. After it passed the test, he returned to Juchao in Yangzhou and began formal shipbuilding.

The newly built ships of the Wei Kingdom were larger than the largest ships of the Wu Kingdom, reaching a length of thirty zhang, with three masts and a carrying capacity of more than ten thousand hu.

Cao Rui also made contributions in other areas, most of which were judgments based on common sense.

The crew needed to eat and drink, and they needed to supplement vitamins, salt and fresh water. So they used beans to grow bean sprouts, fried dry food mixed with grains and oil in a newly made iron pot, used salted vegetables and salted fish to supplement salt, boiled water and added it to hardwood buckets... Although it was primitive and crude, it was enough to cope with this kind of voyage that lasted no more than ten days at most.

As for navigation-related issues, the compass modified by Ma Jun can be used as a basic means of navigation and route recording by recording the time, mileage, heading, and landmarks along the way on paper.

In addition, the people of Yangzhou and Yuzhou, who lived near the Huai River, were recruited to cut down trees in the mountains and build rafts to send them downstream to Shouchun. Soldiers from Yangzhou were also recruited to participate in the shipbuilding. This was also a unified dispatch from Luoyang.

To describe it seriously, Cao Rui is just an amateur project manager who provides sufficient resource support and has rich judgment and basic qualities.

After Zhao Yan finished his introduction, Cao Zhi presented a bamboo slip with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the list of what we have obtained in Japan."

"I won't read it. Let your uncle read it to you." Cao Rui said with a smile.

"As you wish." Cao Zhi bowed and replied, "The fleet captured 120 male and female slaves, 100 pieces of Japanese brocade, 100 pieces of silk, 100 sets of Japanese bows and arrows, 10 dou of pearls, agates, and amber, and a number of other objects in Japan."

"Your Majesty, these Japanese slaves and belongings have been sent from Huaiyin. They should be on the way and should arrive in four or five days."

Xu Shu heard this and asked, "I wonder if General Cao and his entourage have found Nan Shengmi and others from the Japanese Kingdom who came to pay tribute to the Wei Dynasty?"

"I found it." Cao Zhi smiled and said, "I have been ordered by your majesty to give Himiko the purple ribbon and snake button gold seal 'Seal of the King of Wa' bestowed by the court, and also gave her some brocade and bronze mirrors."

"As for what I saw and heard during the voyage and the dozens of days in Japan, I have already compiled tens of thousands of words on the way. After compiling it into a book, I will present it to Your Majesty. The two painters brought with the fleet have already drawn all of Japan's harbor maps, people's clothing, palace styles, streets and cities, etc."

Cao Rui nodded and said: "It is not enough to show it to me. It is better to let Chongwen Temple copy a hundred copies and send one copy to the Imperial College and all the provincial and county schools in the country, so that the scholars of Wei will know that in addition to conquering Wu and Shu on the border, opening up the sea is also a meritorious act!" (End of this chapter)