Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 617: No Order to Move Troops
The complex and overlapping emotions allowed Sun Quan to find a place to vent his thoughts that had been accumulated for many days.

It only took Sun Quan a few moments to calm down again, and he patiently explained to Lu Dai:

"It has been two years since I fought with Wei. In the past two years, the interior of Wu has not been peaceful. The Shanyue, the pirates, and Jiaozhou have all caused me worries."

"Do you still remember the contents of the letter I wrote to you last October?"

"I remember." Lu Dai replied slowly, "Your Majesty mentioned many things about the State of Wei in the letter he wrote to me before."

"Yes." Sun Quan sighed again, shook the reins slightly a few times, and drove his mount forward. "Military affairs are not just about deploying troops. They are complicated and require great wisdom to take care of them properly. I heard from the spies on the border that Wei State has abolished the civilian settlements, and notices have been posted everywhere on new paper, informing the people that the tax in each place must not exceed 35%, otherwise it will be a violation of the law."

"Wei has already started to do this, but what about Wu? The generals and their fiefs are spread across counties and prefectures, the people's livelihood is not good, and the taxes are gradually decreasing. How can I not worry about this?"

Lü Dai was a governor, so he certainly knew that the people were the foundation of the country. But the Wei State to the north of the Yangtze River had already done so, so what else could the Wu State do?
Just like Wei occupied most of the world, while Wu only had Yang, Jing, and Jiao. Envy is not enough. If Wu did this method of gradually giving the people a rest, it would not be able to support the 180,000 soldiers on the east and west of the Yangtze River!
As a monarch, Sun Quan had a fundamental understanding of this kind of institutional reform. Reforming the system and starting anew with the people have always been a sign of a country's ability to make ends meet, and it is not something that can be done when the country is weak.

If the officials of Wei State knew the mentality of Sun Quan and Lu Dai at that time, they might also feel that those who learn from me will die, and those who do not learn from me will suffer a slow death.

The two of them looked at each other in silence and continued riding their horses towards the direction of Jianye Palace.

Sun Quan and Lu Dai had different ideas at the moment. Lu Dai was thinking about how to find some ways to collect taxes more efficiently, while Sun Quan was thinking about taking some time to inspect the military camps near Jianye, Ruxu, Wuhu and other places, so as to urge the generals to be mentally prepared to meet the enemy at any time.

As the team got closer to the palace, the sound of drums became louder and louder.

"This is the system that the Prime Minister made based on the records in the books." Sun Quan and Lu Dai explained softly, "When the Prime Minister was young, he studied under the famous scholar Cai Bojie, learning Luoyang music and calligraphy. Cai Bojie's collection of books also recorded these systems related to the emperor of the Han Dynasty."

"It is indeed extraordinary," Lü Dai also echoed with emotion, "This is also the first time I have heard this kind of drumming. It is very different from ordinary drumming. It seems to be broader and grander in people's ears, and it is very much like the aura of an emperor."

Sun Quan smiled and nodded.

But when Sun Quan withdrew his thoughts and looked carefully at the soldiers with spears guarding on both sides of the street in front of the palace gate, his expression suddenly became serious again.

There are too many soldiers guarding the road today! From the dock outside the city to the direction of Jianye Palace, it is at least five or six miles away. The soldiers guarding along the road are estimated to be at least five thousand.

On the main street south of the palace, soldiers stood in two rows along the city wall. Everywhere you looked, there were soldiers. If you counted carefully, at least 6,000 soldiers were mobilized to welcome the emperor today!

It's really too much.

The most crucial thing is that Sun Quan still doesn’t know which general these soldiers belong to!

Sun Quan turned his face slightly towards Lu Dai, forced a smile, and asked casually, seemingly inadvertently:

"Lü Gong, which unit of soldiers are guarding the road today? Their appearance and demeanor are excellent. I am very satisfied."

Lu Dai thought for a moment and shook his head slightly: "Today there are too many things going on, I don't know, why don't I go and ask?"

Even you, the Mu of Yangzhou, don’t know?
Sun Quan was slightly angry, but he suppressed it and nodded in agreement.

Lü Dai held the reins, turned the horse half a circle, and said to Gu Li behind Sun Quan: "General Gu, please send someone to find my chief secretary Diao Jia. He should know about this matter."

Gu Li had followed Sun Quan for more than twenty years and was always by his side. He knew Sun Quan very well. How could Lu Dai command him with just a few words?

Gu Li bowed slightly towards Lu Dai in return, but he said nothing, did not move at all, and did not send anyone to call him, just like a wooden sculpture.

Lu Dai looked at Sun Quan again. When he found that Sun Quan was squinting his eyes and looking at something not far away without making any other movements, his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he felt something was wrong.

After Sun Quan got on his horse, Hu Zong and Xu Xiang, who were closest to Sun Quan, looked at each other and became serious. Sun Quan usually wouldn't act like this, but if he really put on airs to his ministers, it would undoubtedly mean that Lu Dai was in trouble.

Lu Dai had been an official all his life. The time had come for him to execute his orders, so regardless of his old age, he turned around and rode back. After riding for about half a mile, he met Diao Jia, the chief officer of Yangzhou.

"Qixing!"

Lu Dai rode over on his horse and called out Diao Jia's courtesy name loudly, which shocked the people in the surrounding Yangzhou Mufu.

"Mr. Lu." Diao Jia had never seen Lu Dai like this before, and asked curiously, "What happened? Why are you so anxious that you even rode here in person?" "Don't ask, just follow me."

"As ordered."

When the two men galloped in front of Sun Quan, Diao Jia dismounted and saluted, and Lu Dai also dismounted and stood solemnly.

At this time, Prime Minister Gu Yong also came over. Seeing this strange situation, he bowed to Sun Quan and asked:

"Your Majesty, what happened here?"

Sun Quan raised his whip and pointed behind him: "I have something to ask Lü Gong and Diao Changshi about Yangzhou. Prime Minister, please return to the team. I will summon you later."

"I obey your command." Gu Yong felt something was wrong.

But when Sun Quan turned towards Diao Jia, his expression became friendly, as usual:
"Chief Secretary Diao, did you arrange the guards for the imperial reception in Jianye? I am very satisfied."

Diao Jia's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, instantly calmed down. He bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, today's welcoming ceremony was arranged by the prefecture. Your Majesty's return to Jianye, and we are all looking forward to it."

"Good!" Sun Quan said with some appreciation: "Which army are these soldiers from? Their military appearance is neat and tidy, which is excellent."

Diao Jia said: "Your Majesty, these are the soldiers under General Zuo's command."

"My son-in-law, not bad." Sun Quan smiled again: "Did you arrange the guards on both sides of the road?"

The so-called chief secretary is the person in charge of a certain number of affairs in the government. Lü Dai would not do this kind of thing personally. If the government came forward, it must be the work of Diao Jia.

Diao Jia bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, the prefecture had not arranged so many soldiers before, about two thousand. Just now when I was waiting at the dock, the Prime Minister ordered me to strengthen the guards on both sides of the road to enhance your majesty's prestige, so I added some guards."

Sun Quan: "The Prime Minister told you directly?"

Diao Jia replied: "That's right."

Sun Quan asked again: "How many people are there now?"

Diao Jia replied: "Six thousand."

The number given by Diao Jia is not much different from Sun Quan's estimate.

Sun Quan stopped laughing at this time: "Diao Changshi, whose subject are you?"

Diao Jia was a little confused at this time: "Your Majesty..."

Sun Quan asked again: "As the chief officer of Yangzhou, shouldn't you obey Lu Gong's orders? The Prime Minister asked you to mobilize troops. I want to ask you, does the Prime Minister have the authority to mobilize troops?"

Diao Jia was completely panicked, even his hands and lips were trembling. He looked at Lu Dai for help, then lowered his head slightly and then knelt on the ground!
"Answer me!" Sun Quan also dismounted, grasped the hilt of the sword with his right hand, walked to the kneeling Diao Jia, and asked in a deep voice.

Lu Dai knew that something was wrong and knelt down beside Diao Jia.

Sun Quan took down the entire sword and tapped Lü Dai's shoulder with the scabbard: "Lü Gong, get up! I didn't ask you!"

"Diao Changshi, answer me, yes or no!"

"No!" Diao Jia kowtowed heavily on the ground.

"Let me ask you one more question." Sun Quan's tone became more and more frightening: "When you asked the Left General Zhu Ju to mobilize troops, did he ask you for a transfer order? Even a handwritten order?"

Diao Jia stopped talking completely. He just knelt heavily on the ground and kowtowed three times. Then he knelt on the ground without moving. However, from the edge of his robe, it could be seen that Diao Jia was trembling.

(End of this chapter)