Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Facing Sima Shi's words of welcome, Chen Ben smiled bitterly and tried to decline the invitation humbly while bowing to everyone standing in the hall.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the small house suddenly became lively.

Since they were having a banquet in Shouchun, regardless of the food and drinks, the venue was a big problem. As one of the five new capitals of Wei, Shouchun had many places in the city that served as offices for the Shangshutai, the Privy Council, etc., in addition to the emperor's palace, and also had to solve the problem of accommodation for officials.

Just as the magistrate of Luoyang County had no sense of existence in Luoyang City, the governor of Yangzhou, Jiang Ji, also had a headache about arranging the place last year. Now that the emperor, the Secretariat, and the Privy Council have moved here, the status of him and Chen Qun in Shouchun City has plummeted.

Even the imperial attendants didn't have their own houses, and lived two to a room. The living space of the ordinary ministers was also cramped. But after all, they were here to be officials, and if they had a good job, they could overcome all other problems.

After all, unlike Luoyang, no family would deliberately set up property in a remote place like Shouchun.

If Sima Shi had not served as an official in Yangzhou in Shouchun a few years ago and had not bought this small courtyard in the city long ago, there would be no other good place to go today.

In the past, the imperial guards around the emperor were sent out of the palace to take up positions. Xiahou Xuan went to the Privy Council and served in the most important military affairs room. He Chuan became the county magistrate of Xu County. Xiahou Hui entered Chongwen Temple as an inspector, responsible for supervising the implementation of Chongwen Temple's teaching materials in the official schools of various states, and Fu Gu became the county magistrate of Ye County.

Everyone has a bright future.

However, when there are too many people, it is really troublesome to greet each other politely.

Among the people attending the banquet today, except Xiahou Xuan and Wu Hui who were on duty in the Privy Council, and Li Xi who was still the Palace Attendant, the rest, Sima Shi, Guo Tong, Wang Hun, Wang Shen, and Shi Bao were all Shangshu Lang on duty in the Secretariat.

Wu Hui was the eldest son of Wu Zhou, the Minister of War; Guo Tong was the eldest son of Guo Huai; Wang Hun was the eldest son of Wang Xiong, the Governor of Yingzhou; and Wang Shen was the nephew of Wang Chang, the Governor-General of Yingzhou.

Only Shi Bao came from a poor family.

"Ziyuan, who is this?" Chen Ben did not know Shi Bao, so he asked Sima Shi, who was the host today.

Sima Shi also smiled and walked between the two men, saying in a clear voice: "Xiu Yuan, let me introduce you. This is Shi Bao, the official in charge of the Ministry of Works. He is from Nanpi, Bohai. Last autumn, he was summoned by the Minister of Works to serve as an official in the Ministry of Works."

"Hello, Brother Shi. I am so sorry for the inconvenience." Chen Ben bowed politely, but he was wondering in his heart. What is Sikong's conscription? Wasn't he just conscripted by your father?
"Greetings, Censor Chen. I am of low status and not worthy of your mention." Shi Bao was as humble as everyone else, but he was almost a generation older than Sima Shi. His face was angular, his eyebrows were drooping, and he seemed unfriendly, but his facial features made him look quite handsome.

Nowadays, the court has always opposed extravagance, and the people present are all young officials who must abide by the court's advocacy. Therefore, the dishes are simple, but there is plenty of wine.

If you start bragging in a bar, then there will be no limit.

Although the trend of seeking fame and integrity has been curbed for a few years since the Fuhua case in the early years of Taihe, the root of the desire for fame cannot be cured; it is human nature.

What else could they talk about at the banquet? They were all young officials of the Wei Dynasty, and almost all of them were descendants of famous families. They either talked about difficult official issues and their superiors, or boasted about each other's hard work and the merits of their fathers.

As the topic went on, they started with welcoming today's guest of honor Chen Ben, then talked about Wang Hun and Wang Shen's experiences in Liaodong, Shi Bao's acquaintance with Deng Ai when he was young, and the story of Sima Shi escorting food and organizing the people to help Yangzhou build four cities within a month more than two years ago, and finally talked about Chen Ben again.

Li Xi smiled and said, "That's true. Except for Brother Changyuan (Wang Hun) who crossed the Bohai Sea in the past, none of us have ever seen what the sea looks like."

Sima Shi also smiled and responded: "Although I have never been there, I think it is wider than the Huai River and clearer than the Yellow River."

Wang Hun was from Langya, Qingzhou, and belonged to the Wang family of Langya. He was of the same clan as Wang Xiang, who once lay on the ice to catch carp and was unlucky enough to go to Dunhuang to serve as an official. Qingzhou and Liaodong had been traveling by boat since the Han Dynasty. Even officials from Luoyang to Liaodong during the Han Dynasty often went to Qingzhou by boat instead of taking the long and difficult road to Liaoxi.

Wang Hun was a reserved person, and waved his hand quickly: "I went to Donglai from the Langya tribe, and then took a boat from Donglai to cross the Bohai Sea. This sea route is easy to travel, and there are not too many waves. There are islands every few dozen miles from Donglai to the north. Our patrol officer followed the general of the tower ship to sail to Japan, which is magnificent, and I also yearn for it."

Chen Ben was praised by everyone for more than half an hour, and he kept drinking. His face gradually turned red and he felt a little drunk. "Me? It's the credit of the court, not my credit. I just rode on the boat."

As he was talking, Chen Ben started counting on his fingers, "My dear brothers, do you know how much preparation the court has made?"

"How much?" everyone was curious.

Chen Ben chuckled. "The large ships that the navy used to sail to Japan were designed by your majesty and the chief architect Mr. Ma. The navy went back and forth from Huaiyin to Donglai several times, and also recruited many coastal residents who were familiar with the sea conditions from Qingzhou and Yingzhou. They even sent people to Lelang County and Baekje to obtain records and sea charts of the Japanese sailing to Liaodong."

After saying that, Chen Ben tilted his head back slightly and said, "It will come naturally, it will come naturally."

"Your Majesty said that things will come to fruition naturally." Xiahou Xuan smiled slightly: "Xiu Yuan has been back in Luoyang for so many days this month. Could it be that when you were in the Imperial Academy or when you were explaining this matter to the officials in Luoyang, you also said the words 'things will come to fruition naturally'?" "Hahaha." Everyone in the room laughed.

Chen Ben's face turned redder: "I, I'm just saying this to you guys."

"What did they say in Luoyang?" Sima Shi also made a sarcastic remark.

"You two brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, are you trying to hold me back?" Chen Ben looked somewhat helpless, and bowed to the north: "Of course it's all thanks to the great blessing of the emperor, the decisions of the officials, and the soldiers' dedication!"

Everyone laughed.

Xiahou Xuan and Sima Shi were indeed brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Xiahou Xuan had two sisters. The older one was called Xiahou Hui, who married Sima Shi and now had three daughters. The younger sister was called Xiahou Zhi, and was arranged to be married by His Majesty. Xiahou Xuan married Wang Yuanji, the daughter of Wang Su, and He Yu married Xiahou Zhi in the same month, which was also a good story in Luoyang at that time.

Xiahou Xuan's biological father, Xiahou Shang, was no longer around, so the emperor took the initiative to make the decision for Xiahou Xuan's family, and Cao Zhen, as his uncle, was also happy to see it happen. Wang Su, the attendant, and He Qia, the governor of Yongzhou, were both from high-ranking families and were a perfect match.

"Well said! Everyone, raise your glasses!" Sima Shi called out with a smile. Everyone in the room raised their glasses and drank them all at once.

"Brother Ji He," Sima Shi looked at Li Xi, "Among all the people present today, you are the only one who is currently serving as a Minister of the Imperial Guard. Why does the court attach so much importance to Japan? Does the central government have any explanation?"

Sima Shi asked knowingly. Sima Yi would tell him immediately what he wanted to know. But at the banquet, there must be many people who didn't know. Sima Shi's words seemed to be to popularize the information to everyone.

Li Xi stroked his beard and said, "Why does Ziyuan go to the faraway place instead of the near one? Why not just ask Censor Chen?"

"Censor Chen..." Sima Shi turned his head and glanced at Chen Ben: "Censor Chen seems a little drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" Chen Ben tried to open his eyes wide and said, "Let me tell you!"

"Okay, okay, let Xiu Yuan speak." Sima Shi showed a helpless expression: "Please ask Censor Chen to preach to us a little."

Chen Ben burped, shook his sleeves, and said more casually: "Why do we have to go to Japan? It all comes down to land, money, and people!"

"What do you mean by that?" Xiahou Xuan, who was sitting next to Chen Ben, asked curiously. Although General Cao Zhen was close to his nephew, they did not meet often, and when they did, it was not like Sima Yi and Sima Shi exchanging information transparently.

Chen Ben said, "Before we sailed, His Majesty told us that Japan has four large islands and countless small islands. The land area may be equivalent to Yuzhou, which is enough for millions of people to live and work. Sooner or later, it will be under the rule of Wei!"

All the people present were young and talented, and they just listened to this statement. The population of Wei was not growing that fast.

Chen Ben seemed to see the inadvertence of the crowd and snorted: "The land of Wa is so vast. Your Majesty said that there is a large island called Yizhou to the south of Yangzhou. If you go further south, there are Linyi, Funan, Tangming, etc. There are countless lands and countless treasures! If you can build a city in Wa, all these overseas lands can be brought under the rule of Wei. By then, the merits of opening up the border and expanding the territory may far surpass those of Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi!"

Xiahou Xuan was surprised for a moment: "Are we going to build a city in Japan and live there for a long time?"

Chen Ben's movements were a little slow at this point. He tried to confirm that this was not a confidential matter, so he continued, "In the tenth year of Taihe, we will move 10,000 people to Japan to build a city. As for the future, there are so many places on the sea, so we have to send more people!"

Xiahou Xuan nodded thoughtfully: "That's exactly the point."

The mainstream ideas of the scholars and people during the Han and Wei dynasties were quite different from the later understanding of expanding territory.

With the Holy Lord in power, is there still a reason to expand territory? Isn't that normal?
In the Western Han Dynasty, it was natural to open up the Liaodong counties, Shuofang, Yunzhong, the four Hexi counties, and establish the Western Regions Protectorate. Even in the current Jingnan and Jiaozhou, there are basically settlements and cities scattered along the traffic roads. The forests and mountains between the cities are not important. It is more like armed colonization.

As long as there is a road that can be used and it is not too far from the actual controlled area to be difficult to control, we can go there to open up. Since the sea route is open, whether it is transporting troops or transporting food and supplies, it is more convenient than the land route, at least it is easier than going to the Western Regions.

Sima Shi then asked, "Xiu Yuan mentioned three things: land, wealth, and people. What do you mean by people and wealth?"

Chen Ben smiled and said, "Da Wei is short of people, and the copper and iron officials in various places are also short of people. The Ministry of Works has brought in 20,000 to 30,000 Xianbei people in the past two years, but it is still far from enough. It is only natural to let the navy bring in some Japanese people to mine."

"As for wealth, His Majesty said that Japan may also have copper mines, gold, and silver production, which will be useful sooner or later!"

Sima Shi nodded and said: "It is a great fortune for us to have a holy emperor in power and benefit all people!" (End of this chapter)