Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 638 Generals' Matters
"General, general!"

The new Qiang Guard Captain Zhou Duo stood outside Lu Xun's bedroom door and knocked gently. It was already midnight, but the light in the bedroom was still on.

Today is the last day of March, and tomorrow is April. According to the assignment of the guards, Lu Xun will go from Dazhong to Qishan City on the first day of April. Tonight is also Lu Xun's last night in Dazhong.

The time waiting outside the door was not long, but Zhou Duo actually felt a little dazed at this moment.

Six years ago, in the first year of Taihe, he was just a military officer in the army of the then Right General Zhu Gai. He was not valued for his low position and light responsibility, so he was sent to the Wu army camp to meet Lu Xun before the two armies.

Six years later, Lu Xun became the new General Zhenxi, commanding the military affairs of Qinzhou and becoming a general of Wei. Zhou Duo himself also rose to become the Protector of Qiang with a salary of 2,000 stones, reaching the peak of the Jincheng Zhou family in hundreds of years.

In the remote area of ​​Liangzhou, the emergence of a 2,000-stone official was enough to make the whole county excited, not to mention a Qiang Protector who could lead 10,000 cavalry. Unlike the Qiang Protector who had to patrol the border and had only a thousand cavalrymen during the Han Dynasty, this Qiang Protector could be ranked in the top 10, or even the top 15 in Guanxi, Wei Dynasty.

A truly powerful position.

The beginning of all this was just a brief meeting with Lu Xun in the Wu military camp six years ago.

"Jin Ning?" Lu Xun's voice came from inside: "Just push the door and come in."

Zhou Duo did not hesitate when he heard the voice. He pushed the door open carefully and walked in. He actually bowed down in front of Lu Xun, which surprised Lu Xun.

"Jin Ning, get up quickly!" Although Lu Xun had guessed what was going on, he still helped him up calmly: "I have already said everything I should say to you at the banquet tonight. Why did you come to me at midnight and kneel before me?"

Zhou Duo said, "There were many people here, and all the Han and Qiang generals were there. I can't tell you some things, so I came here at night to tell you my true feelings."

"What's your true feelings?" Lu Xun understood that he was here to show his loyalty, so he chuckled and sat down, waiting for Zhou Duo to speak.

Zhou Duo and Lu Xun were about half a meter apart. They sat at the same table. Zhou Duo leaned slightly forward to Lu Xun's side and said seriously:

"After I received the imperial appointment a few days ago, I thought about it and felt extremely anxious. I am a humble man from Liangzhou and have never made any contributions. I rely on the general's care." Zhou Duo's throat moved slightly: "The general is in Qishan, and I am in Dazhong, hundreds of miles apart. If you need to transfer me, I will not hesitate."

"Jin Ning." Lu Xun waited for Zhou Duo to finish speaking before he responded softly, "You think I helped you with the two thousand stones, but you don't know that I didn't say a word about your transfer. It was all directly dispatched by the central government."

As he spoke, Lu Xun shook his head and smiled, "Don't even mention your position. Even I, the General of Zhenxi, didn't know anything about it before I got it. Jin Ning, you and I are actually the same. Your background is in the hands of the center, and it is controlled by His Majesty, not a specific person."

Zhou Duo still insisted: "Without the general's support, how could I be where I am today?"

Lu Xun said, "Jin Ning, do you know why I drank so much tonight and have to get up early tomorrow morning, but I haven't slept yet?"

"I don't know." Zhou Duo said.

Lu Xun pointed to the table not far away and said, "I am sorting out letters. From the first year of Taihe to now, I have exchanged nearly a hundred letters with Your Majesty. It can be said that Your Majesty knows as much about the major and minor events in Dazhong and the behavior of the Qiang people nearby as we do in Qishan. And I mentioned you in nearly half of the letters."

"General!" Zhou Duo pretended to bow again, but was stopped by Lu Xun.

"I told you, you don't have to bow to me." Lu Xun said, "I will send another letter tomorrow, asking Your Majesty in the capacity of General Zhenxi and Commander-in-Chief of Qinzhou whether you can be allowed to submit monthly reports like me."

Zhou Duo was slightly startled: "General, can I also write to His Majesty?"

"I can't say for sure yet, but I don't think there will be any big problems." Lu Xun explained, "You may not know that in the first year of Taihe, I was the only one who exchanged letters with Your Majesty every month. Perhaps I thought this was a good thing, so from the beginning of the fifth year of Taihe, all the commanders began to report to Your Majesty regularly in this way."

Zhou Duo was a little confused: "Commanders from all places?"

"Yes, they are the chief generals of each place." Lu Xun began to give examples: "Take our Guanxi for example. The guards of Chencang need to report monthly, but the rear general Fei Yao who is also in Chencang does not have this authority. The guards of Chencang, Guo Zhengshu of Hanzhong, Xiahou Pingyuan of Wuwei (General Pingyuan Xiahou Ba), and me, there are only four of them. You are in Dazhong, which is far from Qishan. Although your rank is not as high as ours, you can also be considered a chief general."

"General, you're right." Zhou Duo felt quite proud when he found out that he was treated the same as these people.

"What about other places?" Zhou Duo asked again.

"Other places..." Lu Xun thought for a moment and said, "Let me think about it. Your Majesty once mentioned it to me in a letter."

"Wang Chang of Yingzhou, Tian Yu who protects Wuhuan, Duan Zhao who protects Xianbei, Man Zhengnan of Xiangyang, Xiahou Pingnan (Xiahou Ru) of Jiangxia, Zhu Zhennan (Zhu Gai) of Runan, Chen Situ of Shouchun, Huan Zhenbei of Wancheng... that's roughly the list." Zhou Duo was a little puzzled: "Who is Huan Zhenbei? I only know that Hu Henghai is in Wancheng."

"Oh, Jin Ning may not know." Lu Xun explained: "Before this, Jia Kui and Jia Liangdao returned to Luoyang due to illness. They were given the official title of Guanglu Dafu in Luoyang to rest. After Qian Zijing passed away, they were in charge of martial arts on a daily basis."

"Your Majesty temporarily transferred General Hu Zun from Hanzhong and gave him the title of General Henghai to lead the troops there. Later, he sent Huan Fan, the former Central Guard General, to Wancheng to preside over military affairs and gave him the title of General Zhenbei."

Zhou Duo shook his head: "It's a bit weird after all. Wancheng is in the south, why add Zhenbei? Is it possible that the title with the word 'South' is not enough?"

Lu Xun smiled and said, "It's really that simple, but it's not enough. Xiangyang Man Chong is the General of Conquering the South, Jiangxia Xiahou Ru is the General of Peaceful South, and Runan Zhu Gai is the General of Suppressing the South. Han Zong, who was originally the General of Annan, died so quickly in Wancheng, so this general title is useless."

"Huan Fan is not qualified to conquer the east. The current General Zhendong is Cao Tai, and the General Pingdong is Cao Zhao, so we can only give him the title of Zhenbei."

Zhou Duo shook his head: "I only know that the position of Central Guard is valuable, but I don't know that this position is so valuable that it can be awarded to the Four Towns. Now there is only one rear general among the four generals, and the rest are all vacant. It seems more appropriate."

Lu Xun glanced at Zhou Duo and said, "If Huan Fan is not good enough to guard the north, are you good enough to protect the Qiang?"

"I spoke out of turn." Zhou Duo apologized quickly.

Lu Xun said, "Your Majesty has never minded promoting people to a higher level. Previously, Zhang He was appointed General of the Western Expedition and I was appointed General of the Qiang Protection. Now, Huan Fan is appointed General of the Northern Defense and Hu Zun is appointed General of the Sea. It's all the same. It's just that the generals are always working hard so as not to disappoint Your Majesty. Jin Ning, you should keep this in mind."

"I understand." Zhou Duo's face was a little embarrassed.

Lu Xun said, "Jin Ning, I have told you everything I need to say. When I go to Qishan tomorrow, I will take all of Hetang's 2,000 cavalry with me."

"Yes, just follow the general's orders." Zhou Duo asked tentatively: "Is two thousand enough?"

"Two thousand is enough. There has been no war between Wei and Shu recently, so eight thousand is enough in Dazhong." Lu Xun explained, "Cao Ping will go to Qishan with me tomorrow. I think the Guard Cavalry will send another general. Jin Ning, I have nothing else to tell you. The only thing is to keep a close eye on Wu Dai. He has always been law-abiding, but he has great ambitions and can win the support of the people. You must report to me in time if he has any situation."

"I'll remember this." Zhou Duo's face also became serious.

……

April 1st, Shouchun, Cabinet.

According to the system established several years ago, when the emperor is away, the cabinet ministers must hold meetings every five days and report the minutes of the meetings to the emperor in a timely manner.

According to the news sent yesterday afternoon, Your Majesty stayed in Chaohu Lake for ten days, inspected the naval workshop of the General's Works, and then went south along the Rushu River to Jingnanwu, where he stayed for two days. He gave General Zhang Hu the miscellaneous title of General Po Lu, and then led 10,000 cavalrymen to the west towards Wancheng.

According to the time, we should be able to reach Jiashi on May 3rd or 4th. Since the war in the first year of Taihe, there has been a permanent camp of about 200 people in Jiashi to guard the road here.

Today, April 1st, it is Sima Yi's turn as the rotating secretary to preside over the cabinet meeting.

Of course, the name of the rotating secretary was also invented by the emperor himself. The word "rotating" is of course easy to understand, and the word "secretary" means the person who records the meeting, which is how the emperor explained it.

The cabinet ministers also followed suit.

In Shouchun, four cabinet ministers, Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, Sima Yi and Chen Jiao, were sitting in the same room.

Dong Zhao introduced the work of the Privy Council in the past five days. Cao Zhen talked about the latest feedback on the transfer of the generals in Guanxi, and also introduced the latest developments of the navy and generals such as Le Chen and Zhang Hu. Chen Jiao talked about the affairs of the three ministries under his charge, namely the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment. Sima Yi reported on the three ministries of civil affairs, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War according to the rules.

After the introduction of daily work, it is time to deal with other matters.

Cao Zhen said: "According to the date, Zhang He's coffin will arrive in Luoyang in ten days or so."

"Before His Majesty left Shouchun, he told us that he would decide after he returned to Shouchun." Cao Zhen spread his hands and said, "But you can see that His Majesty's original itinerary was to go to Chaohu Lake, but now he has stayed there for so many days and is going to Wancheng. In my opinion, he may not be able to return to Shouchun in less than a month."

(End of this chapter)