Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Establishing a crown prince is a major event that concerns the foundation of the country.

Your Majesty is the second emperor of the Wei Dynasty. When Emperor Wen, Cao Pi, was in power, he only appointed a crown prince before his death, and the time between him and his death was less than a day.

Cao Pi himself became the crown prince of the Kingdom of Wei in the 22nd year of Jian'an, only four years after Cao Cao's death.

In short, whether from the perspective of the Cao family's habits or the tradition after the establishment of the Wei Dynasty, establishing a crown prince was an unusual thing. The political significance behind it should also make these cabinet ministers pay special attention.

"Your Majesty, isn't it a bit too early to appoint a crown prince in your youth?" Cao Zhen frowned and stared at Sima Yi. "Prince Ye is only six years old and is the eldest son. Why do you need to appoint him now? Your Majesty is only thirty years old now."

Dong Zhao's gaze was no longer dull. He sat up straight again, stroked his beard and said calmly: "The eldest son Cao Qi was born in the summer of the first year of Taihe, the second son Cao Yan was born in the autumn of the second year of Taihe, the third son Cao Shou was born in the summer of the fourth year, and the fourth son Cao He was born in the winter of the sixth year of Taihe. Among these four princes, only the first two were crowned kings, and the last two have no titles yet."

"When Your Majesty wanted to make the prince a king, I clearly opposed it in front of Your Majesty, but Your Majesty still insisted on making him a king. I suggested that the land of Yecheng be used to make the eldest prince a king. Yecheng was once the capital of Wei, and it is also one of the five capitals of Wei. Its status is undoubtedly noble. Your Majesty will not listen to our opinions on this matter, whether he wants to do it or how to do it."

"Since Sikong wants to propose it, let's talk about it." Dong Zhao raised his eyes and looked at Sima Yi: "Whether to decide or not, let your majesty decide for himself, and we will just wait for the reply. This matter is between yes and no."

"What Mr. Dong said makes sense. It is right between what is possible and what is not possible." Chen Jiao added.

After hearing the conservative opinions of these three people, Sima Yi said slowly while writing: "Well, I will briefly mention this matter and see how Your Majesty responds."

"it is good."

"Just do it."

"can."

The three of them answered.

"The last thing was also news we received the day before yesterday." Now it was Dong Zhao's turn to speak: "The copper official of Pengcheng sent an urgent message a few days ago, which arrived in Shouchun yesterday, saying that there was a collapse accident in the Bingshen Mine, and more than 80 Xianbei miners died..."

"Only eighty Xianbei people?" Cao Zhen interrupted Dong Zhao and said, "What kind of trivial matter is this? If they died, they died. Why report it to the cabinet?"

"This accident is not a small matter. After all, it is the work of the Ministry of Works and is under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. General, I haven't finished speaking yet." Dong Zhao continued, "According to the report of Sun Yong, the chief craftsman in charge of the Copper Official, and He Shen, the Copper Official of Pengcheng, the accident occurred in early January. Due to improper rescue, the mine was not opened until mid-March. Of course, these Xianbei miners had already died in it. This caused dissatisfaction among other Xianbei people in Pengcheng."

Sima Yi suddenly asked, "Lord Dong, I remember there were about 12,000 Xianbei miners in Pengcheng, right?"

"That's right. There are about 4,000 Xianbei people in the same place as the Bingshen Mine." Dong Zhao said, "The nearby Xianbei miners complained that the supervisor was not able to provide adequate rescue, so they started to riot. Although they didn't kill the officials, they killed three Xianbei assistant officials who led the Pengcheng, and they even started a strike. Xue Ti of Xuzhou has already led 3,000 people to suppress the riot."

"It would be better to report this matter to His Majesty."

"It's not surprising that something like this happened. It's just a matter of when it happened." Sima Yi said, "There is a mint in Pengcheng. People from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Works have been to the copper mine. Not only are the conditions terrible, but the officials at all levels treat the Xianbei people like cattle and horses. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens. But the Pengcheng copper official dragged it out for nearly three months after the incident, and only reported it to the central government when the matter could no longer be suppressed. This is a bit too much."

"General and Lord Dong, please give us some suggestions for punishment. It's not good to show your majesty such a bad job."

Dong Zhao stroked his beard and said calmly: "The chief architect Sun Yong will be fined one year's salary for not reporting the incident. He Shen, the copper official of Pengcheng, will be dismissed from his post. The Xianbei miners who led the riot will be beheaded. Then order Borgu to replace a few people in charge, and send compensation to Borgu according to the number of miners who died."

"Just tell your majesty that."

"Yes." Cao Zhen didn't seem to care about it.

Sima Yi also wrote down Dong Zhao's words.

In just two short years, during the fifth and sixth years of Taihe, the size of the Wei generals grew rapidly with the support of the imperial court and the central government.

Originally, the Chief Craftsman of the Ministry of Works had only one Chief Craftsman, but now there are five, one in charge of the Luoyang Ministry of Works in charge of military equipment, the Chaohu Shipyard in charge of shipbuilding, and the Copper and Iron Officials and the Mining Officials of the World.

The total number of Xianbei people and various Hu people who mined in the Wei territory reached about 40,000.

In the summer of the fifth year of Taihe, the imperial court sent General Tian Yu, who was in charge of protecting the Wuhuan, and General Duan Zhao, who was in charge of protecting the Xianbei, to lead their own troops and other Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Xiongnu tribes, with a total of 35,000 infantry and cavalry, to respond to the invitation of Borgu of the Western Xianbei and join him in attacking the Sonu. They completely eliminated the remaining forces of Kebi Neng among the Western Xianbei. Borgu then completely accepted the leadership of the Wei Dynasty and paid tribute annually.

It is like a puppet regime.

For Borgu himself, being a dog of the Wei Dynasty was not shameful. Not only him, but also Budugen, Suli, Xieguini, the entire Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan, all prostrated themselves at the feet of the Wei Dynasty. This was the norm at the time. Since he was a puppet and had assumed power in the name of the Wei Dynasty, he worked even harder.

Supplying labor to the Wei Dynasty's General Works Supervisor became an important part of Bolgu's job.

This matter was planned by Liu Ye, the Right Supervisor of the Privy Council, and according to the emperor's suggestion, this business was called "labor dispatch", which is very easy to understand.

The Wei Dynasty's General Zuojian can help Borgu deal with the excess population, that is, the tribes that were once loyal to the faction of Kebinen, Heqibu, and Zonu. The Wei Dynasty will pay for the food and pay Borgu one stone of grain per person per month.

One stone of grain per month, twelve stones per year, this is already a very, very fair number.

For ordinary self-cultivating peasant families in Wei, even if each family has two able-bodied laborers and 50 mu of land, the annual income is only 150 dan. With an average tax rate of nearly 50% before the tax reduction, the remaining grain for each laborer is far less than 12 dan.

In Liu Ye's words, even though the pen of history is as sharp as a knife, the Great Wei will not be stained by dust.

What Borgu needed to do was to send Xianbei nobles from the western Xianbei to the copper officials and iron officials in various parts of Wei to manage the Xianbei miners, and continue to supply as many labor forces as possible to Wei.

For example, in the Pengcheng Copper Official accident in the first month of the seventh year of Taihe, those Xianbei miners were not directly managed by the Wei officials, but by the Xianbei nobles sent by Borgu as the evildoers in the middle.

Of course, Bolgu was willing to do this kind of business, but in essence, it was not up to him whether he was willing or not.

Moreover, except for the tribes belonging to other Xianbei and Wuhuan and near the border of Wei, Wei did not mind that Borgu annexed various tribes in the west and north and continued to supply labor to Wei as a middleman. Of course, the price of the tribes was discounted, ranging from 30% to 50% compared with ordinary Xianbei people.

As a result, in the vast area from Dunhuang in the west to Dingling in the north, all kinds of Hu tribes faced the impact of the Western Xianbei.

Of course, Liu Ye was not a pure and kind person. Each Xianbei person was paid a high price of 12 stone of grain per year, and if there were any accidents or casualties, the Wei Dynasty would not care.

Before the delivery of these grains, Borgu could also choose to exchange them for various items produced by the Wei Dynasty, including brocade, jewelry, utensils and books, and the price was set by the Privy Council.

……

April 4th, afternoon.

Under the escort of 10,000 cavalrymen, Cao Rui set out from Jingnan Xiwu, north of Ruxukou, and arrived at Jiashishi.

The emperor's visit was reported to the garrison at Wancheng in advance. As the general of Zhenbei and the commander of 20,000 troops in Wancheng, Huan Fan could not get away, so he appointed the general of Henghai, Hu Zun, to come to Jiashi to greet him.

When Cao Rui arrived, Hu Zun had already been waiting in Jiashi for a day and a half.

"Your Majesty, your servant Hu Zun pays homage to you." Hu Zun bowed with great respect.

Cao Rui nodded: "Stand up. If I remember correctly, this is the first time I have seen you since I led the army out of Hanzhong in the second year of Taihe."

"It is true that I have not seen your Majesty for several years." Hu Zun stood up carefully and answered with a folded hand. "The Privy Council's transfer order came in a hurry two years ago, and I had no chance to return to Luoyang to pay homage. Instead, I went directly east from Hanzhong to Yong and Fancheng, and then from Yuzhou to Shouchun and Hefei to Wancheng. It has been a year and a half now."

Guanqiu Jian rode over and said, "Your Majesty, the tents are ready. Please come in and rest."

Cao Rui nodded slightly, and turned his head slightly to Hu Zun, saying, "Come on, Mr. Hu, come in with me. The attendants should come with you as well."

"Yes, sir." Everyone responded in unison.

After entering the tent and sitting down, Cao Rui signaled everyone to take their seats. The attendants were already used to it, but Hu Zun was a little reserved.

Pei Qian smiled and said, "Your Majesty has granted me this gift, so General Hu, please don't be so reserved. If you continue to be so reserved, it would be disrespectful."

"Yes." Hu Zun lowered his head carefully.

Cao Rui said, "Mr. Hu, actually before I hired you, the Cabinet and the Privy Council also had some objections. The general said that you were not experienced enough. When you were in Hanzhong, you only commanded 5,000 troops. You can't handle the 20,000 troops in Wancheng alone. Lord Dong and the Privy Council also expressed opposition, basically citing issues such as age and qualifications, but I am optimistic about you. In the past year or so, you have done a good job in Wancheng."

Hu Zun replied carefully, "Your Majesty, there are a total of 20,000 soldiers in Wancheng. I was only in charge of them temporarily for two months. After Huan Zhenbei came to Wancheng, I was only responsible for the 10,000 soldiers in Qiankou and Wankou. The remaining 10,000 soldiers and Wancheng's political affairs were all led by Huan Zhenbei. I followed Huan Zhenbei's orders in everything, just like when I was in Hanzhong and followed Guo's orders to conquer Shu. I dare not take any credit for it." (End of this chapter)