Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

War is a major factor driving social development, especially for cities.

Since the Jian'an and Huangchu periods, Shouchun has gradually become a strategic location for the Wei Dynasty to conduct military operations in the southwest. Stationing troops, storing grain, and gathering supplies have become Shouchun's most obvious urban functions, and the driving force behind this is water transportation.

As a result, the port industry also flourished in Shouchun.

Northeast of Shouchun, there is a naval camp called Deshengying. Cao Rui, along with his cabinet ministers, the attendants, the secretaries, and the privy councilors, arrived here at the same time.

It was mid-June, and General Cao Zhi led 10,000 naval forces to sail to Japan. This voyage was two months earlier than last year, and Cao Zhi's mission was simple, with only two items.

First, continue to train naval soldiers.

Second, he was responsible for collecting intelligence in Japan, bribing local Japanese people, and preparing for stationing in Japan.

At the dock of Deshengying, General Cao Zhi of the Tower Ship and General Le Chen of the Battleship both bowed and said goodbye to Cao Rui.

"Your Majesty," Cao Zhi said with a little emotion, "On my second voyage to Japan, I will definitely bring back the entire fleet intact, just like I did the first time."

"I think so too." Le Chen responded along with Cao Zhi.

Cao Rui said: "Although we have had the experience of sailing for the first time, it is not much easier than the first time. After all, it is still a matter of soldiers. This time I want you to lead 8,000 new soldiers with 2,000 veterans to adapt to life on the ship and get familiar with the ship and the water. This is the most important thing."

"Everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared. Let's set sail at 9:00 p.m. This is the auspicious time I sent someone to predict for you."

"I obey your command." Cao Zhi and Le Chen saluted together.

As a burst of drums sounded on the shore, ten Type C ships slowly moved eastward. The ships drifted downstream and with the help of their sails, they gradually disappeared from the sight of the people on the shore.

Cao Zhen stood behind Cao Rui and said with a little emotion: "Your Majesty, after these 8,000 new soldiers return, the number of soldiers available to the Wei navy should reach 26,000."

Cao Rui laughed, "After all, this was the idea that Lord Dong gave me. Let the soldiers from Xuzhou and Yangzhou go sailing and get familiar with the water, and let the soldiers from foreign armies practice warship battles and tactics in Chaohu Lake. They all have their own roles!"

Dong Zhaolue bowed his hands and said: "I was also inspired by your Majesty's words, which is not a great achievement."

Cao Rui looked up at the sky, and suddenly remembered something. He turned back to look at the attendants and asked, "When will Guanglu Xun arrive in Shouchun?"

Pei Qian took a half step forward and bowed slightly: "Your Majesty, Yang Yishan should be here this afternoon."

"Okay." Cao Rui nodded: "Pei Qing, keep an eye on him. When he arrives in Shouchun, come to see me as soon as possible!"

"As you wish." Pei Qian responded.

Just after lunch, Cao Rui was still browsing books in the study, and Pei Qian led Yang Fu hurriedly into the study.

"Your Majesty, your servant Yang Fu pays his respects to you!" As soon as Yang Fu entered the door, he bowed from a distance.

Cao Rui laughed a few times: "Yang Qing has not been a minister for many years, why are you still so distant with me? Come closer, I have a seat for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat." Yang Fu responded and sat down in the seat closest to Cao Rui's right.

Cao Rui saw Pei Qian was there too, so he pointed and said, "Pei Qing will leave later, too. Let's listen together."

"Yes." Pei Qian responded.

Cao Rui said slowly, "Yang Qing has had a hard time in the position of Guanglu Xun in the past few years. According to the original system of the Great Wei, Guanglu Xun was nothing more than a position of honor that led the officials in Luoyang and had little practical effect. After Yang Qing took over, the responsibility became heavier." Yang Fu smiled and replied, "Whether I was in the position of Shizhong or Guanglu Xun, I was serving Your Majesty. Before the fourth year of Taihe, a hundred Taixue Lang graduated and took up positions every year. The earliest batch, except for a small number of people who were appointed to the Shangshutai, almost all went to various armies to serve as grain officers and gain experience in the army. The three batches that graduated in the second, third, and fourth years also transferred to various states, counties, and prefectures to be responsible for the transportation of grain and supplies."

Cao Rui said, "If Yang Qing can do this well, it will be a great achievement. Yang Qing has also served as a governor of a state. In your opinion, how much higher can the efficiency of Wei's collection of grain and supplies be now than before?"

"Your Majesty, please allow me to think about it for a moment." Yang Fu bowed and said.

"No hurry." Cao Rui chuckled: "Yang Qing, take your time to think about it."

"Yes."

Cao Rui was not idle either. He turned his head and looked in Pei Qian's direction: "I asked Pei Qing to do the task of recruiting candidates for the throne. How is it going now?"

Pei Qian said, "Your Majesty, I have sent out the printed questionnaires to all the officials above the rank of 2,000 dan in Shouchun. As the deadline is October, no official has yet handed in the questionnaires. The reason why October was chosen is that it is also necessary to consider that it would take about two months to travel back and forth from Shouchun to remote places such as Liangzhou, Qinzhou, Youzhou, and Yingzhou, even if it is delivered by express post."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "Okay, since Pei Qing is in charge of this task, you should keep an eye on it for me. If there is any disturbance, please report it to me in time."

"Yang Qing," Cao Rui turned to look at Yang Fu, "How's the estimate?"

Yang Fu cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think the efficiency of transporting various materials will be increased by at least 50%!"

"Tell me," Cao Rui laughed, "How did you improve?"

Yang Fu coughed lightly and said, "If we follow the instructions of His Majesty, the transportation of materials is a matter of management and mathematics. Before graduating from the Imperial Academy, all students have learned mathematics and general affairs in the Imperial Academy. Therefore, when transporting materials in counties, prefectures, and even states, we will try our best to find a balance between transportation capacity, corvée, and time, reduce the loss of time and manpower, and maximize efficiency."

"In addition, during the march that Your Majesty moved from Luoyang to Shouchun last winter, I and Minister of Civil Affairs Li Zhengfang used Imperial College students to deploy troops in Henan Yin, Chenliu, Chen, and Qiao counties. We have initially developed a more efficient deployment method, which has been promoted to all places in April."

Cao Rui nodded: "Yang Qing did a good job, and Li Yan is also very dedicated."

Yang Fu laughed mischievously: "Among the ministers of Wei, Li Zhengfang is well-known for his diligence and hard work. Your Majesty, it seems that people who surrender are still useful."

"You." Cao Rui smiled and pointed at Yang Fu. "Since Yang Qing has come to Shouchun, don't go back to Luoyang. Stay by my side and be responsible for the material coordination of the counties, the Secretariat, and the Privy Council. The counties and the army are all run by people who graduated from the Imperial College. Yang Qing can be a steward who dispatches people in the middle."

Yang Fu stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will not fail you!"

Jianye, the capital of Wu, was only 400 miles away from Shouchun, one of the five capitals of Wei.

The school official Lu Yi suddenly returned to Jianye, which surprised all the ministers in Jianye city.

There was no way out. Lu Yi was really notorious and famous.

After Lu Yi finished his conversation with Zhuge Jin in Wuchang, although he did not dare to point the finger directly at Crown Prince Sun Deng, he wrote a lot of negative information about Diao Xuan and Diao Jia and sent someone to send it back to Jianye. Then Lu Yi left Wuchang and went up the river to Zhu Ran in Jiangling.

Before Lü Yi finished his journey in Jiangling and continued along the Yangtze River to Bu Zhi's side in Xiling, Sun Quan sent an urgent letter to summon Lü Yi back.

That's why Lu Yi returned so quickly.

Inside the Wu Palace, Sun Quan had a cold face and looked quietly at Lü Yi, Shi Yi, Hu Zong, and Xu Xiang:
"What do you think? Was it my fault? Shouldn't I have sent the crown prince to Wuchang to supervise the country?"

The atmosphere in the hall was awkward for a moment. Shi Yi bowed and whispered, "Your Majesty is certainly right. When Your Majesty was the same age as the prince, you had already defeated Huang Zu and seized Jiangxia. Your Majesty's original intention of letting the prince stay in Wuchang was just to gain some experience. What's wrong with that?"

Sun Quan asked again: "Could it be that the many guests I prepared for the prince were wrong? I think the prince's ideas are less and less like mine, but more like those guests and scholars!" (End of this chapter)