Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The term "deserted place" is quite appropriate to describe the three eastern counties headed by Shangyong. If you look at the map, Shangyong is located near Xiangyang, much closer to Luoyang than Jiangling, Wuchang, Jiangxia, Chengdu and other cities, and even closer than Shouchun.

But this did not prevent Shangyong and other places from becoming worthless in the eyes of the central government. With neither too many people nor much output, they could only flow down the Han River and provide Xiangfan with some not-too-much surplus grain.

In fact, during the years of conflict between the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, or the three parties of Cao, Sun and Liu, many border areas were artificially created.

The three eastern counties where Shangyong is located is one of them. Jiangxia County, Lujiang County, Xiangyang County, and Huainan County are all like this. The population is dwindling and the population is sparse.

Shangyong City was built by the water. There is a pier outside the city where you can take a boat directly downstream to Jingxiang.

Cao Rui stood by the water at the dock, with Man Chong and Guanqiu Jian standing on his left and right. Seeing Cao Rui staring at the river in a trance, Man Chong asked from behind Cao Rui:

"Today is the third day since Your Majesty came to Shangyong. I wonder when Your Majesty will leave for Weixing County? I will arrange the itinerary of the troops and notify Xicheng to welcome you."

Cao Rui retracted his gaze and shook his head: "I won't go."

"Then..." Man Chong was speechless for a moment: "Then your majesty, you are not going to Hanzhong later?"

Cao Rui said calmly: "I have heard a saying before, come when you are in the mood, leave when you are in the mood. The reason why I don't stay in Luoyang often and visit various places is that the inspection itself is more important than where I visit."

Guanqiu Jian was slightly puzzled: "Your Majesty, I don't quite understand."

Cao Rui turned and looked at Man Chong: "Does General Man know?"

Man Chong paused and tentatively responded, "Could it be that Your Majesty is using this tour to dispatch troops and inspect the country to enhance the emperor's majesty?"

"Yes and no." Cao Rui laughed. "Do you know what the most important symbol for an emperor is? It's going on tour. Qin Shihuang went on a tour of the country and died on the way without regret. Emperor Gaozu of Han always led the army in person when there was a war. When the emperor went out, the whole country was moved. And which of the little emperors of the Later Han Dynasty, even Huan and Ling, went out of the capital for inspections often?"

Man Chong now understood what the emperor meant, and smiled as he replied, "I have roughly guessed what your majesty meant. When an emperor tours the four directions, it is a symbol of holding power and controlling the overall situation. A puppet-like figure like the Duke of Shanyang always stays in the palace and is not allowed to go out."

Cao Rui nodded slightly.

Man Chong added: "Since Your Majesty has this idea, I suggest that Your Majesty make it a custom so that future kings can adopt it."

"I will be a good emperor first, and we will talk about future affairs later." Cao Rui smiled, and continued to look at the mountains and waters in the distance, and said slowly: "You two don't know, but the news from Luoyang yesterday was that Meng Da died of illness. Isn't it a coincidence? He just happened to arrive in Shangyong."

"Meng Da passed away?" Man Chong was somewhat surprised: "I remember Meng Da was only in his early fifties, right?"

"He is in his early fifties." Cao Rui nodded. "I was just thinking, are some things fixed or variable? If Zhuge Liang had won over Meng Da, the battle against Shu Han in the second year of Taihe might have had a different outcome."

"I thought about Meng Da, Zhuge Liang, and the other great men of the past. In recent years, there are fewer and fewer old officials in the court. When we talk about the Jian'an period, it seems like we are telling a story about the past."

Guanqiu Jian said, "If Your Majesty is always grateful for this, I think it would be better to ask the historians to visit all the ministers and compile the valuable old stories for future reference. Your Majesty also showed me the book 'Shanyang Gong Shilu' written by Shanyang Gong last year. It would be better to have more such records and compile a 'Jian'an Shilu'."

"Zhong Gong has come up with a good idea. Why didn't I think of this? It seems that I have been tripped up by the trivial matters in my daily life recently." Cao Rui smiled and pointed at Guanqiu Jian: "Who does Zhong Gong think can do this?"

Guanqiu Jian thought for a moment and said, "Why not let Chongwenguan do it?"

Cao Rui nodded: "I remember that my uncle, Puyang King Cao Gun, is a scholar in Chongwen Temple. Zhong Gong just knew what I meant. Please write a private letter for me and send it back to Luoyang tomorrow to ask him if he can do this for me."

"Yes." Guanqiu Jian bowed in response.

When Cao Rui turned back from the pier towards the city, Man Chong followed Cao Rui and asked in a low voice: "I have a question. Today is the right time to ask Your Majesty."

"What does General Man want to ask?" Cao Rui asked with a smile.

Man Chong said, "I think after I return to Fancheng, Your Majesty will return to Shouchun. I don't know how many years it will take before I can see Your Majesty again."

"I would like to ask, after destroying the Kingdom of Wu, what national policy will Your Majesty adopt? How will the Wei Dynasty reform?"

Cao Rui stood still and said, "General Man, please look back with me."

Before Man Chong could respond, Cao Rui turned around. When Man Chong looked in the direction Cao Rui pointed, Cao Rui said, "This beautiful land should not be wasted! Speaking of which, General Man was the first person to ask me about this."

Man Chong lowered his head slightly, said nothing, and listened quietly.

Cao Rui said: "At home, there is no law to govern the family and no people to be offended; outside, there is no enemy to rule the country and no threat to the country. People are born in sorrow and die in comfort. This is what Mencius said. If we destroy Wu, it will take some time to accumulate strength to destroy Shu. During this time, the court should do something that cannot be changed on ordinary days."

"What is your Majesty talking about?" Man Chong asked.

Cao Rui casually said: "35% tax is still a bit high, it should be reduced a little, to 30% or 25%. Take the copper mine in Wu and cast enough copper coins. The goods in the states and counties of Wei should also be circulated. Not too much, just restore it to the scale of Emperor Huan. All localities should help farmers, change rice and wheat seeds and farm tools, build water conservancy projects, control the Yellow River, promote learning, and print books..."

"There is no end to the work." Cao Rui smiled and said, "After Zhou, there was Qin. After Qin, there was Han. After Han, there was Wei. History goes on and on like this. I am not greedy. It would be good if I could accomplish the above tasks before destroying Shu, not to mention how well I have done them."

Man Chong asked again: "What will happen after we destroy Shu?"

"General Man, are you testing me?" Cao Rui smiled and said, "There are so many things that can be done. Let me tell you a few words you don't understand: science, imperial examinations, technology, and opening up the frontiers, governing wild lands... There are so many things that I can't finish them in my lifetime." Man Chong stroked his beard and said, "Then I don't have time to assist Your Majesty in these undertakings, but Zhong Gong can."

Cao Rui looked at Man Chong and raised his lips: "General Man has a son, and his son has a grandson. There will be someone to do the work in the future!"

"Your Majesty, what you said is absolutely right." Man Chong bowed.

……

In early September, after finishing the inspection of Shangyong, Cao Rui, Man Chong, Guanqiu Jian and their 5,000 cavalrymen left Shangyong and headed eastward back to Fancheng.

"Have you figured it all out?" Pei Qian asked as he was busy arranging papers on the desk in a side hall of the Fancheng County Government Office.

"It's done," Wang Su replied. "The results from Shouchun, Luoyang, and the provincial governors and prefects of the major counties have been summarized. The results of the eighty questionnaires have been copied and can be sent to Your Majesty at any time."

"That's good. Thank you for your hard work, Ziyong." Pei Qian replied, "In that case, let's go out of the city together to welcome His Majesty. Judging from the time, we should be here soon."

"Okay, wait a moment, I have a few final words." Wang Su lowered his head and wrote on the paper.

Soon, the four attendants sorted out the documents and went out of the city to greet him. When they met the emperor, they naturally briefly reported what had happened in the court recently.

Cao Rui nodded slightly: "I have a rough idea. Let's talk about it after we return to the city."

"Yes." The attendants responded.

After entering Fancheng and returning to the government office, Cao Rui sat at the head of the main hall, with the four attendants and Man Chong and Guanqiu Jian sitting on both sides, three on each side.

Pei Qian bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, officials of 2,000 stone and above from all regions have sent the questionnaires back to Shouchun, and the cabinet has sent the questionnaires to Fancheng by express delivery. I have just sorted them out today."

Cao Rui raised his eyebrows: "Pei Qian, tell me briefly."

"As you wish." Pei Qian stood up, coughed a little, and said slowly, "This batch of questionnaires was sent from Shouchun to Luoyang and other places in Wei, including the cabinet, the Secretariat, the Privy Council, the nine ministers in Luoyang, various government offices, and the governors of various states and several large counties. There are a total of eighty copies."

"Among the 80 questionnaires, 58 agreed to appoint a crown prince, 19 agreed to appoint one later, and the remaining 3 expressed no opinion."

Cao Rui snorted: "I asked them questions, and they said they had no objections? Who are these three people?"

Pei Qian cupped his hands and said, "The first is the Minister of Civil Affairs Li Yan, the second is the Prince of Yongqiu Cao Zhi, and the third is the Minister of Rites Wei Dan."

Cao Rui thought for a few moments and shook his head: "If it were the others, I wouldn't be surprised by these three."

Xu Shu responded from the side, "It is reasonable that Prince Yongqiu does not want to have any say in the matter of the succession because of the incident during the Jian'an period. Minister Li is a surrendered minister of Shu, serving alone in the court, so it is understandable that he is cautious. When the Minister of Rites informed the Secretariat of the Prince of Ye, he was reprimanded by His Majesty. Now he is considered timid."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "Who has the original file of the questionnaire? Give me the questionnaires of the four ministers. I want to review them personally."

Wang Su quickly counted out four pages from the top of the stack of papers and presented them to Cao Rui: "Your Majesty, these are the four."

Cao Rui looked through the questionnaires of Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, Sima Yi, and Chen Jiao. Among the four, Dong Zhao, Sima Yi, and Cao Zhen all supported the establishment of the emperor. Only Chen Jiao thought that the emperor could be established later and still insisted on his previous position. These three people chose this option, and they all had their own reasons.

Cao Rui put the questionnaire down and nodded slightly: "Since the ministers all think that a crown prince can be appointed, then let's do it."

"However, the process and ceremony of establishing a crown prince in Wei should be different from that in Han Dynasty. I was only crown prince for half a day, and the time was short, so there was no etiquette. This time should be different. Wang Qing, you will formulate the following ceremony and rites for establishing a crown prince for Wei. Once you have done it and I have checked that it is correct, I will start to establish a crown prince."

Wang Su wanted to agree directly, but seeing the emperor's half-smile, he swallowed and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I am preparing the enthronement ceremony. I wonder how long it will take to prepare?"

Cao Rui looked at Wang Su and said, "It only takes as long as it takes to prepare. I am not in a hurry. You can take your time and be as detailed as possible."

Isn't that clear? It's very clear!

The ministers all agreed to establish a crown prince, and the emperor also gave his approval, but he asked Wang Su to prepare the ceremony, and did not set a time...

The implication is that he wants to use this etiquette as an excuse to shirk responsibility! If it is simpler, according to Wang Su's etiquette, three hours would be enough, not to mention three days. But if it is more complicated, there is no upper limit.

Wang Su cupped his hands and said, "I accept your order."

Cao Rui nodded slightly.

In just a few moments, Wang Su had come up with several plans. For example, the ceremonial robes needed to be made from rare treasures from all over the country, or the soil from every state in the country needed to be given to the crown prince, or the crown prince needed to be crowned after he was crowned so as not to harm the crown prince's fate, and then he could talk about the five elements, the nine states, and so on...

Wang Su was the highest reviewer of all academic issues in the Wei Dynasty.

This is the right to interpret the scriptures. (End of this chapter)