The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 691 Glad
After the unification was completed, it became difficult for the Wei Dynasty to find an equally powerful opponent around.

The same is true for Cao Mao today.

There is basically no one who can be truly called an opponent of the Wei Dynasty. The most powerful one on the surface is Tuoba, but Tuoba cannot withstand a beating at all.

Historically, Wei Guan bribed their ministers and forced them to disband from within, which led to Tuoba Liwei's death.

This institutional flaw is extremely fatal when fighting against a major power.

The rest, Goguryeo, Buyeo, Samhan, Sushen, Wusun, Kangju, Funan
These were all the defeated generals of the Former Han Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty, and the Wei State.

No one can fight!

At this moment, Cao Mao asked about the situation in Jiaozhou.

After several conquests by Qin, Former Han, Later Han, Wu and other dynasties, the present-day Jiaozhou became extremely large, and its territory included present-day Vietnam.

There is nothing around that can be called a threat.

There was a country called Funan, which was originally relatively peaceful, with prosperity and peace for the people, and no contact with the outside world. Until they had a general named Fan Man, who had long admired the Central Plains culture.

He began to seriously and actively learn the excellent governance capabilities of the Central Plains regime.

The good news is that he learned it.

The bad news was that it was common for powerful officials to usurp the throne during that time in the Central Plains regime.

Then this great general plotted to usurp the throne. Funan was still the same Funan, but the royal lineage changed from the Hun family to the Fan family.

Fan Man left the throne to his son, but he did not instruct him not to appoint outsiders as generals. His son Fan Jinsheng actually did so, appointing an elder of the same clan as a general.

Then he arranged for his fellow tribesman Fan Zhan to kill him and proclaim himself king.

He even went on a diplomatic mission to the Eastern Wu. Sun Quan was very happy and sent people to educate them.

Their current king is called Fan Xun, yes, he also came to power by usurping the throne.
It can only be said that those who came to power through such means would never be able to obtain a stable dynasty, because starting from the founding monarch, the entire dynasty fell into endless civil strife.

Listening to Tao Huang talk about these things, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

Cao Mao asked again, "How many civilians do they have? How many troops do they have?"

"The population will not exceed 150,000, and the army will not exceed 20,000."

Cao Mao shook his head after hearing this.

Jiaozhou, which has emerged from a state of war, is stronger than them!
During the peaceful period of the Later Han Dynasty, if the government wanted to send troops to attack the people around it, it would also need to mobilize the Northern Army and send it on an expedition.

But now, all places have experienced rounds of war baptism. The people in all places have participated in military service many times and have relatively abundant martial ethics. They do not need the court to send troops. The major war zones can send troops, or simply use the troops from the prefectures and counties to easily defeat these people.

But you have to consider whether it is worth it.

In the past, the Later Han Dynasty was a great country with a population of tens of millions. At its peak, the population was half a billion, and it looked down on the world. To them, the population of more than 100,000 was nothing but a mosquito leg among mosquito legs, and they were too lazy to even take a second look.

But Cao Mao was different. He had such a vast territory but a population of less than 10 million.

The people of Wei are afraid of being poor, so they dare not waste even a single minute of their lives.

Talent is the foundation of everything. Without talent, nothing can be accomplished.

No matter whether he is from the Central Plains or a Qiang or Hu barbarian, as long as he is captured and brought to the Central Plains, he can farm and pay taxes.

Cao Mao rarely executed clans in recent years.

He immediately looked at Tao Huang and asked, "With the current strength of Jiaozhou, can we defeat Funan?"

The people in front looked at each other.

Huo Yi said, "Your Majesty, this time I went to war with Lord Shi and we have trained an elite force, but it only has over ten thousand men. To be safe, we need General Wang to send another force. Twenty thousand men are enough to destroy their country."

"However, Your Majesty, outside of Jiaozhou there are many mountains and forests, not many places suitable for farming. Moreover, there are many miasma and epidemics, and there are frequent wild beasts. Moreover, this small country has never been disrespectful to the Great Wei. Why does Your Majesty want to attack them?"

Cao Mao said seriously: "Because they have people."

"Jiaozhou has experienced numerous wars and chaos, leaving nine out of ten households empty. Governor Shi reported that only about 400,000 people remain in Jiaozhou."

"The same situation also exists in Youzhou, Liangzhou, Nanzhong, and the Western Regions."

"If we want to govern these places well, we need a large number of people. Otherwise, even those cities and roads destroyed by war will take who knows how long to rebuild."

When Cao Mao faced his own generals, he did not say anything righteous, but stated his purpose very straightforwardly.

The land of Funan may not be much, and at most it can only serve as a sea transportation, but their people can move to Jiaozhou to farm and build.

If the civil officials heard what Cao Mao said, they might pretend to advise him, saying that one should not resort to war lightly, but the people present were all powerful generals in the army.

They don't care about these things at all.
Cao Mao talked with them for a long time and formulated a long-term development plan for Nanzhong and Jiaozhou areas.

It was not until night that they left, and Zhongli Mu was the last one to leave.

He was very excited, but he didn't quite understand why, as an outsider, especially one whose status in Wu was not very high, he was directly appointed as one of the Nine Ministers of Wei.

This made him quite frightened.

Although he knew that the Nine Ministers were nominal officials in the Wei Dynasty, with only a title, he felt that he was unworthy of this temporary title. After the other three people said goodbye and left, he stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. However, I am incompetent and have done nothing for Your Majesty. How can I shoulder such a heavy responsibility?"

Cao Mao laughed.

"You haven't made any contributions in the past, but can't you still make great achievements for me in the future?"

Seeing that Zhongli Mu still refused to stand up, Cao Mao said, "Actually, I promoted you this time because there is something important that requires your attention."

Zhongli Mu then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please give your orders!"

"Don't be like this, sit down first."

Cao Mao smiled and gestured for him to sit next to him. Then he said, "Previously, Chen Tai submitted a memorial, saying that he wanted to relocate some of the prominent families in Wuzhong to the Central Plains. What are your thoughts on this matter?"

Zhongli Mu came from a prominent family, but not a top-tier one. He was considered neither good nor bad in the State of Wu.

Zhongli Mu immediately replied, "The powerful families in Wu are entrenched, maintaining private soldiers and hoarding armor and powerful crossbows. Everyone in the world knows about this. It is right to relocate these people out of Wu so that they can no longer commit evil in the area."

Zhongli Mu's father was relatively poor, and this habit was passed down to Zhongli Mu. When he was young, he worked as a farmer in the local area and supported himself. He was a rare member of a wealthy family.

And historically, he died in poverty and left little to his children.
In this world, it is extremely rare to find people from a wealthy family who are famous for their poverty!

There is only one Hu Wei in the Central Plains, and only one Zhongli Mu in the Wu Kingdom.

Cao Mao smiled and said, "Mr. Chen even wrote a letter to describe your family's situation."

"You come from a prominent family, but you don't own much farmland. You rely on your salary to make a living. You do everything yourself and are fair in your work. Both local officials and the people respect you greatly."

"If all the great families of Wu were like you, why would I force them to migrate?"

Cao Mao said seriously, "Wu has been far away from the imperial court for some time. The great families here are too far away from me, have little respect for the king, and have often committed misconduct. I have now decided to move them all out of Wu."

"But what Lord Chen is currently worried about is that these powerful families will instigate and deceive the local people, twisting the good governance of the court into an insult to the people of Wu. I need someone who has great prestige and credibility among the people to accomplish this great task on my behalf."

"Actually, there's not much you need to do. Chen Tai will determine the order of the tribes' migration, and Wang Ji will send people to handle their transportation. All you need to do is hold the imperial seal and head to Wu to prevent them from inciting the people. With Tao Huang's help, this shouldn't be difficult."

"That's one thing. The second thing is the many barbarians in Wu."

"You pacified these barbarians and were very famous among them."

"In the Central Plains, I'm promoting a policy of enlightenment, and Wu is no exception. If there's no one like you to contact us, then if Chen Tai rashly makes contact, I'm afraid there will be misunderstandings and hostility between us."

"There are few people in the South, and I don't want to see something like this happen again."

"If you want to hold the throne and accomplish these things, you must hold a high enough official position. That is why I appoint you as one of the Nine Ministers."

"I remember that you also held the imperial seal in Wu State, so you should have some experience."

Zhongli Mu seemed to understand, and he bowed to Cao Mao again.

"I accept your order!"

The two talked about the affairs of the Wu State for a while, and Cao Mao let him leave.

After he left, Zhang Hua walked in. He knew the result of the enthronement very early.

"Your Majesty, did Zhongli Mu agree?"

"Yes."

"This man wasn't the same kind of person as the other great families. When his father was a captain of the warships, he had to farm and study for a living, working in the fields himself. This shows how poor they were. This man is good at politics and knows military strategy. He has military achievements and qualifications, but even if he can't get promoted, he understands the problems in Wu and won't refuse."

"It would be best to send a Wu person to relocate the large tribes. That way, they won't accuse the Wei people of bullying the Wu people."

Just as the two were discussing, a servant suddenly came in hurriedly.

"His Majesty!!"

"What happened?"

"There's a famous scholar debate in the Imperial Academy!"

"Six of the soldiers were injured."

Zhang Hua was horrified. "How could such a thing happen? Where are Xia Hou and the others? Didn't they try to stop it?"

He hurriedly looked at Cao Mao beside him.

But he found that Cao Mao had a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty, you"

"I heard that in the pre-Qin and early Han dynasties, people would engage in debates, and after verbal arguments, they would occasionally engage in physical competitions!"

"I thought the scholars of the Great Wei lacked martial virtues and were all dressed in loose clothes and drinking, but I didn't expect that now they have some of the style of the Former Han Dynasty!"

Zhang Hua, however, only felt a headache. "Your Majesty!! This is not a good thing!!"

(End of this chapter)