The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 763 Misunderstanding

"Hahaha!"

"This guy is really good!"

Cao Qi walked out of the restaurant with a smile on his face.

"It's worth it to come to Jizhou this time to get to know this person. Although he's a bit greedy, his talent is unquestionable. When I return, I'll ask my brother to send someone to investigate him. If it's really as he said, this person can be of great use!"

Listening to Cao Qi's words, Shu Jineng shook his head, "If such a greedy person is recommended to become a high-ranking official, he will definitely be corrupt!!"

"Love of money doesn't necessarily mean you'll accept bribes."

Cao Qi spoke to them and returned to his resting place.

They decided to take a break and went to a nearby bookstore.

But just as they returned to their mansion and hadn't closed their eyes, there was a knock on the door.

Cao Qi got up helplessly, put on his clothes and opened the door.

As soon as he opened the door, a group of people broke into his house.

Just as Cao Qi was about to scold them, he saw the crossbows in their hands pointed at him.

Cao Qi quickly raised his hands, "Everyone! Don't be impulsive!"

The leader looked at him, "Qiu Qi?"

"It's down."

"I wonder who you are?"

"Today in the restaurant, what did you say His Majesty was?"

Cao Qi's eyes widened, and he instantly knew who was in front of him.

"The Dianshi Mansion?? This is a misunderstanding!!!"

Taiji Hall, East Hall.

Cao Mao smiled and sat in the upper seat. A man sat next to him, feeling flattered.

This person was none other than the Shanshan King Ma Xili.

"The King of Shanshan has come from afar, but is he used to the food here?"

Cao Mao asked.

The King of Shanshan trembled all over and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I am used to eating this! I am used to eating this!!"

Cao Mao was very kind to him, but the King of Shanshan was meeting the emperor for the first time and was extremely frightened, fearing that he might say something wrong.

After the King of Shanshan expressed his willingness to transform his country into a county, Liu Shi immediately went over the head of the hierarchy and reported the matter to Cao Mao.

As the permanent residence of the Chief Secretary's Office, Shanshan State has always had a friendly relationship with the imperial court.

In history, there have been cases of Hua County and offering girls.

But Anshi didn't care much about these things and returned empty-handed.

Cao Mao was different. He understood what this meant at a glance.

The government did not govern the Western Regions directly, but issued orders through the Office of the Chief Secretary, and the specific implementation still had to go through the kings of various places.

But if the kingdom becomes a county, it will be different.

Although the government directly dispatches officials to govern, this will increase the government's governance costs, but from a long-term perspective, this is not a bad thing.

These vassal states will play a huge role in whether Shazhou can be well governed in the future.

The King of Shanshan took the initiative to request to be a county, which set a precedent among the countries. If this can be done well and they are properly arranged to lead the other countries, then it will no longer be a problem for the court to directly govern the entire Shazhou.

Cao Mao attached great importance to this and immediately ordered the King of Shanshan to come to Luoyang.

After a long journey, the King of Shanshan finally arrived in Luoyang.

Of course, Cao Mao did not let him join the guest group again.

Because strictly speaking, the King of Shanshan was different from the others. They were outsiders, while the King of Shanshan himself was a vassal king under Cao Mao.

He inherited the throne with the permission of Emperor Ming and was given the royal seal and imperial seal of the Wei Dynasty.

At the same time, as long as Jiang Wei did not block the road, he would send people to pay tribute every year.

He is one of our own. Even if he stays in Luoyang, he cannot be allowed to join the VIP group.

Cao Mao rewarded him with a huge mansion, personally arranged servants to serve him, and also rewarded him with fertile farmland.

Today he was received alone in the East Hall.

These rewards are unique in Shazhou.

King Shanshan once again confirmed his decision, and he was right!

Cao Mao smiled and said, "King Shanshan will live here from now on. I allow you to continue to keep your royal title. It will not be abolished because of the establishment of a county, and your children can continue to inherit this title!"

"You can find two of the most outstanding heirs and send them to the Imperial Academy to study."

Cao Mao granted him more privileges as soon as he opened his mouth.

Masili could no longer conceal his excitement and quickly stood up to greet him.

The King of Shanshan was naturally very understanding and immediately said, "I will also exchange letters with my friends in Shazhou and invite them to visit Luoyang."

Cao Mao laughed, "That's best."

The two chatted for a long time before Cao Mao asked Zhang Hua to take him away.

After Zhang Hua saw him off, he quickly returned to Cao Mao's side. "Your Majesty, Liu Shi bypassed the provincial governor's office this time and submitted a memorial directly. Could it be that there's some disagreement between him and the governor?" Cao Mao shook his head. "Probably not. If there was a disagreement, the other officials would have informed us."

"Perhaps Liu Shi is too anxious to get this done. There's really no harm in this matter. If it can be completed quickly, I will be at ease."

Zhang Hua nodded and said, "Many small countries may follow suit, but large countries like Kucha may not do so."

"That's fine. If they don't want to come to Luoyang, then we can just do what the other princes do back home and send officials like the prime minister to govern them, right?"

Cao Mao already had a plan in mind.

Zhang Hua immediately started talking about some other trivial matters.

"Your Majesty, Wen Yang has already led his army to the Wo Islands. I heard that there has been no fighting there, and all the nations are submissive, with no one raising an army to resist."

"He has already captured the Dog Slave King, the Queen of Yamatai, and others alive, and is preparing to send people to escort them to Luoyang."

Cao Mao was not surprised by this.

It was not until he heard Zhang Hua talking about Zhou Chu that he was surprised.

"He was originally in Pingzhou."

This Zhou Chu became a famous person in later generations.

But at this moment, he is not so famous, but this person can be used.

He was a rare warrior with superb martial arts skills. He was also fair-minded and a good candidate to be an imperial censor. Historically, he was framed by his colleagues and had to fight alone until the end, where he died heroically on the battlefield.

This matter is very infuriating to talk about.

Throughout the Western Jin Dynasty, the fate of anyone who was even slightly decent was one more miserable than the other.

Only the most inhuman life is the most carefree!
It's not bad that this man is following Wen Yang now. No one dares to force him to fight alone and cut off his support.

Zhang Hua then took out this year's tax report.

The two of them watched it together.

After the abolition of the poll tax, there was a great turmoil in the taxation of the whole country. However, the miraculous thing was that because the big families handed over their hidden lands, there was actually an upward trend in the finances.

At a time when the government was spending so much money on disaster relief and waging wars everywhere, it was still able to generate a large surplus in revenue. The wealthy families had made great contributions in this regard.

The Wei Dynasty did not rely on the head tax for its livelihood. The population originally counted by the Three Kingdoms was too small. If the Wei Dynasty relied on the head tax to support the government, it would not even have the money and food to send troops.

In the past, the Wei Dynasty relied on military farming, but now it relies on public land and land taxes.

The large clans had concealed too much arable land. When these clans were forced to share their arable land, the arable land area of Wei Dynasty skyrocketed.

The government has to spend a lot of effort and several years to increase the arable land in a county by a thousand hectares, but if you just persuade these big families a little, they can come up with more arable land than the amount they have reclaimed.

Although these farmlands did not fall directly into the hands of the government, the government was finally able to collect taxes from them.

This greatly alleviated the financial difficulties.

Cao Mao looked at the document in Zhang Hua's hand and couldn't help laughing.

"It seems our hard times are almost over. The ministers have said that abolishing the poll tax would immediately lead to the collapse of the national treasury!"

"But now it seems that they are just exaggerating to oppose me!"

Zhang Hua quickly said, "Your Majesty, it's not possible to say that yet. After you abolish the head tax, the population in various places will undoubtedly increase dramatically. With the increase in manpower, the expenses of the court will also increase."

"You're right. We still need to continue cultivating the land and increase our grain income."

While the two were discussing, a servant suddenly rushed in.

"Your Majesty, Xun Yi requests an audience!"

"Xun Xi?"

Cao Mao glanced at Zhang Hua.

Isn’t this guy reflecting on his actions in the mansion?

Cao Mao waved his hand and said, "Let him in."

Soon, Xun Yi appeared in front of Cao Mao, and hurriedly bowed to meet Cao Mao. He was then about to meet Zhang Hua, but Zhang Hua hurriedly avoided him.

Cao Mao looked at Xun Yi. After betraying his teammates last time, he returned to the mansion to reflect on his actions. Why did he come out today?
"His Majesty!!"

Xun Yi said excitedly, "Yesterday, the official Sun Chu came to visit me, and his words were full of disdain for Your Majesty! He said that Your Majesty has exiled the truly virtuous and, by opening the imperial examinations, has recruited a bunch of immoral villains! He also insisted on writing an article to criticize Your Majesty, and wanted me to help point out Your Majesty's incompetence in governance!"

"I immediately drove this person out and came here today to inform Your Majesty of this matter!"

"Your Majesty has made great contributions to governing the country. How can you be slandered by such a villain?"

“This is really too much!!”

Cao Mao was happy.

Wow, was this sold during the premeditated stage?
He looked at Zhang Hua who was standing aside. Zhang Hua looked somewhat helpless. He walked to Cao Mao's side and whispered, "This man is Sun Mi's adopted son. Sun Mi was exiled by you before."

"Oh, what an idiot he is! His father-in-law was convicted because of Xun Yi. How dare he come here?"

Cao Mao asked again.

Zhang Hua explained, "This man has always been unsociable, eccentric, and arrogant. I think he went to Xun Yi on purpose, wanting him to pass on a message to Your Majesty."

Cao Mao stroked his chin and laughed, "There are still such scoundrels in the world."

"Alright, then let him have his wish. It's a waste for a wise man like him to stay in Luoyang. Originally, only his uncle was sent south, but this time, let their entire clan go together."

"Don't leave anyone behind, let them all go see Sun Mi!"

"only!!"

(End of this chapter)