The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 203 Disagreement
It turns out that Li Hong's previous predictions about the Wei army's actions in Yingchuan were almost entirely accurate.

Just as Wang Ping's vanguard charged into Ye County.

The Wei army in Yingchuan was preparing to break camp at Kunyang and return to their garrison.

If Wang Ping had disregarded everything and pursued them northwards at that time...

Perhaps while seizing Kunyang County, they can also defeat this Wei army, which is essentially just county soldiers, on the banks of the Zhi River.

It is said that Xu Miao, the Agricultural Commissioner of Yingchuan, was among them.

Unlike the Agricultural Commandant, who was only equivalent to a county magistrate or county head.

Xu Miao's position as the Agricultural Commissioner was a high-ranking agricultural official in Yingchuan County.

If replaced by the old Han dynasty system, the rank would be equivalent to two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

However, this rare opportunity for war has been squandered by this over-fifty-year-old agricultural commander.

When Zhan Sifu learned of this intelligence, Xu Miao had already learned of the Han army's arrival and led his troops to retreat to Kunyang City.

There is no longer any possibility of a sneak attack.

Enraged, Jiang Wei drew his sword and pointed it directly at the other man's heart.

They were just waiting for Mi Wei's order to unleash a torrent of blood.

Mi Wei did not order the killing, nor did he stop Jiang Wei. He spoke calmly:
Is this how you repay His Majesty's kindness?

Seeing that his plot had been exposed, the Agricultural Commandant felt completely relieved and stood up to face the sharp sword:

"Master Xu has also been kind to us in Yingchuan, and I cannot bear to see him die at your hands."

"Moreover, I advised the general to bury the corpses in the wilderness as soon as possible to prevent the spread of disease, and this was my heartfelt advice."

“I believe you,” Mi Wei nodded.

"It can only be said that time is indeed the most terrifying weapon in the world."

"No matter how wonderful the past was, it can never compare to the benefits and advantages we have now."

The agricultural officer chuckled dryly.

Miwei pointed to the cushion beneath the other person:

"Please sit down. You have not yet answered the question I just asked."

The agricultural commander could not immediately discern Mi Wei's emotions.

But realizing that the goal had been achieved, he felt completely relieved and frankly admitted:
"To my shame, although I am an agricultural official appointed by the Wei court, I am in charge of civilian settlements and rarely concern myself with land already owned."

"If I had to say something, the number of people with land has always been small since the Yellow Turban Rebellion."

"Even though there has been some recovery in recent years, it has mostly been the major and influential families in the area."

"After all, the world is still in turmoil. In order to supply military needs and prevent the people from wandering, the court has had to set up a large number of military farms to concentrate the people's manpower to reclaim wasteland. At one point, the forced recruitment of farm people even caused a lot of trouble."

In other words, in order to comply with the military-first policy, the proportion of self-cultivating farmers could only be maintained at a low level for the time being.

The subtext here is that the land rent for military and civilian settlements is higher than that for registered residents who own land.

Miwei immediately understood and said:

How much land rent did the settlers have to pay?

This time, the Agricultural Commandant didn't try to embellish the story and stated bluntly:

“If tenant soldiers and garrison workers own private cattle, their annual income must be split equally with the government.”

"If an official ox is rented, the official receives six parts and the commoner receives four."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wei, a scholar from Longyou who came from a "registered household" background, immediately gasped in shock.

Due to historical changes and the poverty of Longyou, his hometown did not catch up with the "good era" of land reclamation.

Upon suddenly hearing about such exorbitant land rents, far exceeding those of the Han Dynasty, I felt a pang of sympathy.

However, Mi Wei took the initiative to "whitewash" Cao Wei's actions:
“I remember that most of the villagers were relatives of the Yellow Turban ‘bandits’ in the past.”

"Compared to the years when 'people ate each other' during the reign of Emperor Ling, although the current land rent is excessively high, at least one can survive."

Jiang Wei asked doubtfully:

"But the land rent is as high as 50% or 60%. If there are natural disasters or man-made calamities that delay the farming season, I'm afraid many people will starve to death."

Mi Wei nodded and pointed to the Agricultural Commandant:
"Otherwise, why would people be so grateful to that Master Xu?"

"If I'm not mistaken, that Xu Gong must be an honest and fair official, so even though the land rent is heavy, he is still able to make a living."

"On the other hand, when the 'Shu bandits' arrived, they delayed the farmers' farming season. How can they not hate us?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wei suddenly realized something, and his expression became subtle.

He slowly sheathed his sword. Upon seeing this, the Agricultural Commandant suddenly realized something and was surprised rather than pleased.

But Miwei had left him no room to resist.

He immediately ordered that he and his family be imprisoned and placed under strict guard.

His family's assets were all confiscated and used to encourage locals to report Wei Jun's spies.

Chatting is chatting, and sympathy is sympathy.

The other side has deceived us about military intelligence, and the crime is irrefutable; military law must still be enforced.

In the following days, Mi Wei instructed Wang Ping to continue probing towards Kunyang, while Xiang Chong continued to cover the corpses in the wilderness to prevent the source of the disease.

At the same time, Ma Zhong, who was stationed in the Wuyin direction, was ordered to lead his troops north as soon as possible to cooperate with Sun Lang in driving away Xiahou Ru and completely clearing this area of ​​road.

Although Ye County and Kunyang only captured one of the cities, it was enough to initially block the Fangcheng passage.

Once this place is locked, Xiahou Shang and his men in Wancheng will be completely isolated and helpless.

The Battle of Nanyang is also entering its final countdown.

……

"Does the Grand Commandant wish to resign his post?"

The Jian Shi Hall of Luoyang Palace.

Cao Pi, dressed in plain clothes, looked at Jia Xu, who was kneeling tremblingly, his expression shifting between anger and joy.

Now, since June, Cao Zhang had suddenly died, and Cao Pi had been "grieving" for quite some time.

Today, I finally received the good news of the great victory in Huainan, and I wanted to share the joy and celebration with my ministers.

Unexpectedly, Jia Xu poured cold water on him right from the start.

However, considering that the other party is seventy-seven years old and has made great contributions, it is really not appropriate to lash out.

They could only politely ask him to stay, saying that the court still needed to rely on the Grand Commandant's experience and prudence.

However, the usually tactful Grand Commandant Jia suddenly became sharp today:

"My abilities are insufficient to advise the king, to investigate treacherous officials, or to pacify the common people."

"The physician says that my lifespan is coming to an end and there is no point in me staying. I beg Your Majesty to remember my years of hard work and grant me permission to retire."

When Cao Pi heard the words "advise the monarch," he subconsciously frowned.

As is well known, Cao Pi, after usurping the throne from the Han dynasty, needed to strengthen his authority and legitimacy of rule through one or two military victories.

Unfortunately, Jia Xu was a well-known advocate of peace.

Or, to put it another way, the "rest and recuperation faction".

The two had political differences from the very beginning.

However, Jia Xu was always tactful, so the two sides were able to tolerate each other.

However, since Cao Xiu marched south to Wancheng last winter, the conflict has finally intensified as the Wei army suffered a major defeat followed by a major victory on the Huainan battlefield.

Specifically, Cao Pi planned to increase military investment in the Huainan region until he crossed the Yangtze River and attacked Jianye, or captured Sun Quan.

This will completely dismantle the Jiangdong regime.

Jia Xu, however, did not believe that the victory in Huainan was sufficient to escalate into a war of annihilation.

They advocated knowing when to stop and even considering renewing good relations with Sun Quan.

This was used to turn their attention to guarding against the more threatening Liu Bei.

Cao Pi certainly knew that Liu Bei posed a greater threat.

But haven't we been fighting for two years and still not won?

If he keeps losing like this, will he still be able to be the emperor of Great Wei?

Of course, you can't say these things out loud.

We must not openly lash out at an old Grand Commandant who is nearing the end of his life.

To avoid gaining a bad reputation
Therefore, Cao Pi simply avoided the main issue and focused on the less important one:
"The Grand Commandant says he's investigating treacherous officials, but where are they?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu raised his head again, pointing tremblingly to the person below him:
"This man is a treacherous official in the court!"

Everyone followed the sound.

It was none other than the Right General of the Central Army.

Xu Shu.

(End of this chapter)