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

Chapter 222 Agricultural Affairs, Military Affairs, and Personnel
In the tenth month of winter in the third year of Zhangwu (1268), an imperial edict was issued ordering the Minister of Works, Mi Zhu, to construct altars in the northern and southern suburbs of Chengdu.

Upon hearing that Guan Yu's army had occupied Nanyang, Sun Quan grew increasingly fearful of Emperor Jing and sent envoys to pledge allegiance. The Emperor, however, doubted their sincerity and did not grant their request.

General Mi Wei advised: "In the past, Emperor Gaozu (the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty) ruled over Han Xin and thus gained the empire. Your Majesty's virtue is no less than that of your ancestor, while the Sun family's talent is not as great as that of the Han family. Even if there is disloyalty, how can it be a great calamity?"

Now that we are sweeping away the northern barbarians and restoring the Han dynasty, success is achieved through talent, and great undertakings are built upon a broad pool of capable individuals. If we abandon this cause and fail to take responsibility, and instead guard against future troubles, it would be like preparing for storms but then abandoning our ships and oars – not a long-term solution.

The emperor, appreciating Fei Yi's eloquence, dispatched Fei Yi, a court official, to Wu. Yang Xi, an official from Wu Prefecture, accompanied Fei Yi.

Yang Xi put down his pen, carefully pressed the page down with a stone paperweight, and waited for it to dry slowly.

Such caution was definitely not because his name was written on it.

Absolutely not.

In short, I took a short break to indulge in my personal hobby.

Seeing that it was already dawn and the sounds of people and horses could be heard from all over the post station, Yang Xi got up to tidy up.

Upon arriving outside the house, one could see Fei Yi fiddling with counting rods in front of an account book.

Yang Xi volunteered to help.

It turned out they were estimating the amount of provisions consumed by the troops along the way.

On this mission to Eastern Wu, Fei Yi was not only to be granted the title of "King of Wu of the Great Han" by imperial decree, but also to deliver two thousand fine horses from Hexi to the generals of Jingzhou along the way.

All of this comes from the business operations in the Western Regions over the past two years.

As Yang Xi watched, he felt something was off.

According to Fei Yi's plan, the mission was to go north to Hanzhong, then through the three eastern prefectures to Jingzhou, instead of the usual route down the Yangtze River.

As is well known, the Yangtze River has always been an important passage connecting Jingzhou and Yangzhou.

The convenience of boat transportation is unmatched by land transportation.

How could Fei Yi make such a mistake?
When Yang Xi raised this question, Fei Yi gave two reasons:

"Firstly, the Jingzhou army is currently concentrated in the Wancheng and Fangcheng line, which is the place to deploy troops, while Jiangling is not. If Wancheng is the destination, the journey through the three counties will be shorter."

"Secondly, the Hu horses come from the north and may not be adapted to the climate of the south. If they get sick or die on their way south across the Yangtze River, there may be some losses."

"Not to mention that the Three Gorges of Badong are swift and dangerous; a slight misstep could capsize a boat, which would be another loss."

Yang Xi had been in Yizhou for a long time, so of course he could understand this principle.

But what he couldn't understand was:
"Although the Three Gorges is dangerous, isn't the section of the Han River through Xicheng and Shangyong just as treacherous and difficult to navigate?"

Fei Yi shook his head and said:
"Wenran is mistaken."

“I discussed this matter with Secretary Pan in the Imperial Academy before. He said that the trail from Shangyong to Hanzhong was already smooth enough before he entered Sichuan.”

"Now it has been repaired for another year, and a post station has been built along the way. Although it is not as convenient as the roads in Sichuan, it is enough to replace water transport."

"We will travel to Nanyang via this route, without having to cross the dangerous shoals again!"

Yang Xi was overjoyed.

Although he was not afraid of traveling by boat, the boat was still rocking, especially when going through rapids and dangerous shoals, making it impossible to concentrate on reading and writing.

I can't sleep well at night.

Nothing is more comfortable than staying at the inn.

He praised, "Three years ago, I heard that Mi Zhaohan recruited people to repair roads in Shangyong on his way to Sichuan."

"At the time, I only thought he was trying to control his arrogant soldiers and generals. I never imagined that this move was so farsighted and would benefit future generations!"

Upon hearing this, Fei Yi squeezed the paper in his hand.

He thought to himself: The things that benefited future generations were not limited to cultivating Taoism.

For example, Meng Da, the "arrogant general" who was once under his control and is now a high-ranking official, often marvels at Mi Wei's foresight.

Without Mi Wei's strategy to secure Hexi, given the methods and courage of the Cao Wei rulers and ministers, it would have been ten times more difficult to cut off the Longxi Road and take Hexi if it had been a year or two later.

However, if the Longxi Pass is not breached, the Han army will always be missing a leg when launching its northern expedition from Yizhou, which will also greatly increase the difficulty.

Thinking of this, Fei Yi looked at Yang Xi and said:
"Two years have passed since the west of the Yellow River was pacified, but the various barbarian tribes are still not settled. This is the time to employ capable men."

"If Wenran wants to advance his career, why not transfer to Hexi?"

Yang Xi didn't hesitate:

"Hexi is a place for cultivating talents, isn't Nanyang also one?"

“I am skilled in literature and law, but not so much in military affairs. I may not be able to make a living in Hexi.”

“When Mi Zhao first served as the governor of Yuzhou, he needed to recruit civil officials to his office. I have been a secretary in the state for a long time, and I am just right to use him.”

"To be honest, the reason I volunteered to go on this mission is actually to seek refuge with Mi Zhaohan!"

Fei Yi nodded, not surprised.

He could only sigh with envy:

"At the beginning of the year, everyone thought that Mi Zhaohan would be appointed as the prefect of a prefecture outside the capital, but unexpectedly, half a year later, he became the governor of a prefecture."

"Still the governor of Yuzhou!" Yang Xi naturally understood why Fei Yi was so moved.

After all, for the rulers and ministers of Shu Han, Yuzhou was not just a wealthy province in the Central Plains.

It also carries an indelible memory of the previous generation.

Even though Mi Wei is currently only nominally in charge of Yu Province, the implications of this succession are enough to inspire imagination.

Perhaps, in my lifetime, I will be able to become a chief clerk in the Prime Minister's office.
Thinking of this, Yang Xi couldn't help but look forward to the trip even more.

……

Miwei has been a little busy lately.

They were busy sorting out land allocation and settlement, busy training the militia, busy repairing the city walls, and busy recruiting officials.

They even need to cooperate with Yizhou to improve the examination system for this year.

That is, the system he proposed last year, which is a hodgepodge that stitches together the Eastern Han Dynasty's recommendation system and the Cao Wei Dynasty's nine-rank official system.

Even when he finally had a free moment to eat, he still had to think about how to further improve the technical details of the repeating crossbow and catapult, and write a letter to Jiangling to discuss it with Zhang Yi.

Being this busy, I naturally don't have time to read letters from home.

So much so that he didn't learn about his wife giving birth to a big, healthy son in Shu until more than half a month later, after being reminded by the chief clerk Zhuge Qiao.

Then he hurriedly replied, sending back the gift he had prepared and the name he had thought of.

There's no way around it, I'm just really busy.

Although the position of Governor of Yuzhou was basically nominal, with more benefits than actual power.

However, the appointment of the acting military commander overseeing the military affairs of Wan, Ru, and Ying was a genuine assignment.

Speaking of the Jingzhou area...

Apart from Guan Yu, the governor of Jingzhou who held the title of "Acting General of the Imperial Guard," Mi Wei held the highest rank.

As is widely known, Mi Wei was Guan Yu's son-in-law.

As is well known, Guan Yu was over sixty years old and his energy was waning.

So let's ignore all the fancy professional titles.

In terms of real power
Mi Wei has become the de facto top military and political leader of Jingzhou.

It would be strange if they weren't busy.

Despite having many things to do, Miwei values ​​two things the most.

One is to defend against Wei.

Second, ensure the smooth implementation of the new "two fields" policy.

The former goes without saying; without military support, everything else is just a castle in the air.
Sufficient food and troops are prerequisites for ensuring victory in war.

Not to mention that the "Two Tians" new policy was a promise made to the soldiers, which is "the heart and soul of the three armies" and cannot be taken lightly.

What is a saying of Confucius?
Since ancient times, all men have died, but a people without faith cannot stand.

The selection of officials and the appointment of people are essentially aimed at getting these things done well.

With the personnel changes finalized, Mi Wei's subordinates have all received new appointments.

The generals were well aware of each other's military achievements, so the approval was granted without much surprise.

among them:

Outside the prefecture, Xiang Chong was given the title of Lieutenant General and promoted from Commander of a separate division to Commander of Fangcheng, specifically responsible for the defense of Fangcheng and directly under the command of Mi Wei.
Wang Ping and Ma Zhong were each given the title of Lieutenant General.

The former was the magistrate of Kunyang, and the latter was the magistrate of Ye County.

Each was responsible for guarding a city.

The situation is even simpler within the state government.

General Zhuge Qiao was directly appointed as the Chief Clerk of the Governor of Yuzhou.

Anyway, he's the top secretary at Miwei.

Jiang Wei was transferred to the position of Commander under the Governor of Yu Province, and continued to command Mi Wei's personal guards, which was a legitimate move.

Shi Cheng Shipyard Supervisor Xi Hongzheng was recruited to the prefecture and appointed as the Director of Water Affairs, specializing in boat and water-related matters.

The only difference is that the jurisdiction has expanded from the Han River to every river from northern Jingzhou to western Henan.

Li Hong was officially transferred to the position of Registrar, in charge of money and grain records, which is to say, he was in charge of accounting.

In reality, it still serves as a covert communication channel between Mi Wei and Xu Shu.

This is all perfectly logical.

However, the appointment of Deng Ai encountered some setbacks.

(End of this chapter)