Chapter 131 I Want to See Blood
There were many generals who performed outstandingly in this battle.
Cao Xiu led 30,000 cavalry to divide and encircle the Wu army, and then led 40,000 infantry and cavalry to confront Sun Quan across the river. With the heavy power and responsibility of Cao Xiu as the Grand Marshal, his power was almost unstoppable.
Zhu Gai was just an old revolutionary. He could be a general but not a commander-in-chief. Although he made contributions in this battle, it was almost impossible for him to be appointed as a commander-in-chief.
The remaining few people were almost all from scholar families.
Although Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui was marginalized by Cao Xiu and was often responsible for building camps and roads, the emperor saw it and praised Jia Kui many times.
The former general Man Chong was originally a local official, and he led troops to fight in the last years of Jian'an. In this battle, he was responsible for guarding the defense of the trailer. Although he had made contributions and hard work, as Wang Ling impeached, he suffered too many casualties and too heavy losses.
Wang Ling, the governor of Qingzhou, was in charge of supervising the troops south of the trailer. He did an excellent job in both blocking and seizing the trailer.
Cao Xiu, Zhu Gai, Jia Kui, Man Chong, Wang Ling...
Cao Xiu and Zhu Gai are unlikely, and Man Chong also seems unlikely. What about Jia Kui or Wang Ling?
Sima Yi was currently calculating the family backgrounds of Jia Kui and Wang Ling.
Jia Kui was from Hedong County, which was a neighboring county of his. When Emperor Wu Cao Cao died in Luoyang, it was he and Jia Kui who planned the emperor's funeral and moved the emperor's coffin to Yecheng.
Although Jia Kui and he had not worked together for many years, they must have had some tacit understanding. Jia Kui was not on good terms with Cao Xiu, who was powerful in the southeast, so would the emperor also want to share Cao Xiu's power?
As for Wang Ling, Wang Ling was the nephew of Wang Yun, the prime minister of the late Han Dynasty. He was born in a noble family and was very proud of himself. His personal relationship with Sima Yi was not as good as that with Jia Kui.
Then... Jia Kui?
Regardless of the fact that Sima Yi was alone here thinking about what kind of huge personnel changes might be implied behind the emperor's proposal, Cao Zhen began to explain everything to the emperor from a military perspective.
Cao Zhen said: "Your Majesty, if you build fortresses on both sides of Qiankou, cultivate land near Wancheng to store food and grass, and build warships as your Majesty said, then this is not just a military matter, it is much more complicated."
"Long before the Grand Marshal, when Liu Fu and Liu Yuanying were the governors of Yangzhou, they rode alone to Hefei, gathered refugees and built the city of Hefei, repaired the Shaobi and Rubi water systems nearby, built schools, and established military farms. These were not things that could be accomplished overnight."
Cao Rui nodded: "General, you are right. If it cannot be completed overnight, how about one or two years? Three years should be enough, right?"
"No matter what, we can build a fortress at Qiankou to control the Wanshui River first, right?"
Cao Zhen replied, "It is not difficult. The Grand Marshal has 40,000 troops there. It will be accomplished in one month at the fastest and two months at the slowest. It will surely succeed."
"However, the 20,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry led by the Grand Marshal are all central troops. Isn't it a bit of a waste of talent to build a fortress there?"
Cao Rui was silent for a moment and then said, "Since the central army is more valuable, then should we use the external army?"
Cao Zhen nodded and said, "There are almost no civilians near Wancheng, and it is impossible to recruit corvée labor. It would be a waste for the central army to do this, and it would be inappropriate to let the surrendered soldiers of the Wu army stay at the border. It would be best to use foreign troops and soldiers from prefectures and counties."
Seeing the emperor and the general discussing which army and general to choose for this task, Sima Yi, Liu Ye, Xin Pi, Huang Quan, and Chen Jiao who were present all kept silent as if they had a tacit understanding.
They are all cunning people. The emperor didn't ask himself, how can I get involved in such a matter?
Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi again and said, "Sikong, how do you think we should deal with this? Should we mobilize foreign troops and soldiers from prefectures and counties to do it?"
Sima Yi was silent for a moment, then continued, "Your Majesty, I think that if we want to cultivate land in Wancheng and Qiankou to store food and build warships, it is not enough to just have troops stationed there. If we let the troops do corvée work like this everywhere, how much energy will the troops have for fighting?"
"I just heard what your majesty said, and I also heard what the general said."
"First of all, I believe this will definitely work. The reason why the rebels of Eastern Wu dared to defend themselves by occupying the river is because Wei has no waterway to enter the river."
"Ancheng and Anshui are different from Ruxuwu and Ruxushui. Dongwu has no fortress that has existed here for many years. If Wei builds a fortress to control the geographical advantage, then Sun Quan will be in trouble. If Sun Quan wants to attack the Ancheng area in the future, it may be as difficult as Wei's attack on Ruxu now."
"Secondly, I think it is not enough to have military settlements alone. Perhaps we can transfer some farmers from the Central Plains to this place and have them perform corvée labor during the slack season. Then we can build water conservancy projects, construct cities, and store food and grass."
"The court won such a great victory in Wancheng, and the people must be excited and dare to come here. If there is a strong city in front as a fortress, the people will not flee."
"Perhaps, it can also attract the Jianghuai people who fled to Dongwu in the early years to return to live in the Lujiang County where Wancheng is located."
"This is beneficial to the country and not harmful. It is a way of accumulating national strength rather than wasting it."
Cao Rui sat in his seat and began to think.
For example, in the current discussion of building fortresses around Wancheng to strengthen defense, Cao Rui would generally consult the ministers in addition to his own judgment. Cao Rui understood that listening to both sides will lead to enlightenment, while only believing in one side will lead to ignorance.
Generally speaking, if Cao Zhen and Sima Yi agree, then this matter can be done from a big perspective. Cao Zhen considers military affairs and stability more, while Sima Yi considers efficiency and financial resources more.
Sima Yi and Cao Zhen both believed that this matter not only required military settlements, but also civilian settlements, and capable ministers to govern the local area. According to this principle, wouldn't it be necessary to have a capable minister who could both fight and manage civil affairs? After thinking for a while, Cao Rui had already come up with two preliminary candidates: Wang Ling and Jia Kui.
As for who to choose to do this, Cao Rui has not yet decided. It would be safer if he could communicate with the two in person.
Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen and said, "General, where are the soldiers from the prefectures and counties that we have recruited now?"
Cao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, a total of 30,000 soldiers from the prefectures and counties have been recruited this time."
"Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui's 10,000 troops are now in Wancheng, serving as backup for the Grand Marshal. This is because Jia Kui was the first among all the generals to go south, and he also sent people to reinforce Wancheng in advance."
"Qingzhou Governor Wang Ling's 8,000 men, Dongguan Governor Hu Zhi's 2,000 men, Langya Governor Sun Li's 5,000 men, a total of 15,000 men, are under the supervision of Wang Ling and are currently at the trailer."
"Yanzhou Governor Wang Chang's 5,000 men and Liu Ruo's 5,000 men are in the Wuqiangkou camp together."
Cao Rui nodded.
Jia Kui and Wang Ling were the closest. The army of former general Man Chong also followed him back to Shouchun, but they suffered too many casualties and there was nothing they could do.
Cao Rui looked around at everyone and asked, "What do you think, should we use Jia Kui or Wang Ling? These two are closest to the Grand Marshal."
No one spoke for a while.
Cao Rui was also familiar with this situation. He pointed at Liu Ye and asked, "Liu Shizhong, Jia or Wang?"
Liu Ye replied: "Your Majesty, Wancheng is in the south of Yuzhou, very far from Qingzhou. I think Jia Kui should be used."
Cao Rui did not speak, and then pointed at Xin Pi: "Minister Xin, where is you?"
Xin Pi said, "I think both of them are suitable. As Your Majesty said, this place still needs to be guarded by foreign troops, and it has little to do with which state the prefecture troops are from."
The next one was Huang Quan, who replied, "I think both are acceptable."
When it was Chen Jiao's turn, Chen Jiao said, "Jia Kui is better at governing than Wang Ling. I think Jia Kui should be chosen."
Cao Rui then looked at Cao Zhen and Sima Yi, and they both said that both were acceptable.
Leaving aside those who expressed that both were acceptable, let’s just talk about Liu Ye and Chen Jiao who agreed with Jia Kui.
Liu Ye was famous for his accurate judgment of people, and the reason he gave was that Jia Kui was closer. If the people of Yuzhou were to be relocated, or the people who settled in Yuzhou were to be relocated to Wancheng, it would be more convenient for the governor of Yuzhou to do so.
Chen Jiao was once the Minister of the Chancellery, and he affirmed Jia Kui from the perspective of his political achievements. Chen Jiao's meaning was very clear: although both of them could command the army, Jia Kui was better at civil affairs.
Cao Rui had probably figured it out by now. It seems that facing such sensitive questions, the method of everyone answering and everyone passing is more effective, at least there will be no shirking of responsibility.
Cao Rui said: "I understand your opinions. I will consider it for two days and then decide on the final candidate."
After a few more words, the ministers left one after another. As they walked out of the hall, they saw Guanqiu Jian standing outside for quite a while. Guanqiu Jian was young and held a low position, so he bowed to the officials and then entered the hall.
Guanqiu Jian bowed to the emperor and asked, "What instructions do you have for me, Your Majesty?"
Cao Rui sat in the hall and looked at Guanqiu Jian: "Zhonggong, come closer. I have something to say to you."
Guanqiu Jian did not hesitate and walked to the emperor's desk. Cao Rui did not say much, turned the letter brought by Wei Lie around and pushed it to Guanqiu Jian to read.
Guanqiu Jian was horrified after reading it. Before he could say anything, Cao Rui said directly: "Zhong Gong, since you have seen this, I will not give you this letter."
"Take my imperial seal and the flags of the Wu army captured in this battle, and go to Luoyang to report my victory to the court and the palace with great fanfare!"
After Guanqiu Jian accepted the order, Cao Rui whispered a few more words: "Didn't I discuss the case of Wei Feng with you before? When Emperor Wu was in Hanzhong, Wei Feng of Yecheng misled the people with his words and was executed by the previous emperor."
"At that time, I didn't understand why the late emperor wanted to kill Wei Feng, and Wei Feng didn't have the ability to rebel. But now I understand. There was no reason to kill Wei Feng, it was just to ensure that his authority could not be offended."
Cao Rui stared into Guanqiu Jian's eyes and said, "Tell Master Wei that I want him to kill people and to see blood in the court! I don't care how Master Wei does it."
"Zhong Gong, did you hear clearly?"
Guanqiu Jian nodded with a firm expression.
(End of this chapter)
