Luoyang, Beigong.
This was the second time that Henan Yin Sima Zhi entered the palace. Under the guidance of Sanqi Shilang Zhong Yu, he entered the emperor's study with a rather nervous mood.
Sima Zhi bowed and said, "I, Henan Yin Sima Zhi, pay my respects to Your Majesty."
Cao Rui sat behind the desk and seemed to be in a good mood.
"Sima Zihua is here? Please take a seat." Cao Rui said calmly, raising his hand and pointing at the chair.
Sima Zhi said, "I thank you for your grace."
As soon as the discussion with the West Pavilion and the East Pavilion ended, Cao Rui immediately ordered someone to summon Sima Zhi to the palace.
Sima Zhi is therefore completely confused about the situation.
At this moment, Sima Zhi was thinking, why didn't my brother tell me anything? Your Majesty asked me to come here. Is it related to the case last month?
Cao Rui said with a pleasant face: "Sima Qing, you have been the governor of Henan for five or six years, right?"
Sima Zhi cupped his hands and said carefully, "Your Majesty is right. I took office in the second year of Huangchu, and it has been six years since April this year."
Cao Rui nodded: "I summoned you to the palace because I have something to tell you."
Sima Zhi felt relieved. If the emperor wanted him to do something, he would not blame him.
"I want to use you to go to Wuchang as my envoy to Sun Quan." Cao Rui looked at Sima Zhi's face and asked, "Sima Qing, do you dare to do it?"
An envoy to Eastern Wu? They just won the war a few months ago. Are Wei and Wu going to communicate again?
Sima Zhi had been an official for twenty years after all, so he knew some "stories" about the diplomatic mission to the State of Wu.
Unlike Liu Bei, who closed the pass between Wei and Wu for several years after he proclaimed himself King of Hanzhong in Mianyang, the communication between Wei and Wu had never been interrupted since the Jian'an period.
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, personally led the expedition to Ruxu, Sun Quan sent someone to deliver a letter to Cao Cao saying, "Spring water is just beginning to flow, you should leave quickly."
After Emperor Cao Pi's first three-pronged attack on Wu, Cao Pi himself continued to keep in correspondence with Sun Quan for several years.
In short, the communication channels between Wei and Wu were actually far less clear-cut than those between Wei and Shu Han.
After hearing the emperor's words, Sima Zhi immediately stood up and bowed his hands in agreement: "Your Majesty, do you want me to convey the decree to Sun Quan? I will definitely fulfill my mission."
Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "I want you to go to Sun Quan, not to 'declare the decree'. In name, Sun Quan is a traitor to Wei, but in reality, Sun Quan has split the country like two countries. I want you to discuss things."
Sima Zhi said that just now just to gain a reputation of being invulnerable and politically correct.
Now that the emperor was sending an envoy to the State of Wu for the first time, and it was obvious that he was going to discuss matters and he did not act in a condescending manner, he believed that there would be no personal risk to himself.
Sima Zhi immediately replied: "If I am sent as an envoy for Your Majesty, I am afraid that it will not be perfect if I do not know Your Majesty's intentions. What does Your Majesty want me to communicate with Sun Quan, and how should I say it?"
Seeing that Sima Zhi had asked the main question, Cao Rui told Sima Zhi the key points he had already thought of.
"I am asking you to go to Wuchang for the following three things." Cao Rui said to Sima Zhi: "If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me."
Sima Zhi cupped his hands and said, "I understand."
Cao Rui said: "First, Sun Quan was originally the King of Wu appointed by the Wei Dynasty several years ago, and he used the Wei era name. Although the war between Wei and Wu has ended, it is only temporary."
"Sima Qing, please ask Sun Quan for me when he can resume his loyalty to the Wei Dynasty."
Sima Zhi said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, I have a question."
Cao Rui nodded: "If you have any questions, just ask."
Sima Zhi said: "Sun Quan has been separatist for a long time. I am afraid that his ambitions are gradually growing. He has no intention of paying homage to Wei in name only. I am afraid it will be difficult."
Cao Rui raised two fingers and said, "If Sun Quan wants to make peace with me, he must show some sincerity. He must pay tribute to the Wei Dynasty and use the Wei Dynasty's reign title. These two points must be strived for."
Seeing that Sima Zhi was still puzzled, Cao Rui added: "What I meant by asking you to fight for it is that if Sun Quan does not agree at first, then we can talk about paying homage and changing the reign title."
"If Sun Quan, or some minister who can speak on his behalf, can quickly agree to these two points." Cao Rui knocked on the table: "Then you can propose to investigate Sun Quan's violation of the rules!"
"Exceeding the rules?" Sima Zhi asked with a frown.
"Yes, it exceeded the regulations." Cao Rui said slowly: "It mainly involves the palace and ceremonial guards."
"I also know that there is such a wide river, and I can't lead the army to fly over and kill Sun Quan. Let's start with these rituals and empty things."
Sima Zhi replied: "I understand. The Wei Kingdom does not have the energy to fight across the Yangtze River, and the Wu Kingdom does not have the energy to fight north of the Yangtze River in the short term. I am going there to seek status for the Wei Kingdom, not for practical purposes."
"That's right." Cao Rui smiled and said, "It's easy to say whether to pay homage or to use a new era name, but I don't think Dongwu will agree to anything beyond the rules."
"Then comes the second thing."
Cao Rui said slowly: "I want you to sow discord between Wu and Shu."
Sima Zhi's eyes widened and he pointed his finger at himself: "Minister? Your Majesty wants to use me to sow discord between Wu and Shu?"
Cao Rui laughed and said, "It's not that complicated." "Go scare Sun Quan and tell him that next year I will mobilize 150,000 soldiers to attack Shu from Longyou, Hanzhong and Shangyong."
"He can only use Zhou Cang to deceive me, but I can't coax him?" Cao Rui tapped the table with his fingertips: "Ask Sun Quan if he can send troops from the direction of Yiling to Jiangzhou."
When Sima Zhi heard the second point, he already knew from the emperor's explanation of the first point that this time the main purpose was to use intimidation.
Sima Zhi cupped his hands and asked, "If we want Sun Quan to send troops, what conditions will Wei have to offer him?"
Cao Rui sneered: "What conditions can he offer? What conditions does he dare to ask for?"
"Tell Sun Quan that he can either join the Wei army or I can give him Bajun, Baxi, Badong, Fuling, and Jiangyang."
Sima Zhi said: "If Sun Quan insists on refusing, what should we do?"
Cao Rui said slowly: "If Sun Quan can once again become a vassal of Wei, he will basically not refuse this matter openly. It's nothing more than delaying or not fighting. What else can I do to him?"
"But you must clearly tell Sun Quan that I can mobilize 150,000 troops!"
Sima Zhi suddenly realized: "Sun Quan must be worried that Your Majesty will attack him again."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "That's right. On this point, don't say anything absolute to Sun Quan, leave some room for his imagination."
Sima Zhi sighed and said, "Your Majesty has used both your power and virtue. I also want to borrow your majesty's power to talk to Sun Quan."
Cao Rui ignored Sima Zhi's flattery and continued, "There is a third thing, please listen carefully."
Sima Zhi also responded solemnly.
Cao Rui said: "In January, when I was in Huainan, General Cao Tai, the Eastern Guardian, raided Wankou and captured Sun Quan's eldest daughter, Sun Luban, who was hiding in the camp. Cao Tai first took her to Shouchun, and then I took her back to Luoyang."
"I have already taken Sun Quan's eldest daughter into the palace."
"Sima Qing, please send me another betrothal gift and see how Sun Quan reacts."
Sima Zhi was quite surprised to hear the emperor speak of this matter so frankly.
"Your Majesty, doesn't Sun Quan know about this?" Sima Zhi asked.
"How would he know?" Cao Rui sneered, "So many people died on the battlefield, and Wankou was lost so quickly, how could he have guessed it?"
"Didn't Liu Bei also lose his daughter in Jingzhou? I haven't heard that Liu Bei sent anyone to look for her."
Sima Zhi nodded, then hesitantly asked, "If Your Majesty marries the daughter of the Sun family, wouldn't that be considered a marriage with Sun Quan?"
"Marry him?" Cao Rui said with a smile, "Sun Quan and I are not even of the same generation. No matter how great he is, isn't he still a subject?"
"Don't let this matter interfere with the previous two matters. Regardless of whether Sun Quan accepts this betrothal gift or not, he is already in my palace. What else can he do?"
Cao Rui added: "By the way, tell Sun Quan that his eldest daughter volunteered. Also, tell Sun Quan about Lu Xun's appointment as the Protector of the Qiang."
Sima Zhi asked, "Regarding the matter of Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang...I am afraid that Sun Quan may be angry and embarrassed, and may harm Lu Xun's family."
Cao Rui replied calmly: "Lu Xun's family is under his rule, not under my control. Whether Sun Quan punishes him, kills him, or even does nothing, it is all Sun Quan's own decision."
"What does it have to do with me?"
Sima Zhi cupped his hands and agreed: "Your Majesty, I have clearly noted down the three things you said, and I understand them."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Did Sima Qing really understand?"
Sima Zhi replied with a firm tone: "I really understand."
"Well then." Cao Rui said, "Is Sima Qing in his forties this year?"
"Your Majesty, I am forty-five years old."
Cao Rui said: "After all, you are an envoy from a great country. You are a county governor and your position is relatively low."
"The post of Grand Coachman among the Nine Ministers is still vacant." Cao Rui looked at Sima Zhi with a smile and said, "I will temporarily use Sima Zhi as the Grand Coachman. If this goes well, I will make you a regular employee after returning to Luoyang."
Sima Zhi bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for entrusting this matter to me. I will certainly fulfill my mission."
Cao Rui said: "Since Sima Qing has agreed, let's set off from Luoyang tomorrow."
"I will send someone to give you the imperial seals and my personal letter to Sun Quan before I leave tomorrow."
As he spoke, Cao Rui opened a box on his desk and said, "Sima Qing, I will give you this jade disk with excellent patina tomorrow. You must present it to Sun Quan in person for me."
Sima Zhi cupped his hands and agreed: "I understand."
"Go ahead." Cao Rui said with a smile, "I suddenly asked you to go to Wuchang. It was a bit hasty. Go and take care of the things at home today. Also, go to the East Pavilion outside to talk to Sikong and let Sikong give you some advice."
"As ordered, I will take my leave." Sima Zhi bowed and slowly left the study. (End of this chapter)
