Cao Rui looked up at Yang Fu who was in deep thought, and out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Jiang Wei who was holding an inkstone and waiting for Yang Fu to start writing.
"Boyue, you heard what I said to the Minister of Works and the Minister of the Interior just now, right? You, a native of Longyou, can also tell me which word is better to use?"
Jiang Wei put the inkstone aside and said, "Your Majesty, this is a matter of state, and I dare not make any comments due to my low position. But I think it would be better to name it according to the local conditions?"
Cao Rui smiled and said, "Bo Yue is quite tactful. Why should he hide his incompetence in front of me?"
Jiang Wei smiled awkwardly, then bowed and stepped back.
Yang Fu finally thought of what to write. He took the brush that he had held in his hand for a long time, turned his palm over after writing, and gestured to the emperor and Sima Yi.
Cao Rui and Sima Yi made the same move. After looking at each other, the three of them burst into laughter.
Cao Rui said softly: "I hold the word 'Qin' in my hand, the Minister of Works holds the word 'Long' in his hand, and Minister Yang holds the word 'Qin' in his hand as well."
"It looks like it's two against one." Cao Rui laughed out loud: "Both of you tell me why you use 'Long' and 'Qin'?"
Sima Yi coughed lightly, cupped his hands and said: "This place is located west of Longshan Mountain, so it is usually called Longyou. But the area east of Longshan Mountain is Guanzhong, not Longdong."
"In this way, the word 'Long' seems to be appropriate to refer to the four counties of Longyou, plus the subsequent Wudu and Yinping."
Cao Rui nodded slightly.
Obviously, Sima Yi's naming method is very simple and casual. Is this place usually called Longyou? Then let's call it Longzhou, which is very pragmatic.
Cao Rui gently raised his finger and pointed at Yang Fu. Yang Fu, a native of Longyou, had obviously made more elaborate statements.
"Your Majesty," Yang Fu said seriously, "Most of the thirteen states in the world today are derived from the nine states in Yu Gong and the divisions in Zhou Li."
"During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, thirteen provincial governorates were set up. Liangzhou was renamed Yizhou, which was named after Yizhou Prefecture. The newly established Liangzhou means 'cold and cool in the western frontier'."
Yang Fu continued, "Since the meaning comes first, the most important places in Longyou are Ji County and Shanggui, both of which are in Tianshui County. Tianshui County was a fiefdom of the Qin State during the Zhou Dynasty, so why not name it after the word 'Qin'?"
"The Western Gengjin is in charge of conquest, so the name 'Qin' is very appropriate!"
“Hahahaha.” Cao Rui laughed and pointed at Yang Fu: “Yang Qing said so much just now, but none of them touched my heart as much as the last sentence.”
"It is appropriate to attack Shu in the name of 'Qin'."
There was laughter in the hall.
The three of them chatted for a long time. When Sima Yi and Yang Fu were about to leave, Yang Fu stood up with an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
"Yang Qing, what do you want to say?" Cao Rui asked.
"Your Majesty also wrote the word 'Qin' on the palm of your hand just now, but I don't know why Your Majesty chose this word." Yang Fu said frankly.
Cao Rui said softly: "It is only natural that Qin would destroy Shu with unstoppable force."
Yang Fu bowed and slowly left.
After the two men left, Jiang Wei said, "When your Majesty was talking to the two ministers just now, I heard that Prince Yongqiu had caught a cold, so I reported it to your Majesty."
Did Cao Zhi catch a cold?
Cao Rui wanted to sit down, but was stopped by Jiang Wei's words.
"Boyue, I don't have much to do right now. Please come with me to visit my uncle."
"As you wish." Jiang Wei bowed.
Lueyang City was not big to begin with, and Zhang He had sent people to demolish many of the houses in the city twenty days ago to make room for the soldiers to live in.
In the city today, except for the county government office where the emperor resides, the few other decent houses have all been requisitioned as government offices.
But Cao Zhi was a prince after all, and his residence was not far from the county government office. In less than half an incense stick of time, Cao Rui, along with Jiang Wei and the guards behind him, arrived at Cao Zhi's residence.
"How is your health, uncle? I heard that you caught a cold?" Cao Rui asked directly as he entered the door.
"Your Majesty," Cao Zhi propped himself up from the couch, bowed and said, "I just need to rest for a few days, I should be fine. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am not too worried."
"What are you afraid of?" Cao Rui chuckled, "If your uncle needs a doctor or medicine, just send someone to get it yourself. Don't delay the treatment."
In this era, catching a cold is no small matter. Fortunately, there are medical officers accompanying us in the army, so it shouldn't turn into a serious illness.
Cao Zhi wanted to get up from the couch, but Cao Rui held him down. Cao Zhi had no choice but to sit on the couch and said, "I know my condition well. It's really not a big deal. But your majesty asked me to help with the food and fodder logistics the other day, and I really have no power to do anything."
Cao Rui waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's just a small matter. With Chen Jiao here, it will be fine."
"However, on my way to my uncle's place today, I remembered an interesting story."
"What story?" Cao Zhi also became curious, and knelt up on the couch and asked seriously.
Cao Rui thought for a few moments, then said, "When I was in Luoyang, I collected and sorted out various old stories about Yongliang, and I saw a record about Wei Xiao in a palace record."
"Wei Xiang?" Cao Zhi frowned slightly. "I know Wei Xiang. When Wang Mang was in rebellion, Wei Xiang occupied Longyou and tried to establish his own regime, but was eventually defeated by the generals sent by Emperor Guangwu of Han."
"I remember clearly that Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty sent Lai She to take Lueyang, Wu Han and Cen Peng besieged Xi County, and Geng Yan and Gai Yan besieged Shanggui."
Cao Rui nodded: "Uncle Huang is right, but that's only half the story."
"Han Guangwu was originally in Chang'an to supervise the army. When he saw the generals besieging the cities of Wei Xiao, he returned to Luoyang. But later, the Han army led by Wu Han ran out of food and retreated. Anding, Beidi, Longxi, Tianshui and several other counties later returned to Wei Xiao."
"The next year, the Han army returned to Longxi and finally pacified Wei Xiao."
Cao Zhi sighed softly, "This is the importance of food and grass logistics. Your Majesty ordered me to assist in food and grass logistics, but I am unable to do so due to illness. I really failed your Majesty's high expectations."
"I don't mean to tell you this, since my uncle is so distant with me." Cao Rui explained, "I want my uncle to write a letter of denunciation for me to deter Zhuge Liang and his party."
"Manifesto?" Cao Zhi repeated the word, but after thinking for a few moments, he said calmly, "I can definitely do this! In the past, Chen Lin and Chen Kongzhang wrote a manifesto for Yuan Shao. Emperor Wu had a headache at the time, but the headache was almost cured instantly because of this article."
"Your Majesty, what do you want to write? I will definitely write something better than Chen Lin's manifesto!"
In fact, when they set out westward from Luoyang to attack the Shu army, they only brought Cao Zhi with them for the purpose of stabilizing the rear and avoiding any trouble.
A few days ago, Cao Rui saw that Cao Zhi had nothing to do in the army, so he asked him to go and assist Chen Jiao and arranged some tasks such as distributing food and grass. However, he was forced to stop because he suddenly caught a cold.
It seems that Cao Zhi can't do anything else, so let's return to his old job of writing articles! Obviously, Cao Zhi himself is also very confident.
Hearing Cao Zhi's question, Cao Rui expressed the general idea in his mind: "I have roughly thought of three or four aspects. Please listen to me and write them down in the proclamation."
"Your Majesty, please speak." Cao Zhi responded with a bow, then put on his robe, stood up, knelt beside the table and began to grind ink.
Cao Rui stood in the room with his hands behind his back and said softly: "The first thing is to talk to Zhuge Liang and the civil and military officials of Shu about the old story of Wei Xiao and Gongsun Shu."
"Wei Xiang occupied Longyou, but he ended up starving to death. Gongsun Shu occupied Shu and proclaimed himself emperor, but he also ended up dying and his clan was destroyed."
Cao Zhi had already ground the ink and wrote down briefly the points the emperor had just said on the bamboo slips in the cursive script in the style of Zhang Zhi, which was fluent and moving.
Cao Rui saw Cao Zhi stop writing and continued, "The second thing is that Gongsun Shu was trapped in Shu and called himself Baidi, while Liu Bei, who also claimed to be the emperor in Shu, died in Baidi City. This shows that Shu does not have the aura of an emperor."
"Gongsun Shu proclaimed himself emperor for twelve years before he was defeated. Liu Bei usurped the throne in the second year of Huangchu, and it has been six years since then. By this calculation, Liu Chan and his party will not survive more than six years at most."
Jiang Wei stood quietly by the side, listening to the twisted logic coming out of the emperor's mouth, the smile on the corner of his mouth was so unbearable that he could hardly suppress it.
Cao Rui caught a glimpse of Jiang Wei's expression from the corner of his eye and chuckled, "Does Bo Yue find it funny?"
"I dare not." Jiang Wei pursed his lips and bowed.
"It's okay to be funny. Whether you're writing a letter or an article to the enemy, you have to exaggerate. It's just like in the old war reports, where you always say one is ten, and if you capture a thousand, you have to say you captured ten thousand."
"When Emperor Wu died, Liu Bei sent a man named Han Ran to offer condolences. I read that letter last year. In that short letter, it was a combination of insults, threats, requests for peace, and reminiscing about the past. It made the late emperor so angry that he even ordered people to execute Han Ran."
Jiang Wei, a mere Palace Assistant Minister, had no way of knowing such palace secrets, and he couldn't help but open his mouth in surprise.
Cao Zhi also smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right. The purpose of a proclamation is to intimidate and to rely on military strength. It is okay to use exaggerated language."
Jiang Wei bowed to the emperor and said, "I am short-sighted."
"Then let me see more." Cao Rui didn't care, and continued: "The third thing is that after Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty conquered Shu, he exterminated the clan of Gongsun Shu and his minister Yan Cen as well."
"But my generals are more merciful than Wu Han, and I also want to persuade them to do good. I will definitely promise all the ministers who surrender in Shu a lifetime of wealth and honor, and a long-lasting family line."
Cao Rui smiled and clapped his hands: "Just these three things! How long will it take for the emperor's uncle to write?"
Cao Zhi was silent for a few moments, then replied, "This is a serious matter. Please give me three days. I will carefully consider every word and bring glory to the Wei Dynasty! Today is the 26th, and I will present it to your majesty before the 29th!"
Cao Rui nodded: "I know that the emperor's uncle is talented in writing. It's settled! I will send an envoy to deliver the emperor's uncle's writing to Zhuge Liang!" (End of this chapter)
