It was already August 23rd when Cao Rui led his army to Tuyun in Youbeiping County.
This time they returned victoriously, and the welcoming procession in the eastern suburbs of Tuyin City stretched five miles away. The newly appointed Youzhou governor Cui Lin and Cui Deru also personally welcomed them on the official road five miles east of the city.
"When Cui Lin was in Yecheng, you didn't expect that I would use you in Youzhou, right?" Cao Rui asked with a slight smile while sitting on his horse and asking Cui Lin to stand up.
Cui Lin cupped his hands and said, "Whether it is the court or Youzhou, they are all under the jurisdiction of the Great Wei. If Your Majesty is willing to employ me, I will definitely manage the affairs of Youzhou for Your Majesty and live up to the Emperor's grace!"
Cao Rui nodded slightly, raised his head and looked at the crowd on both sides of the road ahead, extending all the way to the city gate: "It is said that if the superior likes something, the subordinates will follow suit. I was just welcomed by Liu Qing outside Changping City last time, and now I am following his example!"
Cui Lin looked a little embarrassed. It was not good to explain, but it was also inappropriate not to explain.
Cao Rui turned to look at Xu Shu and said, "Minister Xu, go back and tell the Secretariat that when I come to inspect various places, the people are not allowed to welcome me like this. Although I have grace, it is not directly bestowed on these people. What do they know? It must be the officials who are extravagant."
Xu Shu asked quietly: "What about the officials?"
"I do not constrain officials." Cao Rui said: "I only reduce the burden on the people. It depends on how loyal the officials are to me."
"Yes, I understand." Xu Shu replied.
Guanqiu Jian's Central Commander's Camp was in the front, leading the emperor and his entourage into the city. The rest of the troops were stationed in various camps according to their assignments when they came.
After entering the city, Cui Lin led Cao Rui and his party directly to the governor's mansion of Youbeiping County. As soon as they sat down, Cao Rui asked the most critical question:
"Mr. Cui, have the rewards that I sent to Yecheng earlier and asked them to prepare been prepared?"
Cui Lin bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the cloth and five-zhu coins for rewards have been prepared. According to the order of the court, the rewards for the Xianbei, Wuhuan, Xiongnu tribes and the rewards for the soldiers of Hebei County will be uniformly awarded in Youbeiping. The rewards for the central army will be awarded after we return to Yecheng."
"Yes." Cao Rui looked around at the ministers in the hall and said, "You are the governor of Youzhou, and he is the right supervisor of the Privy Council. Both of you are marquises of the country. It is your duty to serve the country. For the soldiers, ten thousand great principles of serving the country and the people are not as practical as the golden five-zhu coins and cloth."
Cui Lin continued, "The five-zhu coins used for this reward are all new coins minted in the Tongguan of Hedong since the second year of Taihe, and have not yet been circulated among the people. They are heavy, have both a coin and a pattern, and can be considered first-class good coins, and are different from the inferior coins that were circulated before."
After saying this, Cui Lin took out a few coins from his bosom, first gave one to the emperor, and then gave one to each of the other ministers in the hall.
Cao Rui stroked the copper coin with the word "Wu Zhu" on it, which was exactly the same as the one in the Han Dynasty, and said with a smile: "I have discussed with the ministers in Luoyang before that the reason why copper coins are not popular is that the people are poor and there is a shortage of supplies, and the Wu Zhu coins of the previous dynasty are of varying quality and mostly of poor quality. Let's start with the military pay reward in the fourth year of Taihe and gradually push the new coins out."
Pei Qian bowed and said, "I vaguely remember when this coin was first made, there was a lot of discussion in the court. Some people said that the name should be changed to Wuzhu, and some people said that it should be made into a large coin with a value of 'Dangbai' or 'Dangqian'. All of them were rejected by Your Majesty."
Cao Rui said, "What is the so-called 'big money is worth a hundred' or 'big money is worth a thousand'? A big money worth a thousand is only ten times heavier. How can it be 'worth a thousand'? It is nothing more than using the reputation of the court as collateral to force the people to accept it. I don't think what Shu and Wu did is glorious."
Liu Ye agreed, "During the Han Dynasty, the coin was all Wuzhu. For something like this that has lasted for hundreds of years, it would be right to keep it around unless there are any major flaws."
"However, I am afraid that some people may be deceived by the Wu and Shu bandits and privately use this kind of 100-dollar or 1,000-dollar coins. I think the court can issue an order to ban it."
"Okay, let's send a message to the Shangshutai." Cao Rui then looked at Man Chong and said, "General Man, go and keep an eye on the rewards. Try to send out all the rewards today or tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Man Chong stood up and bowed in response.
While Cao Rui was discussing matters with his ministers, Xiahou Xuan hurried in from outside, holding a document in his hand, and walked quickly to Cao Rui. If it was not an extremely urgent matter, the imperial guards would not enter the hall during a meeting.
Cao Rui took the document, looked at it for a few seconds, and then knocked it down again.
"My Lords," Cao Rui looked around calmly, "Since the beginning of August, there have been heavy rains in Yuzhou and Sili, just like the situation in the fourth year of Huangchu."
As soon as the emperor said this, the hall fell into silence. Whether there would be a flood or not was the second priority. The first thing that came to mind was the result of Guan Lu's divination in public on the Bronze Sparrow Tower in Yecheng.
How can there be such an accurate truth in this world? ?
Lu Yu was the first to bow and said, "Your Majesty, Guan Xueshi once predicted this matter in Yecheng. Why don't I go find Guan Xueshi and ask him about it?"
Cao Rui shook his head slightly, while Man Chong, Liu Ye and others beside him all said no.
Seeing this, Cao Rui raised his chin slightly towards Man Chong. Man Chong understood and said directly: "How can we ask sorcerers for advice on national affairs? Divination before the event can be regarded as an anecdote. Asking after the event is really absurd and will bring disaster!"
"Did you hear that?" Cao Rui coughed, "Lu Qing, don't ask Guan Lu. The state affairs should be decided by me and you, the important officials of the court!" Man Chong cupped his hands and said, "Today is August 23rd. The specific news is at least ten days ago. May I ask Your Majesty, has the Yecheng Shangshutai made any assignments?"
"Yes." Cao Rui said, "The counties in Hebei are already dispatching food to meet the needs of disaster relief in Henan. Medicinal materials, cloth and other items are also being collected."
"Although people's livelihood is important, it is not the most important thing. What I am most worried about right now is the military."
military?
Man Chong frowned slightly and asked, "May I ask, Your Majesty, are you worried that Wu and Shu will take advantage of the opportunity to invade?"
Cao Rui nodded: "I am only allowed to think about Wu and Shu with you all day long, but Sun Quan and Zhuge Liang are not allowed to think about me?"
"I have some impression that I haven't received any letters from Sun Quan since March."
Man Chong snorted coldly, "Your Majesty has long said that Sun Quan, this villain, is pretending to please the court, and he must be secretly planning rebellion. Now that the north is stable, it is time for the court to turn its attention to the south."
"In the south, there are also Jingzhou and Yangzhou." Cao Rui's expression also became serious: "The current task is to understand the heavy rain situation and whether it will cause a disaster. If it does, we have to look at Sili, Yuzhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou and other places."
"This matter is indeed a bit troublesome."
Liu Ye suggested, "Your Majesty, why not have the Shangshutai and the Privy Council in Yecheng return to Luoyang? The expedition to Liaodong is over, and it will be easier to deal with it if they return to Luoyang."
Cao Rui frowned and thought for a few moments: "I'm afraid it's not enough!"
"Taichu, call Liu Zhongshu over!"
"As you wish." Xiahou Xuan walked out quickly. Liu Fang also hurried in.
"Liu Zhongshu drafted an edict for me." Cao Rui ordered directly: "Transfer 10,000 troops of General Wang Ling from Yecheng to Xuchang, and send Cheng Xi's troops of the Yulin Right Army from Luoyang to Chang'an, still under the command of the court. Also, send Qian Zhao's troops from Xuchang to Wancheng!"
Man Chong asked from the side: "From your majesty's deployment, it seems that you are trying to prevent Wu and Shu from invading from Guanxi and Jingzhou?"
Cao Rui snorted coldly: "Zhuge Liang is good at finding opportunities when deploying troops. The reduction in production in Guanxi is not new. I guess Zhuge Liang has known about it for a long time. Sun Quan is also good at sneak attacks. If the flood is worse, I don't believe he will not take action!"
"I transferred Wang Ling to Yecheng earlier in order to reserve a backup plan for the expedition to Liaodong. Now that I am leading the army back, Wang Ling does not need to stay in Yecheng anymore."
Man Chong nodded solemnly: "The last flood was in the fourth year of Huangchu. At that time, Liu Bei was seriously ill in Baidi City and Shu had just lost its kingdom, so no action was taken. In the third year of Huangchu, Wei attacked Wu from three directions, so Wu did not mobilize troops in the fourth year of Huangchu either."
"Things are different now. Zhuge Liang attacked Dazhong and Yangpingguan twice last year, but he hasn't attacked yet this year. Sun Quan has rested for four years after the war in the first year of Taihe, which is enough time for him to gather some troops. We need to be on guard."
Cao Rui stood up suddenly and said: "I am in a remote place in Youzhou, far away from the counties of Henan. Delay will lead to suspicion, and suspicion will lead to change. What can we discuss here?"
"Pass on my order!" Cao Rui looked at everyone with a serious expression: "In one hour, I will immediately set out south to return to Yecheng. The Minister of the Court, the Imperial Guard, the Secretary of State, and the Privy Council will accompany me."
"General Man, please stay here to handle the affairs for me, and then slowly bring the army to Yecheng." Cao Rui looked at Man Chong: "General Man, can you do it?"
Man Chong gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, I don't think it's that urgent yet. Why is Your Majesty so anxious?"
"Anxious?" Cao Rui frowned and said, "With the current state affairs, how can we talk about whether we are anxious or not? If Emperor Wu had led his troops to Hanzhong earlier in the 23rd year of Jian'an, would it be necessary for me and the other ministers to work so hard to take Hanzhong back?"
Hearing that such an old story was brought up, Man Chong sighed and said, "Your Majesty has given the order, and I will obey it. But how can Your Majesty go on a tour without the Tiger Guards accompanying you? Let the Zhongling Army Camp return with Your Majesty."
In the 23rd year of Jian'an, Cao Cao arrived in Chang'an in September, but he was unable to rescue Hanzhong due to many concerns. At that time, in Hanzhong, Liu Bei led Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Chen Shi to fight against Xiahou Yuan.
Just a hundred days later, General Xiahou Yuan, the General of the Western Expedition, was defeated by Liu Bei in Hanzhong. The situation was so bad that Cao Cao had to rush to Hanzhong, and then he lost the battle with Liu Bei and retreated back to Guanzhong, leaving Liu Bei with the famous words "Even if Cao Gong comes, he can't do anything. I will definitely have Hanchuan!"
In military strategy, hesitating when to make a decision is the most harmful thing.
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Taichu, you heard what I said to General Man just now. Go and tell Zhong Gong exactly what I said. We will set out south in an hour!"
"As you wish." Xiahou Xuan bowed and then walked out quickly. (End of this chapter)
