For Xiahou Xuan, He Chuan and Xiahou Hui, this was just an ordinary attendant mission and nothing special.
Your Majesty is used to asking questions here and there, but they are just questions, and they don't involve things like career or the emperor's favor. Just answer truthfully, and don't think too much.
But for the five newly appointed imperial assistants, Fu Gu, Zhuge Xu, Chen Ben, Yu Jun, and Li Xi, they dared not be careless. Although this was in the martial arts arena, this was a question in front of the emperor, so how could they not take it seriously?
"Youming." Cao Rui raised his hand and pointed at Zhuge Xu: "I will ask you one by one, you go first. If the court wants to close the settlements in Yanling County, what should we do?"
Zhuge Xu bowed and saluted, saying: "If I were to do this, I would divide it into three steps:"
"First, we should survey the land in the county, classify it according to its quality, and then calculate a total. Secondly, we should check the number of farmers, and count them by the categories of old people, able-bodied men, women, and children. Finally, we should select honest and capable officials to carry out this matter."
After Zhuge Xu finished speaking, he bowed again and stood up.
Cao Rui had read Zhuge Xu's resume. This person's native place was Yangdu, Langya, and he was of the same clan as Zhuge Jin of Wu and Zhuge Liang of Shu. In terms of seniority, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were his ancestors, two generations apart.
Cao Rui nodded slightly, and then looked at the others: "That's about what I mean. In general, do you have different opinions?"
The remaining few people expressed that they had no objection.
Essentially, dividing the land is a simple matter. Just figure out how many people there are and how much land there is, and divide it up. But it is far from easy to do.
Cao Rui pointed at Chen Ben again and said, "Xiu Yuan, let me ask you, how should we measure the land?"
Chen Ben was a little confused by this question, and he said directly: "Your Majesty, the land of the military farm officials is registered, so we just need to follow the register. Why do we need to measure it again?"
"You see, this is the problem." Cao Rui said, "If Xiu Yuan said so, the records of the military farm officials should be the standard. Then I ask you, are the records of the military farm officials always accurate? How can they distribute the crops impartially and not accept bribes or give more or less for personal gain?"
Xiahou Xuan, who had been silent just now, said, "It should be discussed in terms of the examination!"
"How do we take the test?" Cao Rui asked again.
Xiahou Xuan said: "Have the officials of County A check the land of County B. Select land from each township and pavilion and check it with the records of the officials of County B. If there is any mistake, they will be fined or dismissed from office."
Cao Rui nodded slightly: "You see, this is how things are. The more you ask, the deeper you get until you find a solution."
"Then I ask you again, if during the measurement, the people in Yanling County who are not farmers feel that their land is too little or insufficient and request to be divided into the same area, what should we do? Ji He, you tell me."
Li Xi thought for a moment and responded, "If that's the case, we should verify why the people have less land. If it's true that they have less land, then I think they should be given the same land as the people who settled in the military farms."
The questions became more and more interesting. Cao Rui said with a smile: "If the people say that there is not enough land, you will give more. Then the farmers will have less land, right? Will they be willing to do so?"
"This..." Li Xi was a little stumped by the question, and bowed his hands to apologize, "Your Majesty, I don't know how to answer for the moment."
"Lan Shi, what do you think?"
Fu Gu thought for a moment and replied, "The distribution of land is a good policy. If the land of a county cannot be distributed equally, the people may complain. I think we should consider the land of a county as a whole. If the land that can be distributed is less than the land of the people, we should move the people to other counties, or continue to cultivate land in the county."
Cao Rui did not continue to ask, looked around at everyone, and said:
"Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Everything should be considered from a big perspective and from a small perspective. This is the first lesson I will teach you. I have just asked you some questions, but there are still many that I have not asked."
"For example, what Zhuge Youming just said," Cao Rui raised his hand and pointed at Zhuge Xu, "How should the land be divided into different types according to the yield? The people should be counted according to the household registration, so should the household registration be checked? Who will measure the land, who will explain it to the people, and who should be sent to check? These are all problems."
Cao Rui stood up from his chair, stretched his muscles, and said, "The most important thing in governing a country is to make plans. To implement the plans, we must govern the officials, and governing the officials requires the use of systems." "Today, I will assign tasks to each of you eight. In the eight counties around Xuchang, each of you eight will go and visit with questions. From the county magistrate and the military farm commander to the village chief, ordinary people and military farm workers, you must ask everything you should ask. As for what to ask, I will not tell you one by one."
“Which eight counties are good?”
He Chuan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the eight counties closest to Xuchang are Xinji, Yanling, Changsha, Yingyin, Yingyang, Fanchang, and Linying. Changle in Chenjun can also be added."
Cao Rui nodded: "Xiahou Xuan went to Changle, He Chu went to Xinji, Xiahou Hui went to Yingyang, Fu Gu went to Fanchang, Zhuge Xu went to Yanling, Chen Ben went to Changsha, Yu Jun went to Yingyin, and Li Xi went to Linying."
"In short, I will give you ten days to do this. After ten days, I will read each of your reports. Do you understand?"
"We will follow your majesty's orders." Upon hearing this, the eight people saluted in unison.
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Go early tomorrow morning. I will be waiting for your reply in Xuchang City."
……
The next morning, eight imperial attendants left the palace, taking their warrants and official seals with them, and went out from the four gates of Xuchang, heading towards Yingchuan County and Chen Qun's counties.
Over 600 miles away in Xiangyang City, Zhao Yan and Niu Jin were gradually becoming restless.
Sometimes, things happening to others are more worrying than happening to ourselves.
Thanks to Yin Fan's successful return to Xiangyang, Sun Quan knew that Xiangyang was difficult to attack, so he focused his attack on Fancheng, where Lu Shi was stationed in the north of the city. Excluding the few days when the Wu army first came to repair the public works and build the dam, the Wu army had been officially attacking Fancheng for ten days.
Fancheng was long from east to west and short from north to south, so the Wu army was divided into two groups in the east and west and two in the north, attacking the city from four directions. As the siege equipment outside the city became more sophisticated, Lu Shi gradually became unable to hold on.
Burning incense during the day and lighting fires at night, Lu Shi warned Xiangyang every day across the Han River, which was more than a mile wide, and expressed his urgency.
However, Zhao Yan and Niu Jin were unable to provide rescue for the time being. Zhuge Jin, who was under the city of Xiangyang, was digging trenches and building walls on the south and east sides of the city every day, making it clear that he wanted to exchange pieces with Xiangyang and trap the defenders in the city.
"Mr. Zhao, look over there, there's something strange."
Niu Jin and Zhao Yan stood on the city wall north of Xiangyang, looking north across the Han River. The Han River was very wide, and today's weather was very good. The visibility was the best in the past ten days of the Wu army's siege, so they could see a lot of the situation north of the river.
Zhao Yan was old, and although Niu Jin pointed him in the direction and he looked hard for a long time, he still couldn't see clearly.
After sighing, Zhao Yan said, "If you can see clearly, just tell me directly."
"I couldn't say it either, so Lord Zhao saw it..." Niu Jin hesitated for a moment, but his eyes widened and his voice became louder: "Catapult! It's a catapult!"
Although there was the Han River between them and the Wu army's position was further north on the river bank, how could Niu Jin not know the general outline of the catapult and what it looked like when throwing stones?
Zhao Yan's face, which had been calm just now, suddenly turned cold: "How could the Wu army have catapults? Shucai, the Privy Council has summarized and issued battle examples of the battles that the Jingzhou and Yangzhou armies fought against Wu. Did they mention catapults?"
Niu Jin shook his head with a firm expression and said, "Although I don't know many words, I have simulated every battle of the Privy Council with the military officers. How dare I neglect it? I dare to guarantee that I have never seen the Wu Kingdom use a catapult!" (End of this chapter)
