Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

“Wang Xiong, Wang Yuanbo!” Cao Rui stood with his hands behind his back in front of the large map in the study of Shouchun Palace, looking in the direction of Liangzhou, and sighed in a long voice, “How come I didn’t know he was such a talent before?”

Behind Cao Rui sat eight people: Dong Zhao, the Privy Councilor; Liu Ye, the Deputy Privy Councilor; Sima Yi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; Huang Quan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; and four cabinet ministers.

Holding the military report from Liangzhou, Liu Ye, the deputy privy councilor who had just finished explaining the military situation, paused for a few moments, opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't utter a word.

Dong Zhao hesitated for a few moments, then bowed and said from behind, "Your Majesty, although Wang Yuanbo's mission was successful, his method of luring and killing Tuoba Agu of the Hexi Xianbei will undoubtedly damage the prestige of the Great Wei! If in the future..."

Cao Rui turned to Dong Zhao and asked, "What will happen in the future? Will the Hexi Xianbei retaliate against Wei, or will someone else seek revenge against Wei? Where are the Hexi Xianbei now? They've already killed Wei officials and plundered Wei cities. Do we still need to trust them? Will other Hu people speak up for the Hexi Xianbei?"

Dong Zhao was speechless for a moment, and lowered his head without saying a word.

Perhaps Dong Zhao was a bit old-fashioned; he didn't approve of Wang Xiong's actions, because it wasn't a method that could be used frequently to cause trouble. But Dong Zhao couldn't deny that Wang Xiong's approach was indeed effective!
Following Tan Shihuai and Kebineng, the Hexi Xianbei, who had been gradually rising in Liangzhou for two years and commanded as many as 70,000 to 80,000 archers, had their rise easily halted by Wang Xiong.

The Hexi Xianbei, Lushui Hu, Juyan Hu, and various other Hu tribes from Liangzhou, who had originally gathered together because of Tuoba Agu, suffered several defeats after losing their leader and scattered like birds and beasts, quickly disintegrating within ten days.

It is now late September, and according to military reports from Wang Xiong, Hu Zun, and Tian Yu, the fighting there is progressing exceptionally smoothly.

On August 4th, Wang Xiong dispatched the swordsman Han Long to kill Tufa Agu, while General Hu Zun led 5,000 cavalry to counterattack 20,000 Hu cavalry. The Hu cavalry, leaderless, were routed in less than a quarter of an hour after the initial engagement. Hu Zun pursued them until nightfall, beheading and capturing over 4,000 men.

After the war, the remaining Xianbei forces in Hexi fled eastward, while the remaining Lushui Hu and Juyan Hu forces turned westward, and the loose alliance quickly broke down.

On August 6th, Tian Yu led 3,000 infantrymen and 25,000 light cavalry from the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu to attack the former Beidi Commandery in Hexi, which was occupied by the Xianbei, from north to south. They beheaded more than 3,000 people, captured more than 30,000 men, women, children, and the elderly, and seized 260,000 sheep and 20,000 cattle.

Of the captives, over seven thousand men were transported to Yongzhou and employed as miners. The women, children, and half of the captured cattle and sheep were distributed among the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu who participated in the war, according to the pre-war agreement and in proportion to their military contributions. Therefore, all the tribes rejoiced.

More than 1,600 of the more than 2,000 people who had been kidnapped by Bald Agu were rescued.

On August 9th, 10th, and 14th, Hu Zun led his cavalry in successive attacks on Shandan, Wulan, and Zhaowu, defeating the combined forces of Lushui Hu and Juyan Hu three times, and beheading a total of 8,000 people.

On the 29th, the remnants of the Hexi Xianbei fled to Zhiyang and Yuzhong. General Wei Zhen sent General Chen Ping, who was in charge of capturing captives, with 3,000 elite cavalry to block them. The remnants of the Hexi Xianbei surrendered. Wei Zhen ordered that Tuoba Shouyi, the cousin of Tuoba Agu, be temporarily appointed as the leader. He also arrested all six of Tuoba Agu's direct descendants, including Tuoba Shujineng, and escorted them to Luoyang.

Wei Zhen sent someone to the court to request instructions, proposing to divide the Hexi Xianbei into three parts, each settling in a different region of Qin Prefecture.

The Hexi Xianbei, who had been harassing the border for more than two years from the sixth to the eighth year of the Taihe reign, were easily pacified in just one month. The Hexi Xianbei became a historical term, and thereafter there was no longer any Hexi Xianbei, only the Tuoba tribe, which was downgraded to a mixed barbarian tribe and divided into three parts.

The battle was fought so brilliantly and decisively that even Dong Zhao, the Grand Commandant and Privy Councilor, couldn't find anything to say, and could only find a few moral flaws for Wang Xiong.

Cao Rui looked around, observed the expressions of the eight ministers, and sighed softly: "The reason I agree with Wang Xiong is not to encourage his behavior of luring people here and then killing them, but to approve of his swift and decisive way of eliminating border troubles. With the war against Wu imminent, this is a great service to save the day. You may not know, but Wang Xiong also has his own set of reasons in his memorial to me."

Dong Zhao bowed slightly: "Your subject is all ears."

Cao Rui said, "Wang Xiong believes that the Great Wei court and the previous dynasty have always fallen into a misconception when dealing with the Hu people, which is that they always try to talk to the leaders of the Hu people. If the Hu people do not have a leader, they will find a leader no matter what."

Dong Zhao seemed to be deep in thought, Liu Ye listened attentively to the emperor's words, and Xu Shu, Pei Qian and others also listened attentively.

Cao Rui continued, "According to Wang Xiong, the court's methods of dealing with the Hu people during the Huangchu and Taihe periods were always flawed. It would have been sufficient to keep some Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and Xianbei on the borders of Youzhou and Bingzhou as a buffer, and there should have been no excessive interference with the grassland tribes outside the Youzhou and Bingzhou borders."

Wang Xiong said that compared with the Han people, the Hu people have no established system of etiquette and law. The emergence of leaders like Tan Shihuai and Kebineng is a once-in-a-century event. As long as the court does not intervene, they will continue to fight among themselves. If the court supports a certain branch of the Hu people, such as supporting Borgu to control the western Xianbei and supporting Budugen and others to control the central and eastern Xianbei, they will rely on the power of the court to continuously accumulate power in the tribe. Over time, this will be passed down from generation to generation, and the Hu people will learn the system of the Han people and gradually become difficult to govern.

"The opponents on the grasslands will also gather around Tuoba Agu, a Xianbei from Hexi, and unite into a force of opposition outside of the supporters of the court."

Wang Xiong believed that the best way to deal with the Hu people was to maintain a cavalry force with sufficient combat power on the border, keep the Hu people of the grasslands fighting and hostile to each other at any time, and use diplomatic means to send envoys to maneuver among the various tribes to benefit the Great Wei.

"This is the option with the lowest cost and the highest return for the Great Wei."

"In the past, the Great Wei only regarded the nomadic tribes of the grasslands as a whole and made contact with the leaders promoted by the Great Wei, ignoring the different interests and demands of the various tribes within it. This was lazy in diplomacy, which was the wrong approach."

Of course, Cao Rui only explained half of Wang Xiong's content.

In this part of the text, Cao Rui did not repeat Wang Xiong's words, such as "the barbarians are despised like dogs and horses and cannot be regarded as subjects of the Great Wei" and "these barbarians fear power but do not cherish virtue; only by killing them can the chaos be stopped," which are clearly inconsistent with the current policy tone of the Great Wei.

After all, when Cao Rui inspected Youbing and conquered Liaodong in the fourth year of Taihe, he had clearly told the leaders of the Xianbei, Wuhuan and Xiongnu tribes that he would treat them all equally. Moreover, they had contributed to Tian Yu's previous victories, and many Hu cavalry were also conscripted when he attacked Wu.

Liu Ye asked in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, so Wang Xiong is acting according to his own theory this time, and killing Tuoba Agu is the fastest way to dismantle the rebellious Hu people in Liangzhou?" "Hmm." Cao Rui nodded slightly. Wang Xiong can be considered to be consistent in his words and deeds.

Cao Rui did not share the other half of the content Wang Xiong presented in the table with everyone; it consisted entirely of Wang Xiong's personal understanding of politics.

Wang Xiong believes that different political entities can be dealt with in different ways.

Rebellious regimes like Wu and Shu, which have been separatist for many years, should be decisively defeated on the battlefield. Their separatist stance cannot be changed, and it will be difficult for the Great Wei to infiltrate them; all diplomatic attempts will be futile.

For example, Wang Xiong believes that physically eliminating key figures is the fastest way to achieve political goals and the most efficient way to dismantle opposing forces. Xiang Yu's failure during the Chu-Han Contention was that he didn't kill Emperor Gaozu of Han at the Feast at Hongmen. And in the late Han Dynasty, the Ten Attendants killing He Jin and Wang Yun and Lü Bu killing Dong Zhuo exemplify this method.

For a loosely organized tribal group like the Hu people, which lacked a fixed political system, killing their leader was the quickest way to resolve the conflict, which would inevitably lead to internal strife among the Hu people.

Pei Qian coughed lightly: "Your Majesty, no matter what, Wang Xiong, Hu Zun, and Tian Yu have made great contributions this time, that is beyond doubt. I believe that the court should promptly inform all regions and armies of the results of this battle, to boost the morale of the officers and soldiers before the great battle. Furthermore, the head of Tuoba Agu should be sent to the five prefectures of Yong, Liang, Bing, You, and Ying as a warning."

Cao Rui nodded: "Minister of State, please tell us, what rewards should Wang Xiong, Hu Zun, and Tian Yu receive?"

Sima Yi could not dodge the question. After a few moments of thought, he slowly said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Wang Xiong deserves to be enfeoffed as a marquis, and Hu Zun and Tian Yu, who are already marquises, should be rewarded with additional fiefs."

Cao Rui said, "Making him a marquis is acceptable. However, considering Wang Xiong's great contributions, how about I make him a village marquis?"

Sima Yi hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, since the founding of the Great Wei, there has been no precedent for skipping the title of Pavilion Marquis and directly enfeoffing a Township Marquis. I believe this is inappropriate. It would be better to select a fine Pavilion and enfeoff Wang Xiong, and grant him a larger fiefdom. This seems to be a better approach.”

Cao Rui nodded in agreement, "What you say is quite right, Minister. Is the Wansui Pavilion still empty?"

Sima Yi looked surprised, but quickly recovered and replied with a cupped hand, "The Wansui Pavilion is still empty."

Cao Rui said, "Then let's enfeoff Wang Xiong as the Marquis of Wansui Pavilion. I greatly appreciate his merit in saving the day, and grant him a fief of six hundred households. Hu Zun and Tian Yu will each receive an additional two hundred households in their fiefs. How does that sound?"

Sima Yi bowed and said, "This arrangement is excellent. Your subject obeys."

The so-called Wansui Pavilion is one of the twenty-four pavilions in Luoyang City.

Historically, the highest form of imperial conferment of titles was based on the place of origin. Examples include Zhang He, who was granted the title of Marquis of Mo County, Chen Qun, who was granted the title of Marquis of Yingyin County, and Chen Jiao, who was granted the title of Marquis of Dongyang County in this dynasty.

The next level up was to bestow titles based on the fiefdoms of famous ministers and generals in history. Cao Xiu's title of Marquis of Changping was of this type.

Besides these two methods of granting titles, there was another way: granting titles based on auspicious locations. The title of Marquis of Wansui Pavilion was a standard title bestowed by the Cao family upon their trusted and important ministers.

Geographically, Wansui Pavilion is located in the capital city of Luoyang, making it an exceptionally prestigious place to establish a fiefdom.

Historically, in the eighth year of Jian'an (208 AD), Xun Yu was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wansui Pavilion. After Xun Yu's death, his son was enfeoffed elsewhere, and Han Hao became the new Marquis of Wansui Pavilion. After Han Hao's death, his son was again enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wansui Pavilion, and Cao Mao, Cao Cao's son, was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wansui Pavilion. After Cao Mao angered Cao Cao, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Pingyu. In the first year of Huangchu (200 AD), Xu Chu was enfeoffed as the new Marquis of Wansui Pavilion. After Cao Rui ascended the throne, he enfeoffed Xu Chu as the Marquis of Mouxiang, and this title has remained vacant ever since.

Wang Xiong was granted the title of Marquis of Wansui Pavilion, with a fief of six hundred li, a reward clearly bestowed by the emperor only after he was extremely pleased with Wang Xiong. But this raises another question…

Wang Xiong was the new governor of Liangzhou. In just over a month after taking office, he worked with Hu Zun and Tian Yu to completely resolve the border troubles in Liangzhou.

Even in battle, only 5,000 cavalry from Liangzhou and 3,000 infantrymen under General Tian Yu, the Protector of the Wuhuan, stationed in Dai County, were used. The court did not spend any military pay on the 25,000 Hu cavalry conscripted by Tian Yu in Bingzhou; instead, they were rewarded with captives and livestock captured from the Xianbei of Hexi and various Hu tribes in Liangzhou. With ample spoils, the conscripted Hu cavalry were overjoyed and became even more supportive of the court.

The task was accomplished without using either the central army or Wei Zhen's foreign troops in Guanzhong, but only with local troops and Hu cavalry, without placing any financial burden on the state.

Their achievements were so outstanding, so exceptional, that it only underscores the incompetence of Sima Fu and Xiahou Ba from another perspective.

Sima Yi looked slightly bitter at this moment.

He originally intended to help his younger brother, hoping to save face in front of the emperor and get Shuda demoted to a low-ranking official with a salary of 1,000 shi or a county magistrate with a salary of 600 shi, so that there would be plenty of time for him to recover.

But now, given the stark contrast between him and Wang Xiong, Sima Shuda's political career seems hopeless. Fortunately, Tian Yu rescued most of the abducted people, giving the court some reason to be lenient with him. They only hoped he would be demoted to a commoner rather than sentenced to imprisonment or exile.

Sima Yi let out a long sigh. (End of Chapter)