Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

January 22nd, afternoon, Jingnan Dongwu.

"Your Majesty," Liu Ye slowly walked into the central command tent from outside, cupped his hands and said, "I have three pieces of military intelligence to report to Your Majesty."

Cao Rui glanced at Liu Ye and said calmly, "Since there are three military reports, let me guess: one from Ruxu, one from Guangling, and where is the third one from?"

Liu Ye smiled and said, “Your Majesty is wise. First, there is a military report from General Guanqiu Jian, who said that his troops will meet up with Lu Xun’s naval forces on the 19th. Lu Xun’s troops have cleared the river between Guangling and Dantu, and 5,000 people can cross south on the 19th. Guanqiu Jian has indicated that he will attack the counties east of Jurong.”

"Secondly, there is a military report jointly sent by Colonel Jiang Wei and Colonel Cao Shuang. After Colonel Cao Shuang's main force arrived in Liyang on the evening of the 20th, they led their troops to capture Liyang after a day of fighting. They killed one Wu general and 479 Wu soldiers in battle, and the rest surrendered. After receiving the head of Deng Hu, the general in Liyang, Xianxi City opened its gates and surrendered at dawn today."

"Jiang Wei and Cao Shuang consulted on the next steps in the battle and inquired about how to deal with the surrendered Wu soldiers and the Wu generals who surrendered in Xianxi City."

Cao Rui nodded slightly: "I understand. Is there anything else?"

Liu Ye continued to report: "The third matter is that Zhu Ran, the garrison commander of Ruxu, refused to accept the order of the Great Wei to surrender. Moreover, he beheaded a envoy from the Privy Council who went to persuade him to surrender and hung his head on the city gate to demonstrate to the Great Wei."

Cao Rui snorted softly, gently patting the armrest of his chair with his right hand: "It is only natural that Lu Xun's attack on the navy was successful. According to his mission, after Lu Xun transported Guanqiu Jian's army, he should have gone up the river to the vicinity of Jianye."

"Don't worry about Lu Xun; he knows how to fight. The court has already told Guanqiu Jian this, but he's always been soft-hearted. Send him another edict, telling him that the attack on Wu must be swift. Those Wu scholars who should be killed today should not be delayed until tomorrow. If any Wu scholars surrender, accept them immediately, appoint them to official positions, and order them to procure provisions and military supplies for the army. In short, I want one word: speed! Tell him not to be stingy with official titles and promises. After the complete pacification, I will have plenty of time to uproot all the Wu scholars."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will reply to Guanqiu Jian shortly." Liu Ye cupped his hands, not surprised by the emperor's statement.

Having prepared for the attack on Wu for over two years, the court, led by the Secretariat and the Privy Council, had developed a basic plan on how to manage the conquered Wu territory. This plan was known only to the four members of the Cabinet, the officials in charge of the Privy Council and the Secretariat, and Cao Zhen and Chen Qun.

The fundamental idea was proposed by Cao Rui.

Cao Rui clearly pointed out in the military council that one of the major failures of the Wu Kingdom under Sun Quan's rule was its failure to properly manage the relationship with the local gentry and military families. This resulted in military operations and internal personnel matters often being influenced by the generals and gentry, which seriously hindered the development of the Wu Kingdom under Sun Quan's rule.

Of course, everything has two sides. This was the trouble Sun Quan encountered, but it was also the foundation and reliance of his rule. This was Sun Quan's base of support, not the base of the Great Wei Dynasty.

Cao Rui pointed out that after taking over the Wu territory by force, an expanded version of the Three Mutual Law must be implemented in the Wu territory. That is, people who are from the former Wu territory or have served as officials in the Wu territory shall not hold positions of more than 500 shi in the former Wu territory after the situation is stabilized.

Upon closer examination, this was actually a system designed to completely dismantle the old ruling class of Wu. A county magistrate held a salary of 500 shi (a unit of grain measure), and a county governor held a salary of 600 shi. In other words, from Xiling to Wu Commandery, north to Wuchang, and south to Rinan, all the nominal positions—county magistrates, county governors, military commanders, military officers, military officers, prefects, and provincial governors—could not be held by people from the former Wu territory; they had to be appointed from the original territory ruled by Wei.

The number of lower-level official positions derived from these official positions was enormous.

For Cao Rui, the emperor of Wei, this was a transformative event that completely crushed the remnants of the Wu aristocracy and former generals. With such a large, fresh, and unhindered territory, reforms to the political and land systems could be carried out freely. Only then could the conquered lands be truly and confidently absorbed.

As for those scholars, officials, and military generals from the former territories of Wu, it wasn't a death sentence for their futures. The world was so vast; if officials from Wei had moved south to Wu's territory, they could choose the best to serve in the north. It wasn't a dead end!

This is something that is extremely beneficial to Cao Rui and the overall interests of the Wei Dynasty.

With such a large vacancy in both official and military positions, there's no doubt that the Imperial Academy students, various physicians, and countless junior officers who have made military contributions over the past decade will all have plenty of room to be placed. Moreover, the room for maneuver is enough for any high-ranking official with some influence to place their outstanding juniors and capable subordinates in suitable positions.

Everyone was delighted; there was almost unanimous approval, and no one expressed any opposition. Who doesn't have family, descendants, or prized students?

This is a collective reward bestowed by His Majesty upon the officials of Great Wei in exchange for punishing and suppressing everyone in Wu. Moreover, only ten sufficiently core officials knew about this arrangement, each of whom was a highly respected minister, so there was no concern about any leaks.

Seeing that Liu Ye agreed, Cao Rui then assigned the second task: "The Wu general who surrendered at Xianxi surrendered after besieging the city and taking the head of the garrison commander of the neighboring city before surrendering. According to the regulations of the Privy Council, how should this be dealt with?"

"The maximum sentence is execution, the next is demotion to a low-ranking official in the army, and the lowest is demotion to a commoner and being sent back to one's hometown," Liu Ye replied.

Military orders are not entirely rigid dogmatic laws; they can be flexibly judged based on the degree of threat posed by the surrendered general to the army and the impact on the war.

Cao Rui asked, "What do you think?"

Liu Ye cupped his hands and said, “We haven’t crossed the river yet. I think we should temporarily incorporate these thousand-plus surrendered soldiers into the surrender camp, so they can be used if needed in the future. Xianxi, the Wu army’s subordinate general, hasn’t been a problem. I think it’s best to demote him to a lowly servant.”

"Alright." Cao Rui nodded: "This man can be demoted to a lowly servant, but what about Zhu Ran in Ruxu City?"

Liu Ye's face gradually turned serious: "Zhu Ran has always been an enemy of the Great Wei. Ten years ago, it was this man who resisted the Great General in Jiangling for half a year, causing the Great Wei's former western army to fail. Now that Zhu Ran has learned that the Great General is here again, he must be dead in the Great General's hands, hence his stubbornness."

Cao Rui shook his head slightly: "Stubborn and incorrigible, that's a good word! We've already sent people to persuade us, and we even lost an envoy. In that case, we'll have to truly implement the policy of besieging the enemy and then forcing them to surrender without pardon."

"Severe punishment should be used!" Before Cao Rui could speak, Liu Ye guessed Cao Rui's intention and spoke up: "I believe that after Ruxu is captured, Zhu Ran should be executed along with his entire clan, all officers of the rank of Dubo and above in the city should be executed, and eleven out of every ten soldiers in the city should be executed as a warning to others."

Cao Rui raised an eyebrow and glanced at Liu Ye, then nodded and said, "Since the Privy Council has already made a decision, let's proceed as the Privy Council has suggested."

"Your subject obeys the decree," Liu Ye replied, bowing respectfully. (End of Chapter)