Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Today is the third day since Cao Rui arrived in Jiangning.

Jianye has long been renamed Jiangning, but there is still a restless element here, namely the Stone City located west of Jiangning City, bordering the river.

This has always been the case with fortresses. They are easy to hold for a long time, but if the attackers are numerous and powerful and ignore them, a mere stronghold can be besieged but not significantly impacted. Furthermore, since Sun Quan had withdrawn the central army from Jianye, the former capital of Wu, the remaining 10,000 weak soldiers were not very effective. Even Jianye surrendered, so what could a mere 4,000 men possibly do in defending Stone City?
The imperial carriage moved to the west of Jiangning City. Today, Cao Rui went out of the city specifically to see the terrain of Jiangning, and the first place he wanted to see was this Stone City.

"Your Majesty," Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Gu Yong said softly to Cao Rui, "The reason why Stone City was able to hold out was simply because its garrison commander was a relative of Sun Quan, not because it had a strong army defending it. The garrison commander Sun Tai held the position of Commandant of the Changshui Cavalry in the puppet state of Wu."

The army was busy with many affairs, and both Grand Secretaries Pei and Xu were preoccupied with official duties. Only Wang Su, who was relatively free, accompanied them. In addition, Huang Quan, the official Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was also present.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Personnel issued a notice to the Yangzhou Prefecture appointing Xiahou Xuan as the Prefect of Danyang and Zhong Yu as the Magistrate of Jiangning. However, Jiang Ji was not found in the prefecture, but rather in the former Wu State Secretariat.

Actually, this is not Jiang Ji's fault. The administrative affairs of the three prefectures of Danyang, Wu, and Kuaiji were all managed by the Ministry of Personnel. The Yangzhou Prefecture of Wu was practically just a decoration. If he didn't go to the Ministry of Personnel for governance, who else could he turn to?

But when Jiang Ji received the notice, he sensed something was wrong. He tried to find Huang Quan to explain the situation, but was turned away. Huang Quan cited the pretext of being busy with court affairs to avoid seeing Jiang Ji. After learning of this, Gu Yong received news that his son Gu Ji had been transferred to Xiangping. His heart, which had only been at peace for less than two days, began to race again.

Is it so easy to be a surrendered official?
It's just a necessary route.

"Who is the garrison commander in Stone City?" Cao Rui asked casually, seemingly unaware of the slight fear in Gu Yong's eyes.

"Your Majesty, the garrison commander is named Sun Tai, the son of Sun Quan's fourth brother, Sun Kuang," Gu Yong replied. "Your Majesty, to be precise, this man has some connection with the Cao family..."

Before Gu Yong could elaborate further, Cao Rui gazed at the towering walls of Stone City and said to himself, "I know that Emperor Wu married his cousin's daughter to Sun Kuang, and the child born was this Sun Tai. This man is Cao's nephew, and he is of the same generation as me."

Wang Su, standing to the side, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have investigated and found that when Minister Gu was in charge of the defense of Jiangning, he entrusted the defense of Stone City to Sun Tai. But I don't know why Minister Gu failed to persuade Sun Tai to surrender?"

Gu Yong's forehead was slightly sweaty as he carefully replied, "So that Attendant Wang may know, I have written no less than ten letters to Sun Tai to persuade him to surrender. At first, this man repeatedly insulted me, but after I sent him more letters, Sun Tai did not respond."

Cao Rui turned around and waved to Zhuge Ke, the newly appointed General of Annam, who was standing behind him. Zhuge Ke dared not delay and immediately jogged a few steps to meet him.
"What business does Your Majesty have summoned me for?"

Cao Rui slightly raised his hand, pointing towards Stone City: "This city is just outside Jiangning City. If we don't take it, it will truly be a nuisance. Yuan Xun, do you have a plan to help me take this city?"

Zhuge Ke, pale-faced and slightly plump, stood hunched over beside Cao Rui. His obsequious posture looked somewhat comical, but no one laughed; everyone was waiting for Zhuge Ke to speak.

"Your Majesty, when Minister Gu advised Sun Tai to surrender but was refused, Your Majesty's entourage had not yet arrived in Jiangning. Now that Your Majesty has arrived in person, I request to write a letter of persuasion to convince Sun Tai to surrender. This man will surely be moved by Your Majesty's divine might..."

Cao Rui scoffed: "If he's really afraid of me, I arrived in Jiangning on the evening of the fourth day, and today is already the seventh day. The change of guard outside Stone City is so conspicuous, how could he not recognize my imperial carriage and banner?"

"Either he really wanted to be buried with the Sun family, or he was scared out of his wits in Stone City."

Seeing that the emperor had rejected his idea and that everyone around him was looking at him, Zhuge Ke became anxious and then said:

“Your Majesty, I believe that Sun Tai is insignificant. However, the four thousand soldiers in the city occupy a strategic location, which is inconvenient for Great Wei to guard. Why not grant Sun Tai permission not to kill his subordinates and allow him to leave along the river on his own? Great Wei is magnanimous and generous. We can gain both the substance and the reputation, which would be beneficial to both parties.” Cao Rui laughed a few times, then clapped his hands lightly: “Good, good. Since Yuan Xun has come up with this plan, let Yuan Xun write the letter to the city.”

Zhuge Ke's previous plan might not succeed, so he cautiously asked again, "Could Your Majesty issue an edict? I am but a humble subject with little influence."

Cao Rui nodded: "Issuing the edict is fine, you may proceed."

He then nodded and left.

Why should the Emperor of Wei linger longer over a mere Stone City? Jiangning City, known as the Tiger Crouching and Dragon Coiling City, has much more to offer in terms of geography.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Cao Rui returned to the palace.

Upon hearing this news, Zhen Xiang, the Yueqi Captain on duty inside the palace, also rushed to report:
"Your Majesty said a few days ago that you wanted to meet with the Sun family, but you were busy the day before yesterday and yesterday. I wonder if you would be willing to meet them today?"

Cao Rui thought for a moment: "I heard a few days ago that there were more than a hundred people?"

"Yes." Zhen Xiang had obviously done his homework in advance: "According to the Sun family's classification, the descendants of Sun Jian's half-brother are the close branch, and the rest are the distant branch. There are a total of 24 men and women of the Sun family in Jiangning in the close branch, and 35 in the distant branch. If you include their spouses, wives, concubines and the women in Sun Quan's harem, the total number is 108."

"How did you come up with such a number?" Cao Rui shook his head and chuckled, then said, "I remember Sun Quan lost one of his sons?"

"Yes," Zhen Xiang said. "When the general led his troops into Jiangning Palace that day, Sun Quan's son, Sun He, killed someone with a bow and arrow, and was therefore killed by the soldiers."

Cao Rui nodded: "Boming, let me ask you a question, what should be done with these people?"

Zhen Xiang was taken aback; the emperor rarely sought his advice. But Zhen Xiang was no fool; he then cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe the Sun family should be exterminated. Since Sun Jian, the Sun family has ruled for more than forty years, and the people of Wu all know the name of the Sun family. If the Sun family incites unrest in the future, it will be detrimental to the affairs of the state."

"However, I believe that the Wu region is not yet at peace, and it is not the time to deal with this matter. We should send men with troops to immediately escort these members of the Sun clan of Wu to Luoyang for detention, and have men arrest the Sun clan members who are outside the region. After Sun Quan has made their heads, we should hold them accountable together with Sun Quan, and then hold them in Luoyang to be executed in accordance with the law, so as to atone for the crimes of the Sun clan in their forty years of separatist rule and chaos, which have harmed the world."

"But Your Majesty has only recently taken Consort Sun as a concubine, and I am somewhat apprehensive..."

"What are you so afraid of?" Cao Rui laughed. "I have only spared the lives of Consort Sun and her mother, Bu Lianshi. The rest are not discussed for now. Boming, are you willing to be the bad guy who offered this advice?"

"It is my duty to do this!" Zhen Xiang said firmly.

“Well said.” Cao Rui nodded slightly. “Bo Ming’s words to me just now are correct. Let Bo Ming take charge of this matter. I will stay in Jiangning for two more days before returning to Jingnanwu.”

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