Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The political climate in the Great Wei Dynasty in recent years has changed. The emperor either entrusts important matters to senior officials such as Dong Zhao and Sima Yi, or he makes decisions on everything with the Chamberlain, the Grand Secretaries, and a few close ministers. Moreover, he often asks specific questions to young ministers from various central government agencies or those who have graduated from the Imperial Academy.

The emperor began to meet more young people. Whether it was the ministers of the Secretariat, the governors of various regions, or even generals like Wang Ling who commanded tens of thousands of troops, they all began to attach great importance to and respect the young talents of the Secretariat and the Privy Council, and started to intentionally cultivate their reputation among young officials.

While there is certainly a good intention to treat scholars with respect and mentor younger generations, there is also another consideration: who knows which young Privy Councilor or Minister might be suddenly summoned by the emperor and then say a few bad things about him?
As the eldest son of Wu Zhou, the former Minister of War and the military governor of Yingzhou, Wu Gai also served in the Privy Council and was highly regarded by Dong Zhao and Liu Ye. Even though Wang Ling was furious and had a thousand grievances, he did not want to show them too much in front of Wu Gai.

Wu Gai was quite polite. He was unaware that he had been recommended by Jiang Ji as the prefect of Danyang, and then dismissed by the emperor. He calmly said:

"Liu, the Privy Councilor, signed this document and then sent me to deliver the order, intending for me to relay the message as well. Now that the Wu region has been pacified, the Privy Council believes that the remaining battles to eliminate the remaining enemy forces should be handled by other armies. The Central Army is the foundation of the nation and should not be wasted on such trivial battles. In addition, the court is preparing for a long-term military campaign, and there are frequent mobilizations from the rear. Furthermore, there was an incident in Yanzhou recently. Therefore, we request that you, General, lead your troops to the rear to quell the situation..."

"Is it necessary to use the Valiant Guard to suppress the situation?" Wang Ling asked through gritted teeth. "Can't we just send Xiahou Xian back? Can't we just send Bei Yan back? Why do we have to use the Valiant Guard? General Wu, is there no room for negotiation in this matter?"

Wu Gai cupped his hands and said, “I cannot answer the general’s question, and I fear that neither Lord Dong nor Privy Councilor Liu can change it. However, I suggest that the general should proceed with the order. At most... at most, we should rest for a few days in Dongxing before boarding the ship. No one else can say anything about that.”

Wang Ling quickly grasped the implication in Wu Gai's words. Liu Ye had left with the emperor, and Wu Gai had instructed him to rest in Dongxing instead of Shouchun. This meant that if he could obtain the emperor's decree before reaching Shouchun, he might still have a chance to participate in the war again!
In the war to destroy Wu, the Valiant Guard, following Guanqiu Jian in a muddle, only managed to capture Dantu City before being sent back by the court. Look at the Wuwei Army next door; they first captured Ruxu, then Wuhu, and now they're heading to attack Wuchang!
In what way is the Xiaowei inferior to the Wuwei? It's just that they share the surname Wang and Cao Tai shares the surname Cao!

Wang Ling bowed slightly to thank Wu Gai for his kindness, his expression calming down as he continued to ask, "The Privy Council document says that five thousand cavalrymen are to be handed over to Zhen Xiang to take to Shouchun?"

"Yes," Wu Gai replied. "His Majesty has ordered that Commandant Zhen be renamed Commander of the Central Guard, responsible for leading this unit, and to assist Lord Dong in managing the rear in Shouchun."

Wang Ling sighed deeply and said nothing more.

He had thought he could lead his 15,000-strong central army to Ruxu to participate in the upcoming battle. However, the court was unexpectedly cautious and, immediately after the battle ended, recalled this most elite central army to guard the rear.

Are you really that cautious in your actions?
Wang Ling was quite efficient. After agreeing with Wu Gai, he immediately ordered the military advisor to bring out paper. In just a quarter of an hour, he wrote the letter requesting permission to fight and immediately sent it out from the army.

Meanwhile, Cao Rui had already led the entire Right Wing Army of the Imperial Guards to the lake mouth opposite Chaisang. Just as Lu Xun and Huan Fan had come to welcome Cao Zhen on that day, today several generals were at the lake mouth to welcome the emperor and the Right Wing Army of the Imperial Guards.

"Please rise, my lords." Cao Rui said with a smile, "From Chun Gu to Hu Kou, it is an eight-hundred-mile journey, and I arrived in eight days without my men and horses being tired. The Yangtze River is so smooth that it is truly convenient to transport grain and military supplies by boat! I have experienced today the ease with which Sun Quan can deploy his troops along the Yangtze River."

Cao Zhen, standing to the side, cupped his hands in agreement and said, “Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king. Sun Quan has usurped the throne in Wuchang, and his power is like a candle flickering in the wind. Now, Chaisang has 100,000 royal troops. Once the provisions are ready, we can march west and Wuchang will be pacified in no time.”

Cao Rui shook his head and smiled: "That's true, but we still need to take the specifics of the battle seriously and not underestimate the enemy." Lu Xun echoed from the side: "We are not underestimating the enemy, but we firmly believe that we will win this battle."

"Alright." Cao Rui smiled, and then, guided by the crowd, boarded the ship and sailed across the section of water where Pengli Lake flows into the Yangtze River.

In fact, among the many contingency plans prepared by the Privy Council, there was one to decide the battle against the Wu navy on Poyang Lake. From any perspective, if the lake mouth were sealed off, the entire Poyang Lake, stretching for hundreds of miles, would seem like an ideal naval battlefield. Now it seems that Poyang Lake is not suitable for naval warfare, and the battle will have to be fought near Wuchang.

Fortunately, the main naval commander was Lu Xun, so it can't be said that Wuchang was Wu's home ground.

Several days ago, everyone learned that the emperor was coming, so they handed over Chaisang City to the emperor for temporary residence and to the Imperial Guard Right Army for garrisoning.

When the emperor arrives, he naturally has to have a banquet with these high-ranking generals.

Pei Qian, Wang Su, Huang Quan, and Liu Ye, the four important ministers who came with the emperor, were naturally present. General Cao Zhen, General Lu Xun, General Huan Fan, and the three generals Cao Tai, Cheng Xi, and Cao Zhi were also present, making a total of ten people, arranged in two groups of five on the left and five on the right.

The other generals naturally led their own armies and took precautions, none of them wanting to cause trouble so soon after the emperor's arrival.

To be precise, this was the first banquet Cao Rui and his generals had held since the expedition began.

After Cao Rui raised his glass to start the banquet, the generals took turns toasting and introducing the achievements of their troops to the emperor. Cao Rui then praised and encouraged them... It was no different from the banquets held during wartime in the past.

The same applies to the generals' caution during banquets; no one can completely let loose and drink recklessly in front of the emperor.

As the crowd was still laughing, Cao Rui raised his wine cup with his right hand, and the noise in the tent immediately fell silent.

Cao Rui's smile faded, he raised his wine cup slightly, and slowly said:
"In the ninth year of Taihe, I and my ministers set out to fight. If we start counting from the first expedition led by Man Zhengnan, within two months, all the land east of Chaisang was taken by the Great Wei. For thirty years, my father and grandfather and I had wanted to cross the river to the south but could not, but now that is all in the past."

"My lords, fill your wine cups and rise with me to offer a distant toast to Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen!"

The crowd readily accepted the order, then stood up, each holding a wine cup. After Cao Rui raised his cup and poured the wine from his cup onto the table, they all followed suit, and then drank another cup with the emperor. (End of Chapter)