Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Are Bu Zhi and Bu Lianshi cousins?

Cao Rui asked with some doubt, "Wasn't it always said that Madam Bu was Bu Zishan's cousin? How did she become his cousin?"

Bu Chan bowed and answered carefully, "Your Majesty, my family is not large. Even after my father became an official in Jiangdong, only about thirty members of my clan came to Jiangdong. Therefore, our kinship is not very close. My father is cautious and prudent and does not want to be called a relative of the maternal family. Therefore, he has always referred to Madam Bu as his cousin."

“I see.” Cao Rui nodded, then asked, “How long have you held the position of Prefect of Nan Commandery? I once asked Gu Yong, Zhuge Ke, and other former officials of Wu about outstanding young people in Wu, but I have not heard anything about your talents.”

This was a direct challenge from the Emperor of Wei.

Bu Chan was so nervous he was almost crying. His legs were trembling, his nails dug into his flesh, and he replied in a trembling voice:

“I have no talent of my own. My father appointed me as the governor before he left for Xiling. I have no official position before, therefore, I am not a subject of Wu.” Bu Chan pretended to kneel down again, but his arms were still held by the tiger guards on his left and right, as if he were hanging there, which looked quite comical.

Cao Rui sized up Bu Chan several times, chuckled, slowly shook his head, and then looked at Pei Qian:
“Pei Qing, do you think that the world should be ruled by the capable? He was only twenty-something years old when he became the governor of a large prefecture and a general with a miscellaneous title. He has no special talents, yet he still surrendered to me with the city of Jiangling.”

"If I don't reward him, it would seem like I'm being unfair in my rewards and punishments. But if I reward him too much, that wouldn't be fair either. Does Minister Pei have a solution?"

When Cao Rui asked him this, Bu Chan repeatedly declined, saying that he was devoted to the Great Wei and that it was enough for him to serve the Great Wei as a commoner.

What a clever man Pei Qian was!

When Sun Quan was captured in Wuhan, and the generals and ministers were in an uproar, wanting to execute him immediately, only Pei Qian was able to consider things from the perspective of an inner court official for Cao Rui. As a palace attendant, unlike those officials in the outer court, he could offer advice on palace affairs when consulted by the emperor.

The imperial court executed Sun Quan in Wuhan and his entire clan in Shouchun. The Wei and Wu wars had raged for decades, resulting in the deaths of countless soldiers, the suffering of the people in the Central Plains and Huainan, and the constant conscription of troops… His death and the extermination of his clan were the natural order of things, and a reasonable explanation to the people of the world.

The positions of Bu Lianshi, Consort Sun, and Lady Sun became even more awkward.

However, on the other hand, the Sun sisters, Luban and Luyu, are both in His Majesty's harem. Their father's family is gone, but their mother's family can be supported. Bu Zhi's prestige in Wu is high. Yesterday, I received a military report from Bian Lan in Echeng that Bu Zhi's eldest son, Bu Xie, was captured in Echeng, and today Bu Zhi's second son, Bu Chan, surrendered Jiangling City.

Since we already have Zhuge Ke, it doesn't matter if we have Bu Chan as well.

Pei Qian sized up the panicked Bu Chan and roughly understood the answer in his mind. He wasn't afraid of Bu Chan's dullness or stupidity, but he was afraid of his outstanding talent, which would make him more difficult to deal with.

"Your Majesty," Pei Qian said, "Bu Chan has surrendered Jiangling City to the Great Wei. I believe that according to the system, he should be rewarded with the title of Marquis of Ting as a sign of commendation. However, the official position should not be too high; a position with a salary of 1,000 shi is sufficient."

"Did you hear that?" Cao Rui pointed at Bu Chan: "This place is Xiting, so I hereby bestow upon you the title of Marquis of Xiting. My temporary residence is quite busy, so you will go and serve as a Gentleman of the Palace under Huang Gongheng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. I will pay you a salary of 1,000 shi (a unit of grain). Do you understand?"

"Your Majesty wants me to be a Minister...?" Bu Chan looked incredulous.

Pei Qian coughed lightly beside him and whispered a reminder: "Physician Bu, a subject should behave like a subject. You should address yourself as 'Your Majesty,' not 'commoner.' His Majesty has bestowed such a reward upon you; why don't you kneel and thank His Majesty for this divine favor?" "Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness! Thank you a thousand times over!"

"Go then." Cao Rui waved his hand slightly, then gently nudged his horse's flank to urge it forward, and the group continued on its way.

The Tiger Guards were much more polite this time. They gave Bu Chan a horse, led him to Huang Quan, and said these things. Huang Quan naturally accepted.

The emperor could bestow titles and honors at any time, and all matters involving titles, privileges, and imperial axe had to be reported to Wang Su, the Chamberlain.

After the army entered Jiangling City, Pei Qian found Wang Su that evening and told him about Bu Chan being granted the title of Marquis of Ting.

Wang Su ordered his assistant to bring the documents, and as he dipped his brush in ink to record them, Pei Qian asked from the side:
"Ziyong, His Majesty ordered you to organize the matters of bestowing rewards and honors before he set off from Wuhan. How are your plans going?"

"Wait a moment." Wang Su finished writing the last vertical line, carefully put down the brush, and then looked at Pei Qian and replied, "I already have a rough outline."

"Ziyong, please speak." Pei Qian also became interested and sat down next to Wang Su on his own.

The rewards for the Great Wei's campaign against Wu have been determined to be three kings and ten dukes. The three kings were established during the oath made at the Luo River in the seventh year of the Huangchu era, while the ten dukes were intended to reward the outstanding ministers who performed exceptionally well in this campaign against Wu, so as not to make the kings' titles too prominent.

Those who had previously received substantial rewards, such as Sima Yi, Wei Zhen, Man Chong, and Xin Pi, almost all received fiefs of over six thousand or five thousand households. Those whose fiefs did not reach this level were uniformly granted fiefs of five thousand households. These fiefs were all levied by the state and then distributed as stipends.

The Wei Dynasty was not well-off. For a long time, the salaries and fiefs of high-ranking officials in the court were only paid at one-fifth of their original amount, which was much smaller than the income of officials in the Han Dynasty.

This was an unavoidable situation; it was a precedent established since the time of Cao Cao, and it didn't change much during the Huangchu and Taihe eras. The three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu all prioritized military affairs, greatly depleting their national resources. Therefore, for officials of any of these kingdoms, raising a salary increase was a very difficult matter to discuss.
In other words, in the context of the preceding era, apart from the generals of Wu who possessed their own retinues and the wealthy nobles of Wei and Wu, most ambitious officials in Wei, Shu, and Wu were quite impoverished. For example, Man Chong often used his salary to subsidize his subordinates, and Sima Yi used almost all of his money, except for supporting his family, to fund schools in Hanoi Commandery and Wen County.

Wang Su nodded, stroked his beard, and said, "All Wu officials who surrendered without making any great contributions will be promoted from county marquises to township marquises, township marquises to pavilion marquises, and pavilion marquises to marquises within the pass."

"When it comes to the local officials of the Great Wei, the governors of various prefectures and the prefects of important places can be promoted one rank, and other outstanding officials can be evaluated for merits as an exception. The merits of the military generals have not yet been fully determined, so they can be evaluated later. But it seems that Yue Lin and Li Tong should not be moved."

“Minister Pei, there is something I haven’t thought about yet, and I would like to hear your opinion.”

Pei Qian nodded: "Ziyong, please speak."

Wang Su asked, "How should Cao Zhaobo and Jiang Boyue be rewarded? There are too many county marquises, but township marquises and pavilion marquises seem like a slight treatment, which doesn't look good to His Majesty."

Pei Qian pursed his lips, unable to answer for a moment. (End of Chapter)