Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

By the time the army retreated to Jiangling City, it was already the afternoon of October 8th. According to the original plan, the army would stay there for one day before heading east along the river to Wuhan, with each unit returning to its original garrison to rest. Cao Rui would also set off to return to Luoyang.

Yes, since Cao Rui moved the capital from Luoyang to Shouchun at the end of the sixth year of the Taihe era, the emperor has been away from the capital for nearly three years.

With the territory not yet unified, the emperors had to focus most of their time on military affairs. Both Cao Cao and Cao Pi spent the majority of their time traveling to garrison areas or leading troops into battle.

Night had fallen, and it was nearly 9 PM. Cao Rui was still reading in his room when a guard announced through the door that Pei Qian, the attendant on night duty, requested an audience.

"Pei Shizhong? Let him in," Cao Rui said to the door.

"Your subordinate obeys the order," the Tiger Guard replied.

A short while later, the door was opened by two tiger guards outside, and Pei Qian strode in and bowed:
"Your subject Pei Qian pays his respects to Your Majesty. I have important matters to report, and therefore I have disturbed Your Majesty at night. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

Cao Rui glanced at Pei Qian, put down the book he was holding, and calmly asked, "What do you wish to say, Minister Pei? Please find a place to sit."

"Thank you for the seat, Your Majesty." Pei Qian turned around and looked around a few times. He found a wooden stool near the door, moved it to a spot about ten feet in front of Cao Rui, and then said, "I have three things to discuss."

Cao Rui chuckled: "So many things? It seems I won't be able to sleep well tonight. The night is long, let's take it one step at a time."

"Yes." Pei Qian cupped his hands in greeting. "The first matter is a military one."

"According to the system established during the reigns of Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen, key generals other than the main generals of the outer armies were often promoted from among the generals of the central army, in order to demonstrate that the central government controlled the foundation of the country and the regions outside the capital."

"Before the war against Wu, the Great Wei had heavy troops stationed in Jingxiang and Huainan. Now, both Jingxiang and Huainan are in the heartland, so there is no need to station heavy troops there. Man Zhengnan is in charge of 90,000 troops near Jiangling. Now that the Great Wei has withdrawn its troops to recuperate, it is unknown whether the next war against Wu and Shu will be a year, three, or five years from now. The garrison in Jingnan may be stationed there for a long time. Although the three generals, Man Boning, Lu Boyan, and Huan Yuanze, are Your Majesty's trusted ministers, the other generals should perhaps be more appropriate."

"The central army general is being transferred to a post outside the capital, is that so?" Cao Rui nodded slowly. "I have neglected this matter. It is optional to do it or not. Since Minister Pei has reminded me, let's do it."

"Pei Qing, please make a note of this. Dian Man and Li Ji of the Wuwei Army, and Su Shang and Dong Bi of the Yulin Right Army, these four can be transferred out. Later, have Liu Ye come to me to propose miscellaneous general titles for these four. Then, decide which generals from General Man's and Huan Fan's forces to transfer. As for Lu Boyan's navy, it has its own special characteristics, so it will remain unchanged for now."

"Yes." Pei Qian nodded softly.

"And the second one?" Cao Rui asked again.

Pei Qian said, "The second matter is related to the administration of officials in several southern prefectures. A few days ago, His Majesty ordered Sima Zihua, the Minister of Works, to go to Wuhan to communicate with the Censorate and the Imperial Academy about the withdrawal of troops. Sima Zihua returned to Jiangling today. This afternoon, he spoke to His Majesty about the arrangements of officials in Xiangzhou and Jiangzhou during a meeting. In the evening, he came to me to discuss another matter."

Cao Rui stared quietly into Pei Qian's eyes without interrupting him.

Pei Qian swallowed hard and continued, "Sima Zihua told me that several southern prefectures need to select officials, and it is a time when people are in need. Sima Shuda has been demoted for several years, and perhaps he should be allowed to redeem himself by serving as a prefect in a remote and desolate place. I dare not show any favoritism, so I am now reporting this matter to Your Majesty..."

Cao Rui already knew all about Pei Qian's true character when he was dismissed from the cabinet for the first time. Pei Qian had tricked Sima Yi back then, and Sima Yi was still unaware of it.

Cao Rui then asked, "What are your thoughts, Minister Pei? Should we release Sima Shuda?"

Pei Qian said sincerely, "I dare not show any favoritism, so how could I have any thoughts? Sima Shuda was demoted because he messed up the important affairs of Liangzhou. Now he has no merit. Whether to use him or not is entirely up to Your Majesty!"

Cao Rui raised an eyebrow slightly: "So you're asking me to be the bad guy?"

"Your subject dares not," Pei Qian said, bowing his head awkwardly.

Cao Rui then asked, "What is the current situation of the Sima family members holding official positions in the court?"

Without pausing, Pei Qian recounted the story as if reciting a familiar tale: "The Sima family has produced many officials. Not to mention Sima Boda, who passed away many years ago, Sima Zhongda is now the Minister of Works and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Sima Zihua is the Minister of Works, and the other five younger brothers have all entered officialdom, either as county magistrates or officials with a salary of a thousand shi."

"Among his sons, Sima Lang's son Sima Zhong studied at home to cultivate his reputation; Sima Wang served as the magistrate of Wuwei County; Sima Shi served as the Sima under Guanqiu Jian; Sima Zhao served as the magistrate of Dantu County; Sima Zhi's eldest son Sima Qi served as the assistant prefect of Henan Prefecture... In total, there were 28 members of the Sima family in Henan with official positions of 500 shi or above."

"It truly is thriving!" Cao Rui exclaimed with a smile.

Pei Qian seemed to sense something and lowered his head slightly as he replied, "If Sima Shuda is released to a rank of two thousand shi without merit, it will likely be a topic of discussion in the court and among the public. I believe that Sima Zihua's request should not be accepted."

Cao Rui said calmly, "Since he asked this question through Sima Zhi, if I do not answer, it would make me seem petty, and it would also make you, Pei Qing, seem like you don't know how to behave."

"During the Later Han Dynasty, Jiaozhou was divided into seven commanderies and fifty-six counties, including the seven commanderies of Nanhai, Cangwu, Hepu, Yulin, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan. When Sun Quan became emperor, he divided the land of Hepu Commandery to establish Zhuyai Commandery and remotely governed Zhuyai Prefecture."

"Zhuya Prefecture, Pei Qing, do you know where that is?" Zhuya Prefecture is what is known in later generations as Hainan Island.

Pei Qian nodded: "I know. Emperor Wu of the Former Han Dynasty sent Lu Bode and Yang Pu to quell the rebellion in Nanyue and divided Zhuyai Prefecture into Zhuyai Commandery and Dan'er Commandery. Because the Yi people there frequently rebelled, Emperor Yuan of the Former Han Dynasty abolished the Zhuyai Commandery system. Before it was abolished, Zhuyai Commandery governed seven counties: Shendu, Zhuyai, Gouzhong, Zibei, Linzhen, Daimao, and Shannan."

Cao Rui said, "Since Sun Quan has made such an attempt, I will change the territory of Zhuyai Prefecture to Zhuyai County of the Great Wei, which is different from the administrative division of Wu. The seven counties of Shendu, Zhuyai, Gouzhong, Zibei, Linzhen, Daimao and Shannan will still be established, and the governor of Jiaozhou will be ordered to gradually recover this territory."

"Zhuyai County is located at sea. With Zhuyai Prefecture as the center, one can quickly reach the three southernmost counties of Jiaozhou: Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan. This place must be controlled. To be honest, I intend to have Zhonggong temporarily stationed in Jiaozhou for several years, so that he can also recover Zhuyai County."

"Let Sima Shuda be appointed as the governor of Zhuyai County."

"Your Majesty is wise, I obey your decree," Pei Qian replied, bowing respectfully.

Cao Rui nodded: "And the third thing?"

Pei Qian cupped his hands and said, "My third matter is a presumptuous plan of mine, which has never been proposed before. I beg Your Majesty to forgive my presumption."

“Speak,” Cao Rui replied calmly, “Don’t bring up anything about being presumptuous or not. I want to see what you have to say.”

Pei Qian said softly, "Your Majesty once spoke with us about three important political tasks after the conquest of Wu: land, taxes, and education."

"According to His Majesty's holy instructions, the three southern prefectures of Yangzhou, Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, and Jiaozhou are all newly returned territories. We should first carefully delineate the land in these prefectures and counties, measure and distribute the land to prevent land annexation, and promote education such as county schools, prefecture schools, and state schools."

"In my opinion, whether it is the three southern prefectures of Yangzhou, or the three prefectures of Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, and Jiaozhou, they are all too far from Luoyang, making communication extremely inconvenient. These are all newly annexed territories, and implementing and improving the administration of officials is a long and arduous task. Moreover, it would be somewhat ineffective to use the usual system of prefectural governors and county magistrates, as they are far from the central government's supervision and the officials are often incompetent... Forgive my frankness, but even in the Central Plains, these things are quite difficult to implement, let alone in these newly annexed southern prefectures and counties."

Cao Rui raised an eyebrow and asked, "So?"

Pei Qian stood up and bowed: "Your subject has a plan."

"Previously, Your Majesty was away for a long time, and the place where Your Majesty was located was the temporary capital. The Secretariat and the Privy Council both handled government affairs in the temporary capital, and the transportation between the upper and lower levels was extremely convenient and efficient. Your Majesty is about to return north, and the affairs of the southern prefectures and states may become slower. Why not set up a temporary Secretariat in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, in the area of ​​Wuhan, modeled after the Secretariat in the temporary capital, to oversee the land survey, taxation, and education affairs of the three southern prefectures of Yangzhou, Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, and Jiaozhou!"

Cao Rui frowned. He had never heard Pei Qian say this before, "the acting Minister of the Imperial Secretariat..."

However, a moment later, Cao Rui slightly opened his eyes and said in a low voice, "The Acting Minister of State... the Acting Minister?"

Pei Qian was somewhat surprised: "Perhaps the Imperial Secretariat could also be called the Imperial Secretariat!"

Cao Rui then asked, "Are there any administrative offices that govern several prefectures?"

Pei Qian cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that this administrative office should only supervise and manage three matters: land surveying, taxation, and education. It should not involve military affairs or administration, but only supervision and review. Perhaps it can also train officials!"

"Your Majesty once said that the land system and taxes are the foundation for the livelihood of all people under heaven, and the foundation for the survival of the Great Wei. Jiangnan has just been returned, and it is the perfect place to carry out reforms! Since it is a reform, it must be carried out seriously. Your Majesty, Luoyang is really too far away."

"You... Pei Qing, since you have such thoughts, do you have a candidate to serve as the head of this delegation?" Cao Rui asked in return.

Pei Qian replied solemnly, “Your Majesty, the Minister of Works has supervised the reduction of taxes and the distribution of land in Yanzhou and other places. Among the central officials, he has the most experience and outstanding governing ability. Moreover, his physique is the best among the central officials, making him capable of shouldering this important task. I humbly suggest that perhaps the Minister of Works should be appointed to this temporary position in the Secretariat, so as to share the burdens of the Great Wei and Your Majesty!”

Cao Rui did not respond, but instead asked, "Does Minister Pei have anything else to say?"

"I have nothing more to say," Pei Qian said, bowing.

"Pei Qing, you may return now. Also, summon Liu Ye to me." Cao Rui said calmly, "As for the matter of the temporary headquarters you mentioned, I need to consider it for a few more days before making a decision."

"Your Majesty, I obey your decree. Please rest early." Pei Qian stood up, bowed, and stepped out of the bedroom.

Cao Rui waved his hand, then lay back down.

Sending Sima Yi away under this pretext would be too much of a burden on him. However, Pei Qian's words make some sense. Without strong supervision, it would take a long time for the southern provinces to accomplish this task. If Sima Yi cannot do this well, there is little hope for the others.

But if Sima Yi were to be the chief official of the Secretariat, who should be chosen as his deputy? (End of Chapter)