Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

By the end of April, the weather in Luoyang was gradually getting warmer.

After years of war and preparation, the vast empire finally entered a stable new normal: farming, garrisoning, herding... everyone performed their duties.

In the preceding years, in order to ensure logistical support for various wars, the Great Wei had dredged and rebuilt all the waterways from Youzhou to Yangzhou. After the war, the number of ships transporting grain and military supplies decreased, but the number of ships needed for commerce gradually recovered. The canals replaced the official roads and became the new artery for north-south transportation and the movement of people and scholars.

Jiang Ji, the governor of Yangzhou, led ten large ships with a capacity of 1,000 shi (a unit of weight) from Longzangpu Wharf in Jiangning. They first traveled upstream along the Yangtze River to Ruxu Port, then along the Ruxu River, Chaohu Lake, and Fei River to Shouchun. After that, they traveled along the Huai River, Ying River, Langdang Canal, and Bian Canal to the Yellow River, and finally stopped at Mengjin on the south bank of the Yellow River.

Ten large ships, one million catties of copper... This is the largest sum of money that the Great Wei has received in a single transaction since it established its capital in Luoyang.

For this one million catties of copper, Li Yan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, borrowed a thousand soldiers from the Privy Council to escort the copper to the Imperial Workshop on the banks of the Luo River, and personally went to Mengjin Port to welcome Jiang Ji's fleet.

"Minister Li, it's been over a year since we last met in Shouchun," Jiang Ji said with a smile, bowing to Li Yan.

Li Yan stepped forward with a smile: "Lord Jiang is escorting a million catties of copper to Luoyang, and Minister Wei has specially ordered me to come and welcome him."

"Oh?" Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow slightly: "Lord Wei has returned from Guanzhong?"

Li Yan nodded: "That's right. Minister Wei arrived in Luoyang on April 10th, rested for a few days, and paid respects to Prince Dong and Duke Xin. He officially took office as Minister of the Right seven days later."

Jiang Ji sighed, "I have been away from Luoyang for a long time; it has been about eight or nine years since I last saw Minister Wei."

"Minister Li, if you return to Taichung later, please inform Minister Wei that I will go to Taichung to pay my respects after my audience with His Majesty."

Li Yan shook his head: "Lord Jiang, His Majesty is not in Luoyang today, so I'm afraid you won't be able to see him."

A strange sense of irritation rose in Jiang Ji's heart, but he still patiently asked, "Has His Majesty gone out on an inspection tour?"

"Yes." Li Yan nodded: "The former Duke of Shanyang, who was Emperor Xian of Han, was buried nearly two years ago. Recently, there has been nothing happening in Luoyang. His Majesty has gone to Hanoi to pay his respects with the Minister of the Imperial Guard, the Grand Secretariat, Minister Wei of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Minister Kan of the Ministry of Rites. He may also be traveling around Hanoi."

"Does Minister Li know when His Majesty will return?" Jiang Ji asked again.

Li Yan shrugged: "How would I know? Magistrate Jiang, I will not be returning to Taichung later, but will instead be ordered to escort these ten ships to the Imperial Workshop. Magistrate Jiang, please enter the city yourself."

"It's been so long since I've been to Luoyang, I'm really out of touch with the situation," Jiang Ji sighed slightly, then cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Zhengfang."

Li Yan smiled and said, "No need. Governor Jiang, please continue with your business. I'll take my men aboard to take inventory."

"Okay," Jiang Ji replied.

Just now, he tried to get closer to Li Yan verbally, but Li Yan showed no intention of getting closer to him at all.

Well, he is, after all, a surrendered general. Let him work hard in Taichung.

Jiang Ji arrived at Mengjin Port at noon. By the time Li Yan led his men to take inventory of the copper, the officials there had already unloaded all the other cargo from the ship, and it was already dark.

Jiang Ji had his men stay overnight at the post station in Mengjin, and only set off for Luoyang early the next morning.

Unlike when Jiang Ji first took office in Yangzhou in the first year of the Taihe era, Luoyang in the tenth year of the Taihe era had undergone a complete transformation.

Large tracts of military barracks were built in many places in the north and east of the city, and the scale of the drill grounds was several times larger than before. The city walls of Luoyang were also completely renovated, and the residential area of ​​the people stretched beyond the city walls for more than ten miles. Scholars, commoners and merchants from all over the country came and went, creating a scene of great prosperity.

Jiang Ji was from Yangzhou and was born relatively late, so he didn't witness the prosperity of Luoyang during the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling. However, he figured that Luoyang today was probably quite similar to Luoyang during Emperor Ling's time.
Jiang Ji pondered incessantly on the road. After his entourage entered the city, the first thing they did was arrive at the Shaofu government office in the northwest of the palace. Compared to the other officials among the Nine Ministers, the Shaofu was responsible for important matters such as the emperor's private treasury and supplies for the royal family. Therefore, the office was the largest in area, almost the same size as the Luoyang Armory.

The newly appointed Minister of the Imperial Household was Ji Liang, the former Minister of the State of Wu. Upon hearing that Jiang Ji was coming, he had already been waiting outside the main gate of the government office to greet him.

"Lord Jiang, it's been a long time." Ji Liang cupped his hands and smiled, "I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on being granted the title of Duke. My apologies."

"Young Master Ji, please don't be so formal. We're both from Yangzhou, and our relationship is different from others." Jiang Ji chuckled and pointed behind him. "I've already written to Luoyang. Of these sixty-odd carts, thirteen are items that Sun Quan used to illegally possess. I didn't have time to transport them to Shouchun last year, so I've brought them to Luoyang now."

"The remaining thirty carts contain valuables, silks, and precious goods from the former treasuries of various prefectures in the Wu region. The remaining dozen or so carts contain copper coins, coin molds, various flags and armor, all kinds of books and documents, as well as grains and products from various parts of the Wu region... In short, I brought everything I could."

"The Shaofu will select the items from these ten or so carts first. After that, I will send the rest to the Shangshutai."

Ji Liang was formerly a minister of the Sun family and a high-ranking official in the Wu Kingdom, but he had changed allegiance and obtained a high-ranking position in a powerful state. His career was going smoothly, so he didn't care about his embarrassing past service to Sun Quan. He smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Please put these things into the Imperial Treasury with me, Lord Jiang. Have you been here before, Lord Jiang?"

“No, I thought I would have the opportunity to meet you today,” Jiang Ji said. “I’ll trouble you, Prefect Ji, to lead the way.” “Alright,” Ji Liang replied.

Of the four former ministers of Wu who surrendered with Gu Yong, Kan Ze became Minister of Rites, Xue Zong became Governor of Youzhou, Qu Huang became Minister of Agriculture, and Ji Liang became Minister of the Imperial Treasury. If we include Lü Dai, the Commandant of the Guards who just arrived in Luoyang at the beginning of this month, the former Wu officials have already occupied considerable positions in the Wei court, fully demonstrating the magnanimity of Wei.

Of course, the policy that the Wu region needed to be governed by northerners remained unchanged.

When Kan Ze, Xue Zong, Qu Huang, and Ji Liang first surrendered to Jiangning, they maintained close ties with the governor, Jiang Ji. Furthermore, since they were all from Yangzhou and served in the same court, they naturally valued their hometown ties. Each of these four ministers, hailing from the state of Wu, had a member of their family recruited by Jiang Ji to serve as an official in Yangzhou.

As for Gu Yong... Gu Yong still holds the official position of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, but since arriving in Luoyang, he has not spent a single day at the Imperial Secretariat. Instead, he spends his days busy with official documents at the Chongwen Temple, writing for the emperor about the major events of the puppet Wu regime over the past 30 years and sorting out the internal history of the puppet Wu regime.

The emperor wanted to see it, so Gu Yong had to write it; that was all.

The content that was ultimately written will likely only be presented concisely in the future history books of the Great Wei Dynasty, and there will certainly not be another "Book of Wu".

"Have the first thirteen carts moved to this warehouse," Ji Liang instructed the official beside him.

After saying that, Ji Liang led Jiang Ji inside and pointed to the items on the front shelf, saying:

"The first wooden shelf is near the Nine Bestowments that the late emperor bestowed upon Sun Quan. Carriages, horses, clothing, music, vermilion doors, steps, tiger guards, axes, bows and arrows, and black millet wine—everything is here."

"The following are the crown, robes, and imperial seals that Sun Quan made in a usurpation."

Jiang Ji had only heard of the Nine Bestowments, but had never seen them in person. He went up to take a closer look and found that the materials were nothing special. He figured that they were more about political significance.

When his gaze shifted to the second shelf, Jiang Ji pointed to a tattered robe that was almost soaked in blood and asked, "Young Master Ji, how did this get stained with blood?"

Ji Liang replied, "Lord Jiang, you may not know this, but this is the robe that Marquis Jiayun acquired in Pengze last year. At that time, this robe was worn by Xu Xiang, and Marquis Jiayun almost captured Sun Quan."

“Marquis Jiayun,” Jiang Ji sighed softly, “has risen from a commoner to become a marquis of five thousand households in just a few years… His Majesty’s bestowal of the title ‘Jiayun’ is indeed well-deserved. A marquis of five thousand households at the age of thirty-something is no different from someone like me who has toiled my whole life to reach that position.”

Ji Liang chuckled dryly a few times: "He is a marquis of a township, you are a duke, so naturally it's different."

"I hope it really will be different." Jiang Ji pursed his lips. "Brother Ji, I suppose these ceremonial objects, ceremonial robes, and seals I brought should be placed here?"

"Yes," Ji Liang said. "We need to check them first, then put them into the warehouse for inventory and classification, and then store them together with the previous items."

"These things number nearly a thousand pieces, and it will probably take some time to process them." Jiang Ji stood with his hands behind his back, watching the clerks busily moving items in the treasury. Finding a quiet moment when no one was around, he asked Ji Liang:

"Brother Ji, you've been in Luoyang all this time, have you heard of the matter of Xiahou Xuan, the Prefect of Danyang, submitting a memorial to His Majesty impeaching me?"

"Impeach you?" Ji Liang looked surprised. "How could such a thing happen? You are the governor, and he is the prefect. You are his superior. Why would he impeach you?"

Jiang Ji shook his head with a wry smile and replied, "Now that I'm in Luoyang, this matter will inevitably spread throughout Luoyang sooner or later. You know about the Xishan Copper Mine in Wanling County, right?"

Ji Liang said, “I know. When I was in Jiangning, these eighteen copper mines in Danyang County were under my jurisdiction. I was the one who introduced them to you, so how could I not know?”

Jiang Ji continued, “I brought one million catties of copper with me to Luoyang this time. Previously, the manager of the Xishan Copper Mine was in a hurry to produce copper, so he used corporal punishment on the Yue people and surrendered soldiers who worked in the copper mine. Xiahou Xuan, who was of noble birth, couldn’t stand it and therefore impeached me.”

Ji Liang thought for a moment: "What's so trivial about mere corporal punishment?"

It's no wonder Ji Liang was surprised; corporal punishment was rampant in the Wu Kingdom, and the Wu officials no longer took it seriously.

Jiang Ji said with a wry smile, "The key issue is that this manager used my name to employ corporal punishment. In a copper mine with over a thousand people, he tortured more than eight hundred of them!"

“This…” Ji Liang clicked his tongue: “This person has really gone too far, implicating the magistrate, which is quite unfortunate.”

"Sigh." Jiang Ji sighed helplessly.

After moving things for nearly an hour, Jiang Ji finally left the Shaofu (Minister's Residence). Next, he had to go to the Shangshutai (Minister's Office) to deliver something.

After bidding farewell to Jiang Ji at the main gate of the Shaofu government office, Ji Liang watched Jiang Ji's carriage depart, then muttered to himself:
“Jiang Zitong, Jiang Zitong, your deeds have spread throughout Luozhong. How could I not know? There is much discussion in Luozhong. People’s words are a fearsome thing. As a surrendered person, I really dare not say too much to you.”

"May you have good fortune..." (End of Chapter)