Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

'When barbarians enter China, we treat them as Chinese; when Chinese enter barbarians, we treat them as barbarians!'

Upon hearing Cao Rui's words, the hundreds of students and scholars in the Jixian Hall began to ponder, as this was a concept they had never heard of before in their studies of the Five Classics.

"Barbarians" and "China" are two opposing concepts. However, according to the emperor's wording, these two seem to be interchangeable.

Most students and scholars considered this from a cultural perspective, but Wang Xiong and Jiang Ji, who had both served in border prefectures, had a deeper understanding of this statement.

The term "barbarians" refers to the Eastern Yi, Southern Man, Western Qiang, and Northern Hu, while the term "China" is often used to refer to the Huaxia people.

The emperor's ideas differed from those of ordinary scholars and could serve as the basis for the court's policies at any time.

It seems the imperial court is about to make another major move.

What does it mean to enter the barbarian lands? What does it mean to enter China?
Since there is entry, there must be some criteria for judgment. And these criteria will become the focus of the Great Wei's treatment of the various barbarian tribes in the southeast, northwest and south.

Cao Rui's gaze slowly swept across the crowd, paused for a few moments, and continued, "What should be the interpretation of what I just said? I now wish to test all of you students of the Imperial Academy."

"Is there anyone willing to volunteer?"

"I wish to answer!" Jia Chong raised his right hand high and shouted out first, ahead of everyone else.

"Jia Chong?" Cao Rui chuckled. "Alright, you tell me."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Jia Chong stood up nervously, bowed, and then answered loudly: "Those who are loyal to the Great Wei can be used by the court and thus enter the realm of China. Those who are disloyal to the Great Wei and do not submit to the king's rule are barbarians who turn their backs on the court."

"For the imperial court, it should make every effort to promote education and civilization, so that the barbarians will submit and the country will prosper."

"Your Majesty, I have finished speaking."

Unlike ordinary students at the Imperial Academy, Jia Chong was a local marquis, and therefore could address the emperor as a subject. However, contrary to what his classmates thought, Jia Chong was seeing the emperor in person for the first time today.

"Sit down." Cao Rui nodded. "Who else wants to speak?"

"Your Majesty, your subject Wei Guan wishes to respond." Wei Guan rose and bowed respectfully.

“Okay,” Cao Rui said.

After bowing, Wei Guan said, "Your Majesty just said that barbarians who enter China become Chinese. What does it mean to enter China? I believe that wearing Chinese clothes, speaking Chinese, studying Chinese classics, and following Chinese laws constitutes entering China."

"Therefore, I presume to speculate that Your Majesty's edict is intended to promote education and moral guidance."

Cao Rui smiled and waved for Wei Guan to sit down: "Just now, both Jia Chong and Wei Guan spoke of education. Do any of you students have different ideas from theirs?"

After Cao Rui finished speaking, the vast Jixian Hall fell silent. Clearly, the words of Jia Chong and Wei Guan were not correct, nor were they answers that would satisfy His Majesty.

After a moment of silence, someone finally raised their hand:
"Student Du Yu requests to answer."

Cao Rui looked at the somewhat frail and timid young student and nodded: "Alright."

After rising and bowing, Du Yu replied loudly, "Your Majesty, I believe that both of your answers are correct. However, for the court, the phrase 'entering China' means registering them as citizens." "If barbarians are registered as citizens, they become citizens of the Great Wei. If citizens of the Great Wei flee and hide, cutting themselves off from the Holy Dynasty, they are no different from barbarians."

Cao Rui smiled and said, "Your name is Du Yu, right? The son of Du Wubo?"

"That is indeed me," Du Shu replied, bowing respectfully.

Cao Rui asked, "If what you just said is true, if the Great Wei were to register the barbarians as commoners, which ones should be included and which ones should not?"

At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Du Yu. The pressure made Du Yu so nervous that his hands trembled slightly and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

In this split second, Du Yu had no time to think. He paused only a few moments before bowing and replying:

"Your Majesty, I believe it should be determined by prefectures and counties! The Qiang people of Yong, Liang, and Qin prefectures, who live within the prefectures and counties of the Great Wei, have already been included in the registered population. The Yue people of Yangzhou and Jiangzhou in Jiangnan, and the Wuxi Man people of Xiangzhou, who also live within the prefectures and counties of the Great Wei, should all be included in the registered population!"

"As for the barbarians living outside the borders of prefectures and counties, such as the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes north of You and Yi, they should not be included in this category."

Cao Rui smiled and exchanged a glance with Wang Xiong, then looked at Du Yu: "Du Yu, the boundaries of prefectures and counties are artificially drawn; there are no boundaries in this world. The Southern Xiongnu tribes have lived in Bingzhou for a hundred years, and the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes straddle the borders, making it unclear. So how do you define them?"

Du Yu was so nervous that his back was soaked with sweat. After hesitating for a long time, he finally bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I do not know."

“It’s alright,” Cao Rui said, but he didn’t let Du Yu off the hook at all: “What the three of you just said was only the first half of the sentence, ‘Barbarians enter China and become Chinese.’ But if the people of Wei go to other places, outside the territory of Wei, how should we judge them?”

This question was not beyond the scope of the curriculum. Du Yu thought for a few seconds and then answered: "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king. No matter where the people of the Great Wei go, they should all be under the jurisdiction of the Great Wei."

Cao Rui then pressed further, "What if there are no Wei government offices there?"

Du Yu said, "Then we can establish an official office there."

"Good." Cao Rui nodded with a smile, clapped his hands, and then gestured for Du Yu to sit down. He then addressed everyone in the Jixian Hall, saying, "I came to the Imperial Academy today and heard you students discussing state affairs. Regardless of your views or perspectives, they were all loyal and sincere words of advice for the sake of the Great Wei. I am very pleased."

"I am now preparing to return to the Northern Palace. The students' discussions shall continue. From this day forward, every discussion in the Imperial Academy shall be compiled into a book, which I will personally review."

After saying this, Cao Rui nodded to everyone, then turned and walked out of the Jixian Hall.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Cheng quickly gestured to the group of students, who all bowed and shouted in unison, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty!"

The carriage slowly departed from the Imperial Academy and returned to the North Palace.

The next morning, in the study of Beigong.

The small study was already packed with more than ten people. Among them were four Grand Secretaries and Ministers of the Imperial Secretariat: Pei Qian, Wang Su, Wang Xiong, and Cui Lin; Wei Zhen, Right Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat; Huang Quan, Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat; Li Yan, Minister of Civil Affairs; Wang Ling, Minister of War; Qin Lang, Minister of Personnel; Liu Ye, Privy Councilor; Xu Shu, Vice Privy Councilor; Jiang Ji, Governor of Yangzhou; and two Gentlemen-at-Arms, Li Xi and Zhuge Xu, who were sitting in a corner taking notes on the discussion.

The crowd sat upright on the seats on both sides, awaiting the emperor's arrival.

These officials only knew that the emperor had visited the Imperial Academy the day before, but they were unaware of what had happened inside the academy.

Seeing this, Jiang Ji wondered if it was related to the debate about the Chinese and barbarians that the students at the Imperial Academy had been discussing the previous day. (End of Chapter)