Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Sima Shi kept his word and said thirty days, and he did.

Sima Shi set off from Hepu County, Hepu Commandery on June 23. He traveled north from Hepu to Yulin Commandery, then entered the Xiang River via the Ling Canal, entered the Yangtze River at Baqiu, and arrived at Jiangling. He then traveled north by land to Xiangyang, passed through Nanyang, and entered Luoyang.

They arrived in Luoyang on July 23.

Sima Yi originally planned to leave Luoyang and return to Wuhan at the end of July, but unexpectedly his trajectory overlapped with that of his eldest son, whom he had not seen for many years.

Upon learning that his father was still in Luoyang, Sima Shi only sent someone home to inform him, and did not have time to go home. He went to the Privy Council to report immediately.

Sima Shi was a military commander, not a prefectural or county official like Shi Bao, so he naturally had to report to the Privy Council rather than the Ministry of Personnel.

Privy Councilor Liu Ye was recuperating during this period, only coming to the Privy Council for a morning duty every other day, and resting at home the rest of the time. After meeting Sima Shi, the Deputy Privy Councilor Xu Shu asked him a few simple questions and then led him to the study in the North Palace to meet the emperor.

"Your subject Sima Shi pays respects to Your Majesty!" Sima Shi knelt down and kowtowed, performing a grand ceremony of worship.

"Rise, and have a seat." Cao Rui stared at Sima Shi's face for a moment, then asked calmly, "Ziyuan, what does the General have to report to you?"

Sima Shi thanked the emperor and stood up. He carefully sat down on the chair that the Tiger Guard had brought over. He dared not be negligent in the slightest and carefully and meticulously recounted all the current situation in Jiaozhou that he knew, without omitting anything. At the same time, he reported Guanqiu Jian's request for the fleet.

Cao Rui nodded, looking at Sima Shi's tanned, thin, and tired face, and asked, "Ziyuan, will you arrive in Luoyang on the 30th?"

"Yes. I departed from Hepu County on the 23rd of June, and today is exactly the 30th day," Sima Shi replied, bowing.

“It has been truly arduous.” Cao Rui turned to look at Wang Xiong, the Chamberlain on duty that day: “I will reward you with 100,000 coins and 20 bolts of silk.”

"Yes," Wang Xiong replied.

Sima Shi quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness."

"It's alright, Ziyuan has worked extremely hard along the way, he deserves this reward." Cao Rui's face remained expressionless as he continued, "You estimated the rebel forces in Jiaozhou to be over 30,000, do you have any basis for that?"

Sima Shi cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, the local officials captured during the recapture of Fuhepu all said that the traitor Sun Deng led 10,000 elite soldiers when he entered Jiaozhi from the south, and that this was the real deal. General Guanqiu and I both believe that 10,000 soldiers is not an exaggeration, but they are probably not elite soldiers. We estimate that Shu will not support Sun Deng, and that his 10,000 men may have been mixed with barbarian soldiers from the south."

"Besides the troops of the traitor Sun Deng, there are 5,000 soldiers in Hepu County alone, and it is said that there are more than 10,000 soldiers in Jiaozhi County. In addition, there are the two counties of Rinan and Jiuzhen, so the total number of troops should be at least 30,000."

Seeing that the emperor remained silent, Sima Shi continued, "However, we all believe that the soldiers of Jiaozhou are not strong enough. Although they number 30,000, they are still no match for us. Once General Guanqiu leads his troops to Jiaozhi, the enemy will be routed."

"However, the land route is too long and treacherous. Even if the army is elite, it will suffer too much loss of combat strength when it travels thousands of miles in Jiaozhou during the summer and autumn. Therefore, we abandon the old strategy of advancing by land and water with Ma Yuan and instead follow the old strategy of advancing by water like Lu Dinggong."

Cao Rui nodded slightly: "I understand what you mean."

"Did the general in charge tell you how confident he was of winning?"

Sima Shi replied solemnly, "Your Majesty, once the army arrives in Jiaozhi, the enemy can be defeated within a month!"

"Good!" Cao Rui laughed, "Zhong Gong is indeed bold and generous."

Cao Rui then looked at Xu Shu and asked, "Where is Chen Ben's fleet now?"

After a moment's thought, Xu Shu cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, as previously agreed, the fleet will depart from Haixi in early September to transport rice from Yangzhou to Zhouhu, as well as to relocate the first batch of 3,000 soldiers and civilians to the western coast of Japan. As requested by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, this relocation will begin in Yangzhou."

"Depart in early September?" Cao Rui thought for a moment: "If we order the matter to be temporarily postponed now, will it be in time? I think we should grant Zhong Gong's request to requisition this fleet."

Xu Shu lowered his head and thought for a few moments before replying, "It should be possible. However, the matter of relocating the people can be postponed, but the matter of transporting rice to the Zhouhu should not be delayed, as it is not good to let the Zhouhu go hungry."

"I have roughly calculated that the number of new ships in Chaohu is almost sufficient. However, a quarter of Chen Ben's fleet should be left behind, and these new ships should be taken along the route to Zhouhu Island."

"The remaining ships should be enough to transport eight thousand troops and several months' worth of supplies. However, Guanqiu Zhonggong still needs to make every effort to procure provisions in Jiaozhi to avoid running out of food if the delay continues." Sima Shi quickly stood up and bowed to Xu Shu: "I hope the Privy Councilor knows that General Guanqiu told me that there is no need to worry too much about provisions. Jiaozhou has abundant provisions, and as long as we can cross the sea, provisions will not be a problem!"

Cao Rui waved his hand: "Then let's do it that way. When will Chen Ben's fleet arrive at Haixi?"

Xu Shu said, "Late August."

Cao Rui pointed at Sima Shi: "Ziyuan, are you going to go directly back to Jiaozhou from Luoyang, or will you go south with Chen Ben's fleet?"

Sima Shi did not hesitate at all, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go south with Commandant Chen's fleet so that I can become familiar with the ships as soon as possible and benefit the army."

"Alright." Cao Rui nodded: "We'll arrive in Haixi at the end of August, so there's no rush. You can rest in Luoyang for three days before heading to Haixi."

"Your subject obeys the decree," Sima Shi replied, bowing respectfully.

Evening, at the Sima residence.

During his three years in Wuhan, Sima Yi traveled to Yangzhou several times on official business. His second son, Sima Zhao, served as the magistrate of Dantu County and accompanied his father for more than ten days each time. In addition, Sima Zhao was also sent to Wuhan by Jiang Ji on official business several times. Under the protection of these two men, Sima Zhao's official career was quite easy and comfortable.

Sima Shi, on the other hand, suffered even more. This trip to Luoyang left him utterly exhausted and haggard, a testament to his considerable hardship. Cao Rui's reward to him was a recognition of his diligent work ethic, unrelated to his surname.

It was late at night. In the study, the father and son sat facing each other at a small table. The two, who rarely drank alcohol, talked about the various trivial matters of the past few years.

Sima Yi slowly asked, "Ziyuan, you have spent three years in Jiaozhou, and you have also spent three years with Guanqiu Jian every day. What do you think of this man's talent and demeanor? How was your relationship with him?"

Sima Shi thought for a moment, then shook his head and smiled, "Well, this person is quite different from most of the ministers that my son knows."

"Oh?" Sima Yi raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Sima Shi said, "This person is extremely calm and composed in his work, even to the point of being rigid. But when faced with a major event, he becomes exceptionally fierce, insisting on his own opinion and refusing to yield an inch."

"Take the matter of sending troops to Hepu as an example. Zhu Yi, Shi Bao, and I all tried to persuade him to wait for the imperial reinforcements to arrive before sending troops. However, he refused to wait even a moment, citing his duty to defend the territory. He quickly sent troops to Yulin County and confronted the Hepu rebels from afar. But after arriving in Yulin County, he was not in a hurry to send troops. Instead, he spent a month in the county training his soldiers, practicing battle formations, and accumulating provisions before sending troops south. During the march, he was extremely decisive, launching attacks on Hepu day and night and successfully driving the Hepu rebels away."

"The son doesn't know whether this person's character is good or bad, so he can only introduce him to his father in this way."

Sima Yi was silent for a few moments: "How does this person treat his subordinates?"

Sima Shi said, "My relationship with me and other prefects is limited to official business. However, I have a close relationship with Zhu Yi, who is from Wu Commandery. After all, he is his chief clerk, and it was Zhu Yi who opened the city gate for him when he attacked Wu County. The two of them have a history."

Sima Yi remained silent for a long time. After drinking a cup of wine, he said to Sima Shi, "This man's method of warfare is rare, but not unheard of. He is somewhat similar to Xu Huang. Such a person is strict with himself and his subordinates. If it is for victory, such a person will not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of his subordinates."

"Since you have joined Chen Ben's fleet, try your best to manage the fleet for him and do not get involved in the land battles."

Sima Shi took a deep breath and nodded: "Your son understands."

Sima Yi then said, "There is one more thing. Do you know that Zi Shang has given birth to a son? He is named Sima Zhao."

"Oh? Is that so?" Sima Shi couldn't help but beam with joy: "I just received a reward in the palace today, and I will have someone send it to Dantu tomorrow as a congratulatory gift for the birth of my nephew."

Sima Yi stared at Sima Shi's face for a few seconds, then snorted coldly: "You're still laughing? Zi Shang had a son, and Xiahou Taichu also had a son in May. You now have no son of your own, is that an act of filial piety?"

"I will have someone escort Hui'er to Panyu for you another day!"

Sima Shi gave an awkward smile. (End of Chapter)