Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

After an eight-day siege, Fucheng was finally captured without any doubt.

Of course, this also includes the time the Wei army spent hastily building siege equipment, reorganizing and resting its troops. The Wei army did not exert its full strength, but rather used the time of garrisoning troops in Fucheng to reorganize its forces. The army had been engaged in combat since July of last year, and many problems that had arisen within it still needed to be carefully examined.

In terms of fortification, Fucheng was second only to Chengdu among the major cities in Yizhou. Although Fei Yi was not skilled in military strategy, he was quite capable in dealing with people and affairs, which inspired his soldiers to strive to maintain the city, but the outcome was ultimately the same.

Lu Xun strode in from outside the tent, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, when the city fell, Shu general Fei Yi committed suicide, and General Cao's troops were unable to capture him. There are about three thousand captured Shu soldiers in the city, and it will take several hours to verify the exact number."

Cao Rui nodded: "Fei Yi got what he wanted, so he can be considered a loyal and righteous man. Boyan, please have him buried."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Lu Xun nodded in agreement, then asked, "Fucheng has fallen. News has come from Guo Zhengshu's troops that General Guanqiu and General Jiang's forces on the southern front have surrounded Guangdu and Xindu from the north and south, and General Jiang has already marched towards the outer city of Chengdu."

"Shouldn't Your Majesty consider moving south?"

Cao Rui countered, "Is the battle at Jiangyou over?"

"It's over." Lu Xun replied, "Your Majesty, Shu general Liu Yin has died in battle, and his remaining troops have surrendered. Deng Ai's troops, along with Wang Chang and Bei Yan's troops, are on their way back to Fucheng and will arrive tomorrow. Xu Shumi and Shu general Wang Ping's troops will arrive in Fucheng this afternoon."

Cao Rui thought for a moment and then slowly said, "Let's wait until Deng Ai's troops return before heading south."

"Yes," Lu Xun replied, bowing, and left.

In the afternoon, the troops under Xu Shu's command, led by Fei Yao and Chen Ping, arrived in Fu County.

As one of the few generals who surrendered during this battle, Cao Rui was to meet with Wang Ping.

Of course, before doing so, Yang Yi reported to Cao Rui, recounting his conversation with Wang Ping in its entirety, including Wang Ping's complaint that the title of "Miscellaneous General" was too low.

Cao Rui shook his head slightly, unconcerned: "Shu is a humble place, and Wang Ping doesn't recognize the prestige of officials in the Central Plains, so I don't blame him. Didn't Minister Yang already explain it to Wang Ping?"

"Yes." Yang Yi looked slightly embarrassed, as the emperor did not seem to appreciate his words of loyalty: "I have already spoken about the current matter of the court's bestowal of the title of general, and General Wang has also realized his mistake."

"That's good." Cao Rui said, "Minister Yang, step aside. Prince Xuan, please come in."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Yang Yi dared not object, bowed respectfully, and left.

Wang Ping, dressed in a brand-new military officer's robe and wearing a pheasant-feathered crown, bowed slightly and walked into the tent, kneeling and paying his respects.
"Your subject Wang Ping pays his respects to Your Majesty! I am of humble origin and ignorant of Your Majesty's ways. Fortunately, the Holy Dynasty has shown me mercy and is willing to employ me. I will do my utmost to serve Your Majesty and die without regret!"

Cao Rui laughed and said, "General Wang, please rise. I remember in the first year of Taihe, I led 50,000 central troops from Chang'an to rush to Longyou and defeated the Shu army at Lueyang. If I remember correctly, General Wang is right in front of me, isn't he? General Wang is good at defense, I know your strengths."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping knelt down again: "Your Majesty, I am guilty, please punish me!"

Cao Rui chuckled lightly, "That's all in the past. Great Wei has always been magnanimous, and I won't bring up those old grievances with you. I just want to ask you what your ambitions are. I asked Yang Wei the same question when he surrendered." "Ambitions?" Wang Ping silently repeated those two words.

Wang Ping kowtowed again: "Your Majesty, I am illiterate and ignorant of righteousness, but I know only to be loyal to the court. Whatever Your Majesty wishes me to do, I will do it without hesitation!"

"Very well." Cao Rui said, "Then I appoint you as General Guoyi and keep you under my command. We will discuss your duties after we have pacified the Shu Kingdom."

"Your subject accepts the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude!" Wang Ping kowtowed again.

For Cao Rui, his time living in Fuxian was quite pleasant. The imperial army had already besieged Chengdu, and all that remained was for the army to march south, either attack or force surrender, and the great matter would be quelled.

The next day, Wang Chang, Bei Yan, Deng Ai and others also arrived in Fu County from Jiangyou. Deng Ai knew that his military adventure had failed, so he came to the central command tent to apologize to Cao Rui.

"Your Majesty, I made no progress in Jiangyou and had to order the court to send a large army to help me defeat the Shu bandits. This is my fault." Deng Ai knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I have disappointed Your Majesty. Please punish me."

Cao Rui looked at Deng Ai and slowly nodded: "I originally used you to lead the army on this route because it was a risky move, a gamble on an unconventional opportunity. Since it is a gamble, the outcome is uncertain. That's how it is with troops. You can never see the result until you go into battle. I don't blame you."

"Thank you..." Deng Ai wanted to say thank you for Your Majesty's great kindness, but he was interrupted by Cao Rui's words as soon as he said the word.

"Although I don't blame you, I can see that your talent doesn't lie in military strategy." Cao Rui laughed. "You were promoted from Yuzhou by Minister Huang because you did a good job in supervising the grain and agricultural settlements. After being transferred to the Guanzhong region and entering the General's Office and the General of Chariots and Cavalry Office, you were mostly in charge of preparing and dispatching supplies and logistics, rather than using troops in military affairs."

"But if I were to say that you are completely unskilled in military strategy, you wouldn't agree, would you?"

Deng Ai raised his head, looking somewhat bewildered, unsure of what to say or what the emperor meant.

Cao Rui smiled in front of his officials and said, "In terms of governance, your talent is limited to logistics. In terms of military strategy, you may be better than ordinary generals, but I have not seen you win any battles. However, I do appreciate your talent, so I have chosen a place for you to display your abilities."

“Go to Ningzhou.” Cao Rui pointed to Deng Ai: “Ningzhou has just been established, and the court has not yet set up any administrative offices there. I will appoint you as the first governor of Ningzhou. After Chengdu is pacified, you will select soldiers from the surrendered Shu troops to go to Ningzhou.”

Huang Quan cupped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, the Ministry of Personnel believes that stationing 5,000 elite troops in Ningzhou is sufficient. In addition, we should conscript local soldiers from the south. More troops would be of no use and would only waste Ningzhou’s money and grain.”

"Yes, that's what I meant too." Cao Rui nodded. "Shizai, are you willing to go?"

Deng Ai was somewhat bewildered by Cao Rui and Huang Quan's words. It took him a while to come to his senses and realize that he was going to become the governor!

Although Ningzhou was too remote, and although it was not even as good as Jiaozhou or Guangzhou, and although it only occupied one-third of the former Yizhou's territory... it was still a prefecture!

"Your Majesty, I am willing to go!" Deng Ai kowtowed deeply. "Please instruct me, Your Majesty, on what I should do upon arriving in Ningzhou!"

Cao Rui nodded: "Ningzhou is different from other places in the imperial court. It is a vast area with a large population. As long as you can understand the situation of each prefecture within five years and establish the administrative system of each prefecture and county within ten years, I will be satisfied..." (End of this chapter)