Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"The Queen Mother is really too extravagant this time."

Cao Ke coughed and said, "After all, it is the royal family's etiquette. The betrothal gift has been given, and you just need to pay attention to it in the future. This matter should be over. Now it is better to talk about the affairs of the royal family. Although I came to Xuchang this time with the order of the Queen Mother, I also want to ask for instructions in person on the matter of settling down the family for the clan members."

Cao Rui said, "Okay, let's not talk about the betrothal gift. I already have more than 20 concubines in my harem, which is enough. I am not the kind of person who is obsessed with women."

"Let's talk about settling the Cao family down." Cao Rui coughed lightly, "One million is too much anyway."

"Minister Wei, how much do houses cost in big cities like Chang'an and Yecheng, as well as in provincial capitals like Wuwei and Jixian? Also, although the court prohibits land annexation, I also know that such things cannot be stopped. What is the price of private land transactions, land sales and land purchases?"

Now it was Wei Ji's turn to be called, and Sima Yi turned around and looked at Wei Ji with a slight smile.

"Let me think about it." Wei Ji hesitated for a moment before answering:

"Your Majesty, if we talk about the price of houses, Yecheng is more expensive than Luoyang. After all, it is a large city that has been stable for decades and has a larger population than Luoyang. The price of houses in Chang'an is lower, about half, but still not as high as Xuchang. And in remote places like Wuwei and Jixian, the price is only about 30% of that in Luoyang."

"As for the price of land, I am in the court in Luoyang, so I don't know the details at the moment. But I do know the price during the reign of Emperor Ling. According to the current prices, if the people buy and sell land now, the price should be lower than during the reign of Emperor Ling."

Hearing Wei Ji's slightly evasive and cunning answer, Cao Rui sneered helplessly and responded: "Okay, Minister Wei, you are an old minister. If you have the price from forty years ago, you can talk to me."

As the Minister of Civil Affairs, Wei Ji knew that it was one thing for the people to buy and sell land, but he could never say such things in front of the emperor. Who knew if the emperor would settle old scores with him later?

Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. It is never wrong to be careful, lest one's reputation be ruined in old age. The older the ministers, the more cautious they are in this regard. On the contrary, ministers like Sima Yi, who have been with the emperor for a long time, and the ministers of the imperial guards, such as the imperial attendants and the imperial guards, can speak their mind without hiding anything.

Politics without human touch will not last long, and the same is true for the emperor. Even if one is in a high position like the emperor, when necessary, he still needs to establish personal friendships with his ministers.

Wei Ji then said, "The actual price of so-called land varies greatly. The price of ordinary land ranges from a thousand coins to four or five thousand coins per mu. And the price of those fertile lands with excellent soil quality can even reach ten thousand coins per mu."

Cao Rui immediately responded: "My original intention in doing this was to allow the Cao family to flourish, not to raise a group of termites."

"One million is really too much. In my opinion, 200,000 yuan for each household is enough. Even if they use 100,000 yuan to buy a house and 100,000 yuan to buy land, it is enough for them to start a business. I am the emperor and the head of the clan, but I am not their parents. Besides, don't they have to work and get a salary to support themselves?"

Wei Ji, who had given some basis for the price, did not respond at this moment. And Cao Ke, the chief minister who sat next to Cao Rui, was also hesitant and speechless.

Neither of the two old ministers was willing to take any responsibility.

Seeing this, Sima Yi sighed inwardly, cupped his hands and said, "The Wei Kingdom has been established for ten years, and Emperor Wu has been in power for more than forty years. Even if the people of the world have no harvest, the Cao clan will not be short of rice."

"As far as I know, most of the clan members either have male members serving as generals in the army or as officials in various places in Jizhou. Of course, there are also mediocre people who are content to be rich men in Yecheng and Qiao County. As long as you are willing to work, there will always be a way out, and generally there is no shortage of money. Your Majesty, I think two hundred thousand is enough, and it is already a great favor from heaven."

What Sima Yi said makes sense indeed.

During the Huangchu period, although the system established by the previous emperor Cao Pi restricted the royal family from serving as officials, it only mainly restricted Cao Cao's sons and close royal family members. As for those who were slightly more distant and had the same surname Cao, Cao Pi only managed them in Yecheng, but did not restrict their military and civil service positions at all.

All I can say is that according to the glorious tradition of Han Dynasty officials treating Liu clan members, clan members can have a way out if they want one. But if they want special treatment, no way. Which serious official in the court dares to make such a move? Not only will they be criticized by their colleagues, but even their superiors will give them a hard time.

Cao Rui shook his head and said, "Zongzheng, Sikong's words are reasonable, but I also want to tell you in person that the amount of 200,000 was decided by me, not by you, Sikong, or anyone else."

"If they have any objections, they can come to me!"

Cao Ke immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Two hundred thousand is enough. I will explain everything to them. But even if it is two hundred thousand, the total amount will be twenty or thirty million coins. Should the Shaofu pay for this? Lu Zike has already told me that he has no money. I think he is not willing to pay this twenty or thirty million."

Cao Rui wanted to save money, and he was setting an example of frugality for the world. But when an emperor really wanted to spend money, why would he need to worry at all?
Cao Rui immediately pointed at Wei Ji and said, "Minister Wei, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will pay for this. You can talk to the Chief of the Imperial Clan later and get the money out as soon as possible."

Sima Yi raised his eyebrows, obviously a little surprised. Cao Ke wanted money, but he didn't care where the money came from, so he immediately turned his head and looked at Wei Ji.

Wei Ji was in a dilemma at this moment: "Your Majesty, according to the court's laws, the Ministry of Civil Affairs should not pay this money, it should be the Ministry of the Imperial Household."

"May I write a letter to the Shaofu and send it to Luoyang to inquire about it, and then discuss this matter with the Zongzheng?"

Cao Rui squinted in the direction of Wei Ji, looked him up and down, and then said firmly: "No, it's a matter of 20 or 30 million yuan. If I ask you to pay, you pay it. Don't give me any excuses."

"Compared with the Han Dynasty, the Wei Dynasty has fewer fiefdoms. I have saved a lot. Do you want me to settle with you? My family affairs are state affairs. The arrangements for the Cao clan are no different from other state affairs. Minister Wei will handle it according to your order." Wei Ji could no longer play dumb. He slowly stood up from his seat and bowed:
"I accept your order. Your Majesty, the Ministry of Civil Affairs is not well-off this year. We have already spent a lot of extra money on the expedition against the Gongsun bandits in Liaodong in the first half of the year. This year, there are also floods and wars. Can this matter be delayed a bit, starting from next year, and paying it out in two years?"

Cao Rui nodded slightly: "Minister Wei is reasonable with me, so I will be reasonable with you too. Let's do it over two years. However, the money cannot be paid over two years, but the people can be moved over two years."

"Zongzheng, is this arrangement good?"

How could Cao Ke dare to say no? He just agreed.

……

At the same time, Qinzhou, Wudu County, Wujie.

As the Sima of Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang General, Zhou Duo and Zhou Jining were also hurriedly commanding their 1,000 Qiang cavalry to evacuate Wujie and return to Dazhong.

Although the Wei Dynasty took Qinzhou and Hanzhong, not everything went smoothly on the western front. Wujie was one such place.

Wujie, located in the southwest of Xiabian, is an important place at the intersection of Xiabian, Dazhong and Baishui. When Hanzhong was recovered in the second year of Taihe, the emperor withdrew his troops back to Henan. He made many plans for the development of Qinzhou and Hanzhong with General Cao Zhen and his subordinates in Chencang City, Yongzhou.

The plan proposed to build cities in two strategic locations. In Wuxing, which connects Chencang and Hanzhong, a city called Wuxing Pass should be built according to the standards of Yangping Pass. In Wujie, further west, a city similar to Qishan should be built.

When the war was about to start, everything was easy to talk about. All food, money, manpower, etc. had to be contributed to the army on the front line. But once the war was over, officials in charge of civil affairs and officials in charge of military affairs would immediately have disagreements over such matters.

At that time, Yang Fu, then the governor of Yongzhou, and Du Xi, the chief secretary of the general, had an argument in front of Cao Rui. The focus of the argument was, of course, how to provide the financial and manpower for building the city. Yang Fu said that the soldiers should build it themselves, while Du Xi said that civilians should be recruited to build it. Later, because Cao Rui fell ill, the matter was delayed.

As Yang Fu was transferred back to the court, He Qia, who took over Yang Fu's position, naturally agreed to Cao Zhen's call for help and urgently mobilized people's manpower and resources to build Wuxing Pass. The 5,000 foreign troops led by Lu Pan were also stationed at Wuxing Pass.

Things are divided into priorities. Wuxing is the "urgent" one, while Wujie is the "slow" one.

If Wuxing was lost, the road connecting Qinzhou and Yongzhou to Hanzhong through Chencang Road would be cut off. Cao Zhen also personally supervised the completion of Wuxing City.

Wujie, however, is located further west and more remote, and the difficulty is not the same as Wuxing. In addition, the newly established Qinzhou is poorer and weaker, and there are more things to do with accepting Qiang people to cultivate land, which is really difficult. This was shelved until the third year of Taihe.

In the third year of Taihe, Zhuge Liang, who had been in Baishui, recovered for half a year and began to launch small-scale attacks. He even led his army to attack Dazhong in person.

Wujie was on the only way from Baishui to Dazhong. Before Wujie was completed, it was attacked and destroyed by Zhuge Liang. At the turn of summer and autumn, Zhang He and Chen Jiao mobilized people's manpower and resources to repair it, but they were stopped by Zhuge Liang again.

With five or six thousand soldiers stationed outside the city, how could Wei Yan concentrate on repairing the city? With the arrival of winter in the third year of Taihe and the shortage of food in Guanzhong in the fourth year of Taihe, the matter had to be postponed again.

Lu Xun sent his most capable subordinate Zhou Duo to Wujie, leading a thousand Qiang cavalry to garrison there. The ruined city could be abandoned at any time.

The day before yesterday, on the morning of the 28th, the Qiang cavalry on routine patrol in the southeast of Wujie discovered the traces of the Shu army's advance. After hearing the news, Zhou Duo led 50 cavalry to the front line to investigate, confirmed the news, and hurried back. At the same time, he sent soldiers to Zhang He in Xiabian to report the warning.

On the morning of the 30th, Zhou Duo led a thousand cavalrymen to retreat in a hurry. The road was only 150 miles long, and before midnight, Zhou Duo led dozens of cavalrymen to reach Dazhong first and met the Protector of the Qiang General Lu Xun in Dazhong City.

"Jin Ning is here?"

When Lu Xun learned that Zhou Duo wanted to see him, he put down the book in his hand, put on his outer robe and walked out of the bedroom to greet him. From a distance of two meters, he asked, "Jin Ning, what happened? Did the Shu army send a large army to attack again?"

Zhou Duo panted and bowed, "General, I learned the news on the 28th. I then led the cavalry to investigate southwest along the road. After confirming the matter, I led my troops to retreat to Dazhong this morning."

"Have you told Zhang Zhengxi?" Lu Xun asked as he stepped forward to support Zhou Duo.

"I have already told you. I have sent thirty cavalrymen to Xiabian." Zhou Duo said, "From what I have seen, the number of the Shu army is at least 10,000. The exact number of troops is beyond my knowledge."

Lu Xun stroked his beard and replied calmly: "This general estimates that there are at least 30,000 to 40,000 people."

"This..." Now it was Zhou Duo's turn to be surprised: "How did the general know this?" (End of this chapter)