Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

It was not common to hold a night banquet for ministers in the palace. The few times that it happened before were either to entertain important officials who came from afar to pay homage, or to have a banquet with royal family members and relatives.

This was the first time that a banquet was held for officials in the Xuchang Palace.

The imperial guards were flattered and thanked him repeatedly, feeling nervous and terrified. Sima Yi, the Minister of Works, Pei Qian, the Minister of the Court, and the more senior ministers also said goodbye and left.

"By the way, Sikong, I have something else to say." Cao Rui called out to Sima Yi who had just walked to the door.

Sima Yi turned around upon hearing the voice, bowed and asked, "I am here, please give me your instructions, Your Majesty."

Cao Rui said, "It's not urgent. The prime minister can send someone to do it later. The official papermaking workshop in Luoyang produces good Zuo Bo paper, but it has not been promoted to other places yet."

"Tomorrow, send a letter to the Luoyang General's Office to have them send some people to the capitals of various states to open papermaking workshops and teach the techniques. In addition, if anyone can improve the papermaking technique, the court can reward him with the title of Guannei Hou."

Sima Yi was no longer surprised by the emperor's sudden impulses, and immediately responded:
"As you wish, I will do it tomorrow."

After the ministers left, Cao Rui also walked out and walked into the palace, and the eight imperial guards followed closely behind him. Chen Ben, who had just recovered a little, felt that the emperor, who was not so serious at this time, looked more friendly.

After everyone left the palace, Sima Yi and Wei Ji got on the same carriage.

The two were called out from the banquet at Sima Yi's residence, so they were going back together. Not to continue the drinking party, but because Wei Ji's carriage and his son Wei Guan were still at Sima Yi's house.

The roads in Xuchang were worse than those in Luoyang and Yecheng. Even the roads outside the palace gate were slightly uneven. As the carriage moved forward, it kept bumping along.

This is not surprising.

After Emperor Wu of Han, Cao Cao, established his foundation, he set up the Bafu in Yecheng, Hebei instead of Xuchang. Xuchang was merely the capital of the Han Dynasty and a place to house Liu Xie, the last emperor of the Han Dynasty. It was already good enough to maintain the city defense. The Bafu was not willing to invest much money in Han officials, the old Han Palace, and construction in the city.

Wei Ji was leaning in the carriage, looking drunk just now, but after the curtain of the carriage was drawn, he immediately became alert.

Sima Yi laughed and said, "How come you sobered up as soon as you got on the carriage? I had to help you all the way here."

Wei Ji coughed twice and said, "I am sober now, but not now. When Your Majesty was scolding Chen Ben, I was already sobering up."

"That's right." Sima Yi said, "If you sober up halfway, I'm afraid His Majesty will ask you again, so it's better to avoid it."

Wei Ji nodded: "That's right. Zhongda, what is the purpose of His Majesty changing this document today? How can His Majesty care about such a trivial matter?"

Sima Yi glanced at Wei Ji and laughed at himself: "How can I know what your majesty's intention is?"

"Lord Bo Ju, although I am the Minister of Works and a cabinet minister, and I am more familiar with Your Majesty, I have never been able to understand Your Majesty's thoughts."

Wei Ji said: "But according to what Your Majesty said today, the reform of official documents does not seem to be a whim, but rather something that has been planned for a long time and was expressed through today's incident."

"Hmm?" Sima Yi asked back, "What does Lord Bo Ju want to say?"

Wei Ji said softly: "I wonder how many such things Your Majesty still has in mind, just waiting for an opportunity..."

"Be careful with your words!" Sima Yi shouted in a low voice, "Don't say anything more."

Wei Ji smiled and didn't seem to care.

Sima Yi said: "Today's matter is about official documents, and it is just official documents. Don't bring it up with other issues. As for how to sort out the details of the official documents, I will let Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel and Xu Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites do it tomorrow. Lord Bo Ju doesn't need to worry about it."

"Okay." Wei Ji said.

Sima Yi's tone was more relaxed: "Well, the wine and food should be cold. Go back and heat them up a little, and then you can go home. Your Wei Guan is really smart. At the age of ten, he can talk fluently and clearly in front of me. Lord Bo Ju should cultivate him well."

"The children of the family are the most important thing, and we must not slack off in the slightest."

Wei Ji laughed, stroked his beard and said, "Not even half as good as Ziyuan and Zishang."

Sima Yi also laughed a few times, and the carriage they were riding in gradually went away.

……

Different from the peaceful atmosphere in Xuchang City, thousands of miles away, in Wudu County of Qinzhou, the atmosphere was not relaxed when General Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang, faced the attack of the Shu Army.

On the night of the 30th, Zhou Duo returned to Dazhong from Wujie at night, and Dazhong City immediately began to prepare for defense. On the second day, Lu Xun ordered the entire army to be on alert, and sent his cavalry to the various places where the Qiang people settled near Dazhong, and welcomed more than 4,000 Qiang people living nearby to the city to help defend the city.

From the first day of October to the third day of October, there was still no sign of the Shu army.

Lu Xun was very smart, so he naturally didn't want to sit there and wait, so he personally led two thousand cavalrymen to investigate in the direction of Wujie.

It was a distance of 150 miles, and it took Lu Xun a day and a half to march.

At noon on the fourth day of October, Lu Xun led his army to Panduo Mountain, ten miles northwest of Wujie.

Lu Xun's troops had a total of 10,000 cavalrymen. This time, Lu Xun led 2,000 cavalrymen to explore, which was enough. Having more cavalrymen would not only be useless, but would bring greater trouble to the march and logistics.

At present, the person leading these two thousand Qiang cavalry is He Tang, who was the first to lead his troops to volunteer outside Linqiang City in Xiping County of Liangzhou in December of the first year of Taihe.

Over the past three years, He Tang has grown from an ordinary Qiang chieftain who knew nothing about military affairs to a qualified Sima of a thousand stones, commanding two thousand Qiang cavalry, which can be considered a low rank but a high position.

However, this is a common phenomenon in Lu Xun's army.

Among the ten thousand Qiang cavalrymen under Lu Xun, the two thousand cavalrymen led by Sima Hetang were the most elite ones, and also the headquarters of Lu Xun, the General Protecting the Qiang.

Among the other 8,000 light cavalry, in addition to the 1,000 cavalry led by Zhou Duo, the commander Zhi Wudai led 3,000 cavalry, and the two Simas Cao Ping and Zou Ling also led 2,000 each.

Zhi Wudai was a 1,000-stone Sima two years ago. When Zhuge Liang invaded last year, he was promoted to a 2,000-stone commander for his meritorious service and became a role model among the Qiang people. Cao Ping and Zou Ling were generals sent by General Cao Zhen from Chencang.

Ten thousand Qiang cavalrymen were led by such a general leader. If we make a comprehensive evaluation, their loyalty to the Wei Dynasty was trustworthy enough. These Qiang cavalrymen were drawn from various tribes and then mixed and dispersed to various tribes. They were definitely not composed of tribes like ordinary Hu people's armies.

In addition, Lu Xun's prestige among the Qiang people was also increasing.

For hundreds of years, the Han people who were respected by the Qiang people were, apart from ambitious men like Bian Zhang and Han Sui, and military men like Dong Zhuo and Ma Chao. They might be commended for leading troops in battles, but they did not bring any benefits to the various Qiang tribes.

As the Protector of Qiang of Wei, Lu Xun, as the emperor's brother-in-law, was stationed in Dazhong, and he had led troops from Liangzhou to support Longyou. This not only indirectly influenced the naturalization of Qiang people, but also allowed Qiang people to join the ranks of Wei's soldiers and start receiving food and wages.

If the officials of the Han Dynasty sitting in Luoyang had known this a hundred years earlier and treated the Qiang people as human beings and the same as ordinary people, perhaps the Han Dynasty would not have been bled to death by the Qiang rebellions time and time again.

Even without considering all of this, just mentioning this one point is enough.

The first emperor of Shu was defeated by our General Lu and died. How can a mere emperor and a powerful prime minister of Shu be a match for General Lu?

Although the logic is vague, the principle that if A defeats B and B is in a higher position than C, then A will definitely defeat C is still very simple and easy to understand.

Of course Lu Xun knew it, but he never explained a word.

The road from Dazhong to Wujie is surrounded by mountains on one side and water on the other. There are rocks and trees along the banks of the Qiang River, which is very dangerous. Compared with this road, Longyou and Chencang Road can be said to be flat and unobstructed.

At the foot of Panduo Mountain, the cavalry had just stopped to rest. He Tang rode his horse to Lu Xun's side, pulled the reins, bowed and asked carefully:
"General, this place is only ten miles away from Wudu. Should we stop for a while or continue to explore?"

Hetang dressed like a Han Chinese, and even his accent was the same as that of ordinary Han Chinese in Longyou. If you didn't remind him deliberately, you wouldn't be able to tell that he was a Qiang.

Lu Xun said, "Rest for a while. After half an hour, lead the army forward again. From what I see from the Shu army's current movements, they must be plotting something behind the scenes."

He Tang laughed heartily a few times and said, "What can you do if you have other plans? The general's military strategy in Xizhou is second to none. The former emperor of Shu was defeated by the general. How can Zhuge Liang, a mere prime minister, do anything to the general?"

"Just like last year, they must go back the same way they came!"

Lu Xun laughed and teased: "You have learned a lot of new things."

"How can I say I have learned it? I have learned a lot." Hetang said seriously: "The general invited a scholar from Qishan to come to Dazhong to teach. Now I can recognize 300 characters and can write a lot of large characters."

"Give me a few more years, and I'll be able to compose poetry!"

"You're thinking ahead." Lu Xun sneered, "Stop making noise. Go and reorganize the army and rest. We'll march in half an hour. We may have to fight later. Don't be careless to avoid any trouble."

"As you command." Seeing Lu Xun's order, He Tang did not delay any longer, turned his horse around and left. (End of this chapter)