Chapter 133: The Western Frontier
Lu Xun thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that the King of Wu is unwilling to hand over the remaining captives to Wei, but that he simply cannot."
Liu Ye interrupted and said, "This is ridiculous! Didn't Sun Quan dominate the Jiangdong area? They are just captives, so he must not want to give them to you. But how can he not give them to you?"
Lu Xun looked at Liu Ye and said, "Your Majesty just called you Liu Shizhong, so I guess you must be Liu Ziyang?"
Liu Ye nodded and said, "It is me. Could you please explain why Sun Quan cannot give us these prisoners?"
Lu Xun looked helpless and said, "The King of Wu really couldn't give them back then. All the captured Wei soldiers were distributed by the King of Wu to the generals, and they became farmers in their own fiefdoms."
When the word "Fengyi" was mentioned, Liu Ye stood up, bowed to the emperor, and began to introduce the Fengyi system.
Liu Ye said: "Your Majesty, Wu is not loyal to the king, and its military system is quite different from that of Wei."
"The so-called Fengyi means that one or several counties are granted to the general as Fengyi, which is almost equivalent to a real seal. The county chiefs of the granted Fengyi are appointed by the general, and the income and taxes are also used by the general to support his troops."
"I remember that the earliest fiefdom of Dongwu was in the early years of Jian'an, when Sun Quan gave all four counties around Wu County to Zhu Zhi as fiefdoms to support Zhu Zhi's own troops. The country was small and the army was weak, but the warriors became powerful, and that was how Dongwu's fiefdoms became."
Cao Rui nodded, looked at Lu Xun and said, "Mr. Lu, is this what Minister Liu said?"
Lu Xun instinctively defended himself: "Your Majesty, Liu Ziyang's words are only one-sided and cannot fully explain the matter."
"Oh? Then please tell me about it." Cao Rui replied.
Lu Xun said: "Jiangdong is not like the Central Plains. The people in various places have not recovered, and they have just experienced war and cannot collect heavy taxes. The grain and grass produced in the fiefdoms are all for military use. Moreover, the fiefdoms are often on the front lines of border counties. In order to defend the fiefdoms, the generals and their subordinates will also fight to the death."
Cao Rui nodded as if he suddenly understood something: "Back then, the former Grand Marshal Cao Ren attacked Ruxu. Was Ruxu the fief of Zhu Huan?"
Lu Xun nodded and said: "Chao County where Ruxu is located and Wuhu County across the river are exactly Zhu Huan's fiefdoms."
Cao Rui asked again: "Can the fiefdoms be inherited like the military units?"
Lu Xun said: "Military rights can sometimes be inherited, but most of the time the King of Wu will take them back or transfer them to other generals. And fiefs cannot be inherited, and will be taken back when the general dies."
Cao Rui sighed and said, "Is that so? I heard that Zhu Huan could remember the names of all his troops. Now that Zhu Huan is dead, it seems that his troops and fiefdoms will be in the hands of others."
Facing the emperor's casual remark about the battle situation, Lu Xun opened his eyes wide: "Zhu Xiumu is dead? How did he die?"
Cao Rui did not call Liu Ye to answer, but raised his chin towards Huang Quan, who then said knowingly, "Zhu Huan was killed in the battle of Guache on the day of the attack by Xiahou Ru's troops in the central army."
Lu Xun recalled the day when Zhu Huan was ordered to counterattack the trailer and his heroic figure in front of everyone, and his eyes turned red for a moment.
Lu Xun bowed and asked, "I would like to ask Your Majesty, how many Wu soldiers were captured by Wei in this battle?"
Huang Quan answered again: "In this battle, we captured about 50,000 Wu soldiers, and they have all been taken to Shouchun."
Lu Xun took a deep breath, and his body seemed to shake.
Cao Rui saw Lu Xun's expression and did not give him time to react. He continued, "Mr. Lu, I want to ask you again. In the 14th and 18th years of Jian'an, Emperor Wu twice tried to relocate the people of Jianghuai to the Central Plains. Most of the local people fled to the Eastern Wu."
"How did Dongwu do this?"
The emperor did not ask about the secrets of the Eastern Wu, and all he asked about were things from the early years. There was no need for Lu Xun to hide such things, so he just answered directly.
Lu Xun said, "Your Majesty, there are many local scholars and noble families in Jiangdong. When the imperial court wanted to relocate people to the north, these noble families took the lead and moved to Jiangdong. Almost all the people in the Huainan counties left."
Cao Rui asked: "What about the local people? Did they all follow the great clans?"
Lu Xun shook his head and replied, "How could there be any ordinary farmers there? The Jianghuai region has been in turmoil for a long time. First, there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion, then there was the Yuan Shu Rebellion. After Yuan Shu, there were many bandits and robbers, as well as plagues and floods. Later, the Wei Dynasty and Jiangdong went to war."
"Huainan was not as stable as the Central Plains, so ordinary people could not survive there. Almost all of them became tenants of the local wealthy families. When the wealthy families left, everyone else left with them."
In fact, Lu Xun's statement was quite unexpected to Cao Rui.
Regardless of the dynasty, it has almost become an instinct to blame the enemy when something goes wrong. When discussing this matter before, Cao Rui and his ministers thought that the Eastern Wu had used some tricks or spread some rumors that Cao's army would massacre the people.
However, they ignored the fact that the local people were not like those in the Central Plains, and almost all of them followed the big families. Of course, the local big families migrated south to Soochow, and the influence of Soochow was not small.
Cao Rui began to ask the last question: "Mr. Lu, I have one last question for you. This time, the Wei Dynasty fought with Sun Quan and recovered Wancheng, Qiankou and Wankou. I want to follow the example of Ruxu and build a fortress at Qiankou and cultivate land between Wancheng and Songzi."
"Mr. Lu, you have been in Jiangdong for many years. What is your opinion on this matter?" Lu Xun originally thought that the last question would be as insignificant as the previous two questions, but the emperor's question obviously involved current affairs.
And were Qiankou and Wankou both captured? Fortunately, the Jiangdong navy was still there, and the Wei soldiers could not cross the river for a while.
Lu Xun thought for a moment and was unwilling to give any opinions or suggestions, so he tried to evade the question: "I don't know the answer to this question. However, Wancheng is surrounded by four battlegrounds, and I'm afraid that Wei may not be able to defend it."
Cao Rui narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Xun. Did Lu Xun really have confidence in Dongwu at this time, or was he simply being stubborn and expressing his hostility?
Cao Rui shook his head and said, "I asked you questions with good intentions, but Lu Qing was unwilling to tell me the truth. Well, I won't ask too much of you."
"However, Lu Qing, you are not a fool. Sun Quan used the Yangtze River to separate the north and the south, and occupied Jingzhou and Yangzhou, making it impossible for the country to be unified and the people to work without peace. Do you think Sun Quan was right to do this?"
Lu Xun took a deep breath and looked at the emperor: "Your Majesty was born in the Central Plains, so you can naturally persuade Jiangdong to surrender in the name of justice. If your Majesty was born in Jiangdong and Sun was born in the Central Plains, would your Majesty abandon Jiangdong?"
Obviously, what Lu Xun said was obviously meant to retort him. But Cao Rui did not get angry. Instead, he shook his head slightly and looked at Lu Xun again: "What does it have to do with your Lu family if the Sun family refuses to surrender?"
"Mr. Lu, let me be frank with you. You led the Wu army to fight against the Wei army. The generals of the Wei army have repeatedly advised me to use your head to sacrifice to the dead soldiers, but I stopped them again and again."
"I didn't want to persuade you to surrender, but I just thought of something and decided to give you a chance."
"If you surrender, I will not restore your high position as governor, but I will still let you serve the country as a 2,000-stone official, and will not let you lead the army to fight against the Eastern Wu. When the Great Wei conquers Jiangdong in the future, your Lu family will also have a good future."
"If you don't surrender, then there will be no fate between you and me as king and subject. Once you leave my door, your head will be sent to all the counties."
"I have shown you the way. It is up to you which way to choose."
Lu Xun stood still, took a deep breath, and his mind became more and more confused. Jiangdong, Xiling, the army, the Sun family, the Lu family... For a moment, his mind was in a mess.
After a moment, Lu Xun seemed to have made a great decision and said, "I have two questions. Your Majesty, please answer them."
Cao Rui didn't say anything, but raised his hand to signal Lu Xun to speak.
Lu Xun said with a slightly trembling voice: "May I ask how Your Majesty will treat the Wu soldiers captured in this battle?" After all, these Wu soldiers were captured because of me, and he also wanted to know how Wei would treat them.
Cao Rui didn't waste any more words: "Tuntian!"
Lu Xun swallowed his saliva and continued to ask: "May I ask, Your Majesty, where do you want me to serve?"
Cao Rui stared straight into Lu Xun's eyes and said, "If you surrender, I will let you go to Liangzhou to serve as the Protector of the Qiang."
Seeing that the two questions had been asked, Lu Xun had no more time to hesitate. He took a long breath and knelt on the ground, saying, "I am willing to serve the country."
Lu Xun paid homage with great respect, and Cao Rui stared at Lu Xun's hair crown for a few moments. Then he sighed softly, slowly stood up from his seat, adjusted his robes, and turned to walk to the back hall.
At this time, in the hall, Lu Xun heard the emperor's footsteps going away, and for a moment he didn't know what to do. Liu Ye and Huang Quan looked at each other, then stood up and left.
In the end, it was Xiahou Xuan who helped Lu Xun to rise up.
……
Liangzhou, Wuwei, and Guzang City.
The Central Plains is still cold in February, and February in Liangzhou is much colder than that in the Central Plains.
After all, it is a border county, far away from the Central Plains and Luoyang. Usually there are not many people from the Central Plains here, and the officials in the governor's office are all from Liangzhou.
Before Xiahou Ba came to take office, Liangzhou had been without a governor for several years. After the death of Zhang Ji, the previous governor of Liangzhou, the government affairs of Liangzhou were managed by Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou next door.
Guo Huai is suitable to be a general, but he is even less qualified for civil affairs. He is already busy with the affairs of this province, so how can he have the extra time to manage Liang Province?
Therefore, for several years, Liangzhou was actually managed by the governors of each county.
There is a sense of autonomy from the classical era.
Xiahou Ba had been in the army since he was a teenager, and he had not had much contact with scholars. In Guzang, there were not many people from the Central Plains, so the relationship between Xiahou Ba, the governor of Liangzhou, and Sima Fu, the lieutenant of the Ministry of Finance, became increasingly close.
Guzang City is an important town in Liangzhou, and its scenery is different from that of the Central Plains. Guzang has never had a curfew, and there is still a night market after dark, and the wine shops along the street are also open.
Xiahou Ba had made an appointment with Sima Fu long ago. After nightfall, the two dressed in casual clothes and accompanied by several guards, strolled towards the Guzang Night Market at a leisurely pace.
(End of this chapter)
