The court meeting was held in the morning and Wang Lang also left in the morning. After the express horse left Luoyang and headed east, it returned to Luoyang after dark, and the emperor saw the result the next morning. "What did Situ Wang say? Who did he recommend?" Cao Rui looked curiously at Liu Fang who had just walked in from outside. "Your Majesty," Liu Fang said with a bow, "Situ Wang recommends himself to the court." Cao Rui sighed: "After meeting Situ Wang today, I finally understood what it means to take on the responsibility!" "Mr. Liu, who do you think should be chosen for this matter? Should we use Wang Situ, or the person recommended by the court recently?" Liu Fang thought for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, I think that revising the law is not difficult, it is just complicated." "As the first important thing for the court to do in the first year of Taihe, the revision of laws is obviously a very good political achievement. However, the revision of laws is not like fighting a war, where success or failure is clearly determined." "It's nothing more than two possible outcomes: one is repaired better, the other is repaired less well." Cao Rui frowned and said, "What Liu Qing means is that it depends on who I want to give the credit to?"
"That's right." Liu Fang replied respectfully. "I know what you mean." Cao Rui nodded gently: "Liu Qing, go ahead and call the people from the West Pavilion and the East Pavilion for me." "As you command, I'll take my leave." Liu Fang slowly retreated. After a while, Cao Zhen, Dong Zhao, Sima Yi and Wei Zhen all entered the study. "Everyone, sit down. Everyone, sit down." Cao Rui frowned and pointed to the chairs on both sides. Without hesitation, several people sat down and looked at the emperor. "Two things." Cao Rui tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. "The first thing is that Sun Quan submitted a petition for peace." Cao Rui looked at General Cao Zhen and said, "General, Sun Quan's memorial was sent to the palace from Shouchun. General, please explain the whole story to the other ministers." Cao Zhen nodded and said, "Everyone, the Wei Central Army returned from Wankou in early February, and Jia Kui's confrontation with Sun Quan in Wankou continued until March." "Just at the end of last month, Sun Quan sent an envoy to deliver a letter, saying that he wanted to seek peace with Wei and asked if he could send an envoy to Luoyang." Cao Rui asked: "I don't quite understand this. If Sun Quan wanted to seek peace with Wei, why didn't he just send an envoy? Instead, why did he submit a petition to explore the way first?" After a moment's silence, Sima Yi replied: "Your Majesty, I think Sun Quan is entangled in the issue of etiquette and law." "After Sun Quan rebelled against Wei in the third year of Huangchu, he set up a new era name in Jiangdong and violated the rules in terms of palace ceremonies, which clearly showed his intention to usurp the throne." "After Sun Quan's defeat in Wancheng, although no further news has been received, I believe that Sun Quan still needs to spend a lot of effort to stabilize the internal situation. If the relationship between Sun Quan and Wei is not handled well, I am afraid there will be a danger of internal collapse." Cao Rui replied: "What kind of danger of collapse?" Sima Yi explained: "Your Majesty, Sun Quan's separatist rule is based on the geographical advantage of occupying the Yangtze River. Now that Jia Kui is at the mouth of Wan, it is only a matter of time before he builds ships to enter the river." "The foundation of the Eastern Wu state is not stable, and with so many troops lost this time, if we don't withdraw our efforts to stabilize the internal situation, there will be a risk of internal troubles. The Sun family has many enemies!" Cao Rui nodded and said, "Prince Kong is right! The so-called peace that Sun Quan mentioned actually only has two options: 'surrender' and 'ceasefire'."
"If they surrender, they will need to follow the Great Wei's 'Taihe' era name, and Sun Quan's own 'Huanglong' era name will not be used. If so, the people of Dongwu will surely be frustrated." "If we call for a ceasefire, then there is still the question of whether Wei should respond or not. A ceasefire actually needs a reason." "I think there is no need to dwell on this matter." Dong Zhao interrupted, "Right now, the Wei Dynasty urgently needs to recuperate and does not want to go to war with the Eastern Wu again in the short term." "Whether it's surrender or peace, it's all about a ceasefire. It really has no impact on the current national situation of our Great Wei. It won't even have much impact on public opinion." "Just ask Sun Quan's envoy to come to Luoyang! We can discuss the specific matters later!" Cao Rui looked at Dong Zhao and asked, "Mr. Dong, do you think it doesn't matter? Let Sun Quan send someone first?" Dong Zhao nodded. Cao Rui added: "Why do I feel that Sun Quan is stalling for time? The request for surrender or peace should have started in February, but he only sent an envoy to Wei in March." "If we continue to fight with the envoy for a while, it will probably be autumn!" "Gentlemen." Cao Rui looked at the four people and said, "Who among you can guarantee that Sun Quan will not send people to attack Wankou or Xiangyang when he is negotiating peace with us?" "Isn't it that you all have not forgotten the example of Guan Yu?" Cao Zhen and Sima Yi looked at each other. Who could forget such a thing? The King of Wei did a great job in helping Wei to escape the siege of Xiangfan! Cao Rui explained: "Since Sun Quan has established his own territory, in my opinion, it doesn't matter whether he submits to Wei or not. Sooner or later, we will have to pacify him." Cao Zhen asked: "What does your majesty mean?" Cao Rui waved his hand: "I am not saying that this must be the case. Are you still discussing this with the ministers?" "I want to say that if we do not negotiate peace and do not accept Sun Quan's nominal surrender, can we just not have any contact with Sun Quan?" Cao Zhen frowned: "Even when Emperor Wu fought against Sun Quan many times, there was no severance of communication! It was just a matter of fighting and making peace from time to time." Cao Rui replied: "Didn't the Minister of Works just say that Sun Quan must need time to stabilize the internal situation? If we cut off communication with Sun Quan, will the internal situation of Dongwu become more tense?" Sima Yi said: "I understand your majesty's meaning, but I am afraid that this approach will have limited effect. It is better to accept Sun Quan's nominal surrender, which can also make the internal tension of Dongwu tense." "It's not possible without communication..." Cao Rui thought for a while, then asked: "Then why do we have to wait for Sun Quan's envoy to come to Wei? Can I send someone to talk to Sun Quan?" Seeing that the four people were all confused, Cao Rui explained: "Shouldn't Sun Quan be worried about the internal affairs now? It would be okay for me to send someone to take a look, right?" "And when Sun Quan sent someone to Luoyang, how much authority did the envoy have and how much could he decide for Sun Quan?" "But if I send someone to find Sun Quan, there will be more things I can do. For example, I can invite Sun Quan to attack Shu together, or intimidate Sun Quan to cede land, or make Sun Quan pay annual tribute." Annual tribute? The four people present were puzzled for a moment. Sima Yi bowed and asked, "May I ask your Majesty, what does the annual tribute mean?" "The so-called annual tribute is to let Sun Quan buy peace with money and food." Cao Rui explained: "I ask the Minister of Works three questions." Sima Yi said, "Your Majesty, please speak." "In Wancheng, was it Sun Quan who lost, or was it me who lost?" "Is it Sun Quan who doesn't want to fight, or is it me who doesn't want to fight?"
"Is it Sun Quan's internal instability, or is it me who is internally unstable?" Without waiting for Sima Yi to answer, Cao Rui continued, "It is obvious that Sun Quan wants peace! Since Sun Quan wants peace, isn't it reasonable for him to pay some money or tribute?" While Sima Yi was still thinking, Cao Zhen burst into laughter. "Your Majesty has pushed Sun Quan into a corner!" Cao Zhen laughed and said, "Whether he gives or not, it will be painful enough." "It's just a suggestion!" Cao Rui said with a smile, "As for whether it can be accomplished, we can talk about it later." Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I think it is possible." The other three also responded. "Then let's select an envoy to go to Jiangdong in the next few days!" Cao Rui said, "There is a second thing, which is more important than the first." What could be more important than making peace with Sun Quan? Cao Rui did not keep the secret and said slowly: "The second thing is that Huang Quan impeached the Yingchuan Diannong Duwei in Yuzhou." "Huang Quan's memorial was sent directly to me, so I will briefly explain it to you all." The four of them looked at the emperor, and Cao Rui's expression gradually became serious. Cao Rui said: "After Huang Quan left Luoyang in early March, he went directly to Yingchuan County from Xingyang and Xinzheng." "Huang Quan stayed in Yingchuan County for the entire month of March, and visited Changsha, Yanling, Xuchang, Yingyin, Linying, Kunyang, and Wuyang counties to inspect agriculture and military farming." Sima Yi keenly noticed that the emperor mentioned the county of "Wuyang" and Sima Yi himself was granted the title of Marquis of Wuyang. Cao Rui continued, "After Huang Quan inspected Yuzhou for more than half a month, he wanted to rectify the Xuchang military farm issue first. However, he found that many of the military farm officials in Xuchang deceived their superiors and tried to obstruct Huang Quan's investigation." "Xuchang Diannong Schoolmaster, Linghu Yu." Cao Rui looked at the four people present and asked, "Do you know this person?" Sima Yi responded: "Your Majesty, I know this person." "Sikong, come and tell me." Cao Rui said. "As you wish." Sima Yi said, "Linghu Yu's original name was Linghu Jun. During the Huangchu period, he served as the Herong Guard General and was responsible for supervising the troops on the Hebei border." "At that time, Tian Yu, the commander of the Wuhuan Guard, had made great contributions in defeating the Hu people, but his words and actions violated Linghu Jun's jurisdiction, so Linghu Jun sent people to detain Tian Yu." "The late emperor was furious and changed Linghu Jun's name to Linghu Yu, and banished him to Xuchang to cultivate the land." Sima Yi asked, "Your Majesty, may I ask what crime Linghu Yu committed that led Huang Quan to impeach him?" Cao Rui replied: "Huang Quan initially asked the governor of Yingchuan to send people to investigate the issue of military farming in Xuchang, but Linghu Yu said that military farming was not under the jurisdiction of the county, but should be managed by the state." "After Huang Quan sent people to investigate, Linghu Yu also claimed that the Diannong Xiaowei was directly under the Grand Minister of Agriculture. The state should ask the Grand Minister of Agriculture to send people to assist in the investigation, otherwise he would not dare to respond." At this time, Wei Zhen cupped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, although Linghu Yu is abominable, this incident actually points out two problems in the system." Cao Rui looked at Wei Zhen and motioned for him to continue. Wei Zhen replied: "First, the local military farm officials are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Grand Minister of Agriculture, but the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture is still vacant in the court. The states generally only levy grain and corvée, but rarely interfere in the internal affairs of the military farms." "Secondly, should the affairs of military farming in various places be transferred to the state?" (End of this chapter)