Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 44 Luoshui Renewal of Oath
"How do I know that the Wei Dynasty can't wait?"

Cao Rui pointed at the Luo River and looked at his ministers with a serious face: "Have you seen the leaves floating on the Luo River? One leaf falling is a harbinger of autumn. As the ruler of the Great Wei, I have seen some signs."

"It is these repeated failures in conquering Shu and Wu that have taught me this."

"What does Shu Han want? Minister Liu once said something, and I remember it very clearly."

Cao Rui read out slowly: "'Although Shu is small and weak, Bei intends to strengthen himself through force, and will certainly use the people to show his strength.' Liu Bei was like this back then, and Zhuge Liang, who was born in Jingzhou and ruled Yizhou, would be even more like this. How could he not send troops when faced with internal and external troubles?"

Cao Rui looked at Cao Zhen and said, "General, you are most familiar with the Yongliang area. How long has it been since you fought with Shu Han?"

Cao Zhen solemnly bowed and replied, "There has been no major battle for about six or seven years."

Cao Rui said: "Yes, have you ever thought about this? If Wu and Shu put aside their past grudges and jointly attack the north, and Huainan sends out more than 100,000 troops and Qishan sends out another 50,000 or 60,000 troops, how should we respond?"

"General, Sima Qing, do you think the central army can handle it?"

Sima Yi thought for a moment and slowly shook his head.

Cao Rui then said: "What about Dongwu? Dongwu wants nothing more than a great victory and military merit, so that Sun Quan can follow in Liu Bei's footsteps and become emperor!"

"You said that Sun Quan has ruled Jiangdong for more than 20 years. He must have been patient for at least 10 or 8 years. How anxious must Sun Quan be? Even if Wei does not move, he will definitely attack."

"General, what do you think of Wei's record in attacking Wu?"

Seeing that Cao Rui used him as a tool for reporting the war, Cao Zhen felt helpless, but still responded: "Emperor Wu crossed Chaohu Lake four times, and the previous emperor attacked Dongwu three times, but there was no major strategic achievement."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "That's it. Taking advantage of this autumn day and the Luo River, I want to be honest with you today and set a ten-year deadline with you."

"I will strengthen the border troops, cultivate land to store grain and train the navy. I want to annihilate the Wu Kingdom within ten years."

When it comes to military matters, General Cao Zhen has no chance of escaping and can only continue to serve as a tool.

Cao Zhen bowed and said: "Your Majesty wants to deploy military forces to all directions. I will lead the way for Your Majesty and annihilate the Wu bandits as soon as possible."

The other ministers also bowed and imitated Cao Zhen's words and said in unison: "We, the ministers, will lead the way for Your Majesty and annihilate the Wu bandits as soon as possible."

Cao Rui smiled and motioned for everyone to stand up: "Guanqiu Jian just said it well, a great man meets me, a great man repays me."

Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi and said, "Sima Qing, you are a great hero of the Wei Dynasty and one of the four friends of the late emperor. You played a big role in the late emperor's fight for the throne. Tell me, how did the late emperor reward his ministers who made contributions to him in the past?"

Sima Yi thought for a moment and said, "Jia Xu was the Grand Commandant, Zhong Yao succeeded him as the Grand Commandant, Chen Qun and I were appointed as the Minister of State, Wu Zhi was appointed as the Governor of Hebei, and Zhu Shao was also a general."

Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "I just feel it's not enough."

Seeing everyone's puzzled eyes, Cao Rui slowly said: "I will not only be honest with you beside the Luo River, but also make an oath with you by the Luo River."

After hearing the emperor's words, the ministers all became solemn. If they violated this public statement, it would be equivalent to burying their political credibility.

You can't lie when you say it in public, let alone swear by the Luo River.

The emperor endorsed it with his noble position and prestige, how could it be false? At this moment, the surging Luo River was still extremely clean. Cao Rui said slowly: "I will tell you straight, if you can pacify the Wu Kingdom within ten years, the first meritorious person can be crowned king with a county!"

When the ministers heard Cao Rui's words, they all held their breath at the same time, and some even had their pupils slightly dilated.

Cao Rui continued, "I am not bound by the White Horse Alliance of the Han Dynasty. I am not afraid of the title of king of a different surname because of the elegant governance of the new dynasty."

"I am not stingy. If we advance on multiple fronts, the commander below the first meritorious general can be crowned king of a county if he makes no mistakes. The minister who leads the transportation and logistics and has made great contributions can also be crowned king of a county."

"The rest of the meritorious officials can be granted the title of Duke!"

"I swear by the Luo River for ten years. I will not let my ministers down, and I hope you will not let me down either."

It should be noted that Cao Zhi, the younger brother of the late emperor Cao Pi, was now the King of Yongqiu, and his fiefdom was only the area of ​​one county!
At this time, the credit value of Luo River was still full marks. Cao Rui made an oath in public in broad daylight by the bank of Luo River, and all the ministers believed it without a doubt.

The title of prince, duke... These positions had not been granted by any emperor in the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty. Now they were taken out by Cao Rui, the second emperor of the Wei Dynasty.

In an instant, all the ministers were silent. If one was careful, one would be able to hear the panting of the people around him.

Conferring titles of king or duke, this method of promise that has been overused in later generations was still very useful in the Wei Dynasty, which had just ended the 400-year Han Dynasty.

As early as the early days of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, eliminated kings of different surnames under various excuses. At the same time, he enfeoffed the sons and nephews of the Liu family as kings of the same surname. He also killed a white horse, swore an oath of blood, and made the White Horse Alliance with his ministers, swearing an oath that "if anyone other than a member of the Liu family becomes king, the whole world will attack him together."

During the Zhu Lu Rebellion in the Western Han Dynasty, the reason why Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and others were able to raise the banner to oppose Zhu Lu was that the legal basis came from the White Horse Alliance.

Since then, there were basically no kings of different surnames in the Han Dynasty. For meritorious officials who made special contributions, they were often rewarded with titles of nobility.

Take the period of Emperor Wu of Han for example, the general Wei Qing was the Marquis of Changping, and the general Huo Qubing was the Marquis of Guanjun. Despite such great achievements, they were only marquises.

So were there any dukes or kings of different surnames? Yes, there were, and it was closely related to Cao Rui at that time, referring to Cao Cao and Cao Pi.

Since Wang Mang, there has been a series of procedures for usurping the throne. Entering the court without bowing, praising or naming is a piece of cake. After the nine gifts are added, the duke is conferred, and after the founding of the country, the king is conferred.

Cao Cao followed this process. However, after Cao Cao became the King of Wei, he had not much time left, so he could only hand over the rest of the process to his son Cao Pi.

In the same year that he inherited the throne of King of Wei, Cao Pi successfully replaced the Han Dynasty with Wei and became emperor.

This life goal that no minister had been able to achieve for four hundred years was promised by the emperor today, on the bank of the Luo River, with the emperor swearing in public by the Luo River!

If, as the emperor said, the one who made the greatest contribution can be made a prince, then the other main generals who advanced with him can also be made kings if they have no faults.

Isn't this a war to annihilate a country? If we follow the old tradition of advancing in three directions, there will be three kings leading the troops, and one king in charge of logistics. In this Wei world, there will be at most four more kings of different surnames?
Not to mention the dukes. The ministers, ministers, governors, governors, and governors... maybe there will be dozens of dukes.

The emperor was at Luoshui, and this was a blatant attempt to lure him with benefits.

But which minister could resist such temptation?
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(End of this chapter)