Cao Rui looked around at his ministers and then said, “Now, the Wu soldiers who have surrendered one after another at the hanging carriage place number fifty thousand. How should we deal with these captives?”
Cao Zhen said, "Your Majesty, these Wu army captives are they to be brought back to Shouchun?"
Cao Rui smiled slightly and shook his head: "I am asking you. How did the general ask me?"
Cao Zhen was already accustomed to the emperor's directness and brisk manner, so he smiled and took it lightly.
Cao Rui turned his gaze towards Sima Yi: "Secretary, what do you think?"
Sima Yi saw that the emperor directed his question to him, pondered for a while, and then said, "Your Majesty, the subject believes that first these captives should be sorted out."
"How should we sort them out?" Cao Rui and all the ministers in the tent turned their eyes to Sima Yi simultaneously.
Sima Yi slowly said, "Fifty thousand captives are equivalent to fifty thousand young and strong individuals, who can be of great use to the country. However, the subject believes that not all of them can be reused."
"For the captives, Wu soldiers who injured my troops and had blood on their hands should be killed as a punishment. Only Wu soldiers who did not harm my troops can be brought back for further allocation."
This...
Sima Yi's words really exceeded Cao Rui's expectations. Isn't this about how to handle the captives? Cao Rui originally wanted to ask how to settle and reuse the captives, but Sima Yi is going to start killing people now?
The ministers all stared at Sima Yi, unable to find their words. The Wei army indeed had a dark past and had slaughtered many civilians, but that was during a time of chaos. Naturally, they could not care less about face and find reasons to wash their hands of it.
Now the Cao family has become emperors, 'Under heaven there is no territory that is not the king's, and on the edge of the realm there is no subject but the king's'. These captives are technically also subjects of Emperor Wei of the Wei dynasty.
To kill those who have surrendered seems quite inappropriate.
Cao Rui couldn't help but feel curious about Sima Yi's train of thought: "Secretary, do you intend to use the executed Wu soldiers to intimidate Dong Wu, and also to intimidate other surrendering troops?"
Sima Yi nodded and said, "For the rebels of Dong Wu, virtue is not as effective as power. Punishment should be imposed."
After hearing this, Cao Rui pondered for a moment and seemed to understand Sima Yi's intentions.
At this point, Sima Yi's thoughts were twofold. On one hand, he wanted to intimidate the Wu Kingdom. On the other hand, he had still learned from the old traditions of the Han Dynasty. For the court in Luoyang, whether it was the Xianbei people, Hun people, or Qiang people, they were actually not worth considering as human beings.
For the rebel forces, for the court in Luoyang, either to kill or to pacify them is something with precedents. The Wu region is remote, and the rebels are not compliant with imperial rule, so killing them as a warning would not be a problem.
Suddenly, Cao Rui thought of the historical event where Sima Yi attacked Liaodong and killed more than seven thousand adults in the city of Xiangping, building a city-observatory to show off his achievements and intimidate others. This seems to be following such a mode of thinking, consistent indeed.
Cao Rui shook his head and said, "Secretary's words are indeed reasonable, but now the country is exhausted, and human resources are scarce everywhere. I don't want to kill any of these Wu army captives."
"Let's not mention executing the captives anymore."
Sima Yi felt quite embarrassed. He bowed his hands and sat down again.
Liu Ye understood the emperor's intention and stood up to say, "Your Majesty, the subject believes that the captives should first be taken back to Shouchun to prevent any uprisings at the border. Once in Shouchun, the captives can be divided into three categories and dealt with accordingly."
Cao Rui looked at Liu Ye and said, "Liu Minister, please elaborate on how to categorize them?"
Liu Ye said, "The first category is that the origin of the Wu army is diverse, including the central army of Sun Quan, various battalions of generals, and county and city militia. We should select those who still have loyalty to Sun Quan, who only surrendered because of the situation, and also include those Wu soldiers who have bloodstains on their hands from attacking our army."
Cao Rui did not speak, indicating that Liu Ye continue to elucidate his views. Meanwhile, Sima Yi glanced at Liu Ye and was slightly displeased that he borrowed some of his ideas.
Liu Ye continued, "Secondly, we should select soldiers from the regions that the Wu army has ruled for a long time."
"And the remaining ones, from remote counties and mountain Yue, should be categorized into the third class."
Cao Rui asked, "Liu Minister, what will you do with the three categories after classification?"
Liu Ye said directly, "They should all be settled in military colonies!"
Everyone else also fell into deep thought.
Military colonies, everyone present is well-aware of the concept. However, there are actually two types of military colonies: 'military settlements' and 'civilian settlements.'
To be precise, that was in the first year of Jian'an. At that time, Cao Cao had just defeated the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan and Ruzhou, adding a considerable number of able-bodied laborers. At the suggestion of Zao Zhi, Cao Cao began to implement the system of military settlements.
In simple terms, the wars at the end of the Han dynasty caused people to be uprooted and scattered, with many lands becoming unclaimed.
Zao Zhi's system of military colonies essentially involved finding an unclaimed land and a group of homeless people, providing them with seeds and oxen, and dividing the crops produced by the colonists and the state.
And the ratio of distribution was related to an important production factor, 'oxen'. With oxen, the colonists produced food and divided it with the state at a ratio of five to five. Without oxen, because they used 'state oxen', the colonists produced food and divided it with the state at a ratio of four to six, with four for the farmers and six for the state.
Cao Rui looked at Liu Ye and asked, "Liu Minister, military colonies or civilian colonies? Where should they be settled?"
Liu Ye said, "The subject believes that both military colonies and civilian colonies should be established."
Liu Ye, known for his quick wit, had already figured everything out at this point: "For the first category of suspicious Wu troops, they should be settled in Henan. With the central military force, we can suppress them at any time."
"And for the second category, soldiers who have long been in the heart of Dong Wu, they should be sent to various places like Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yuzhou. With local military forces, we can suppress them. While they are producing grain for the country, it also ensures that they are not too close to the border and thus cannot cause trouble."
Cao Rui nodded and asked, "What are the first two categories you mentioned, military colonies or civilian colonies?"
Liu Ye said, "The subject believes that these two categories of captured troops are not suitable for military colonies. They should be settled as civilian colonies for several years before gradually releasing them to serve in the military."
Cao Rui asked, "Then are the third category that you mentioned for military colonies?"
Liu Ye said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
"These troops who are from remote counties and mountain Yue are the most usable ones, and they can be settled in military colonies in places like Feng and Liang, which are far from the central plains."
"Firstly, they can be used as soldiers to supplement the shortages in the local garrisons. Secondly, the vast territory of Yong and Liang has abundant arable land, which means more troops can be supported. They can farm in peace and fight in times of war, naturally serving to fill the gaps in the Yong and Liang garrisons."
As Liu Ye's thoughts were explained step by step, all the officials in the tent understood them as well.
Whether it's military colonies or civilian colonies, neither is a rare occurrence. For the Wei Dynasty, both military and civilian colonies exist. However, for the Shu and Wu states, almost all of them are military colonies. The reason for this is simply that there are too few wanderers in circulation.
Liu Ye's approach is merely a slight innovation in the identification and deployment of the surrendered Wu soldiers.
Liu Ye's arrangements are indeed comprehensive. After Cao Rui asked the officials, "Can everyone provide additional suggestions?"
Cao Zhen and Sima Yi both shook their heads, indicating no opinions. However, Jiang Ji stood up to say something.
Jiang Ji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, can we leave a portion of the captured Wu soldiers to be specifically used for shipbuilding and river dredging?"
"It is already the first year of Taihe, but during the period of Huang Chu, we often invaded the Wu Kingdom and were repeatedly hindered by boat transportation. There was even a time when the army's supplies could not be transported back to the north."
"If we can select some Wu soldiers to specialize in craftsmanship, we can not only reduce the labor obligations of the people in the border regions, but also benefit military affairs."
Cao Rui nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.
Indeed, it's true that specialized skills are indeed required. Jiang Ji, having been in the southern part of Huainan for a long time, naturally understands the difficulties of using troops there for battle. Moreover, Jiang Ji is also knowledgeable about naval forces and water conservancy, making him look more palatable among the Wei army officers at this moment.
Cao Rui looked at Liu Ye and said, "Minister Liu, take down Jiang Hu's suggestion and discuss it further when we return to Shouchun."
Liu Ye nodded in agreement.
However, when it comes to captives, Cao Rui remembered a public affair: "Gentlemen, who knows where the soldiers who followed Ju Zhibi and joined the reinforcements to Xiangfan and surrendered together with Ju Zhibi went after the end of Emperor Wu's reign?"
The officials looked at each other, unsure of how to explain to the emperor.
Cao Zhen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this has been nearly a decade. After Ju Zhibi and his troops surrendered at Xiangfan, Ju Zhibi himself first surrendered to Guan Yu, then to Sun Quan, and finally was sent back to Wei by Sun Quan."
"When Sun Quan sent Ju Zhibi back to the Great Wei, it was during the time of Sun Quan's battle with Liu Bei at Yiling, and he did so to seek peace with the Great Wei. Besides Ju Zhibi, the court also sent envoys to Sun Quan at that time, ordering him to return the Great Wei soldiers who had been captured."
"However, when Ju Zhibi was sent to help Xiangban, there were as many as three hundred thousand soldiers. When Sun Quan surrendered, only about one hundred thousand remained. At that time, the late Emperor sent envoys to question Sun Quan, who claimed that these soldiers had either joined the Shu Han or died in battle."
"The late emperor had no choice but to let it go."
Cao Zhen looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, do you wish to exchange prisoners with Sun Quan? Use today's captured Wu soldiers to exchange for the soldiers who were left behind in the south during Ju Zhibi's army?"
Cao Rui nodded and asked, "Do you think it is feasible, General?"
"Since I am the emperor, if I only order my subjects to serve in the military or farm, how can I become a sage emperor like Emperor Wen of Han? Since these soldiers were ordered by the court to go to Eastern Wu that day, now that I have the opportunity to bring them back to Wei, it can also be said that this public affair from the end of Jian'an has finally been settled."
The officials in the tent all stood up, bowed together, and said in unison, "Your Majesty's benevolence."
Cao Rui looked at the officials and said, "Whether my benevolence is true or not is not just a matter between me and one person. It is a matter between me, the court, and all of you."
"Since we know about this matter, let's think about how to handle it. As for the captives, we should first take them to Shouchun. The exchange of prisoners with Sun Quan can wait until after all the current military affairs are settled, and then we can discuss it further."
Cao Rui asked, "Is General Marshal nearly at Wan City? Starting tomorrow, I will prepare to set out for Shouchun. In the meantime, the military affairs here will be supervised by General Marshal."
Cao Zhen replied, "I understand, Your Majesty. I will prepare to hand over to the General Marshal later."
(End of this chapter)
