"As night falls, the entire truck camp is in a tense and busy state."
Although the emperor returns to Shouchun tomorrow, it is not so simple for him to walk alone.
Transferring military supplies, escorting prisoners, and carrying the wounded — these three tasks alone are enough to drain one's energy.
As for the wounded, during the previous battle, the Wei army suffered casualties of about 15,000.
Among them, there are more than 3,000 infantry wounded and about 7,000 dead. And among the 5,000 cavalry, there are about 2,000 wounded and also about 3,000 dead.
The wounded must naturally be brought back to Shouchun for care, and such a large number of soldiers who died in battle must also be buried in Shouchun. Fortunately, it is winter now, so they won't decay on the way back to Shouchun. If we had moved troops during the summer, we would have had to bury them on the spot instead.
As for the soldiers of the Wu army, their fate is not so fortunate. They can only be buried en masse on the spot, and they even can't have a tombstone. This is also one of the harsh realities of war.
Transporting military supplies is not a problem. The captured grain, grass, armor, weapons, military supplies, and other items from the Wu army can be loaded onto carts and brought back to Shouchun. At this point, the Wei army does not lack vehicles and carriers.
The most troublesome task is escorting the prisoners.
After all, the Wu army captives are living human beings. The distance from the car to Shouchun is nearly 400 miles. Not only do we need to ensure their health arrival, but also we need to ensure that they don't mutiny, cause trouble, or stagnate along the way. In summary, it is a large-scale engineering project in management.
Since it is necessary to transport five thousand disarmed captives, the troops responsible for transportation naturally will not be too small. For this time of transportation back to Shouchun, the military strength used is exactly the remaining ten thousand men of Mancong and the total ten thousand horsemen from the central army and frontier troops.
Ten thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry are more than enough to transport fifty thousand captives. Moreover, it also achieves the purpose of withdrawing some troops and reducing the pressure on the front lines.
However, when Cao Rui was reviewing documents in his tent, thinking about various things to be done tomorrow after his return, the mounted messenger Xiahou Xuan entered from outside, bringing a document.
After Xiahou Xuan bowed, he said, "Your Majesty, the Prefect of Qing State has sent a memorial to Your Majesty."
Cao Rui didn't even raise his head, saying casually, "Put it on the desk. Has Wang Ling returned to the car camp?"
After Xiahou Xuan slowly walked forward to place the memorial on the table, he answered respectfully, "Your Majesty, Wang Ling has learned that Your Majesty will return to Shouchun tomorrow, so he returned to the camp this afternoon."
Cao Rui put down the documents in his hand, opened Wang Ling's table of contents and looked at it for a while, and then he shook his head slightly.
Wang Ling's memorial was not a report of his achievements or his opinions on the upcoming military actions; instead, it was to impeach Mancong.
As Wang Ling's memorial states, Mancong's military campaign was incompetent, causing the country to lose many soldiers. He should be removed from his position according to national and military laws.
Cao Rui knew that Wang Ling was a useful talent, and Mancong was also a rare prudent general. The loss of troops in battle was because of the strategic mission his department carried out.
Neither Wang Ling nor Mancong would be punished by Cao Rui; instead, he would further promote and re-employ them.
originally, only Cao Xiu sought trouble with Jia Qiao in the army of this southward campaign, but why Wang Ling sought trouble with Mancong, Cao Rui couldn't find a reason at first and had no interest in investigating the grudges between the two.
Since Cao Rui does not want to handle the problems reflected in Wang Ling's table of contents, it is appropriate to drag it on for a while.
Cao Rui looked up at Xiahou Xuan: "Taichu, go to Wang Ling's camp and deliver my oral order. Tell him that I have seen it, and the matter of rewards and punishments will be discussed after I return to Luoyang and the battle is over."
Xiahou Xuan accepted the order and left.
In fact, the Weiqi court was also full of various factions, either visible or invisible, and had never been a solid block.
During the years of the Establishment of Han, there were the pro-Han faction and the pro-Cao faction, the Party of Cao Pi and the Party of Cao Zhi, Yingchuan scholars and Hebei scholars, relatives as commanders and non-relatives as commanders... There were so many factions that they really influenced the operation of the state to varying degrees. Although it had not escalated into a party struggle, they still had an impact on national affairs.
Thinking of this, Cao Rui sent his guards to summon Cao Zhen and Sima Yi to his tent.
Cao Zhen and Sima Yi certainly haven't slept either. Even if they had slept, once they heard that the emperor called, they would have to come over anyway.
After the two men had bowed and taken their seats, Cao Rui asked directly, "In this battle, various commanders, prefects, and prefects of counties have led their troops, resulting in a chaotic military system. I intend to unify the system. Generals Cao Zhen and Sima Yi, what are your opinions on this?"
Cao Zhen and Sima Yi were clearly taken aback. Not supposed to return to Shouchun tomorrow? Why would they suddenly discuss such a big topic now?
Cao Zhen coughed lightly: "Your Majesty, the battle here has not been resolved. The issue of system should be discussed after the war."
Cao Rui said, "I know that we should discuss it after the war. However, since it is wartime and I am still in the southeast, still in Shouchun, I want to get this matter settled now."
"Let's not talk about the central army for now, but just the foreign military and state-level troops that were used in this campaign."
"The foreign military is under the Grand Marshal, and the commanders have different titles, such as Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Deputy General, and Assistant General. There are also a few Junior Marshals. Although all are at the two-thousand-castle level and there are slight differences in rank, when it comes to leading troops in wartime, it is completely dependent on the appointment by superiors."
"Can these many titles be simplified? What are the fundamental differences between a Lieutenant Commander and a Commander? What are the fundamental differences between a Junior Marshal and a General?"
Cao Zhen explained, "Your Majesty, these titles have been established over the past few decades through various rules and conventions."
"After this battle, there will be rewards. Your Majesty wants to adjust them together at the time of the rewards?"
Cao Rui nodded: "I have heard that during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court and the states and districts did not have so many positions as there are today."
"Take the Three Celebrities of the Liang State for example. The famous general Huangfu Gui, who was affiliated with a party, was at most a Du Liao General and a Protector of the Qiangs."
"Lingdi sent people to suppress the Yellow Turbans, and Huangfu Xiao was a left middle general, Zhu Jun was a right middle general, and Lu Zhi was a north middle general. These three men led troops of over one hundred thousand, but they were also just middle generals!"
At this point, Sima Yi interjected, "Your Majesty, the positions of Huangfu Xiao, Zhu Jun, and Lu Zhi at that time were indeed not prominent. The issuance of general titles has two stages."
"There are two phases to the issuance of general titles. Firstly, after the Yellow Turbans were pacified, the Han court could not reward them for their great achievements, so it compensated them with the title of General. Secondly, during the Battle of Dought, starting with Yuan Shao, various officials and nobles were rewarded with titles by various rulers. Since then, the number of General titles has increased."
Cao Rui said, "I understand what you mean, Chancellor. At present, the country has not yet pacified the rebellion, so I will not make any changes to the title of General. What I want to change is the following."
Cao Zhen responded, "Your Majesty, I am very familiar with this matter. I would be happy to explain it to Your Majesty."
Cao Rui nodded: "General Cao, please go ahead."
Cao Zhen replied, "Your Majesty, although in general, the order from lowest to highest rank is: Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Junior Marshal, Assistant General, Deputy General, and then the titled Generals."
Cao Rui interjected, "Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Junior Marshal, Assistant General, Deputy General, and titled Generals are all two thousand stone. Why do we need to differentiate so much? It's not like Lieutenant Commander becomes a Commander or Commander becomes a Junior Marshal."
"I saw these military commanders lead their troops when I was in the army, and it had little to do with the rank order that you mentioned, General Cao."
Cao Zhen explained, "Your Majesty, the title of Lieutenant Commander originated from the change of name from the county magistrate in the counties. The title of Junior Marshal was originally given to officials serving as commanders to emphasize their direct affiliation with the imperial court."
Cao Rui responded, "Since the title of Lieutenant Commander originated from the county magistrate, does that mean there are many Lieutenant Commanders in the foreign military?"
Cao Zhen nodded in agreement.
Cao Rui said, "In that case, the position of Lieutenant Commander should not be present in the central and foreign armies. The positions of Lieutenant Commanders in the foreign armies should be changed to Commanders. The position of Lieutenant Commander will be exclusively used by states and districts from now on, and there should not be any Commanders in states and districts either."
"Also, since the title of Junior Marshal directly belongs to the imperial court, I will change it to be either Commanders or Generals."
Changing just some titles would not involve any core issues, so Cao Zhen and Sima Yi also repeatedly expressed their agreement.
However, when Cao Rui mentioned the next issue, both Cao Zhen and Sima Yi started to have difficulties simultaneously.
Cao Rui asked, "Now in the army, governors, county magistrates, and generals are all able to lead troops. Does this not seem a bit chaotic? Generals Cao Zhen and Sima Yi, what was the customs of the Han?"
Cao Zhen and Sima Yi exchanged glances, and this time, Sima Yi would explain.
Sima Yi said, "Your Majesty, during the Han Dynasty, both governors and county magistrates were also able to lead troops. However, unlike now, the Han Dynasty's governors and county magistrates led troops only during rebellions or in defense against foreign tribes; it was not a regular practice."
"Since the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, there were frequent wars and civil unrest in various regions, and military affairs were mixed with civil affairs. In addition, since governors and magistrates of various states took over the forces by assuming their names to resist Dong Zang when they rebelled against the Han Dynasty, these practices have continued for many years."
Cao Rui sighed, "I know, this is an old problem that has been around for decades. But does that mean it's necessarily right? Suppose that generals will definitely lead troops; does that mean governors and prefects will definitely lead troops?"
"I also know that it often happens that those who will lead troops are appointed as governors and prefects of border areas. However, are all those knowledgeable governors and prefects good at civil affairs?"
Sima Yi tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to separate the generals who are responsible for military affairs from the governors and prefects who are responsible for civil affairs?"
Cao Rui nodded, "Can't we separate them?"
Sima Yi was at a loss for words for a moment, and Cao Zhen also looked stunned. However, both of them quickly realized that there was nothing that couldn't be separated. As long as they wanted to, they could separate anything!
Cao Rui noticed the change in the expressions of Cao Zhen and Sima Yi: "I am aware that these systems are related to past events. But correcting them is not harmful; it is beneficial."
"If governors and prefects are dedicated to civil affairs and no longer responsible for military affairs, then the state-level and district-level troops in each region will be led by the local Lieutenant Commanders."
"If there is unrest within a state or district, governors have the authority to deploy Lieutenant Commanders to maintain order. During external conflicts, the local Lieutenant Commanders can gather at the headquarters of the central army or foreign army's generals, and then be unified under their command for deployment and dispatch. Is this not more efficient?"
Cao Zhen nodded after listening, "I also think that the suggestions made by Your Majesty are excellent. If implemented this way, it would not result in the current situation where several governors and over eight prefects of a few states immediately join the battle without anyone to manage local administration."
Cao Rui spoke softly, "Can this matter be accomplished?"
Sima Yi replied decisively, "It will definitely be done!"
(End of Chapter)
