For Xiahou Xuan, He Yue and Xiahou Hui, this was just an ordinary task as a servant. There was nothing extraordinary about it.
The emperor is accustomed to asking all sorts of questions, but his inquiries are just questions, not involving matters of official career or favor from the emperor. Just give a factual answer; there's no need to consider too much.
But for the five newly appointed Scribe Riders - Fu Gao, Zhuo Quci, Chen Ben, Yuan Jun, and Li Xī - this was a matter of great caution. Although this was on the martial field, this was a question to the emperor in front of all, so how could they be careless?
"Yuming," Cao Rui pointed to Zhuge Xu, "I will ask one by one. You start first. If the court decides to disband the Yanling county's citizen militia, how should it be done?"
Zhuge Xu bowed slightly and cupped his hands, saying, "If I were to handle this matter, I would divide it into three steps:"
"First, we should conduct a survey of the land within the county, and classify it into different levels based on the quality of the land, to obtain an overall total. Secondly, we should investigate the number of people working in the granaries, and count them according to categories such as elderly, middle-aged, young men, and women and children. Finally, we should appoint officials who are honest and capable to implement this matter."
After Zhuge Xu finished speaking, he bowed again and stood up.
Cao Rui had reviewed Zhuge Xu's resume. His place of origin was Langya Yangdu, and he was of the same clan as Sun Quan's Zhuge Jin and Shu Han's Zhuge Liang. In terms of generations, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were considered his clan ancestors, two generations removed.
Cao Rui nodded lightly, then turned to look at the others and asked, "Almost like that. In general, do any of you have different opinions?"
The remaining people all said they had no disagreements.
To speak from a fundamental standpoint, dividing the land is indeed a simple matter. Once you know how many people and how much land there are, why not just divide it? But in practice, it is far from easy.
Cao Rui pointed to Chen Ben again and said, "Xiong Yu, I'll ask you now. How should the land be measured?"
Chen Ben was somewhat taken aback by this topic and blurted out, "Your Majesty, all the granary officials have their land records. Following the records is sufficient. Why is there a need to measure again?"
"You see, this is where the problem lies," Cao Rui said. "If we go by what Xiong Yuan has said, following the land records of the granary officials is enough. But then I ask you, are the land records of the granary officials always accurate? How can we be sure they are distributing land fairly without taking bribes, or favoritism in giving out more or less land?"
Xiahou Xuan, who had been silent until now, spoke up and said, "We should judge it by performance assessment!"
"What is the performance assessment?" Cao Rui asked.
Xiahou Xuan replied, "By having the officials in County A check the land records of County B. They should select land samples from various villages and watchtowers and compare them with the records kept by the officials of County B. If there are any discrepancies, then they should be penalized by having their salaries reduced or be removed from office."
Cao Rui nodded slightly, saying, "As you can see, the matter is like asking questions that lead to deeper understanding until we find a solution."
"So let me ask you another question. If during the measurement, the common people in Yanling County feel that their land is insufficient and request the same distribution as the farming population, what should be done? He Yue, you speak up."
Li Xi thought for a moment before replying, "If that's the case, we should verify the reason why the common people have less land. If the situation of having less land is genuine, then I believe they should be allocated land equally with the farming population."
The question is becoming increasingly interesting, and Cao Rui laughed. "If the common people say they have less land, you should distribute more. Then what about the farming population's land? Will they be willing to accept that?"
"The ..." Li Xi was somewhat stumped and bowed respectfully, apologizing, "I am sorry, Your Majesty. I don't know how to answer at the moment."
"Langshi, what is your opinion?"
Fu Gao thought for a moment and replied, "Dividing land is a good policy. If a county cannot be evenly divided, the people may have complaints. I think we should consider the land of the entire county. If the farming population's land is less than that of the common people, we should relocate them to another county or continue to cultivate land within the county."
Cao Rui did not continue to ask any more questions, looking around at everyone, and said:
"Govern a great country like cooking a small fish; one must approach all things with a big picture in mind and start with the small details. This matter should be your first lesson from me. Just now, I asked you some questions, but there are still many more."
"For example, what Zhuge Xiongming just said," Cao Rui pointed to Zhuge Xu, "about dividing the land according to the yield and into how many categories, and then how to distribute it? Counting the common people according to the records, that is, checking the household registration. Who will measure the land? Who will speak with the common people about distributing it? And who will be responsible for checking it?"
Cao Rui got up from his chair, stretched out his limbs, and said at the same time, "The most important task in governing the country is to make plans in the temple. To put these plans into practice, we must manage officials, and to manage officials effectively, we must have a system in place."
"Today, I will assign each of you an individual task. The eight counties surrounding Xuchang, each of you will go and investigate with your own questions. You should ask from the county magistrate and the granary commanders to the watchman and village leader, as well as ordinary people and the granary population. As for what specific questions to ask, I won't go into detail with each of you."
"Which eight counties would be suitable?"
He Yue bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the eight counties closest to Xuchang are Xinji, Yanling, Changshe, Yingyin, Yingyang, Fanchang, Linying, and Changle in Chen Prefecture."
Cao Rui nodded, "Xiahou Xuan will go to Changle, He Yue will go to Xinji, Xiahou Hui will go to Yingyang, Fu Gao will go to Fanchang, Zhuge Xu will go to Yanling, Chen Ben will go to Changshe, Yu Jun will go to Yingyin, and Li Xi will go to Linying."
"In summary, I give you ten days to do this. Ten days later, I will see your individual reports. Understand?"
"We will carefully follow the emperor's command," the eight replied in unison, bowing respectfully.
Cao Rui nodded, "Set off at the first light tomorrow. I will be waiting in Xuchang City for your replies."
...
The next morning, the eight Scridi Riders each left the palace, carrying their hand edicts and official seal, and went through the four gates of Xuchang City, heading to the counties of Huaichuan Prefecture and Chen Prefecture.
In Xiangyang City, more than six hundred miles away, Zhao Yan and Niujin were growing increasingly restless.
Sometimes, things happening to others can be more nerve-wracking than if they were happening to oneself.
Thanks to the successful return of Yin Pan to Xiangyang, Sun Quan was well aware that Xiangyang was difficult to attack. Therefore, he focused his main efforts on the city of Fuchun, where Guo Shi was stationed. After excluding the initial few days during which Wu troops were engaged in public works such as draining and building dams, Wu forces had been attacking Fuchun for over ten days.
Fuchun was long from east to west but short from north to south, so the Wu army divided their attacks into four sections: two on the east and west sides, and two on the north side. As the attacking equipment outside the city was further improved, Lu Shi began to feel the pressure mounting.
Day and night, they set fires to send smoke signals. Lu Shi, positioned on the other side of the river Han with a width of more than a mile, was sending out daily warnings to Xiangyang, expressing his growing sense of urgency in his heart.
However, Zhao Yan and Niujin could not rescue the situation at this time. Zhuge Jin, who was stationed south and east of the city of Xiangyang, was digging trenches and building walls every day. His intention was to play a matching game with Xiangyang and confine the garrison within the city.
"Lord Zhao, take a look over there; it seems a bit strange."
"Niu Jin and Zhao Yan stood on the city walls north of Xiangyang, gazing across the river Han towards the north. The surface of the river Han was very broad today, and the weather was excellent. This was the best day for visibility among the ten days that Wu forces had been attacking Xiangyang. As a result, they could see many situations on the North Bank of the river."
Zhao Yan, being an older man, despite Niujin pointing out the direction and making him look for a long time, could still not see clearly.
After sighing, Zhao Yan said, "If my uncle can see it clearly, just tell me directly."
"My lord, I am not sure either. That's why I had you look at it..." Niujin hesitated for a moment, but his eyes widened and his voice grew louder: "It's a stone thrower! It's a stone thrower!"
Although they were separated by the Han River and the Wu army's position was further north by the riverbank, how could Niujin not recognize the general outline of the stone-throwing machine and its appearance when throwing stones?
Zhao Yan's calm expression suddenly turned cold: "How could the Wu army have stone-throwing machines? Uncle, in all the battles between the Wu and Jing Province and Yang Province troops, the General Office has issued battle summaries with case studies. Has there been any mention of stone-throwing machines in them?"
Niujin shook his head firmly, saying, "Although I do not recognize many characters, every time there is a battle, I work through the plans with the military advisor. How dare I be negligent? I dare to guarantee that Wu has never used a stone-throwing machine!" (The end of this chapter)
