Wei Ni

Although he knew that there must be a reason why Ding Mi did not continue the topic, when he returned to the military camp, Xiahou Hui still had not figured out what his intention was.

I just put it aside for the time being. There's no rush anyway.

He walked into the house, took out his pen and ink, and sat down at his desk to write.

He first reported that he was safe and claimed that he was doing well in Liaoxi County. He then asked about family matters and told his wife Wang Yuanji to rest well after giving birth. Finally, he asked Sun Shucong to send his attendant Zhang Li to escort an ink craftsman to teach him the technique.

He wanted to make pine soot ink in Wuzhong County, Youbeiping County.

The staff were the soldiers and families recruited by Han Long, and the sales were done by the Zuo family.

Judging from Han Long's personality, he would never move his family to Yangquwu Fort to settle down, and he would not accept the money given by Xiahou Hui to settle his family.

Birds of a feather flock together.

The troops he invited were generally similar.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui wanted their family to have a means of livelihood.

As for why the Zuo family was asked to sell it.
If you want to maintain long-term friendship with powerful families, you must achieve a win-win situation.

After surrendering the remaining pro-Yuan Wuhuan tribes, the Zuo family lost a source of income. Xiahou Hui didn't want the Zuo family to think that he only knew how to take and not give. Moreover, pine soot ink, a high-priced elegant item, was not available to people like Han Long, who came from a humble background.
After finishing writing, he put down his pen, dried the ink and sealed the bag, then walked out of the house to find the military messenger and asked him to deliver the documents to the post office when he went to Guzhu City next time. Then, he took Lu Fan and several of his followers, led by a white horse volunteer, out of the outpost camp and walked around.

He went north along the coastline.

Because of the relationship of living close to the mountains and the sea, the coastline here was previously dotted with settlements of various sizes.

Mulberry trees and hemp are planted behind the village, which are used for raising silkworms and weaving cloth, and also to block the invasion of sea breeze and protect the farmland and pastures developed behind.

But now only the mulberry trees remain.

Everywhere you look, you see tattered little wooden boats entangled in fishing nets and stranded on the shore. The roofs of the thatched houses have long been blown away or rotted away, exposing the gray-yellow rammed earth. The farmlands have long been deserted, and even the pastures are occupied by half-human-high weeds.

As we rode slowly along the beach, the stench of dead fish and shrimp lingered in our nostrils. Even the howling sea breeze could not drive away the suffocating feeling. Perhaps the line from Chen Si Wang Cao Zhi's "Taishan Liangfu Xing" (A Song of Liangfu in Taishan) "How desolate the wooden door is, foxes and rabbits fly around my house" is appropriate here.

Fifty years have passed, and the chaos that began with the Yellow Turban Rebellion is still devouring the lives of ordinary people.

Whether it is the fertile Central Plains or the remote corners of the sea, it is hard to escape the desolation of hundreds of miles of uninhabited areas.

So, after riding for about half an hour, Xiahou Hui gave up and turned back.

There's nothing to see if we continue.

Originally, he wanted to suggest to the court to build a port here and a pass at the narrow part of the sea route, so as to serve as a garrison point to curb future separatist forces in Liaodong and invasions by nomadic tribes in the northern border. But now he feels that it is impossible.

There are many uninhabited places in the heart of the Central Plains today!
Wherever there is surplus population, they move here to live and provide food and fodder for the garrison.

If we follow the previous practice of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, and move in various Hu tribes to fill the gap, we will have to worry about whether this move will invite wolves into the house and cause trouble south of Yanshan Mountain.

However, according to what Ding Mi mentioned this morning, Jing'an Liaodong.
Emperor Cao Rui seemed to have a plan before. After conquering Gongsun of Liaodong, he would relocate the powerful people in the counties of Liaodong according to the "Lingyi System" of the Former Han Dynasty.
It would be a good choice to place them here.

In addition, the miscellaneous Hu tribes outside the Great Wall have the habit of keeping slaves. If we can secretly lure some slaves to escape and come here to register as households and reclaim wasteland; and let the government send criminals and slaves from various states and counties to settle here, it is not impossible to restore the scene of connected villages and crisscrossing fields in Linyu County.

Well, we need to select down-to-earth bureaucrats and loyal generals.

After returning to the outpost camp, Xiahou Hui lay on a couch covered with a thick layer of pine needles and reeds, and following Ding Mi's advice of "preparedness is the key to success", he pondered over how to pacify Liaodong in the future.

When it came to how to repay the government, Xiahou Hui could only think of trade.

There are many delicacies from land and sea in Liaodong.

Fishing and hunting can obtain furs and bacon, and mining can obtain medicinal herbs such as ginseng, as well as horses, cattle, sheep, and timber. As long as the trade routes are kept open, tariffs can also be a large source of income.

Of course, he also thought of the most primitive and bloody path of plunder.

On the grounds that most of the people around Liaodong counties are barbarians who do not obey the king, the garrison can go out to plunder people, cattle, sheep, and property whenever they want. In addition to quickly completing the primitive accumulation, it can also strengthen the army to show its power, flatten the threat of surrounding tribes, and even incorporate them into the territory of the Central Plains dynasty.

In this way, it can be called "promoting the king's rule and benefiting all directions"! After all, the Yan State in the pre-Qin period spared no effort to "convert" the Donghu and turn Liaodong into a county; when Gongsun Du was in Liaodong, he also conquered Goguryeo in the east and Wuhuan in the west; now the Wei State, which regards itself as the successor of the Han Dynasty and intends to destroy Gongsun in Liaodong, how can it forget the inheritance of "all under heaven is the king's land"!
In fact, this was the original intention of Xiahou Hui's advice to Emperor Cao Rui to transfer his second brother Xiahou Ba to guard Liaodong, as well as the bet he made with Xiahou Ba when he left Yecheng.

He hoped that his second brother would guard Liaodong in the future, and work hard to make Goguryeo, Buyeo and other places become prefectures of the Central Plains dynasty.

The king educates the barbarians and brings grace to all directions.

In this way, the imperial court can expand its territory by thousands of miles, and his second brother will also be recorded in history for his achievement of destroying a country. It can be said that he kills two birds with one stone!

Following this line of thought, Xiahou Hui couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

But soon, he suddenly stood up, sat upright, lowered his eyes and twirled his beard.

After thinking for a while and feeling that he had sorted out his thoughts, he went to another room to look for Ding Mi.

He vaguely guessed why Ding Mi didn't continue the topic.

If nothing unexpected happened, Ding Mi wanted to use the measures they had jointly planned after pacifying Liaodong as a bargaining chip or a favor to get Guanqiu Jian to reciprocate and recommend his subordinates to take up local posts.

To put it bluntly, he was asked to place his confidants in Xiahou Hui's lap.

Because Xiahou Hui was the commander of the central army, if he directly recommended his men to take up local posts, he might be criticized or impeached.

But Guanqiu Jian had no such concerns.

As he holds both military and political power in Youzhou, isn't it only natural for him to recommend a few generals or assistants to assist in governing the place?

He knew why Ding Mi had such thoughts.

Those who were familiar with Lu Fan and Wei Shu knew that he did not train them as soldiers who charged into battle, but as generals in the army. And coincidentally, he also mentioned to Ding Mi the people and events such as Zuo Junbo, A Luopan, the brother of You Beiping Wuhuan Chanyu Kou Loudun, and Han Long who recruited soldiers on his behalf.

This is equivalent to misleading Ding Mi.

He felt that he was hinting that as the commander of the central army, he had already grown strong in both his own troops and his subordinates, and that people like Lu Fan and Wei Shu who had no official positions should also be released, so he should quickly find a way to arrange
But heaven and earth can testify that I really don’t have such an intention!

He wanted to bring Guanqiu Jian along simply because he wanted to repay a favor.

Ding Mi's thoughts of making friends with frontier governors and winning over local officials were all just what he thought.

With this in mind, after he found Ding Mi, he told him all his thoughts after settling Liaodong without hesitation. After letting Ding Mi ponder over his thoughts, he said, "Yan Jing, I know you want to help me gain power in the court, but Guanqiu Envoy and I are friends of the same ideals. Regardless of our own advantages and disadvantages, we only want to benefit the country. If I mix personal interests into planning for the country, I am afraid that I will dislike him and we will no longer be friends."

At this time, Ding Mi was grinding ink, intending to record his thoughts on the settlement of Liaodong in a book.

After hearing his last words of advice, she put down the ink block casually. Not only did she not look embarrassed at all for having her thoughts exposed, but she smacked her lips with some regret and said, "I heard about Zhiquan's thoughts after he settled Liaodong. I thought he had seen the ways of the court, but now it seems that he still needs to hone his skills more."

After saying this, without waiting for Xiahou Hui to refute, he solemnly explained the reason, "Indeed, a gentleman is inclusive but not partial, and is a group but not a party. But Zhiquan, don't forget who you and Guanqiu Envoy are! In this moment and in this situation, can you still regard yourselves as gentlemen!"

I am a young man from Qiaopei, and Guanqiu Jian is an old friend of mine.

In a sense, Guanqiu Jian and I are to the emperor Cao Rui, just as Cao Zhen and Sima Yi were to the former emperor Cao Pi.
If the two of us live shorter lives than Emperor Cao Rui, we shall be the ones who strive to add good reputation to Cao Rui's posthumous name; if the two of us live longer than Cao Rui, we shall be the ones who are determined to defend the throne and ensure a smooth transition between the old and new emperors, so that the new emperor can take power smoothly and the Wei Dynasty can last long.

In this way, the two of them can no longer regard themselves as gentlemen.

As the emperor's vanguard and the person who executes the king's will, there are bound to be times when "loyalty appears like treachery". How can one be bound by etiquette and morality?

Answering in his heart, Xiahou Hui remained silent.

He roughly understood what Ding Mi meant.

As expected, Ding Mi guessed that he would remain silent, so he continued speaking.

"The emperor has been on the throne for ten years, but the officials in the court are all old ministers from the time of Emperor Wu or Emperor Wen, while Zhiquan and Guanqiu Shijun were personally promoted by the emperor and entrusted with important positions. In this case, how could Zhiquan be bound by secular etiquette? I know that Zhiquan wants to return the favor, but things should not be judged by appearances. In my opinion, Guanqiu Shijun treats Zhiquan very well because he expects Zhiquan to have some disputes with him, not because of the demeanor of an elder."

"Furthermore, compared with the actual power of the old ministers and important officials in the temple, Zhiquan and Guanqiu Shijun are now like ants! The emperor does not doubt the loyalty of the old ministers and important officials, but it is the emperor's checks and balances. He also hopes that Zhiquan and Guanqiu Shijun can help each other and share power in the temple as soon as possible, so as not to let the country meet the expectations of the court and the people, and make the ministers and officials all loyal and obedient." (End of this chapter)