On New Year's Eve, the Changlinghou Mansion was filled with joy.
Sima Shi and He Kui, two brothers-in-law of Xia Houxuan, the head of the family, brought their wives Xia Houhui and Xia Houyu respectively to Xiahou's mansion to pay New Year's greetings.
Cao Xi, Zhuge Dan, Xun Can, Yu Huan and other friends, as well as two cousins Xiahou Feng and Xiahou Xian, each came with gifts after a while. The Xiahou Mansion, which was usually a little deserted, was filled with joy at the moment.
Mrs. Cao Jue, Xia Houxuan and Li Huigu were sitting on the main seats chatting with relatives, friends and guests. Gu Ting, the housekeeper, was directing the servants to prepare wine and food. After a while, everyone's case was ready. The front was filled with rice wine in clay pots, oranges in lacquer plates, a pot of steaming radish and mutton soup, a lacquer plate of red dates, and a lacquer plate of steamed jiaoer, that is, dumpling.
The few two musicians in the house also played the piano and flute at this moment, and a group of relatives and friends had the New Year's Eve dinner in this joyful and beautiful atmosphere.
Xiahou Fengnai was the nephew of the late mourning lord Xiahou Shang. After Xiahou Shang passed away, Xiahou Xuan petitioned the emperor and gave him three hundred households of his food.
Xia Houshang, the Marquis of Changling, campaigned east and west in the early years and earned a total of 1,900 households for the former Changling Township Marquis Mansion and the current Changling Marquis Mansion. According to the previous dynasty's system of compiling households with equal names, one local household had about four or five people. Based on four families, 1,900 households had a population of 7,600.
Therefore, the annual taxes paid by the 7,600 people in Changling County of the Great Wei Dynasty are all the legal income of the Changling Marquis Mansion and his family. According to the tax reform of Emperor Wu Cao Cao, for the grain grown by the people in the fields, the government will distribute farm tools and cattle for farming, and the government will be divided into six and four for the people; those who prepare their own farming tools and cattle will be divided into half and half for the government and the people. In addition, for land farmed by civilians who are not farming, each household pays a land rent of four liters of grain per mu, and in addition to this, they also pay two pieces of household silk and two pounds of cotton.
In the previous dynasty, there were frequent wars, and the land was vast and sparsely populated. Each household cultivated about 100 acres of land.
Changling is not a place for farming. Therefore, according to Emperor Wu's land tenants, the Xiahou Mansion can get 760,000 liters [Note 1] of grain, 3,800 bolts of silk cloth, and 3,800 catties from the food fief every year. If cotton is equivalent to five baht in this dynasty, Xiahou Mansion can get more than 4.5 million yuan from food every year!
[Note 1: 760,000 liters is 7,600 hu/stone. The price of rice in the Han Dynasty was usually one hundred qian per hu. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, 1,5 baht was approximately equal to six jiao yuan today based on purchasing power. 7,600 hu rice can be Exchange 765,000 baht, which is about 456,000 yuan in RMB. In the Han Dynasty, a piece of fine silk cloth cost about 1,000 yuan, and 3,800 pieces of silk equaled 3.8 million yuan, equivalent to more than 2 million yuan in RMB. 】
Xiahou Feng's title of Marquis of Guannei was originally a fictitious title of marquis with no tax on the city. Xiahou Xuan allocated 300 households to him, so he naturally became an "alternative Marquis of Guannei" with 300 households. The food tax paid by each household alone is 1,200 dendrobiums per year, which is equivalent to 120,000 yuan. Therefore, Xia Houfeng was very grateful to his cousin.
Xia Houfeng had not yet married, so he lived in his cousin Xia Houxuan's house all year round.
Not only that, Xia Houxuan also temporarily assigned 20 of the 200 Xuanjia guards given to him by Emperor Wen to be in charge of Xia Houfeng.
Since Xiahou Feng lived in his cousin's house, he could eat the food from Changlinghou's house every day. However, as the heir of Xiahou Ba, the right general, Xiahou Xian was trained hard by his father in both his speech, behavior and diet. Therefore, he would never have such a rich and delicious meal at his cousin's house. Therefore, this Compared with Xiahou Feng, Shi Xiahou Xian's food was like a hungry wolf chewing mutton or a foal quietly gnawing grass.
Mrs. Cao Jue couldn't help but laugh when she saw how her two nephews were eating. She smiled and said, "Xian'er, eat slowly. If it's not enough, just ask the chef to make it for you. Don't choke." "
While Xia Houxian was devouring his food, he smiled and nodded to his aunt Cao Jue. This funny look once again successfully amused everyone at the table. Master Sima and Xia Houhui's three or four-year-old daughter couldn't help but giggle. , but accidentally choked, Xia Houhui hurriedly and worriedly patted his daughter's back with his hand.
Seeing this, Huigu, who was proficient in medicine, got up and poured some rice wine. After feeding it to the child, she stopped coughing and choking.
After everyone finished eating, Mrs. Cao Jue was already a little sleepy, so she went back to the house to rest with the help of her servants. The young people were not sleepy at all and planned to continue drinking for a while. Xia Houhui, Xia Houyu and other female family members went with Huigu to the residence arranged in the West Hall of the Houyuan to rest.
Xia Houxuan, Cao Xi, Sima Shi, He Gui, Yu Huan, as well as Xia Houxian and Xia Houfeng played a game of guessing the wine order and began to watch the New Year's Eve.
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After the court meeting in Yuan Dynasty and several royal family banquets in the first month of the year, the drunken Emperor Cao Rui had not yet woken up and was still sleeping soundly on the sandalwood couch in Shiqian Hall.
At this time, a waiter who did not know the emperor's schedule carefully pushed open the carved wooden door of Shiqian Palace, but before he could make a sound, he was quickly pushed out by an attendant in the palace.
The waiter in the palace was none other than Zhang Dang, the Grand Chamberlain. Seeing the reckless arrival, he almost disturbed the emperor, so he scolded in a low voice:
"The waiters in this palace are so ignorant of the rules!"
The waiter who almost broke into the palace immediately apologized with a smile:
"The chief internal officer is atonement, and the younger one is Han Yong, the evil-warming attendant of Chonghua Palace. The school affairs officer, General Wu Wu's son Zhuan, has something important to convey to His Majesty, and is now waiting for Your Majesty outside Shangshulan Terrace. [Note 2] ]”
[Note 2: The name "to ward off evil spirits" appears in historical records, but its original meaning should be the palace envoy responsible for conveying imperial edicts, or eunuchs. Its source can be found in the annotation of Jin Dynasty Pei Songzhi attached under the paragraph "King Xuan paused and shed tears" in "Three Kingdoms·Wei Shu·Ming Emperor", which is quoted from "Wei Lue" written by Cao Wei historian Yu Huan: "(Ming Emperor) Gu Hu The messengers in the palace were often told: 'Come to ward off evil spirits! You take this edict of mine and grant it to the Taiwei.'" To ward off evil spirits should be another name for an internal official, not a person's name. Fang Yizhi of the Qing Dynasty stated in "Tongya Titles": "Emperor Wei Ming sent an envoy to ward off evil spirits and summoned Sima Yi. To ward off evil spirits, he gave the envoy a title, just like the prime minister Cang Tou of the Han Dynasty called Yilu." It can be seen that "to ward off evil spirits" It is the palace envoy responsible for conveying the imperial edict, not the name of the person. 】
Zhang Dang knew the whole story and thought that Cao Zuan, the school official and the general who killed Wu, was a confidant of His Majesty the Emperor. He was also the son of the royal family and the brother of Cao Zhao, the Marquis of Changping. He did not dare to neglect it. After thinking about it for a while, First, he ordered the maid outside the palace to bring sour plum soup to sober up the drunkenness. Then he quietly entered the palace and woke up the sleeping Cao Rui.
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After Cao Rui got up, he drank a bowl of sobering soup and wiped his head and face with an ice towel. He was mostly awake from the drunkenness. He changed into regular clothes, got into the emperor's chariot, and drove towards the south. Not long after, , they have arrived at Shangshu Lantai.
When Cao Zuan saw that the emperor's chariot had arrived, he hurriedly knelt down and saluted. Cao Rui jumped off the chariot and helped Cao Zuan up with his own hands:
"Desi, there's no need to be polite, just go in and talk."
When they entered Lantai, they saw Chen Qun, the chief minister, Liu Fang, the supervisor of the Zhongshu Ling, Sun Zi, the minister, Wei Zhen, Wei Zhen, Sima Fu, Huan Fan, Bian Lan, Wang Su and others. Cao Zhao, Gao Tanglong, and the central leader Yang Ji and others were already in place.
After everyone saluted, Cao Zuan began to report recent major events in the enemy's country and news from the government and the public:
"Your Majesty, in the first month of the first lunar month, Sun Lu, the youngest son of Sun Quan, the lord of Wu, passed away. Sun Deng, the prince of Wu, came to the province from Wuchang. The lord of Wu left Jinling for a long time to build Ye. He was unable to serve the king of Wu, and his son's way was blocked; and Chen The general Lu discussed the affairs of the loyal and diligent king, so he had nothing to worry about. The Lord of Wu left the prince to stay in Jianye."
Cao Rui nodded, indicating that he already knew. The Prince of Wu, Sun Deng, was said to have a reputation as a virtuous man, but he had always had political disagreements with the leader of Wu. Now he stayed in Jianye to serve the King of Wu. I don't know whether it was a blessing or a curse.
Cao Zuan continued to report:
"General Hou Cao Hong, the Marquis of Lecheng, passed away this morning!"
When Cao Rui heard this, he closed his eyes slightly, not knowing what he felt in his heart. This uncle Cao Hong conspired to support Cao Lin, the then king of Hedong, as the crown prince, but he repeatedly opposed him. Later, when his plot failed, Emperor Wen was furious and wanted to have him imprisoned and executed. However, Empress Dowager Wu Xuan and Bian interceded, and her life was saved.
But no matter what, Cao Hong was a famous general who saved Emperor Wu's life and had great military exploits. If you deal with it hastily because of old grudges, it will inevitably chill the hearts of everyone in the world.
Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he pardoned his sins, restored him from a commoner to a royal family, and named him the Hou General and the Marquis of Lecheng. Now that Cao Hong has died a good death, it can be regarded as his good fortune.
Cao Rui finished his thoughts and continued to ask:
"Anything else?"
Cao Zuan looked up at the emperor and said the last important thing with a heavy face:
"Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, has made a meeting at the court. He wants to send people to sail to Liaodong, ask Gongsun Yuan for horses, and form an alliance with him!"
Everyone in the Chancellery was shocked when they heard this. Ever since the battle of Jiangling, when Xia Houshang, the former general of the southern expedition, and Cao Zhen, the former general of the army, defeated the Dongwu cavalry, it was no longer possible for Dongwu to form a cavalry. Because Sun Quan, the leader of Wu, loved horses and wanted to reorganize the cavalry army, this led to the horse theft case a few years ago. Now, Sun Quan is still evil and wants to form an alliance with Liaodong. If he succeeds, there will be endless trouble!
Hearing this, Cao Rui frowned slightly and asked the ministers:
"If this matter is true, we need to arrange manpower immediately to attack the Wu army on the East China Sea sea route. I just don't know who can take on the big responsibility."
Yang Ji, the leader of the Central Army, had always been on good terms with Tian Yu, Tian Guorang, the governor of Runan and the general who killed Yi. He knew that Tian Yu was a talented general. He wanted his friend to make great achievements, so he immediately recommended to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, Tian Guorang, the governor of Runan and the general who killed the barbarians, is worthy of a great task. I recommend him to take on this important task!"
After Cao Rui heard this, he immediately remembered Tian Yu's name. He remembered that Tian Yu once served as the Wuhuan Colonel in Northern Xinjiang. Under the plan of Xiahou Xuanqi and the dispatch of Wu Zhi, the governor of Bingzhou, he had worked with Qianzhao and Jie. Jun, Liang Xi and others together defeated Xianbei Lord Ke Bineng's tribe. He was indeed a general.
After Cao Rui pondered for a long time, he finally nodded:
"Give Tian Yu Fu Jie, the temporary governor of Qingzhou, lead all the troops in Qingzhou, and have full authority to handle this matter!"
"Your Majesty clearly shows you!"
Yang Ji, the leader of the army, was overjoyed when he saw that the emperor had adopted his opinion.
Seeing that Cao Zuan had nothing else to report, Cao Rui thought about it for a while, and then remembered several new decrees he wanted to issue:
"I remember that the four sons of Xiahou Yuan, the general who conquered the west, Xiahou Ba, the right general, Xiahou Wei, the governor of Yanzhou, Xiahou Hui, the governor of Le'an, and Xiahouhe, Yin of Henan, were known as the "Four Heroes of Xiahou". I was afraid that these four people were not worthy of their names, so for many years I have been secretly investigating and found that the four people have achieved outstanding political achievements and outstanding military exploits for many years, and are indeed rare capable ministers. These four people still have no title, so today I confer the title of Marquis of Guannai to four people to show my favor!
In addition, Zuo Yannian is good at music and is good at Zheng Sheng, so he has outstanding talents. I want to promote him to be the general of the Xielu Zhonglang and be in charge of the collection and compilation of music from all over the world. "
These four Xiahou family members are uncles of the same clan as Xiahou Xuan. Over the years, Xiahou Xuan was able to grasp all the affairs and information of counties and counties in the world, and it was indispensable for the help of these four uncles. The ministers at the Shangshutai have no doubt about the abilities of the "Four Elites of Xiahou", and Zuo Yannian is also a famous music master, so no one has any objection to these two appointments.
Cao Rui nodded and continued:
"Dunhuang County is far away in the west. It is in chaos and isolated. The great surnames rule the roost. It has been without a governor for more than twenty years. I want to send a capable minister to govern Dunhuang. I wonder if you have any suitable candidates?"
Liu Fang, the supervisor of the Zhongshu, and Sun Zi, the Zhongshu Ling, had no idea for a while, so they remained silent. At that time, Gao Tanglong, who served as Cao Rui's teacher in the East Palace and Prince Pingyuan's tutor, Gao Tanglong, had a candidate in mind. He recommended:
"Cangci, Cangxiaoren, has been the magistrate of Chang'an County since the end of Huangchu's reign under Emperor Wen. Over the years, he has made outstanding achievements, and this person is smart and capable. I guarantee that after Cangci takes office, he will be able to suppress the local powerful, provide relief to the poor, and stabilize the country." Dunhuang!"
Cao Rui has always respected his teacher very much. He agreed without hesitation. And the facts many years later also proved that Gao Tanglong had not misjudged the person.
The large families in Dunhuang had plenty of land, but the small people had no place to stand, and the large families deceived Hu merchants, which made the Hu people resentful. Later, after Cang Ci took office, he solved all these problems one by one. A few years later, Cang Ci died in office. The officials and people felt as sad as losing a relative, and even built a temple for his portrait. Even when the barbarians in the Western Regions heard that Cangci had passed away, they all took the initiative to gather under Wuji Xiaowei and Chang Shizhi to mourn. Some even cut their faces with a knife in grief.
Finally, Cao Rui issued the last edict of the day:
The feudal princes and kings were renamed, and all the princes were regarded as the country, and the system of enfeoffment was established.
After Cao Rui thought about it for a while, he looked at the ministers at the Chancellery and said loudly:
"Since the founding of the Wei State, the kings who founded the country have either enfeoffed counties or counties without customizing them. This system cannot be the law of future generations forever. Therefore, I want to change the enfeoffment of princes and kings to all counties. The kingdom will be appointed prime minister. , Duwei, Fu, Bao, You, Lang Zhongling, Lieutenant, Da Nong, Sima, and Jia Ling each have one person; the regulation of officials is the same as that of the principality and the kingdom; the prince state has one prime minister, and additional family Ling, Jiacheng, and Fu each One person. I wonder if you, sir, have any objections?"
Liu Fang and Sun Zi have always been good at flattering, and this matter will not harm their own interests, so they have no objections. Gao Tanglong had always worried that the power of the princes and kings was too weak to prevent powerful ministers from rising up. The emperor's move was intended to elevate the princes and kings, so Gao Tanglong also greatly agreed.
In this way, Cao Rui's new enfeoffment system was promoted vigorously and resolutely.
A group of new princes and kings who expanded their feudal states, such as Cao Ju, King of Pengcheng, Cao Yu, King of Yan, Cao Lin, King of Pei, Cao Gun, King of Zhongshan, Cao Jun, King of Chenliu, Cao Gan, King of Zhao, and Cao Hui, King of Dongping, also moved to Arriving at their new fiefdom.
