Guo Chong suddenly found that he had nothing to say, and he was about to reprimand him solemnly, but he was gagged by Fang Dunru. Choked for a long time, Guo Chong had to frown and said: "Don't be rash and don't be rash, this is a big matter to discuss, what can be said, but there is no need to quarrel." Now it's a matter of discussing the new law, don't mess around with other things, and don't digress for thousands of miles. ”

This is not painful or itchy, it is equivalent to playing fifty boards each. Guo Chong, the emperor, should be fair, impartial, unjust and crooked, in a word: and mud.

Yang Jun said coldly: "Okay, since the emperor said so, then the old man will only say what you call the new law." You are just right to say that my Great Zhou soldiers and horses are redundant and need to be reduced. Isn't that a contradiction? Since you think that my Da Zhou's military strength is not strong now, but I want to reduce my soldiers and horses, isn't this a slap in the mouth? If the combat power is not strong, it will suppress the opponent in numbers, which is common sense. How do you explain that? ”

Yan Zhengsu said: "The total number of exercises in the Great Zhou Forbidden Army is nearly two million. Such a huge number is not yet able to protect the stability of the Great Zhou, does Yang Shumi think that this is the reason for the number of soldiers and horses? This is fundamentally a problem of the quality of the soldiers, and a problem of the leading system. In order to maintain stability, my Great Zhou recruited prisoners and displaced people into the army, just to quench their thirst. These people are all people who are lazy and evil, and the court spends military salaries to raise them, just so that they don't cause chaos, which is a fundamental strategic mistake. What are the benefits of these people in the military? Those who are indulgent and disgusted will be like this in the army, refusing to even farm to support themselves, and still expect them to be loyal to the country? A rat poop spoiled a pot of porridge, and the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou were full of these people, which ruined the habits of the entire army. This must change. There are also those old and weak people in the army, the court is just wasting money and food to raise them, and these people must be cleared out of the Great Zhou army. The army of the Great Zhou Dynasty is not a nursing home, it is not for people to go in and enjoy happiness, it is to work hard for the society of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Every penny of the imperial court's food and silver must be supported by soldiers who can fight and serve the Great Zhou, not people who eat and drink and are greedy for life and fear of death when they fight. ”

Many people who said this nodded secretly, there were indeed many homeless prisoners in the Great Zhou Dynasty army. It was precisely for the sake of maintaining stability that the imperial court was afraid of chaos among the homeless people, so it was raised in one go. As everyone knows, this was indeed a feasible expedient measure before the financial abundance, but today, it is a huge burden to do so. In addition, the practice of raising both good and bad together has greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the army. Those who are lazy and evil, stealing, cheating, and slippery are even more demoralizing in the army. The combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty has deteriorated day by day, and it is largely affected by this.

Yang Jun actually understands these drawbacks, but he can't face up to this problem. He felt that the quality of the soldiers was not enough, and the combat effectiveness was not strong, so he used the number of people to make up for it. As the privy envoy of the Great Zhou, he has the responsibility to ensure that every soldier of his command can have food, equipment, and a comfortable life. Then he is competent. If he can't protect his one-third of an acre, he will be incompetent and will be laughed at. That's what he thinks. For people who haven't read much, the limitations are naturally obvious.

"Sorry, I'll interject. I would like to ask Lord Yan and Lord Fang, according to your thoughts, the number of soldiers and horses in my Great Zhou will be reduced quite a lot. Before, you said that all those who commit adultery must be cleaned up, and those under 18 and over 40 must also be cleaned up. Those who were originally displaced people who joined the army should also be cleaned up. That's not a small amount. I'm afraid I'm going to get rid of half of the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou. If we count it at 800,000, how will these 800,000 people settle them? If you leave it alone, won't the world be in chaos? Wu Chunlai suddenly said loudly. He saw that Yang Junsheng was blushing and speechless, so he said to help. In terms of debate, how could Yang Jun be the opponent of Fang Dunru and Yan Zhengsu.

Fang Dunru didn't look at him, although Wu Chunlai was already an important minister of the imperial court, but in Fang Dunru's eyes, he was just a rebel who betrayed him. Take a look at it more, and say a word to him more, Fang Dunru is dirty.

solemnly said in a solemn voice: "Lord Wu's words are to the point, today's deliberations, should have discussed these matters related to the new law itself. That's the attitude of the discussion. The old man came to answer Lord Wu's question. As we all know, there are many reasons why my finances have plummeted. But the biggest reason is that people are displaced because they have no land to cultivate. The promulgation of the previous two new laws is to solve this problem. On the one hand, it provides official loans for the people to tide over the difficulties, and on the other hand, it balances the acres of land and restricts mergers and acquisitions, so that the cultivated land can be returned to the hands of the people. At present, it seems that the effect is still obvious. However, it is not easy to resettle a large number of people on the acres of land that have been withdrawn. ”

Wu Chunlai said: "Yes, Lord Yan himself knows that it is difficult to settle so many people on the acres of farmland that have been returned to farmland, how can this be solved?" If this matter is not resolved, it will be a great hidden danger. ”

Yan Zheng said in a solemn voice: "Don't forget, I have a vast area and a large number of uncultivated fields to cultivate. Nowadays, the border towns of Hedong Road, Hebei East and West 2nd Road, Qinfeng Road, and Xixia Road and other northern border towns have suffered serious loss of people, and the fields are barren. And there is a lot of wasteland that has not been cultivated. I discussed with Lord Fang, and the reduced soldiers could be placed in the nearby border towns and roads. The specific method was to provide a sum of silver from the imperial court for them to settle down. They were allowed to cultivate the wasteland, and the imperial court exempted them from paying taxes for three years to support them. In this way, after three years, large tracts of land in the border towns will be reclaimed and cultivated, which will not only allow them to settle down, but also increase the tax revenue of the imperial court, and ensure the supply of some grain in Gyeonggi and other parts of the border towns nearby. Avoid over-reliance on grain transportation from the south, which will lead to a shortage of grain in the north due to bad weather or accidents. It's a no-brainer. ”

The ministers were stunned, this was an ambitious plan. The roads in the northern border towns are harsh, and they are in the border towns, and they are not safe. Therefore, the loss of people is indeed very serious. In the event of a war or a natural disaster, the people immediately thought of running to the rich land in the south, so that the south was overcrowded and there was a shortage of arable land, while the north was sparsely populated, and the arable land became wasteland. If the wasteland in the north can be utilized, it will be a very good thing for the Great Zhou. The problem is, this plan sounds great, but it's not that easy to actually do.

"I'm afraid that Lord Yan and Lord Fang are wishful thinking. Will the laid-off soldiers be willing to stay in the Northlands for reclamation? Aren't they going to be in exile yet? Like a swarm of locusts, everywhere you go, you become a plague. Lord Yan and Lord Fang's idea is probably a bit naïve. Lu Zhongtian finally said in a deep voice.

Many ministers nodded and smacked their lips and said, "It's not easy to achieve, it's not easy to achieve." If so, how would we be where we are today? It is precisely because these people have become displaced people that they have been recruited into the army. Laid off or homeless. Whimsical, whimsical. ”

Fang Dunru said loudly: "I haven't tried it, how dare you say it's whimsical?" Didn't many of you say the same thing when you did the Dharma change before? What are the facts? The new law was effective, the financial pressure on the imperial court was sharply reduced, and the people returned to the land one after another. Since the beginning of this year, the number of displaced people has decreased sharply. Chenzhou is flooded, but the people are as stable as a mountain, these are clear proofs. So, it's man-made. ”

Yan Zhengsu nodded and said, "Exactly." As you should all know, the main reason for displacement is not because people are willing to be displaced. It's a necessity. Either the harvest was cut off by drought or flood, or the war was involved, so that the people had to be displaced. In order to ensure that they can reclaim in the north with peace of mind, in addition to those tax exemption and preferential measures, they also need to actively build water conservancy facilities and dredge rivers and ditches. The imperial court had to spend money to build roads, bridges, ditches, reservoirs, dams, etc., and the army also had to ensure the tranquility of the border towns. Within three years, the situation will change dramatically. I have absolute confidence in that. ”

Lu Zhongtian smacked his lips and said, "Lord Yan said it so easily, do you know how much money you have to spend on these?" Have you calculated the settlement of silver, tax exemption for three years, construction of roads, bridges, ditches, reservoirs, and dams? Isn't all the money of the court spent on this? ”

Yan Zhengsu said: "Lu Xiang, the silver will be used on the blade, this is a hundred-year plan, a long-term peace and stability plan, no matter how much silver is spent." Besides, how much silver does it cost to feed these people in the army? Based on 800,000 people, it will cost at least 10 million taels of silver a year to support them. With so much money invested in water conservancy and road construction, how much difference will it make? took out the money to support them and put it in, and the court didn't have more silver, how can it be said that the court's silver was spent here? ”

The ministers nodded silently and thought about it, regardless of their position, if according to Yan Zhengsu's words, the silver to support them was put into it, the court did not spend much money, but the situation might be greatly improved. There seems to be a little room for maneuvering.

Lu Zhongtian did not inquire further, he did not want to be the protagonist today, although in his experience, this matter is not so simple. But he was not obliged to discuss the feasibility of this matter for Yan Zhengsu and Fang Dunru. Today's protagonist should be Yang Jun, and with Yang Jun's temper, even if this is a perfect plan, he will not agree to it at all. He doesn't care about any placement, any finance, or any hundred-year plan. He wants his own one-third of an acre of land, and no one is allowed to interfere.

"You can't say it's a flower. Is it not the right thing you say to cut the army? You also want to ensure the stability of the border town, and you want to lay off my people, you want the horses to run, and you want the horses not to eat grass. Are you so unreasonable? I wouldn't agree to it. Yang Jun shouted.

"Yang Shumi, we should take a long-term view, look at the overall situation, not be limited to the immediate things. Reducing troops is by no means a weak army, on the contrary, it is a strategy for strengthening troops. Yang Shumi is not unaware that sixty or seventy percent of the imperial court's finances are spent on raising soldiers every year, which is extremely unreasonable. This will bring down the court. Moreover, even if six or seven percent of the fiscal and tax revenues are used to raise soldiers, the equipment and combat effectiveness of soldiers and horses are still worrisome. If you reduce the number of troops, you can build a well-equipped and more powerful army with the money invested, and you won't be unaware of this truth. The so-called soldiers are not expensive, and only strong soldiers can win battles, Yang Shumi is the leader of the army, should he let the old man talk about the art of war for you. Fang Dunru said with a slight teasing.