Chapter 11: The sunset of the long river, the forty-fourth section, Li Hong suddenly woke up. The tent was very quiet, except for the occasional crisp glow of charcoal burning in a few braziers

"Crackling" sound. Li Hong smelled the faint scent of charcoal, and a warmth gradually flowed through his body, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Daddy......" Li Xiu exclaimed in surprise,

When "Daddy......" was called again, Li Xiu was already in tears and choked up.

"General......" Xiao Tianzi rushed over and shouted repeatedly. Jia Xu, Fu Gan, Jiang Ji and others also hurriedly surrounded them.

The imperial doctor shocked Huang Da and shook his hand again and again,

"Don't be noisy, don't be noisy, be quiet, be quiet, ......" Li Hong's gaze slowly moved from the faces of Li Xiu, Xiao Tianzi and others, and finally fell on Jia Xu's face,

"Ziyu ......"

"Your Majesty has decreed that Lord Yan should be the commander of the army. The general can rest assured that he will recuperate from his wounds, we will fight, and we will win the battle in the West Sea. Jia Xu was a little excited, and his voice trembled slightly.

Li Hong exhaled softly and slowly closed his eyes,

"March...... Tianjun Mountain......"

"The Qiang people set fire to the prisoner camp and fled at night, and Lord Yan is leading the army to besiege and kill." Fu Gan said in a low voice,

"Therefore, the army will have to wait for a day before it can advance towards Tianjun Mountain." Li Hong's face was expressionless, and after a long time, he gradually showed a trace of pain.

"Instantly...... Enter...... Tianjun Mountain......" His tone was extremely resolute and unquestionable. On the morning of the next day, Yan Rou, the general of Zhenbei, ordered that Pang De, the general of Zhengxi, Ma Chao, the general of Huqiang, and Nie Xiao, the king of Huangzhongqiang, led 5,000 elite iron cavalry to march to Tianjun Mountain.

On the same day, the Son of Heaven wrote to Chang'an that the West Sea was victorious. On the same day, the Son of Heaven presided over a summary funeral, burying all the middle- and lower-ranking officers and soldiers who had died in battle on the banks of the Yegong Niu River, and then moving their remains back to Chang'an at an appropriate time in the future.

On the third day, the Son of Heaven presided over the funeral ceremony of the fallen generals. (The funeral is a very important part of the funeral.)

Seventeen deceased generals, including the chariot cavalry general Lu Yi, the tiger lieutenant general Xie Wu, the salt cavalry lieutenant general Chen Wei, the general's mansion supervisor Cao Yi, and the Xiliang generals Cheng Yin, Liang Xing, Jiang Feng, Jiang Jian, and Zhang Ming, were buried at the rank of captain or above.

The general also participated, and he was carried to the spiritual tent by the guards. There's a lot of red tape for funerals, but now it's all simple.

Xiao Tianzi, Yan Rou, Yushi, Wei Jun, Jiang Wu, Sai Feng, Fu Gan and other seven monarchs and ministers lifted the body of Liyi and put it in the coffin.

Li Hong lowered his head and remained motionless.

"Dad, it's time to cover the coffin." Li Xiu wiped a handful of tears and asked in a low voice,

"Are you going to check it out?" Li Hong nodded. Yan Ba, Pang Hui, Li Xin, and Zhao Tong helped Li Hong up and slowly walked to the coffin.

Koji Yi was dressed in brand new armor, holding his sword in both hands and lying quietly.

"Let's go, brother......" Li Hong stretched out his hand and patted Ko Yi's chest gently,

"You said that if you conquer the West Sea, you will stay in Longqi, and together with the brothers who died in Longqi that year, you will defend the western frontier for the Han Dynasty. I promise you, I will leave you in Longqi and let you defend the territory for the Great Han. Li Hong's expression was calm, and his tone was flat,

"I'm leaving, I'm going to the north. If I die, I will stay in Luronse, and I will defend the territory of the Great Han with my brothers in Luronse. We were thousands of miles apart and never saw each other again. Say goodbye today, see each other indefinitely, take care of yourself. "The coffin is covered.

Li Hong slowly knelt down, his hand touched the cold coffin, and suddenly his heart was like a knife, he was overwhelmed with grief, he could no longer control his emotions, and cried bitterly.

In mid-December, the Han army occupied Tianjun Mountain and captured more than 50,000 Qiang households of various species such as Shaodang and Dianna. The Son of Heaven issued an edict and ordered Emperor Fu Li of Liangzhou to rush to Jincheng County and discuss with Nie Xiao, the king of Huangzhong, the relocation of the Qiang people of the West Sea to live in Hehuang.

The Son of Heaven issued an edict to worship Jiang Wu as the general of Zhenxi, lead 5,000 cavalry, guard the West Sea, and be responsible for suppressing the Qiang people in the surrounding areas of the West Sea and stabilizing the situation in the West Sea.

The Son of Heaven decreed that Ma Chao, the general of Huqiang, led the army to build a camp in Hehuang and guard the two counties of Jincheng and Longxi. The Son of Heaven issued an order, and the general of Zhengxi, Pang De, led the army to build a camp in Wuwei to guard the four counties of Hexi.

On December 18, the expeditionary army moved in triumph. December, Chang'an. The news of the victory in the West Sea reached Kyoto, and the whole city celebrated.

In the name of the Son of Heaven, the eldest princess issued an edict to the world, and ordered to reward the front-line soldiers, give compensation to the fallen soldiers, and personally rushed to Chang'an to express condolences to the families of the fallen generals such as the general of the chariot and cavalry, and the general of Huben Zhonglang, such as Xie Wu.

On December 24, Liyang Grand Sima Xu Rong and Shangshu Jintian Chou rushed to Liyang Palace to present the New Year's ceremony and sacrifice to the eldest princess.

"After the New Year, His Majesty and the general led the army to cross the Yellow River in the north, inspected the counties in Hexi, and discussed the matter of counterinsurgency in the desert with Budugeng, the king of Xianbei in the west, and Tuoba Tao, the king of Xianbei in the north, so ......" The great Sima Xu Rong hesitated for a moment and continued,

"Because His Majesty will not come back, and the army will not return to Beijing, the imperial court decided to cancel the ceremony to celebrate the pacification of Western Xinjiang."

"Why?" The eldest princess asked in surprise,

"The great victory in the West Sea, the pacification of the Western Xinjiang, Your Majesty and the soldiers of the Western Expedition have made great achievements for the Han Dynasty, even if they do not come back, the imperial court should hold a ceremony to celebrate. Taking a step back, this is also a consolation to the deceased Chesar General Koji Yoshi-sama and the 18,000 fallen soldiers. She looked at Xu Rong and Tian Chou who were ashamed, and her tone softened a little,

"Is it that the court has no money?"

"Next year, Your Majesty and the general will lead an expedition to the desert, and the imperial court's financial endowment is indeed very tight." Tian Chou said cautiously,

"The situation in the south is not very good, we have to be ready for war, and the imperial court is inevitably a little stretched."

"This year's great victory in the West Sea, next spring Your Majesty and the general will personally rush to the northern frontier, at this time Fu Luo Han, Shelong and others still dare to openly confront the Han Dynasty?" The eldest princess sneered,

"In the case of you, do you still dare to be the enemy of the Han? I don't think they're stupid enough to be like this, right? As for the south, hadn't Cao Cao and Sun Quan's envoys already arrived in Chang'an? Just give them some benefits first and stabilize them. This kind of rebellion is not to worry about, with General Lu Bu sitting in Yanzhou, forgive them for not daring to take the initiative to send troops. Some time ago, Yuan Tan seized the Lujiang River and called Sun Quan and Zhou Yu brothers, which posed a great threat to Cao Cao. Xu Rong and Tian Chou bowed and promised.

"It's a bit troublesome over there in Xiangyang, but Lord Zhong Xuan is working hard. With the close relationship between the Yingru people and the Xiangyang people, even if they can't negotiate peace, they can guarantee that there will be no war for the time being, so it's okay. I don't think Liu Biao is in a hurry to die, right? The eldest princess put the piece in her hand on the table, looked at the two of them dissatisfied, and continued,

"Now that Longxi and Wudu County have been recovered, the counterinsurgency strategy of the imperial court to contain Shu has also been realized. Although Liu Bei killed Yang Song and occupied Hanzhong, his strength was not good, and it was difficult to pose a threat to the imperial court to attack Yizhou in the short term. For Liu Bei's occupation of Hanzhong, the imperial court has an unshirkable responsibility. As early as the beginning of the year, Yang Song was already willing to submit to the imperial court, if you handle it properly, you can get Hanzhong before Liu Bei, but what is the result? The results were so disappointing. ”

"After Zhao Yun and Lord Yan Liang returned to Beijing, they brought Pang Yi, Wei Duan, Guan Yu and others to see me. At that time, Pang Yi said that in the current situation, the cost of storming Yizhou was very high, and he suggested that the imperial court send people into Shu to appease Liu Bei and Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang can be the king of Shu, and Liu Bei can also be the king of Hanzhong, but the condition is that the army must be surrendered, and the county must be surrendered. You can send someone to talk about this condition. The great victory in the West Sea, the pacification of the Western Xinjiang, isn't the army of the Han Dynasty strong enough? Can't the Son of Heaven and the imperial court calm the world? Tell them to keep their eyes open and their minds clear. If they are really for the sake of the Han Dynasty and the people of the world, they should submit to the imperial court and return peace and stability to the people of the world. ”

"Next year, if the imperial court takes appropriate measures, there will be no war in the south, and the imperial court can do its best to stabilize the northern frontier. As for the affairs of northern Xinjiang, as I just said, there is a great general personally in charge, and there is no big war. The hussar general Xian Yufu once had a recital, and he repeatedly said that he wanted to provoke contradictions between the Hu tribes as much as possible and let them fight themselves. When the desert and the Hu tribes in eastern Liaodong are defeated, we will be able to benefit the fishermen and win without a fight, and the northern Xinjiang will be stable. The eldest princess tapped lightly on the desk, and motioned for the two ministers who were listening to raise their heads,

"I don't agree with your recital, this celebration must be held, and it must be held in a big way, the more grand the better. This can show the prestige of the Han Dynasty and my country, and can deter the rebellion in the south and the Hu people in the north. If this celebration can destroy their faith and shake their faith, it is tantamount to a victory and an unexpected victory. In the future, we may be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort and achieve amazing results in the counterinsurgency war. Xu Rong and Tian Chou looked at each other and did not speak, but the expressions on their faces were clear.

They insisted on their own recital, and the eldest princess had just said it in vain.

"Is the court really so poor?" A hint of anger flashed across the eldest princess's beautiful face,

"I have issued an order to invite the officials of various prefectures and counties and the wealthy people of the gate lord clan to Beijing to participate in the celebration, do you want me to lose my trust in the world? What about the Prime Minister? What is he up to? I haven't seen him for more than a month, and he has reviewed the plans of various states and counties for three consecutive months, and the final result is to let you tell me that the imperial court has no money to hold this ceremony? The eldest princess's tone was very stern, and she was obviously extremely dissatisfied with Li Wei.

"When Mr. Cai Yong was prime minister, I could still see the book, but now? Now I have nothing to do with the plan, and I still haven't seen a piece of music about the audit of the plan. Outrageous. The more the eldest princess spoke, the more angry she became, her fair face flushed, her chest rose and fell violently, and she was furious.

The upper plan was originally a matter of the prime minister, but since the Xiaowu Emperor's weight on Shangshutai, especially when it came to the Guangwu Emperor, the audit of the upper plan was basically the emperor's business, and the prime minister in charge of political affairs (the filial piety emperor dynasty was changed to the Great Situ, and the Guangwu Emperor dynasty was changed to Situ) instead became an ornament, and the prime minister gave the emperor and the monk Shangtai more than half.

The eldest princess has been in power for ten years, and this year is the first time that she has been excluded from the above calculation, and she knows nothing about the specific circumstances of the rents, prisons, and elections of various states and counties.

"Your Highness, you have misunderstood the Prime Minister." Xu Rong smiled bitterly, bowed down and explained,

"This year's plan went a big ......"

"What? What did you say? The eldest princess was startled, sat up straight involuntarily, and quickly interrupted Xu Rong's words,

"What's wrong? Although the Prime Minister did not personally present the recital of the plan, the Jiuqing Mansion, especially the Taichang Mansion, the Dasi Nong Mansion and the Shaofu Mansion, still mentioned the matter of the plan to a greater or lesser extent, saying that this year, the states and counties in various places have been in good weather and the financial endowment has grown rapidly, and there is no mention of anything unusual. "The eldest princess was extremely nervous, even a little frightened.

The previous year's plan provoked a mutiny in Chang'an, so it won't cause anything else this year, right? As long as the general is not in Kyoto, there are always problems in the court one after another, which is a little chilling to think about.

"Indeed, it has been ten years before and after the implementation of the new policy by the imperial court, and if you count from the opening of the palace by His Royal Highness, it will be a full fourteen years. In the past 14 years, the growth rate of wealth has been increasing faster and faster year by year, and the good news of various states and counties has been frequent, and there is a scene everywhere that is about to return to the prosperity of the past, which is completely different from what we originally expected. No one would have imagined that the New Deal would have such a huge effect and allow the Han to quickly get up from the rubble......" Xu Rong said with some excitement later.

"If the old ministers such as Zhang Wen, Ma Riyan, and Cui Lie can live until now and see their efforts become a reality, they may ......"

"What the hell is wrong?" The eldest princess interrupted Xu Rong's words again.

"Your Highness, the price of grain is too low." Tian Chou said softly. The eldest princess was stunned,

"The price of grain is too low? Is it also a problem that the price of the valley is too low? She looked at the two worried ministers in disbelief,

"Don't you know how much effort the imperial court has spent and how many ways to stabilize the price of grain over the years? The implementation of the new land system, the reduction and exemption of land taxes, the relief of disaster victims, the opening of canals to irrigate fields, the encouragement of the common people to plant mulberry and hemp for breeding, the popularization and use of new field tools and new farming methods, and now the establishment of official warehouses in various prefectures and counties to prevent disasters and famines, all these methods are aimed at increasing grain production. Only when grain production goes up can grain prices be guaranteed and the people can live a good life. In my opinion, the price of grain is not low, but it is not low enough. Now that the price of grain is 70 yuan per hundred, the imperial court should find another way to produce more grain and reduce the price of grain to 50 yuan per hundred, or even 30 yuan per hundred. ”

"Your Highness, the price of grain is too low, and the damage to the farmer is too great." Xu Rong sighed,

"The Prime Minister begged His Highness to recall the history of the Five Prefectures at the beginning of this month, just to inquire about this matter." Hearing that the price of grain was too low and seriously hurt the farmer, the eldest princess's expression immediately became extremely solemn.

The foundation of this dynasty and the strengthening of the country is farming, and if the farmer is seriously injured, the day of national turmoil is not far off.

Tian Chou followed Xu Rong's words and made an explanation. Generally speaking, the average household is about five, and if you farm 100 acres, excluding other income, you will receive about 100 stones of millet every year.

A family of five eats more than half of their meals in a year. The rest have to pay land rent and calculate taxes, and they have to hire people to serve on their behalf (this dynasty is now the time to pacify the world, there are a lot of various types of forced labor, and some peasants are not strong enough, so in order not to plough by mistake, they have to hire people to serve on their behalf at the cost of a certain amount of money per person).

As a result, the farmer has little or no surplus of harvest for the year. Other expenditures, such as seeds, farming animals, and farm tools, as well as expenses for clothing, salt, and miscellaneous uses, depend on the amount of other incomes such as planting mulberry and hemp breeding.

Now there are many wars, cattle, horses, iron tools, cloth, and salt are very tight and expensive, and the price of grain is very stable and very low because of the forcible intervention of the imperial court, and the prices of the two are extremely unbalanced.

Farmers sell their grain at low prices and buy farm animals, farm implements and other necessities at high prices, and they lose a lot. Especially during the harvest season, local governments and businessmen deliberately suppressed grain prices, which made the people even more miserable.

The farmer's income comes from the corn obtained from cultivating the land, and if the price of the corn is low, the income is low, and they are very poor.

Although he did not starve to death, he was very poor, unable to make ends meet, and could not withstand any blows. But if a person eats whole grains, how can he not get sick?

People live in the world, whether they are alive or dead, whether they come and go, they all need money. What's even more terrifying is that once there is a year of famine, the harvest of the fields is reduced or there is no harvest, what will the farmers do?

The peasants tole all year round, they did not have a day to rest, and they could bear the income from which they had to pay land rent and taxes, and to conquer and conquest.

In the event of floods and droughts, they have the relief of the imperial court and can live hard. However, once the government was in a hurry and tyrannical, and even some officials knew the law and broke the law, corrupted the law, and expropriated the law, the peasants had no way to live.

As a result, some people have to borrow money at high interest rates, have to sell their children and daughters, and have to sell their land and houses at a low price.

The peasants had to live, to eat, to feed their parents, wives and children, and in the case of the sale of the land, there was only one way, and that was to attach themselves to the buyers of the land, that is, the wealthy men of the local clans.

Although the buying and selling of land was strictly forbidden in this dynasty, the farmers could not survive, and they could still obey the law? The wealthy men of the gate lord clan are rich and powerful, and they are inextricably linked with the local officials, and the government does not report it, how can the court know that there is a land sale between the townships?

Even if it is found, the farmer does not admit it in order to survive, what can the tracer do? This dynasty is now to

The "mouth" levied taxes, and these people became the wealthy of the gate lord family

After the "shadow household", the taxes were paid by the wealthy people of the gate lord clan, and the conscription was also hired by them to serve on their behalf, and the life could be passed, but this seriously violated the law of the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, because the wealthy people of the gate lord clan have more land, more wealth, and greater strength, they pose a serious threat to the imperial court.

The lessons of the Yellow Turban Uprising are vividly remembered. Why did millions of farmers join the Yellow Turban Army?

One of the apparent causes is famine. In the year of the famine, there was no harvest, if the imperial court's relief was unfavorable, if the rich people of the clan who had suffered heavy losses were unable to shelter them, these landless farmers would immediately lose the chance of survival, they would immediately burn and loot, and they would immediately rise up, and the fundamental reason behind it was land sales and land annexation.

Now, this phenomenon of land annexation is beginning to spread in various states and counties. The implementation of the New Deal allowed the rapid recovery of the social economy, the low land rent of 15 and 15 taxes, the preferential policies to support the development of commerce and trade, the full liberalization of the operation of salt, iron, wine and tea, and the strong control of grain prices by the imperial court, so that many people who owned a large amount of land became rich in just a few years.

In addition to the princes and nobles, the clans of the lords, the bureaucrats, and the wealthy merchants, there are also the military meritorious class.

However, the main reasons for these people to amass a lot of wealth in such a short period of time were the frequent wars, the construction of a large number of palaces and cities, and the excavation of ditches.

These places where money is staggering are also the source of many people's overnight wealth. Nowadays, officials, scholars, and businessmen

The "Trinity" abounded, and some of them were far more powerful than the imperial court imagined.

When you have money, what is the first thing that comes to mind? It is the purchase of land, and only land can preserve the value of wealth, which has never changed since ancient times.

With low land rents, low grain prices, and developed commerce, there are more and more rich and powerful people, and their demand for land is getting bigger and bigger, and they are becoming more and more greedy, more and more unscrupulous, and more and more lawless.

And then the farmers became victims, they produced food, but they were pushed to the brink by it. The new policy of the imperial court made some people rich quickly, so that the vast number of peasants and workers could live, but as time continued, problems also came, and they came very fiercely, which caught the imperial court by surprise.

The New Deal's policies were beneficial to the peasants, and even more beneficial to the bureaucratic tycoons of the gate-lord family. The advantages of the New Deal are being lost, it is becoming a weapon to harm farmers, and it is destroying the society that has just embarked on the road to prosperity.

"The Prime Minister decided to raise the price of grain, so that the farmers' income can be increased, and their ability to survive will be improved, but ......" Tian Yu looked at the eldest princess with a stern expression, and said helplessly,

"But the fundamental problem is land. The increase in the price of grain has limited effect on improving the income of the peasants, because the land of the peasants is limited, so we must find a way to prevent the clans and bureaucratic tycoons from using all kinds of means to annex the land of the peasants, and try to keep the land in their hands and the bottom line of their survival. ”

"If the problem of land annexation is not solved, the higher the price of grain, the more unfavorable it will be to the people. The easiest way to solve the problem of land annexation is to change the existing national policy and use the power of the imperial court to cut off the way for the clans and bureaucrats to accumulate wealth. But in this way, it dealt a serious blow to the clan and the bureaucratic tycoons, seriously hurt their interests, and also involved the interests of the military meritorious class. ”

"The Prime Minister has been ......working very hard lately," Xu Rong sighed,

He dealt with state affairs during the day, and discussed the restructuring with his subordinates day and night at night, and he was so exhausted that he hardly had time to sleep. He couldn't hold it anymore. The eldest princess was silent.

She never expected that the development of the New Deal to this day would become the culprit that endangered the great cause of ZTE, and she could hardly accept this fact.

"What is the best plan for the Prime Minister?"

"Heavy agriculture and suppress business, salt and iron official camp." Tian Chou said slowly but resolutely,

"That's the only way to solve the problem right now." The eldest princess changed color in shock. This completely overturned the foundation of the New Deal and completely negated the fundamental strategy of the great cause of ZTE.

"I don't agree." The eldest princess slapped her palm on the table and said angrily,

"Absolutely not." Jump to