Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3486 A Different Choice
Zhao Yun was a little surprised.

He didn't expect Liu Ye to say this...

Everyone looks at things from a different perspective. If Liu Ye spoke completely from the standpoint of Shandong, Zhao Yun would naturally not want to listen. However, Liu Ye's narration was very objective and practical, which forced Zhao Yun to think.

Because he is Zhao Yun.

If it were an ordinary military general, even if he could understand what Liu Ye said, he would naturally give up after thinking about it for a while and still not being able to figure it out.

Zhao Yun likes to think, likes to learn, and is good at summarizing. When a problem is put in front of him, Zhao Yun's choice is to try to think and find the answer first, rather than directly avoiding it or putting it aside.

Liu Ye looked at Zhao Yun's expression and smiled slightly.

The words he had prepared all the way here were now completely discarded. What he said to Zhao Yun now were all things he had thought up on the spur of the moment before he came to see Zhao Yun.

Liu Ye knew why he came to Youzhou, but after going through so much trouble to finally reach Ji County, he encountered such a snowstorm. After seeing the Cavalry Army gathering to carry out disaster relief and restore order, his mentality changed slightly.

People in Shandong say that the areas north of Guanzhong are full of barbaric customs and have a fishy smell. But now that Youzhou is suffering, where are those elegant and famous people?

Do the people of Youzhou need Shandong's wise and elegant manners more now, or do they need the current cavalry troops, even though their shouting is not very polite, to give them some food and clothing to get through this harsh winter?

What is a big man?
Perhaps there are different answers in the minds of different people.

However, for the children of the aristocratic families, especially the royal family, the mysterious veil of the emperor may not have much effect.

The same is true for Liu Ye.

He had met the emperor and knew what kind of person Emperor Liu Xie was.

If it were a peaceful and prosperous era, Emperor Liu Xie would have been a good emperor.

Because in times of peace, all order is operating basically stably, and the less the emperor interferes, the fewer problems there will be in the counties. Except for times when the emperor orders relief efforts in times of disaster, other matters can generally be handled within the counties.

However, in the current situation of unrest in the world, the emperor's lack of ability is fatal.

If the emperor cannot win the hearts of the various princes, he will certainly not be able to control the chaos in the local areas.

Moreover, Liu Ye couldn't tell these problems directly to Emperor Liu Xie!

One aspect is that if Liu Ye said it, in case there were any problems and Liu Xie could not protect Liu Ye, wouldn’t that mean that Liu Ye was seeking his own death?
Another aspect is that even if Liu Ye was not afraid of death and gave advice, but Liu Xie did not understand it, or even if he understood it but did not act on it, wouldn't it be of no use?
Therefore, Liu Ye's attitude towards Emperor Liu Xie was actually similar to what was shown in history. He just mentioned it and stopped there, without saying more, explaining more, or forcing anything.

The emperor asked him to bring the imperial edict to Zhao Yun, and Liu Ye came as ordered.

So it can be said that after arriving in Ji County, Liu Ye's mission was basically over, and what remained were just some finishing touches. As for whether Zhao Yun was willing to accept the imperial edict, that was Zhao Yun's business. Liu Ye could not control it, nor could he sign the edict on behalf of Zhao Yun.

The reason why Liu Ye did not return immediately was that he also wanted to take this opportunity to meet Zhao Yun and get a more intuitive understanding of the situation of the Cavalry Army to avoid returning without knowing anything, which would somewhat lose the style of a celebrity. However, when he actually saw the Cavalry Army treating the people of Youzhou, his heart was touched.

Liu Ye is a member of the royal family, but his relative...

As for any aristocratic family, that is out of the question.

So Liu Ye didn't just stand there and sigh. He took off his brocade robe, picked up his writing brush, and worked with the clerks in the cavalry army to handle affairs...

Liu Ye felt that the Cavalry Corps was not quite what he had originally imagined.

On the other hand, it was Liu Ye's behavior that made Zhao Yun feel that Liu Ye was different from those Shandong celebrities.

This is how Zhao Yun met Liu Ye, and how Liu Ye now "pointed" Zhao Yun...

Liu Ye didn't say much, but he always hit the point.

Youzhou is a frontier city, and its status is actually not much different from that of Bingzhou and Liangzhou.

The reason why it is better than Bingliang is simply because Youzhou and Jizhou are closer. The people of Jizhou are afraid that once they completely lose Youzhou, they will lose the barrier to the north, so their attitude towards Youzhou is not as indifferent as they treat Bingliang.

People in Jizhou feel that having a little bit of Youzhou is enough, so Liaodong and Lelang areas are dispensable.

People in the Yuzhou area, however, felt that it didn't matter if the entire Youzhou was lost. After all, even if the sky fell, wouldn't there still be people from Jizhou to hold it up?
Due to the rise of the landlord class, the gentry in the entire Central Plains region of the Han Dynasty lost interest in the borderland lands which were difficult to cultivate and could not produce high-yield crops, and they had no intention of expanding outward at all.

On the contrary, because the border areas were cold and hard and life was difficult, during the feudal dynasties, once the power of the border areas expanded, whether internally or externally, they would inevitably erode the Central Plains under such unequal treatment.

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality.

This is a truth that our Chinese ancestors understood, but the Gini coefficient still continues to rise wildly in every feudal dynasty!
Liu Ye pointed out this problem.

The Cavalry Army grew up on the frontiers of the Han Dynasty, in those areas despised by the Central Plains. The strategies they formulated were also biased towards those previously oppressed and forgotten people. So just like Zhao Yun treating the disaster-stricken people here in Youzhou, they will soon get support and response.

but……

Jizhou was not affected.

Would those landlords, big and small, who had been watching the decline of the border with their hands folded and coldly watching for the past three or four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, at least after Liu Xiu established the capital in Luoyang, and those who had enjoyed the preferential treatment of the gentry and occupied the bureaucratic government agencies, be willing to accept the system of cavalry?
Seeing Zhao Yun was silent, Liu Ye did not wait for Zhao Yun to answer, and continued: "Since the establishment of the Hussars in Guanzhong, most of the people who joined the Hussars were from humble backgrounds. Duke Zheng wandered around in Beihai for a long time, and Duke Shuijing and Duke Jingzhou wandered around for a long time, but they were not accepted by the Central Plains. It's not that they are bad, but they are like people in a disaster. It's enough to have enough food and clothing! But what about hope and fear? If you make them lose their food and clothing, they will hate it. If you want to satisfy them, they will resent you. With your wisdom, you can tell the difference. "

Although Liu Ye did not express it very clearly and did not come up with an accurate expression, he undoubtedly pointed out the biggest contradiction between Guanzhong and Shandong at present, that is, the differences in production systems and production relations!
Some people in later generations said that the aristocratic families only appeared during the Jin and Tang dynasties, but this is not actually the case. Everything has its own stages of development, and we cannot single out one period or one point in time to represent the whole. Yes, during the Jin and Tang dynasties, the aristocratic families were indeed the strongest and most representative, but tracing their roots, they were born during the Han Dynasty, especially during the Eastern Han Dynasty...

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, land annexation led to the emergence of large and small landlords. At the same time, because books were hard to come by, Confucian classics were basically circulated within a sect. Or it can be called a circle, that is, a teacher-student relationship, or a school of thought.

The landlord class, big and small, monopolized the means of production and restricted the dissemination of knowledge. Governing a country requires these two things, so it is equivalent to monopolizing bureaucratic positions.

During the Han Dynasty, it was natural for the whole family, young and old, to become officials, for one family to dominate a region, for newborns to receive benefits based on their years of service, etc. As these gentry and landlords grew stronger, they naturally represented their class in the court and fought for more benefits. By the time of Emperor Ling of Han, these people had money, people, officials, culture, and military force, so what else did they need the court for?
Emperor Ling of Han wanted to control it, but he could no longer do so.

Zhao Yun was obviously unable to solve such a problem, so he remained silent and frowned.

"Under the Cavalry, there are people from Jingxiang and Yingchuan," Liu Ye said slowly, "When the Cavalry occupied Guanzhong, the people of Jingxiang and Yingchuan could work together, because in Guanzhong, Jingxiang and Yingchuan are all foreign enemies. But if the Cavalry enters the Central Plains... who is outside and who is inside? When Jingxiang seeks the support of Jingxiang and Yingchuan pays homage to Yingchuan, what is the difference between the factions in the Central Plains and Shandong of the Han Dynasty? "

Zhao Yun frowned and said, "If the people of Shandong are so ignorant of reason, why not get rid of the bad and keep the good?"

Liu Ye said frankly: "The people of Shandong, at this moment, are mostly playing Liubo. If we talk about good and bad, it is not necessarily the case. Liubo and Liuchou, can we distinguish good from bad in gambling? The people of Yingchuan are under the prime minister, they make plans with the prime minister, they belong to the cavalry, they offer their strategies to the cavalry, their strategies can be said to be good or bad, but to judge the good from the bad based on this behavior, isn't it absurd?"

Once any class has achieved basic needs, they will inevitably seek more benefits and greater power.

This is a necessity.

Because as long as exploitation exists in human society and there is a system for extracting surplus value, this kind of problem will inevitably arise.

The aristocratic families and powerful clans grew up from the blood of the Han Dynasty and tasted the sweetness of monopolizing the political and economic fields. How could they give up so easily?

Liu Ye's meaning was very simple. The sons of the aristocratic families who could cooperate with the Cavalry were not because they fully supported the Cavalry system 100%, but because their families were spreading their bets, just like the chips in Liubo.

There was also fierce competition among the powerful families, such as those families that had previously placed their bets on the Yuan family...

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

If you win, you will make a fortune. If you lose, you will lose everything.

This is where the interests of the sons of the gentry and the princes are consistent, so Liu Ye said that now the politics in the Cavalry Army is harmonious and the various factions are cooperating with each other. That's because it is a time of high profits, just like Yuan Shao was also a role model for the world back then.

"The Prime Minister is now in decline, not because he cannot do it, but because he can do it." Liu Ye shook his head slightly, "If the Prime Minister cannot do it, he can divide the power among the counties, and the world will praise him! But the Prime Minister is now hated by Shandong, which means he wants to gather the strength of Shandong to resist Guanzhong! What Shandong hates is not Guanzhong, but the word "gather"! May I ask the general, if the cavalry can get the Central Plains, will it be able to do it or not? Will it hate it or not?"

The noble families hope to assist a "wise ruler" and maximize their value, but after assisting a wise ruler, conflicts of interest will inevitably arise. The local tyrants hope that a ruler like Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Guangwu will emerge, who will reduce the military, simplify government, rest and recuperate, and focus on agriculture and sericulture, so that the interests of the landlord class can be greatly guaranteed.

Simply put, these local nobles hope for a "wise ruler", but at the same time a "weak emperor"!
Because the economic foundation of the aristocratic families was the manor economy created by annexing a large amount of land. The objects of their annexation were self-cultivating farmers, who were the fundamental economic foundation of the central royal family. The central government's taxes and military service were all borne by self-cultivating farmers, which made the manor economy of the aristocratic families and the economy of the central government completely conflicting with each other.

So when Cao Wei began to crack down on the powerful and strengthen the central power, the aristocratic families began to be dissatisfied. Later, the Sima family jumped out, and these aristocratic families either helped Sima cover up or simply supported him secretly. Do you really think that Sima raised his arm and a large number of assassins gathered? Raising assassins also requires money, time, and places. Guess what, Cao was so cautious and inspected the Sima family many times, why couldn't they find the hiding place of these assassins?

In the Hussars, there are now small-scale powerful people, small landlords, representatives of poor scholars, and children of side branches. These people are not like the aristocratic families that are a combination of big bureaucrats and big families. Their demands for power are not high for the time being. Their demands at this stage are more pragmatic, because the elites who came from small landlords have no way out and their upward channels are blocked. They are eager for opportunities and hope that a wise monarch can promote them. They hope to break the monopoly of the big aristocratic families and powerful people on the officialdom and get the opportunity to achieve success.

"The people of Youzhou are hungry today and they are looking for food and clothing. Tomorrow they will look for a family business," Liu Ye said. "If Youzhou is like this, why should the rest of the world be like this? What the cavalry can do can satisfy Guanzhong and Youzhou, but can it satisfy the rest of the world?"

Liu Ye was talking about "people", but in fact all these "people" do not refer to civilians.

Although history is actually created by the people, neither Liu Ye nor Zhao Yun have this awareness at the moment.

Zhao Yun, like a small number of other elite people, was initially pushed to join the chaos of the late Han Dynasty not by any lofty ideals, but mostly by the desire to "own the land to the tiller". It was enough to be able to work peacefully and live a peaceful life...

But has Zhao Yun ever thought about taking a step further?

some.

What about the others?
"Why did Emperor Xiaoling set up eight lieutenants for Xiyuan?" Liu Ye said, "It was because the emperor wanted to control the army and control the local areas. Why did Xiyuan become obsolete later? Was it because the emperor entrusted the wrong people? The reason is only one or two out of ten! The reason why Xiyuan became obsolete was because of the soldiers! If Xiyuan wanted to be established, where would the soldiers come from? They were the people in the local areas. Did the local areas want Xiyuan to be established? Emperor Xiaoling did not establish Xiyuan because the prime minister was incapable of doing so. It was probably because the cavalry was established. Could it be possible?"

Zhao Yun frowned.

On the surface, Liu Ye was only talking about Emperor Ling of Han, but Zhao Yun knew what Liu Ye really wanted to say...

The foundation of the central royal family in all dynasties has been the control of military power. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was not that the Han Dynasty did not want to regain military power, but in fact, the aristocratic families soon rallied and the situation was ruined. This is something everyone knows, but the second half of what Liu Ye said was what Zhao Yun did not expect.

The reason why Emperor Ling of Han failed was not only because of his own ability problems, nor was it because he let a eunuch manage the army. The more important factor of failure was that Emperor Ling of Han wanted to rebuild an army, so he needed soldiers who could serve and food and supplies to support the army. To put it simply, there must be enough self-cultivating farmers to pay taxes and serve, but at this time, the self-cultivating farmers in the countryside were divided and messy due to the annexation of the aristocratic families. The county officials in charge of taxation and the grassroots officials of the army were also the disciples and old officials of the aristocratic families. They were more loyal to the aristocratic families than the court. How could they support Emperor Ling of Han in recruiting soldiers?
Therefore, the Eight Commanders of Xiyuan were cut off from the root!
So what about Cao Cao and Fei Qian?

Where did Cao Cao and Fei Qian’s roots, that is, where did their military forces come from?
It is obvious that Cao Cao's foundation is the 300,000 Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou.

Although it seems that Cao Cao controlled these Qingzhou soldiers, from another perspective, did these Qingzhou Yellow Turbans also realize their original desire to obtain means of production and live an orderly life? Did these Qingzhou soldiers, under Cao Cao's command, break the chain of land control originally held by local aristocratic families and tyrants?
The situation of the Cavalry is similar.

Fei Qian's first wave of demographic dividend came from the Heluo refugees, the Baibo Army, and then the Black Mountain bandits. These people laid the foundation of Fei Qian's military strength, and the Xiliang Army and Bingzhou veterans who were accepted later were just icing on the cake.

Therefore, Liu Ye believed that the military structure of Fei Qian and Cao Cao was actually not much different.

The problems Cao Cao is facing now in Shandong will be the same ones that Fei Qian will encounter when he comes. Will Fei Qian recruit the troops from Shandong or not?
If you accept it, there will definitely be problems.

If you don’t collect it, there will also be problems.

After Liu Ye said this, he stopped and said no more.

Just like Liu Ye's previous habit, he just pointed out the problem...

This is actually a habit of the "Shandong celebrities". They will point out problems, which is often free, but if you want to solve the problem, they may not be able to solve it, or you need to pay an additional price. After all, in Shandong, knowledge is a very expensive thing.

Zhao Yun frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled, shook his head and said: "What you said, sir, is indeed to the point... However, sir, you overlooked one thing..."

Liu Ye was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "What's the omission?"

Zhao Yun stretched out his hand, first pressed it down from the top, then raised it up from the bottom, "In Shandong, soldiers and civilians are mostly selected from the top down, while in Guanzhong, soldiers and officials are selected from the bottom up! This is very different!"

This time it was Liu Ye who was stunned.

Although he did not bring an imperial edict with him when he came to see Zhao Yun, he actually wanted to use words to shake Zhao Yun's resolve, so he said seven truths and three lies. He thought that even if Zhao Yun could find a flaw, it would be a matter for the future. Liu Ye could take this opportunity to learn more information and then find more flaws, which would become his bargaining chip. Whether he continued to bet in Shandong or moved to the cavalry, he could have a higher position...

But Liu Ye never expected that such a general who looked ordinary, with stout hands and feet, and did not look like a scholar at all, would have such a quick mind and such strong insight!