Han Shizu

Chapter 591 Ma Zheng
Zhao Kuangyin took off his sword, straightened his clothes, the armor shone coldly, and bound the cold around his body, it was very difficult, but Zhao Kuangyin didn't seem to notice it.As soon as he entered the hall, he felt the heat blowing in, and the handsome face was immediately covered with a layer of mist.

Going forward to pay homage: "Minister Zhao Kuangyin, see Your Majesty!"

Holding a porcelain bowl in his hand, Liu Chengyou scooped up a red date and put it in his mouth.Looking up at Zhao Kuangyin, he saw the cold air on his body, and a few snowflakes that had not been cleaned up were melting.

"Excuse me! Sit first!" Liu Chengyou raised his hand, then turned his head and ordered: "Zhang Dejun, serve a bowl of ginger soup to Marquis Yu of Zhao Du to dispel the cold!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhao Kuangyin thanked him, stood up, and sat down.Zhang Dejun, on the other hand, took out a bowl of pear ginger soup made in the dining room and handed it to Zhao Kuangyin with agility.

After eating a bowl of hot soup, it not only warms up the body, but also warms the heart, Zhao Kuangyin's complexion is a bit ruddy.After spitting out a jujube kernel, Liu Chengyou looked at him and asked, "Have the knights from Xiazhou made proper arrangements?"

"Return to Your Majesty, temporarily concentrate and arrange the cavalry army, return to the left chamber, the minister has ordered someone to monitor secretly!" Zhao Kuangyin replied.

"Yuan Long is talented!" Liu Chengyou said: "Those Xiazhou knights probably have Li Yiyin spying on them in the future, so we must pay attention! From the perspective of Yuen Long, what is the combat power of their generation?"

After the Southern Expedition returned to Beijing, Liu Chengyou issued an edict to select elites from all states and towns in the world to serve as the imperial army.On the side of the Dingnan army, the Privy Council also issued an order to select elite cavalry.

Of course, Li Yiyin ignored it, and later Liu Chong wanted to seek Yongzheng Hedong, and sent people and secret letters to Xiazhou, hoping to hook up with him as foreign aid and cooperate with him to fight against the government.

That letter was intentionally delivered to Li Yiyin with tacit consent.As a result, without waiting for him to make a decision, Liu Chong was dismissed and returned to Beijing, where he died of illness in Luoyang. The situation changed so quickly that Li Yiyin was caught off guard.

What really worried him was the major reform of the army and government in Hedong, Zhe Dejian led the Baoning Army in the east, Wang Yansheng was in Yanzhou in the south, and he was restrained from both sides, and Shi Hongzhao was in Shuofang in the west.

After much deliberation, Li Yiyin still decided to accept his counsel and submit to softness. Finally, hesitantly, he selected a group of cavalry from the self-determined army and transferred them to Tokyo.Of course, there are only a hundred horses, and another two hundred war horses will be offered.

At this time, after hearing the inquiry, Zhao Kuangyin reported: "I have inspected and found that they are all elite men, who are excellent in riding and shooting. Even if their combat power is among the elite cavalry, they are also superior. They can fight five against one!"

"I just don't know how many people like this are in the Dingnan Army!" Liu Chengyou murmured.

"The minister and the leader of the team have all been familiar with it. According to what he said, there seem to be such elites in the Dingnan Army. There are five thousand of them. Those who are weaker are several times!" Zhao Kuangyin replied, with a hint of A bit of banter.

Liu Chengyou smiled slightly, and said: "If it is as he said, wouldn't it be true that the Dingnan army is all strong soldiers, and there are no weak troops? How many soldiers does he have in total? This Li Yiyin actually played such tricks on me, intending to tell me , he will have a strong army and a strong horse, so don't take it lightly!"

Zhao Kuangyin laughed along with him, and echoed, "Your Majesty is wise, and you can tell Li Yiyin's clumsy scheming in one word. Xia Sui is barren and difficult to raise soldiers and horses! It's also the fact that the great Han is getting stronger and stronger, and the army is getting stronger. The soldiers will be suspicious and afraid!"

Liu Chengyou nodded slightly, thought for a while, and said relaxedly: "It seems that we need to slow down for the Dingnan Army! Otherwise, Li Yiyin will seek refuge in Huliao Khitan under suspicion and fear, and the troubles in the Northwest may be difficult to deal with for a while!"

"Decree, the Han army along Xiasui is not allowed to cross the border to harass and plunder, to cause disputes!" Liu Chengyou ordered calmly.

"How about the two hundred war horses?" Liu Chengyou asked again.

Zhao Kuangyin is obviously familiar with all kinds of affairs, including war horses.Hearing the question, he replied without hesitation: "It's winter. Although they are rough, they are all good breeds in Hexi. They just need to be fattened and fattened, which is enough for military service! But, all the horses are castrated!"

"Hehe!" Liu Chengyou smiled faintly, and his description was slightly restrained, saying: "The horse is the foundation of armored soldiers, and a sharp weapon for national defense. It is enough to flatten the southern countries with elite infantry, but if you want to go north to beat the barbarians, you must rely on elite cavalry Soldiers, not enough to worry about, only worry about healthy horses! However, Yanbei is still in the hands of Hu, and the northwest frontier states are less controlled. I really suffer from the source of soldiers and horses.

Earlier, I asked Wei Renpu to investigate, and found that there are less than [-] military horses in the national army, and there are many old and wounded horses that are still used.Only conquering the Huai River, nearly [-] horses were damaged.

If it weren't for the thousands of good horses captured in the battle against the Hexi miscellaneous captives on behalf of the state, I am afraid that the two armies of iron cavalry and Long Jie would not be able to match one man and one horse! "

Hearing the emperor's sigh, Zhao Kuangyin immediately got up and asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, the horse administration should be reopened. Although the northwestern states are not yet stable, they can be used reluctantly. The Central Plains, Hebei, and the imperial court can also follow the old system and encourage the horses. keep!"

"I, that's exactly what I mean!" Liu Chengyou looked at Zhao Kuangyin with a bright look in his eyes: "I've been a bachelor, I'm going to sort out the horse administration of the previous dynasty, and I want to implement it according to the situation of the country! Only Longyou and Hexi are suitable for animal husbandry, but the land is sparsely populated, the border is not peaceful, and they are often invaded by Hulu
After the beginning of spring, I intend to send Yuen Long to patrol the northwest frontier, observe its situation, and screen pastures for selection.By the way, let me take a look at the southwestern frontier, the movement of the Shu army, and the situation of Qin and Feng! "

Listening to the emperor's order, Zhao Kuangyin was thoughtful, but his body reacted instinctively, and he clapped his hands and said, "Follow orders!"

"Within five years, I will have enough soldiers and Taoists to arm [-] cavalry!" Liu Chengyou calmly set a goal that is not easy to achieve, after all, the constraints are not small.

"Your Majesty's ambition lies in the north!" Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but cast a glance at Liu Chengyou, thinking in his heart.

Desiring Ma Zheng, the goal is clearly to fight in the northern part of the country.Now the center of national policy of the Great Han Dynasty is in the south, but its ambition is to face the north, but there is no slack at all.

In the third office, Zhang Yisu, who was promoted to Duzhi judge, executed an imperial edict and personally handed it over to Xue Juzheng, Minister of Finance.

The five years of Qianyou are coming to an end, and all affairs need to be summed up. The Third Division is probably the most cumbersome and busy institution among all the ministries of the imperial court.Looking at the piles of official documents on the case, Xue Juzheng couldn't help but smile wryly.

He finally understands why Wang Zhang aged so fast and was so depleted within a few years.Of course, at the beginning of the country, financial planning was difficult, Wang Zhang was powerful, and it was easy to do things by himself, which was also one of the reasons.

In comparison, Xue Juzheng's life is easier, but only relatively speaking.However, feeling the taxation, acres, money and grain of the whole country, gradually mastering and sorting out statistics, the sense of accomplishment is still very intoxicating.

"What's the matter?" Xue Juzheng looked at Zhang Yisu and asked.

Zhang Yisu submitted the imperial edict to the case and explained: "A new edict issued by the Chongzheng Palace, Your Majesty wants to reopen the horse administration, and ask the third department to calculate and prepare the money and food for the initial investment!"

Nodding his head, Xue Juzheng looked at Zhang Yisu, and saw that his complexion was pale with some strange look, as if sick.A blush welled up, he held back, finally couldn't help coughing a few times, hurriedly took out a silk handkerchief, and wiped his mouth.

"The lower official is rude, please forgive me!" Zhang Yisu pleaded guilty after he was slowed down.

"It doesn't matter!" Xue Juzheng looked at his sickly appearance, and couldn't help but said with concern: "Zhengfang, you are not in good health, you shouldn't be too tired. If you can't support it, you can take leave and go home to recuperate!"

"Thank you for your kindness! It's nothing serious, it's just an old problem! It's been like this every winter for many years, so it's not surprising!" Zhang Yisu shook his head, coughed lightly, and said, "Now the office is on the verge of There are many things, how dare you avoid the troubles because of illness!"

Xue Juzheng couldn't help sighing, he thought to himself, with such a good son-in-law, the prince will have successors, but this sick body makes people feel pity.

After regaining his senses, he browsed through the imperial edict, raised his head, and Xue Juzheng said with a wry smile: "It will be a big expense to restart the horse administration! Your Majesty has repeatedly added policies. If it is not supplemented by Huainan taxes and taxes, I am afraid it will be difficult." Of!"

"Your Majesty has a master who is very promising, and being spurred by him, I can only do my best to follow in his footsteps!" Zhang Yisu had been a close minister by Liu Chengyou's side for a period of time, so he was not surprised on the surface.

"Since last year, the imperial court has continued to carry out major government affairs. Expenditures have been huge, such as the southern expedition, the attack on Shu, and the reform of the system. Building the city and relieving the winter disaster all cost money and food. The spring is about to start, and the salaries will be paid up and down, and the spring uniforms of the soldiers will be replaced. I am afraid that the Daqing of the Yuan Festival is also indispensable. I am afraid that the income from the autumn tax will be dispersed again." Xue Juzheng listed it one by one, as if to confide in bitterness: "Now, horse administration is started again. Hey, it can be regarded as a realization. The prince has had a difficult day!"

Seeing this, Zhang Yisu smiled lightly and said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to worry too much. Your Majesty is not in a hurry, and Ma Zheng is not something that can be accomplished overnight. There is enough time for preparations!"

Nodding his head, Xue Juzheng thought about it for a while, and told Zhang Yisu, "I will trouble you and lead your staff to discuss this matter first, and draw up a regulation. Your Majesty directly issued an edict, but we have to do our best." !"

Zhang Yisu replied: "Yes!"

With a slight sigh and a breath of white steam, Xue Juzheng picked up another memorial, which was about the preliminary rectification of Guanzhong's finances, and his expression eased.Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, Guanzhong has given people the feeling of war, dilapidation, and barrenness.

But in fact, after several years of recuperation since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the population, cultivated land, and taxes have all recovered and developed by leaps and bounds.Especially the prefectures and counties on the Weihe Plain have shown signs of revival.

(End of this chapter)