Aspiring to the Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 74 There was Sun Wan in ancient times, but now there is Lord Meng

Chapter 74: There was Sun Shiwan in ancient times, but now there is Lord Meng

This war is not about simple numbers, let alone playing games.

When the army has enough food and grass, everything will be fine.

The use of military force is politics that mobilizes the whole body.

The test is the functioning of the entire state apparatus.

And the operation of this state institution depends not on one person, but on a group of people.

What Meng Chang said was simple, adding troops was a one-sentence matter.

But where did the soldiers come from?
Where did the rations come from?

Where does the military salary come from?
At the same time, who is there to send?Who wants to go?

Who is in charge of logistics?Who will escort the food?
All this is the problem.

And those who can reasonably deploy all these are far more important than fighting on the front line.

This is why Xiao He is the number one hero of the Han Dynasty.

At the same time, it is also why Liu Bei dared to abandon all the confidence to conquer Hanzhong and challenge Cao Cao in the harsh environment of Xinde Shu, where the interior is not stable, and the messy party alliance hinders each other.

Because the man behind him is Zhuge Liang.

It is precisely such people that Houshu lacks.

The current prime minister of Hou Shu is called Li Hao. He has excellent writing skills, but he has nothing but writing skills. But because of this skill, he has served as the prime minister of Shu for more than ten years and is highly regarded by Meng Chang.

He holds financial power all the year round, earns tens of thousands of property every year, and lives a particularly extravagant life.There are hundreds of prostitutes and concubines in the family, and everyone wears silk, which is regarded as common clothing.

He once read "Book of Jin", and when he read about King Shi fighting for wealth, he despised Wang Kai and Shi Chong very much, and said mockingly: "The poor and thrifty beggars get rich with this, it's ridiculous."

The two rich men who were famous in history were like beggars in his heart.

Whenever money is needed, the prime minister's tax is collected first, and then distributed.

The monarch is extravagant, the prime minister is hugely greedy, and the officials below are exploited one after another. How much is left in the hands of the soldiers?
The Shu State increased its troops on a large scale to support Baishui Pass and Yangping Pass.

Two-thirds of the military salary allocated by the imperial court has been reduced before it is sent to the army.

Known as the land of abundance, the Kingdom of Shu rarely suffers from disasters. The Chengdu Plain and the Hanzhong Plain have abundant harvests year after year, so there is no need to worry about food.

But in order to maintain the extravagant life of the monarchs and ministers of Shu, they promulgated various tax credit methods.

Planting peonies can be tax-deducted, cutting sycamore and nanmu can be tax-deductible, and Shu brocade and fur can also be tax-deductible, but food is the most mediocre, resulting in the heaviest tax.

With more people doing side jobs, fewer people are farming.

Food reserves are insufficient.

During this war, the people were turbulent and panicked. Merchants, chasing profit, began to purchase grain and raise the price of grain.

Originally, raising food prices during wartime could kill the head.

However, officials and businessmen wear the same pair of trousers, and they have no fear of the law at all.

Instead of punishing them, they even sold part of the general grain and ink to merchants.

As a result, food is getting less and less, and food prices are getting higher and higher.

The chaotic and riddled logistics directly emptied the treasury of the Shu Kingdom.

Meng Chang had no choice, and the group of people who claimed to have Zhuge's talents became dumb.

In the end, Li Hao stood up.

The prime minister of the Shu Kingdom is best at surrendering. Wang Yan, the last emperor of the former Shu Dynasty, was attacked by Tang Zhuangzong, and Li Hao personally wrote a letter to surrender.

In history, when the Song Dynasty sent troops to attack Shu, it was also Li Hao who persuaded Meng Chang to surrender, and personally wrote a letter to surrender.

Disdainful of what he did, the Shu people secretly inscribed the words "Shixiu surrendered to Li's family" on the gate of his mansion.

Now Li Hao's problem of bad legs and feet has happened again: "Your Majesty, Luo Youdu once said that there is no second day. It shows that they are not unwilling to negotiate peace, but insist on Zhengshuo in the Central Plains. Now that the bandits are unstoppable, it is better to take a step back and follow suit. In the past, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty retreated from the Wei River."

As soon as his words fell, Wang Zhaoyuan, who was the clerk of Zhuge, stood up and said confidently: "Your Majesty gave me three years, and I am willing to recover the four states and the Central Plains for Your Majesty."

Meng Chang had no choice, and said with a bit of decadence: "If so, then it will be as Qing and the others said."

He consciously suffered a great humiliation, and vowed in his heart that he would follow Li Shimin's example and work hard to recover the shame of today.

When the envoy sent by Meng Chang appeared in Fengzhou.

Wang Jing was stunned!

Han Lingkun was stunned!
Luo Youdu was also stunned!

Luo Youdu only knew that Shu's economy was in dire straits, but he didn't know how bad it was.

It was just a tentative coercion, and its main purpose was to shout out the words "there is only the emperor of Zhou in this world, and there is no emperor of Shu" to express his loyalty to Guo Rong in the distance.

I really didn't expect that Meng Chang would agree to take the title of emperor, change it to the king of Xishu, and send envoys to respect Da Zhou as Zhengshuo.

Looking at the two envoys in front of him, a sentence suddenly appeared in Luo Youdu's mind:

In ancient times, Sun Shiwan sent Zhang Wenyuan to the Wu Temple, and now there is the Lord of Meng who praises Luo Youdu.

When the news that Meng Chang went to the emperor's title and respected Dazhou as Zhengshuo reached Bianjing.

The Great Zhou Emperor was playing with his son Guo Zongxun in the harem.

Guo Zongxun is less than two years old this year. It is the time when he knows how to speak but has not yet developed his wit.

The ignorant little guy is full of curiosity about the new world and wants to learn everything.

Guo Rong must do everything by himself, and has been obsessed with government affairs for a long time. This kind of scene is also rare for Empress Fu, who smiled happily at the side.

In his busy schedule, Guo Rong glanced at Empress Fu and said, "What is the empress laughing at?"

Empress Fu said: "I see that His Majesty is in a happy mood recently, so I am happy."

Guo Rong nodded and said: "The situation is very good. I am really happy. The roads in the north of Kaifeng are cramped and congested, but the south of the city is deserted and ruined due to the disaster of war. Before the refugees gathered, the south of the city has been cleaned up and repaired. Based on this, the Ministry of Industry re-planned. Before long, Kaifeng will be four times its current size, comparable to Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty."

"The war in the west is also going well. The land of the four states has entered my Zhou Dynasty. Luo Youdu's performance in particular has far exceeded my expectations. Good news also came from the east. The invasion of Han Jiedu envoy Wang Chao is really a success story, and good news keeps coming."

What really made him happy was Luo Youdu's sentence "There is only the emperor of Zhou in this world, and there is no emperor of Shu".

Being able to say these words in front of the envoys of the Kingdom of Shu shows his loyalty.

There was no displeasure at Luo Youdu's behavior of driving away the envoy.

Guo Rong is full of ambition and will never allow the recognition of a second emperor in China.

He also hopes that all the people in China will only recognize him as the Son of Zhou.

Empress Fu hesitated to speak, she thought for a while and said, "Mr. Luo hasn't married yet, right?"

Guo Rong was slightly taken aback, and said: "The queen wants to promise Qing'er to him?"

Empress Fu said: "Not really, but I don't know why, my mother likes him very much."

Guo Rong shook his head and smiled wryly: "Mrs. Guo Guo, she likes whoever's children are excellent. They are similar in age, male and female, and they are very suitable. When Mr. Luo returns to Beijing, you can try to ask."

At this moment, the servant came in a hurry, holding the emergency note from the council hall in his hand.

Empress Fu hurriedly stepped forward to take the child.

Guo Rong opened the playbook and saw the news of Meng Chang going to the Emperor, his head was buzzing "..."

 Thank you Shuyou Tai Sun Zhanji for the reward.

  
 
(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like