The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 900 Expanding the Battlefield
The weather was sunny after the rain, and the high temperature weather for four consecutive days evaporated the moisture on the ground. Even Luoyang City, which is dominated by water, looked very sweltering.However, Yingtianmen Square at this time is full of screams and killings, each and every phalanx is sweating profusely, with murderous aura rushing through the night.

Yingtian Gate of Ziwei Palace is a magnificent building group. The whole building is in the shape of "concave". Phoenix, so it is also known as "Five Phoenix Tower".The base of the lower part is [-] Zhang from east to west and [-] Zhang from north to south. The city gate is more than [-] Zhang deep. The city wall built on the base is [-] Zhang high.

This is the main entrance from the imperial city to the palace city. It is tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as hundreds of people guard the city gate and block the upper and lower passages, even if there are thousands of troops outside the city, it will be difficult. However, such a strong city did not play the slightest role when it was in Wang Shichong's hands. It was taken down by Li Shimin's soldiers without bloodshed. All were staged in the palace, and the Wang family was finally betrayed by Yun Dingxing and others, and became a stepping stone for others.

After Li Shimin killed the Wang family, he immediately ordered the Ziwei Palace to be burned on the grounds that he was "extremely extravagant", and the Sui army came in time to scare Li Shimin away, otherwise this magnificent and magnificent palace city will surely become A piece of scorched earth.

Above the gate tower, Yang Tong, Yang Shidao, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui watched the soldiers training.

Listening to the shouts of killing and shaking the sky, Yang Tong felt that it was easier and easier to fight, and it was too nerve-wracking to fight with Mickey Mouse hiding in the dark like Zheng.And Ling Jing has always been the person in charge of intelligence collection. In the past, all the intelligence points established by various princes and major forces in the Sui Dynasty were all found out by him. Ling Jing is better at things like mice than everyone else, who will go if he doesn't go out?

"My focus is on the nobles of Guanlong, ignoring these Shandong gentry who have been passed down for thousands of years. I always think that they have collapsed in the chaos of war. Only now do I know my superficiality. The two Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties have disappeared in these hundreds of years of troubled times... We should not underestimate the ability of the Zheng family, let alone the comprehensive strength of the 'Five Surnames'. As long as we give them breathing time, there will be a way for us to find them. If we simply sit on the sidelines and wait for the rabbit, we will definitely be snatched away by a thousand-year-old fox like the 'Five Surnames'."

Yang Tong said to the three ministers: "Our enemy this time is not only powerful, but also silently lurking in all walks of life. I and the method of simply checking food is too stable and too slow, so it is not very advisable. Respect Shrewd and capable, well-behaved, maybe he will gain something in Dongjun, but I am worried that we will not be able to achieve more results, and we will not be able to achieve the goal of capturing everything, so we cannot simply focus on Dongjun, let alone rely on it. On Jingzhi's body."

The Shandong gentry are deeply rooted and control all walks of life in the world. When tangible and invisible forces come together, they will become a torrent; the way of water that seems soft but firm is their way of life. They flow everywhere in the world, avoid rocks, and disperse in ever-changing ways. It is precisely because they believe in the survival philosophy of using softness to overcome rigidity and not fighting with each other that it is easy for people to think that they are harmless.But if the time is right, or if the court does something unfavorable to them, it will shake the whole world with the force of breaking the embankment.

Compared with these Shandong nobles with a long history, the Guanlong nobles who have risen for a short time seem to be still in the upstart stage of violently accumulating resources. Of course, in their eyes, the royal families of Qin, Han, Jin, Zhou, Qi, Sui and other dynasties They are also nouveau riche... In their bones, they look down on these nouveau riche, at most they regard them as profit-making tools.

Fang Xuanling can also be regarded as a member of the Shandong gentry, but compared with those aristocrats, he is not a small role at all; it's just that this piece of beautiful jade was discovered early, so Lu's took the lead and let the cultivated The "Five Surnames of Lu's Girls" who came out were taken over, and for the same reason, Wei Zheng also relied on his own talent to become a "potential stock" in the eyes of the famous family Gao Di, and his life was taken over by Cui's daughters early on.

Fang Xuanling said: "Then the meaning of the Holy One is..."

"The White Horse Warehouse was a problem discovered by accident. We rushed to the battle and were insufficiently prepared; but they also had the perennial problem of the White Horse Warehouse. Facing the move of the imperial court to seal the warehouse and check the grain, they were always passive... Their desperate move to make up for the deficit is our biggest challenge." I think we need to be fast, accurate, and ruthless! But I have no idea how to do it quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly." Yang Tong said: "If you have any ideas, just say it. We all work together , I don't believe that I can't play with these Mickey Mouse."

Yang Tong is not a material for making suggestions. His biggest feature is that he is good at discovering talents, cultivating talents, and using talents. He has the ability to help him make it perfect, and because of this, he has always had a good life.

Everyone working under him is also very chic and at ease, speaking and using words very freely, without having to think twice, without worrying about things or things.

"Wei Chen will analyze a few words first." Yang Shidao said: "Nowadays, official warehouses across the country are closed for investigation, and food cannot enter or exit... If they want to buy food to fill the White Horse Warehouse, they must either buy large quantities from the supply and marketing cooperatives, or buy from the private sector. Purchase at a high price... and the supply and marketing cooperatives have an official background, they will not be stupid to purchase in large quantities, so there is only one way, and that is to purchase from the people living in the grain-producing areas... and the grain production of the Great Sui Dynasty is mainly concentrated in Taihu Lake Plains, Poyang Lake Plains, Dongting Lake Plains, Jianghan Plains, Huanghuai Plains, Chengdu Plains, Guanzhong Plains, Jianghuai Plains, Jizhou Plains, Liaodong Plains... Except for the Chengdu Plains which are still in the hands of the Puppet Tang Dynasty, the rest are owned by the Great Sui Dynasty. Among them, the Taihu Plain, Poyang Lake Plain, Dongting Lake Plain, Jianghan Plain, Huanghuai Plain, and Jianghuai Plain were recovered by us in the Sui Dynasty last year. The people are barely self-sufficient this year, and there is no food to sell. , Jizhou, and Liaodong, while the Guanzhong Plain has shortcomings such as inconvenient transportation, short time, and easy exposure, so the first choice is definitely Jizhou and Liaodong. Since these two major grain-producing areas were recovered by us, there has been no drought or flood. Every household has surplus food that can meet their needs. This is the right time; the geographical advantage is that Jizhou, Youzhou, and Liaodong have convenient water and land transportation. If the food goes by sea, it can avoid the eyes and ears of the court and save a lot of unnecessary troubles; The traditional sphere of influence of the Shandong gentry is in Jizhou and Youzhou."

"What Yang Shangshu said is very true..." Fang Xuanling smiled: "The key is that the white horse warehouses are all rice, and there are too few places for them to restore their old appearance. As long as the monitoring of the rice-producing land is strengthened, And here comes the problem."

"In this way, the scope is further narrowed. I want to send a few people to Liaodong, Youzhou, Jizhou, and Liaodong to pay close attention..." Yang Tong paused, and then said: "Yin Hongzhi discovered the white horse warehouse by accident. After he discovered the problem, he not only calmed down, but also quickly arranged the follow-up matters in an orderly manner. This ability to find problems and make decisions before the battle is very invincible. Now he and General Xie are on their way back to Beijing, so that He led an army to go north secretly, and was specifically responsible for investigating the most complicated Jizhou. As for the other two places, who do you think is more suitable?"

"Your Majesty can send two ministers to be envoys to investigate in Jizhou and Liaodong respectively, with General Xue Wanbei and General Li Zhi assisting. After all, the two generals are also in the middle of the game, and their ability and experience may be insufficient, but they are better than others. Everyone knows the ins and outs of the matter, and can help the envoy to know more about the situation." Speaking of this, Fang Xuanling said: "This matter is of great importance, we can let Liu Yubu and General Li Zhi be in charge of Youzhou; servants of the Ministry of Justice Liu Dewei and Xue Wanbei The general is going to Liaodong."

"Liu Yufu is naturally not a problem!" Yang Tong suddenly sighed: "Liu Dewei is not. Although this person is talented, but his thinking is wrong, if he can change his views, it will be of great use. Otherwise, even if this person has Zhang Liang , Han Xin's talent, I dare not reuse him."

Liu Dewei is from Pengcheng, Xuzhou. He used to be the general guard of Piling County. During the Daye period, he fought against the thief Huaizuo with Pei Renji.

Liu Dewei's character, Yang Tong, has also discovered it and appointed him as Wei Zheng's deputy. During his tenure as the Minister of Criminal Affairs, some people said that he was unselfish, and some people said that he was unreasonable, but no matter what, he was upright and impartial in enforcing the law. , so that everyone in the Ministry of punishment admires him.

In recent years, Nayan Huangfu Wuyi and Li Jing, the senior ministers of the three dynasties, have not been in good health, their energy is not as good as before, and some of them cannot bear the high-intensity government affairs. Although Yang Tong did not allow it, he also considered the follow-up matters. He planned to let Wei Zheng, who had a rigorous personality, be responsible for reviewing the imperial edict and signing the chapters. Liu Dewei was going to be selected by the vacant minister of the Ministry of Punishment for the position of accepting words under his sect.

But Yang Tong soon discovered that Liu Dewei had a terrible thought.Because he doesn't need people from aristocratic families, Yang Tong's demand for talents is just like Cao Cao's, and he recruits eclecticly.But over time, some talented but unvirtuous people began to expose their nature and do illegal things, which is the fundamental reason why corruption cases top the list every year.

Liu Dewei made a general point of view, thinking that such people in the court lacked education since they were young and acted casually in everything. They should use noble and educated people as officials so as to benefit the people of one side.

This kind of thinking made Yang Tong feel a sense of crisis. Although many officials in the Sui Dynasty were virtuous and talented, but under the constraints of the law, most people behaved well, and criminals who dared to violate the law were severely punished. Liu Dewei This kind of generalization hits too broadly and too dangerously.

The prosperity of the Sui Dynasty today is not unrelated to the rule of law. The Sui Dynasty regulated all people with laws, and even ordinary people who could not read knew that the laws could not be violated.

The rule of virtue advocated by Confucianism seems to run counter to the rule of law advocated by Legalism, but the two actually complement each other. The rule of virtue requires everyone to be a moral saint, and everyone has become a moral saint. happened.

But is it possible?

It is simply impossible, as long as people have selfish thoughts, it is completely unworkable to ask people to do what they want purely morally, even Kong Yingda, a descendant of Confucius, knows this truth, because there are inherent differences between the various schools of Confucianism. Intrigue, Confucianism itself has become intriguing, and it is completely nonsense to say that the rule of virtue governs the country.

But the rule of law is different. The biggest feature of the legal system is to regulate people's bottom line. In fact, the rule of law existed before the Qin Dynasty. Compromise on human feelings prevented the rule of law from being fully implemented, and the execution was far less effective than the Qin law. In addition, the official system was not perfect.

Yang Tong has maintained external stability over the years, but internally he has been promoting the rule of law, constantly improving the official system and laws, without the interference of external forces and the premise of internal support, the current situation is only possible.

If Liu Dewei employs people in a general way, the procuratorial system of selecting officials based on virtue and the nine-rank Zhongzheng system will make a comeback, and the right to appoint and dismiss will once again be controlled by aristocratic families and emerging aristocrats.

If Liu Dewei becomes a chief official, his thoughts will definitely affect the entire Ministry of Punishment, and then affect Shangshu Sheng.

Because of this, Yang Tong decided not to use it. If he couldn't keep things in perspective, let him continue to be the servant.

"Let Dali Temple Shaoqing Liu Yanke and Xue Wanbei Liaodong."

"Here."

(End of this chapter)