The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 149
"50 people consume rations every day, and they are as numerous as the stars in the sky. They die of disease and starvation, are eaten by others, and the leftovers rot, which is easy to breed plague. In this way, 50 is a disaster. "

Inside the Tai Chi Hall, it became quiet again. Geng Qing cupped his hands towards the emperor. In the next words, his eyes swept around. The morning sun was rising outside the hall.

The voice paused for a moment.

"But 50 people, how can we just throw them away like this? There is still a lot of land outside Chang'an that can be reclaimed, and how many people can be raised by the Weishui River and the Jing River? There is a lack of labor everywhere in the city. Think about it, can these 50 people make me grow up?" Qi become rich? I am determined to return them to the countryside, learn from Prime Minister Cao at the end of the Han Dynasty, and implement the strategy of farming, so that they can be self-sufficient and reduce court expenditure. Second, the wasted grain and money can be used to cultivate More elite soldiers."

Speaking of this, some civil and military personnel in the hall nodded appreciatively, and some were unwilling to leave the soldiers alone, but before they could speak, Geng Qing turned around and walked through the middle.

"What I said earlier is just to strengthen my national strength, and the third sentence, this is a strategy to strengthen the army!"

The emperor on the dragon chair was stunned. Hearing these words, he couldn't tell whether the villain below was good or bad for a while. If he was not controlled by the other party, maybe he would give a good compliment!

Below, Geng Qing's voice continued.

"There are not many soldiers, but the elite. Our generals are like clouds, but the soldiers and horses that can be matched are uneven. How can we win the battle? How can we sweep the world and return it to my great Qi? One battle is enough to show that there is a big problem with our Qi soldiers."

After the voice paused for a moment, someone asked, "What will Prime Minister Geng do?"

The figure walking in front stopped, turned his back to the crowd, and responded to the man's words with a powerful voice.

"Throw away the old and the weak, streamline the soldiers, reduce private soldiers, civil servants are not allowed to shake hands with soldiers, generals are not allowed to exceed two hundred personal soldiers, and the rest belong to the imperial court, and the soldiers and horses are deployed in a unified way. After Geng has finished speaking, do you have any objections?"

Looking at the generals, the generals looked solemn, but their eyes were tangled. If they said that the 50 refugees were disarmed and returned to the fields, it was nothing to them. If they could increase their national strength, it would be a big deal to them. It's a good thing, but now the number of private soldiers is reduced, and those who are used to leading soldiers are just like robbing their wives and concubines.

If it wasn't for the emperor standing above, he might have to drag this Geng Xianghaosheng to talk.

"His Majesty!"

A general came out, just cupping his fists and trying to speak, the old man on the dragon chair vaguely heard coughing, raised his hand, and waved the man back.

"Okay, Prime Minister Geng's meaning is what I mean. This is a long-term plan. We are no longer the rebels who started the uprising. We should look like a country."

What he said was actually something he was thinking in his heart, but he didn't understand why Geng Qing suddenly thought about Da Qi everywhere.

Right now, he doesn't have much energy to think about it, but he just hopes to find a way to break free from this 'cage' and regain power as soon as possible. If Geng Qing really has a long-term plan for the court, he may consider letting him go.

"Sancha-"

Amidst the loud noise, one after another figures left together full of thoughts, Geng Qing walked at the back, unknowingly, there was an extra eunuch wearing a purple round-neck robe next to him, his expression was cold, his eyes seemed to be unfocused, and he was dazed. looking ahead.

"When can we let our family do it and kill this old guy."

"It still needs time, without this old man, the people below him will be difficult to control."

Geng Qing looked at Baiguan walking in front with his hands behind his back, and looked at Jiuyu next to him with a smile, "Don't worry, everything has to be done step by step."

"But I look at you, it seems that you are really planning for this false dynasty."

"Am I so kind? Don't think too much about it. This long-term strategy is not something they can afford right now. It won't work for a few years. It's just that it looks like a delicious meatloaf."

Geng Qing looked at the sun above his head with a smile, and squinted his eyes: "The conflict has already arisen, but it still needs to be brewed, just like gunpowder. After kneading and beating it tightly, it can be ignited."

"For example?" The pale and handsome face finally showed some expression.

"Hehe. For example, Da Qi's treacherous prime minister, killed the national teacher, trapped the heroes of the green forest, and caused trouble for the court, making the people miserable, complaining and crying, and I will assassinate the righteous man! It's so decided, don't send it away, I will go out."

After finishing speaking, Geng Qing patted the eunuch on the shoulder, telling him not to send him off. With his hands behind his back, in the surrounding field of vision, hundreds of guards escorted him out of the palace, and drove away in a carriage.

Not long after, the matter of 50 refugees in the army was put on the agenda, and after three court meetings, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry took over the matter, planning land, building houses, digging farmland, and distributing farm tools and seeds. The rations are all complicated and meticulous work, and Geng Qing also participated in it, walking around the palace all day long.

After all, the migration of 50 people is different from the previous ones, and needs to be resettled in batches. The huge number needs more than ten carts just to be recorded in the roster.

As for the generals in the army, they didn't care too much about these refugees. First, the emperor suppressed them, so it's hard to say too much. After all, they were thinking about the future of Qi. Geng Qing did not reveal the specifics of what to do above the generals, which made some generals feel a little bit annoyed.

The words against Geng Qing became more and more fierce, and he even wanted to fight, but in the end he was suppressed by a group of generals from Meng Juehai. In his words, he firmly believed that the strategy of strengthening the army was right, and the relationship between the two sides had been stalemate for a month, and their anger gradually wore off.

On the sixth day of August, the relocation and resettlement of 50 refugees continued. At the court meeting, Geng Qing had issued a decree to reduce private soldiers and streamline the army.

The sky was scorching hot, the cicadas were neighing hysterically in the greenery outside the window, and the dreary air made people drowsy.

Geng Qing sat in the public office of Zhongshu Province, looking at the summary of the resettlement of refugees in his hand. The huge number of 50 was actually not that many, even less than 43. Many people died of hunger during the resettlement. Fortunately, the number is not large, and the Ministry of Households is trying its best to coordinate with the warehouse of the Criminal Ministry to provide food relief, and it will be handled smoothly. Before this winter, everyone should be able to settle properly.

After looking at it for a while, Geng Qing put down the numbers and locked them in a drawer, then took another military and political edict with a seal on the table that was about to be issued, called Zhao Hongjun, gave him the edict, took it down and issued it to all parties. .

The fat man followed Geng Qing from the Ministry of Criminal Justice to Zhongshu Province. He originally found a yard for him to move out, but according to Zhao Hongjun's words, if he came out together, he would naturally sit together, and he didn't go anywhere.

Last month, he also took the maid with him as a concubine because the maid was pregnant with his child. During the following period, he was quite energetic in doing things, but his cunning temper still remained the same. .

"After winter, my child will come out. If you are not yet married, how about worshiping you as a adoptive father?" Zhao Hongjun fiddled with the imperial decree casually without the slightest care.

Geng Qing put down the brush, raised his face to look at him for a while, smiled and shook his head, didn't say anything, just told a few words to be careful in doing things, then put on a jade belt, and went out in this official robe that could cover prickly heat. Shuxing, when the carriage drove away, dozens of soldiers selected from the barracks followed behind the carriage.

As the curtains fluttered, the light outside and the shadows inside the car kept lingering on his face.

"Dachun, be careful later."

In the silence, Geng Qing said something lightly, when he left the imperial city and entered Fang Street, there was a sudden commotion outside, pedestrians and vendors yelled "Ouch" and "what's the matter", and there was a stove flying towards this direction , Dachun, who was driving, picked up a hammer and smashed it. As the fragments bounced off and splashed around, the sound of killing suddenly burst out.

"It's the adulterer's chariot—"

"Kill him!"

Ferocious shouts came from all directions like a tidal wave, Geng Qing half-closed his eyes, lifted the curtain with his fingers to look out, and put it down again.

Outside, the soldiers had already surrounded the carriage, and some of the vacated soldiers went up to the assassin. Geng Qing didn't know how many people were on the other side, but the outside was full of banging metal collisions, and occasionally there were screams.

Soon, the sounds on the street gradually became quieter.

Someone approached the vehicle and said in a low voice: "Mr. Geng, the assassin escaped after leaving behind a corpse. Will the lowly rank pursue him?"

Inside the curtain, Geng Qing held the cup, put it between her thin lips, and took a sip.

"No, let the Ministry of Justice or Jing Zhaoyi go. Let's go back to the mansion. Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will bring this matter to His Majesty."

On the long street, the team returned to the back of the carriage and went to the next intersection. The blood and corpses left on the ground were quickly cleaned up and taken away by the yamen guards who arrived.

In the early morning of the next day, when the prime minister was assassinated and stabbed to the court, when he heard Geng Qing talk about the assassination, all the civil and military seemed to have a tacit understanding, and they didn't choose to speak.

However, things didn't end there.

On August [-]th, on his way out of the city to the military camp outside the city, Gai Hong was ambushed by assassins and wounded with a knife in his arm.In the afternoon when he arrived, he led five hundred soldiers under his command into the city, smashed up two restaurants under Wang Bo's name, and pushed the building down.
Soon after hearing the news, Wang Bo arrived with soldiers and horses, and a group of people started to fight in the street. When Meng Juehai and Shang Rang arrived, they were both killed and injured, and both of them had injuries of varying degrees.

Someone keenly felt that the atmosphere in Chang'an seemed to be getting more and more mysterious.

(End of this chapter)