I, Liu Bian, the hero

Chapter 42 June
In late May, not only Zhu Jun expanded his army by [-] in Hanyang County, Huangfusong and Zhang Wen also recruited soldiers in Sanfu and Chang'an respectively. In just one month, the three recruited a total of [-] new soldiers at least.

These [-] recruits had neither weapons nor armor. Zhu Jun, Huangfusong, and Zhang Wen stepped up their training while urging the court to transport weapons and armor.

During this period, under the order of the imperial court, the official weapon workshops in Sanfu, Sanhe, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jizhou and other places accelerated their construction, spending millions or even nearly ten million on forging weapons and armor every day. In less than a month, more than 4000 million yuan was spent on the salaries of the recruited soldiers, the food and grass of the garrison, plus the forging of weapons and armor.

When these accounts were written as a memorial and presented to Emperor Ling, Emperor Ling raised his hand to cover his eyes in pain, and then he couldn't help looking through his fingers. I was shaking all over.

He asked Lu Zhi in astonishment: "Why is the expense so huge, 4000 million was spent in just over a month? If it's a one-year battle, is it still worth it?"

Lu Zhi said with relief: "Your Majesty, it was too expensive at the beginning, because Zhu Jun, Huang Fusong, and Zhang Wen trained three armies with a total of 5 people from scratch. Recruiting new soldiers required payment, weapons, and equipment. It also needs to be stepped up to build, plus food and grass for preparations, so it will cost a lot. Now that the money that should be invested in the early stage has been invested, only the military salary and rations are left, and the expenditure will naturally come down slowly. The [-] million expenditure should be enough for a whole Years of use."

Hearing this, Emperor Ling was slightly relieved, but soon became concerned again. After all, what Lu Zhi said was 'enough for a whole year', so what about the next year?
40 million a year?[-] billion in ten years?
Even though Emperor Ling was the emperor of the Han Dynasty, he had never seen a huge sum of 40 billion, which in his opinion was an astronomical figure.

Seeing his pale face, Liu Bian was not only a little worried that this cheap father would regret it, after all, the new army that Huang Fusong, Zhu Jun, and Zhang Wen recruited was also related to his future plans.

Having said that, how much is the expenditure of 4000 million?

At first glance, the amount seems huge, but in fact, it can be seen from a calculation that the 4000 million and 4000 million yuan was spread among the [-] new troops, and each person was only more than [-] yuan.

What can four thousand dollars do?
Take swords as an example for military equipment. The purchase price ranges from [-] to [-] renminbi. You must know that this is still an official workshop, and private workshops are more expensive.

In addition, three or three hundred coins for short swords, five or six hundred coins for bows and crossbows.

Armor is the most expensive. Taking the Henan army as an example, a suit of armor costs nearly a thousand dollars, not to mention a cavalry camp. Human armor plus vests, the whole set is worth almost three thousand dollars.

It can be seen from this that it is really not much to arm a new soldier with [-] yuan, but the cost of recruiting [-] new troops at once is astonishing.

But Liu Bian thought it was worth it, and was even happy to see it succeed.

Because from Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the Han court has been constantly cutting the central army.

In the Western Han Dynasty, the central army numbered as many as 1, but in Luoyang today, the Northern Army under the command of the General, plus the Henan Army under the command of Henan Yin, and the Forbidden Army in the palace, the total number is only 3000 or [-].

Of course, the local army also cut down during the period. From about 40 to 70 troops in the Western Han Dynasty, it has only been cut to about 15 today. Leading to a situation of weak stems and strong branches.

You must know that the local garrison is a local garrison, and the local tyrants are armed with private individuals, such as Zheng Tai, the former censor who was dismissed some time ago. Liu Bian does not comment on this person's words and deeds. The whole four hundred hectares of fertile land is not enough for the diners.

What is the concept of four hundred hectares of fertile land?
In the Han Dynasty, one mu was equal to about half an mu in later generations, and four hundred hectares was equivalent to [-] mu. In the Han Dynasty, one mu of fertile land could already produce three shi of millet, and [-] mu equaled [-] shi.

If the [-] shi of grain is used to support the army, it can fully support [-] soldiers.

Of course, there is no wine in the army, and it is basically impossible to see meat, and Zheng Tai's diners believe that they are provided with big fish and meat, good wine and delicacies, so if calculated as one-fifth, there are also a full 3000 people.

With these three thousand guests, what are you Zheng Tai planning to do?
In history, Zhuge Liang served as the prime minister of Western Shu for a long time, and in the end his family only had [-] hectares of land and [-] mulberry trees.

If Zheng Tai and other scholars in the court pride themselves on being clean and honest, then what is Zhuge Liang?What was Lu Zhi who was buried in only a thin coat?
That's why Liu Bian didn't like Zheng Tai's so-called Qingliu from the court from the very beginning. Maybe these scholars are upright and loyal to the country, but none of this can change the fact that most of these people are local tyrants. There are countless lessons in history. Once the new orders issued by the court touch the interests of these local tyrants, the latter will not hesitate to resist and even threaten rebellion.

What Liu Bian wants to do is not only to survive the crisis of Luoyang Palace two years later, but also determined to restore the glory of the strong man, and this cannot avoid reforms and the enemy of those local tyrants.

The conquest of the rebels in Liangzhou this time is a great opportunity to restore the "[-] Forbidden Army in Gyeonggi". As long as there are [-] elite soldiers who have gone to the battlefield, Liu Bian will become emperor in the future and make drastic reforms. Powerful rebellion?
In view of this, he must not let Emperor Ling shrink back again.

However, just as he was thinking about persuading Emperor Ling to strengthen his determination to put down the rebellion, Emperor Ling gritted his teeth and said sadly: "I can't see this, father, in the future such memorials will be entrusted to you and Lu." Take a look, and remember to take stock carefully, if anyone dares to be greedy...to punish the three clans!"

He gritted his teeth for the last three words.

"The old minister obeyed."

"My minister obeys."

Zhang Rang and Lu Zhi took the order.

Immediately, under the weird expressions of the two of them and Liu Bian, Emperor Ling went to rest in the apse worrying about gains and losses, and he could vaguely hear him muttering in a low voice: "This is all my money, it's all my money." ah……"

Although the voice is soft, it hurts.

"..."

Liu Bian watched Lingdi walk into the apse, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but also slightly changed his view of Lingdi.

After all, this faint king still remembers that he is the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and that Liangzhou is also the territory of the Han Dynasty, and it is the inheritance passed down by the ancestors. No matter how much the price is paid, he must not give it up.

In the afternoon of the next day, Zhang Rang came out from the apse, and whispered to Liu Bian, "Shihou, for the past two days, your majesty can take a nap in the afternoon or at night, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, and far less energetic than before, what should I do?"

Liu Bian and Lu Zhi looked at each other, speechless.

They both understood that Lingdi's heart disease was the cause of all this.

Liu Bian privately said to Zhang Rang: "I would like to trouble you, Lord Zhongjun, to arrange some things that your father is interested in, so as to relieve the pressure in your father's heart..."

"This……"

Zhang Rang looked at Lu Zhi hesitantly, but the latter hesitated to speak, but in the end he did not dissuade him.

Seeing this, Zhang Rang showed a strange smile on his face, and said to Liu Bian with a bit of flattery: "Shihou can rest assured that I will leave it to the old minister, and the old minister will make your majesty forget his troubles."

So for two consecutive days, neither Liu Bian nor Lu Zhi saw Emperor Ling in Chongde Hall.

Regarding this, Lu Zhi sighed sadly: "Thanks to me, Lu Zhi, who claims to be loyal, I never thought that I would also do something to deceive you..."

Liu Bian smiled and comforted: "Master Lu is serious. Master Lu acquiesced in this matter today for the sake of the country. As long as the father does not give up the conquest of Liangzhou rebels, it will be the greatest contribution to the country and society!"

Lu Zhi nodded silently, and immediately raised his head to look at Liu Bian, his eyes sparkling.

The current Holy Majesty has given up persuasion, because persuasion is useless, only this Shihou in front of him must not be negligent in teaching, that is the hope for his Han family to prosper again.

And what he has to do is to pave the way for this Shihou.

"Master Lu, what's the matter?"

"No, nothing."

Lu Zhi shook his head and smiled: "Your Highness, let's continue to read the memorial. If you have any questions, the old minister will explain your doubts to Your Highness."

"it is good."

At the beginning of June, the [-] million yuan donated by Taiwei Cao Song, and the [-]-[-] million yuan donated by Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Guo Sheng and others were successively transported to Luoyang by their families and servants. .

Upon learning of this, Emperor Ling, who was addicted to wine and sex again, excitedly ordered the property to be transported to the palace, intending to count it himself, but because there were too many properties, and Emperor Ling himself was not a patient person, after the excitement passed, , He handed over the inventory of property to Huang Wan, the new chief farmer recommended by Taizhong doctor Yang Biao, and asked the latter to check clearly without leaving anything behind.

In view of the fact that the imperial court has successively allocated 4000 million yuan from the treasury, the money donated by Cao Song, Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others will be directly charged into the treasury, and the part exceeding 4000 million will be set up in a separate account. It can only be embezzled by the order of Emperor Ling.

After ordering, Emperor Ling hid in the Qingliang Palace to drink and play with the maids. Presumably at this moment, only wine and sex can appease the pain in his heart of losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

It is worth mentioning that Zhu Jun's memorial to Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, as well as the head of former Jiuquan prefect Huang Yan, who was beheaded by Guan Yu, were sent to Luoyang at the same time.

Due to the long journey, this head had been marinated with lime, but even so it was too miserable to see when it was delivered to Luoyang. At that time, Liu Bian glanced curiously at the box and almost didn't spit it out.

Not to mention him, even Lu Zhi felt a little nauseous after watching it.

Of course, even though this head makes people feel ugly, the fact that Guan Yu beheaded Huang Yan, the prefect of the traitorous Han Dynasty, is quite exciting. Not to mention the joy and laughter in the court, even the Emperor Ling who learned about it praised it greatly.

Seeing this, Liu Bian took advantage of the situation to suggest that Zhang Rangbiao played Liu Bei as the school captain, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were also promoted to a higher level. The former was the school captain, and the latter was the school captain Sima.

Don't look at the fact that Captain Kou Ni knew that it was a military position during the war. It was a vain position during the non-war period, in name only, but as long as Liu Bei can be appointed, it means that he has entered the threshold of the first level of "School Captain". Back in Luoyang, Liu Bian will be able to show that he is the captain of the Fifth Battalion of the Northern Army, the captain of Chengmen, and even the captain of Sili. This is the key.

In view of Liu Bei's merits in begging the thief, and Zhang Rang's persuasion, Emperor Ling agreed to the matter and issued an edict to promote the official positions of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

This made Liu Bian secretly happy.

Apart from joy, he also expected that Cao Cao, who is now under Huangfusong's command, can also make some achievements.

After all, Liu Bei and Cao Cao have already labeled him as 'Marquis Shi', and they are the talents he is most looking forward to. He is ready to support Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, but it is a pity that Cao Cao, Xia Houdun and others are currently under Huangfusong's command, training in the third assistant The rookie has no outstanding performance for the time being.

In mid-June, Hanyang County was eerily quiet. The kingdom, which had lost many troops, was temporarily unable to attack Jixian County. It was horrified by Zhu Jun's call for rebellion, and temporarily suspended its troops. He himself also ran to Jincheng to fight with Han Sui, Ma Teng discussed countermeasures and discussed how to deal with this real crusade by the imperial court.

At the same time, Cai Yan's sister, Cai Zhenji, came to Luoyang from Shandong, accompanied by her husband Yang Yu.

(End of this chapter)