National color raw owl

When Chu Huan returned to Duzhicao, before he had a cup of tea, there was a voice outside the door: "Is Master Chu busy? Don't take the liberty of disturbing me, so don't blame me."

Chu Huan looked back, but saw that Ouyang Zhi, the head of the warehouse department, came over. He was a little surprised, startled for a moment, and said with a smile: "It's Mr. Ouyang, please come in, please come in!" He was in the household department for a while, Except for Du Zhicao's subordinates who came to report on official duties, few people in the ministry came to talk to him.

When Ouyang Zhi came in, Chu Huan called someone to serve tea, then sat down and said, "Master Ouyang is here, what advice do you have?"

Ouyang Zhi looked a little embarrassed, thought for a while, and finally asked: "On the side of Lord Butang, Lord Chu also said that you can't buy grain with a loan. Do you really think so?"

Officials above the head of the household department attended the meeting just now. Among the many officials, except for Ouyang Zhi, only Chu Huan disagreed with buying grain on loan.

Chu Huan thought for a while, then slowly said: "In all honesty, Master Ouyang's large amount of money to buy food is actually an excellent strategy to calm the turmoil in Tianmen."

"Oh?" Ouyang Zhi asked with a smile, "What do you mean by Master Chu's words?"

"Although the Tianmen Dao is very violent, it is only a group of people who were bewitched by rumors and rebelled under the misery. It is just a group of mobs who burned, killed and looted in a moment of anger." Chu Huan picked up the teacup, drank After taking a sip, he said slowly: "In a real war, there are too many factors to consider. In addition to the number of troops, there are also a series of factors such as food, equipment, training, strategy, tactics, etc., and the chaos of Tianmen Dao is nothing more than Xiao gathered together. Although they occupied several counties, their overall strategy was obviously still very vague. They had no solid base, no economic guarantee, no logistical support, and even the equipment necessary for combat could not be guaranteed. Such a group Crowd, if the imperial court can make full use of the strength of the local clans and work together, it is very likely that the Jianghuai chaos will be quelled in a short period of time."

Ouyang Zhi couldn't help nodding when he heard this.

Chu Huan glanced at Ouyang Zhi, and continued: "Purchasing grain with a lot of money, in a sense, can indeed control the grain in the hands of the court. Not only can it solve the army's food and grass problem, but it can also basically cut off the chaos of the Tianmen. Food and grass security, as long as the food and grass are under the control of the government and the army, even if Tianmen Dao wants to grab food, there is nowhere to grab it. Once any combat force runs out of food, it will soon collapse. Although Tianmen Dao looted There is a lot of food, but apart from what they have on hand, there is no real logistical support supply, the more people there are, the faster the food on hand will be consumed...!"

Ouyang Zhi immediately clapped his hands and said: "That's right, as long as there is no food, a group of mobs are vulnerable, and wherever the Master Wang comes, he will definitely wipe out the group of Tianmen monsters."

Chu Huan shook his head, smiled, and seemed to want to say something, but he didn't say anything after all.

Ouyang Zhi saw that Chu Huan had something to say, so he hurriedly asked, "Is there anything that Mr. Chu can't say?" After a pause, he lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Chu has something to say, but it's okay to say it. Although Ouyang Zhi is not a gentleman But I’m not a villain, asking for advice today is purely a private conversation, and I can’t take a word out of this door.” Then thinking of Chu Huan’s current situation, he might not believe himself, sighed, and said: "However, I will not force others to make things difficult for me. If it is inconvenient for Master Chu to speak up, then you can say nothing!"

Chu Huan raised his hand and said with a smile: "Master Ouyang, please use tea!" After Ouyang Zhi picked up the teacup, he said softly: "Chu just thinks that if the imperial court can really cut off the food and grass of the Tianmen rebellious party, it may not necessarily need to use soldiers in the future." Kill them all."

Ouyang Zhi was startled, and asked in confusion, "What does Lord Chu mean?"

"Actually suppressing bandits is not the only thing that can be used with swords and soldiers." Chu Huan said with a smile: "In addition to the word "suppress", there is also the word "fu" that can be a big fuss."

"Hush?" Ouyang Zhi was familiar with money and food, but not military. He didn't understand Chu Huan's words for a while.

Chu Huan said: "To deal with the Jianghuai chaos, suppression is necessary, but if you want to stabilize Jianghuai and even the southeast, you can't do without Fu. Without suppression, it will be difficult to fight, but if you only suppress the Jianghuai chaos, it may not be possible. eradicate."

Ouyang Zhi cupped his hands solemnly and said, "Master Chu, please advise."

Chu Huan said: "The imperial court can use swords and soldiers first to exert huge military pressure on the Taoists of Tianmen, so that they can feel that the imperial court will never tolerate rebellion. , a lot of money to buy grain from Jianghuai. Nowadays, the gangsters are only a corner of the country, and there has not been a big climate. In the hands of the gentry and grain merchants, if the imperial court borrowed money to buy grain, the Jianghuai local elites would only think that the imperial court forcibly seized the grain, and they would feel resentment in their hearts. But if they bought grain with money, they would definitely be willing to sell the grain in their hands. "

Ouyang Zhi nodded and sighed: "When the country is in trouble, I have never counted on the local elites. It is a good thing that they don't get in the way. It is almost impossible to get them to fully contribute, unless their interests are consistent with those of the court. , it is possible to make them unite with the imperial court."

"That's right." Chu Huan nodded and said, "Buying grain on borrowed terms will only lead to the fact that the Jianghuai clan and the imperial court will go further and further apart. Therefore, if you want to close the Jianghuai clan, you must spend a lot of money to buy grain. Local clans With most of the resources in the Jianghuai River, as long as they are united with the imperial court, they can control the spread of the Tianmen Dao and encircle and suppress it with heavy troops, and the Tianmen Dao will be calmed down in a short time."

Ouyang Zhi said: "That's exactly what I think. Although Tianmen Dao has been very popular and demagogic over the years, many people have been bewitched by it, but it is a rabble after all. It is not known how often the cult has caused troubles, but it has succeeded. There are very few of them." Fuxu said: "In fact, the Jianghuai Tianmen Dao is rampant. The court has already paid attention to this matter, and the local government has been suppressing it. I thought that even if the Tianmen Dao took action, it could not be at this time. Their sudden rebellion is really beyond my expectation, I always feel... the turmoil in Tianmen Dao seems a little hasty, and there seems to be something weird in it!"

Chu Huan smiled, and continued: "Actually, as long as the court handles it properly and suppresses Tianmen Dao a few times, when they are in trouble, they can take action to appease them. Suppression is to destroy their hearts, but comfort is to win them back. "

"Suppress the heart, soothe the heart!" Ouyang Zhi praised: "Master Chu, that's a good word." Then he shook his head and sighed: "It's just that Master Chu may not understand. Terrible, many people have been bewitched into Taoism, their minds are very strong, and they are driven by the monsters of Tianmen, walking like corpses, and it is not easy to win their hearts."

Chu Huan said with a solemn expression: "I also understand what Master Ouyang said. I have also heard that many Taoists of the Tianmen sect completely obeyed the orders of the demons of the Tianmen sect after they were bewitched to enter the Taoism. They are very crazy... But I still believe it. , most of the people still retain their reason, not blindly following them blindly. There are millions of people in Jianghuai, and only a small number of people are bewitched by Tianmen Dao. Moreover, those people who are bewitched are nothing more than being taken advantage of by Tianmen monsters because of their hard life. It’s just an intrusion, if the court appeases it properly, I believe it can dispel the sinister intentions of the Tianmen monster and win the hearts of the people.”

"Master Chu thinks that people's hearts can be saved?"

"Of course." Chu Huan said solemnly: "As long as the court is willing to let the people live well, they can win the hearts of the people. In fact, I have always felt that it seems difficult to say that it is necessary to win the hearts of the people, but in the final analysis, it is also very simple. It is nothing more than Let them eat well and dress warmly. As long as the court can do these two things, it will not be difficult to win over the hearts of the people. The original intention of those people to follow the Tianmen monster rebellion, in the final analysis, is just to eat and dress warmly. If the court If they can do this, why would they go to war and risk their lives to provoke a rebellion.”

Ouyang Zhi nodded slightly and said, "Master Chu's words are reasonable. So how should the court appease him?"

Chu Huan picked up his teacup and said with a smile: "There are so many talents in the imperial court. I just have a crude opinion. As long as the imperial court puts their heart into it, they will definitely have a lot of ideas." After taking a sip of tea, he sighed softly: Waiting for others to speak lightly, how the court will deal with it is not something we can participate in."

Ouyang Zhi also sighed: "Lord Chu, it seems that you are really not suitable to be in the household department!"

Chu Huan was taken aback, and Ouyang Zhi had already said: "Lord Chu, don't get me wrong. I mean, you should go to the Ministry of War. What you said today is really a good way to calm the chaos." He shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity that you are an official of the household department. Marching to fight wars, suppressing chaos and suppressing bandits is a matter for the military department to decide. Our household department cannot intervene in it. You and I are just sitting here and talking."

Chu Huan said: "Actually, this truth may not be difficult to figure out. Most of the ministers under his family are important officials of the court and elites of our empire. Don't they think of this?"

Ouyang Zhi smiled wryly and said: "Lord Chu, there are many things that are easy to say, but they are not necessarily as simple as they are said to be done." Picking up the teacup, he drank half of it in one gulp, and then said softly, "I'm only worried about it now. The imperial court will really accept the idea of ​​buying grain with an IOU, if that is the case, Jianghuai is afraid...!" He shook his head helplessly.

Chu Huan saw that Ouyang Zhi was full of worry, it seemed that this person really cared about state affairs, not those dignitaries who only cared about their own interests.

"There are many wise men in the imperial court, we just need to do our errands well." Chu Huan comforted with a smile: "There are many things that we think are useless."

Ouyang Zhi nodded slightly, got up, and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Chu, you are busy first, and I will come and sit down when I have time." After leaving, Chu Huan sent him outside, looking at his back, thoughtfully.

When Ouyang Zhi left the Duzhicao compound, Lang Wuxu just came over from behind him. Ouyang Zhi seemed to be in a daze, and he didn't notice Lang Wuxu's approach. Lang Wuxu saw Ouyang Zhi , his face darkened, and he was about to say something, but when he saw Ouyang Zhi in a daze, he didn't stop, and went straight to Duzhicao. Instead of going to the principal's yard to find Chu Huan, he asked someone to summon a judge.

After Dou Yi was transferred from Duzhicao, there was a vacancy for the head of Duzhi Caoyou. Although the matter had been reported to the emperor, the emperor had no order, and the officials below naturally did not dare to urge him. The position was suspended, and the remaining five judges were determined to compete for this position. Recently, they had put a lot of effort into their errands, and Chu Huan didn't have to worry about many things.

After a judge came out, Lang Wuxu beckoned him to come closer, and said in a low voice, "Chu Huan stamped Si Tiantai's herb silver?"

The judge hurriedly said: "The people from Si Tiantai came over yesterday, and I am preparing to submit an official letter in the next two days to ask the principal to stamp it."

Lang Wuxu pondered for a while, and said in a soft voice: "Hurry up and write an official letter, send it over now, I will wait here, no matter whether Chu Huan seals it or not, you will report it to me immediately!"

The judge asked puzzledly: "My lord, there are still a few days left. Is it possible that this money should be withdrawn in advance?"

"If you are told to go, you can go." Lang Wuxu's face darkened: "There is so much nonsense, hurry up and do it, I am waiting here!"

The judge didn't dare to say more, he hastily said yes, and walked away quickly.