Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 538 What happened after death
In February of the fourth year of Zhangwu.

On the grounds that the weather was cold and the water was drying up, Liu Bei ordered Liu Feng to abandon the land of Shangluo County and move the people of Shangluo County to Hannan and Xiangyang counties.

After Liu Feng received the imperial edict, he relied on his bravery and believed that the weather was cold and the Wei army did not dare to attack. If Liu Bei is sent to attack, if the Wei army advances, he is willing to hold on to the city walls and wait for reinforcements from Jiang and Han troops.

After being dismissed, Liu Bei issued another edict. This time the edict was particularly severe, forcing Liu Fengnan to return.

Under Liu Bei's forced edict, Liu Feng began to slowly organize the relocation.

At the same time, three generals, Cao Zhen, Xia Houshang, and Zhang He, followed Cao Pi's order and sent troops to conquer Liu Feng. Cao Zhen sent Fei Yao out of Lantian, Zhang He out of Hongnong, and Xiahou Shang to attack Wuguan.

Liu Feng led his troops to attack Xiahou Shang, but Zhang He stole his home. The morale of Liu Feng's troops was turbulent. Xia Houshang took advantage of the situation and advanced, defeated Liu Feng's troops and captured Wuguan.

Liu Feng, who was defeated and lost his land, abandoned his army and people and led dozens of cavalry to flee south from Danshui.

On the way, Liu Feng met Liao Hua and led troops from Hannan County to come for reinforcements. Liu Feng forced Liao Hua to follow him and recapture Shangluo. Liao Hua knew that his troops were outnumbered and flatly refused Liu Feng's request.

Liu Feng was very angry and wanted to seize Liao Hua's military power. Then Lu Meng arrived and interrupted Liu Feng's plan.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Bei had the idea of ​​making Liu a Duke, but due to Guan Yu's dissuasion, Liu Bei temporarily gave up the idea and changed the title to a Marquis.

"This~"

Liu Feng knelt on the ground and said harshly: "Your Majesty, if Liao Hua and Lu Meng had not arrived late with their troops, Shangluo might still be in the hands of our army."

Liu Bei was very angry and accused: "The imperial edict was issued last month, asking you to move the people south as soon as possible. However, you are proud and brave, and Shangshu refused to obey the edict. If you had followed the original order, you would have led your troops south even if you did not move the merchants to the people. Go back, why did you suffer today’s defeat?”

Wuhan Palace and Meeting Hall.

Hearing this, Liu Bei threw the memorial written by Lu Meng in front of Liu Feng and said angrily: "Shangluo County was lost, and five thousand soldiers died because of you. He led the remaining soldiers to flee to Danshui. If Liao Hua did not lead his troops to respond, , I am afraid that your life is gone, how dare you blame the general now?"

"How can a major military matter be carried out based on a preference for blood?"

"If you don't follow the edict and suffer this defeat, you are really bringing the blame on yourself!"

Although Liu Feng was defeated and returned now, Liu Bei planned to punish Liu Feng. Instead, he decided to rebuke, impose a small punishment, and go back to reflect for a while.

Due to Liu Feng's own blindness, the Southern Han Dynasty not only lost the people of Shangluo County, but also lost 5,000 elite infantry and cavalry. Fortunately, the Southern Han family had a great cause and Liu Bei could still endure the loss.

Seeing this, Zhuge Liang, who was sitting on the second seat, frowned. He couldn't help stroking the fan faster and thought to himself: "Liu Feng has a strong temper and cannot obey your majesty's orders. If your majesty dies and sends a slave to the throne, from now on Isn’t it difficult to control it?”

As Liu Feng left the palace after confessing his crime, Liu Bei rubbed his temples and sat back on the couch.

Although Liu Bei initially accepted Liu Feng as his adopted son for personal gain. But after getting along for a long time, Liu Bei has regarded Liu Feng as his own son, otherwise he would not continue to cultivate Liu Feng.

How much Liu Bei valued Liu Feng, how angry he is now.

In recent years, as Liu Bei grew older, he thought about Liu Feng's relationship with him, and once again thought of making Liu Feng his father. He valued Liu Feng's bravery and wanted to stay and assist Liu Chan. Therefore, after the Northern Expedition, Liu Bei worshiped Liu Feng as the General of Zhenxi, led the governor of Sizhou, and ran Shangluo County.

"promise!"

Seeing that Lu Meng was the first to impeach him, Liu Feng was very angry, but he was afraid of Liu Bei's scolding. He lowered his head and confessed: "My son underestimated the enemy and was careless, and I hope that my father will reprimand him. As for bullying the general, it was because my son was killed and defeated in the army, and he was afraid of letting him down." My father has entrusted me with a great responsibility, so I want to unite the Jianghan troops and go north to recapture Shangluo."

But after Liu Feng's defeat, he blamed Liao Hua; concealing the facts and attacking Lu and Liao was difficult for Liu Bei to accept.

The plan failed, so Liu Feng had no choice but to return to the capital from Hanbei and plead guilty to Liu Bei for being defeated and losing his territory.

After Liu Bei vented his temper, he waved his hand and sighed: "I will return to my home from now on to think about my mistakes. I will not leave my home without my order."

"You~"

"Kong Ming?"

"Liang Zai!"

Liu Bei gently rubbed his temples and asked, "Feng'er returns in defeat. How should we deal with it?"

Zhuge Liang hesitated for a long time and said: "If you are guilty of a defeat, you can be demoted and demoted. But if you are worried about your majesty's death, it is better to be punished and get rid of it."

"Get rid of it?"

Hearing this, Liu Bei was suddenly shocked. He couldn't believe it and asked, "Why did Kong Ming say this? Although Feng'er was defeated and lost his people, his crime is not this!"

Zhuge Liang was reluctant to say it clearly, but considering the situation after Liu Bei's death, he asked: "Liang Dare to ask if Your Majesty has any concerns about his death?"

"How can we be worry-free!"

With no one around him, Liu Bei spoke truthfully and said: "I am sixty-two years old. Since Yun Chang left, my physical energy has gradually declined, and I am already in my twilight years. Last year's Northern Expedition has lived up to the courage of the past. The reason why I give up today Feng'er went to Luo to stay and send slaves. How could he expect that Feng'er would not obey the edict and lose the city."

After Guan Yu's death, Liu Bei's energy gradually declined. After experiencing the Northern Expedition to Guanzhong and Fa Zheng's death due to illness, Liu Bei suddenly became much older.

Feeling that his life is gradually passing away, Liu Bei no longer thinks about the Northern Expedition in the short term, but wants to shift his focus to domestic governance to pave the way for Liu Chan's rise to power.

As he said, Liu Feng wanted to leave Liu Chan as an assistant minister and play the role of Cao Zhen in Cao Wei. After all, Liu Bei knew the pain of not having a clan to use.

"Your Majesty!" Zhuge Liang hesitated a little, then raised his hands and said, "I forgive you for having the audacity to speak to your Majesty about the young general's affairs."

"Because of the love between you and me, it doesn't matter if you say it!"

"The young general often thinks of himself as your majesty's son, and treats many generals unkindly. Today's defeat at Shangluo is a small matter, but being fierce and unruly is a big deal. Your Majesty wants to order the young general to assist the government, as a brother-in-law. However, while your majesty is still alive, the young general is not yet In compliance with the imperial edict, how can the prince control it after the change of times?"

Zhuge Liang pointed out the flaw in Liu Bei's idea. Liu Bei wanted to use Liu Feng as Cao Zhen, but Liu Feng did not have a clear positioning of himself and was destined to fail to become Cao Zhen.

Liu Feng relied on the fact that he was Liu Bei's son and bullied the generals in the army. Today Liu Bei can still control Liu Feng when he is alive, but after Liu Bei's death, how can Liu Feng obey Liu Chan's orders. If under the influence of careerists, Liu Feng might launch a mutiny.

Listening to Zhuge Liang's analysis, Liu Bei fell silent.

After a while, Liu Bei said bitterly: "Kong Ming, Feng'er is my son, and tiger poison has no intention of eating his son, let alone me?"

"After the Yi Dynasty, when the prince succeeded to the throne, Liu Fenggang became so fierce and unruly that no one could control him!" Zhuge Liang said worriedly.

"You can't control Feng'er by sending slaves, but you can't control Zhongmiao by sending slaves?" Liu Bei asked rhetorically.

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Bei realized that he had a problem. It would be difficult for his ministers to punish their clan members and lead to criticism from the outside world. Zhuge Liang is fine, but Huo Jun's identity is extremely embarrassing.

No matter who kills Liu Feng, Liu Chan, as a monarch, will be known as brother-killer, which will not be conducive to Liu Chan's governance of the Southern Han Dynasty. Now, in order to prevent Liu Feng from affecting Liu Chan, Zhuge Liang must advise Liu Bei to deal with Liu Feng's potential threat.

Zhuge Liang held the fan and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty does not think about the prince, but also thinks about the great cause of the Han Dynasty. The young general has a strong temperament. If he is left here, he may cause trouble in the future. I hope your majesty will make a clear decision."

"Are you planning something big for Hanye?"

Liu Bei muttered for a while, but he still couldn't bear it in his heart and looked hesitant.

Seeing Liu Bei like this, Zhuge Liang couldn't persuade him any more. The ministers advised the monarch to kill his son. This kind of thing is probably rare in the world.

In fact, if it were not for the Han Dynasty and Liu Chan, Zhuge Liang would not want to do such a thing. In other words, Liu Feng kept a low profile, followed Cao Zhen's example, learned to avoid suspicion, and had a better temperament. Zhuge Liang would not advise Liu Bei to do this.

Of course, if Liu Bei was in his prime and not in his twilight years, Zhuge Liang would not suggest that Liu Bei take action against Liu Feng.

Liu Bei sighed and said: "In half a month, I want to take the queen to the east to tour the Jianghuai River. The prince will stay in the capital to supervise the country, and all matters big and small will be decided by Kong Ming!"

"promise!"

Zhuge Liang instantly understood what Liu Bei meant. In order to prevent himself from being sad, Liu Bei planned to hide in Jianghuai. Zhuge Liang would take care of matters in the capital, including Liu Feng's disposal.

Of course, Liu Bei also left himself half a month's buffer time, allowing him to think carefully about whether Liu Feng deserved to die.

After explaining, Liu Bei was about to get up from the couch.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report!" Zhuge Liang called to Liu Bei and said.

"What's the matter?"

Zhuge Liang stood up and held his hands in his hands, saying: "Since Mi Du took charge of Nanzhong, the Mi family has suddenly become rich, with more than ten thousand servants and hundreds of millions of goods. Now that Mi Nanzhong has returned to the capital to report on his duties, there are more than a thousand servants driving in and out, calling from the front and back. Support, the momentum is huge.”

"But not only that, except Mi Nanzhong, all the ministers and Yuancong have hundreds of servants and guests. They hide their population, refuse to serve and pay taxes on the pretext of joining the army, and evil things happen frequently in Beijing. Zhao Yin used strict methods to treat it, but it was also difficult to treat. "

"Jie Liang heard that Lu Baliang often conquered the Bayi and recruited five thousand households as guest tribes. They served in front of the battle and taxed themselves without paying. The above things, Liang thinks, are harmful to the national system, and your Majesty should be responsible for it. Food for thought.”

It only took more than ten years from the time Liu Bei separatized Danyang to the official founding of the Southern Han Dynasty. In order to quickly stabilize the place and expand his military strength to confront the Northern Wei Dynasty, Liu Bei allowed his generals to retain private soldiers. Therefore, the composition of the Southern Han army consisted of the central army + local state and county soldiers + generals and troops.

It is acceptable to retain private soldiers, but the important thing is that the generals conceal the population and use the excuse of military service, but actually refuse to pay taxes and perform corvee service. After the long-term Northern Expedition, in order to avoid frequent corvee labor and heavy taxes, the common people gradually became tribes and retainers of the powerful families of the generals.

Take the Mi family for example, they have more than 10,000 servants. Most of these servants are from Nanzhong. These servants have no household registration and are black households in the Southern Han Dynasty. They are not required to pay taxes or perform military service.

Or the generals used private soldiers to perform military service, falsely reporting the number of troops and horses, and allowing those tribes who did not perform military service to pay land rent and taxes to themselves.

Household transfer taxation can ensure that Nanhan collects taxes, but in the face of the rising military power group of Nanhan, it is much more difficult to collect taxes.

Liu Bei frowned in thought and asked, "What does Kong Ming mean?"

Zhuge Liang said truthfully: "Liang discussed with Yuan Zhi, Zichu, and Changxu Duo, and thought that we should make a decisive decision, check the population of every household in the country, search for hidden people, and make them pay taxes."

"For example, Mi's family has more than 10,000 people who only pay the land tax in their name and the tax paid to more than 1,000 households, and the rest are mostly paid by soldiers and horses. Therefore, we should strictly investigate the hidden servants of powerful and powerful families and make them pay taxes. To strengthen the national treasury.”

Zhuge Liang had long wanted to check the slaves under the names of wealthy families. After the war, whether it is the northern clan, the southern clan, or the generals under Liu Bei, they will more or less hide their common people or slaves.

In the early years, due to the early peace of the Southern Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang did not dare to attack these people for fear of causing local riots. Nowadays, the Northern Expedition of the Southern Han Dynasty has been successful, and the country has become more stable. In order to better carry out the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang made the same choice as Huan Wen and Liu Yu of later generations, and prepared to attack the big families in the south.

Liu Bei paced for a long time and said: "It is not impossible for Kong Ming to ask the powerful and powerful families to report and hide their people. It's just that many people from the big families are the pillars of our Han Dynasty. Moreover, the meritorious generals followed me around in the early years. Now that they have become rich, they are mean. If you treat it, it will harm the relationship between the king and his ministers."

"It is not easy to implement a great government, so it is better to temporarily choose a place to implement this method to observe the effect and listen to everyone's opinions. If it is effective, there will be no big differences among the generals. Kongming will push it to Wu and Chu states and counties again. It is not a bad idea!"

After a pause, Liu Bei asked: "How are the counties in Shu?"

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "According to your majesty's words, let Governor Pan temporarily implement this method in Shu."

(End of this chapter)