Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 555 The mouth of a state

In the fifth year of Zhangwu, Xia.

In the palace in Wuhan, Liu Bei was half leaning on the couch while Du Du checked his pulse.

Zhuge Liang was waiting quietly, his expression showing concern.

"How is it?"

Zhuge Liang stepped forward holding a feather fan and asked.

"Your Majesty's pulse is normal and he seems to have no serious illness." Du Du replied with a frown.

"Then why does your majesty have stomach pain in Taicang?" Zhuge Liang asked.

Du Du was embarrassed, then he looked at Liu Bei's tongue coating and said, "Prime Minister, look at the coating on your majesty's tongue. It seems that evil spirits have entered the body. Rong Du will prescribe some medicine for your majesty to see if it can cure him. In the meantime, your majesty should be patient Abstain from alcohol and meat, and do not be gluttonous.”

Liu Bei touched his swollen stomach and said: "When I was in peace with Zhang Chun in the past, the wooden arrows in Taicang left hidden diseases, which would occasionally occur. Sirs, please do not panic. It is just a minor illness."

A few days ago, Liu Ba fell ill and returned home to recuperate. Unfortunately, he passed away the day before yesterday.

Liu Bei was deeply saddened, so he asked Liu Chan to attend the funeral and discuss with Zhuge Liang today his successor.

Unexpectedly, during the discussion, Liu Bei had a gastrointestinal attack. The pain was so severe that he had diarrhea two or three times. Zhuge Liang was worried and asked Du Du to diagnose.

Du Du's diagnosis was the same as his age judgment. No big problem could be found, he just thought that evil spirits had entered Taicang.

After drinking some warm water, Liu Bei felt much better in his stomach, and asked his attendant to go with Du Du to get medicine.

Sitting on the couch, Liu Bei motioned for Zhuge Liang to sit down and said: "Unfortunately, I have passed away from illness at the beginning of my life. The position of Minister is vacant and has no owner. It is not a permanent matter. I have been thinking about it for a long time and have two candidates. One of them is Changxu. The second one is Yuan Zhi. I wonder who Kong Ming thinks can be a minister?"

Before Fazheng passed away, Liu Bei adopted Zhuge Liang's suggestion and let Sun Shao and Liu Ba divide their powers. Two years later, Liu Ba fell ill and died, leaving only Sun Shao. Now according to Liu Bei's wishes, either Sun Shao should be in charge of the Shangshu Tai alone, or Xu Shu should be allowed to serve as the Shangshu Ling.

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "Looking at Changxu and Yuanzhi, they each have their own strengths. Judging from past political achievements, it is feasible for them to serve as ministers. But today's Jiangzhou is like the Sili of the Han Dynasty. Your Majesty If you want to make Yuan Zhi the minister, you should choose good ministers to succeed you."

After a pause, Zhuge Liang said: "We are now in the period of hiding the population in Guangzhou. If we move directly to Wuhan, it may delay the efforts of Jiangzhou counties to hide the population in Guangzhou."

The system of the Southern Han Dynasty was different from that of the two Han Dynasties. Zhuge Liang was appointed prime minister and was in charge of domestic political affairs. Shangshu Ling was his deputy, assisting Zhuge Liang in handling state affairs. Before Huo Jun entered Wuhan, Shangshu Ling was the third political figure.

Today, both Sun Shao and Xu Shu are qualified to serve as Shangshu Ling. Compared with Sun Shao, who can be promoted to Shangshu Ling at any time, Xu Shu, who is currently the governor of Jiangzhou, is much more complicated.

Jiangzhou was split from Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and its task was to weaken the power of the two states and increase the central authority of Wuhan.

Now Xu Shu has been in office for many years and has built up Jiangzhou single-handedly, and his prestige is very high. If Xu Shu is transferred away now, how easy is it to find someone to take Xu Shu's place? Especially at the beginning of this year, it is a critical period for population retrieval.

Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "In that case, let Changxu serve as Shangshu Ling for the time being. Shangshu Pu She, I wonder if you have someone to choose?"

Zhuge Liang stroked his fan and thought about it, and said: "I think Ma Jun Jichang, Fei Jun Binbo, and Pan Jun Chengming can all succeed him."

"What about Liao Gongyuan?" Liu Bei asked.

Zhuge Liang frowned and shook his head, saying: "Your Majesty, although Gongyuan is a talented person from Chu and has the ability to make a fortune in the world, his arrogant nature may cause chaos in Taichung."

"In this case, let Binbo serve as the minister!"

Seeing that Zhuge Liang had objections, Liu Bei immediately chose Fei Guan and said, "Let Zhongxuan draft the imperial edict on my behalf, and I will ask the second minister to take charge of the office."

Liao Li had outstanding talents. After Liu Bei took control of Jingchu, he and Pang Tongyong showed their talents. Because of his talents, Liu Bei kept Pang Tong by his side as a military advisor. Liao Li was good at civil affairs and was sent out to serve as a prefect.

Now Liao Li is appointed as the servant. According to his performance, Liao Li will be appointed as the servant of the minister, which is not a big problem. However, Zhuge Liang had frequent contact with Liao Li and knew that Liao Li had flaws. In order for people to make the most of their talents, it might be a good thing to keep Liao Li by Liu Bei's side.

"Kong Ming, is there any letter from Jiang Ji?" Liu Bei asked.

After the first day of the new year, Jiang Ji and his son stayed for another half month under Liu Bei's solicitation. It wasn't until Ma Chao wrote to ask about the situation that the father and son reluctantly left Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was also very interesting. Although he did not send them off personally, he asked Ma Liang to send the father and son to Xiakou on his behalf. When Jiang Jiong and his son returned to Longyou, they were tortured by Ma Chao. Jiang Ji first explained why he went to Luoyang and then went south to Wuhan. Later, he conveyed to Ma Chao Liu Bei's high regard for him, and he could understand why Ma Chao professed vassal status to Wei.

After much discussion, although Ma Chao was dissatisfied with Jiang Ji and his son's decision to kill first and then report later, he went to Wuhan without his order. However, Ma Chao was overjoyed with Jiang Ji's gains from this trip. He not only forgave Jiang Ji for his disobedience, but also promoted Jiang Ji to important positions.

In order to help Jiang Jiong ascend to power and win Ma Chao's trust, Liu Bei agreed to Ma Chao's previous request. That is, when Ma Chao was forced by Lu Xun to sign a treaty under the city, Ma Chao begged Liu Bei if he could provide a batch of grain and grass for free.

In the past, Liu Bei would never do anything like a meat bun and beat a dog, but now in order for Jiang Ji to win Ma Chao's trust, he agreed to Ma Chao's request. Fifty thousand stones of food and grass are provided every year, and Ma Chao provides 300 horses every year.

Zhuge Liang stroked his fan and muttered, and said: "According to Jiang Jun's letter, Ma Chao ordered him to command his troops and guard the street pavilions separately. And Ma Chao has fulfilled Bo Yan's wishes and sent people to explore the two counties of Hehuang and send envoys to connect with the Qiang tribe. It seems that there is something wrong It is his intention to plan the two counties, but Ma Chao is afraid of the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong and will not act rashly in the short term."

"But Jiang Jun has secretly contacted the righteous people to serve your majesty."

Liu Bei was a little worried and said: "If you contact others, I'm afraid Jiang Jun will be noticed by Ma Chao. Now Kong Ming must tell Jiang Jun that he should not act in a hurry and plan slowly. Could it be that his haste will lead to things being noticed by outsiders."

Liu Bei participated in the Yidai Zhao incident, and the more people who conspired, the more likely it was to be exposed. Now that we have finally laid a hidden clue in Ma Chao's country, how can we fall short?
"I have written back to Jiang Jun and told him that based on the wisdom of his father and son, he should act with caution." Zhuge Liang replied.

Taking advantage of the conversation between the monarch and his ministers, the attendant entered the palace and reported: "Your Majesty, the Huoshe people returned to the capital from Jianghuai and are now seeking an audience outside the palace."

"Xuan!"

After a while, Huo Yi walked in from outside the palace and saluted Liu and Ge.

"Your Majesty, Huo Yi, has met with the Prime Minister."

"Excuse me, uncle!"

"Sit down!"

Liu Bei pointed to the side seat, asked Huo Yi to sit down, and said with a smile, "Uncle, have you gained anything from this trip to the east?"

"Your Majesty, I have paid a visit to Huo Du and explained what happened. Huo Du sent three copies of his letter and asked me to hand it over to Your Majesty and Bu Yangzhou, the former general. With the letter, I visited Yangzhou. Yangzhou has cleared up the past suspicions and concentrated on searching for hidden houses."

Huo Yi presented the two letters and said: "Wu County was investigated first, followed by Danyang County. The people of Danyang were frivolous, and the Tao family rebelled, but was put down by the general Huo Shizai. The leader of the thieves, Tao Liang, was beheaded, and the rest were captured. Yangzhou punishes crimes. Now Yangzhou specializes in Kuaiji, and wants to investigate the hidden households of Kuaiji."

"By the time I left Yangzhou, there were more than 50,000 men and women hiding in Yangzhou. The specific number will probably have to wait until autumn, and the calculations of the various states and counties will be able to tell."

In autumn, counties and counties have to escort taxes to the state government, and at the same time, the accounting officials or chief officials have to go to the state government to report on their duties.

After autumn and winter, the states escorted taxes to Wuhan and reported their duties to Zhuge Liang and Shangshu Ling. Afterwards, Zhuge Liang and Shangshu Ling will give certain evaluations based on the performance of local officials.

After checking, before the first month of the year, Zhuge Liang needs to submit Dahan's year-end summary for this year and the performance of local officials to Liu Bei.

Hearing this, Liu Bei smiled and said: "The number of hermit households in various states has reached nearly 200,000 so far. I wonder if the number of men and women analyzed will exceed 300,000 by the end of this year."

Zhuge Liang smiled while stroking his fan and said: "Jingzhou is a state with a large population. The number of hidden households in Jiaba and Jiangzhou must be 300,000!"

"There are more than 300,000 people. If we add more than 100,000 people into the mountains, there should be more than 400,000 people."

Zhuge Liang recited the population data, his smile became brighter, and he said: "In two or three years, we were able to acquire the number of states in the Central Plains. This is really the result of your Majesty's governance."

If Zhuge Liang from the original plane traveled to this plane, he would probably be so excited that he cried. The original place was located in Yizhou. In order to provide for the Northern Expedition, he had to be careful about how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Like now, if we put more effort into in-depth governance of the south, if we proceed smoothly, we can gain a population of 400,000 in a few years.

"Haha~"

Liu Bei stroked his silver beard, laughed a few times, and said, "This must be the work of all the ministers!"

After a pause, Liu Bei asked: "Sir, Uncle, what happened to the siege of Shanyue today?"

Huo Yi cupped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, General Huo said that there may be considerable results next year."

"Great!"

(End of this chapter)