Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, just want to die

Chapter 541 The most deadly hidden danger in the court

A year ago, Ma Su completed his appointment to the north under the advice of everyone. Among them, the second town of Shuofang was in charge of Jiang Wei and Shuji, while the second town of Beidi County was in charge of Deng Fan and Zhang Yi.

Since then, the four northern generals have been appointed, and these four people are responsible for the Han's power in the Hetao Plain.

At that time, Ma Su wanted to go to the north, but was pulled by Li Mulu to go to Yizhou.

During this year, war reports came back from the northern border. Both Shuofang County and Beidi County came to report their victory.

When Ma Di went south to conquer Jingzhou, Cao Wei responded quickly. In addition to ordering Guo Huai to lead an army of 100,000 to march to Nanyang from Xudu, the Wei army in the north also made various counterattacks.

Among them, in the direction of Shangjun, Wang Jing, the governor of Bingzhou, was in charge, and he led 50,000 Bingzhou troops into the north. In the north, Wang Xiong, the governor of Youzhou, also joined tens of thousands of troops with King Bu Dugen of Xianbei and came to kill Shuofang.

Originally, Ma Di had already appeared in Jingzhou, thousands of miles away from the northern border. Therefore, the Wei army believes that we have the advantage this time. Even if we cannot win a big victory, we can still take back the entire Hetao Plain.

With this idea, Cao Weiyou and the two states sent a total of 100,000 troops in an attempt to launch a counterattack.

As a result, Wang Xiong, the governor of Youzhou, marched his army to Wuyuan and encountered resistance from Jiang Wei.

The two sides fought in Wuyuan, and the battle lasted for dozens of days, with no outcome in sight. As a result, Shu Ji cut off the food road after being bypassed. Jiang Wei attacked fiercely from the front and finally defeated Wang Xiong's troops. He killed Bu Dugen and killed tens of thousands of people.

On the other hand, Wang Jing, the governor of Bingzhou, had Wang Xiong's support, so he led his troops to advance rashly, but Zhang Yi refused.

After Wang Xiong missed the appointment and failed to show up, Wang Jing also hurriedly rolled up his armour. As a result, he was chased by Deng Fan in a river valley in Shangjun.

The Bingzhou army encountered an ambush in the river valley, and the whole army was in chaos. The 50,000-strong army was scattered and many people died, almost all of Bingzhou's family property was lost.

This was the first time that Ma Su's four old subordinates had the effect of his presence without his participation. The entire northern border began a comprehensive advance. Except for some areas in Qantao that had not yet been recovered, the rest of the area basically fell into the hands of the Han army.

This battle report was sent back to Chang'an, and both the government and the public were shocked. Whether it was the Chancellor's Office or the Prime Minister's Mansion, it was the first time in so many years that Ma Su could achieve such huge results without being present.

But if you take a closer look, you will find that it was all promoted by Ma Su, so it is not surprising.

The victory in the battle in the north drew the court's attention to the north again. Among them, Bingzhou, the throat of Kanto, is the top priority.

Bingzhou is located east of the Yellow River and west of the Taihang Mountains. The entire state has a dangerous terrain, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, its folk customs are strong and its geographical location is on the side of the throat. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

Because this place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Han army was unable to continue advancing after capturing Guanzhong, so Cao Wei still had a strong force here. Although the Wei army was unable to threaten Guanzhong after Pubanjin was blocked, the entire Hetao was still under threat from them.

So after checking the battle report, Ma Su quickly made a judgment. If Bingzhou cannot be defeated, the eastward expedition to Guandong will probably be very difficult.

Therefore, in Ma Su's opinion, it is necessary to capture Bingzhou as much as possible before the next Eastern Expedition. Only by controlling Bingzhou can the Han army successfully conquer Guandong.

Therefore, Ma Su quickly handed over the matter to the Hussar General's Mansion for discussion. After some discussion, everyone agreed that strategically, Bingzhou should be recaptured first.

However, not long after the proposal was submitted to the Chancellor, Jiang Wan came to Ma Su with a knife and tried his best that day.

"General Ma! Can't we just stay on our own for a while?" Jiang Wan angrily slapped the knife on Ma Su's table and stared at Ma Su angrily with gritted teeth. "How long have you been back in Chang'an? Why are you planning to mobilize troops again? Do you know how difficult it is to get you the food you need for the Northern Expedition? The pressure on the Chancery is not as high as usual."

"Now that the imperial finance finally has a chance to take a breather, what do you want to do?"

Jiang Wan's anger startled Ma Su, and he quickly laughed with Jiang Wan.

"Don't be nervous, Gong Yan... I'm not planning to send troops right now. I'm just handing over a proposal. I'm going to give His Majesty some advice from a strategic point of view."

"Haha..." Jiang Wan rolled his eyes, took out the financial bill handled by the Chancellor's Desk from his arms, and threw it to Ma Su.

"This is the treasury's money and food reserves compiled by the Chancellor's Desk during this period. You can calculate how many people can support the expedition."

Seeing Jiang Wan's actions, Ma Su suddenly frowned and did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Jiang Wan and raised a question.

"Gong Yan, do you think you need to handle all of this personally?"

"Otherwise? If the finance minister is not personally handling the finances, how can we expect those ministers to do the calculations themselves?" Jiang Wan looked at Ma Su and replied angrily.

"Such complicated finances will probably take a long time at the Chancellor's desk." Ma Di touched his chin, pondered for a moment and continued to ask.

"With so much energy being involved in the Secretariat, can the other matters of the imperial court be handled?"

"The Prime Minister's Office will share part of it, and the Shangshutai will be responsible for the rest." Jiang Wan replied.

"You also know the efficiency of the Prime Minister's Office. This matter is just drizzle."

"Hiss...this is not a long-term solution." Ma Di suddenly took a breath of air after Jiang Wan's very short explanation.

You don’t know if you don’t hear it, but you will be shocked when you hear it. Ma Su really didn't expect that Ji Han's official system had become so weird without knowing it.

Even if the old capital Chang'an is now recovered, the official system has not been improved. On the contrary, some issues that should have been exposed have become even more hidden.

First of all, in the early days of the founding of the Ji Han Dynasty, the system of the previous Han Dynasty was completely inherited, with almost no changes. Even the official position of Chang Shi was retained intact.

However, the Han system of the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers had a very fatal problem, that is, the administrative management was far behind the times. From finance to criminal law, many official systems are relatively chaotic, and a lot of administrative power is wasted in them.

It is precisely because of this that after Zhuge Liang took care of his son in Baidi City, he quickly started to open a government and take over power. A series of major powers such as criminal law and finance were all transferred to the Prime Minister's Office, and administrative efficiency was forcibly improved by relying on personal abilities.

And Ji Han also launched the ten-year Northern Expedition with the support of this official system of "the palace, the palace, all integrated into one". During this period, all problems were solved, because Zhuge Liang did most of Jiu Qing's work alone.

But does this really solve the problem?
No, on the contrary, after years of accumulation, it has gradually become the most deadly hidden danger in the Han Dynasty!
　There are still only two chapters today. I had a headache checking the information today, but it will be basically smooth tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)