I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 209 The true purpose of the general is finally exposed

"If it were to kill me, I would definitely be very scared and even hate the person who killed me, no matter how high-sounding his reasons were." Li Ruji said, "If you told me that you killed people to end the war as soon as possible, then I would definitely be Stick to what you have, so you don’t have to ask what’s right or wrong, because there is no right or wrong.”

This guy suddenly became so serious, and Li Heng was not used to it.

Of course Li Heng knew the truth, but knowing the truth did not mean he could do it, do it well, and be calm.

Everyone needs the simplest trust.

Li Ruji's trust is different from Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang's trust.

Li Ruji's trust is his father's care for his children, while Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang trust Li Heng's abilities.

"Okay, I'm full. This mutton stew tastes better than the previous one."

Before dark that day, Li Heng went to visit Jiang Wan, and Jiang Wan called Dong Yun over.

"Jiang Gong and Dong Gong, I have little talent and virtue. Since I came to Chengdu, you two have helped me a lot. I will remember it in my heart."

Dong Yun quickly said: "You don't have to worry about your promotion to general. I am dissatisfied. This matter was decided by the Prime Minister. In fact, the Prime Minister wanted to make this decision half a year ago. The Prime Minister originally planned to give you some time to make changes. No matter how troublesome things are, we should be lenient to everyone, but in today's world, the situation is once again unpredictable. Our alliance with Sun Quan for more than ten years has rashly broken this balance. Now our internal changes have reached the point where we have to It’s time to implement it immediately.”

Jiang Wan, who usually doesn't talk much, also said: "I know very little about military affairs, so I can't help you in this regard. The position of general has a wide range of implications. You are about to assume this official position, but there are countless pairs of eyes staring at you. You must be careful."

"Thank you both!"

Now that Jiang Wan and Dong Yun have expressed their opinions, Li Heng is completely relieved.

The prudence Jiang Wan said was not to ask Li Heng not to offend the old forces, but to ask him to make sufficient preparations before offending others and not to make the problem extreme.

Otherwise, he would not be a great general for long.

A few days later, Liu Chan chose an auspicious day and publicly paid homage to the general Li Heng.

There was unanimous approval from both the government and the public.

It was smoother than expected, at least it seemed smooth.

In the last few days of the 14th year of Jianxing, Li Heng submitted a list of civilian officials in the General's Mansion, and Liu Chan approved all of them.

For example, Lu Zhi is the chief of the general's palace, Zhao Xiang is the minister of the general's palace, and Li Xiang is the historian of the general.

The remaining quotas have not yet been determined, and Li Heng also feels that he cannot nominate too many at once, after all, he has just started taking the position.

Li Heng also had his own considerations in nominating these people.

Lu Zhi was a man who surrendered from Wei State. This man was resourceful and well-organized.

Zhao Xiang is the eldest son of the Zhao family in Tianshui. Promoting him will undoubtedly have a more stable influence on the northwest's business.

Li Xiang is the son of Li Fu, the governor of Jiangzhou. Let him be the general history, which can establish a close relationship with Jiangzhou bureaucrats.

In addition, Taifu Temple and the Ministry of Industry were both placed under the management of the General's Office.

The purpose is to integrate economic output and military output to achieve a high degree of synergy.

At the end of the 14th year of Jianxing, Ji Han changed from a situation in which Zhuge Liang controlled everything to a structure in which the prime minister and the generals divided their powers.

However, the so-called decentralization of powers is only superficial. Strictly speaking, Zhuge Liang has been focusing on the highest strategic direction, and Li Heng is still the executor until now.

Zhuge Liang has the power of veto.

This is inevitable.

Decentralization of power is actually working on the surface.

For example, Li Heng had no decision-making power in the past and everything had to be reported. If Liu Chan couldn't make the decision, he would write to Guanzhong.

Zhuge Liang personally reviewed and approved it.

But now, Li Heng already has decision-making power in his hands, such as the New Deal decision-making power.

More importantly, there is the power to command the army.

Mainly refers to Jiangzhou's troops and horses. Strictly speaking, Yong'an's troops and horses are also incorporated into the jurisdiction of the General's Mansion.

In addition, Li Heng also made a very important decision to nominate Ma Yong as the censor. This decision was approved by Liu Chan.

Why is this an important decision?

Because in the fifteenth year of Jianxing, after the end of the fourteenth year of Jianxing, the imperial censor Ma Yong submitted his first memorial, suggesting that the imperial court severely punish the Qiao Zhou case.

After Liu Chan saw this memorial, he knew that it was Li Heng who had instructed Ma Yong to mention it. Liu Chan pretended not to know, and then praised Ma Yong for his righteous speech.

Then he publicly stated that he would hand it over to the general.

So the general summoned his staff and various officials in Dali to discuss for a day and night, and finally came to a conclusion: Qiao Zhou and others collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country. The evidence was conclusive, and they were beheaded immediately.

On the 15th day of the first lunar month, thirteen officials including Qiao Zhou and Runan were escorted to the formation outside Chengdu. Each of them was stabbed.

It is said that it was raining cold that day, and the human head was rolling in the wet mud, wrapped in dirty hair, and one of the heads was snatched away by a wild dog that rushed in.

Of course, before Qiao Zhou was killed, Yang Tian cursed: "Li Heng! Dog thief! You will not die a good death!"

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the headlines of Chengdu's "Jingshi Daily" were full of evidence that Qiao Zhou and others had collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country.

Of course, ordinary people in this era don't quite understand what betraying the country has to do with themselves.

Therefore, the storyteller in the restaurant also specifically emphasized the dangers of Qiao Zhou and others leaking the papermaking technology.

The danger is that Cao Wei and Sun Wu will greatly reduce the purchase of paper in Yizhou, so that the originally large amount of grain flowing into the capital will be reduced.

This will of course cause food prices to rise.

After spending two days popularizing this matter, there was a significant increase in the number of people scolding Qiao Zhou, Runan and others on the streets of Chengdu.

Even on the 19th, a group of people secretly went to the door of Qiao Zhou's original residence and punched and kicked the sealed door.

"Inhuman!"

"Traitors will not die a good death!"

"Such a beast is not worthy of being an official of the Han Dynasty! Fortunately, the general discovered it early!"

"Kill well! Kill well!"

"..."

On the evening of the 20th, Chief Sinong Meng Guang arrived at the General's Mansion.

"I see you, General." Meng Guang saluted.

"Why should Da Sinong be so polite?" Li Heng said with a friendly smile on his face.

"I wonder what the general wants to do with his subordinates?" "Sit down and tell me, someone in my house got some pepper from the northwest. I've prepared roast mutton. You can try it."

When the mutton was served, the pepper was just sprinkled on it, and Meng Guang swallowed his saliva immediately.

Meng Guang was not polite, after all, he had been a little pretentious with Li Heng before.

After eating half of it, Li Heng said with a smile: "Don't be anxious, Mr. Sinong, I'll take care of enough here today."

"What's the matter with the general looking for his subordinates?"

"I would like to recommend you to do Taichang." Li Heng said suddenly.

Meng Guang was stunned and asked in surprise: "Why is the general like this suddenly?"

"Because I think you are just serving as the chief minister, and your talents are too buried. You should recognize Taichang, who is the head of the Nine Qings."

"But Du Boyu is too often. He has always been loyal to his duties."

"How do you know he is loyal to his duties?"

"This……"

"I have this idea, but recommending you will take time and you will need to show your political achievements."

In fact, Meng Guang did not do well in the officialdom. He was a serious member of the Jingzhou faction and was older than Dan Cheng and Du Qiong.

But these two people were above him.

Meng Guang is characterized by being relatively direct.

Meng Guang sighed and said: "Thanks to the great general's love, it just backfired."

"How to say it?"

"I can only be a big agricultural clerk, doing statistics on annual taxes, household registration, etc. I can't do other things, and it will be difficult for me to achieve political achievements."

Li Heng deliberately remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "What if we do a land reform?"

"Land reform?"

"Just ask the local big families to hand over their fields. If the fields are handed over, won't the people be handed over as well?"

Meng Guang shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. They won't hand it over."

"If we stipulate that one acre of land should be taxed at 70%, will they pay it?"

Meng Guang was stunned for a moment.

Seventy percent?

You, the general, are still awesome!

Come up and come directly to 70%!

"They will resist. If it is forced on the counties, the counties will resist!"

"How about telling them that if they are willing to cooperate, they can get salt of equal value from the imperial court, or get permission from the trading company to set up a trading company?"

"That won't work either. It's impossible for all the big clans in the area to be like this."

"I don't need all of them, I just need half of them to be willing, and the other half..."

"How about the other half?"

"I will take care of the other half." Li Heng showed a friendly smile with white teeth.

"But those days were their private lands, and they have not paid taxes to the court since the Later Han Dynasty."

"Then let's change it now. The whole world is not the royal land. They should pay taxes to the imperial court."

"Will this cause rebellions everywhere?"

"Let's start with Bajun and Shujun. In these two counties, more than 40 wealthy families have obtained business permission, and they are making a lot of money every day."

Meng Guang hesitated again, facing great resistance to this matter.

He said: "If the general wants to weaken the local big families, why not use a strategy similar to pushing the favor order?"

"What I want is not to weaken the local big families, what I want is people, and I must get them in a short time!"

Meng Guang took a deep breath.

"If this thing is done, not only Taichang, but also Shangshu Ling and Situ will not be a problem in the future."

"General, do you really mean what you say?"

"really!"

"Okay! Another day in the morning, the lower official will come to mention it. The matter is serious and whether it can be recognized is not something that the lower official can do!"

On the 24th, early in the morning before dawn, Ma Yong arrived near the palace on horseback. When he saw Lu Zhi, he quickly came over and said, "Mr. Lu, all the newspapers have been sold out in the past few days."

"I know!"

Ma Yongdong took a closer look, and then asked in a low voice: "Is Qiao Zhou really a traitor to the enemy?"

"Is it necessary to discuss the truth now?"

Ma Yong was startled, then nodded.

"But I'm still surprised that people believe what's in the newspapers."

Lu Zhi shook his head and said: "You just need to know that what most people pursue is not the truth. You are now the imperial censor, and the general asked you to sit in this position. You must understand this especially. Sometimes the truth is always the same." Not worth the money.”

"I understand."

"Did you deliver the things I asked you to give to Da Sinong yesterday?"

"delivered!"

Lu Zhi said: "Let's go, there are more important things in the government today. You must speak clearly then."

At this time, there were already many officials arriving at the gate of the palace.

After the officials walked in, they entered the palace where the emperor and ministers discussed government affairs.

Not long after, Liu Chan arrived.

After the ministers had finished the ceremony, Liu Chan said, "Do you have anything to say today?"

The ministers were silent, but Meng Guang, the chief minister, was the first to stand up.

(End of this chapter)