I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 232 Cao Wei begins to radicalize

"You mean, Li Heng went on a killing spree in Yizhou?" Cao Rui looked at Liu Fang as if he was watching an animal talking.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Who did he kill?" Cao Rui was even more confused.

"The Wang family in Pixian County was conquered by the Yi tribe. Liu Chan's Shangshu You selected the Wang family of Lang Wangyou. The Chang family in Jiangyuan was conquered by the Yi tribe. The Zhang family in Pixian County was conquered by the Yi tribe. The Shi family in Xindu was also conquered. In addition, there were also families in Bajun who were conquered by the Yi tribe. A total of more than 100,000 people from the Yi tribe were involved, and as many as 10,000 were killed."

Cao Rui was a little confused now.

"I remember it took you three months to tell me that Li Heng was promoted to general by Zhuge Liang?"

"Yes."

"That's great!" Cao Rui recovered from his confusion, "What are you waiting for? Yizhou may have collapsed now, and Zhuge Liang must be preparing to withdraw his troops at this time!"

"Your Majesty, Zhuge Kongming shows no signs of withdrawing his troops."

"No sign of withdrawal?"

"Yes, not at all."

"Hahaha, don't talk nonsense. Then Li Jian caused so much trouble in Yizhou. The whole Yizhou may have been turned upside down. Last year, the Wu army attacked Yizhou but did not let Zhuge Liang retreat. This time Li Jian killed indiscriminately in Yizhou. Zhuge Liang Do you still dare to stay in Guanzhong?"

Sun Zi also looked at Liu Fang with a "Yes! That's right" look.

"Your Majesty, I just received the news this morning that the situation in Yizhou has stabilized and there is no major chaos."

Sun Zi asked: "You said that Li Jian killed nearly ten thousand people in Yizhou, but there was no chaos in Yizhou?"

"Yes."

"Do you think it's possible?"

"I think it's impossible, but there is indeed no chaos." Liu Fang sighed, "Now that I think about it, it must have been Li Jian who used the many benefits of Taifu Temple to bribe some wealthy families and officials."

Only then did Cao Rui come back to his senses and fell into deep thought.

He had just heard that Liu Fang mentioned that Li Heng was killing people in Yizhou, and he guessed that Li Heng was dealing with local families.

As the emperor, Cao Rui faced this problem almost every day.

The local families are too powerful, controlling local public opinion, population, food, etc., and they are both obedient and secretive to the court. They are all treacherous and cunning old fritters.

Naturally, he instinctively thought that Li Heng had messed up the situation, so he said that Zhuge Liang must withdraw his troops.

In the past era, there was only one person who kept doing this, not only toying with the local princes and powerful people, but also killing everyone who could, and those who didn't had a bad end. He also kept plundering the people, but the empire did not collapse.

This person is Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Che's reign was by no means as simple as defeating the Huns.

Fighting the Xiongnu was his goal, but to achieve this goal, Liu Che did a lot of things, almost tossing the powerful man over and over.

If any emperor had done that, he would have been doomed.

For example, Yang Guang was completely defeated.

But Liu Che didn't.

why?

Because Liu Che is not only an administrative emperor, but also a financial master who makes a living, and a master of power who is proficient in human nature.

Engaging in administration means playing with the system and process, while engaging in finance is even more difficult. You can use your left hand to defeat your right hand in various ways, or you can use nothing.

Just mint coins and play with five different currencies.

As for power, he is also very proficient in it. He will fully support the new rich and attack the old ones. When the new rich become a threat, he will not hesitate to raise the butcher's knife and replace the new rich.

Cao Rui thinks that compared with Liu Che, he is still far behind.

He really didn't dare to touch the local powerful people of Wei at will.

But now after hearing about Li Heng, some ideas came into his mind.

Cao Wei began to recruit talents from all sides since Cao Cao raised his troops.

Cao Cao's employment philosophy is to employ only those who are qualified.

Cao Wei has also been curbing aristocratic families and powerful people. When Cao Cao was still the Duke of Wei, the talents around Cao Cao were the talents at the center of the ruling power.

The proportion of poor families was about half. By the time Cao Cao passed away, the proportion of poor families was already as high as 70%.

This does not mean that the humble family dominates.

The aristocratic family only has 30%, but the power exerted by this 30% may not be comparable to the 70% of officials from poor families.

Because of the appointment of the local governor, powerful families accounted for another 70%.

But this also shows that the Cao Wei Group's governance is based on a poor family controlling the powerful, and the power of both parties reaches a state of balance.

The Liu Fang and Sun Zi in front of them are both Cao Rui's close ministers, closer than Sima Yi and Chen Qun, and they are the emperor's internal ministers.

Both of them came from humble backgrounds.

"Your Majesty, there is one more important thing." Liu Fang continued.

Cao Rui came back from his thoughts and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Sichuan money is now rampant in Guanzhong. The price of grain has reached ten thousand yuan per stone, and the price continues to rise."

"Isn't it strictly forbidden for Shu money to flow in?" Cao Rui frowned.

"Some powerful families in Jingzhao have been secretly flirting with the Shu army. The paper trade was already unclear before, but now the new salt is extremely profitable, and they don't listen to the imperial decree at all!"

"Which families?" Cao Rui's eyes changed.

"The Chang'an Zhi family, the Baling Han family, and the Duling Du family all have business dealings with the Shu army. They receive a large amount of new salt every month, and they have already started making their own paper!"

"Is this true?"

"The people I sent there have obtained the information from various sources. I have definite evidence here."

Seeing this, Sun Zi said: "Your Majesty, Chang'an is now the logistics center of the Western Front. If Chang'an is in chaos, it will definitely affect the war situation on the Western Front."

"I even believe that this is a conspiracy of the Shu people, and it must have been deliberately done by Zhuge Kongming and Li Jian."

Cao Rui started walking back and forth.

Cao Rui turned around, looked at Sun Zi with sharp eyes, and asked: "Didn't Taifu Temple capture the business on the Western Front? I remember that the imperial court had established Taifu Temple and promulgated relevant regulations!"

"Your Majesty, Taifu Temple has just been established a few months ago, so it is impossible to adjust the situation in Jingzhao immediately."

Cao Rui had a headache.

In fact, Cao Rui knew that not only these three families, but also many local families were doing business with Shu.

Do you want to steal all those who do business?

Seeming to see Cao Rui's doubts, Liu Fang said: "Your Majesty, I think we should strictly investigate these three families and kill the chickens to scare the monkeys. Otherwise, Taifu Temple will not be able to control our business in the Wei Dynasty. So much profit has been made by local families." , wouldn’t the imperial court return empty-handed?”

"I agree." Sun Zi also said, "More and more manpower is being invested in the Western Front. Our army has suffered a lot of losses on the Western Front, but some local families are flirting with Zhuge Liang and Li Heng!"

"In the past, we could turn a blind eye. After all, the Shu army could not break through the Qinling Mountains, but things are different now. If we are not severely punished, given time, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"Not only must we severely punish some people on the Western Front, we must also arrest a few in Luoyang to scare the monkeys! The Wei Dynasty must adjust its past attitude!"

The words of the two people deeply touched Cao Rui.

He was silent for a long time and said: "Du Shu was also my regular attendant before."

"The prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people. Let alone Du Shu, even if he is a member of the royal family, His Majesty should not condone it!"

This is not because Cao Rui has a weak character, but because the Sanqi Changshi is special.

Liu Fang is also a regular attendant of Sanqi. He didn't want Liu Fang to feel threatened, so he said this deliberately.

When Liu Fang said this, of course Cao Rui immediately said: "Send someone to Chang'an to get people immediately!"

"Here!"

"Also, summon the ministers to discuss the Shu money! We must not just sit idly by!"

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)