My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 256 Resurrection
Liu Rong's tough attitude brought the entire court meeting to a standstill.

——Liu Rong is very tough.

It does not lose face to describe it using words that are more popular among future generations. Well done!

Ran and egg.

No matter whether Liu Rong is tough or weak, the unchangeable fact is that the Han Dynasty has not yet completed or even officially started the construction of the cavalry unit.

As long as there is no organized cavalry group, the Han Dynasty will always face the natural restraint of cavalry and infantry when facing the Huns.

Why has the Han Dynasty always been in a strategic disadvantageous position for more than 50 years and has been unable to change its strategic defensive posture to a strategic offensive?

The answer is nothing more than the four words "arms restraint".

Even though the Xiongnu cavalry did not have high-bridge saddles or double stirrups, they could still ensure their combat effectiveness and mobility on horseback by relying on the exquisite riding skills honed on horseback since childhood.

The Central Plains is different from the Central Plains, where grasslands, mountains and hills are everywhere and the terrain is undulating: except for a few places such as the Qilian Mountains and the Langjuxu Mountains, it is basically an endless plain.

If it is a battle of attacking and defending a city, or a battle of fortification based on the terrain, then the Han Dynasty - or even any dynasty of Chinese civilization - can pat their chests and say: No one knows more about attacking/defending a city, fortifying/defending a city than me;

But setting up a battle on the plains, fighting a field battle, or even a chase battle or a tug-of-war?

I am afraid that most of the feudal dynasties in Chinese history would also say frankly: If there were no cavalry, I would not be able to fight such a battle.

——On the plains, the cavalry's restraint over the infantry can almost reach the limit of the cold weapon era.

You rush, he scatters;
You chase, he retreats;

If you stop, he will disturb you;
You retreat, he bites;
You are tired, he is around.

It's like a vulture - it obviously doesn't have much fighting power, but as long as it sets its sights on you in the wild, and you happen to be out of water and food and exhausted, then don't even think about keeping your body intact.

This is the reason why the Han Dynasty is always in a strategic defensive posture in the strategies of both Han and Xiongnu.

——I can’t get out!

It was good to have a city wall, at least we could defend it and hold out, since the Hun cavalry couldn't charge up the wall anyway.
Even if you gallop to the city wall, you still have to dismount and climb the ladder, and eventually you have to "transform" into an infantryman.

But what if the Han Dynasty took the initiative to send infantry out of the border and to the grassland?
Hey!
Not to mention the endless grassland with almost no reference points, which could cause many lost generals in the Han Dynasty;

The Huns' stalking and harassment like a leech were enough to cause the collapse of every Han infantry group marching northwards to the border.

He has four legs, so he can't catch up with you even if he wants to;
Even if you want to run away, you can't.

That is to say, they had to hide in the city, defend the city, and force the Huns to dismount and climb the city walls, so that they could barely maintain their lives...

Therefore, whether to fight, where to fight, when to fight, and how long to fight between the Han and the Huns were basically all decided by the Huns.

——The Huns are coming to invade the border wall, so we must fight;
——We must fight wherever the Huns invade;

——Whenever the Huns come, we must fight them;

——The Huns left when they didn’t want to fight anymore, and the Han couldn’t keep them.

People in later generations often say: What really makes people feel terrified are invisible ghosts.

Or it should be said: You can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can never guard against thieves for a thousand days.

A medium-sized war lasting half a year could cost the Han Dynasty three to five years of tax revenue.
However, a marriage alliance would only require the Han family to pay a few months of tax revenue, and it would also ensure peace on the border for three to two years with a high probability.

From the perspective of interests, it is obvious how to choose.

But Liu Rong's statement today clearly shows that in Liu Rong's eyes, this matter is not something that can be viewed purely from the standpoint of interests...

"That's not OK!"

"——I was appointed by Heaven to govern the people. How can I be an accomplice of the barbarians and the grain taxes earned by the hard work of the people under my rule?"

"no way!"

"I will never marry!!!"

···
"What's wrong with spending money?"

"——No need for the national treasury to take care of it!"

"All war expenses will come from the Shaofu treasury!"

"I would rather spend tens of millions of dollars - I would rather spend tens of millions of dollars every year to buy the people of my Han family to have strong knees and strong backs!!!"

On the imperial couch, Liu Rong stood with his hands behind his back, announcing this with great anger;
Then, with an excited look on his face, he looked in the direction of Shaofu Shi Fen.

"Shaofu?"

Being pointed out by Liu Rong in this emotional state, Shi Fen was not slow to react. He immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty."

"I, the Minister of the Imperial Household, and other officials in the court have calculated that this time, the General of Chariots and Cavalry has more than 50,000 soldiers. If we can return in March, the cost of military rations, baggage, and post-war rewards and pensions will not exceed 100 million coins."

"Now the Shaofu..."

Having said that, Shi Fen looked around hesitantly, then raised his head to look at Liu Rong with a pleading look.

Seeing Liu Rong nod to him without hesitation, Shi Fen could only say respectfully: "The money and food stored in the Shaofu treasury can still support such a war for about forty times..."

Hiss~~~~
As soon as Shi Fen finished speaking, all the officials in the hall took a deep breath, and even made the Xuanshi Hall a little hot.

However, the amount of information revealed by Shi Fen in just a few words caused tremendous waves in the hearts of countless people.

——More than forty times!
A war like this that costs about 100 million coins can be supported by the Shaofu treasury at least forty times!
Doesn't this mean that the total value of the Shaofu's treasury's current inventory is as high as 400 million coins? !
Four hundred million dollars...

What concept?
Thanks to the present Liu Rong, the price of millet in the Han Dynasty is about thirty coins per stone.

Even so, Liu Rong showed mercy and left some room for profit for the grain merchants.

If Liu Rong was determined, the price of twenty-seven or eighty cents, or even twenty-forty-five cents per stone would not violate the current supply and demand relationship in the Han grain market.

At present, the population of the Han Dynasty, if we add together all the people living south of the Great Wall, north of the Five Ridges, east of the Southwestern Yi, and west of the East China Sea, is roughly 27 to 28 million - nearly 30 million.

The annual food consumption of less than 30 million people is roughly 700 million shi of millet, with a total value of about 210 million coins.

In other words: the current inventory of the Shaofu treasury can feed the entire world - feed 30 million people for two years...

"Why is it the treasury of the Shaofu?"

"Why, isn't it the Prime Minister's Treasury..."

For a moment, countless people beat their chests and stamped their feet, wishing they had the power to omnipotent so that they could transfer the money, grain and supplies worth 400 million coins from the Shaofu into the national treasury without anyone noticing.

The reason is simple;
——The national treasury, as the national financial reserve under the control of the Prime Minister's Office, every copper coin stored in it can and must be used for official business.

For example, building a road, constructing a bridge, digging a canal, leveling a mountain, and even the salaries of officials, all came from the national treasury.

In short, the national treasury is the money of the outer court. Although the emperor is not without the right to intervene, he cannot prevent the outer court from using the money in the national treasury for reasonable government affairs.

But the Shaofu treasury was different.

The reason why the word "Shaofu Neibao" is in the name is because it has nothing to do with the outer court. If the emperor is wise, he will use the treasury to reward officials and ministers, support military equipment, and even subsidize the army. People inside and outside the court will be grateful and thank the emperor for his "generous contribution" and helping the country out of his own pocket.

If he is a little more foolish, no matter he is seeking immortals or pursuing prostitutes - or he is offering sacrifices to the gods at Mount Tai and spending money everywhere, no one outside the court can find fault with the emperor.

Even if the emperor used the entire treasury to please a faded woman, the court could only advise the emperor: Your Majesty, this is not decent.
Your Majesty, please take care of yourself~
Don't get sick.
Be careful to exercise moderation.
But no one would advise the emperor: Don’t waste money.

Because it is out of your control;

The outer court had no control over how the emperor used the money from the Shaofu treasury, and was in no position to do so.

And this is exactly the reason why Liu Rong dared to say so firmly today, "After me, the Han Dynasty will no longer engage in marriage alliances."

——This confidence was finally accumulated for Liu Rong by his grandfather, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen Liu Heng, and his father, Emperor Xiaojing Liu Qi, two generations of wise rulers who worked hard and saved money for thirty-three years.

In history, Emperor Wu of Han used the funds for the decisive battle between Han and Xiongnu to build large-scale projects, indulge in luxury, and act like a tycoon all over the place.
When war breaks out, they collect taxes from farmers as military expenses.

But Liu Rong has said it many times;

I am not the young brother of Han Wu who was not yet crowned...

"I had already discussed the battle of the North Wall with the officials and generals in the court long before the General of Chariots and Cavalry set out to fight."

"——It is agreed!"

"deal!"

···
"In this battle, I have no control over how the Cavalry General fights, who he sends, where he fights, or when he fights."

"I have already told the General of Chariots and Cavalry everything that needs to be told."

"——You have violated my will and failed to do what I asked you to do. I will deal with the General of Chariots and Cavalry."

"But a war—especially a national war—is imminent;"

"If anyone dares to talk about changing generals again, don't blame me for shaking the morale of the army, misleading the people, and having ulterior motives and punishing them!"

After leaving behind these murderous words, Liu Rong suddenly flicked his sleeves, glanced sinisterly around the hall, and then walked towards the back hall without looking back.

After Liu Rong left, all the officials in the hall looked at each other, but no one stood up to remind everyone what to do next.

"Your Majesty is so young and passionate..."

“Ahem;”

"What should I do?"

···
"The barbarians are strong, Your Majesty, why don't you temporarily avoid their attack, recuperate and wait for the future?"

"If there is a war, a decisive battle will begin..."

"Isn't it just gambling on the fate of the country~~~"

"Ugh!"

Realizing that Liu Rong would no longer be like Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xiaojing who used marriage alliances to stabilize the Huns and buy time for development as a phalanx, quite a number of old ministers beat their chests and stamped their feet, feeling anxious about Liu Rong's youthful arrogance.

Some people lowered their heads worriedly, thinking about how to clean up Liu Rong's mess after the war - while ensuring that Liu Rong would not lose the dignity of the emperor, they should also marry the Huns with dignity.

There is no doubt that the vast majority of people believe that Liu Rong's toughness today will only become a slap in the face when he is defeated in the Border Wall War in the future.

The tougher Liu Rong is today, the more painful the slap on his face would be.

Almost everyone believed that Cheng Buzhi at the border wall could not gain any advantage over the Xiongnu Right Wise King.
Everyone firmly believed that after the war, the Xiongnu delegation would come to Chang'an in high spirits, humiliate the Han emperor and his ministers in a show of force, and then take away a delicate princess from the royal family and a large number of scarce supplies from the grassland.

No one took Liu Rong's threats seriously;

Almost no one took Liu Rong's words "don't mention the marriage alliance again" to heart.

However, unexpectedly, on the same day after the court meeting ended, the former Tingwei Office, which was renamed Dali, began a hunt for officials with a starting salary of 600 shi and no upper limit, specifically targeting the ministers, officials, meritorious officials and nobles in the court.

The reason was the jaw-dropping six characters of "disrespecting the emperor's edict"...

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Weiyang Palace, Greenhouse Palace.

More than ten days had passed since the court meeting in which Liu Rong bared his teeth and displayed his claws in the court.

The battle at the border wall was intense;

The Huns failed to cross the Chaona Pass, and Cheng Buzhi failed to reduce the casualties of his own soldiers.

In just a dozen days, nearly 40% of the nearly 10,000 defenders in the Great Wall were killed or wounded!
If it weren't for the 10,000 reinforcements from General Li Ji, Chaona Pass would not have held out until the fifth day after the outbreak of the war and would have been declared broken.

And in the center of the court - after the court meeting ended that day, Liu Rong issued an imperial edict to start a wide-ranging and extremely powerful arrest operation.

The purpose is to put those weaklings who boost others' ambitions and destroy their own prestige into the imperial edict, so as not to shake the people's hearts in Chang'an.

At the beginning, Zhao Yu would report to Liu Rong every three days how many "important officials" with a rank of more than 1,000 stones had been captured;
After just a few days, Zhao Yu began to report to Liu Rong every morning which one was more suspicious than the two thousand stone officials and which one had evidence to be the real two thousand stone officials.

In recent days, not many court officials, meritorious officials and nobles in the Chang'an court have been imprisoned.

But looking at the wanted list of officials from Guandong County in his hand, Liu Rong suddenly felt overwhelmed.

Even though I knew that Zhao Yu was a ruthless man who valued political achievements over his life, I couldn't help but feel my eyelids twitching.

"Liang Neishi..."

"Han, Anguo?"

He asked with a rather strange look on his face, but saw Zhao Yu nodded calmly: "Liang's internal historian Han Anguo was summoned to the capital to report on his work at the end of the year, and he has not left yet."

"The night before yesterday, Han Anguo was invited to attend a banquet at the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion. After drinking, he said wildly: Your Majesty is young and short-sighted, and does not know the internal and external reasons and benefits of the marriage;"

"Marquis Pingyang did not dare to say much, and immediately ordered people to send Han Anguo back to his mansion. However, Han Anguo continued to talk non-stop, saying that this time - and even in the next 20 years, the Han family should adopt the policy of marriage and appeasement of the Hu people."

"Han Anguo also said: If the Han and Xiongnu really fight a decisive battle within 20 years, then our Han family will almost certainly be defeated..."

After listening to Zhao Yu talking about the whole process of Han Anguo being convicted and imprisoned, Liu Rong could not help but fall into a long daze.

After a long while, he shook his head with a strange smile, and sighed with his hands behind his back, "A resurgence?"

"Hey;"

"It's a fate that cannot be escaped~"

···
"Let's go;"

"Follow me, and go see the future Minister of Agriculture of the Han family."

"—faster."

"I don't want to miss the famous scene of 'revival'..."

(End of this chapter)