Great Han Empire

Chapter 311 The rain is coming
The matter of forming a military vehicle battalion was quickly settled.

According to Yin Si's calculations, the entire military vehicle battalion has nearly 1000 to 8000 vehicles of various types, and at least five to eight people are required to operate a repeater ballista, so the military vehicle battalion needs 5000 to 5000 soldiers.Li Hong said that 5000 people is definitely impossible, and only [-] people can be given.He discussed with Xian Yufu and others, and decided to adjust the number of soldiers in each battalion of the third infantry battalion to [-], so that the extra soldiers in each battalion could exactly make up [-] soldiers.

Captain Zhang He was in command of the Army Chariot Camp, Yin Si was Zhang He's Marching Sima, and the other Sima Zhang Xiao and Military Commander Martin Bo were the two commanders of the Army Chariot Camp.

Li Hong immediately ordered Chang Gong and Chen Jian to serve in the Xianyu auxiliary army, and promoted Lei Zhong to be a false Sima. The three of them each received one to fill the vacancy left by Zhang Yun and others.

===

In the big tent, Xian Yufu, Xu Rong, Qu Yi, Yan Rou, Zheng Xin, Zuo Yan, Wei Zheng, Li Wei and Tang Yun sat around and talked about the upcoming battle in Taiyuan. Li Hong sat on the side with a smile on his face Meaning, without saying a word.

"My lord, why are you so happy, tell us about it too." Qu Yi smiled.

"Well, there is something happy to tell you." Li Hong pretended to be mysterious and said, "It's a great thing."

"What's the matter, tell me quickly, tell me quickly." Li Wei hurriedly urged.

"In this matter, Zhong Yuan made a great contribution, and should be rewarded heavily."

"Me." Li Wei pointed at himself in surprise and said, "What great achievements have I made? Why don't I know?"

"We have 27 billion now, do you believe it?" Li Hong said with a smile.

Everyone in the big tent was stunned for a moment, then Xian Yufu and the others understood, and immediately burst into laughter excitedly.

Li Wei and Tang Yun looked at each other, secretly startled, Li Hong had so much money, it was beyond their expectation, but they were also moved by Li Hong's trust.Li Hong would never say this kind of thing if it was not his confidant.A feeling that they could die for Li Hong suddenly surged in their hearts.

Li Wei said excitedly: "Thank you sir for trusting me and Wenlong."

Tang Yun was also excited and didn't know what to say, and finally said what he thought was the most stupid thing, "Where did your lord get so much money?"

"This money was intercepted when we were corrupt in Xiliang." Zuo Yan said with a smile, "At that time, we thought that even if we didn't keep a little bit, no one would believe it, even His Majesty would not believe it, so we kept it." One billion yuan. As for how to turn it into 27 billion yuan, it is Zhong Yuan's credit."

Li Wei and Tang Yun suddenly realized.

Tang Yun then said very dissatisfied: "My lord has kept too little, you should keep more."

"That's enough." Zheng Xin said with a smile, "Most of the stolen goods are houses and fields, we can't keep them, they are too eye-catching, so they are all given to His Majesty." Then he said to Li Wei, "Zhong Yuan, Before you and your lord arrived in Luoyang, you told the old man how to make money from money, and we turned one billion into 27 billion according to your method, so you have the most credit."

Li Wei thought about it immediately, and said proudly: "Oh, so I really have the credit."

"Thanks to Yuntian's two elder brothers, we made a fortune this time." Li Hong patted Qu Yi on the shoulder and said, "The money came in time. With this money, I will be very rich." I am confident that the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Bingzhou will be resolved in the short term.”

"The imperial court pays for the war, so why should we pay?" Li Wei said hastily, "This money should be reserved for other things, and if you use this money to fight wars, you will cause unreasonable disasters and ask for trouble. "

"Let's not talk about it now, and when the time comes, you will know that this money must be spent." Li Hong smiled, "I am worried that this money is not enough, so I want to ask everyone, what other ways do you have to make money? "

"27 billion is not enough?" Tang Yun opened his mouth and said with wide eyes, "My lord, what do you want to do?"

Li Hong looked at everyone's puzzled expressions, pointed at everyone and asked, "Is there any one of you who wants to divide the money?"

Everyone roared with laughter.

"My lord, even if we have the heart, we don't dare to say it." Qu Yi laughed loudly, "But, since we have so much money, can we improve our staff?"

"Don't even think about it." Li Hong said seriously, "If any of you don't eat with the soldiers and eat alone, watch how I deal with you."

"Okay, don't talk too much, let's think about how to make more money."

"My lord, we don't understand this matter, you should discuss it with Zhong Yuan and Wen Long." Yan Rou said with a smile on her face, "If there is nothing else, we will leave first."

Li Hong glanced at him and Qu Yi, and asked suspiciously: "Did you make an appointment with Huzi and Wuwei to go to the military market for a drink?"

Qu Yi immediately turned to look at Zheng Xin.

Zheng Xin was startled, and hastily complained: "Yun Tian, ​​don't stare at me, my scouts dare not stare at you adults."

"You kid, you're getting worse and worse, you're sneaky, go, we're going to interrogate you." Yan Rou grabbed Zheng Xin's neck, and Qu Yi dragged Zheng Xin out. .

===

"Zhongyuan, Wenlong, what are the two lords' ideas?" Li Hong asked, "It's enough to make money?"

Li Wei smiled and said: "My lord, don't worry, the opportunity to make money is right in front of you, and you can make a lot of money."

"Oh." Li Hong and everyone in the tent looked at each other, and asked in surprise, "Is there in front of you? Tell me about any opportunities to make money in front of you."

"Military market." Li Wei pointed to the outside of the account and said, "The opportunity to make money is in the military market."

"My lords, think about it. There are 17 soldiers and 170 civilians in this big camp. These 30 people now have money in their hands. If we let each of them spend ten dollars a month in the military market, There is a monthly income of 40 million yuan in the military market, and we can earn at least [-] to [-] yuan from it, and after a few months, it is a huge sum.”

"Especially those tens of thousands of Hu people, they don't know what their future destiny is. In the future, they can return to the grassland even if they don't die on the battlefield, but it's useless for them to take money from my Han country, so I found that they took After receiving the military salary, as long as they have time, they go to the military market to spend money randomly. The adults give them 5 yuan a month, and there are 500 million yuan for [-] people. If they can spend it in the military market, we will spend it every month You can make millions of dollars.”

The eyes of Li Hong, Xian Yufu, Xu Rong and others lit up immediately.

"In addition to buying some daily necessities in the military market, soldiers now spend most of their money on playing prostitutes, gambling and drinking, and the means we use to make profits are taxes, but these taxes are very little. Most of the money was actually made by traders in the military market."

"Vendors in Bianjun are almost all concentrated in the vicinity of the military market to make money. When I was in Yicheng, I heard that some vendors relied on the military market to do some wine and vegetable business, and they could earn hundreds of thousands in a few years. money, so you can still make a lot of money in this military market.”

"You see, we have 10,000+ people stationed in the Great Wall Fortress this time. The vendors in the Fortress Military City must have made a lot of money, but what about us? We only went out, didn't go in, and didn't get any money."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Zhong Yuan, how can we earn the money back?" Li Hong asked.

"Then I have to ask Wenlong." Li Wei pointed at Tang Yun and said with a smile, "Wenlong's family is a rich man in Jiangzhou, Yizhou. They have been doing business for generations. If I earn back, I can only ask him, I really don’t understand business.”

"Wenlong, do you have a solution?" Li Hong asked hastily.

Tang Yun cupped his hands confidently and said: "Don't worry, my lord, since Zhong Yuan came up with such a good idea, I will definitely live up to my lord's high expectations and earn back a lot of the money."

===

Li Hong listened to Tang Yun's introduction of several methods of earning money, pondered for a long time, and said: "The people in Border County are very miserable, and often need relief from the local government, and part of the taxes of the local government comes from the hands of traders, so , Wenlong, don't just try to make money for us, and ruin the money for those traders. Let them earn what should be earned. Everyone can earn money, and there are many people who come to the military market to do business; There are more people doing business in the military market, so the military order (management officials of the military market) collects more taxes. If we let us do all the business, merchants from all over the country will abandon the market one after another without profit, which will affect the development of the army. In terms of reputation, secondly, we also lack a rich source of goods, and thirdly, the news is also blocked a lot.”

Tang Yun nodded repeatedly, thoughtfully.

"Those traders in the military market have to live and spend, and what they think about is how to make more money. Wenlong, if you can earn their money and let them gain a lot in the military market, That's your skill, and it's a sure way for us to continue to make money, don't you think?"

"Your Excellency is brilliant." Tang Yun said with admiration, "My lord's words made the lower officials suddenly see the light. The lower officials are not as far-sighted as the adults, and they are all ideas that are greedy for petty gains. The lower officials should be careful. Think about it, and then reply to the adults."

Li Hong said with a smile: "I'm just talking about the facts. I can't talk about far-sightedness. Don't be chaotic and flattering. There is another thing you should pay close attention to. Most of the prostitutes in the military market have miserable life experiences. Many of them are because of They were sent to the military market as prostitutes after being implicated, and some of them were wronged and committed crimes, so don’t do anything for money. If someone is willing to marry them back home, as long as they agree, the military order will Let them all go, and you are not allowed to obstruct them."

"Then what if the sentence has not expired?" Tang Yun asked, "The law of the Han Dynasty only allows them to return to their hometown after serving their sentence. There is no such thing as an adult's marriage."

Li Hong smiled without saying a word.

Zuo Yan leaned close to Tang Yun's ear and whispered a few words.Tang Yun suddenly realized, and then smiled and said: "Your Excellency has the final say on this kind of matter. The military order and I just report it and don't let it go."

Zuo Yan said: "My lord is here to talk about this matter, as long as you know it in your heart. In the future, when the country is stable and the war subsides, these Hu soldiers must be properly arranged, and they must not be allowed to go back to the desert. It's a big deal. If you can do it well, it will be a great contribution to the stability of the Han Kingdom's border counties."

Tang Yun rubbed his chin, glanced at Li Hong, and asked cautiously: "My lord, wouldn't it be better if there were as many prostitutes as possible?"

"In the past few years, we have been fighting everywhere and have no fixed place to live. Let's live with the situation." Li Hong said with a smile, "This is a matter of the future. For now, you should help the army make money. Just know the other things."

"But there is no fixed camp, how come the military market?" Tang Yun asked puzzled, "Without the military market, wouldn't so much talk be in vain?"

"After arriving in Taiyuan County, we will probably stay for a long time." Li Hong said, "After taking Jinyang, we will be stationed in the Jinyang camp, where there is a military market."

====
No one spoke in the big tent for a while, everyone was thinking about the meaning of Li Hong's words.

Li Wei couldn't help asking: "My lord, do you want to appease the Yellow Turban Bandits?"

"Yes." Li Hong glanced around the crowd and said slowly, "Although we haven't arrived in Taiyuan County yet, I still want to tell you how to fight this battle. Not to be at a loss.”

"Whether it is Taiyuan County or Shangdang County, the terrain is complex and there are many mountains. It is difficult for our cavalry to play a role. Don't expect me to attack the city with cavalry like the Xianbei people. I will never do such a thing. .”

"The Xianbei's use of cavalry to attack the city was purely helpless. They grew up on horseback. For them, there is no distinction between cavalry and infantry. Whether it is fighting on the grassland or attacking the city, it is the group of people who fight. But for me, it’s different. The Han Kingdom is declining day by day, and the population of the border counties is getting smaller and smaller. It is difficult to recruit soldiers who are good at riding and shooting. It is basically a luxury to form a strong cavalry army. I am now The cavalry in my hands are all barbarians, and I will count on them to guard the border in the future, I am not willing to use them to attack the city."

"We have [-] infantry. If we are supplemented by iron cavalry, we can defeat Zhang Yan's Yellow Turban Army within a certain period of time. The problem is that they will flee to the Taihang Mountains if they lose. When we withdraw, they will come down the mountain again. How long is this situation going to end?"

"When Zhang Jiao died, Zhang Niujiao came out; when Zhang Niujiao died, Zhang Yan came out again; now even if we beat Zhang Yan to death, who said there won't be another Yellow Turban leader?"

"Every time we put down a rebellion, more people have to be displaced, more people have to die of hunger, and our great Han country is scarred and dying. Do we have to fight, kill, and kill us?" Will the Great Han Kingdom be buried together with the Yellow Turban Army?"

"My lord, we can understand what you mean, but you have to consider what your majesty and the court want." Li Wei said worriedly, "Xiliang's appeasement was initiated because of you, but the final result was a mess. In the end, it was decided in the battle of Yicheng." Therefore, the difficulty of placating the Yellow Turban Thieves..."

Li Hong stroked his long hair and said: "It must be difficult, but we should be able to do it as long as we work together. We can't listen to His Majesty and the court for everything now. We have to think about the future of the Han Kingdom and follow The millions of refugees of the Yellow Turban Army think about it, and more importantly, think about ourselves and our soldiers."

Li Hong's smile gradually faded, and he sighed with emotion: "We suffered heavy losses in the battle of Yingtao. Master Feng Yi of Julu County, military commander Li Han, Fu Qiang, and many brothers all died in the battle. What about the Yellow Turban Army? ?Their leader Zhang Niujiao died in the battle, and 10,000+ soldiers died in the battle. What about the refugees in Youzhou, Jizhou? After several months of war, at least 10 people died. But what was the final result? The flag is still being raised, but our brothers have turned to ashes, and the refugees scattered all over the place are still dying. At this time, what are your majesty and those bureaucrats in the court doing? Apart from celebrating the victory in the suppression of the rebellion, they What else did they do? How much have they thought about solving the problem of the refugees? If the refugees don’t solve it, how can the Yellow Turban Army solve it?”

"If we don't resettle the millions of refugees living on the Taihang Mountains, we won't be able to quell the rebellion of the Yellow Turban Army, let alone this year, or in a few years. There are so many people on the mountain, and the refugees from all over the mountain are still there. Keep rushing to the mountain. Everyone, please think about it, when will we kill it?"

"If we rely on His Majesty and the court for everything, this battle will never be over. One day, we will all die on the battlefield, and no one will survive."

"So I decided to recruit. The money was also used to resettle the refugees. You all know that the Dasinong Mansion has been emptied by repeated wars. We don't know whether the imperial court can provide us with military funds. Therefore, this We are the only ones to pay for the money, anyway, it is the money of the Great Han Kingdom, the blood and sweat of the people of the Great Han Kingdom."

"My lord, if I had known this earlier, I should have left several billions of money when Xiliang suppressed corruption." Tang Yun muttered dissatisfied.

"I don't know I can live until now?" Li Hong smiled wryly, "For me, life is a life-threatening thing, and I may die on the battlefield at any time, so I seldom think about these headaches. This time, I have to make a complete break with Zhang Yan while I am still alive."

"Your Excellency means that you want to solve the millions of refugees on the Taihang Mountains by recruiting the Yellow Turban Army. So, does Your Excellency have a specific solution in mind?" Li Wei asked.

Li Hong shook his head and sighed.

"No, I have no idea at all. This matter involves the Yellow Turban Army, the Bingzhou government, the imperial court, and moreover, the laws of the Han Dynasty, the official system, land, population, taxes, all aspects, and finally everything is up to Your Majesty." Nodding, we can't predict the complexity of it, we can only take one step at a time."

"Especially now, I don't even know how to get Zhang Yan to agree to be caressed. Should I hurt him or take the initiative to talk to him? If I hurt him, he may turn around and run back to the Taihang Mountains; if I talk to him, he may think that I beat him. But he made things difficult for him everywhere. In addition, His Majesty, if I don't fight, what will His Majesty think? If I propose to appease, will His Majesty agree?"

There was silence in the big tent.

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"The refugee problem is a stubborn problem that the Han Dynasty has been unable to solve for decades, and it is also the root cause of the rebellion." Li Wei pondered for a long time, and said to everyone in the account, "My lord's idea is very good, but it is really necessary to solve this problem." I am afraid that the problem is not as simple as adults imagined, and it is not something that can be done with billions of dollars. If the refugee problem can be solved with money, there will be no refugees in the Han Dynasty long ago, and of course there will be no rebellion and war disasters now. .”

Li Hong nodded and said: "Zhong Yuan is right, I also know that it is difficult and almost impossible, so I tell everyone my thoughts now, the purpose is to let everyone work together and move forward together. Let’s see if we can find a temporary solution. You have to know that even if you only solve a part of the refugees in Taihang Mountain, you can solve the big problem.”

"When I was in Luoyang, I talked about the refugee issue with Your Majesty, Lord Liu Yu, and Lord Huangfusong, but Your Majesty and the ministers were at a loss, and none of them came up with any good solutions. I haven't figured it out so far. , why can’t the refugee problem be solved? Could it really be impossible to cure it?”

"Can any of you tell me what is the root cause of this refugee problem?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads, only Li Wei hesitated to speak.

"Zhong Yuan, tell me." Li Hong pointed at him and said, "You have a lot of insight into Mr. Wang Fu's "On the Latent Fu", do you know the crux of it?"

Li Wei cupped his hands and said: "My lord, it's not that the court officials don't know the crux of the refugee problem, but the crux of the problem is related to their own wealth, so no one wants to say it, no one can say it, let alone solve it .”

"Emperor Gao, the ancestor of my Great Han Kingdom, and his officials were all born in poverty. They used to be untouchables or petty officials. They knew the reasons for the poverty of the people. Therefore, after they conquered the country, their greatest wish was to distribute the land of the world to the people of the world. Every common people, let them farm, and the state collects taxes and conscripts labor. In this way, men farm and women weave, have no worries about food and clothing, the monarch and the people live in peace, and the world can maintain peace forever."

"The Great Han Kingdom, which has just gone through decades of war, quickly prospered and became stronger through this method. As the country stabilized, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, everyone became richer, and the population also increased rapidly. When the population increased, There was not enough land, and gradually the distribution of land changed."

"Due to the growing prosperity of the country, more and more rich people, coupled with uncertain factors such as natural disasters and man-made disasters, foreign wars, etc., the land with increasing demand has constantly changed its owner, so the land of the Han Kingdom It is more and more concentrated in the hands of a few people. These few people are princes and nobles, relatives of the emperor, family bureaucrats, and wealthy people. There are many ways for them to obtain land, mainly through buying and selling. Of course, some of them also use illegal methods. "

"It stands to reason that the more personal wealth the subjects have, the richer the Han Kingdom will be, but why is there such a situation?"

Li Wei paused for a while, and continued: "This involves the taxation and land ownership of our Great Han Kingdom."

"The taxation of my big man is absolutely light, which has never happened in the past. During the Warring States Period, Mencius said, 'Tithes are taxed, and the king's government'. It can be seen that the tax amount in the Warring States Period was more than one tithe. According to Mencius, the tax of tithe is very good. The tax amount promoted by our Han Dynasty is only "fifteen tax one", and, in fact, only half of it is paid, that is, thirty tax one. One hundred stones of millet only needs to pay The tax is a bit more than three stones. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the former Dynasty, all land rents were exempted for 11 years. Even so, the treasury of that year could not hold the tax revenue of the next year, which shows the wealth of the country. However, this Later, the taxation system had a huge defect, and as a result, the people were overwhelmed, lost their land, and became refugees. The reason for this huge defect is the issue of land ownership.”

"All the land in the Han Kingdom belongs to His Majesty. 'Within the four seals, is it the king's land, and the hair that eats the soil, is it the king's subjects', everything in this world is the wealth of the current Majesty. The law of the Han Dynasty stipulates that there is only one kind of land. The method of distribution is that His Majesty grants land to the people, or rewards the dignitaries. Paradoxically, the law of the Great Han Dynasty stipulates that the land is privately owned, and those who cultivate it have their own land. The owner can use it freely or sell it freely. Because the land It can be bought and sold freely, so there will be land annexation, and then there will be a dilemma where the poor have no land to stand on."

"The lighter the court's tax, the richer the rich and powerful who own a lot of land, the more money they have to acquire land, and at the same time their desire to occupy the land is getting stronger and stronger. The rich and powerful only need to pay the court three One-tenth of the tax, but after the farmers sold their land, they had to pay them five-tenths of the rent in order to survive. This is the direct reason why a large number of people cannot cultivate the land and become refugees.”

"The land and wealth of the Han Kingdom are concentrated in the hands of the rich and powerful who own the land. Over the past ten years, the Han Kingdom has been plagued by wars and natural disasters, taxation has dropped sharply, the treasury has been exhausted, and the country is declining. However, the rich and powerful of the Han Kingdom But they live a luxurious life that is richer than princes. They occupy hundreds of hectares of land, have groups of slaves, cows and horses, and countless gold, silver and jewels. Therefore, they deliberately concealed the amount of their land and did not pay taxes to the country. The imperial court had no choice but to compromise with them, turning a blind eye to their wanton annexation of land, hoping to collect as much money from them as possible to increase tax revenue from the treasury."

"People who have lost their land have no land and cannot pay taxes. There are only two ways out. One is to rent the land of the rich and powerful to make ends meet. The other is to leave their homes and become refugees. But once the people who lease the land encounter a famine When there is no harvest, they have no choice but to flee their homes and become refugees, because he cannot pay rent and taxes, so he can only run for his life."

"Since the Emperor Xiaohe in this dynasty, the phenomenon of land annexation has become more and more serious, and with it, the scale of refugees has also increased, and there have been more and more rebellions."

"This is how the refugee problem in the Han Kingdom came into being." Li Wei glanced at everyone silently, and said in a low voice, "If we want to solve it, we must break the land annexation, and if we want to break the land annexation, we must invade the rich and powerful. wealth, so..."

"My lord, can you do it? Can you let him hand over the property of today's prince and confiscate it? Can you let them hand over the property of the three princes and nine ministers of the dynasty and return it to the refugees?"

Li Hong sat on the table, dumbfounded, his mind was blank.

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(End of this chapter)