Great Han Empire

Chapter 327 The rain is coming
Just like the last time Li Hong advocated appeasement of the Yellow Turban Army, this time Li Hong's policy of reopening salt and iron also caused an uproar in central Beijing, especially in the case of the need to continue to invest huge money in farming and the country's turmoil and financial depletion. The movement is a bit timely and thrilling.

This is beyond the imagination of Li Hong who is far away in Bingzhou.

Both inside and outside the court, the ruling and opposition parties, were caught in endless heated debates.The Shangshutai in the inner court is arguing with the middle officials, the Sangong Mansion, the General's Mansion and the princes and dignitaries in the outer court are arguing, and bureaucrats at all levels are arguing. Also arguing.

The earliest debate was whether the imperial court could reopen salt and iron, but later it was debated about the financial policy and governance policy of the Han Dynasty, which later evolved into an academic dispute, between Confucianism and Huang-Laoism and other schools of thought, and the whole Luoyang was immersed in it. In the debates and talks all night long, everyone was excited and tireless.

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Salt and iron, like land, are the two pillars of the country's finances. In particular, the benefits of salt and iron are far greater than the benefits of farming, which highlights its importance to the country.If the salt and iron government monopoly is properly controlled, it can indeed be profitable, but as time goes by, under the influence of various factors such as poor circulation and corruption, the profit of salt and iron will be greatly reduced.This is the same reason that land mergers caused a sharp drop in farming taxes.In particular, the current dynasty implemented the national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. The status of merchants was low. In order to get rid of the predicament, merchants bought officials and nobles one after another, leaving the lowly status. There is no clear boundary between officials and merchants.Since officials and merchants are integrated, and salt and iron are profitable industries, coupled with the corruption of the court, the profits of salt and iron will naturally flow to private treasuries, and the country's finances will naturally dry up.

In this case, reopening salt and iron and private businessmen intervening in the operation can indeed quickly restore the finances of the Han Kingdom in theory, because the private business intervening in the operation will break the government's monopoly on salt and iron, regardless of the price. The output and quality will fluctuate flexibly according to the needs of the people. It will benefit not only the businessmen, but also the emperor and the royal family, the country and the people; secondly, it can effectively curb corruption in the salt and iron industry, crack down on collusion between officials and businessmen, and reduce The loss of Shaofu and Dasinongfu.In the early days of the founding of the country, private businessmen intervened in the operation of salt and iron, which once made great contributions to the recovery and prosperity of the country.

But the problem is that if merchants intervene in the operation of salt and iron, they will immediately form rich merchants and tycoons. Like a large number of powerful families who annexed land, their damage and threat to the country are obvious.

As a unique social role, merchants, their mobility and habitual shrewdness, are extremely destructive to the simple and honest folk customs pursued by this dynasty. In addition, there are many outstanding people among merchants, who often rely on strong economic strength, forming a huge force that affects national policy.

There have been many such people in history.Zigong, a student of Confucius, was a great businessman. As soon as he went out, there was a caravan, all loaded with gold and silk, which was very grand.There is also Ba Qing, the widow of Qin State.She is a native of Bashu who started her career in mining. At that time, the world was very rich. In order to meet this Bashu widow and discuss the business and prosperity of the country, Qin Wangzheng opened up a special way and invited her from Bashu to sit and talk with each other.As for Lu Buwei, who is famous through the ages, let alone, he has been in charge of Qin's political affairs for more than ten years from the beginning of business, and he is a typical example of influencing the state affairs with the power of merchants.

How can you allow others to sleep soundly when you lie on the couch.As representatives of national centralization, the kings of past dynasties naturally could not tolerate the establishment of a force that could divide their power in society.Therefore, starting from the Qin Dynasty, the kings of all dynasties began to use various means to attack other social forces that could divide their power, and merchants were the first to bear the brunt.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the wars among the countries, the princes of various countries were eager to find social power to strengthen themselves, so the merchant power at that time survived and developed.However, after the Great Qin unified the six kingdoms, Emperor Shi Huang and his officials noticed the influence and threat brought by the power of merchants to the country, so Emperor Shi Huang gradually adopted a policy of attack.Its attack methods mainly have two methods. One is to return many commodities to the government in terms of national policy, so as to cut off the source of businessmen's profit.Secondly, it is to use various academic theories and social education to attack and harm businessmen, and to form a culture of treating business as cheap among the common people.Under this double pressure, the living environment for businessmen is becoming more and more difficult, and their power is shrinking rapidly. It is difficult to form a social force that is independent of bureaucratic control and can have a greater impact on life.

While attacking the influence of merchants, the monarch also fully realized the advantages of the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business in order to appease the resentment of the gentry class and the common people.

"Because of the profiteering characteristics of salt and iron itself, once the operation is released, merchants will inevitably be quickly generated. Then, this policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business will be completely overturned? The reason why the dynasty adopted the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business was because The land annexation has seriously endangered the stability of the country, but now the land annexation has also seriously endangered the country. At this time, suddenly changing the ancestral system and overthrowing the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce will not accelerate the decline of the country?" Opposes to let go of salt and iron The princes, dignitaries, and aristocratic families asked in unison.

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Here, it is necessary to explain the origin of the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business.

The policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business originated in the Warring States Period. It was first embodied by Li Kui in the reform content of Wei State. The basic content of promoting the policy of agricultural warfare was put into practice. In the reign of Emperor Wu of the current dynasty, the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business was implemented again and gradually completed. It has been more than 300 years so far.

After Qin unified the six kingdoms, he immediately unified weights and measures, currency and characters, established galloping and straight roads extending in all directions, built Lingqu, and developed water transportation, laying the institutional and material foundation for nationwide material transportation and exchange.Of course, during the time of Qin Shihuang, the country had just experienced more than a hundred years of war, and everything was very backward, and commerce was even less developed.However, since the great ancestor of this dynasty settled the world, the system and material foundation laid by the Great Qin State have been fully and effectively utilized, and the trade of goods and trade has developed rapidly.

This dynasty learned the lesson of the demise of the Great Qin State, collected lightly and thinly, and only collected land rent of [-] taxes.In the attitude towards business and trade, it also adopts its own policy of laissez-faire and inaction, and does not suppress mergers. As a result, business and trade activities are very active, and many wealthy businessmen and tycoons have been produced.However, these wealthy businessmen and tycoons quickly turned money into land, and the land was quickly concentrated in the hands of a few people.The rich and powerful have a strong ability to avoid taxes, and the national tax revenue has been further reduced. This forced the then minister Chao Cuo to propose the strategy of "giving money to the prince" to alleviate the crisis.In the period of Emperor Wu, in order to raise money for conquests, he began to sell officials and nobles. The rich all had titles. It seemed that they were no longer businessmen, but the treasury of this dynasty was empty. As a last resort, Emperor Wu had to order heavy taxes on the rich. , Hitting merchants with heavy blows.If rich people conceal taxes, once they are reported, half of the property will be given to the informer, and the other half will be returned to the national treasury.For a time, "Yang Ke's report was spread all over the world, and most of the family and above were killed."

Although the economic policy of laissez-faire and equal emphasis on agriculture, industry and commerce in the early days of the dynasty helped the country quickly recover its vitality and move toward prosperity and strength, the excessive expansion of merchant power and a large number of land acquisitions in the later period seriously threatened the stability and security of the country.Rich people merged a large number of lands, causing a large number of farmers to live in poverty and displacement.The people are the foundation of the country, and if the people's foundation is shaken, the foundation of the country's governance will also be shaken.

Since Emperor Wu of this dynasty realized that merchants had the power to accumulate social wealth and endanger national stability, he immediately adopted a policy of killing merchants, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing merchants, and balancing the interests of merchants and farmers.Since then, successive kings have faithfully implemented the basic national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

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Supporters believe that the strategy of suppressing business and emphasizing agriculture has won the support of the gentry and the hearts of the people in the process of cracking down on wealthy businessmen and tycoons, but the excessive crackdown on business activities will eventually hurt the people on the farmland, hurt the country, and endanger the society. Sheji.

Over the past 400 years, the dynasty has reclaimed 15 billion acres of wasteland. There are almost no forests on both sides of the Yellow River and in the Central Plains. But why is the country still so poor?
In the era when the population was the largest in this dynasty, it had reached more than 600 million. In the past century, the military expenditure of this dynasty has accumulated to more than 500 billion. So many people eat, so many taxes have to be paid, where does it come from?land.

The country's huge financial expenditures cannot be supported by the land and people of this dynasty but have to be supported.Under the national policy of "emphasizing agriculture", the people of this dynasty bear heavy burdens that are several times or even dozens of times beyond their ability to pay, and they are miserable.But what is the result of this dynasty's "suppression of business"?Due to the particularity and necessity of cargo colonization itself, and due to the de facto existence of trade such as salt and iron, behind the superficial "suppression of business", there is no distinction between government and business, collusion between government and business, and profit and harm to the people.

The superficial emphasis on agriculture and the actual emphasis on commerce are the root causes of the repeated bans on land annexation, the depletion of the treasury, and the crisis of the country. This is the final result of the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce in this dynasty.

From the emperor to the scholars, due to many reasons, they know that "business" cannot be suppressed, but they have to suppress it, and they know that "agriculture" must be important, but it is rare.The farmers and merchants of this dynasty have been in a precarious state of survival for a long time due to the excessive intervention of princes, dignitaries, and powerful bureaucrats. If they do not try to change, the society of this dynasty will surely be overthrown one day.

"Now that the country is in crisis and the people's livelihood is dying, we can only use the policy of freedom, openness, and rule of law in the early days of this dynasty in order to revive the country." The supporters shouted loudly without giving in.

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But this persuasion by the supporters has touched the most sensitive area of ​​the Han Dynasty, which is the debate between Confucianism and Huang-Lao theory?Controversy between the rule of law and the rule of virtue?
The court disputes suddenly extended to Taixue, famous scholars and Confucian scholars, and academic debates.

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Confucianism occupies a dominant position in this dynasty, and its theory directly affects and determines the implementation and implementation of the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business.

Confucianism advocates that the monarchy is granted by heaven, which leads to the centralized rule of "great unity".Unified centralized rule requires a matching economic policy, and the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business is precisely because of its many advantages such as being able to defeat wealthy businessmen and powerful people, stabilizing the population, and being easy to manage, it has naturally become the country's first choice.

Implementing the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business requires a sound civil service system, which Confucianism also helped the monarch achieve.

After Qin unified the six countries, the system of prefectures and counties was extended to the whole country.This dynasty followed the Qin system.The establishment of the prefecture and county system has reduced the constraints on the implementation of state power, and also clarified a channel for communication between the upper and lower levels of the dynasty, and the tentacles of the bureaucratic system of the dynasty have also spread all over the country.The bureaucracy of this dynasty is dominated by "scholar-bureaucrats", and the identity of "scholar-bureaucrats" has the dual characteristics of "Confucian scholars" and "official officials".This duality not only made the "scholar-bureaucrats" active in implementing national policies, but at the same time, because of the characteristics of "Confucian scholars" in their identities, the "scholar-bureaucrats" had a partial affinity for the bureaucratic system.This kind of affinity makes it possible to create a "peer-agricultural" atmosphere among the people.

The bureaucratic system of this dynasty has been repeated and run-in for several times, and finally formed a bureaucratic system of scholars and bureaucrats with Yang Confucianism and Yin law.

Due to their bureaucratic status, the literati became part of the ruler and participated in the division of privileges.The actual benefits of this privilege made the interests of the literati and the monarch closely linked, so they became the real participants in the formulation and implementation of the "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" policy.The literati and bureaucrats are clearly aware that the excessive development of commerce and trade will inevitably be followed by the recovery of the power of merchants, which poses a huge threat to their status and power. unacceptable.

In addition, after Confucian scholars became officials, they did not completely lose their understanding of their true identities and their social and moral responsibilities."Enriching the people" and "educating the people" in Confucianism have become the social responsibility and moral responsibility of Confucian students.On the issue of "enriching the people", Confucianism advocates "hiding wealth from the people".This idea of ​​hiding wealth among the people is in agreement with the country's "emphasis on agriculture" policy, which is one of the reasons why they actively advocate emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business.

Therefore, bureaucrats based on Confucianism have become the backbone of opposition to change. They not only oppose the equal emphasis on agriculture, industry and commerce, but also oppose the liberalization of salt and iron.

Celebrities and Confucian scholars and some gentry bureaucrats who held opposing opinions gathered together to present, remonstrate, debate, organize Taixue scholars to petition in the Beigong, and launched wave after wave of opposition to the emperor and the court.

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The emperor was frightened, and hurried to the harem to play with a donkey-drawn cart. He didn't care about it, and dared not go to court for more than ten days.

Captain Cui Lie lost his temper.He and a group of bureaucrats who support the liberalization of salt and iron and are trying to change, no matter whether they are in the Shangshutai, the imperial court, the three government affairs, the Taixue, or the debates of bureaucratic merchants, they will not hesitate to face the fierce wave of opposition. , hoarse, opened his throat and roared.

Officials at all levels of Shangshutai had too many differences and couldn't unify their opinions, so they haven't come up with the final agreed document for a long time.Under Cui Lie's persuasion, the governors at all levels of Taiwei's Mansion basically agreed to the release of Bingzhou's salt and iron, but Situ's Mansion and Sikong Mansion all opposed it, which caused Shangshutai and Sanfu to quarrel every time. , broke up unhappy.

According to the law of the Han Dynasty, the government decrees issued to the whole country first need to obtain the consent of the Sangong government, and after the Sangong's golden seal is affixed, it must be approved by the emperor, and then the main seal can be affixed.If this matter is delayed again and again, it will be extremely detrimental to Bingzhou Tuntian.

Official sales of salt and iron are closely related to the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. Although Li Hong consciously avoided this issue in the memorial, once the matter came to the court, everything became clear, and it was impossible to hide it.The policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business is not only related to the order of the four classes of scholars, farmers, industry, and merchants in the dynasty, but more importantly, it is directly related to the issue of which class competes with the country for financial resources.

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The emperor heard that the queen mother wanted to see him, so he left the harem.

On the way to Yongle Palace, the emperor asked Jian Shuo, what's new in Luoyang recently?Jian Shuo said that bureaucrats, famous scholars and Confucian scholars still get together to argue every day, and the scholars of Taixue still go to the North Palace Gate to demonstrate and petition every now and then. In addition, the Empress Dowager will have her birthday next month, and people inside and outside the palace are busy. Give the Queen Mother a gift, and everything else is fine.

"How is the captain recently? Are you in good health?"

Jian Shuo laughed out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" The emperor asked with a smile, "Did he get scolded by others? This old man always finds someone to scold him. Last time he said he would give up Bianjun, but everyone in the court and the public wanted to kill him. This time, he said that salt and iron should be reopened, but the people in the government and the opposition not only wanted to kill him, but also dug his ancestral grave. Why bother?"

"Your Majesty, was he beaten this time?" Jian Shuo laughed.

"Who? It's not bad. How dare you beat the three princes? I'm going to kill his nine clans."

"It's Da Changqiu, Zhao Zhong, Lord Zhao Hou."

The emperor was taken aback and stopped talking.

"That day when the ministers were discussing matters at Shangshutai, Lord Taiwei quarreled with Master Zhao. Lord Zhao scolded him for being a beggar, and he was made a Sangong by relying on a woman. Lord Taiwei was probably mad, so he picked up the bamboo slips and passed away. He broke Master Zhao's head. In a rage, Master Zhao grabbed the Taiwei by the beard and punched him, which swollen the Taiwei's eyes."

The emperor laughed.

"What happened later, what happened later?"

"In the afternoon, Mr. Taixue went to Taixue to debate, and quarreled with the Ph.D. .At night, Taiwei was rescued by the army led by Weiwei Liu."

The emperor laughed and shook his head again and again.

"Have there been many memorials to impeach Li Hong recently?"

"Your Majesty, recently, the bus order sent several carriages to the Shangshutai every day to deliver the memorials, most of which were for the impeachment of Lord Li, the general of Zhenbei. Lord Huangfu didn't read it now, and directly ordered someone to throw the impeachment memorials outside the Shangshufang. .”

"Has Shangshutai's memorial to Li Aiqing ever been agreed upon?"

"Lord Huangfu and Lord Lu have different opinions, not to mention the servants and Shi Shi below. It may be very difficult." Jian Shuo said worriedly, "Master Li has made a big hornet's nest this time."

The Son of Heaven laughed and said, "Good poke. Every time he pokes a hornet's nest, a large number of people give me gifts. It's great. This time, the Empress Dowager is celebrating her birthday. It is estimated that the Empress Dowager received more gifts than in previous years."

"Your Majesty, how will this matter end?"

"Let them quarrel, why bother with so many things? I hide and can't go to court. After a long time, big things will naturally become small, and small things will become small."

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When they arrived at Yongle Palace, the emperor gave Xiao Donghou and the princess a small gift as usual. The father and son chatted and laughed for a while, and went to see the queen mother together.

The queen mother received many gifts and was in a very good mood.She had nothing to do with asking the emperor, just asking how to deal with the reopening of salt and iron, which had been arguing endlessly between the government and the opposition.

The emperor knew that his mother must be the first person entrusted to intercede.Sure enough, the Empress Dowager clearly expressed her objection to the emperor. How could the system that the ancestors had used for hundreds of years be changed?The emperor nodded again and again, no change, no change, absolutely no change.

Back in the harem, I happened to see Da Changqiu Zhao Zhong.Zhao Zhong came to complain, and the wound on his face was still swollen.

The emperor teased him a few words, and said, why are you messing with the Taiwei when you have nothing to do?Don't you know that he is in a bad mood recently?Forget it, go home and rest for a few days, don't come to serve me anymore.

Zhao Zhong cursed Cui Lie a few words, and then played: "Your Majesty, Cui Lie and Li Hong have no good intentions. They teamed up to deceive His Majesty, and they wanted to steal His Majesty's money."

"What does love mean?"

"Your Majesty, after the release of salt and iron, most of the money went to the Shaofu, and a small part was turned into commercial taxes and went to the Dasinong Mansion, but His Majesty didn't get any money. In recent years, the Shaofu has subsidized the Dasinong Mansion. Did Sinong pay less? Last time His Majesty was going back to Jizhou Hejian Kingdom to worship the ancestors, and asked him to pay some money, did he pay? It's His Majesty's money, but in fact? In fact, they tried their best to force His Majesty to turn the Shaofu's money into Dasinong's money, so His Majesty must not agree to them. It's better as it is now. Together, the officials must pay at least four to five billion yuan a year to His Majesty's Wanjintang, and this is His Majesty's own money."

"Yes, yes." The emperor smiled, "I understand in my heart. You tell the salt and iron officials everywhere to double the tribute to me this year, otherwise..."

"Your Majesty, there are many wars now, and the benefits of salt and iron are very thin." Zhao Zhong said with a wry smile.

"Really?" The Son of Heaven chuckled, took out Li Hong's secret composition and handed it to him, "Ai Qing, see for yourself, who is lying to me?"

Zhao Zhong took a cursory look, and immediately said angrily: "These people are too outrageous. Your Majesty, those who should be killed must be killed, and we must not be lenient."

The emperor glared at him, but said nothing.

Zhao Zhong rolled his eyes twice, feeling angry in his heart.Your hands, Li Hong, are too long, how dare you control the inner court, hmph...

"Your Majesty, there is still a chance to make a fortune."

"Oh, tell me, what opportunity?" The emperor asked happily.

"Your Majesty, the goods from Guanzhong and Guandong to Bingzhou are constantly being transported for days, and those merchants have made a lot of money. Your Majesty, they are all following His Majesty's road. Your Majesty's Fen River, the road is broken, and Your Majesty wants to pay for it." Xiu, the river channel is silted up, and His Majesty wants to pay for dredging it, why? I believe that His Majesty should issue a decree to send people to the river and land along the river to collect water transportation fees."

When the emperor heard it, yes, the imperial court is garrisoning land in Bingzhou. In order to raise money for the garrison, there is a lot of quarrel now, but what about those big merchants?Not only did he not contribute to the collection of donations for the imperial court, but he made huge profits from it.

"Okay, Aiqing's proposal is great, Aiqing is really the mainstay of our Han Kingdom." The emperor excitedly patted Zhao Zhong's fat belly and praised him repeatedly.

"Aiqing, tell me, who should I send to Hedong?"

Zhao Zhong sneered to himself, hum, Li Hong, you can throw stones at the sky.

"Your Majesty thinks that someone from the inner court should be sent to this matter, lest His Majesty's money will be secretly withheld and enriched for one's own pocket." Zhao Zhong said with a smile, "Your Majesty, how about the Zhongchang servant Xia Yun?"

Just as the Son of Heaven was about to nod his head, he suddenly remembered that Xia Yun's son was not killed by Li Hong?Wouldn't it be troublesome if Xia Yun was sent to Hedong and the two had a quarrel.

The emperor then shook his head and said, "No, no, Aiqing, have you forgotten that Xia Aiqing and Li Aiqing have a vengeance for killing their sons."

"Your Majesty, Xia Yun went to Hedong to collect money, not to Bingzhou to collect money. The two of them will never see each other." Zhao Zhong said with a smile, "Hedong prefect Han Ying is Xia Yun's old official. With his help, things will be fine." There are too many things to do. In addition, His Majesty can ask Xia Yun to set up a few more checkpoints to collect money in Hedong, so that His Majesty's income will be more."

The emperor thought about it carefully, it made sense.

"Okay, okay, you can do it right away." The emperor urged, "Tell Xia Yun to leave for Hanoi overnight, and if you arrive one day earlier, you will be charged for an extra day."

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Recently, Li Hong has received letters from Shangshutai Huangfusong every day.Huangfusong firmly supported the reopening of the Salt and Iron Discussion, but he encountered too much resistance in Shangshutai. The firm opposition of Lu Zhi, Jian Shuo and other ministers made him helpless.He told Li Hong everything that happened in Luoyang through a letter, and the letter obviously encouraged him to release the salt and iron in Bingzhou first, so as to raise money for farming.Li Hong was anxious.Without the will of the emperor and the court, it would be illegal for him to do so after all, and the benefits of salt and iron in Bingzhou could not support the needs of farming in Bingzhou.He also needs more money.

At this time, there was a crisis in Tuntian in Bingzhou.Not because there is no money, but because there is not enough land.

Zhang Baiqi’s Diannong Duwei’s Mansion and Zhao Qi’s Hutian Xiaowei’s Mansion, with the cooperation of various county governments, measured land and allocated land in military and civilian villages, and the work of land distribution went very smoothly, but there were too many refugees. After hearing the news, some refugees from Montenegro crossed the Taihang Mountains and rushed to Shangdang County.

The number of field soldiers in Taiyuan and Shangdang is huge, reaching 35, which is equivalent to one-third of the refugees.They occupy a large amount of land, seriously restricting the progress of Mintun.

Zhao Qi found Li Hong and asked him to discuss with Zhang Yan and Yang Feng, either to immediately reduce the number of field soldiers, or immediately recruit some of the field soldiers to reclaim land in other counties and counties.

It is of course impossible to reduce the number of soldiers in the field, which will shake the morale of the Yellow Turban Army.However, if some soldiers are recruited to reclaim land in the Yanmen and Xihe areas, the completion time of the military settlement will be seriously delayed, and the money invested in the military settlement will also increase exponentially. It's so important.Li Hong is in urgent need of food, and his request is that the army will be effective next year, and there must be food to supply the army.

Li Hong immediately summoned Zhao Qi, Zhang Yan, Yang Feng, Zhang Baiqi, Zuo Yan and others to discuss.

Zhao Qi spread out the map, pointed to the lower reaches of the Fen River in the east of the river, and said that there are 40 million mu of wasteland here, which was developed during the early days of the dynasty.Your Excellency wants the military settlement to be effective immediately, and there must be ready-made fields, and this is the right place.

Li Hong asked Zhang Yan and Yang Feng, "Do the two adults think it's okay?"

The two hesitated.Li Hong said: "If you can't do it, you can do it. There is no room for negotiation. Solving the problem of refugees must be the first priority, and other things must give way to Mintun."

"Which of the two adults will lead the troops to the east of the river to farm?"

Zhang Yan and Yang Feng looked at each other without making a sound.

"Brother Xi, let's go. Brother Fei Yan's reputation is too great, and he will easily cause unnecessary trouble." Li Hong looked at Yang Feng and said, "What do you think, Brother Xi?"

Yang Feng thought to himself that you are the official university here, who else would dare to say no.Immediately nodded in agreement.

Li Hong immediately sent Li Wei, the Sima of the General's Mansion in Zhenbei, to go to Beijing overnight to report to His Majesty, demanding that all the wasteland in the lower reaches of the Fen River in Hedong be allocated to the Duwei Department of Diannong in Bingzhou, and Yang Feng, the school captain of Heishan, led 20 soldiers to the Hedong. Implement military settlements.

"Zhong Yuan, you must do three things when you arrive in Luoyang." Li Hong confessed, "First, the matter of farming in the east of the river is the most urgent matter, and it must be done quickly. This is the most difficult thing, so we have to find a way. Third, about Xiao Lan. You tell Mr. Zhu Jun that I stole the person, and the matchmaker was made by the old man. I hope he can agree to this marriage. After you come back, we will Have a happy event for you."

Li Wei said in embarrassment: "My lord, this is a private matter, and if Master Situ finds out about it..."

"Isn't that the pockmarked problem?" Li Hong sneered, "This time, Ling Ming and He Feng took a hundred black panther righteous servants with you to Luoyang. He Feng is familiar with everything in Luoyang and will help you. If Master Zhu Jun If you don't give you a good face, you ask Ling Ming to chop off that pockmark."

Li Wei was dumbfounded.

He feels that Li Hong's temperament has become more and more irritable and violent recently, and Li Hong's habit of discussing with his subordinates before doing things has also been replaced by arbitrariness unconsciously.The pressure on Li Hong's back was too heavy, the pressure of suppressing the rebellion, the pressure of farming, the pressure of refugees, and the pressure from the court, he could hardly bear it anymore.

"My lord, you..."

"I know what you are worried about?" Li Hong patted him on the shoulder and said, "I can still bear it. With my boss around, I can't make any big mistakes. Don't worry. But before winter comes, you must put The matter of salt and iron is settled, otherwise, we will be in trouble, big trouble."

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The controversy in Luoyang is still in full swing.

General He Jin has kept a low profile recently.He neither expresses his opinions on the theory of salt and iron nor participates in various debates. During the court meeting, he has always acted as a peacemaker between the two parties in the dispute.

That day when he returned to the mansion exhausted, he couldn't bear the anger in his heart and cursed loudly.He scolded Cui Lie and Li Hong for looking for trouble for nothing, turning Luoyang into a miasma, and everyone didn't deal with any state affairs. They just quarreled all day long and argued endlessly. He was almost bored to death.The salt and iron industry is the biggest way for him to make money. If the salt and iron are released, what will he eat and drink?
He Yong and Yuan Shao walked into the study one after another, with happy expressions on their faces.

"Li Hong agreed." He Yong said with a smile, "Sima Li Wei from Zhenbei General's Mansion will return to Beijing in the next two days, and Pang De and He Feng will be accompanying him."

He Jin's complexion changed, and he asked in surprise, "He agreed?"

"As soon as He Feng arrives, we will understand." Yuan Shao smiled, "Li Hong first let Qu Yi's cavalry stay in Hedong, and then let He Feng return to Beijing. Doesn't that explain the problem?"

He Jin thought for a while, then suddenly asked: "Do you believe him?"

"General, think about Li Hong's current situation. He has already ridden on the back of the tiger in Tuntian. Can he get off?" Dare to really farm in Bingzhou, I have convinced him. After the matter is completed, we have to thank him, without him driving Li Hong to this desperate situation, we are really not sure."

He Jin looked at the two of them and asked, "What do you think about the matter of Yantie?"

He Yong and Yuan Shao said at the same time: "Of course it's better to let go."

He Jin's face showed dissatisfaction.

"General, let go of salt and iron, and pay equal attention to agriculture and commerce. In the long run, it will benefit both the Han Dynasty and the general. The wealth of the people will make the country strong, and the country will be strong, and the general will be able to stand firm. The place of defeat, in the future, the general will be under only one person, and over ten thousand people, are you afraid that there will be no money?" He Yong said with a smile, "As long as the traitors are successfully eradicated, even your majesty today will have to rely on the general."

He Jin hesitated for a long time, and said, "I don't like Li Hong, and I don't like him more and more."

"If you want to get rid of Li Hong, there are too many ways." Yuan Shao said with a smile, "Why should the general be in a hurry at this moment. Now, we still have to help him, for mutual benefit. Besides, the success of farming, the great prince's country Wouldn't it be more stable?"

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Riding fast for eight hundred miles, he rushed into Luoyang City.

The stars in Changsha County, Jingzhou gathered a crowd to rebel, attacking the city and pulling out the stronghold, which was unstoppable.

The Xiongnu rebelled against all ethnic groups, and its leader, the Tiger King Baimatong, led his troops south to confront the Xiongnu Zhonglang Xianyufu in Huze.

Xihe Baibo Yellow Turban was defeated by school lieutenant Yan Rou, and its remnants were led by the leader Guo Tai, who had already crossed Luliang Mountain and headed for Hedong.

After Zhang Chun's rebels defeated Liu Yu, they had already approached Handan, but Jizhou Mu Yangqi was defeated by Bai Rao at this time, and the two rebels would join up soon.

Luoyang shook.

===

(End of this chapter)