Great Han Empire

Chapter 540 Immediately Crossing the Gun
In November, Chaotianyuan.

Li Hong, the general of chariots and riders, led his army to station in Chaotianyuan.General Fenwei Xian Yufu, General Yang Lie Zhang Yan, Prefect Tian Yu of Hanbei County, General Cheqi Yu Peng, and Yin Si were ordered to go to Chaotianyuan camp to discuss the matter.

General Jianwei Xu Rong and Li Feng Zhonglang greeted Zhao Yun outside the gate.After everyone greeted each other, Xu Rong asked anxiously, "Are all the old medical craftsmen from the Jinxueyuan Camp here?"

"We brought the best medical craftsmen and the best medicinal materials." Xian Yufu said, "I have sent Kuaiqi to Yunzhong and Jinyang to recruit more skilled medical craftsmen. Is Madam's illness serious? "

Xu Rong and Zhao Yun nodded sadly.Xian Yufu shook his head and sighed: "I hope Madam will not have any accidents, otherwise, how can you care about the affairs of Northern Xinjiang, now Northern Xinjiang..."

"Is the situation in northern Xinjiang not good?" Xu Rong asked, "How about Luoyang?"

"Trouble, a lot of trouble." Xian Yufu shook his hand while walking, "Army, peasants, barbarians, grain and grass, Jinyang, Hedong, Youzhou, Jizhou, Luoyang, there are too many troubles."

"Is there any good news from Zhong Yuan?"

"Luoyang has been in chaos recently. Zhong Yuan has gone to Luoyang. Now Xiao Lan is in charge of Linfen Xingyuan, and she is dealing with Hedong affairs."

Zhao Yun, Zhang Yan, and Tian Yu walked behind.Zhao Yun asked, how are the injuries of Qu Yi, Yan Rou, Yan Liang and other soldiers?Tian Yu said that all the lords are being treated in the Jinxueyuan camp. The three lords Zhang Zhen, Yang Ming, and Duan Xuan are seriously injured and it will take some time to recover. The rest of the generals are recovering.Due to too many wounded soldiers and serious shortage of medical craftsmen and medicinal materials, Mr. Xianyu has already dispatched urgently from Yunzhong and Jinyang.

===

Li Hong stood outside the big tent to welcome everyone.

Li Hong was very haggard, his beard was messy because he hadn't trimmed it for a long time, his long hair was loose, and his eyes were slightly red and swollen, but they were still sharp, looking fierce and unruly.Xian Yufu and others hurried forward to salute, Li Hong smiled and said, "Seeing you again means that I am still alive. Well, I am alive. Thinking about those brothers who died in battle, I am very lucky."

Xian Yufu sighed, "Your Excellency is too tired, you should take a good rest."

Li Hong greeted everyone to enter the account, and said: "I came to you just to ask, can you let me rest for a while?"

"Your Excellency probably doesn't have time to rest." Tian Yu said, "There are more and more troubles in Northern Xinjiang, which urgently need to be resolved by Your Excellency. It is best for Your Excellency to return to the cloud as soon as possible to take charge of the military affairs of Northern Xinjiang."

Li Hong frowned and said, "I can't go back now, and I can't rush to report the great victory of the expedition to the imperial court for the time being. We have to postpone some matters until the imperial court sends all the food, wages and military equipment promised to us to northern Xinjiang. If there is no money and food, how will the disaster victims and the millions of homeless people who flowed into northern Xinjiang survive this winter? I will rely on this money and food for emergency relief. How about the autumn harvest?"

"The harvest is good." Xian Yufu said, "Lord Zhao Qi and Master Zhang Ze (Zhang Baiqi) wrote to say that Mintun and Juntun have surplus food this year. It's just that there are many disaster victims in northern Xinjiang, Hetao area and Changshan and Zhongshan. There are too many people in the farmland, and the surplus grain is not enough to cope with it. But adults, don't worry too much, because Zhongyuan sent people to various states and counties in advance to buy grain, and even sent people to Yizhou, so a large amount of grain will be shipped soon Northern Xinjiang to solve our urgent needs."

Li Hong said with a smile: "With Zhongyuan preparing money and food for us in Hedong, the northern border can be safe and secure. Do you have any documents from him recently? Have you told him about the great victory in the expedition?"

"At the beginning of this month, Zhong Yuan went to Luoyang, and now Xiao Lan is in charge of running affairs in Hedong." Xian Yufu said worriedly, "Accidents happened to both Luoyang and Hedong."

In October, after the Son of Heaven promulgated the min order in Gyeonggi and some states and counties, Taiwei Dong Zhuo presided over the min, and dispatched officials and cavalry of the northern army who presided over the min to various places to preside over the min. The law unscrupulously hunted and killed merchants, and confiscated money, houses, and land. In the end, the matter intensified, and finally implicated the aristocratic clans everywhere, and many noble clan disciples were copied and killed.The ministers of the court couldn't bear it anymore, so they jointly wrote to the emperor, admonishing the emperor to abolish the order of suing immediately, and hold the violators accountable.It is impossible to abolish the denunciation order just after it was promulgated, but another major consequence of this incident caught the court by surprise.

Due to the mass killing of merchants, merchants from all over the country fled, and the country was shocked. In addition, some aristocrats were implicated in the later period, which caused the autumn harvest of some states and counties to be blocked, and taxes could not be collected in time.Some of the prefectures and counties that promulgated the banning order are rich places in the Han Dynasty, and most of the land is concentrated in the hands of powerful families and rich merchants.Now, except for those powerful princes and nobles and powerful families, all other wealthy merchants fled to their deaths. As a result, no one managed the fields, and the autumn harvest came to a standstill.Although the imperial court urgently ordered all the counties and counties to immediately organize manpower to rush to collect the tax, the time for the tax to be put into the treasury must be delayed again and again.In states and counties that have not issued a warning order, due to the fleeing of merchants, the autumn harvest has been more or less affected to a certain extent, and the tax payment has dropped sharply due to the fact that wealthy merchants of powerful families tried their best to hide their property.

Although the promulgation of the decree temporarily solved the military funds needed for the expedition, it greatly hurt the wealthy businessmen, resulting in a sharp drop in tax revenue from the treasury and a delay in the time for entering the treasury, which immediately plunged all parties in the court into a dilemma In endless quarrels and accusations.Taiwei Dong Zhuo, who presided over the case, was impeached by many ministers of the court, and was unanimously condemned by the ruling and opposition parties.

It was under such circumstances that Shi Liwei, the head of the Cheqi General's office, was urgently called into Beijing by the emperor.

===

"What happened to Hedong again?" Li Hong asked.

"In the name of your lord, Li Wei ordered Captain Yantie Xie Ming to inspect the counties in northern Xinjiang and drive him out of Hedong." Xian Yufu said, "After Xiaolan acted as Captain Yantie, he immediately sealed up the Yantie industry and cleaned it up. The trade of salt and iron directly targeted the Guards of Hedong and Xuling of Chang'an. These two wealthy merchants controlled most of the Yanchi iron mines in Hedong. Huge amount of money. The Hedong Guards also wantonly bribed the officials of northern Xinjiang, and even became in-laws with Mr. Zhao Qi, Mr. Cai Yong, and Mr. Guo Yun of Yanmen. He provided most of the farmland and disaster relief materials needed by Northern Xinjiang. That is to say, the Hedong Guards have almost controlled the lifeline of Northern Xinjiang."

Li Hong and Xu Rong looked at each other, secretly shocked.Zhao Yun's complexion changed, and a trace of shock suddenly appeared on his fair face.

Xiaolan visited several times for this matter, hoping that the Wei clan would take the initiative to give up part of the business, so as to reduce the potential threat of the Wei clan to Beijiang, but the Wei clan bullied her that she was a girl, not only did not agree to her proposal, but instead encouraged the people in the east of the river. Aristocratic families and some wealthy merchants threatened Xiao Lan by interrupting the relief supply and urging for arrears, and even spread rumors in Hedong, saying that Northern Xinjiang would issue an order to sue immediately.This news once caused panic among merchants in Hedong and Jinyang, and at the same time angered Xiao Lan. She seized all the salt ponds and iron mines of the Wei Clan in Hedong overnight.

"Wei Clan has invited Zhao Qi, Cai Yong, Guo Yun and other lords to urgently write to Lord General." Xian Yufu said, "Several lords have also written to the imperial court to impeach Lord Zhu Jun, saying that General Cheqi's mansion will be made the master of Zhu Jun. The disciples of the clan are controlled, and the military and government in Northern Xinjiang are controlled by a gang of treacherous villains. They demand that the imperial court severely punish Zhu Jun and let Zhu Jun recall his disciples so as not to harm Northern Xinjiang." He looked at Yu Peng, and Yu Peng immediately resigned from the case. He found a scroll of bamboo slips on his file and handed it to Li Hong.

"This is a letter from several adults to you." Xian Yufu said in embarrassment, "They have a lot of opinions on the reuse of Xiao Lan by adults, and think that women..."

"Okay, okay." Li Hong waved his hand and said, "Xiao Lan is very talented. She has done a lot of things in northern Xinjiang in the past few years. It is obvious to all. I can't give up on her just because she is a woman. Zhong Yuan is very concerned about this matter." What's the explanation?" Li Hong didn't even read the letter, and casually threw it on the table.

"Zhongyuan didn't say a single word, and Gongding didn't say anything." Xian Yufu said, "The relationship between Jinyang Xingyuan and Linfen Xingyuan is extremely tense now."

"Where's Xiao Lan? Does Xiao Lan have a letter for me?"

"Yesterday we received an urgent letter from Xiao Lan. Xiao Lan has already arrested people." Xian Yufu said with a wry smile, "Xiao Lan has arrested Wei Che, the eldest son of Wei Clan, the county magistrate of Anyi Hexie County, and the head of Hedong Mansion." Master Shi Sang and Yang Sang."

Li Hong was dizzy, and exclaimed in surprise: "What? She also arrested Master Sang?"

Xiao Lan is very meticulous and cautious in doing things, and she will not act easily if she is not very sure. Xu Rong pondered for a long time, then said slowly, "Let her handle this matter."The guard is domineering and domineering, he is too arrogant, does he think Northern Xinjiang is Luoyang?He can do whatever he wants?If you make too much money, you will be blind. "

Li Hong said with a smile: "Okay, let her do it. Shu Xiaolan urgently, don't go too far in this matter, enough is enough, just achieve the goal. In addition, tell Zhang Baiqi to cooperate with Xiao Lan. Ten thousand soldiers must be transferred to her immediately. Zhongyuan is not here, and Hedong is Xiaolan's decision."

At this time, Zhao Yun stood up and bowed and said, "My lord, I will take my leave first." Under the suspicious eyes of everyone, Zhao Yun hurried out.

"What's wrong with Zilong?" Zhang Yan asked strangely, "I see that his face is flushed, is he sick?"

Li Hong smiled slightly, "He has something on his mind, so go out and relax."

===

"Yu Xing, just now you said that Jizhou and Youzhou are also in trouble, what's the trouble?" Xu Rong asked.

Xian Yufu sighed, "It's an eventful autumn."

After Yuan Shao left Beijing, he did not flee back to his hometown of Runan, but went to Jizhou.There were many former officials of the Yuan Clan in Jizhou. With their help, Yuan Shao went around to contact his friends and recruit dead soldiers.Last month, the imperial court decreed that Yuan Shao be the prefect of Bohai County.Yuan Shao immediately enlisted the soldiers of the county in Nanpi City, the prefecture of Bohai County.After Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, arrived in Jizhou, he not only expanded the army of the prefecture, but also spared no effort to help Yuan Shao recruit soldiers and send him money and food.Seeing that winter was approaching and there was no hope of farming, the victims who had migrated to Hejian State, Anping State, Julu County, and Zhao State fled to Changshan State and Zhongshan State, and some fled to Zhuo County of Youzhou. The disaster relief situation in these three counties suddenly became tense.

Mr. Zhao Jian from the Duwei Mansion of Changshan Diannong, Tian Wan, the Minister of Changshan, and Kong Xuan, the Minister of Zhongshan, immediately asked Xingyuan for help.Da Sima and Youzhou Mu Liu Yu asked Jizhou Mu Han Fu for help.Han Fu and Liu Yu have a good relationship and promised to give food, but he told Liu Yu that the [-] million yuan in taxes allocated to Youzhou by the imperial court this year is estimated to be gone. There is no money, not even the taxes allocated to northern Xinjiang.

Liu Yu was shocked. The people of Youzhou and the victims of the disaster had to spend the winter, to cope with the next year, and to pay military funds to tens of thousands of frontier troops. He only counted on [-] million yuan. Without money, what would he do?Shi Weiyou, head of Liu Yu's mission, rushed to Jinyang day and night with his own handwritten letter to ask for help.Without further ado, Zhao Qi agreed.Zhao Qi was not because Liu Yu was the great Sima and Shangguan, but because of the victims of the disaster in Youzhou.This batch of money and food allocated to Youzhou is now on its way to Zhuojun.

"My lord is sending charcoal in a timely manner, but we have suffered a lot." Xian Yufu lamented, "My lord's son, Zhao Jian (jian), was so angry that he wrote to your lord general urgently, not only suing him, but also I even sued Mr. Cai, so I almost didn't start cursing." Xian Yufu handed over Zhao Jian's letter, "My lord, Changshan and Zhongshan are plagued by disasters, and it is impossible to move back, and now the hundred people stranded in Jinxueyuan Wan Minfu also urgently needs to be resolved, so, my lord, look at this matter..."

"Millions of civilians immediately go south and enter the camp in Yunzhong." Li Hong looked at the letter, raised his head and said to Zhang Yan, "Feiyan, you take the four battalions of Sun Qin, Wang Dang, Yu Digen, and Peng Lie to accompany the civilians. When going south, we must first ensure that they are fed and clothed.”

Zhang Yan nodded and agreed, "My lord, what about the disaster relief in Changshan and Zhongshan?" These two counties are the hometown of the Yellow Turban Army, and Zhang Yan is very worried.

"When you arrive at the Yunzhong camp, immediately take my military order to the public, and tell him to use the hoarded military rations to help the victims of disasters in the two places." Li Hong said, "The expedition is over, we can save a lot of military rations, and the army will return next month." We have to withdraw a part to the cloud, so we can save Zhao Jian temporarily."

"Then what about spring farming next year?" Zhang Yan asked.

"If all the grain Zhongyuan bought in various places is safely transported back, we can not only overcome the current difficulties, but also last for a long time." Li Hong said, "Next spring we will return the disaster victims to Jizhou no matter what. If If Han Fu pushes three times and blocks four times, then you lead your troops to take down the four garrison counties in Jizhou. He doesn’t garrison land, I garrison land, he doesn’t accept victims of disasters, I’ll move back by myself.”

===

(End of this chapter)