Great Han Empire

Chapter 586: Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Dangerous
Under September, Jinyang, Longshan.

After Zhang Wen and other seven veterans arrived at Longshan, they immediately fell in love with the beauty and tranquility here.When Yang Qi, the prefect of the Shangdang, proposed to move the princess mansion to Jinyang City, none of the seven veterans expressed their opinions.The eldest princess was in awe of the seven elders, and she didn't dare to speak casually, let alone say that she insisted on staying, but the expression on her face revealed her true will.The eldest princess pursed her mouth and glared at Yang Qi angrily, very unhappy.

Zhang Wenwen exchanged glances with everyone, and then said with a cheerful smile: "If the princess's mansion is moved to Jinyang City, a large mansion will need to be built, but it will cost a lot of money, and the current situation in Beijiang everyone It's very clear, I think it's better to forget it. Longshan is good here, and the Princess's Mansion will stay here, don't move. Your Highness, look..."

"Okay, okay..." The Eldest Princess immediately smiled and said happily, "From now on, wherever the General Hussar's Mansion is, the Elder Princess' Mansion will be there."

Zhang Wen and the others looked at each other meaningfully and nodded with a smile.

Chen Ji cupped his hands and said: "When the country is stable and your majesty returns to Luoyang, your majesty will return to Beijing, so we should try to save as much as possible and not be too extravagant. Along the way, we saw many common people with several families crowded together Living in a hut, living in a tent, everyone has no clothes, no food, very poor. At this time, if we start construction in Jinyang and build temples, we will be unanimously criticized by the whole northern Xinjiang. This is not good for the eldest princess, nor for northern Xinjiang, and will affect the great cause of the revitalization of the country. Your Highness's suggestion, the ministers and others agree very much."

Not only did the eldest princess' mansion remain in Longshan, but it has also been with the Hushi General's mansion from now on. This was beyond the surprise of Li Hong and the officials of the Hushi General's mansion. Now they are troubled by the huge financial vacancies in northern Xinjiang. From Li Hong to the subordinates of Cao Cao, they are all racking their brains and thinking about countermeasures. The intense discussions have lasted for more than ten years. God.

During this period of time, accompanied by Zhao Qi and Xu Shao, Zhang Wen, Cui Lie, Ma Rizun and others paid homage to the Zhonglie Hall in Longshan, participated in two debates at the Jinyang University Hall in Xuanweng Mountain, and fought with Jin The Yangmen Clan and the officials of various governments also chatted, and they even went to Juzhu Fortress to take a look at the battlefield of the Yanmen Pass Battle.Several old ministers, disciples and old officials who worked in northern Xinjiang also rushed to Jinyang to visit them.

More than ten days passed, and they never had a formal talk with Li Hong from the beginning to the end.

=

During these days in Jinyang, Zhang Wen and other veterans had a good understanding of the situation in northern Xinjiang through contacts with various parties.

Zhao Qi once explained to them that there were many reasons why Li Hong did not attack King Qin of Chang'an, for example, Li Hong did not have the emperor's imperial edict.All the imperial decrees Li Hong has received so far are to attack Yuan Shao, what can he do?Openly discuss Dong like Yuan Shao?You must know that there are nine generals and twelve Zhonglang generals in northern Xinjiang. Without the emperor's decree, it depends on Li Hong to open his mouth and ask for Dong. Is this realistic?

The main reason for Li Hong's reluctance to send troops is because of the deep crisis in northern Xinjiang, and the root cause is the wealth crisis in northern Xinjiang.Northern Xinjiang can't even get enough money to raise soldiers, how can there be money to fight?
Some people think that the northern border should be deserted and the border counties should be abandoned, so that all the troops can be concentrated to save the country.Actually this is a joke.There is no fighting in Damo and Bianjun, and it is very quiet.Last year, the snow disaster in the desert, we used about 20 million yuan to help the desert. At this time, the desert is full of grass and horses, and we hardly need to help them.The more than [-] billion yuan in relief in northern Xinjiang was actually eaten up by the millions of disaster victims, refugees and civilian husbands stranded in various counties, and had nothing to do with Damo and Border County.

If we abandon the desert, abandon the border counties, and call back all the troops north of the Great Wall, the force will be stronger, but the next question is, what money should we use to attack Chang'an?Even if we have money, what about food? The food consumed by the 12 army during the war was several times more than the food consumed by the soldiers when they stayed in the sun in the barracks. How much food will 10 people eat?
The 12 troops south of the Great Wall alone cannot defeat Chang'an. Dong Zhuo has [-] troops, and our strength is not enough.To fight Chang'an, at least the same number of troops as Dong Zhuo's should be, otherwise there will be no return, so checks and balances are necessary, and northern Xinjiang needs enough time to accumulate strength.The check and balance policy in Northern Xinjiang was not Li Hong's idea alone, but the result of a collegiate meeting of officials in Northern Xinjiang.The eldest princess also participated in the collegiate meeting, and she also agreed to temporarily use checks and balances to stabilize the situation in Gyeonggi.

Zhao Qi said that if the emperor and the court use their own self-interest to force Li Hong to save the country at the cost of giving up northern Xinjiang, the consequences will be disastrous.This is not just a matter of chaos in northern Xinjiang, but a matter of whether my Dahan society can be saved because of the abandonment of northern Xinjiang.If Northern Xinjiang is also lost, and Sheji is also lost, it will be all over.Why can't we wait a little longer, wait for the strength of Northern Xinjiang to recover, and then hit it with one blow?Why don't you do things that are sure, and insist on taking the country to take risks?

Zhang Wen, Cui Lie and others were moved. They discussed the current situation and the crisis in northern Xinjiang with Zhao Qi, Xu Shao, Yang Qi and many other northern Xinjiang officials privately. The angles are different, so the ways and strategies of dealing with problems are also very different.However, Zhang Wen and others have not expressed any opinions, nor have they stated the real purpose of the emperor and the court in setting up the princess mansion in northern Xinjiang and assigning seven important officials to assist the princess.

The emperor and the court set up the eldest princess's mansion in northern Xinjiang, and violated the ancestral system, openly amending the law to give the eldest princess the power to handle state affairs. It is customary, but the eldest princess also intervenes in state power. Is this a good thing or a bad thing for Dahan Sheji?Zhao Qi asked Zhang Wen and others about this matter, but they were silent and did not say a word.

But there is one thing they are very firm about. They think that Yuan Shao and the officials who took part in the campaign against Dong Dajun are traitors of the big Han. It is fine if Beijiang does not go and kill them, but they should not shake hands with Yuan Shao and make peace. This is a flagrant disobedience to the emperor. The imperial decree is a betrayal of the emperor and the court.Cui Lie said, as ministers in the court, you should stop it in time. Could it be that you can't tell right from wrong?

Yang Qi mocked Cui Lie and said, when I saw you coming, I knew that the imperial court was going to give up the northern border, because you have been actively advocating that the imperial court exchange the border land for the peace of the country.In the past, you advocated abandoning western Xinjiang, but now you want to advocate abandoning northern Xinjiang?But now we don't know right from wrong, just like you, we also ask Li Hong to give up northern Xinjiang.

Cui Lie retorted, if you hadn't driven the disaster victims from Jizhou to northern Xinjiang, how could northern Xinjiang be in crisis today?Northern Xinjiang is in danger, and as a result, we can only watch helplessly as the emperor is humiliated and the country is overthrown without being able to save it.Jizhou recovered quickly, but the money and food in Jizhou were all cheaper than Yuan Shao and Han Fu's rebellious gang, don't you know?Also, if you had listened to me and abandoned Xijiang, how could Sheji be in trouble today?Look, can we still control Xijiang today?Can Chang'an still enjoy peace today?What does this mean?Explain that what I said in the past is not wrong.It may be wrong for us to give up northern Xinjiang today, but when we look at today's decision tomorrow, maybe we will be grateful for today's choice.

Yang Qi sneered and said, "It's best not to say this in northern Xinjiang. In the past, Fu Xie (xie) yelled at the court to kill you, and that was just a gesture. Today, the general of the hussars has the saber in his hand If he kills you in a fit of rage, we won't even have time to intercede."

=

On this day, Li Hong personally went to the eldest princess's mansion to report to the eldest princess and asked the two governments to discuss together. There are some difficult matters in northern Xinjiang that need to be resolved by the eldest princess.

There are many government offices participating in the collegiate meeting. In addition to the Princess Changgong's mansion and the Hushi General's mansion, there are also the Hushi General's mansion Yunzhong Xingyuan, Jinyang Xingyuan, Linfen Xingyuan, Jinyang's Hutian Zhonglang's mansion, and Dong's Dianyuan. Nongzhong Langjiang's Mansion, Tuntian Xiaowei's Mansion in Hetao, Diannong Duwei's Mansion in Changshan, Yantie Duwei's Mansion, Jian Yushi's Mansion, Taiyuan, Hedong and other seven county mansions south of the Great Wall.

Except for Xian Yufu of the Protectorate of Mobei and the prefects of the nine counties north of the Great Wall, almost all the officials of Northern Xinjiang participated in this collegial meeting, and more than 30 people filled the main account.

Bo Sunzi, head of the Hussar General's mansion, first gave a brief account of the military and political affairs in northern Xinjiang this year, and then went straight to the topic.This year, the expenditure on the wealth of northern Xinjiang will be about 15 billion yuan. According to the current calculation, there is a huge gap of one billion yuan in the wealth of northern Xinjiang. What should we do?Where did this billion come from?

Next, Wang Rou of Wang Cao, Tang Yun of Jin Cao, and Xie Ming, Captain of Yantie, successively gave detailed explanations of the tax revenue and various expenditures of northern Xinjiang this year, and explained to everyone the origin of the one billion yuan gap.

Then Shi, the head of the Hussar General's mansion, and Li Wei, the head of Jinyang Xingyuan, brought out several solutions agreed upon by the Hussars General's mansion.

The easiest way is to misappropriate the funds used for farming.Some officials of the Hushi General's Mansion, Zhao Qi, Zhang Baiqi, Tang Fang, Zhao Jian (jian), and Guo Yun, the prefect of Yanmen County who was in charge of farming in Pingcheng, immediately objected.What will happen to the future garrison if the funds used in the garrison are embezzled and cannot be replenished?In particular, next year northern Xinjiang will implement fallow farming, and the number of relief population will increase sharply. Where will the money come from?Zhao Qi said that the use of funds for farming is directly related to the survival of northern Xinjiang, and this money cannot be moved.What has been misappropriated must be replenished one after another.

If you can't embezzle the funds for farming, then you can only reduce military and political expenditures in northern Xinjiang.However, the expenditures of the various prefectures in northern Xinjiang have been reduced as much as possible, and the salaries of officials have been extremely low. If the hard-working officials are left hungry, then northern Xinjiang will be in great trouble.The expenses of the northern frontier army have been greatly reduced, and the salaries of the soldiers have also been halved, and there is no further reduction. Not only will the army be unable to fight, but even stationing troops on the border will become a problem.

Neither of the above two methods will work, and the court is unable to provide subsidies, so the only remaining method is to reduce the army.

The wealth gap in northern Xinjiang mainly comes from the huge expenditure of 12 frontier troops. If half of the army is reduced, the expenditure of at least [-] million yuan can be reduced.At present there are [-] troops north of the Great Wall and [-] troops south of the Great Wall.The army south of the Great Wall is now dealing with the unpredictable situation in various places, so we can only reduce the army north of the Great Wall, but if the frontier army north of the Great Wall is greatly reduced, my big Han will become more and more deterrent to the tribes of the Hu tribe Small, considering the current turbulent situation in Dahan, the consequences of reducing the frontier army are very serious.

The idea of ​​reducing the army was almost unanimously opposed. Even the eldest princess who was sitting in the top seat, who was dizzy from hearing it, stood up excitedly, waved her little hand and said, "No reduction, no reduction. Without an army, how can I go to Chang'an to save your Majesty?" ?”

Li Hong, Xu Rong, Li Wei, Zhu Mu and other officials in northern Xinjiang insisted on reducing the number.Li Hong said that at least [-] to [-] troops should be reduced in northern Xinjiang.After the reduction of the army, we arranged these troops to Hetao to garrison fields, which can also play the role of border defense and deterrence.

Zhang Fan said that the wealth gap in northern Xinjiang is one billion yuan. Even if the [-] million yuan is removed, there is still a wealth gap of [-] million yuan in northern Xinjiang. Can you solve the [-] million yuan?

Since the eldest princess and many officials in northern Xinjiang opposed the reduction of the army, the collegiate meeting immediately fell into a stalemate.

=

Zhang Wenwen and several senior officials sat on the right side of the eldest princess and remained silent.

Yuan Pang approached Zhang Wen suddenly, and asked softly, "What do you think the general means? Are you trying to force us to agree to the agreement between him and Yuan Shao, so that Northern Xinjiang will continue to maintain this check and balance strategy?"

Zhang Wen frowned and thought: "Although we privately hinted to the boss, the general (Xu Shao) and others that the imperial court opposed the general's contact with Yuan Shao, we did not express the same meaning to the general. The general is not always Contact with Yuan Shao and Han Fu? Does he still need to ask the Eldest Princess for permission?"

"In my opinion, the general's strategy of reducing troops must have a deep meaning." Chen Ji interjected in a low voice, "Is it possible that the general wants to reduce the number of troops? There is a gap of one billion yuan in wealth, an astonishing amount, how can there be?" ?”

Zhang Wen frowned suddenly, and blurted out: "Jizhou, Jizhou's annual tax is at least [-] million yuan."

Zhang Wen, Yuan Pang, and Chen Ji thought of something at the same time, and they all looked at Li Hong who was sitting on the left side of the eldest princess.Li Hong tilted his body, and was smiling and whispering something to the eldest princess. The eldest princess was smiling, her fair and delicate face was slightly flushed, and she looked very happy.The two seemed to be talking about something happy.

Zhang Wen secretly sighed, hesitating in his heart.Could it be that Li Hong wanted to obtain the emperor's imperial decree and occupy Jizhou?But even if Li Hong didn't have the imperial decree of the emperor, he could send troops to occupy Jizhou in the name of countering the rebellion because of the rebellious behavior of Yuan Shao, Han Fu and others.He turned his head to look at Yuan Pang, and suddenly realized a problem, why Li Hong didn't send troops to attack Jizhou.

Today's Yuan Clan has actually split into three parts.Yuan Shao led the crusade against Dong Zhuo to depose the current emperor, Yuan Shu led the crusade against Dong Zhuo and enshrined the current emperor, and Yuan Pang led the submissive Dong Zhuo and enshrined the emperor.Today's aristocratic families, as well as many Confucian scholars in the world, are actually split into three parts just like the Yuan Clan.There may be some people in Yuan Shao's army begging Dong who respect the present day, but with Yuan Shao's slaying, everyone was tied by a rope of rebellion, and everyone had to fight for their own survival from then on.Jizhou Mu Hanfu and the bureaucrats of big and small families in Jizhou belong to those who want to fight for their own survival.

Northern Xinjiang has force, but no wealth. Once the battle fails for a long time, it will be a tragedy. It loses both the watermelon to improve food and the sesame seeds to survive.Just like today's Dong Zhuo, who clearly has an army of 10,000+ in his hands, but was forced to be trapped in Gyeonggi because of his empty stomach.Thinking of Dong Zhuo, Zhang Wen suddenly thought of Yuan Kai, and Yuan Shao's "Decree of Inheritance", and suddenly he realized.

Zhang Wen was suffocated for a while, suddenly dizzy, and couldn't breathe for a long time.

Could it be that Li Hong really wants to give up his present day?Are we really going to repeat the same mistakes and be beheaded like Hu Wuban?

=

In the evening, Li Hong invited Zhao Qi, Xu Shao, Yang Qi, Wang Han and the seven elders from the Princess's Mansion to his military tent for dinner, accompanied by Xu Rong, Li Wei and Zhu Mu.

Because it is in Li Hong's private military tent, which is equivalent to being in Li Hong's home, so the elders are very casual, and naturally they are full of praise for Li Hong's simplicity and humility when talking and laughing.The dishes on the table are very simple, but the elders are no strangers to it.In northern Xinjiang, except for the rich and powerful, everyone is poor.

Li Hong has always treated the elders with respect as a disciple, and he is very cautious in his words.Zhang Wen was probably influenced by Li Hong's attitude. After hesitating for a long time, he still couldn't help asking, "Zimin, do you have any thoughts about Jizhou?"

As soon as Zhang Wen said this, there was a sudden silence in the big tent.

Li Hong, Xu Rong, Li Wei, and Zhu Mu looked at each other and smiled.Li Hong cupped his hands and said, "I'll just wait for your lord's words."

"You want to fight?" Zhang Wen asked involuntarily.

Li Hong shook his head, "I can't fight. If we want to fight, I have already fought. Now if we fight Jizhou, Yuan Shao and Han Fu will definitely let the Yellow Turban Army from Qingzhou and Heishan join together, and let the Yellow Turban Army ravage Jizhou. The Yellow Turban Army got nothing but ruins."

"Zimin, what do you mean..." Zhang Wen asked hesitantly, "Affirm what Yuan Shao did?"

Li Hong looked at the old and serious faces, smiled helplessly and said, "If there is no money and food this winter, Northern Xinjiang will not be able to support it. Between the Son of Heaven and Sheji, we can only choose one."

The atmosphere in the big tent suddenly became tense.

===

"General..."

The curtain was lifted suddenly, and Pang De rushed in quickly, "General, General Yushi urgently reported that Duan Yan and Niu Fu suddenly led an army to attack Hedong."

(End of this chapter)