Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 217 Threatening Xiangyang (Second update for subscription)

Chapter 221 Threatening Xiangyang

Ran Min also came to his senses and said, "Yes, Emperor Guangwu's Yuntai 28 generals."

Ran Ming pondered: "However, these treat the symptoms, not the root cause!"

Ran Min said: "How to cure the root cause?"

Ran Mingdao: "The gentry's reliance is nothing but tax-free privileges and the monopoly of cultural knowledge. They control public opinion. If we want to eradicate the gentry, we can only start from two aspects at the same time! It is easy to solve the problem of breaking the monopoly of the gentry on cultural knowledge. Enroll students from poor families, and in time, when these poor families come back from their studies, they will be able to compete with the nobles. Public opinion is the tongue of a country, and it is very important, because they will be unscrupulous if they are in the hands of the nobles. Therefore, it must be broken This monopoly."

In ancient times, information was blocked, which is far from the current era of information explosion.The news of this era is handed down by word of mouth.It is precisely because of this that the key to a person's reputation depends on the attitude of mastering the gentry.It depends on how much benefit this person brings to the gentry.

Just like Emperor Yongzheng, in Qing history, there are many rumors about Yongzheng, some say that he succeeded to the throne improperly, that he was fatuous and incompetent.In fact, among the emperors in the early Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng was the most pragmatic one, but he promulgated the "Reform the land and return it to the people" and "Return the fire consumption to the public" to set up a military aircraft department. This has strengthened the imperial power and increased the national tax revenue. However, But it greatly violated the interests of the gentry.

During the Qing Dynasty, the power of the Han people had almost disappeared.

However, because of this, during the Yongzheng Dynasty, resistance never ceased.And there are endless rumors of slandering Yongzheng.

Ran Ming knew very well that it was not enough just to have enough humble scholars to check and balance the gentry, but also to lead the direction of public opinion, so as to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Ran Ming then told Ran Min the newspaper's philosophy and operating procedures.Let Ran Min find someone close to him to take care of the newspaper, no matter how much money he pays, he must run the newspaper.

At the same time, geishas who travel to and from various countries must also be controlled secretly. They are an important node in the dissemination of speech in this era.

Finally, Ran Ming said: "In the long run, the innate advantages that the gentry have had for thousands of years will gradually lose, and they will not be able to dominate the court. As for the land, it will be a bit difficult, because if the land of the gentry is moved, the gentry will be completely angered. Our country Wei I don’t have the strength to make a fuss yet!”

"So, we still want to let the gentry be domineering and lawless?" Ran Min said angrily.

Hearing this, Ran Ming shook his head and said, "My son came up with a plan called boiling frogs in warm water!"

Although Ran Min didn't know the meaning of boiling frogs in warm water, but he relied on three thousand soldiers to overthrow Zhao's rule, and he was very flexible and responsive.Ran Min snorted, "How do I do this?"

"Father, you can't treat the gentry with strong medicine. If you use strong medicine, it will arouse their resistance. Even if they win, they will lose both. If you can only cook slowly. It's like boiling a frog in warm water. In a comfortable environment , people are easily confused by the surrounding environment, and eventually lead to depression, indulgence and depravity. Because this process is a little bit of change, people complete the whole transformation in an imperceptible way, and it is too late to wake up. On the contrary , if a person is suddenly thrown from "heaven" to "hell", due to the huge gap, people's reaction is also very strong, so they can make a choice quickly, so that they don't know how they died in the end."

Ran Min said: "Even if the fire is warm, the gentry will always wake up one day, even if the cocoons are stripped off, the strength of the gentry will be weakened. However, the shi family with a thousand years has a deep foundation, and a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. If they We would still lose a lot if we revolted."

"Father is wise and has a unique vision. He hits the nail on the head and hits the nail on the head!" Ran Ming said, "This is not enough to eliminate the gentry, and it will also arouse the resistance of the gentry. We can dispel their motivation to resist, and we can solve the problem of the gentry smoothly and safely, which will not only maintain the political stability of the Wei State, but also increase the financial revenue of the Wei State, making the country rich and strong!"

Ran Min asked puzzledly: "The land is the lifeblood of the gentry, how can the gentry be liberated from the land willingly?"

Ran Ming smiled and continued: "It's simple to promote business?"

"Xingshang, isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"

Ran Ming asked back: "I dare to ask my father, what is the foundation and what is the end?"

Ran Min definitely doesn't believe that Ran Ming doesn't know what is the root and what is the end, but he really wants to know what Ran Ming really thinks, so he explained: "Everything has its origin and its end, and everything has its beginning and end. If you know the beginning and the end, it is the shortest way. Farming is the foundation, and business is the end. It means abandoning farming and engaging in business. Abandoning the root and pursuing the details.”

"To put it in a bad way, this is actually the fundamental manifestation of the gentry being a whore and setting up a memorial archway." Ran Ming said with a smile: "In the world, which gentry family does not participate in business? Of course, for the sake of face, they will not let the The immediate family members participate in the business, but the real behind-the-scenes proprietors are almost inseparable from the major gentry families. Take Liu Gongyuan, the uncle (meaning father-in-law) of the son-in-law as an example. It’s just a representative of the bright side. As for the salt, medicinal materials, and furs controlled by the Wang family in Taiyuan, and the ironware and weapon manufacturing of the Zheng family in Xingyang, they are famous all over the world.”

"As long as the father encourages the development of business and trade, the merchant class will grow in a short period of time and provide a large amount of tax revenue for the country. As long as the national tax revenue is sufficient for each expenditure, the father can gradually reduce the land tax of the common people. , Gradually make the land tax-free, as long as all the land in the world is tax-free, naturally no people will hang the land under the name of the gentry in order to avoid taxation, let alone create excuses and reasons for the gentry to force the powerful. If things go on like this, the income from farming is far less than that from doing business, who would be stupid enough to work hard?"

Ran Min fell into deep thought, and looked at Ran Ming with a strange gaze. It was rumored that Ran Ming was as intelligent as a monster. He didn't think it before, but when he looked at it now, a thought came to Ran Min's mind: "This guy, really It's a monster."

The problem of the gentry is the most difficult problem for the ruler in thousands of eyes. No matter how many capable and wise people face this problem, they are completely helpless. clean.

That night, Ran Min and Ran Ming, father and son, launched an offensive plan in the imperial study to deal with the culture of the gentry, the monopoly of land, the inheritance of knowledge, and the control of public opinion.

Ran Ming asked Ran Min to recruit Wang Meng into the palace, and the three of them made plans on the difficult issues of the Wei state such as opening schools, opening newspapers, promoting business and suppressing scholars, tax adjustments, and government rectification!

After finishing all this work, Ran Ming realized that he was about to lose his strength.

After all, Ran Ming is not yet fifteen years old, and with the long journey and staying up late, he sees that the problems that need to be solved have been solved, he has no pressure in his heart, and has slowly fallen asleep.

Seeing Ran Ming falling asleep, Ran Min asked Gong'e to carry the sleeping Ran Ming to bed.

After talking all night, Ran Min also discovered Wang Meng's extraordinaryness. No matter what sharp questions Ran Min asked, Wang Meng would always answer with impeccable perfection.

At this time, Ran Min suddenly had the intention of taking the exam Wang Meng, so he asked: "I am a reckless man with national hatred and family hatred, and I put it all on my body. I want to restore my great man to the world. Although my great Wei has no worries for the time being, I lack a strategy. Depth. Jizhou and Bingzhou are under the iron cavalry of the barbarians, so they are really vulnerable. It is not a one-day effort to eradicate the barbarians. , the civil strife in Yan and Qin will not last long, for many years or three years, at least one year, Yan and Qin will end the civil strife and become more and more stable. In my great Wei, there is Jin in the south, Qin and Liang in the west, Dai in the north, and Yan are both Tigers and wolves! Regardless of Henan, Luo, Hebei, and Hebei, they are all places of the Four Wars. I want to reproduce the greatness of the Han Dynasty. If Jinglue has any opinions, please elaborate, and Min is willing to listen!"

"How can you be so virtuous? If Your Majesty doesn't mind dirty ears, I have some immature opinions!" Wang Meng bowed his hands modestly and said: "Although the two places are vast, after decades of Hu Disasters, the devastation of the war, the devastation of the lives of the people, ten houses and nine empties, and the barren land, if you want to restore vitality, it will take at least ten years, or even more than twenty years to recover. If it is used as a foundation, it is not an ideal place."

"Based on the current situation of the Wei Kingdom, if we seek to unify the world through recuperation, there are only three roads to pursue. There are three strategies for your majesty to choose from. The products are rich. As long as the governance is good, it will not be able to become a trend. However, the land of Xu Yang also has shortcomings. This is the foundation of the Jin Dynasty. Jin will not sit back and watch Xu Yang make mistakes. With nearly tens of millions of people and abundant food and money, if they compete for Xu Yang, they will surely start endless wars with Jin. Moreover, the strength of Jin is its navy. The two states of Xu and Yang have dense water networks. Unfavorable, the Wei Zhishui division is still weak, not enough to take Xu Yang. Even if he takes it reluctantly, his vitality will be seriously injured, and he will be unable to deal with the threats from Dai, Yan, and Qin!"

"Zhongce" Wang Meng saw that Ran Min nodded in satisfaction, and he did not miss this opportunity to show his talent. He stood calmly, came to the sand table, pointed to Jingzhou on the sand table and said, "It is to use Yuzhou as a springboard to directly feign an attack. Nanyang, forcing Huanwen and Chen Chongbing to confront each other in Nanyang. Xinye ambushed. The West Road set off from Shiyan with [-] cavalry, passed Baokang and Nanzhang, passed the city, and took Yicheng. Yicheng is the station of the Xifu Navy in Huanwen. Huanwen has a number of large and small warships in Yicheng There are nearly [-] sailors and soldiers. As long as the cavalry appears in Yicheng, they can attack Huanwen's navy and threaten Xiangyang."

(End of this chapter)