Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 946 Never sit on the mountain and watch tigers fight

Chapter 952
Sima Dan's consideration is also reasonable. The per capita increase in military expenditure by three buckets of food is actually not a heavy burden.However, when a country is about to perish, there must be evildoers. Seeing that the state of Jin has already set in the west, the officials will join hands and prepare for the last one. Even if the state of Wei unites the world and destroys the state of Jin, they can still be rich.In this way, it is the people who suffer the most. Individual officials have increased taxes by three or five times.Now the people can't afford it.

Therefore, Sun Tai sent people to publicize Wei's policies among the common people of Jin. In addition, Wei Guo's secret agents and royal guards never gave up on infiltrating Jin. Naturally, Sima Dan was a tragedy.

To say that the people of Great Wei are like in heaven, even the common people of Jin who can’t read big characters know that the people under the rule of Wei are extremely happy, but Ran Ming himself may not know that his own fame at this time is spreading far and wide, even in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The common people can be said that Ran Ming is the most sage monarch since the Three Emperors and Five Emperors.Especially in Guangling County not far to the north of the river, the news had already spread to the south of the Yangtze River.

After the Wei State occupied Guangling County, it changed Shouchunzhi to Han County (now Hanjiang District, Yangzhou City). The common people don't care where the officials and lords work, they are most concerned about their own interests.Wei Guo’s pro-government in Guangling County was also carried out. First, all the people of the Jin Kingdom were registered and compiled, and the fields were distributed. Even if the official land was not enough, the government would provide free seeds and paid farming tools, and encourage the people to open up wasteland. The government stipulated, The wasteland reclaimed by the people is reported to the government, and after five years of cultivation, the government will make a land deed for it and levy taxes.The tax collected is three buckets per mu. If the government provides and farm tools are repaid, then the tax per mu is only one bucket and two liters.The most important thing is to abolish all corvee service except military service.

China is an agrarian society, and all dynasties have not imposed heavy taxes on the people. Usually, the government stipulates that the tax is one for fifteen, or one for ten.As a matter of fact, the Western Jin Dynasty government’s taxation regulations stipulated that for every [-] mu of land, a total of four dendrobiums were collected for state rent. In fact, dendrobium can also be said to be stone.According to this era, the yield per mu of fifty mu of land is generally between one stone and two buckets or one stone and eight buckets. Even on average, the yield per mu is one stone and four buckets, which is about [-] or [-] catties.The average rent per mu is less than one bucket of land.Although the land tax is not heavy, if poll tax and various miscellaneous taxes are added, the burden on the people will be heavy.In particular, due to the collusion between officials and landlords and wealthy households, most of the taxation pressure was shifted to small farmers, which seriously hindered social development and aggravated the hardships of farmers.At this time, although Sima Dan only increased taxes by [-]% and [-]%, although this ratio was not high, if it was shared with each owner farmer, [-]% or even [-]% of the income would be handed over to the state.Coupled with the heavy labor money, most of the owner farmers went bankrupt.He had to sell the land to the gentry, serve as a tenant for the gentry, or become a refugee.

Against this background, social contradictions in the Eastern Jin Dynasty became more and more conflicting. As Sun Tai raised the banner of rebellion, the banner he played was "expel the tyrant and welcome the holy emperor." The external propaganda is to use the place where the Jiangbei of the Eastern Jin Dynasty fell, and those people lived under the rule of Wei. How good, how happy.Not only did the imperial court have no miscellaneous taxes, but also no corvee. Even bridges, pavements, and ditches were all paid jobs.Every peasant who builds bridges, paves roads, and dredges ditches has three meals a day of dry rice, and meat the next day, although they are all cheap fish and pork, but for the people who don’t see meat all year round, this temptation is very big .

The people in the south of the Yangtze River who were still under the rule of the Eastern Jin Dynasty felt great resentment.A little knowledgeable gentry also knew that Guozuo of the Eastern Jin Dynasty could not grow a rabbit's tail.Coupled with Sun Tai fanning the flames, public grievances boiled.The rebel army was huge.In fact, Sun Tai did not attack indiscriminately. Like a certain party, he attacked local tyrants and robbed the manors, farms and warehouses of noble families and landlords, but did not distribute the land.The class struggle is very cruel. The gentry and landlord manors that were attacked were all ruined, especially the old and weak, women and children among them.But those women were abused first, and then cruelly tortured to death.

In the territory of Kuaiji Kingdom, it is also where the essence of the Lu family, the natal family of Empress Lu of the current dynasty, is located. The Lu family also suffered heavy losses like the Xie family. Lu Na asked Empress Lu for help.Empress Lu said: "Luck has changed, and the survivors of the previous dynasty have no choice but to let fate fiddle with them. Because it is irreversible, as for whether they can accept it, it is beyond the knowledge of this palace...Some things, even if they are people in the game, There is nothing I can do about it. This is not a matter of one family, but the collapse of a dynasty! I just hope that I can see through it, but I can’t see it through... There is nothing I can do about it."

At the end, Queen Lu's tone was very serious.In fact, from the beginning of the marriage between the Lu family and the Sima family, they were destined not to be spectators in the Eastern Jin court.

Lu Na was very sad. He knew all about the corruption in the imperial court, but unfortunately Lu Na was powerless.

Just when all the princes in the Wei Dynasty thought that Ran Ming would wait for the situation in Jin to deteriorate, and that Wei Guoguo would come to Jin as the savior and pacify the world in one fell swoop. , Zhen Guojun and the rebel army.

In the past few days, Ran Ming was as tired as a dog. He went to the battalions of the Fourth Army to watch the battle drills, queues and meals of each battalion. Every move of the emperor was actually a clear political signal.Ran Ming's abnormal behavior made the princes in the court have different thoughts, but it made Wei's army extremely excited.

I am afraid that only in the strange countries of the Celestial Dynasty, the army is afraid of war. All countries in the world use military merit as the only way to get promoted in the army. If soldiers want to get promoted and get rich, the only way is to fight.

Seeing that Ran Ming had gathered the morale of the army in this way, the civil servants tacitly began to prepare combat food and various supplies.The chief of the general staff Ji Wei asked Ran Ming: "Your Majesty, what if the state of Jin puts down the chaos of Sun Tai through recruiting?"

Ran Ming showed a fierce look on his face: "The opportunity has long been given to Sima Dan. He is not capable of sitting in this country, so why not leave it to me!"

The first year of Hongshi in the Great Wei Dynasty, the second year of Taihe in the Jin Dynasty, AD [-], since Sun Tai conquered Shanyin City on May Day, the entire Eastern Jin Dynasty has been in turmoil, especially now that the main force of the Eastern Jin Dynasty has been defeated. Contained on the Yangtze River defense line, it is impossible to send troops to quell the rebellion, and there is no resistance from the elite Jin army, which makes the situation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty even more corrupt.

As the number one general in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sima Xi, the king of Wuling, the general of the town army, the governor of the navy, Xie Shi, the governor of Xuyang Erzhou, the general of Pingbei, the general of Annan, Zhou Zhongsun, the governor of Ning and Yizhou, and the upstart of the Jin army, were promoted to Jiang. He Qian, governor of the state and governor of Jingkou, has been actively preparing for battle almost since Jimao Day.As for the Southernmost Governor of Guangzhou and the Governor of Jiaozhou in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, their attitudes are somewhat ambiguous, especially the newly promoted Governor of Guangzhou, General of Pingyue Zhonglang, and Wu Yinzhi of Fake Festival. As for Ruan Fu, governor of Jiaozhou, he actually planned to stay out of the matter.

Facing Sima Dan, Ruan Fu kept urging him to lead his troops to the north. Ruan Fu wrote to the court, claiming that the Jiaozhou army lacked armor, food and grass, and it was difficult to send troops. In order to prevent Baiyue natives from robbing Jiaozhou, Gu led his army to quell the Jiaozhou rebellion.

In fact, Sima Dan could see from Ruan Fu's attitude that he had a self-reliant heart. If there was no Sun Tai rebellion, he could have ordered Zhou Zhongsun, the governor of Ningzhou and Yizhou, to lead the army to suppress the rebellion. Anyway, Zhou Zhongsun would definitely be willing to include Jiaozhou into his rule.However, Zhou Zhongsun's main force guarded Gushu, and there was no way to leave, so Sima Dan could only let it go.

However, when the situation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty continued to deteriorate, Ran Ming personally wrote the declaration of the expedition: "Chenjun Xie Fang, is the cousin of Wei Queen Xie's family. However, as the uncle of Great Wei, he was tortured and killed by the bandit army, and there is no body left, Great Wei Tianwei must not be offended, no matter who murdered the uncle of Great Wei, the millions of soldiers of Great Wei will make him pay the price!"

This declaration of war with only more than [-] characters in it, even a farmer who could not read big characters could feel the angry meaning in Ran Ming's words after hearing it.

Looking at Ran Ming's declaration, Sima Dan's eyes grew more worried.That night, in Jiankang Xianyang Palace, Sima Dan howled and cried as he watched the successive bad news.Empress Dowager Chu Suanzi angrily reprimanded: "The state affairs are worrying, we should work together to conquer the state of China (recover the lost land in the Central Plains), how can we be a prisoner of Chu (how can we be so hopeless as the prisoners of Chu who were captured back then cry) What)?" Chu Suanzi's words were impassioned, criticizing Sima Dan's negative and pessimistic mood.

Sima Dan was ashamed when he heard the words, and Sima Dan said: "What should the mother teach the son and minister?"

"In the current situation, the state of Wei is determined to destroy the state of Jin. This is the enemy of life and death, and the most important thing is the most important." Chu Suanzi said with a heavy face: "If there were no Wei soldiers watching Jiangbei, we would A single Sun Tai can't make waves, but if Wei and the rebels match up, Jin will never be able to return to heaven. However, Tai's bandit army slaughtered the Xie family's children, giving Wei a reason to go south to interfere, but it also cut off Sun. The possibility of uniting Thailand and Wei. This is the only chance for the Great Jin."

Sima Dan frowned and said, "What does the empress mean, let the ministers recruit Sun Tai?"

"Of course!" Chu Suanzi nodded and said: "Wei Lord Ran Ming has a very reasonable sentence. He once said that the so-called loyalty is just that the bargaining chips for betrayal are not enough. Now whether it is Jin or Sun Tai, we all go The list of must-kills in the Wei State, the combination will benefit both, and the separation will result in two harms. Sun Tai can also distinguish which is more important. Sun Tai rebelled, and the reason is not for glory and wealth? The emperor's son is the solidarity of the country, so why waste a king? "

Sima Dan said worriedly: "Sun Tai made a rebellion, and most of the gentry in the eight counties were slaughtered. I am afraid that the courtiers will not support my ministers to recruit Sun Tai."

Chu Suanzi said: "Although it is emotionally embarrassing, is it important in the face of life and death? Once the Wei army goes south again, this time the country will be overthrown. How can there be eggs in the nest?"

In the past few years, Sima Dan has been very aggrieved. He can't control the situation as soon as he ascends the throne like Ran Ming.At this time, not only did he not have absolute military power and financial power, so Sima Dan had to build a new army by himself, building the Huben Army and the Zhenguo Army from scratch. For this reason, he also set his sights on Lingnan, such as crusade against the Baiyue aborigines, and seized the aboriginal property, which provided a material basis for the formation and training of the new army.Under such circumstances, Sima Dan made a big splash. If Ran Ming gave him ten years, Sima Dan would definitely be able to turn the barren Lingnan into a tax-heavy land.And it can become the first centralized emperor since the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

However, the ideal is full, but the reality is too skinny.

Sima Dan's side had just started to improve, but Huan Wen didn't want to sit back and watch Sima Dan slowly increase his strength, so he conspired to create trouble and lured Wei's army south.

In fact, Sima Dan also understood that Wei State had a strong heart to unify the world, and would not sit back and watch Jin State occupy half of the country, but Sima Dan also understood that although this war was inevitable, it could be greatly delayed.In fact, there is no need to postpone it for too long. Even if it is only a year, the situation will be greatly improved.

"Dissatisfaction with the ministers, in fact, this problem is very easy to solve! The main dissatisfaction of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River is that they have no military power, and now give them the military power!" Chu Suanzi said: "The emperor can make an order to order the rich families of the gentry to form an army. Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang, the four major southern gentry families, all gave them the establishment of an army, and let them raise their own funds and personnel."

In fact, this trick Chu Suanzi is very vicious. Since the state of Wei wants to Jin, she will muddy the water. The clan suffered a lot of loss of personnel and property. In fact, the loss in this incident was only skin chaos. Sun Tai's rebels couldn't get rid of the land, and the gentry like to hide money. The money may not be kept at home. There may also be hidden places where all eggs are not put in one basket. This is true for political speculation as well as for saving money.Although Chu Suanzi had no evidence, he had vaguely heard rumors that a large number of gentry deposited their money in the Bank of Wei for interest.As long as they are allowed to move, it will not only cause a large number of runs, but also affect the operation of Wei Guo Bank.

"Just like this, I'm afraid the situation will become even more difficult to control!" Sima Dan said: "If there are princes everywhere, where should the court be located, and where should the ministers be placed?"

Chu Suanzi smiled disapprovingly and said, "Why should the emperor consider such far-reaching considerations? Let's take into account the present moment. The gentry can only rely on the Jin Dynasty, because the Wei State does not have the soil for them to survive. It doesn't matter if these gentry move south to the north or the southern gentry. , they will definitely not be the opponents of the Wei gentry, even if they are united, they are still not opponents. The Wei gentry has always wanted to get rid of the Jin gentry, and as long as Wei Lord Ran Ming does not interfere, the Jin gentry can only follow us All the way to the dark."

"And the emperor, don't underestimate Sun Tai. This person is very utilitarian. This person was once taken hostage by the Wei army from Gushu. The Wei state entrusted him with the position of suzerain, but he escaped from the Wei state. In a short period of time, tens of thousands of troops have been gathered. The ability to pull the army is comparable to that of the Lord Wei. Although it will take several months to rectify to have combat effectiveness, once he has combat effectiveness, the emperor can designate him as Huainan King , and then ordered him to go north to Huainan, what do you think Shi Yue will do, he must go all out to attach himself, otherwise he will kill himself and apologize if he loses all the land?"

Chu Suanzi is actually quite optimistic about the situation in the south. She is not worried about Sun Tai, Huan Wen, or even Ran Ming, but the gentry of Jin. If the gentry work together, the ship of Jin will not sink, even if Jin At this time, the country is less than the land of five states (Jiangzhou, Guangzhou, Jiaozhou, Ningzhou, Yizhou), but it is much stronger than the Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. If you retreat to the south, you can't let go of Jiangzhou and Guangzhou. Even if Ningzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou are all lost, you can continue to retreat southward. It is still possible to dominate the Indochina Peninsula.

When Sima Dan and Chu Suanzi were discussing countermeasures in secret, they only heard the elder Qiu Mulang report: "Xiao Lezi, the regular servant of Sanqi, please see me!"

Chu Suanzi left in relief. Although Sima Dan was reluctant, the more critical the situation was, the more he needed Chu Suanzi's help.As for Xiao Lezi, it is even more tragic at this time. His Xiao family's injustice in taking Ran Ming's property was first, and then Xiao Lezi went against Ran Ming in every possible way. No matter how generous Ran Ming is, he will not tolerate Xiao Lezi's behavior .At this time, Xiao Lezi turned to Ran Ming, and the future would be very bad. Even if Ran Ming didn't kill him, Sima Dan would still kill him.

Moreover, the reputation of rebellion is not good. The Confucianism of this era is actually very peculiar. If it is a foreign conquest, they will have no pressure to surrender the enemy. However, in the civil war among the Han people, there are generally many people who are loyal and chaste.In this era, the ability to be an official is not important, but prestige is very important, so Xiao Lezi also cherishes his reputation very much. If he wears the hat of 'traitor', he will never want to take it off in this life, and he will never even think about being in a high position. .

After thinking a lot, Xiao Lezi finally decided to continue his allegiance to Sima Dan, because Xiao Lezi was different from others, he had no choice but to go to the dark one way.

(End of this chapter)