Can I get to the other side?

After Lu Bu retreated, he temporarily retreated to Wuchao.

Not only did he fail to defeat the enemy this time, but he was forced to flee. This was a big blow to him. He was so angry that he cursed without eating or drinking at night.

"Damn Cao Ren, so shameless!"

Lu Bu allowed the medical officer to bandage his wounds while cursing, "After I rest for a day and regain my strength, I will launch another attack. I will overwhelm that bullshit army and capture and kill Cao Ren!"

Lu Bu's face was full of resentment.

He was really frustrated in today's battle. The Cao army on the opposite side was so ungrateful that he had never been so cowardly in his life.

Although being outnumbered was commonplace for him, it was too shameless to send out seven generals at once to beat him.

It was really hard for him to swallow this breath!

Sima Yi on the side shook his head and said: "It seems that Cao Ren's skills have stopped here, and he actually arranged for eight generals to be stationed in Guandu. However, Cao Ren's military formation is unpredictable, and it is obviously impossible to break through the formation by force."

"Wen Gong should calm down a little. Even if we launch another attack tomorrow, the final result will be defeat."

He watched the entire battle from outside the formation today.

I have to say that the formation on the opposite side is really weird.

If it were not Lu Bu but someone else who rushed into the battle today, there would be no doubt that he would be trapped inside the enemy's battle formation, and it would be impossible to escape.

The key to the military situation is to defeat the enemy in one go. This momentum cannot be dissipated, nor can it be delayed for too long, otherwise morale will drop and it will be slowly worn away to death.

Therefore, whether the leader is brave or not is particularly important.

The opponent used seven generals to block the enemy and curb Lu Bu's charging momentum, which happened to target the weakness of the army's situation.

"What about that?"

Lu Bu was angry, but he did not lose his reason. Hearing this, he asked eagerly: "We can't be stopped here forever. Does the military counselor have any way to break the formation?"

There was no way to do it with force. When he needed to use his brain, he could only stare.

"I'm still thinking."

Sima Yi also had a headache. He frowned deeply and said, "This formation has something to do with the Qimen Bagua, but the Qimen way is not what I am good at."

"Let me think about it carefully for a few more days."

Although he saw some ways, it was only a few. If he wanted to find a way to break the formation, he would have to continue researching.

Although Lu Bu was unwilling, he had no other choice.

…

Yecheng, Tai'an Hall.

Liu Xie was reading the memorial presented by his ministers in his hand, his face was as gloomy as water, and there seemed to be thunder hidden in it.

There was silence in the hall.

All the ministers felt the pressure from the emperor above, and all of them bowed their heads and lowered their eyebrows, not daring to speak.

"snort!"

After a long time, Liu Xie threw the memorial heavily on the table, glanced at the ministers in the palace, and sneered: "A group of high-ranking aristocratic family members actually went to compete with the refugees for profit!"

"It turns out that my pioneering strategy is not for the refugees, but for you!"

"You guys really opened my eyes!"

Liu Xie was filled with anger at this time.

The policy of pioneering was originally a good thing that benefited the country and benefited the people, but it was no longer like that when it was actually implemented.

According to the situation reported in the memorial, after the policy was implemented, the famous families, wealthy merchants and gentry mobilized their servants and tenant farmers to go all out to open up the wasteland, and even spent money to hire people to open up the wasteland.

They relied on this advantage to seize a large amount of fertile and high-quality land, while the real refugees and common people got some barren land.

They were even forced to go far away to open up new lands.

In other words, only a small part of the benefits of this pioneering policy fell on the common people, and most of them were taken by those aristocratic families!

Facing Liu Xie's anger, all the ministers remained silent and looked at their noses and hearts, pretending not to hear.

"What a group of vermilion and purple nobles, what a group of Gonggun princes!"

Seeing no one answered, Liu Xie snorted, walked away, and strode away from Tai'an Palace.

The ministers looked at each other, and the silence in each other's eyes was completely gone.

So what if we compete with the people for profit?

Who hasn’t done this for hundreds of years?

It is to attract the thunderous wrath of the emperor, so what!

Shortly after Liu Xie returned to the announcement room, Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Zhuge Liang and Yuan Xi also came over one after another and bowed into the announcement room.

"Bang!"

Returning to the announcement room, Liu Xie no longer suppressed the anger in his heart, slapped the case hard, gritted his teeth and said: "Silverworm, the silverfish of the country!"

"The pioneering strategy I used to stabilize the people and give them land to farm was actually used by them as a tool to hoard land and seek profits!"

"They are so brave!"

Just now at the court meeting, he wanted to scold him directly, but the group of people below him were all pretending to be deaf and mute, and no one answered his question, which made him unable to express his anger.

Although the pioneering policy stipulates the maximum amount of land that one person can develop, the wealthy family has many slaves and tenants and the family has a large population, which cannot limit them at all.

If it hadn't been for today's memorial, he wouldn't have known that such a thing existed, and he couldn't believe that those aristocratic families dared to do such little tricks under his nose.

The aristocratic family is the greatest helper of the imperial power, and it is also the biggest enemy of the imperial power. He had only learned about it in books before, but today he really felt it.

Yuan Xi's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he said sternly: "Your Majesty, since they are so ignorant, they should be taught a lesson!"

"Leave this matter to me. I will definitely clean up all the noble families who compete with the people for land, so that they dare not do so again!"

He knew very well that the emperor attached great importance to the policy of land reclamation.

Since those noble families dared to reach out to compete for interests at this time, they should be prepared to have their hands chopped off!

"No!"

Guo Jia's face tightened, and he was the first to stand up to dissuade him. He bowed to Liu Xie with a serious expression and said: "Your Majesty, you must not use force to force them to submit in this matter."

"Doing so is only a temporary solution, not a fundamental solution. Not only can it not prevent the situation of noble families hoarding and annexing land, but it will also lead to complaints, which will do more harm than good!"

Those noble families hoarded land completely within the rules, and the land they obtained was actually obtained from land reclamation, not robbed, and they also handed over part of the land to the court in accordance with the policy. Everything is legal and compliant.

Now, just because they have hoarded too much land, they are using force to force them. This is breaking the rules on their own initiative.

"Feng Xiao is right."

Jia Xu also nodded and agreed: "At present, the major families mainly circumvent the restrictions of the land reclamation policy by registering the land obtained from the reclamation under the name of the tenant farmers of their clansmen."

"Although this move is shameless, it is in line with the rules. If you want to change the current situation, you can only start with policies, and it is not appropriate to use force."

Liu Xie's face was gloomy. He was of course clear about what Jia Xu and Guo Jia said. Although he was very annoyed by the actions of the major families, he had no intention of using force.

In the court game, force is the last resort.

Not everything can be turned over.

But it is not an easy thing to solve this problem without turning over the table. There are too many things involved.

Liu Xie knew that there was a way to solve the problem of the aristocratic families hoarding land-that is, to distribute the tax to the land.

But this move involves reform, which will inevitably shake the interests of the entire gentry class. Even if he is the emperor, he can't do it.

Even a powerful emperor like Yongzheng, who unified the empire, encountered many difficulties and almost failed when implementing this law, let alone him, who had not yet unified the world?

Reforms were not something he could handle now, and using the land tax to solve the problem of land reclamation was undoubtedly a sledgehammer to kill a chicken. Exposing his cards too early would make him lose the support of the entire aristocratic class, which would not be worth the loss.

Eat one bite at a time, and don't take big steps.

Putting these ideas aside, Liu Xie then said to Jia Xu, Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang: "Wenhe, Fengxiao, Kongming, you should each come up with a solution after you go back."

"We must find a feasible plan within a month. This matter must not be delayed any further."

The three bowed their heads and accepted the order.

After discussing this matter, Zhuge Liang and others began to handle government affairs in the Xuan Room, and did not leave until it was completely dark.

However, Liu Xie still did not return to the palace to rest, but stayed to take another look at the government affairs handled by Zhuge Liang and others to see if there were any inappropriate places and where he needed to learn.

After all, he asked his ministers to help with government affairs just to relieve his own pressure. If he didn't even look at the memorials, what was the difference between him and a lazy and incompetent monarch?

"Your Majesty, Noble Fu is asking for an audience outside the palace."

Just as Liu Xie was concentrating on handling the memorials, an eunuch walked into the Xuanshi and reported to him.

Liu Xie paused slightly when reading the memorials, raised his eyes to the eunuch, frowned and asked: "Noble Fu?"

Seeing that the emperor didn't remember, the eunuch reminded: "Your Majesty, it's the Queen's sister, the daughter of Princess Yang'an, the second daughter of the father-in-law."

Liu Xie recalled carefully and then remembered.

Half a year ago, not long after Queen Fu arrived at the palace, her mother Princess Yang'an asked to send her second daughter to his harem as a concubine.

At that time, in order to appease the Fu family, he agreed to this matter. However, except for visiting the noble lady Fu once on the night she entered the palace, he never went there again.

"Let her in."

Liu Xie relaxed his brows and said lightly.

The eunuch withdrew respectfully.

Soon, noble lady Fu walked into the hall led by the eunuch, and saluted Liu Xie a little stiffly, saying: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"No need to be polite."

Liu Xie put down the memorial in his hand, smiled at her and said: "I am still dealing with government affairs. My beloved concubine came here to see me. I don't know why?"

Although he didn't have much contact with noble lady Fu, he had the impression that she was a very quiet woman. This was the first time she took the initiative to see him in such a long time.

"Reporting to your majesty."

Noble lady Fu said carefully: "Today is the Queen's birthday. I want to visit the Queen and send some snacks. I hope your majesty will grant me permission."

Since entering the palace, Queen Fu has been recuperating in the Pepper Room.

Even Fu Wan and Princess Yang'an could not ask for an audience without the emperor's permission.

"The Queen's birthday?"

Hearing Fu Guiren's request, Liu Xie raised his eyebrows, then smiled and said, "I am too busy with government affairs and have neglected this matter. Then my beloved concubine will go to visit on my behalf."

"I will send the reward later."

Fu Guiren showed joy and thanked her repeatedly.

Looking at her figure leaving the Xuanshi, Liu Xie's deep eyes flickered slightly, and he stood up and followed her.

...

Pepper Room Palace.

Queen Fu was imprisoned in Jiaofang Palace for more than half a year. Although she had good food and clothing, she still lost a lot of weight.

At this time, she was half lying on the bed, looking at the continuous rain outside the window in a daze, and she finally looked back after a long time.

"Spring is here again..."

Empress Fu sighed softly. She looked listless, with lingering melancholy between her brows.

Living in the palace for so long, she forgot the years.

It wasn't until she saw the snow outside the window changing to drizzle that she realized that winter was over and spring had arrived again.

But she still stayed in this deep palace.

Although Liu Xie did not kill her, he put her under house arrest and was not allowed to have contact with anyone. Even the maids and eunuchs who served her could not talk to her.

Days like this are simply torture.

"Sister!"

A voice full of surprise and concern suddenly came, which shocked Queen Fu. She raised her head and looked over, and then she couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes.

"Sister? Why are you here?"

Looking at Fu Guiren walking into the palace, Queen Fu's jade face was full of surprise and disbelief, and she sat up from the bed.

Fu Guiren came to the bed and sat down. He smiled and said, "Sister, have you forgotten? Today is your birthday, and I came here specifically to see you."

Seeing the deep smile on Fu Guiren's face, Queen Fu was startled for a moment, then her eyes became moist, she reached out to hug her and cried softly.

"Sister, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"

Fu Guiren was a little at a loss. She didn't know why Queen Fu cried suddenly, let alone how to comfort her.

After a while, Empress Fu slowly stopped crying, wiped away her tears and said, "It's okay... I'm just so happy to see you."

"I didn't expect my sister to remember my birthday."

She was indeed crying with joy. After being imprisoned for so long, she suddenly saw her relatives. The excitement in her heart was indescribable.

"That's natural." Fu Guiren smiled, picked up the food box on the side, and said, "This is a pastry made by me. Sister, please try it."

Empress Fu reached out to take it. She was moved but remembered something at the same time. She asked with worry: "How did you get in? I was...I am recovering from illness. Your Majesty does not allow anyone to see me."

"You couldn't have sneaked in, right?"

"Of course not." Fu Guiren shook his head and said, "How could I have the courage? Your Majesty allowed me to come to visit you."

"And His Majesty also said that he will send a reward later to celebrate your birthday."

"Sister, Your Majesty really cares about you."

There was a hint of admiration in Fu Guiren's tone. She had not received even one visit from the emperor since she entered the palace, but the emperor was so concerned about Empress Fu.

After hearing this, Queen Fu's eyes were a little complicated.

She didn't answer the question, and while eating the cake, she pretended not to care and asked Fu Guiren: "Sister, have you heard about the false emperor of Xu County?"

"How...how is he doing now?"