The steward led a guest whose head and face were covered by a hood into the study. Gu Fan waved his hand and motioned for the steward to close the door and leave.
After the guest sat down, he lifted his hood behind him. However, Gu Fan seemed to be afraid that someone would peek out of the window and moved the candlestick on the table to the other side. He frowned and said with some displeasure: "Didn't I say that?
There is no need to visit. If there is any news, will I send someone to see you? I will help you speak in front of His Majesty. If this gets out, what will Your Majesty think if I say something else? Do you want to ruin your own affairs?"
"I have to be careful. I only met Manager Zhou in person when I entered the Prime Minister's Mansion. Isn't it possible that Prime Minister Gu can't even trust Manager Zhou?" Deng Gui asked with a smile.
"..." Gu Fan said, "His Majesty has agreed to transfer you to Huaidong as deputy envoy to assist Wen Hengyue in guarding Chuzhou and other places."
"Why is Duke Wen going to Huaidong? Is it possible that Prime Minister Gu is not interested in establishing an envoy to Huaidong?" Deng Gui asked somewhat unexpectedly, "Deng Gui thought he could assist Prime Minister Gu in governing Huaidong this time."
"As long as you are willing, you will naturally have a chance." Gu Fan said.
"That's true. Considering Wen Gong's physical condition, he can only last for a year and a half after being appointed to Huaidong." Deng Gui suddenly realized, "At this time, Huaidong is in chaos, and the generals of the Shenwu Army are uneasy. There is really no need for Prime Minister Gu.
Go join in the fun at this time..."
Gu Fan did not fully trust Deng Gui, so he had no intention of telling him his plans from the bottom of his heart. He said: "It is late and there are not many edicts. Deng Hou still pays attention to his words and deeds. I will not keep Deng Gui here."
It’s time for a feast.”
"I have been idle in Jianye for the past two days, and I got a few knickknacks, which I personally gave to Mr. Gu to enjoy." Deng Gui took out a brocade box from his sleeve, and when he opened it, he found six pearls the size of pigeon eggs.
Pushed towards Gu Fan.
"Deng Hou is interested." Gu Fan picked up a big bead and looked at it in front of the candle.
"Marquis Jingsheng is very ambitious and wants to swallow up Jingxiang. However, Mr. Ge is not making good progress in recruiting the lake bandits and it is difficult to control him. What strategy does your Majesty want to use to deal with it?" Deng Gui asked slowly.
"At this time, the imperial court is troubled internally and externally, and Chushan has become powerful. How can it be so easy to deal with it?" Gu Fan said, "To deal with Chushan, we can only plan it slowly..."
"Oh, so your Majesty will acquiesce in Jingxiang, and Nanyang will be placed under the control of Chushan Xingying?" Deng Gui said doubtfully, "Jingsheng Marquis controls the two states of Rucai, and it will be difficult for the court to control it. Then let him cede Nanyang and Jingying."
There are more than 300,000 households in the 22 counties of Xiang. Aren't you afraid that it will be more difficult to check and balance in the future?"
Gu Fan laughed and said: "Chu Mountain controls Rucai Prefecture, and it has to rely on the imperial court to provide three million guan of money and food every year to barely resist the enemies in the west of Beijing and Heluo. This time, Jingxiang and Nanyang will be included in Chu Mountain. How can the imperial court possibly
Will they continue to compensate Chushan with extra money and food? Whether it is a gain or a loss, we can’t say yet. In the final analysis, Marquis Jingsheng acted too hastily and showed his tail too quickly!”
In Gu Fan's opinion, sometimes it's just simple arithmetic.
The prefectures and counties on Jinghu North Road have repeatedly raised taxes, and the taxes that can be collected are only more than 5 million guan. After deducting local consumption, only 2 million guan are spent by the central government.
If others don’t know the situation in Nanyang, Jingxiang, how can Gu Fan not know it?
In addition to taxes on the field tax, sales and other miscellaneous items, the total amount of money and grain collected in the three years since the founding of the 22 counties in Nanyang, Jingxiang, and 300,000 households was about 4 million yuan, including a large amount of grain in recent years.
The gentry moved into Xiangyang, which greatly increased the tax and sales revenue of Xiangyang Prefecture.
After deducting this item, the total tax in Jingxiang and Nanyang is only 3 million yuan.
The key is the daily expenses of the prefecture and county government offices, prefecture and county cities, inspections of military forts, post roads, dike repairs, prefecture and county sword archers, patrols of rural soldiers, arrests and security, etc., which still consume more than half, and can really be taken away by the camp.
The money and food needed to raise troops and horses may only be 1 million to 1.5 million guan.
In Gu Fan's view, Xu Huai gave up the three million military pay that the imperial court fixed every year and forcibly brought Jingxiang under his rule. It was not cost-effective and seemed too hasty.
"This is true. Since the founding of the Dayue dynasty, people have relied on scholars and officials to rule the world. Jingshenghou has offended many gentry from Rucai and Caizhou. His ambition is to occupy Nanyang and Jingxiang, which also caused Nanyang, Jingxiang and gentry to move to Jianye - Chu
The mountain does not use gentry, but uses military officials to govern the place, and the cost is even more staggering," Deng Gui said with emotion. "Besides, the generals are fighting bloody battles with their heads raised, not just to have a wife and son, and to get some fields and houses to support themselves.
Years? Chushan is fine. The land restriction is imposed on the generals in the army. How many people will be left to work for him in the end? I also think Chushan will not be able to do this for a long time."
"Deng Hou is a sensible person," Gu Fan said.
"I covered my head and face when I came to see Prime Minister Gu. In addition to being uneasy and wanting to confirm the news as soon as possible, I also had something to tell Prime Minister Gu," Deng Gui said.
"Say." Gu Fan said.
"At the beginning of the dynasty, the imperial army and their families were stationed in various camps in the capital and were under the jurisdiction of the three yamen. The generals were sent to the Privy Council for expeditions and commanded troops to garrison border states or fight against enemy territory. Their families did not travel with the army," Deng Gui said, "
Later, because Bianzhou was really far away from the capital, a garrison was launched every three to five years, and the generals spent half of the time wandering around. They were constantly tired, and then it was gradually changed to a fixed garrison for the Forbidden Army and their families. As of now.
Generally speaking, soldiers and horses are no longer fixed to defend one place. They often need to be mobilized between different areas and cities according to changes in the battle situation. At this time, it is really inconvenient for family members to move with them. I don’t know what others think.
Yes, if the imperial court issues an edict this time for the Xuanwu Army to guard Chuzhou, I would like to ask the imperial court to set aside an area in the south of the Yangtze River for the Xuanwu Army to move its soldiers and their families into a safe place, so that the soldiers can serve the imperial court without any distractions.
…”
"Oh, you really think so?" Gu Fan looked at Deng Gui in surprise and asked uncertainly.
At the beginning of the Dai Viet Dynasty, the garrison areas and garrison areas of the Forbidden Army officers were strictly separated.
In the early years, the generals and their families of the Forbidden Army were stationed near the capital and were under the control of the three yamen. The generals were transferred to the border states in turn every three years to accept the command of the border generals to guard the borders and resist foreign enemies. At the same time, the border generals at all levels would serve in different positions.
The defense zones are rotated.
This effectively prevents border commanders from rebelling against the imperial court after taking control of military power.
The reason is simple. The families of the middle and lower-level military officials and ordinary soldiers are all in the capital, and the garrison of border states is rotated every three to five years. No matter how ambitious the border generals are, there are only a few of the middle- and lower-level military officials and ordinary soldiers who are willing to do so.
Follow the generals to rebel or defect to foreign enemies?
If a general is really ambitious, the court usually only needs an imperial edict to easily win it over.
This is also the key to the fact that the ministers, who represent the will of the imperial court, can usually effectively control the generals.
However, this system is difficult to implement in the long term.
Because Gyeonggi is too far away from Bianzhou, the garrison is carried out in a three-year cycle, and it takes more than a year for the generals to travel back and forth.
In the later period, the size of the imperial army also became larger and larger. Millions of small families were stationed near the capital all year round. In addition, the population living in the capital increased rapidly. The court needed to recruit millions or even thousands of stones of grain from all walks of life every year to ensure supply.
In the end, the border army generals and their families had to be relocated to the garrison area.
Chihu invaded the south, the Central Plains fell, and Emperor Jianji ascended the throne in Xiangyang. At that time, the situation was already urgent to the point of annihilation of the country. Money, food and weapons were extremely scarce, and the court was not allowed to consider the separation of garrison areas and garrison areas, and then rushed to catch up.
Moving the capital and the Huainan War.
Even for the Imperial Guard Zhang Xin's unit, the imperial court did not have time to set up a garrison outside the camp. The generals and families were managed separately, and they were all mixed into several strongholds near Jianye City.
The daily drills and actual command of the Suwei Forbidden Army are all handled by generals such as Zhang Xin and Yu Gong at the same time. They are not really divided into two systems. They are clearly under the control of the Privy Council and the Imperial Camp Division.
All this also caused the actual power of military officials to expand unprecedentedly.
Deng Gui's loyalty to the imperial court and the new emperor was probably more direct and unmistakable than moving the generals and his family to live together in Jianye or somewhere south of the Yangtze River and accepting the jurisdiction of the imperial camp.
So much so that Gu Fan even doubted whether he heard it correctly.
We must know that Ge Boyi failed to recruit the Andong Jing thief army. The most critical disagreement was that the Jingnan Zhiji Division strongly demanded that Sun Yanzhou and other thief troops separate their soldiers from their families and accept resettlement.
"Why, does Mr. Gu think I'm joking?" Deng Gui asked.
"You do have this intention. I will go to the palace with you tomorrow to meet the saint." Gu Fan said.
Emperor Shaolong had been very suspicious of Deng Gui before, and Gu Fan was worried that it would affect Emperor Shaolong's trust in him. Although he advocated that Deng Gui be appointed deputy envoy to Huaidong, he did not dare to let people know that he had close contact with Deng Gui.
If Deng Gui really wanted the Xuanwu Army's garrison to be placed in Jianye and accepted the control of the Yuying Division, he was just following the imperial edict to lead the garrison generals to Huaidong to garrison, so why would Gu Fan have any worries?
He could not wait to bring Deng Gui to the palace to meet the saint all night long.
"Deng Gui's support for Your Majesty and the imperial court depends on the advice of Prime Minister Gu," Deng Gui said with cupped hands, "Perhaps it would be better if Prime Minister Gu goes to the palace tomorrow to give advice, and Deng is in the Privy Council to listen to the edict at any time!"
"Haha, easy to say, easy to say!" Gu Fan laughed loudly.
Deng Gui said that all this was due to Gu Fan's persuasion, and he asked Gu Fan to go to the palace to admonish the matter, so Gu Fan naturally took the greatest credit for the whole thing.
