Liu Bei was also very happy to see how happy he was under his rule.

He had suffered from discord in his administration.

When he was in Xuzhou, Cao Bao was also nominally part of his army.

As a result, Cao Bao turned to Lü Bu because of a disagreement with Zhang Fei, and Lü Bu finally occupied Xuzhou.

Therefore, after learning from that lesson, Liu Bei paid great attention to the unity of his subordinates, and even if there were differences, they would always be dealt with appropriately.

Therefore, although Zhuge Liang's family became the dominant one in the Shu Han Dynasty later, due to Zhuge Liang's own ability and few internal differences, the Shu Han Dynasty was quite stable even after Liu Bei's death.

At this moment, seeing everyone in harmony, Liu Bei smiled and said: "It would be best if you all can work together as one, Xiaoqing, Kongming, now that I have won the land of Yizhou, I have almost won the second place in the world, what should I do now?" "

Zhuge Liang asked: "What do you want, my lord?"

Liu Bei said in a deep voice: "Cao Mengde has also occupied the north. The population under his rule is more than ten million. If it grows bigger, I am afraid he will have millions of soldiers. I want to take advantage of his unstable foothold to capture Henan."

In the early morning, Zhuge Liang, Fazheng and the other three looked at each other and shook their heads slightly. Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Zhuge Liang stood up and said, "No, my lord."

"Why?"

Liu Bei asked: "It has been my lifelong wish to expedition to the Central Plains and revive the Han Dynasty. Now that the opportunity has come, why not?"

Shen Chen said: "At this time, both sides will suffer losses in the Northern Expedition. Sun Quan, Han Sui and Ma Teng will surely take advantage of the opportunity. Didn't your lord see what happened between Han Zilu and Dong Guo?"

Liu Bei smiled and said: "I am not Han Zilu, and Cao Cao is not Dongguo Qu. I am the strong Qin and the strong Jin. Even if the two fight against each other and the winner cannot be determined immediately, I am afraid that Geng, Huo, and Yu will be destroyed. Guo and other countries."

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "The current situation is definitely not that of the Spring and Autumn Period. Sun Quan, Han Sui and Ma Teng are not small countries. My lord still cannot underestimate them. We should first pacify Jiangdong or Guanzhong, maintain a stalemate with Cao Cao from the north to the south, and eliminate internal worries before we can make the northern expedition to foreign aggression." .”

"Takanao, do you think so too?"

Liu Bei looked at Fazheng.

This time, he made the greatest contribution to the pacification of Yizhou Fazheng, which made him trust Fazheng very much.

Fazheng nodded and said: "Yes, my lord, it is really not appropriate to have a direct conflict with Cao Cao at this time. We should resolve the internal disputes before heading north to the Central Plains."

"Um."

Seeing that the three important people under him all held objections, Liu Bei nodded and sighed: "I don't know how difficult it is to compete with Cao Cao. However, people have already reached their destiny. I don't know how long there is left, so I am a little impatient."

Shen Chen advised: "My lord, don't be anxious. Gaozu only started his army when he was forty-eight years old, and it only took him seven years to pacify the world. My lord's situation at this time is already much better than that of Gaozu."

"good."

Zhuge Liang also said: "The general trend in the future is divided into north and south. Cao Cao's land is mostly plains and there is no danger to defend. Our army takes the initiative and can send troops from Guanzhong, Nanyang, and Jianghuai at any time, making Cao Cao exhausted. As long as we can make Jingzhou and Yizhou If it is strong and strong, it will be necessary to recruit more elite soldiers and generals, and Cao Cao can control millions of people, which is not a big concern."

Liu Bei asked: "What should I do now?"

Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang looked at each other, and then Shen Chen took out a booklet from his pocket, walked to Liu Bei, presented it with both hands, and said: "Don't worry, my lord, my brother and I have already discussed the countermeasures and wrote "Xinguo Shu" One portion, dedicated to the lord."

"oh?"

Liu Bei quickly stood up and took the booklet. When he turned to the first page, he saw several big words written on it - King at home and tyrant at outside!

"King inside and overlord outside?"

Liu Bei couldn't help but read these words.

Shen Chen said: "Yes, he is the internal king and the external tyrant. He practices kingship internally and hegemony externally."

"I know this kingly and domineering way, but how should I implement it specifically?"

Liu Bei flipped through the booklet. The content in it cannot be said to be difficult to understand. It can only be said that there are many strategies. Each one needs to be understood one by one. It is better to let Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang explain it in detail.

Shen Chen said: "My Lord also knows the content of the King's Way, which is to unify the forces of Jing and Yi to carry out internal and external reforms. If the country wants to be strong, it must unite all the people to fight against external enemies, and if it wants to unite all the people, It must satisfy the interests of the majority of people.”

Liu Bei closed the pamphlet, put it on the desk and said, "Xiaoqing talked about class before. What we have to do is to help the lowest class. Is that the truth?"

"good."

Shen Chen looked around at the crowd and said: "Everyone, what is class? It is the national wealth occupied by people of different statuses. For example, the emperor is the highest class, followed by the three public servants and nine ministers, and then it decreases downwards. But generally speaking, I Divide the Han class into five levels."

"Which fifth floor?"

Fazheng and Zhang Song were both curious.

Shen Chen actually discussed the understanding of class with Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Pang Tong, and Ma Hui of Pang De Company.

They were extremely shocked by Shen Chen's profound thoughts. This kind of dialectical thinking was beyond their understanding.

However, under this kind of thinking analysis, many complex issues became extremely simple, giving them a clear understanding of why the situation at the end of the dynasty occurred.

Shen Chen thought for a while and shouted outside: "Here comes someone."

Chen Dao walked in, cupped his hands and said, "General."

"Get a pen and paper."

"only."

Chen Dao went out to get pen and paper.

Shen Chen sketched a pyramid structure on paper.

But it is different from ordinary pyramids. The first layer has a small area, the largest area is the second layer, and then it becomes a normal pyramid as it goes up.

The current structure of the Han Dynasty is very similar to the Indian caste system, with slaves at the bottom, but the number of slaves is far less than that of ordinary people, so the structure is naturally different from the ordinary pyramid.

As a professional architectural designer, the painting of this pyramid was almost perfect, and each layer was marked. Fazheng Zhang Song, including Liu Bei, all joined in.

"Look, everyone."

Shen Chen pointed to the top pyramid and said: "The highest class is the emperor, and I call him the highest ruling class."

"Um."

Fazheng slightly nodded his chin and said, "The emperor does have the greatest power."

Shen Chen pointed to the second level and said: "This is the bureaucratic class, ranging from the three gongs and nine ministers to the county magistrate and county magistrate. Although they have different levels, the same thing is that they all have the power of life and death over the people at the bottom. .”

"The commander of a county can decide the life or death of the people in the county."

Zhang Song sighed: "I have seen this kind of thing countless times, especially in these troubled times. Many counties have no order at all. Whoever has soldiers in their hands is the county magistrate and can kill county citizens at will."

Shen Chen pointed to the third level and said: "This is the powerful class of aristocratic families. These people are often attached to the existence of the second-level bureaucratic class. The bureaucratic class becomes the protective umbrella of the powerful class of aristocratic families. If one person serves as an official, the entire family will become a wealthy citizen of the county." ,Their source of wealth is to rob ordinary people's land."

"Indeed."

Liu Bei also nodded: "Although my father was a county magistrate back then, he was an honest official. After his father died of illness, his family also declined. However, many of my father's colleagues joined forces with local powerful families to plunder and plunder.

They plundered the people wantonly. Because of this, I couldn't stand the officialdom, and I didn't want to join in with them, so I whipped the postal supervisor angrily."

When faced with the extortion of the postal governor, Liu Bei could actually bribe him. Although he had no money, he had power. As a county lieutenant, he was considered the third-in-command in the county. If he wanted to engage in robbery, he still had to resort to force.

It was very easy, but he didn't want to do it, so he whipped the governor and abandoned his post.

There are still some examples of this in the Eastern Han Dynasty, such as Sima Zhi, the governor of Julu, who was unwilling to reach out to the local people when faced with the blackmail of Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong, and eventually committed suicide. He chose to remonstrate with death in the hope that Han Ling Emperor

The emperor turned around.

It's just that there are still too few examples like Sima Zhi and Liu Bei. Facing exploitation from the upper levels, most officials have no money and dare not engage with those wealthy families with stronger backings than them, so they can only extend their hands to the people, so that even if they

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion was put down, uprisings continued, and the country became riddled with holes.

"The last two classes are divided into the common people and the slave class. The interest groups composed of the bureaucratic class and the powerful class occupied the people's fields and used the people's labor force to acquire a large amount of wealth. Back then,

Cao Cao's father, Cao Teng, paid 100 million yuan to Emperor Ling in order to become the Third Duke, which shows how wealthy these people are."

Shen Chen finally pointed to the fourth and fifth floors: "And their wealth is based on robbing the common people and the slave class. They turned the people's land into their own land, and turned the people's population into

Your own slaves do not have to pay taxes to the court, and all land income goes to them. The final result is that they become rich and the people become poor, cannot afford to eat, and eventually choose to rebel."

This is the basis of feudal land annexation.

In fact, it's not that ancient people didn't know these things, otherwise there wouldn't have been so many reforms in the past dynasties. It's just that their understanding was more general. Unlike Shen Chen, who had experienced modern education in later generations, any junior high school or high school history book would have an understanding of ancient society.

The analysis is extremely profound.

Therefore, after the explanation is clear, everyone will understand it at a glance.

After listening to this, Fazheng felt that many of his doubts had been solved. He immediately said in awe, "Xiaoqing's words are so inspiring."

Zhang Song also sighed: "When I read "Historical Records" and "Hanshu" before, I had some thoughts like this, but couldn't figure out the key. Now after listening to Xiaoqing's analysis, I understand the reasons for these principles."

Shen Chen smiled and said: "It's not that everyone doesn't understand these principles, it's just that no one has discovered them or found them. I just summarized based on the experience of predecessors. For example, in the late Han Dynasty, Minister Shi Dan once advocated "limiting farmland"

"Restricting slaves", but in the end it could not be realized because it offended the bureaucrats and powerful interest groups of aristocratic families."

Liu Bei hurriedly asked: "Is there a way to solve it?"

Fazheng, Zhang Song, and Liu Bei all looked at him, but Zhuge Liang's expression did not change at all, because he had discussed this issue with Shen Chen countless times.

"It's a pity."

Shen Chen shook his head: "This problem has no solution, and there is no solution."

"No solution?"

Liu Bei murmured to himself: "But Kong Mingxiaoqing, you told me that the division of Jingyi officials would solve many problems."

"It's just an initial relief, but it can't be eradicated."

"My lord, think about it. Strictly speaking, the emperor and the people should stand on the same side. Because the people are the foundation of the emperor's rule. Without the people, the Han Dynasty is just a loft in the sky, which will inevitably collapse. Mencius has long said that "the people are the most valuable, and the country is the most important." "It is easy for you to take it lightly." This shows that the sages have already seen clearly."
To be continued...