After Mu Ang finished speaking, Justice Qian was about to nod, but Mu Zhan suddenly spoke.
"Second brother, I heard that you spent 260,000 taels of silver on Jade Street yesterday to buy a piece of aniseed and cut it into pieces?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the meeting hall buzzed, and the Duke of Guizhou, Mu Sheng, also looked at Mu Yan in surprise. Two hundred and sixty thousand taels!
"Are you happy?" Mu Yan locked eyes with Mu Zhan.
...Mu Zhan gritted his teeth, "As the crown prince, you spent so much money to learn stone betting from others, which established an image for local officials and people who spent money like water. It ruined not only your reputation, but also our Mu's reputation."
The reputation of the government will be ruined."
He looked serious and sincere.
Mu Yan curled up the corner of his mouth and stared at him: "Did I spend your money? Did I spend the Mu Mansion's money?"
"Even if you don't have the money in the mansion, as the heir apparent..."
Mu Yan interrupted him: "Since you know that I am the crown prince, isn't it inappropriate for you to be lecturing others?"
She glanced at him coldly, then glanced at the dozens of subordinate officials and staff on both sides, and said with a calm yet dignified expression: "Discuss matters."
"Yes!" Everyone below responded in unison. No one dared to say no.
Some officials began to report the matter to Mu Sheng.
Mu Zhan felt such hatred in his heart. A turbid air blocked him and he couldn't get up or get down.
Originally, he wanted to take advantage of Mu Yan's stone gambling yesterday to discredit him among his officials and staff, causing him to lose the hearts and support of his officials.
After all, he has lived in the capital for a long time, and many officials in Yunnan are not familiar with him. On the first day he participated in political discussions, he spent money like water and looked like a prodigal. It would be more convenient for him to ruin his image and lose his right to speak.
In future actions, everyone will remember him as the eldest son of the Mu family, rather than the heir apparent who stayed in the capital.
Who would have thought that this damn person actually interrupted him and corrected his title! He couldn't even call him second brother! He could only be called prince!
I have anger in my heart and nowhere to vent it.
Mu Yan was not affected at all. He stood tall and straight, sitting on the right side of Mu Sheng.
I don’t know if his aura is too strong, but his straight face makes people feel more majestic than the Duke of Guizhou. Originally, the meeting hall was always procrastinating every day, and one thing was discussed over and over again, but there was no conclusion.
.
It has only been less than half an hour today, and several important matters have already been agreed upon. Even Mu Sheng could not have thought of it.
"When the Duke, the Crown Prince, the Old Marquis and the Late Marquis were still alive, we had accumulated millions of acres of land. Now, because the imperial court has been in arrears with military expenditures for many years, the health offices in various places have reported that they plan to continue to accumulate land. However, many chieftains in various places are dissatisfied.
I don’t know how to deal with it, should I continue hoarding land?”
As soon as the official finished speaking, the place fell silent.
Since the Han Dynasty, the land hoarding system has been a system implemented by various dynasties in order to ensure the supply of the army, using idle soldiers to reclaim wasteland and ensure the supply of military food.
The old marquis was ordered to guard the border and reported to the court that he wanted to stockpile land. He received Taizu's approval. By the time of the late marquis, one million acres of land in Yunnan had been stockpiled.
In recent years, the imperial court has been in arrears with its military expenditures. Fortunately, there is military land supply. Otherwise, the soldiers would not only be without military support, but also not even have enough to eat. When the military morale becomes unstable, it is unknown what effects it will have.
"My grandfather and uncle collected a million acres of land during their time. Isn't this enough? Do we need to store more?" Mu Zhan spoke first.
"Uh..." The subordinate officer choked on what was going on.
Mu Yan glanced at Mu Zhan lightly, and then at the Duke of Guizhou next to him.
The Duke of Guizhou was glanced at by his gaze, and he suddenly felt that there was a bit of ridicule in his gaze. What was the ridicule? He glanced at each of his two sons, thoughtfully.
Mu Ang held his forehead, but he didn't speak.
Mu Jun, Mu Ang's legitimate son, glanced at Mu Yan and said nothing. His eldest brother Mu Xi just wanted to echo Mu Zhan's words, but his father Mu Ang glanced at him coldly and swallowed his words in shock.
The official who was responsible for the matter gritted his teeth and reported back: "My eldest son, the imperial court has been in arrears with military expenses for two years. There are as many as 300,000 troops stationed in various parts of Yunnan. Even if one million acres of land are hoarded, one person can only get three acres.
The yield of three stones per mu of fertile land is not enough for ordinary soldiers to pay for a year's military expenses. Three hundred thousand people have to eat and drink every day, as well as the army and horses, as well as various military expenses... The army has not purchased new weapons for several years.
Already."
If the rebellion had not been quelled this time by the prince's leadership and bravery in fighting, and his promise to resolve everyone's military disputes, I am afraid that the morale of the army would have been weakened, and no one would have known how long this battle would last.
Looking at Mu Yan sitting in the seat, he suddenly had a lot of hope for this prince.
Mu Zhan probably felt that what he had just asked was a bit stupid, and his face burned. But he was not willing to let people laugh at him, so he looked at Mu Yan, "I wonder what the prince has to do?"
When the people below heard this, their eyes turned to Mu Yan.
Mu Yan, however, did not even look at Mu Zhan. He only said to the official who was responsible for the matter: "When the old marquis and the late marquis were here, the strategy they set was 'three garrison and seven hoards, and garrison and hoard'. How could this happen?"
Do you want to continue stocking up?”
"Yes, the old marquis and the late marquis did indeed formulate the military strategy in this way, but..." The subordinate officer glanced at Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng said, "I ordered all the guards to stop hoarding land. First, the amount of land hoarded before was sufficient. In order to prevent other generals guarding the border from writing to the court, we had too much land hoarded in Yunnan. Second, we and other places
What’s different is that the chieftains in Yunnan are doing their own thing, and if they hoard too much land, they may suffer a backlash.”
Yunnan was included in the territory of this dynasty for only a few decades. The local chieftains worked in their own camps and each had their own power.
Although the imperial court sent civil servants to regulate the affairs, the chieftains from various places did not buy into the chief envoy's account. They had constant disputes due to feuds, competition for land, or various reasons, and there were also rebellions from time to time. This all relied on the Mu government to regulate the affairs in the middle.
Governance and balance.
In other important border defense towns, the military and administration are naturally under the control of the army, and civilian officials are in charge of local and civil affairs. Only Yunnan is special. The Mu government is in charge of the military, administration and people's livelihood of the province.
However, the excessive power of the Mu government caused the imperial court to be wary of it and suppressed it from time to time. It has been in arrears with military expenditures for many years. In order to stabilize the morale of the military, the Mu government almost always finances military expenditures by itself, but this amount is not easy to control.
To put it bluntly, the imperial court was afraid that the Mu family would become powerful, and the Mu family was also afraid of losing Yunnan.
"Yes, the original decision not to continue hoarding land was also carefully considered by all parties." Mu Ang nodded in agreement.
Mu Yan said: "One moment and another. The treasury used to be full of money, but now it has to move the capital and build the city of Beiping. The court's expenditures are huge, and I'm afraid it won't be able to take care of Yunnan. Even though it had previously sent a letter to the capital, requesting the Ministry of War to allocate arrears of military expenses
, I'm afraid there are many shortcomings. Furthermore, the military policy of "three garrison and seven garrison, and garrison and hoarding" was supported by Taizu. As for the chieftains from various places, the imperial court still retained their hereditary status, which was already a generous thing, but I still want to
Can’t we compete with the imperial court for land?”
Well……
Everyone thought about it carefully and felt that what the prince said was true.
The whole of Yunnan belongs to the imperial court. Aren't the soldiers guarding the border here under the orders of the imperial court? Are they to be deprived of food, clothing and warmth? Are they expected to look at the faces of chieftains from all over the country?
The eyes of the officials and staff looking at Mu Yan secretly changed.