Qin Lang, who was covered in dust, came to pay his respects, but was stopped softly by the eunuch.
"I'm afraid it's not appropriate to see His Majesty now."
Regarding Qin Lang's confusion, the eunuch explained this.
He gently led Qin Lang to take a look at the emperor who was chatting with Xiahou Hui from a distance, and then suggested softly, "General Xiahou has just arrived. Your Majesty will consult for a long time. If not, general, please go back and take a bath first." See you again after you change your clothes?"
"More reminders."
Nodding slightly in greeting, the cautious Qin Lang shook his head and refused, "However, I'm still waiting here. If your Majesty is interested in asking about the details of the battle, I will not stop delaying."
Well, he just came back from Dongsan County.
Previously, I heard Cao Zhen's words of "sending the imperial clan to the front line for training". During this attack on Shu, Emperor Cao Rui also sent Xia Houxian and Cao Zhao to oversee the Zhonglian camp respectively. The Zhongjian camp was assigned to Zhang He and dispatched to attack from Baoxie Valley. Hanzhong: Due to the lack of cavalry on the Jingxiang front, Qin Lang was sent to supervise the Xiaoqi camp under Sima Yi's control.
Now that all the troops have returned, he, who is closest to Xuchang and supervises the cavalry, is naturally the first to come back and resume his duties.
Of course, he might have waited in vain.
Now Emperor Cao Rui's thoughts are not on the Jingxiang or Yongliang fronts, but on how to rectify the internal affairs.
The reason is Xia Houhui's answer.
However, when Emperor Cao Rui asked Xiahou Hui whether his previous plan of exhausting Shu could still be implemented, Xiahou Hui was silent for a while and then said sadly, "Your Majesty, it is not our country of Wei that can exhaust Shu or not, but whether Shu I’m exhausted.”
It also made Emperor Cao Rui suddenly realize.
He was already smart, but the authorities were confused for a while.
Yes, after the defeat of Shu, the offensive and defensive momentum of the two countries is no longer dominated by Wei!
Because of the failure of the Emperor Cao Cao and the Great Sima Cao Zhen to compete with the Shu Kingdom for Hanzhong County, for a long time, no one in the Wei Dynasty and the public would lightly say that the Shu Kingdom could be conquered. Moreover, because of Guo Huai and Fei Yao Due to the ruins, the princes of the temple and the generals of Yongliang did not think that the strategy of selecting a few elite troops to frequently harass Wudu was feasible.
In other words, the prerequisites for Xiahou Hui's policy of exhausting Shu are no longer there.
And his claim of "whether Shu is exhausted" is also easy to understand.
Before Cao Zhen's attack on Shu failed, the Shu Kingdom had raised troops to invade Yongliang three times in two years; now that Wei's inability to recapture Hanzhong County has been proven again, how could the Shu Kingdom not go out in force and invade Yongliang~
Therefore, Xia Houhui's answer is also a subtle question about the emperor Cao Rui's thoughts - facts have proved that Bashu should not be eager to pursue it. Will he let go of Wei's arrogance of monopolizing seven percent of the world, abandon unnecessary pride and focus on reality? Isn't it shameful to keep a strong wall and clear the country, passively defending, and just wait for Bashu to tire itself out?
Cao Rui was speechless for a long time.
Wei Guo had advantages in both territory and population, but he was unwilling to implement passive defensive tactics.
But when I calmed down and thought about it carefully, I found that facts speak louder than words, and I couldn't accept it.
It is true that with Wei's war background, it is not unbearable to lose in military battles, but Xia Houhui's previous mention of "defeat without defeat" has become a prophecy!
Since he succeeded to the throne, Cao Xiu's attack on Wu was defeated, and Cao Zhen's attack on Shu was also defeated. The clan generals who relied on to consolidate the country had no successors, and now they have suffered another blow to their prestige. As a monarch, his top priority is not to be willing to accept it. , but consider how to appease people's hearts and how to make the country long-term and stable.
"Fei, the second general Guo has been in Yongliang for a long time, and his troops are also quite elite. He met the Shu general Wei Yan at the station, but he came back defeated. It is a real disappointment to me!"
Emperor Cao Rui, who had been silent for a long time and still had no idea, suddenly sighed with emotion, "Since the late emperor, our Wei State has won many battles with the thief Wu and Bashu, and we have won less and lost more. This means that our Wei State soldiers are no longer able to fight." ?Or is it because the temple’s planning is not good enough?”
It should be a combination of both.
Xia Houhui just replied silently in his heart.
He knew that Emperor Cao Rui also had the answer in his heart, but he just sighed with emotion at the right time and had no intention of letting him answer.
However, at this moment, he suddenly remembered that when he visited his fourth brother Xia Houwei before, he had witnessed the lifeless scene of the scholar's family, like a walking corpse, so he quickly took over, "Your Majesty, Hui secretly thought that the soldiers might be embarrassed to fight." It’s even more so.”
Um?
Hearing this, Cao Rui, who was just expressing his feelings, couldn't help but look sideways.
Could it be that during the few months he was in Huainan, he discovered something unusual in the army?
He secretly said in his heart, he made a solemn appearance and urged, "Zhiquan can speak in detail. Well, there is no need to be taboo about other things. The words here should not be spread outside the ears."
"only."
Xia Houhui responded and did not answer, but asked first, "I wonder if your majesty has ever heard that when Emperor Wu died in the past, the Qingzhou army made noises about leaving the military and leading them away? Emperor Wen also asked about the family of the scribes of the governor of Hedong. There are many widows, is that what he said about 'giving birth to a wife'?"
Uh~
Of course Emperor Cao Rui had heard of it.
I also understood the implication of Xia Houhui’s words——
In the late period of Emperor Wu, the scholar families that the Wei State relied on to conquer all directions were no longer able to bear the pain of conquests! By the time of Emperor Wen, the scholar families were already treated as nothing by the state and county officials, and they had no intention of doing anything for the country!
After pondering for a moment, he tried his best to ask, "What do you mean by Zhiquan, do you mean that the world's military system is out of date?"
"Of course!"
Immediately, Xia Houhui nodded heavily and sighed sadly, "Your Majesty, when Hui went to Huainan to work, he also made a detour to Jiyin County.
I visited the fourth brother in Juyang County and saw with my own eyes the hardships of the scholar family, which can be described as inhuman!"
After saying this, he spoke eloquently without waiting for Emperor Cao Rui to ask questions.
"A scholar's family works as a farmer in their leisure time and as a soldier in wartime, but they farm and cultivate crops all day long, but there is no time to put rice into their belly; they serve as soldiers in the army all their lives, but there is no day when they can be rewarded for their merits. In this way, there is no reward for plowing and cutting down. There is no reward, so why do they fight evil?"
"Moreover, a scholar's family cannot have independent marriage leave. After the father dies, the son succeeds, and after the brother dies, the brother succeeds. The descendants cannot leave the military, just like slaves! In this way, there is nothing to look forward to in life, and there is nothing easy to die. Why should they fight with all their strength? evil?"
"Sun Tzu's "The Beginning of Planning" says, 'The Taoist makes the people agree with their superiors, so they can die with them and live with them without fear of danger'; Han Feizi's 'Five Worms' says, 'Therefore, the Ming Dynasty uses it If you don't have enough strength, don't listen to what they say; reward their merits, but it's useless to cut down and ban them. Therefore, the people try their best to get on top of it. The husband's hard work is also tiring, and the people who do it say: they can get rich. War is also dangerous. , and those who do it for the people say: "You can get something valuable" and so on. Therefore, Hui Tie believes that if your Majesty wants the soldiers to not worry about life and death when they are in battle, and is determined to work hard to maintain the country, he must be the first to order the soldiers to worry about it. If you know what you get, you will get what you want!"
This time Emperor Cao Rui fell into a longer silence after hearing this.
In his early years when he was in the East Palace, he devoted himself to studying and dabbled in hundreds of schools of thought. He understood all the major principles such as "The Art of War" and "Five Worms"; what really made him find it incredible was that the scholar system was really so rotten. Yet?
There is no reward for plowing and no reward for cutting. It should have a certain degree of credibility.
Otherwise, the Qingzhou Army, the earliest member of the scholar family, would not have risked being beheaded and having their entire family imprisoned, so they would clamor to leave the military and just return to their hometowns to work in the fields.
But there is nothing to look forward to in life, and there is nothing easy to die. Isn’t that right?
Is it alarmist?
But the real issue of "birthing a woman" left him unable to say anything to refute.
After pondering for a long time, he changed his question to a tactful way, "What Zhiquan said is true and shocking. I don't dare to believe it for a while. Emperor Wen had already learned about the 'birth of a woman', but why did the prefectures and counties not change it?" "
Of course nothing has changed!
Moreover, Emperor Wen had only been in power for a few years. How could he devote any thought to managing the military system?
Xia Houhui replied in his heart, knowing that Cao Rui could not accept that the Wei State under his rule had so many sufferings and was so cruel and inhumane. After all, in his heart, he felt that under his governance, the Wei State's national power was gradually increasing. He is powerful and very proud of his ability to govern the country.
Therefore, Xia Houhui thought for a moment and then continued speaking.
"Your Majesty, even though Hui behaved like Meng Lang, he did not dare to do anything to deceive the emperor. Previously, when Hui first met the scholar family and saw that they had no hope of life, he still couldn't believe it, so he asked the fourth brother about this. The fourth brother said He said that the families of the military and military officials under his rule still did not see the "delivery of children will be drowned"; the land of the common people in the villages was not invaded by the powerful right, and they were still distributed according to the "no cattle official, six people and four people, and half of the cattle" distribution. The production system is an example of the Wei State!"
Drown after giving birth?!
In the last years of the previous dynasty, there were many excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. If a child was one year old, the money would be exported, which made many people not raise money. Nowadays, scholars do not raise money after giving birth to a child.
Could it be that my rule is no different from that of the previous Ling Emperor?!
This time the emperor Cao Rui was shocked and looked at Xia Houhui in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, seeing is believing."
Xia Houhui didn't wait for him to ask questions, so he remonstrated directly, "There are many military strategists and military camps in the counties and counties surrounding Xuchang. Today, His Majesty is on an eastward tour. Why don't you disguise yourself as an ordinary person and look for an opportunity to see what's going on? It doesn't matter what's right or wrong." That’s right.”
"What Zhiquan said is very good!"
Cao Rui immediately stood up and strode towards the felt hall impatiently, "I should go and take a look at it! Well, according to Zhi Quan's wishes, who should I pretend to be? A traveling scholar or a minister's attendant?"
None of this seems appropriate.
Xia Houhui, who got up and followed behind, was about to answer, but was overtaken by Cao Rui's joyful shout, "Oh, Ah Su is back! It's just the right time!"
It turned out that Qin Lang, who had been waiting in the distance, saw the emperor getting up and returning to the felt hall, so he came over to worship him.
About a quarter of an hour later.
The tired Qin Lang once again took four or five attendants to Fugou County in Yanzhou.
As Yanzhou was at the rear of the Huainan battlefield, many scholars and county soldiers were not mobilized during the expedition to Shu. However, Fugou County had the Langtang (Dang) Canal running through it, which provided convenient water conservancy and irrigation. Many years ago, it was It is a place for military and civilian garrison.
The whole journey was silent.
When he arrived at the military garrison of one of the soldiers' families, the chief officer came out to greet him.
Qin Lang claimed that there were casualties among the horsemen and groomsmen of the Xiaoqi camp accompanying the expedition, and he planned to select some people from local scholars' families to temporarily replace them, so that the chief officer did not dare to stop him, and the emperor Cao Rui and Xia Houhui, who were disguised as attendants, went smoothly. They entered the camp to select personnel, but in reality they were inspecting the current situation of the family.