Chapter two hundred and ninetieth raising soldiers
(Seeking collection)
Emperor Xiao said loudly: "No! I won't agree!"
He walked quickly to Lu Sen and said: "Don't you want glory and wealth? Do you want to be a highly respected minister? Do you want cute descendants? I will give them to you. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no civil servants have had more than one city.
If you have two hundred households, I will give you five hundred households! Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there has not been a civil servant with a surname other than a county title. I will give it to you! Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there has not been a civil servant who has received an iron scroll to protect his descendants. I will give it to you! What do you want?
Die before leaving the army? I won’t agree!” (Note 1)
He shouted loudly and was hysterical, but he still looked like an emperor.
After he finished yelling, he took Lu Sen's hand and said with red eyes: "I...can't live without you!"
Old Lu Sen burst into tears but smiled so happily. He held Emperor Xiao's hand with his trembling hands, feeling each other's feelings.
"Your Majesty, I am already sixty-six years old this year, and I have lived long enough. If I can meet such a wise master as Your Majesty, I wish I could live another twenty years, ten years, or even five years. Let me do more for you.
Your Majesty, please do more things, but Your Majesty, I am really old. I am so old that I can no longer see the words on the memorial and need someone to read it to me. I am so old that I can’t walk three steps without getting out of breath. I am so old that I need to be out of breath as soon as I lie down.
I can no longer sit up without support, and when I close my eyes, I see the Lord of Hell waving at me."
He smiled and cried: "Your Majesty, I am not afraid of death, I just want to die well. It is the turn of the new people in the Military Aircraft Department to show their talents. If the veterans occupy their seats and do not leave, they can only block their steps to serve the country and become their
The ambition is hindered. Mr. Hou is mature and experienced, Mr. Pei is determined to make progress, and coupled with Zhou Yangong, who is versatile in both civil and military affairs, this Military Aircraft Department is bound to be a place for newcomers to shine. As His Majesty said, the veteran will spend a day in the Military Aircraft Department.
It will be difficult for them to use their talents. They can only look at the expressions of the old ministers and do things. They are submissive and have compromised all their talents. Your Majesty, for the sake of the big man, the old ministers should move."
Emperor Xiao choked up and said, "Shut up, you know... you know I didn't mean that."
Hou Shen and Pei Hao also said with red eyes: "Master Lu, we are getting stronger and stronger. We still need to learn more by your side. We are like toddlers, and we have to rely on you to lead us.
Lu Sen looked at Emperor Xiao, and then at the two younger students in front of him who were more energetic than him. He smiled and said: "You don't have to be too humble. In fact, I know that you are all hoping that I will retire as soon as possible."
It’s better to go down, right?”
Hou Shen and Pei Hao blushed and did not deny it. Indeed, as Lu Sen said, they both secretly thought about it, if there was no Lu Sen in front of them, would they be able to make further progress?
"They dare!"
Emperor Xiao roared angrily and glared fiercely at Hou Shen and Pei Hao. The two men immediately lowered their heads under Emperor Xiao's sharp gaze, and did not dare to express their anger.
Lu Sen smiled proudly and said, "See? His Majesty still prefers to speak to the old minister. It's just that Your Majesty...are they wrong to think this way?"
Emperor Xiao was startled for a moment, unable to follow Lu Sen's train of thought.
"Your Majesty, as a minister, if you have no intention of comparison in government affairs and can only follow others' opinions and do nothing, is such a minister qualified? Hou Shen, Pei Hao, and Zhou Yangong are all superior to the veteran minister in terms of talents. If the veteran minister
It's not that the former emperor's old ministers are older, they may feel even more jealous when they see these three rising stars. Your Majesty just defended the old minister and reprimanded Mr. Hou and Mr. Pei. The old minister was inexplicably moved, but your majesty, what the old minister wanted to say is,
Listening to partial beliefs is like blocking your ears and blindfolding your eyes, making it difficult for Your Majesty to make correct judgments. If you listen at the same time, you will understand."
He smiled apologetically at Hou Shen and Pei Hao and said, "My lords, I'm offended."
Only then did Hou Shen and Pei Hao understand Lu Sen's intentions, and they couldn't help but feel more guilty. To be honest, the two of them had received some advice from Lu Sen at the military aircraft. Although they all more or less thought that this was
Mr. Lu, who has been the prime minister for nearly twenty years, is actually just a little older and is definitely not as good as himself in terms of real ability. But at this moment, the two of them understood one thing in their hearts. If it were them, they would never be able to do it.
To Lucerne.
Liu Ling remained silent. When he heard Lu Sen took the topic elsewhere, he felt a powerless sadness in his heart. Lu Sen was determined to die. This was because he was thinking of His Majesty's last words!
Or maybe he was giving advice to His Majesty for the last time! He wanted to do his best to help His Majesty before he died, including beating Hou Shen and Pei Hao, who had become more arrogant after entering the military aircraft department, especially those who considered themselves disciples of the Emperor.
of the latter.
Anyway, he was determined to die and was not afraid of offending anyone.
He wanted to dissuade him, but he didn't know what to say.
"I know, I will write it down. If I forget, you will scold me severely. I give you this right. If I make any mistakes in the future, you can point it out to me in person, even if you scold me, I
I will never care! Where is the secretary? Come out and write down what I said today, so that Lu Sen can confess his innocence in front of me in the future!"
Ting Shi ran in and was about to agree, but saw the old prime minister Lu Sen shaking his head at him. Looking at Emperor Xiao's face again, he was in a dilemma. But soon he made a decision in his heart and put pen to paper.
Let’s record what Emperor Xiao said today.
Hou Shen was shocked, and thought to himself: His Majesty was so anxious that he lost his mind when he heard Lu Sen's words about going to die today. How could he do so many unmeasured things? Not to mention the right to speak out without guilt.
, because although this is an honor, it does not arouse much jealousy. After all, those censors who talk about running carriages almost have this right. What he cares about is that Emperor Xiao's previous promise to Lu Sen was beyond the scope of reason.
.
The Northern Han Dynasty has a small population, so those with high titles will basically not be rewarded with food and towns. Two hundred households is already the limit of rewards. But Lu Sen was given five hundred households with just one mouthful, which must be said to be filial piety.
The emperor has now lost his mind. As for the title of county prince, this is even more speechless. The Han Dynasty has not made a prince of the opposite sex even since the founding of the country. Even the meritorious generals who helped the late emperor found the country did not dare to do so.
Think about it, let alone a civil servant like Lu Sen. No matter how great his merits are, can he defeat the founding hero? As for avoiding death, this dynasty has never heard of it!
Although he thought this way, Hou Shen understood Emperor Xiao's mood at this time. Emperor Xiao has been able to maintain it with great difficulty since he ascended the throne, completely relying on the support of Liu Ling and Lu Sen, a civil and military person. With Liu Ling, there was no need to worry about foreign affairs.
Lu Sen, there is nothing to worry about at home. To be honest, Hou Shen does not object to Emperor Xiao fulfilling the promise he just made to Lu Sen. Because in this way, he will have a higher goal.
Pei Hao, on the other hand, was thinking about His Majesty's generosity and kindness, His love for talents, His Majesty's thoughtfulness, and Your Majesty's rare warmth. He didn't think there was anything wrong with Emperor Xiao showing the cowardice and attachment of ordinary people. On the contrary,
This is the image of a wise king in his mind. The one who is aloof and does not eat the fireworks of the world is not the emperor, but the god. Emperors are also human beings, and they also have seven emotions and six desires.
What Liu Ling saw was his second brother's true temperament. As an emperor, his usual disguise was so thick that even his second brother himself forgot what kind of person he was.
Lu Sen had no choice but to see that the court history had recorded Emperor Xiao's words. After all, when choosing between the emperor and himself, the court history must obey the emperor's orders. This is also his duty, his job
It is to record the emperor's daily words and deeds.
"Thank you for your kindness, sir..."
Lu Sen wiped his tears and said with choked sobs: "I have one last thing to ask Your Majesty."
He picked up his mood and completed his mission conscientiously.
"You can say whatever you want, and I will agree to it!"
Lu Sen glanced at Liu Ling and said apologetically: "I don't understand military affairs, but I have heard that soldiers value elites and not more. A while ago, Ouyang conspired to rebel against his subordinates, and the number of thieves he claimed was 300,000.
I was beaten to a pulp by the 40,000 elite soldiers led by the prince. This shows that this statement is true. My big man is now weak, the people live in poverty, and the land is desolate due to wars for years. The imperial court implemented a new policy this year to encourage the people to open up wasteland and farm, but the old minister handed over the information from below.
I learned that the people who were allocated land had food seeds in their hands, but they were worried that no one would plant them! In recent years, they have continued to fight against the Zhou Dynasty and put down the rebellion. All the men of the right age among the people have joined the army or become thieves, and ten of them have died in the war.
Sixty-seven.”
"With the current national strength of our country, we cannot afford to feed the current army of more than 100,000 people. What the veteran means is that the common people have been allocated fields but cannot plant them because there is no labor at home. How can the old, weak, women and children recover? It is better to take advantage of the opportunity.
Daliao and Daxia fought fiercely and caused huge losses. No matter who wins or loses, I am afraid that within two years, our Han will not covet the opportunity to withdraw its troops and return to the countryside, so as to streamline its troops and streamline its administration."
"Freeing a group of soldiers who can't really contribute to the country to go back to farming will firstly reduce military expenditures, and secondly restore the vitality of the people as soon as possible. Of course, the veteran is not good at military affairs, maybe he is just talking nonsense.
"
He turned around and asked Liu Ling: "Didn't the prince also say that the more soldiers the Han Dynasty has, the easier it will be to attract the covetousness of Liao Dynasty?"
Liu Ling didn't want to interrupt Lu Sen's suggestion at this time, and what Lu Sen said was exactly what he thought, so he nodded and said: "Exactly."
After being encouraged, Lu Sen continued: "If I, a big man, only have 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses, Daliao won't expect us to send troops to attack Xia, right?"
Pei Hao frowned and said: "But if there are only 30,000 to 50,000 troops, how can we resist foreign enemies? Whether it is Liao, Daxia or Dazhou, they all have millions of troops. If there is a large-scale attack, how can we resist it?"
Lu Sen said: "Master Pei is right, so the old minister's suggestion is to garrison the fields and raise troops."
Note 1: Do not delve into the details of titles, restaurants, and cities. This plot is fabricated. (To be continued)
