Lu Sen nodded and said: "I talked with the prince once before. At that time, I just had a preliminary idea in this regard. I have thought about it carefully in the past few days and feel that this method is suitable for our current national conditions. If we can thoroughly
If we continue to implement it, the national strength will be fully restored within a few years."
He glanced at Emperor Xiao and then said: "Retain a standing army of about 40,000 to 50,000 people, and provide maximum support in terms of equipment and training. We strive to create an elite army that will not fall behind even if it faces the enemy Daliao Wolf Cavalry head-on."
If you are at a disadvantage. As for those who are in poor physical condition or have only one child in the family, they can return to their hometowns to work in the fields, farm when they are busy, and train when they are free. This can solve the current problem of insufficient young people and labor. I have requested reports from the Ministry of War for new recruits from various places.
I took a look and found that there are now no less than 100,000 new recruits in the four places of Yuzhou, Tanzhou, Yingzhou, and Huaizhou, and most of these recruits are farmers who can't survive and have gone to work in the army to make a living."
"It's obviously unrealistic to expect these people to fight hard. It's better to let them plant crops steadily. These young and strong laborers are good at it. Give them hoes and seeds, and they can plant a lush green field."
Seedlings come. It is not difficult for three hundred people to take care of five hundred acres of land in a farming site. A rough calculation will leave outstanding recruits to replace the disabled veterans, and then all the people who are dawdling will be
If we go back to work in the fields, we can free up at least hundreds of thousands of young and strong laborers!"
After receiving the prompt, Hou Shen's eyes lit up, as if he saw a magnificent picture that he had never seen before. He stood up excitedly and gestured while saying: "Three hundred people are cultivating 500 acres of land each, and hundreds of thousands of people are doing it."
How many acres of land is that? As long as God gives us a good year, our Gyeongju warehouse will be able to store millions of dan of grain in less than two years!"
Lu Sen interrupted him with a smile: "There are a lot of wastelands now. As long as we open them out, if God gives us one or two heavy rains, they will be fertile and good land. These strong men in the fields can still do it when they have free time."
They are responsible for maintaining law and order, and when there is a war, they can pick up weapons and kill on the battlefield. As long as they give them 10% of the food in the field, they can cherish this place as their own home. If there is an invasion by a foreign enemy, in order to protect themselves
In the hard-won good days, they will turn into hungry wolves and tigers, tearing the intruders apart with their fangs!"
Pei Hao added: "As long as they plant the land well and have a good harvest, they can be rewarded accordingly according to how much they usually work, so that they can make meritorious deeds and receive awards without going to the battlefield. This can further increase their enthusiasm and make them more motivated.
They feel like they are also contributing to the country!”
As soon as the topic started, those who saw hope could no longer stop talking. Several of them saw the vitality from this method that had been around since ancient times but had been ignored, and saw thousands of acres of fertile land covered with
The golden wheat and millet were brushing together, and I saw cart after cart of grain being transported to the granary.
Emperor Xiao was also intrigued by their idea and added: "Give them positions according to the military system. Set up corps commanders, chief commanders, team commanders, school lieutenants, and equip military camps with weapons. In this way, the security of the countryside will also be improved."
Great improvement. The people have seen hope and are living a good life, so there are not so many people picking up hoes to rebel!"
Lu Sen said: "As Mr. Pei said, give them corresponding rewards, and even the person who contributes the most can be converted into military merit. If the output of a certain farming point ranks first, then all the strong men in this farming point will be rewarded five dollars per family.
You don’t have to pay taxes on your own land, which creates a sense of comparison, and you don’t have to worry about the young men not working hard.”
Liu Ling frowned and stopped talking.
Emperor Xiao noticed his expression and asked with a smile: "Lao Jiu, what do you think?"
Liu Ling grunted and said: "Xundian can be given, as long as the grain fields are well cultivated and the Han people can really help, there is nothing wrong with doing so. But if they are given military merit, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of the soldiers. Fighting on the battlefield
The blade of the knife licks blood, and military success is not as cheap as farming. I’m afraid everyone will want to farm by then.”
Emperor Xiao was stunned for a moment and said: "You're right, let's forget about the calculation of military merit. A while ago, I discussed with Lao Jiu to change the official system, title system, and honorary system of our Han Dynasty. After changing the title,
Rewards for meritorious deeds will become more stringent than before, and the official system will be reduced accordingly. After all, our current official system is too confusing. There are hundreds of second-grade generals and first-grade civil servants in total.
It's all a joke, as if it's easy for us big men to get official positions."
"I want to restore the Tang Dynasty system and end the chaotic situation of the official system."
Emperor Xiao said with determination.
In a blink of an eye, the topic changed from farming to the official system. The rapid change made people a little unprepared. But everyone seemed to have ignored one thing, and that was what the old prime minister Lu Sen mentioned before that he was leading the expedition. I don’t know if it was because of the sudden change.
I forgot and chose to avoid it deliberately.
Emperor Xiao was unwilling to bring up that topic. He was unwilling to see an old minister who had worked for the country for nearly twenty years choose to end his historical mission in this way. Pei Hao and Hou Shen were also unwilling to mention it, because they both
He found that compared with the old prime minister Lu Sen, he seemed so small and selfish. Liu Ling was even more unwilling to mention it. Not only did he think about Lu Sen for the country, but he only considered that Lu Sen was his future father-in-law, so he had to stop Lu Sen.
Sen did that.
And Lu Sen didn't seem to want to get too entangled in this matter, because he had already made up his mind.
Lu Sen looked at Emperor Xiao's eager eyes and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, did the topic change too quickly? The matter of farming has not been detailed yet. It is better to let the matter of official meritorious service be put aside for a while."
Emperor Xiao smiled and said, "I am too impatient and always want to solve everything at once."
He calmed down and sat back with a smile.
"Mr. Lu, let's continue talking about farming. This is a major matter that benefits the country and the people. As long as it is done well, we big men will not worry about becoming stronger."
Lu Sen nodded and said: "Actually, this idea was first brought up by the prince to the old minister, before he went south to put down the rebellion. The prince told the old minister at that time that we big men have always wanted to enrich the country and strengthen the army, but now we have mistaken the order.
"
Emperor Xiao said: "Oh? Lao Jiu, tell me why you got the order wrong?"
Liu Ling's original intention in asking Lu Sen to mention this matter was that he didn't want to get involved too much. After all, the military generals regarded him as their backbone. If they really cut down their troops, there's no telling how many people would come to him to complain. If this happened
Even if you bring it up yourself, you can't tell if the generals will speak ill of you behind your back. I originally wanted to be a good person, but now that I see Lu Sen, it's obvious that he doesn't want to be a bad person, so he has to drag Liu Ling along with him.
The pot doesn't work.
Liu Ling smiled bitterly, and saw Lu Sen's gaze, which was a little smug. Liu Ling stared back, thinking that he is indeed a treacherous person. Lu Sen glared back unceremoniously, then
It means don’t let me take the blame alone.
Liu Ling saluted and said: "Your Majesty, this is just an immature idea of my brother. I didn't expect Mr. Lu to be so thoughtful that he thought of so much from it."
Blocking the hidden weapon first, Liu Ling smiled proudly in her heart.
"Enriching the country and strengthening the army, this is the order. But what we big men are doing now must be reversed, which is to strengthen the country and strengthen the army."
He ducked for a moment and said: "Enriching the country and strengthening the army means that after the country is rich, it will have enough material and financial resources to build a strong army. All supplies and supplies are sufficient. Arm the army with strong national power and expand the army.
If the country is strong, having millions of troops is not a dream. For example, Xixia and Liao both have millions of troops, which is really enviable. My younger brother is a warrior, so he naturally hopes to command as many armies as possible. However, between Xixia and Liao,
Therefore, having such a strong combat power has something to do with the accumulation of decades or even hundreds of years."
"The Li family of Xixia has been deeply favored by the Central Plains royal family since the Tang Dynasty. No matter who is the emperor, the Li family will swear allegiance immediately. Hundreds of years of keeping a low profile have led to today's rise. In the past hundred years,
Step by step, they are encroaching on the surrounding tribes. The size of their territory has actually exceeded that of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and it is much larger than that of the Han Dynasty. The Khitan people in the north have seized the opportunity of the rapid decline of the Turkic royal family, and gradually
He controls the entire grassland in his hands, and Shi Jingtang gives away the rich sixteen states of Yanyun, making it the strongest among all the countries."
"However, our Han Dynasty does not have such a vast territory, nor such a sufficient supply of troops. In order to protect ourselves, we vigorously promote armaments, but instead the national power gradually declines. The policy implemented by the Han Dynasty since the time of the first emperor was to strengthen the army and enrich the country. He wanted to first establish a
The powerful army then expanded its territory, but ignored that the Han Dynasty itself could not support the consumption of an army of 200,000!"
Liu Ling concluded: "So, based on the current national strength of the Han Dynasty, it is acceptable to support a standing army of 50,000 to 60,000, but any more will delay the development of the country. It is like a giant with a pair of thick fists. Even if
No matter how strong you are, if you don't have enough to eat every day, you will starve to death in a short time. Therefore, first enrich the country and then strengthen the army. Externally, you may wish to show weakness in exchange for time, but internally you cannot relax and accelerate the pace of progress."
He glanced at Lu Sen and said: "So it is better to put away Mr. Lu's idea of leading troops to die for the country and save the lives of the people. In this way, it treats the symptoms but not the root cause. If you can escape the first day of the new year, you can't escape the fifteenth day. Today Mr. Lu uses his own
If you sacrifice yourself to liberate Daliao, who will sacrifice your life for your country tomorrow?"
Hearing Liu Ling withdraw the topic, Lu Sen felt hot for no reason.
"It's because I didn't think carefully, and so did I... Sigh... It's just that, Your Majesty, if you blindly show weakness to others, will you cause military trouble?"
Liu Ling smiled and said: "Then let's see if the few giants around our big man can calm down. If they coexist peacefully, there is no guarantee that someone will not covet my big man's territory.
.And if the three giants of Da Zhou, Da Xia, and Da Liao cannot coexist, we will have plenty of time to strengthen ourselves so that we can compete with them!"
He smiled casually and indifferently, but with a sense of confidence.
The smile is beautiful and cunning, like a leopard that is good at confusing its prey. (To be continued)
