After talking to the emperor, the emperor quickly fell asleep again, but when Chen Chong left the palace, he was worried. Although the emperor didn't say anything during this conversation with the emperor, Chen Chong could already see that something was wrong: the emperor's
The heart disease was more serious than he thought. This was not just the blow caused by the loss of his wife and the defeat. It was more likely that the problem lay within the palace curtain. And this was the most difficult thing for Chen Chong to say, even for Liu Bei.
The sworn brother is also the sworn brother of the Queen Mother, but after all, his surname is not Liu, and the monarch and his ministers are different, so he cannot participate.
But Chen Chong felt that he could not stay out of the matter. Liu Xie was seriously ill and there was no crown prince. If there was a conspiracy brewing in the palace, when the country was defeated, it would most likely lead to disaster, both for the country and the monarch. As a result,
As the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty and a close friend of Xuande, he must find ways to put an end to this incident in advance.
It's just that the Tai Pavilion has been sparse for a long time, and Chen Chong doesn't like to inquire about information. There are so many things at the moment that he doesn't know where to start.
Fortunately, after Zhuge Liang received the transfer order, he had not immediately arrived in Huainan to take up his post, so Chen Chong planned to discuss the matter with him. In the evening of the same day, Chen Chong rode to Sili's mansion in the name of saying goodbye to his disciple. At this time, Zhuge Liang was collecting documents.
There were three carriages loaded with goods parked at the door. They were fully loaded, but unlike most officials, there was not much gold and silver in them. Apart from a change of clothes and luggage, they were all filled with paperwork and hammered wood work. Others saw
Everyone said that Lieutenant Sili was really a weirdo. Could wood be better than gold and silver? Zhuge Liang naturally smiled at this.
Kong Ming was very happy to see Chen Chong visiting. He had left Beijing just a few days ago. This trip to Huainan was obviously not a short time, and he didn't know how many years it would take to return to the central government. Therefore, he specially asked his wife Huang to buy it.
He ate a lamb and cooked it to make soup with the teacher. But after eating a few mouthfuls, he found that Chen Chong was not satisfied with the taste and seemed to hesitate to speak.
Kong Ming thought for a while and then asked Chen Chong: "Teacher, are you worried about the war on the front line in Huainan? Teacher, you can rest assured that I am originally from Langya. When my uncle Zhuge Xuan was alive, he also traveled to Huainan. I am familiar with the local geography."
Favors should never be lost."
Chen Chong hesitated for a while, shook his head and said: "You are a genius in the world. You will be able to protect the people in Huainan. I am very relieved." After a pause, he slowly said: "I came here this time to ask you a question.
One thing, you are in Taige and in charge of the cardinal. When the Queen Mother issued an edict to His Majesty and ordered him to return to Beijing, did you pass through Taige?"
When Kong Ming heard this, he immediately looked solemn. He looked around and said after careful consideration: "Teacher, the Queen Mother did send someone to Taige, but after discussing with Huan Shangshu, we both thought that the war was urgent and it was not appropriate to inform Your Majesty of the matter. The Queen Mother then
There is no more information. I thought that the matter was over, but your Majesty still knew about it. It can be seen that the Queen Mother went beyond the Taiwan Pavilion and sent people to Jiangnan privately."
Chen Chong was shocked when he heard this and asked urgently: "Who is the Queen Mother looking for?"
"I checked afterwards and it should be Henan Yin Yangdan."
After Chen Chong learned about it, he felt dizzy. The scope of this matter was getting wider and wider, and even Yang Dan was involved! Speaking of which, Yang Dan's second brother Yang Di was still his brother-in-law, and Yang Dan was considered a brother-in-law.
How could a confidant who was promoted by the emperor do such a stupid thing? And Liu Jia was so confused that he did such a big thing without telling himself. What on earth were they thinking? What are the benefits of doing so! In silence,
Chen Chong almost felt that there was an invisible network that had quietly taken shape during his recuperation.
But Zhuge Liang was very cautious in his opinion. He advised Chen Chong: "Teacher, now that the country is in misfortune and we have lost our troops and generals, we must not make any assumptions when we are united as one. The Queen Mother ordered Her Majesty to return to the capital. It is only human nature.
There is no blame. If the teacher's guess is wrong, and the teacher's intentions are different, and his morality is alienated internally and externally, wouldn't it be that Sun Quan has been advantaged in vain? If the teacher has not guessed wrong, he must be more cautious. There are too many relationships involved, so we can only think about it in the long term."
Chen Chong agreed with Kong Ming. From the overall situation, this moment is not a good opportunity for political struggle. However, just because he thinks this way does not mean that others will think so. And it is very likely that the other party will seize this vulnerability.
The timing was decisive, and he had to be prepared no matter what. But on the other hand, he also comforted himself: none of the subjects in the court were his old friends, and the development of the situation may not be as bad as he imagined.
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With this thought in mind, Chen Chong temporarily covered up all these worries and turned to talk to Zhuge Liang about the current war. After the failure of the Battle of Jianye, he has not been able to calculate the specific losses until now. He only knows that all the naval ships have been destroyed.
A large number of soldiers were killed and captured. But even based on the most conservative estimate, the losses may have exceeded 100,000 people. At least 12 divisions of the five-province army were completely destroyed, and there is no hope of reconstruction. In terms of the impact and damage alone,
This battle may have surpassed the Battle of Bohai.
Although Liu Xie re-enabled the old man, this only solved the problem of people's hearts and officials. I am afraid that he will have to wait for Chen Chong to enter the cabinet before making specific decisions on how to administer it. At this time, Chen Chong had already roughly drafted a plan in his mind.
The draft is about people's livelihood on the one hand, and the war situation on the other.
From the perspective of people's livelihood, in the past two years, troops have been mobilized one after another, tens of thousands of troops have been recruited at every turn, and tens of thousands of grain and supplies have been transported. The people have been taxed year after year. Although it is still bearable, there are still some complaints. Liu Xie originally planned to
The idea was to achieve success in one battle and then recuperate, but the result was a huge disappointment. After the defeat, the burden on the court and the people was further increased. Whether it was to pay for the casualties or to recruit troops, a lot of expenditures were required. After a rough calculation,
It can be said that it was accumulated since Long'an and was completely consumed.
Under such circumstances, if we continue to raise taxes on the people, it is not only unwise, but also unkind. For Chen Chong, the only way to stop the war at the moment is to rest and recuperate. And this is by no means a temporary solution.
, in the short term, I am afraid that within five or six years, the imperial court will no longer take the initiative to provoke war and launch a counterattack against the Wu people. As for many policies in the country, I am afraid they will also need to be adjusted. In Chen Chong's view, the main ones are especially
Both upper and lower aspects.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Above, it is essential to rectify the officialdom. In recent years, the emperor has promoted new people and appeased the old ones. Although centralization of power is effective, it has also set up a lot of redundancy.
Officials, this increased a lot of expenditures, so much so that when the army was mobilized last year, the emperor had to reduce the salaries of most officials. But the salary reduction is only a temporary measure. If we want to completely improve the finances, we still need to streamline the officials and strictly investigate corruption.
, eliminate official style.
Nowadays, policies such as land granting orders and land equalization orders for equalizing wealth and poverty are no longer appropriate. How to enrich the population and encourage births has become the top priority. Chen Chong plans to issue a tax reduction order based on this, targeting the five
Farmers below the rank of military noble can receive tax reductions or even exemptions based on their childbearing status: those who have three children will receive a 30% tax reduction, those who have four children will receive a half tax reduction, and those who have five children will be exempted from the tax.
But speaking of it, Liu Xie's previous decision to replenish the people in Huaibei was very costly, but Chen Chong thought it should continue to be implemented. After all, with Huainan becoming the front line, it would be unrealistic to allocate grain from Hebei and Kansai every year, and it would be unrealistic to enrich Huaibei.
It is obviously a more credible choice to achieve sufficient food for the army and civilians.
Returning to the overall battle situation, Chen Chong believed that although the pressure on Huainan was great, the Wu people's focus would obviously still be on Xiangyang and the offensive against Bashu. After all, land warfare was not their specialty, and water warfare had an advantage. The Wu people obviously did not
The longer the meeting, the shorter. And what can be used as evidence is that from the various intelligence collected, Zhou Yu also holds the strategic concept of confrontation between the north and the south. Therefore, the focus of the Han army's defense must also be adjusted, and should be based on Xiangyang, Hefei, and Baidi.
The three cities are in order. First try to establish a defense system in the city. As long as these three cities are not lost, the Wu people will not be able to expand the impact of the Jianye Battle.
But compared to the Wu offensive, Chen Chong is more worried about the north. Once the defense of the south is strengthened, the force in the north will be reduced accordingly. In other words, the deterrent effect on Yunbei will also be weakened. All grassland ministries have always believed in subduing the strong.
, now that it is known as a great defeat, and the border defense will be weakened, people with intentions will be ready to take action, and if they are not careful, it may lead to border trouble. How to nip it in the bud is what Chen Chong has to think about.
Therefore, Chen Chong came up with a plan, which was to imitate Wu Qi's ancient reforms in the Chu State and relocate the noble fiefdoms on a large scale to Youzhou, Bingzhou, Liangzhou and other borders, allowing them to farm and defend the land. In this way.
As a result, the country can not only strengthen its control over the border, but also ensure a certain degree of military deterrence. It can also be regarded as a temporary delay.
Zhuge Liang deeply agreed with Chen Chong's idea, but at the same time he also expressed a lot of worry: "What the teacher said is indeed the right way, but the only problem is that it offends too many people. The country is already full of nobles, and now Your Majesty
As I am weak and my family is declining, I am afraid that the arrogance of Xungui will become more powerful. I have been a Sili school captain for many years. Although I have worked hard to govern, I still feel that I am unable to deal with the children of Xungui. If the teacher behaves like this, I am afraid that he will not be able to live in peace.
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Chen Chong just smiled when he heard this. He pointed at himself and asked Zhuge Liang: "Kong Ming, do you know how old I am?"
"Teacher will be his sixtieth birthday next year."
"Yes." Chen Chong looked at his already very rough palms and sighed: "I am already fifty-nine years old this year. No one knows how many more years I can live, but now I have to work in Taiwan again. I can't offend you.
Sinner, my days are not long, so I have nothing to worry about."
"How can the teacher say that?" Kong Ming poured a cup of tea for Chen Chong, and then encouraged him: "If you can be upright and magnanimous, it is not uncommon to be over a hundred years old!"
As they talked, the night passed. When Chen Chong woke up in his house, he remembered the conversation with Kong Ming, and his mood became more and more complicated. Even if he is upright, I am afraid that some things are difficult to face, but life cannot be avoided and cannot be avoided.