The huge intelligence system under Wang Junlin is very efficient. On the seventh day after Wang Junlin talked with Du Ruhui and Liu Ziming, Wang Junlin summoned Du Ruhui, Liu Ziming, Wei Daoer, Liu Jicheng, and the leader of the Storm Bear Camp Li who had just arrived from Annan Kingdom. When Xuanba was discussing matters with Annan Camp Chief General Liu Yidong and Yang Kongchan, who was in charge of commercial affairs, Shen Guoer reported to Wang Junlin with a bunch of new information.
First of all, there was information from the Turks in the north. As expected by Wang Junlin, the Turks were ready to move, and there were many signs of the army heading south.
Even because of the imperial court's weakness and repeated forbearance in the past two years, most of Dingxiang County has been gradually eaten away by the Turks and turned into pasture for the Turks.
To the north of Yanmen County, outside the Great Wall, horse thieves supported by the Turks were rampant, ignoring local government orders in the Sui Dynasty. Even Turkic cavalry pretended to be horse thieves, sometimes gathering tens of thousands of people, and plundered various border counties in the Sui Dynasty.
"I remember that Yanmen County, Dingxiang County, and Mayi County all belonged to the defense garrison of General Wang Rengong's north marching army. I thought that Wang Rengong was known as the Iron Tiger General of the Sui Dynasty. How could this be the case? "Du Ruhui frowned, and while reading the information, he couldn't help but frown and asked.
Shen Guoer seemed to have expected that everyone would have questions, and was obviously prepared for it. He immediately replied: "Master Du is absolutely right. According to the responsibilities of the imperial court, the defense of these three counties does belong to the Zhenbei Marching General Administration. The responsibilities of General Wang Rengong. However, I specially asked someone to investigate some things and found that the current General Wang Rengong has changed a lot in the past two years."
Wang Junlin asked in confusion: "What a big change? What exactly happened?"
Shen Guoer sighed: "Reporting to the prince, Wang Rengong was indeed a great general. However, after the imperial court suffered a disastrous defeat in the first expedition to Goguryeo, Wang Rengong's temperament changed drastically. He seemed to be very disappointed with the imperial court and became extremely decadent. He also began to indulge in pleasure, and in just two years, he married twenty-three concubines, almost one every month, and they were all young women under the age of sixteen."
Wang Junlin sighed, thinking of spoiling many girls! He frowned and said, "What else?"
Shen Guoer continued: "Wang Rengong never used empty pay before and seldom committed corruption. However, in the past two years, he has started to use empty pay. The actual strength of his 100,000 troops is less than half, and he has embezzled a lot of food and grass."
The sympathy on Wang Junlin's face gradually disappeared and turned gloomy. He said in a deep voice: "Guo'er, judging from your expression, I'm afraid Wang Rengong is more than just greedy for money and lust."
Shen Guoer smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, Wang Rengong is still very afraid of death and behaves very weakly in front of the Turks. This is one of the reasons why the Turks are becoming more and more arrogant."
After a pause, Shen Guoer continued: "However, the imperial court praised Wang Rengong's weakness. At the beginning of the year, the emperor even named Wang Rengong a county prince for this reason. The reason was that Wang Rengong acted cautiously and saved the imperial court. It saved a lot of trouble and avoided a war with the Turks."
Wang Junlin sneered and said: "Yang Guang was so proud back then, but he didn't expect that now he has started to deceive himself and others and do this deceitful thing."
Liu Ziming shook his head and said: "Rebels were everywhere in the Sui Dynasty. The emperor and the people in the court were afraid of war with the Turks, so the Turks ignored the encroachment on the Sui border. As for how many people lost their lives in the process, they Never cared."
Du Ruhui snorted coldly: "Compared with the tolerance towards the Turks, the imperial court has a completely different attitude towards rebels from all over the country. Those who dare to rebel have always been killed without mercy."
Shen Guo'er sarcastically said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, Guo'er was about to report to the prince that officials from various aristocratic families in the court were pushing hard. The emperor ordered yesterday that those who colluded with bandits could confiscate their homes without reporting to the court. Please order!"
Wang Junlin sneered and said: "As soon as this so-called confiscation order was issued, the various wealthy families in charge of the local area quickly found a shortcut to make a fortune. I'm afraid they started to annex the small and medium-sized nobles and small and medium-sized landowners. Obviously, the various wealthy families have begun to secretly save money. Power, you are ready to compete in the world, or to find Allah, it is time to place your bets."
Liu Ziming worriedly said: "Those small and medium-sized nobles and large and small landowners are just that. I am afraid that they will plunder the powerless people under their rule. If anyone disobeys at all, they will be charged with being a bandit. In this way, , the local gentry must either compromise or rebel directly. Apart from these two paths, there are almost no other options."
"As a result, the world will probably become more and more chaotic, and the people will have less and less hope for survival." Liu Jicheng, who attended such a meeting for the first time, sighed.
Wang Junlin asked casually: "In your opinion, if the counties of the Sui Dynasty want to reduce the banditry, where should they start?"
Liu Jicheng was the first to say: "Your Majesty, I believe that if we want to reduce the banditry problem, we must first prevent officials from pushing the people too hastily!"
Wang Junlin nodded, then shook his head. This was correct, but it didn't get to the root of it.
Liu Ziming said: "I thought that as long as the people have a way to live and have enough to eat, banditry will naturally be reduced."
Wang Junlin nodded, but did not comment, and looked at Wei Dao'er, who had been silent all this time. The latter quickly stood up, bowed and said: "My lord, I thought that as long as I killed all the corrupt officials in the world, I would replace them with good officials." , the bandit troubles will naturally be reduced.”
Wang Junlin smiled, motioned Wei Dao'er to sit down, and then looked at Du Ruhui, who immediately said: "The water is silent, but the wind makes a sound; the wood is silent, or it makes a sound when struck; all things can make a sound if they are not level. The same goes for mountain bandits and traitors. As long as the world is unfair and some people can no longer survive, banditry will naturally occur. As long as the world is bright and the people are prosperous, banditry will naturally decrease."
After finishing speaking in an outline, Du Ruhui paused and said: "However, since ancient times, banditry has never disappeared. Of course there is a reason why the people are not rich enough, but it is also partly because bandits have always been difficult to suppress. You must know that bandits are fierce Most of them are entrenched in deep mountains and old forests. When the officers and soldiers come, they fight with them. When they encounter some tough bandits, the officers and soldiers cannot defeat them. If the officers and soldiers defeat the bandits, they will sneak into the deep mountains and old forests, making it difficult to find them. Once the bandits hide, As time went by, the officers and soldiers consumed a lot of money, and soon they could no longer hold on and had to withdraw. As soon as the officers and soldiers withdrew, the bandits came back immediately, so the government had a great headache. The cost of eradication was too high and the difficulty of eradication was too great. There is more than enough but not enough strength.”
"In addition, it is the reason of the government itself. This is also one of the main reasons in today's world. The government in many places does not want to suppress the bandits. In fact, the governments in counties and counties controlled by powerful families often have the ability to suppress the rebels, but they do not want to. Use all your strength."