Guo Chong suddenly realized that he had nothing to say. He planned to rebuke him seriously, but was blocked by Fang Dunru. After being choked for a long time, Guo Chong could only frown and said: "My dear friends, please don't act out of emotion. This is a negotiation.
You can talk about important matters, but there is no need to argue endlessly. Now we are discussing the new law, so don’t talk nonsense about other matters, and don’t go too far off topic.”
These words are not painful or itchy, they are equivalent to hitting each other fifty times. Guo Chong, the emperor, is fair, impartial, neither upright nor crooked. In a word: harmony.
Yang Jun said coldly: "Okay, since the emperor has said so, I will only talk about your so-called new law. You just reported that my army in the Great Zhou Dynasty is redundant and needs to be reduced. Isn't it contradictory? Since you
You think that our army is not strong now, but we have to reduce our troops. Isn’t this just a slap in the face? It is common sense to suppress our opponents in numbers when we don’t have strong fighting strength. How do you explain it?”
He said solemnly: "The total number of the Imperial Army Corps of the Great Zhou Dynasty is nearly two million. Such a huge number cannot protect the stability of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Does Privy Yang think this is due to the number of soldiers and horses? This is simply the quality of the soldiers.
The problem lies in the leadership system. In order to maintain stability, I, the Zhou Dynasty, recruited criminal prisoners and refugees into the army. It was just a way to quench thirst by drinking poison. These people are all idle, indolent and criminal, but the imperial court spent military pay to raise them up.
, just to avoid causing trouble, this is a fundamental strategic mistake. What benefits can these people have in the army? The same will happen to those who like to relax and dislike work in the army. They are not even willing to farm to support themselves, and they are expected to serve the country.
Loyalty? A rat's excrement ruins a pot of porridge. If Zhou's soldiers and horses are full of these people, it will ruin the habits of the entire army. This situation must be changed. There are also those old and weak people in the army. The imperial court does not support them at all.
It’s just a waste of money and food. These people must be cleared out of the army of the Zhou Dynasty. The army of the Zhou Dynasty is not a nursing home, and it is not for people to go in and enjoy the blessings. It is to fight for the country and the country of the Zhou Dynasty. Every penny of the imperial court’s food, salary and silver,
The ones we raise must be warriors who can fight and serve the great Zhou Dynasty, rather than people who eat and drink and fight for fear of death."
Many people nodded secretly at Yan Zhengsheng's words. There were indeed many refugee prisoners in the army of the Zhou Dynasty. It was for the sake of maintaining stability that the imperial court feared that the refugees would cause chaos, so they raised them all together and solved them all. Little did they know that this was in the past when financial resources were abundant.
It is indeed a feasible and expedient measure. To this day, if you still do this, you have to bear a huge burden. In addition, the practice of raising good and bad together has greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the army. Those who like to enjoy leisure and work, cheat and cheat, even more
This caused a great loss of morale in the army. The combat effectiveness of the Zhou Dynasty soldiers and horses was deteriorating, which was largely affected by this.
In fact, Yang Jun knew these shortcomings, but he could not face this problem. He felt that the quality of the soldiers was not enough and the combat effectiveness was not strong, so he used the number of people to make up for it. As the Privy Envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he had the responsibility to ensure that every one of his soldiers could have
If he has food, wages, equipment, and can live a comfortable life, then he is qualified. If he cannot protect his three-thirds of an acre of land, he is incompetent and will be laughed at. This is what he thinks. Didn't read
For people who read too many books, their limitations are naturally obvious.
"Sorry, let me interrupt. I would like to ask Master Yan and Master Fang. According to your ideas, there are quite a lot of people who need to be reduced from our army in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Before, you said in the memorial that anyone who commits crimes will be punished.
It is necessary to clear out the people under eighteen and forty years old. Those who were originally refugees who joined the army also need to be cleared out. This is not a small number. I am afraid that half of my army of Zhou Dynasty will have to get rid of half of them. If it is calculated as 800,000, this
How to arrange for 800,000 people? If we just leave them alone, wouldn't it be chaos in the world?" Wu Chunlai suddenly said. Seeing that Yang Jun was blushing and speechless, he spoke up to help. In the debate, what could Yang Jun do?
He will be the opponent of Fang Dunru and Yan Zhengshen.
Fang Dunru didn't even look at him. Although Wu Chunlai had already been an important minister of the imperial court, in Fang Dunru's eyes, he was just a traitor who betrayed him. Fang Dunru felt dirty even if he looked at him or said a word to him.
.
He said solemnly: "Master Wu's words are on point. Today's discussion should be about matters related to the new law itself. This is the attitude of the discussion. I am here to answer Master Wu's question. As you all know, I am the master
There are many reasons for the sharp decline in Zhou's finances. But the biggest reason is that the people had no land to cultivate due to various circumstances and were eventually displaced. The promulgation of the first two new laws was to solve this problem. On the one hand, it provided
Official loans allow people to turn around and tide over difficulties. On the one hand, they balance the land acres and limit mergers and acquisitions, so that cultivated land can return to the hands of the people. So far, the effect is obvious. However, it is not easy to resettle a large number of people with the withdrawn land acres."
Wu Chunlai said: "Yes, Mr. Yan himself knows that it is difficult to accommodate so many people on the land that has been converted from farmland. How to solve this problem? If this matter is not solved, it will be a huge hidden danger."
He said solemnly: "Don't forget that our territory is vast and there are a lot of uncultivated fields for farming. Nowadays, there are Hedong Road in Bian Town, Hebei East-West Second Road, Qinfeng Road, and Xixia Road in the northern border towns.
The local people have suffered a serious loss and the fields are barren. There is also a large amount of wasteland that has not been cultivated. I have discussed with Mr. Fang that the reduced soldiers can be placed nearby in the border towns and roads. The specific method is: the court will provide a sum of money for them to settle down.
Come down. Let them cultivate wasteland and cultivate, and the court will exempt them from taxes for three years to support them. In this way, in three years, large acres of land will be reclaimed and re-cultivated in the border towns, which will not only allow them to settle down, increase the court's tax revenue, but also ensure that the capital and the
Part of the food supply in various places in the border towns. Avoid over-reliance on water transportation to transport food from the south, which may lead to food shortages in the north in the event of bad weather or accidents. This is a strategy that can solve many problems at once."
The ministers were stunned and silent. This was an ambitious plan. The roads in the northern border towns were in a bad environment, and it was not safe to live in the border towns. Therefore, the loss of people was indeed very serious. In the event of a war or natural disaster, the people were the first to
For a moment, he thought of running to the rich land in the south, so that the south was overcrowded and there was a shortage of cultivated land, while the north was sparsely populated and the cultivated land became wasteland. If the wasteland in the north could be utilized, it would be a great help to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
It's a good thing. But the problem is that this plan sounds great, but in practice it may not be that easy.
"I'm afraid that Mr. Yan and Mr. Fang are wishful thinking. Will the laid-off soldiers be willing to stay in the North to cultivate land? Will they go into exile? Like a swarm of locusts, they will cause disaster wherever they go. Mr. Yan and Mr. Fang are afraid of this idea.
It's a bit childish." Lu Zhongtian finally said in a deep voice.
Many ministers nodded and smacked their lips and said: "It's not easy to achieve, it's not easy to achieve. If it could be achieved, how could we be in this situation today? These people were recruited into the army precisely because they became refugees. After being laid off, they were still
Refugees. They have wild whims, they have wild whims.”
Fang Dunru said loudly: "You haven't tried it yet, how dare you say it's just a whim? Didn't many of you say the same thing when we implemented the reform before? What are the facts? The new law is very effective, the financial pressure on the imperial court has been greatly reduced, and the people have
They have also returned to the land one after another. Since this year, the number of refugees has dropped sharply. Chenzhou has been severely flooded, but the people are as stable as a mountain. These are clear proofs. So, everything depends on man-made efforts."
Yan solemnly nodded and said: "Exactly. You all should know that the main reason for the displacement of people is not because the people are willing to be displaced. It is forced by the situation. Either drought, floods, no harvest, or war, the people have to be displaced.
. To ensure that they can reclaim the Northland with peace of mind, in addition to those tax-free preferential measures, it is also necessary to actively build water conservancy facilities and dredge rivers and ditches. The imperial court must spend money to build roads, bridges, ditches, reservoirs, dams, etc. In addition, the army also
We must ensure peace in the border towns. Within three years, the situation will be greatly improved. I have absolute confidence in this."
Lu Zhongtian smacked his lips and said: "Master Yan said it so easily, but do you know how much money will be spent on these things? Settling the silver, tax exemption for three years, building roads, bridges, ditches, reservoirs and dams, have you calculated this? Aren't all the money from the imperial court used?
On top of these?”
He said solemnly: "Prime Minister Lu, money must be used on the edge of the sword. This is a century-old plan and a long-term peace and stability plan. No matter how much money is spent, it is worth it. Besides, how much money will it cost to feed these people in the army? Take eight
Counting 100,000 people, it would cost at least one to two million taels of silver a year to support them. If so much money is invested in water conservancy and road construction, how big a change will it make? Just invest the money to support them.
When we go in, the imperial court doesn’t have much money, so how can we say that all the imperial court’s money is spent here?”
The ministers nodded silently and thought about it. Regardless of their position, if the money used to support them were invested in it according to Yan Zhengsheng's words, the court would indeed not spend more money, but the situation might be greatly improved. This matter seems to be somewhat feasible.
leeway.
Lu Zhongtian did not inquire further. He did not want to be the protagonist today. Although from his experience, this matter was not that simple. But he had no obligation to explore the feasibility of this matter for Yan Zhengshu and Fang Dunru.
Sex. Today’s protagonist should be Yang Jun. With Yang Jun’s temper, even if this is a perfect plan, he will not agree to it at all. He doesn’t care about any arrangements, finances, or century-old plans. What he wants is his own
No one is allowed to interfere with one-third of an acre of land.
"It won't work even if you say it's just a flower. You can cut off the troops just as you say. You want to ensure the stability of the border town and lay off my people. You want the horse to run and the horse not to stop.
Eat grass. Are you so unreasonable? I won't agree to this matter even if it means breaking the sky." Yang Jun shouted loudly.
"Privy Yang, you must take a long-term view and look at the overall situation instead of limiting yourself to immediate matters. Reducing troops is by no means a weakening of the army, but on the contrary, it is a strategy to strengthen the army. Privy Yang is not unaware that every year 60 to 70% of the imperial government's finances are spent on
In terms of raising troops, this is extremely unreasonable. This will bring down the court. Moreover, even if 60 to 70% of the fiscal revenue is used to raise troops, the equipment and combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses are still worrying. If the troops are reduced and streamlined, the money invested can build an army of equipment.
A better and more powerful army, don't you understand this truth? As the saying goes, it is better to have more elite soldiers than more. Only elite soldiers and strong generals can win the battle. Privy Yang is the one who leads the army. Shouldn't you let me explain the art of war to you?
