More than half an hour later, Chu Ge and Li Hongyun each checked some historical materials and prepared to touch upon them again and discuss them.
Li Hongyun looked at the dense notes he had written down in his notebook and felt a little emotional. He had never been so serious even in class.
"The poem 'The title of prince is not my intention' was written by General Deng Yuanjing. Combined with the name of the Southeast Bandits, it can be basically confirmed that the goal of this trial copy is to eliminate the threat of bandits and conquer Buning Port.
"The first stage of the soldier line is the scene when General Deng Yuanjing led troops to fight against the bandits for the first time. Historical records record that at that time, he led a large number of soldiers that were several times larger than the enemy's, but they collapsed at the first touch. He relied on his three arrows to turn the tide of the battle.
“Historical records record that ‘when shooting at a thief from a high stone, three arrows hit the three chieftains, the soldiers all joined forces, and the thief retreated’, which is also true.
"But in the second stage, Buning Port could not be captured for a long time and reached a stalemate. If according to historical records, Buning Port was captured by General Deng Yuanjing after he trained the new army and equipped it with new weapons. So if you want to break through this stage,
Sufficient military supplies must be raised.
"In addition, the Mr. Wang was also found. I remembered correctly. His name was Wang Zongchang, and he was a political participant and leader of the military at that time. However, there are indeed not many records about him in historical materials.
"Judging from the situation in the dungeon, his relationship with Governor Lin is not very close, so I haven't found him to be of any use yet.
"As for the staff line, Governor Lin clings to Yan Shoufu and often gives gifts. This is known from General Deng's memory fragments. Although there is no stone hammer, the credibility is still relatively high.
"Yan Shoufu's secret letter, asking Governor Lin to destroy the embankment and drown the thieves, probably failed because there is no record in history.
"If the embankment is really destroyed and the bandits are flooded, the consequences will be disastrous. I don't know how many fertile fields will be turned into swamps and how many people will be displaced. Such a big event will definitely cause turmoil in the entire court and will also affect the war between the bandits. It is impossible to ignore it.
In the annals of history.
"But the question now is how to avoid destroying the dikes and get the necessary military expenditures."
Chu Ge nodded. Although he briefly added some details, they were generally similar to the information Li Hongyun found.
After all, both of them are top students in the history department. Everything in the historical materials is obvious, and the content they found will not be too different.
The key is to analyze the methods to break the situation from these historical materials.
Chu Ge pondered for a moment and said: "I think the key to solving the problem lies in Yan Shoufu's true intention.
"Destroying the embankment and drowning the thieves is obviously a huge mistake from a military point of view. No one with a normal mind would do this.
"Yan Maoqing has been the chief assistant for so many years. He can't be explained by just saying treachery and evil. He must be an extremely smart man.
"Then, the matter of destroying the embankment and drowning the thieves was probably not motivated by military considerations, but by other considerations. Once this matter is carried out, it will definitely be of great benefit to him.
"As for Yan Shoufu, the only thing he cares about is money."
Li Hongyun thought for a while and added: "There is also status. Of course money is important, but his position as chief assistant is also important."
Chu Ge nodded: "This is the same thing.
"The reason why he can sit in the position of chief minister is not because he is more capable and knows how to govern the country than Gu Qingzhang, who is also an important minister, but because he is better able to make money for the emperor.
"So, if he can make money, he is the first assistant. If he cannot make money, he will step down immediately, and the emperor may even confiscate his property."
Li Hongyun nodded slightly.
Gu Qingzhang is another cabinet elder, and his status among important ministers is second only to Yan Maoqing. If Yan Maoqing falls, then Gu Qingzhang will inevitably take over.
Li Hongyun thought for a while: "Then you mean that destroying embankments and drowning thieves has something to do with making money? But how to make money? Once the river bursts and the fertile fields are flooded, won't the treasury also have to allocate funds for relief? This
Wouldn’t it cost more money instead?”
Chu Ge shook his head slightly: "I don't think so.
"Do you still remember what the powerful minister Wang Chong said during the scribe trial, 'Save the people first, save the officials'? This is of course a fallacy, but it is indeed the code of conduct for powerful ministers and corrupt officials like Wang Chong and Yan Maoqing.
"The so-called Wang Party and Yan Party are actually a community of interests composed of a group of corrupt officials. Wang Chong or Yan Maoqing, they are the leaders on the surface and say the same thing, but in fact they also have to share the interests layer by layer. They have to be able to bring everyone together.
Make money and everyone will follow you.
"Similarly, if you want everyone to spit out some benefits, then the prerequisite must be that you have to promise more benefits to everyone.
"This is the so-called 'save the people first, save the officials'. In their eyes, you must first feed the corrupt officials before you can accomplish anything. Otherwise, the people below will hinder you in everything, and you will not be able to accomplish anything. Even if they are
The same is true for powerful ministers."
Gu Hao
Li Hongyun thought thoughtfully: "In other words, if the river bursts and the fertile fields are flooded, will it be good for these corrupt officials?
“Does the money for disaster relief food come from anyone’s hands?
"But this will still increase the burden on the national treasury. Where will they get the money from?"
Chu Ge said: “It’s not just about food relief.
"The purpose of Yan Chief Assistant is to make money for the emperor, so that his position can be stable. He has been the chief assistant for so many years, and the emperor has long wanted to replace him. At this time, he has to continue to prove that he can make a lot of money for the emperor.
His ability made the emperor feel that he could not do without him in order to continue to hold this position.
"So, he has to find a way to fill the treasury. Even if he has to eat a lot of food, the treasury must be full in the past two years. At least his position as chief assistant must be secure. Otherwise, let alone the future, he will be finished now.
.
"He can no longer care about what happens in the future.
"Disaster relief food funds can be distributed less or not at all. Floods can drown some people. As long as the victims cannot come to the capital, it doesn't matter. As the chief minister, he can sit back and relax. Naturally, someone underneath will take the blame. The key is
, how to make money quickly.
"The time at that time happened to be the time when the salt tax was collected. The salt tax was the largest tax in the imperial government's fiscal revenue at that time.
"But when it comes to salt tax, it's not up to one person to decide whether to charge more or less. The officials below may not necessarily hand over the money obediently. They will play tricks on the account books. As long as it's not too much, it's fine.
It is difficult to find out. After all, it was ancient times and information was not smooth.
"So, how much the salt tax can be collected actually depends on whether the person who collects the salt tax has enough prestige, or whether he can exchange enough benefits with these officials.
"Yan Shoufu is the leader of the Yan Party, and the people he sends will naturally have enough prestige. But again, even if you are the leader of the Yan Party, you have to give everyone enough benefits, otherwise why would everyone listen to you?
? Only if you give enough benefits can you collect more salt tax, and then the officials below will be willing to dig out all the money that was originally kept in their hands and give it to you.
"Think about it, what is very valuable, and at the same time is of the nature of 'yin eats maoliang' and can be quickly converted into cash?"
Li Hongyun quickly came to his senses: "Land!
"After the embankments are destroyed and flooded by thieves, a large amount of fertile farmland will be flooded. Once flooded, these fields will no longer be valuable. Those officials can collude with local tyrants, evil gentry and wealthy businessmen to force farmers to sell at very low prices.
.
“In this way, it is tantamount to carrying out a large-scale plunder on these farmers through natural disasters.
"Corrupt officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen obtained the land with the help of Yan Maoqing and took advantage of it. Naturally, they have to express themselves and find ways to raise money and pay all the salt taxes that were originally withheld!
"In this way, Yan Chief Assistant successfully collected a large amount of salt tax and enriched the national treasury. As soon as the emperor was happy, his position as Chief Assistant was preserved..."
Speaking of this, Li Hongyun couldn't help but feel chills running down his spine.
Because after saying so much, it’s actually just two words: cannibalism!
Yan Shoufu wanted money, but how could he get it? His own party members couldn't move it, so naturally he had to find a way to get money from the people. The people didn't have money, but they had land, but they were unwilling to sell the land at a low price.
Then flood the land and sell it to wealthy businessmen at a low price. After this round of turnover, won’t there be money?
But then, Li Hongyun thought of a new problem.
"But, destroying the embankment is a serious crime, isn't he afraid that the emperor will behead him if he gets angry?"
Chu Ge shook his head slightly: "Why do you think the emperor will know about this?
"It is the rainy season at this time, and the water level is skyrocketing. There is a danger of a breach. As long as no one notices anything strange, or no one can report to the emperor, it is not a man-made disaster, but a natural disaster. Who can blame Yan Maoqing for such a natural disaster?
On the head?
"To say the least, even if the matter is exposed and the emperor knows about it, do you think the person who will take the blame in the end will be Yan Shoufu? Will it be Governor Lin?
"Why do you think Chief Yan sent a secret message instead of giving the order directly? Do you think Governor Lin would be stupid enough to handle this matter himself?
"How easy is it for people of their status to find someone to take the blame?
“When the time comes, can’t we just push the blame and kill a higher-status scapegoat?
"Yan Shoufu has just collected so much salt tax from the emperor, made such great contributions, and demonstrated such strong ability to do things. The whole Yan Party is very fed up and united. Do you think that under such circumstances,
Even if the emperor thinks there is something fishy about this matter, can he investigate it? If he insists on investigating Mr. Yan Ge, isn't he afraid that all the officials in the world will be hurt?"
