Chapter 24: Causing the Tiger to Leave the Mountain
After spending the New Year in Jinan and staying for a few days, Chen Mu was ready to leave and return to Luoyang.
He did not go to Qi State because both Taishan Academy and Taishan Academy were on holiday, so there was no point in going now.
The Han Dynasty pioneered holidays and holidays.
Both officials and students have holidays. Officials have a holiday every five days, and there are provincial holidays for holidays.
The student body is mainly composed of Taipei students and Hongdu Menxue students. They have field leave and clothing leave, which are in April and September respectively, which are equivalent to the summer vacation and winter vacation in later generations, usually 15 to 20 days.
The three major festivals of the Han Dynasty were the Spring Festival, the Cold Food Festival and the Double Ninth Festival.
As for festivals such as the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, they were not taken seriously until the Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, according to the current holiday arrangement, student holidays are mainly 30 days or 15 days of provincial holiday for the Spring Festival (30 days for those who are more than 500 kilometers away from home), 7 days for Cold Food Festival and 7 days for Double Ninth Festival respectively.
In addition, there are special holidays and solar holidays such as crown ceremony, wedding, funeral, winter solstice, summer solstice, Fu Ri, twelfth day, New Year's Day, etc., which range from 1 to 10 days.
Sometimes there are more than 60 days in a year, and sometimes there are more than 40 days in a year.
Therefore, Taishan Academy and Taishan Academy are now empty. Even Jushou has gone back to Jize to celebrate the New Year, and Chen Mu's younger brothers and sisters have also returned to Puyin. There is no point in going to Qi.
Since the Yellow River flows eastward, it is much more difficult to go back in the morning and in the evening. After all, it is going upstream, which is not as fast as the land route, so we have to take the land route.
This time there is no need to take a long way to Handan, we can go directly from Qinghe Weijun, which will take more than ten days in total.
In mid-January, I arrived in Luoyang on the tail end of my provincial holiday.
Even though Chen Mu took a four-month vacation two years ago when he was still studying at Hongdu School, he didn't return to Luoyang until close to March, but that was a long vacation in advance. He didn't ask for leave this time, so of course he had to be on time.
Although it was in the holiday period, the government offices across the country did not stop. In addition to formulating the holiday period, the Han Dynasty also had a rotation system to ensure the normal operation of the institutions during the holiday.
To put it simply, some officials will have more holidays in normal times, but at the end of the year, they will have less holidays, such as rotation between chief and deputy officials, and rotation of supervisory units.
Most of the Shangshutai are local bureaucrats in Luoyang, and they still go to work every day, but in order to make up for them, the year-end bonus is usually doubled.
Shi Caoyuan was very busy in Mingguang Hall, with stacks of documents being carried in and out constantly.
Chen Mu directed the guards to carry dozens of large boxes in.
Gou Gui and Jiang An rushed out to welcome him.
"Shang Shu Ling."
"Um."
Chen Mu nodded: "Everyone has worked hard this year. This is the silk silk I received from the Shaofu. Please give it to everyone."
The salaries of officials across the country are paid by the capital government, but additional bonuses are usually given by the emperor, so they are allocated from the Forbidden Money Department or Shui Hengwei of the Shaofu.
Gou Gui said happily: "Thank you so much for your order."
While arranging people to help move the boxes, Jiang An said to Chen Mu: "By the way, His Majesty ordered the Shaofu and Guang Luxun to build a batch of new weapons and equipment the day before yesterday. The official approval documents are in the side hall, waiting for approval by the Minister."
The emperor's affairs were usually just a formality, reviewed and then put into files for storage. Chen Mu was thoughtful in his heart, but on the surface he said calmly: "Well, I understand, I will deal with it later."
It seems that Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty has already begun to prepare a new army, but he does not know whether the Eighth Lieutenant of Xiyuan will still be the same people in history, or it will be another scenario.
I heard that Chen Mu came back from vacation, and Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty summoned him to see him in Xiyuan in the afternoon. The weather was still a bit cold in January, but the grass in Xiyuan was already green.
In the cool spring breeze, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was sitting in a pavilion in the Xiyuan Garden, admiring the exotic flowers and plants, surrounded by beauties.
After just one month without seeing him, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty gained more than ten kilograms.
In fact, he used to be a little fat, but a few years ago he just felt strong, not fat. Now he has a big belly and a pale face, and he looks like he has overindulged in sex.
Seeing Chen Mu coming, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty moved everyone around him away, leaving only his new favorite Jian Shuo.
Chen Mu looked around and found that it had indeed been a while since he saw Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong.
During this period in history, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong seemed to be completely invisible. It can be seen that being caught between the emperor and He Jin made their lives a bit difficult.
"His Majesty."
Chen Mu walked over and saluted.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty smiled and said: "Zi Gui, how are you spending the new year?"
In the Han Dynasty, the New Year was called the beginning of the year. Every year on this day, the emperor would hold intensive sacrificial activities. This year, Chen Mu took a rest and naturally did not participate.
Chen Mu replied: "Your Majesty, I am spending the New Year with my eldest brother in Jinan, and I stopped by to see the current situation in Qingzhou."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty clicked his tongue and said: "It seems that even though Zigui left Qingzhou, he still cares about the people of Qingzhou."
"That's not true."
Chen Mu said with a smile: "Just looking at the yield of the new rice this year, it has been planted for two years. Excellent seeds have been selected for cultivation. If it can be promoted in the Jiangnan region in the future, the country's food production can increase by three to four tenths."
"Thirty-four out of ten?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty opened his eyes wide. He originally thought that Chen Mu was just managing the local area in Qingzhou, but he didn't expect that he was still doing such a big thing. Even a fool knew what it meant to increase national grain production by three to four percent.
This means that at least 10 to 20 million more people can be fed. If the current population is fixed, there will be no famine in the country in the future, and the Han Dynasty will be truly stable.
"Yes."
Chen Mu replied seriously: "The original millet and wheat yields were about three stones per mu, while the new rice yields are about four stones per mu, and some high-yield fields can even reach five stones. Just because the planting environment is affected, the north is not suitable for growing rice.
, so I feel that promoting it in the south in the future will definitely benefit the whole country."
"Very good." Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty praised: "If this rice is really that magical, then this matter will be left to you in the future. If the planting can be promoted, you can show it to me and I will let you do it.
Yangzhou Mu, help me handle this matter beautifully."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust."
Chen Mu smiled and bowed his hands.
The state pastoral system was originally a system from the time of Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty, but was later abolished.
But being deposed does not mean that he has completely disappeared in the long river of history. For example, after Huangfu Song pacified Jizhou, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty made him serve as the shepherd of Jizhou for a short time, but he was worried that his power would be too great, so he quickly transferred him.
Chen Mu is now the minister, and if he becomes the governor again, he will be demoted. In order to show his trust in him, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty asked him to be the shepherd of Yangzhou.
In fact, even if Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had not died, he probably wouldn't have been allowed to do it for too long when the time came.
A year and a half at most, let him go back immediately after promoting rice.
The power of Zhou Mu was too great, and Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty would not allow the emergence of a local official who was in charge of military and political power.
Moreover, this is not the end of the Han Dynasty when history was full of turmoil. Even if Liu Yan submitted a letter to abolish Shili Mu at this time, there is a high probability that it would not be passed.
After chatting for a while, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty began to talk about business. He hesitated for a moment and then said slowly: "Zi Gui, do you know what has upset me recently?"
"Your Majesty has thousands of strategies in his mind, but I am just a vulgar talent, so how can I know it?"
Chen Mu smiled.
Why was He Shen reused by Qianlong?
Because he could not only help Qianlong get money, but also guess his intentions and help Qianlong accomplish what Qianlong wanted to do.
But he would never tell Qianlong that he knew everything in front of Qianlong.
Even if he gets something done, he will just pretend it's "just the right time".
As the saying goes, accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. The emperor's thoughts must be unpredictable. How can you speculate without authorization?
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty joked: "You, pretend to be confused because you understand. If I ask you to speak, just speak."
Chen Mu had no choice but to think about it and could only say: "Your Majesty's concern should be that the general has too much power."
As soon as these words came out, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty narrowed his eyes, while Jian Shuo nodded repeatedly.
Compared with Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, Jian Shuo had no interest relationship with the He family, so he firmly stood on the side of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty and supported Liu Xie's rise to power.
It's just that the eldest son inheritance system has been passed down from the Zhou Dynasty and has been deeply rooted for thousands of years.
Even if Liu Bang wanted to abolish Liu Ying and replace Liu Ruyi, Mrs. Qi's son, he failed, let alone Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
At present, on the issue of whether to establish Liu Bian or Liu Xie, apart from the civil and military opposition of the Manchu Dynasty, which is one of the obstacles, the other obstacle, which is also the biggest obstacle, is He Jin.
This shows the short-sightedness of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
When He Jin and Zhang Rang got married, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty felt that Zhang Rang was his confidant and He Jin was his elder brother-in-law. With such a close relationship, he should be trustworthy.
So after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Northern Army was handed over to He Jin, giving He Jin great power.
As a result, in the past two years, as Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty became more and more fond of Liu Xie and wanted to make Liu Xie the crown prince, the power previously given to He Jin suddenly became a big problem.
After all, He Jin was Liu Bian's uncle, not Liu Xie's uncle. If Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty wanted to establish Liu Xie, it would be a fundamental issue of principle, and He Jin would not compromise.
Imperial power collided with military power. Even though Emperor Han Ling knew very well that he still had authority and the Northern Army could not betray him, Emperor Han Ling still felt threatened. This is why Chen Mu was called today.
"I went to the Chancellery today and heard from my subordinates that the Shaofu and Guang Luxun had built a batch of new weapons and equipment. I guessed that Your Majesty really wants to form a new army."
Chen Mu continued: "It's just that because the Northern Army is still there, I can't find a suitable excuse. Because Your Majesty can also guess that once you say that you want to form a new army, not only the generals will object, but the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty will definitely object as well.
.”
During the Western Han Dynasty, there were indeed Northern and Southern armies, but the number was fixed, about 50,000. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Northern and Southern armies were merged together, and the number of the Northern Army now is almost 50,000.
At the beginning, Lu Zhi led 35,000 people to suppress the rebellion, and the other 15,000 people either defended at various checkpoints in Luoyang as a defensive force, or followed Huangfu Song south to attack Yuzhou.
Therefore, the Northern Army of the Eastern Han Dynasty was actually the Northern and Southern Army of the Western Han Dynasty. If a new army was added, there would definitely be loud opposition in the court.
Because raising a standing army is not as simple as just talking.
There are county soldiers in various counties and states, about a few thousand people, and these county soldiers are not standing armies. They can be regarded as government soldiers. They work on farming in peacetime and train during leisure time. They do not need to be maintained by each county and state at all times.
Although the central government still has Hu Ben under Guang Luxun, Yu Lin's Second Battalion Forbidden Army, Su Wei Army under the Wei Lieutenant, as well as the armies of Zhi Jinwu, Chengmen Xiaowei, Sili Xiaowei, etc.
But the total number of these troops is less than 10,000.
Only the Central Northern Army was the only field force in the entire Han Dynasty. It was stationed outside the city and was the elite among the elite. Daily training was very expensive.
Due to daily training and severe physical exertion, each person has to eat more than 10 kilograms of food on average. Based on the calculation of 120 kilograms per stone, 50,000 people will need 6,000 kilograms of food just to support their food and drink every day.
In peacetime, one stone of millet costs 200-300 qian, which is more than 1 million yuan per day, and nearly 500 million yuan per year. This does not include wages, wear and tear of weapons and armor, other fixed losses, etc.
Don't look at it. Last year, Liu Bei, Zou Jing and Gongsun Zan commanded 100,000 people to fight and defeated Qiu Liju in Liaodong.
The problem is that those 100,000 people are not regular troops, but are temporarily recruited troops.
As soon as the war is over, it will be disbanded.
For example, Liu Bei's 50,000 troops are the 50,000 Qingzhou Army. After the battle, they were immediately sent home to farm. The government would no longer support their livelihood, and they were equivalent to temporary mercenaries.
Therefore, the court and local governments only need to bear an expense in a short period of time and do not need to make long-term considerations.
The Northern Army will not be disbanded. It has to be supported by the court every day. It is a tiger that eats money. The money spent on the Northern Army alone costs hundreds of millions every year.
For example, before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the biggest trouble of the Han Dynasty was the Liangzhou Rebellion, which cost billions and almost brought down the finances.
Therefore, if Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty wanted to raise another field army, let alone whether the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty would agree to it, the expense and burden would be another large sum of money.
For Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, who regarded wealth as his life, he would still be heartbroken if he really wanted to bring out another southern army.
Therefore, even if he had considered this aspect before, Chen Mu also hinted that he was very hesitant.
Recently, Shaofu and Guang Luxun built a batch of weapons and equipment.
The total number reaches more than 20,000 sets.
But the cost of weapons and equipment is really not as high as raising people.
After all, weapons and equipment are one-time purchases and can be used for a long time. To support people, they need to be taken care of every day.
The most important thing is that he felt that 20,000 people were too few. The Northern Army had 50,000 people. If another 20,000 new troops were recruited, compared with the 50,000 elite Northern Army, they would be far behind in terms of numbers and combat effectiveness.
This would not be able to check and balance the Northern Army. The two reasons combined. So at this juncture, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty began to hesitate whether to really recruit people to form a new army, fearing that his plan would be unnecessary.
After hearing Chen Mu's words, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty sighed and said: "Zi Gui really knows me. Yes, I really want to form a new army. But with the Northern Army in the city, there will be few new soldiers to check and balance, and there will be too many people."
The expense is too great, I have been hesitating for a long time and still don’t know how to deal with it.”
"Rong Chen takes the liberty of asking how many people are suitable for His Majesty's new army?"
Chen Mu asked cautiously.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty pondered: "Currently we are considering 20,000 people. If there are more than 20,000 people, it will be a waste of resources and I can't afford it."
This is indeed true. The capital government on the side of the Grand Secretary for the establishment of the New Army will definitely not pay for it, because this is the money to maintain the stability of the world, including paying salaries to officials, stabilizing prices, allocating funds for disaster relief, etc., all of which belong to the capital government
Pay money.
Therefore, the money could only be paid from the emperor's personal funds. However, even if the Forbidden Money Bureau and Shui Hengwei had a small amount of savings, there were still many places where money could be used, and not much could be squeezed out for military expenses. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had to be cautious.
"Only 20,000 people?"
Chen Mu thought about it: "That is indeed a problem. If there are fewer soldiers, it will not be able to act as a check and balance. If there are more soldiers, the cost will be too high. The burden on the court will be too heavy, and everyone in the court will oppose it."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty said: "That's why I came to you just to discuss and see how much money you can get when returning the son... Oh no, it's a clever tax collection plan."
It seems that Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty regarded himself as a money-giving boy, but if you think about it carefully, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty is indeed like this. As long as you can help him get money, you can call him daddy.
Chen Mu cursed in his heart, but shook his head solemnly and said: "Your Majesty, last year's tax has been collected, and this year has just begun. If we collect it again, the world's powerful will go crazy, and there may be wars everywhere. We need to cultivate ourselves."
One year, until the end of this year."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty said in disappointment: "That's it. Well, it seems that Zigui has nothing to do."
Chen Mu smiled slyly: "That's not necessarily the case."
"oh?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty perked up: "What's Zigui's clever plan?"
Chen Mu analyzed: "Since the New Army cannot expand, why bother insisting on the New Army? By weakening the Northern Army, we can still maintain a balance."
"Weakening the Union Army?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty frowned and said: "This is not possible. The Northern Army is a standing army and is also the elite that the court relies on. If we want to disband them, I am afraid there will be a mutiny."
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Who said we should disband them? What I mean is to divide most of them to fight and just transfer them away from Luoyang."
Separate half of it to fight?
Of the 50,000 Northern troops, 30,000 were sent out, and the remaining 20,000 were assigned to guard the passes near Luoyang. There were only more than 10,000 people stationed in the camp outside the city, and a new army of 20,000 was formed.
The army can achieve a check and balance effect.
Emperor Ling's eyes lit up, but then dimmed quickly and he said: "It's just that now the world is at peace, Liangzhou is stable, Liaodong is also stable, there is no place to fight."
"Did your Majesty forget Bingzhou?"
Chen Mu smiled faintly.
Bingzhou was Shanxi in later generations. It was a good place. The coal that continued to flow from here to distant places ushered in a new era for New China in later generations.
It is a pity that in the Han Dynasty, Bingzhou was as unknown as Jiaozhou. If it hadn't been for Lu Bu, many people would not have known about this place.
The reason is that Bingzhou has a vast territory and a sparse population. During the Han Dynasty, the population of Bingzhou was only 500,000 to 600,000.
Not to mention that each county in later generations had such a large population, but in the most densely populated Jizhou and Yuzhou, the population of any county can be more than one million, which is more than the entire state of Bingzhou. This shows its strategic significance.
How small.
There was no way, in Shanxi, the Han Dynasty had no interest in coal mines, so there was no mining in Shanxi at that time, and secondly, due to geological problems, farming could not be done, so the natural value to the Han people was not high.
Therefore, even if Xiu slaughtered the tribes and occupied most of Bingzhou, as long as the two counties of Taiyuan and Shangdang, which had the most dense population and cultivated land area, were still in their hands, the court would not want to go to war and spend huge sums of money to fight for some useless land.
This is also the reason why by the Cao and Wei Dynasties, only a small piece of territory was left in Bingzhou, and all outside Yanmen Pass was given to the Xianbei Xiongnu.
It's not that Cao Cao didn't have the strength to fight, but that he didn't think it was necessary.
So after hearing Chen Mu talk about Bingzhou, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty remembered that last year Xiu massacred various tribes and went south, occupying the entire northern part of Bingzhou. Now only Taiyuan and Shangdang, and even Yanmen Pass seemed to have been lost.
At that time, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was angry because of this and suspended the court meeting. In fact, it was not because of this that he was angry at that time. He was just using the topic to interrupt the discussion on the prince's affairs.
After all, to him, Bingzhou is a useless place. Take it back. It will be a waste of money. If you don’t take it back, it will still be Han territory after all...
If the Shanxi people of later generations knew that Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, or that the entire Eastern Han people thought this way, they would probably be furious or shed tears on the spot.
But there is no way. This is indeed the case in Shanxi in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The only strategic significance is the buffer zone between the grassland and the Central Plains Dynasty. As long as the grassland tribes do not invade Luoyang, it is a dispensable place for the Central Plains Dynasty.
.
Thinking that if there is still a place to fight in the world, it is indeed Bingzhou. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty nodded: "I understand what you mean. Chen Tang once said that those who offend the strong will be punished no matter how far away they are. I am a big man,
How can you allow Xiu Tu to trample you? I will hold a court meeting in a few days and let the Northern Army go out to fight."
Good guy, although Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was short-sighted, he still had good political qualities. He immediately drew inferences from one example and made it clear that those who offended the powerful Han would be punished no matter how far away they were. In fact, this was just a high-sounding excuse for transferring the Northern Army.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Chen Mu and Jian Shuo looked at each other tacitly and saluted at the same time.