Chapter 42 Let the great Hans martial virtue be abundant again!
In Yuntai Hall, everyone was sitting upright, waiting for the emperor to arrive.
Following Wang Zhi's loud praise.
Liu Bei came in from the back hall, dressed in the formal emperor's robes, and walked slowly to the stage.
"His Majesty!"
All the cabinet ministers stood up at the same time and saluted with their hands in hand.
This is not at the Dachao Hui. In the Han Dynasty, only the Dachao Hui performed specific kneeling rituals.
Therefore, ordinary court meetings and cabinet meetings, such as meeting and talking, naturally do not require three kowtows and nine bows.
But Liu Bei still raised his hands and said: "Sit down, gentlemen!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
More than forty cabinet members sat down one after another.
Liu Bei looked at Chen Mu and said, "Prime Minister, what is the topic of today's meeting?"
Since the past few years, many cabinet meetings have been held one after another, and each time there is a topic.
Sometimes it is people's livelihood, sometimes it is military, and sometimes it is economic agriculture, etc.
Today, naturally, Chen Mu, the chief minister of the cabinet and the prime minister, decided on a new topic.
Chen Mu stood up from his chair, leaned over and looked at the many cabinet ministers below, and said slowly: "In the past, I have talked to you about business, agriculture, and military affairs many times. Today I will talk about something different.
Talking about the country, who knows the country?"
Everyone in the audience looked at each other, and they all had the answer in their minds, but no one wanted to be the first to say it. After all, the people sitting here are all smart people, and they know how to be low-key and restrained. Being too public will easily lead to jealousy.
Only Yang Xiu couldn't restrain his temper and stood up and said: "My uncle once said that we must look at the essence through the phenomenon. I used to think that the country was founded by the princes, as the "Book of Changes" said, "the country is founded and the family is inherited."
But now I know that a country is composed of people and land. Only with land can there be a country, and only with the people can there be a home."
Chen Mu suddenly laughed: "Yes, that's a good summary. I just want to add one more thing, that is, the formation of the country also needs an efficient and honest court that works for the people. Otherwise, there will only be land and people, but there will be no order and unity.
, it’s just a piece of scattered sand with no direction and cannot be considered a country.”
"My nephew has learned a lesson."
Yang Xiu quickly thanked him and sat down.
After he sat down, Chen Mu continued: "Many people say that the emperor's power comes from God's gift. Even Kang Chenggong praised this statement, but I want to say here that this is actually a fallacy. Because it denies
It denies the difficulties faced by our great ancestors in creating a foundation, and also denies His Majesty’s meritorious service in turning the tide of the country’s collapse and supporting the building that was about to collapse when the country was in crisis.”
"The Han Dynasty originated from the Qin Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty unified the world and unified the divided Central Plains into one, and its merits are eternal. This cannot be denied. However, although Qin was powerful, it did not know how to govern, which led to the change of dynasties and the cycle of history. This is why the Qin Dynasty changed.
With Gaozu's uprising, he overthrew the tyrannical Qin and finally established the country."
"At the end of the Former Han Dynasty, Wang Mang usurped the artifact, and because powerful families annexed large amounts of land, the people were displaced, which triggered a new round of dynasty changes. Emperor Shizu unified the Han Dynasty again with commoners, which was the rebirth of the Han Dynasty.
"
"Today, it is also the last year of the dynasty. Fortunately, His Majesty is also revolting in civilian clothes, asking for the Yellow Turbans, eliminating Dong Zhuo, and finally defeating Yuan Shao, pacifying Guanzhong and Youzhou, and half of the ancestral property of the Han Dynasty has been restored."
"If everything goes well, His Majesty's victory will be a foregone conclusion!"
His words cheered everyone up.
Wang Lang immediately made an impassioned speech: "It's all thanks to your Majesty that the Han Dynasty is now prosperous!"
Chen Mu said with a smile: "Of course it's because of Your Majesty, but think about it, even if Your Majesty prospered the Han Dynasty for three hundred years, the land would be annexed and the dynasty would change again. After Gaozu, there were ancestors and the present Majesty who prospered again, and the clans
Among them, who can you expect to stand up?"
Liu Bei was a little confused and said: "Prime Minister, I still don't understand what today's topic is. Can you explain it a little more clearly?"
Chen Mu raised his finger and said: "First, at the first cabinet meeting that year, I said that in the future, the first cabinet meeting every year will have to put forward the goals and tasks that a country must accomplish this year. That meeting that year
, the determined goal is to unify the country and restore the Han Dynasty as soon as possible!"
"Yes, I remember them all."
Liu Bei nodded. He was also present at the first cabinet meeting, so he clearly remembered it.
Chen Mu then said: "Second, this is the proposal I want to propose today. What your Majesty has restored is only the incomplete half of the country. The other half is still in the hands of the princes. Restoring the unity of the country is the top priority, and how to make the country
Long term is the fundamental goal.”
Liu Bei understood somewhat and said: "What the Prime Minister wants to say is that today's issue is how to restore unification. After unification, how to make the Han Dynasty stand firm and last for thousands of years? Is this what you mean?"
Chen Mu smiled and cupped his hands and said, "That's what I mean."
"Then Prime Minister, tell me quickly."
Liu Bei was very interested.
Chen Mu looked down at the many future court officials below and said seriously: "A country is composed of three things: people, land and court, and six things can make a country long-lasting."
"The first is to get rid of poverty and become rich and stabilize people's hearts."
"The second is to maintain the efficient operation of the court and make new policy changes anytime and anywhere."
"The third is to ensure that productivity is sufficient so that people can live and work in peace and contentment."
"The fourth is military strength. We must have a strong army to ensure that the country will not be invaded and destroyed by foreign enemies."
"The fifth is the development of science and technology to facilitate people's lives."
"Sixth is education. Only when a country's basic education is popularized can a steady stream of talents emerge to maintain the country's operation."
Summarized together, these six things are economy, politics, agriculture, military, science and technology and education. As for ideological, cultural and sports construction, that is a matter for the future. Don’t think about spiritual civilization before you have eaten enough.
Xu Shu, Pang Tong and others had heard Chen Mu say this when they were in Jingzhou, but at that time he said it more generally and not in such detail. Now that they heard these remarks again, they had new insights.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Chen Mu continued: "Being able to stand in the cabinet means that you will all be pillars of the court in the future. And the reason why I want to talk about the country with you today is to tell you
. I hope that all future court discussions will not deviate from these six categories. If every generation of cabinet ministers thinks about how to strengthen the country, then why should the great men worry about not lasting long, and why do the people worry about not living in peace?"
Mao Jie said solemnly: "But the country has not yet been unified. It is too early to talk about governance now."
"No, it's too late."
Chen Mu said: "Unification naturally requires unification, but governance must also exist. Otherwise, just thinking about war would be militarism. Only by governing and fighting at the same time can the country not collapse and the war end as soon as possible. In the future, this will be the cabinet
All the keynotes of the meeting will be on the premise of maintaining the prosperity of the country, and then we will talk about other things."
This is to set rules for the existence of future cabinets. In later generations, since the Tang Dynasty started the system of group ministers, and then to the Ming Dynasty cabinet and the Qing Dynasty Military Department. In the early stage, it was fine, but in the middle and late stages, those ministers who came up all the way were often
Relying on various political struggles or flattering the emperor's position.
For example, nine out of ten cabinet ministers in the late Ming Dynasty were no different from mud. They could neither stabilize the country nor relieve the king's worries. They either formed cliques and engaged in internal fighting all day long, or they were holding back the court, causing the entire court to suffer.
The hall is full of smoke and smoke.
The reason why this happened was that the political system at that time was too general and no detailed planning was done. After taking office, he didn't know what to do. When faced with national affairs, he was left in the dark.
Therefore, what Chen Mu has to do is to clarify the tasks and goals of the cabinet, limit what they have to do within the rules, and give them something to do. After relying on political struggle and pleasing the emperor to come to power, they will not use their power to bully others every day.
Idle and do nothing.
Dong Zhao said: "If this is the case, is military affairs also included in the cabinet's discussion?"
"nature!"
Chen Mu said: "I have limited the six matters of strengthening the country to the cabinet. In the future, the cabinet can only discuss these six matters, and military affairs are naturally among them. Our great Han Dynasty has prosperous martial virtues, and those who offend our powerful Han Dynasty will be punished no matter how far away they are. However, today the Great Han Dynasty is so shattered."
, I am worried about it, so I want to restore the twenty-army merit system and restore the unification of the Han Dynasty as soon as possible!"
Twenty military meritocracy?
Many cabinet ministers looked at each other. I'm afraid this is the core of today's issue.
Anyone who has gone to high school in the future knows that the Qin State was able to defeat the Six Kingdoms of Shandong and unify the country, and the twenty-level military merit system was indispensable.
It gave lower-level soldiers a way to rise, so they fought bravely and created the Qin Empire's abundant martial virtues.
In fact, the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, so the twenty-level military merit system still existed in the Western Han Dynasty.
As a result, the Western Han Dynasty also inherited the martial virtues of Qin and became powerful throughout the world.
"Su Wu Zhuan" records, "South Vietnam killed the Han envoys and slaughtered them into nine counties. King Wan killed the Han envoys and headed to the north of the county. North Korea killed the Han envoys and killed them immediately, but the Xiongnu did not hear them."
Just looking at the meaning of this sentence, it seems that the big man was forced to defend himself after being bullied, and then he attacked neighboring countries.
However, the actual situation is that the Han Dynasty sent an envoy to Dawan to force King Wuwu of Dawan to offer a horse with blood to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The King of Dawan said that the horse with blood was a national treasure and could not be given to him. Then the envoy from the Han Dynasty pointed at the king and cursed,
He humiliated the king, and the king was angry and killed the Han envoys, so Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Li Guangli to expedition to Dawan.
The envoy An Guo Shaoji sent to South Vietnam was the ex-boyfriend of the Queen Mother of Nanyue. The two planned to make South Vietnam surrender to the Han and conspired to subvert the state power. Then they were discovered by the then prime minister Lu Jia, who immediately killed the Han envoy and the Queen Mother. It is said in history that
"Lüjia Rebellion", Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a large army to destroy South Vietnam.
The most outrageous thing is the envoy She He sent to North Korea. North Korea at that time was Wei's North Korea. After She He arrived in North Korea, because King Wei Youqu of North Korea was unwilling to surrender to the Han Dynasty, before She He left, he killed good people and took credit for his crimes.
The officials who sent the envoy beheaded him, and then came back and said they had killed the North Korean general.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard about this, he was not unhappy. On the contrary, Longyan was very happy and appointed Shehe as the captain of eastern Liaodong. When Wei Youqu found out about it, he became furious and attacked Liaodong and killed Shehe. Then Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a building ship
General Yang Pu and General Xun Zhi of the left destroyed Wei's North Korea.
Although the history books of the past dynasties have been beautified, the Han Dynasty has been portrayed as a righteous and kind country that only counterattacked when it was bullied.
However, two honest men, Ban Gu and Sima Qian, honestly recorded in detail how the Western Han Dynasty bullied neighboring countries in the "Book of Han" and "Historical Records" without overly beautifying it. Only then did the world know the true face of the Western Han Dynasty.
This true face basically highlights two words - fierce!
To be my big man's dog is to flatter you.
If you don't obey me, I will scatter you within three days and have your ashes spread!
Although this script is the standard for villains in later TV series, it was indeed the case for the big man at that time.
The Han Dynasty's ferocious confidence lies in inheriting Qin's fanatical ****.
The twenty-level military merit system plays an important role in this.
During the expedition to Dayuan, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty rewarded each soldier with 40,000 coins.
In the campaign against the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty emptied half of the treasury.
After destroying Korea and South Vietnam, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not stingy with land and titles.
There are countless soldiers who have made fortunes due to their military exploits.
More than 20 years after the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, Chen Tang was still able to shout "Anyone who openly offends the powerful Han will be punished no matter how far away." This shows how strong the Western Han Empire was after inheriting the martial virtues of the Qin Dynasty.
It can be said that it is precisely because of the existence of the twenty-level military merit system that the Western Han Dynasty's foreign military power was so ferocious. Even the "Su Wu Biography" records that only the Huns were not heard, and they were eventually crushed and destroyed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
The Hun Empire.
It's just that the twenty-level military merit system has its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is of course that it makes the empire full of martial virtue. If any of the young men around you dare to disobey, you will be beaten to death immediately. If you make them unhappy, the country will be destroyed.
The disadvantages are also obvious: the military is aggressive and the wars are endless. Starting from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, domestic rebellions continued due to fighting everywhere, and public resentment spread everywhere, so he was forced to issue the Luntai Edict of Sinring Oneself.
This situation lasted until Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty stopped their excessive external conquests, recuperated and launched the Zhaoxuan ZTE, and then regained some vitality.
Therefore, by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu had begun to realize that the twenty-level military title system was a double-edged sword, and gradually abolished some titles. Initially, twelve titles were abolished and eight were retained.
By the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the remaining eight were gone, and only Guanneihou and Liehou remained.
Wang Can, a writer at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wrote in his article "On Jue": "Today, the matter of nobility has been abolished, and the people do not know who they are. If they are taken away, the people are not afraid; if they are given, the people are not happy. It is just an empty document."
It is useless. In recent times, the nobles have been abolished. People have small merits and cannot be rewarded."
This shows that by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the twenty-level military merit system had completely disappeared in the long river of history.
This is also the reason why when Cao Cao later gave his subordinates the title of marquis, they were first the Marquis of Guannei, then the Marquis of Lieutenant, then the Marquis of Ting, then the Marquis of Township, and finally the Marquis of County.
This is because titles are no longer awarded to lower-level soldiers as before, but only to high-level officers.
For example, after Zhang Liao surrendered, he was granted the title of Marquis of Guan Nei. After attacking Jingzhou, he was granted the title of Marquis of Ting. In the battle of Hefei, he was granted the title of Marquis of Xiangxiang. Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor and was granted the title of Marquis of Jinyang County.
But ordinary soldiers cannot have a title.
Therefore, the martial ethics of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not as prosperous as that of the Western Han Dynasty. After all, without the twenty-level military merit system, fanatical **** would not be formed, and the country would not like to fight everywhere like the Western Han Dynasty.
But this does not mean that the level 20 military merit title is useless. It can increase the combat effectiveness of soldiers. The disadvantage is that the treasury will be empty and a large amount of money will have to be rewarded.
So can today's big men implement a twenty-level military merit system?
Of course you can do it.
The disadvantage of the 20th level of military merit is that it resorts to militarism, which leads to a deficit in the national treasury and makes people's lives difficult.
The current situation is that Chen Mu plundered the gold, silver and copper mines of the island country. With the rich reserves of Japan's open-pit gold, silver and copper mines and the technology of brass alloys, the Han treasury can now produce countless coins every day.
Even in order to prevent inflation caused by excessive issuance of currency due to lack of supplies, the country has to print less money.
Otherwise, there will be too much money circulating among the people, and the productivity will be so little, and the material reserves will be small. If people have money, they will go shopping crazily, and the result will be higher and higher prices.
It would be embarrassing if it ends up causing demand-driven inflation even though the country has abundant reserves of gold, silver and copper.
certainly.
This situation almost does not exist.
Inflation almost exclusively occurs in the era of paper money.
The reason why inflation cannot occur in an era when gold, silver, and copper are used as currency is that unlike paper money, gold, silver, and copper have no value in themselves.
They are also useful in life, such as decorations, collectibles and asset reserves.
Therefore, when the imperial court had sufficient gold, silver, and copper as its currency, it was natural for it to launch an aggressive military campaign and establish a professional army within a short period of time.
"The twenty-level military honors system has drawbacks. The titles awarded, along with corresponding land and coins, require the state to pay heavily to reward soldiers."
Jia Kui was born in poverty and had a deeper understanding of the lower class. He objected: "The country is in crisis now. I don't know how the treasury inventory is, but it shouldn't be much better. No matter how rich Qingzhou is, I'm afraid it won't be able to support it."
I ask the Prime Minister to think twice about how big the reward is."
Chen Mu said with a smile: "You don't need to worry about this, the minister. The treasury has enough inventory. The treasury that mints coins in Qingzhou is minting copper coins day and night, and continuously sends them to Luoyang. After another three years of training, the food, grass and coins are already sufficient."
Jia Kui was surprised and asked: "Could it be that some large-scale copper mine was discovered in Qingzhou?"
"Not in Qingzhou, but in Wonu Island."
Chen Mu said: "What we fight in the war is money and food. Today's productivity is not enough. I have only trained for three years to make Jizhou and Qingzhou produce more food reserves. But the money is enough. There are a large number of gold, silver and copper mines in Wonu Island. You can do whatever you want.
Extract it and transport it to Qingzhou one by one. Our Han Dynasty court will have plenty of money!"
When Jia Kui learned about this, he raised his hands and said, "If that's the case, then it's okay."
Chen Mu looked down at the crowd and said loudly: "I want to unify the Han Dynasty within five years. This is my first five-year plan. Starting today, the twenty-level military merit system will be restored. In the past, only Qingzhou implemented the recruitment system.
, is now practiced by all the Han people. As long as you join the army, no matter what nationality or where you are, as long as you perform meritorious service, you will be rewarded! I want to make the martial virtues of the Han Dynasty abundant again!"
"Respect the Prime Minister's order!"
Everyone below raised their hands in unison, and this decree was passed without any suspense!