Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

Chapter 161 Either work for me or exterminate the clan

Every war involves money and food, and what the big man lacks most now is money and food.

In the past few years, natural disasters and wars have continued, and a large number of fields have been abandoned. The court's tax revenue can no longer support the normal operation of the bureaucracy. When Emperor Ling was in power, he came up with the bad idea of ​​selling his official position to make money to survive.

Before Liu Ming went on the expedition, he checked the stocks of the national treasury and the palace treasury. He didn't know it, but he was shocked to see that the Han Dynasty was on the verge of economic collapse.

Fortunately, the properties of the He family, Shi Changshi and their gang members were searched. Although He Jin and Shi Changshi were not rich enough to reach the country, their wealth accumulation over the years was enough to be worth a year in a wealthy state. of fiscal and tax revenue.

Especially with the existence of corrupt giants like Jian Shuo, Zhang Rang, and Zhao Zhong, their family wealth even exceeds the annual income of a large state.

In the early stage, Liu Ming auctioned various treasures in the West Garden, which also brought a large amount of income to the treasury.

With this huge amount of wealth in the treasury, even if the world is raging with war, it will be enough to cover the expenses for the first half of the year.

When we set out for the expedition, all the civil and military officials came to see us off.

As the personal convoy of the mighty Han Emperor, this team looks a bit shabby.

There were no eunuchs, maids, or huge honor guards.

Out of 15,000 soldiers and horses, there are only 300 black horse Yicon and 2,000 Xiyuan troops, which can be considered relatively neat.

Although Lu Bu is heroic and dazzling, the two thousand cavalry behind him look a bit disorganized. It seems that they have been trained, but they are not very good. There is basically no riding formation at all, and they are currently at a level where they can control the horses.

Whether comparing the Xiongnu cavalry or the two-tunnel cavalry of the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty, there is no doubt that Lu Bu's team is the weakest, and it is incomparable with Zhang Liao's Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. This makes Lu Bu, who has commanded high-level cavalry operations, I feel extremely painful.

There are 10,000 Montenegrin troops left. They just threw away the miscellaneous things not long ago and replaced them with some of the only standard weapons and military uniforms left in the official army inventory. These weapons are also of various types and can only be grouped together with the same weapons. No one has much hope in terms of how much combat effectiveness they can cooperate with each other.

As for armor, there was no armor. Those above the rank of commander might have a pair of leather armor, and soldiers just wore uniforms.

As for the generals, in addition to Shi A and He Man who served as personal guards, they were Lu Bu and Zhang Fei.

These are the soldiers and horses brought out by the Han emperor, which makes people feel distressed and worried.

The new Grand Sikong Cheng Yang Biao whispered to Liu Ming: "Your Majesty, I have already interrogated Yuan Wei and made some preliminary investigations. According to Wei Chen's understanding, Yuan Shu's rebellion was not instigated by Yuan Wei, but Yuan Shu took office as the governor of Yangzhou. , Sun Jian was appointed as the governor of Jingzhou, Yuan Wei once walked in the path of Jian Shuo."

In fact, Liu Ming had already received partial confirmation of these things from Wang Yue last night, because Wang Yue knew many things that Jian Shuo did. Yuan Wei and Jian Shuo were only exchanging interests together, and they did not plan to deal with the emperor together.

He now fully understood that it was Yuan Wei's idea to send Yuan Shu back to Runan to recruit troops, but Yuan Shu's attack on Nanyang had nothing to do with Yuan Wei.

It was Yuan Wei's idea to make Yuan Shu the governor of Yangzhou and Sun Jian the governor of Jingzhou, but Yuan Shu and Sun Jian kidnapped the prince Liu Xie and the subsequent rebellion had nothing to do with Yuan Wei.

However, Yuan Wei always had the desire to make the Yuan family bigger. He asked Yuan Shu to go to Runan to recruit troops. He just wanted to allow the Yuan family to take advantage of the situation and make further progress under the chaotic situation of Dong Zhuo's entry into Beijing.

Letting Yuan and Sun take charge of one side was simply to allow the Yuan family to take the initiative in the chaos caused by Jian Shuo's chaos or the bandits' attack on Luoyang.

Of course, Liu Ming already knew that it was the two brothers Yuan Wei and Yuan Feng who were the masterminds behind recruiting Dong Zhuo to Beijing. However, Dong Zhuo did not play according to their routine, and Liu Ming caused trouble, which forced Dong Zhuo to rebel. .

Although Yuan Wei did not rebel, he only had the Yuan family in his eyes, and the interests of the court came second.

However, the Yuan family tree has deep roots. Now that the Han Dynasty is leaking from everywhere, trying to shake this big tree will involve a lot of things. It is not the right time. Moreover, Yuan Shao is still leading troops at Hangu Pass, and Yuan Ji is still responsible for the implementation of the new tax system. This is related to the tax issue of Dahan this year.

At this time, Yuan Ji came over, knelt down on the ground, and shed tears before he spoke, "Your Majesty, this thief Yuan Shu rebelled, and the Yuan family is responsible for improper discipline. Although the Yuan family has drawn a clear line with him and cut off all Relationship, but after all, responsibility comes first, so I can’t say no. It’s just that my uncle is old and may suffer the pain of prison. I am willing to be punished for my uncle, please have mercy on me!”

Liu Ming looked at Yuan Ji, who was in tears and looked like he was loyal and filial, and smiled. This guy seemed honest, but in fact he was very clever and was also playing tricks.

Yuan Shu rebelled. If this matter was investigated, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Yuan family was wiped out. However, Yuan Ji said that the Yuan family's fault was improper discipline, which was much lighter.

"As the head of the Yuan family, Yuan Wei is undeniably guilty." Liu Ming snorted coldly, "As Yuan Shu's brother, don't you have no responsibility? I haven't held you accountable for your own crimes, and you still want to shoulder the responsibility for others. Responsible? Where do you get the confidence?"

Yuan Ji was so reprimanded that he became excited.

Liu Ming turned to Yang Biao again and said, "What do Yuan Wei have in mind?"

Yang Biao said hurriedly: "What Yuan Wei wants to express is two things. One is that the Yuan family did not participate in the rebellion and will never rebel. The other is that Yuan Shu rebelled. The Yuan family is indeed responsible. The Yuan family also recognizes this and is willing to take responsibility for his crimes." .”

Liu Ming: "How does he want to get rid of his crime and make meritorious service?"

Yang Biao: "The first is to build a Mingtai for His Majesty in the ruins of Jiade Palace, and the second is to use all the resources the Yuan family can use to find out the true population and land acres in each place before the summer, and to explain the new tax system. Promote publicity and prepare for tax collection after the autumn harvest.”

Yuan Wei was still an old fox after all, and he suddenly scratched the weak spot that Liu Ming was most concerned about.

Liu Ming frowned, looked at Yuan Ji who was kneeling on the ground, and said with a little melancholy: "Building a Mingtai? But there is not enough money in the palace..."

Originally, he really wanted to build a high platform and completely cover the old site of Jiade Hall underneath, so that people would gradually forget everything that had happened here. However, since he checked the palace treasury, he was a little hesitant. He was short of money!
Yuan Ji suddenly said: "Your Majesty, to show loyalty, the Yuan family is willing to independently bear all the expenses for building Mingtai. There is no need for the palace to take out a single copper coin."

Obviously, this is a way of spending money to buy peace.

Liu Ming nodded and asked solemnly: "I want to ask you two things, and you must answer truthfully. First, can you find out the true population and number of acres of land in the country before summer? Second, can you follow the new tax system after the autumn harvest? Raise taxes?"

Yuan Ji gritted his teeth there, and said after a long time: "This requires your Majesty's authority. Your Majesty must clarify the disposal methods for those farmers who do not truthfully declare the number of acres of land and do not pay taxes according to the new system, especially the big families. This disposal power may not necessarily be given to Yuan family, Your Majesty can send another tax collector."

Yuan Jixue was smart. At this time, he stated the difficulty without leaving the impression of demanding power.

"Let Yuan Wei serve as the Great Situ Cheng, and temporarily hold the position of the Great Situ. Come up with a specific proposal and give the Yuan family a one-year period. If these two things cannot be handled well, the Yuan family will be held accountable at the end of this year and tell Yuan Wei what happened. The survival of the Guan Yuan family is up to him. If he does it well, I will keep the position of Grand Situ for him." Liu Ming said, and asked Grand Situ Lu Zhi to draw up an edict on the spot, and stamped the imperial seal himself. Let Yang Biao personally deliver the imperial edict to Yuan Wei.

Yuan Wei's original position was Situ, which was the position of Wan Shi. Now he is the Great Situ Cheng, which is only two thousand Shi. It can be said that he has been downgraded by one level. However, the implementation of the new tax system is related to the survival of the Yuan family, and he cannot be ignored.

Yuan Shu's rebellion undoubtedly handed Liu Ming a knife, and the blade was placed on Yuan's neck. As long as this behemoth was disobedient, he could strike at any time.

Of course Liu Ming knew that the new tax system was difficult to implement, and the main resistance was the big family members, so let the No. 1 family bet on their family's fate to implement it with all their strength.

Either they will do their best to implement Liu Ming's will and still get the high position of Chief Situ, or the Yuan family will disappear from this world. I believe they will make the right choice.

This can be regarded as a combination of kindness and power.

Saying goodbye to his ministers, Liu Ming led his troops southward and headed straight to Nanyang County in Jingzhou. Because this county is close to the Sili Xiaowei Department and very close to Luoyang.

The reason why Liu Ming sent troops in such a hurry was to prevent Sun Jian and Yuan Shu from becoming powerful, and not to give other states the opportunity to rebel together.

It is not necessarily necessary to fight immediately and destroy these two forces immediately. As long as the emperor poses as a personal conquest, most states and counties that are ready to take action can be frightened, allowing them to suppress their restless hearts and remain in a wait-and-see state for the time being.

But fifteen thousand men and horses were still too few. He looked back at the not-so-organized team with a wry smile on his face.

The risk of this battle is that if the imperial conquest fails, it will inevitably lead to more states and counties responding to the rebellion, and the imperial court will further lose control of the world.

But if we win, and if we win with less than more with a huge disparity, the whole world will easily judge that His Majesty is so wise and powerful today, and there is no way out for rebellion, so we can only put away our little thoughts and obediently obey the jurisdiction of the imperial court. It will even make the major aristocratic families keep their status quo.

Of course, during this expedition, Liu Ming did not fight an unprepared battle. Although Lu Bu and Zhang Fei were brave, they could not defeat four people with two fists, but he knew that the capable men he had recruited were coming soon.

If there are powerful generals such as Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong, plus capable assistants such as Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You, Xi Zhicai, and Xu Shu, why should we fear Sun Jian and Yuan Shu?
According to detective reports, Sun Jian and Yuan Shu each gathered about 50,000 troops. In addition to the thousands of confidants who had always been with them, the remaining tens of thousands were all improvised rabble. To put it bluntly, it may not be comparable to the Black Mountain Army, a bandit that has been causing trouble for many years.

When the quality of civil servants, military generals and soldiers are all superior to those of the opponent, it can be enough to make up for the shortcomings of insufficient personnel.

The army did not move very fast along the way. Liu Ming asked Lu Bu to train his cavalry while marching to increase their cavalry combat capabilities.

The south lacks cavalry. As long as Lu Bu's cavalry is not very low, it can guarantee the suppression of the southern army.

But Liu Ming soon discovered a problem, that is, the falling rate of these cavalrymen was too high, and they often fell off their horses within a few fights. During the marching training process, four or five people had already fallen off their horses and been injured, losing their ability to fight. .

How is this possible?

"The training time is too short, and their riding skills are too poor." Lu Bu was so angry that he was breathing heavily, and said helplessly, "If we give the general a year, I guarantee that we can train them into elite soldiers!"

Liu Ming looked at it for a long time, then suddenly smiled and said: "Maybe there is a quick way to remedy it."

"Your Majesty, what good advice do you have?" Lu Bu asked in surprise.

When it comes to who is the best at training cavalry in the world, Lu Bu is confident that he is second and no one dares to say first. Although His Majesty also knows a little bit about marching and fighting, how can there be a quick way to achieve cavalry training?
Lu Bu didn't believe this.

"Where has the army gone?" Liu Ming asked loudly.

"Your Majesty, we have entered Nanyang County, and the mountain in front is Mount Yao." He Man replied. He is relatively familiar with the terrain here.

"Camp at the foot of Mount Yao," Liu Ming ordered. "Immediately send people to nearby counties to recruit blacksmiths and purchase fine iron. I will be of great use."

Originally, there were civilian husbands and blacksmiths accompanying the army responsible for logistical support, but to fulfill Liu Ming's idea, there were still too few of these blacksmiths accompanying the army.

Lu Bu didn't know what Liu Ming was going to do, but it was related to the combat effectiveness of his cavalry and he didn't dare to neglect it, so he immediately sent his cavalry to look for blacksmiths and fine iron in the surrounding counties.

Liu Ming even wrote a decree to urgently send people back to Luoyang to mobilize fine iron and hire blacksmiths from the capital to come to Yaoshan.

As soon as the camp was set up, Lu Bu came over impatiently and asked, "Can your Majesty reveal a clever strategy for quick cavalry success?"

Liu Ming stood in front of the Chinese army's tent and said, "Bring your war horse and bring you a stirrup."

Lu Bu didn't know why, so he led his horse and held a stirrup in his other hand, "Your Majesty, please make it clear."

When Liu Ming saw it, he couldn't laugh or cry, "Don't your horses have stirrups?"

During the past few days of observation, Liu Ming noticed that the cavalry of this era had stirrups, but they were only single-sided stirrups. Their function was only for the convenience of stepping on and off the horse. No one cared about their actual role in battle.

"Hey, the general is so good at riding, how can he use stirrups to assist him?" Lu Bu said, grabbing the horse's mane, then jumped on the horse's back, holding the horse's belly tightly with both legs.

Liu Ming finally saw what it means to fly on a horse.

Sure enough, stirrups are not needed.

"Hang this stirrup on the left side of the saddle, find another stirrup and hang it on the right side of the saddle, and try riding on it again." Liu Mingdao.

Lu Bu felt even more baffled. I don't need stirrups to get on and off the horse, so why do I need to install this burden?
What he didn't understand even more was why stirrups were installed on the right side. Riders usually mount and dismount from the left side of the horse. Adding stirrups on the right side is neither good-looking nor practical. Isn't this nonsense?
But His Majesty had an order, and he did not dare to resist. After a while, he took off a stirrup from his subordinate's horse, tied it to the right side of his own horse, and rode to the front of the central army tent.

When Liu Ming saw it, he burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)