My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 292 King Meng?

"Yo?!"

"In just three years, my Jiangdu has already achieved such enlightenment?"

As soon as Liu Fei finished speaking, he saw Liu Rong on the imperial couch was in high spirits!

He immediately rolled up his sleeves, supported his thigh with one hand, put his other elbow on his leg, and looked at Liu Fei with great interest.

"Talk about it."

"Why is it that when a country rises or falls, the people suffer?"

Liu Rong was very surprised!
Because in the past, Liu Rong's only impression of his fifth brother was that he was a young man who admired martial arts and had great ambitions!
Of course, the lofty ambitions here do not mean that he has any ambitions, but as a prince born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Liu Fei's lifelong wish is to serve among the troops and on the battlefield.

This is rare;

This kind of awareness is rare for any noble son with a wealthy family background.

But apart from this, Liu Rong did not feel that there was any other difference between his fifth brother Liu Fei and his silly third brother Liu Yu.

To put it more bluntly, in Liu Rong's view, his fifth brother, King Jiangdu Liu Fei, is his third brother, King Linjiang Liu Yu, plus, with maximum military power.

What Liu Rong thinks of his third brother Liu Yu can be seen from Liu Rong's extremely low expectations for Liu Yu in recent years: "It's okay as long as he is alive and not dead."

It is no wonder that Liu Rong felt surprised, even shocked, when Liu Fei said something today that was seriously inconsistent with his personality.

Seeing Liu Rong looking at him with burning eyes, Liu Fei instinctively looked at his brother Liu Yu beside him.

After Liu Yu smiled faintly and nodded slightly, Liu Fei took a deep breath and, following his previous sigh, analyzed his growth in the past three years of his career as a prince.

"Um……"

"Let's take the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu as an example."

···
"Back then, King Liu Bi of Wu and King Liu Wu of Chu raised their armies to rebel, followed by King Liu Sui of Zhao. The Qi and Huainan factions were also ready to make a move."

"At that time, I just thought this was a God-given opportunity, so I excitedly asked my brother, the late emperor, for permission to go to war."

"——Inside and outside the court, and even the whole world, people are saying: The fifth prince is willing to sacrifice his life for the country and serve in the battlefield. He is truly a real man!"

"I am also complacent about this, and I use this as a reason for me to fight to the death."

"Ah~"

“You are young…”

Halfway through his speech, Liu Fei smiled bitterly, shook his head, and then let out a long sigh.

After a long silence, he came back to his senses and continued, "Back then, I served under the command of Li Ji, Marquis of Quzhou, and Luan Bu, Marquis of Yu."

"The detachment I am in has a total of 100,000 soldiers."

"Another two hundred thousand will be given to Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu, Marquis of Tiao, and another two hundred thousand will be given to General Dou Ying, Marquis of Weiqi."

"——An army of 500,000~"

"Back then, I thought that Bing Feng was so powerful that he was unrivaled;"

"But I don't know that the military rations for this 500,000-man army alone are as high as one million stones per month..."

···
"The prime minister's salary is 10,000 dan, and his actual salary is 4,000 dan. This 1 million dan of military rations is enough for my Han family to pay the prime minister's salary for 250 years, right?"

"The prime minister's salary for 250 years was eaten up by the army in just one month..."

"——The Wu-Chu Rebellion was quelled in three months. The preparations before the battle took a month, and the retreat and disbandment after the battle took more than two months."

"During the Wu-Chu Rebellion, the military rations consumed by the court in Chang'an were enough for the Han family to pay the prime minister a salary for 1,500 years!"

"Where did these millions of dan of military rations -- the prime minister's salary for 1,500 years -- come from?"

"Isn't it the people of Guanzhong who have 100 mu of land per household and 300 dan of rice per year, and who pay 10 dan of rice to the state treasury at a tax rate of 1:30? Is it the agricultural tax of hundreds of thousands of households per year, 10 dan at a time?"

The words were slightly bitter, and even contained a hint of indignation, which immediately caused all the brothers - including Liu Rong - to raise their eyebrows in surprise.

Hey!
During these three years in Jiangdu, Liu Fei definitely did not live a life of drunkenness and debauchery in the palace!
This young man, who has lived in the deep palace since he was young and has never had to spend money, has actually realized the sufferings of the world?
"Master Jiangdu..."

"Who's here?"

"Can you teach me?"

Thinking of this, Liu Rong secretly wrote down the matter of "checking the tutor of Jiangdu Wang". He then nodded with a smile.

Seeing that Liu Fei looked a little embarrassed after coming to his senses after talking so much, he took over the conversation quite considerately.

"Indeed."

"Back then, during the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu, the combined treasury of the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Finance cost tens of millions of dan of grain and hundreds of millions of coins in various goods before the rebellion was put down."

"——I still remember that at that time, it was Marquis Jianling who was the Shaofu;"

"Almost every day, the Shaofu would cry to the late emperor outside the Xuanshi Hall, saying that Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's savings of more than 20 years were lost in the Wu-Chu Rebellion..."

···
"After the rebellion was quelled, more than half of the grain in the Shaofu treasury was consumed. Moreover, the grain merchants in Guanzhong colluded with the nobles in the court to drive up the grain prices, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the people."

"The late emperor was furious, so he asked me to take charge of stabilizing the grain prices in Guanzhong, so as to prevent the people in Guanzhong from suffering and the people from living in misery..."

"Back then, I was in charge of stabilizing the grain prices in Guanzhong. The kings of Hejian, Linjiang, Jiangdu, and Changshan all helped me."

When Liu Rong said this, the two smart men, Liu De and Liu Yu, looked at each other instinctively, and then tacitly chose to remain silent.

This incident is still circulating among the clan princes in Guandong.

As for the reason, it was because that year, the current Liu Rong, who had just been named the Crown Prince, faced off against his aunt, the Princess of Guantao, for the first time.

The final result was that Liu Rong won.

But in the eyes of the Guandong clan and relatives of the Liu family, Liu Rong's treatment of his aunt was somewhat inhumane.

Although Liu De and Liu Yu did not think so, they did not dare to say much on this topic.

The most crucial thing is that Princess Guantao Liu Piao's plot against Liu Rong, or against the position of queen and the mistress of the imperial palace, has not yet been completely resolved.

The brothers are away from home all year round, so there is no reason for them to offend Liu Piao for no reason.

After all, the most impressive thing about Guantao Master Liu Piao, apart from his professional ethics which has always been praised but is no longer very useful nowadays, is his character of being unable to accomplish anything and often causing trouble.

"The king has made a lot of progress in these years in Jiangdu."

After a brief silence, Liu Rong said something with a hint of seriousness, which was considered as an acknowledgement of Liu Fei's growth in recent years.

Liu Rong did not dare to make any demands on the Han clan princes.

To be precise, the emperors of the Han Dynasty did not have high demands on these relatives.

——When you have nothing to do, try not to cause trouble. Even if you do cause trouble, try not to harm the people.
It would be best to enrich the boring life of the nobles by going out hunting, entertaining guests, playing with women and beating children in the palace. As for state affairs, the Chang'an court would naturally send a whole set of administrative teams, from the Taifu who was responsible for teaching and restraining the princes, the prime ministers who were in charge of state affairs, and the corresponding lieutenants, internal historians, and so on.

From Liu Fei's seemingly insignificant statement that "the rise and fall of a country will bring suffering to the people", Liu Rong could see that he was a prince who had a certain understanding of the living conditions of the grassroots people and showed them appropriate sympathy.

This is good.

At least in the future, when Liu Fei, for some unknown reason, wants to become a king, this mercy can help buy some living space for the people of Jiangdu.

The Chinese nation, especially the lower classes of the Chinese people, have always been the most hard-working and patient people.

If the lower-class people in China are sheep, then what they often want is just a mouthful of grass to fill their stomachs.

As long as there is enough grass, you can gather as much wool as you want.

This is what surprised and impressed Liu Rong about Liu Fei.

——Liu Fei has already come to the realization of "trying to ensure that the sheep have enough grass to eat."

This realization was enough to push Liu Fei's lower limit above Liu Rong's tolerance limit towards clan relatives and princes, especially towards his brothers.

"Since there has been such progress, then~"

"Still want to fight?"

"Do you still want to take command of the troops, command the troops, and gallop freely on the battlefield?"

When Liu Rong asked this question, Liu Fei thought that Liu Rong was still testing him, so he instinctively smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I don't dare anymore."

"I will never again treat war as a toy for my ambitions."

···
"After I was enfeoffed, I discussed this with the Prime Minister, the Internal Affairs Minister, and the Lieutenant."

"——If I want to send troops south to attack Lingnan, without 30,000 to 50,000 troops, I will not be able to threaten old Zhao Tuo at all."

"But my brother's Jiangdu Kingdom was derived from the former Jiangling County of the Wu Kingdom."

"——One is the copper mountain without mining, and the other is the salt pond without sea."

"If we raise an army, we will need at least 100,000 dan of military rations per month, and several times more in pensions and expenses, all of which will need to be borne by the people of the country."

"If we fight a war that takes three months and involves 50,000 troops, then the cost to Jiangdu will be around 60 million coins."

"Now, in our Jiangdu country, there are only 190,000 households and less than one million people."

"Let each farmer contribute 300 yuan to support me in fighting a harmless and meaningless war with Zhao Tuo of Nanyue..."

"My dear brother, I really don't want to accept it..."

After saying that, Liu Fei shook his head with a wry smile, then lowered his head with a hint of loneliness.

Does Liu Fei really not want to fight and really not want to be a general?
of course not.

How could a childhood dream, especially a lifelong ambition, be shattered so easily?
But after three years of being a vassal and realizing the actual situation of Jiangdu State, Liu Fei finally had to accept the reality no matter how reluctant he was.

Although Liu Fei had known long after the Wu-Chu Rebellion was quelled that the two legs that had helped King Wu Liu Bi become powerful, even powerful enough to challenge the central government in Chang'an: money and salt, were unlikely to be controlled by a certain clan prince;

But after becoming a vassal in Jiangdu and truly realizing the situation of Jiangdu State, Liu Fei couldn't help but complain.

——The dismemberment of Wu by Emperor Xiaojing was too thorough...

The original three counties in Wu, one county opened mountains to mint coins, and one county boiled the sea to make salt - now they have all been abolished as counties and are directly governed by the Chang'an court!
The only thing left was Jiangdu County, which had nothing and lacked everything, and was granted to Liu Fei as Jiangdu State.

Liu Fei had indeed thought about this: As long as conditions permit, he would strive to become the king guarding the southern border of the Han Dynasty, make great achievements, and shock the world with his outstanding military exploits!

But after realizing the actual situation of Jiangdu State, Liu Fei had to admit: Even if he wanted to take 10,000 or 20,000 people to Nanyue to have a small fight with Zhao Tuo, Liu Fei, the King of Jiangdu, would have to save money for three to five years to raise enough military funds.

This does not even take into account the outcome of the battle!

It's easy to say if you win the fight;

Although some people in the court of Chang'an might complain that the King of Jiangdu privately mobilized troops and destroyed the country without an imperial edict, in the end his merits outweighed his faults, and his reward was greater than his punishment;
But if he lost the fight - even if it was just a draw, Liu Fei would be in trouble immediately.

Taking all these into consideration, Liu Fei struggled for a long time before finally making a decision.

——This is how my life will end...

He stayed in the royal palace in the capital, passed down his lineage and continued his family line;

As for the excess male hormones, they can be released in the hunting ground.

Zhao Tuo of Nanyue was not so lucky to see the supreme heroism of the fifth son of Emperor Xiaojing...

"Some years ago, Emperor Xiaojing asked me about Jiangdu. I answered: Jiangdu likes martial arts but cannot be serious. If he is given a title, he should not go to the north wall to be the king."

Just when Liu Fei was sighing alone, Liu Fei said something leisurely, bringing the scattered minds of his brothers back to the present moment.

Realizing what Liu Rong said, Liu Fei first raised his head in surprise, then looked at the imperial couch with a slightly innocent look;

After a moment, he nodded with relief, acknowledging Liu Rong's evaluation of himself back then.

——At that time, wasn't my mind full of fighting and killing, and I was not interested in anything else except fighting?

If the north wall was really blocked, who knows how much fighting with the Huns would have to do in the next few years.

Liu Rong once advised the late emperor not to appoint his fifth brother as a background guard king, and Liu Fei felt somewhat resentful.
But from an objective point of view, Liu Fei also admitted that Liu Rong's approach was reasonable.

"Your Majesty is so wise. I, your humble servant, sincerely thank you..."

"——But I now feel that Jiangdu is no longer the reckless man who only knows how to fight and kill but does not know how to govern a country."

Before Liu Fei finished speaking, Liu Rong suddenly made another unexpected turn, almost spraining the brothers' backs.

Then Liu Rong slowly stood up from the couch, his eyes fixed straight into the depths of Liu Fei's eyes.

After a long while, Fang asked in a deep voice: "People who have no fear of war cannot control the direction of a war."

"Once upon a time, my fifth brother had no fear of war, so I didn't dare to use him."

"Now, the King of Jiangdu of my Han family finally understands what reverence and war are."

"I, perhaps, can use Jiangdu as the spear of the Liu family and the shield of the Han family..."

···
"After this autumn, the northern barbarians, the Xiongnu, will surely move south again to attack Dai and Shang."

"——I! I want to take advantage of the enemy's strategy and plot against Henan!"

"When I regain Henan, I will transfer the vassal to suppress the nomadic people. Jiangdu, are you willing to be the Mongolian king of the Han Dynasty? Stay in Henan and keep horses for me, guard the Xiongnu in the north, and look west to Hexi. "

"From generation to generation, you have been the shield of the northern wall of the Han Dynasty?"

(End of this chapter)