I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 388 The Plug-in Financial Black Hole
Yuan Shu gave three lectures at the Imperial Academy, each attracting no fewer than 10,000 spectators. After the three lectures, hundreds of students from the Imperial Academy flocked to Luoyang City to petition Yuan Shu, wanting to follow him and study his philosophy of mind.

Clearly, the Zhixing Academy's siphon effect on the Imperial Academy has been further enhanced.

The key is that the group with ideas is not just the students of the Imperial Academy.

People with cultural knowledge can certainly approach Yuan Shu from this perspective, while those without cultural knowledge can only approach Yuan Shu from another perspective.

military.

I can't read, but I can fight. I'm strong, tall, and good at fighting.

Therefore, he wanted to follow Yuan Shujian and make contributions.

It can only be said that there is never a shortage of people who want to make achievements. However, Yuan Shu also has his own screening mechanism for these people. He has established a talent recruitment mechanism, and there will basically be no one who goes beyond this mechanism.

Even if there are exceptions, they are extremely rare. The situation of absorbing a large number of new members in a short period of time, as in the past, will not happen again.

As for the fact that many people tried to enter Yuan Shu's General of Chariots and Cavalry's mansion, which had not yet been formally established, through various means, Yuan Shu clearly refused.

He is the leader of a large group, and of course he would share good things with his own people.

As for what outsiders want to obtain...

That's easy to handle.

Find a way to become one of my own.

You can choose one of these three paths: enter Zhixing Academy, join Tianxiong Army, or, if you are truly exceptional, possess outstanding talent and a powerful background.

Yuan Shu didn't have much time left in Luoyang. Apart from spending time with friends and subordinates, he devoted most of his time to his family, especially his five children.

Children grow up very quickly. The last time I saw them, they were still babies in swaddling clothes. Now they are already little mice running around on the ground. Yuan Shuxin was overjoyed to see these little milk balls with a milky smell.

I don’t know if it was just good luck, but in the years he was gone, the children didn’t have any major problems except for the occasional minor cold. They have always been quite healthy, which is really fortunate in this era of rampant epidemics.

Besides the children, the five wives and concubines also desperately needed Yuan Shu's comfort, and because of the change in circumstances, they strongly requested to go north with Yuan Shu, not wanting to be left alone in Luoyang.

I really miss them terribly.

Furthermore, they expressed that they were like delicate flowers, and without Yuan Shu's comfort and nurturing, they always felt they would wither away very quickly...

Yuan Shu felt apologetic about this, admitting that he had been so engrossed in making a name for himself that he had neglected the emotional needs of his wives and concubines. So this time, he decided to respect their wishes and take his family with him to the north when he left Luoyang.

Yuan Shu also gave it some thought.

The biggest enemy has been eliminated. There are no more powerful opponents in the entire northern border region that can confront the Tianxiong Army head-on. The remaining ones are just some incompetent little karami who may be able to cause some trouble, but they are absolutely unable to change the overall situation.

If anyone tries to cause trouble, the Tianxiong Army's 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry are not to be trifled with.

Moreover, since he is now concurrently in charge of Youzhou, Yuan Shu also plans to recruit soldiers there, conscripting brave warriors to join the army, expanding the Tianxiong Army's strength, and thus further ensuring the safety of himself and his family.

During his time in Luoyang, Yuan Shu also obtained further financial support from Yuan Feng, which led to the Han Empire's finances being further tilted towards the Tianxiong Army, laying the foundation for the subsequent expansion of the Tianxiong Army.

Yuan Feng was actually quite surprised by this.

After reviewing the detailed expenditure records of the Tianxiong Army, Yuan Feng discovered a significant difference in expenditures compared to other Han army units. For an army of similar size, the Tianxiong Army typically required only half or even a third of the military expenditures of the Han army.

Especially at the cavalry level, the military expenditure of some garrison cavalry camps could be reduced to as low as a quarter of the original amount, a figure that Yuan Feng's entire accounting team found unbelievable.

Most people understand the intricacies of military spending, and some even come from military accounting backgrounds and are very familiar with the way the military does accounting. But this situation with the Tianxiong Army is truly the first time they have seen it.

While there have been generals in the past who were strict in military discipline and incorruptible in their official conduct, resulting in lower resource consumption, it is truly unprecedented to see a situation where resource consumption is reduced by more than half across the entire organization.

One unit of money can achieve two or even three units of effect, which makes Yuan Feng, who has always been reluctant to spend military funds, less reluctant to spend money on the Tianxiong Army.

Yuan Feng also privately inquired about Yuan Shu's military management methods and how he managed to keep military spending so low. Yuan Shu replied that anyone who wanted to do these things could do them, but the problem was that some people didn't want to do them themselves and wouldn't allow others to do them.

Anyway, he's not afraid.

In Bingzhou, anyone who tried to stop him from streamlining military spending was eliminated. Whether inside or outside the military, anyone who tried to tamper with military funds or line their own pockets met a bad end once they were caught.

More importantly, Yuan Shu's large-scale construction of farms and transportation infrastructure in Bingzhou will greatly reduce the consumption of grain transportation and procurement. With self-production and self-sales, transportation will be convenient and fast, and there will be nowhere to spend money recklessly.

Taking the opportunity, Yuan Shu told Yuan Feng that if he had some time, he could also transform Youzhou into this super-energy-saving model and control Youzhou's military expenditures.

If you want to reduce it even further, then hand over Liangzhou to him for management as well. Give him some time, and Liangzhou can also enter super energy-saving mode.

The three provinces of You, Bing, and Liang, which had dragged the Eastern Han Empire's finances into an abyss from which they could not extricate themselves, were all brought back to life and put into a super-energy-saving mode under Yuan Shu's hands, allowing the Han Empire's finances to escape the abyss and breathe.

To be honest, this greatly appealed to Yuan Feng, who was deeply worried and troubled by the empire's financial problems.

Since he took office as Minister of Works and seized real power in the empire, he has been very troubled by the empire's terrible financial situation. Of course, he knows where the problem lies, but he has to admit that his Yuan family is also one of the root causes of the problem. How can he solve the problem by taking action against himself?
Moreover, even if he could bring himself to do it, how could so many powerful and influential families, apart from the Yuan family, tolerate him doing so?
In Yuan Feng's view, the imperial tax problem had reached a point of no return. It was only because of the empire's strong military power and the release of a large amount of resources due to the downfall of the eunuch group that the empire's finances were able to breathe.

However, in recent years, this breathing space has gradually run out, and the resources left by the eunuchs have been completely divided up. If no new growth points can be found, then the government must adopt the method of cutting expenditures to stabilize the finances.

Otherwise, the treasury will explode sooner or later.

But how do we cut costs?

Whose flow is this?

This caused Yuan Feng great distress.

At this moment, Yuan Shu's proposed super energy-saving plan for the three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang gave him a glimmer of hope for solving the problem.

The three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang had low tax revenue and high expenditure, making them financial black holes. The imperial court had expressed disappointment with these three prefectures several times. But who could have imagined that after Yuan Shu went north, he managed to bring Bing Prefecture into an ultra-energy-saving mode in just over three years?

One of the three major fiscal black holes has actually been plugged!
Moreover, judging from the financial statements of the past few years, Bingzhou's finances have shown signs of turning a profit.

If these three states can implement the super energy-saving plan, the Han Empire's financial problems will be greatly alleviated.

Yuan Feng had some understanding of Yuan Shu's political abilities. Not only in Bingzhou, but also in the various estates he had established in the Central Plains, which had been gradually built and put into operation over the years, and were now producing output.

According to financial statements, the financial problems of counties with good families or those with members holding official positions have been alleviated to varying degrees in recent years.

If a region possesses both the "good village" and "Il-shin Society" officials, its financial problems will be significantly improved, resulting in tax revenue figures that are significantly higher than those of surrounding areas and the region in previous years.

This situation is not uncommon. This deeply impressed Yuan Feng. The Yixin Society, established by Yuan Shu, and its members, seemed to genuinely follow their ideals. Whatever they said, they believed; if they spoke of conscience, they truly followed it…

In contrast, the Confucian school says one thing and does another; they are full of benevolence and morality but are actually wicked and immoral.

How can we not fail?

From that moment on, Yuan Feng realized that the study of classics would be replaced by the study of mind sooner or later. As long as Yuan Shu succeeded in taking power, neither the New Text School nor the Old Text School of Classics would be a match for Yuan Shu's school of mind. It was only a matter of time before the study of mind swept the world.

Yuan Shu might actually have the ability and means to resolve the critically ill state of the Han Empire.

Whether the Han Empire was still the Han Empire at that time is hard to say.

Therefore, Yuan Feng and Yuan Shu agreed that once Yuan Shu established a foothold in Youzhou and resolved the problem with the Wuhuan people, Yuan Feng would use this achievement to further increase his power and hand over the jurisdiction of Liangzhou to him, so that he could also resolve the Liangzhou problem.

Once the problems of You, Bing, and Liang provinces are resolved, Yuan Shu will possess enough strength and prestige to dominate the world. The three strongest military source provinces will be under his control, and he will have transformed them into a super-energy-saving mode. It is hard to say what kind of power these three provinces will unleash at that time.

But Yuan Feng was really looking forward to it, very, very much looking forward to it. He longed to see that day come.

Yuan Shu did not stay in Luoyang for long. After the New Year, on the sixteenth day of the first month of the second year of Yande, he led his subordinates and family back to Taiyuan County in Bingzhou, planning to complete a series of handover preparations in Taiyuan County.

He planned to move the General of Chariots and Cavalry's headquarters from Bingzhou to Youzhou for closer control, and he had already decided on the location of this main base.

It was in Zhuojun, Lu Zhi's hometown.

Dealing with the Youzhou issue involves not only resolving the Wuhuan problem, but also dealing with the Buyeo and Goguryeo in Liaodong, as well as the Three Han on the Korean Peninsula, including a group of fishing and hunting peoples in the Ussuri River basin, who also need to be dealt with.

This location also made it convenient for Yuan Shu to recruit new soldiers from Youzhou and Jizhou, and expand his army, so setting up the General of Chariots and Cavalry's office in Zhuojun was a good idea.

As for how the local aristocratic families and powerful landowners in Youzhou viewed this matter, and how they would deal with Yuan Shu's forceful intervention, that was not something Yuan Shu needed to consider.

Because Yuan Shu is already powerful enough, the people of Youzhou who need to consider this matter now are not him.

After arriving in Taiyuan County, Yuan Shu resolved the political and military affairs of Bingzhou after he led the main force away.

In terms of government affairs, the nine prefectural governments and ninety-three county governments, led by the members of Yixin, all followed the rules he had previously set. The county governments were responsible to the prefectural governments, and the prefectural governments were directly responsible to the General of Chariots and Cavalry's office, leaving no room for disputes.

In terms of military affairs, although the Xianbei tribal alliance has basically disintegrated, the original western Xianbei still retains some strength, so it is still necessary to launch some military operations to strike the western Xianbei. In addition, the threat from the southern Xiongnu and Qiang people still exists, and Bingzhou is not completely safe, so it is still necessary to maintain sufficient military forces.

After the war against the Xianbei, General Zhang Quan and the entire Duliao Battalion were incorporated into the Tianxiong Army system by Yuan Shu. The position of General Duliao was changed from a special position set up specifically to deal with the Southern Xiongnu to an ordinary miscellaneous general military position.

Zhang Quan was very pleased with this.

Although the General Who Crossed the Liao River had the title of general, his status was not high. He was even below the General Who Sent to the Xiongnu, and his actual power did not exceed that of a colonel.

After Yuan Shu's reforms, the General Who Crossed the Liao River became a true general, and Zhang Quan was actually promoted two ranks to become a proper general.

With Yuan Shu about to be transferred to Youzhou, the Du Liao Camp will also be going there, which means that the force originally used to deal with the Southern Xiongnu will also leave Bingzhou.

However, this does not mean that Bingzhou's military strength will be insufficient as a result.

Yuan Shu's measures before the war against the Xianbei were effective.

All nine counties of Bingzhou became border counties, and border counties were qualified to set up county troops. Therefore, each of the nine counties of Bingzhou built a county troop of 3,000 men. This means that even without the Tianxiong Army, Bingzhou had 27,000 county troops as a standing armed force to rely on.

However, these county soldiers did not have a strong enough field force, and they were not configured as field armies, but rather as garrison troops. If they were to fight against a large enemy force, they would be at a great disadvantage.

Therefore, Yuan Shu decided to leave one general to lead 10,000 cavalry to continue to garrison Bingzhou in order to deal with this situation.

At the same time, in order to increase military power and facilitate the execution of military missions, Yuan Shu also decided to hand over the power to mobilize troops from the nine prefectures to a capable subordinate, appointing him as a military officer in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's office.

As for the choice of general to command the cavalry, Yuan Shu, after careful consideration, decided to appoint Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong had performed exceptionally well in previous military operations, demonstrating his talent in commanding troops and possessing extremely high martial prowess. He was highly renowned in the army and was a general well worth cultivating. Yuan Shu had high expectations for him.

As for Wu Meng's appointment, Yuan Shu thought about it for a while and decided to hand over the position to Zhong Yao.

According to Yuan Shu's observation, Zhong Yao's military abilities were not limited to planning; he also possessed a high level of skill in actual execution. Compared to Xun You, who was better at devising strategies, he was more versatile in both civil and military affairs, making him a traditional candidate for both military and political leadership.

So Yuan Shu decided to give him some opportunities to train, and handed over the position of Wu Meng to Zhong Yao.

When Yuan Shu was explaining this matter to the two men, he specifically instructed Huang Zhong that if any emergency occurred, he should remember to obey Zhong Yao's military orders.

Therefore, Yuan Shu effectively handed over the dominant power to Zhong Yao, who became the de facto highest military commander of Bingzhou.

Huang Zhong had no complaints about this.

Neither Zhong Yao nor Huang Zhong were part of the Yixinhui system. However, Zhong Yao had followed Yuan Shu since he was very young, making him far more senior than Huang Zhong. He had been with Yuan Shu for a long time, and even if it were based on seniority, Huang Zhong acknowledged that he was ranked below Zhong Yao.

Moreover, putting everything else aside, before fighting against the Xianbei, Huang Zhong was just a captain commanding a thousand cavalrymen, a mid-level officer in the Tianxiong Army. But after the battle, he not only became a general, but also directly commanded ten thousand cavalrymen to garrison Bingzhou, becoming the second-in-command of the Bingzhou army.

What more could you want?
Huang Zhong immediately expressed his willingness to follow Yuan Shu's arrangements.

Zhong Yao was somewhat surprised by Yuan Shu's appointment.

In Zhong Yao's view, it was already quite good that he was able to be employed by Yuan Shu and work in his general's mansion as a military advisor, because he was not a member of the Yixin Society and did not agree with the Xinxue system. He guessed that he was not considered "one of his own" in Yuan Shu's eyes.

Therefore, when he served as a military advisor under Yuan Shu, he never competed with Xun You, Wang Lang, and others for anything, and tried his best to maintain a friendly attitude and avoid provoking these Yixin members.

Because Zhong Yao did not participate in the Yixin Society, many people in the advisory team, whose main members were all Yixin members, maintained a respectful distance from Zhong Yao. The only one they could barely talk to was Wang Lang, who was good at making friends.

So in a sense, Zhong Yao was an isolated person.

But this was his personal choice, and he had to bear the consequences. He didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

He just didn't expect Yuan Shu to give him this position and the power to command the military of Bingzhou. In reality, he was doing the duties of the military commander of Bingzhou. If this got out, many people would be dissatisfied.
Therefore, Zhong Yao was somewhat apprehensive.

He told Yuan Shu that he was not qualified enough and lacked the ability to assume such a significant position.

However, Yuan Shu did not change his mind.

After the public appointment, Yuan Shu privately summoned Zhong Yao to his general's mansion and spoke with him alone, explaining his purpose in appointing Zhong Yao.

(End of this chapter)