After Cao Cao left, a figure walked out of a private room inside.
"gone!"
"I'm afraid Meng De was not happy with today's meal!" Xun Yu poured another glass of wine and handed it to the young man in front of him.
"Of course he's not happy!"
"He wants you to assist him and stir up troubles in the capital, but you keep praising Zhu Yuanzhang. Do you think he will be happy?" The young man sat down and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
It didn't feel satisfying, so I just took the wine bottle and started drinking.
"This wine tastes bad. I heard that there is a new tavern in Luoyang City. It is opened by people from Jizhou. The wine there tastes good. Let's go there to drink some other time." The young man leaned on the chair with a wild attitude.
It looks a little careless.
"Feng Xiao..., can't you see that the royal aura in Meng De is dissipating?"
"What does this mean? Can't you see?"
"This world...the Han Dynasty seems to be saved in the hands of the newly promoted Taiwei."
"A person like Meng De is a hero in troubled times. If the times are troubled, you should assist him to achieve something. But if the times are troubled, he is not a hero." Xun Yu sighed.
Guo Jia couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Wen Ruo, I think what Cao Cao said is right. Zhu Yuanzhang is not a loyal minister who saved the Han Dynasty. If this is true, he will not depose the young emperor. He is Wang Mang, even more powerful than Wang Mang.
Wang Mang is even more terrifying and unpredictable."
"Wen Ruo, this is the information I got from Jizhou, would you like to take a look?" Guo Jia casually took out a piece of brocade cloth from his sleeve and handed it to Xun Yu.
Xun Yu picked it up and checked it. At first he remained calm, but gradually his face began to look shocked.
There are two biggest changes in Jizhou recorded in this secret letter.
The first point is population.
After investigation, it was found that the population of Jizhou has decreased by 20% compared with three years ago.
The two-tenth percentile of the population has no one alive or dead, and no one knows where they were taken.
And what’s even more strange is that Jizhou merchants are still constantly spending heavy sums of money to buy from the surrounding major capitals, or using food to lure victims and bandits to go there.
These populations also disappeared without a trace.
However, Jizhou's food supply is not in short supply and is even more abundant than before.
The second point is paper.
Although the previous Han Dynasty could also make paper, it was too rough to be used for writing, let alone large-scale printing. Therefore, most of the Han Dynasty used bamboo slips, and the more precious ones were brocade cloth.
But now a high-quality paper that can be used for writing has appeared in Jizhou. This is not what shocked Xun Yu the most. What shocked him even more was that these papers can be mass-produced on a large scale.
It is said that the number of books on the market in Jizhou now is hundreds of times more than a few years ago.
"Fengxiao, are you sure this information is correct?" Xun Yu couldn't help but ask with a solemn face.
"certainly!"
"Because I got all this information from the Yuan family."
"Zhu Yuanzhang and the Yuan family had conflicts before, and even competed for control of Jizhou, but in the end the Yuan family gave in. The reason was that Zhu Yuanzhang handed over the papermaking and printing technology to the Yuan family in exchange for control of Jizhou."
"As for books printed using papermaking and printing techniques, I have seen them with my own eyes and they are of very high quality."
While Guo Jia was speaking, he took out another book from his sleeve and handed it to Xun Yu, gesturing for him to read it.
This is a Zuo Zhuan with clear handwriting and even the fragrance of ink on it.
Moreover, Xun Yu could tell that the handwriting in this book was not handwritten, but printed with some kind of tool.
Xun Yu knew exactly what this meant.
"Great!" Xun Yu stood up suddenly, holding the left pass in his hand, and started pacing back and forth in the room excitedly.
For today's aristocratic families, the most precious thing is undoubtedly knowledge.
As long as it can be called an aristocratic family, every family has a large collection of books.
These books are the most important heritage and inheritance of a family.
Every year, these big families spend a lot of manpower and material resources to organize their own book collections.
After all, things like bamboo slips can easily be eaten by insects or corroded.
And like some wealthy and small families, the collection of books at home may only have one or two volumes, and some may not even have one volume.
As for ordinary people, let alone them, they can't even read, let alone books.
Is it because they are unwilling to learn knowledge?
No, it's just because in this era, the cost of learning knowledge is too high. Only those wealthy families can afford such costs. Ordinary people and even smaller landowners cannot afford such expenses.
It’s very difficult for them to live. Where do they have the time and energy to study?
But now the situation in Jizhou is completely different.
The continuous supply of food has solved the problem of food and clothing for the people, and the large number of books has allowed countless people to obtain knowledge. This is the legendary great rule of the world!
"Wen Ruo, don't be too happy first."
"I have another book here, how about you take a look at it?"
As he spoke, Guo Jia took out a book from his sleeve again and presented it to Xun Yu.
Xun Yu opened it with confusion on his face. After reading only a few pages, his expression changed slightly.
Because the book begins with the topic of ruling the country by law, it lists a large number of benefits of ruling the country by law. In addition, the book also promotes several viewpoints.
Slavery was abolished, taxes were paid according to law, tyrants were restrained, and a large number of official academies were established to teach ordinary people knowledge and writing.
At the same time, salt, iron, wine, coins, mountains, forests and rivers must be nationalized and let the imperial court establish departments for unified management.
"this……!"
"Too radical!" Xun Yu shook his head and sighed.
The more these policies look like the content of Wang Mang's New Deal, some of them are even more radical than Wang Mang. This is simply more Wang Mang than Wang Mang.
"According to my investigation, such books have become popular in Jizhou, and some policies have begun to be implemented quietly in Jizhou."
"Wen Ruo, you should understand what this means."
"There's one more thing you won't think of. Do you know the true identity of the Jizhou Shepherd appointed by the Taiwei half a month ago?" Guo Jia squinted his eyes and said.
"Who?" Xun Yu asked eagerly.
"Haha, it's Zhang Jiao!"
Seeing that Xun Yu was stunned, Guo Jia confirmed: "Yes, it is the former leader of the Taiping Army and the great sage Zhang Jiao that you are thinking of."
"How can this be!"
"Isn't that a rebel?" A trace of shock flashed in Xun Yu's eyes.
"How is this impossible!"
"Now, do you still think that Zhu Yuanzhang is the master of the Ming Dynasty?" Guo Jiadao.
Xun Yu was stunned when he heard this.
To be honest, he still appreciates what Zhu Yuanzhang has done until now, because many of the things Zhu Yuanzhang did were things he wanted to do but could not do or cannot do.
But at the same time, he also realized that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to want to reform the Han Dynasty.
And it is an extremely deep and drastic reform.
This kind of reform will undoubtedly harm the interests of the powerful nobles.
If nothing else, just talk about popularizing education... The reason why the gentry is a clan is because of its monopoly on food and knowledge. If these two things no longer have advantages for the gentry, can the gentry still be called a gentry?
As the current patriarch of the Gou clan, he must consider these things.
"Fengxiao, what do you think?" Xun Yu asked after a moment of silence.
"Join Cao Cao, unite with the Yuan family, take advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's current unstable foundation, and pull him from the position of Taiwei."
"Otherwise, as he gains a firmer foothold in the court, the reforms will continue to deepen, and by then, the chaos of Wang Mang's dynasty will still happen again..."
"Guo Jia, Xun Yu...!"
Half a month later, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but squint and smile when he saw a piece of information in front of him and these two names.
He didn't expect that both of them had defected to the Yuan family, and were still helping Yuan Wei contact the forces of various parties in order to start his own rebellion.
This is indeed an interesting thing.
Of course, he is not worried that these people can really take away his power. After all, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, especially the head of the Yuan family, Yuan Wei, are all his own. With such an undercover agent, even if Guo Jia and Xun Yu are really capable of earth-shattering
Even if you are talented, there is no chance of success.
All their efforts from the beginning were in vain.
"Your Majesty, how about I find an opportunity to capture these two people?" Mao Xiang, who was standing next to him, saw Zhu Yuanzhang pondering and couldn't help but said.
"No, Jin Yiwei only needs to monitor the entire Luoyang City!"
"Since we advocate the rule of law, as long as they do not violate the law, we can let them do what they do."
"No matter what tricks they want to play, we will take care of them."
"Not only them, but also Cao Cao."
"To be honest, we are not afraid of their rebellion. What we are waiting for is their rebellion!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a slight smile on his lips.
Luoyang was still calm during this period, but the atmosphere in the city became increasingly turbulent.
Powerful people from various forces continued to pour into Luoyang, making the city's atmosphere become increasingly heavy.
Zhu Yuanzhang had no reaction to this, because during this period of time, the power of the Ming Dynasty continued to pour into the city.
In particular, a large number of strong Confucian and Taoist figures are slowly integrating into every corner of Luoyang City, replacing the original officials.
He still controls the real dominance of the city, and this control is getting deeper and deeper.
Those people, including Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao, couldn't make any waves.
No matter what tricks they play, Zhu Yuanzhang has enough confidence and strength to deal with it.
Zhu Yuanzhang's attention is now focused on the governance of this country. As long as the country is made better and the people can live and work in peace and contentment, everything will no longer be a problem.
These civil servants and generals, whether they like it in their hearts or not, will bow before him when the time comes.
"Lord, there is someone outside the door asking to see you." Suddenly at this moment, a subordinate reported.
"Have you asked who it is?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
"One is named Jia Xu, who was born in the Xiliang Army, and the other calls himself Zhang Liao, who was born in the Bingzhou Army."
"oh?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his expression changed, and without much hesitation, he said directly: "Let them come in!"
"Jia Xu and Zhang Liao have met Taiwei." They were led in and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang at the same time.
"What's the matter?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the expressions of these two people calmly and said at the same time.
"Qiu Taiwei, it will be winter in two months, and once winter comes, both Liangzhou and Bingzhou will be harassed by the Huns. Now outside the pass, both the Xiliang army and the Bingzhou army are leaderless. If they encounter the Huns again,
A large-scale attack will probably give those barbarians an opportunity to take advantage of."
"I came here to implore the commander-in-chief to prepare for this matter in advance." Zhang Liao said respectfully.
On the side, Jia Xu secretly observed Zhu Yuanzhang's reaction.
"Are you here to intercede for Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a half-smile.
"I don't dare."
"I came here and did not tell Governor Ding that I was just here for the countless people in Bingzhou. After all, they are all my fellow villagers and elders."
"The Taiwei has never been to the frontier, so he doesn't know the poverty and hardship there. If the city is attacked by those foreign races, the people in the frontier will face a scene like hell on earth." Zhang Liao said respectfully.
"What about you?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Jia Xu again and asked.
"I did come on the orders of Dong Zhuo, the governor of Liangzhou. I sent him a letter of apology from the governor of Liangzhou. He was deeply frightened by his reckless behavior of rushing into Sili. Even if the court did not blame him, he was willing to resign from Liangzhou.
He also recommended a suitable candidate for the commander-in-chief of the Xiliang Army."
"Dong Cishi said that he is willing to stay in Sili and serve the Taiwei, but the Xiliang army cannot be without a commander for a day, and General Hua Xionghua is a suitable candidate to take on this task." Jia Xu said.
"hehe!"
Zhu Yuanzhang showed a playful expression on his face.
"This Dong Zhuo knows the current affairs well!"
To be honest, Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan have not been touched in the past half month, not even the seven thousand troops under their command. He is just waiting for these people's reaction.
Of course he hopes to recruit these two people.
But if these two people escape or collude with some people in Luoyang City, Zhu Yuanzhang will be sure to deal with it.
Now it seems that waiting for half a month is still a good deal. Dong Zhuo is very aware of current affairs and took the initiative to hand over the military power.
"Okay, I agree to this request!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and looked at Zhang Liao: "As for the military situation in Bingzhou, Wenyuan, are you willing to return to Bingzhou, temporarily command the Bingzhou army, and serve as the governor of Bingzhou?"
"Ah?" Zhang Liao was a little dazed.
He really didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would let him be the governor of Bingzhou.
You must know that he was just a general before.
"What? Do you think you can't suppress the Bingzhou Army with your ability?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
"I...I accept the order." Zhang Liao gritted his teeth and said respectfully.
"good!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded again and said: "You go back and clean up now, and then each bring a thousand people back to Bingzhou and Liangzhou."
"But instead of you going back by yourself, the imperial court will send some generals to help you completely stabilize the army."
"And go back and tell Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo to come see us tomorrow."
"Yes!" The two nodded respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the backs of the two men and narrowed his eyes slightly again.
The transformation and control of the Bingzhou Army and the Xiliang Army will be his top priority in the next period of time.
As for the candidates to control these two armies, he already has a choice.