Just when Yuan Shu was stuck in memories of the past and couldn't extricate himself,
"Clang!" There was a loud noise, and the prison car seemed to have hit a big stone. It was bounced up hard and then fell hard to the ground.
Under the violent jolt, Yuan Shu's forehead and back of his head hit the iron-covered wooden railing, and he suddenly felt stars rising in front of his eyes.
After a long time, Yuan Shu finally came to his senses. He licked his chapped lips and subconsciously shouted: "Come here, bring me a bowl of honey syrup!"
After Yuan Shu finished shouting, he waited for a long time but saw no honey, but there was a burst of laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Does this person want to laugh our brothers to death? Hahaha!"
"Yuan Shu, the fourth generation and the third prince, has fallen into such a state. Alas... I am so happy!"
"I'm sorry, 'Your Majesty', there is no honey syrup, but there is a lot of fresh yellow soup. Whoever you want, just ask!"
Yuan Shu's eyes were blank as he listened to the teasing around him.
After a long time, Yuan Shu finally came to his senses. He looked at the extremely harsh environment in the prison car and the soldiers around him who were teasing and talking freely... Yuan Shu finally just shook his head and sighed deeply: "I, Yuan Shu, how can I
To this extent?"
After hearing Yuan Shu's soliloquy, the surrounding soldiers burst into laughter again, but this time before they could start teasing him again, Yuan Shu suddenly vomited blood.
The soldiers were startled and quickly opened the prison car to try to rescue Yuan Shu.
But when they dragged Yuan Shu out of the prison car, Yuan Shu had already died.
In the early February of the second year of Jian'an, Yuan Shu died!
Yuan Shu died on the road, and in the end he had to be wrapped in a straw mat, and his body was sent to Xudu.
The emperor deeply hated Yuan Shu's act of proclaiming himself emperor, and ordered his body to be cut into pieces and thrown into the countryside to feed wild dogs.
At the same time, Yuan Shao from the north initially occupied Youzhou and sent Gongsun Zan's ashes to Xudu, seemingly telling Cao Cao, "Gongsun Zan is destroyed, and it will be your turn next!"
The Yuan family's disciples and former officials are all over the world. Yuan Shu committed suicide and proclaimed himself emperor, so everyone avoided him.
But Yuan Shao is different. He is much more cautious and restrained in politics. In addition, all the aristocratic families who originally supported Yuan Shu have turned to Yuan Shao. Therefore, Yuan Shao now controls more than 1.5 million households and countless aristocratic families.
With his strength, he firmly sat on the throne of the greatest prince in the world.
There has been no war in Yanzhou for several years. Now there are almost one million households in Yanzhou. With the newly acquired Xuzhou and Huainan, there are almost 1.5 million households. But when it comes to the wealth and quality of households, Cao Cao
The rule under Yuan Shao's rule was completely different from that under Yuan Shao's rule.
The Central Plains region was ravaged by the Yellow Turbans, which severely damaged the social economy and the population.
The Yellow Turban Uprising swept away the original ruling order. In order to seek refuge, the wealthy families either went north to Jizhou or south to Jingzhou, creating a vacuum of power in many areas of the Central Plains. Although it was convenient for the Cao family to take over and reform the group, it was also due to the economic decline.
It is difficult to restore people's livelihood.
Later, Lu Yan vigorously developed farming in Chenliu, clarified household registration, and absorbed refugees, which achieved remarkable results.
After Cao Cao extended a series of policies to the entire Yanzhou area, the number of people and productivity quickly recovered.
Although Cao Cao later obtained Nanjun, Xuzhou and Huainan County, these three places were completely messed up by Yuan Shu. Just cleaning up the mess he left was already a headache. Don't expect them to have much impact in a short time.
output.
Even though Yanzhou has experienced stable development for several years, the overall economic level has not yet returned to what it was before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, let alone compared with Jizhou, which was already very wealthy.
...
In the Prime Minister's Mansion, Cao Cao and Cheng Yu sat opposite each other.
"Zhongde, you should know that since Yuan Shao sent Gongsun Zan's ashes, the wealthy gentry under our rule have begun to make moves. You have dealt with them before. In your opinion, how can we best suppress Yuan Shao?
What impact will it bring?" Cao Cao asked Cheng Yu for advice.
Cheng Yu thought for a moment and then replied: "Actually, the Prime Minister and the Cavalry General have already started to do some things. To eliminate the influence of the Yuan family, it is actually to eliminate the influence of the famous family. But this matter is not temporary.
If you want to completely solve the problem of the family, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve."
Cao Cao nodded and sighed: "I also know that this is difficult, but if the family does not suppress it, one day they will grow into towering trees. Mr. Lu even described to me a kind of big family that has been passed down for thousands of years... They regard their country as
To be the soil and absorb the essence of the world as support is extremely terrifying!"
Cheng Yu was shocked by the description from Lu Yan in Cao Cao's words.
He never thought that the aristocratic family had such terrifying potential in Lu Yan's heart.
However, this also explains why Lu Yan has always been afraid of and targeted the aristocratic family. It can even be said that he has formed an indissoluble hatred with the aristocratic family.
"The new household registration system, new paper and the birth of the library are all aimed at the aristocratic families and trying to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families. I just don't know what the prime minister and Lu Yan have in the matter of Taixue. But I dare
For sure, these two guys must be quietly observing from behind, waiting for the family to be careless, and they will quickly hand out the knife in their hands and stab the family hard into the waist!"
Thinking of this, Cheng Yu spoke to Cao Cao again: "I have a few words of advice regarding the aristocratic family..."
Cao Cao served Cheng Yuman tea and said, "You tell me, I'll listen."
"The prime minister wants to restrain the powerful families, but he must not be tempted to kill. The predicament Jiangdong Sun Ce is encountering now is a lesson learned from the past.
There is also the fact that the emperor and some ministers in the court who are dissatisfied with the prime minister... I am always worried that if the prime minister raises troops and leaves the court, the emperor and these people will plot something detrimental to the prime minister later...
...
So when necessary, the Prime Minister still has to guard against them.
Our next biggest opponent is Yuan Shao. If we win, it will be difficult for the prime minister in the world to rival us; if we lose..."
When Cheng Yu said these last words, Cao Cao suddenly interrupted Cheng Yu and said with great confidence: "We will not lose..."
Cheng Yu didn't know where Cao Cao got his confidence, but he still nodded knowingly, accepting Cao Cao's words.
After a brief pause, Cheng Yu continued: "The aristocratic families must suppress them, but they must also use them. After all, most of the talents available in the world come from famous families. Whether they are scribes from poor families or ordinary people, there are still too few with real talents and learning.
And although the aristocratic family is a bit arrogant, their structure is still much larger than that of poor families and common people.
The way of governing the country is superior to military strategy. It is difficult for a great state-governing talent like Wen Ruo, Yuan Chang, and Chang Wen to emerge even if they are from a humble family for hundreds of years!"
After Cheng Yu finished speaking, he looked at Cao Cao, but saw that the expression on Cao Cao's face did not change significantly. He knew that Cao Cao should have thought of this a long time ago.
In fact, Cao Cao had indeed thought of this a long time ago, and had discussed it with Lu Yan, Xi Zhicai, and Guo Jia many times.
Although Cheng Yu openly expressed his innermost thoughts to Cao Cao today, Cao Cao still thanked him quite solemnly and said: "Thank you Zhongde for your advice. Cao will take it into account."
The two fell into silence again. After about ten breaths, Cheng Yu suddenly asked: "Prime Minister, Yu has a son named Wu, who has just reached the weak crown this year..."
After Cheng Yu finished talking to Cao Cao about official matters, he naturally couldn't forget the purpose of his special trip to the Prime Minister's Mansion...
"Send it to Taiyuan University. Just say it was specially approved by me." Recently, there have been too many people coming to see Old Cao through the back door. As soon as Cheng Yu opened his mouth, Cao Cao knew what he meant.
Cheng Yu smiled sheepishly, feeling that he was too embarrassed to stay any longer, so he cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister. I won't bother you anymore and I'll take my leave."
"Well, don't tell anyone about today's conversation."