"The meal on the mountain ridge is like the fetus of a leopard. The little pig and the big weep are like soup and snow."
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind followed the steps in front of the Greenhouse Hall and hit the door. The door slats and window screens suddenly swayed and shivered, and even the door shafts shivered in the cold. But this time it was in the Greenhouse Hall, and no matter how strong the wind was, It is impossible to shake this imperial palace that has been built for hundreds of years.
In the huge greenhouse, there is a pair of bronze animal furnaces placed in the four corners and in the middle. The charcoal fire in the furnace is so scorching that it makes people sweat all over.
First, the emperor came up with a topic: "Calculating the time, Dong Cheng and Xu Rong should have arrived in Hedong by this time."
After the imperial court learned that the envoy was in danger in Jizhou and was detained by Yuan Shao, the emperor immediately responded from both civil and military aspects. On the literary side, he issued a letter of command, ordering Yuan Shao to kill the thieves as soon as possible and give an explanation. Wu On the other hand, they ordered Dong Cheng, the general of chariots and cavalry, and Xu Rong, the general of Yulin Zhonglang, to lead troops to Hedong; Zhu Jun, the former general stationed in Luoyang, Henan, also led troops to the Mengjin area as a deterrent.
After the people in the court learned about this personnel configuration, they could more or less guess that the emperor was putting up a big battle this time just to get Yuan Shao to throw a rat weapon. If he really wanted to take this opportunity to attack Yuan Shao , then the leader of the army this time should not be Dong Cheng, but Wang Bin, the lieutenant of the Northern Army, and the real direct descendants of Zhang Liao, Zhang Meng, and Xu Huang.
Jia Xu leaned forward and said, "It's a pity that the times are not in my favor. The snow came too early."
Xun You went on to say: "It's not just about the weather. I asked the Chancellor and said that in addition to the prepared expenses, the court's current grain storage also has to deal with this winter's pension and the possible spring famine in the coming year. The seeds needed for farming are really not enough to support it." Tens of thousands of people went to war.”
After hearing this, the emperor did not answer immediately. In fact, he was very conflicted in his heart. He did not want to miss such a good opportunity and excuse to conquer Yuan Shao, but he also did not want to cause trouble again for the imperial court and Guanzhong, which had finally recovered.
For the emperor, in addition to the time to start the war and the supply of food and fodder, another major reason why it is not appropriate to start a war at this time is that several of his trusted generals such as Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others have not yet been truly promoted and do not have enough experience to take charge of their own affairs. .
If a war really breaks out now, then these people will have no choice but to achieve low-level military honors under Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun. This is contrary to the emperor's original intention of supporting them to gain military power.
If this had happened in the summer, or if Gaishun hadn't been involved in such a scandal, Zhang Liao and others would have been able to lead the army alone. As long as one of the above conditions was met, the emperor would have made a ruthless gamble.
Xun You saw the regret in the emperor's eyes and expressed relief: "Guanzhong is now exhausted, and we support nearly 100,000 tribesmen with only a mere area. If Dong Zhuo hadn't raided Luoyang's treasury and requisitioned money and grain along the way, I'm afraid that this time We can no longer make ends meet. If we use troops against Hebei at this time, even if there are strong troops from the north and south of the imperial army, and the high ground east of the river, the outcome will be extremely difficult to predict. By then, both sides will lose, and others will gain the upper hand."
"You are right." The emperor also knew that the court was in a difficult situation now, so he did not press hard. Although he agreed with Xun You's opinion, he still said with regret: "But the opportunity is fleeting, and we can wait until next time." Difficult!"
"Your Majesty, do you still remember my original plan? The imperial court should first settle down and consolidate Bashu, and then rest and recuperate for a few years. It will definitely have enough troops and food, and when it comes to Hangu, the world will be settled." Good, but the timing is unfavorable, so we cannot put all our efforts into one battle, but must rely on a safe method. I have a humble opinion, but I hope your Majesty will think about it."
The emperor smiled, took a sip of tea, and then said slowly: "To mobilize troops at this time, we have to involve the soldiers and the common people. The civilians alone have to brave the wind and snow to transport them back and forth. I don't know how many people will freeze to death along the way. Or.
According to what you said, cultivation is the most important thing, and when the treasury is full, it will not be too late to start talking about war."
"Your Majesty Ruijian." Xun You prostrated and said.
At this time, Jia Xu suddenly raised his voice and said: "The imperial treasury is scarce and the timing is unfavorable. It is really not suitable to send troops. However, I think that if the generals of chariots and cavalry only camp in the east of the river and do not fight a single battle, it will easily affect the morale of the army. And in the east of the river, it will easily affect the morale of the army."
After all, there is a Shangdang between us and Jizhou, so I'm afraid it won't be able to have a deterrent effect in the end."
Xun You's eyes moved, and he looked at Jia Xu, who was stroking his beard and smiling, and said thoughtfully: "But you want to send troops to join the party?"
He had also thought about this issue, but it involved too many hurdles. He thought that he should not speak for himself, but should let Jia Xu, who often had the same views as him, speak for himself.
"That's exactly it." Jia Xu bowed to Xun You and said with a faint smile: "From Shangdang leaving Huguan, you can go east along the mountain path to Weijun and approach Yecheng."
He paused and then looked at the emperor again: "Therefore, in my humble opinion, instead of stationing troops in the east of the river and wasting food and grass all day long, it is better to take advantage of this opportunity now to let the generals of chariots and cavalry and others march eastward to wipe out the Shangdang bandits.
, take Huguan. In this way, the Marquis of Xiangben will have a foothold when he comes back and takes office in Bingzhou. At the same time, this battle can also be a deterrent to Jizhou."
Xun You looked at Jia Xu and said: "The implementation of field farming this year was too late and has not achieved results for a while. Moreover, the imperial government has insufficient treasury and difficulty in transportation. Although this is a battle for a county, it is really difficult to know how much food will be consumed in the fight.
Expected.”
Jia Xu and Xun You looked at each other for a long time, then nodded slightly, turned around and said to the emperor: "In my humble opinion, when the Taiwei defeated Bai Bo, he got the powerful men from Hedong to donate grain and grass and participate in the army. It can be seen that everyone with the highest surname in Hedong abides by morality.
Everyone in the family supported the imperial court. In this case, we can order the generals of chariots and cavalry to eat in the two counties of Hedong and Shangdang, and order the local powerful to donate money and food. Although it is a temporary raise, the food for more than 20,000 people for a month should be enough.
."
really.
Xun You couldn't help but think in his heart that he and Jia Xu were on opposite sides.
This has to start a few months ago, when the imperial court reached a resolution to restart the salt and iron monopoly. After the imperial order was issued, the scale of salt and iron in other counties was too small, and it was easy for the imperial court to recover it. However, Hedong was faced with difficulties.
Hedong has one of the largest salt ponds in the world. For nearly a hundred years, the local powerful have relied on the profits of selling salt to maintain their prosperity. At this time, the imperial court wanted to take back the salt pond and sell it exclusively, or directly steal their jobs.
For this reason, the powerful and powerful people all resisted the monopoly, and tried every means to subvert and passively resist Wang Yi, the prefect who implemented the decree. Wang Yi had just arrived, and his footing was not yet stable, so he had to work with them to compromise with the emperor's acquiescence, and directly
He appointed local powerful officials as salt officials, and gradually installed close relatives, which was considered to be half-official and half-business in form.
Even so, the Hedong scholars still did not give up. They even contacted a group of Hedong scholars in court privately and wrote letters to express their opposition to the monopoly from time to time.
The emperor was also very angry about this. Even if he asked Wang Yi to use public power to take back the salt pond, he would still have to find officials who were familiar with the salt production process to manage it. All of these officials were from the local area and had deep connections with local powerful people.
Who will support Wang Yi?
Unless, like Jia Xu, he finds a reason to weaken it or implicates it