In this era, the gentry class had quite a powerful force. Liu Xin planned to gradually suppress this class from the beginning, but he had to rely on the power of this class. There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, when Liu Xing just arrived in Jingzhou,
At that time, the power was weak, so he accepted the support of the Kuai and Cai families. On the other hand, at that time, studying was a very luxury thing. Children of ordinary people could not afford to study, but the governance of the country was inseparable from these scholars.
Nowadays, Liu Xin is opening schools all over the country. It will not be long before he can gradually break the gentry class's monopoly on reading. But Liu Xin knows better that the reason why the gentry class has such a powerful force is not only because of their knowledge, but also because of their knowledge.
Holds great wealth.
Every time Liu Xin captured a city, he would carry out a large-scale purge of the local nobles, deprive them of their property and land, and even turn them into official slaves, thereby clearing their wealth. However, this method only
It can be used to deal with nobles from hostile forces, but it cannot be used to deal with people in your own camp.
The Kuai family, Cai family in his camp, including the Mi family who joined later, originally had a fortune of tens of millions. Many people in these families hold official positions and run caravans, and their wealth is increasing. And some Han people
Although he was a civil and military official who lived solely on his salary, although he could still afford food and clothing, compared with those families, the gap between the rich and the poor has become wider and wider.
This is only within his camp. If compared with ordinary people, the gap is even more astonishing. Although these major families are now loyal to Liu Xin, as their power increases, it is difficult to guarantee whether there will be a new generation among these families.
There are several ambitious guys, so Liu Xin needs to take precautions before they happen.
Liu Xin's first measure was to separate government from business. All officials must resign if their families continue to do business. At the same time, Liu Xin also planned to order a re-measurement of the world's land, strictly based on the number of people in the family.
The land will be distributed and all land ownership will be returned to the court. Of course, the court will give appropriate compensation to the registered land with owners.
If this measure is implemented, it is estimated that most officials will abandon their caravans and shops and concentrate on serving as officials. The reason why the gentry is different from the common people is that people from this class can come out to become officials. After all, gentry, farmers, industry and merchants, gentry
is ranked first, but Shang is ranked last. Being an official is very prestigious, so everyone must choose to be an official.
As a result, those officials will no longer have caravans and shops, and the land they own will be greatly reduced. Their wealth will also shrink, and their quality of life will decline. Therefore, Liu Xin will also consider increasing their salaries.
Of course, doing so may also provoke a strong backlash from the nobles. But Liu Xin is not afraid. He has now firmly grasped the military power of the country in his hands. It is an unbreakable truth that political power comes from the barrel of a gun.
Moreover, the entire military system is now independent of the system of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, and everyone from generals to soldiers are truly professional soldiers.
Liu Xin has been considering these measures for a long time, but has been hesitant about when to implement them. Now, Man Chong's incident has reminded Liu Xin that he has completely made up his mind.
Man Chong must have taken a fancy to Li Ping's concubine. Otherwise, even if what he said was true, there was no need to leave such a concubine in the back office. He could have waited until the war was over and the family members were punished.
Different treatment. Of course, Man Chong could also wait for those family members to be sold by the government and buy her out. However, it seems that even if Man Chong can get enough money, he is not sure that he can compete with those wealthy noble families.
When thinking of this, a flash of inspiration flashed in Liu Xin's mind, and she decided not to sell the family members of criminals to the public in the future, but to directly reward officials at all levels as slaves.
When the land was distributed according to the family's population, slaves also participated in the distribution. If there were more slaves in the family, the land allocated would naturally increase. And land was the most important wealth of a family in that era. Through this method, Liu Xin could
It made officials at all levels wealthy in a disguised way. The distribution of these slaves was entirely decided by Liu Xin. He could use this method to balance the wealth of officials.
There is another benefit to doing this. Many of the slaves assigned to the homes of these officials were originally from noble families. Some were originally slaves, and some were ladies, young masters, and young masters, and now they have become slaves. These ladies and ladies were originally slaves.
The young master himself can also serve as a warning to officials at all levels, warning them to behave with their tail between their legs and not to violate the laws of the Han Dynasty. Otherwise, once they commit a crime, their wives, young ladies, and young master will become the slaves of others.
Of course Xu Huang and the others could not think so far, but they would not refuse Liu Xin's proposal. But what they were thinking more about was this war. Xu Huang had already handed over his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Cao Cao
Now that we are like a lost dog, can we send troops to the north as soon as possible to capture Yecheng?"
Zhang Fei was even more impatient and said repeatedly: "My eldest brother will lead the expedition in person, and I will be the vanguard!"
Liu Xin waved his hand and said: "I am not as good as you in fighting. Gongming, the battle against Yecheng is still under your command. In addition to the first, second and third legions, I will also dispatch fifty thousand infantry of the fifth legion, together with Wei Yan
Under your command."
In both wars, Liu Xin gave him heavy troops to command. Xu Huang felt Liu Xin's deep trust in him and quickly handed over his hand and said: "The general will definitely fulfill his mission!"
Liu Xin nodded and said: "I leave it to you, I am completely at ease. Now is the time for the final decisive battle. Zilong, Wenyuan and the others can take action at the same time."
Both Zhang Fei and Zhang's eyes lit up. This was a battle that spanned Hebei and reached the grasslands, and would surely go down in the annals of history. Young Wei Yan was even more excited. Only Huang Zhong was a little depressed, and raised his hands and asked: "Your Majesty, what's the matter?
There is no such thing as a general?"
Liu Xin laughed and said: "Han Sheng, don't be anxious, I have a big thing for you to do."
Huang Zhong said with great joy: "Your Majesty, please speak!"
Liu Xin stretched out his right hand, pointed in all directions, and said: "Someone once commented that Cao Cao is a capable official in governing the world and a traitor in troubled times. Now that we are in troubled times, how can I let such a traitor go, let alone
He is accompanied by wise men like Xun and peerless generals like Xiahou and Xiahou Yuan. If Cao Cao cannot be captured, I will not be able to sleep peacefully."
Huang Zhong immediately bowed and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the general will set off now!"
"Wait a minute!" Liu Xin shook his head and said, "Yuan Shao is being dealt with publicly, so you don't need me to worry about him. Nothing is wrong. I will go with you!"
Everyone was taken aback and quickly advised: "Your Majesty, you must not put yourself in danger."
Liu Xin said without hesitation: "I'm not a piece of paper, and there are two people like Wei Lai and Han Sheng here, what danger can there be? Bring me the map!"
Cao Cao escaped from the battlefield yesterday evening. No one knows whether Xun, Xiahou, Xiahouyuan and others were with him or separated from him. What Liu Xin has to do now is to race against time, as fast as possible
Cast a dragnet.
The order to set up a checkpoint and arrest Cao Cao has been written. After dawn, it will be sent to Xu and Yang counties via flying pigeons. The 40,000 infantrymen of the Fifth Army have also been sent out. They will be stationed at various traffic intersections.
, carefully inspected the passing people and caravans, and arrested suspicious persons on the spot. The 10,000 cavalrymen of the Fifth Army were also divided into five teams, one for each team of 2,000 people, and pursued them in separate ways.
The key now is that we don’t know how many troops Cao Cao has around him. If he has enough troops, he will probably rush all the way north. If there are only a few people around him, he will probably remain anonymous and lurk among the people.
After the storm has passed, we will look for opportunities to head north.
Although there were many uncertainties, Liu Xin still conducted an analysis of Cao Cao's possible whereabouts. There were naval fleets patrolling the river day and night, and Cao Cao could not fly to the south of the Yangtze River even if he had wings. So, Cao Cao's ultimate goal is extremely
It is possible that he went north to defect to Yuan Shao. No matter how much hatred and intrigue they had in the past, they can only abandon their past grudges and unite to fight against Liu Xin.
In this way, Cao Cao's route is more obvious. From Shouchun to the north, there are two east and west routes to choose from. The east route passes through Xiapi County in Xuzhou and enters the East China Sea, then takes the road into Qingzhou, and the west route enters through Qiao County in Yuzhou
Pengcheng, and then enter Qingzhou.
Both paths have their pros and cons.
Although Cao Cao has occupied most of Xuzhou, the two counties of Xiapi and Guangling are under Liu Xin's control. The military strength of these two counties may be empty. But if he encounters a general as good at defense as Man Chong, Cao Cao may not be able to
To please. Moreover, he went on a killing spree in Xuzhou, and the people of Xuzhou hated him so much that it was very difficult to hide his traces.
If Cao Cao chooses the western front, he will encounter danger at any time. Because the reinforcements of the Han army come from Runan and Qiaojun, the leading troops are all cavalry. Whether there will be infantry in the follow-up, Cao Cao should know where the infantry goes.
I don’t know. What if he chooses the Western Front and happens to run into the Han infantry? Wouldn’t he be throwing himself into a trap?
Liu Xin carefully speculated on Cao Cao's psychology. He knew that Cao Cao was suspicious by nature and would often abandon the main road and take smaller roads. According to common sense, Cao Cao is more likely to choose the eastern front. After all, he is fleeing instead of attacking.
The city plundered the territory. The troops on the eastern front were empty, so even if his whereabouts were revealed, he could retreat calmly.
Of course, Liu Xin didn't have to worry about it. As long as there was no news from the eastern front after dawn, it meant that Cao Cao chose the western front. Otherwise, he chose the eastern front.
There are still two hours before dawn. Although two hours are not long, sometimes they can play a decisive role. So Liu Xin did not wait for dawn and immediately launched a pursuit!