The discussion about the monetary system is just the beginning. The seemingly simple Qingzhou New Deal can only be discovered by experts after in-depth study.
Dong Zhao got the upper hand, and the others didn't mean to be jealous. The staff were very careful. At the critical moment of life and death, the loss of face was negligible. If possible, they were very careful.
I am willing to hold a grand ceremony and invite several heavyweight staff and even Wang Yu from Qingzhou to come over and give you a detailed explanation in person.
Of course, everyone knows that it is a delusion. Cao Cao spent a lot of effort on poaching people. Tian Feng, Guo Yuan, Wang Xiu, and even Mi Zhu, a merchant who he had never looked down upon, tried more than once or twice.
But the result was frustrating. Not to mention being shaken, after hearing the purpose of their visit, all the officials in Qingzhou directly saw off the guests and drove them away.
The Shen match who was thought to have the most embarrassing identity and the best chance of winning turned out to be the one with the most resolute attitude. If the messenger entrusted by Cao Cao had not had a close relationship with the Shen family, he might have been arrested as a spy.
There is no other way, everyone can only spend their own energy to study it.
After the monetary system came the tax system. Xun You and Zhong Yao both had great experience in this aspect and answered Cao Cao's questions one by one.
"Although the tax will become quite low after being reduced or reduced, if you think about it carefully, it may not affect the income of the Qingzhou General Mansion. Those reduction and exemption measures are actually similar to the corvee, but they are not as onerous as the corvee. After changing the name
, it is also easier for the people to accept it. Those who do not participate in corvee work and focus on making money can earn more money themselves and pay a higher tax rate. This can level the tax as a whole."
"The key is that Qingzhou places emphasis on commerce. The amount of commercial taxes is considerable, and Qingzhou's wealth mainly comes from this. Although commerce does not involve buying high and selling low, and will not create new wealth out of thin air, money can be exchanged between various places.
Logistics circulation can greatly promote production. Just like the maritime trade policy, if we didn't see real wealth through trade with Liaodong, how could Qingzhou's shipping be so prosperous?"
"It's just that although Qingzhou's tax system is good, our army cannot imitate it, otherwise..."
The explanation is very clear. But the conclusion is very helpless, I still can't learn.
In short, Cao Cao is still implementing the same thing as in the past. No matter how he reforms the tax system, it cannot directly affect the common people, because his local rule is separated by a layer. There is no way
Go beyond the powerful gentry and directly exploit or benefit the common people.
If he must learn, he must be mentally prepared to break everything into pieces and then reshape it. Of course, that is impossible, so even though he saw the advantages of Qingzhou's New Deal, Cao Cao could only take a look.
That's all.
"Is there a way to deal with it?" If you can't learn, then you will hinder the opponent. Cao Cao is also very neat in making decisions.
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. Cheng Yu pondered and said, "Maybe we can try the method of removing fuel from the bottom of the cauldron?"
"What does it mean to draw fire from under the cauldron?" Cao Cao perked up, straightened up, and looked at Cheng Yu with bright eyes.
"I heard that the Qingzhou government office collects taxes and does not collect grain, silk and other physical goods, but only collects treasures. If the Lord unites the princes and sends people to Qingzhou to secretly purchase grain and fodder before the war begins. When the war comes, the military supplies will naturally be insufficient. The military supplies will be insufficient.
His army is naturally riddled with deficiencies..."
"Zhongde's plan is very clever!" Cao Cao's eyes suddenly lit up.
Each of the decrees of the Qingzhou New Deal has its own profound truths, but they are all implemented in a hurry. There is no way there will be any flaws. Cheng Yu's plan to drain the firepower may be very costly, but the probability of success is not low. Even if it cannot destroy the Qingzhou Army's
Logistics supply can also raise the price of food in Qingzhou, and can also cause trouble for the other party.
"What do you think?" The strategy sounds good, but brainstorming is also necessary.
The staff all looked thoughtful. After a while, Zhong Yao nodded: "Maybe we can give it a try?" His words aroused many echoes, but did not form a heated discussion, because Guo Jia still frowned.
.
"Do you think there's something wrong with Fengxiao?" Cao Cao relied heavily on his chief think tank. Seeing Guo Jia's expression, he felt a thump in his heart.
"It's not that there's anything wrong..."
Guo Jia didn't even look up, and said to himself: "But the intelligence shows that Qingzhou's taxation model is integrated with the intelligence system, that is, a combination of insider reporting and secret investigation. This law is consistent with the complaint order of that year.
It's somewhat similar, but it's a step above in terms of restrictions. I'm wondering, if Wang Qiaoqi has put so much effort into the tax system, will there be such an obvious flaw?"
Cheng Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He was actually afraid of being pointedly pointed out by Guo Jia. He knew that with Guo Jia's character, he would probably just talk about the matter and not have any distractions to seek the limelight, but the actual effect would be a slap in the face. But there was no way, he couldn't help it.
Maybe they just watched Dong Zhao, Zhong Yao and other latecomers behave indifferently.
"Fengxiao's concerns are not unreasonable, but since there is no other way, we can only give it a try first. At least do some targeted investigation and preparation first." Cheng Yu's words left a lot of room, and he could do it at any time.
Fortunately, Guo Jia was uncharacteristically not chasing after him this time, which made his heart fall back into his stomach.
"Since everyone has no objections, then the matter will be handed over to Zhongde." Cao Cao nodded and passed the issue, then turned to Zhong Yao and said in a deep voice: "Yuan Chang persuaded me that day, Qingzhou has obvious advantages, don't
Taking the plunge, now that I think about it, it does make sense. But after these few days of discussion, Yuan Chang must have changed his mind, right?"
"I dare not deceive my lord. I thought that although Qingzhou's new policy had its own unique structure, it should still be within the framework. However, I didn't expect that Wang Qiaoqi's extraordinary talent actually broke out of the shackles and opened up a new world. I thought.
It may not be difficult to imitate his performance, but if you really want to follow suit, I'm afraid you'll just be imitating someone else."
Zhong Yao shook his head, and the shameful look on his face gradually turned into a look of determination: "The advice I gave you that day was very wrong. The battle in the Central Plains should be carried out as early as possible. However, it is indeed not a good time now. Our army has not yet fully digested it.
Although most of the results of the Battle of Guanzhong and various political orders in Qingzhou were achieved years or even decades later, there are two items that can directly affect the current war situation..."
"I have spread my eyes and ears all over Guanzhong, carefully searching for famous craftsmen, and rectifying the generals. At the same time, I have also notified the major families, and I believe there will be good news soon. Although Qingzhou paid attention to craftsman skills earlier, but
After all, the land of Hebei is not as good as Sanfu, and the Central Plains has a profound heritage. I don’t expect to overwhelm Qingzhou with new weapons on the battlefield, but it shouldn’t be difficult to split the difference."
It makes no sense to blame Zhong Yao. It also makes no sense.
It is indeed not advisable to imitate Qingzhou's New Deal step by step. It is not advisable to wait until the country's strength is strong before entering into a decisive battle. This will only give Wang Yu a chance to breathe. When the potential of the New Deal is further realized, the gap between the two sides will only become wider. Not the other way around.
But a hasty decisive battle is not advisable either.
If the Xiliang Army is allowed to just pounce on it, it may consume a certain amount of Qingzhou's troops and resources, but it is more likely that it will follow in the footsteps of the Xianbei Army. The Qingzhou Army has too many new weapons emerging one after another. If the equipment cannot be
The gap is narrowing, and it is impossible to turn the advantage into a victory simply by relying on more people.
The correct approach is to suspend the offensive and actively prepare. Then use the alliance's advantages to disperse Qingzhou's forces, then target the key points and deliver a fatal blow.
Cao Cao realized that the gap in the technical field must be bridged, but he had no idea about the other aspect. As he spoke, he cast doubtful eyes on Zhong Yao.
Zhong Yao replied loudly: "The other one is of course the military strategy!"
…
"This martial arts strategy is really..."
Ma Dai finally decided to move on. After consulting the relevant information at the exchange point, he did not continue to hang out in the market, but went straight to Liyang City, and as he wished, he saw more than a thousand people in the large school field in the north of Liyang City.
Militia drill. He had been mentally prepared beforehand, but the sight he saw still shocked him.
The military system of the Han Dynasty was based on the five-two system. A team of five people was the smallest combat unit. Then there were ten people and five people per team. Two teams made up a tun, two tuns made up a song, and two songs made up a unit.
, five divisions form one battalion, and battalion is the most common independent combat unit of the Han Dynasty army.
There are more than five thousand people practicing on the large campus north of Liyang. The number is very large because they are neatly arranged in four large square formations.
This kind of pure square formation is actually rare on the battlefield. It is thick enough, but its flexibility is relatively poor. The Han army is not the Central Plains army in the later era of advocating culture and restraining military force. They advocate attack more, so naturally they will not favor it.
A phalanx with too low mobility.
But it is undeniable that as long as the square array is arranged neatly and the overall movements are uniform, the visual effect is quite shocking.
In a large square formation of more than a thousand people, the battalion officer, flag bearer, drummer, and trumpeter stood on the right side of the front row, all on foot. And the battalion officer stood at the right end of the first row, observing the enemy in front and giving orders to the drummer and trumpeter.
The flag bearers continued to respond according to his orders, and rows of soldiers made tactical movements in accordance with the flags, drums, and bugles.
There are generals on both sides of each row. They are responsible for correcting the formation, maintaining the distance between the queues, responding to the enemy, and commanding tactical details.
Because every soldier in the phalanx moves to the same beat of the drum, the entire phalanx is like one person, and even the trembling of the ground is very rhythmic, making it look very spectacular.
This is not an ordinary military formation. Although the generals of the Han army also pay attention to leading by example, they often appear at the forefront of the battle line as sharp knives, using their own bravery to tear apart the enemy formation and open a breakthrough for the army behind them.
Although the battalion-level commander in this phalanx also stands at the front, his role is purely to hold down the formation and direct the battle, rather than taking the lead in killing generals and capturing the flag.
Such a formation has high requirements for the formation. The movement must be advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and cannot be done randomly. This also determines that the movement speed is relatively constant and not too fast. But four square formations of more than 1,000 people advance together, giving
The pressure brought by people is also quite huge, just like the feeling of being pressed by a moving mountain.
If this was a drill by the Qingzhou regular army, Ma Dai wouldn't be too shocked. Everyone in the art of war through the ages has already mastered the research on arrays. It is not difficult to break through this kind of phalanx that purely relies on dense arrays to exert its power. Even if there is no
Ma Dai, who had read many military books, could list four or five highly feasible methods without thinking.
The problem is that this is just a group of militiamen. In Wang Yu's career of conquering the north and south in the past few years, there has only been one instance of relying on the militia to fight. These people are not in the Qingzhou Army's order of battle at all!
A group of people who are not even in the order of battle can practice to this extent. The meaning contained in this is too amazing.
And Ma Dai soon discovered that some of the coping methods he had come up with seemed questionable.
The simplest way to break a dense formation is to attack from a distance. To deal with this kind of formation that is mainly focused on spear fighting, just open it and shoot with bows and arrows. The denser the formation, the more likely it is that there will be a group of living targets.
However, there was a group of people running back and forth around the square array. From time to time, they would rush to the front, raise their crossbows, or stand or squat in an aiming and shooting posture. This was troublesome.
As we all know, the range of crossbows is longer than that of bows, especially the strong crossbows in the military. The maximum range is nearly three times higher than that of strong bows. Regardless of the cost, if bows and crossbows fight against each other, the crossbow will 80% have the upper hand.
The biggest disadvantage of crossbows is that they are difficult to make. The cost is too high. But there are also many benefits. In addition to power and range, crossbowmen are also easier to train. An excellent archer may require more than ten years of hard training, even in the military.
Those who lower their standards will have to practice for at least three to five years to ensure a certain degree of accuracy.
But the crossbowman is much simpler. After training for ten and a half months, he can barely go into battle. Anyway, the killing power of the crossbow relies on the huge power of the volley, and personal accuracy is not very important.
When he thought that Qingzhou even had enough resources to equip the irregular army with crossbows, Ma Dai was shocked and felt a strong bitter taste in his heart. In the Xiliang army, if you want to have a qualified cavalry bow, you must be at least an officer.
The gap between the two is really not that big for such a high-level person.
The Maoge Phalanx is like a city fortress made up of people. It has limited attack power, but its melee defense is quite strong. The crossbowmen can rely on this castle to fight in circles, which greatly makes up for the weaknesses of both sides and forms a resonance.
This is much more difficult to deal with than a simple square formation or a powerful crossbow formation.
Of course, these militiamen have never seen blood, even if they look good on the school field. But when they arrive on the battlefield and see the scene of thousands of horses galloping towards them, they may be immediately frightened.
Just when I thought of this, I heard a sharp trumpet sound, and the drum beat became more rapid. I saw the advancing spear array suddenly stopped, and the spears that were originally raised vertically were laid flat on top of each other.
There were sixty people in a row, and twenty rows of spears were laid down layer by layer. Although the smoke and dust were billowing on the campus, the spear tips shone coldly in the sun, making people feel the murderous aura.
Almost all the spears in the first five rows can reach the front of the first row, like a huge thorn bush. It is conceivable that if the enemy reaches this array on the battlefield, facing the dense steel jungle in front, they can only
Filled with flesh and blood.
Ma Dai was a little shaken. Military generals are most sensitive to things in the military formation. Soldiers who have never been in battle and have seen blood are definitely not strong soldiers. But having said that, the art of war also pays attention to the execution of orders and prohibitions. The execution of military orders can be as close as this.
The level of skill with arms and fingers means that even if they are new recruits who have never seen blood, they will not collapse at the first touch of battle.
Judging from his perspective, if he wanted to defeat the more than 5,000-strong Qingzhou second-line troops in front of him, a conservative estimate would require at least 3,000 direct cavalrymen from the Ma family. As long as the militiamen maintained their basic fighting spirit, their casualties would be very high.
It may be more than a thousand. If the generals are taken into account, the casualties should be reduced.
If it were an ordinary Qiang and Hu cavalry, even if it were five thousand against five thousand, it would be difficult to ensure victory. Those Qiang and Hu cavalry did not have the courage to face death. If they faced a dense phalanx and did not dare to make sacrifices to break through, the casualties would only be greater.
In other words, even if the Xiliang Army wins the Bingzhou battlefield and successfully invades the hinterland of Jizhou, the war is likely to turn into a war of attrition rather than a devastating sweep across Hebei.
How many people are there in the Xiliang Army? Even if all the people behind are included, it can't exceed 500,000. How many militiamen are there in Qingzhou? The market at the ferry in Yanjin alone is so popular. Liyang is just a
The outpost fortress, with a population far away from the big cities like Yecheng and Gaotang, could easily gather more than 5,000 militiamen to participate in the drill.
The significance of this is truly astonishing!
The militiamen vaguely look like elite troops, so how amazing will Qingzhou's regular army be? Now that Qingzhou has taken the lead in Bingzhou, how easy will it be to defeat Qingzhou's main force on the Bingzhou battlefield?
For the first time, Ma Dai had doubts about his uncle's decision-making, and he no longer had the confidence he had in the future battlefield battles.
"Second brother, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?"
Ma Yunluo doesn't have as many thoughts as Ma Dai. She just loves the excitement. There are more than 5,000 militiamen practicing on the school field, and there are even more people watching. Tens of thousands of people gathered in this place in the north of the city. The little girl was very excited when she saw it.
The eyes are not enough.
Looking back and seeing Ma Dai's expression, she was a little worried again. She was worried that her second brother might be frightened again, and what if she tried to go back again? The little girl was very worried, and asked cautiously while wondering what to do.
Think of a way to distract the second brother.
Ma Dai turned to look at her cousin, and managed a smile, but she also knew that the little girl was not a good person to talk to about serious matters, and she did not intend to share her thoughts with her.
While they were speechless, there was a sudden commotion outside the crowd, as if someone had dropped a stone on the calm water. The chaos quickly spread like ripples, and soon turned into cheers full of surprise.
Ma Dai listened carefully and clearly heard the shouts of "The Lord is back."
The sound was a bit chaotic at first, but soon turned into a uniform cheer, filling the entire wilderness like a tide.
Wang Yu returned to school from Youzhou? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m. to read.)