Chapter 687: Talk, anything is allowed

Chapter 687: Talk, anything is allowed

Chapter 687: Talk, anything is allowed
After entering the twelfth lunar month, the situation in various places calmed down a little.

Maybe the rebellion has been almost completely suppressed, or maybe the weather is too cold and the refugees are no longer willing to run around.

On the Laba day, Shao Xun invited the general, the right army commander Lu Zhi, the left chief secretary Pei Shao, the left Sima Chen Yougen, the right Sima Yang Chen, the Liang prime minister Yu Chen, the imperial censor Pan Tao, the chief imperial censor Cui Yu, the minister Pei Miao, the protector of the barbarians Su Shuyan, the left army general Wang Que'er and others to Lichuntai for a banquet and to eat Laba porridge.

Before leaving, Shao Xun yawned, and Yin stood up with a red face to serve him.

The first thing he did after returning home was to marry the concubine Yin, and all the inventory was injected into her.

After washing and dressing, Shao Xun pinched the concubine's face and said, "Sleep a little longer."

Then he got up and went to the main hall.

Chen Yougen, Su Shuyan and Wang Que'er gathered together and chatted in the yard at the entrance. When they saw Shao Xun, they all bowed.

Shao Xun returned the greeting. Looking around, he saw Lu Zhi, Yu Chen and others sitting idly in the side hall on the left. When they saw Shao Xun, they also came out to greet him.

Shao Xun sneered. The clear distinction between civil and military affairs was the current situation, but it was not naturally so.

All I can say is that scholars really discriminate against all kinds of service professions. There are still few sons of noble families who can serve as warriors, and it is shameful for them to become warriors.

But the situation is not so particular for the lower-class peasants. Military officers are also officials. They have no power to choose, and this is the only way out for them.

"Let's go and have some porridge." Shao Xun strode ahead and led everyone to the main hall and started eating red bean porridge.

No one spoke during the meal. Everyone looked serious, as if they were thinking about something very important.

Maybe they are really thinking.

After the silent breakfast, the palace servants served tea for everyone to rinse their mouths.

After everything was settled, Shao Xun pondered for a while and said, "I called you all here today for several important matters."

When the conversation got to the point, everyone's expressions froze and they listened attentively.

"First, the food consumption this year is extremely high, and next year the fields in the counties will only produce one crop, so we need to rest and recuperate to strengthen the people," said Shao Xun.

Yu Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He has mentioned this matter more than once, the most recent one being two days ago. And the last time he mentioned it, it actually had a different meaning: This year, we collected 6.5 million hu of grain and grass. Who got most of it for you?
To be honest, it makes sense for the nobles to think this way.

Up to now, the Henan nobles have really supported him and have not done much to let him down. They send you women to sleep with, send you food, weapons, and livestock for military supplies, and even send troops to fight for you. This is already very kind of them.

Even when you went to provide disaster relief to save the people of Qingzhou and Hebei, didn't the Yu and Yan gentry agree? Using the grain of Yuzhou and Yanzhou to save people in other places was naturally against human nature, but in the end, they reluctantly agreed for your sake.

What else do you want?

How could you bear to be so cruel to such an honest nobleman?
Next year is said to be a time for recuperation, but there are actually many things to do, such as resettling refugees. This will cost a lot of food, farm tools, and seeds. Who are you going to let pay for it?
Yu Chen certainly had many choices, and his grandson might very well become the crown prince, but he couldn't just obey blindly. How could he be worthy of being the leader of the scholars in Yingchuan and even Yuzhou?

If you don't fight for the interests of others, how can you expect others to support you?
After all, Yu Chen also had to compromise, find a balance between Duke Liang and the gentry, and try his best to reconcile the two sides. This was his most important job.

"It will cost a lot of money and food to settle the refugees." Shao Xun continued, "The counties should try their best to collect some."

Lu Zhi hesitated to speak, but in the end said nothing.

Perhaps he felt that no matter how skilled one was, he would be useless in some matters.

Yu Chen was silent for a while, then he cupped his hands and asked, "Where will the refugees be resettled?"

"The four counties of Xingyang, Ji, Dunqiu, and Henei."

Yu Chen nodded slightly and said, "I will try my best to raise funds."

Shao Xun looked at Lu Zhi, Pei Shao and others again. The two of them didn't say anything, just responded.

Chen Yougen observed silently.

He found that the atmosphere of today's meeting was different from the past. It was a little stagnant. Everyone had something on their mind. They were talking about one thing but thinking about another. Overall, they seemed a little absent-minded.

"The second thing is to survey the land and households in the fifteen counties of Liang State. This matter will never be tolerated." Shao Xun said, "The land in the elbow of Bianliang, just a few dozen miles away, has not been cleared up. Is this reasonable? In the past twenty years, the wealthy families have absorbed too many farmhands, and many households have been forced to become farmhands. It was understandable in the past, but now that the war has been settled and the counties are relatively peaceful, it is time to let some people go."

This matter required coordination among multiple departments, so Yu Chen, Pei Miao and Pan Tao all agreed to it.

In the past, Duke Liang only surveyed the land and households within the territory of Liang State, but this year he expanded the survey to other counties in Qingzhou. There was certainly some criticism, but they were constantly trying to appease them and maintain stability.

The household registration submitted by Qingzhou was discounted to 80,000 households. The reason was the rebellion of the Tianshi Dao after the locust plague.

Everyone knows that this number is false, and the real number may never be known, but because it reached the bottom line set by Mr. Liang (100,000 households), it was barely passed off.

In fact, the Qingzhou nobles are both honest and dishonest.

The honest side is that whatever Mr. Liang says is what it is.

The dishonest side is to stick to the lower limit of the number mentioned by Mr. Liang, and give you a discount due to famine or war.

What a bunch of sly guys!

"The third thing." Shao Xun looked at Chen Yougen and said, "Chen Qing, please tell me."

"Yes." Chen Yougen cleared his throat and said, "Some people say that they want to take back the privilege of exempting the government soldiers from taxes and labor service. It's just bullshit!" Vulgar! This is probably the unanimous opinion of the officials from the noble families present.

However, this is not the first day they have come into contact with people like Chen Yougen, and they have long been accustomed to the way he speaks.

"If you are not exempt from taxes and labor service, how are you any different from the peasant soldiers? How can the government soldiers have the food to hone their martial arts and buy equipment?" Chen Yougen said, "Without these, you will be defeated as soon as you go into battle. If the Huns come and kill you one by one, don't cry then."

The civil officials looked at each other, and finally the Chief Censor Cui Yu stepped forward and said, "Lieutenant Chen is wrong. Your Excellency wants to establish honorary officials, and clearly states that soldiers can be exempted from taxes and labor service based on their military merits. The government soldiers are not subject to taxes and labor service to begin with, so how can they be exempted?"

"Can't the soldiers just exchange their military merits for other things?" Chen Yougen said unhappily, "The country is based on filial piety. I think many people are willing to exchange their merits for a title for their parents. There are so many things that can be exchanged..."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant." Cui Yu said calmly, "I heard that military merit can be exchanged for land. Is this land public or private? The land of the government soldiers is public land. It was originally granted by Lord Liang himself. It is only for the government soldiers. It can be recovered after death. If the land exchanged for military merit is still public land, then should the government soldiers pay back first? When Lord Liang granted them 150 acres of land, he did not ask them to exchange it for merit."

"You are being unreasonable!" Chen Yougen slammed the table and said, "If it weren't for the men risking their lives, how could you sit here in peace? You are really conscienceless."

"How can an honorary officer be transferred to an official position?" Cui Yu asked again, "If you can't read a single word, how can you be an official? Isn't that harmful to others? How important are officials like Bailihou and Fujun? If a military officer wants to be an official, does he have to rely on fortune-telling and wrestling to make judgments? How can that be decent?"

Chen Yougen choked.

Cui Yu no longer looked at Chen Yougen, but only bowed to Shao Xun and said, "Mingsir, I am only asking truthfully, without any selfish motives."

Shao Xun glanced at Chen Yougen. Old Chen's fighting ability was still too weak, but he was the old man Yuan Cong, a trusted general whom he very much trusted, and also one of the representatives of the military. It was impossible not to let him come.

He looked at the left army general Wang Que'er and asked, "What is the situation in the army today?"

Wang Que'er was silent for a moment, and then said, "After hearing about the honorary officer, the Silver Spear men all congratulated each other. They were eager to get titles for their wives and children, and to obtain meritorious land. If this matter is abandoned, it may hurt the morale of the army."

Compared with Jin Zheng and Chen Yougen, Wang Que'er and Hou Feihu are actually "moderate" military men.

They do not advocate a complete break with the powerful families because that would be a lose-lose situation.

But at this moment he still stood firmly on Shao Xun's side. As soon as Master Shao asked, he knew what to say.

Others might not understand what he said, but Yu Chen, Lu Zhi and others were all smart people and could hear the hidden meaning: Is it just to hurt morale?

When we think of the recently conquered Lijiawu, we can see that they were ruthless and determined, and they wanted to conquer it even if it cost them huge casualties.

Indeed, with the military strength of Lord Liang, he could not capture too many forts, and he could not use his precious recruited soldiers and government soldiers to attack the city because they could not withstand the consumption at all.

But what if your home is one of the few fortresses that are breached?
In this world, no one can wipe out the aristocratic families as a whole, but it is still possible to wipe out some of their families. This is what we are afraid of.

Because the nobles were not a whole, they had too many thoughts and their power was dispersed. If they were a whole, people like Liu Cong and Shao Xun would be kneeling in front of them and listening to their orders, and it would be impossible for them to gain momentum.

"After the spring, the Silver Spear Camp will return to Bianliang. When the three camps gather together, we will have to conduct a thorough inspection." Shao Xun looked at Wang Que'er and said with a smile.

"Yes." Wang Que'er stood up and responded.

There was a moment of silence in the field.

Shao Xun turned his gaze to Yu Chen and Lu Zhi.

Yu Chen hesitated for a moment and sighed, "Mr. Ming has said several times that 'tolerance is for the sake of the country', and I deeply agree with you. The word tolerance is not only for scholars, but also for warriors. At this moment, we need to tolerate each other. It is better for us to take a step back and discuss the details."

Lu Zhi raised a very realistic question: "Mingsong should know how Jizhou and Youzhou came about. This matter needs to be handled with caution and not be too radical."

When attacking Jizhou, Shao Xun certainly defeated Shi Le's main force, but it was also a fact that the nobles in various counties turned against him. Especially in the second year when they were sweeping away Shi Le's remnants, most of the troops were provided by the nobles.

Not to mention Youzhou, which was taken over peacefully and the power structure remained largely unchanged.

In fact, there was also the factor of betrayal by the nobles in Qingzhou.

To take a step back, how did Shao Xun get Yuzhou in the first place? He did not conquer it, but was appointed by the court and received it legitimately as the General of Pingdong.

Lu Zhi was worried that some people would not be able to get over it and think that Mr. Liang was not kind enough, so he spoke out to remind them.

But whether it was Yu Chen or Lu Zhi, their words actually implied that "we can talk".

If there is something to talk about, there won't be a civil war.

But from the perspective of historical progress, the gentry did make concessions.

Once this hole is opened, it will inevitably expand gradually. They should be able to see this, but for various reasons, they are powerless to do anything.

From a more macro perspective, this is actually the distribution of interests within the military and political group established by Shao Xun.

Just like the Jingkou military group in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, as their power gradually grew, they would justifiably demand more resources and higher status.

Shao Xun was an arbitrator recognized by both the military and aristocratic groups, but he was slightly biased towards the military side.

There is nothing new in the world.

The words "we can talk" coming from the mouth of the scholar representative actually also indirectly reflects the rise of the military group - the identification of the opponent.

Shao Xun also liked the attitude of everyone talking to each other. In particular, warriors should develop the habit of being willing to negotiate, because he didn't want to see warriors breaking the rules and speaking with violence, which would not be good for him either, as it meant that order was out of control.

(End of this chapter)