Chapter 876: Showdown

Chapter 876: Showdown
"Step back." Shao Xun glanced at him.

"Yes." Although Jin Zheng was not happy, he still sat back awkwardly.

Shao Xun's eyes turned again.

Shangdang Governor Liu Runzhong understood what he meant, stood up and said, "When the king attacked Shi Le in the past, he said, 'I only hope that there will be few eagle riders on the road to the Green Tomb, and no worries about missing arrowheads north of Yanmen Pass. May the mountains and rivers be eternal, and the barbarians and the Chinese be at peace.'"

"Once these words were spoken, they spread all over the world, and everyone knew the king's intention."

"Since the campaign against Liu Han, all the chieftains have returned to the right path, all because of this."

At this point, he looked at Wang Chong and said, "You are living a carefree life in the manor, but the Jie people in Shangdang have no food or clothing. Over the years, countless people have been sold into slavery."

"When Sima Teng was in power, he conscripted the tribesmen several times. He asked the nobles in Shangdang, Taiyuan and Xihe counties to provide food and silk, but no one was willing to give them. I fought for you, but you didn't even want to give me a little food and silk. You also wanted to kidnap and sell my people as slaves. I can never work with such people who take whatever they want."

"Since the king came to power, he has sent troops to various tribes several times, and provided them with food and silk. He also sent officials to various tribes to educate the people and teach them farming techniques. Since then, everyone has been at peace and is willing to fight for the king."

"Today, Jinyang discussed the general situation of the world. I have a question for you. I have made many military achievements in the conquest of the Xiongnu, and one of my sons died on the battlefield. In the conquest of the Xianbei, my army also recruited thousands of soldiers and marched north to Yanmen. There were also no less than 10,000 people transporting food and grass to ensure that the army had an endless supply of food. What achievements have you made? If you have no achievements, how can you enjoy all the benefits? This has never been heard of in all dynasties."

What Liu Runzhong said was all true and well-founded. Wang Chong didn't know how to refute it for a moment, so he just said, "You Cao Wei came here at a desperate time, in a hurry. You are lucky to be alive. Why bother to say more!"

Liu Runzhong laughed loudly, turned around and bowed to Shao Xun, saying, "Your Majesty, I have said everything I need to say."

After saying that, he returned to his seat.

Wang Chong was confronted by several people in a row and his momentum was a little lacking. After a while of silence, he bowed and retreated.

Anyway, he has said everything he needs to say.

At this point, he finally understood that today, although ostensibly he was discussing the general situation of the world, in fact he was redistributing the benefits based on the general situation of the world.

He didn't care about this, as long as his benefits could be guaranteed. He would never agree to repeated grain collection and wars like before. Although he happily handed over the grain every time the government came to his door, it didn't mean that he felt happy.

Since you, King Liang, have allowed everyone to speak freely, let me tell you, what’s the matter?

The field fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Bin, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, stroked his beard, walked out slowly, and said, "It has been more than 20 years since the kings began to govern in disorder. At the most critical time, Luoyang was besieged several times, and Hebei suffered repeated defeats. Fortunately, King Liang emerged and restored the old mountains and rivers, leading to today. Just now, Lord Liu mentioned 'the peace between the barbarians and the Chinese', which is truly your wish. However, when you were in Xuchang, you also proposed 'tolerance for the sake of the country'. At that time, locusts and droughts occurred one after another, and the Huns invaded and plundered. The brave people of Yu and Yan fought in the battlefield, the well-educated governed the country and comforted the people, and the wealthy people generously donated money, and finally won a great victory and drove the Huns out of Henan. This is 'tolerance for the sake of the country'."

After hearing this, Shao Xun looked at Zhang Bin with encouragement.

"Tolerance for the country" was the slogan or political program he proposed in his early years.

A political program is not just a set of ideas. "When the King of Rebellion comes, we won't pay taxes" is also a political program.

"The barbarians and the Chinese are all at peace" was the slogan he put forward during the Northern Expedition to Yecheng, and it also had the nature of a political program.

A political program must be rooted in the current situation, hit the nail on the head, and be able to alleviate social contradictions to the greatest extent; otherwise it will not be supported by the majority of people.

In short, this kind of thing must not be illusory or too highbrow; it is designed to solve problems and seize power, not for development.

Each period of time has its own political program, and they must not be confused.

"The barbarians and the Chinese are all at peace" will not expire for a long time to come, because the problem of the Hu people has been a huge thunderstorm since the end of the Han Dynasty and it is not so easy to solve.

"The barbarians and the Chinese are all in peace" played a guiding role in policies. Assessing the family background of the Hu people, granting official positions, using agricultural technology to allow the Hu people to semi-settle down, etc., were all products of this guiding principle.

Before that, the Huns surrounded Luoyang and plundered Henan. At that time, Wang Mi passed through Yuzhou, and countless people were killed and injured, so the saying "tolerance for the country" came into being.

The landmark event was Shao Xun's marriage to Yu Wenjun, a lady from Yingchuan. The nobles in western Henan all turned to him, cutting their flesh and blood, and sent their troops to join him in the battle.

But after more than ten years of peace, "tolerance for the country" gradually aroused opposition in Henan, which shows the timeliness of the political program.

The situation in Henan is different now, and you need another reason to convince them.

Or, you need to reinterpret it.

"And today the world is not settled, and the beacons are still there. Are we going to give up our tolerance for the sake of the country?" Zhang Bin continued, "Four years ago, Tuoba Yulu stationed his troops at Xinkou, and his intention to go south was very obvious. If they were to mobilize, 300,000 cavalry would be easily within their grasp, and this disaster would be worse than that of the Xiongnu. And there are people like Yuwen and Murong, who are eyeing them covetously. Once they go south, the people of You and Ji will suffer. Under the general trend, the manor will be reduced to dust, and we will not be able to live freely."

"Your Majesty, by driving the Tuoba tribes north, you have taken the initiative to defeat the enemy, so as to avoid raising a tiger that will become a threat and difficult to deal with. You all know the sufferings of the kings' disorderly government, but if the barbarians march south in large numbers, and the imperial court has no soldiers or food, who will defend you against the enemy?"

"In the Battle of Guangwu, the soldiers of Luonan Prefecture defeated the bandit cavalry. They were so brave that the Xianbei bandits fled in fear. So we gave them official positions and rewarded them. If there is trouble in the future, we will have to rely on them. It is not difficult to understand the reason behind this."

"The old land of Eastern Wu has also been occupied by thieves who forged an imperial edict and do not follow the legitimate government. After we have restored the old mountains and rivers in the north, there will definitely be a campaign to march south. Who will we rely on to march south then?"

"Let's talk about the manor again." When he said this, Zhang Bin changed his tone and said with a smile: "I heard that the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is beautiful. The wealthy families often build houses facing the mountains and back with hills, with the river on the left and the lake on the right. There are so many tall trees that the sun and the moon are dimmed; where the vines hang down, the wind and smoke can come in and out. The courtyard is surrounded by hills and valleys, and it is not too prosperous to go in, and it is not too secluded to retreat. There are many interesting things between the mountains, rocks, forests, clear springs and ponds. There are also thousands of acres of fertile fields and tens of thousands of farmhouses at the foot of the mountains, which are enough to support their descendants. Isn't it beautiful?"

To use force to suppress and to guide with advantage is the core of Zhang Bin's words.

Especially the last paragraph, which touched many people's hearts.

To be fair, Jiangnan is a low and humid place and no one wants to go there, but isn't there anything else we can do about it?

There were a large number of warriors in the north who were eager to seize their land. The imperial court was keeping an eye on their farmhands, otherwise the tax and labor law would be difficult to implement.

Even the Hu people are asking for more.

If conflicts escalate in the future——

Looking at the attitude of Jin Zheng, the Southern Army General, it might not be impossible. Just now, he said that he wanted to drown Wang Chong in the river. Although he was repelled by King Liang, what if King Liang indulged him? King Liang was the one who tied these hungry wolves.

In this light, sending a concubine's son to Jiangnan to manage the estate would be a way to preserve the family.

After Zhang Bin finished speaking, Liu Anzhi, the Fifth Military Secretary, stood up and said with a smile, "Meng Sun is right."

After saying this, he glanced at the place where Wang Chong was and said, "Times are different now. Twenty years of war have not awakened people. In the past, scholars were depressed and had no way to make progress, so they indulged in pleasure all night long. Some people do not understand the truth and imitate Wang Chong, which is really ridiculous."

Wang Chong's face changed when he heard this.

Cao Yi felt comforted, finally, I had nothing to do with it.

"Why didn't Zhong Changtong join the government in his early years? Why did he work for Cao Mengde later? It's because he didn't meet a wise ruler, so he was worried and angry in the mountains and forests, and sighed in the fields." Liu Anzhi said: "The King of Liang has been in power for more than ten years. Look at the officials in the shogunate and the generals in the country. How many of them are as confused as you?"

"Taibai came to the world to save the world and saved countless lives. He also has great talent and strategy, which makes people feel moved, so I am willing to be driven by him. People with outstanding talents and wisdom have long woken up, but people like you who are ignorant and pedantic are still talking in their sleep."

"You bastard! Do you really think your knife is not sharp?"

Since the early years of the country, only one person from the Liu family has served as an official, and he was only a Shangshulang.

The Liu family of Xie County was already between the aristocracy and the powerful, and their status had declined greatly. Otherwise, they would not have brought their own troops to fight for Sima Yue in the Northern Expedition to Yecheng. Their desire to make progress was very strong.

There were many scholars of this humble origin in the General's Mansion and the State of Liang.

Such as Lou Xiu, the clerk of the West Cao in the General's Office, Qu Zhuang, the clerk of the East Cao, Fang Yang, the clerk of the Armor Cao, Shang Zhi, the assistant military officer, Jing Chan, the attendant censor, Liu Qi, the clerk of the Left Civilian Cao, Xi Qun, the right chancellor of the Fifth Military Cao, etc. Liu Anzhi was the only one among them who was the head of a department.

One characteristic stands out: these humble scholars do not hold high official positions or are not noble enough, but they are all capable of getting things done.

For example, the West Cao Yuan and the East Cao Yuan of the General's Office were nominally responsible to the Chief Secretary, but they actually had considerable power in handling the promotion and transfer of officials. They could be said to be in a low position but with great power.

These poor families have some common interests with the gentry, but they are more dependent on Shao Xun's promotion, so their opposition is not that great. In addition, their own family business is not as good as that of the aristocratic families, which makes them a better choice.

Rather than saying that he was a scholar from a poor family, Liu Anzhi would have been better off saying that he was a military man, so he was not polite to Wang Chong and directly called him "boy".

"Enough!" Shao Xun waved his hand and asked Liu Anzhi to leave.

Several people took turns to speak out, and at this point, many things had been laid bare and were no longer concealed.

The Jinyang Forum was a political consultative conference and a meeting to distribute interests.

Warriors need benefits.

The Hu people need benefits.

The poor scholars were in an awkward situation. On the one hand, they had the urge to safeguard the interests of the gentry, but on the other hand, they wanted to overthrow the small families and aristocratic families who were oppressing them. After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Anzhi, as a representative, sided with the warriors and the Hu people and jointly attacked the small families and aristocratic families.

Of course, Zhang Bin implicitly gave a plan: to build a manor in the south.

This was the decision Shao Xun made after discussing with him.

The south was desolate, so the gentry went there to build manors and practice serfdom, which was conducive to development and even more conducive to the assimilation of the barbarians.

Historically, Wuyue and Jiangxi were developed during the Tang Dynasty. In fact, until the middle of the Tang Dynasty, captured Tibetan captives were still being exiled to Wuyue, as can be seen from this.

The Jinghu area was developed during the Song Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty developed the southwest.

The Qing Dynasty succeeded it.

This is all done step by step. Without the continuous development of the previous dynasty, the next dynasty will be affected.

By the end of the Liang Dynasty, it would have been good enough if the Wu and Yue regions could be tamed.

After the demise of the Liang Dynasty, successors could use this as a basis to develop the neighboring Jiangzhou using the resources of the relatively mature Wu and Yue regions.

Everything has its pros and cons, and we should look at it dialectically.

Moreover, Shao Xun gave them a long buffer period, and the main family could still stay in the north and only needed to allocate part of the resources to the south.

"Your Majesty." Just as Liu Anzhi was leaving, Sikong Liu Han stood up, first looked at Wang Chong, then at Liu Anzhi, Jin Zheng and others, and said, "Zhong Changtong is indeed the opinion of his family, but does Your Majesty have any ideas to refute his fallacy?"

"Four words." Shao Xun said: "Keep pace with the times."

(I wrote “keep pace with the times” in my last book. I want to see how many people say I am homogenizing…)
(End of this chapter)