Chapter 1162 The lion opens its mouth

Chapter 1162 The lion opens its mouth

Chapter 1162 The lion opens its mouth

Of the two armies entering Chengdu, it goes without saying that Duan Liang's army was the faster one.

On the second day of March, a thousand cavalrymen of the Right Cavalry Guard appeared in the northern suburbs of Chengdu.

Prime Minister Fan Ben led hundreds of people out of the city to welcome him.

Xu Yi, the chief officer of the Corpse Township Military Office, flicked his whip and ordered, "Six Dogs, take your men into the city."

"Yes, sir." Tuoba Sigong called upon more than 200 people and entered the north gate first.

“Get out of here!” There were only five or six soldiers at the city gate. Judging from their uniforms, they should be members of a noble family, not surrendered soldiers from the Cheng Kingdom. Tuoba Sigong directly hit them with his horsewhip.

The man who was hit screamed in pain, hurriedly dodged, and then looked at Tuoba Sigong with resentful eyes.

Several people came down from behind Si Gong. They were tall and strong with fierce looks on their faces.

They strode forward, and with their large hands like palm-leaf fans, they pushed and shoved several soldiers aside, then stood beside the capstan, holding their weapons.

Another group of dozens of people dismounted, reorganized themselves, and then formed two rows, holding long spears and ring-handled swords, and walked up the steps to the city wall.

There was a lieutenant on the tower, with more than ten soldiers. When they saw the Liang soldiers coming up, they were a little afraid at first, then they put on a smile and said, "General..."

The leader of the palace soldiers pointed outside the city and said, "Go outside."

The lieutenant's face changed. After a moment's stalemate, he saw that the eyes of the palace soldiers were becoming more and more dangerous. Finally, he swallowed his anger and lined up to go down the city wall.

After a careful check to make sure there were no Tibetans in the tower, the team leader came to the parapet and gestured to the outside.

Xu Yi turned his head to look at Fan Ben and said, "But Lord Fan?"

Fan Ben was startled. Didn't he introduce him just now? But he had experienced many ups and downs. His expression remained unchanged and he said, "That's right."

"Let's dismiss all the soldiers." Xu Yi said, "and prepare 50,000 hu of grain and beans for the army."

A junior officer yelled at him, and the others were somewhat dissatisfied, but Fan Ben remained calm and said, "Okay."

Xu Yi nodded and called the remaining hundreds of people to go into the city.

"Prime Minister." Doctor of the Imperial Academy Qiao Xianzhi came over and whispered, "The Liang people are not very polite..."

Fan Ben waved his hand, signaling him to stop talking.

Liu Xuan was watching from the sidelines and found it funny. He said, "Do you think all the soldiers in the world are as docile as your troops?"

Qiao Xianzhi was speechless.

Liu Xuan did not let him go. He sneered and said, "Send your servant to the frontier, let him go through life and death several times, and when he comes back in five years, you will find that he is not so docile. Soldiers who have experienced life and death and killed countless people are naturally so arrogant. They fear military law, but they may not fear you."

Qiao Xianzhi was angry and asked, "Haven't you heard that arrogant soldiers will be defeated?"

"You have arrogant soldiers first. A bunch of farmers who have just put down their hoes think that they can become a fighting army just because they have practiced a few military formations during the slack season?" Liu Xuan sneered.

"Which side are you on?" Qiao Xianzhi asked angrily.

"Shut up!" Fan Ben scolded in a low voice, then turned around and looked at the colleagues behind him, and said, "Go home first. If there is anything, I will send someone to inform you."

"Yes, sir." Everyone bowed, looked at each other, and left with their heads lowered.

This is the treatment for an official who surrenders after his country is destroyed. What else can I say?

Looking at the bright side, the more arrogant and unruly these low-level soldiers are, if a general from Liang State were to come instead, they might be easier to talk to, and they might even be given official positions in the future.

However, some surrendered officials and generals sneered inwardly.

Fan Ben and others have done evil things, and I think they will get retribution for it.

Whether or not he could get a job as an official was no longer important; he just wanted to see what happened to Fan Ben and the others.

******
On the third day of March, Duan Liang personally led more than 2,000 cavalrymen to Chengdu.

He also did nothing, keeping calm and waiting for the main army of Prince Julu.

When we entered the city, the streets were deserted, with not a single person in sight.

Duan Liang looked around and saw that the doors of the houses on both sides were closed, but he always felt like someone was watching him from behind the doors.

It's not necessarily out of malice, but more of fear.

No one knew what the Liang army's military discipline was like. If they suddenly looted the entire city, the people would suffer.

Fortunately none of this happened.

The Liang army had its own mature looting system, which mainly relied on what was stored in government treasuries. If that was not enough, they would collect donations. This was more efficient and reduced disturbance to the people.

Of course, it was definitely not "enjoyable" enough, but the warriors did not dare to disobey the rules set by Emperor Shao, and few people complained in private.

Duan Liang entered the palace city immediately, then called Fan Ben, and rode in the same carriage with him to inspect the entire city.

"The soldiers just reported that there is very little grain left in Taicang, only a little over 100,000 hu. Why is that?" Duan Liang asked, looking at the white-haired old man.

Fan Ben was silent for a moment, then replied, "Xiong has governed Shu for 28 years. His administration is lenient and the taxes and labor service are very low. Males are taxed 3 hu of grain per year, and females are taxed 1 hu and 5 dou. If they are sick, the tax is half of that. There is no fixed amount for each household, but it is only a few feet. Cotton is no more than a few taels, so the grain reserves are not abundant."

Duan Liang was a little shocked when he heard this. The tax was too low!

The grain tax is not much different from that of Daliang Dynasty, maybe a little higher, but the household tax is too little, only a fraction of that of Daliang. "What do you think?" Duan Liang asked.

"For the people, less work and less labor, less taxes, is a good thing, but it is not good for the country." Fan Ben said: "Officials have no salary, so bribery is rampant. The uniforms are the same, so the ranks are in disarray. The military rewards are very small, so the captured are given priority. It is really - there is no discipline."

This is another court where people don’t pay salaries and have to pay to work.

Not only did officials not receive salaries, they were not even given official uniforms. Court officials were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. This was truly a characteristic of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The army also has no military pay.

Well, this is normal, even the bandit Shao only has tens of thousands of recruited soldiers, most of whom are troops without pay.

But since there is no military pay and we still want people to fight, we cannot be too harsh on looting.

"I won't waste my words with you." Duan Liang's face straightened after hearing this, and he said, "The Grand Commander will arrive in Chengdu soon. The grain in the granary is definitely not enough. Lord Fan can send people to the surrounding counties to raise grain. At least one million hu should be raised."

Fan Ben was horrified when he heard this.

If so many troops were stationed in Chengdu for several months, the cost would be huge. Moreover, they would probably demand wine and meat, which would be a big burden.

But Fan Ben said nothing, just "Yes."

"Why are there only a few thousand rolls of silk in the left treasury?" Duan Liang asked again, "In Guanghan, I heard that there were more than 100,000 rolls of silk in the left and right treasuries. Where did they go? Did you guys divide them among yourself?"

Having said that, his face looked a little unfriendly.

Fan Ben said helplessly: "Before Li Xiong went to war, he rewarded the three armies and looted all the storage vaults on both sides."

"I don't care!" Duan Liang snorted coldly, and said, "My men have traveled through mountains and rivers and fought hard for months. The farm work at home has been abandoned, and some have lost their equipment and even horses. We must reward them. You think of a way."

Fan Ben's expression became even more bitter.

Li Cheng followed the Jin Dynasty system and had left and right treasuries. The left treasury was the national treasury, and the right treasury was the emperor's private treasury.

The collections in the two warehouses are similar and can be roughly divided into several categories, namely: brocade, silk, cloth, coins, gold, silver and miscellaneous items.

As Duan Liang learned, there were only hundreds of pieces of brocade, thousands of pieces of silk, and more than 20,000 pieces of cloth in the national treasury, but very few coins, gold, silver, and other items.

The right ones are hidden in the palace, and their number is even smaller.

Li Xiong really has no desire to spend money.

The palace where he lived had only one hall, called Taichu Hall. It was dilapidated and small, with only a hundred or so rooms. Many people advised him to expand it, but Li Xiong refused, saying that he would wait until the national treasury was more abundant in the future.

Under such circumstances, it is normal for the treasury to be poor.

But the Daliang heavenly soldiers were not satisfied. They wanted money to reward and provide pensions to the soldiers who had paid a huge price to go to the expedition. What should be done?
Fan Ben sighed inwardly, thinking that the Liang Dynasty was really uncivilized. Even when Cao Wei conquered Shu Han, they were not so extortionate.

But he couldn't refuse, so he just cupped his hands and said, "I'll find a way, but I don't know how much silk it will cost?"

"400,000 strings of cash, 800,000 rolls of silk, and 1.2 million rolls of cloth." Duan Liang said, "A little less silk, 20,000 rolls will be enough. This is a tribute from the soldiers to the emperor, don't take it lightly."

Shao Xun said that he would not take a penny after conquering Shu, but the soldiers should not be ignorant...

Everyone extorted money and silk from the people of Shu. The soldiers took less, and the officers took more. Everyone benefited, but they could not forget the emperor. That would be too unkind - whether the emperor wanted it or not was one thing, but it must be presented to the emperor.

Hearing Duan Liang's loud words, Fan Ben almost choked.

He didn't know if he could bargain, so he could only test the waters: "General, you don't know that even if you search Shu from top to bottom, you can't get so many copper coins. We do have some silk cloth, but two million pieces is too much. Li Cheng can't get so much silk cloth even if he collects taxes for two years."

"Li Cheng's taxes were low to begin with, and he gave out excessive rewards before the battle." Duan Liang was furious and said, "You better take care of yourself, don't ask me to torture and rob you to help you with the reward."

Fan Ben stared at Duan Liang and realized that he was not joking. He sighed and said, "I will do my best."

"With an army of hundreds of thousands entering Shu, I don't believe anyone would prefer money to their lives." Duan Liang snorted coldly and said.

Fan Ben didn't say anything.

"There is one more thing..." Duan Liang said again: "Are there nobles from the six counties and members of the Li Cheng clan in the city?"

"Of course there is." Fan Ben said.

"You draw up a list and bring your troops to arrest people." Duan Liang said, "After arresting people, the men will be sent to prison, and the women and children will be sent to the palace, and they will be screened one by one. Those who have no bad records can be released back home, and those who are guilty will be sent to Luoyang to be sentenced by the emperor."

Fan Ben was numb.

This makes him the bad guy, but what can he do? He has already betrayed his old master, what else is there to do?

He could easily imagine what kind of people these Shu nobles would be in the eyes of the military and civilians of the six counties after the Liang army withdrew. They would probably be incompatible.

Shao Xun is really not a good person, he is very evil.

The carriage moved slowly.

Fan Ben was worried and sighed silently. He suddenly felt a little regretful. If he had known this would happen, he would have done nothing.

The people of Liang were so arrogant that they probably had no worries about forcing the people of Shu to rebel. They even secretly hoped that they would rebel, especially the aristocratic families and powerful chieftains.

But these are actually not important. What worries Fan Ben most is the status of the big families in Shu.

How will the Liang people treat them? Don't use them and then kick them away, otherwise you will be in trouble.

(End of this chapter)