"If the time is extended and turns into a tug-of-war and a protracted war, it will be a huge disaster for the wilderness."
Empress Liang Zhao is very aware of the current situation of the treasury and the situation of the great famine. War means soaring prices, restrictions on trade, shortage of food and lack of various materials...
Not to mention the situation where businessmen are struggling to make money. Generally speaking, whenever there is a war, the first thing that goes up is the price of food.
"Especially the domestic war, this will make many aristocratic families start to stockpile grain to prevent accidents, further exacerbating the rise in food prices, causing the people to not be able to eat. Those who have grain stockpiles are fine, but if there is no food stockpile, I am afraid Now, we have to sell our sons and daughters.”
"If the war can be resolved quickly, the rising food prices will drop rapidly and stabilize under the control of the aristocratic families and the imperial court. However, if it falls into a long-term war, the prices in various places will continue to rise, because the war still requires Those who raise food and grass, Zhou Zhenwen can raise food and grass for half a year, how many months can he last?"
"And given the current internal and external troubles in Dahuang, how long can it last?"
"In addition, if several other vassal kings also send troops to cause trouble..."
“The consequences are simply unimaginable!!”
Empress Liang Zhao also felt a headache, which was why she never dared to touch the vassal king.
The vassal king is deeply rooted in various places, and his relationship with the aristocratic family is still quite ambiguous.
A single move can affect the whole body and cut down the feudal clan. It is not just a matter of giving an order verbally and having others follow it.
That is really affecting the interests of the feudal king and the interests of the family! !
Touching people's money is like killing their parents, it's something that requires a lot of effort! !
Who wants to vomit out what they have eaten?
"If Yanzhou cannot be captured, even Zhou Zhenwen will have no choice but to retreat."
Empress Liang Zhao knew very well that although Zhou Zhenwen could call the shots and have great power in the court, he was also unpopular in matters that harmed collective interests.
Stick to your side, stick to your side, and stick to reality.
In the face of interests, there are many cases of people turning against each other.
Are there any benefits to cutting off feudal clans?
have!
Of course!
And it’s a huge benefit! !
The disappearance of one interest group will bring huge profits to other interest groups.
But this benefit is based on the premise of harming the interests of the vast majority of people.
Because the reduction of vassals is the result of the imperial court and the emperor. After the emperor has reduced the vassals, he will control the economy of the fiefdom, adjust officials, and liquidate assets. This will harm the local aristocratic families. It is even possible that the local aristocratic families will be reduced due to the reduction of vassals. A direct plummet, this is something that may happen.
The emperor was a vested interest, so of course Empress Liang Zhao fully supported Zhou Zhenwen.
But this is not the case for court ministers and aristocratic families!
They would naturally stop it and ask Zhou Zhenwen to retreat as soon as possible.
This is the reason why their respective positions are different.
No one is right, but both sides are naturally hostile to each other! !
The scene that Empress Liang Zhao had imagined soon appeared...
[One month and fourteen days later, Zhou Zhenwen captured three cities in Yanzhou. When he was in the fourth city, he encountered strong resistance from Yanzhou soldiers and horses. For ten days, it was difficult to advance. 】
[This gave rise to some different voices in the court. 】
[Song Zheng, the right minister of the Ministry of Hubu and the Ministry of Civil Affairs: Your Majesty, Mr. Zhou sent troops for more than a month and made countless achievements. I think it is time to withdraw the troops. 】
[Liu Yunqing, the former right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, accompanied the downfall of the Queen Mother and was quickly eliminated. The person who took his place was Song Zheng. 】
[ Emperor Xuan frowned: Song Qing, what do you mean? 】
[Song Zheng: Your Majesty, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Shu, and Jingzhou have been raising food and grass, and there are signs of military activity in various places. I think that if we continue to capture Yanzhou, I am afraid that it will arouse the dissatisfaction of other vassal kings! ! 】
[As soon as these words came out, they immediately received support from many ministers. 】
[They all said that Yanzhou should not attack again, and should adopt a gentle approach to appease them. The consecutive treatment of three vassal kings has caused the world to be in turmoil and cannot continue. 】
[If everything goes well for Zhou Zhenwen, the ministers above the imperial court will naturally not dare to say a word. 】
[But now that the war is in a state of anxiety, it is their turn to start talking. 】
[Emperor Xuan looked gloomy and looked at the people who came out. These people are all children of aristocratic families. They naturally stand with the aristocratic families. Their actions, in a sense, represent the right to speak of the aristocratic families in the world in the court. . 】
[On the surface, these people’s suggestions are for Dahuang, but in fact, they are for their own selfish interests. 】
[For the benefit of the family behind it. 】
[Emperor Xuan: What Song Qing means is that if King Yan rebels and causes chaos, I should treat him as invisible and let him go? 】
[Song Zheng naturally heard the dissatisfaction in the emperor's words, and said quickly: No, no, your Majesty, that's not what I mean. What I mean is to withdraw the troops for the time being and ease the relationship between the two sides. When there is enough food and grass next year, it will not be too late to send out troops for conquest. ...]
[ Emperor Xuan snorted coldly: Huh, next year? When Zhou Shou mobilized troops to Youzhou and won a great victory in Youzhou, why didn't you talk about the coming year? 】
[When Jizhou was defeated in the first week of Zhou Dynasty and Jizhou was victorious, why didn't you talk about the coming year? 】
[Now that Yanzhou has just fallen into anxiety, you are just talking about withdrawing troops? 】
[You are really my good ministers...]
[Listening to Emperor Xuan's angry sarcasm, the ministers who had just spoken hurriedly knelt down and said loudly: Your Majesty, I am loyal and loyal, and the world can learn from it. I hope that your Majesty will put the overall situation first, use less war, and let the people Recuperate and recuperate. 】
[Under the leadership of Song Zheng, several ministers shouted in unison, which resounded throughout the Jinluan Palace. 】
[Emperor Xuan stared at these people. She wanted to kill them all, but she knew that this would not work. The court had just experienced turmoil and had finally cleared out all the people from the Queen Mother's party. These people were all members of the court. The mainstay, and more importantly, they are also pawns supported by the aristocratic family. Only by their presence can the interests of the aristocratic family be guaranteed. During the imperial examination, only the children of the aristocratic family will be willing to apply for the examination and provide talents for the imperial court. 】
[It is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son. The poor family mentioned here refers to the lower-power aristocratic families, also called common people, and does not refer to the poor class. 】
[The poor people don’t have enough to eat, how can they support scholars? 】
[Besides, if the poor have no resources, they simply don’t have enough study reserves. Without the guidance of famous teachers, how can they write strategies, classics, and articles? 】
[Zhou Zhenwen, the number one scholar in Beijing and the first minister of the cabinet who came from the poor, is unprecedented! ! 】
[It is precisely because of this that the late emperor dared to let Zhou Zhenwen have great power and dare to promote Zhou Zhenwen with confidence. Because he was an emperor's party and could only rely on the imperial power. As long as the imperial power existed, he would be the chief minister of the cabinet. Once the imperial power was no longer Support him, he is nothing. 】
[What the late emperor did not expect was that Zhou Zhenwen, who was young and had no family background, could be so sophisticated that in the end, he directly spawned the largest party in the wilderness, the Tsing Yi Party, which made him unable to get rid of the big one. 】
[This was unexpected by the late emperor. By the time he discovered it, it was already too late. 】
[Zhou Zhenwen cannot fall. Only with him can the court be stabilized. Only he, the emperor, can control the court. 】
[When things come to this point, it’s time to switch between offense and defense! ! 】
[Zhou Zhenwen became the active party, and the late emperor became the passive party. This was the case until the late emperor's death. 】
Empress Liang Zhao looked at the faces of those ministers, she felt so disgusted that she wanted to vomit, and her face was gloomy: "These dogs, usually behave like dogs, but at critical moments, they always hold me back and make profits for their own family. They are so abominable! !”
Although she was angry, there was nothing she could do.
Because the court pays attention to balance, not only the balance between the various parties, but also the balance between the court and the aristocratic families, and other interest groups. It is easy to kill people, but killing people will send out the wrong signal.
The imperial court killed the people of the aristocratic family and the eyes and ears of the aristocratic family in the court. Does that mean that after the imperial court has dealt with the vassal king, it will attack the aristocratic family?
Once such a signal is released, what Dahuang will face next is not just the rebellion of the feudal lord...
And there was a peasant uprising led by aristocratic families...
The aristocratic family is not so stupid. If they are the leader, they will definitely force the people with excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so that the people can't bear it and take the initiative to rebel. Then they will secretly provide support and manipulate the people, turning the wilderness into a scorched earth where the rebels are raging.
If Dahuang survives, they will continue to talk to Dahuang and are willing to give up profits and cooperate again. They will help Dahuang re-establish order and enjoy everything as heroes. If Dahuang dies, then they will support a new regime. Emperor, open a new country and complete another round of harvest.
This is the reason for a thousand-year-old family and a century-old imperial court.
