In the mid-autumn season, the autumn wind sweeps across the fields, clearing thousands of miles.
On this day, during the regular day off, Zhang Xing, the chief of the Deposed Dragon Gang, went to the open-air market outside the city and found a noodle stall just to have a bowl of noodles.
There's not much to say. Although there were more than a dozen big bosses, chiefs and more than a dozen staff clerks sitting in Hula La, occupying the entire noodle stall, it was really just a bowl of noodles.
It should be noted that millet is generally grown in the areas under the control of the Dragon Gang, but in the replanting stage after the war, wheat is still the first choice in Hebei, especially in Qinghe County, where a lot of wheat is mixed. After the autumn harvest, compared with millet, which can be stored for five or ten years, or even ten or twenty years regardless of taste, the storage time of wheat is inevitably far behind. In this case, freshly ground wheat If you don’t eat the new noodles that come out, you won’t eat them for free.
In fact, before the autumn tax, Chief Zhang scanned the warehouse again and specially distributed a sum of money as an autumn subsidy, mainly for grassroots troops and grassroots officials, so that they could eat two more bowls of noodles and bake a piece of cake. .
Therefore, people came out from Jiangling City and various military camps to eat noodles and cakes everywhere, and the smell of wheat was everywhere inside and outside the city.
"The people below said from the beginning that eating noodles was my and Lao Xie's idea." Chen Bin looked grim as he held the noodle bowl.
"How do you say it?" Zhang Xing, who had already moved his tachyon, couldn't help but be curious. "Didn't I ask everyone to come and eat noodles together?"
"It is said that although the custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival has already existed, it is not so popular yet. At least it is not spread here in Hebei. Therefore, this noodle incident is most likely caused by me and Lao Xie, two people from Jiangnan who follow the Jiangnan regulations. The idea came from the customs over there." Chen Bin answered with a dark face.
"Isn't this a good thing?" Zhang Xing thought for a while with his face between his hands, becoming increasingly confused. "You two proposed to give them a holiday, reward money, and eat noodles. This is a great thing. Isn't it because the people below respect you two are the only ones who owe it to you? Why are you so shameless?"
"That's what it means." Xie Minghe, who had already eaten less than half of the bowl, said with a smile. "So after someone reminded me that this was a good thing, someone immediately refuted the rumor, saying that people in Jiangnan don't eat noodles, but only eat rice. This matter must have nothing to do with me and me, and it can be regarded as putting things right."
Zhang Xing laughed so hard that he almost spit out his face. A group of big bosses and leaders around him seemed to also laugh, but some of them were obviously embarrassed.
"Then why did you attribute this matter to you in the first place?" Zhang Sanlang always likes to release his curiosity in some strange directions. "What kind of crime does An An have for such a good thing?"
"What a waste of money and food." Xie Minghe said, spreading his hands. "Empty the warehouse."
Zhang Xing was stunned, but then shook his head: "When did we live a relaxed life?"
This is true. Ten counties and one state support nearly fifty battalions, which is 100,000 troops. With the lighter burden of field soldiers, it can basically be regarded as 10,000 troops in one county. It is a bit too much to say that it is a military force. But under a state that emphasizes fair taxation, maintaining this army and the administrative system of the previous Wei Dynasty can be said to be hard enough.
"That's the problem." Xie Minghe still laughed jokingly. "I just can't live a relaxed life. Finally, these ten counties and one state have been settled for a year and I can save money. However, I encountered two Jiangnan thieves who emptied the warehouses in Hebei."
Zhang Xing shook his head. Thinking of the recent disputes, he had already guessed who were the people who repeatedly spread rumors against Chen and Xie. However, he just picked up Kuai Zi and declared seriously: "Eating noodles outside today is not as good as eating on the veranda. Let's chat." We can talk about military affairs, but we can only talk about it in general terms. All inappropriate and serious matters will only be discussed in the stage tomorrow... and the previous matter, I will make my own decision tomorrow, so there is no need to talk about it again."
Chen and Xie nodded immediately and went to eat new noodles. However, several people in the audience who were obviously uneasy were not relieved by this sentence, because this rumor seemed too specific and too low-level at this time, especially This repeated process is even more comical, so no matter what, Chen, Xie and others have grasped the clue, and this incident is destined to implicate them and affect the recent serious disputes.
That's right, recently, a dispute suddenly broke out here in Xingtai, Hebei Province, due to the affairs of Daijun and Hengshan Liangjun rebels.
The two heavyweight leaders of Hebei origin in Jiangling, namely Xiong Bonan and Dou Lide, thought that the rebels from the two counties should be accepted, because after all, they were all rebels, anti-Wei, and they took the initiative to surrender, and no one And there is no reason to refuse to accept it.
But some people think it should be rejected, and Chen Bin and Xie Minghe are opposed to it.
There are three reasons.
First of all, they are far apart, with Xiangguo and Zhaojun in the west, and Xindu and Boling in the east, so they cannot be effectively controlled.
Secondly, these two people are not sincere and of poor quality.
How can the two men with high surnames in Daijun evade the sudden incident, but if they really want to take refuge with the Hengshan Mountain Sword, they can at least send someone over first, but what does it mean to kill first and then report?
Combined with the first point, to put it bluntly, they want to use tiger skins to depose the Dragon Gang's reputation in Hebei.
In fact, according to the typical style of the rebels who are unorganized and undisciplined, they will depose the Dragon Gang and lose the accumulated popular support and reputation.
Third, and the most insensitive, once they accept them, plus the Northern Shanxi Polangdao forces who have sent messengers many times to describe their origins and express their intention to surrender, those two swords and two people with high surnames will easily depose them. If they unite under the banner of the Dragon Gang, they will directly threaten the foundation of Taiyuan Bai Hengqiu and Youzhou Army. The two families will inevitably send troops, and they will send troops on a large scale.
Then the question arises. Should the Deposed Dragon Gang carry out armed rescue of their own enclave, which is actually very important to Hebei's strategy?
Once saved, not only will he have to fight against the two big forces of Taiyuan and Youzhou, but Xue Changxiong can't stand the fact that your army of 40,000 to 50,000 will go north together. By then, it is impossible to say that the three families will interfere with the Deposed Dragon Gang to return Hengshan, Daijun, or even Northern Shanxi.
And again, once saved, how will the food be counted? !
Therefore, Xie Minghe suggested turning a blind eye and pretending to be deaf and dumb. Chen Bin even suggested directly denying it publicly.
Two against two, this matter is over here. Chief Zhang is always looking forward and backward, trying to be more diplomatic in all aspects, so there is no way he can get through it.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, the controversy suddenly became intense and expanded rapidly.
Leaders from the field army system in charge of Dou Lide and other leaders from the Hebei rebel army followed suit. On the other side, there were also many supporters behind Chen Xie. There were obviously many people in Jiangling's staff and clerical department who supported the two current officers. Guan, there was a big fuss for a while. Not to mention, the three governors in Hebei and almost the entire local administrative system in Hebei also submitted documents to publicly support Chen and Xie, and in turn overpowered each other... At this time, many people were born in Hebei but were in The leading leaders in Henan who joined the gang obviously did so because of Xiong Bonan, so they all simply wrote a document and sent it in support of accepting the rebels.
Both sides were caught off guard. The big bosses and leaders at the top were okay, but the people below quickly escalated to the level of personal attacks.
Now this rumor... you don't even need to think about it to know who is spreading it.
There are even people like Liu Heifu in the Hebei Rebel Army, let alone people with vulgar methods.
"Chief, I really have something to ask now." After finishing the bowl of noodles, in a slightly awkward atmosphere, the staff officer in charge Ma Wei suddenly broke the silence. He was from Hebei and a fellow native of Dou Lide, but he was obviously a typical civil servant. The scholar who was planning the direction had insisted on not getting involved before, but now it seemed that he was a little dissatisfied with the bowl of noodles he just finished because he had no wine, so he spoke.
"Say." Zhang Xing, who also had a bowl of noodles, was obviously not impressed and even asked the noodle stall owner to fill up the noodles and add soup.
"Is our current military system a manpower system or a recruitment system?" Unexpectedly, Ma Wei actually asked a professional question within his own scope of responsibility. "Why can't I understand it?"
"Good question." Zhang Xing suddenly became interested in the noodle bowl. Others also became a little curious. Xu Shiying, who had been eating noodles in silence, also raised his head. "First of all, the root is the government military system... There is no way to help this, because when the uprising first started, the army was formed by the sons of rich families from all over the country leading the strong men from the countryside. The reason why the army was able to form an army relied on the system of equalizing land and granting land. This is the ultimate The roots of the typical government army system are here. As long as the land is distributed equally and the sergeants are farmers. When they become sergeants, their families still have land and the land is conferred by military merit. That is the government army system. It has nothing to do with whether there is a government office for General Ying Yanglang. , including our current system in which one leader is responsible for a battalion of soldiers, has not deviated from this fundamental rut... In fact, since the Great Zhou Dynasty, the whole world has been governed by the government army system, and no one can abruptly stand out from the system that has been popularized all over the world. .”
"But it changed later." Ma Wei reminded seriously. "We have reorganized the army several times, and we will soon reorganize the army from the level of officers and practitioners... Why should we keep revamping the good military system?"
"I'm not the only one who changed it. I only mentioned the saint from Jiangdu. Guanlong Mansion is the best in the world. Why did he set up a fifth army? All the upper five armies were dead. Why did he immediately recruit new warriors from Dongdu?" Zhang Xing asked with a smile while holding the bowl. "Isn't his transformation bigger than ours?"
When the people around him heard this, they finally became serious and started talking about it.
Chen Bin simply looked up and answered: "Afraid of rebellion."
"That's what I mean." Zhang Xing obviously ate his second bowl of noodles very slowly. "The Fubing system has its advantages. For example, it is easy to gather strength, and the Western Wei Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Qi and swallowed up the Southern Chen Dynasty. But on the other hand, the Fubing system also has an unavoidable and huge shortcoming, which is that it can directly It is easy for local military leaders who control the army of a certain place to rebel... Even if they do not rebel, the army, as the foundation of the court and the country, is forced to be in the hands of different people according to the region. These people will actually play a role in the government and laws. It creates power and demands without restraint.”
We can't blame some people for being sensitive, it's just that Chief Zhang's words have always been straightforward.
"So we need to change it as much as possible, let the troops take turns to rest, try to get rid of production as much as possible, break up the sources of troops, reorganize them, and try to improve the benefits as much as possible, and give out some regular money and property in exchange for military merit. Naturally, it will be like a recruitment system." The surrounding shape is like a sudden realization. "The chief has good intentions."
"Of course I have good intentions. If I didn't do this, believe it or not, there was more than just one Li Wenbai who defected. There are probably a dozen who rebelled." Zhang Xing said helplessly. "It is better to take preventive measures as far as possible in the system than to leave a loophole to measure people's hearts."
"If that's the case, I'm confused." At this moment, Xu Shiying suddenly spoke. "Chief, what you mean seems to be that the system of equalizing land and conferring land is the system of government troops. In order to prevent rebellion, the system of recruiting soldiers must be reformed. Doesn't it mean that the system of equalizing land and conferring land is naturally not suitable for centralization of power? But you seem to have mentioned it in your policy document When discussing the changes in the system since Emperor Bai, he also said that the system of equalizing land and granting land was an inevitable system formed in the Zhou Dynasty based on the lessons learned from the land annexation by large families in the Tang Dynasty. Once the system was formed, it would naturally promote centralization of power. This is progress, and we must continue to do so...Why do you feel contradictory?"
】
Look, this is a good student.
"First of all, equalizing land and conferring land is the government-military system. It means that in order to mobilize combat forces as much as possible, the process of recruiting sergeants from farmers under the land conferment system is an inevitable phenomenon when the world is in dispute, not after the world is unified." Zhang Xing was full of energy, raised his voice and discussed politics seriously. "The equalization of land and the granting of land are naturally conducive to centralization. This is from the perspective of financial, economic and internal affairs. Powerful families can no longer annex land unscrupulously. The money, silk and food produced in the world are all unified. Naturally, it is centralization... Look at the Great Wei Dynasty You know, isn’t it strong? And the system has traditions. As long as it continues like this, it will become more and more centralized in the center.”
Everyone had different reactions. Some people obviously didn't understand and just nodded in agreement. Some people were obviously thinking deeply and seemed to understand a little bit. Some people frowned as if they felt something was wrong. Zhang Xing just took the opportunity to lower his head and eat the noodles.
"I understand the truth, but there is still a big problem." Xu Shiying earnestly asked for advice. "Chief...Have you ever thought about it, after the Tang Dynasty collapsed due to excessive mergers and acquisitions by powerful families, although the system of equalizing land and granting land gradually formed, it was never truly unified? Even the Wei Dynasty only maintained eight or nine states in the world. The land has been here for twenty years, and then ended up like this... Then how do you know that the world can still be unified? I believe in your words and principles, but is there a possibility that without equalizing the land and conferring farmland, and allowing annexation, the world will be unified? Just like the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, it was difficult to build a decent court because of the equalization of land and the granting of land. Because the military system could not control the army and people's hearts, it was difficult to build a decent court? Tian Tianran centralized power, unified all the money and food in the world, and allowed the emperor to act arrogantly and unscrupulously. Like the violent Wei Dynasty, the second generation collapsed?"
"Are you going back to the question about people's hearts that day?" Zhang Xing quietly listened and asked, holding a bowl of noodles.
"That's what I mean." Xu Shiying nodded. "But it's not the same thing. When we were arguing about whether people's hearts were up or down, the chief and I were speaking from our hearts and talking about personal ambitions and morality. Today I'm asking because I want to put aside these falsehoods and ask seriously. Why can I be sure? The situation in the world will have a good outcome in the future, rather than a sudden collapse? Is there any concrete evidence? "
"Yes." At this moment, another person who had eaten the noodles quietly spoke, but it turned out to be Cui Suchen, the confidential clerk in charge. "I don't know about other places, but over the past few hundred years, the law has been getting better, and I'm afraid it's the same in other aspects..."
Everyone looked at it in surprise, and then looked at each other.
Zhang Xing took the opportunity to scoop up the last few bites of noodles in the bowl.
Xu Shiying chuckled: "Why don't I see that Fadu is getting better?"
Cui Suchen wanted to explain.
Xu Shiying reacted immediately and waved his hand quickly: "Your Excellency is the official in charge of the law. Naturally, you can point to the provisions and say one, two, three, four. Anyway, I don't understand. It is only you who have the final say. Therefore, I just want to ask, Mr. Cui Can you simply and directly prove that the new law our Dragon Gang has implemented will definitely be better than the previous one?"
"Yes, and it's extremely simple, because the law is divided into categories and lines." Cui Suchen explained seriously.
Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, but immediately clapped his hands.
"What do you mean?" Xu Shiying glanced at Chief Zhang and quickly asked seriously.
"It's very simple." Cui Suchen continued to answer seriously. "As for the laws, they were actually divided into three before. The laws of Dong Qi were the best, but they were not implemented well, and most of them were inherited from the Zhou Dynasty. Some of the clauses were incomprehensible, and I had no idea what they were supposed to do; and The laws of the Wei Dynasty are the most strictly enforced, but they are too careless and often have loopholes; the laws of Nanchen are the oldest and the worst enforced, but they retain many of the origins of the laws, allowing us to know What are the reasons and circumstances for the enactment of a certain law... Now we combine the three families into one, learn from each other's strengths, select the best and eliminate the weak, and then implement it seriously. As long as we do it seriously, we will definitely be stronger than the laws of the three families."
Xu Shiying was stunned for a while and couldn't argue.
"Well said." Zhang Xing finally interrupted. "It's not just the law, it's the same for everything else. According to me, things in this world are roughly like this. In the near future, it will be incomplete for hundreds of years after the Tang Dynasty and cannot be continued, and in the far future, it will fall apart after the Bai Emperor. It cannot be completely unified, the system is complicated, and things happen repeatedly, but it is always moving forward, and it is constantly accumulating strength... Originally, the Wei Dynasty could really work hard to achieve some big situations, but Perhaps the time has not come yet, or perhaps the two emperors have reaped the consequences. As a result, we have been given a great opportunity that has not been seen in a thousand or five hundred years. Not only do we need to eliminate the violent Wei, but we also need to unify the four seas and stabilize the world. , when the time comes, the less one will become the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, and the more one may not be unable to achieve the meritorious service of Emperor Bai."
After saying that, Zhang Xing stood up and smiled sincerely in all directions: "Everyone, you are so reluctant!"
After saying that, he raised his hand, paid for two bowls of noodles according to the price on the noodle stall's sign, and then left alone, leaving a group of generals alone on the noodle stall.
After the chief left, the remaining people were stunned for a long time. A few smart people digested someone's heroic words. Some may believe it, but there must be some who don't. Most people just heard about the achievements of Emperor Tang and the achievements of Emperor Bai. Just a little bit of instinct to warm up the blood.
But for some reason, Xu Shiying, who had always treated others well, sat there for a moment, suddenly became impatient, and asked two of them face to face: "General Manager Chen, Chief Dou, can you two use your magical powers? Don't do it." Are you hurting us for nothing?"
Chen Bin glanced at the other party without saying a word. Dou Lide, who was uneasy from beginning to end, was excited at the same time but was really puzzled: "Why did Leader Xu say this?"
"Why?" Xu Shiying was helpless. "Don't you understand yet? The Deposed Dragon Gang still has a government military system, and the main body is still the Henan leader. Naturally, our Henan leader is also the first to be wary of the chief. At this time, it is Chen and Xie, as well as the Qian Mansion. Jun and the others are both descendants and outsiders with no roots, so they have become trusted confidants. However, the local people in Hebei such as you are in the minority and have the least qualifications, so they can be used... As a result, both of you On the one hand, I feel that the other party is of low origin and has no ability, and I feel disdain in my heart. On the other hand, I feel that the other party is an outsider from a distant place, and a descendant, but he is directing things in Hebei. At this time, those who know will naturally know that you are fighting for power within your own family. You started a quarrel regardless of the overall situation, but if you don’t know, you thought that the quarrel between your two families was caused by our Henan military leaders who were instigating discord and thinking of rebellion! Don’t want to fight among your own families and throw us into it! If you continue to cause trouble, we Henan military leaders will But we have to really complain together!"
Chen Bin and Dou Lide looked at each other in surprise. Cui Suchen and Ma Wei also looked at Xu Shiying in surprise. Although the peripheral clerical staff and attendants did not speak, they all faced each other in private.
At this time, Xu Dalang finally exclaimed: "Guys... I had to have my house confiscated and moved to Qinghe. I don't want to suffer anymore! Please put the overall situation first. No matter how the matter is handled, don't fight anymore!" According to the chief's arrangement, we have a lot to do after autumn. After eating this bowl of new noodles, we will have to work hard to get busy with a lot of business!"
The two of them just didn't say anything. Xu Dalang simply paid for two bowls of noodles and left.
In the end, everyone paid their own money, and none of the usually very generous leaders came out to treat the guests... The noodle stall owner was both lucky and felt ridiculous that these big shots in charge of more than a dozen counties were eating a bowl of noodles. Do you still want to split it equally?
In the evening, the two moons were full and high in the sky. King Xiongtian, who had disappeared for a day, appeared in Zhang Xing's residence. The latter was admiring the moon alone, and because of the double moons, they seemed to be five people facing each other.
When Xiong Bonan arrived, he looked slightly embarrassed: "Chief, what happened recently was really due to my original intention. I didn't expect many troubles later. Now I have caused a lot of scandals. I am really ashamed."
"Of course I know King Xiongtian." Chief Zhang said disapprovingly. "And I have already decided... I will ask King Xiongtian to go to Hengshan and Daijun to guide them... If you really want to join us, it is easy. On the surface, you will no longer hang the flag of the Deposed Dragon Gang, so as not to give us any trouble. To cause trouble, at the same time, we have to follow the rebellion rules of our Deposed Dragon Gang to be accepted by the town. If they are not happy, we will expel them as rebels and treat them as bandits."
At this point, Zhang Xing still did not bow his head: "Why do we only allow them to rub against us and not allow us to control them?"
Xiong Bonan was stunned for a moment, thought about it, but didn't know what to say. He just nodded for a while, and then wanted to leave, but felt embarrassed, so he turned back and asked: "Eating new noodles in Mid-Autumn Festival is not a Jiangnan festival custom. It’s not from Hebei or the East, it must be from the North… I heard that the chief’s bowl of noodles was not very satisfying at noon, do you want to go to my house and have a new bowl of noodles?”
Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, then pointed to the sky and answered the question: "I am looking at the double moon and the stars, and I am fascinated by it."
Xiong Bonan raised his head in surprise: "What is there to see here? Twenty-eight stars?"
"That's what it means." Zhang Xing looked at the sky and sighed. "I just realized that, except for the Twenty-eight Constellations and One Star, the stars were actually messy, as if no one had told me about the additional star positions in the world. Just like these dynasties change, no wonder even I feel a little guilty... But I shouldn't Guilty-minded.”
Xiong Bonan really didn't understand: "The stars were already there, but after the return of the Four Emperors, they were summarized into the Four Symbols and the Twenty-eight Constellations. How can you say they are messy?"
Zhang Xing was slightly stunned, but he didn't say much. Instead, he simply lowered his head and stood up: "Nonsense, I'm really hungry again. Let's go to your house and ask for another bowl of noodles... From the past few days to noon today, I was really disgusted by them. , It’s really like the top of the mountain can be demolished and erected at any time.”
Xiong Bonan understood this.
