Chang'an, Wei Palace.
After receiving the news that the Chu envoy had entered the city, the current Wei Emperor Wei Yong immediately summoned his ministers for discussion.
"Everyone, the State of Chu has sent an envoy to invite us, the Wei Dynasty, to go out together. The two countries will meet at Helong to wipe out the barbarian tribes."
Wei Yong explained the purpose of Chu's envoy, and then said: "Let's discuss it, how should I, the great Wei, respond?"
This Emperor Wei is thirty-three years old this year and has been on the throne for five years.
It can be seen from his age that Wei Yong was born just when the Arctic cold wave was coming, and he caught up with such a bad era.
Therefore, in order to preserve the country, the previous Wei Emperor had continuously mobilized the whole country since Wei Yong was born, and lost his ambition and went south.
To show his determination, he even named his newborn son Yong, which means vowing to take Yongzhou, which shows his determination.
Finally, after twenty years of fighting, with the help of the Xueyuan people, the Wei State destroyed the Zhou State, established its capital in Chang'an, its old capital, and annexed the foundations of the four Yongdong counties.
Wei Yong also benefited from this and was established as the prince. He ascended the throne five years ago.
However, after he ascended the throne, his life was not very smooth.
First of all, it was five years ago, that is, the year when Wei Yong just ascended the throne. Because he was young and energetic, he wanted to quickly establish his prestige so that he could secure his position in the court and stand firm.
So he ignored the dissuasion of his ministers and insisted on joining forces with Zhao Xu to launch a large-scale offensive against Liang Guo.
Coincidentally, the Zhao and Xu countries were also suffering from the long years of war and were gradually unable to support themselves. They were eager to make changes to the current situation.
In this way, as soon as Wei Yong's proposal came out, the three parties immediately hit it off and decided to make an appointment to join forces and launch a general attack on Liang Guo.
The result...
As mentioned before, due to the discord among the three countries, they kept each other's calculations, failed to cooperate, underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, etc.
In the end, not only did no one defeat Liang Guo, but because he took the initiative to attack, Liang Guo found a flaw and defeated them one by one. He was beaten with many soldiers and generals, and his vitality was severely damaged.
After the First World War, the Three Kingdoms suffered millions of casualties and seven innate casualties.
Among them, Wei State, which contributed the most, suffered the heaviest losses, losing half a million troops and losing three Xiantian men. It can be said that their vitality was severely damaged.
After the defeat, the emperor Wei Yong, who had pushed hard for the war, naturally had to bear the main responsibility. His prestige was greatly reduced in an instant, and he almost abdicated the throne.
Later, relying on the relationships he cultivated when he was the prince, as well as the death protection of his mother's family and his wife's family, he was finally not deposed by the ministers and reluctantly sat on the throne of the emperor.
But even if he keeps the throne, Wei Yong's status is still in danger, and there is a risk of being pulled down at any time.
So in order to restore his position, Wei Yong has been contacting the Chu State over the years, and wants to go to the southern grasslands to fight the barbarians with Yongxi in the southern grasslands to solve Wei State's western border troubles.
The origin of this idea is also simple.
One is that in recent years, after the merger of the grassland barbarians who migrated south and the foreigners from the Western Regions who migrated east, their number has reached 30 to 40 million people in Yongxi, and they are indeed powerful.
These barbarians mobilized millions of people every year and constantly harassed the western border of Wei. Even Chang'an was not at peace, seriously threatening national security.
The barbarians in Yongxi have reached a point where they have to be dealt with.
Secondly, if I can't defeat the Liang people, how can I defeat you, a mere barbarian?
Well, Wei Yong, who had just lost some battles, was still a little scared, so didn't he just keep sending people to Chu State just to be on the safe side, hoping to get this neighbor to join him in taking action?
It's just that Chu State is too cold and cold, and has always ignored Wei State's proposal and always refused.
But things are different now.
The goddess who had been aloof for a long time finally responded and came to see me.
She really made me cry to death...
Well, the description is a bit strange, but this is exactly what Wei Yong had in mind.
"Your Majesty, in the past few years, we, the Wei Dynasty, have been making joint requests to the Chu State, but they have always been rejected. Now that the Chu State has taken the initiative to send people to contact us about sending troops, this is exactly what I want and is a great thing. I think we should Respond."
Below, the famous Wei general, the superior general, Lan Xinhou Meng Chenglin stood up and spoke.
Well, his sister is the current Queen Mother of Wei, who is Wei Yong's mother.
As an uncle, Meng Chenglin was certainly aware of his nephew's embarrassing situation, so he naturally fully supported the important matter of sending troops to Lianchu, which would increase the emperor's prestige.
"Your Majesty, I think the General's words are inappropriate."
On the other side, Prime Minister Zuo, who had always been at odds with Meng Chenglin. He was from a clan and represented the country's conservative aristocracy and part of the clan. The emperor's uncle, Wei Yang, King of Hanyang, stood up and retorted: "The Chu people have always refused to join forces with me to send troops. This time But he took the initiative to come to the door, his attitude was completely reversed, and he was afraid that there was some fraud involved."
The conservative forces of Wei State, headed by Wei Yang, have always taken the initiative to be stable, stop wars, and protect the country's strength.
Its core purpose is to defend the two counties of Henan and Nanyang that Wei currently occupies, and then live a good life, let the country recuperate and restore its national strength, and stop waging any wars and wasting national strength indiscriminately.
After all, the Wei State has already acquired two counties in Zhongzhou. With this foundation, it will be enough to settle down in the future, so there is no need to fight.
Even if we really have to fight, it shouldn't be now.
The State of Wei has been fighting for thirty years, in which no less than five to six million soldiers have been killed or injured, and tens of millions of civilians have been killed or injured. Too much blood has been shed.
Now that he finally had a place to stay, the emperor did not want to recuperate, so he called off his troops and made a truce to restore the severely depleted national power.
On the contrary, he was still thinking about Lian Xing's army. Did he want Wei to follow in the footsteps of Zhou and be subjugated?
Couldn't the emperor see that half of the food consumed by the Wei State was imported from the Chu State, and that the lifeblood of Wei's survival was already in his hands?
Can't you see that five years ago, their Three Kingdoms Allied Forces were defeated by the Liang people, and the country was in danger?
As a result, Liang Guo, who also had control over the food lifeline, cut off the food supply in the south of the Yangtze River due to Chu's backstabbing. How miserable was it after the country fell into the dilemma of running out of food?
Based on this lesson, when the country is in danger, what the emperor has to do is to call off the troops and make a truce, and release the young men in the army to go home and farm, so as to restore normal local production and solve the current situation of the country's food being controlled by others.
This is the right way to be a king.
There is no other way to conquer the Yongxi barbarians.
No matter how powerful those barbarians are, can they still seize Guanzhong from this dynasty?
Didn't the Xueyuan people try their best to take Helong away from the Zhou people?
Now that our country, the Wei Dynasty, is in great power, is it not as good as the already destroyed Zhou Kingdom, which cannot even defend the country?
The border troubles in the western border are nothing more than scabies, which is nothing to worry about.
The emperor used this as an excuse, that is, he wanted to restore his already endangered prestige through victory in the war, so that he could secure his throne as emperor.
Wei Yang had a clear view of his nephew's thoughts, and he was even more disgusted with the practice of starting a war for his own selfish interests.
"Prime Minister Zuo is wrong!"
Wei Yang spoke out against sending troops, and someone immediately stood up to oppose him. The right prime minister, Xuan Xiahou Qiu Shiyan, immediately retorted: "In recent years, not only our great Wei Dynasty has suffered from the invasion of Yongxi barbarians, but also the Chu people suffered equally.
I heard that in Longxi, ten years ago, there were only hundreds of thousands of barbarians living and grazing, but now, there are more than three million barbarians in the county.
At the same time, the Chu State's military fortresses in Longxi had as many as seventeen ten years ago, but now only nine remain.
In the land of Hanzhong, there was no news of barbarian rebellion ten years ago, but today I heard from Xing Shang that there were already small groups of barbarian cavalry on the mountain roads in the county near Longxi.
All the above can show that the Chu people's control over Longxi has been continuously weakened and compressed by the large-scale barbarian invasions, and has gradually become unsustainable, beginning to affect the security of their Hanzhong homeland.
Under this situation, the Chu people couldn't sit still and came to me, the Wei Dynasty, to send troops together to wipe out the Yongxi barbarians to solve the border troubles in the west. Is there anything strange?
As for fraud, is Prime Minister Zuo still worried that the Chu State will leave the Wei Dynasty, which is friendly with it, and risk betrayal to turn to those barbarians to murder the descendants of our three emperors?
Moreover, even if there is really a fraud, my Wei Dynasty has millions of troops in the western border, and there are famous generals such as the generals. Even if the Chu country joins forces with the barbarians, will I still be afraid?
Or are you saying, Prime Minister Zuo, that you don’t believe in the strength of our powerful army, and you don’t want to see our army wipe out the barbarians and solve the border troubles? "
At the end of his speech, Qiu Shiyan asked in a pointed tone, without any politeness in his tone.
Well, having said that, the main reason is that his sister is the current queen. He and the emperor are a family, so I naturally support Wei Yong.
"You...are using strong words to make sense!"
Seeing that Qiu Shiyan openly slandered him, Wei Yang trembled with anger, then turned to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, I do everything for the public interest and have no selfish intentions. It is not that I do not want to fight, but in fact, I, the Great Wei Niannian The country's strength has been wasted and its treasury is empty. We really can't afford to fight.
Our country, the Wei Dynasty, has four counties and 38 million people. It dominates Yongzhou and is known as the overlord.
But for such an overlord, the cultivated land in the four counties is only 120 million acres, and the annual grain production is just 100 million shi, which is only enough to feed 20 million people, which is only half of the country's population.
If the remaining 18 million people in the country want to eat food and avoid starving to death, they have to buy food from Chu State every year for the country's use.
In recent years, our country has levied heavy taxes on the people in order to support the expenses of war and immigration.
The local people produce a year, and the imperial court takes two out of three, leaving only one for the people. Just to prevent him from starving to death.
But even if the taxes are like this, the annual tax revenue of Wei Wei is only 150 million taels of silver.
Of this money, 50 million taels of silver are used every year to purchase food for 18 million people from the Chu State, as well as military rations for the troops every year.
The Wei Dynasty has two million troops. With such a large army, even if there is no war, military expenses will cost 120 million taels a year.
If there is a war, an additional two to thirty million taels of silver will be spent.
Domestic officials' salaries, expenses of the court and local government, maintenance of officialdom, water conservancy, pensions for soldiers who died in the past, etc., cost at least 30 million taels of silver every year.
The above-mentioned money expenditures add up to maintain the status quo. If there is no war, I, the Wei Dynasty, will need 200 million taels of silver a year.
But the actual annual revenue of the imperial court was only 150 million taels of silver, with an annual deficit of 50 million taels of silver. "
Speaking of this, Wei Yang said sadly: "I am the left prime minister and in charge of government affairs, so I know the situation in the country very well. In order to maintain the livelihood of the court, local governments, military, and people, I have to tear down the east wall and mend the west wall. .
But even so, it's just Lake Watchmaker.
In order to save money, I first cut off the pensions for soldiers who died in battle over the years, so that the families of those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country were short of food and clothing, their families were ruined, and they starved to death on the streets.
Later, the soldiers on the front line were deducted from their military pay, and the monthly salary paid was only 70% of what they should have been paid. These soldiers could not even support their families, and their wives, children, and children had to go to find wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.
General, you are a famous general of the country. Could you tell me, is this the situation in the army now?
Those soldiers learned that they had sacrificed their lives for the country, but ended up like this. How is the morale of the military now?
Is there anyone on the front line willing to fight? "
Wei Yang looked at Meng Chenglin and asked.
The latter met the former's gaze and subconsciously moved away, not daring to face him directly.
As a general, how could Meng Chenglin not know what the lives of underground soldiers were like?
He was also angry about this. He believed that the country's imperial court treated its soldiers harshly and the corrupt officials in the rear went too far, so he confronted Wei Yang.
But when the other party took out the account book and confronted each item, Meng Chenglin knew that the court was really out of money.
So in the end, facing this reality and the suffering of his soldiers, he could only remain silent and turn a blind eye.
Seeing that Meng Chenglin was silent, Wei Yang looked at Qiu Shiyan again and asked: "Xuan Xiahou, you are the Right Chancellor and are in charge of finance. You should also know that in order to save money, starting from five years ago, officials at all levels in the country, At first, only half of the salary was paid, and last year it was even only one-third.
They have no salary, how can they support their family like this?
In the end, it does not have to fall on the people.
Moreover, the local water conservancy and roads have not been maintained for ten years.
At the same time, local governments and imperial courts would save money whenever they could, or not approve it at all. As a result, officials had to default on money owed to local people and merchants in order to do their jobs, which made them miserable.
Officials, people, and merchants are already filled with dissatisfaction. People who cannot survive have gone to the mountains to become bandits. Bandits have become rampant in the local area. Don't you know this? "
Wei Yang asked again.
However, Qiu Shiyan was not like Meng Chenglin. When faced with questioning, he did not shy away and sneered: "Of course I know."
After speaking, he saluted the emperor: "Your Majesty, as Prime Minister Zuo said, our Wei Dynasty has been running deficits for many years, and the imperial court owes soldiers, officials, merchants, and people an unknown amount of money.
As a result, the morale of the military was unstable, local people were resentful, and officials were also complaining about this.
But it was precisely because of this that the imperial court agreed to the Chu State to fight this war with them. "
Qiu Shiyan spoke louder and louder: "Without a war, how can we, the Wei Dynasty, solve the border troubles in the west?
If we do not solve the border troubles in the west, how can we, the two counties of Guannei and Shuofang in Wei Dynasty, be stable?
If these two counties are not stable, our western border will have to maintain an army of 1.5 million all year round. How can we dismantle the army and reduce military expenditures?
How can we reverse the deficit without cutting military spending, which is the largest annual expenditure?
The soldiers cannot be dismissed. Where can we, the Wei Dynasty, get the strong labor force for production and cultivation, and how can we grow enough food?
Also, those barbarians who migrated, all of them brought their families and all their wealth with them.
If you conquer the barbarians in the west, as long as you win, you can plunder all their wealth for the benefit of the country.
Isn't this money? "
Qiu Shiyan kept asking questions, then stared at Wei Yang and asked: "Has Prime Minister Zuo ever thought about the above?
Or is it that Prime Minister Zuo only complains, saying that the country has no money and the court has no money? He only knows how to stop the troops and have a truce, but he has never thought about whether he will actually allow the Wei Dynasty to have a truce.
Ah, what does Prime Minister Zuo think the truth is? "
Qiu Shiyan's words were righteous and confident, but Wei Yang was speechless and unable to answer when asked.
Because what the other party said is indeed true.
If Wei wants to have a truce, it is indeed not something that can be achieved easily just by opening one's mouth.
If we want to accomplish this, it seems that just as Qiu Shiyan said, we must fight the battle of Yongxi.
At least after this battle, if we can really defeat and defeat the Yongxi barbarians, then there will be no more border troubles. Wei Guoshao said that we can also disband 600,000 to 700,000 troops, reducing military expenditures by 40 to 50 million taels per year.
With this alone, Wei's finances can end its deficit.
In addition, the 600,000 to 700,000 soldiers and horses that were abolished, as well as the hundreds of thousands of civilian men who served them, can provide more than a million strong laborers to start production and farming after returning to the local areas, and can further alleviate Wei's food pressure.
When more grain is produced and can meet its own needs, Wei will naturally no longer need to continue to purchase grain from Chu.
The money you save on buying food can be saved.
In this way, with a fiscal surplus, we can slowly pay out soldiers' military pay, officials' salaries, casualty pensions, pay back arrears to local merchants and people, rebuild roads and water conservancy, and everything will gradually get back on track.
All things are complementary to each other, and nothing is missing.
The launch of the Yongxi War and the resolution of border troubles were the beginning of this series, which cannot be circumvented.
Faced with this fact, no matter how unwilling he was, Wei Yang could not deny it.
Seeing Wei Yang, the left prime minister, being speechless by the right prime minister Qiu Shi, the atmosphere seemed a bit awkward.
Emperor Wei Yong, who had been watching the show for a long time, finally spoke: "Okay, Uncle Wang and Right Prime Minister, you are all good ministers of the country. Everything you say and do is for the good of Wei, why bother?" Are you angry at each other?
I'll do my best here and let this matter pass. "
Wei Yong smoothed things over, then looked at the three of them and said: "Now that the three of us have reached the conclusion of our discussion, it has been decided that we will agree to the Chu State and send troops to Yongxi.
General, you are the pillar of the country. It is entrusted to you which troops should be deployed in this battle.
Uncle Wang, Right Minister, tomorrow I will summon the Chu envoy to explain this matter to him.
You will have to worry about the details of this follow-up contact, the alliance with the Chu State, and so on. "
Seeing what the emperor said, Wei Yang, Qiu Shiyan, and Meng Chenglin all bowed and responded: "Yes, I will obey the holy order."
Wei Yong nodded with satisfaction, then announced the adjournment of the meeting, stood up and left.
