In the Chongzheng Hall, behind the large desk, Liu Chengyou was lying on his side in a relaxed posture, holding a memorial in his hand, reading it with gusto, nodding from time to time, showing a satisfied expression.
What Liu Chengyou read was a political article written by Dou Yan, a member of Zhongshushe. It contains more than 2,000 words. According to the current national conditions of the Han Dynasty, it covers the aspects of etiquette, selection, examination, theft prevention, public security, tax system, etc. An analysis and discussion was conducted to present it to the emperor.
It can be seen that Dou Yan is careful, his exposition is detailed, well-organized, and basically has something to say, and there is no shortage of good words and suggestions, especially some suggestions on correcting thieves.
"This Dou Yan lives up to the name of the 'Five Dragons'. He is very insightful!" Liu Chengyou put down the article in his hand and sighed with emotion.
Among the five brothers of the Dou family, although the eldest brother Dou Yi is the most outstanding in reputation and talent, the rest are not worthy of his talents, especially Dou Yan. Of course, he can climb to the position of Zhongshu Sheren without any money. , is also impossible.
However, regarding Dou Yan's political article, Liu Chengyou read it once with an appreciative attitude and stopped reading it. As far as Liu Chengyou's thoughts are concerned, it's just a cliché, and you can praise it and express your appreciation.
"Come here!" Liu Chengyou called, raising his head.
"Young man, what are your orders from the officials?" Sun Yanxi, who succeeded Zhang Dejun as the head of the chamberlain, hurried inside to listen to the orders.
Since Zhang Dejun shifted his focus to the Imperial City Division, the number of eunuch leaders who serve Liu Chengyou has changed three times. One was bullied because of arrogance, the other was killed for accepting bribes, and the remaining one was dismissed because his service was not to his liking.
In less than a year, the emperor's position as head of the chamberlain, a position envied by the eunuchs of the Han Palace, became a high-risk position. This Sun Yanxi is already the fourth person. He was originally a palace attendant in Ciming Palace. He learned that Liu Chengyou was not satisfied with his employment, so he sent him to wait on him.
Speaking of which, Liu Chengyou got Zhang Dejun from the Queen Mother. It turned out that the Queen Mother was quite good at training her internal servants. Sun Yanxi still attracted Liu Chengyou's attention. Although she was not as clever as Zhang Dejun, she seemed to be very honest and respectful to Liu Chengyou. She was very servile and did not make any mistakes in her behavior.
Of course, being too perfect sometimes makes Liu Chengyou doubt whether he is what he appears to be. You know, even Zhang Dejun makes small mistakes from time to time. However, for now, Liu Chengyou is still satisfied with Sun Yanxi.
Looking at Sun Yanxi who was deeply bowed and waiting for his death, Liu Chengyou directly ordered: "I have given you an oral instruction to give Dou Yan, the scholar in Zhongshushe, 50,000 yuan and 20 pieces of silk."
"yes!"
Sun Yanxi retreated, and Liu Chengyou picked up another memorial, from the Privy Council, reporting on the military strength of the Han Dynasty. The Han army has been constantly adjusting its standards in the past ten years, and every time it goes to war, it will face adjustments. It has only developed to this day and has a barely mature military system.
With the Liangya Imperial Guards as the main force, supplemented by border garrison troops, Daozhou Dusi soldiers and horses, as well as transport and patrol soldiers, plus the Xiangyong who are still being built, the scale is already large enough. Among them, the standing imperial army alone has 100,000 troops, which is the pillar of the country, and the elite divisions including Hebei, Hedong, northwest and southwest frontier troops have 200,000 troops.
Among them, the construction of cavalry is proceeding in an orderly manner, and there are nearly 40,000 cavalry both inside and outside. According to the calculations of the Privy Council, under the condition of maintaining basic public order across the country, the imperial court could mobilize 300,000 troops if it wanted to conduct a large-scale expedition. If Sichuan and Sichuan are pacified and its population is completely digested, another hundred thousand can be added.
And if we ignore the consequences, it is not impossible to mobilize a land and sea army of 800,000 people. However, Liu Chengyou estimated that he would never be able to send 800,000 troops in his lifetime. That would not only frighten the enemy, but also make his scalp numb just thinking about it...
After a little comparison of the army's layout, internal and external coordination, garrison mobilization, and the support of the capital division, it is now in a healthy balance, with no major problems and no major adjustments are needed for the time being.
Speaking of which, in the past ten years since he ascended the throne, he has continued to collect elite soldiers and concentrate military power, but the strength of the border troops has continued to increase. Sometimes, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but wonder, if the border guards rebelled, how would the imperial court control them? Every time I think about it, I can't help but sweat on my back.
In fact, the current military deployment of the Han Dynasty has many hidden dangers. The garrison in Hebei alone is a large force with strong strength. If it is reversed, Hebei will probably fall and the Central Plains will be shaken. Now that Emperor Liu is suppressing the world, there is no danger of it, but what about the future?
Of course, this is just Liu Chengyou's sense of worry. He trusts the army and is also wary. There are many ways to solve the problem and reduce the threat. There are many ways to reduce the number of patients, weaken the strength of the border troops, and then strengthen checks and balances among generals.
However, that would really turn into "defending the inside and leaving the outside", which is not what Liu Chengyou wants to see. Over the years, the Han Dynasty has repeatedly sent troops to the south, but it has never relaxed its defense of the north. It has stationed heavy troops to prepare for the war, and even strengthened the power of the generals in the north. What is the purpose of giving certain military autonomy? They just don't want to tie their own hands and feet, waste their martial arts skills, and tire themselves out of border troubles just to control the generals and prevent internal rebellion.
There are always pros and cons in everything. As far as Liu Chengyou is concerned, the way to balance the pros and cons is to recapture the natural dangers in the north (specifically referring to the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun) and rearrange national defense to make it more balanced and reasonable.
However, no policy or arrangement can last for a hundred years. It can only be adjusted and developed based on the current national conditions and trends...
Shaking his head, clearing his mind, he returned to the memorial to the Privy Council. After thinking for a while, he wrote down a draft, then printed it and ordered: "Send this memorial to the Privy Council!"
The text was concise and concise. According to Liu Chengyou's instructions, the Privy Council's next focus was on the organization and deployment of the Sichuan-Sichuan army and the withdrawal of troops. It also emphasized one point, strengthening the construction of the cavalry.
Liu Chengyou suddenly began to inspect the military affairs of the Han Dynasty, not only because of the peace of Shu, but also because his eyes were set on the north again. In Liu Chengyou's view, after taking over Sichuan and Shu, the remaining half of the country in the south can be taken easily without any difficulty. With the current strength of the big man, as long as nothing unexpected happens, it can be decided within three or two years.
Under such circumstances, Liu Chengyou felt that it was time to turn his attention to the Liao Kingdom in the north. Strengthening the construction of cavalry is a signal to prepare for the war against Liao.
Six years have passed since the Han-Liao peace talks in the fourth year of Emperor Qianyu's reign. The Han soldiers suppressed their sharpness and sharpened their fangs in a targeted manner, preparing to bite the enemy in the north.
In recent years, the development of the Liao Kingdom has not been slow at all. During the reign of Sleeping King, he seemed to have deepened the "Huang Lao" method and reused the civil and military forces such as Yelu Wuzhi and Yelu Talie. The country's strength has been greatly restored.
Ten years have passed. Although the battle of Luancheng caused heavy trauma to the Khitan, ten years were enough for a new batch of Khitan teenagers to grow up.
However, the most serious shortcoming of the Liao Kingdom today is the struggle for power at the upper levels. The emperor's throne alternated between Yelu Bei and Yelu Deguang, and the chaos of Huoshen Lake caused endless disasters.
At the beginning of Yelujing's succession to the throne, he appeased the Khitan nobles and abolished some of Yelvruan's Han-style policies, which greatly eased the contradictions. However, as time goes by, there are always people with hidden plots, and there are many royal nobles who want to imitate Yelu Chaca and usurp power. However, they were all easily destroyed by Yelujing.
Although Yelujing's throne was relatively stable and he ruled with great power, the political turmoil in the upper echelons of the Liao Kingdom caused by the struggle between the throne and power was inevitable. However, no matter how unstable the politics at the upper levels are, it does not seem to have much impact on the lower-level people, states and counties.
Speaking of which, Yelujing and Liu Chengyou are the same age and are still young, but they respectively rule the two most powerful empires in the East. There will definitely be a fierce collision in the future.
However, Liu Chengyou has made enough psychological preparations and is making military preparations, but Yelujing is not...
