There was another silence, and Liu Yang once again motioned Murong Defeng to sit down, pondered for a while, and said, "Last winter, the regulations signed by my sixth brother were still being discussed by the court and have not been finalized. What do you think?"
Murong Defeng suddenly heard this and was stunned for a moment. After thinking for a moment, he realized what Liu Yang was referring to. A bright light flashed in his eyes. It was obvious that His Highness the Crown Prince was well aware of all matters. From this point of view, their worries seemed unfounded and superfluous...
Last year, after Liu Min's second Western Expedition ended and he recovered Broken Leaf, after many struggles, he finally suppressed his fighting spirit and chose to stop his troops and rest, focusing his main energy on recuperating his soldiers and dealing with the aftermath.
In this process, Anxi also had too many places where it was necessary to seek help from the imperial court. When faced with difficulties, Liu Min did not hesitate to ask for help from the imperial court, just like when he had just recovered the south of the Tianshan Mountains.
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This time, Liu Min's requirements were the same as before, including soldiers, people, food, salaries, and weapons. But what was different from the past was that he requested a large number of management talents, especially grassroots officials.
Although Anxi is vast and sparsely populated, there is a huge talent gap in the grassroots public security management officials needed to take care of such a large territory. In the past few years, the Anxi Governor's Office has been, to put it bluntly, a military government. It marches and fights and overcomes difficulties, which is enough to support it. However, when it comes to governing the government, calming the people, and maintaining rule, it has extremely obvious shortcomings.
Compared with Anton, this is a completely different situation. Of course, the environment and situation are different, and the development brought about is also different. Anxi is no longer what it used to be. It is no longer the small corner of Gaochang Uighurs it once was, but a vast area covering most of the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. If we only rely on military conquest, although we have not reached the limit, it will not last long if we do not make timely changes and adjustments.
Therefore, this time, Liu Min once again asked the court to send officials to Anxi to assist in governance, establish a formal and complete social management system, and completely bring it under the rule of the Han Dynasty. And Liu Min wanted a lot of people. From officials at all levels below the Governor's Office, Liu Min wanted more than 700 people at one time.
This is really embarrassing for the court. Even if there is an overflow of officials in the Han Dynasty, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs is even worried about the arrangements for the departure and retention of some personnel, it is not easy to spend so many people at once to fill the hole in Anxi. .
When it comes to selecting and appointing officials, after all, it’s just a matter of handing out the people. Whether they are suitable, what their talents are, what their moral character is, whether they meet the requirements of the Anxi Governor’s Office, and what their wishes are. These are all within the scope of consideration.
The most important thing is whether he agrees with Anxi's request and gives such great support. In this regard, the court still had a two-sided attitude, and the dispute was fierce.
Those who support it believe that the early stage of the Western Expedition was huge and the price paid was so high that they did not relax even during the Yulin Rebellion. Now that the results have finally been achieved, it is natural to consolidate them to avoid gaining and losing, and the bloody achievements of the soldiers were wasted.
At the same time, Anxi's request is not excessive, and the court is not unable to fulfill it. Moreover, King Wei's request has a long-term vision. It is to reduce the burden on the court and improve Anxi's self-blood production ability, rather than blindly asking the court.
Those who opposed it also considered the huge price paid for the previous Western Expedition and believed that it was not worth the blood transfusion, and the difficulties of the court itself were also a reality. Now that the Western Expedition has just begun and the aftermath has still been dealt with, Anxi's eagerness to open such a large stall seems to be too presumptuous and needs to be more stable.
Of course, these are all nonsense. The fundamental reason is that some court officials are reluctant to invest in Anxi, which is thousands of miles away. Control and so on. It's just that these need to be expressed in a more obscure and smart way, and that's the general idea.
Another thing that made the courtiers more sensitive was that in addition to recruiting officials, soldiers, and people to fill Anxi and consolidate his rule, Liu Min also hoped to move all the family members of the Western Expedition soldiers to Anxi to reunite them. The soldiers of the Western Expedition settled down on the spot.
I have to say that this is a relatively trouble-free approach and can also be used in a short time.
Within, Anxi can gain a large number of reliable people, lay a solid foundation and consolidate its rule. Liu Min had made such a request before, but the imperial court did not agree. Even if Emperor Liu showed some support, in the end he only followed the wishes of the soldiers in the Western Expedition, adhering to the basic principle that those who wish to stay, and there was supervision from the Privy Council.
On the basis of the principle of voluntariness, the effect was not good. Even though the governor's office offered a large amount of land, pastures and even women to tempt, there were still not many people who settled down. Because of the ongoing war, the Anxi Governor's Palace is not like Anton, which has enough time and financial resources to attract the population.
The Han people's love for their native land is very serious. It is almost engraved in their blood and marrow. It is not a big problem for them to leave their hometown and go to Anxi to fight in Anxi. They may even bury their bones in the mountains and return to a foreign land. Most people are unwilling. They would rather return to their hometown with fame, fortune, and wealth.
Of course, for many courtiers, and even Emperor Liu, their real concern was the issue of the court's control. This does not depend on whether the prince is at the border or not. Emperor Liu does not need to worry about this problem.
The crux is that in the past, the imperial court implemented a series of strict centralization policies to reduce vassal status and consolidate military power. If Liu Min's instructions are truly followed, it will fundamentally undermine the foundation of the imperial military system for decades.
In the past, what the imperial court relied on to control the army was, first, the control of military supplies, logistics, food and wages, and the second, the garrison method, supplemented by ideological control methods such as loyalty to the emperor and patriotic education, but the first two were the most fundamental.
The distribution of officers' pay, uniforms, weapons, and rewards has always been directly controlled by the Ministry of War, and there are dedicated corresponding ministries and departments with detailed powers and clear responsibilities. This is the most basic and important manifestation of the court's control over the army.
As for the rotational garrison method, it is a fundamental policy in the national defense construction of the Han Dynasty. In recent years, no matter how the army has changed, the rotational garrison method has always been adhered to, and has even been refined and improved.
For foreign armies, whether it was the frontier army or the regiment training today, the imperial court always insisted on serving in other places during the implementation of the rotation garrison method. The core of it was to use the hometown and family members to control the soldiers. As long as people have concerns, they will have worries in their actions and will not dare to act without scruples.
Through this method, supplemented by relatively favorable treatment, the imperial court has always maintained a high level of control over the internal and external armies. Over the past few decades, civil unrest and rebellions have occurred from time to time, but the army has always been as stable as Mount Tai, executing orders and prohibiting orders. Of course, this situation was caused by many factors, but the court's control of the army was the most fundamental factor.
Even in remote areas such as Andong and Anxi, the garrison rotation policy was implemented as usual. No matter how much power the two governors had, their subordinate garrison generals and soldiers were always rotated according to a certain rhythm.
Of course, in the past two years, due to the war, the Anxi court has been supplemented, but this does not affect the essence of the rotation, and it is even more thorough.
If we follow Liu Min's request, not to mention the personal wishes of the tens of thousands of soldiers in the Western Expedition, the impact caused by this will be significant, even fatal. That means that the worries and burdens of the border soldiers have been eliminated, and the governor's office can control those soldiers more effectively and directly. On the contrary, the court's ability to restrain them will only decline with the passage of time. This is an approach that nourishes the warlords in feudal towns.
Emperor Liu was particularly sensitive to this point. Regardless of the principled issue of who should be the governor, he was still very clear-headed. Therefore, they did not take a stand and allowed the courtiers to discuss it.
It can also be seen that Emperor Liu himself was a complex and contradictory person. On the one hand, he had the idea of enfeoffment and would not hesitate to give him small favors; on the other hand, he strongly maintained the authority of the court and insisted on the bottom line on sensitive issues.
The imperial court has its concerns, and Anxi also has Anxi's considerations. At least some of the policies that the imperial court currently adheres to are relatively expensive. It is impossible to fully delegate power, which will inevitably increase the cost. If it is relaxed, it will not be conducive to the overall situation and will only create other hidden dangers. Among them It is indeed not easy to make a trade-off, which is why, until now, there has been no final conclusion on the future governance and positioning of Anxi.
At this time, the prince suddenly brought up the matter and asked about it. Murong Defeng thought for a while and said firmly: "Your Highness, in my opinion, if His Highness the King of Wei wants officials, food and salary, or immigrants, he can make appropriate adjustments. Only the soldiers settled down and their families moved.
This is not allowed. The military and political system is the guarantee for the security of the Han Dynasty and must not be shaken or changed! "
