Chapter 34 The snow falls in the court (Part 2)(1/2)
"In that case, why not bring the people of the Central Plains to surrender to Yecheng?" Liu Bei, who was sitting at the same table during the banquet, suddenly asked abruptly. "In this way, not only can we reunite with old friends, but we can also bring peace to the world as soon as possible, right?"
"
Cao Cao turned around and stared at his sworn brother Xuande. When he saw his clear eyes and calm expression, he slowly shook his head: "I'm just unwilling to give in! Moreover, our Cao family has been favored by Han for generations, so you asked me to follow Wen Qi...
Then where will the Han Dynasty be placed in the future? Didn’t Yang Wenxian say it this morning? Everyone on the road knows General Wei’s intentions! And Xuande, you said it yourself, isn’t it also a great cause to revive the Han Dynasty? Today you and I are here
We all have nothing to say about this... You say that his Gongsun Wenqi may be a wise emperor for a time, but his descendants will really never give birth to Emperor Huan or Emperor Ling? I am a Han official and I keep the Han Festival, can't I? Is it still possible?
is it wrong?"
"Bei quite agrees." Liu Bei was suddenly moved and laughed. "Actually, I'm not willing to do it either. I also want to revive the Han Dynasty!"
Unexpectedly, after hearing these words, Cao Cao not only did not feel solemn, but laughed: "When I revive the Han Dynasty, I really revive the Han Dynasty. You, the clan members of the Han Dynasty, are trying to restore the Han Dynasty to the emperor."
Isn’t this a good thing for you? Whether it’s Liu Yan or Liu Biao, there’s another Liu Bei today… The so-called ‘Zixia Xihe doubts the words of the sage’!”
Zhang Fei and others beside him were all stunned, but they continued to drink with their heads down, just listening attentively.
"That's not necessarily the case." Liu Bei replied slowly. "But there are some explanations for the names of the clansmen of the Han Dynasty...Does Brother Meng De know? Over the years, I have been sitting in Huainan, dividing the prefectures and counties, and I am often uneasy in my heart. I always feel...
Everyone in the world can fight with my brother Gongsun Wenqi in the name of the Han Dynasty, but I cannot fight with him, because the so-called righteousness of the Han Dynasty is actually private to me, and if it is a private argument, who am I qualified to fight for personal gain?
How about fighting with my brother? He asked Han Yigong to give me my first brocade clothes and my first mount. Logically speaking, if he wants my life, I, as a younger brother, should do it.
It’s only right to die.”
"But you are still unwilling!" Cao Cao still sneered and responded. "Is that right?"
"When I was young, I saw a mulberry tree like an umbrella in front of my house, and I thought that the Liu clan was ridiculed, so I had early ambitions to do things for the world. Of course I was not willing to accept it... But I restrained myself and met my brother Gongsun Wen again.
Qi, bound by the kindness of others, struggled for many years, but still could not let go..."
"What exactly does Xuande want to say? Are you here like a woman looking for a close friend to express your feelings?"
"I just want to ask Brother Meng De, what can I do to confidently let me bring 100,000 infantry and cavalry to fight with my brother on the battlefield? How can I get rid of this unwillingness?"
"There is no way." Cao Cao shook his head suddenly. "You can only be the younger brother of General Wei for the rest of your life..."
"That's good." Liu Bei replied calmly. "I have been the brother of General Wei all my life, but Brother Meng De, it is precisely because of this that I gradually realized that if I can express my ambition for my brother, maybe I can calmly
One or two..."
"What ambition? Isn't his ambition...well known to everyone on the road?"
"If so, you are looking down on him."
"You mean the New Deal?" Cao Cao raised the bottle and drank again.
"I tied up my hair and followed my brother, and I was deeply influenced by it. I believe that he really wanted to find a way out for the world. I also really think that his words are reasonable. The Han Dynasty was decadent, and the powerful annexed the land.
The aristocratic family monopolizes official positions, and then the powerful become depraved and shameless...I have seen all this with my own eyes...I heard that Brother Meng De suffered setbacks in Yanyu when he was working in the fields and in the imperial examination?"
"Of course."
"Can you continue to do this?"
"Yes!" Cao Cao said firmly. "If not, how can we talk about helping the Han Dynasty?! Can we help the Han Dynasty of Huan Ling back in the past?!"
"I think so...actually, if Brother Wenqi, you and I implement the New Deal at the same time, who can resist when the world is in chaos?"
"Is this what you mean?" Cao Cao suddenly realized as he stared at Liu Bei, who still showed no expression of emotion or anger. "Do you think that if you can make the world implement the New Deal, it would be okay to fight Gongsun Wenqi on the battlefield? Because no matter what
Which of you two will win and who will lose, and will your rule survive for a long time?"
"Brother Meng De is half right!" Liu Bei finally laughed. "Even so, I have no face to confront him... But if so, I may be able to help Brother Meng De and my brother Wen Qi from behind to fight on the battlefield.
, if you win, then fight to the death with Brother Meng De! Please rest assured, Brother Meng De, although the relationship between you and me is not as close as that between me and my brother Gongsun Wenqi, we have agreed to entrust my wife to you after all...
, your wife is ready to support herself!"
Cao Cao was stunned for a long time, but he raised the bottle and laughed together with Liu Bei. Tears of laughter burst out. The wine in his laughing hand spilled out of the bottle and poured on the hot pot. Green smoke came out. The three people beside him were stunned, but they were stunned.
No words at all.
"I don't know whether Brother Xuande thinks highly of me or looks down on me." Cao Cao laughed for a long time before he stopped being angry and shook his head again and again. "You have been wasting here for a long time and allowed Lu Bu, Liu Biao, and Yang
Those people like Biao are quarreling over there and are still unwilling to decide on the final matter. Is this what they are doing?"
"Of course, I spent a long time carefully observing the princes of the Central Plains, but after looking around, I realized that only Brother Meng De can do this!" Liu Bei put away his smile and said seriously. "So I finally made up my mind today!
"
"The princes of the Central Plains are all chosen for the moment, how can they only look at me, Cao Cao?"
"Because only a true hero can do this..." Liu Bei replied calmly. "Reform the New Deal, take control of the Central Plains, and finally have a decisive battle with my brother Gongsun Wenqi... How can a non-true hero take on this responsibility?"
"Tao Xuzhou, isn't your cousin a hero?" Cao Cao also suddenly suppressed his smile, but took out a pickled plum from the wine bottle and chewed it.
"If my wife's uncle were ten years younger, he could still be called a semi-hero. But he is old, has gradually lost his ambition, and is short of breath. He is no longer a hero!" Liu Bei looked normal and answered slowly.
"Where is that boy Sun Ce?" Cao Cao continued to ask sternly. "Didn't you say that he sang songs on the river bank, which is quite similar to the legacy of Brother Wentai?"
"Brother Meng De, why are you joking? Don't talk about boy A Ce. Even our brother Wentai is resurrected. He only uses force and knows nothing about politics. He is only a semi-hero." Liu Bei replied simply.
Cao Cao poured wine and asked again: "Liu Jingsheng is sitting in six counties. Although he suffered a temporary setback, he is still the most powerful. He dominates Jingzhou and is a famous person in the world. He is known as the Eight Heroes. He is both civil and military. Isn't he considered a hero to you?"
Liu Bei took the wine and replied: "I have observed carefully in person recently. Although he is called a temporary choice, he is only one of the three talents in ordinary times. In troubled times, he is just a dog. How can he be called a hero?"
"Speaking of the use of force in troubled times, there is a man in this city who just defeated me with five thousand new soldiers. Isn't he considered a hero?" Cao Cao pointed outside.
"Lü Bu is a hero. He can't be called a hero even when he enters the palace. We are just keeping him here to calm Liu Jingzhou's heart. How can we talk about being a hero?" Liu Bei simply showed contempt. "And given the overall situation, he doesn't think about anything else, just spend the whole day. It's ridiculous to ask Yang Wenxian for his father-in-law's family together! If you ask me, I'll settle with him and see if he can afford to support his father-in-law with the land of three counties!"
"What about Liu Yan, Shi Xie, Zhu Jun, Er Yuan, Yang Biao, not to mention?"
"Of course."
"So..." Cao Cao laughed again and pointed at himself. "The so-called heroes of the world..."
"The so-called heroes of the world today include a common man from western Liaoning. He sat in Hebei with the Overlord's Broken Blade, established a new government, used both civil and military skills, and formed his own style!" Liu Bei interrupted the other party, pointing a bottle to the north, but followed the trend and pointed to the north. He poured the wine on the snow in front of the case as a respectful gesture. Then he threw out the wine bottle, turned his head and pointed his hand at the person in front of him. Cao Cao said to himself. "Below him, there are two men from the Central Plains, one from the south and one from the north." If you try to use your own selfish interests to make the world a better place, you can barely call yourself a hero!"
Cao Cao was speechless for a long time, but he raised his head and laughed again. After he stopped laughing, he said proudly: "To be able to rank with Xuande under that common man in western Liaoning is a worthwhile life! I will summon the princes tomorrow to invite Xuande. Tui Cao is the leader of the alliance, but Cao Cao is weak, so I have to borrow the power of a common man like you to dare to compete openly with the common men in Liaoxi to the north!"
After saying this, the two of them laughed together, but there was no longer any barrier, and they immediately agreed... to return Jiangxia to Liu Biao; to grant Lubu three counties as a buffer; to allow Yuan Shu to be placed under house arrest in Xinye and not to leave the city; to let Yang Biaoxi return to Chang'an and contact him. Liu Yu and others warned Sun Ce not to seize the land of Zhu Hao's Yuzhang... With just a few words, they decided on the overall situation of the Central Plains that would be difficult to decide for several months, and then they drank again until evening before returning happily.
The sky was getting dark. In the backyard of Yecheng Guard General's Mansion, Gongsun Xun, who was also drinking and enjoying himself, was wearing a white mink cloak, one in each hand, holding his eldest daughter Gongsun Li and his second daughter Gongsun Zhen, walking on the snow, with their sides However, there was another general, General Shi, who was wearing a black cloak and headed the palace.
Pang De led Jia Kui, Meng Da, Yang Xiu and other loyal followers, but he could only follow behind him at a distance.
"Zi Heng seems to have a lot to say today, but I suddenly suggested drinking, so you stopped right there?" Gongsun Xun asked casually, feeling quite drunk.
"I can't hide it from my lord..."
"What's the matter?" Gongsun Xun asked simply. "I can allow you to avoid talking about the Nanyang alliance. Thinking about it, this matter may not be a trivial matter."
"Maybe it's not a trivial matter, but it can't be said to be a trivial matter... It's a hidden danger, and it seems unavoidable." Now that the matter has happened, Lu Fan has no intention of covering it up.
"Come on." Gongsun Xun was equally straightforward.
At this time, the two of them had already arrived in front of the backyard door. When they saw their father talking to Lu Fan, Gongsun Li stepped forward and opened the back door for them. However, after he opened the door, he saw that in the evening, the snow outside the door was white. It was a bright and clean place, but he actually turned around and grabbed his sister, regardless of the fact that he just followed his father to see him off. They jumped out of the back door and started trampling in the snow together... Several followers behind him immediately followed and rushed out of the door, and the little sister on the wall outside the door. Yi Cong, who was on duty in the fort, took these two truly top two young ladies in the world from afar.
When Lu Fan saw this, his heart moved, and he continued to walk forward, saying as he walked: "To be honest, my lord, it was actually the prefect Zao of Guangyang who noticed this matter first, and then reported it to Youzhou... It’s about corvee service.”
Gongsun Xun's expression remained normal, and he slowly walked out of the backyard with him, then headed towards Lu Fan's house. Seeing this, sisters Gongsun Li and Gongsun Zhen also turned back.
Of course, the two sisters, one twelve and one ten years old, could not help but have childlike innocence and often wandered around in the snow. In the final analysis, they could only be regarded as accompanying each other.
"It's like this." Lu Fan continued to explain. "Before, when the military and civilian settlements were not disbanded, the freedom of the residents was restricted. Naturally, there was no need to think too much about the so-called corvee service. Just let the residents do everything. But
Now that Youzhou's farms have been disbanded and land is equalized to each household, and there are no changes in the corvee in our New Deal, relying on the laws of Qin and Han Dynasties, corvee will naturally come back... This is okay, but since it is to prevent powerful mergers and evade calculations
If the number of people is divided into acres, what about the corvee, which is also based on population?"
Gongsun Xun's expression remained as usual.
"The prince already knows about this?" Lu Fan smiled bitterly for a moment.
"Of course, Zao Zhi is a talent that I value very much. However, he is diligent and hard-working and does not know how to work in a camp. Therefore, I have to protect him, so I gave him permission to act like a second-rank state shepherd and general. He will have two copies of the memorial and one copy will be sent to the public.
Between you and Shen Zhengnan, Lou Zibo and others, a share will go directly into my hands." Gongsun Xun said frankly. "Not only have I already known about this matter, but I have also discussed it with my mother in detail... Zi Heng, in fact, this matter
This is the difficulty of innovation... You think you have reformed and established a new policy, but in fact, as you go forward, the new policy will always encounter new problems. At this time, it is nothing more than continuing to reform, completely reforming, or abandoning it.
Go back to the New Deal! Otherwise, can we still make do with it?”
Lu Fan also twisted his beard and shook his head: "In other words, my lord has made up his mind to divide the corvee into the same land?"
"good!"
"But there are still hidden worries in this, and the prince should also know it."
"Of course." Gongsun Xun sighed. "The verbal calculation has always been in copper coins. A person has more than a dozen coins a year. When calculating the acres of land, it is just a replacement between two basic constants: money and grain, so I don't realize it at all. But the corvee is
It’s much more complicated... pounding rice, building cities, grazing, plowing and weaving, and if you want to divide the land into acres, there is actually a process of converting the miscellaneous things into money! However, the common people only produce food, and they are already short of money.
As the amount of money increases, who will be responsible for the replacement of food, sundries and coins is a big problem... If it is given to the people, it may eventually become a means for the powerful to control the people with high profits. If it is given to the lower-level officials, it is also a bit too powerful.
, Setting up separate officials will also increase the burden on the people! Zao Zhi was able to discover this matter, and my mother praised him as a real hard-working official, and I quite agree with it!"
"But it has to be done... There is no way to avoid this matter." Lu Fan said. "Have the Lord and the old lady discussed the outcome?"
"It's nothing more than two." Gongsun Xun said with a frown. "One is to reform the currency system. Take the food coupons and cloth coupons that Amway used in the military in the past as an example, and promote them to the people... But this matter
, even the mother was a little guilty, fearing that it would not be corrected. Moreover, even after the correction was completed, there was a dilemma on the Amway side. First, if it was accepted as a direct subordinate like the Shaofu, it would inevitably interfere directly in the future, and it would be arbitrary at the moment.
To be continued...