Chapter 69: Shortage of money

There are many horse thieves of all sizes on the Wusun prairie, but there has never been a group of horse thieves from Han people. After all, Han people are farming people, and it is impossible for them to ride horses on the prairie like nomadic peoples.

When Xiao Kunmi heard that the horse thief was a Han Chinese, her first reaction was that her subordinates were lying. However, as more and more evidence emerged, Xiao Kunmi also believed that the horse thief who was disturbing the Wusun grassland was really Han Chinese.

When Emperor Wu of Han was the second division general Li Guangli fought in the west, but suffered heavy losses. In the following hundreds of years, the Han people had never entered the Wusun prairie. Unexpectedly, some Han people dared to come to the Wusun prairie to make trouble.

Xiao Kunmi suddenly felt as if he was slapped in the face by someone. Wusun, a nomadic people, was actually hit on the grassland by the Han people. This was absolutely unbearable, so Xiao Kunmi personally led a large army to be wiped out by Ma Chao.

Ma Chao was experienced in leading troops and did not intend to get involved with Xiao Kunmi. Instead, he took a wandering approach, avoiding the real and turning to the virtual, and not fighting with Xiao Kunmi. At the same time, he continued to kill the small tribes nearby. Wherever Ma Chao passed, he killed all the men, women, young and even slaves.

Wusun is composed of Kunmi, the tribes under Xiaokunmi have a total of 300,000 to 400,000 people. If slaves are added, there will be almost 500,000 people. For example, the method of killing people when you see them is not possible, and even Ma Chao can't do such a thing.

Ma Chao specially selected some smaller tribes to start. Ma Chao never touched those large tribes with seven or eight thousand or even tens of thousands of soldiers to fight. Those small tribes had few people and could not resist the trampling of Ma Chao and his ten thousand iron cavalry.

Finally, after more than a year of killing and chasing, the Wusun people became scared.

Because of Ma Chao's appearance, those smaller tribes lived a nervous life all day long. Facing Ma Chao, even if they had the courage to resist, they did not have the ability to resist. In the end, the small tribes began to migrate and went to a place further west to avoid Ma Chao's army.

The Wusun people on the grassland were originally composed of tribes of all sizes and large numbers, and there were only a handful of real large tribes. Most of the Wusun people still live in those small tribes. The small tribes migrated, which immediately caused a large loss of the population under Xiao Kunmi.

To the west of Xiao Kunmi is the Great Kunmi tribe, which is the Wusun clan. At that time, Kunmi was the same, but it was divided by Emperor Wu's plan to separate and become the current Kunmi. For hundreds of years, Kunmi has been in disagreement, and wars have continued. Both sides have been fighting openly and secretly for survival resources and population.

When the small tribe under Xiao Kunmi moved westward, many people came to the jurisdiction of Da Kunmi. For no reason, Da Kunmi was naturally very happy, so Da Kunmi was willing to take in everything that came to surrender.

Da Kunmi's move angered Xiao Kunmi. Xiao Kunmi was angry and accused the horse thief on the grassland of being sent by Da Kunmi. Da Kunmi naturally refused to admit that the conflict between the two sides continued to intensify.

As time went by, more and more small tribes migrated to the west to Da Kunmi's troops in order to avoid Ma Chao, which greatly increased Da Kunmi's strength. As one rose and the other fell, Xiao Kunmi was greatly weakened. The conflict between the two sides continued to intensify, and a war finally broke out.

Ma Chao's efforts were not in vain, and he provoked a war between Kunmi, big and big, but Ma Chao could benefit from it. Ma Chao kept harassing the soldiers on both sides, and there was another surprise attack at the Dakunmi royal court during this period. However, Kunmi was not there at the time, and Ma Chao just pulled off Dakunmi's royal flag.

The war continued to consume the Wusun people, and Ma Chao was disrupting the situation, which made the war even more tragic. Finally, when Kunmi, both big and big, realized that there was no victorious side in this war of attrition.

In one battle after another, dozens of the so-called No. 1 Warriors in the Wusun Prairie have been replaced, and ironically, nearly half of them died at the hands of Ma Chao.

Continuous killings made Ma Chaobo a notorious. In the eyes of the Wusun people, the cavalry carried by Ma Chao were the incarnations of the demons. Finally, Xiao Kunmi decided to move westward and migrate to a further westward place.

However, at this time, Ma Chao fell ill. There was a shortage of doctors and medicine on the grassland, so Ma Chao never stood up again when he was sick.

The next battle was commanded by Ma Qiu. Ma Qiu followed Ma Chao for many years and gradually grew into a qualified general. Perhaps infected by Ma Chao, Ma Qiu, who was originally a good baby, exuded a ruthless aura.

Years of war also cost the Ma family army a huge amount. The 10,000 people brought back then were less than 3,000 people, and one-third of these 3,000 people were disabled and could no longer go to the battlefield. However, those who survived were all elites. No one was suffering from dozens of lives.

At the same time, years of life in the grassland have allowed many knights in the Ma family to learn how to raise horses. This time, Ma Qiu brought back 10,000 good horses from the Wusun Prairie.

It was A Dou's dream to form a cavalry team like the tiger and leopard cavalry. In the era of cold weapons, the iron plate was that after the emergence of bilateral stirrups and high bridge saddles, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry was greatly improved. Those cavalry wielding sabers and rifles not only had strong mobility, but also had lethality. In addition to siege cities and some specific battlefields such as mountains and ships, the role of cavalry was greater than that of infantry.

At that time, Adou formed a seven-demon guard with the war horses seized from Tian Pengzu and helped Adou escape back to Shu. However, those few hundred horses were too far away from Adou's cavalry dream.

The cost of feeding a cavalry is far more than that of an infantryman. Horses need to eat grass and also need to buy equipment. In this chaotic era, the consumption of a horse is enough to match several adults, so even Cao Cao, who is in charge of Youbing and the two states, had only a few cavalry under his command. The Central Plains are not a prairie, and the land needs to be used to grow food, and there is no place to shed horses, which makes it impossible for all the people to ride like the nomadic people on the grassland.

At the same time, it requires horses to form cavalry. Shu does not produce horses at all. Even if it is produced, the quality of horses is incomparable to that of grassland horses. Therefore, neither Liu Bei nor A Dou have planned to form cavalry.

Later, Adou occupied Liangzhou and thought about forming a cavalry unit. However, Adou then discovered that the one-time investment was too high. In this chaotic era, the price of war horses was already very high. Even if you bought war horses in Liangzhou, the Shu Han treasury could not afford it.

The reconstruction of Yongzhou, the migration of the Di people, and various reforms all required money. Years of war made the treasury accumulated by Shu Han for many years and was slightly overwhelmed. In this case, Adou was unable to form a cavalry.

The 10,000 war horses brought by Ma Qiu just solved the problem of horses. At the same time, the knights who came back alive from the Wusun prairie are also a valuable asset. These knights who have been on the battlefield and have really fought with the people in the grassland are all experienced veterans. Their experience is enough to increase the combat effectiveness of the troops to a higher level.

In Weiyang Palace.

Adou brought up a pen and wrote three big words on the paper.

"General Guard?" Ma Qiu murmured, and then couldn't help but exclaim: "Good words, really good words!"

Ma Qiu is not flattering. Adou's calligraphy skills are really good.

Generally speaking, people with good kung fu, especially those with good kung fu, have good calligraphy. Most of the generals who exercise wrist strength on weekdays write very imposing characters. Just like Zhang Fei, he looks like a big and thick man, but his calligraphy skills are very good. After all, he practices many chews of the zhangba snake spear on weekdays, and his wrist strength is amazing. The characters he writes are also vigorous and powerful, and they are all one.

When A Dou practices swords, the skill on his wrist is naturally quite good. He is first-class in terms of grasping strength and accuracy, so the words he writes are also very good.

Looking at the words he had just written, Adou smiled with satisfaction, and then said, "Ma Aiqing, I will give you this general guard. I give you the power. You can select strong soldiers at will in the army. I hope that in two years, you can bring me a group of qualified cavalry."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will do my best!"

"Also, there is a martial arts lecture hall on the side of General Huang, you should have heard of it?"

"I have heard of it." Ma Qiu answered.

"If the soldiers who have returned from the grassland are disabled and cannot go to the battlefield, if they want to go home to farm, I will send the Ministry of War to arrange this. If they want to continue joining the army, they will go to the martial arts hall to teach!" Adou continued.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" A joy appeared on Ma Qiu's face. It can be seen that Ma Qiu was happy from the bottom of his heart.

Generally speaking, soldiers who are disabled and cannot continue to fight have two main ways out. One is to be sent to be military farming soldiers and continue to farm, and the other is to be sent back to their hometown. If you are lucky, you can get some pension or two acres of thin land. If you are unlucky, you have nothing, so you just go back alone.

So for these soldiers, perhaps death in battle is not the most terrible time. The most terrible thing is that they are disabled and cannot go to the battlefield again, but are sent back to their hometowns. Some soldiers with severe disabilities have broken arms and legs, which are not suitable for heavy physical labor at all. After being sent back to their hometowns, their fate will be very miserable.

Being able to go to the martial arts lecture hall to teach, receive the salary of the court, and have no worries about food and clothing. For these soldiers who are disabled and unable to go to the battlefield, it is probably the best destination.

"I, the soldiers of the Western Expedition, thank Your Majesty for your kindness." Ma Qiu said sincerely.

"Well, as for those healthy soldiers, I will reward them according to their merits..." A Dou said here, sighed slightly, and then said: "This Western Expedition is not easy. There are only more than 10,000 soldiers who can return intact! I will not forget your merits... Let's do this, tomorrow, I will hold a banquet at the Xijiao School to entertain the soldiers who have made merits in the Western Expedition."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ma Qiu also felt a little excited. A Dou said that holding a banquet at the Xijiao schoolyard was to entertain all the soldiers who came back, otherwise, he would not have to go to a place as big as the schoolyard.

Simple tables have been placed in the Xijiao school site.

The place here is very big, and the emperor always inspects the troops.

Now, the three thousand soldiers who returned from the Western Expedition gathered in this small boat, and some accompanying ministers, guards and servants gathered almost 4,000 people. However, in this vast school ground, 4,000 people are nothing.

The soldiers who returned from the Western Expedition were naturally extremely happy to be able to receive personal hospitality from His Majesty the Emperor. However, what made everyone even happier was that those wounded and disabled soldiers could enter the martial arts lecture hall and enjoy the salary from the court.

The group of people who returned from the Western Expedition have been alive and dead for countless times. After years of getting along, for these soldiers, their robes are like brothers, and many of them have formed deep friendships in the battle. So when they heard that the disabled soldiers had a good home, everyone was sincerely happy.

Adou held up his wine glass and slowly walked off the stage, looking at a dark-skinned man in front.

A long scar on the man's cheek was sent to his eyes and his eyes were all the way to his mouth. At the same time, half of his nose was missing, and he looked ferocious, but Adou knew that these scars represented achievements on the battlefield.

Next to the big man was a strong young man with dark skin and slightly rosy under the stimulation of alcohol. The young man held a wine glass with both hands, but A Dou accidentally discovered that the young man's ring finger and little finger had all broken apart in one piece.

Looking at the energetic warriors and staring at the shocking scars, A Dou knew that each scar contained a heart-warming story. Before he knew it, a hint of sadness arose in A Dou's heart. A Dou suddenly felt that he should do something for these warriors.

"Hu..." Adou took a deep breath, closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then spoke to the eunuch beside him, "Issue the decree..."

The eunuch picked up paper and pen as quickly as possible, peeked at Adou carefully, waiting for Adou's instructions.

"Issued an order for the soldiers of the Western Expedition to join the military, regardless of whether they are alive or not, their households will be registered as military households and will be exempted from taxes. Military households can be inherited. If their father is not here, all their sons and nephews can join the army and replace their father's official positions..."

Then, the eunuch recited the imperial edict that Adou had just moved.

After a few seconds of silence, huge cheers rang out.

After joining the military, the whole family can enjoy tax exemption, which is absolutely tempting. However, the more tempting thing is behind. Military households can be hereditary, and the official positions in the army can also be hereditary. In other words, if the father is a centurion, the son will be able to replace his father's position and become a centurion when he grows up.

Many soldiers, at most, get to the position of a centurion for a lifetime. You should know that this centurion has been included in the ranks of the lower-level officers. If they become a centurion as soon as they join the army, they will have a good chance of being promoted in the next days. At the same time, although the centurion also has to face the enemy directly, they do not have to rush to the front like ordinary soldiers, and the chance of survival is much higher. It can be said that the hereditary position of this official position is different from ordinary military households.

After returning to Weiyang Palace, Adou kept thinking about his decision just now.

With this imperial edict from Adou, the prototype of the military system of the palace has also appeared.

Now the Three Kingdoms still implement the recruitment system, but the recruitment system has gradually shown signs of being interrupted. A few days ago, the Wei State dressed up and the source of troops was tight. He once recruited soldiers in Jizhou and Qingzhou, but only recruited 20,000 to 30,000 people, and these 20,000 to 30,000 people were still uneven.

The previous recruitment system was the best, just like Wu Qi recruited soldiers in the Warring States Period. He asked soldiers to carry heavy loads and thought that the distance of 40 kilometers is now qualified, and it must be completed within the specified time. Forty kilometers is about the same length as the current marathon, and it must be completed with heavy loads. Although the physique and endurance of the ancients were better than that of today's people, it also means that recruiting soldiers was selected from the best, and not everyone could come.

But now, the 30,000 people recruited by the Wei State in Jizhou and Qingzhou, less than 60% of the truly powerful people, and the others are more like those who have no food to make a living in the military camp, which is more of a little better than the military farmer.

The quality of the military source is not good, and it is okay to have quantity, but the quality and quantity are not good. Faced with this situation, Chen Qun suggested to Cao Rui that he would simply follow Shang Yang's reforms, with each five households being one army, and each army must send a soldier to the court. If he did not send him, all the troops would be punished.

The suggestion made by Chen Qun was to force recruitment, but this suggestion was indeed very effective. The Wei State recruited a large army of 100,000 in a short time.

However, Xu Shu has been whispered by these 100,000 troops and most of them have been sent to Youzhou to shock Gongsun Yuan.

In the Eastern Wu, since the Sun Ce era, the Eastern Wu has recruited troops among the Shanyue people. Although they have not obtained much, they have accumulated over the years. It can be seen that this recruitment system has long been unworkable in Jiangdong, which is widely located in Jiangdong.

Compared with Wei and Eastern Wu, the situation in Shu Han was better, and the recruitment system was always adopted. However, this was based on the fact that Shu Han did not pass through Yiling's defeat. According to Adou, in history, Liu Bei's defeat in Yiling caused great damage to Shu's vitality, so when Zhuge Liang's northern expedition to the Central Plains, he had already cancelled recruitment and recruited troops. Today, Shu Han did not have the defeat of Liu Bei, and consumed a lot of people, so there was no shortage of soldiers yet. However, if he experienced one or two major battles, Shu Han would definitely face a shortage of soldiers.

Thinking about the later system of government troops, which made the Northern Wei powerful, and with the damaged Central Plains, it could resist the Rouran tribes and other tribes, and also gave Emperor Taizong of Tang a capital to fight a long-term war with the Turks. It can be seen that the system of government troops is indeed good. Adou has begun to consider whether to implement the system of government troops.

So, Adou found Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong and told them about his thoughts.

After hearing this, Pang Tong frowned and his eyes flashed, but Zhuge Liang began to shake his head repeatedly.

After a while, Pang Tong said, "Your Majesty, what you just mentioned is feasible. However, according to Your Majesty, all soldiers have military households, that is, if I want to have a large army of 100,000, there will be 100,000 military households. And this military household must be exempted from taxes, that is, while our dynasty maintains these 100,000 military households, we will also give 100,000 taxes for 100,000 households. In this way, our dynasty will have much less taxes every year."

"Yeah." Adou nodded slightly. Each military household had a soldier. At the same time, the military household had to be exempted from taxes. That is, the court had to raise this soldier and also had to bear taxes from one household. If there were too few people, it would be OK. If there were too many people, hundreds of thousands of households would be exempted from taxes. This loss was indeed very large. Moreover, the court would have to spend a lot of money on raising soldiers. The soldiers' food, pay, weapons and equipment, and daily training.

A Dou thought for a while and said, "Tao Fu, I plan to let these military families work in busy farming, train soldiers during slack farming, and gather to fight when there is war. Moreover, I plan to let the military families bring their own food when training every year. In this way, there is only two or three months of slack farming time every year, and there is a little cost during training. You don't have to raise these soldiers at all on weekdays, so this should save some."

Pang Tong nodded. This raising of soldiers was indeed a great expense. According to A Dou, the money for raising soldiers was saved, and it was just a loss of taxes from one household, and the loss was much less.

Zhuge Liang frowned and calculated for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, if you calculate this, you will collect less taxes from one household and less money to raise a soldier. Basically, you will support a soldier with one household. If there is no war, it will not be a loss for our dynasty. But if the war is together, the treasury will lose, and the longer the war is delayed, the more unfavorable it will be for us. Just as Shi Yuan said just now, the children of military households gathered up to fight on the front line. If it is calculated by 100,000 people, during the war, we will be responsible for the soldiers' food and grass supply, and we will also lose the taxes from that household in vain. If the war goes on for a year, our dynasty will lose one year of taxes, and the treasury will still be supported by the treasury. If the source of this pre-tax is less and the consumption is not reduced, I am afraid that the treasury will not be able to support it if it continues for a long time."

"Well, who did Kong Ming say? If there is a surplus in our treasury for three or five years, I agree that Your Majesty will open a military account. However, now that there have been years of war, the Di people are moving inward, and the reconstruction of Yongzhou has exhausted the national treasury. This is quite dangerous if there is no war in the next three or five years, but if there is war, it may be difficult to continue." Pang Tong also said from the side.

"Well, this is a problem." After hearing Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong's analysis, Adou was immediately overwhelmed with a penny of money to stump the hero. For those who are emperors, it is quite painful to have no money in the treasury.

However, Adou did not give up on the idea of ​​reforming the military system. After all, the reform of the military system has reached an urgent point.

"Prime Minister, do you have any way to increase taxes?" A Dou asked.

Zhuge Liang had a smile on his face, as if he had expected Adou to ask this question. Zhuge Liang took out a memorial from his arms and handed it to Adou with both hands.

"Hey, it turns out that the Prime Minister has already had a solution." Seeing this scene, A Dou smiled helplessly. A Dou felt that this person who was demonized by later generations is indeed very demonic sometimes.
To be continued...