Wang Xi slowly lowered his head.
"There is some truth in what Grandfather said."
At least among the scholar-bureaucrats, Qin's laws were tyrannical, and the system of farming and war had major problems. The government forcibly controlled the people's food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and everything was strictly regulated, so that the people's lives were fully arranged throughout the year. Without any rest time, driving the people to the extreme will sooner or later lead to chaos and the end of the country.
The relaxed society promoted in the early Han Dynasty was recognized by scholar-bureaucrats as an excellent system.
But at this moment, Wang Xi could not refute the other party's remarks.
It is better to tire the people than to kill them.
In a chaotic period when everything is out of control, the government's governance is in name only, and no one abides by the law, respecting the law is also a choice. The government takes over everything and makes the entire national machine run through a perfect and excellent official system.
Xian'an looked at Wang Xi who was hesitant to speak, and took the initiative to say: "Since ancient times, there has never been a perfect law."
"There are pros and cons, that's normal."
"In different periods, the controls used are naturally different."
"The frontier fortress is different from the Central Plains. There is nothing to say about using heavy methods."
Zu Jue's eyes lit up, and he bowed to Xian'an, "It's Mr. She Di who has extraordinary insight. To tell you the truth, there are still many people in the General's Mansion who are opposed to my idea and feel that the people should not be allowed to go too far. Tired, feeling that everything cannot be decided by the temple, these are all stupid things caused by reading the classics. Remembering the disadvantages, they started shouting loudly, for fear that others would not know this, without considering the current situation at all."
"If Mr. Shedi can see the truth, he has surpassed many talents in the general's mansion!"
Xian'an shook his head gently and said, "Everyone has their own opinions and cannot be compared."
Zu Jue then said: "After the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne, both of you were demoted from Yecheng and led a small state. You must come to Wuchuan this time because you want to show off your talents and do something. I think you two Don’t be too anxious, there are so many places where you can do things right now, you two can look around, look at the places, look at yourself, decide what you want to do, and then do it.”
The two of them deeply agreed.
The two of them were still full of doubts about the many states and counties under General Wei's rule. Now that they finally met someone who could solve their confusion, they were naturally unwilling to let him go.
"How many people are under the command of General Wei now?"
"Why do I see that there are farmers all over the frontier?"
Zu Jue laughed and held his beard, "You two should ask the general or Tian Zili for the specific number. I am not responsible for this matter and I don't know."
"However, there should be quite a few."
"Speaking of it, on the one hand, a large number of dead people hiding in deep mountains and old forests and hidden houses hidden by wealthy families were found and resettled."
"On the other hand, there are people from all over the country who are constantly fleeing in."
Zu Jue said with a smile: "In the past, the frontier fortress was a land of corvee labor. People from all over Daqi were sent here to work as corvee labor, and the composition was mixed."
"After the general arrived, he gave these civilian husbands many gifts. Later, he allowed the government to open a place for the civilian husbands who wanted to go home to visit relatives, and allowed the civilian husbands to communicate with their families through letters."
"These people or their letters are sent to various places to promote the benevolence of General Wei. And the officials in various places in Daqi are not very good. This winter alone, Shuozhou received more than 40,000 people.
People’s ruined people.”
"Speaking of which, there are also Xi people who fled from the tribe and came to seek refuge."
Zu Jue raised his head slightly, "They are all the result of benevolent government."
Wang Xi really couldn't relate what he saw along the way to benevolent government. The administration was strict and the laws were cruel. People were either driven to farm or build cities and the Great Wall. War broke out frequently in various places. Is this called benevolent government?
?
However, Xian'an lamented: "Having a place to live, not being killed at will, not starving to death, is a benevolent policy."
Wang Xi sighed and did not dare to speak at all.
Xian'an asked again: "Before arriving, I heard some people talking. They said that General Wei had evil intentions. In addition to the states he supervised, even Xianzhou, Sizhou, You, Yingzhou, etc. all obeyed his orders.
.”
Zu Jue narrowed his eyes, "What do you think?"
"How could General Wei, a general in the country, have such an idea? It must be a misinformation, but when I arrived in Youzhou, I found that most of them were officials under General Wei."
Zu Jue laughed.
"Gao Changgong, the governor of Youzhou, is a close friend of my lord. Hu Luxian, who is in charge of the show, is my lord's elder. As for Yingzhou, you may not know that the governor of Yingzhou is seriously ill and cannot manage major events. Many things are difficult.
It was managed by Chang Shi and others."
Xian'an didn't ask any more, quickly skipped this dangerous topic and asked about other things.
The three of them chatted for a long time before Zu Jue stood up and arranged for the two of them to move to a mansion.
Entering the house, the two of them thanked each other again. Zu Jue was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and walked to Wang Xi's side in a few steps.
"My lord, have you lost your jade pendant?"
"ah??"
Wang Xi searched hurriedly, and sure enough, the jade pendant he carried was missing.
Zu Jue smiled and threw the jade pendant to him, "I picked it up on the ground just now. I thought it was someone else's, but it turns out it's really yours. Take it and don't lose it next time."
After saying that, he turned around and left the place.
Wang Xi looked at him in shock, then looked at Xian'an aside.
Xian'an ordered the door to be closed and pulled Wang Xi into the study.
Sitting in the study, Wang Xi just realized, "What did you pick up? It was clearly stolen by him!!"
"Shu Lang."
Xian'an interrupted him and asked calmly: "What do you think?"
"Does General Wei have any rebellious intentions?"
Wang Xi also fell silent, not knowing how to answer.
He thought for a moment and said slowly:
"He has a large army and many talented people under his command. He also forcibly intervened in surrounding states and counties, and even sent people to do business with the puppet Chen, not to mention setting up a private system and arranging officials. In fact, General Wei had already rebelled. When Emperor Xiaozhao was still there, he He was a courtier, but as soon as the Supreme Emperor came to the throne, he became a prince. From the moment the Supreme Emperor came to the throne, the situation has been beyond the control of the temple."
"Why did the Supreme Emperor use villainous methods to deal with him? Isn't it because he can no longer be dealt with using legitimate means?"
"You shouldn't ask him if he has any rebellious intentions, you should ask when he will rebel and proclaim himself emperor."
Xian'an's face was particularly troubled, "The late emperor was very kind to us. Besides, King Gao is my uncle."
Xian'an is a standard noble minister. His father is the famous Zhangwu King Shedigan, and his mother is Gao Huan's biological sister.
Wang Xi said at this moment: "The situation in the world is no longer something we can change."
"In the past, we followed Emperor Xiaozhao and offended many people, but now those people are surrounding the two kings and sitting in Yecheng. You are fine, you have someone to protect you, but even if you have someone to protect you, you can still Are you going to do anything else? It’s just doing nothing and accomplishing nothing.”
"Besides, you have seen with your own eyes the auspiciousness of this frontier fortress."
"Auspicious auspiciousness descends from heaven. White disaster turns into auspicious snow. Is it humanly possible to stop it?"
"The late emperor was really kind to us. If we follow General Wei, maybe we can take more care of his heirs and prevent them from harming others. What do you think?"
Wang Xi, who seemed slightly silent along the way, was ready to do big things with Liu Taozi, but Xian'an, who was extremely amazed by the situation everywhere, seemed hesitant in the end.
Wang Xi looked at this old friend and suddenly asked: "We are already here, what other choice do you have other than following?"
Xian'an smiled bitterly, "I was the one who persuaded you to come here at first, but now it's me who hesitated first. Hypocrisy is nothing more than this."
"Whether it's sincerity or hypocrisy, a real man must do something to live up to his status in this world."
"The world has been separated and wars have been going on for many years. The white disaster has turned into auspiciousness. Isn't it time to unify and bring peace?"
"good."
"When General Wei comes back, we will meet him together and ask him to take him in!"
"However, it seems that he didn't say where General Wei is?"
Sizhou, original Pingcheng.
The mountains and forests outside the city are lush and green.
Liu Taozi was riding a green lion, standing at the intersection, looking into the distance, followed by dozens of riders, and Yan Heijing was holding a crossbow, not letting down his guard at all.
There is a checkpoint under the rule of General Wei at the mountain pass, and the soldiers at the checkpoint are particularly nervous at the moment.
They probably didn't expect that General Wei would suddenly appear here. They stood upright, standing at various high and low positions, not daring to show any slightness.
A caravan slowly appeared in the distance.
Most of them are donkey carts, pulling loads of goods, and are moving forward slowly. There are many vehicles, as well as pack horses, and there are more than a thousand people in the crowd.
Liu Taozi's face was solemn, and she stared at the merchants. Most of the merchants driving and holding horses were young, tall and powerful. They pulled the carts without saying a word and stared at the left and right.
They found that Liu Taozi and others who were blocking the road ahead finally began to slow down.
After a moment, a horse rushed out from among the merchants, with people guarding them on both sides. They rushed all the way to Liu Taozi. Yan Heijing immediately drew his bow. Liu Taozi looked at him and shook his head slightly. He had just
Lower the bow.
Arriving in front of Liu Taozi, the knights in front and behind immediately moved out of the way.
Surrounded people are revealed.
Zhang Qianwei.
Zhang Qianwei was dressed like a businessman, his face was full of displeasure, and he looked at Liu Taozi with some disgust, "You haven't met yet?!"
Yan Heijing was furious. He raised his bow again and drew the arrow, as if he would shoot through the rude merchant in front of him in the next moment.
Zhang Qianwei was shocked and quickly grabbed the reins, almost falling.
Liu Taozi said softly: "Meet uncle."
Yan Heijuan was stunned for a moment, his anger slowly dissipated, and he slowly lowered his crossbow.
Zhang Qianwei gritted his teeth angrily, "I worked so hard to give you something, you kid, I am wrong."
He wanted to say some cruel words, but looking at the little cub in front of him who was taller and stronger than a black bear, he couldn't say it, so he had to give it up temporarily.
He waved his hand angrily, "Let the caravan pass by first. We'll wait until we get to Shuozhou first."
"only."
Liu Taozi asked his left and right officials to take the caravan into Shuozhou, while he stayed with Zhang Qianwei.
"My mother didn't come?"
Zhang Qianwei rode on his horse and lowered his voice, "Something happened in Yecheng. For some reason, the emperor focused on your grandpa. He called him over all day long to stay with him. He was given various rewards and could not be easily
Get away."
"Your grandma asked me to tell you not to worry about their situation. She said that big things might happen in the palace. She will help your grandpa with things and let you just do your own thing."
Liu Taozi nodded and looked at the carriage passing by.
"I thought they would send someone here, but I didn't expect it was my uncle who came all by himself."
"If I don't lead the way, they won't be able to get here."
"This is the last batch, there will never be any more."
"My uncle is a court official, how can he come to this frontier fortress?"
"Why, do you suspect that I am Wei Xiaokuan's bandit army??"
"I don't mean that, I'm just curious."
Zhang Qianwei took out a token from his sleeve and gave it to Liu Taozi. Liu Taozi saw the word "Lou" on it.
At this moment, he knew the answer and didn't ask again.
Zhang Qianwei was not in a hurry to leave. The caravan passed the checkpoint and officially arrived in Shuozhou.
Yan Heijing was particularly curious about this. He looked at the caravans that stopped to rest. Over the years, there have been many caravans coming to Shuoheng, some by water and some by land.
There is no way, the frontier fortress is lacking everything. Without these merchants, even winter would be a big problem.
Many people know that the general cooperated with some corrupt officials and noble families in the temple and sold things from the frontier fortress in exchange for what he needed.
But this was the first time that the general came to greet merchants on his own initiative.
And that man was even the general's uncle. Did the general's biological uncle come to do business with the general?
Yan Heijing took advantage of everyone being busy and asked in a low voice: "General, who is this caravan?"
"This is a gift from my mother."
Yan Heizhen suddenly realized that it was originally sent by the old lady.
No wonder the general wanted to greet him personally.
He looked at the goods again, full of them, and couldn't help but laugh. The old lady was quite kind to the lord.
Liu Taozi immediately ordered: "Array!!!"
Yan Heijing was about to lead the people into formation. The next moment, he saw the horsemen and porters suddenly jumped up and quickly lined up in front of the carriage. They lined up one by one. Before Yan Heijian could even react,
A long formation had been formed, with everyone standing upright and looking straight ahead. Even though their hands were empty and they had no armor on their bodies, Yan Heita could feel the sense of oppression on their bodies.
Yan Heijuan suddenly remembered that not long ago, it seemed that an army of several hundred people had come to Shuozhou, and they looked the same.
Liu Taozi looked at Yan Heijin and said, "Lead them to the south camp for rest."
"I have armor and ordnance ready there."
"Lord, they are."
"Sent from my mother, Warrior Camp."
Yan Heijing was wearing a mask and couldn't see his expression, but he was obviously shocked. Maybe he didn't understand, which mother can give gifts to her son to the Warriors Camp?
Yan Heijian quickly organized these people to go to the school grounds to rest.
Zhang Qianwei just stared at these people, "There are 928 people in total this time."
"Then King Pengcheng is not stupid. Last time, I used my authority to send a warrior camp to supplement the border defense, so that I could send it to you. This time I wanted to use the same method, but King Pengcheng sent someone to clear the border.
Check and almost arrested me."
"So, I thought of other ways. I went to Hu Changren and told him that the warrior camp is full of Liu Taozhi's people and they are not loyal to you. You can cut out some of them and replace them with your own people."
"He agreed. I will disguise these elites as horsemen and bribe Lou Rui to bring them here in the name of doing business in the frontier."
"However, the situation in the Warrior Camp has attracted the attention of many people. I'm afraid it won't be like this anymore."
Zhang Qianwei sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Thank you for bothering me, uncle."
"Oh? It turns out you can speak human language too."
Liu Taozi said nothing.
Zhang Qianwei continued: "Since you left, the situation in Yecheng has started to go wrong."
"Gao Rui also went crazy a few days ago."
"Um?"
Liu Taozi looked at him suddenly, her eyes a little confused.
Zhang Qianwei shook his head, "I don't know why, but he suddenly started to attack the nobles. Dugu Yongye's younger brother occupied farmland and was imprisoned by him. She Diluo occupied civilian girls, and he also arrested and punished him.
A large number of officials were also dispatched to various
They searched the local people to observe the officials' reputations, and successively dismissed and replaced many local officials. This situation was just like that of Prime Minister Yang. The nobles were particularly uneasy and asked Gao Jun to deal with justice, but Gao Jun was focused on spring planting.
In fact, it is impossible to say that Gao Rui cannot be affected."
"In two months, he captured and deposed more than 70 people, killing 12 of them."
"People are in panic and uneasy."
"The two dynasties ruled the dynasty in a name that was neither justified nor justified. They relied entirely on prestige and the support of others. Gao Rui's move is simply seeking death."
"However, he is much stronger than the original Prime Minister Yang. He asked the King of Pingyuan to detach an army and station it at the camp outside Linzhang. He has soldiers and horses in his hands. Although the nobles are sad and angry, they dare not take action directly for the time being."
Liu Taozi raised her head slightly and stared into the distance, wondering what she was thinking.
Zhang Qianwei looked at him and said, "If he continues to do this, it will definitely cause great trouble. I think you can write to him and persuade him a little. If it doesn't work, you can even threaten him to make him more stable."
Let this guy go crazy again."
Liu Taozi shook her head slightly.
"He's not crazy."
"He's doing something he's wanted to do for a long time."
ps: I was afraid that I would be killed by the Queen Mother. Once I wanted to enter the court, my wife warned me not to do it. Rui said: "Since ancient times, loyal ministers have always ignored their own lives. The affairs of the country are serious. I must kill myself. How can I allow a woman to endanger the ancestral temple?"
?What kind of thing can a scholar do? He is so arrogant and arrogant. I would rather die before the emperor than see the imperial court in disarray!"
Chapter completed!