Chapter 469: The Hu people reappear, and there is no disease but disease
In the third year of Yuanfeng, an urgent report came from Shuofang County: "Hu cavalry were found at the foot of Yinshan Mountain. It seems that Hu people have entered Henan."
Although no battle reports were received, the imperial court still took immediate action. The Han court had never taken the northern Hu people lightly.
Moreover, according to years of observation, the Hu people on the grassland are indeed gradually prospering again.
The fifteen years of repeated defeats during the reign of Emperor Xiaoding Liu Jin gave many tribes on the grassland a chance to catch their breath. Liu Dan did not mobilize troops against the grassland in the early period, but won too many victories in the later period, defeating all the powerful enemies around him. As a result, he ordered his generals to patrol the border many times to show off the military prowess of the Han court and intimidate the barbarians on the grassland.
This kind of border patrol cannot be said to be useless, it can only be said that there is something wrong with the brain.
The Han Dynasty could defeat the Huns, but it could not defeat the grassland. The grassland is there, with connections in all directions. When one tribe fails, a new tribe will rise.
Not to mention that it would be extremely difficult to destroy a country like the Huns, which already had a relatively complete system.
Usually, the countries on the grasslands perished either due to internal strife or being annexed by other countries on the grasslands. Only very rarely were they directly defeated by the Central Plains dynasties.
There is a very interesting thing when reading history. That is, after several decades, the Central Plains is still the same dynasty, but the enemy country on the grassland has changed several times.
When Liu Bingyi received the news from Shuofang County, he knew that his first real test had arrived.
He did a very good job in the political struggles and civil governance in the country, but foreign wars were a completely different dimension.
War can accumulate prestige very quickly. When Liu Che and Liu Dan succeeded to the throne as princes, they both gained a foothold through victories in wars.
Liu Bingyi also needed to take this move, but he knew very well that the big man had only just recovered a little.
We cannot start a national war like we did during the time of Emperor Xiaowu. If we do that, the Han Dynasty will be the first to explode.
Besides, the current Hu people are not qualified to fight a war with the Han Dynasty to establish a nation.
Even after experiencing all these disasters, we are still invincible!
So he issued an imperial edict, "I have received military intelligence about Shuofang County. The Hu people who once wreaked havoc on the border have appeared at the foot of Yinshan Mountain. They are trying to enter Henan, the land of our Han Dynasty, again.
This is the territory left by Emperor Xiaowu for the Han Dynasty. Even a man like Emperor Li did not lose it. How could it be lost in my hands?
well.
This means we have no choice but to go to war with the Hu people.
However, the Han Dynasty still has many problems. If it easily starts a war, it will probably follow in the footsteps of Emperor Xiaoding.
This is what I don't want to see.
I inherited the throne with shallow virtues and have never experienced war. My prestige is not enough to intimidate the generals who go to the battlefield, nor is it enough to convince the soldiers and the people.
If the top and the bottom are not united, it will be difficult to achieve victory.
When Empress Dowager Gao and King Wen were regents, they once said that the status of the emperor should be promoted. When the emperor's status was prosperous, the world would be stable and the people would fight for him.
Then, according to the proposal of Shouguang Hou, the levels of official positions in the court and counties were redefined, and it was made clear that the rank of a county governor was higher than that of a prime minister. Peace then settled down in the world.
Now a hundred years have passed, and I think the world has changed. There are some bad debates among the people, which have complicated public sentiment. What good is this for the world?
Now we have to go to war with the Hu people, but there are many voices saying that they don't want war. I am very worried, but I don't want to follow the example of Emperor Li and not allow the people to speak.
I know that Guandong is still exhausted, so I will recruit the men from Guanzhong and Sanhe for this war because they are closer to me.
It has now been decided to divide the original Three Qins into three auxiliary regions, and the heads of the Three Auxiliary Regions will be like the Nine Ministers, making them noble.
The Sanhe area was once the place where the holy kings built their capitals. The Heluo area was the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty for thousands of years, because it was in the center of the world, where the Nine Cauldrons were born and where the king dominated everything.
The Zhou Dynasty had two capitals, and the emperor's six armies took turns garrisoning in Haojing and Luoyi. I want to follow suit.
Now I will raise the salary of the county governors in Sanhe area to a higher level, making Sanhe area the location of my secondary palace, and giving all kinds of rewards the same as those in Guanzhong. I believe that the sons and daughters of Sanhe will be more courageous in joining the army and serving the court.
During the reign of Emperor Li, the people were displaced and criminals and hooligans were used as soldiers. As a result, the Han army lost its glory and bravery. I do not want to use these people, so I want to get rid of them.
Now I want to follow the example of my ancestors who had made great contributions and select good families from the six counties of Guanzhong to fill the imperial guards. I also hope to recruit knights who are good at fighting from the Three Rivers to fill the imperial guards as well.
I will grant exemption from corvée and reduced taxes, annual and seasonal rewards, just as I did during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu."
Taking advantage of the possible opportunity to conquer the Hu people, the children of Guanzhong and Sanhe areas were required to serve in the military, thus legally elevating the position of the central court.
The professional term is to focus on the interior and neglect the exterior, expand the basic base, and incorporate the Sanhe area into the standing system.
During the reign of Emperor Li, due to the large number of foreign wars, the number of good family men in Guanzhong dropped sharply, and prisoners had to be used. Now Liu Bingyi decided to recruit high-quality soldiers from the Sanhe area.
The Sanhe region has a long history of elite troops, and has always been one of the main forces in the Han Dynasty's foreign conquests. Now Liu Bingyi has raised their political status and granted them political and economic privileges, which has excited the entire Sanhe region.
The heroes of Guandong looked at the imperial edict and could only sigh: "The Guandong is far away, the emperor's star is not hanging. The Guandong is far away, the emperor's star is not hanging."
In a dynasty like the Han Dynasty, military service was an honorable task, because only by serving in the military could one have room for advancement. The fact that only sons of good families could join the army before was proof of this.
Now the emperor allows the sons of Guanzhong and Sanhe areas to join the army, but does not allow the sons of Guandong area to join the army. This is suppressing Guandong.
However, there was no suppression of Guandong in the edict, and it even said very considerately that Guandong was exhausted and not suitable for participating in the war for the time being.
According to the principle of relativity, as the Guanzhong and Sanhe regions rise, other regions will naturally fall.
First, he rewarded the princes in Guandong for their efforts to pacify the rebellion, and then he began to suppress the political status of Guandong. It seems very contradictory, but in fact it is an extremely normal method.
There is no contradiction between treating the heroes of the Jingnan Campaign well and suppressing the forces in Kanto.
Many people have overlooked one thing. The original purpose of setting up garrison marquises and enfeoffment of kings was to intimidate Guandong, not to elevate Guandong.
Every emperor of the Han Dynasty favored Guanzhong.
But if you think about it carefully, except for Emperor Xiaowen who was from Guanzhong, all the emperors starting from Liu Bang came from Guandong.
But no matter where an emperor came from, he would eventually lean towards Guanzhong, just like the garrison princes were originally Guanzhong nobles, but after staying in Guandong for a long time, they naturally became Guandong people and would lean towards Guandong.
Why did Wei Ping risk his life to make a warning and insist that Guanzhong send grain to aid Guandong? Because the marquises of Guandong followed the path of the Luo family and stood firm in Guandong by relying on the righteousness of the court and their own reputation. Once they raised their arms, everyone responded.
The difference is that the Luo family itself is relatively strong in military force, while the power of the marquis guarding Guandong is not particularly strong. As mentioned before, the soldiers of the counties are in the hands of the county magistrates. Only in time of war can the marquis confiscate the military power with a golden order. At other times, they can only rely on private soldiers.
Just as Los said at the Changle Palace that day, "A country has no more than a thousand households, a population of no more than ten thousand, and a soldier of no more than a hundred."
The imperial court granted fiefdoms to the marquises, allowing them to enjoy wealth and honor forever, and to be able to fail again and again and start over. Even the crime of treason would not result in the removal of their states, but instead their land and households would be cut, and the ringleaders would be exiled. However, they were also given great restrictions, that is, not an inch of the land could be transferred out of the granted territory!
The powerful people in counties and prefectures can annex land without limit, but if the marquisates dare to annex even an inch of land outside of their own states, they will be charged with treason!
A close relationship with the royal family gives one the power to recommend officials, and the reputation brought by generations of guarding the territory is a powerful weapon in the hands of the marquises. If one's reputation is lost, one's power will be cut in half in an instant. If the court takes back the golden seal, one can simply commit suicide.
Although Liu Bingyi drove all the heroes of the Jingnan Campaign back to Guandong, he increased the number of candidates recommended by them. The court appointed officials mainly through students and recommendations, in addition to requiring the counties and states to recommend one or two virtuous and upright people or talented and filial officials in special circumstances.
They were mainly ministers and princes who had the power of recommendation. Wei Qing quickly caught the attention of Emperor Wu of Han through Zhou Yafu's recommendation.
Liu Bingyi's actions to some extent even severed the connection between the Guandong marquises and the Guandong people and the Guandong powerful people, because Guandong was damaged, but the Guandong marquises benefited!
What people worry about is not the scarcity of goods, but the inequality of distribution!
This is the truest human heart.
No one knows whether this was an unintentional act by Liu Bingyi or a premeditated one, but it is impossible for the Guandong marquises to rush over and say to the emperor: "We must treat Guandong equally. By doing this now, are you treating the people of Guandong as your subjects?"
The situation has not yet reached this point. Moreover, although the Chang'an court was unfair, it had made great efforts to suppress the infringements on the people by the powerful people in Guandong. In particular, Liu Bingyi had repeatedly investigated the illegal activities of officials and powerful people in Guandong. The court's status in the hearts of ordinary people in Guandong was not low.
To put it bluntly, those people whose lives are extremely difficult just hope to have enough food and clothing, and they are not yet at the point of demanding political and economic status.
The imperial court raised the butcher knife against the powerful in order to protect the most ordinary people. By doing this, the people would not rise up and resist the imperial court.
Without the support of millions of people and the leadership of prestigious dukes, it would be difficult for the powerful and scholar-officials in Guandong to stir up any waves for the time being.
The imperial edict reached Zhaocheng. Luo Wuji coughed twice and murmured softly, "The Hu people are here. No wonder my health is getting worse."
The author's hometown is Hebei. You know, a big plot is about to begin. There should be two big plots.
(End of this chapter)
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