Chapter 364 Xia Yu
In the spring of the ninth year of Jianyan, on the Lantern Festival, Emperor Zhao further stated on Phoenix Mountain that he was still tolerating each other for the sake of the country, and then insisted on the strategy of Northern Expedition... Of course, there were rumors among the people in the southeast that Emperor Zhao dragged his sword and wrote poems to intimidate the local residents... But no matter what, shortly after the Lantern Festival, Emperor Zhao's top priority during this southern tour, that is, tax reform centered on never increasing taxes and allocating land to each household, officially overcame the most difficult mountain and achieved a phased victory.
The most literary, but also the core of the so-called southeast region, Liangzhe Road and Jiangnan East Road formally completed the land division and inspection work for the situation households, and the relevant reforms were first completed there.
Also during the spring plowing period, Emperor Zhao, who was still stationed in Phoenix Mountain, once again issued an official decree, pointing out two major events... The first was a clear decree to the ministers in Tokyo, the officials of the Secret Council, and the generals and commanders of the imperial camps in various places, which finally determined the final plan for military expansion.
The order is clear and unambiguous. The military expansion will begin from today, and by the autumn of this year, the front, rear, left, right, center, cavalry, and navy of the imperial camp must reach the full strength of 300,000 people!
Although the imperial edict did not reveal the final number of personnel, it could not be concealed from those who were interested - judging from the logistics and the scale of conscription in various places, the vast majority of the new personnel were still allocated to Han Shizhong's Imperial Camp Left Army, Wu Jie's Imperial Camp Rear Army, the Shanzhou-Hedong Front Army which was actually under the charge of Li Yanxian and nominally belonged to the Imperial Camp Central Army, and Qu Duan's Imperial Camp Cavalry.
It is obvious that this official has finally made up his mind to break the situation by conquering the mountains and rivers inside and outside Hedong.
Everyone had anticipated this, after all, it was an objective need of military strategy. However, the deadline showed that Emperor Zhao's determination to launch the Northern Expedition remained unchanged, and the original timetable had not changed.
In other words, with the visible "success" of Emperor Zhao's southern tour, the pace of the Northern Expedition is getting closer and closer.
In fact, Emperor Zhao’s second order was to formally and extensively promote tax reform in the southeast.
The second decree was sent to the surrounding prefectures and counties in the southeast together with a document from Lu Yihao, the Southeast Envoy and Governor of Liangzhe Road. It required Jiangnan West Road, Lianghuai Road, and Fujian Road to carry out similar reforms after the spring plowing.
In the edict, Emperor Zhao pointed out almost frankly that the original intention of this reform was because the Jingkang Incident had led to an empty treasury, and there was no money to support the army and the Northern Expedition, so taxes were increased in the southeast and Jingxiang; and the increase in taxes in the southeast and Jingxiang certainly made an indelible contribution to national stability and the upcoming Northern Expedition, but it also increased the burden on the poor at the bottom; and since ancient times, people have rebelled when they are destitute, as there was Fang La in the past and Zhong Xiang in the future, and they must be treated seriously.
Therefore, at this time when the Northern Expedition is about to be completed, it is imperative to complete the fiscal reform in the southeast region, which is the most heavily taxed, so that the lower-class people can have a chance to breathe, and then we can make further plans.
Now, reforms have been implemented in Liangzhe Route and Jiangnan East Route, and the results are considerable. This shows that this is indeed feasible, so the remaining four routes will be implemented to reassure the people and stabilize the country.
As for those who dare to neglect their official duties for selfish motives, take advantage of the general trend to deal with local issues, or even make excuses and obstruct others, or resist openly or secretly, they will be severely punished and killed without mercy.
After the decree was issued, the official Tokyo gazette and the Phoenix Mountain temporary bi-weekly were published throughout the country at the same time, causing unrest throughout the country and everyone was terrified.
Soon after the spring plowing season was over and the imperial edict had been issued, Tokyo again sent envoys to Phoenix Mountain to ask the emperor to return home and to report on all the affairs of the court that had occurred since the emperor's southern tour last year, as well as the results of the judgments made by the ministers in the Secret Cabinet, for the emperor to review and examine.
However, Emperor Zhao once again publicly issued an edict, commending several ministers and all the important officials of the secret cabinet for their hard work and proper conduct in staying in Tokyo; at the same time, he publicly replied that he would continue to stay in Phoenix Mountain, waiting for the implementation of new policies in surrounding areas to prevent unrest in the southeast.
It seems that I am enjoying myself here and don't miss my homeland.
The people in Tokyo were helpless and could only maintain smooth communication between the two places while exerting pressure on and assisting the local governments. They repeatedly demanded that the local governments cooperate with Emperor Zhao's fiscal reforms, sent out censors to inspect the local areas, and sent people to the relatively nearby Lianghuai to assist in the establishment of public cabinets.
In this way, Emperor Zhao still stayed in the southeast to take charge. Then, from late spring to gradually entering summer, as various surrounding areas began to implement new policies, situations indeed emerged one after another.
For example, its economic size is no less than that of Liangzhe and Lianghuai Road in Jiangdong. From the perspective of the south, it is considered the north, and from the perspective of the Central Plains, it is considered the southeast. During this process, no serious resistance as imagined occurred.
This was not only because the Wuwei Army where Wang Gui was stationed was located between the Yangtze River and the Huai River, but also because Jingkou and Guazhou were separated by a river, and everything happening in the south of the Yangtze River was witnessed by people from all walks of life in the two Huai River regions, so people were mentally prepared.
In addition, Lianghuai is relatively close to Tokyo, and has always obeyed the central government politically. It also belongs to the core ruling area of the court. Even the envoys of Lianghuai Road and the people-friendly officials of large prefectures such as Yangzhou, Shouzhou, Bozhou, and Luzhou are mostly court prime ministers or confidants directly appointed by Emperor Zhao, so the execution is extremely effective.
But the most important point is that Huaishang felt the impact of the Jingkang War firsthand, Huaibei was in a state of displacement, and Huainan also worked together to support the battle in Huaishang... Moreover, Huaixi and Huaidong were both where the imperial camps of the court were stationed in the past. The official positions of Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun when Emperor Zhao was stationed in Nanyang were the Huaixi Governor and Huaidong Governor respectively... From the very beginning, the people of Huaibei understood from the bottom of their hearts the authority of the court and the power of the imperial camp army.
What's more, before the new policy, there were signs that the imperial camp was expanding its army in preparation for the Northern Expedition?
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