"Mr. Su is gone?"
Not long after Su Zhe left, Xu Zhiqian came over.
Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zhiqian asked, "Has he decided to submit a petition to the court requesting a reduction in the military?"
"Um."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "He has already received the accounts provided by the Transportation Department. There are more than one million strings of cash missing from the accounts. He has enough reasons to submit a memorial to the court and suggest a reduction in the army."
Xu Zhiqian frowned and said, "He didn't see anything, did he?"
Zhang Fei said: "Maybe he is a little suspicious. After all, he knows the relationship between me and Master Wang, but he definitely can't guess my entire plan."
"I know that, too."
Xu Zhiqian said worriedly: "Your plan is so complicated that I am a little worried."
...
...
“It just seems complicated.”
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Then the process will become very simple and crude. One group will support, the other will oppose, and then the government will eventually choose to share equally, so that everyone gets what they need and everyone is happy."
Xu Zhiqian pursed her lips and smiled: "Is it as simple as you say?"
Zhang Fei shrugged and said, "Human nature is like this, there is nothing I can do about it."
Xu Zhiqian asked again: "So what should we do next?"
Zhang Fei said: "We have already finished our work. Now we just need to stay out of it, build the imperial court, and wait and see what happens. The battlefield is no longer here."
In fact, what Su Che wanted was not the evidence in the hands of the soldiers. Those evidences could only prove that many soldiers had their wages withheld or delayed.
However, Su Che's goal was to reduce the military, and these evidences alone were not convincing. What he wanted was evidence that the court was indeed unable to pay full military pay.
Then again, the imperial court has always known about this, because the current fiscal deficit is something that everyone knows about, and there is no national debt these days, so it cannot be issued.
Then the only thing left was for the officials to play their role. In fact, such embezzlement, arrears, and many other means of making money were all tacitly approved by the court.
This is why those officials are so fearless.
You only give me this little money, and you want me to support so many people. How can I afford it unless I use some shady means?
Su Che wanted to make this case a big deal, then peel off the veil and force the court to make changes.
Of course, he is not a reckless man!
He still has some confidence.
It was because he also saw that the ambition of Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi was to expand territory and to fight wars, and the conservatives in the court were worried about this and even strongly opposed it.
In this atmosphere, disarmament was clearly a clear signal to curb the emperor's ambitions.
He wanted to use this to achieve the goal of disarmament.
After discussing with Zhang Fei, Su Che immediately packed up all the evidence, as well as his own ideas about the situation and solutions of the Northwest Army, and sent them secretly to the capital by express horse.
Who is the accepting party?
Of course it is Sima Guang.
Sima Guang was the person Su Che trusted most in the capital.
After all, Sima Guang's moral character is there.
At least there is no chance that he would be betrayed.
This is the most critical.
What is Sima Guang’s philosophy of governing the country? Saving money.
Then disarmament is very much in line with Sima Guang's proposition, but Sima Guang really integrated the ancestral laws and rituals of defense and twists and turns into his bones.
When I saw this letter, I felt overwhelmed.
Are you guys playing that big?
So he hurried to find Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo to discuss countermeasures.
"As expected, the police, procuratorate and courts will not be able to live in peace after this!"
After reading it, Fu Bi couldn't help but sigh.
Although the letter talks about disarmament, it is not difficult to see from the background that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are treading on thin ice there.
There are hundreds of cases like Chen Guang's all over the country. Why did it become such a big deal? Isn't it because the local government of Hezhong Prefecture is targeting the public security, procuratorate and courts?
Sima Guang also understood it clearly, and sighed: "Now that things have come to this, how should we deal with it?"
Wen Yanbo immediately said, "I think what Ziyou said in the letter makes a lot of sense. Excessive soldiers are harmful to the country and have no benefits. Although they may seem to have many soldiers and generals, they are actually a mob that will collapse at the first blow.
It's not that our men are not good at fighting. It's the widespread existence of the Chen Guang phenomenon that has caused the soldiers to lose the will to defend their country. Even if they go to the battlefield, they will abandon their weapons and armor and are not worth using.
In times of peace, it is a burden on the finances. Today, six or seven out of ten fiscal budgets are used for military expenses. Such a burden is indirectly passed on to the people, causing them to abandon their homes and flee, making the financial situation even worse.
This disease has accumulated for a long time and should be treated in time! "
On the issue of disarmament, his attitude has always been relatively decisive. In recent years, he has been suggesting disarmament. Carrying out reforms while facing the huge mountain of redundancy is like drinking poison to quench thirst. This is also one of the reasons why he opposed Wang Anshi.
You haven't even completed cost-cutting yet, but you're going straight to increase revenue, which is putting the cart before the horse.
And Su Che's letter really fits his idea perfectly.
The key point is that disarmament causes the least resistance among the three redundancies.
Sima Guang was worried again and said: "That being said, if we trace the root cause, it is still because of the annexation of land and the inability to manage industry and commerce, so that the people have no way to find a living, so they can only join the army to survive.
If we disarm, I'm afraid they will have nowhere to live and will gather together to become bandits, causing chaos in the world, which will not be worth the cost.
In addition, this case is caused by the struggle between the government and the public security, procuratorate and courts. There will be people who are involved in this, and the consequences are disastrous!"
He actually also supports disarmament, but he has a lot of considerations, and the key is that his brain is still very good. Why are there so many people serving in the army? It is because of serious land annexation and the scale of industry and commerce cannot support so many people.
To cure the problem of redundant soldiers, we must first cure the problem of land annexation.
If the imperial court does not have enough land, how to resettle the laid-off soldiers?
With so many people suddenly losing their livelihoods, the consequences are dire.
Sima Guang was very conflicted on the issue of disarmament. It can be understood that he advocated disarmament but opposed doing so.
Fu Bi stroked his beard and said, "If it is implemented properly, it won't cause too serious consequences. At present, our dynasty stipulates that people can retire at the age of 61. If it is lowered to 50, some people can be laid off.
In addition, many people actually do not want to be soldiers, but by allowing them to freely choose to stay or leave, some people can be laid off.
Neither of these two parts will cause unrest. Based on this, if we cut off some of the soldiers who eat and drink for free in the camp, we can minimize the risk. "
"Mr. Fu is right!"
Wen Yanbo nodded and said to Sima Guang: "Junshi, the key is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The last Suizhou case made many officials in the court dissatisfied, and many knowledgeable people believed that the government deliberately condoned the imperial court, and its purpose was to start a war.
If we propose disarmament at this time, it will surely gain the support of many people and reunite the people.”
Sima Guang's expression was slightly moved, and he immediately added: "But this also involves the dispute between the public security, procuratorate and local government. I'm afraid..."
Wen Yanbo was anxious and said, "Junshi! If you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences. If you don't do this, what will happen to the procuratorate?"
Fu Bi quickly struck while the iron was hot and said, "Ziyou wrote very clearly in the letter that this matter was caused by the Procuratorate and has nothing to do with the Royal Court or the police station. If there is any responsibility, it is their Procuratorate that bears it alone.
Most of those who oppose the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in the court are against the imperial court. The procuratorate was originally established to supervise the imperial court. If the procuratorate is lost, the imperial court will be the only one in power, which is what they don’t want to see. We can also persuade them on this basis.”
Sima Guang was suddenly speechless.
yes!
He also has to consider the procuratorate.
Things have come to this point, and it’s difficult to back out.
After being persuaded by Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo, Sima Guang was finally convinced by them.
At this point, he didn't have much choice.
If the court does nothing, the procuratorate can only file a lawsuit with the imperial court. Whether the court will compensate or not at that time, it certainly has no money. What should be done then?
It’s still a dead end!
After the three of them discussed it, Sima Guang submitted Su Che's memorial to the emperor and expressed his support for Su Che's suggestion, that is, he supported disarmament.
Establish regulations offices in the two prefectures.
Lu Huiqing hurried to Wang Anshi's room and reported: "Master, Sima Xueshi has already reported to the emperor, requesting a reduction in the army."
"good!"
Wang Anshi was overjoyed when he heard this. He slapped the table and said, "This old fox has finally taken the bait. You should immediately have someone file a petition to oppose this matter. Remember, two points should be prioritized. First, national defense. Second, how to place those laid-off soldiers. In addition, file a petition to attack the procuratorate for interfering in military and political affairs."
“The students know.”
Wang Anshi's move is like a guiding light.
When Sima Guang and Su Che's disarmament plan was presented, there was considerable opposition in the court. Many officials had already known about this secretly. They had been hoping that the issue of military pay would be brought to the capital, and then used to attack the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
This is a dispute between the executive and the judiciary.
But they never expected that Su Che would directly submit a memorial suggesting that the court cut back on troops instead of appealing to the imperial court.
This was beyond their expectations.
As a result, things became extremely complicated, because many ministers who opposed the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems also supported disarmament. There were also peace advocates and war advocates, and they were all considering what to do to better suit their own ideas.
However, the reformists led by Chen Shengzhi and Han Jiang submitted a memorial opposing disarmament, which made everything clear again. There was no need to think too much and they could just choose a side.
The reason is that at present the Qingmiao Law is about to be implemented, while the Corvée Law and the Equal Transport Law are being popularized throughout the country. Secretly, the struggle between innovation and conservatism is inseparable.
At present, the reformists have the upper hand because the emperor supports Wang Anshi, and many conservative officials have been transferred out of the capital by Wang Anshi.
This also made the struggle between the two sides more intense.
At this moment, the positions of both sides are extremely clear.
Whatever you, Wang Anshi, support, I will definitely oppose.
Vice versa, if you, Sima Guang, support it, I, Wang Anshi, will definitely oppose it.
In addition, Wang Anshi was obviously a pro-war faction, and he amassed wealth for the purpose of fighting wars, while Sima Guang was a staunch pro-peace faction. The pro-peace faction did not need to consider anything and directly stood on Sima Guang's side.
Hezhong Prefecture is just a prefecture after all. No matter how conflicting the interests are, they cannot be compared with the overall situation of the world.
The two sides began to argue fiercely.
As long as one enters the cycle of party struggles, all issues will be judged by victory or defeat rather than the essence of the problem.
Disarmament becomes a fortress.
The reformists became the defensive party, firmly stating that the army could not be cut, while the conservatives turned into the offensive party, determined to cut troops.
(End of this chapter)
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