Iron Dynasty

The weather is getting colder day by day, the dew on the grass is gradually replaced by hoarfrost, and the long winter is coming again.

The battle report from Chang'an was sent to Qingzhou through the post yesterday, and the news that King Zhao was captured caused a thousand waves.

The people cheered, not only to celebrate the victory of the war, but also to look forward to the return of their son and husband from afar.

The officials naturally thought much more than the common people. King Zhao was captured, and the fragmented Great Yu Kingdom was once again united. Basically, the Great Yu Kingdom was unified on the surface.

And this unified situation is stronger than when Xiao Wenxuan was there. After all, King Wei, King Yan, and King Liang were all dead, and this King Zhao could not escape death in the end.

As a result, the only remaining vassal kings are the kings of Chu, Huainan, Yong, Ruyang and Shu.

In the eyes of the ministers, among these vassal kings, except for the king of Chu, who can be called a threat, the other vassal kings are no longer a concern.

Your Majesty, the army is spending a lot of money outside. Now the war is going smoothly, you only need to leave Luo Hong to attack the land of Zhao, and the rest of the army will return to their respective stations as soon as possible.

In the government hall, Pang Yukun said loudly.

Xiao Ming nodded. The army that was fighting outside during the Western Expedition almost emptied the treasury. Now Xiao Ming really realized that the so-called war was really about money.

In addition, in this war, he recruited 390,000 strong men to transport food, grass and ammunition, and these strong men also need to eat and drink.

And because of their participation in the war, grain production in the states has also been somewhat affected this year.

There is no strong man in the family, which causes many people to reduce the land for cultivation, and even some people's family can only waste the land.

However, this is only one of the negative effects brought about by the Northern War. What caused Xiao Ming the most headache was the former Yandi, Liangdi, and the royal land west of Yunzhou.

Not only did these captured cities fail to bring him any taxes, the plundering and wars of the three kings caused the displacement of the people in these areas, and the prefects serving in the prefectures and counties instead asked him to transfer money and money to relieve the victims.

In the past, the Qingzhou treasury was relatively wealthy, but now that it has expanded its rule to the entire north, it is really like water entering the sea.

Precise play! Xiao Ming spit out two words, In addition to Niuben, let the armies of King Huainan and King Yong also return to their respective feudal kingdoms, otherwise my treasury will be eaten up by them.

All the ministers showed helpless smiles when they heard the words. This time King Yong and King Huainan were very active in the war, which made the court very satisfied.

It's just that the food and grass for these two armies' expedition are all borne by the court. King Yong needless to say, Yong Di is now poor, and if there is no money and food, his soldiers may have mutiny long ago.

This King of Huainan spent his own money and food when he attacked Yingzhou, but only after his march to Chang'an asked the court to provide food and grass.

The King of Huainan did not take the opportunity to extort. This Huainan country was originally a second-class feudal country, with limited talents and financial resources. Yingzhou was very close to the King of Huainan, so food and grass could be supplied, but he could not maintain the supply of food and grass for the expedition to Chang'an.

In general, he was self-sufficient in the first half of the war, and after the battle of Juyongguan, he ate from the court.

An extra army of nearly 200,000 people would eat, which would naturally put a heavy pressure on Qingzhou's treasury. After all, he also spent a lot of money in order to purchase various mineral resources to manufacture firearms and ammunition.

At the same time, the north was smashed, and the business chain in the north was also broken, which greatly reduced the profit of the chamber of commerce.

The profit of the chamber of commerce now basically depends on the trade with the king of Chu and the Dutch.

Talking about the withdrawal of the army, Pang Yukun continued: Your Majesty, this time General Niu is going all the way. Seven in Shangzhou, fifteen in Zhongzhou, thirty-six in Xiazhou, and a total of one county under the state. One hundred and sixty-three, so many prefectures and counties need a huge number of large and small officials, and Qingzhou currently does not have enough officials to send to these places.”

As the saying goes, it is easy to defend the country and difficult to defend. Xiao Ming's army has laid down so much land, and then it faces the problem of management.

He said: As Pang Shoufu said, there are indeed not so many officials in Qingzhou now, and now a group of experienced officials are urgently needed to manage these places for me and restore people's livelihood, and I have received news that the barbarians have withdrawn from Korea, and the barbarians will inevitably be If an attack on the front-line pass of the Great Wall is launched, if the frontier army cannot get supplies in time due to the lack of officials, it will be a disaster for the Great Yu Kingdom. Now the Great Yu Kingdom has more than enough defense and insufficient attack, and it will take some time to recuperate.

Your Majesty, it's actually very simple to solve this problem. There are many officials in Chang'an City, and when General Niu attacked various states and counties, there were also many local nobles to help. These nobles often have clansmen who serve in the prefectures and counties, as long as If the emperor can appoint them, the management of these states and counties will not be a problem.”

I naturally thought about this question, but can these officials and wealthy families be trusted? He was thinking about this issue when he received the battle report, and found that the only way is to appoint old officials from various states and counties.

Now he finally understands why when Cao Cao attacked Soochow during the Three Kingdoms period, the advisors shouted and surrendered one by one.

Because they know very well that if they change their masters, this master still needs their help in managing the captured land.

But even so, this official has to choose one, pick one, try to keep the good officials, and let the bad officials go home.

Your Majesty, Xiaguan knew a little bit about officials from all over the Great Yu Kingdom when he was in Chang'an, and Xiaguan is willing to take on this position to select officials who can be used by the Emperor. Fiji said positively.

Seeing this, Pang Yukun suddenly laughed: Elder Feige always has nothing to do with himself, so why is he so concerned about the appointment of this official now?

Pang Shoufu's words are not good. It is the duty of a minister to share the emperor's worries. Fiji said with a smile.

Pang Yukun was vigilant in his heart. The appointment of this official is an extremely sensitive matter. If Fiji is allowed to dominate, I am afraid that he will gather a lot of officials for himself.

Now this conservative has more and more power to speak in the court, and he is getting more and more uneasy, so he said to Xiao Ming: Your Majesty, Fei Ge's old affairs are already high, and some things may not be enough, the lower official is willing to do it for him. Elder Feige shares this matter.

Xiao Ming's eyes wandered back and forth between the two of them, and he said, In this case, the selection and appointment of officials will be jointly drafted by you, and then handed over to me for review after the decision is made.

Yes, Your Majesty. The two said in unison.

After a pause, Xiao Ming continued: I feel the rebellion of the feudal lords. I am determined to learn to strengthen Qin and reform to strengthen the country, and officials are the top priority in implementing the new policy. I thought about it all night yesterday and prepared to split up the Bowen Academy. .