Reincarnation of the powerful minister

In line with the principle of skipping uncommon words and connecting difficult words with the context, Su Yan swallowed through the notes requested by Yu Chezhi, the left servant of the Ministry of War, and probably understood what this old man wanted to express behind the long and obscure rhetoric Meaning, translated into modern text is:

Although the sea is clean and the river is clear, the world is peaceful, but hidden dangers are still growing in the dark.Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong are all making horse thieves, attacking prefectures and counties, killing officials and seizing food; Beicheng Tatars are also ready to move, harassing the border areas, and slaughtering people.My troops are short of two parts, so we can't fight at both ends. Your Majesty, do you think you can give me some more troops and food?

This is a major military event. With my half bucket of military knowledge and my ignorance of history, if I accidentally come up with some bad ideas, won't I become a sinner who will bring disaster to the country and the people?Su Yan hesitated for a moment in embarrassment, and decided to test the emperor's tone first.

"Yu Shilang requested to mobilize the Beijing Operation Squad Army and the three major battalions of the Beijing Army to encircle and suppress the horse thieves and conquer Beicheng respectively. The number of troops invested is very large, and it may not be easy."

Emperor Jinglong pondered: "It's really not easy. Although the three major battalions have elite soldiers, they shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding the capital. If most of them are dispatched, they will become empty nests, which will give Beicheng an opportunity. "

Hearing this, Su Yan was certain that since Emperor Jinglong did not tend to make wars, his suggestion should not offend Tianyan, and he immediately plucked up the courage to say: "Your Majesty, I have just read the scriptures, and I really feel something, but I'm afraid Small words misleading the country."

Emperor Jinglong said: "Just speak out, I will get rid of the chaff and save the chaff."

Su Yan cleared his mind a little, and said in a calm manner: "Emperor Xianzu personally conquered Mobei, defeated the Tatars several times, and the Battle of Ba'e Lake severely damaged Beicheng's vitality, and there was no hope of regaining his momentum within ten years. After the death of the main tower, Beicheng fell into continuous internal strife. It stands to reason that they could not have the strength to invade the Central Plains on a large scale, so it should be only a few wandering tribes who harassed the border.

These nomadic tribes migrated for water and grass for generations. They did not do farming, and had nothing but sheep, horses and livestock. They lived a very hard life.

After the Northern Expedition, our country canceled the mutual tribute market. They could not obtain daily necessities through trading channels. They could only plunder the border. After they succeeded in one place, they fled to another in a short period of time.

Even if we send a large group of troops to conquer, and they retreat to the hinterland of Mobei, it will be difficult for our army to fight for a long time due to the severe cold weather and difficulty in supply. "

Emperor Jing Long frowned: "According to what you say, I, Da Ming, have nothing to do with these northern barbarians?"

"It's not impossible. After Master Cheng's death, various Mongolian tribes competed for the suzerainty of the Golden Family. They all believed that they were the right branch, and they hated other tribes even more than the Ming who defeated them. This is like..."

Su Yan glanced at Emperor Jing Long cautiously, and then said: "It's like after the death of the first wife, several concubines are vying for the position of the main house openly and secretly. At this time, as long as the elders of the clan come forward and express their willingness to help one of them, guarantee These little concubines will fight to the death even if they break their heads."

Emperor Jing Long couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth, "Although this analogy is vulgar, it is also appropriate... You mean, I, Da Ming, can choose to support one of the tribes and suppress the other tribes?"

Su Yan said: "No matter which tribe you support, you are raising tigers. Does the emperor know why the old farmer in the country hangs carrots in front of the donkey's head? Because the donkey will run forward desperately in order to eat, and it will never be able to reach the one. carrots. What we have to do is to give the Mongolian tribes a carrot.”

Emperor Jinglong smiled and said, "According to Qing, how should I give this carrot?"

Su Yan said: "You can send special envoys to visit the leaders of the tribes, throw the bait down first, and then issue a statement to recognize the suzerainty of a certain tribe, canonize him as a free grassland king, Khan, etc., promise Exempt from tribute, open border mutual market, and trade commodities.

In order to maintain his power and interests, he has to subdue the other tribes, while the other tribes are jealous and unwilling, and will do their best to fight back. We just need to sit and watch the outcome. "

Emperor Jinglong shook his head slightly: "The tribute is not only to promote the prestige of our celestial kingdom, but also a necessary method to limit the excessive growth of the subjects. It is too lenient to easily waive it."

Su Yan narrowed his eyes and gave a sly smile: "Your Majesty, there is a saying that the wool grows on the sheep. Since the other family has to trade with our country, we can take advantage of the people's labor and financial difficulties after the war. In the name of increase, increase export tariffs.”

"Export tariff increase?" Emperor Jing Long chewed on this novel word, "It's interesting..."

Seeing the emperor nodding, Su Yan became more courageous and eloquently said, "The tribe chosen by luck should not be too weak. It will quickly absorb all ministries, and all rivers and seas will become a big problem.

We have to weigh them up, suppress what should be suppressed, promote what should be promoted, and if necessary, we can change to a concubine to sit in the main house—"

The eloquent Su Yan suddenly came to a realization.

Isn't this exactly the method that Emperor Jinglong used in the court?If he actually played a big knife in front of Guan Gong's gate, if he violated the emperor's taboo, wouldn't it be a mouse licking the cat's nose-looking for death!It stopped abruptly, gritted his teeth in annoyance, and peeked uneasily at Emperor Jing Long's expression.

Seeing that the Son of Heaven was looking at him with a smile that was not a smile on his face, there was a bit of sarcasm in his eyes, but there was no color of anger, and a stone fell to the ground in Su Yan's heart.

He is also the royal family who holds the power of life and death, he has no respect for the prince Zhu Helin, he talks and laughs easily, and sometimes even has the idea of ​​teasing him.But to Emperor Jinglong, it was as if a mouse saw a cat, and felt a chill on the back of its neck when it got close.

Emperor Jinglong put his head on his side and rested his palms on his palms, and put on a relaxed posture, speaking slowly: "Let's talk about the trouble of horse thieves."

Su Yan took a deep breath. The issue of internal strife is much more sensitive and sharp than external aggression. If you talk about it out of your temper, I'm afraid this time it's really bad luck.

He thought carefully for a moment, and then said: "I believe that ordinary people are the most satisfying people in the world. They just want to live a peaceful life, work day and night, and have children. Cover yourself with a piece of tile, and have a piece of clothing to cover your body. If you are not forced to a dead end, you will not raise an army and rebel."

Emperor Jing Long's face turned cold as expected: "Your words, do you accuse me of driving those people to a dead end and have to raise the bar?"

Su Yan knelt down on the ground: "I don't mean that, the people are driven to a dead end, not the emperor who is concerned about the national economy and the people's livelihood, but those corrupt officials in the local area!

The Yellow River was flooded and there was a two-year drought in the lower reaches. The emperor ordered the states and counties to distribute food and relief to alleviate the poverty of the people. This is the great kindness of the emperor.But how much of these money and food has actually reached the hands of the victims after being deducted layer by layer?When the appetite is not full and people's minds change, those bandits who gather in the mountains and forests take the opportunity to recruit the people, expand their troops, kill officials, grab food, and loot everywhere.

If the emperor sends elite soldiers to encircle and suppress, these mobs can naturally be wiped out, but this method can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.As long as the government and the opposition are cleared up, the administration of officials is rectified, and the people live and work in peace and contentment without suffering from hunger, cold and exploitation, most of the thieves and thieves in the world can be eliminated, and the remaining uneducated rogues will not be able to make any waves. "

After hearing this, Emperor Jinglong remained silent, and spoke after a long while: "Corrupt officials and officials must be severely punished, and thieves and bandits must not be lightly forgiven. If you don't send troops to wipe them out immediately, it will only disturb people's livelihood and cause disaster. What do you say?" Although it is emotional and reasonable, it has to be gradually figured out in the future, and it cannot be adopted right now."

Su Yan sighed secretly, and said respectfully: "The emperor is considerate, and the ministers are not. However, the bandits are also divided into three, six, and nine grades. If we can treat them differently, maybe we can get twice the result with half the effort."

Emperor Jinglong raised his eyebrows: "Oh, what's the matter?"

"This first class is mostly refugees and disaster victims. They wander blindly, looting their homes and houses. Once the soldiers approach, they will collapse like sand. The emperor might as well forgive these people and give them food and fields, so that they can become good citizens who keep their own place."

Emperor Jinglong nodded slightly.

Su Yan said again: "The second class is the so-called heroes of the green forest and knights of the rivers and lakes. They have won the hearts of the people with the slogan of killing corrupt officials, eradicating bullies, robbing the rich and helping the poor. Your Majesty might as well fight first and then show courtesy. Then we can appease them, lure them with fame and fortune, and they can be recruited. These people can be regarded as having some skills, and they can be incorporated into the army when needed in the future, and sent to the border, and they will be a new force."

Emperor Jinglong pondered and nodded again.

"The third class is the real delinquents. When the king of the mountain is not satisfied, he fantasizes about attacking the capital and entering the imperial court. Feng Shui takes turns to sit. Beside them, there are often so-called divine envoys and aliens to assist them. Inciting people's hearts and fooling the people with heresy and evil words. There is only one word for such thieves—"

Su Yan raised his head suddenly, with a cold light in his eyes, and his voice resounded loudly: "Kill. And we must cut the grass and roots, so that the dead ashes will never rekindle!"

After a moment of silence, Emperor Jing Long breathed a sigh of relief, and slowly got up, "I only thought of you as a flirtatious talent before, it seems that I underestimated you."

Su Yan hurriedly bowed down: "The minister is terrified."

"There is no need to panic. You are still young, but you have unique vision and insights, and you have honed your experience in the court. I will still use you in the future."

"I would like to do the work of a dog and a horse for the emperor."

Emperor Jing Long patted him on the shoulder, showing a look of relief, suddenly felt a cold on the back of his hand, it turned out to be a small and round drop of water, gliding past.He leaned over to check in some surprise, and it turned out that Su Yan's hat was dripping wet.

Su Yan was suddenly embarrassed.

He had just finished taking a bath when he found that the jade pendant was missing, so he hurried to look for it. Before he could wipe his wet hair, he casually tied it up a few times and stuffed it into the black gauze hat.At first the crown could barely hold it back, and then it was slowly soaked in water, and the water droplets oozed out one by one like dew.

When Emperor Jing Long saw the water droplets sliding smoothly on his white neck, leaving behind faintly bright water marks, he felt that his mood was seductive, and he couldn't help but stretch out his hand to wipe it off.

His fingertips brushed lightly over his neck, Su Yan trembled all over, curled up like a frightened tortoise, wishing to tuck his head, neck and limbs into his clothes, staring in panic and embarrassment Take a look at the emperor.

Emperor Jing Long looked at his pair of phoenix eyes that were shining brightly, he was stunned for a moment, and said with a light smile: "Su Yan, Su Yan, your eyes will cause trouble one day."

Su Yan almost made an expression of rolling his eyes, but suddenly thought that this was disrespectful, so he quickly lowered his face, as if he knew his mistake and confessed his guilt.

Emperor Jinglong laughed loudly, and ordered the servant next to him: "Take Su Shi to read and dry your hair, and then boil some medicine for the wind and cold, so as not to catch a cold again."

As soon as Su Yan heard that he could finally resign, the discomfort in his body disappeared immediately, and he hurriedly escaped out of the room after thanking him.

Emperor Jing Long sat down again and saw that the water stains on his fingers had dried up. He put it on his nose and sniffed lightly, and he seemed to be able to smell a faint fragrance.