Chapter 76 Section 6 Don't Care

In the sixth year of Jianwu (30th AD), with Li Xian, Dong Xian, and Qin Feng successively conferring leadership, the war in the east finally subsided. Although there were still small rebellions in the future, they were all limited to a few counties and were wiped out immediately. , not enough. From Liu Xiu's rise to the present, the civil war has been fought for eight long years. Although Liu Xiu won the victory, he was exhausted physically and mentally. Liu Xiu needs rest, the empire needs rest, and the common people need rest even more. It's time to put the beast of war back in its cage.

Although Kai Xiao in Longxi and Gongsun Shu in Bashu still had separate regimes, Kai Xiao had already sent his eldest son, Kui Xun, to Luoyang as a hostage, while Gongsun Shu was far away in the frontier.The generals called for battle one after another, hoping to complete the unification of the empire in one go. Liu Xiu said with a smile: "Let's put these two sons in the outer ear." , Announce misfortune. At the same time, most of Liu Xiu's energy was transferred from horses to horses, from running the army to running the country, issued a series of edicts one after another, and started the construction of the empire in a drastic manner.

The first is the disarmament and demobilization and the dismissal of soldiers from counties and counties. How many troops does Liu Xiu have under his command?It's okay if you don't count, but you will be shocked when you settle the bill.Excluding Liu Xiu's inherent troops, the total number of surrendered troops alone is at least 1.4 million. Such a large number of troops is enough to rank among the top five in the world even now.Even in a peaceful and prosperous age, it would be difficult to raise such a huge army, let alone in a chaotic world, where a thousand wastes are waiting to be rebuilt?

Disarmament and demobilization have been going on before. After the East was flattened, there was a large-scale repatriation. The central army was strong enough to fight, so the soldiers in counties and counties were dismissed again, and the imperial edict said: "There are many armies in the country today, and they are more capable and brave. It is appropriate to dismiss light chariots, knights, material officials, building boatmen, and fake military officials, so as to restore the people. Wu." Only the central army, no local army, has since become the order of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Then there is a large number of bureaucrats.Redundant officials and idle positions were all abolished, and more than 400 counties were withdrawn and merged due to the sharp decrease in population.After some simplification, the empire is still the same empire, but Liu Xiu's bureaucratic team is only one-tenth of Wang Mang's.It turns out that there is so much water and so many silverfish. The above two, in a word, vigorously reduce the number of people who eat public grain. Taxes will be lowered to stimulate production.Previously, due to military needs, a tithe tax was imposed (that is, the tax rate was 10%). At this time, it was changed back to the old system of the Western Han Dynasty, and the tax was 1/30 (that is, the tax rate was 3.3%).Then the prisoners were pardoned, slaves were released, refugees were recruited, farmers were persuaded to increase the number of people who contributed public grain.

There are also sacrifices to Confucius and the construction of Taixue, all of which are used for the construction of cultural revival. Let's go back to Kui Xiao.In Liu Xiu's eyes, Kai Xiao and Gongsun Shu are treated differently.Gongsun Shu is an enemy, and Kai Xiao is a comrade, and a comrade who can be saved.From the beginning to the end, Kai Xiao has never been an enemy of the Han army, and has helped Feng Yi defeat Gongsun Shu many times, making great contributions to the court.It can be said that, apart from his refusal to enter the court in person, Kai Xiao had nothing to do to Liu Xiu.

Facing such a good old man, Liu Xiu really couldn't be cruel.He always felt that as long as he was more patient and courteous, he would be able to win over Kai Xiao sooner or later, without the need for the two sides to tear each other apart and end up fighting each other.In his most difficult time, Kai Xiao did not betray him. Now that he has conquered most of the empire, whether it is population, economy, or military strength, he has an absolute advantage. Naturally, Kai Xiao has no reason to betray him. Full of confidence, Liu Xiu stepped up his diplomatic offensive against Kai Xiao.However, it seems that God deliberately caused trouble, and bizarre accidents happened one after another.

First, Liu Xiu sent Wei Wei Yaoqi as an envoy, loaded with treasures and silk, to Longxi to reward Kaihuo.Yaoqi traveled to Zheng County, but he didn't realize it, but the treasures, silk and silk, were stolen by thieves, so he had to return to Luoyang disgruntled.Yao Qi is a well-known fierce general, but he fell into the hands of a group of unknown thieves, isn't it strange! Then there was Kai Xiao who sent envoys to travel around the court and came to Luoyang to pay homage to Liu Xiu.Traveling around Chang'an, he visited Feng Yi's camp by the way. When he didn't pay attention, his head was stolen by his enemies.Isn't it strange!

The two strange incidents in succession seemed to be ominous, casting a huge shadow over the peaceful settlement of the Kaihuo issue.Liu Xiu has always been superstitious, and upon hearing the news, he sighed, "I'm afraid it will be very difficult for Kai Xiao and I to be happy." On Gongsun Shu's side, before Liu Xiu could use troops against him, he decided to act first, and sent Tian Rong and General Ren Man to set off from Jiangguan and go down the Yangtze River in an attempt to attack the counties of Jingzhou. Peng hit his head in the head, but returned without success.

Gongsun Shu took the initiative to provoke, and Liu Xiu's generals took the opportunity to write a letter, petitioning to attack Shu.Liu Xiu took no time to express his opinion, filled a cart full of books written by the general, and sent envoys to Kai Xiao, euphemistically saying that for such a big matter as the defeat of Shu, the opinion of General Kai must first be sought. Of course, Kai Xiao knew that Liu Xiu's soliciting opinions was false, and it was true to test his loyalty.Deep in Kai Xiao's heart, he didn't want to see the Kingdom of Shu destroyed. His ideal was to maintain the status quo, so he wrote back to Liu Xiu, full of excuses, saying that "Guanzhong is settled, Sanfu is weak, and the waste pool is weak." Qiao Mu, I still hate talking about soldiers", and also said that "Liu Wenbo occupied Shuofang and colluded with the Xiongnu, which was a great worry for the court".In a word, the time to conquer Shu is not yet ripe.

Liu Xiu was furious when he received the book, when is it, you Kaixiao still have the fantasy of separatist regime?It seems that we can no longer blindly treat Kai Xiao with tenderness and kindness, we must pay equal attention to kindness and power, and put enough pressure on him. Liu Xiu then ordered Ji Zun, Geng Yan, Gai Yan, Wang Chang, Ma Wu, Liu Xin, and Liu Shang to lead their elite troops to advance to Chang'an and join Feng Yi.In May of the sixth year of Jianwu, Liu Xiu also moved to Chang'an and sat in the town in person.