Cui Xiuning thought about it, and finally took out Yongcheng's test paper and approved the last line of words: This person can be a county official.

Recalling the candidates' strategies, the disadvantages of the Tang State were mentioned more than once: there were many soldiers and few people, and there was not enough surplus food.

Yes, that's a big drawback.

Cui Xiuning doesn't know much about history, she just heard Li Luo say that Houjin Baqi can draw one out of three, and with a population of hundreds of thousands, he can dispatch an army of 100,000.

The Tang Kingdom had a population of more than 500,000, and there are now 100,000 soldiers and horses.

Compared with the Tang Kingdom, the Houjin seems to have a similar ratio of soldiers and civilians, but in fact, they are very different, and it is not easy to compare at all.

Li Luo told her that during the Huang Taiji era, although the Eight Banners of Manchuria had a population of only 500,000, there were millions of Han people in Liaodong as slaves, and because they robbed the Central Plains and Korea many times, they could afford to raise an army of 100,000.

The soldiers of the Eight Banners did not produce farming, but there were Han clothed slaves who farmed for them. If there is not enough food to eat, they can still enter the customs and grab it.

But what about the Tang Kingdom? The immigrants from the Central Plains and the Japanese were only 550,000 prisoners, but they had to feed 100,000 professional troops who were out of work, and they also had to feed a large number of artisans and officials who did not farm. There was little labor to cultivate the land, and the surplus grain sold by the people was just enough for them to consume.

If there is a natural disaster and the grain harvest fails, then there will be a serious food crisis in the Tang Kingdom. There was a food shortage in Houjin, and they were able to rob the Han people. Tang Guo can't go to the Central Plains to grab it.

Li Luo and Cui Xiuning didn't know about this crisis, but they didn't have time to solve it. Cui Xiuning felt that it was time to solve it.

At this moment, Shi Coral came in and reported: "Madam, your lord is back!" ”

What the?

Cui Xiuning immediately stood up and saw Li Luo standing at the door with a smile.

Shi Coral and the others hurriedly took the maid out.

As soon as they went out, the woman was hugged tightly by the man, and she could not say anything, and immediately she was out of breath.

It took a moment for the lips to break off contact before the woman had a chance to speak.

"Why did you suddenly come back?" Cui Xiuning "complained" with some surprise and handed his herbal tea to Li Luo.

Li Luo dried up the herbal tea in one go, "I deliberately didn't let you be notified, I just wanted to surprise you." Then he patted his thigh, "Come and sit." ”

Cui Xiuning straightened Li Luo's somewhat messy hair in front of the mirror, and then sat on Li Luo's lap, wrapping her hands around Li Luo's neck, "Come back for a few days?" You won't be going back to be a loyal minister of Dayuan soon, right? ”

Li Luo slapped the mellow place with a "snap", and said with a smile: "My Dayuan officials are notoriously lazy, how can I be lazy for ten days and eight days, Fujian is the biggest, that is, absenteeism for half a month, who can bite my bird." ”

"Whew!" Cui Xiuning said angrily, "Vulgar, speak well." ”

Li Luo suddenly slapped himself in the face and said suddenly: "What about my son!" I'm going to hold my son! ”

Cui Xiuning was speechless, and pinched the man's nose dissatisfied, "You still know your son!" It took a few minutes to come in before I asked my son, is it not your own to dare to love? ”

"It's not." Li Luo struggled his nose out of the beautiful devil's grasp, "When I went home, I saw that my wife was frowning, and I didn't know who I hated." That's why I suddenly forgot about our son. ”

"What kind of frowning moth eyebrows, who do you hate, why don't you add but see the tears wet?" Cui Xiuning's magic grasp stretched out to the man's nose again, "I'm busy like a monkey, and I'm idle and sentimental?" You think I'm a deep woman. ”

Li Luo was stunned, "What deep woman?" ”

Cui Xiuning sneered: "It's a deep resentful woman." ”

"It's not funny. No, what about the son? My words have been misled by you again. Li Luo hugged his slender and sturdy waist, "Who did you send my son?" Why didn't I see it? ”

Cui Xiuning pinched Li Luo's earlobe again, "At my father-in-law's place, Li Yuan is very busy in the hospital, and I am also busy, most of the time my father-in-law is coaxing him, and others are not at ease." ”

Li Luo frowned, "My father-in-law is old, can he withstand the toss of the little guy?" I can't take it anymore. ”

Cui Xiuning said: "Their grandfather and grandson are very close to each other, but their son doesn't make trouble or cry there." I just feed three times a day. ”

Li Luo stood up, raised his mouth on the woman's chin, put his mouth to her hanging earlobe, and deliberately sighed and said, "I'll go and greet my father-in-law and see my son." At night...... I'll clean you up again. ”

I'll go! The woman's ears were tickled, and the pink fist suddenly rained down, "Clean me up, tell you to clean me up!" ”

"Okay, okay, I'll be the same for you to clean up at night, anyway, I'm a little tired from taking the boat and don't want to move." Li Luo stepped back with a grin, keeping a safe distance.

The woman gritted her silver teeth and sneered: "You are very proud, you have a sense of accomplishment in flirting with your wife, right?" Okay, then you wait and see how I clean you up. ”

"I'll be afraid of you! Ha ha. Li Luo looked up to the sky and laughed and went out, Cui Xiuning also followed, the magic grasp secretly stretched out, and twisted on the man's arm as he walked, but he didn't dare to use force, it was like a massage.

When the two arrived at Yan Duo's Taigong Courtyard, they saw Yan Duo holding Li Zheng and telling a story.

Li Zheng is only a few months old, of course he can't understand, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't feel it. Therefore, he opened his dark eyes and watched Yan Duo's mouth open and close curiously, grinning toothless little mouth from time to time, and whenever he was happy, the little man's little finger was in his mouth and sucked.

"Dad, I'm back. How is Daddy's body? Li Luo said hello, took Li Zheng at the same time, smelled the milk fragrance on his son's body, his heart was about to melt, and he couldn't help but kiss him.

"Wow ......" seemed to be touched by Li Luo, and Li Zheng suddenly cried. Li Luo coaxed a little, but where could he hold it? The son didn't have the slightest posture of closing his voice, but he was crying out of breath, and Li Luo could only hand it to Cui Xiuning like a hot hand.

Cui Xiuning had to take it out to breastfeed.

Yan Duo said: "This year's body and bones are okay, and after Zheng'er was born, his father's body seems to be much better." It's not impossible to see Zheng'er walking and learning to speak. ”

"That's good." Li Luo sat down in front of Yan Duo, "Zheng'er is crying, let my father worry." ”

Yan Duo shook his head and smiled, "Don't worry about it." With his grandson by his side, he is very happy to be a father. However, my son must come back often, otherwise, Zheng'er and you will not be close in the future. ”

Li Luo said: "I will take care of it." ”

The father and son talked for a while, and Cui Xiuning came in with Li Zheng, who was full of food and sleep, and put the child on Yan Duo's couch.

A few people began to talk about food.

Cui Xiuning said: "Now the Tang Kingdom has found copper ore and iron ore, nitrate ore and sulfur have also been found, and there are a lot of materials for shipbuilding, and salt is not old or young. Sugarcane and cotton will be bumper this year. War horses can be exchanged from Liaodong to 500 every month. However, the grain stock is too small, and there are not enough cattle. ”

"Newcomers have nothing, and it's impossible to expect them to use money to buy cattle and food. The surplus food of the old immigrants was only enough to supply the soldiers and officials. I have calculated that if 600,000 immigrants are immigrated within the year, 50,000 head of cultivated cattle and 1 million stone of grain must be purchased this year. ”

Li Luo frowned, as of June this year, only 250,000 immigrants had been completed, and he had already spent 2 million taels. If the 60 resettlement plan is completed, then it will cost another 5 million taels of grain and 50,000 head of cultivated cattle, plus more than 2 million taels of "slave money".

Combined with military salaries and official salaries, it means that more than 8 million taels will be spent this year.

That is, the gold and silver that were snatched from Pu Shougeng last spring will be spent.

As a result, all that was left was the gold and silver that was obtained from Japan.

"How much silver is smelted from the silver mines?" Li Luo asked.

Cui Xiuning said without thinking: "As of yesterday, a total of more than 1.3 million taels have been refined, and one-third of the silver ore has been consumed.

Li Luo groaned and said, "That is, the Japanese silver mine can only be refined into four million taels of silver at most. Together with the gold and silver received from Japan, the total was seven million taels. ”

Cui Xiuning nodded: "Yes, by the end of the year, we will only have seven million left." Although cotton cloth and white sugar can come out this year, it is difficult to make a lot of money in the short term. ”

"Also, there is not enough strong labor to farm, so you can't always buy grain from outside, right? That's too risky. Not only do we lack oxen to plow the fields, but we also lack people to cultivate the fields. ”

Yan Duo said: "There are two armies, 100,000 recruits and veterans, but they are only training every day, why don't you use sergeants in Tuntian?" ”

Li Luo said with a smile: "Our Tang Army is going to have a showdown with the Mongolian Iron Cavalry." You can only practice hard in the sky, and you can't train the troops while farming. ”

The Tang Army adopted a full-time, high-intensity training method in later generations. Sergeants have only one day off every five days, and the rest of the time is spent training. This is completely different from the ancient army training every two or three days, and farming and miscellaneous work at other times.

Yan Duo said: "Then the only way to do this is to catch more slaves." I think the Japanese slaves are very useful, but unfortunately there are not many of them. If there were more than a hundred thousand slaves, there would be no worries about food. ”

Li Luo said: "Therefore, my son plans to help the Yuan Court fight the last battle, to fight Annan." ”

Yan Duo nodded, "Well, you can catch Annan slaves, and you can also make a windfall." Defeating Annan can also allow the Yuan court to garrison and disperse the Yuan army, which is killing three birds with one stone. ”

Li Luo smiled: "Dad said yes, but there is another benefit, it should be four birds with one stone." ”

Yan Duo touched his beard and thought for a while, "You also want Annan?" Want to borrow the hand of the Yuan army to exhaust Annan's vitality? ”

Li Luo said: "That's right. Annam and the Wa Kingdom in general, there are a lot of hard bones. If you don't eradicate those hard bones, it will be too difficult to occupy them safely. Er wants to get the position of general of Zhengnan, and use the knife of the Yuan army to cut off the backbone of Annan. By the time the Tang army occupied Annam, it would be much easier. ”

Cui Xiuning said: "The Yuan Court expedition is coming to an end. The Yuan court had already decided to instigate the capital to be the general of the expedition to the south, and planned to send troops to conquer Annam in October. Li Yong's news said that there were 20,000 Mongol troops, 50,000 Tanma Red troops, 30,000 Dali soldiers, and 100,000 Han troops, a total of 200,000 people. ”

Li Luo knows that history has been changed by the butterfly effect.

Originally, the Yuan court was in 1284 to conquer Annam. However, due to the success of the expedition, the conquest of Annan was advanced by two years, and the choice of the coach also changed.

Originally, the boss in history was the king of Zhennan, and he instigated the deputy marshal. But now it's become a coach who instigates.

"If you send troops in October, it's only a few months. Can you get the deployment strategy of the Yuan army and reveal it to the Annan people? Li Luo asked.

Cui Xiuning nodded: "It should be possible." ”

Li Luo said: "I have to think of ways to make the instigation capital lose the battle, so that I can have a chance to seek the position of the general of Zhengnan." However, Annan can't win too easily, and he must be seriously injured. ”

Cui Xiuning smiled bitterly: "Your requirements are really harsh. Well, I'll let them try. The people sent to Nan'an are also time to leave. ”

The three of them discussed for a long time, and immediately decided to buy 1 million stone of grain in batches in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and then exchange salt and iron for 50,000 cattle in Liaodong and Naiyan for farming.

Li Luo and Cui Xiuning had dinner with Yan Duo in the Taigong Courtyard, and then took Li Zheng back to the bedroom.

It's really a little better than a newlywed. The two took a shower, and immediately couldn't wait to roll together, and got up all the time. I don't know who cleaned up whom, in short, it's really hard to say.

It wasn't until the dead of night that the voices of the man and woman became clear.

"Haidong, this place is so hot. It's not easy to be a man, you sweat all over your body at every turn. I still have to take a shower to sleep. ”

"Are you talking about people? Let me tell you, my son is hungry and crying at night, you go and find a way for him, I can't help it. ”

"What? Not really, right? ”

"How not? Is there a dad like you? If you say it, you will lose someone, and the face of the entire Tang Kingdom will be disgraced by you. ”

"Okay, he's going to cry hungry, I'll go boil rice porridge for him to eat."

"Cut! Rice porridge! He doesn't want to eat rice porridge! ”

"Well, why didn't you stop me then? I didn't think about it at the time. ”

"I'll go! Damn, you took advantage of it and behaved, you dare to blame me, right? ”

…………

In late June, just as Li Luo returned to Haidong, thousands of miles away in the Japanese Kwantung region, the Yuan-Japanese War had reached its final moment.

In the past six months, the Yuan army has increased its troops twice, making the Yuan army in Kwantung more than 100,000, including 40,000 Mongolian iron cavalry alone.

More than 100,000 yuan troops, hundreds of thousands of shogunate troops, and more Japanese peasant soldiers, launched a bloody battle for half a year.

Half a year of bloody battles has reduced the entire Kanto Plain to ruins, and there are devastated villages everywhere.

Two or three million Japanese died under the butcher's knife of the Yuan army, most of them young and strong men.

The vitality of Japan, the hard bones of Japan, has been exhausted.

By June, the huge number of Japanese militia had finally disappeared. The brutal killing made the remaining peasant soldiers no longer have the courage to resist, and they all laid down their rudimentary spears and chose to surrender.

The hundreds of thousands of regular troops desperately armed by the shogunate were also almost exhausted under the blows of the Mongol iron cavalry. Of course, the casualties of the Yuan army also reached fifty or sixty thousand. The Mongol cavalry alone suffered more than 10,000 casualties.

The blood of the shogunate is about to be drained. With the exception of a besieged Kamakura Castle, Kanto had completely fallen into the hands of the Yuan army.

Even the Japanese province of Heisho Yuxi Timur moved Heijo from Dazaifu on the island of Kyushu to Osaka Castle on the island of Honshu.

Japan, it's really going to be over.

In the official residence of Kamakura Castle, Hojo Tokimasa was lying on the couch dying. Hojo Tokimune, who was only in his early thirties, was now full of white hair, wrinkled face, and deep-set cheeks, like an old man in his last years, with the rotten aura of dying all over his body.

The few remaining family elders and great warriors knelt silently in front of the couch, and everyone wept silently. A large group of concubines knelt behind the warriors, crying in low voices. As far as the eye can see, the hall is full of desolation.

Only the wooden fish and prayers of the monks seemed to calm everyone's hearts a little.

The Zen master of the Song Dynasty took a break from righteous thoughts, stood in front of the couch with his hands folded, and said loudly: "Zhengshou Pill (Shizong's nickname), when you become a monk today, it will be the day of death. The old man gave you the Dharma name Daogao, everything in the world has nothing to do with you anymore, you can go with peace of mind! ”

Hojo Tokimune raised his hand with difficulty and pointed to the north.

The family commander Ping Laigang understood, and wept and said: "The lord rest assured, His Royal Highness Sadashi must have arrived in Mutsu at this time, and he will inherit the will of the lord." ”

Some time ago, Hojo Tokimune, who saw that there was no hope of turning the tables, sent his son Hojo Sadatoki, along with some of the most loyal samurai, to the country of Mutsu in the north of Honshu, hoping that Sadatoki could continue to fight against Yuan in Mutsu.

Hojo Tokimune showed a quiet smile, he did not chant a poem, but recited a poem by the Central Plains: "Die before leaving the school, and the hero will be full of tears." He died before he left the school, and the hero was full of tears......"

After reciting it three times in a row, he suddenly shouted with angry eyes: "Kill Hu!" Kill Hu! Kill Hu! He tilted his head and died.

On June 21, the 19th year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Japanese minister, the Kamakura shogunate ruler Hojo Tokimune, died on the eve of the destruction of the castle.

Immediately, the 100,000 soldiers and civilians of the entire Kamakura Castle erupted in earth-shattering weeping.

Xin Du and Zhang Hongfan, who were outside the city, heard the cries inside the city and immediately guessed that Hojo Tokimune was dead.

Soon, another letter of persuasion was shot into the city, stating that the city would be surrendered on the same day, otherwise, it would be slaughtered.

However, Kamakura Castle did not surrender on that day.

"Jiubadu, the Japanese will not surrender, please attack the city in Jiubadu."

Early the next morning, Xindu urged Zhang Hongfan's Han army to attack the city.

"Siege!" Zhang Hongfan gave an order, and tens of thousands of Han troops immediately let out an earth-shattering cry, and the final siege battle began.

This man who participated in the destruction of the Song Dynasty is now full of spirit again.

On June 23, three days after the death of Hojo Tokimune, the Kanto giant city of Kamakura was finally breached by the Yuan army.

The ferocious Yuan army rushed into the city, immediately raised the butcher's knife, and killed anyone he saw.

The 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Kamakura were all slaughtered by the Yuan army, and the situation was extremely tragic. The floors of countless Japanese-style rooms were soaked in blood, and the city was littered with dead corpses.

However, the Kamakura Massacre was just one of the scenes in the countless massacres of the Yuan army in the Kanto region.

The Gansho Mansion, where the Hojo clan lived, and the Hachiman Shrine were burned to the ground by the Yuan army.

Subsequently, Xin Du, Zhang Hongfan, and Yuxi Timur, the three of them jointly played the Yuan court: Japan has been peaceful.

At the same time, the information from the Japanese branch of the Special Investigation Bureau was also sent to the Tang Kingdom in Haidong seven days later.

"Hojo Tokimune died, and the Kamakura shogunate perished." Cui Xiuning handed the information to Li Luo, "However, Hojo Sadatoki, the son of Hojo Tokimune, took tens of thousands of people away from Mutsu and became a government in exile. ”

Li Luo took the information and looked at it, and smiled very happily, "That is, the Japanese country has not completely perished, and the Japanese Yuan army will not be able to pull away for a while and a half, and in order to suppress it repeatedly, at least 100,000 troops must be garrisoned." ”

Michinoku is north of Honshu, where it is snowy and snowy, and the mountains are continuous, and guerrilla warfare can be fought.

"Next, it's Annan and Myanmar's turn." Li Luo knocked on the table, "The Yuan court conquered the Japanese country, and the drowned Mongolian soldiers who died in battle have already reached 30,000. If Annam and Burma had killed tens of thousands more, one-third of the Mongol elite of the Yuan court would have been gone. ”

Cui Xiuning said: "Don't forget, there are still several Mongolian armies of the khanates, and there are at least 200,000 Mongolian soldiers. ”

Li Luo stood up and paced with his hands behind his back very chicly, "I haven't forgotten." However, Uncle Kublai Khan will never open his mouth to the khanates unless it is absolutely necessary. Those khans would not take the initiative to help Kublai Khan. ”

Cui Xiuning said: "Okay, let's not talk about this first." Aren't you going to have a court meeting? It's not early. ”

As the woman spoke, she took out Li Luo's crown belt and helped Li Luo put it on. Li Luo felt that when Cui Xiuning helped him get dressed, he was most like a wife.

"Well, yes, yes, like a dog, like a gentleman." Cui Xiuning smiled and joked, looking at Li Luo, who had a long body and a graceful bearing, he was very satisfied.

Li Luo stretched out his hand and picked up the woman's chin, "Tang Hou's edict, with Li clan's Cui Xiuning, sleep tonight, this order!" ”

Cui Xiuning pushed him out: "Okay, okay, serve and sleep!" Come on, they're all waiting for you. ”

Li Luo and Cui Xiuning came to the court, and sure enough, all the officials arrived.

Li Luo sat on the main seat, Cui Xiuning sat on the side, Lin Biju immediately took the lead in worshipping, and everyone shouted together: "The ministers and others will meet the king, and the king will be Jin'an." ”

Li Luo said with his hands: "Zhuqing is exempt from courtesy, sit down." ”

"Thank you!" All the officials took their positions together and sat upright on the futon.

Li Luo's voice was calm, and he sounded unhurriedly: "Since the widow returned to Haidong, this is the third court meeting. Everything else has been discussed. There is only one thing to discuss today, and that is the rule of officials! ”

"The last time, the head of the Minerals Division was beheaded for corruption. But the widow wants to ask, is there no fish that has slipped through the net? I'm Tang Xinli, how long has someone been an official? Are you going to be a corrupt official? In this way, in less than three years, I will lose my Tang Ruiqi, how can I restore the Central Plains? ”

"My Tang officials, Yu Lu, are several times larger than those of the Yuan court, which is enough to make the officials live a decent and honorable life. If you are still greedy and insufficient, it is to cut yourself off from me, from the people, and from the widows! This wind will not last! ”

"From today, a whistleblower will be set up. Anyone who reports corruption and bribery of officials can submit their trust to Tonggui. If you embezzle, you will be rewarded as much as you want, and you will be credited with merit. And those who embezzle, with a total amount of more than 10 taels, will be dismissed from office and will never be hired. If the total amount exceeds fifty taels, he shall be punished as a slave. More than a hundred taels, beheaded. More than five hundred taels, cut in half, and the family is a slave. ”

"If it exceeds a thousand taels, it is a rebellion! Everyone embezzles a thousand taels, so how can I Tang last long? Therefore, if you embezzle a thousand people, you will be punished for rebellion, and the whole family will be executed. ”

As soon as Li Luo's words came out, everyone was terrified. Embezzling a thousand taels of property is not corruption, but rebellion! Then it is not a matter for the official to be personal, but will implicate the family.

Do you think your family is happy or frightened when they see officials embezzling money? Is it to instigate or to discourage?

Li Luo's most ruthless move is to make the official's family have to stand on the side of preventing official corruption.

Daddy, don't be corrupt, or I'll be killed!" The whole family is going to be beheaded.

Cui Xiuning said with a smile: "Everyone, one thousand taels of silver is the income of ordinary people for fifty years. It is a tax for two or three hundred households. Stealing so much public funds and property from the state is not a rebellion? ”

In the past two years, due to the new creation of Haidong's system and the imperfection of the system, some officials have begun to embezzle and accept bribes, and this is very dangerous, and it is necessary to put an end to this symptom.

Li Luo continued: "For law-abiding and conscientious officials, the widow is ready to set up a clean bank. The bylaws of the maintenance of incorruptible silver shall be promulgated by decree. In addition, a system of rewards has been established, and the children of these officials will be hired on the basis of merit. ”

This is to beat a stick to a sweet date.

In a word, if you dare to embezzle and take bribes, you are killing yourself. But as long as you are innocent and an official, you will not be allowed to suffer, and the benefits will be great.

As for where the positions of raising incorruptible silver and bounty come from, it is simple. Just make a big plate.

The rule of officials is a common problem in ancient and modern China and abroad, and it cannot be completely cured, even if a few countries with a very high corruption index in later generations cannot do it, and can only control it in a small range.

However, it must not be left alone. And we must pay close attention to it, and catch it as soon as possible.

It is said that supervision is in place, punishment is severe, reporting is encouraged, and rewards are powerful.

Qingyi literature