Chen Cheng ascended to the position of Duke of Wei, and the ministers of civil and military affairs under his command also had their own rewards. Under the duke, there were also marquises, earls, viscounts, barons, etc., and many were scattered. But most of the people who got the knighthood were military people, and the article that they could not be knighted without military merits was picked up by the current imperial court.

Among the officials of the provincial department, in addition to those who have served in the army, only Yan Zhong, Jia Xu, and Xu Chao can be knighted. A new class of military aristocracy had emerged, and it was closely rally around Chen Cheng.

Among these people, most of them thought that Chen Cheng could go further......... No, if they take two steps further and ascend directly to the throne of the emperor, then they will all be the founding heroes! However, Chen Cheng didn't mean this, and now that he is the Duke of Wei, it is almost the same.

In the third year of Jian'an, the general Chen Cheng led the army east out of Tongguan, first destroying Cao Cao and then Yuan Shao. In just half a year, the two strongest princes in the world were eliminated. Although there are still many bandits in Hebei and Yanzhou, they are only minutiae.

This terrifying strength made all the princes hold their breath and cautiously watch what kind of actions the imperial court would make next. However, Chen Cheng did not continue to use troops, and after half a year of fighting, coupled with the post-war reconstruction work, he had exhausted the belongings accumulated in the past few years.

There is still a lot of food left, and the problem is that the imperial court has no money. After the battle, almost every soldier who went out was rewarded. Even the people who participated in the transport of grain and grass were given a consistent or double payment. Chen Cheng buckled the rope on weekdays, but at this time, it seemed that he was releasing floods when he spent the money, so Xu Chao ran over and quarreled with him several times.

With the gradual increase in prestige, there are few people who dare to speak loudly to Chen Cheng now, and only Xu Chao dares to confront him face to face. However, Chen Cheng assured Xu Chao that in the next few years, he would not take the initiative to start a war again, which could be regarded as appeasing the Shangshu Order that was dripping blood in his heart.

Knowing that the imperial court had sent so much bounty, the princes of all walks of life were secretly stunned and indignant. Who wouldn't be able to scatter coins? Give me so much money, I can do it! But a lot of times, it's really not for everyone. If a relatively efficient bureaucratic and military system had not been re-established, not many would have been able to implement it, even if there were millions of dollars.

Besides, if it weren't for the hanging, Chen Cheng would not have been able to accumulate so much wealth in eight years. In eight years, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was over. Chen Cheng has just pacified the Central Plains and Hebei, and has just incorporated a quarter of the world into the territory.

This speed is really slow enough, and if Liu Bang is replaced, such a long time is enough for him to destroy the Qin State and overturn Xiang Yu again. When Chen Cheng thought about it, he felt that he had just done a little insignificant thing, and other people's praise or something must not be taken seriously.

After the onset of winter, the imperial court finally had a new move. But unlike most people think, the imperial court did not want to crusade against any new rebellion, but issued the "General Nothing Order", ordering the princes of the world not to attack other states and counties, otherwise, the imperial court would send troops to conscript.

After the release of "Always Nothing", everyone was dumbfounded. The weak princes, such as Zhang Lu, Zhang Yan, Shi Xie, and others, breathed a sigh of relief after being dumbfounded, so that they didn't have to worry about being swallowed up. At least for the time being, there is no need to worry, even if the imperial court will turn its face in the end, it will be a few years later, right?

For a powerful prince like Liu Biao, but with little ambition, the new decree issued by the imperial court was exactly what he wanted. For Sun Ce, this is more embarrassing. In other words, he doesn't have to think about how to fight Jiangxia. If he dares to make a move, then the court will be on the side of Huang Zu and Liu Biao.

Whether the princes of all walks of life are satisfied or dissatisfied, whether they are convinced or ill-intentioned, they have temporarily stopped foreign wars and are ready to wait and see. Anyway, it's winter soon, so it's just the right time to catch your breath and get some blood back. If the situation is not right next year, continue to endure it, if it is a thief...... If the general is killed by thunder, then continue to do it.

What kind of bike do you want, it's done, Ollie!

In fact, the fiercest opposition to the "General Nothing Order" is not the princes of the world, but the military nobles under Chen Cheng's command. They have just made a lot of profits in foreign expansion, and they can still make a fortune by adding officials to the knighthood, and it is when they are full of enthusiasm for war, but they suddenly say that they will not be allowed to fight in the future?

If this is not a war, how can everyone make progress? Do you want to go back to the old time when you had to work on your qualifications?

The battle I saw was fought by three state pastors, a thorn history, and hundreds of Guan Neihou, everyone was red-eyed, if there was no war in the future, how would everyone live? No wonder the general refuses to expand the number of tooth soldiers, this has been planned for a long time. But Chen Cheng's prestige is too high now, and even if the soldiers below are dissatisfied, they can only bow their heads and complain.

Only Xu Chao was most satisfied with this, and he said to Chen Cheng in the main hall: "My lord is wise, in fact, we don't need to send troops to occupy those places, as long as the goods can be sold." ”

Although Xu Chao does not know much about economic principles, he has vaguely felt the power of business in his long-term practice. The textile industry in Guanzhong and Liangzhou provided the imperial court with a large amount of money, and the revenue from this item alone was enough to support an army of 100,000.

The price of cloth produced in Guanzhong was much lower than that of other places, and as long as other states and counties could accept "free trade", they could defeat the princes everywhere without the use of force.

Chen Cheng said with a smile: "Wherever trade goes, the national flag follows. What Shang Shuling said is what I thought. The military wants to fight, but we ourselves need to know what is the best way to do it. We are thriving, and the princes, if not the rivers, are standing still. Wait for ten or eight years, and if we don't need to fight, they will naturally be obedient. ”

Yan Zhong was still a little unwilling, "We already have such a big advantage, shouldn't we take advantage of the fact that the princes have not developed artillery, and send troops to destroy them all?" ”

Chen Cheng said with a smile: "Bo Dao doesn't know that once this industrialization starts, the products will only be more and cheaper. It's hard to learn from other places like us. As long as we don't make a mess ourselves, they won't be able to catch up even if they want to. ”

Yan Zhong said a little stupidly: "Cheap them!" ”

He looked at Chen Cheng, then at the people in the hall, changed his words, and said, "Since the lord has decided not to use soldiers anymore, shouldn't he also determine the prince?" ”

Chen Chengxin said: Where is this, is there a little relationship between the two?

However, this proposal was approved by everyone, and Chen Cheng knew what they meant, so he said, "Wait for Princess Wannian and their daughters to come to Luoyang next year." ”

The children are still young, and now the weather is already very cold, so the princess Liu Qian and Zi Jia'er, Diao Chan, Cai Yan and others will come over after the beginning of spring next year.

He knocked on the table and said, "I won't talk about my personal family affairs, next year our work will focus on completing the field measurement and population registration in Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Jizhou." Many of you here have worked with me since Liangzhou, and many of you have joined in later, but no matter what it is, you should know the difficulty of clearing the land inspection.

It was not a purely administrative issue, it was essentially like fighting a war. As long as we do this well, the world will be able to settle down. Even if there are still some variables, it is just a small fight. If we don't do it well, we won't have to fight a lot of battles in the future. ”

Yan Zhong snorted and said, "If you dare to jump out now, just throw it directly to the Western Regions, and you don't need to be polite to them." ”

Xu Chao said: "Lord, now that the world has been decided, is it time to start to control the rivers in Xuzhou?" The year before last, Cao Cao dug up Surabaya, but flooded a lot of fields. And the Yellow River, it's time to clean it up. In the past few years, there have been wars, and no one cares about the affairs of the river, and if the Yellow River bursts, the harm will be much greater than if Surabaya is dug up. ”

As soon as he heard Xu Chao mention the plan of "controlling the Yellow River" that he had never forgotten, Chen Cheng immediately felt a headache, and he quickly stopped Xu Chao, who wanted to make a long speech, and said: "Shang Shuling also knows that there is no money in the treasury now, and this kind of thing is now ordered to be repaired by local officials." After a few years, when the court has money, think about these things. ”

Xu Chao said unrelentingly: "It's been more than eight years since I was in Liangzhou. The minister said it for eight years, and the lord also shirked it for eight years. How many eight years can a person have in a lifetime? If this continues, things will never be done! ”

When everyone on the side saw it, they all snickered secretly. They were all sold by Xu Chao to the door of the plan to "control the Yellow River", and everyone thought that the plan was excellent, and if it was done, there would definitely be a lot of benefits. But the problem is that before you can see the benefits, you have to invest a lot of money in it.

Although it is said that the world is almost stable, it almost means that it is not yet. In this case, how could the lord agree? In addition, the fields obtained through the "clearing of fields and land inspection" are enough to be distributed to the people, and there is no need to reclaim more fields for the time being.

Chen Cheng said to the people in the hall: "Okay, let's go here for today's deliberations, let's go back and rest first." ”

After saying that, he immediately got up and walked to the back, so as not to be entangled by Xu Chao again. Xu Chao trotted up and said, "People have no long-term concerns, but they must have near-term worries." The land is enough now, but after the world is peaceful, the population will grow rapidly, and what will happen in ten or twenty years? ”

Chen Cheng didn't stop at his feet, and said in his mouth; "Ten or twenty years later, there will naturally be a way."

Xu Chao reached out and grabbed Chen Cheng's sleeve, but Chen Cheng didn't stop at his feet, but with the sound of "stabbing", the sleeve was torn off.

Hearing the sound of cracking, all the people around were stunned. Chen Cheng held up the torn sleeve, sighed, shook his head, and continued to walk behind. Pang De stopped in front of Xu Chao and said, "Shang Shuling, please go back!" ”

Xu Chao held half of his sleeve and was stunned for a long time.