Ma Riyan didn't lie, the edict was indeed good news, and there was nothing that might cause Sun Ce's disgust.

In addition to those high-sounding polite words, there are two main contents: one is to increase the number of officials and knights, and the other is to hope that the three states of Jingyu and Yang can increase their tributes and alleviate the financial difficulties of Guanzhong.

Zhu Jun's recommendation was accepted, Sun Jian was promoted to Wei Wei, renamed Fuchun Marquis, and increased the number of households by 3,000. Considering that the Kwantung region was not appeased, Sun Jian did not need to enter the dynasty for the time being, and rode as a general as a guard lieutenant to lead the military of Jingyu and Yang. For the sake of grace, one of the children can be listed as a marquis.

Sun Ce accumulated his strength, moved to the east of the general, sealed the Marquis of Xiangyang, and ate 1,500 households.

Zhou Yu pacified Jingzhou, moved the general of Zhennan, sealed Shuhou, and ate 1,000 households.

Zhang Hong stabilized Nanyang, raised grain and grass to aid Guanzhonggong, sealed the high township, and ate 300 households.

Huang Zhong, Deng Zhan, Lou Gui, and Wen Ping pacified Jingzhou Gong, worshiped Zhonglang General, and sealed the Neihou.

Tai Shi Ci pacified the Huiji thieves, recruited the Taishan thieves, assisted Sun Ce in the battle, worshiped the Zhonglang general, and sealed the Neihou.

Zhu Zhi was awarded the title of Zhonglang General with merit, and the Marquis of Guannei.

Du Ji assisted Zhou Yu in stabilizing Jingzhou with the history of Jingzhou's assassination, turned it into a truth, and increased his income by 400 stones.

Huang Gai, Zu Mao, Zhu Huan, Lu Su and others have meritorious combat achievements, and they are all rewarded, such as lieutenant generals, school captains, etc.

……

One by one, they were basically rewarded according to the military merit book reported by Sun Ce, with slight adjustments to show that the imperial court still had the right to make its own decisions, and those who had food and food were all within the three states of Jingyuyang. Of course, there are some cautions in this, for example, the reward of the Jingzhou department is obviously thicker, and there is a suspicion of cultivating Zhou Yu and creating a split. However, it is not obvious, and the qualifications and merits of the generals of the Jingzhou Department are more than others, especially in the battle where Xu Rong's 20,000 elites were annihilated in the first battle, there were many beheadings, and it created an opportunity for Wang Yun and others to assassinate Dong Zhuo, and it was normal to reward him with a thicker reward.

As for whether it will cause contradictions, it is difficult to say. From a practical point of view, it is inevitable to cause dissatisfaction. Even regardless of personal temperament, just in terms of merit, Tai Shici and Zhu Huan's military exploits have been degraded intentionally or unintentionally. Tai Shi Ci led a battle alone, and beheaded thousands of people in the battle with Cheng Yu, but there was no food, only a Guan Neihou. Zhu Huan and Li Gan's father and son also beheaded more than a thousand in that battle, and they didn't even catch Guan Neihou, and they were unknown among the generals, so it was strange that they had no opinions.

However, Sun Ce couldn't complain about the court because of this, so he could only find a way to find a balance by himself. If even this internal contradiction can't be settled, he won't be able to dominate the generals.

Increasing the tribute was relatively straightforward. The Son of Heaven said that if there is a great chaos today, the state and county are divided, and there are many people who are not subservient, the tribute to the court will either be delayed again and again, or greatly discounted. The imperial tribute was insufficient, so that the officials' salaries could not be issued in time, and there was no relief during the great drought in Guanzhong, so they could only ask Nanyang for help. Sun Ce has stabilized the three prefectures of Jingyuyang, and Tuntian has achieved great results, hoping that Sun Ce can increase some tribute and alleviate the difficulties of the imperial court. The Son of Heaven didn't want much, he only hoped to increase the original three-state by 20%, and take five years as an appointment. After five years, if the situation in Guanzhong improves, the two additional achievements will be waived.

This request seems reasonable, and the attitude is very polite, but Sun Ce knows that it is difficult to complete. The three prefectures of Jingyuyang are all large states with large populations, with a combined population of nearly 20 million, which is about 40% of the total population of the Han Dynasty, and the tax base that should have been paid is more.

What's even worse is another point: after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and in recent years, there have been successive wars, and the population of each state will be somewhat lost, especially Yuzhou. According to last year's results, Yuzhou's population is now less than 5 million, which is the result of Sun Ce's attraction of many people from nearby Xuzhou, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou. Jingzhou's losses were a little less, and except for Nanyang, the other counties did not change much. The situation in Yangzhou is similar. Combined, the total population of the three states is about 17 million.

17 million people had to pay 25 million taxes, and in times of war, the pressure on Sun Ce could not be said to be small. He is vigorously tuntian, but tuntian is still in the stage of a large amount of investment, and it will take at least two or three years to see the results, especially in tuntian in the south of the Yangtze River, before the completion of water conservancy, it is impossible to have rich output.

Facing Ma Riyan's eager gaze, Sun Ce did not immediately reject Ma Riyan. Anyway, the food is in his hands, whether to give it or not, how much to give, how to give it, that is his freedom, there is no need to pout Ma Riyan's face now, and make a red face.

"I tried my best, I tried my best." Sun Ce said enthusiastically: "I'll discuss it with the relevant officials when I go back and see how many families there are." Don't hide it from Ma Gong, I am also very poor now. Last year's pandemic, the influx of displaced people from Qingzhou and Yanzhou into Yuzhou made me poor. After a few years of savings, once they were gone, I also wanted to cry without tears. ”

Ma Riyan listened to Ma Chao talk about Sun Ce's treatment of the people during the epidemic, and he was very emotional. In this kind of troubled times, Sun Ce can save the people at any cost, this benevolence is rare, and it is indeed unreasonable to force him to contribute to the court at this time. He had already given 300,000 stones to the imperial court last year, and he had no intention of sitting idly by and watching the imperial court in difficulty. There are practical difficulties, and it is understandable that they cannot be taken out for a while, and the imperial court cannot be unreasonable.

After receiving the edict, he received a large pile of official seals and ribbons, packed them in different categories, and prepared to send them to everyone. Sun Ce set up a banquet for Ma Riyan to catch the wind, and arranged it on the water pavilion in the lake, which was personally managed by Yuan Quan. Ma Chao and Yan Xing all came to accompany him, and Zhang Zhao also brought Meng Jian and others from Pingyu to accompany Ma Riyan to talk about the scriptures and talk about articles. The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves.

Halfway through eating, Ma Riyan suddenly came over. "Junhou, I heard that King Chen said that you have a sister, although she is young, but she is heroic, quite a father and brother, she is a father and brother, and she knows etiquette, King Chen thinks that he can pass on his art, but I don't know if it can be in Gebei?"

Sun Ce called Sun Shangxiang over and asked her to meet Ma Riyan and toast Ma Riyan's birthday. Ma Riyan looked up and down and was full of praise. "I didn't expect that there was such a heroic person among the women, and the Sun family was prosperous, and wealth could be expected. There is a father like Sun Cheqi, and a brother like Junhou, and there are many talented people among your younger brothers and sisters, can you invite them all out, let me take a look. ”

Sun Ce knew it. Ma Riyan attacked in a roundabout way and went around in such a big circle, because he came to go on a blind date for the Son of Heaven. However, he didn't say anything, and called Sun Shangying, Sun Quan and others over together, lined up in a row, and let Ma Riyan see it. Ma Riyan pretended to be pretty, made a few cold noises one by one, and asked about his birthday, which made them retreat.

"Don't hide it from the prince, I have another task on this trip, I discussed it with Ling Zun when I was in Junyi, and Ling Zun has already agreed, now I only look at the opinion of the prince."

Sun Ce raised his eyelids and glanced at Ma Riyan casually, as if he was smiling. "Ma Gong has only said this now, my father has already agreed, I don't feel that I want to listen to my opinion, I think this matter is more important than the edict, I am a little curious, what kind of thing can be so important?"

"Your Majesty wants to marry your Sun family."

Before Sun Ce could speak, Zhang Zhao got up and left the table first, holding a wine glass, and congratulated Sun Ce. "Congratulations to the prince and the marriage with the Son of Heaven, this is not only the trust of the court in the prince and his son, but also a great opportunity for the prince and his son to improve the portal, take charge of the government, support the son of heaven, and govern the country and the world."