Chapter 36: Tu Qiang

Qian Hongzuo asked: "When the Queen Mother and King Gu approved the military expenses, they followed the old system of the father, and they were generally issued according to the number of soldiers. Why is it that when my father was alive, he had enough military spending, but now he is so poor? ”

Zhuge Youcheng said: "Please ask the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord to speak bluntly, just because the channels for distributing military funds are different." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "I hope General Zhuge will talk about it in detail." ”

Zhuge Youcheng said: "Since Wu Yue opened the country, the lord of the country was originally the generalissimo of soldiers and horses. At that time, the military expenses of the garrisons in the various states were directly paid from the household department after the approval of the Holy Lord, and the military salaries were paid on time. However, since the first king made Dai Yun the generalissimo of soldiers and horses, after the military expenses were approved by the Shengshang, the soldiers and horses of each state could not be collected from the household department, but unified by the military department under the jurisdiction of the marshal's office, and after receiving it from the household department, it was distributed to the garrisons of each state. Marshal Dai said that the military expenditure allocated by the Holy Authority was insufficient, and the military expenditure of the states was often delayed. The so-called milk is the mother, and the commanders of the states in order to win more military spending can really be described as eight immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers. Some directly attached themselves to Marshal Dai, and some bribed the officials of the Ministry of War with heavy money, but this wool came out of the sheep, and there were not many commanders and envoys in various states. In recent years, most of the commanders of the soldiers and horses in various states have envied General Yuezhou Ma. ”

Qian Hongzuo asked, "Is it because General Ma received the most military expenses from Marshal Dai?" ”

Zhuge Youcheng replied: "Not really. General Ma is the father of the abolished queen, because of the disagreement with Marshal Dai, the first king was afraid that the two would regenerate friction due to old grievances, so General Ma was not subject to Marshal Dai's jurisdiction and led the troops independently. Although Xu Wei, the former head of the household department, had many difficulties for General Ma, after all, he did not dare to be blatant, so the military expenditure of Yuezhou was the most sufficient. General Ma was a blessing in disguise, so that the commanders of other states were extremely envious. ”

Qian Hongzuo said in his heart: This Dai Yun is really too greedy, in the past few years, he originally embezzled the military funds through Xu Wei, the former head of the household department, far more than in the past. However, the soldiers and horses under his jurisdiction are not as good as General Ma, who has been repeatedly troubled by the household department, and the expenses are sufficient. As the saying goes, people's hearts are not enough to swallow elephants.

Empress Dowager Xu asked softly: "Zhuge Aiqing, if you tell the truth to the mourning family, the mourning family will not blame you, have you also paid tribute to Marshal Dai?" ”

Zhuge Youcheng stood up and said solemnly: "The last general will be promoted by the first king, taught by the teacher, and will never use military expenses, and the fat family has one surname!" Therefore, so far, Marshal Dai has never been honored. It is precisely because of this that the fees received by the Taihu Water Division from the military department are very small, so that among the soldiers and horses in the states, the arrears of military salaries are the largest. In recent years, taxes have been heavy, and officers and soldiers in the army are counting on military salaries to supplement their families. As long as the military salary is in arrears for a long time, it is inevitable that people's hearts will fluctuate, and the general will be at a loss for anything about it, and he has already given birth to the intention of resigning and going into hiding. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Zhuge Aiqing, you are a rare general, and you are the best candidate for the chief general of Taihu Lake Water Division, so you must not leave lightly." ”

Zhuge Youcheng bowed and said: "The last general is also helpless. Please also ask the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord to relieve the suffering in the army as soon as possible. ”

How did Empress Dowager Xu not want to solve "the suffering in the army", but once she touched Dai Yun's military power, she was afraid that the consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking about it, I can only use the method of tuntian to suspend it for a while.

Empress Dowager Xu asked: "Lord Zhen proposed that the sergeant should be tuntian, does General Zhuge think it is feasible?"

Zhuge Youcheng said: "The last general listened to the teacher explain the method of Tuntian, although it is not easy to implement, but it is so difficult in the army at the moment, there must be a way to alleviate it." ”

Zhen Fu got up and unfolded the scroll in his arms on the table, which turned out to be a picture of Wu Yue's rivers and mountains.

Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo looked at the picture carefully, and saw that the picture depicted the mountains, rivers, waters, and plains of the whole territory of Wuyue, and in some places there were battle flags. At a glance, the location of the state garrisons is marked.

Empress Dowager Xu praised: "This painting is really good! ”

Zhen Fu said: "This painting was painted by the little girl, and as for the location of the garrison, it was told by General Zhuge . ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Please tell me in detail about Lord Zhen." ”

Zhen Fu said: "Today, most of the elite laborers of Wu Yue Kingdom are in the army. It is already difficult to support them with the old and weak women and children, not to mention the consumption of birds and rats in the army, which is like a bottomless pit. In fact, since the founding of the country, I, Wu Yueguo, have been a combination of soldiers and soldiers. The army has been contributing to the country before, for example, the main force in the construction of this royal city is not the common people, but the army. It was the soldiers, not the civilians, who built the stone pond and built many water conservancy projects. However, since Dai Yun became the generalissimo of soldiers and horses, it is difficult for the Ministry of Industry to use the army to build buildings, and if there are any projects, they still need to recruit people to use them. As a result, it is difficult to sustain the work of the people and money. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Therefore, the mourning family specially commended General Wen Minghui of the forbidden army, who renovated the houses in Luocheng, except for requisitioning a few craftsmen, all relied on soldiers to work to reduce costs. ”

Zhen Fu said: "In fact, the real meaning of Tuntian is to use the labor of soldiers to reduce expenses and even open up financial resources. However, the real source of wealth for the forbidden army is not what this little brother said. ”

Zhen Fu smiled and looked at Xie Xiangcun, who was recording. Xie Xiangcun raised his head and looked at Zhen Fu seriously, expecting him to continue.

Zhen Fu continued: "It's about burning porcelain. The official kiln porcelain of my Wu Yue Kingdom is famous all over the world. Business travelers from all over the world are coming to buy at high prices. However, due to the limited manpower, the official kiln produces a small quantity. However, if the official kiln can be built in the forbidden army, it will inevitably produce more and more exquisite porcelain, so that the military expenditure of the forbidden army can be greatly supplemented. And it will not delay them in defending the royal city. In addition, an ordnance station can be set up in the forbidden army to cast weapons, so that the cost of manufacturing ordnance that originally belonged to the military department can be allocated to the forbidden army, so as to prevent people from enriching their own pockets; Second, it is also conducive to royal power and controls the distribution of weapons. ”

Qian Hongzuo said approvingly: "Extremely, extremely." What Master Zhen said is very true. ”

Xie Xiangcun also smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into a slit.

Empress Dowager Xu asked: "Then what kind of business should Taihu Lake sailor engage in?" ”

Zhen Fu said: "The so-called relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water, the Taihu Lake sailors catch more fish, and even collect pearls and other aquatic products, which can not only increase income, but also practice water." ”

Zhuge Youcheng added: "There is also a deal that increases the source of wealth. That's shipbuilding. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The mourning family has long heard that the Qing family is a master of shipbuilding. ”

Zhuge Youcheng said: "The Queen Mother has won the award." Because of the war, land transportation was blocked, and the maritime trade was unprecedentedly developed, which required many ships suitable for sea navigation. In the past, ships from various countries were generally small boats because they only sailed in rivers and lakes, and it was difficult to resist the big waves at sea. Because of the limitations of financial resources and skills, the people cannot build big ships. The Taihu Lake sailor can build a seaworthy merchant ship, and sell it to my Wuyue State Business Traveler, and then sell it to Fujian, the Southern Han Dynasty, the Ryukyus, Japan, the Central Plains Imperial Court, the Khitan, etc., and other countries with coastal docks. In this way, the shipbuilding technology in the military will be refined and improved day by day. In addition, a small number of warships were sent to escort the merchants, which was also a great gain. ”

Zhuge Youcheng's eyebrows danced when he spoke, and the more everyone listened, the more excited they became.

Zhen Fu pointed to some of the garrisons on the map and said, "These garrisons are in the plains or valleys, some of them can encircle the military fields, and some can raise war horses and livestock. All have a livelihood to operate. ”

Qian Hongzuo looked at this picture, his eyes were full of light, and from this picture, he seemed to see the future of the country's wealth and strength. The idea of governing the country is gradually becoming clearer and firmer.

Qian Hongzuo, who has never expressed his position easily, said to the Empress Dowager Xu quite directly at this time: "Queen Mother, King Lone is determined to implement Lord Zhen's proposition, what do you think?" ”

Without waiting for the Empress Dowager Xu to answer, Zhuge Youcheng said: "Shengshang, the matter of Tuntian was opposed by Marshal Dai, if the end will really be implemented, I am afraid that it has not started yet, and Marshal Dai has been relieved of military power." The last general will go to stay small, lest no one in the army dare to respond to Tuntian's policy. ”

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Empress Dowager Xu pondered for a long time, and everyone waited silently, waiting for her to make up her mind and take back the Tiger Talisman Seal from Dai Yun's hand.

After hesitating again and again, Empress Dowager Xu said: "Marshal Dai just didn't see the results of Tuntian, and he was worried, so he would oppose it." From the point of view of the mourners, it is better to have the forbidden army implement the tuntian first, and then implement it throughout the country after it is effective. ”

Zhen Fu said: "The Queen Mother, for the sake of the country, seeing the results of Tuntian, may agree with Tuntian." However, if you want to rely on the state treasury to allocate more military funds to enrich yourself, I am afraid it will be difficult to reason. Moreover, it is only in the forbidden army tuntian, which will make people misunderstand: the government decree does not leave the royal city. ”

Empress Dowager Xu was silent again, and almost everyone felt her hesitation, even indecision. The heroine can't rule the country with an iron fist, not to mention that in this troubled world full of swords, even Qian Hongzuo has the idea of "taking the place of her mother and making a choice". But Empress Dowager Xu said a shocking sentence.