"This ...... How could the imperial court come to such a point....." Zhao Yinhua said subconsciously, and when she heard the news, her first reaction was not to believe it. "樂" Wen "Xiao" said|

In the eyes of the world, the Han Dynasty should still be that powerful empire, that huge empire with peak national strength and coercion. But most people ignore that this powerful empire has consumed hundreds of years of accumulation. Coupled with the accumulation of several wars in recent years, as well as the emperor's northern tour of Fengchan, the flooding of the Yellow River, the Witch Gu Rebellion, the blockage of trade routes in the Western Regions, etc., this invincible empire has reached the end of its power!

"I'm afraid it's even worse than we can imagine......" Huo Guang said very unoptimistically. He could feel the unparalleled pressure from Sang Hongyang, and Huo Guang even suspected that it was these pressures that made people like Sang Hongyang let go of their hostility towards him, and made Liu Che, the leader of a generation, choose to compromise.

Du Yannian and Zhao Yinhua both bowed their heads and were silent, they had never thought of this situation. Even most people feel that as long as they have an army, they can fight, and as long as they have the advantage of troops, they can win the war, but many people don't know that sufficient food and grass logistics are actually more important than the number of troops.

"In fact, the consumption of grain and grass is largely in the process of transshipment, should we shrink the front?" Du Yannian thought for a long time and then asked tentatively.

In this era of all-human transport, scattered grain and grass should be concentrated and then transported to the front line thousands of miles away, and it may be enough to collect enough food for 100,000 people to eat for a month, but the labor required for transportation on the road may consume ten of these grains and grass. Only 12 out of 10 can actually be transported to the front for the army.

To solve the consumption of this transshipment process, the usual practice is to build granaries in strategic places, but at present, almost all the strategic granaries of Dahan have been exhausted.

"This is not advisable..... Now that foreign enemies have entered the country, and to shrink the front line is to abandon the land and cities, and let the Han people fall under the iron hooves of the alien race. In this way, the people's hearts will be lost, and I am afraid that it will not be long before the Han Dynasty will be torn apart. Huo Guang directly rejected the proposal to shrink the front.

"The amount of food and grass used by hundreds of thousands of people is not a small amount, which is really difficult to do!" Zhao Yinhua also frowned and sighed.

"Sang Hongyang has promised to assist in dealing with grain and grass matters, and he should come up with some plans for tomorrow's court meeting. It's up to him now! Huo Guang also said helplessly, internal affairs logistics are not what he is good at.

Huo Guang stayed in Du Zhou's mansion for nearly two hours before returning to his mansion, and then hurriedly slept for only two hours, and before dawn, he got up and went to Weiyang Palace. Yesterday's court meeting was held hastily after forcing the palace, and today can be regarded as a real court meeting, and from today onwards, the entire court meeting will be held under Huo Guang's control.

Outside Weiyang Palace, when Huo Guang arrived, all the courtiers were already waiting outside Weiyang Palace. As soon as Huo Guang's frame arrived, nearly 100 courtiers bowed down in unison and said, "Meet the general." ”

Huo Guang carried a long sword at his waist, calmly stepped off the frame, and then bowed slightly to everyone in return: "I've seen all the dukes." ”

Today's Huo Guang can be said to be powerful in the world, but he still does not forget the number of courtesies, this seemingly simple return gift has made Huo Guang's image in the hearts of the courtiers a few points higher.

He is not arrogant, he is not rude, he is a model for his ministers, and he is an example for his ministers. It is not an exaggeration to describe Huo Guang.

Then, under the leadership of Huo Guang, the courtiers consciously walked slowly towards the Xuanshu Hall in order.

At the first official court meeting of the Taisun Jianguo, when the Manchu courtiers had not yet entered the Xuanshu Palace, the first legal heir to the throne of the Han Dynasty, the imperial grandson Liu Jin, had also taken the lead in waiting for the arrival of the ministers on the imperial steps of the Xuanshu Palace.

Huo Guang was the first to see Liu Jin in the Xuanshu Palace, this kind of behavior of the king waiting for his courtiers in advance was the first time in history. Originally, whether it was in the etiquette or to maintain the majesty of the monarch, it should be that after the courtiers arrived, the monarch would appear without hurry.

Seeing Liu Jin, who was already sitting in the hall, Huo Guang was also slightly stunned, and then he took off the sword at his waist and handed it to an attendant standing at the door of the Xuanshu Palace.

At this court meeting, only Huo Guang brought a matching sword, because he had the honor of going to the palace with a sword. However, when he saw Liu Jin waiting in advance, Huo Guang also took the initiative to leave the matching sword outside the hall. The courtiers who saw the scene of Huo Guang's sword unraveling all showed surprise, and for this reason, these people even looked up at Huo Guang again, because everyone thought that they couldn't do Huo Guang like this, and no one could resist the temptation of going to the palace with a sword in this feudal era.

When everyone was still surprised by Huo Guang's actions, more and more courtiers approached the gate of the Xuanshu Hall and saw Liu Jin, who had been waiting in advance. At this moment, more people changed color slightly, and some old ministers were even more excited, and their bodies trembled with excitement, and their faces were extremely excited.

"Harmony between kings and ministers...... The king devoted his courtiers to his life..... The big man is happy....." Some old ministers shouted frantically in their hearts, they didn't say it, but they really wanted to shout out loudly at the moment.

"The ministers meet His Royal Highness the Taisun..... "The ministers lined up and bowed to Liu Jin. Today's prostrations are not just a matter of procedure and etiquette, but a real sense of convincing.

"Excuse me, please be seated." Liu Jin stretched out his hand and lifted it, already quite a bit of the bearing of a prince of the Han Dynasty.

"Do you have something to do?" Liu Jin took the lead in asking questions and controlled the rhythm of the court meeting very well.

This was Liu Jin's first real King's Landing in the court. He is now the legitimate heir to the throne and the prison state, and he is the king in the eyes of the courtiers and the people.

At this time, no official will stand up and raise ordinary trivial matters at today's court meeting. Everyone is waiting, waiting for a big man with enough status to really start this court meeting, and Huo Guang is such a big man in everyone's hearts.

"The minister has something to do." However, the first person to appear was once again beyond everyone's imagination, this person was not the general Huo Guang, but the imperial historian Sang Hongyang.

For Sang Hongyang to appear in the court, and he was the first person to stand up, even Liu Jin was slightly surprised. Based on Liu Jin's understanding of Huo Guang, although his teacher is not ruthless, his decisiveness is unambiguous, it stands to reason that he wants to completely control the court, even if he doesn't kill Sang Hongyang, he shouldn't be allowed to appear in the court as a prominent figure like the imperial historian.

Liu Jin looked at Huo Guang with an inquiring gaze, at this moment Huo Guang was sitting at the head of the hall, his eyes seemed to be staring at the floor in front of him, but he nodded slightly when Liu Jin looked at him.

"Doctor Yushi, please speak." Liu Jin's voice came from the imperial steps, and it sounded polite to Sang Hongyang.

Sang Hongyang stood up and walked to the hall in a few steps. Under normal circumstances, ministers can often say things from their seats, and it is necessary to go to the palace so solemnly, which must be an extremely important event.

"The minister has been in charge of the treasury of the Han Dynasty for many years, and now the border is full of smoke, and the granary of the imperial court has no grain to adjust, if you don't want to do it, the front-line soldiers will face a shortage of food and grass, and the situation is imminent. Sang Hongyang directly threw out the most serious problem at the moment, and it only took him one night to sort out the scheduling details of half a year.

An attendant walked quickly to Sang Hongyang and handed the detailed book to Liu Jin. Huo Guang's low gaze raised slightly, he looked at Sang Hongyang, who was not far from him, and most of his heart had fallen. Sang Hongyang's actions are obviously prepared, as long as he is prepared, then it means that Sang Hongyang has thought of a solution, no matter what the final solution is, in Huo Guang's opinion, it is better to have a way than no way.

Liu Jin looked at the dispatch details, and the more he looked at it, the more ugly his face became. He didn't have the foresight of Huo Guang, and he didn't think about the problem of grain and grass in the Han Dynasty at all, when Sang Hongyang threw this problem out and came up with detailed data, Liu Jin realized for the first time that his country had been weakened to such a terrible point!

"How can it be so serious? Didn't it be said a few years ago that the grain in Aocang had overflowed into the treasury and was too much to store? How did it get to this point in just a few years? Liu Jin knew that all this must be true, but his heart still couldn't accept it.

"Back to His Royal Highness Taisun, in the first year of Yuanfeng, there were still ninety percent of the grain in the Aocang treasury, but His Majesty led 180,000 cavalry to the north, and encountered the Qiang people entering the customs to plague Longxi, and the hundreds of thousands of troops consumed hundreds of thousands of grains and grass every day were counted in hundreds of thousands of stones, and there was little left after being consumed for most of the year. So much so that later, the river burst its banks, and Ao Cang had no food available. Although some have been replenished one after another, they have been exhausted again in the past six months, and now if you want to ensure that the frontline food and grass are sufficient, you can only find another way! Sang Hongyang said very calmly, because what he said was the truth.

And many of them Sanghong sheep also chose to deliberately ignore, such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's reckless army, which reduced the agricultural population and increased the burden of military consumption.

"Looking for another way out? What is the way out? Liu Jin heard the meaning of Sang Hongyang's words, this imperial historian is not only here to expose the problem, but also seems to have a solution to the problem.

Sang Hongyang stood up straight, glanced at Liu Jin, and then bowed slightly and said, "Borrow grain, borrow grain from the princess in the name of the imperial court." ”

"What's the borrowing method?" Huo Guang's voice suddenly sounded, and Liu Jin, the imperial grandson, asked.

Sang Hongyang heard Huo Guang's inquiry, turned around slowly, and then said slowly to the courtiers in the main hall: "Reduce the princess's salary, and lend the prince's annual rent."

There was silence in the Xuanshu Palace, and even Liu Jin, the imperial grandson, was slightly stunned. Because Sang Hongyang's method directly extended his hand to the courtiers and nobles of the Han Dynasty. Who was the richest in feudal society other than the central government? Naturally, it was the princely nobles who had fiefs.

It is very easy to understand that the salaries of the courtiers and officials of the Han Dynasty are all based on grain, and once this expenditure is reduced, it is equivalent to throttling, and a lot of grain will definitely be saved. Lending the prince's annual rent means borrowing a year's land tax from the prince. Rent is a land tax, converted in grain, and a poll tax is levied, converted in currency. The fiefdom of the entire Han princes adds up to no less than one-third of the country's cultivated land, and their annual tax grain is also considerable, which is equivalent to an open source.

Under the opening of sources and reducing expenditure, it can indeed solve the urgent needs of the moment, and the most important thing is that the grain of these princes is very concentrated, and it can save a lot of time and capacity in terms of transportation.

The solution is a good way, but the biggest problem is that this kind of so-called borrowing in the name of the state has always been borrowed but not repaid. This is actually a method to make enemies of the world's magnates, even Huo Guang didn't dare to rashly propose it, but now Sang Hongyang has proposed it.

When Huo Guang looked at Sang Hongyang with a puzzled gaze, it happened that Sang Hongyang also looked at Huo Guang. From Sang Hongyang's gaze, Huo Guangneng understood a sentence: "I have this black cauldron on my back!" ”

"The minister thinks that the method of the imperial doctor is feasible!" Huo Guang's voice broke the silent atmosphere of the Xuanmur Hall. He knew that the reason why Sang Hongyang proposed this method of isolating himself from the world's magnates was that there was really no way!