The next day, the ministers entered the palace.

From the three princes and nine kings headed by the prime minister, the generals of the military and other forbidden army generals, as well as the thirty-five princes who are currently on duty in Chang'an City, the three princes and kings, and most of the envoys of the princes and kings of the Liu family, almost all the people in the entire Han court who can influence the national policy are here.

Emperor Liu Jin sat in the hall with a pale face, looking at the princes in front of him, almost everyone's face was so heavy that they were even dripping water.

The Huns were all defeated at the hands of the Han Dynasty!

It is unacceptable for everyone to make Dahan suffer an unprecedented defeat in a mere southwestern.

The defeat of foreign wars is not only the damage to the world and the emperor, but they also suffer huge losses, and every defeat is to harm their interests.

It's because of this emperor in front of you!

This incompetent emperor!

This is the thought that lingers in everyone's hearts, Liu Jin looked at the expressions of the ministers, and his face became more and more pale.

Liu Jin said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen, I summoned you to the palace today to discuss the matters after the defeat of the Southern Kingdom. ”

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the general immediately said: "Your Majesty, the Yidi in the southwest are like beasts, they are only afraid of swords, the Han gave them the land to live on, built water conservancy and roads for them, but they betrayed the Han and did not know kindness, this is not worthy of forgiveness."

They think that a defeat will be able to make the Han retreat, this is simply wishful thinking, the Han still has tens of millions of people, can still fight, and dare to fight.

The minister suggested that he immediately send a large army to conquer Yidi in the southwest, you are the Son of Heaven, is there a reason in this world to disobey the Son of Heaven but be safe?

Such an atmosphere will not allow them to exist, and only by using swords and flames to completely wipe out the Yidi in the southwest can the border be peaceful forever. ”

As the biggest hawk in the Han Dynasty, the attitude of the general has always been very clear, that is, to fight!

Hearing this, the emperor sighed and said, "General, what you said makes sense, do the rest of Aiqing have any ideas?" ”

Except for the top few liehou families, the rest of the liehou mainly rely on military merits to survive, and without military merits, once they sit in the law a few times, they will take the title and remove the country, which is unacceptable.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che began to make great efforts, the princes have returned to the glorious years of the founding of the country, and now they will never allow the major policies of the imperial court to change, everyone looked at each other, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, the minister seconded the proposal!" ”

The prime minister's eyes narrowed slightly, combined with the previous emperor's attitude towards sending troops again, he guessed that the emperor was determined not to fight anymore, and he was about to speak, but Sang Hongyang took the lead and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to raise troops, the minister has a way to raise military expenses." ”

Emperor Liu Jin was indecisive, Luo Wujian said in the letter that the treasury is empty now, and he should not raise troops for the time being, but Sang Hongyang said that he had a way to raise military expenses, and Liu Jin hesitated: "Dasi Nong, please tell me in detail." ”

Sang Hongyang smiled slightly, and said confidently: "Your Majesty, although the imperial court is now empty, but the Han is not like this, rich people are as many as sand on the beach, and there are ten times more money and grain than the imperial court, and you can increase the intensity of the salt and iron official camp, as well as the monopoly of alcohol."

Taxes can be levied on every mouth of the people to help the frontier wars, these money to the people, like a drop of water in the sea, but for the imperial court is a huge amount of military spending.

In this way, the army of the imperial court will be able to fight with enough food and money, can Nanyi still be able to defeat the heavenly army of my Han twice? ”

Emperor Liu Jin's face changed when he heard this, he glanced at Sang Hongyang deeply, and then said: "The light tax, this is the embodiment of the kindness of the Great Han, and it is the grace of the Great Han to distinguish the Qin Dynasty, can it be destroyed at will?"

This is to force the old, weak and lonely to be more miserable, this is to make the people of the world frightened and tired, not to treat the people preferentially, that is not what a benevolent emperor should do, how can I bear to do it? ”

Sang Hongyang was stunned when he heard this, glanced at the emperor, retreated into the queue with some disappointment, and shook his head.

An emperor who is limited to personal morality, an emperor who is burdened by fame, is not the hero he expects, if Emperor Wu is alive, Sang Hongyang believes that he will be able to be reused.

At this time, everyone reacted, and the general suddenly said urgently: "Your Majesty, do you really want to succumb to the mere Southwest Yi?"

Even a strong enemy like the Huns couldn't defeat the Han.

Those Nanxi Yi are like monkeys in the mountains, not even with people's clothes, speaking a completely incomprehensible bird language, can the great Zhuxia world coexist with them?

200,000 soldiers are bloodbathing in the southern kingdom, can they not avenge them?

Is that in line with the teachings of the sages?

Is that what the Son of Heaven of Zhuxia should do?

Emperor Su Wang once said that Zhuxia and barbarians cannot coexist, and the royal road cannot be partial to peace, and do not implement the world, do you want to go against the will of Emperor Su Wang?

That's what only a single husband does!

I'm worried about you. ”

As soon as the general said this, the atmosphere in the hall was instantly solemn, and the prime minister also closed his mouth, which was a topic that could not be touched.

Liu Jin felt a pang in his heart, this was what he was worried about, and when he saw that the princes wanted to speak, he raised his hand and stopped everyone, and then said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen,

I do not intend to disobey the will of the Emperor Su, nor do I want to coexist with those Yidi, but I hereby swear to you that I will wash away the shame of this defeat.

But I have something to say.

The first emperor defeated the Xiongnu, the treasury was as empty as it is now, and the general Changping Wulie Marquis assisted me, and in a few years it was restored to the point where it could fight a war, so there was no need to collect excess taxes from the people, and the court got the money and grain for the war.

The southern kingdom was defeated.

I ordered the county guards in the southwest to provide food for the army, but some of the emaciated soldiers starved to death on the road, because the mountain roads in the southwest were too difficult to walk and food could not reach.

It may have been my fault that the Southwest had placed a curse on the forests and the water sources in the mountains, which may have been a directive from heaven, but I was not wise enough to ignore them, and the soldiers gave birth to plagues in the southwest, and the army was weakened and perished.

This can not be done again in the future.

I am determined to spend ten years to restore the strength of the country, train soldiers who are good at the mountains in the southwest, spy on Yidi's intelligence, and send virtuous generals, and in doing so, there must be nothing that cannot be defeated.

Prime Minister, what I said today, I also ask you to draw up an edict, and I will use the seal and send it to all the counties and counties in the world, so that the ministers, princes, and court officials of 2,000 stones will know about it.

Now the imperial court wants to change the continuous war, restore farming, and let Guanzhong flourish again.

Instead of conscripting hundreds of thousands of troops, it is enough to return to the homes of civilians who are doing conscription and military service, and to enrich their assets, leaving only a standing army. ”

What Liu Jin said, even the general couldn't speak, the court discussion here is naturally free, but the emperor actually wants to send his words to the world, which is a bit unbelievable, this is really to change the main theme of the Han Dynasty since Emperor Wu.

The most important thing is that Liu Jin has been learning from Emperor Wu everywhere since he became the emperor, but now he wants to completely deny his former statecraft and turn to the path of Emperor Wen.

This is equivalent to admitting to the world that he did wrong in the first place.

The emperor of this plane does not have that sense of sacredness that cannot be wronged, but who wants to admit their mistakes?

Admitting mistakes is a very difficult thing, even if you are an ordinary person, you will still be reluctant to admit your mistakes, let alone the emperor at the peak of power, which requires great courage.

Having said that, it is necessary to give the emperor a chance to correct his mistakes, and the prime minister bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the ministers obey the order." ”

The emperor said a little tiredly: "Ladies and gentlemen, please go back, I'm tired." ”

"The ministers are leaving."

After the ministers bowed down, they left the main hall of deliberation one after another, leaving only Liu Jin alone looking at the lonely hall, laughing miserably, and the feeling of depression in his heart became more and more serious.

————

The "Southern Edict" is the first time in history that the emperor himself issued an edict of guilt, which has a very far-reaching meaning behind it, which represents the concept of responsibility on the emperor from the official level, rather than unlimited power.

Although the author is very reluctant to admit that this is actually a product of the Han Dynasty from prosperity to decline, but the fact is irrefutable! ——"The History of the Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty"

(End of chapter)