Sima Wenfa Xu, Yangzhou people built Guangling City, migrated to the town. When the conscription was boiled, the dead were tied, and the people complained. Secretary and supervisor Taiyuan Sun Sheng wrote "Jin Chunqiu", a direct book on current affairs; Seeing this, Da Sima Wen was angry, and said to Sheng Zi: "Chao Gecheng is a failure, how can it be as the king said!" If this history is carried out, it will be a matter of the king's door! "His son bows and thanks, please change it. When the old family is in the prime of life, the sex is strict, there is a track, although the children and grandchildren are white, the more they are treated. As for the sons of the people, please take care of the hundred mouths. Sheng was furious and did not allow it, so the sons changed it privately. Sheng Xian has written another book, passed on to the North Mansion, funded and printed by Chang'an University, passed on the Jiangzuo, Huan Gongtu helpless.

---------- excerpt from the introduction

In the winter of the fifth year of Taihe, the great Sima Xing of Guangling City, under the leadership of a servant in the inner courtyard, Huan Chong led Huan Shi into Huan Wen's study religiously.

"Young son, are you all done?" Hearing someone walk in, Huan Wen, who was lying on the table, raised his head, glanced at the two of them and asked in a low voice.

"Back to the elder brother, the coffin of the second brother has been carried back to Xuancheng and buried in the family cemetery." Huan Chong replied.

"The edict of the imperial court to chase Yunzi has come down, and it is given to General Pingnan, and he is Zhen." Huan Wen whispered.

"Ah, uncle, this posthumous seal is too thin, isn't it?" Huan Shiqian next to him shouted. Indeed, the Jiangzuo court is no more expensive than the northern mansion, the general in the north is expensive, and the government soldiers who command a state can lead the lowest general, and the general in the south can grab a handful, and the name of any general is there, and it is a bit cold to posthumously give the general Pingnan. And that Yue Zhen is probably still on Huan Wen's face.

"Yunzi is too anxious in Xiangyang." Huan Wen glanced at his nephew and replied lightly.

Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian are both smart people. It didn't take long to understand. Huan Yun has a straightforward temperament, whether it is guarding in Xiangyang or quelling the rebellion in Guangling, he is very anxious, whether it is recruiting troops and horses, or mobilizing grain and grass, but he desperately urges the local officials. Although he was determined to be a foot soldier, many of them were in vain, and as a result, both local officials and common people were brought to the family. Everyone was complaining. If it weren't for Huan Wen's holding of power, he would have been drowned out by the impeachment seal of Yousi. Therefore, it is not surprising that Huanyun, who is unpopular inside and outside the DPRK, has such a result.

And this time Huan Yun died very suddenly, he just helped Huan Wen go to the Jingkou Inspector's Warehouse and died violently, plus Huan Wen was busy with Jiang Zuo's "reform". In order to improve the "financial situation" of the imperial court, first, it is necessary for the court and the central government to cooperate in suppressing the high-ranking families who have long been in turmoil, and secondly, they have no energy to talk to these court officials under the anxiety, so they will settle.

Huan Shiqian originally wanted to say something, but when he saw the gray hair on his uncle's head and the haggard face, he couldn't say anything anymore.

Seeing that Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian were silent, Huan Wen beckoned the two to sit down.

While pouring tea for the two of them, Huan Wen asked kindly, "Suppress evil." How are the soldiers in Kyoguchi training? ”

Huan Shiqian hurriedly replied respectfully: "My nephew has raised 6,000 strong men in Jingkou and is stepping up his training. But ......" Speaking of this, Huan Shiqian glanced at his uncle Huan Chong next to him. hesitated to say it.

"What's wrong? Suppress evil, is there anything you dare not say to your uncle? Huan Wen asked with a smile on his face. Huan Shiqian's nickname is to suppress evil, and he is the eldest son of the eldest of the five brothers of the Huan family. Huan Huodi is talented, so it is not as good as Huan Wen and Huan Chong, but it is also very instrumental. Helplessly, the timing was not good, and he met the pseudo-Zhou Fu family in the "career rise period", and suffered some defeats in the hands of Fu Jian, Fu Xiong, and Fu Jian. Later, I heard the nursery rhyme of Zhou Guoyou, "Who is Erjian, the stone is broken!" So in a fit of anger, he changed the names of his more than 20 sons to Shi, among which Shi Qian, Shi Xiu, Shi Min, Shi Sheng, Shi Sui, and Shi Kang were well-known in the world, and Huan Shiqian was the best among these brothers.

Huan Shi Qian is quite talented, brilliant, when he was a teenager with his father in Jingzhou, a hunt, a tiger with several arrows lying on the ground, Jing Xiang generals know that Huan Shi is brave and brave, so he joked and bet to let him pull out the arrows. Huan Shiqian ran over without saying a word, just pulled out an arrow and the tiger jumped up, Huan Shiqian also jumped, actually jumped higher than the tiger, escaped a catastrophe, scared the generals next to him into a cold sweat, who knew that Huan Shiqian was not in a hurry, and then pulled out an arrow when the tiger lay on the ground, and successfully completed the task to win the lottery. Later, he joined the army and served as a lieutenant. During a northern expedition with the army, Huan Chong was defeated by Fu Jian and trapped in the army, seeing that the whole army was about to be destroyed. Huan Shi pious prancing horse with a knife, in tens of thousands of troops to kill a bloody way to rescue Huan Chong, there is no one who dares to stop before, Jingxiang three armies for it to cheer, and the pseudo-Zhou army sighed and shocked. As a result, there are pseudo-Zhou people but there are people suffering from malaria, and others shout "Huan Shi is pious" next to them, which can immediately scare the patient out of a cold sweat, and the disease will be cured immediately, and he is afraid of it. Huan Wen also valued him very much, and this time to quell the rebellion against Fan Liu's traitors, he took Huan Shiqian as the main general, and gradually accumulated merit to General Ning Yuan. Huan Wen asked him to go to Jingkou to recruit troops in order to train a strong army.

"Uncle, I want to practice the art of war in Beifu, but I know very little, only the fragment of the "Zeng's Art of War and Military Strategy" left by the previous general when he was in Jingxiang, so I want to ask my uncle to find the old man of Jingxiang in Beifu to balance one or two, and get some real Beifu training classics." Huan Shiqian replied immediately.

Huan Wen nodded, understanding what his nephew meant, the soldiers of Beifu are strong and strong, and the army is strong in the world, except for the sharp armor of the soldiers, there is only one set of training methods. Everyone in the world knows that Zeng Hua, the general of Beifu, has never lost a battle since the beginning of the Western Expedition, and it is he who single-handedly brought out the Beifu Army of Megatron, which can be regarded as the world's master of the art of war, and his training methods are even more legendary.

"Zeng Xuping Tianzong is a genius, Wen Taowu is not sophisticated, and he is also good at training, so he has today's achievements. When it comes to his military training methods, it's not secretive, but I know a thing or two. ”

Huan Wen looked at Huan Shiqian, who was overjoyed when he heard the words, and couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, suppressing evil is the tiger of my Huan family, but unfortunately it is the son of the fourth child, why not my son? Thinking of this, Huan Wen couldn't help but feel more blocked, Huan Xi, Huan Ji, Huan, Huan Yi, his sons are all mediocre talents, and it is difficult to inherit their great cause. Only last year's birthplace Lingbao (Huan Xuan), there was a vision when he was born, is his family business to be inherited by this young son, that Huan Shiqian is a good helper to assist him, but unfortunately Lingbao is too young, he is getting more and more decrepit, I am afraid that time is running out, once something happens, who can help him? His mother was originally a concubine sent by Yuan Zhen (what a confused account). has no foundation, and can only rely on Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian and other Huan family members, but will they really assist this young son and humble mother?

Huan Wen thought about it all the time, and it was easy to come back to his senses. Adjust your thoughts and continue: "Zeng Xu

There are many cumbersome methods, there are forty-seven articles for the selection of soldiers, nineteen articles for the queue, and other kinds, etc., no less than a thousand wide, and others have only learned the surface, and it is rare to get the essence. Only the Chang'an Army Academy was able to inherit its mantle. ”

Huan Shi sighed, and then stopped talking, he couldn't go to the Chang'an Army Academy to study. Even if you are willing to go, your uncle and father will not let you go, and it seems that you have to pay attention to it. Huan Shiqian secretly made up his mind, since that Zeng Xuping could train the Beifu soldiers, he could also train the Jingkou soldiers.

"Uncle. The nephew got it. The people of Xuzhou are very strong, and there has been a saying that Danyang is a dangerous soldier since ancient times, and the nephew's subordinates are recruiting Xuzhou warriors who are the best among them. As long as you practice well, you will definitely not lose to the Beifu Army. It's just a pity that most of the northbound refugees who were originally stranded in Jingkou, Xuzhou have returned to the north, otherwise they would have been able to get elite divisions. ”

Huan Wen couldn't help but laugh when he heard Huan Shiqian's words. He has already heard his nephew's words, this competitive and competitive evil suppressor, should be Zeng Hua, who has never met before, and wants to compete with him, and he implies that the strength of the northern mansion is only because the people of the north are stronger than the people of the south, especially the bitter cold places of Guanlong and Youyan, which have been places of elite soldiers since ancient times, and Zeng Hua only occupies some geographical advantages.

Huan Chong stared at his nephew fiercely, this kid really doesn't know the height of the sky, and after a few victories, he thought he was the number one general in the world. Don't you look at who Zeng Xuping's opponent is? The pseudo-Zhou Fu family, the pseudo-Yan Murong family, the Liangzhou Zhang family, which one is not a temporary hero? It's not the same as cleaning up one by one, and now everyone is hitting the desperate place thousands of miles away, and the "famous generals" of the Jiangzuo court are still circling south of the Huai River.

"Brother, how is the problem of Duzhi solved?" Huan Chong then asked about his worst fears. According to Huan Wen's arrangement, when he moved to Guyu (now Dangtu, Anhui), Huan Huo supervised the military affairs of Jingzhou and Ningzhou with the right general, led the history of Jingzhou Thorns, and guarded the old nest, while Huan Chong himself supervised the military of Jiangzhou and the eight counties of Nanyu Prefecture and Yangzhou with General Zhenwei, led the history of Jiangzhou Thorn, and garrisoned Chaisang (now Jiujiang City, Jiangxi), guarded the river, and connected Jingxiang and Xu Yang. However, he was also deeply affected by the "financial crisis" in Jiangzhou, and was so anxious that he heard that Huan Huo was not much better in Jingzhou.

"It's a turnaround!" Speaking of this, Huan Wen's gloomy face showed a little smile.

"Brother, what's going on? Could it be that the population was inspected and the official warehouses were counted so quickly? Huan Chong was shocked that these measures can indeed increase the "central fiscal revenue", but at least they will not be effective until next year's autumn harvest is ripe, how can it be so fast?

"These measures will not bear fruit until at least next year, and I have carried out these measures, and the local government has already been bitter, and it is said that many high-ranking families have gone bankrupt." Huan Wen said.

"Bankrupt?" Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian did not understand the meaning of this new word.

"This is the saying of the merchants of Beifu, that is, the debts owed abroad are more than the family property." Huan Wen explained, "Many high-ranking families did business with merchants in Beifu, and most of them relied on the abundant tea, grain, silkworm cocoons, cotton and linen and other products of the serf tribe to make a profit, and then exchanged them for all kinds of luxury goods in Beifu. But if you think about it, those things in Beifu are reluctant to look at them, and the more they use them, the more they want to have them, so these people often can't make ends meet. ”

Well, these high-ranking families seem to be the same as the imperial court, they look very glamorous on the surface, but they are actually very poor.

So these high-ranking families negotiated with the merchants of Beifu to advance a part of the payment for goods every year, and offset it with various products when the season was suitable. I strictly enforce the ban this year, and all high-ranking families will be affected. So far, more than 300,000 people have been reported to have been collected and inspected in various prefectures, and there are still 400,000 people in Guangzhou, Ningzhou, and other places that are far away. I think that the total population of my Jiangzuo Imperial Court is only more than 3 million, and I actually let these high-ranking families occupy so much, plus there are still guests according to the system and failure to accept inspections, I don't know how much"

After Huan Wen scolded the Gaomen family, he finally turned to the topic: "These privately attached people were retained for household registration, and the Gaomen family was in order to avoid being inspected. Many lines of hiding affected the harvest, and as a result, the gap when the merchants of Beifu came to receive the goods was far away, plus the shortfall accumulated in the previous years, so it was even worse! ”

Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian understood when they heard it, it turned out that this was the case, and the goods of Beifu were too attractive, which made these high-ranking families "Yin Zhi Mao", plus Huan Wen this year in order to solve the financial problems of the imperial court. The strict inspection of the population affected their local production, and as a result, they owed a lot of debts.

But who dares to settle accounts with the merchants of Beifu? Behind them is the powerful Beifu, saying something arrogant. If you dare to owe him money, he will send troops to take you. And it was this lawsuit that hit Jianye, due to the delicate relationship between Beifu and Jiangzuo, the Jiangzuo court would generally ask its own side to maintain restraint and "no haste, be patient", not to mention that now the merchants of Beifu still occupy the heavenly principle of repaying debts.

However, the people who can do business directly with Beifu are all large families in various places, and there are not many of them, and most of the rest trade with Beifu merchants through these "general agents". Therefore, this year, Huan Wen will "strike hard". It immediately caused a chain reaction, from small to large, and soon set off a "wave of bankruptcy". In the end, only a few "general agents" survived.

These high-ranking families had no choice but to pledge their respective fields and tenant families to the merchants of Beifu, hoping to reprieve, and then say that the "fixed property" of the landed high-ranking families was not enough to pawn, so they had to ask the local government to guarantee it with a shy face. Let's deal with this "economic crisis" first.

After listening to Huan Wen talk about these things, Huan Chong felt that things were very abnormal, but he couldn't say the key points. I had to think about it with a calm face there.

Huan Wen, who saw it in his eyes, smiled bitterly and said: "Young son, I also know that there is a mystery here, how can those people in Beifu be light? But what can we do? Beifu has thousands of miles of commerce and abundant products, and it is difficult for us to learn a little bit of what they can do, and now we are struggling to make ends meet, so we can only rely on Beifu to lend a hand. More than ten days ago, Wuzi (Che Yin) and Wusheng (Mao Muzhi) jointly wrote from Chang'an, saying that they had persuaded Wang Jingluo to be willing to give 1.5 million silver yuan to the imperial court and 2 million silver yuan to Jiang Zuo. ”

"Ah, there is such a good thing? There are no requirements in Beifu? Huan Chong asked in surprise.

"How could there be no request? They asked the Jiangzuo court to agree to expand the exclusive wharves in Jingkou, Qiantang, Houguan, Jin'an, and Panyu, and set aside a large piece of land for them to build a commercial port. Huan Wen replied.

"Brother, how did you reply?" Huan Chong asked hesitantly, because he couldn't say whether this was beneficial or unfavorable to Jiangzuo, and now Jiangzuo was inseparable from Beifu's commerce, and many grain products had to be handled by Beifu's commerce and trade

supply, and the expansion of the port can expand trade, and the goods flowing into Jiangzuo in Beifu are even more constrained by Beifu, which is really a contradiction.

"I replied that except for the fact that I couldn't expand the port in Jingkou, the rest were agreed, and I still relied on the help of Beifu, and finally let me solve this dilemma!" Huan Wen shook his head and said, what if you don't allow it? Beifu was able to come to the rescue and let the Jiangzuo court tide over the difficulties, and the conditions were not very harsh, which was already very good, and it was already very face-saving. As long as the Jiangzuo Imperial Court eases up for a while, by the autumn harvest next year, the "restructuring" that was strictly implemented before should be effective.

Thinking of this, Huan Wen put the financial difficulties that had been solved behind him, and he invited Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian to come over this time for another purpose.

After being silent for a while, Huan Chong and Huan Shiqian were still there to reminisce about the news, but Huan Wen suddenly said leisurely: "Jingxing (Chao) recommended a warlock Du to me, saying that he can look at people's faces and predict the noble and low. ”

"Ah," Huan Chong couldn't react for a while, and then asked softly, "Brother, have you asked him to look at him?" ”

"I asked Du to come over and wanted to know what official position he had achieved, and he replied, 'Ming Gong Xunge Universe, a supreme minister'." Speaking of this, Huan Wen couldn't help but feel depressed and looked very lost.

Huan Chong's eyes jumped, he knew his brother's ambition, but this ambition was too big, so big that Huan Chong couldn't accept it, so he sat there silently and didn't say anything, he also knew that this might be the purpose of his brother looking for the two of them, because he and Huan Shiqian were the closest to Jianye in the Huan family, if the brother had this thought, he would definitely continue to talk.

、

And Huan Shiqian is a junior, and he doesn't dare to express his opinion on this kind of thing, and he is also sitting there like a mud bodhisattva.

"After receiving the letter from Wuzi and Wusheng, I still couldn't sleep all night after knowing that the problem of Duzhi could be solved. happened to be seen by Jingxing, so he said to me, 'I know that Ming Gong is troubled, and I know that Ming Gong is shouldering the heavy responsibility of the world, and the Northern Expedition lost to Beifu. Now that you are sixty years old, if you don't make great achievements, you won't be able to meet the people's expectations of you! 'Hey! It really goes to my heart. Huan Wen let out a long sigh, and then muttered: "Meritorious service, meritorious service." ”

Huan Chong knew that Huan Wen was a very proud person, and he saw that Zeng Hua, who was promoted by himself, was doing more and more sensational. For more than ten years, he was almost led by the nose, and his merits were far behind. Now that Beifu has gained a firm foothold in Jiangyou, Huan Wen is unwilling and does not dare to establish his own merits to the north. His eyes were more on the Jiangzuo court, and this time he was able to quell Fan Liu's rebellion, which was also a great achievement, and his brother definitely wanted to go further! But how can you persuade him? Huan Chong's heart began to be troubled.

Huan Chong is different from Huan Wen, his loyalty to the Jiangzuo court is very high, and from the bottom of his heart, he is still unwilling to let the Huan family replace the Sima family. Hey, as long as it's better than usurping.

After hesitating for a long time, Huan Chong finally decided. couldn't help but say: "It's better for my brother to be like Yi Yin and Huo Guang, and change the monarch, which is not only enough to establish great power." Suppress the four seas, and you can still go down in history. ”

Huan Wen's eyes lit up, a knowing smile appeared on his face, and then he turned to Huan Shiqian. Huan Shiqian immediately clasped his fists and saluted: "My nephew is willing to help my uncle make this immortal feat!" ”

"Good!" Huan Wen stroked his palm.

"Brother, but there are a few things to consider." Huan Chong said.

"The young son just talks."

"One is Yuan Zhen of Shouchun. This person tears our faces, once my brother does the matter of Zhou Gong Huo Guang, I am afraid that he will immediately make a big statement in Shouchun. When the time comes, there will be important ministers echoing in the court, and I am afraid that my brother's major affairs will be difficult to do. ”

"It's okay, according to the secret agent's report, Yuan Zhen's child is already sick and blind, and time is short. He is a general who follows Wang Taibao (Wang Dao), I also let him score three points, once he dies, there will be no characters in Shouchun City, I will definitely break through Shouchun and capture the Yuan family alive! Huan Wen said hatefully, Yuan Zhen made Huan Wen lose face in this matter, how could he not be annoyed.

"The second thing, I can ask my brother to discuss this matter with Jing Xing alone, and I will wait for the leaders to be outside."

"This one of my province." Huan Wen nodded, he knew very well what things to discuss with a strategist like Chao, and what things to let his brothers and nephews do.

"The third and most important thing, the attitude of Beifu, I don't know if the general is back in Chang'an now?"

"Zeng Xuping? He has not yet returned to Chang'an, and it is said that Wuzi's letters say that he is now stranded in Gaochang City, Shazhou. Huan Wen replied.

"Stayed in Gaochang City? What's going on in the Western Regions? Or is this expedition to the west not going well? Huan Shiqian hurriedly asked.

Zeng Xuping won a great victory in the western expedition this time, destroying more than 20 countries in Dawan, Kangju and Hezhong, and defeated the Persian army, beheading more than 100,000 people, and plundering countless people and treasures. Do you think his westward expedition is going well? Huan Wen replied with a sigh.

"Won again." Huan Shi muttered really.

"Zeng Xuping stayed in Gaochang because a cavalry he sent to the west in the second year of Taihe found the remnants of the Xiongnu who moved west."

"What?" Not only Huan Shiqian was surprised, but even Huan Chong was shocked. The Xiongnu have been moving west for hundreds of years, and they don't know that they have moved tens of thousands of miles, and they actually let the cavalry sent by Zeng Hua find them.

"Yes, it is said that this cavalry found the remnants of the Huns on a steppe, and the remnants of the Huns were almost unrecognizable." It seems that Che Yin has a lot of news for Huan Wen, but these are all big road goods, and they will definitely appear in the top table of Beifu after a while, just let Huan Wen know first.

"Then what is he still doing in Gaochang?"

"It is said that there were 70,000 cavalry in the western expedition of Beifu, and it took more than a year to catch up with the tail of the Xiongnu remnants. Zeng Xuping stayed in Gaochang, which was a little closer, so he could understand the situation more quickly, and he couldn't say that he would be able to return to Chang'an next year. ”

"So it's okay, he stopped his brother's big business." Huan Chong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Young son, you still haven't understood Zeng Xuping. Except for me to usurp the throne, he will not care about my land, maybe he will wait for me to usurp the throne, and then wave his army to the south to King Qin. This kid is fine! Huan Wen scolded with a smile. He squinted his eyes and looked at the void, as if he remembered the scene when Zeng Hua, who was tired but resolute, appeared in front of him for the first time more than twenty years ago. "If you can't live for a hundred years, you will also be stinking for 10,000 years!" The crisp voice still seems to be in my ears, still stirring my heart like that, but yesterday's ambition has added a lot of helplessness and loneliness today.

"I'm really old!" Huan Wen finally muttered