In February of the first year of Jianxing, the Western Front army of the Han Dynasty in Guanzhong launched a brazen surprise attack and launched a fierce attack on Cao Wei's Hedong County.

Xu Huang and Zhu Ling both sent people to Cao Zhen for help, and at the same time reported to the Cao Wei court in Luoyang.

A few days later, the news was sent to Luoyang, the capital of Cao Wei, through the Yuban Road in Zhongtiao Mountain.

Luoyang South Palace is not a palace, and the newly appointed Cao Wei's son Cao Rong is struggling with political affairs, looking at the mountains of official documents on the table, with a solemn look in his eyes.

Since the death of the first emperor, he ascended the throne at the age of twenty-one as the emperor, and it has been nearly half a year now.

Chen Qun and Sima Yi would help deal with the affairs of the court, but Cao Yi understood that the courtiers alone could not maintain the rule of the Great Wei, and the north and the south faced each other, and the two sides were on the same page, and Cao Wei was facing the threat of the front.

The most important thing is that although Taizu laid down a huge country back then, in his later years, because of the defeat of a battle of Guanzhong and the battle of Xiangfan, Cao Wei's foundation was already in a stormy situation.

Subsequently, the first emperor was repeatedly defeated in the Battle of Chang'an, the Battle of Ziyun Mountain, and the Battle of the Yangtze River in Huainan, making it a mess when Cao Rong took over.

Originally, at the peak of Cao Wei's army of 560,000 people, the north town of Youyan desert south, east of the Bohai Sea, west to Liangzhou, south to Henan, almost half of the loss, now have to transfer the border soldiers and horses, can be defended.

Therefore, it can be said that the current Cao Wei has reached the time of life and death.

If they can withstand the next wave of Han offensive and succeed in inflicting heavy losses on the southern Han dynasty, the two sides will be able to return to their respective starting points and start recuperating and facing off against each other.

Because before several battles such as the Battle of Xiangfan and the Battle of Guanzhong, Cao Wei's troops were far superior to those of the Southern Han, and the comparison of soldiers and horses between the two sides was almost 4500,000 to more than 200,000 and less than 300,000, which was in an absolute advantage.

However, the successive defeats and the annexation of Jiangdong by the southern Han Dynasty, Cao Wei's forces were already at a disadvantage, and if they could not fight back in a battle, so that the soldiers and horses on both sides maintained a similar situation, then Cao Wei would be suppressed for a long time in the future.

So Cao Ei is very clear about his current situation.

For this reason, after taking office, he made many good political measures, such as sending people to the Youyan border, making peace with the Wuhuan Xianbei people, and stabilizing the border situation.

After Gongsun Yuan coerced his uncle Gongsun Gong to give him the position, Cao Rong sent an envoy to make friends with him, worshipping him as General Yanglie and Liaodong Taishou.

In fact, these measures are also a last resort.

In fact, because of the embarrassing situation of weak Wei and strong Han, the border defense force of Youyan in the north is extremely empty, and the border army is basically useless.

Although they knew that they took the initiative to show friendship with Wuhuan Xianbei and Gongsun Yuan and others, they had nothing to do now, and even if Wuhuan Xianbei and Gongsun Yuan went south at this time, and the southern Han went north again, they would be in danger of losing their country.

The only good news is that in history, Gongsun Yuan was quite ambitious and wanted to unite with Eastern Wu to make trouble in the north of Cao Wei. But Cao Wei was strong at that time, and in the end, Sima Yi traveled thousands of miles to Liaodong and disposed of him to solve Cao Wei's troubles.

And now because Cao Wei is relatively weak, if Gongsun Yuan makes trouble again, then Cao Wei will destroy the country, and then he will either surrender to the Han or be eliminated by the Han.

Therefore, considering that his lips were dead and his teeth were cold, Gongsun Yuan agreed to form an alliance with Cao Wei and did not send troops to harass him in the rear.

However, he still took advantage of Cao Wei's self-care and sent troops to occupy most of Liaoxi County.

These places were originally fought by Cao Cao in the White Wolf Mountain, and now they were seized by Gongsun Yuan, and since then Cao Wei's forces have withdrawn to Shanhaiguan, and the entire Liaodong and Liaoxi have been occupied by Gongsun Yuan.

Cao Rong couldn't do anything about this, so he could only pinch his nose and admit it, hoping that Gongsun Yuan would recognize the situation clearly and not force Cao Wei to destroy the country.

At least Cao Wei destroyed the country, who the Han Dynasty had to deal with first, Gongsun Yuan should be able to figure it out.

Externally, Cao Rong stabilized the great enemies of Wuhuan Xianbei and Gongsun Yuan in the north, and at the same time deployed heavy troops in the south to guard against the attack of the only strong enemy, the Han Dynasty.

Internally, in order to alleviate the current extremely difficult situation of people's livelihood, they chose to light forced labor, reduce taxes, and reduce the proportion of tuntian.

Before Cao Wei, a large number of tuntian, at the beginning it was not bad, the tuntian was fifty-five accounts, the government got fifty percent, and the people could also get fifty percent, and when there was a famine, Cao Wei's government would also help to cover the bottom.

But now that the tuntian system has become a completely evil policy, the Cao Wei government not only will not help in the years of famine, but also further raised the ratio to 73 or even 82.

Cao Wei's official mansion took seventy to eighty percent of the harvest, and the people could have two or three percent at most, and it was difficult to ensure that they would not starve to death, let alone have a good life.

Under such circumstances, many people in Tuntian either chose to flee south to Dahan, or chose to revolt against the rule.

According to historical records, during the Cao Wei period, there were more than 10 cases in which the leaders of the Tuntian Rebellion alone had names and surnames, and there were more than 30 cases in which there were no names and surnames. This is only the uprising of the Tuntian people, and there are as many as 100 non-Tuntian uprisings.

It can be said that the heavy forced labor, high taxes, and the exploitation and oppression of the government not only seriously damaged the interests of the common people, but also greatly shook the foundation of Cao Wei's rule.

At present, there are only five or six million people registered in Cao Wei, and the levy and taxes are all spread on these people, which will definitely cause a large-scale revolt.

For this reason, Cao Rong's choice of light forced labor and tax reduction is actually a more reasonable method, which can stabilize the situation.

But this raises another problem.

That is, the root cause of Cao Wei's serious exploitation was that they needed grain, grass, soldiers, and people to fight with the Han court in the south.

If taxes are reduced by light conscription, what about the grain and grass, the supply of soldiers, and the civilian auxiliaries who are responsible for transporting supplies?

Therefore, at the beginning of spring this year, Cao Rong considered implementing a new policy to fill the gap from the family.

Cao Wei and Dahan currently have similar populations, both of which are more than 10 million, and the total population should be more than 30 million.

However, the registered population of the southern Han is larger than them, and the grain and grass that can be supplemented and the soldiers and people are far more than Cao Wei, because the southern family has been cut very badly, unlike the Cao Wei family, which still occupies a dominant position.

Historically, although Cao Wei united with the family, there was more cooperation, unlike the Eastern Wu and later Jin Dynasty, where the family could be pressed to the imperial power if it was not careful, and there was even a saying that the king and Xie shared the world.

Now Cao Rong is considering whether to change the form and give the family more power in exchange for the support of their food, grass, soldiers and conscription, otherwise it will be difficult to support the war in the south in the future.

Cao Rong propped his chin in thought, and after a while, he summoned Wei Zhen to discuss the matter.

Wei Zhen was his important minister during the East Palace period, and his personal relationship was very good, and Cao Rong would consult him on many important matters, after all, he was actually more wary of the three major ministers left by Cao Pi.

After a few moments, Wei Zhen came in and saluted him.

Cao Rong asked him: "Wei Jun, Liu Han in the south always wants to go north to the Central Plains, if the imperial court collects grain and grass and conscription from the people, I am afraid that there will be a continuous uprising. ”

Wei Zhen replied, "That's right." ”

Cao Rong continued: "But if the tax is reduced lightly, the confrontation in the south continues, the army and horses are consumed every day, and there is a lack of materials and people to transport the baggage, then our army is afraid that it will fall into the dilemma of lack of food and clothing, what does Wei Jun think should be done?" ”

Wei Zhen probably guessed what Cao Rong meant, he himself came from a family, so he naturally did not object to the family having more power, so he said: "The minister thinks that although the major families are now commenting on the nine grades of Zhongzheng, there are still many families who are dissatisfied with their own lack of a better grade, which will bury many talents." ”

"Oh?"

Cao Rong asked, "What is Wei Jun's plan?" ”

Wei Zhen said: "The minister thinks that His Majesty should issue a decree that those who are willing to give more money, food, and slaves to support the imperial court in the war, the rank should be improved, and the outstanding disciples in the family can also enter the ranks." ”

"Hmm."

Cao Rong nodded slightly, this was the same as he thought.

The Jiupin Zhongzheng system did greatly alleviate the contradictions between the Cao Wei group and the family.

In the past, the inspection system was monopolized by top families, and it was too difficult for small and medium-sized families to get ahead.

But it is still at that point, the Jiupin Zhongzheng system also divides talents into 369 and so on, which are divided into nine grades: upper, upper, upper, upper, middle, lower, and lower.

Among them, almost all the top grades are monopolized by the top families, and the small and medium-sized families can only carve up the middle and lower grades, and the poor family can only grab the lower grades.

This is also why there was a saying in the later two Jin Dynasty periods that "there is no cold door in the upper grade, and there is no scholar in the lower grade".

Therefore, although small and medium-sized families can enter the office, it is more difficult to go further.

What's more, the big family has a monopoly on the top grade, but it doesn't mean that the big family must be an elite talent.

Like the Cao family and the Xiahou family, they are already the top families.

The population of the clan is hundreds, there are countless young children, and there are very few who can be of great use, and there are only a few in the second generation, such as Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xiahou Shang, Xiahou Ba, etc., and the third generation is even better.

Therefore, the big family does not mean that there is a high-level political elite, and the small and medium-sized families also have many talents, but they cannot be promoted because of the grade problem, resulting in the current trend of Cao Wei's talents withering.

Cao Rong thought about relaxing the grade selection, paying taxes and population in exchange for the support of the majority of small and medium-sized families.

This is a bit similar to the policy of Liu Bei's group when it first started to clean up the family in the south, and it was also an official position and political status in exchange for the population and land of the southern family.

The difference is that Cao Ei did not do it as thoroughly as Liu Bei, taking away the population and land of the family directly, Cao Ei only wanted food and the support of the family's population, and after the war was over, these people were still the manor farmers of the family, so as not to rob their slaves and become Cao Wei's registered population.

From here, it can be seen that Cao Ei's methods are still much gentler.

Mainly after several defeats in the war, Cao Wei had to move closer to the family, if he learned from Liu Bei to directly weaken the family and rob the family population and land, then the result must be rebellions, and Cao Wei's rule fell apart.

So there's nothing he can do about it.

After dealing with this problem, Cao Rong thought about it again and said: "Now that the war in the south is unstable, Liu Han may go on another northern expedition at any time, Xiahou Shang is afraid that he will not be able to take on the heavy responsibility, I want Sima Yi to be the general of the army and go to Henan, what does Wei Jun think?" ”

Wei Zhen said: "Your Majesty is wise. ”

"Hmm."

Cao Rong nodded: "Then let's do it, from last year's strike to the present, the country has barely recuperated for half a year, the defeat in the Huainan war is really too big a blow to us, and there are many dead and wounded among the good generals left behind during the period of Taizu and the first emperor, and I am also uneasy." ”

Wei Zhen persuaded: "Your Majesty re-activated the hussar general to go to Huainan, at least it can still stabilize the situation, the south has repeatedly fought wars, although it wins, presumably the consumption will not be too small, Your Majesty should still govern the country first, if the country is not only in internal strife, internal and external troubles, I am afraid it is not good, only by first removing internal troubles, and then resisting foreign enemies, can we be stable." ”

"Hmm."

Cao Rong responded, closed his eyes and rubbed his nose and said: "Therefore, this is also the reason why I sent an envoy to Liaodong to win over Gongsun Yuan, the foreign enemies in the north are temporarily stabilized, and the civil strife in the Central Plains is also hoped to be eliminated as soon as possible. ”

Since Cao Pi's death, Cao Ei took over this mess, and Cao Ei felt that he had to live twenty years less.

What kind of country was the newly appointed State of Wei?

After several defeats in major wars, internal and external troubles, and storms, the entire internal army had less than 300,000 soldiers and horses, and there were more than one rebellion, and the soldiers and horses on the northern border were also transferred to the south to fight, so that the border was almost undefended.

In order to calm down these problems, Cao Rong can be said to have worked hard, sleeping less than three hours a day, and dealing with government affairs around the clock.

After half a year of hard work, Xianbei Wuhuan and Gongsun Yuan were finally stabilized, and at the same time, he used the sixty-four-year-old veteran Xiahou Yuan as the hussar general and went to Shouchun to garrison.

Guan Yu had killed Spoon Bei before, Cao Xiu was critically ill, and the defenders did not dare to defend and abandoned the city and fled.

However, Guan Yu did not occupy Shouchun because the follow-up grain and grass did not keep up, but retreated to Hefei, rebuilt a new city, and began to plan the Northern Expedition.

Xiahou Yuan was turned into a civilian by Cao Pi due to the defeat in the Battle of Ziyun Mountain, but with Cao Xiu's death, Huainan had no generals, and in the face of Guan Yu, the premier commander of the Southern Han Group, the pressure on Cao Wei's side could be described as very great.

For this reason, Cao Rong reactivated Xiahou Yuan and let him sit in Huainan.

And there is only one Xiahou Shang left in Henan, and Cao Rong is afraid that Xiahou Shang will not be able to support the whole situation, so he plans to send Sima Yi over.

In this way, at least from the perspective of the overall situation, Cao Zhen, Xu Huang, and Zhu Ling are in the western front, and Sima Yi Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Shang in the south should be able to barely resist the Han army's northern expedition offensive.

As long as he can obtain a steady stream of grain, grass and population from the family, the common people will enter the stage of recuperation, relying on sufficient population base and stronger productivity, and it will not be a problem to expand the number of soldiers and horses by 100,000 in a few years, and compete with the southern Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Cao Rong felt a lot more relaxed, originally Cao Wei's erosive situation seemed to be pressing on him like a mountain, but now seeing that the days are getting better day by day, and the future can be expected, it is also a relief for him.

The expression on his face was also much more relaxed.

"Your Majesty!"

At this time, Chen Qun's face was solemn, and he hurriedly walked in and reported to him: "Hedong urgent report, a few days ago, Shen Chen suddenly crossed the river to attack Hedong County, his soldiers and horses bypassed the embankment of Hedong, and raided Dongting from the mountainous area in the north, and then rushed to Jiucheng, burning our army's grain and grass!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Cao Rong, who originally felt a little more relaxed, instantly felt that another mountain was pressing on him, causing him to suffer cardiopulmonary arrest and breathless!

The expression on his face was also more and more painful.

(End of chapter)