In the spring, when the snow melts and the seeds sprout, the cattle, sheep and livestock are easily restless, and even the few silly eagles flying in the sky seem to fly around with their legs between their legs, looking for their own happy life.

It's the same with people.

Spring is coming, and it's time to start a lot of things that have been planned for many days.

Before the emperor's decree came down, Yang Chuan began to mobilize grain and weapons for the Northern Army, the Yulin Army and the border troops on the northern border early.

In the fifth year of Yuan Shuo, many major events occurred in the Han Empire, among them, the most troublesome was the great drought in the background of the war and chaos, which caused a significant reduction in grain production in several states and counties.

Therefore, with his fingers pulling back and forth, Yang Chuan finally worried about the food problem.

If grain and grass were to be prepared in accordance with Liu Che's strategic intentions, and at the same time to fight in Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Shuofang and other northern states and counties and Longxi County in the northwest, a rough calculation would be an astronomical amount of grain and grass needed by the two elite armies of the Northern Army and the Yulin Army alone.

Yang Chuan knew that the next battle was of great significance, and Liu Che would never allow anyone to make any mistakes......

"Grain."

"War horses."

"By the way, there's also the Iron ......"

Yang Chuan was 'sick', and at the same time he had to prepare for the big wedding in a month, so he was also happy to be idle, and simply regarded his Zhuangzi as a big peasant order yamen, and sent out orders one after another.

"Marquis Changning, there is actually no shortage of food in the Han Dynasty, the problem is that the imperial court lacks money and can't afford it at all."

On this day, seeing Yang Chuan drawing in circles on a piece of parchment, chanting words, and making the food worrying, Sima Qian finally couldn't help but speak: "Moreover, there is a very difficult problem at the moment, that is, the source of soldiers. ”

Yang Chuan raised his head, frowned and asked, "There is also a problem with the source of soldiers?" ”

You must know that the military operations of the Han Empire have only been started for a few years, and the population problem has not yet been exposed, so he has not yet taken it into account.

Sima Qian hesitated for a breath or two, and said, "There is no problem at the moment, but Changning Hou, in a year or two, the source of soldiers will become another very difficult problem." ”

Yang Chuan nodded slightly.

He still attaches more importance to Sima Qian's words, after all, the historians of other generations, whether it is the large number of books and classics they have at hand or the judgment of the historical trend, are much stronger than the children of ordinary families.

"You mean that if this battle is fought, the population will drop dramatically?" Yang Chuan asked.

"It's not that the population will decrease sharply after this battle, but now it has begun to decline sharply," Sima Qian seemed to look left and right with some concern, and did not find that others were present, so he continued: "My father recently wrote an article about the population, acres of land, taxes and grain of the Han Dynasty, and one of them is worth being vigilant about, that is, now the acres of land of our Han Dynasty are growing, the taxes are increasing, and the money and grain collected by the imperial court every year are decreasing year by year......

Yang Chuan understood at once.

What Sima Qian said was very vague and somewhat evasive, but in fact it was to the point-

The fields were growing, the taxes were increasing, and the annual income of the imperial court was decreasing.

What does this mean?

It shows that land annexation is accelerating, the invisible population is increasing, and powerful forces are forming at an alarming rate.

Yang Chuan himself has a deep understanding of this.

Think about it, he is a big Han prince, if legally speaking, he cannot have more than 100 acres of land under his name, no more than 24 servants, no more than 7 houses under his name, and no more than 10,000 cattle, sheep and livestock.

But what about the facts?

Not counting the private business between him and Cao Xiang, the land under his name alone exceeded 300 tons, and the subordinates, miscellaneous servants, servants, etc., all of them were more than 3,000 people.

Moreover, this does not include the hundreds of 'chefs' he has quietly spilled out in the past few years, as well as the 3,000 Hun young soldiers and 600 Changning orphans he secretly raised in Shuofang County.

By the way, there is also Luding City, which is far away in the Beihai area, with a population of more than 200,000 now, and the specific number of cattle, sheep and livestock cannot be counted......

"In the year of the catastrophe, many peasant households and military households often sell their sons and daughters in order to survive, and in the end, they can only sell their land and become slaves of large families."

"This is one of the root causes of the sharp population decline."

"In addition......"

Sima Qian hesitated again, but finally said: "In addition, officials in various places have cleverly set up names and expropriated violently, forcing many people to die and be displaced, and finally become stateless savages, which is also another fundamental reason for the sharp decline in population. ”

Yang Chuan nodded slightly, and then frowned and asked: "In the third year of Yuanshuo, Princess Nangong returned to the Han Dynasty, didn't the emperor give amnesty to the world, and gave all the stateless savages household registration, so that they could become military households?"

Why, in just two years, those people have lost their household registration again? ”

Sima Qian sighed and said, "Marquis Changning, if the emperor's amnesty can solve the problem, then why don't you go to the world every day?" ”

"In fact, in Sima Qian's view, it was the emperor's amnesty that accelerated the speed of land annexation, and at the same time, it also allowed more stateless savages to surface, at the mercy of officials and wealthy families from all over the country."

"In other words, the emperor has done bad things with good intentions."

"Do you know, like what the people say today? They said that the reason why the emperor issued that holy decree of amnesty to the world was because there were too many imperial fields in the inner palace and there was a lack of enough servants and human livestock, so it was a hypocritical ......."

Sima Qian was about to go on, but Yang Chuan interrupted with a wave of his hand.

There are some things that can be clicked to the end, and it won't be fun to go on again.

"Sima Qian, what you said was very timely, and it made Ben Hou realize the seriousness of the problem," Yang Chuan sat down slowly and rubbed his cheeks a few times, "I thought it was the corruption of officials at all levels that caused the deficit, which caused the empty warehouse of the imperial court. ”

He pondered for a long time, and suddenly asked with a smile: "Sima Qian, do you still remember that before you went to Shuofang County, Ben Hou coaxed and coaxed millions of acres of fertile land to the big dogs?" ”

Sima Qian was stunned for a moment, and said: "Naturally remember, it's just that Shuofang County was barren at that time, although those people signed a document with the Marquis of Changning, no one took it seriously at all, anyway, it was just to pay the money and finish the matter, so as not to continue to entangle." ”

"Marquis Changning, why did you suddenly ask about this?"

Yang Chuan said with a smile: "Those guys treat Benhou as a Sanghong sheep, thinking that they will take out some money and food casually, perfunctory, and give the emperor a face."

But they didn't expect that Sang Hongyang was a businessman, and as long as it was profitable, he could do some despicable things; The problem is, Ben Hou is a cook.

Sima Qian, you have to know, who is the most difficult person in this world? ”

Sima Qian stiffened his neck and said angrily: "I don't know about the others, anyway, you Changning Hou is very difficult." ”

Yang Chuan laughed: "Yes, Ben Hou is a cook, so the chef in this world is the most difficult!" ”

"Those people think that after paying the money and grain, signing and drawing, the emperor has the money and food to fight, and the marquis has also paid the errand, and this is the end?"

"No, it's not over."

"This is the beginning."

Yang Chuan muttered in his mouth, spread out another piece of paper, began to draw in circles on it, and casually ordered: "Sima Qian, don't tell anyone about the land annexation and the sharp decline in population for the time being, and don't let anyone see the article that your father Sima talked about." ”

"The more you talk until you can solve the problem, the more useless it becomes."

"It will even cause you a big trouble."

"Your Han Li is well written, then write one or two hundred posts for us, and then, act separately with Zhang Tang and invite the big dogs in Chang'an City to come over to eat mutton shabu."

Sima Qian was stunned and couldn't help asking, "Do you want to have dinner again?" ”

Yang Chuan nodded: "Yes, I want to have a dinner again." ”

"Sima Qian, you have to remember that whether it is above the court or far away from the rivers and lakes, between these people, it is not more about fighting and killing, but about the sophistication ......of human feelings."

……

Changning Hou Yang Chuan wanted to invite guests to dinner again, and the news spread quickly throughout Chang'an City.

As a result, even Liu Che of Weiyang Palace began to be unable to sit still.

"Yang Chuan's illness is cured?"

"Now it looks like spring plowing and spring sowing, and in another month, it will be his wedding, and the grain and grass that their big farmer ordered me to prepare for me is still a lot behind...... Why do you want to have dinner again? ”

Liu Che asked seven or eight questions one after another, but Dachangmen Cui Jiu couldn't answer them, so he had to arch his hand and say, "Why don't I go over and take a look?" ”

Liu Che muttered: "I'm afraid you want to go to Yang Chuan's house for dinner, right?" ”

Cui Jiu was silent.

Liu Che looked at the piece framed with Yang's rice paper for a while, ate a few pieces of Yang's dim sum, drank a few sips of Yang's three forts, and when he wanted to pee, he saw Yang's porcelain at a glance......

The emperor's mood became inexplicably irritable: "Cui Jiu, what do you say about this Yang Chuan?" Is he a brilliant man, or is he a self-righteous fool? ”

Cui Jiu shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Liu Che obviously didn't expect Cui Jiu's answer, but continued to talk to himself: "You say he's smart, but he has revealed flaws in many places, so that you can grab a lot of his handles with just one hand, but you can say he's stupid, although you have a lot of handles, they are all small flaws, at most, you can only whip a few whips, kick a few kicks, and even go to the dungeon of your Tingwei Mansion." ”

Cui Jiu said expressionlessly: "He has been to the dungeon of Tingwei Mansion three times. ”

Liu Che waved his hand quite irritably: "Get out, hurry up and go to Yang Chuan's house, ask a word for me, in two months, will my 150,000 army have enough food and grass." ”

So, Cui Jiu got out of the old thief......

……

Similarly, Prime Minister Sun Hong also looked irritable, with a gloomy face, looking at the subordinate officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion silently.

As the saying goes, there is no good wine and no good feast.

In the Han Empire, the story of the 'Hongmen Banquet' was constantly legendary, interpreted, adapted, and even mythical, almost to the point of becoming a household name, known to women and children, so people were more or less afraid of those very suspicious banquets.

"Yang Chuan is going to feast the guests when he first recovers from his serious illness, and this matter is full of evil, so he thinks twice before acting."

"Yes, the thief Yang Chuan is clever and cunning, and he talks and laughs with you on his face, as if he is harmless to humans and animals, but once provoked, it is extremely difficult, and his hands are very black."

"The last time I was in the court, the thief openly argued with the prime minister, if he hadn't suddenly had angina pectoris and withdrew from Chang'an City......"

Listening to the indignant curses of Yang Chuan by the subordinate officials, Gongsun Hong's face became more and more difficult to look at, he coughed lightly, and said very coldly: "Okay, don't talk about it, isn't it just a meal?" Everybody go eat and see what he can do? ”

The subordinate officials looked at each other and were silent for a while.

The food in Yang Chuan's family is delicious, but the problem is that after the previous incidents, everyone began to have scruples about the big Han Liehou who had just turned eighteen, and always felt that there would be a big pit waiting for everyone to jump into it......

"In another month or two, Your Majesty's 150,000 army will march north, as far as the old man knows, the grain and grass that the big farmer is responsible for raising is still a long way off.

Gongsun Hong said expressionlessly, two eyes swept over the faces of all the subordinate officials, and finally landed on the face of the imperial historian beside him, and two smiles were pulled out at the corners of his mouth: "Er Kuan, you are the imperial historian, in your opinion, what does the Marquis of Changning want to do this time to invite guests to dinner?" ”

Er Kuanzhen shook his clothes and said, "It's nothing more than a piece of money and a piece of food." ”

Gongsun Hong nodded: "It's about the same as the old man expected." ”

Everyone also nodded their heads and said yes.

Gongsun Hong groaned a few times, and then said: "Although the old man of Changning Hou Yang Chuan has repeatedly failed to get through in the court, but after all, he is young, and he should make some mistakes, although the old man was very angry at the time, but after thinking about it, he couldn't help but laugh, what do you say the old man is more than a high-spirited young man?"

Well, there is always a teenager.

When he Changning Hou Yang Chuan reaches the age of an old man, it is estimated that he is not as good as an old man.

Therefore, when you go to the Zhuangzi of the Marquis of Changning, you should eat, drink, and open your belly, who will make the food of Yang Chuan's family delicious? As for the ...... of money and food"

The old thief paused, and sighed: "It is not easy for the Marquis of Changning, in order to raise food and grass for His Majesty, he should have suffered a lot, we must not drag him back and delay the emperor's great cause of the Northern Expedition."

The old man thought about it and felt that he should still help him and donate the 300 acres of thin fields in Ludi's hometown for three years. ”

As soon as Gongsun Hong's words came out, all the subordinate officials praised them by hand: "The prime minister is really a large number of adults, for the sake of my Han's Jiangshan Sheji and His Majesty's Northern Expedition, he doesn't care about Huangkou Xiao'er, and he is really a model for us." ”

"Prime Minister's righteousness!"

"Prime Minister, we are also willing to donate some food ......"

……

Just when others were secretly speculating and discussing the countermeasures in advance, Yang Chuan summoned Tangyi's father in the secret room: "Uncle Tangyi, tomorrow afternoon, I will have a big banquet for guests, you go and prepare to move all the bits and pieces in our house to the pergola by the Weishui." ”

"In addition, after completing this transaction, I will fulfill the promise I made to you back then."

"Let's go to the Western Regions to mine."

(End of chapter)