"Shu Cheng, why don't you ask us what the results of our visit were?"

"Do you still need to ask? You can see it in your rejoicing. ”

Peng Hui grinned and said, "It's really good." I went to the potter's house. His family used to only eat porridge, and it was rare to get a bowl of white rice, and no one in the family was willing to eat it, so they let it come and go. Nowadays, all industries are prosperous, and pottery is in short supply, and the wages of pottery have naturally risen a lot. There is no shortage of rice and noodles, and today he has a guest at home, and he also set up a chicken and fish to entertain him. ”

Qian Sheng followed: "The cloth merchant I went to find." When the people have money, they want to dress up and make a few new clothes to wear. The sale of the cloth has nearly doubled, and sometimes it is out of stock. Although the status of the merchants was low, the profits were incomparable to those of the workers and peasants. Almost every meal is full of alcohol, and meat is also a daily routine. ”

Guo Tang continued: "The two children I went to find. I didn't get to the door of his house, but I saw the two of them eating and playing in the alley, each holding a big steamed cake and a fruit to eat. Children at this age are the ones who can eat, and they will not be full no matter how much they eat. But in the past, they only had corn and rice, and they only gave one bowl and there was no more, but now not only are the steamed cakes full, but also the seasonal fruits are edible. ”

"There is one person missing, that is, the servant of Zuofu." Du Jian remembered.

Guo Tang glanced at him and said, "That servant was punished by the master for being hungry when he was absent, and he told us not to reveal it to the outside world." If we go to Zuofu to look for him, won't we make trouble for him? ”

After hearing this, Shu Yan smiled and nodded: "The affairs of the big family are very chaotic, and they can't represent ordinary people, so don't go to him." ”

When Peng Hui heard this, he hurriedly retorted: "Big families can't represent ordinary people, but they are also ordinary people. Since Shu Cheng's food standard should refer to the level of the average people, the owners and subordinates of large families must also be counted. ”

Shu Yan knew that Peng Hui wanted to improve his living standards more because he was a big family, but in fact, he was reasonable, the poor were counted as the people, and the wealthy were also counted as the people. Since the poor are taken into account, the wealthy should also be taken into account. That's how it's average.

"Okay. What are the appropriate standards for our food? ”

Several people expressed their opinions, discussed for a while, and then said, "Please ask Shu Cheng to decide." ”

After listening to their opinions, Shu Yan felt that they were all pertinent, and thought for a while: "It's better to do this, there will be no restrictions on staple foods, and you can eat whatever you want." In terms of non-staple food, each meal is still one cold and one hot, two vegetarian dishes. As for the meat, it is now once a month, and in the future it will be changed to every eleven. What do you guys think? ”

It's not as good as it used to be, but it's still much better than it is now. Everyone was happy.

"The people have drunk alcohol, shouldn't our wine also be lifted?" Peng Hui asked a little weakly.

"People drink because they have money. Although our treasury is also full and we can afford to drink, we must not allow this to drink and make mistakes! ”

Peng Hui was bored and didn't dare to say anything more. From now on, the food will be run in accordance with the new standards, and Shu Yan will be happy. But Shu Yan himself fell into deep anxiety and was not happy at all.

Although Shu Yan has created a prosperous era in Ruyin, there are huge hidden dangers in the external environment. As the saying goes: the big river is full of water, and the big river is dry without water. The great chaos that occurs once in a thousand years has already taken shape, and unless there is a combination of a once-in-a-millennium hero and a capable minister to turn the tide, it is absolutely impossible for a local assistant to reverse the overall situation. He realized that his land could not be stable for a long time, and he could not stay out of the whole environment.

Sooner or later, the Huns will come. The protection of the imperial court cannot be counted on. Ruyin is to the Huns what a snake is to a falcon, and a lamb is to a jackal. But even if you can't resist it, you can't let it be trampled on without dignity.

Be a feared serpent, not a lamb to the slaughter. Since the court can't count on it, it has to arm itself.

After the first year of Taikang, after the Ping Wu, the next unification, the four seas were called ministers. Emperor Wu Sima Yan thought that under the peace, no one could make waves, and he could sit back and relax, plus after more than 100 years of chaos in the land of China, the population was displaced, all industries withered, and production was seriously shrunk. Based on the above two points, he decided to "go to the state and county soldiers", that is, to disarm the local state and county, let these people be disarmed and returned to the fields, and return to their hometowns to flood production. Only 100 military officials were placed in the large counties, and only 50 were placed in the counties. There are pros and cons to everything. Although the policy of removing state and county soldiers was conducive to production and reduced the burden of raising soldiers in the imperial court, it also caused certain drawbacks. If the state and county are not armed, there is no deterrent, and they do not have to face the rebels who rise up, or they are a little unable to cope with the stronger thieves. This was also an indirect factor that led to the great chaos during this period.

Now that the imperial court is too busy to take care of itself, it is completely unable to control the localities, and the various laws and decrees issued to the localities have become useless. The counties were largely semi-autonomous, and as long as they could pay a little tax, the imperial court would let it go, allowing each to show its abilities and seek self-preservation.

In fact, the actual implementation period of this policy was only a few years. As early as the death of Emperor Wu, that is, the early days of the Eight Kings Rebellion, the states and counties had already secretly developed their own armaments. Today, some of the larger counties have sizable armies.

In terms of the population size and geographical breadth of Ruyin County, it is at the lower level among the counties, and theoretically there should be only fifty rao of arms. When Biyu and Shu Yan took over, there were only a few hundred.

After several years of accelerated development, the population of Ruyin has grown significantly, reaching about 200,000. Excluding the elderly, the weak, women and children, there can be 50,000 or 60,000 young and middle-aged people. But Shu Yan knows that the cost of raising troops is huge, and too many troops in such a county cannot afford to raise them. Moreover, there is an inverse ratio between raising troops and production, and the more soldiers raised, the lower the production capacity.

You can't have it both ways. How can we not only raise troops for defense, but also ensure production? In fact, the ancestors have explored a successful path, that is, the tuntian system. The so-called tuntian system is a mode of going out to fight and farming due to the shortage of grain and grass supply caused by long-term warfare. In wartime, he fought wars, and in peacetime, he turned into a farmer and cultivated the fields. Cao Cao, Sima Yi, Sima Yan and others have all played Tuntian, and they have achieved great results.

However, the prerequisite for tuntian was to have a large amount of idle land, which was then leased to landless vagrants, official slaves and maids, or soldiers to cultivate their own land. However, after these years of great development, Ruyin County does not have much idle land at all, let alone homeless people, officials, slaves and maids, and it is impossible to implement the tuntian system.

"Although we can't implement tuntian, with our current strength, it is not a problem to raise 20,000 soldiers."

Shu Yan is discussing this issue with his colleagues. Tocao Shi Guotang was most familiar with the population and taxation of the county, so he dared to do so.

Although the cost of raising soldiers is huge, everyone generally has a sense of worry. And the surrounding counties have begun to expand their forces, and Ruyin County must also seek a certain self-protection ability.

"It's already so chaotic, we should take precautions and recruit some strong soldiers. After all, we are the backbone of the people. The chief bookkeeper Du Jian said.

Shu Yan listened to Guo Tang and Du Jian's speeches, and sighed: "At a time when the imperial court is unable to take care of the locality, it is necessary to maintain a certain amount of troops for self-defense, which is a manifestation of responsibility to the people. With our current strength, it is not a problem to raise 20,000 people. But raising troops not only costs money, but also hinders production. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has achieved hegemony through the ages, but he has also become infamous for being a poor soldier. Although we can afford to raise 20,000 soldiers, this burden will eventually fall on the common people. The people have just lived a few good days, how can they be allowed to return to poverty! ”

Du Jian remembered and said: "I have a method, and the money comes very quickly, but I am afraid that the county will not go to school."

"What is your magic method, look."

"Salt and iron monopoly! In ancient times, the use of soldiers was inseparable from a large amount of military salaries. Tuntian can only solve the problem of grain and grass, but the control of salt and iron can quickly accumulate wealth. Because no one can do without salt and iron......"

Shu Yan waved his hand again and again: "I have thought about this method for a long time, but it cannot be implemented, because whether or not to monopolize salt and iron should be decided by the imperial court, not by my county." Moreover, although the salt and iron monopoly makes money quickly, the money will eventually be added to the people, and it cannot be schooled."

"It's really at that point, it's good to be able to protect the people, what do you care? Others use daggers for self-defense, but we can't always use chopsticks. "Bing Cao Shi Peng Hui is from the army, and he is the most supportive of expanding the army, after all, this is his business.

"The Huns were all barbarians, brave and good at war. Moreover, Hu Jin had many people attached to Liu Yuan, and most of the counties and counties in Bingzhou had been captured, and the imperial court had failed to conquer several times. If you really want to kill to the south, how can I, Ruyin, resist? Gongcao Shi Sun Yi seems to be pessimistic.

Peng Hui snorted: "Instead of being a lamb to be slaughtered, it is better to fight to the death, and die with dignity." ”

"You're hitting a stone with an egg, and the gain outweighs the loss!"

"Then you will open the door and steal, and at the same time take the initiative to give your wife and daughter money!"

"Don't make any noise!" Shu Yan saw that the two of them were not speculative, so he hurriedly stopped, "The Huns can't be defeated for a year and a half." While we are worried, we must also take into account people's livelihood. ”

"How to take care of both? 20,000 soldiers is the minimum guarantee against the enemy, but you can't afford to raise it! Peng Hui said angrily.

"I have a law, do you think it's feasible?"

Everyone knows that Shu Yan has always had a way, so they all said: "I'll listen to you, I don't know what Shu Cheng has to do?" ”

"Soldiers come from the people and for the people. Soldiers are also people, and people are soldiers. It's better to have a soldier for all the people. ”

"All soldiers?" Peng Hui was a little puzzled, "How is this possible?" 20,000 soldiers are still difficult to raise, and if all the people are soldiers, who will plough the fields? And who will raise the soldiers? ”

"All the people are soldiers, and they are also fighting and farming. Farming during the agricultural period and training the troops during the slack time. ”

"All the people are soldiers, this is a higher level than Tuntian's battle and cultivation, it is rare for Shu Cheng to think of it, wonderful!" Du Gyain said.

"Actually, I didn't come up with this idea, this is the usual practice of the Huns, and I just used it for reference. The Xiongnu and other Hu people have always been soldiers of the whole people, don't look at their total population, but they can gather troops to the maximum extent, and this is the reason. The Huns were all soldiers, brought their own air-dried food, and fought all the way to rob, so they could prepare less grain and grass. And we, unlike them, will never rob the common people at any time. Even so, the issue of logistical support is particularly important. Our whole people are soldiers, which means that all people participate, not even the elderly, weak, women and children have to be ready to go to war. The training is mainly for all young and strong men, and the old and weak women and children need to be involved in logistical support. War drags down grain and grass, which is one of our major shortcomings compared with nomadic farming. 100,000 people to fight a war, and 100,000 people are needed to do logistics. In the case of long-distance battles, the ratio is likely to rise to 1 to 3. Therefore, as long as the old and weak women and children share more farming work and participate in logistics support, they will have a lot of credit, even if all the people are soldiers. ”

Peng Hui really went to the battlefield when he was young, and although he agreed with Shu Yan's idea, he still had a worry: "Farming pays attention to experience. The same is true for military affairs, if we drill the talent school from time to time, since these young and middle-aged people in the eight counties of the county still have to take care of production, then it is impossible for them all to concentrate here to train the troops. Do you want each township to organize its own military training? How much effect can it have? It's okay for the villagers to fight, they haven't even seen knives and guns, and they don't know how to use them, so if there is really a fight, it's a group of rabble, in that case, aren't we deceiving ourselves? ”

Shu Yan liked the questioning voices of others very much, and said with a smile: "Do things to be effective, how can I do that kind of self-deception?" What I mean by military training is that I want to divide it into two levels. The first level is the training of elite soldiers, that is, the training of full-time soldiers; The second level is the training of the militia, and the soldiers are semi-full-time. ”

"What is full-time production, how to count as semi-full-time, I would like to hear in detail."

"Part-time production means completely detaching from agricultural production, and part-time production means working half of the time in agriculture and half of the time in military training. There are more than 40,000 young and middle-aged people in the county, and it is impossible for all of these people to take off production and train in the army. We only selected 10,000 people from the eight counties and handed them over to your soldiers to train intensively. The rest of the people are reserve militia members who are trained part-time in their hometowns. ”

When Peng Hui heard this, he felt very reasonable, and asked deeply: "How to choose these 10,000 people?" Who will take the lead in guiding the militia drills in each township? ”

"All of these 10,000 people choose unmarried, mainly below the weak crown. Although this kind of person is old, he is the most energetic, as the so-called newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. They have no wives and children to drag them down, they have no worries, and they have the courage to charge into battle when they fight. ”

Sun Yi questioned slightly: "Having said that, after all, it is a war, but I am afraid that their parents are reluctant." ”

Peng Hui immediately retorted: "The Huns are coming, and the war is also death, and it is difficult to survive at home." Life and death, in order to protect all the hometown fathers, I think who dares to be so selfish! ”

"We have always been benevolent to the people, and you are a barbaric conscription, which is worse than a strong man!"

"What's wrong with catching the strong man? In troubled times, where do you still follow the rules of peaceful and prosperous times? I was semi-forced to join the army. Now that I think about it, this is a good thing, otherwise I would have been just an old farmer now, where could I be a soldier of a county! ”

Du Jian interjected: "Teenagers tend to eat a lot at home, but they are not good at work, and they are far worse than their fathers and brothers in farming, so I guess their parents will not be very opposed to sending them here." ”

Peng Hui agreed: "That's right, my family thought I couldn't afford to eat too much, otherwise I was a semi-voluntary and semi-compulsory army." ”

Guo Tang said: "What is the effect of conscription, you can see the actual situation at that time, and there is no need to argue." Let's listen to how Shu Cheng trained the second-level soldiers. ”

Shu Yan likes to accept suggestions, so he listens to other people's words humbly and does not interrupt. After listening to Guo Tang's question, he continued: "After these 10,000 people are recruited, all the remaining men between the ages of fifteen and forty-five, except for the sick and weak, will all participate in the semi-full-time training, which will be organized by the township officials, the husbands, the wanderers, and the pavilion chiefs. As for the people who coach them, I, Dajin, have not fought for more than 20 years, and those who have actually been on the battlefield are old. The townships must not be able to find a little bit of martial arts. I think we can only select some of the outstanding ones from those 10,000 people and go back to their hometowns to guide. ”

Du Jian nodded and said: "Judging from the current situation, if you want to take into account both military training and people's livelihood, you have to do this. ”

After a detailed discussion, everyone put forward some supplementary opinions, which were basically discussed properly, and reported to Biyu that he knew. Of course, Biyu is not inaccurate, and immediately starts to do the actual school