Yangshan Mansion City.

Pedestrians were in a hurry on the interface, and dark brown blood was faintly visible between the ravines on the stone brick floor paved on the ground.

At the entrances of the streets and alleys, from time to time, you can see groups of soldiers in strong clothes, patrolling around the city.

The people in the city, seeing these soldiers, subconsciously hid.

Sun Siwen walked down the street on horseback, followed by more than a dozen entourages, looking at this depressed scene, he felt endless emotion in his heart.

Yangshan Mansion is among the prefectures of Dongting County, and it was originally considered a wealthy mansion.

The prefecture is connected to Nanhai County, and is connected with Yuzhang County, which is the thoroughfare of the three counties, and has always been prosperous in business and travel, and the population is like a stream.

At its peak, Yangshan Mansion was known as 60,000 households and 300,000 people, which was a real mansion.

Now it has only been two years since it was captured by Miao thieves, but the city has been ruined.

But the current Yangshan Mansion, let alone 60,000 households, I'm afraid there are not even 30,000 households. ’

Sun Siwen couldn't help but think in his heart while looking at the yellow-skinned people on the street.

When the Miao people first rebelled, they once wantonly killed the local Yue people to rob the wealthy women.

In that catastrophe, the people of the entire Dongting County died in the number of 100,000.

After the Miao people raised their troops, they did not recuperate in the past two years, but set off a series of major battles, and the soldiers and horses used were even as high as 300,000 at the peak.

With so many Miao soldiers, the more than one million Miao people alone cannot afford to support them.

The bulk of this expenditure has to be supported by the Yue people in the prefectures and counties occupied by the Miao people.

But at the peak of the Five Poisons Sect, it only occupied the land of the Five Mansions, and at this point, all the populations combined, two million would reach the sky.

The ratio of soldiers to civilians exceeded ten to one, and it lasted for two years, which can be imagined how ruthlessly this is for the people at the bottom.

Therefore, the Yue people in the three southern provinces of Dongting County abandoned their homes and businesses and fled everywhere.

When Sun Siwen governed Luyang, he gathered a lot of displaced people from Yangshan Mansion.

Listening to what they said, farming and working in Yangshan Mansion will pay taxes on more than ninety percent of the annual income. From time to time, he had to be pulled to serve as a conscription to help the Miao people fight.

The women in the family were also often humiliated by the Miao people, and often some people resisted because they couldn't bear the humiliation, and they were slaughtered by the Miao people.

This kind of practice of not giving people a way to live, and the people are angry and resentful, naturally caused panic among the people, and they began to flee continuously.

Later, if it weren't for the Miao people who set up cards in various places to intercept the displaced people, I am afraid that the population under their rule would be even more scarce.

It's just that even so, the situation in the three prefectures of Nine Suspicions, Lingling, and Yangshan is not much better.

"Now the land of the three provinces has suffered another military disaster. A large number of Miao people died in battle, and the place was slaughtered by turmoil again, and the household registration was afraid that it would lose a lot again. ”

Sun Siwen thought of this and sighed: "The troubled times are bitter, how difficult it is for the people, and the people are innocent!" ”

After speaking, he couldn't bear to look at it anymore, and slapped his horse and headed towards the mansion.

This time, the prefect of Luyang left the jurisdiction and came to Yangshan Mansion in the south, of course, not to grieve the spring and autumn, but to be summoned by Lu Yuan and come here on business.

Although his friend did not say it explicitly, on the way here, Sun Siwen secretly had some guesses in his heart.

My friend should want to let him take over Yangshan Mansion, just like Luyang Mansion, and re-clean the mess here.

Sun Siwen has a wealth of experience in this matter, so he naturally did not flinch.

can do more for the people in troubled times, and he is also happy in his heart.

Even when I came, I had already thought of several governance strategies, and I was waiting to meet my friends and show them in person.

When he arrived at the mansion, Lu Yuan's personal soldiers who guarded the gate naturally recognized the general's friend.

Moreover, Sun Siwen himself is also the prefect of Luyang, a high-ranking official in the fifth grade, so they naturally dare not offend, so they soon laughed and said hello.

As soon as you enter the palace, what you can see is the small officials who are constantly running back and forth, or the commanders and generals of the various battalions in a hurry.

In the entire yamen, there is a busy atmosphere.

Sun Siwen can also understand this.

After all, my friend has just captured the land of Sanfu, the rewards and punishments of the sergeants and generals of the army, how to maintain law and order on the land, and how to clear the traitors and routs...... and many other things, all of which need to be dealt with urgently.

When he first came from Luyang, he also experienced this kind of busy time.

All the way through the eaves of the hall, and soon under the leadership of his own soldiers, Sun Siwen met his friend in a study.

"Brother Sun is here. Please sit down for a moment, I'll finish this document right away, and we'll talk later. ”

When they met, Lu Yuan was approving the official document.

On the side of Jianghua County, Jiuyi Prefecture, there was a Miao army that broke out, occupied the local Miao cottage, formed a village to defend itself, and openly confronted the garrison of Jianghua County, seriously disrupting the local public order.

The garrison of Jianghua County is all from Hengyang Mansion, and the number is only 500, so it is impossible to solve this Miao army.

Therefore, he sent a document requesting the mobilization of a large army to suppress it.

In this regard, Lu Yuan could only reply: The matter is known, and the army will arrive today.

And then, the headache began, which army should be filmed to suppress in the past?

There have been too many similar situations in recent days.

There are 100,000 Miao people in Sanfu, although Lu Yuan has defeated them all, but how can he say that they are all 100,000 people, how can he kill all the prisoners?

In the end, more than 10,000 Miao soldiers were defeated and scattered to the local counties of Sanfu.

And after these Miao people dispersed, they did not dare to fight head-on with the officers and soldiers of the imperial court, but returned to their own villages and formed a village to defend themselves.

Or simply flee into the mountains, taking advantage of the geographical advantages of the mountains, from time to time to come out to attack the place, plundering the people, just like flies, unable to prevent it.

This kind of endless law and order war is undoubtedly the most time-consuming and energy-consuming.

In order to deal with these routs, Lu Yuan even had to scatter all the 50,000 soldiers and horses on hand to various parts of the three prefectures, and then send out the masters of the Nanhai faction to constantly fight law and order warfare and guerrilla warfare with those Miao soldiers.

In this way, the arrogance of the other party was slightly curbed.

But even so, there is still a shortage of manpower.

For this reason, Lu Yuan had to drop another 20,000 of the 30,000 militia groups that had been gathered in Luyang Mansion to help deal with public order.

In this way, there will be sufficient manpower to cope with local law and order.

After hesitating for a long time, Lu Yuan finally decided to transfer a battalion of soldiers from Lianshan County, Yangshan Prefecture, who had just finished suppressing a local Miao village, to Jianghua County.

First, the two places were not far apart, and second, the first battalion also had 500 soldiers. With the local people, it is enough to suppress the ulcers of more than 100 people.

The official document was approved, and another order was written, and it was handed over to the soldiers waiting next to him, so that he could pass it on.

Lu Yuan finally put down the pen in his hand, then got up, came to Sun Siwen's side, made a cup of tea for his friend, and then said with a smile: "Recently, I have been busy with business, and even I have been busy with sleeping and eating at night, and I have neglected Brother Sun." ”

Sun Siwen shook his head: "Brother Lu governs for the people, this is the heart of the Grand Duke, I will just wait for a while, what is this." ”

"I knew Brother Sun would say so." Lu Yuan smiled, and then didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "Brother Sun is here, and if you want to come here, you should have already guessed." I asked you to come because I had a heavy mandate. ”

Sun Siwen nodded: "Brother Lu should want me to be the prefect of Yangshan and govern this place, right?" ”

Lu Yuan nodded, and then shook his head again: "That's true." However, my wish is not only to let you be the prefect of Yangshan, but I also want you to help me, supervise the two mansions of Jiuyi and Lingling, and be the county guard of the three southern prefectures. ”

"The Southern Sanfu County Guard!"

When Sun Siwen heard this, he was taken aback, everyone stood up, looked at his friend, and hurriedly admonished: "Brother Lu, I know that you have great ambitions.

However, the county guard has been appointed by the imperial court, and he is a feudal official, and his rank is higher than that of General Pingxi, so how can he be appointed by the local government?

And with my position, what power do I have to supervise the Nine Suspicions and the Lingling Second Mansion.

I'll be the prefect of Yangshan.

In the other two prefectures, Brother Lu still arranged for a sage to serve as the prefect. ”

Faced with this arrangement, which was almost a rebellion, Sun Siwen was really a little scared in his heart.

First, out of his own righteousness, he did not want to betray the court. The second is that I don't want to see my friends go to extremes and become traitors.

Otherwise, he will be sandwiched between his friends and the court, and he really doesn't know how to choose, and he will not be a person inside and out.

"Brother Sun, don't be impatient." Lu Yuan looked at Sun Siwen's frightened expression, couldn't help but chuckle, and then said, "When did I say that I was going to do the opposite?" ”

When Sun Siwen heard this, he was a little relieved, settled down, and said, "Brother Lu is not opposed, so why do you say so?" ”

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "You heard me say before, I have an agreement with the imperial court......

At that moment, he told his friends about the ten great grandmaster plans of the imperial court and the plan to seal the country.

Of course, regarding the part of the fiefdom, Lu Yuan made some changes.

From the land of Jiuzhen County, which had been originally determined, it was naturally changed to Dongting County. Even the land of half a county, which was originally a feudal country, was said to start as a half county, and a county was capped.

As for these conditions that are contrary to the plan of the imperial court, will the imperial court recognize them?

Lu Yuan, whose strength is now expanding rapidly, feels that the imperial court, which is now getting weaker and weaker, should not be unhappy with him, and will finally agree.

As for the end, I still can't think about it, what if I don't agree?

Naturally, it's a matter of course.

Anyway, in this place of Dongting County, Lu is not leaving.

I wait for martial artists, and I have always spoken with strength. It's a big deal to see who can win whom.

"Therefore, I have half a county land, and I can tear the earth and seal the country, which has been agreed by the imperial court."

Lu Yuan's expression was as usual, and he said in a surging tone: "Now that Brother Sun, you are in charge of the Three Mansions, it is just to try to set up a central framework first, so as to prepare for the closure of the country in the future." ”

And after Sun Siwen heard such a secret, the whole person was stunned.

As a traditional Confucian scholar, he never expected that in order to continue the national ancestry, the imperial court would suppress rebellion and capture thieves.

would do such a thing as losing power and humiliating the country and ceding land to protect itself.

Rip the ground and seal the territory.

If it is really according to what my friend said, wouldn't the imperial court have to divide at least two or three counties to a little more, or even four counties.

Without these counties, is Dayue still Dayue?

With such a dazed heart, Sun Siwen looked at Lu Yuan, and asked in a dry voice: "Brother Lu, what are you talking about...... It's true? ”

Lu Yuan nodded as a matter of course: "This is natural." Otherwise, why do you think the holy monk Jihui of Baifeng Temple is willing to serve as a national teacher? The old Grandmaster Yan of the Nanhai faction is over one hundred and forty years old, why do they still come out to fight for the imperial court?

The two of them are tens of thousands of disciples, entrenched in a county.

In terms of status, it is not necessarily worse than the guard of a county?

But now they are willing to be used by the imperial court and serve as such a nominal national teacher, do you really think that they are worried about the country's difficulties and want to serve the imperial court?

And just say me, this time I mobilized 200,000 troops to put down the thieves for the imperial court, Shuangxiu wouldn't really think that I was dedicated to the country, right?

If it weren't for the imperial court to give such conditions, why would I spend my strength to suppress the Miao thieves for the imperial court. ”

This bloody fact was laid out, and it immediately shattered the last trace of fantasy in Sun Siwen's heart.

As a friend, of course he knows Lu Yuan's temperament, and the other party is by no means a foolish person.

There is not much loyalty to the court at all.

The reason why Lu Yuan was willing to take up an official position was that he was not worried about his safety, so he reluctantly did it.

Of course, it is impossible for such a person to selflessly dedicate himself, take the initiative to harm his own interests, and give the court a thief.

Therefore, there is only one reason for the other side to send troops.

The imperial court gave a great benefit, and this great benefit was to tear the soil and seal the country.

"How could it be...... How could it be ......"

Although he has known for a long time that the state affairs of the imperial court are declining, it is really difficult for Sun Siwen to accept this scene.

Seeing his friend's slightly lost soul, Lu Yuan sighed, then walked up, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Since ancient times, the change of dynasties has been common sense. Brother Sun, you are worried about the imperial court, but you just want to calm the world, do good things for the people, and make their lives better.

But today's court can't fulfill your wishes. ”

Speaking of this, Lu Yuan paused, and then said earnestly: "I know Brother Sun's ability, and I also know Brother Sun's ambition. At the beginning, you and I cooked wine in Yangmei Town, and Brother Sun once said that one day, when you become an official, you must be strict with the place, eliminate thieves, prohibit force, and bring peace to the people.

Now I am about to break the ground and become the lord of a nation. However, there are not many available talents.

If Brother Sun is willing, I am willing to take you as the country's commander to help me stabilize Dongting County and open a peaceful foundation for this.

How is Brother Sun willing to help me? ”

Lu Yuan took his friend's hand and asked sincerely.

There are too few assistants like Sun Siwen who are both talented and trustworthy in the world.

So little that apart from Sun Siwen, he only thought of Zhou Qing alone.

But although Zhou Qing's cultural accomplishment is also good, after all, he reads the Bible every day, and his knowledge is not much worse.

But the path of his current development is to go to the general of the army.

Lu Yuan has already decided that after the founding of the country, the position of the great general will be his disciple's.

So the head of the generals is now there.

And the head of Wenchen is still temporarily vacant.

Looking around, the only one suitable for the position of prime minister is Sun Siwen.

This time, Lu Yuan came to the other party and entrusted the founding of the country to him, just to persuade his friend to let the other party help him build the country and establish a foundation.

After all, the Ten Grandmasters plan of the imperial court will be completed in more than a year.

At that time, the ten great masters will gather, and it will be the moment of the decisive battle between the imperial court and the Zhou people, Shu thieves, and Miao people.

No matter how long this war drags on, it will be over in two or three years at most.

At that time, it is naturally time for the imperial court to fulfill its promise and give the four great masters on the rivers and lakes to break the soil and seal the territory.

Therefore, if you calculate carefully, it may only be three or four years before Lu Yuan opens the country.

Time is pressing, don't build a framework as soon as possible, and when that time comes, don't even find a hundred civil and military officials.

So now prepare in advance, let Sun Siwen supervise the government affairs of the three southern prefectures, and set up a unified administrative shelf.

When the shelves are set up, Luyang Mansion and Shaoyang Mansion will also be placed in it.

At that time, after running in for a period of time and integrating the five southern provinces of Dongting County into one, Lu Yuan will be able to incorporate the military system into it, and truly turn the place into a country.

This whole set of steps was decided to be carried out slowly after careful consideration.

Now, it's the first step in planning.

And the most important thing in this first step of the plan is the help of my friend.

Otherwise, if the other party disagrees, Lu Yuan really doesn't know where he should go for a while, and find a role that can replace the other party.

So what is Sun Siwen's opinion?

At the beginning, our Sun Governor's Mansion was naturally extremely disappointed and indignant at the court's various compromises.

But after being full of anger, after realizing that everything can no longer be changed, it is confused.

Because he didn't know what he should do after Yue Guo ceded Dongting County?

After all, he is a court official, and he may not necessarily recognize himself when he opens the country and seals the territory.

But after hearing that Lu Yuan was preparing to open a country in Dongting County, and then preparing to make himself the prime minister of the new dynasty.

I have to say.

Our Governor Sun's heart couldn't help but thump.

Don't laugh at him for not being angry, if it is your position as the chief assistant of a country, in front of you, can you not be moved?

Not to mention, the founder of this country is still his best friend.

So in the face of the invitation of his friend, Sun Siwen just struggled in his heart for a few seconds, and then bowed solemnly and saluted: "Sun Siwen has seen the lord, and in the future, he is willing to run for the lord and serve the dogs and horses. ”

Well, at this moment, Sun Siwen was not putting up a friend's shelf, but directly made a master-slave salute to Lu Yuan and determined his name.

After all, in the future, one will be a monarch and the other will be a minister.

With this relationship, even if the monarch is close to you, the status and etiquette that you should have cannot be wasted.

As an orthodox Confucian student, Sun Siwen attaches great importance to this.

"Hahaha!"

When Lu Yuan saw Sun Siwen's statement, he immediately burst out laughing. This friend's willingness to assist him undoubtedly solved a big problem in his heart.

At this time, he hurriedly helped the other party up, and said happily: "I can have Brother Sun to help, and I don't have to worry about the new national affairs." ”

Sun Siwen also said happily: "It is also a blessing for the minister to be able to assist the master of Zuo Ming and display his talents and learning." ”

Since the moment he set the name of the monarch and minister, Sun Siwen no longer regarded himself as Lu Yuan's friend. At this time, the two of them talked, and they also began to divide themselves as monarchs and ministers, and abide by etiquette.

Lu Yuan noticed this and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

But I also know that this is right, and most of them can't persuade my friends, so I can only feel helpless and secretly sad.

But fortunately, the current preparations for the founding of the country finally have that prototype.