Dimensional invasion of reality

Chapter 621 625. Cao Cao’s dilemma

Author: Wu Zixiong

Chapter 621 625. Cao Cao’s dilemma

625, Cao Cao’s tangle

In Xudu, Cao Mengde was in high spirits and returned with a great victory in the battle of Guandu, which made his position as prime minister more stable and showed his status as the hegemon of the north.

A letter from Xun You brought Cao Mengde back to reality, and the sorrow hidden deep in his heart was brought to the surface by him.

Winning the Battle of Guandu, in the final analysis, only blocked Yuan Shao's southern invasion. In addition to gaining a lot of reputation, other things can be said to be of no help. Most of the accumulation was lost in this battle. If you want to start the war again, just

Seems inadequate.

In ancient wars, apart from the loss of weapons and armor, the biggest issue was the issue of food and grass;

The importance of an army is to have two meals a day, which is enough for food and clothing. Once the war starts, not to mention three meals a day, if you eat them openly, the loss will more than double. If you want to make the sergeants work harder, you must have less meat, wine, and rewards.

It takes accumulation, which can be said to be ten times the usual effort, to be able to support the war effort.

Cao Mengde in front of him understood that in the next one or two years, small-scale conflicts were feasible, but major wars were almost impossible. Rest and recuperation was the right thing to do.

Xun You's letter reminded Cao Cao of the situation he would encounter in the future. Yuan Shao in the north would still need several years to calm down, and the situation in the south would be unstoppable by then, but he could only watch helplessly, which made the heroic Cao Cao quite powerless.

I don't know if it's okay, but knowing it, it's strange that Cao Mengde feels relieved when he can only stare but can't do anything about it.

Xun You's letter was written on a stack of paper with tens of thousands of eloquent words. That is to say, Liu Hao provided an unlimited amount of paper so that Xun You could explain everything to Cao Cao in detail.

In the first ten pages, Xun You was describing the changes in Liaodong. In the first sentence, he mentioned Liu Hao's cancellation of the city gate tax;

Not only that, they also built a hotel two kilometers away from the city to facilitate the residence of merchants who could not reach the city before nightfall. They also built beacon towers and garrisoned troops, which almost stretched the entire city's defense line, thus ensuring the safety of merchants coming and going.

It is convenient and brings safety to everyone.

Such small reforms can be seen everywhere in Liaodong. When Cao Cao read this, his thoughts began to fly. He had to admit that this was reliable and could kill two birds with one stone. The consumption of merchants in hotels and inns could also support such a small scale.

Garrisoning troops can also make merchants more willing to come and go.

This is an upgraded version of the ancient inn. Liu Hao attaches great importance to the logistics industry. Almost all such inns in Liaodong have been upgraded. Not only have they increased the scale of the inn, but they have also built attached warehouses to the inn and leased them to traveling merchants.

After trading in the trading market, merchants can withdraw goods with vouchers, which greatly eases the situation of merchants tossing goods back and forth. It not only facilitates merchants, but also increases the transaction volume and accelerates the circulation speed of goods.

These warehouses can also store specialties from Liaodong, such as glass, paper, books, etc. Especially the storage areas planned in the port city have greatly increased the number of maritime merchants. From the beginning, there were only a few agents to build fleets, and now

Seeing the profits in many coastal areas, large and small fleets gradually joined them, selling goods from Liaodong to various parts of the Central Plains, which further strengthened Liu Hao's finances.

Cao Cao was also a great talent. Xun You's detailed explanation made Cao Cao's heart beat. Before he finished reading the letter, he began to gather his think tanks. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued to read Xun You's letter.

Next, Xun You talked about the situation of border trade, that is, Liu Hao opened up the cattle, horse and sheep trade with Wuheng, and a large number of cattle and sheep entered Liaodong, even the top horses;

This information made Cao Cao frown. He was worried that Liu Hao would continue to grow in Liaodong and threaten himself in the future, but he was also a little happy. After all, there was a gap in the dragon horse transaction blocked by Yuan Shao, and Liu Hao, who had no conflict of interest with him,

Being able to open a gap, not to mention the specific dragon horse, must not be difficult, and the large-scale purchase made him more confident in the next war against Yuan Shao.

After struggling for a while, Cao Cao made up his mind, regardless of anything else, the Yuan Benchu ​​in front of him is the biggest enemy. If he does not surpass Yuan Benchu, the future will be the future after all. The levels must be passed one by one. What will happen in the future will be discussed in the future.

With the decision made, Cao Cao wanted to continue reading. Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others announced their entry. Cao Cao stopped his eyes, waved his hand, and passed the part he had read to Xun Yu, allowing them to discuss it first.

"This great talent can kill three birds with one stone. Upgrading a mere post station can provide convenience to merchants and bring early warning to the city. More importantly, it can speed up the circulation of goods, save costs for the people, and provide us with

Bring profits and feed more sergeants!"

Xun Yu explained the essence of Liu Hao's logistics in just a few words;

"It's just that this early stage of construction requires a lot of effort. The North Korean and Chinese finances..."

Cao Cao nodded slightly. He had thought about this just now, but compared to the benefits, the effort required gritting his teeth. Xun Yu looked at Cao Cao's expression and did not mention it again. He was also happy to see such construction;

The letter passed through the hands of Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and others, and everyone expressed their opinions one after another. Mao Jie also stated that the sergeants stationed around the post station could also farm. After all, the post station did not have merchants gathering every day. Compared with the four directions in Liaodong

Jackal, under Cao Cao's rule, was more stable, and the defense level was also lowered accordingly. In some areas around Xudu, the sergeants stationed at the post station were more of a deterrent to the surrounding areas.

Mao Jie's proposal made Cao Cao very happy;

"Wen Ruo, you and Xiaoxian (Mao Jie's nickname) will follow up on this matter and get all the necessary financial support. We must speed up!"

"Yes! Lord!"

After a decision was made on one matter, the next issue of the dragon-horse trade was a group of people who were just Muggles, and without others, they were short of money.

This is not just an ordinary shortage. The cost of fighting has almost exhausted Cao Cao's accumulation over the past few years. It is almost impossible to purchase dragon horses on a large scale.

After talking for a long time, there was no good idea, so we couldn't get credit, right? Cao Cao thought, but he had never met Liu Hao, and he didn't think he could really get credit;

I had no choice but to shelve this issue and continue reading Xun You's letters.

Next, Xun You mentioned the policy of "Han'er is not a slave", a four-class division mechanism of citizens, commoners, servants, and slaves. The replacement of Han'er tenants of aristocratic families with foreign slaves allowed the aristocratic family to maintain its past economic model while also

Cao Mengde's eyes widened and his heart beat violently when Liu Hao's rule obtained Han'er's population of hundreds of thousands out of thin air.

Cao Cao is very aware of the problems of the aristocratic family, but he has never been able to find a way to solve it. As a result, he has been delaying and procrastinating on a large scale to promote poor scholars, but he still cannot bring any change to the aristocratic family. It almost makes Cao Cao despair. Liu Hao

This policy suddenly gave Cao Cao a plan. After careful consideration, it seemed that it was not impossible.

Cao Cao did not expect that the family could release all Han'er tenants, but as long as they released a part, it would mean that the population under Cao Mengde's rule was increasing, which would mean that his own strength was strengthening, and these released people would naturally be on Cao Cao's side.

He couldn't wait to read on, and when he saw the thirty-acre land tax exemption policy for each household in Liaodong, Cao Mengde's heart almost stopped.

"There is no tax on farmers." If any emperor in the feudal era could do this, his status in the history of Qing Dynasty would be equal to that of "Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han", or even surpass it!

This is something that Cao Cao never dared to think about, but now Liaodong Que has begun to implement it. Although each household is only tax-free for 30 acres, it has already covered almost 99% of the people. What does it have to do with "no tax for farmers"

the difference?

Cao Cao had to admit that he was jealous, but Liu Hao did it. He also reached out to aristocratic families, broke the "no tax for scholars" policy, and linked taxation to the amount of land held in an open and honest manner. The more land, the higher the tax.

Heavy;

It also uses the household as the basis to disperse the interests of the aristocratic family clan model, which is similar to the "Tianfa Order" of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Under Hong Guoguo's conspiracy, Cao Mengde could even imagine that after the aristocratic family allocated the land to the household registration

, the unity of the aristocratic family can no longer be what it used to be. Everything is decided by the clan leader. The aristocratic family may still exist, but its foundation has gradually been lost.

Link by link, from the disintegration of the private armed forces of the family, to the implementation of "Han'er is not a slave", and then using the "agricultural tax" reform as a breakthrough, the true foundation of the family was completely uprooted, without touching a single bit of the family's money.

It's like boiling a frog in warm water. Even if the aristocratic family understands now, they can only look back and sigh.

Cao Cao tightened his hands, glanced downwards, paused for a moment on each think tank, and quietly folded up the information. He was not going to let the think tank discuss it on a large scale, but chose to keep some of the core information after the meeting.

Down.

After that, Cao Cao accelerated the reading speed of Xun You's letter and read the entire letter before extracting part of it and handing it to Xun Yu.

"Tian Yu?"

Cao Cao underestimated and put a smile on his face. This name had completely entered Cao Cao's field of vision.

It was inevitable to let him go, and Cao Cao was also happy to see Tian Yu go north to Liaodong. This idea was dismissed as soon as he thought about it. More importantly, he focused on the "Confucian and Taoist practice system".

He felt that the world of the Three Kingdoms would usher in a huge change, and Cao Cao, the first prince to get the news, should have been elated, but after thinking about it carefully, he was still a little worried.

Civil servants and military commanders are the foundation, but the force system has long been in the hands of military commanders. The addition of the Confucian and Taoist training system will greatly enhance the military force of civil servants, which will inevitably impact the rights of military commanders and promote an imbalance between the two sides.

Once civil servants increase their military power, will they continue to be content with the status quo?

As a prince, what Cao Cao considered more was his right to rule, or in other words, the right to rule his descendants.

In the hands of Cao Mengde, he fully believed that he could suppress the civil servants. Even if the military strength of these civil servants increased greatly, he, Cao Mengde, would not be afraid;

But once the throne is passed to his descendants, the struggle for power between the monarch and his ministers will inevitably occur. As a successor, his prestige is not high, and his power will be limited. Can he still sit on the throne safely?

?Will there be a powerful minister like Cao Cao? He holds the emperor in power to order the princes?

Cao Cao was very conflicted, but he also knew in his heart that even if he wanted to ban the Confucian and Taoist practice system, there was nothing he could do. If he really banned it, it would probably have the opposite effect;

Here, the military force of civil servants is improving, but is it not the same for military generals? The military training system alone is enough to change the entire battlefield. Once one's side fails to practice, if other princes learn it, not to mention the future, they will probably be buried by other princes.

.

Cao Cao had a headache, and his thoughts about Liu Hao became more complicated. He had read two volumes of "Spring and Autumn" written by Liu Hao, one was cold, one was hot, one was serious and one was ridiculing;

The former is quite good, on par with history books, and Cao Cao has read a lot. The latter makes fun of history, but it is an experience that Cao Cao has never had. When reading, he will always unconsciously put his personal emotions into it and regard himself as a person.

As a member of the Spring and Autumn Period, I can't stop wanting to play in person.

After reading it, Cao Cao admired Liu Hao very much and regarded him as a great Confucian. But in a blink of an eye, this Confucian and Taoist practice system told Cao Cao that he was not just a great Confucian. The mere establishment of the "Confucian and Taoist practice system" was enough to make Liu Hao be praised by hundreds of people.

It is only a matter of time to worship one's family and become a 'saint'.

Being an enemy of such a 'sage', no matter whether he wins or loses, Cao Cao will be under a lot of pressure. If he wins, not only will he lose his reputation, but it will also make Cao Cao infamous throughout the ages. Hundreds of families in the future will not give the Cao family a good look. Once

After his death, his descendants are likely to be overthrown by hundreds of families.

If he loses, Cao Mengde will be taken for granted and be laughed at, as he deserves it.

"It's hard, it's hard!"

This is how Cao Cao feels now. He can't wait to meet Liu Hao. He needs to talk to Liu Hao in person, make a detailed assessment of Liu Hao, and prepare for the next plan.

When the Confucian and Taoist practice system was circulated, everyone in Cao Cao's think tank was inexplicably excited, even Guo Jia was the same.

Cao Cao glanced around and sighed in his heart, becoming even more determined that he must meet Liu Hao, and the sooner the better.

Liu Hao underestimated the power of the 'Confucian and Taoist practice system' in the Three Kingdoms world. He knew that the influence would be great, but he did not expect it to be so great. He had just released it and established it among the literati in the Three Kingdoms world.

The prototype of a saint, and he is also a 'sage' who has read hundreds of schools of thought. According to the views of the local people in the Three Kingdoms, if he cannot read hundreds of schools of thought, how can he create such a practice system?

In Xudu, the Prime Minister's Mansion, the meeting that was still discussing issues turned into a venue for experiencing the 'Confucianism and Taoism practice system'. The people sitting there were all talented people. It didn't take long for them to enter the stage of being a child one by one.

Soon he entered childhood again, built a statue of himself in his own sea of ​​consciousness, developed a literary spirit, and truly entered the practice of "Confucianism and Taoism".

Fortunately, everyone knew that enough was enough, and these people did not continue to practice. They suppressed the excitement and impulse in their hearts and looked at Cao Cao with a red face.

Cao Mengde sighed in his heart and waved his hand, leaving only Xun Yu, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu, while the others couldn't wait to go home and continue practicing.

(End of chapter)