My players are all acting

After more than half an hour, Chu Ge and Li Hongyun each checked some historical materials and were going to meet again and discuss.

Li Hongyun looked at the densely packed notes he had written down in his notebook, and felt a little emotional. He had never been so serious even in class.

"The poem 'Fenghou is not what I want' was written by General Deng Yuanjing, combined with the name Southeast Dangkou, it can be basically confirmed that the goal of this trial dungeon is to wipe out the threat of bandits and conquer Puning Port.

"The first stage of the pawn line is the scene where General Deng Yuanjing led his troops against the bandits for the first time. According to historical records, at that time, he led a large number of pawns several times that of the enemy, but he was defeated at the first touch. He turned the tide of the battle with three arrows.

"Historical records say, 'According to Gao Shi shooting the bandit, three shots hit the three chieftains, the soldiers all unite, and the bandit retreats', which is also true.

"But in the second stage, Puning Port could not be attacked for a long time and fell into a stalemate. According to historical records, Puning Port was taken by General Deng Yuanjing after training new troops and equipping new weapons. Therefore, in order to break through this stage, Sufficient military supplies must be raised.

"In addition, the Lord Wang was also found out. I remember correctly. His name is Wang Zongchang. He was involved in politics and led the army at that time. However, there are really not many records about him in historical materials.

"Judging from the situation in the dungeon, his relationship with Governor Lin is not very close, and I haven't found him useful for the time being.

"As for the staff line, Governor Lin clings to Yan Shoufu and often gives gifts. This is known from General Deng's memory fragments. Although there is no stone hammer, the credibility is still relatively high.

"Yan Shoufu's secret letter, asking Governor Lin to destroy the embankment and flood the bandits, presumably failed, because there is no record in history.

"If the dikes are really destroyed and the thieves are flooded, I'm afraid the consequences will be disastrous. I don't know how many fertile lands will be reduced to the country and how many people will be displaced. Such a big event will definitely cause turmoil in the entire court and affect the war of the bandits. It is impossible not to see it." in the annals of history.

"But the question now is how to get the necessary military expenditure without destroying the embankment."

Chu Ge nodded, and although he briefly added some details, it was basically similar to the information Li Hongyun found.

After all, both of them are excellent students in the history department, everything in the historical materials is obvious, and the content they found will not be too different.

The key is to analyze the method of breaking the situation from these historical materials.

Chu Ge pondered for a moment, and said: "I think the key to solving the problem lies in Yan Shoufu's real intention.

"Destroying dikes and drowning thieves is obviously a huge stupid move from a military point of view, but it is impossible for anyone with a normal mind to do it.

"Yan Maoqing has been able to be the chief assistant for so many years, and he can't explain it just by saying that he is a big villain. He must be an extremely smart person.

"Then, the matter of destroying dikes and drowning thieves is mostly not due to military considerations, but due to other considerations. Once this matter is implemented, it will definitely be of great benefit to him.

"As for Yan Shoufu, the only thing he cares about is money."

Li Hongyun thought for a while and added: "There is still status. Money is important, but his position as chief assistant is also very important."

Chu Ge nodded: "It's the same thing.

"The reason why he can sit in the position of chief assistant is not because he is more capable and knows how to govern the country than Gu Qingzhang, who is also an important minister, but because he can make more money for the emperor.

"So, if he can earn money, he is the first assistant. If he can't earn money, he will be rolled down immediately, and may even be confiscated by the emperor."

Li Hongyun nodded slightly.

Gu Qingzhang is another court elder, second only to Yan Maoqing among the important ministers. If Yan Maoqing falls, then Gu Qingzhang will definitely take over.

Li Hongyun thought for a while: "Then you mean that the matter of destroying dikes and flooding thieves is related to making money? But how do you make money? Once the river bursts and the fertile land is flooded, wouldn't the treasury have to allocate money for relief? This Didn't it cost more money instead?"

Chu Ge shook his head slightly: "Not necessarily.

"Do you still remember the phrase 'save the people first save the officials' said by the powerful minister Wang Chong in the scribe test? This is of course a fallacy, but it is indeed the code of conduct for powerful and corrupt officials like Wang Chong and Yan Maoqing.

"The so-called royal party and strict party are actually a community of interests formed by a group of corrupt officials. Wang Chong or Yan Maoqing, on the surface, they are the leaders and say what they say, but in fact they also want to share the benefits layer by layer. To be able to bring everyone together Make money, and everyone will follow you.

"Similarly, if you want everyone to spit out some benefits, the premise must be that you promise more benefits to everyone.

"This is the so-called 'save the people first, save the officials'. In their eyes, you must first feed the corrupt officials before you can do anything. Otherwise, the people below will hinder you everywhere, and you will be unable to do anything. Even if they are The same is true for the powerful ministers."

Li Hongyun was thoughtful: "That is to say, if the river bursts and the fertile land is flooded, is it good for these corrupt officials?

"The money for disaster relief is going up and down?

"But it still puts a burden on the treasury. Where are they going to spit the money from?"

Chu Ge said: "It's not just food for disaster relief.

"The purpose of Yan Shoufu is to make money for the emperor, so that his position can be stabilized. He has been the first assistant for so many years, and the emperor has long wanted to replace him. At this time, he has to continue to prove that he has made a lot of money for the emperor. The ability to make the emperor feel inseparable from him can continue to secure this position.

"So, he has to find a way to fill up the treasury, even if he is eating enough food, the treasury must look full in the past two years, at least his position as chief assistant must be secured. Otherwise, let alone later, he will be finished now .

"He can't care about the future.

"Relief food can be paid less or not, and floods will drown some people. As long as the victims can't get to the capital, it doesn't matter. He, the capital, can sit back and relax. Naturally, the people under him will be responsible. The key is , How can I make money quickly.

"At that time, it happened to be the time when the salt tax was collected. The salt tax was the largest tax in the imperial court's fiscal revenue at that time.

"However, for the salt tax, it is not up to one person to charge more or less. The officials below may not obediently hand over the money. They play tricks on the account books. As long as it is not too much, they will It is difficult to find out, after all, it is ancient times, and the information is not smooth.

"So, how much the salt tax can be collected actually depends on whether the person who collects the salt tax has enough prestige, or whether they can exchange enough benefits with these officials.

"Yan Shoufu is the leader of the strict party, so the prestige of the people sent is naturally enough. But still the same sentence, even if you are the leader of the strict party, you have to share enough benefits with everyone, otherwise why would everyone listen to you? ?If you give enough benefits, you can collect more salt tax, and the officials below are willing to give you all the money that was originally held in their hands.

"Think about it, what is very valuable, and at the same time it belongs to the nature of 'eat enough food', and can be converted into cash quickly?"

Li Hongyun soon came to his senses: "Land!

"After the dikes are destroyed and the thieves are flooded, a large number of good fields will be flooded. Once flooded, these fields will no longer be valuable. Those officials can collude with local tyrants, evil gentry and wealthy businessmen to force farmers to sell them at a very low price. .

"In this way, it is tantamount to a large-scale plunder of these farmers through natural disasters.

"Corrupt officials, wealthy gentry and wealthy businessmen got the land with the help of Yan Maoqing, and took such a huge advantage, so naturally they have to show something, they must try their best to raise money, and pay all the salt tax that was originally withheld!

"In this way, Yan Shoufu successfully collected a large amount of salt tax and enriched the treasury. When the emperor was happy, his position as the first assistant was preserved..."

Speaking of this, Li Hongyun couldn't help but feel chills down his spine.

Because I have said so much, it is actually just two words: cannibalism!

Yan Shoufu asked for money, how did he get the money? One's own party members can't move, so naturally they can only find ways to extract money from the common people. The common people have no money, but they have land, but they are not willing to sell the land cheaply.

Then flood the land and sell it cheaply to wealthy merchants. After this round of turnover, won’t you be rich?

But then, Li Hongyun thought of a new problem.

"However, destroying the embankment is a felony. He is not afraid that the emperor will beheaded if he gets angry?"

Chu Ge shook his head slightly: "Why do you think the emperor would know about this?

"It's the rainy season at this time, and the water level is soaring. There is a danger of a breach. As long as no one notices the abnormality, or no one can tell the emperor, it is not a man-made disaster, but a natural disaster. Who can blame Yan Maoqing for such a thing? on the head?

"Take a 10,000-step back, even if the matter is revealed and the emperor knows, do you think the person who will take the blame in the end will be Yan Shoufu? Will it be Governor Lin?

"Why do you think Yan Shoufu sent a secret letter instead of directly ordering it? Do you think Governor Lin would be so stupid as to do it himself?

"For people of their status, how easy is it to find someone to take the blame?

"At that time, we just need to push the blame and kill a high-ranking scapegoat, right?

"Yan Shoufu just collected so much salt tax from the emperor, made such a great contribution, and demonstrated such a strong ability to handle affairs. Yan's party is full of food and united as one. Do you think that under such circumstances, Even if the emperor thinks it's tricky, can he investigate it? If he insists on investigating Mr. Yan Ge, isn't he afraid that all the officials in the world will be hurt?"

still today