Three Kingdoms

Bittern, uh, Lu Su actually had three purposes for coming to Chang'an.

One of them was obviously on the bright side, to congratulate Fei Qian on his wedding, um, second wedding. The second one is also more obvious, which is to discuss the Jingzhou issue with Fei Qian. As for the third purpose...

General Fei avoided talking about the Jingzhou issue, which was unexpected and reasonable. Lu Su didn't expect Fei Qian to be able to endure it. After all, Fei Qian could be said to have started his career in Jingzhou, and there were many Jingzhou people under his command, but thinking about it the other way around, he seemed to understand. After all, if you openly talk to others about how to carve up Jingzhou, it will inevitably make these subordinates who are from Jingzhou feel cruel and ruthless, and avoid talking about it, or express the meaning in a vague way, which becomes inevitable.

So for Jingzhou, Fei Qian's intention is very likely that he is willing to maintain the status quo, but this is obviously impossible. Even if Cao Cao is not mentioned, Sun Quan cannot sit back and watch Liu Jingsheng die and let the Cao family devour Jingzhou... …

Therefore, everyone has a somewhat tacit understanding that when Liu Biao dies, Jingzhou will most likely undergo huge changes. And who will benefit from this change will depend on their subsequent operations.

Jingzhou is a gateway to the Central Plains. Whoever controls the gate will be more at ease. This is true for Cao Cao, and it is true for Sun Quan, but only Qiao Qi Feiqian, the door handle belonging to Qiao Qi, has always been in the hands of the Jingxiang Pang family and the Huang family. So, among the three families, Fei Qian sits the most firmly and has the greatest initiative.

This is also Lu Su's helplessness.

Unless the Huang family, Pang family and Fei Qian turn against each other.

However, the Huang family is almost equivalent to Fei Qian's cousin, and the Chenliu Cai family obviously does not threaten the Huang family's status, so the Huang family will not fall out with Fei Qian because of this Cai Yan, and will still stand firmly by Fei Qian. dive this side, and so does Ponzi. As long as Pang Tong is still in that position, Pang will not say that he has any irreconcilable conflicts with Fei Qian.

Therefore, at least now it seems that the three Fei, Huang, and Pang families are closely connected. There is not even a gap, and naturally the crowbar cannot reach in...

Therefore, although Lu Su generally guessed Fei Qian's idea and was acceptable to carry out trade, for Lu Su personally, there was no actual progress in his purpose of coming to Chang'an.

The spring breeze has gradually blown to Chang'an, but Lu Su's heart is still feeling chilly, because he found that even though he understood, or maybe he understood, there still seemed to be nothing he could do. Although he also met some people, But the attitude of these people, I don’t know where they learned it from. They still collect things but never express their stance...

And later Lu Su heard that after collecting the things, many people turned around and handed half of them over to Fei Qian!

No matter how good-tempered Lu Su is, sometimes he can't help but want to burst out of his mouth (not a typo).

If he goes back like this, Lu Su will lose face and have trouble explaining to Sun Quan. After all, Lu Su knew what kind of temper Sun Quan, a fool, was like. If he went back in despair without accomplishing anything, wouldn't Sun Quan become suspicious?

Therefore, Lu Su felt that he should add some details and figure out some things more or less, and he could also go home and talk to Sun Erleng...

For example, how did the Cavalry General Fei Qian make so much money in business?

Lu Su was born into a wealthy family. The so-called "rich" mainly means having money, but now, Lu Su only has "pen" left, and all the money is almost spent. Paying the protection fee, bah, part of it was used to make friends, and part of it was used to move the family. Naturally, there won't be much left after arriving in Jiangdong, so if you can learn some trade experience from Fei Qian, it will be great for both public and private purposes. of.

Fei Qian, this guy, has been fighting many battles since he was in Shangdi County in the north, and now he has not been dragged down by so many battles. This fact makes Lu Su incredible. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was a brilliant man at that time, finally had to issue an edict to quell public anger. Of course, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's edict to blame himself was not actually because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty really wanted to admit that he was wrong, but had other political purposes. But no matter what, by that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could no longer fight.

Of course, the so-called "Edict to Sin" was added by Sima at every opportunity, while the more serious version of the Eight Classics is actually called the "Edict of Luntai".

And Fei Qian still has the energy to clean up the Western Region now...

This fact inevitably made Lu Su feel shaken and at a loss.

Connecting to the Western Regions is not a bad thing, nor is it an unprecedented thing. At least Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has already done it. However, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reached the Western Regions, he issued the "Luntai Edict" and then Fei lurked here...

When the "Luntai Edict" was issued, it was the fourth year of Zhenghe.

The decision to make this edict was not just because of what happened that year, but also because of many things that happened one after another before that year.

After forty-three years of war with the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty finally painfully accepted the fact that completely surrendering the Xiongnu was an impossible task, and the Han Empire was no longer able to fight anymore.

At that point, the Han Dynasty was already in turmoil. In the second year of Zhenghe, a "witchcraft disaster" occurred that shocked the world. Prince Liu Ju, who was framed and forced to launch a coup, was defeated and committed suicide. Queen Wei Zifu also followed his son; in the third year of Zhenghe, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty General Li Guangli, the most relied-upon general in the later period, surrendered to the Huns in front of the battle line, which almost declared Liu Che's final bankruptcy in solving the Huns problem by force.

In addition to the dual political and military defeats, Liu Che also lost all the wealth he had accumulated for decades under Wenjing's rule. According to the "Han Shu", "the domestic household registration was wasted" and "the household registration in the world was halved" .

In the fourth year of Zhenghe, three months before the Luntai Edict, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty criticized himself at the Zen ceremony near Mount Tai: "Since I came to the throne, my wild and rebellious behavior has made the world miserable, and I cannot regret it." From now on, anyone who harms the people or wastes the world will be punished. 』

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne at the age of sixteen and reigned for fifty-four years. He conquered Korea in the east, Baiyue in the south, Dawan in the west, and defeated the Xiongnu in the north.

Strong or not, strong. However, many people in the Han Dynasty at that time believed that what Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did was already infinitely close to the tyranny of Qin Shihuang. "There are few people who are different from Qin Shihuang." He is extremely restrained, has luxurious palaces inside, engages in foreign affairs, believes in gods and monsters, and wanders around without restraint."

If it had not been for the "late and corrected" Luntai edict, how could Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty have made the comment that "it was a mistake to destroy Qin but avoid the disaster of destroying Qin"?

And even so, not long after the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, at the Salt and Iron Conference held in the sixth year of Emperor Zhao's first year, virtuous literature from the people tried to comprehensively deny various economic policies implemented by Emperor Wu; In 2006, the Han court was once again divided over whether to increase temple music to worship Emperor Wu. Minister Xia Housheng fiercely attacked Emperor Wu, cursing that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had caused "people to eat each other" and "had no virtue to benefit the people", so Emperor Xuan The angry general Xia Housheng was imprisoned, but was later pardoned and released from prison; during the reign of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, the courtiers even suggested that Emperor Wu's temple should be destroyed because of his great fault...

An emperor who was so strong and held such power in his hands during his lifetime, however, after his death, even the temple, which can be regarded as a "grave" in general, was almost stripped by his ministers. In comparison, Now, Fei Qian is still just a hussar general. Although the area in his hands is large, the population may not be as large as that of Jizhou and Yuzhou...

Okay, now the problem is obvious. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions, and he had to issue a "Luntai Edict" on his own. But now Fei Qian also passed through the Western Regions, and as a result, there were still people following him to the Western Regions. What happened? What's going on?

Lu Su wanted to ride on his sister, but he couldn't.

Don't Fei Qian's soldiers spend any money? Obviously not. After all, it is generally known that the soldiers under the Hussars are equipped with elite equipment. Even Lu Su's own guards couldn't help but flash green in their eyes when they saw those equipment. After all, they went to the battlefield and used real swords and guns. For me, good equipment almost gives me a little more hope of survival and more lives. Can I not be envious?

Farming? That's not right. After all, Cao Aizhi also has a farm. Well, Lu Su reflected on himself. He shouldn't be so rude, but it is a fact that he is short... Well, let's ignore the height. He also has a farm. Is it possible that Fei Qian is here? Isn't it true that what grows in your fields is gold and silver instead of crops?

Where is the problem?

Lu Su wandered around for several times and decided to take a walk in the market again. Lu Su felt that the answer seemed to be there, but he had always ignored it...

As a result, not long after Lu Su arrived at Shifang, he bumped into Chen Qun.

The two people pretended to salute and hold hands, and then finally joined hands and entered a restaurant in the market place. They sat at the window on the second floor, drinking and talking nonsense while watching the people going by under the window. organized flow of people.

Both of them seemed to be very relaxed, but in fact they both concealed the anxiety deep in their eyes, especially when they saw the prosperity in Fei Qian's territory. This feeling was simply difficult to describe in words...

Every family has its own problems. Although on the surface, neither Lu Su nor Chen Qun would say that their families are in financial difficulties, but their methods of exploitation are a bit rushed. Well, no, it’s because their strategies of serving the people and improving people’s livelihood are not up to par. …

Chen Qun, like Lu Su, was inconceivable to the vitality and power that burst out from Fei Qian, just like some people think that grass cannot compete with stones. How can Chen Qun, who prides himself on being smart, endure it?

In fact, Jizhou and Yuzhou have already experienced a significant economic recession. Although Chen Qun may not necessarily understand the term "economic recession," Chen Qun can intuitively discover that there are serious problems in the economy under Cao Cao's command.

The first is the gentry.

Apart from anything else, as a local nobleman in Yingchuan, Chen Qun has noticed that the current social interactions, cultural activities, etc. among the noblemen are decreasing at an obvious speed. This does not mean that the children of the Yingchuan gentry are concerned about the country and the people and save money and food for the country, but because they feel the pressure of money.

The taxes that need to be collected are not less. On the contrary, because of the war, they are more than before. Although the new farming technology is used in the output between the village and the fields, it is natural to thank the "selfless" cavalry general here, but Such an increase is still not enough to make up for the losses. The reserves of each family have almost dropped to a red line that makes the family panic and have trouble sleeping and eating. Naturally, they are not in the mood to hold cultural meetings, go outing, etc... …

Naturally, taxes were something that the children of the gentry could not produce on their own, so the pressure was shifted to the farmers and women. Many farmers not only had to bear the taxes, but were also recruited to serve as village servants, which made the already shaky underlying structure even worse.

As for some handicraftsmen and petty bourgeois at the middle level, there is no guarantee of income, so the so-called consumption is naturally a joke. The children of the gentry do not hold cultural gatherings or travel, etc. The level of consumption has dropped sharply, which has led to many problems. The products of the handicraftsmen in the city had no market, and then naturally they could no longer continue, and many families were ruined.

Then more and more people commit crimes. Chen Qun knows that many of them are forced to take risks because of the pressure of life. However, Chen Qun has no way to change these because this is not something that one person or a family can accomplish. . The "amnesty" promoted by Xun Yu can only treat the symptoms but not the root cause...

Before things got worse and worse, the Yingchuan gentry, including Chen Qun's own Chen family, were actually very excited at the beginning, because in the early days, the big gentry families could use their reserves to eat in large quantities. Some assets that are usually of high value speed up the inflow of wealth from the bottom to the top. However, as the reserves within the family decrease, they will soon be unable to afford it. In other words, these families begin to tend to obtain more "for free". A lot of assets, but not willing to pay anything.

Armed separatism and mutual embezzlement have become a necessity, and in this process, more things were consumed, not only on the material level, but also on the spiritual level, so the Han Dynasty The overall structure begins to fall apart...

Chen Qun was not the only one who felt that the people under his feet were beginning to sway. Cao Cao and Xun Yu were also equally keen, so they promoted the "examination system" in an attempt to win over as many people as possible and maintain the We live in this structure, but unfortunately, not everyone is willing to follow the footsteps of Cao Cao, Xun Yu, and Chen Qun. They feel that if they follow Cao Cao and others, they will only eat farts and dust. They have to follow their own path. Only then there is fresh fodder.

So these people started to make trouble, which made Cao Cao very embarrassed.

Therefore, as Chen Qun, who is not the number one counselor under Cao Cao, he still has to show some self-worth, so he is somewhat similar to Lu Su. He also has confusion, and he also wants to find an answer in Fei Qian. , he couldn't understand why so many people followed Fei Qian? What method did Fei Qian use to achieve this?

So on the surface, the two of them were sitting together laughing and chatting, as if they were visiting the market in their free time, or just passing by. They didn't show any impatience at all, nor did they show any abnormality, but in fact they each had their own differences. The worries, hidden anxieties and curses are probably only known to the two of them.

In the market, as the temperature rises slightly, the entire operation heats up quickly. The merchants coming and going begin to prepare for the first big sale in the new year. From time to time, there are caravans pulling long convoys and horses, coming from a distance. Come and go far away...

With the flow of people and cars coming and going, it is natural to patrol the streets. On the one hand, they maintain order, and on the other hand, they also serve to intimidate Xiaoxiao. Otherwise, the money bags carried by these merchants would be enough to attract some craftsmen to visit. .

Although there is an inspection and maintenance order, and the streets in the city are relatively spacious, there are always some accidents, such as convoys and cavalry bumping into each other, or the relatively narrow square gate, where people entering and exiting happen to be blocked. One place.

At this time, the role of patrol inspection is very important, just like the traffic police in later generations. Those who go out first and those who retreat are all under the patrol order, and then order can be maintained.

Lu Su and Chen Qun, who were sitting on the second floor, watched helplessly as a long caravan merged with another small group of gentry-like children at the gate of the square. Among the gentry children, The guards stepped forward to scold them, as if they wanted to let the caravan get out of the way first, but not to mention the weight of the caravan's vehicles, the gate was relatively small, and it was not possible to get out of the way just by trying. When they were in a stalemate, Even though an inspection came soon, they stopped the request of the nobles who came later to protect themselves, and instead allowed the general caravan to continue moving forward...

"This..." Chen Qun looked at it, and suddenly his heart skipped a beat, and he thought of something. He suddenly realized that he almost couldn't hide his expression in front of Lu Su. He hurriedly coughed to cover it up, and then said with a smile: "I have a chance to meet you today." Zijing, what a blessing! I have the intention to have a long talk with Zi Jing, but I have an appointment. I really... I hope Zi Jing Haihan..."

Lu Su hurriedly said: "I am very lucky to hear a long essay on the Sutra today. How can I dare to delay the long essay again?" Please do as you please and don't take solemnity as a thought! 』

Although he said this, Lu Su was still wondering in his heart, why did Chen Qun suddenly want to leave? Could it be that you saw something? There was nothing special just now... huh? It seems, it seems, could it be because of that thing?

Although they have said that they should leave, the nobles still have to make concessions, such as whether to send them or not. They have to go through the process over and over again, so waiting for Chen Qun and Lu After Su finished pushing his hands back and forth, and when he showed a reluctant farewell at the door of the restaurant, the group of nobles who were originally blocked at the entrance of the restaurant also happened to walk in. When they got nearby, a young man wearing crescent white clothes was among them. Lang is exceptionally handsome...