Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty East Route Army arrived in Xiangzhou in early March, and the whole army stopped temporarily. At this time, it will take time for the luggage and some soldiers to board the boat and go south. The army will march along the Han River by land and water, and the march will be much easier. The officials in Xiangzhou found a courtyard with wide open sides as a camp for the army, and Guo Shao also stayed there. When he had the opportunity, he wrote a letter to Fu Ermei.

He also received some letters from Tokyo. One of them was Wang Pu's private letter, which was immediately selected by Guo Shao as the first letter to read...because Wang Pu was the privy envoy.

Originally thought that Wang Pu was making suggestions on the military and political affairs of the war of attacking Shu, but unexpectedly, the opening chapter was in the tone of a friend reminiscing about the old days. As Guo Shao read it, his mind became a little vicissitudes...

Wang Pu didn't mention attacking Shu at all. He believed that the unification of the southern countries was only a matter of time; he mentioned some very long-term ideas. Wang Pu said that his illness was getting worse and there was no sign of improvement, and he might not be able to see that day. After thinking about it, he wanted to tell General Guo some opinions.

In recent years, the war-torn population in the Central Plains has withered, and the number of households registered at the time of the clearest government was less than one million. However, the main states in Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Huaibei supported hundreds of thousands of forbidden soldiers, no less than 200,000 town soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of forbidden soldiers. The Central Plains can support so many troops in one place, why? The Shu Kingdom and the Southern Tang Dynasty were no less able to support the army than the Zhou Dynasty. Why?

Wang Puyan, looking through the central and local government affairs files, believes that the exploitation and taxation at this time has "combined the best of the past and the present" and has reached the point of unscrupulous. At this time, there is nothing wrong with it. In order to survive the war, all countries will inevitably pay a lot of miscellaneous taxes... However, since the end of Tang Dynasty for a hundred years, exploitation has gradually become a customary system.

Was the money and food collected and collected to continue decades of militarism, or was it divided up in powerful places such as Tokyo to allow a few people to live in extravagance and support the prosperity of several big cities (the prosperity and cultural prosperity of the capitals of the Southern Tang Dynasty and Shu Kingdom have already begun to prove this deduction)? General Guo should think about the layout early, otherwise in the future when the winners are too big to lose their tails, there will be great resistance to snatching food from them.

Scholars and bureaucrats, most people may not see such things; they will not say what they see, and it is meaningless for people in the officialdom to say that they will cut off their own wealth. The old man can't help but want to speak out in this situation.

... Guo Shao read the long letter several times. Thinking about Wang Pu's blunt speech throughout his life, the most rare thing is to talk about the pain of the problem (although sometimes it is really not pleasant to the ear), rather than ordinary scholar-bureaucrats just talking about things with high-sounding sages and righteousness. At present, Guo Shao is more and more reluctant to part with this old man who is more than twice his age, and feels a little friendly.

Guo Shao still can't fully agree with Wang Pu's point of view, because he has been paying attention to the military, and he really hasn't thought too deeply about the concept of governance.

Wang Pu's point of view is only the opinion of the family, but it is undoubtedly quite insightful and thoughtful. Guo Shao also quite agrees with the statement, at least it is true when you think about it... After the Song Dynasty unified China, the Song Dynasty was once praised as the richest and most civilized era, especially the rise of urban citizen culture, and the culture was particularly prosperous; it seems to be similar to the appearance of the Southern Tang Dynasty before Huainan was lost, so Wang Pu's statement in the letter seems very reasonable.

Guo Shao probably knew some historical knowledge in his previous life. It is said that the financial revenue of the Song Dynasty was very high, about ten times that of the Ming Dynasty; but the economic aggregate of the Song Dynasty was not necessarily larger than that of the Ming Dynasty. With such a high fiscal revenue in the Song Dynasty, it seems unreasonable if the people’s burden is not heavy... Maybe the starting point of "ruling the world with the scholar-bureaucrats" set at the founding of the Song Dynasty was just to guard against generals, but the fact that resources were biased towards the scholar-bureaucrats who held power was inevitable. Why didn’t the powerful people fight for their own interests? People die for money, birds die for food, it's just human nature.

Guo Shao remembered that some people said that capitalists are not philanthropists, maybe anyone is not.

Holding Wang Pu's letter in his hand, he suddenly felt the vicissitudes of the world. The faded red paint on the carved windows of the quaint houses in the camp of the Chinese Army seems to tell the thousands of things that have happened and will happen in the world.

It would be great if Wang Pu's illness could be cured, Guo Shao suddenly cared about him very much.

... The other letter was from Chen Jiali, and it was about a large amount of goods from the "Shen Chenli" firm being robbed in Nanping. Guo Shao knew about this when he was in Tokyo. Aunt Sun and the Chen family were with the army, and they were looking after their property.

However, Chen Jiali wrote again to emphasize that the urgency in the words was very obvious, and that the shipment was really important to them.

Guo Shao read the letter once, and he happened to have time this afternoon, so he sent someone to ask Mrs. Sun to come over for questioning. Aunt Sun is the woman next to Chen Jiali, she should be Chen Jiali's most trusted person, a mid-forties woman. Guo Shao's several visits to the Chen family were all arranged by Mrs. Sun.

Not long after, a woman in silk came in and bowed her knees very respectfully. She is Aunt Sun.

When Mrs. Sun entered the room, Guo Shao was standing in front of a desk, staring at the things on it. There was a picture with dense lines on the desk, which was more complicated than the usual pictures that only showed roads.

Guo Shao raised his head at this time, without any greetings, he asked directly: "How much is Mrs. Chen's cargo that was robbed by the Nanping Kingdom?"

Aunt Sun hurriedly said: "When you return to General Guo, there are a large number of precious medicinal materials such as Shu brocade, silk, gemstones, and ganoderma. If they are shipped out of Shu and sold, they will be worth more than 200,000 guan... Those things are not owned by the same family. Shen, Chen, Li, and some merchants also have a share; if they can't get them back, many of the people who joined the gang will lose their fortunes and debts. Madam originally wanted to join the army in person, but later my concubine persuaded her.

Aunt Sun said again in a pleading tone: "This batch of goods is a matter of life and death for the company. If General Guo can help, you can do whatever you want. I will definitely repay General Guo..."

When Guo Shao heard this, he misunderstood for a moment, thinking that Mrs. Sun meant that she could do anything to her... and then looked at the woman. It's a pity that I'm a bit old, at least in my forties, so I really don't have much interest.

I remember Gu Long once said that as long as the tea is hot, it will not be too bad, and as long as the woman is young, it will not be too bad. But standing in front of him was a cup of herbal tea. But Mrs. Sun is actually quite pretty, and it can be seen that she should be a beauty when she was young; unfortunately, her skin is a little loose now, and she doesn't have the feeling of vitality, which doesn't suit Guo Shao's taste.

Guo Shao put his finger on the map and said, "The army went south along the Han River, passed through Jinkou Town to Jiangling Mansion, and entered the Yangtze River. They had to go through Jiangling Mansion, the capital of Nanping Kingdom. If I can help, it's just a matter of convenience. Madam Chen doesn't need to give anything in return, I'm still a person who remembers friendship."

Aunt Sun said gratefully: "I first thank General Guo on behalf of my wife."

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and asked, "Why did the merchant gang transport so much goods across the border from Jingnan? You didn't anticipate the risks in advance?"

Aunt Sun sighed: "It's only because Gao Baoxu, the younger brother of the Nanping ruler, is extremely treacherous. We were careless. Gao Baoxu used to set up cards to collect tolls, but we took care of the Jiangling Mansion and the Jingmen Army, thinking that nothing would happen. A little bit of cargo would cost more. This time we shipped a large amount of cargo. Unexpectedly, after Gao Baoxu learned about it, he tore his face and swallowed it all!"

After hearing this, Guo Shao laughed and said, "Sure enough, Gao Baoxu didn't break the rules before, but the bargaining chip of betrayal was not attractive enough, and it's not because of his faith."

Aunt Sun said: "What General Guo said is very true. People are really sinister. This time, if we are in danger, if we can get back the property, the merchants have discussed it with everyone. As long as the cost is recovered, we are willing to give the profit to General Guo."

Guo Shao shook his head and said: "It's only natural for a businessman to seek profit. I can't take the profit alone. It's the way to cooperate with everyone. The profit this time is still yours. I don't want any money, but..."

Aunt Sun hurriedly asked: "What does General Guo want, as long as I can do it."

Guo Shao beckoned, and said in a deep voice: "Come up, I'll teach you how to do it." Seeing Aunt Sun walking coyly, he immediately said, "I'm talking about business, I don't intend to do anything to Aunt Sun, don't worry."

Aunt Sun looked at her eye-catchingly and said softly: "Of course I don't worry about it, I'm just afraid that General Guo will dislike it."

Guo Shao: "..."

...

Guo Shao made some preparations in Xiangzhou, mobilized his army to advance by land and water, and went straight to Jingmen along the Han River. He also sent people to Nanping to deliver official documents, and he wanted to use the Yangtze River to arrive in a few days, ordering Nanping to open and greet Yunyun.

At this time in Jiangling Mansion, Gao Baorong first received the imperial decree of the Zhou Dynasty, and then the military order of the "Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses" of the Zhou Dynasty. He was at a loss as to what to do.

General Li Jingwei persuaded: "The matter is urgent. The Kingdom of Shu is a big country. Now that the Zhou army can use troops to attack Shu, they must covet the land of Nanping Kingdom. The Zhou army wants to go up the Yangtze River, and Jiangling is the base camp of food roads and reinforcements. Although Nanping Kingdom has become a vassal, how can the Zhou army hand over the rear to others? The general thought that we should gather troops to guard it strictly, and then contacted the Kingdom of Shu and asked for help to fight against Zhou."

Gao Baorong was already very stupid, so he was at a loss and immediately asked, "Where is my brother?"

Li Jingwei said: "Thank you behind closed doors in the mansion."

Gao Baorong hurriedly said, "Hurry up and find my brother."

Immediately, officials were ordered to leave the palace and rush to Gao Baoxu's house.

At this time, Gao Baoxu was quietly watching the show at home. He doesn't like to watch beautiful women singing and dancing, he prefers more direct scenes...Let the strong military generals and personal soldiers tease the prostitutes in the lobby, and he sits on it while drinking and watching the show with great interest, for fun.

!!