Chapter 1072 The Whisper that Night
On a moonlit night, the sky is clear.
The wind is clear and the clouds are light.
People are undecided.
Liu Xie tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.
Well, it was too exciting.
This situation is actually the same as that of later generations when teenagers secretly observed the movement and evolution from F to B, and then the central nervous system was over-excited, leading to insomnia.
It turns out that when he was in the palace, Liu Xie had imagined what the world should be like and what the people should be like, but he didn't want to be like today, like this...
So……
Liu Xie couldn't even find any words to describe it, maybe there were only two words left.
reality.
It really made Liu Xie feel a little uncomfortable. After tossing and turning on the couch for a while, he finally sat up. Then he stood up in a daze for a while, took off the hanging robe, put it on, and walked out.
"Your Majesty, this is..." Fu Shou was awakened by Liu Xie's actions and couldn't help but ask.
Liu Xie said: "It's okay, I can't sleep, go outside for a walk. You can continue to sleep, don't worry about me..."
The half-asleep waiter outside the tent was also awakened by silence. He quickly took another big cloak and wrapped it around Liu Xie. He widened his eyes and wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. He told Liu Xie not to wander around and go back quickly. sleep? Liu Xie has already stepped out, so why stop him?
Therefore, these two attendants could only remain silent and follow Liu Xie step by step.
The soldiers on duty not far outside the tent saw Liu Xie and quickly bowed their hands in salute.
"...Where is General Zhengxi?" Liu Xie ordered, "...lead the way, I...have something to do..."
Liu Xie had too many questions in his heart, but could not find the answers. He hoped that someone could answer them for him, and this person was naturally Fei Qian, who was slightly older than him.
Fei Qian hasn't rested yet.
Although they have left Pingyang, the messengers and scouts who come and go will still send intelligence and writings to Fei Qian in a steady stream, and many things require Fei Qian's approval before they can be handled, so besides marching, Fei Qian must also deal with These official documents are approved one by one, so basically they can't rest until late at night.
Seeing Liu Xie coming, Fei Qian was also a little surprised. He quickly asked Liu Xie to take a seat, and then ordered his guards to prepare some tea, soup, refreshments and so on...
Liu Xie was silent for a while and said: "Fei Aiqing...I...I still can't forget that bowl...the taste of stick paste that night...the lives of the common people in the Han Dynasty are really like this...such..." …”
Liu Xie couldn't find any adjectives and didn't know what adjectives to use. After all, Liu Xie himself is the so-called emperor of the Han Dynasty. In other words, all the people in the world belong to him. After seeing such a situation, doesn't it mean that he, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, has not played any role in enlightening the people?
Moreover, Liu Xie also knew that the farmers he met this time were somewhat good, so naturally there were worse ones. As for the specific situation of those Han farmers living in worse environmental conditions, Liu Xie had already It's unimaginable.
So wouldn't this mean that Liu Xie himself, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, failed?
If Liu Xie was just a person who was just waiting to die, without any dreams at all, and only knew how to obey the body's instincts and individual desires, he would not have these troubles. But the problem is that Liu Xie is still young and is still thinking about this. The world is full of curiosity, longing, and dreams, so this gap makes Liu Xie very uncomfortable.
"Well..." Fei Qian looked at Liu Xie and understood a little bit what he was thinking. After all, the man who sat in the hall back then, with his eyes shining with longing for the future, talked about the so-called theories of governing the country. The situation is still vaguely before our eyes.
The Liu Xie in front of him was just someone who put too much burden on his shoulders...
child.
It is not easy for a half-year-old child to do this.
Well, but the future will be even more difficult.
God has never been kind...
"Your Majesty..." Fei Qian pondered for a while and said, "There was a plague in Guanzhong before. Did your Majesty hear anything about it?"
Liu Xie nodded silently.
"... In the sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a great epidemic in Kuaiji. In the fourth year of Yanguang, there was a great epidemic in Kyoto. In the first year of Yuanjia, there was another great epidemic in Kyoto and Lujiang. In the fourth year of Jianning, the second year of Xiping, the second year of Guanghe, and In the fifth year of He and the second year of Zhongping, there were successive epidemics..." Fei Qian slowly spit out a long list of years, "...Does Your Majesty also know about these?"
"..." Liu Xie was silent for a while and said, "What does Fei Aiqing mean...as the emperor, his moral character was deficient, so a great epidemic came from heaven?" The induction between heaven and man in the Han Dynasty was the basis of this theory.
Fei Qian shook his head and said: "The epidemic is actually not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster..."
Liu Xie opened his eyes wide and said, "Why does Fei Aiqing say this? This..."
"Isn't this completely different from what your Majesty has heard before?" Fei Qian smiled and said, "... Jianning, Xiping, Guanghe, Guanghe, and Zhongping were plagued by five consecutive epidemics. Your Majesty really believes that It’s the late emperor…the so-called moral fault?”
"This..." Liu Xie was speechless, not knowing how to answer.
Jianning, Xiping, Guanghe, Guanghe, and Zhongping were the reign names of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. At that time, the two factions of the gentry and the eunuchs were fighting life and death. They blamed each other for causing these disasters, but Liu Xie I have also heard, and even heard his father lamenting in front of him, whether it was really a warning from heaven...
"... Fei Aiqing..." Liu Xie looked at Fei Qian and said, "I... would like to hear the details..."
Fei Qian raised a wooden tablet on the table, gestured, and then said: "Suppose this is the Banzhen Man and Xiqiang rebellion... Now let's not consider why the Banzhen Man and Xiqiang rebelled, just ask How to deal with this problem now..."
Fei Qian pushed the wooden tablet in front of Liu Xie.
Liu Xie looked at the wooden tablet with some words written on it, paused for a moment, and said: "...When the rebellion is pacified...the rebellion will be corrupted in all directions, and it will become even more uncontrollable..."
Fei Qian nodded in approval. Rebellion is something that cannot be compromised for any kingdom or regime. Even if it is to sell iron, the rebellion will be put down first, so Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty did this.
"...To suppress the rebellion, we need money and food for the soldiers..." Fei Qian raised the second piece of wooden tablet and placed it on top of the first piece of wooden tablet and said, "...the chief minister reported that the public treasury has no money and cannot support the soldiers' salary. Money and food..."
"This..." Liu Xie glared, but didn't say anything, nor did he ask Fei Qian why the public treasury had no money.
Because this is a fact. When his father, Emperor Ling, was still alive, the situation was like this. The country wanted to use troops, but it couldn't spend much money...
"...Let the young master provide subsidies!" Liu Xie made the same decision as his father.
Fei Qian smiled, and then said: "Your Majesty, do you know what it means to ask the young master to provide military pay?"
"It's always better than the bowl of pole paste today, right?" Liu Xie said, "There's no harm in being more frugal in the palace..."
"Okay!" Fei Qian nodded, then picked up the pen, casually drew a line about one-third of the way around the second wooden tablet, and said, "...but the money from the Shaofu is for the royal family. , Normally, public and private matters must be distinguished... Anyway, let’s talk about this later... The subsidy from the Shaofu can only meet one-third of the military salary needs, and the other half... Your Majesty, where will these come from? "
Liu Xie looked at the line drawn by Fei Qian and fell silent. He knew what his father had done, but he couldn't tell it, or he couldn't tell it...
"Selling officials to get titles?" Liu Xie couldn't say his father's fault, but Fei Qian had no burden, so he said directly, "Your Majesty thought that only the late emperor had done this? Didn't Emperor Wu also do it in the past? Buying and selling military titles, taking back salt and iron , encourage the prosecution of traitors, isn’t it just to spend money on conquering the Xiongnu? So why did Emperor Wu do it, but the late emperor was so criticized when he did it? Emperor Wu defeated the Xiongnu, and the late emperor also defeated the Xiqiang, but why did Emperor Wu only hear that Emperor Wu was bright and powerful? , but the late emperor..."
"This..." Liu Xie's eyes widened. No one had ever said these things like this, and no one had compared his father, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. What Fei Qian said was like a sudden thunderbolt, leaving Liu Xie at a loss as to what to do.
Fei Qian picked up another wooden tablet, put it on the other side, and said: "...Your Majesty, if you still don't think clearly, I can give you another example... During the reign of Emperor Xiao'an, the Xiqiang also rebelled. It took eleven years to finally pacify it, costing a total of 24 billion..."
Fei Qian pointed to the wooden tablet next to him and said that this wooden tablet represented 24 billion yuan. Then he picked up the pen and drew a line about a quarter of the way around the wooden tablet and said : "The late Emperor's pacification of the Western Qiang took many years and cost a lot of money, totaling 4.4 billion... Then came the rise of the Yellow Turban thieves..."
Liu Xie actually understood Fei Qian's unfinished intentions. Because these are also compulsory courses for Liu Xie, you can't say that you don't even know anything about your ancestors, right? After Emperor An of the Han Dynasty, there was Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty. Although it was a dictatorship of his relatives and eunuchs wielding power, and he was full of anger and resentment, it was not as divided as it is now, with wars raging everywhere.
Emperor An of the Han Dynasty spent 24 billion yuan, and he was able to live and die smoothly, and then passed the emperor's position to his son. So why did Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty only use 4.4 billion yuan to cause chaos in the world?
Yes, why is this?
Liu Xie didn't understand. He really couldn't figure it out, so he raised his hand to Fei Qian and said, "I... don't understand... please give me some advice from Fei Aiqing..."
Fei Qian also cupped his hands in return, and then said: "Your Majesty's words are serious, I have to say everything..." The Han Dynasty was better. The relationship between monarchs and ministers still has the ancient customs of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The monarch is not necessarily aloof, and his ministers are not necessarily superior. He is not just a slave. Except for formal occasions such as the court hall where a big salute is required, most of the other times are relatively casual. Even sometimes it is normal to treat each other as equals. No one thinks there is anything wrong.
Fei Qian sorted out his thoughts and continued: "During Emperor Wu's time, the people in the world had a population of 34 million... During the period of Emperor Xiao'an, there were more than 9 million households and a population of 48 million... During the reign of the late Emperor, There are more than 10 million households with a population of more than 60 million... And in the world, from Emperor Wu to the late Emperor, has the number of people doubled as much as the number of people? And the land has a constant yield, and there may be droughts and floods, but over the years, the growth has not There are too many, so the people of the world... if averaged, they will only become poorer and more miserable, and once something happens, there will inevitably be chaos... Does your Majesty understand this?"
Fei Qian simply instilled a concept into Liu Xie. As an emperor, he cares about whether the people of the world can have enough to eat. Of course he is a good emperor. However, the world's population will increase. When the population increases to a certain level, there will inevitably be some food shortages. There are many poor people who are full, and as these poor people become more and more numerous, society becomes more and more unstable, so even a good emperor has no choice...
As for land annexation, exploiting classes, gentry monopoly, and polarization, Fei Qian skipped all these matters.
Some things can be said, some things cannot be said, some things are useless even if they are said, and some things are said even though they know they are of no use. Fei Qian has been thinking about these things a long time ago, but these are the only things he can talk about now. Maybe one day in the future, he can talk about other things...
Liu Xie blinked, partly understanding and partly not understanding, because this concept was indeed too novel, so novel that he had never heard of it, and naturally he had never thought about it. After pondering for a long time, Liu Xie said: "But... Sima Fa said that although the country is big, if it is warlike, it will perish..."
Fei Qian chuckled and said, "Isn't there the second part of the sentence? Isn't it true that I have fought fewer battles these days?"
Liu Xie was stunned for a moment, then nodded silently.
No matter how big the country is, if it likes war, it will perish; no matter how peaceful the world is, if it forgets to fight, it will lead to sorrow. What was originally a good sentence was taken out of context, which cannot but be said to be a kind of sadness.
In view of the overall production and living standards and the economic and social structure of the Han Dynasty, it is obviously unrealistic to arrogantly promote a social structure that surpasses productivity in later generations, and will not be accepted by the entire society. Therefore, after thinking about it, in fact, only feudal imperialism is most suitable for the development of the Han Dynasty. .
It is also very simple to implement, just pick up the words of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty again, and the resistance to doing so is the least, and all the nobles in the world do not dare to say no.
"...Since the Zhou Dynasty, the land of China has had the most gorgeous clothes, the most standardized etiquette, the most profound writing, and the most sophisticated utensils..." Fei Qian smiled and looked at Liu Xie, He spoke slowly, like an angel spreading holy light, and like a demon whispering in his ears.
"...From the Western Region to the East China Sea, from the Northern Desert to the Southern Xinjiang, these places were developed bit by bit and cultivated step by step by the ancestors of China. So why do we stop today?"
"Why should you listen to the words of those mean officials and corrupt scholars?"
"Why do you keep your eyes fixed on this little property left by your ancestors?"
"Why can't we raise our heads and look far away, sow the banner of the Han Dynasty and the glory of the Han Dynasty to the ends of the mountains and seas, and go on forever until the day this world ends?"