Chapter 534: Grab robbery

"Respecting literature, admiring martial arts, and being frugal!" Chen Kefu said word by word, every word is like a big bell or a big lu, and it is printed in the hearts of the ministers in the hall, which is thought-provoking.

Chen Kefu stood in the hall and shouted, "Now you are all high-ranking officials of the court and are in high positions. The court also depends on the efforts of all the lords. Now the power is getting bigger and bigger, more and more people are being favored, more and more land is fighting, and more and more people are gathering. It is said that it is easy to conquer the world immediately, but it is difficult to govern the world immediately. Therefore, with great power, we can no longer continue to do things according to the old rules in Liaodong back then. Military people can conquer the world, but literati need to govern the world. So we need to worship literature!"

"But worshipping literature does not mean that one needs to sacrifice the military and cultivate culture. Today, the following seven points are the descendants of the bureaucratic and royal family in various places are separating the descendants of the bureaucratic and royal family. In addition, peasants in various places rebelled and the world is in chaos. At this time, the army needs to conquer the world, the soldiers need to fight hard, and the soldiers need to fight bravely. To respect culture, we need to pursue martial arts, so that we can cultivate both internally and externally, and we can calm down the wars, and the people will not eat enough to fill their stomachs and not cover their bodies. At this time, it is time for all the waste to be restored, so at this time, the court needs to be frugal and forbidden to waste. This is the case with the court, and I and you all should be frugal and simple."

"I respect your highness's teachings!" All the ministers were taught by Chen Kefu and they all praised them.

"I have been thinking about the affairs of the court these days. I have to do it with foreign troops. Only by pacifying all regions as soon as possible can I restore pacification as soon as possible, and resume production as soon as possible, and return peace to the world. Although food shortage is difficult, it is only temporary. We cannot give up the current great opportunity to advance because of food shortage."

"I want fish, and bear's paws are also what I want. I want to give up fish or abandon bear's paws." Chen Kefu finally expressed his thoughts.

"If there is no food and no soldiers, I am afraid that the war will be unfavorable. If the war is in a stalemate and there is no food on the front line, what should I do?" Gao Shilian said anxiously.

Chen Kefu shook his head, "No food, we can find a way to solve it. Don't just focus on the six major granaries. The six major granaries are far away in Luoyang. Even if you take one or two of them, there will be no overall situation. In fact, we are not without food, we still have food. As long as we use them well and use other methods, the food gap of 50 million stones is not impossible to solve."

Gao Shilian stared at Chen Kefu with his eyes straight, not understanding where the food he was talking about was. Did he secretly save a lot of food when the Liaodong Army attacked Goguryeo? He couldn't help but look at Li Benlei. Li Benlei was the second-in-commander of the Liaodong Army back then, and he had no reason not to know such a secret. But when he looked at Li Benlei, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Li Benlei also had a puzzled face, not understanding where the food was.

Chen Kefu smiled slightly, turned back to sit down.

"I heard from Gao Shangshu that the court was preparing to organize refugees to hunt, fish and dig wild vegetables. This is a good way. There are too many refugees in Hebei. If they cannot comfort them well, they will easily resurrect. Therefore, the court should divide refugees into each county and county according to their origin according to their origin. Then the court asked each county to organize strong people to go up the mountain to hunt and fish, and women and children can go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables. All the harvested prey and fish, shrimp and wild vegetables are uniformly dispatched by the county and county, and the people are uniformly distributed in a regular basis for food. The deficiencies are insufficient.

, the court will allocate grain to the food. In addition, the remaining labor force cannot be idle. The county and county governments should take advantage of the current autumn season to equalize the fields in Hebei. Those uninhabited land should be reclaimed and then distributed to landless people. In addition, if there are local wealthy people who take the opportunity to acquire land in large quantities, a law will be issued to limit the number of land acres. If the excess is exceeded, the repurchase will be made and then distributed to landless farmers. After equalizing the fields, the idle people should be organized to reclaim the land, repair the ditches and prepare for next year's production work."

Fang Xuanling and others nodded in their hearts as they listened to the plan. They also understood that the key to this plan was not to increase food. Instead, they could resettle this large number of refugees in Hebei. If the refugees gather together, they would change after a long time. This would be inevitable. If they were re-arranged to return to their hometowns, they would be given food to allow them to spend this period of time, and they would be organized to equalize the fields and cultivate the fields. In this way, they would be able to prevent the refugees from gathering together to cause trouble again.

However, everyone was still worried that although this plan could appease the people, it could not produce food. Hunting and fishing could only feed a small number of people. The real food consumption should not be allocated by the court.

After watching the eunuch beside him remembering what he had just said, Chen Kefu continued, "Of course, this alone cannot solve all problems. We must do a multi-pronged approach to survive this food shortage."

"My initial plan is to divide it into several parts. First, we immediately contact the tribes of Liaodong. We borrow food, cattle, sheep and horses from them. No matter what it is, as long as it is edible, we can borrow as much as we have. Khitan, Marian, and Silla are all our allies, and we can borrow from them. Although Baekje, Japan, Turks, Tiel, Xi and other countries are not our allies, we can also borrow from them, no matter how much. I believe that my Chen Kefu's face should be worth a few cents, and Baekje and other countries dare not not borrow."

Looking at Chen Kefu's fierce gaze, everyone understood his subtext. This was just a polite first and then a soldier. If you dare not borrow it, you will rob it. Now, the surrounding countries probably have not dared to face the tribal kingdom that is desperate to provoke a war.

Gao Shilian thought for a while, "Your Highness, although borrowing grain is a way, most of the surrounding countries are grassland tribes. Even if they borrow, most of them are cattle and sheep, and they probably can't borrow too much."

"It's okay, borrow as much as you can. However, the food and grass of war horses need to be sufficient. These grasses of war horses must be borrowed from each tribe. If they don't give it, tell them that I will send the Liaodong Iron Cavalry to pick it up in person."

Gao Shilian nodded. If he only asked for enough forage and not the amount of food, then it would probably be fine. After all, the Eastern Turks are now divided and after Goguryeo and the Eastern Turks fell one after another, the surrounding tribes no longer have the forces that can compete with the Liaodong Army head-on.

Chen Kefu is now at a desperate situation, otherwise he would not have borrowed it like a gangster. Although he could borrow food, it would inevitably make the relationship between the Liaodong Army and the surrounding tribes tense.

"Borrowing should be able to solve a part of it. However, just borrowing from the surrounding tribes can't borrow much grain. However, I had asked the Investigation Department to do a survey and statistics. Director Li told me that although the people in our Hebei have no food, there is a large amount of grain stored in the hands of local families and powerful people, and the number is huge. In addition to these landlords and powerful people, many of our imperial officials also stockpiled a lot of grain in the homes of many officials. In addition, there are even many large vendors who have many granaries in many places such as Liaodong and Hebei, all stocking up a large amount of grain. The grains seem to be not much, but they add up to more than 20 million stones."

Chen Kefu picked up a thick fold from the table, which was densely filled with names.

"Mao Pushe, Fang Pushe, your Minister of State borrowed grain from the homes of aristocratic families, powerful people and officials of the court according to this list. How much should each family borrow? There are numbers on it, just borrow them according to the number. If they are willing to collect money, they will pay cash. If they are unwilling to collect money, then according to the agreement, the court will repay them every year in the next ten years, and can pay a certain interest."

Mao Xi stepped forward to take the list, and looked at the dense names and was shocked. Unexpectedly, this incident actually used the Investigation Department. This is a more mysterious and more powerful yamen than the Special Service Department. Since the rebellion in Liaodong, many guilty generals and officials such as embezzlement and surrender to the enemy have been punished within the Liaodong army. Every time, the evidence obtained by the Investigation Department is first obtained.

Fang Xuanling was also shocked and said cautiously, "Your Highness, this aristocratic family has a great influence in the local area. If the court forcibly borrowing food from them, they are afraid they will not be willing. At that time, they will be afraid that they will cause trouble in various places."

Chen Kefu waved his hand, "What are you afraid of? I really don't like these powerful families. If our court wants to completely control the place, we must have conflicts with these aristocratic families as soon as possible. Over the years, the powerful families in various places have been too powerful. Not only have they annexed land, they also concealed the population of tenants, evaded the taxes of the court, privately raised armed servants, and privately kept weapons and armor. Not only did we disrespect the government's orders, but we also often violently resisted the court. Now the court naturally cannot

As we used to treat them, if they wanted to be in chaos, they would let them get in chaos. I was worried that I would not find any opportunity. Anyway, there is now scorched earth in Hebei, so they can jump. One jumped out and I just happened to kill one. At that time, those who dared to make trouble would kill them and confiscate their property, which would just ease our food shortage. There is a way that we will not break and establish them. The new court will have a new atmosphere. I don’t think that under the rule of our court, the local powerful forces will grow."

Listening to Chen Kefu's murderous voice, many civil officials couldn't help but feel the hearts of the civil officials. I thought that His Highness was indeed very good at calculating. He forced these powerful families to make trouble by borrowing grain. At that time, he just swept away the local forces that were not in charge of the court, and took the opportunity to confiscate their property and take away their food. He didn't even need to borrow it. It was really a strategy of counting birds with one stone, which was admirable.

In times of trouble, extraordinary things should be done. If it weren’t for the fact that Hebei was already in chaos and could not be chaotic anymore, Chen Kefu wouldn’t have used such a hurry to make progress. But Hebei is just like this, so he might as well smash the framework of these broken local areas and build another one again.

At that time, most of the food was borrowed from these obedient powerful families, and then confiscated their food from the rebellious powerful people. In addition, the food that vendors hoarded, they could add a lot of food reserves to the court.

"In addition, since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism have emerged in great success, with countless temples and Taoist temples in various places. Large temples and Taoist temples have thousands of hectares of fields and hundreds of hidden farmers. Moreover, these people do not work in production, do not pay taxes, and even take advantage of the troubled times to make trouble. Nowadays, these temples and Taoist temples must be greatly improved."

As Chen Kefu said to the new Minister of Rites Sun Wuji, "Wuji, after you go back, you immediately ask your household registration to draw up a clause to check all temples and Taoist temples under your jurisdiction. The number of monks and Taoist temples in all temples and Taoist temples must be strictly limited, and those who exceed the number must be forced to return to secular life. In addition, temples and Taoist temples can allow them to have certain industrial fields, but the number must be strictly limited, enough for monks and Taoist temples to maintain their lives. All the excess fields must be collected.

The property of the government is distributed to the people. All tenant farmers hidden in temples and Taoist temples must be re-registered and given to land. In addition, the floating wealth in temples and Taoist temples must be checked and counted. If the amount exceeds a certain amount, it will be confiscated as an official. And all monks and Taoists who are left behind must also obtain documents issued by the Ministry of Rites. In the future, all monks and Taoists who become monks must obtain approval from the Ministry of Rites. Violators will be severely punished and exiled to be hard labor. In severe cases, the temple qualification will be directly disqualified."

Changsun Wuji listened to this order a little blankly, and after a long time, he finally nodded. The Buddhist and Taoist religions have a high status in the hearts of the people, and sometimes even surpass the government. Such a response to Buddhism and Taoism will cause trouble. However, when thinking of Chen Kefu's attitude towards the powerful family, he no longer spoke.

Chen Kefu was not allowed to think that the monk and Taoist attacked him.

From this poem, we can see the prosperity of Buddhism and Taoism at this time, especially Buddhism. Even Emperor Wen of Sui was particularly loyal to Buddhism, and Chen recovered the Chen royal family in Jiangnan and was even more superstitious about Buddhism. During the thirty years when the Chen family in the Southern Dynasty became emperor in Jiangnan, five emperors built more than 2,000 temples in the territory. These temples were extremely luxurious, not only occupying a large amount of land, but also hiding a large number of farmers rented for them.

In order to avoid taxes, countless people have invested in temples to rent land. They don’t even have household registration, let alone taxes and military service. Moreover, the more chaotic the times, these Buddhist and Taoist places that were originally quiet will often be mixed with many different people.

Chen Kefu was originally a person without faith, so naturally it was impossible for these Buddhist paths to flourish so much, and even climbed to the head of the court. Since this time, he would attack the powerful families and local powers, he might as well suppress these vampire-like Buddhist paths.

"The food shortage this time is so serious. Not only the three provinces and six ministries of the court and local governments must work together to cope with this difficulty. Even our army must share the responsibility. I have already ordered General Zhang Zhongjian of Hailong Guard to immediately go out to sea and bring all the fleets to the coast of Liaodong to trade with Baekje, Japan, and the Pori, Sulu, Womassie, Johor, Brunei, Linyi, Florabodi, Funan and other countries in the southeastern sea, and try to exchange and purchase food. You can also disguise yourself as pirates and rob food when necessary. In addition, when transporting grain to Jiangdu, you also need to form a land force to carry out raids and rob food at the coastal border of the Chen Dynasty in the southeastern sea."

The Shangshu Zuo Pushe Mao Xi was stunned when he heard this. He asked the Hailong Guard's fleet to trade in the southeast for food. He agreed. However, if he exchanged the food, he would pretend to be a pirate and rob, which made him, a Confucian son who was deeply inherited by Confucianism, unacceptable.

"Your Highness, our upright king's army is a kind and righteous army, how can we do this..."

Chen Kefu waved his hand, "No need to say Mao Pushe, the right way to be kind to the inside and outside the king. Naturally, be kind to the people, but not too much benevolence to other countries. There is no kindness between countries, but only the interests of the naked. Although the countries on the sea do not have a gang and righteous relationship with us, since they are not surrendered to our court, there is no need to be polite. You must know that we are polite to him, but if he is strong and I am weak, they may not be polite to us. If Mao Pushe still doesn't understand, you can think of Goguryeo. Goguryeo has been in the Central Plains dynasty for more than 500 years.

On the northeastern border, it was originally just a small country, but when our Central Plains dynasty was strong, we would submit our respects and be extremely honest. But once the Central Plains dynasty was in a melee and split, they would immediately jump out and bite hard. Over the past few hundred years, they went from a small barbarian in the border, but finally became the most powerful force in Liaodong. In the three campaigns of Goguryeo, did our Central Plains soldiers not have enough blood left? For these surrounding countries, we must always be vigilant, and we must always suppress and guard against them, and we must never let them grow bigger and become the next Goguryeo again."

Chen Kefu has no favoritism for these Southeast Asian island countries. In later generations, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam seem to be ashamed to call others Chinese neighbors if they don’t come out to steal one or two islands from China.

Especially later, even North Korea jumped out and tied up Chinese fishermen to blackmail him, which made him even more disgusting as if he had eaten flies.

At this time, how could he let these nation-states, which are savages, grow up again? If it weren't for the battle of the Central Plains, Chen Kefu would have sent the Hailong Guard fleet to destroy them one by one, and see if they dare to fight for this island or that. Now they just send a fleet to do business and do some unsolicited transactions, which would have been considered better.

"Chen Qing, Chen Gui, Zhang He, Liu Tiezhu, all the generals obey orders!"

"The last one will obey the order!"

"I will ask you to lead three thousand cavalry to disguise yourself as bandits and go to Tiel, Xi, Turks, and Baekje respectively. You have only one task, grab food. Take as much as you can. Don't fight hard with the enemy. If you encounter a few, you will rob it. If you encounter a few, you will rob it. If you encounter a horse, you will follow it."

"Get orders!"

"Lu Shishen, the two generals Guo Xiaoke obeyed the order!"

"The last one will obey the order!"

"I will ask you and the other two to lead 20,000 elite cavalry and immediately go south to attack Liyang, seize Liyang's warehouse, and get all the grain in the warehouse."

Lu Shishen and Guo Xiaoke looked at each other, their faces were overjoyed, and they nodded quickly to answer the order.

Chen Kefu handed the tiger talisman to the generals, but his eyes fell to the west of Taihang Mountain on the sand table next to him again. Looking at the land in Hedong, his heart became more firm.

...
Chapter completed!