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Before dawn the next day, Liu Jing stood up and went to Weiyang Palace. This was the day he returned to Chang'an. He had to deal with many government affairs. Although he implemented the wartime power system and handed over power to Pingzhangtai at the maximum level, even so, a large number of important matters were still accumulated for his approval.

Liu Jing's carriage drove into Weiyang Palace under the escort of several cavalrymen. Liu Jing got off the carriage and came to the official room that he had been away from for a year. In contrast to the huge changes in Chang'an, there was no change in his official room, just as if he had just left last night.

It was already the moon, and the weather was getting warmer. There was no brazier in the official room. It was spotlessly cleaned and there was no turbid air. Liu Jing opened the window and a fresh morning breeze blew over his face.

At this time, he felt something. When he turned around, he saw Xu Shu appearing at the door. Liu Jing couldn't help but laugh, "Does Yuan Zhi come here so early every day?"

“Not every day.”

Xu Shu slowly walked into the room and smiled, "I guess your highness will come this morning, so I went out a little early, and it was true."

"Sit down and talk"

Liu Jing asked Xu Shu to sit down, smiled and said, "I guess when I come back, everyone will complain to me, and a ferocious battle will exhaust all the money."

"In the later stage, the food was very tight, and it eased after the autumn harvest. The key was that the Huns sent tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, saving our urgent needs. We transported beef and mutton to the front line later. Your Highness should have a deep feeling."

"Of course I have a deep feeling. After September, I eat mutton, cook mutton, roast mutton, roast mutton, eat in different ways. Now I am afraid when I see mutton."

Speaking of this, both of them laughed. At this time, a child came in to serve them tea. Liu Jing took a sip of tea and said, "I read Pingzhangtai's report on the Huns. What worries me is not the Huns, but the Xianbei people. The two East-West Xianbei teams have an alliance. Once they become one, they will definitely become the overlord of the grassland. It will be inevitable that the Xiongnu will be destroyed. The Xianbei people will sooner or later become the biggest threat to the Central Plains."

"Your Highness means to support the Huns against the Xianbei."

"I have thought about it this way, but I always feel that we cannot place our safety on another nomadic people. Of course, it is not bad to let two tigers fight and kill each other, but in the final analysis, we still have to rely on ourselves. We must have strong force and control the nomadic people in the grassland, and we cannot allow any one to grow up."

Xu Shu was silent for a moment and said, "But if there is not enough population and financial resources, it may be difficult to maintain a strong military force."

"You are right. This battle in Hefei, only a hundred thousand troops and a year of war, almost exhausted our financial resources. If a battle of hundreds of thousands of people is a battle, we can't afford it at all. The nomadic people are all soldiers, and they can easily mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to move south. If we don't have enough troops, we must rely on powerful weapons to vigorously develop weapons such as bee crossbows, tinder oil and heavy armor infantry to deal with nomadic people. Only 20,000 troops can defeat hundreds of thousands of nomadic people."

When the two said this, Liu Jing changed the topic and asked: "About Hexi, have you heard any news on Pingzhang Platform?"

"We know that Ma Chaoyue interferes with the appointment and removal of local officials, and we also know that Ma Chao has collected heavy taxes for merchants in Suzhou without authorization. In addition, the Qiang and Di people in Hexi should send their territory to Chang'an in January, but this year has not been sent."

Speaking of this, Xu Shu sighed, "We originally planned to send people to question Ma Chao, but considering the tense war in Hefei, we endured it and could only reduce taxes on merchants from the Western Regions in Chang'an to make up for their losses. Your Highness, I'm afraid the situation in Hexi is not good."

Liu Jing knew that Xu Shu was just speaking implicitly and did not directly point out that Ma Chao wanted to rebel, but everyone understood that the matter in Hexi had to be resolved.

Liu Jing pondered for a moment and said to the guard standing at the door: "Go and ask if the other ministers have arrived."

The guard hurried away and came back for a moment to report, "Your Highness, they are all here."

Liu Jing immediately said to Xu Shu: "Let's go to the meeting hall to discuss this matter in detail."

......

In the meeting hall, everyone was gathered together, and Yin Mo, who was already old, also arrived. He had not discussed with everyone for more than a year. Liu Jing felt quite friendly and smiled at everyone, "First I want to thank you for your earnest teachings to the dog. He has changed a lot. I can feel that this is all thanks to everyone. Liu Jing is very grateful."

Liu Jing stood up and bowed to everyone. Everyone waved their hands quickly, not daring to take responsibility. Dong He said bluntly: "Your Highness is willing to hand over the bus to us, which is the trust of us. More importantly, we all hope that the Duke can become a lord who will make a difference in the future. This is our responsibility as a minister."

Everyone agreed with Dong He's statement, and Jiang Wan also smiled and said, "The Lord is kind and simple by nature. We have long discovered that when he was reading the certificates from all over the country, he was particularly concerned about the people's livelihood and conditions. We all said that the Lord will definitely become a kind king, which is a blessing for the people of the world."

"It's too early to say it now, let's see him in the future."

Liu Jing stopped talking about the matter, and brought the topic to the matter in Hexi, and said slowly to everyone: "Everyone is afraid that he still doesn't have a deep understanding of the critical situation in Hexi. I have received a secret report from Ma Dai that Ma Chao has promoted ten Qiang and Di generals to control military power. In addition, the Hexi army has increased to 10,000, of which 20,000 are Qiang and Di people, and the Han army has only 10,000, mainly deployed in Wuwei and Dunhuang. At the end of the previous year, I knew that the chaos in Hexi was inevitable. I just had to deploy the Hefei Battle, so I had to compromise with Ma Chao. But now that the battle of Hefei was over, restoring order in Hexi has become a top priority. I want to know how much financial and material resources we have to allow me to send troops to pacify the battle in Hexi."

The meeting hall was silent. After a long time, Jiang Wan said first: "If Your Highness wants to attack Hexi with all his might, we will certainly support it, but we must also tell the truth and tell His Highness the truth that there are currently 100,000 stones of grain stored in the Chang'an official warehouse. There were more than 100,000 stones of grain stored in the Chang'an official warehouse, but because they borrowed grain from the people last year, they were all returned after the autumn grain was put into the warehouse. The food in Chang'an alone is definitely not enough, but we can transfer the official grain from Hanzhong and Yizhou. Weichen estimated that the grain stored in the end can reach about 400,000 stones, but it will take some time."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "Everyone thinks about the problem seriously. This is not the Battle of Hefei. Don't have more troops. At most, 50,000 troops will be sent. It won't take long. I estimate that 100,000 stones of food will be enough. There are also many cattle and sheep in stock, which can also be used as military rations. What I worry most is not the problem of food and grass, but the problem of officials and Han people in Hexi. Once Hexi rebelled, the Qiang people took the opportunity to seize the land. They were the ones who suffered first, so I want to transfer them all out first."

"Does Your Highness want to move the Han people in Hexi to Guanzhong?" Sima Yi asked.

"The burden is not heavy on Guanzhong, I plan to resettle them to Lingzhou. The Tao family reclaimed 100,000 hectares of land in Lingzhou the previous year. Now I have convinced the Tao family to hand over the 100,000 hectares of land to the government, which is enough to resettle 50,000 families. Not only that, the Tao family is also willing to donate 100,000 stones of grain and 200,000 pieces of cloth to immigrate. In this way, not only the Han people in Hexi, but also the fugitives in the Central Plains and Hebei can be resettled. Everyone, I have solved all the troubles that everyone has to worry about."

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but be overjoyed. Last year, Hebei and Central Plains suffered famines one after another. Coupled with the serious impact of the Hefei Battle, a large number of hungry people flocked to Guanzhong and Jingxiang, with hundreds of thousands of people already. These hungry people needed a large amount of food and supplies, which brought heavy burdens to the Han Dynasty and made the Secretary of Pingzhangtai troubled.

Now Liu Jing convinced the Tao family to give up the land, and the Tao family was willing to donate grain and cloth. This undoubtedly solved their most troublesome thing and made everyone feel relieved. Xu Shu sighed: "The Tao family is so generous, it is the blessing of Your Highness."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "Tao Sheng told me that cloth and grain are all in Bashu, so it is not easy to transport it to Guanzhong, but it is not necessary to transport it to Guanzhong. It is directly placed in Chengdu for military expenditure. Then we open the Chang'an treasury to resettle hungry people. In addition, we need to arrange a large number of people to Lingzhou to assist Tao Zheng in resettlement of immigrants. It is difficult to complete this important task with Lingzhou government alone. There are many things and trivial things. I hope everyone will be more worried and we will arrange the early things together, and then the Han army can send troops to Hexi."

Everyone nodded silently, Sima Yi stood up and said, "Please rest assured that Pingzhangtai has rich experience in resettlement and will arrange things one by one. However, I would like to remind Your Highness to send heavy troops to defend the Great Doubagu in time to prevent the Qiang people from joining Hexi and Hehuang."

Sima Yi's words reminded Liu Jing that if Ma Chao really rebelled in Hexi, he would definitely send troops to capture Dadoubagu. At that time, not only the Hexi crisis, but also Hehuang and Longxi would be seriously threatened. He wanted to defend the dangerous pass first. Liu Jing nodded and said, "Thanks to Sima Shangshu reminded me, I really didn't think of this."

.........

After discussing the matter in Hexi with the Secretary, Liu Jing returned to his official room. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, a Shu Zuo rushed over to report: "General Pang is here, please see Your Highness."

Liu Jing was slightly stunned. Pang De actually came. He originally planned to send someone to invite Pang De. After all, Pang De was Ma Chao's right-hand man back then. If Ma Chao rebelled, would Pang De respond? Although Liu Jing knew that Pang De was a loyal and righteous person, he had to consider this issue. Now that Pang De has come by himself, let him make a clear statement.

Thinking of this, Liu Jing asked, "Where is he now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pang De walked out of the courtyard, knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "I am here to apologize to Your Highness."

Liu Jing quickly helped him up, "Why did General Pang say this?"

"Your Highness..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Jing waved his hand and interrupted him, "This is not a place to speak, follow me."

Liu Jing brought Pang De into the official room and asked him to sit down. The guards all stepped down. Then he sat opposite him and asked softly: "Tell me what happened?"

Pang De took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Liu Jing and said, "This is a secret letter sent by Ma Chao to Bei Zhi yesterday. I hope I will lead the cavalry to Hexi to revive Xiliang. Bei Zhi is guilty of being a crime."

"Could General Pang agree to him?"

"If I promised him, I wouldn't have come to see Your Highness today."

"Then what's your fault?"

Pang De hesitated for a moment and said in great shame: "As early as last spring, he sent someone to suggest that he had asked Beiyi to find a way to go to Hexi. Although he did not say it clearly, Beiyi guessed his intention. It was just that Beiyi was confused for a while and actually concealed this matter. Until yesterday, Beiyi learned that he had prepared a large amount of money, grain and weapons in Hexi and planted Qiang generals to control the military power. This was Beiyi's crime. If he told His Highness last year, it would not have become a major problem today."

Liu Jing smiled faintly and said, "General Pang doesn't have to blame himself. In fact, I have known that there will be today's troubles. When Long Qian came to fight for the battle in Juyanhai, he discovered the clues. But I wanted to launch the Hefei Battle and could only pretend that I didn't know anything and let him do it. Last night, Ma Dai sent Dunhuang master Li Lai to report to me secretly. At most two months, Hexi will be in chaos. Let me prepare early."

Pang De received a little comfort in his heart. It turned out that His Highness had known for a long time. He immediately stood up and fisted and said, "I am willing to be the pioneer and eliminate the Hexi Rebellion."

Liu Jing stared at him for a while and said, "I know that General Ling Ming is a loyal and righteous general and will not betray me. I am willing to believe Ling Ming. Since you took the initiative to ask for the order, I want you to lead the cavalry to guard the Great Dou Bagu for me."

Pang De suddenly understood the courage and great trust of the King of Han to make this decision. He was extremely moved, and his nose was sore, and he knelt down and cried, "Thank you for your trust, I swear to the heaven that I would rather die than betray Your Highness."
Chapter completed!