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Doukai 5200 Text 344 Dilemma (Part 2)

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    Meng Ju didn't care that there was no progress in the negotiations. He ordered his subordinates to treat the Southern Tang imperial envoy with delicious food and drinks. However, if he asked to see him again, Meng Ju would refuse because he was "busy with official duties".  Saw him.

    Meng Ju said that he was busy with official duties, but this was not just an excuse.  He had so many things to do that he really couldn't care about the messenger.  He had to arrange winter grain, fodder and baggage for the soldiers and horses everywhere, and listen to disaster reports from various places. He also wanted to send a letter to Northern Xinjiang, asking Lu Liulou and Xiao Heng to pay close attention to the grassland trends. Is there a snow disaster in the grassland this year?  Whether there are new grassland tribes that may go south is a complicated matter, but what troubles Meng Ju the most is the financial problem.

    To the court envoy, Meng Juhu boasted that he had 100,000 troops, but he knew very well that the Dongping Army only had 51,000 regular troops, of which 25,000 were stationed at Anping Camp in Jeju.  There are 17,000 soldiers and horses in the fifth and second towns of northern Xinjiang, and there are also some scattered soldiers and horses scattered throughout the territory.

    Fifty thousand soldiers and horses may not seem like much, but every month, Meng Ju has to spend more than 200,000 taels of silver just for payment, as well as the consumption of food and equipment. This is just a fixed expense when the soldiers and horses are stationed. If  If you want to mobilize troops, you have to add various expenses such as departure fees, rewards, disability pensions, burial expenses, weapon wear and tear, armor damage and other expenses. Especially recently, the Dongping Army has used troops frequently, which is a waste of money.  When the accounts were reported, Meng Ju had the urge to bang his head against the wall.

    It goes without saying that the expenses are huge.  In addition to battlefield seizures, the Dongping Army's main income comes from taxes and grain collection from local governments under its jurisdiction.

    Back then, when the Dongping Army moved south, when they stationed in various towns, as long as there was no resolute resistance in the local area, they would usually leave the local Wei Dynasty bureaucrats in their posts and entrust them to continue to govern the place.  this way.  It seemed at the time.  Of course it will help eliminate the will to resist everywhere.  It facilitates the entry of the Dongping Army and is also conducive to establishing the rule of the Dongping Army.  But as time went by, the drawbacks of this policy gradually became apparent.

    Now, the relationship between the Dongping Army and local civil affairs is very similar to the "contracting system".  The two sides reached a tacit agreement invisibly. As long as the local government could pay taxes and grain to Meng Ju on time and provide requisitioned civilians and soldiers, Meng Ju would have no problem with how they governed the place.

    It was fine for a while at first.  They had just changed their masters, but local officials still had some scruples about the strength of the Dongping Army and did not dare to do anything too much.  But after more than half a year, seeing Meng Ju take no action against them, the officials became bolder and began to cause chaos in the local area.  During these days, Meng Ju had received secret reports from various Dongling guards, all of which reflected the illegal activities of the local government.  In some places, the government has collected taxes ten years ahead of schedule; in some places, the government has joined forces with local tyrants to embezzle and rob people's land;  The government blatantly confused right and wrong when judging the case, and what they did was outrageous.

    In this half year.  Dozens of popular uprisings were prompted by the various misdeeds of local officials.

    What particularly made Meng Ju angry was that the officials were just levying excessive taxes, but they also used themselves as a shield, saying, "I am raising military funds under the orders of Marshal Meng of the Dongping Army. If you dare to resist, you will be disobeying Marshal Meng."  Handsome!" Well, if he could really receive money and food, Meng Ju wouldn't be able to bear it even if he suffered a little infamy, but what made him even more intolerable was that when he faced him, the local officials immediately changed their faces, and everything was  Cry poor.

    Now, dozens of statements on Meng Ju¡¯s case are very similar, and they all say the same thing: ¡°This state has been hit by natural disasters, and there is no harvest. We also ask Marshal Meng to show mercy to the people¡¯s livelihood, reduce this year¡¯s taxes, and give our state  Give your people a way to live!"

    "It rained a few drops and the ground wasn't even wet, so they dared to report floods; wolves took away a few lambs, and they immediately reported wolf disasters." Meng Ju pressed the memorial in his hand hard.  He said fiercely: "Mr. Wen, if we don't rectify the problems of local government affairs, it won't work. If we don't kill a group of people, these people really think our knives are dull!"

    Mr. Wen silently stated that he had read the memorials sent to Meng Ju beforehand.  He also knew why Meng Ju was so angry.

    Mr. Wen said slowly: "My lord, it is clear that it is necessary to rectify the administration of officials on a large scale. All our problems are caused by the administration of officials. If we can thoroughly rectify the administration of officials in our town, we can make the government honest and honest.  If it works, all the problems we are worried about now, including the problem of insufficient finances, will no longer be a problem."

    "Haha, Mr. Wen, if you think so too? Then we will"

    Mr. Wen interrupted Meng Ju: "But, my lord, from ancient times to the present, from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors through the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the present day, has this government ever been completely clean and clear? Don't say that we live in a corner" "Junzhen,  Convenience?When the former emperor unified the world and the world was at peace, he met the Shengming Emperor who was determined to cheer up. Is there a way to completely rectify this officialdom?  "

    Meng Ju was stunned. Because he had thousands of years of history, he had much richer historical experience than Mr. Wen. But even with his experience of looking at thousands of years of history in later generations, even after a thousand years, this issue of officialdom is still  It's an unsolvable problem.

    "My lord, we have to rectify the officialdom, but we can't do it now. The old Wei bureaucrats who surrendered are still waiting and watching with suspicion. Once we start to rectify it, they will all be in danger, and maybe something big will happen!  The Northern Expedition is in full swing, and our army may join the war at any time. At this critical moment, we must not cause trouble in the rear.

    After all, our army's logistics supplies still depend on this group of people. No matter how bad these people are, they still provide us with money and food supplies. Once we abandon them and build a new government structure, lord, we don't have the time.  There are not so many scholars!  Without people, how can we replace the current officials?  "

    Meng Ju was silent, and Mr. Wen talked about his biggest pain point. Due to the lack of righteousness, the Dongping Army has always been short of brave generals and strong soldiers, but it has always been short of scholars and civil servants to take refuge.  Mr. Xiang Wen, the chief staff member, was forcibly kidnapped and brought back by Meng Ju. As for other scholars and scholars who were willing to take refuge, they could only be counted with one slap.

    Without the support of the scholar class, there is no way to establish your own local civil affairs system. This is the simplest truth.  Meng Ju hesitated and said, "Can the army be directly involved in local civil affairs? Let the army take over the local government?"

    Mr. Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly widened.  He lost his voice and said: "Lord, this is the worst idea. Let the army generals own their land and money. What does this mean? They are warlords!

    ?? If my lord, you dare to do this.  In less than half a year, the entire Dongping Army will disintegrate into a group of large and small warlords, and we will be completely dispersed.  Lord, the army is the army.  Politics is politics, and the two must not be integrated into one. This is an iron rule.  Even if all civil servants are corrupt, the harm is not as terrible as the self-respect of warlords who rely on their troops.  "

    Mr. Wen mentioned the consequences so seriously that Meng Ju was horrified. As he thought about it, Meng Ju himself couldn't help but smile bitterly.

    Mr. Wen was surprised: "Master, why are you laughing?"

    "Doukai 344 Dilemma (Part 2)" "Ah, I thought of some old things, sir, don't mind."

    Meng Ju thought of the image of warlords described in movies and TV dramas he had seen before: the commanders were all domineering, eating, drinking, gambling and doing nothing all day long.  With two pistols stuck in his waist, he roamed the streets with his soldiers. When he saw a beautiful woman, he took her home and became his wife.  Anyone who doesn't like it will be beheaded immediately.  In comparison, with tens of thousands of troops and several provinces, he can be regarded as a real warlord, but he spends his whole day like a bookkeeper worrying about the food, clothing, clothing, and food for his tens of thousands of brothers, not to mention bullying men.  She is a domineering girl. Even if she wants to eradicate a few corrupt officials under her, she still has to look forward and backward. She is also a warlord. Everyone's fate is too far apart, right?

    Seeing the bitter smile on Meng Ju¡¯s face, Mr. Wen misunderstood what he meant.  He said with a smile: "The students are also being alarmist. The matter may not be as serious as they say. The time is not yet ripe for large-scale rectification of officialdom. However, some of those local officials are too shameful. It would be fine to pick out a few and deal with them."  It doesn't matter, it can be considered as a warning to everyone to restrain themselves. As long as the name is justified and the principle is tenable, I'm not afraid of them turning the world upside down."

    Meng Ju originally wanted to set off a "big anti-corruption storm", but in the end he could only catch a few "monkeys" to deal with, and he was also a little uninterested.  He casually flipped through some documents on the table: "Here are some secret documents. Sir, you might as well take a look at them. This document accuses Luo Huai, the prefect of Shuozhou, of excessive taxation. The tax has been collected by God for ten years. This document  The case involved accusing Zhang Dingshan of Dingzhou for accepting bribes and confounding the case, inspiring tens of thousands of people to besiege the state capital; there was also another case in which Sima Cao Lin of Kaizhou colluded with the local evil gentry to occupy people's fields and forced people to die. The victim's family held up a  The unjust person committed suicide on the spot at the gate of the state capital, which was very tragic and caused great repercussions in the local area."

    Mr. Wen took the case file, read it hastily, and asked, "What do you mean, Lord?"

    "Mr. Wen, please send someone to review these things. If the secret report is true, you can notify the local Dongling Guards to arrest the person. After processing, inform the various states and governments about the verdict, so that the officials in each place understand their plans for death.  Tao, lest it be said that our birds are gone and our bows are hidden.¡±

    "I obey, my lord, but after they are captured, there will be vacancies among them"

    "Just notify the state capitals of Dingzhou, Kaizhou and Shuozhou and ask them to submit the list of candidates and their resumes, and the base camp will select the appropriate candidates."

    "Doukai" finished talking about business, Meng Ju rubbed his forehead tiredly,He walked to the window, opened it, and let the icy cold wind blow in. Meng Ju shivered with the cold, but he felt an inexplicable sense of pleasure.  He heard the sound of dense firecrackers and gongs and drums coming from a distance, and he turned around in surprise: "With so many firecrackers, is anyone doing a happy event?"

    "My Lord, you have been busy all day and have forgotten the time. Today is New Year's Eve, and tomorrow is New Year's Day."

    "Ah!" Meng Ju slapped his forehead: Unknowingly, the second year of Tianyou is about to pass.

    Looking at the snow falling outside the window, Meng Ju was filled with emotions.  In the past year, both myself and the whole world have experienced earth-shaking changes.

    He turned around and bowed to Mr. Wen: "Sir, in the past year, you have been planning and planning for our army. You have worked very hard and it is really hard. Meng would like to express his gratitude here. Please also  Mr. Meng will continue to assist me in the new year, and I would like to thank you in advance."

    Mr. Wen was stunned for a moment, and his expression became serious. He bowed deeply and returned the greeting: "My lord, I have said that, and the student is not worthy of it. In fact, the person who should say thank you is the student. My lord and the student have known each other not long ago. My lord,  To give such trust, to treat each other with sincerity, to give the students the opportunity to display what they have learned, and to prevent their life-long skills from being wasted. It is really a great blessing for the students to meet the lord. If the lord does not abandon the students to be stupid, the students will be handed over to the lord for the rest of their lives.  .¡±

    The two of them looked at each other and smiled, feeling that "it's rare to have a close friend in life" suddenly came to their hearts, and a thousand words were lost in silence.

    "My lord, tonight is New Year's Eve. You have worked hard for a year. Please go to bed early and don't stay up late reviewing the article."

    "That's fine. Sir, please put down your official duties and rest tonight. If you have any questions, we'll talk about it after the New Year."

    After sending Mr. Wen off, Meng Ju returned to his room. He sat down in front of the desk as usual and reached out to look through the official documents, but he came up empty: Before Mr. Wen left, he deliberately removed the pile in front of Meng Ju's desk.  All the documents awaiting trial were taken away, saying "so that the lord can rest peacefully tonight."

    There are no memorials to read, so what should we do?  He was used to being busy and suddenly became leisurely. For a while, Meng Ju was really at a loss.

    He walked to the window and stared out the window at the falling snow.  It was sunset, and snowflakes dyed red by the sunset were falling one after another. Wherever he looked, the streets and houses were covered in silver, and firecrackers and the sounds of people celebrating came from far and near.

    Listening to the festive noise and voices in the distance, Meng Ju felt a sense of loneliness arise in his chest.

    In this snowy evening, he thought of Ye Canaan again.  Three years ago, in the heavy snow in northern Xinjiang, that beautiful girl lay in his arms and passed away.

    Canaan, I wonder if it¡¯s snowing in Luo Jing now?  Are you okay over there?

    Meng Ju sat on the window frame, letting the biting cold wind blow his body and clothes, snowflakes falling on his shoulders, and letting his thoughts wander endlessly.  At this moment, this great warlord with a heavy army and a lot of experience was like an ordinary young boy in Huachun, with his heart filled with a touch of sadness and longing.

    "Perhaps, after the Chinese New Year, I should send someone to go to the Ye family in Luojing? Mr. Ye promised my marriage last time, but now I don't know what his intentions are?"

    While Meng Ju was thinking wildly, someone knocked on the door gently, and Meng pouted and shouted: "Come in!"

    The attendant pushed the door open and saw Meng Ju sitting on the windowsill with the window open. He was stunned for a moment and reported: "My lord, a guest is here."

    "Guest? Tonight is New Year's Eve, and I won't be taking care of official business. As for the guest, please ask him to find Mr. Wen."

    "My lord, it was Mr. Wen who brought the guest here. He said that this guest is very important and must be seen by the lord in person."

    Meng Ju was surprised: "Mr. Wen? He was the one who said he wanted me to rest just now. Who is the guest?"

    The guard bowed slightly: "The man didn't hand over the name, but he seemed to be very impressive. He said his name is Ye Jianxin. As soon as I tell you his name, my lord, you will know."

    Meng Ju's body was shaken, and in his excitement, he almost fell off the window frame.  He jumped down and shouted: "Master Ye is here? Please come in quickly, no, I will go out to greet you personally!"

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    (That¡¯s all for this week. Although there are two thousand words less, Pig will update it in advance next week~~Thank you for supporting Doukai so far!) (To be continued.)
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