Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 128 Xun Yu: I can’t do it anymore

On April 21st of the second year of Xingping, Liu Bei used the seal of the governor to send thirteen official documents to various states and counties.

A proclamation was issued to attack the Xiongnu in Henei County and the bandits in Liangzhou, with the following reason: the Xiongnu Chanyu had been causing troubles repeatedly since the siege of Baideng, Emperor Xiaowu used Wei and Huo to attack the Xiongnu, and successive Han dynasties had gone beyond the borders to put an end to the Xiongnu's troubles, and when Emperor Guangwu tried to win over the barbarians, it was a pity that the barbarians were uncivilized, behaved rudely, brutally, and plundered by nature.

The strong will invade and be violent, the weak will submit. Now the Chanyu Yufuluo has shown no kindness, plundered the land of Heluo, and disturbed the ancestral temple in Luoyang. Therefore, Liu Xuande, a descendant of the Liu family, led an army to attack the Xiongnu and hung the Chanyu in the residence of the barbarians in Luoyang to show all the barbarians that anyone who offends the mighty Han must be punished.

Since Dong Zhuo, the Liangzhou bandits have been doing evil things, insulting the Han Liu family, deposing the young emperor and killing Empress He, burning Luoyang and Chang'an, slaughtering the people, and occupying Guanzhong. I will conquer the Liangzhou bandits in Henei, Henan, and Hongnong counties."

As the proclamation was issued to the world, officials and civilians in Qingzhou and Yanzhou counties were mobilized, and laborers drawn from various counties began to transport more food and fodder.

The county officials supervised each other and checked whether the books and granaries of the counties and prefectures were consistent. The account books were divided into four copies: one for the state, one for the county, a backup for the county, and one for the warehouse keeper.

We will check and verify at every level, and hold everyone accountable from the bottom up for where there is too much or too little recorded.

In order to prevent officials from making mistakes, Liu Bei compiled statistics in various household registers according to various matters, and then calculated the total number by region and category.

A bookkeeping format was also developed that recorded expenditures in red and income in black to better distinguish inventory totals.

Liu Bei required that the officials of Qingzhou and Yanzhou must master this method of work and include it in the assessment criteria for official promotion. The state officials handled it during the day and came to the front hall at night to receive personal instruction from Liu Bei.

After the officials of the state have finished their studies, they will be assigned to various counties to teach county officials. After the county officials have learned, they will teach county officials. After the county officials have finished their studies, they will teach township officials.

The officials in Qingzhou have basically learned it, and now Liu Bei's supervision is mainly for the counties in Yanzhou.

Zhang Chao, the younger brother of Chenliu prefect Zhang Miao, came to pay a visit to Lord Xuande last year and asked Liu Bei to keep him and force him to learn new methods of checking records before letting him go.

Before leaving, he also reminded: "This is one of the assessments for officials' transfers and dismissals. If you and Meng Zhuo fail the assessment next year, your names may be spread to Qing and Yan."

Zhang Chao was so scared that his face turned pale. Even celebrities have to have some dignity. Who would like to be announced as incompetent and laughed at by the world?

Don't be at the top, but don't be embarrassed to be at the bottom either.

In addition to the allocation of food and fodder, the armory was also allocated to the soldiers of the military office under the inspection and counting of the chief commander, the deputy chief secretary, and the state and county officials.

Weapons and armaments ranged from lances, spears, guns, bows and crossbows, arrows, swords, axes, hammers, large shields to hoes, chisels, saws and sickles.

From the soldiers' leather armor and iron armor to the horses' light armor, heavy armor, saddles, reins and other items and equipment.

Various cooking utensils were distributed, along with hemp, silk, herbs, and clothing.

Military consumables, such as horse lances, spears, guns, arrows, and long swords, are constantly consumed in every major battle, and the most commonly used weapon in battle is the ring-handled long sword.

When charging into the enemy formation and slashing, the blade would make a gap before it had cut many people.

Liu Bei had ordered the craftsmen to mix pig iron and wrought iron together and heat them. The pig iron would melt first and then be poured into the wrought iron to carburize the wrought iron. The impurities would then be squeezed out through forging to make the texture uniform and become a better quality blade.

It was much stronger than the steel-making method of the local princes, but it could not withstand the losses after each battle. Basically, before and after the expedition, craftsmen from each county had to process and cast military equipment, and then civilians and auxiliary soldiers would send them to the battlefield.

Because the envoy often inquired about the affairs of the gold offices in various counties, he gave the craftsmen generous financial and food treatment, and also ordered that those who could improve the efficiency of various equipment would be rewarded with gold.

The craftsmen in Pingyuan were already familiar with Liu Shijun.

One craftsman boldly suggested to Lord Xuande: "If we have high-quality ore, we can use this method to make the swords and armor sharper and stronger."

Liu Bei then smiled and said, "When the Han Dynasty reopens the Western Regions, sets up a Protectorate and subdues more than 30 countries, we will be able to bring in iron from the west to forge sharp weapons." The young craftsman whispered, "Sir, how long will that take?"

"It won't be long. Soon the Han Dynasty will return to the Western Regions, allowing the rulers of the various countries to see Han envoys again. Traveling along the Silk Road, including Hetao, will return to the hands of the Han family."

"By then, if any of your descendants want to emulate the stories of Zhang Qian, Fu Jiezi, Chang Hui, and Ban Chao, they can all volunteer to come and find me."

Liu Bei smiled and patted the young craftsman on the shoulder, speaking gently.

The biggest difference between the emperors of the Han Dynasty and those of later generations was that they were able to mingle with the common people. During the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident, Prince Xiaowu Liu Ju was able to mobilize tens of thousands of Chang'an people to fight against the imperial army led by Prime Minister Liu Quti. This was due to the accumulated kindness to the people from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Xiaowen.

If Emperor Xiaowen had persisted in following his plan, even if a powerful minister like the Sima family usurped the throne decades later, as long as the Liu family made a call, even if the gentry and wealthy families did not move, the knights-errant and the common people would have attached themselves to them like clouds.

Liu Bei couldn't help but look strange when he thought about it carefully. Wang Mang didn't look like a time traveler, but Gaozu and Xiaowen were somewhat similar. The Han Dynasty had been following the mass line from the very beginning.

In particular, Emperor Xiaowen constantly won over the people and rewarded them. He captured all of Taizu's meritorious officials without bloodshed and brought the princes under his control.

While equipment and supplies were being allocated from various places, Liu Bei was also busy inspecting the military camps many times.

For this expedition, 457 heavy cavalry and 681 light cavalry of the Huben Cavalry were mobilized, as well as doctors and more than 400 grooms.

More than 4,700 military horses, war horses, pack horses, draft horses, mules and donkeys were mobilized, and 2,000 auxiliary soldiers were dispatched to transport beans and fodder for the horses.

The infantry recruited three camps: the Vanguard Camp, the Armored Camp, and the Sound-shooting Camp. Taishi Ci, Zhao Zhen, Han Mu, and Bao Xin all went out to fight.

Zhang Fei requested to fight several times, and Liu Bei had no choice but to take him with him, and ordered the Jinan County Magistrate and Gongcao to assist him in handling the matter for the time being.

Chaiying also followed the army and was managed by Ran.

Liu Bei also changed his personal guards into the Ruichong Camp, which consisted of more than 500 infantry and cavalry. Dian Wei, who came from Chenliu, was appointed as the commander of the infantry garrison, and Liu He was appointed as the military commander.

More than 4,000 soldiers were mobilized for this battle, including 1,573 cavalrymen including scouts and scouts, and 12,000 auxiliary soldiers.

There were 400 Wugang chariots and siege equipment made from locally cut wood.

All the accompanying military personnel totaled 19,000 people, but were officially reported as 30,000.

Once the transfer order is issued, various financial expenditures will follow.

The huge expenditure of the treasury in recent years, with the largest amount spent on military expenses, made Xun Yu feel uneasy. Even if sea salt, tea and sugar were sold to the upper class, it would only be a temporary solution.

The envoy handed over half of the matters to him, and he had to deal with them no matter how difficult it was.

When Liu Bei was surveying the land and eliminating the powerful families, why did the clerks who came from the aristocratic families remain silent? Some of their letters were even suppressed by Xun Yu.

The reason was that the treasury was empty. Over the past few years, either natural disasters or man-made disasters had caused all the money to be spent. Even this year's expedition was mostly provided by the Mi family of Xuzhou and the gentry of Yingzhou. Only then did Liu Bei have the confidence to order the military to mobilize troops, otherwise he would not be able to go anywhere.

In this situation, where would the treasury revenue come from if the powerful are not exterminated? Where would the money fall from the sky if people are not killed?

When Liu Bei was the Prime Minister of Pingyuan and the Governor of Qingzhou, it was Qian Zhao and Jian Yong who were in charge of the finances every day. Later, they were sent to serve as prefects in other places, and only Xun Yu was left.

"Sir, the money and grain taxes have long been unable to support the huge expenditures of the government treasury. The money and grain rewards after this expedition will be another huge expense... I can't come up with the money." Xun Yu found Liu Bei and said with a wry smile.

(End of this chapter)