I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 276 Aren’t we the supreme rulers?

Of course, it is impossible for the Han people today to believe that the Xianbei people today can establish a regime that rules all of northern China in the future. In their eyes, the Xianbei people are like stink bugs, disgusting but not fatal.

But it was precisely because of this arrogance that many enemies had the opportunity to develop and eventually become mortal enemies.

Yuan Feng wouldn't believe it, so Yuan Shu knew that it was useless for him to say these things, but he thought he needed to do something to eliminate this kind of danger that he could foresee.

Who makes him a responsible time traveler?

Alas, what a hard life!

Yuan Shu was deeply moved.

"Father, when Zhou was strong, did any of the Zhou people think that the Quanrong could threaten Zhou's safety? When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang raised their arms in Daze Township, did any of the Qin people think that they could set off a wave to destroy Qin? When Emperor Gaozu started his army in Pei County, did anyone believe that he could establish the Han Dynasty that has continued to this day?"

"That's true."

Yuan Feng nodded repeatedly and said slowly: "The Xianbei may indeed be a threat. It is not okay to always allow them to go south to plunder. So your father also intends to fight back against the Xianbei and teach this group of barbarians a lesson. However, considering that the treasury is empty and mobilizing cavalry will cost too much money, I am very hesitant..."

Yuan Shu shook his head.

"During the reign of Emperor Xiaohuan, the Xianbei were able to dispatch 30,000 to 40,000 cavalrymen to the south to plunder. Today, more than a decade has passed, and they must be able to dispatch more troops, be stronger, and have a deeper foundation. If we only dispatch a small force and expect to accomplish our goal in one battle, that is unrealistic."

"This...isn't it?"

Yuan Feng was puzzled and said, "No matter how strong the Hu Lu are, they will be defeated by the Han cavalry. It's just that the Han cavalry didn't have time to attack them before. As long as they concentrate their forces, 30,000 Han cavalry will be enough to defeat his 100,000 cavalry. Shu, you worry too much."

"It's not an overreaction."

Yuan Shu still shook his head and insisted on his point of view: "First, the Xianbei were divided in the past, but now they have a unified command. The leader of the Xianbei, Tan Shihuai, is quite knowledgeable in both civil and military affairs. He has been raiding the south for more than ten years and has been successful many times. The Xianbei cavalry has been trained in many battles and is proficient in tactics and riding skills. They are not comparable to ordinary Han cavalry like us.

Secondly, after so many years of looting, the border counties had been breached many times, and the Xianbei people must have been able to plunder many weapons and even siege equipment and craftsmen. They must have mastered a lot of iron smelting and forging techniques. In this way, their weapons and bows and crossbows would also be improved, and the situation in which the Han army was far superior to them in armor, soldiers, bows and crossbows would be changed.

Such a 100,000 cavalry is not something that 30,000 Han cavalry can compete with, and the outcome cannot be decided in one battle. Even if we can really defeat them, they will retreat to the depths of the desert, and our Han cavalry will not be able to catch up. If the army retreats, they will come back again. What can we do? Therefore, if we want to destroy the Xianbei and pacify the grassland, it will not be a matter of a day or a night. "

Yuan Feng looked his son up and down. He didn't expect that after his son went out to fight in a battle, he came back with some of the demeanor of a famous general and could talk about the war with great knowledge.

How come you didn’t know that your son had military talent before?
He had some interest.

"Since you have such an idea, how would you deal with it if you were to lead the war against Xianbei?"

Yuan Shu organized his words and told Yuan Feng some of the ideas he had been thinking about during this period.

“If I were to come, compared to the war against the Xianbei, in my opinion, the most important thing is not to send troops, but to rectify the current situation in Youzhou, Bingzhou and Liangzhou. Start with rectifying the broken border counties, resettling the people, building farms, cultivating land to store grain, and strictly guarding the border.

The most important thing is not to attack first, but to defend, and to counterattack on the basis of defense. It should be a limited counterattack, not a large-scale counterattack. The most important thing is to build a solid border defense of the three states so that the Xianbei and other Hu Lu will no longer be able to succeed in looting from the south.

The reason why they went south to plunder was simply because they were short of food and clothing, and lacked the things they needed. These things were only available in the Han area, and they could not produce them themselves, so they came to plunder. And every time they plundered, they would become stronger.

In addition, I have heard that in the border areas, many powerful families organized caravans, exchanged salt and iron with the Xianbei people for horses, and then transported the horses to Jizhou and other places to sell them. They made money and made a fortune in this way, which was extremely harmful to the Han Dynasty.

Even if the Xianbei people were able to master the art of iron smelting, they did not have much iron ore. With the technology but no iron ore, they naturally could not fully support the iron tools they needed. In this way, they had to obtain iron tools through looting and trading.

After all, pillaging is risky, while trading is much safer. With the continuous supply of ironware from border merchants, the Xianbei people can continue to maintain the weapons needed for pillaging and become stronger, so we must rectify this behavior.

While rectifying the border defense, we do not allow the border counties to trade ironware with the Xianbei people, which will force the Xianbei people to obtain ironware through looting. In this way, they must constantly attack and face the border defenses that I have rectified, and their strength will be weakened during this period. While my army is counterattacking on these defense lines built on cities and farms, it can also gain experience and combat power, train stronger and more combat-savvy cavalry, and become familiar with the Xianbei people's tactics. After three to five years, the situation will be very different.

The Xianbei are short of soldiers and generals, and even more so of sophisticated weapons. By then, they may not even have the iron to make weapons and arrows. However, our Han cavalry have fully adapted to their tactics, and are well-trained, well-equipped, and well-fed. Only then can we march north to the grasslands and destroy the Xianbei!"

After Yuan Shu's explanation, Yuan Feng's eyes lit up with surprise.

Even though he didn't know much about military affairs, after hearing what Yuan Shu said, he could vaguely feel that after such an operation, not only would the Xianbei be completely eliminated, but the entire northern border threat might be eliminated, and the Han Dynasty would usher in an unprecedented peace.

But this joy was soon concealed.

Yuan Feng did not know much about military affairs, but he was a mature old bureaucrat and he understood politics.

The three states of You, Bing and Liang were extremely cold and harsh, and agriculture could not develop and grain production was insufficient all year round. Therefore, the local people were mostly engaged in commerce and animal husbandry, and traded with foreign ethnic groups on the border in exchange for wealth and the food they needed for survival.

It's not just the Xianbei people, there are also the Wuhuan people, the Southern Xiongnu, as well as Buyeo and Goguryeo in the northeast and other countries and ethnic groups. The situation is quite complicated, and the imperial court's control over these places is not strong.

If a ban is issued to prohibit the trade of ironware, it will be equivalent to cutting off the main source of income for many big families and damaging their interests. Can they agree to accept it?

The same goes for local governments. Their interests will also be affected, and they will certainly not accept it easily.

After Emperor He of Han, the Eastern Han Dynasty no longer implemented the salt and iron monopoly, but instead adopted a dual-track system, retaining official iron smelting institutions while also allowing private operations. Iron officials were then set up to manage and collect taxes, and the management authority of these iron officials was also delegated to the counties and kingdoms.

Counties and states that had iron mines and produced ironware set up great iron officials to levy taxes at every level from iron mining to sales, leaving no room for profit.

Counties and states without iron mines set up small iron officials, and they also had ways to make money.

According to the tax collection method of this period, if one left the county and went to other counties to sell goods, he would be taxed again every time he arrived at a county or passed a checkpoint, and the tax rate ranged from 10% to more than 50%.

If you want to sell ironware to the grassland, you need to pass through many places. The counties and states along the way can benefit from it by setting up small iron officials, earning tolls, giving some benefits to yourself and your subordinates, and everyone shares the benefits.

For example, if you want to sell ironware from Zhuo County to the grassland, you must at least pass through Shanggu County. Shanggu County can make a profit from it. From the county magistrate to the clerk, everyone must hope to maintain such an income.

If ironware was sold from Zhuo County to the Wuhuan people or Goguryeo, it would require passing through several Liaodong counties and kingdoms, and they could all benefit from it.

This is just the outbound journey. On the return journey, the caravans brought back horses, bone products, animal skins and other grassland specialty products from the foreign tribes on the grassland and sold them in the inland prefectures and counties. They had to pass through many counties and kingdoms, and they had to collect taxes at each place they arrived.

How many officials have made a lot of money by taking advantage of this rule?

Now, Luoyang has issued an order to cut off the sale of ironware to foreign races. The opportunity to collect taxes and make money twice is gone. How many clans and officials will suffer losses as a result?
Can they accept it?
There must be all kinds of things going on!

Not to mention other aspects, just this point alone made Yuan Feng feel that there were many difficulties and he couldn't push it forward.

He told Yuan Shu about his considerations.

After listening to Yuan Feng's concerns, Yuan Shu thought about it and felt very confused.

Dad, aren’t we the supreme rulers?

Have you forgotten that we are not just a family with three dukes for four generations?
We have sidelined the emperor and are holding the imperial power on his behalf!
How come he is just like an ordinary minister?
So Yuan Shu confided his doubts to Yuan Feng.

"Father, don't we control Luoyang? Don't we have the emperor in our hands? We have the righteous cause in our hands. If someone blatantly opposes or pretends to obey, can't we take this opportunity to eliminate them?"

(End of this chapter)