Liu Bei was quite cautious in his determination to reform and expand his military resources this time, and he felt a little guilty about not being able to send reinforcements to Li Su immediately.

That's why Liu Bei did not order or notify Li Su in the form of decree, but just discussed and discussed with Li Su through private messages and secret messages. Moreover, the messenger sent was also Huang Quan who had been running around to inspect the situation recently and was more familiar with the situation, rather than sending a messenger to do the job like he did in the previous few times.

After Li Su received the letter, he received the gift and asked someone to arrange for Huang Quan to have a good meal and drink. If Huang Quan had any places to play in Xiakou City, Li Su sent a gang to accompany the other party to eat, drink and have fun, and also offered to let Zhen Yao take Huang Quan to visit Liangzi Lake and experience the scenery of Yunmeng swamp in the Jianghan area.

As for Li Su himself, of course, he closed the door first and discussed with the core staff how to give feedback to the emperor, and discussed separately.

That is to talk about military issues with Xu Shu, talk about internal resistance issues such as financial reform, and then talk to Wang Lei about how to deal with the possible stubborn vested interests in reform.

After all, each of Li Su’s aides is not as generalist as Li Su. Some are good at tactics, some are good at differentiating domestic interests, and some are purely suitable for offending people.

Li Su has been a leader for many years and has long practiced the method of employing people. He uses his own strengths to show his strengths. He only grasps the general direction and the following people add and improve the details.

Huang Quan, who was politely entertained and had a little uneasy. He asked Zhen Yao several times on a Liangzihu cruise ship: Does Li Sikong feel that the idea of ​​this reform is a bit too hasty? Or is he feeling sorry for the fact that the Northern Line has been unable to draw reinforcements to help him take all Jiangdong, and wants to extinguish the lake and replace it with other methods to quickly expand the army and seek war?

Regarding these questions, Zhen Yao, the tutor, is just a big deal. He is kind-hearted from beginning to end. He told Huang Quan not to think too much. He patted his chest and said that Li Sikong was really planning countermeasures, and saw how to refine His Majesty's ideas to facilitate implementation. Slow work is done. Every time His Majesty asks Sikong to discuss national affairs remotely, he should not be more cautious for a few days.

Huang Quan had never done this level of communication before, but he was a little uncomfortable and felt frightened. Although he accepted Zhen Yao's statement, he still had no intention of continuing to have fun. After halfway through Liangzi Lake on the first day, he went back to the inn to wait for news.

Zhen Yao couldn't force him to have fun, so he just asked someone to give Huang Quan good wine and meat on time every meal.

The next night when he arrived in Xiakou, Huang Quan ate delicious food with rich flavors. The seven or eight fresh rivers were produced in Liangzi Lake and the Han River in the Yangtze River. There were also many delicacies and wild animals in Luoxiao Mountain in the south, and all the deer, roe, deer, deer, deer, deer, and deer were available.

However, the food only made him feel that "Sikong attaches great importance to angels and respects them." He couldn't help but sigh while eating:

"Maybe this is normal. Although Sikong was named the commander and refused to be the only one who was in charge of the four or five states in the south, he actually "entitled to the name of Sikong, but actually became the prime minister of Han". He was not in the center, and the biggest major affairs of the court had to be discussed with him. This holy relative was far from comparable to Zhong Situ Xun Lingjun.

When Your Majesty was in power, the list of three ministers and ministers who were enthroned could not represent the true level of trust in Your Majesty. Some of them were just because the other party had already held a high position when he was the late emperor and had a profound experience in the court, so he continued to make a high position. Perhaps in less than two or three years, the young aides who Your Majesty had met in trouble in his early years would have to be greatly promoted."

Not to mention that Huang Quan once again realized some trends in the affairs of the court because of Liu Bei's special trust in Li Su this time.

In the officialdom, no one who has a high official position is the most respected person. Especially since Huan Ling, the high position and merits and empty positions caused by selling official positions have been rampant, and their prestige has been greatly reduced.

The list of ministers and nobles when Liu Bei was elected as emperor was of course also a product of compromise on historical issues, and made great concessions to the consideration of "year-old qualifications".

Lu Su and Zhuge Jin, who followed Liu Bei very early but were too young at the time, have not yet reached the position of the Nine Ministers and are still serving as governors in local prefectures.

But Liu Bei has been emperor for nine months. Huang Quan has seen that his trust in Lu Su is definitely not inferior to Zhong Yao, and he can compete with Xun You (mainly because Xun You has a good IQ and has given Liu Bei a lot of ideas. Zhong Yao is only the talent of internal affairs and personnel)

Zhuge Jin was a little more, but Liu Bei's trust in him was no less than Zhong Yao. He was definitely more than half of the current nine ministers. However, Fa Zheng, the "Secretary of the Ministry of Justice", was a deputy of the Ninth Ministry, and his trust was equal to Zhuge Jin.

The reason why Lu Su Fa Zheng Zhuge Jin was promoted was slow, and the key was that he was young. His official status during the dynasty of Emperor Ling and Emperor Xian was relatively low. At that time, he was only trusted in Liu Bei's private shogunate and could not be mentioned on the table.

When the private shogunate transformed into the court, the compatibility of the court's old decency had to be carefully considered and many high positions were given. Similar to the history of Cao Cao's control of the court, at the beginning, the highest position of his true confidant was Xun Yu, and other official positions were not enough. He had to slowly remove the old veterans year by year.

Of course, Liu Bei did not remove the elders, because he had received less than 20% of the old officials of the Liu Xie court, and the remaining 80% of the famous Beijing officials went to meet Yuan Shao.

Moreover, as long as you are a minister loyal to the Han Dynasty, there will be no conflict of interest with Liu Bei. At most, you are not worthy of entrusting important tasks to entrusted to a high position. These need to be adjusted slowly, but they are definitely not cut off. The treatment you should guarantee after the adjustment must be guaranteed.

Huang Quan has been trusted by Liu Bei recently. He has been in charge of this kind of communication several times and knows some inside information. He has seen Li Su’s reply to Liu Bei last time, and knows that Li Su doesn’t want to jump too much, so he wants to get stuck at the time when he “don’t be the prime minister before he is thirty.”

Huang Quan learned from his own thoughts and thought that once Li Su was thirty years old and became the prime minister, it would probably not be as simple as Li Su's adjustment alone. Within a year after Li Su became prime minister, Lu Su, Zhuge Jin, Fa Zheng, Gu Yong, and Zhuge Liang would probably all follow the rise and make up for it. Xun You and Zhong Yao were already very high and should not be able to move.

In fact, the prime minister still had to lead his troops. At the same time, the emperor had to listen to major issues in reform and reform. Zhong Yao and Xun You said nothing at all, and the court's deliberation cycle was naturally prolonged and delayed.

After all, Li Su has no chance to discuss politics face to face with Liu Bei, and he can change his words immediately if he says something wrong and is questioned. Li Su and Liu Bei talk about national affairs after a letter exchange of letters and exchanges every half month. He can't even catch up if he says something wrong. If Liu Bei asks questions, he will be able to explain it in at least half a month.

In such an office environment, Li Su must be very cautious.

Just like a patent agent in later generations, when facing the OA of the National Knowledge Bureau, if it is a written reply, it must be more comprehensive than in person oral review, because you will not have the chance to replenish it for a second time in a short period of time. This is just email communication, which is so cautious, let alone a human delivery every half a month.

"It's really not easy for Sikong and His Majesty. I hope to destroy Sun Quan's territory in Jiangdong sooner. Sikong can free up his hands to return to the court, and the efficiency of the government communication can be higher. The court cannot be in charge without Sikong." Huang Quan sighed sincerely.

...

Huang Quan had just finished dinner in the inn and had not been cleaned up yet. Suddenly there was a stir outside. He went out to see that it was Li Su who came to him to discuss official business with kindness and kindness, and two staff members were following behind him.

Huang Quan hurriedly welcomed him out: "Is Sikong discussing the response? Just call him down, why bother here in person?"

Li Su shook the folding fan: "Gongheng is responsible for the emperor's order this time, so I should have come to state it myself. Just so, you haven't taken it away yet. I just finished talking about business and eat some here."

Li Su was very simple and exemplary and asked the postmen in the inn to make up a few pairs of bowls and chopsticks. Anyway, there was a iron plate fried deer steak and a charcoal grilled mesh oil-wrapped liquor and a charcoal grilled mesh and fragrant deer legs that didn't move, and there were two fish and shrimps. Li Su and Xu Shu and Zhang Song were enough to deal with each other and eat a few bites.

Huang Quan was really moved: Everyone said that Li Sikong was extravagant, but he was really serious in his work. Extravagant was just extravagant without affecting his work. He would even eat leftovers when he was busy.

Li Su was not polite, and soon got to the point. He first explained his attitude: "What Your Majesty thinks is good governance. In principle, I support every one of them, but there must be priorities in the specific implementation. I will first talk about my general attitude to Gongheng, and the details are written in the secret memorial:

The war on the northern front cannot be decided quickly and reinforcements cannot arrive quickly. This is also helpless. I will find another way to overcome it. I should expand 80,000 new troops this year. I hope that after these people form an army, they will increase their troops on the southern front, resist Cao Cao in the north, and destroy Sun Quan in the east. However, I have another discussion in my secret commentary on how to expand the army, whether it can speed up the army and use it to confuse the enemy.

Secondly, this method will definitely work in the long run, but now it is a bit too hasty. Now it is already April, and in previous years, the taxes were collected were agricultural taxes, and taxes were paid in autumn. It has not been a few months since then. It is too sudden and it is easy to arouse opposition among the people.

This year, we will first release the news, then weigh the temporary measures to pay off the expenses and equipment for expanding the army. But at the same time, we must replace the future reductions and exemptions for the wealthy merchants and nobles who actively respond to the levy, and build momentum step by step."

In just a few words, Huang Quan felt a sense of confidence that he had not been missing for a long time. Li Sikong did not come up with a plan, and once he had an idea, he would be meticulous in one, two, three, and four.

Five years ago, he was engaged in renting and mediocre recruitment, but later he was upgraded to renting and mediocre recruitment, and finally he was admitted to the imperial examination. Li Su didn't take action.

Huang Quan took a deep breath and asked excitedly: "Can you tell me in detail? Sikong thinks how to 'accelerate the expansion of the army into an army'? Your Majesty is still very concerned about the battle situation on the southern front. If he can really do this and help Sikong eliminate the remnants of Sun Quan as soon as possible, His Majesty will definitely do his best to promote it."

Li Su didn't raise her head, but just stretched out a finger: "It's very simple. There is one thing you didn't remind Your Majesty. If you train and expand your army according to the usual rules, it is necessary to train for at least three or four months or even half a year.

In previous years, our army took the elite troops route before the Northern Expedition. Because the roads are difficult to travel, the mountainous areas are dangerous and obstructed, and the soldiers at that time were not trained for one or two years, and they also first looked for enemies from the weak brigade to practice and work together. Even if the army is expanded now, it is not easy to directly avoid quality.

However, since all the counts are 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, who have already been on the battlefield, have had some courage to fight with us, these people can quickly form an army. After a winter of hard work, they will be wiped out their nostalgia for the old master, and give them a little more than two months of good days, and they will be on the battlefield immediately.

As for loyalty and reliability, you can actually switch to other places to fight in other places. You have sent Yuan Shao's more than 20,000 prisoners of war to Gao Shun, and all the prisoners of war on my side will be sent immediately.

At that time, Sun Ce's prisoners of war will be trained and put into the Hebei battlefield, or at least placed in the Wancheng Defense Zone of Nanyang. After training Yuan Shao's prisoners of war, I will be sent to me to be responsible for the last battle against Sun Quan, so I can save some time."

Huang Quan was a little scared when he heard this, because although Li Su's idea was good in terms of overall planning, he also made a mistake in military common sense: people have problems of soil and water adaptation. Northerners go to the south to fight wars, and southerners go to the north to fight wars, which has a natural disadvantage of climate and geography.

In fact, one of the important reasons for the losses in the Battle of Red Cliff in history was that the northern soldiers went south on a large scale and were unacceptable to the local environment, and the plagues began to spread in the Cao army. Aren’t the plagues in the Cao army captured Yuan Shao after the Battle of Guandu? As for the Yuzhou soldiers who originally belonged to Cao Cao, who lived in the Lianghuai area, they were not so unacceptable to the local environment when they arrived in Jingchu and Yangzhou...

Huang Quan ignored Li Su's official position, and said bluntly and earnestly: "Sikong! A soldier must be careful in major issues. If the soldiers are not accustomed to the local conditions, they will suffer from illness, not to mention that the northerners are not accustomed to water wars.

Even though combat in other places solved the danger of these soldiers missing their former masters in the short term and surrendering to the enemy, compared with the newly added dangers, the benefits are simply not worth mentioning."

Li Su smiled slightly: "What you said makes sense, it is a common military law, but it is precisely because of the common military law that the enemy would never expect us to do this. As long as we have a way to overcome these disadvantages and use this trick without any compromise, we will be more suddenly.

I know the principle of the plague better than you. It doesn’t depend on the will of heaven. As long as the army gathers, pay attention to hygiene and isolate the source of the disease. Diseases that are not adapted to the local environment are just personal problems and will not spread on a large scale.

You don’t understand specifically, I will strictly control the army. Think about how I led the Hanzhong soldiers to adapt to the humid and hot miasma in Jingnan, and how I set up Dianzhou in Pingnan. Who is the Han troops under my command, who is born to adapt to the humid and hot climate in Nanzhong?

The second point you said is that the Northern Army is not accustomed to water war, but I no longer need them to come to water war. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had 80,000 main forces who were accused of water war were annihilated by me. I have the strong power of the strong ship, and the soldiers can only practice their use of equipment step by step. Moreover, the Five-Tooth Warship is on the Yangtze River and is not bumpy. The Northern Army can adapt, as long as they can prevent fire attacks.

The reinforcements I want are mainly to resist and isolate Cao's army on the north shore. As long as that part of the troops drags Cao Cao, I am currently more than enough to deal with the tens of thousands of people in Sun Quan's territory in Wu and Yue.

However, you mentioned just now that you are prone to plague if you are not accustomed to the land and water, so you have to be careful of this. Plague is mainly about fighting in different places for thousands of miles of expeditions. If you are not accustomed to the land and water, you are still on the front line for a long time. If you are killed, injured and sick, you must not be dealt with in time and be buried. If you accumulate for a long time, you will be prone to plague.

Yun Chang and Aliang were in the north, and they had to fight against Yuan Shao's main force for a long time. They had to be wary of the plagues in the army. Fortunately, the soldiers and horses of both of their armies were all northerners, and they did not adapt to the environment and the local conditions were not so many, and there were fewer vomiting and diarrhea. If there was a plague, it was also corrupted, mosquitoes, flies, insects, and maggots were poisoned.
Chapter completed!