Chapter 693 Good Family Son

Dark clouds curled up and heavy rain poured down, submerging Xianyang into the rain.

It was raining on the eaves and the cold wind was blowing from outside, but it did not affect the interest of the people in the house talking.

The rain can be heard outside, and the tea is fragrant in the house.

Zhang Liang sat opposite Zhao Shuang and took a sip of tea.

"This is new tea picked from Shushan. Is the ovary still used to drinking it?"

“Good tea!”

Zhang Liang put down his tea cup.

The Yulin Army was transferred out of Nanzheng, and they were accompanied not only by these soldiers, but also by Zhao Shuang's Yiying relatives and the families of these soldiers.

Although Zhao Shuang controls Guanzhong, there are many people who are unconvinced in this huge Guanzhong.

It's just that under the illustrious military power, it was not shown.

"After Wang Li went south and entered the pass, your Majesty still asked him to take charge of the Beihe Army. It seems that your Majesty is unwilling to give up the Jiuyuan and Yunzhong areas."

"Zifang doesn't think so?"

If the empire is unified, then the Great Wall will naturally be proof of the great martial arts. But the situation is different now. The world is in chaos, and all parties are fighting for territory, food, grass, gold and silver. However, the value of this border area is too little, but the investment is huge. It is not cost-effective to continue to hold on.

"As a counselor, you should advise your master and choose the most reasonable plan."

"Although the empire has been running Jiuyuan for a short time, its scale has already begun to take shape. If we give up and let the Beihe army go south, then the forty-four counties in the fortress will become empty space and will be captured by the Xiongnu. In the long run, it will be a big trouble. On the contrary, if the army is still there, the heads of the forty-four counties in Guizhou will not flee. When grain and grass from Guanzhong are transported northward, people's hearts will be stable. In a few years, the situation will definitely be new."

Zhang Liang understood what Zhao Shuang meant.

In the early stage, the empire had invested a huge amount of resources in building the Great Wall and corresponding supporting measures.

You know, the empire didn't just build a wall in the north. Instead, this wall was used as a defensive surface, and a large number of fortresses, passes and beacons were built in the north and south, forming a complete defense system. There are also corresponding counties and villages as supporting civil systems. The number of people who migrated there in the early stage alone was hundreds of thousands.

This is a long-term investment. As the years go by, the yield of locally cultivated farmland increases and food becomes abundant. Then a large amount of materials transported from other places can be reduced, forming a stable line of defense and eventually digesting these lands.

Zhang Liang originally thought that what Zhao Shuang cared about was the 200,000 troops, but now it seemed that the other party's tolerance was far broader than he thought.

"But now in the land of Guandong, the old ministers of the six countries took advantage of Chen Sheng's momentum and swarmed in, gathering hundreds of thousands of people. I heard that Chen Sheng's general Wu Chen crossed the river north and invaded Zhao. There were many people who responded. The world Five or six times out of ten, the capital will fall into the hands of these people. The empire's financial resources are becoming increasingly scarce, and coupled with military expenses, can it still cope with the northern border?"

"Sixty-seven out of ten of the world's wealth is in Guanzhong. As long as the expenses of the royal family and officials are reduced, a lot of material and money can be saved."

Zhang Liang opened his eyes wide, looking a little surprised.

Hu Hai was banned, and the royal family's expenses were naturally reduced a lot. But among them, it is not only the money needed for Hu Hai's personal extravagant enjoyment, but also the corresponding personnel expenses, the cost of maintaining the palace operation, and even the palaces built on the north bank of the Weishui River that were modeled after the palaces of the Six Kingdoms. There are also a large number of plunders from Guandong. A large number of beauties such as concubines, clan daughters, and palace maids came from the palaces of the Six Kingdoms and needed to be taken care of.

In addition, there are 700,000 prisoners on Mount Li, slaves of the royal family.

If Zhao Shuang cuts them off one by one, a large number of people will be unemployed!

What's more, the salary of hundreds of officials must be reduced.

"So, we can't stay in Xianyang anymore."

Zhao Shuang took a sip of tea, smiled softly, turned to look aside, and Wei Zhuang walked in.

The tip of Zhang Liang's nose twitched slightly, feeling a little sensitive.

The smell of blood came from Wei Zhuang. Although it was very faint, it was still there. Zhang Liang was a little confused as to what kind of blood was going on to keep the smell of blood from dissipating until now.

"How's it going?"

"The disobedient people have shut their mouths forever, and the cost reduction has been done."

Zhang Liang heard this and did not ask Wei Zhuang how he did it. Come to think of it, it will definitely not be a gentle "persuasion".

"Seal the palace, disperse the chamberlains and maids, release the prisoners, give young women of suitable age to meritorious soldiers, and remove the honors from all officials. After all these things are done, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive in Xianyang."

Zhao Shuang handed Wei Zhuang a cup of tea, and the other party took it and took a sip.

"Then have you decided where to go?"

Facing Wei Zhuang's question, Zhao Shuang already had the answer and said.

"Chang'an!"

Daze Mountain.

"Ayan, how can you still be so calm?"

Tian Hu was beside Tian Yan, as anxious as a monkey sitting on a hot pot.

"Ayan, you made great contributions to the army that resisted the empire, and you became the leader of the heroes because of it. But Chen Sheng, after taking the land of Chen with his troops and horses, united with the old ministers of Wei and Han, and established himself as king. It’s clear that he doesn’t take you as a hero in his eyes.”

Tian Yan was not in a hurry. Even after listening to Tian Hu's words, he still looked the same, unhurried and unhurried.

"The farm disciples obviously all contributed to building such a large territory, but now, Chen Sheng alone takes all the credit."

Situ Wanli was beside him, also indignant.

Tian Yan still waited until the Zhu family's figure appeared outside the hall, and she was finally moved.

"How's it going?"

"Something's not right."

"What did Chen Sheng do again?"

Facing Tian Hu's questioning, Zhu Jia explained.

"It's not Chen Sheng, it's the news from Guanzhong."

"Guanzhong?"

Tian Hu and Situ Wanli didn't understand. Seeing Chen Sheng proclaiming herself queen and about to attack the farm family, why would Tian Yan care about the news in Guanzhong?

"After Zhao Shuang became prime minister, he took control of the empire's affairs. Recently, he banned the palaces of the empire, dispersed the internal servants, dismissed all officials, moved the shogunate to Chang'an, and divided the internal history area into counties. Recruited all The sons of Junliang's family were sent to Yulin. At the same time, he also changed his Jincheng Cavalry into the Tiger and Ben Army, and joined the Yulin Army in the south and north to protect Chang'an."

"What about the Beihe Army?"

"Information from the informants in Guanzhong shows that the Beihe Army shows no signs of evacuating. The people of Jiuyuan County and Shang County have stopped fleeing and have stabilized."

"So, the military strength in Guanzhong has not changed much."

The Zhu family nodded and said.

"There are legends in Guanzhong that Zhao Shuang is going to depose Hu Hai and make himself emperor."

Tian Hu waved his hand and said.

"Do we still need legends?"

"No, it's not that simple."

Tian Yan's expression was solemn, not as frivolous as Tian Hu.

"Zhao Shuang is integrating the inside and outside to accumulate strength. Once he completes it, he will be the number one prince in the world. When he falls, there are Hu Ben and Yu Lin inside, and various old imperial armies outside. The situation will probably be more complicated. .”

"But this has nothing to do with us. Between us and Zhao Shuang, there is also Chen Sheng!"

The corners of Tian Yan's mouth turned up slightly, and a cold light showed in his eyes.

"No, I'm about to inform Uncle Chen Sheng of the pros and cons."