The most arrogant in history

Chapter 400: High mountains and dense forests.

During the Spring Festival, Ye Kun hosted a series of banquets for important officials in an attempt to get close to them and build relationships with them.

After getting half drunk, Ye Kun looked at everyone and said with a smile:

"My lords, we have conquered Jiangdong this time, and everyone will get a reward, but I have nothing. Do you think you should give me some reward?"

The Jiangdong treasury, Xiao Dequan's private property, and the private property of Shen Tai and others all became the property of the public, and Ye Kun did not keep a single penny.

Yan Ju smiled and said, "The King of Hanzhong owns a vast territory. The land below the south of the Yangtze River belongs to the King. What else do you want in return?"

"The country belongs to the people, not to me. I cannot withdraw the money in the treasury at will. I can only look at it." Ye Kun shrugged.

Wu Qiong and Ma Zhao, speaking from conscience:

"The King of Hanzhong does not have any private property. Compared with Xiao Dequan, it is less than one percent. In the past, when he was in Chengdu, the princess, Jiang, grew her own vegetables to supply the palace, and also led the maids to weave and embroider, and supported herself."

Yu Guinong asked, "What reward does the lord want?"

Ye Kun smiled: "I don't want money, but the women around me have given birth to children for me, but they still have no status. Over the years, they are all old, but they have been following me without any status, which always makes me feel guilty."

Ma Zhao finally understood and let him off the hook:

"My Lord, the emperor has twelve concubines, and you cannot surpass him. How about this, I will give you four more harem spots, but I want to propose one person."

Ye Kun was delighted and asked, "Who proposed it?"

"Wen Qi's daughter, Wen Axiu." Ma Zhao said calmly, "Wen Axiu has done a lot of things over the years, and it's well known."

Ye Kun nodded: "Okay, I accept your proposal."

The meal was fruitful.

A few days later, Ye Kun announced that Wen Axiu, Ma Jiaojiao, Jiang Youde, and Ma Jiaojiao were his wives and enjoyed the same treatment as Xie Baochan and others.

As for the others, they would have to wait a little longer.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Ye Kun formally convened a meeting to determine nine management organizations and build a comprehensive management system.

Qin Chou, Minister of Agriculture, was responsible for agricultural production throughout the territory and promoting agricultural technology.

Ye Qingyang, Minister of Water Resources and Transportation;

Wu Qiong, Minister of Finance;

Ma Zhao, Minister of Justice;

Yu Guinong, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue;

Yan Ju, Minister of Personnel;

Han Chun, Minister of Rites, supervised education.

Ma Zhengyang, Minister of Industry, was in charge of industrial handicrafts and would assign professionals to assist him.

In this way, Yizhou, Jingzhou and Jiangdong all have old ministers who enter the Nine Departments and are among the Nine Ministers, which is relatively balanced.

Ye Kun took charge of the Ministry of War and promoted Qin Erwu, Wang Dagui, Jiang Laowu, Guan Yong, Zhao Biao, Huangfu Lin, Ma Botao and He Zhongshu to deputy commanders of the Ministry of War, each guarding a different area.

He also appointed Lu Kaijiang, Zhou Xuanwu, Gongsun Shangfei, Xue Changfeng and Wang Meng as the Five Tiger Generals.

Other officials, both big and small, also received promotions and rewards.

Zhuge Feng was the prime minister and assisted in managing the nine ministries, with Guan Yafu and Sang Buyi as deputies.

Ye Kun also wanted to make arrangements for Gongsun Erniang, but she was unwilling to do so. She did not want an official position and preferred to be a behind-the-scenes contributor.

Ye Kun's persuasion was in vain, so he had to give up.

The management team was established and Ye Kun continued to discuss the issue of the capital.

Almost everyone unanimously hoped that Ye Kun would settle down in Xiangyang.

Because Xiangyang has convenient water transportation, with the Han River and the Yangtze River, connecting Jiangdong, Hanzhong and Chengdu Yizhou, it is more convenient to go anywhere.

Another reason is the location of Xiangyang, which is in the middle of the jurisdiction. If you want to send a message by carrier pigeon, there is basically no need for a transfer station.

Another important reason was to directly confront Xiahou Chang, covet the Central Plains, and put pressure on Luoyang.

Ye Kun adopted everyone's suggestions and ordered Xiangyang to speed up the construction of nine government offices and halls, all of which were small tiled houses and courtyards. There was no need for large-scale construction and extravagance.

Because staying in Xiangyang was only temporary, and they would have to move again after conquering the Central Plains.

Yan Ju and Yu Guinong, who were used to spending lavishly, tried to please Ye Kun and suggested, "We should build a new city in Xiangyang and create a royal palace, taking the scale of Xiao Dequan's Wu Palace as a reference..."

Ye Kun immediately rejected it:

"Absolutely not. A royal palace would consume countless people's blood and sweat. After we move out, I will order the demolition of the walls and some buildings of the Wu Palace to be used for the construction of a university, the development of education, and the benefit of the people."

How big is the Wu Palace? It covers an area of ​​900 acres!

There are countless pavilions and towers, it is simply a paradise on earth.

Ye Kun has already made a plan to split the Wu Palace into two parts, with one part used as a school, one part used as an office, and one part used as an exhibition hall.

Otherwise, such a big palace would have fallen into the hands of Jiangdong’s old ministers!

Considering that the relocation would take several months, Ye Kun first planned Jinling University, as well as an affiliated middle school and elementary school. At the same time, he posted notices to recruit talents and decided to hold examinations next year and implement the imperial examination system.

The previous system of recommendation was completely abolished.

If you want to be an official, take the exam.

In this way, the children of common people will have an opportunity to restrain the wealthy groups.

This announcement caused dissatisfaction among the Jiangdong Group.

Yan Ju said directly: "Yizhou's education came first, and our Jiangdong's education has not yet been established. If we take the exam together, we will definitely not be able to score better than Yizhou."

Children as young as three feet tall in Shu can recite dozens of poems, and their cultural level is much higher than that of Jiangdong!

Ye Kun smiled and said, "According to the regional examination and population, we will set the admission quota. Is that ok?"

Only then did Yan Ju say he had no objection.

As soon as the first month of the lunar year is over, production arrangements must be made.

However, there is a serious bandit problem in the mountainous areas of the south.

It is said that in some places, the number of bandits gathered reached 5,000, which was simply a small kingdom.

Ye Kun convened a meeting and decided to completely suppress the bandits, while at the same time advancing the territory under actual control to the south.

In this bandit suppression campaign, Ye Kun intended to train soldiers and cultivate talented generals.

None of the Five Tiger Generals moved. The generals leading the troops were all mid-level officers who graduated from military academies. They were assigned as guide generals to Jiangdong. A total of ten groups of troops, each with 3,000 men, stretched out the battle line, and searched the mountains and seas!

Before the operation, Ye Kun issued an order that the bandit leaders who were guilty of heinous crimes must be wiped out resolutely and not allowed to surrender.

Generally speaking, bandits can be treated leniently as long as they are willing to surrender.

The registered population of Jiangdong is four million, but the population of the area actually controlled by Ye Kun is only two million.

The remaining territory and population must be controlled. Only after the south is unified and future troubles are resolved can the central plains be conquered.

As the anti-bandit army set out, Song Poliu returned.

Ye Kun was overjoyed and asked Song Poliu to come and see him.

After not seeing her for a year, Grandma Song looked much darker and thinner.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Po Liu, I'm looking forward to your return. How are the brothers? Are they all back?"

"Principal, we brothers...only half of us are back."

Song Poliu choked up and shed tears, saying: "Not many of our brothers died in the battle, but many died of illness. Fortunately, I brought medicine with me, otherwise I would not be able to come back."

Last summer, Song Poliu and the Jiangdong fleet, a total of 15,000 people, fought to the eastern plains of Jiaozhi and the east side of the Changshan Mountains.

However, Jiaozhi has a large population, and their troops are short and strong. Although their equipment is poor, their combat effectiveness is good, and they can cross mountains and rivers as if they were walking on flat ground.

Although Song Poliu and others were equipped with advanced equipment, the number disparity between the enemy and us was too great. After a year of hard fighting, they were ultimately defeated and had to evacuate by sea, returning in disgrace.

And the biggest obstacle is acclimatization.

The mosquitoes in the south were too strong, and most of the soldiers were infected with malaria, and half of them died from the disease.

Song Poliu sighed, "It's a good place, with a large plain and abundant resources, but it's difficult to attack because of the high mountains and dense forests. Without 100,000 troops, I'm afraid it won't be possible to conquer it."