Chapter 386 Presbyterianism

As the day gradually brightened, the cleansing of the city had been gradually completed. Teams of Xianbei royal families, tribal leaders, officials, and generals were taken out of the city by the Sui army and executed. Thousands of people were killed, and almost all the Xianbei people in the eastern part of Tuyuhun were wiped out.

This was the reason why Xiao Xia sent out his troops in advance, taking advantage of the opportunity when the Xianbei tribes were spending the winter in the West Sea to gather them together and kill them.

Xianbei women and children were held in solitary confinement. Young Xianbei women were sent to Hexi to marry the soldiers guarding Hexi, while thousands of children were sent to Chang'an to be arranged by the court.

All the captured Qiang soldiers were released after being lectured and allowed to return to their respective tribes. The King of Chu's order was conveyed, requiring each tribe to select elders to come to Fushi City to discuss the future of each tribe.

At this time, Xiao Xia received news from the eastern army that Li Jing and Zhang Xutuo led an army of 50,000 to attack the Eastern Army of Tuyuhun at night in the southern part of Xihai. The Eastern Army of Tuyuhun was defeated. The Sui army killed 4,000 enemies and captured 35,000. The main general Murong Xiaojun was killed, and the seven famous kings who fought with Murong Xiaojun were all killed.

Zhang Xutuo led 10,000 cavalrymen to ambush in the west, intercepting more than a thousand people who were fleeing westward. More than a thousand people were surrounded, including dozens of Xianbei nobles including the main general Murong Xiaojun. None of them escaped and all died under the arrows of the Sui army.

In the morning, Xiao Xia came to the palace treasury. Tuyuhun had been established for three hundred years and had accumulated huge wealth, mainly including the wealth of the palace, the private wealth of the royal family and nobles, and the official wealth of Tuyuhun.

This kind of wealth is composed of two forms: one is treasures and materials, and the other is cattle, sheep and other livestock.

Of course, how to distribute these riches in the end is also a big problem. However, Xiao Xia had already had this idea before the war. Copper coins and cloth will be distributed to soldiers, gold, silver, silk and other valuables will be distributed to generals, and livestock and supplies will be left to the court.

Don't underestimate these supplies and livestock. There are five million sheepskins alone, one million horses and other livestock, as well as countless leathers, tents, dried meat, medicinal materials, tea cakes, salt, wine, dairy products, etc., and of course mountains of cow dung cakes. These, together with tea cakes, salt, dairy products, etc., were left to the Qiang people.

Xiao Xia established a post-war arrangements office, with Liu Wenjing, Pei Wen'an and Zhang Yunqiu in charge. They also had a large number of staff and clerks as well as a thousand soldiers under them.

There was no portable items such as gold, silver and jewelry in the palace treasury. Only 600,000 copper coins and 200,000 rolls of silk were left. The rest were sheepskins, cloth and other supplies that could not be taken away.

Xiao Xia frowned. He didn't want to look any closer, so he turned around and left the palace.
At this time, a clerk came to report, "Your Highness, the first group of elders from various tribes have arrived and are in the military camp outside the city."

"how many people?"

"About two hundred people!"

Xiao Xia nodded and ordered: "Go and inform Mr. Liu Wenjing and General Qu Tu to come together."

Xiao Xia rode to the military camp outside the city. Nearly two hundred elders from various tribes had been waiting for a long time. Of course, this was only a part of them. Some did not arrive in time, so he left the rest to Liu Wenjing and Qu Tutong.

The big tent was packed with more than 200 people, all very excited. They all realized that the era when the Qiang people were in charge was coming back.

Xiao Xia walked into the tent, and a soldier shouted, "His Royal Highness the King of Chu has arrived!"

The big tent suddenly became quiet. Xiao Xia walked to the front, waved his hand and said with a smile: "Everyone, please take a seat!"

The tent was covered with carpets, and everyone sat on the floor. Xiao Xia also sat down and said to everyone slowly: "The national policy of the Great Sui Dynasty has always been to support the Qiang people and eliminate the Xianbei people. The reason is very simple. The Qiang people pursue peace and tranquility, cherish their own land, and do not have the ambition and invasion of the Xianbei people. Just look at the Hexi Corridor. The Qiang people and the Han people get along well. The Qiang people graze and the Han people farm. There is no competition, only complementarity.

The same will be true for Xihai and Heyuan. We will build cities and counties, with Han people living in the cities and Qiang people living on the grasslands. We will all be subjects of the Sui Dynasty. The court will send officials to govern, but will not collect taxes from everyone, at least not within the next three years. Even if we collect taxes in the future, they will be much lower than the Xianbei people. For example, if you add 100 sheep this year, the Xianbei people will take 20, but the court will only take one or two, just as a symbol. "

The Tuyuhun people basically speak Chinese. Even if some of them don’t, they can understand by asking the people around them.

Xiao Xia made it very clear that there was only a three-year tax exemption period, and taxes would have to be paid after three years. Taxes represent rule, and the Qiang people could pay less, but they could not not pay. In fact, the court's exploitation of the Qiang people was mainly in labor. For example, in Hexi, all herders had to raise horses, sheep, and cattle for the court, just like the Han people renting official fields, except that the Han people and the government were 50-50, while the herders and the government were 30-70, with the government taking the lion's share. In addition, if herders wanted to sell cattle, sheep, and horses, they could only sell them to the government at the price given by the government. Han livestock merchants could only buy livestock from the government and were not allowed to buy livestock directly from herders, as the government would make a profit from the difference.

The same will happen to the Hehuang Qiang people in the future. Of course, even so, it is much better than the Xianbei people's cruel exploitation of the Qiang people.

Xiao Xia continued, "The original leaders of your tribes were Xianbei people. Now there is no Xianbei leader, so who will be the leader? Zhang San wants to be the leader, and Li Si also wants to be the leader. Maybe there will be a civil war in the end. After repeated consideration, I suggest setting up an elder council. There is no need for a leader. The elder council is the leader. You represent the interests of all the people in the tribe. Major tribal affairs are no longer decided by one person, but by the elder council. In the future, the Qiang tribe will also implement the elder council system, and the same is true for Hexi."

Xiao Xia's suggestion made everyone happy. This was something everyone wanted. Instead of the tribal power being monopolized by one person, it would be better for everyone to share it.

Everyone agreed, Xiao Xia nodded with a smile, the Presbyterian system is actually a parliamentary system, it looks democratic but in reality it is full of procrastination, everyone checks and balances each other, there is no way to accomplish great things, the system is used to avoid the emergence of political strongmen.

Xiao Xia said loudly: "There is one more thing I need to make clear to everyone. We don't want the herdsmen's cattle and sheep, but the Xianbei leader's private cattle and sheep are our spoils of war and must be handed over to the government. Of course, to show the court's goodwill to everyone, you can keep half, and the other half must be handed over in full, not a single sheep can be left behind!"

That night, Xiao Xia personally led 20,000 cavalrymen, equipped with 30,000 camels and 60,000 war horses, and left Fuqi City loaded with military supplies, pursuing westward.

Li Jing and Zhang Xutuo were leading their army towards Fuqi City. When they were still more than a hundred miles away from Fuqi City, a team of cavalrymen came running to deliver a letter. The leading captain clasped his fists on his horse and said, "We are delivering a letter to the general on the order of the King of Chu!"

"Where is the letter?"

The captain took out a letter from his arms, handed it to Li Jing, and then withdrew.

After reading the letter, Li Jing pondered for a moment and ordered his personal soldiers, "Go and find General Zhang!"

Soon, Zhang Xutuo came riding over, clasped his fists and asked, "General, what do you want from me?"

Li Jing said slowly: "His Royal Highness the King of Chu has ordered that all Qiang people except the Xianbei be released. In addition, I will lead my army back to Xihai City to stay temporarily. You will lead 10,000 troops to escort the spoils to Fuqi City."

Zhang Xutuo was puzzled and asked, "Why is this?"

Li Jing smiled bitterly and said, "The King of Chu led his army to pursue Fu Yun. Fuxi City is under the control of Qu Tutong and his aide Liu Wenjing. Although he did not say it explicitly, I understand what he meant. He is worried that if I go there, it will make it difficult for his subordinates to do their work and affect his deployment."

Zhang Xutuo hesitated for a moment and then said, "If we give them all the spoils, what about our brothers?"

Li Jing added: "His Royal Highness the King of Chu has outlined the distribution plan for the spoils of war in his letter. The gold, silver, jewelry, and silk go to the generals, the copper coins and cloth go to the soldiers, and the livestock and supplies go to the court."

Zhang Xutuo was shocked. "The gold, silver and jewels belong to the generals. Will the court do anything about it?"

"So I don't want to go to Fushi City either. Let him make the decision! Otherwise, I won't be able to bear the responsibility if the court holds me accountable. You are only there to assist, not to make the decision. Don't fight for some power. Do you understand?"

Zhang Xutuo immediately understood the real reason why Li Jing wanted to withdraw his troops. Li Jing did not want to be involved in Xiao Xia's various decisions.

He nodded, "I understand. Your Highness the King of Chu will make the final decision!"

(End of this chapter)

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