Chapter 926 Various Means

Chapter 926 Various Means

Chapter 926 Various Means
Sometimes you have to admit that the power of habit or tradition is enormous.

On July 13, Shao Xun issued a batch of silk rewards in Mayi County, totaling more than 50,000 pieces, which were personally escorted by Yang Bao, the General of Revenue, and Yin Xian, the Minister of Agriculture.

It was a clear and crisp autumn day with light clouds and a gentle breeze. Shao Xun had just finished hunting with some of the nobles of Tuoba Xianbei.

When the Xianbei people saw the rewards, they did not find it strange.

Taking money to fight for the emperor of the Central Plains is a tradition that has existed for more than 200 years and is not considered shocking.

After the rewards were distributed, the first batch of 200,000 hu of millet and wheat was distributed to various tribes.

"Mayi is indeed a key place. We can not only collect military intelligence from Hexi across the river, but also gather news from Guanzhong to the south." Shao Xun raised the military newspaper in his hand and said to Yang Bao and Yin Xian.

In fact, there is another reason that is difficult to disclose: to urge the Xianbei people to go south to fight, and if they show any rebellious intentions, to immediately settle accounts with their tribe.

This kind of thing cannot be said, but anyone who is interested can see it.

"Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision, and I admire you." Yang Bao said with a flattering smile.

"Have you cleaned up the mess in your house?" Shao Xun glanced at Yang Bao and said.

Hearing this, Yang Bao's face turned pale and he said repeatedly, "Clean it up."

Yu Hua had been sent to reprimand him before, and now he was asked in person. Yang Bao felt a lot of pressure. At the same time, he felt that the tone of King Liang's speech and the way he did things had changed again. He was not as kind and amiable to them, his old brothers, as before.

But he didn't dare to complain.

For more than twenty years, he watched King Liang get to where he is today step by step. He really did not have the courage to confront him, not even to passively resist.

Just support him in whatever he wants to do. You will make money anyway, it's just a matter of how much.

Yin Xian also stood aside with a smile on his face, saying, "Hearing that the king's army was unstoppable and the bandits in Guanzhong had surrendered, the scholars in the various counties were greatly encouraged. They all said that at this time, they could not allow internal strife to occur. Therefore, they sent military supplies to the north, arrested bandits, and strictly investigated spies, waiting for the king's return."

Shao Xun nodded slowly.

The Huns were doomed to be defeated, and after the news reached Guandong, it spread at an astonishing speed.

Even the most stubborn person can be deterred.

Before this, Shao Xun could no longer remember how many rebellions had occurred, probably a dozen or twenty times?

He wanted to see who dared to rebel now.

When land quota system is fully implemented in the future, how many people will jump out to oppose him?

In addition, it was really difficult and laborious to ask them for food before.

He was the founding emperor and the emperor on horseback. I couldn't imagine what would happen to an emperor who was raised by women in the deep palace.

Now, they are taking the initiative to send food. The change in attitude is so drastic that it is hard to keep up.

Shao Xun ignored them and went to the bank of Mayi River. Looking at the farmland that was about to be harvested, he found the governor Zhang Tong and asked, "How is the millet harvest this year?"

"Two or three out of ten had no harvest, four or five out of ten were able to harvest one or two hu, and the rest were not greatly affected by the war." Zhang Tong replied.

"The loss is not small." Shao Xun said.

He walked along the river for a long time, saw a small tribe, and stopped.

Zhang Tong saw them and said, "This is the tribe that Tuoba Yiyi brought back during his western expedition during the Yuankang period. There are not many people, about 2,000 in total, all with high noses and deep eyes. The men have short hair, the women wear formal clothes, and their marriages are the same as those in China."

What he was actually talking about were the Hu people in the Western Regions. They should be the Sai people, with very obvious white features. They should be one of the indigenous peoples of the Western Regions. During the Han Dynasty, most of the small countries in the Western Regions were of this type, and there were even people with red hair.

In terms of racial characteristics, they are quite different from those in the Central Plains and are not as similar in appearance as the Xianbei.

Culturally speaking, they are closer to the Central Plains, at least much closer than the Xianbei.

Shao Xun continued walking forward and saw many people digging earth in the fields, preparing to dry it in the sun before repairing the houses.

After the war, many people's houses were severely damaged or simply disappeared and were in urgent need of repair.

Shao Xun stopped a man and asked, "Do you know me?"

The man was startled and turned to look at Zhang Tong.

Zhang Tong nodded.

The man turned around and said, "Of course I know."

After that, he bowed to the ground and said, "Greetings to the King of Liang of the Great Jin."

"Get up." Shao Xun said, "I see millet and sorghum mixed in the fields here. When did it start?"

“It started last year.”

"Who taught you?"

"There was a Mr. Pei who taught this technique, and Mr. Zhang took the lead in planting millet. When we saw it, we no longer had any doubts and followed suit."

"How do you feel?"

"It's much better than millet. The yield is much higher, and the millet stalks can also be used to feed cattle and sheep."

Shao Xun was somewhat happy when he heard this.

"What else did you teach?" he asked again.

The man looked at Zhang Tong again.

Zhang Tong couldn't hold it in any longer and said, "Just tell me the truth. Why are you looking at me so often?"

The man then pointed to the banks of the Mayi River and said, "After Helan Aitou was defeated, Mr. Pei came from Pingcheng and ordered us to cut down trees and set up fences to divide the fields of each family..."

Mayi is a vast area with few people, and it has both farming and grazing.

Pei Shiliu went to Zhao County and Guangchengze to investigate, and reported to the Chanyu Mansion, requesting to divide the land in Mayi County.

The Chanyu's government gave permission, but their agreement was useless, and they had to issue an order on behalf of the public.

Mrs. Wang has already approved this matter, and the prefect Zhang Tong has begun to make arrangements starting from the vicinity of Mayi County.

Their method was relatively simple and crude, dividing the land according to the number of people.

Each family's field is separated by a low wooden fence and divided into four parts, one of which is used to keep a number of cattle and sheep.

Shao Xun moved closer and looked carefully.

This family has about twenty cows and a hundred sheep, which are kept separately in pens.

Next to the cattle pen is a farmland with tall grass.

"Is this grass used to feed livestock?" Shao Xun asked.

"Yes," the man replied, "Just open the livestock pen and drive the cattle and sheep in to eat, and then drive them back and lock them up after they've eaten."

"Why don't you cut it first and then feed it? Trampling the grass like this might cause damage," Shao Xun said.

"There are so many wars, so there aren't enough people to mow the grass, so we can only save trouble."

Shao Xun understood and stopped asking questions, then looked at the millet and corn fields next to the pasture field.

Perhaps because they are not very confident, or perhaps in order to diversify risks, these people have never completely given up the millet they are familiar with, even though they started planting millet last year.

Looking closely, the sown area of ​​millet may be slightly larger.

"Which is better, growing grass to feed cattle and sheep or letting livestock run wild?" Shao Xun asked again.

"It's better to plant more grass and harvest more." The man answered directly without any hesitation.

Whether it is grass or grain crops, without field management and seed selection and breeding, the yield will certainly not be good.

The yield of wheat grown in the wild is far less than that of wheat grown in farmland.

The same goes for pasture.

As these mixed-race bears have tasted the benefits of growing forage, they will be released into the wild less and less frequently, and slowly they will settle in one place and not leave.

If you can pin the person down, everything will be easy.

"Grow more alfalfa in the future." Shao Xun said, "You don't need to grow millet anymore. The harvest will only take three or four months, and there won't be much. It's better to grow beans. Alfalfa and beans can fertilize the fields. You will see the benefits in the future."

"Since your Majesty says so, I will plant some beans next year," the man replied immediately.

Shao Xun did not expect him to be so straightforward, so he asked, "Which one?" The shepherd pointed to where the livestock pen was and said, "Next year, the cattle and sheep will be moved to the millet field, and the area where the livestock pen is can be used to grow grain. This land has been idle for a year, and there is a lot of livestock manure and urine, so it is just right to grow millet."

The land that has been fallow for a year is still moistened by livestock manure and urine, so it is naturally very fertile and the harvest of crops can be very high.

"You got it." Shao Xun said with a smile.

After saying this, he left Mayichuan and headed towards the county town.

The Hu people cannot live without livestock. Asking them to use all their land to grow crops is not in line with their habits and is unnecessary.

Now that we have taught them agricultural techniques such as growing pasture and raising livestock, making compost on fallow land, and rotating crops to reduce pests and diseases, these people will settle down completely.

To assimilate, you have to find people first. If you can’t even find people, there is no point in talking about anything else.

The tribal nobles who had just received their rewards also looked at the farmlands on both sides of the Mayi River in shock.

Most of them come from Shengle area in the west. They rarely farm and mainly engage in grazing.

I used to ridicule the New Party, saying that they couldn't even herd sheep properly. Now it seems that I am even more ridiculous.

Apart from other things, the alfalfa in the field was growing well and densely, which was beyond even the most fertile riverbed.

Although this stuff will cause bloating if livestock eat too much, you can mix it with other hay, such as millet stalks and millet stalks.

Thinking of this, many people had the urge to find out.

Some impatient people even asked, "Your Majesty, can you send someone to Shengle to teach us?"

Shao Xun glanced at them and smiled without saying anything.

Wang glanced at him quietly and said, "I want to establish two new counties, Dingxiang and Wuyuan, and divide up the fields and pastures. The King of Liang is determined to bring peace to the barbarians and the Chinese, so he will definitely not refuse."

Everyone looked at Shao Xun again.

Shao Xun nodded and said, "Dai is a vassal of the Jin Dynasty and is also my child. I love them all equally, so how can I favor one over the other? Shengle is an important place, maybe we can set up a protectorate to teach the tribes how to farm and herd, what do you think?"

When they heard about building a protectorate, everyone looked hesitant and did not agree directly.

"Forget it then." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "When you figure it out, I will send someone to Shengle."

Wang wanted to laugh when she heard this.

In fact, she also wanted to divide fields and pastures in Shengle and set up counties, because only in this way could she truly control these barbaric Suotou tribes.

Judging from the contacts during these days, these tribal nobles submitted to her only out of necessity. Deep down, they did not respect them very much and did not like her to interfere in their internal affairs.

On this point, her interests coincide with Shao Xun's.

After returning to Mayi County, Shao Xun lived directly in the prefectural government.

When Liu Ye saw the man coming back, she happily came out to greet him, but when she saw Wang, her face looked a little unhappy again.

Wang fell back a few steps, and when she passed by Liu Ye, she covered her mouth and retched.

Liu Ye's face became even uglier.

Wang put away her painful expression. She was not pretending. She might really be pregnant, but she had not told Shao Xun yet.

Sometimes, she hated her belly. Why was it so easy to get pregnant? She didn’t know how to explain it now - of course, it seemed that there was no problem if she didn’t explain it. After all, that was the custom on the grassland.

After Shao Xun sat down at the desk, he picked up a few official documents, looked at them, and then put them down, saying, "Liu Wuhuan broke into Anding, Liu Lugu entered Beidi, Qiu Dunju entered Fengyi, and Yi Loufu has already fought with the Xiongnu. The four armies of more than 30,000 cavalry rushed southward, and the results of the battle were remarkable."

"How is Wang Feng doing?" Shao Xun looked at Wang and asked.

Wang sat to the left of Shao Xun and said softly, "We just had a small defeat. We just reorganized our troops a few days ago and intend to advance again."

"If you fail to defeat them again, Liu Hu will be unable to hold back, as he is also eyeing Shuofang." Shao Xun said.

"Yes." Wang nodded gently and said, "Brother has gathered 20,000 cavalrymen to march westward. This time he will definitely be able to wipe out the various tribes in Shuofang."

"After you've wiped it out, what are you going to do?"

"Establish a county and move the military and civilians from Dai County there."

"Resettled as soon as possible, before winter comes, and we can bring a batch of food." Shao Xun said: "Now that I have Guanzhong, I will look to Liangzhou. If Zhang refuses to surrender in the future, I will send two troops to attack, one to Qinzhou, and the other to the west through Shuofang and rush from the grassland."

"I knew you had bad intentions." Wang said.

Shao Xun smiled and waved his hand, saying: "I will not personally lead the attack on Liangzhou. You can just send a general."

"Then what are you doing?" Wang asked subconsciously.

"Do you think your man only knows how to fight?" Shao Xun picked up Wang and said, "After some time, you will go to Guanzhong with me. I will review the troops in Chang'an."

"I--" Wang hesitated.

"Don't take Shi Yijian with you." Shao Xun said, "He is still young, so let him stay in Pingcheng."

After saying that, he glanced at Wang secretly.

Wang's face showed no emotion, she just said, "I - might be pregnant again."

Shao Xun was stunned at first, then he was overjoyed, and even his hug became much gentler.

Wang gave him an unpleasant look.

When I was tormenting her last night, I wasn't as gentle as I am now. I didn't treat her as a human being at all.

"It would be best if it's a son." Shao Xun said, "In the future, those territories that I can't take directly will be given to our children as fiefdoms. From now on, all the children on the grassland will be your children."

Wang was amused and asked, "Are you still a cub? A wolf cub?"

"It's okay as long as this little bastard can guard the gate for decades, which will make me happy." Shao Xun said with a smile.

"In the future, when they lead 300,000 cavalrymen south to the Central Plains, let's see if you can still laugh." Wang said.

"It would be great if they had this ability." Shao Xun shook his head and said, "I think it's more likely that they were beaten to tears by a tribe that appeared out of nowhere."

Wang hit him lightly and said, "I will teach them well."

"Li Zhen should change his last name." Shao Xun said again.

"No." Wang was anxious when she heard this, and then added: "Not now."

"Didn't the eight Tuoba brothers change their surnames in the past? To be honest, aren't the Pu, Hegu, Qiudun and other clans actually Tuoba?" Shao Xun said, "Let's change our surname to 'Yuan' first. The 10,000 tents in Liangcheng will be called the Yuan tribe. As for how to change it later, we'll talk about it later."

After saying this, he added: "My child, how can you be unclear?"

Wang gently stroked her belly, silent.

After Shao Xun finished speaking, he carried Wang to the couch in the inner room, carefully tucked in the corners of the quilt for her, and said, "Since you are pregnant, don't go to Chang'an."

"Then the tribes heading south..." Wang said.

"I'm here to review and distribute rewards." Shao Xun said as a matter of course: "I'm a general, can't I review the troops of the vassal states?"

Wang had nothing to say.

She just felt that the men seemed to be considering her and paving the way for her, but they were also tightening their control over her step by step.

All kinds of methods are unheard of.

Sometimes when I get annoyed, I just want to stop struggling and let him do whatever he wants, just like letting him manipulate me into various shapes on the couch, which seems to be quite comfortable.

But there is always some reluctance.

"Don't think too much, just take good care of your baby." Shao Xun patted her hand gently and said, "The world is so big and sparsely populated, how much land can I occupy? Even if I want to immigrate to the border, it will be extremely difficult."

On July 14, Shao Xun began to adjust the deployment of troops.

Puyang Prefecture soldiers and other troops remained in Liangcheng.

Luoyan Army and Liu Runzhong's troops temporarily stationed in Shengle.

The various garrison commanders stationed their troops in Yunzhong and Mayi counties to monitor the Xianbei tribes that remained behind.

He led the Silver Spear Central Camp, the Right Camp, the two camps of the Yellow Head Army, the Yicong and Zhuosheng armies, and the Jie cavalry, totaling more than 50,000 people, crossed the river from Junzijin in Mayi and marched westward. At the same time, he ordered the three counties of Kelan, Xihe and Pingyang to transport supplies from the Yellow River ferry.

He was going to his loyal Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)