Chinese New Year

Chapter 500 Military Discussion
"Farewell, my lord." Outside Wancheng, dozens of officials, led by the shogunate's military commander Lekai, saluted in unison.

The court acted quickly.

Compared with the procrastination in granting official titles to the commander of Henan Wubao, the action of granting official titles to "meritorious officers" supervised by Shangshu Ling Yu Min himself was very swift. It was approved within one day and the process began. Official uniforms, certificates of appointment and seals were issued a few days ago.

It is said that the emperor did get some food from the generals of the fortress.

A total of more than ten people were appointed as county assistant officials in Bingzhou and Jizhou, and received 600,000 hu of grain - 100,000 hu have arrived so far, and this number can only be said to be better than nothing.

The commanders of the fortresses didn't really care whether they could actually become officials, and they wouldn't go to Bingzhou or Jizhou. In fact, it was enough to have an official position, which was a political status and had nothing to do with anything else.

However, the officials of the Wancheng Shogunate were able to actually manage the counties and kingdoms of Nanyang.

This is a team that brings together the sons of noble families from Nanyang, Shunyang and Xinye. They have a great influence in the local area and can at least control these three counties at will.

As for Yiyang and Suiguo, the impact was not so profound.

It is even more impossible to govern counties such as Weixing, which have been assigned to Liangzhou. The local areas are actually autonomous, or they tend to be under the jurisdiction of the Liangzhou governor.

Whether they can actually control it in the name of the court depends on the abilities of Le Kai and others.

Before leaving, Shao Xun went to Xiao Chang'an and felt relieved when he saw that the earthen city had taken shape.

He has transferred Zhang Shuo (Zhang Daniu) to be the commander-in-chief of the Silver Spear Camp, and has stationed six troops here for training. The commander-in-chief of the Silver Spear has become an official position in the court, of the sixth rank, with no limit on the number of positions.

Judging from the official positions, the imperial court was really in a mess.

More than ten years ago, the official seal was strictly guarded and would not be easily released. When Sima Yi was captured in Shao Xun's palace, Sima Yue had to instruct Donghai to recommend a filial and honest official, and he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant Sima of the eighth rank, which was already a generous reward.

Now, it’s like wholesale.

A while ago, the imperial court even invented an unheard-of position: deputy governor.

It's so shocking that it's burnt on the outside and tender on the inside.

This also indirectly reflects the current situation of the Jin Dynasty: it is going from bad to worse.

Generally, only a dynasty that is about to perish will cause so many unexpected events.

After all the inspections were completed, Shao Xun set out from Wancheng and returned to Xuchang on April 18th along the ancient Wanye Corridor.

It took a few days longer than expected because Le Lanji was pregnant and vomited continuously, so we had to stop and rest several times.

Some land is really fertile, but farmers are too lazy to cultivate it properly.

If it weren’t for this visit, I don’t know when I would have gotten married.

Lan Ji said happily that she must have gotten pregnant in the old house where she lived during her teenage years.

Shao Xun deeply believed this, because he hit it so hard that it exploded many times inside.

Princess Chengdu made new contributions to the growth of Shao family's descendants.

In late April, Shao Xun came to the Xuchang Palace to inspect the mulberry garden and vegetable garden, and at the same time convened a meeting of the shogunate officials.

Pei Kang, Chief Clerk of the General of Pingdong's Shogunate; Chen Yougen, Left Sima; Yang Chen, Right Sima; Mao Bang, Attendant of the Imperial Guards; and Liu Anzhi...

Most of the senior staff of General Longxiang's office overlapped with those of General Pingdong's office, but new people gradually appeared, such as: Secretary Xi Jian, Zheng Long, Supervisor Yang Hui, Recorder Lou Xiu, and Chief Clerk Jing Chan.

Zheng Long was a student soldier. He served as the master of Kinmen Fort, the master of Yunzhong Fort, and the magistrate of Mi County. He was the third student official to enter the shogunate after Mao Bang and Wang Hui.

Yang Hui was the owner of Yanggongwu in Yiyang and was from the Hongnong Yang family (as he called it).

Lou Xiu was born into the Lou family of Yongqiu (Chenliu State), and was of the same clan as generals Lou Quan and Lou Bao. This was a family that was relatively prosperous during the Later Han Dynasty, but gradually declined during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Han Dynasty.

Jing Chan was introduced by Yu Chen, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, who praised him for his outstanding literary talent and meticulous mind. He came from the Jing family of Dongqiu, a small aristocratic family in Hebei that was struggling at the bottom.

He was able to be the chief clerk only because of Yu Chen's favor. Jing Chan knew this very well. He was a member of Mr. Chen and also a member of the Yu family.

This shogunate structure is healthier!

Shao Xun was very satisfied. The aristocratic families, the small gentry, the local tyrants and his disciples came together to work together. Wasn't it better than the shogunate of famous scholars such as Sima Yue?

Some celebrities really don't like to work.

Yang Zhun, a famous scholar in Sima Ying's court, "did not care about official affairs and lived a carefree life all his life." Ying regarded him as a famous scholar and "regretted but did not blame him."

There were also many such people in Sima Yue's court.

They don't work, but they are very famous and powerful. People who are willing to work are either influenced by them or squeezed by them. In short, they ruined the morale of the shogunate and made a lot of stupid moves.

Official atmosphere is a very important thing, and Shao Xun has been working hard to maintain it.

He now recruited many "roll kings" from poor and powerful families who were quite ambitious and determined to rebuild their family status. This made those sons of noble families who were ready to lie down very uncomfortable, forcing them to follow suit. As a result, the atmosphere in the officialdom changed greatly.

Well, as soon as he raised the issue of food and military supplies, the two military officers Yu Liang and Mao Bang stood up to report.

"Yongrao Ye has allocated a group of craftsmen and equipment to go north to Yetie City. The hotel now has more than 53,000 arrows, 20,000 spears, 7,200 lances, 3,900 sets of armor, and 300 sets of armor..." After the report, Shao Xun nodded in approval.

Yuan Gui didn't just live a lazy life, he still got things done and didn't cause any trouble to me.

"Is there any shortage of craftsmen, apprentices, and laborers?" he asked.

“Always lacking.”

"I'll give it to you after this battle." Shao Xun said.

There are now more than 6,000 people in the Hotel Iron Smelting City, including the prisoners sent from the Battle of Fangtou.

Among the 6,000 people, most were miners, and the rest were various craftsmen and apprentices.

This military industrial base has the potential to further expand production.

Yongrao Smelter, located in the south of Wancheng, is the second largest military industrial base under its jurisdiction. It is slightly smaller than the hotel smelter, but its output is higher than the hotel smelter because it has existed for many years and is operating maturely.

Luoyang is the third largest military industrial base, but its output is mainly used to supply the imperial guards. Moreover, after Wang Mi seized Hongnong, they lost a large raw material mining and smelting base (Xin'an), and their production capacity dropped sharply. Currently, they only rely on a small amount of iron produced in Gongxian to maintain production.

Xingyang also had an iron smelting center, but it was abandoned in the early period of the Eight Kings Rebellion because most of its raw materials had to be shipped from Bingzhou, except for a small amount mined locally. Bingzhou was in constant war and was later captured by the Xiongnu. Xingyang craftsmen were scattered and most of them were captured by fort commanders and manor owners.

The same thing happened to the iron smelting workshop in Wen County, Hanoi. The craftsmen were either captured by the commander of the fort or abducted by the Huns.

In fact, there are many places in Henan that produce iron.

In addition to the above-mentioned places, Luyang, Liangxian, Yangcheng, Fangcheng, Langling, Yiyang and other places have more or less iron ore production.

These mines are worthless to mine in later generations, as they either have small reserves or low grades. However, in ancient times, they were mined and smelted day after day, and they were still valuable - some iron mines with very low reserves were even completely mined out.

The situation in other states is similar. Many counties have small iron mines to support local smelting industries. These mines are either in the hands of warlords or controlled by local nobles.

As far as Shao Xun's shogunate is concerned, for a long time in the future, it will mainly rely on the two major mining and smelting areas of Xiping in Runan and Wancheng in Nanyang. This is a very important foundation.

"Mingsir, the Kaocheng Shogunate has prepared 400,000 hu of millet and beans and 200,000 bundles of hay, which are being shipped to Xingyang and Puyang. They will arrive at the palace by mid-May at the latest, and will be delivered to Fangtou South City in early June." After Yu Liang finished speaking, Mao Bang stood up and said, "Yuzhou has allocated 600,000 hu of grain and beans and 200,000 bundles of hay, but they have not yet been shipped. We should be able to collect another 50,000 bundles of hay this month, and another 100,000 bundles in May."

"This amount of food is only enough for the men and horses to eat for four or five months, which is not enough. Once the troops are stationed in a strong city, who can say how long it will take?" Shao Xun said, "Luonan counties and Guangchengze need to raise another 200,000 hu of grain and 100,000 bundles of hay."

"My lord, the land transportation in Luonan counties results in very heavy losses," Mao Bang reminded.

"We will try our best to raise funds." Shao Xun did not give in and said, "We will deliver it to Puyang within a few days."

Of course he knew that bulk goods like grain were extremely difficult to transport and would incur great losses along the way.

Even in the 21st century with developed transportation, many grain warehouses are still built across the country to store grain harvested from surrounding areas.

In ancient times when transportation was inconvenient, it was difficult to transport grain from one area to other places without water transportation, unless you were mentally prepared that only half or even two or three out of ten carts of grain would arrive.

Since the Han Dynasty, the taxes collected by the imperial court often only existed in the accounts of the capital, while the actual taxes were stored in warehouses in various places. The reason for this was that transportation was difficult.

Shao Xun had better not count on using the grain from Nanyang and other places when attacking Hebei. The lowest cost method was to collect grain nearby, so Mao Bang reminded him that the grain and grass collected from the counties of Luonan had to be transported by land to Xuchang, then shipped north, unloaded by land, and then loaded again - when they reached the other side of the Yellow River, they had to change ships.

Alternatively, it could be transported by land to Luoyang, then enter the Yellow River through the Yishui River, and then flow downstream to Fangtou.

In short, the cost is higher than collecting in Yuzhou and Yanzhou.

But he still asked the locals to raise as much as possible. The land transportation distance was not very long and the cost was acceptable. In order to have more sufficient military supplies, it was acceptable to pay these costs.

"Changshi Pei, the manpower needed to transport military supplies and fodder needs to be discussed with officials from the three states of Yu, Yan and Si. You will make the arrangements." Shao Xun looked at Pei Kang, the chief secretary of the shogunate, and said.

"As you wish." Pei Kang replied.

It’s a chore, but also a great deal of power.

The number of people, ships, carriages and horses from each county is very particular.

As for county officials, they certainly hope to impose less labor service and produce less goods within their jurisdiction.

But if you contribute less and others contribute more, it will definitely be a lot of trouble.

But everything has its pros and cons, and this is also a good opportunity for him to exert his influence. If he operates well, he can gain a lot of his own people, and he knows this very well.

Cao Fu is dead, and the entire three states of Yu, Yan and Si and dozens of counties and kingdoms are now on my shoulders alone.

"The garrison troops and hereditary soldiers in various places should not slack off and be careful to prevent civil unrest when they are called up for service." Shao Xun looked at Liu Shan again and said, "Leave this matter to the camp troops to coordinate."

"Yes." Liu Shan stood up and responded.

"The next thing is military affairs, assassinating the traitor..."

Shao Xun called out the names one by one and went through the items one by one, finalizing all the preparations before the war.

(End of this chapter)