sweeping the world

Chapter 724 Allow or not?
It is another year of winter and spring. In winter, there is no snow in many places including Guanzhong. After spring, most areas in the north only have a few light rains or no rain at all.

The replacement of annual rings represents the passage of time, and the weather brings heavy depression to people, but it does not disturb the group of cultural people gathered in old Chang'an.

The wind of Xia Xue has already blown, but the dispute between the cultural people of the North and the South has become more and more intense. Most of them are because of their geographical origins rather than the theory itself. It is obviously the same theory, and it is necessary to compete for the advantages and disadvantages of the North and the South.

"This year's rainfall has become more and more abnormal, and the water levels of water systems in various places...especially in the eastern regions have dropped most rapidly and significantly."

"Water is stored at the source of water, and the downstream water level is inevitable. Water wells have been dug extensively in various places, and the excavation depth is getting deeper and deeper regardless of the region."

"I am afraid that the waterwheel built cannot alleviate the water consumption for spring plowing, but the people insist on farming."

Zhuxia civilization still likes to build dams to store water. Even a small river will have sluices to intercept water in several sections. Especially during the spring plowing period, the water interception will be more serious, resulting in the annual spring plowing breaking out due to water competition. Massive fighting.

The waterwheel was built in the fourth year of Yuanshuo, and it took three years to promote it in only a few areas. It was only when the drought was considered inevitable that it was vigorously promoted, especially in the land of Jingchu, which is currently The granary of the building was used wantonly.

The function of the waterwheel is to send water from a lower position to a higher place. It is natural that the river is not completely dried up, but it is really useless when the river is only the river bed.

"Fortunately, with the old Yuzhou as the boundary, the drought in the south is not obvious, and there is no decline in the water system to the south of the Yangtze River. If there is a comprehensive drought in the north, there will still be food output in the south to support it."

"The second batch of overseas food has been in place, and the construction of national roads and the food in Chang'an New City are worry-free."

"Except for those who responded to the conscripts and those who served corvee, how should the common people in the Northland be dealt with?"

"If the grain reserves allow, the Prime Minister's Office will order the counties and counties to recruit labor to build public facilities in the local countryside."

"The grain storage is only enough to support large projects."

It was the spring of the ninth year of Yuanshuo ([-] A.D.), and those officials who returned to the central government because of their duties before and after the Winter Solstice had basically returned to their posts. Naturally, the local officials had to prepare for the disaster, and the military system was also strictly ordered to cooperate with the local government. government.

In the past, when there was a disaster year, dynasties except the Qin Empire basically stopped any national projects, but did not carry out disaster relief for the people, and opened up the mountains and rivers to let the people survive the disaster year on their own.

When it comes to opening up mountains and rivers, it is because the mountains, forests and wilderness in the past dynasties were basically owned by the emperor or the state. People were not allowed to hunt and gather at will. In extremely strict times, it was illegal to even enter the mountains to collect firewood.

The Han Kingdom under Liu Yan’s rule started a national project in a catastrophe. With the example of the Qin Empire and Liu Yan’s personal explanation, there are still voices of opposition.

Han’s grain reserves have been at the lowest warning level for a long time. In ancient times, most of the country’s grain reserves were to ensure military supplies. Especially when there was a large-scale disaster in the country, neighboring countries might take advantage of the fire and loot, so the grain reserves were reserved for coping. The invasion of other countries may occur at any time, and those people are opposed to large-scale national projects because of national defense considerations.

The construction of national highways and the new Chang'an are already national policies being implemented. The form of work-for-work relief not only feeds a large number of people, but also extends the needs of the project to private procurement to support a lot of people, but it is still difficult to take care of them comprehensively.

"It is the Northwest that has the obvious drought this year. Although there will be drought in Guanzhong and the Central Plains, there should not be a tragic situation of no crops."

"If the weather is still the same next year, or if it gets worse, the situation will be really bad."

At the small court meeting that was being held, anyone who had any opinions or thoughts could express their own opinions. Liu Yan listened more and spoke less or simply didn't speak at all as usual.

The northwest of the Han State refers to the territory northwest of Jincheng, which belonged to the original Liang State of the Zhang family.

The Liang Kingdom of the Zhang family surrendered in the seventh year of Yuanshuo. Naturally, the ruler and the corresponding royal family would be placed under house arrest. It took the Han army nearly three months to fully take over, and it took almost a year to complete the household registration census and statistics. .

Since the administrative level of "state" has been abolished in the Han Dynasty, the content mentioned involves too many counties and counties, so it is basically summarized in a certain direction.

"It hasn't been long since the Northwest belonged to the Han. Although it wasn't a big war and the city was conquered one after another, without causing too much damage, the people in the Northwest belonged to the Han for less than two years, and the people's hearts are still unstable."

"In the year of catastrophe, ambitious people and young people will inevitably be restless, but if there is an opportunity, they will definitely encourage the people to rebel."

Liu Yan destroyed the Jie tribe and expelled the Qiang, Di, Xiongnu and Zahu people. For the people of the Central Plains, he was a liberator and savior. However, the destruction of the Zhang family and the Liang Kingdom was just a pure victory or defeat without any inter-ethnic righteousness. .

The Zhang family was originally a prominent family in the Northwest. When they ruled the Northwest, they always protected the people under their rule. Although they treated the people with a higher tax rate for food and fodder due to the war, their reputation was still quite good.

The time for the Northwest to be included in the territory ruled by the Han Dynasty is still relatively short, and there is no shortage of people who miss the Zhang family's rule, especially those who have lost their interests after being attributed to the Han country's rule. In addition, the Zhang family is still missed by the common people. However, once the disaster is so serious that it is uncontrollable, it is almost inevitable that there will be chaos if someone with a heart instigates it.

"Zhengxi Zhonglang General (Xie) An has sent troops to Xiqiang Mountain, and he can lead his army to the northwest after the war."

"The area of ​​Xiqiang Mountain is too large, and the remnants of Qiang and Di dare not fight. I am afraid that the war will not be able to produce results in a short time."

"There is a standing army in the northwest, and General Zhengxi Zhonglang leads the army, isn't it enough to deter?"

"Everything is based on maximum deterrence."

Xie An had two standing armies under his command, with as many as [-] soldiers from counties and counties attached to them. They attacked Xiqiang Mountain with a force of almost [-]. They adopted a flat-line advance strategy, even if they could not completely wipe out the remnants of the Qiang and Di tribes. , can also force them to climb the plateau.

After the battle at Xiqiang Mountain, the garrisons must be left behind, but only county and county soldiers will be left as garrisons. The standing army is a field army, so it is naturally impossible to stay in one place for a long time.

"Recruitment orders can be issued, mainly for the recruiting of the prime of life. If there are no prime of life among the people, only the old and weak, women and children, there will be no great chaos."

"In a disaster year, there are no more young and strong, how can the old and the weak survive? How should the world view the big man?"

"That's not the case, why?"

"If one household is recruited, everyone can work in exchange for rations."

"It consumes too much food and fodder."

In fact, there is also a national project of labor relief in the northwest, but the central government does not pay enough attention to it. Of course, the most important thing is the construction of the new Chang'an, because it is related to the top priority of Liu Yan's ascension to the throne, and the second is to pay attention to the national highway from Jiankang to Guanzhong. However, the national road leading from Guanzhong to the Western Regions is very small in scale, and the resettled people are mainly from the Central Plains. The number of people in the Northwest who were recruited except for corvee labor was not large.

It is also the people of a country, but it is absolutely false to say that the center can take care of all aspects. There must be areas that focus on. That is due to the limitation of national power, and it is also related to the ruler's preference and care.

For the past dynasties of the Zhuxia civilization, the Central Plains belonged to the core, and even if Guanzhong was the capital, it could not ignore the Central Plains.The reason for this is that the population of the Central Plains has been quite dense since ancient times, and chaos may occur in other places, but a chaos in the Central Plains will definitely be a chaos, forcing the rulers to pay attention to it and pay attention to it.

During the discussion, everyone couldn't reach a consensus, so they couldn't help but stop and look at Liu Yan.

"There are millions of people in the Northwest, and they are also the people of the big man."

Liu Yan had thought about it just now and agreed with Cai You that the national food reserves had reached the most serious warning level. Not only must they cope with the current situation, they must also think about how to deal with large-scale natural disasters including the Central Plains if there is no food in the future.

"The benefit of opening up the mountains and rivers is one, and the other is to divert them to the Western Regions."

Are there natural disasters in the Western Regions?It should be said that the natural disasters in the Western Regions broke out earlier than the Han Dynasty, and there has not been much rain there for two consecutive years.Under the natural disaster, the Western Regions became chaotic. Not only did the fights between private individuals increase, but also conflicts broke out among various countries.

Letting people from the Northwest go to the Western Regions individually or in groups is to encourage them to rob people from the Western Regions, which is one of the best ways.

"The people in the south can go to the Indochina Peninsula, why can't the people in the north go to the Western Regions?"

That's what Liu Yan said, but he knows that he still doesn't pay enough attention to the people in the northwest, but he really has to take care of the rest of the region more, instead of choosing other people who don't have a strong sense of belonging.This is the basic choice to ensure the stability of the rule, as a ruler should make.

"There are millions of people in the Northwest, but there are tens of millions in the Central Plains." Ji Chang had to help Liu Yan out: "The corvee can conscript one hundred thousand households, and the rest going to the Western Regions will also shed blood for the country. Can it be counted as military exploits?"

It is precisely because the Western Regions themselves are in chaos that the time for Han to send troops to the Western Regions will be advanced.Before the Han army attacked, many people had already gone to the Western Regions with missions, nothing more than to make it more chaotic and create a more favorable environment for the Han army to regain the Western Regions.

Before the army actually goes out, those who have the ability and courage to go first, can indeed be regarded as contributing to the country, and there is no reason to count it as a military exploit.

"This is great good governance." Xie Ai is from the Northwest, and he didn't have much right to speak just now. He listened to the discussion and Liu Yan's ruling with a livid face.With the latter result, he must feel relieved.

That was military merit, which could be used in exchange for local land and a title.Under the premise that the number of standing armies is fixed, county soldiers rarely have the opportunity to go out to fight. For most people, there is basically no chance to establish military exploits.Participating in the army and going out to fight is to risk your life to build military exploits. Going abroad privately to rob and kill enemies can also be regarded as military exploits. For most people, it is a good thing rather than a bad thing.

"Since this is the case, it is not included in the list of corvee or conscripted, can we follow suit?"

"Going out?"

Everyone had to look at Liu Yan again.

Northwest is the center that really doesn't care about it, and adopts a strategy of last resort. The bad thing has become a good thing that most people think, but if the whole country treats everyone equally, the matter will really be serious.

Liu Yan looked at everyone in the military.

Xu Zheng frowned completely, and discussed in a low voice with Ran Min beside him without caring too much.

The reason why military exploits are military exploits is that the army controls the prerequisites for establishment, and it is regarded as something in the military's bowl, so how can it be easily transferred to others.

People in the Northwest can go outside to build military exploits. The military did not say anything because Liu Yan personally mentioned it. They dare not question Liu Yan's authority, but it is not the same thing when other people mention it.

"If the whole country can do it, I don't think it can be unorganized." Xu Zheng had to think about the interests of the military, but he knew that he couldn't suppress it. .So it can be done nationwide."

To put it bluntly, since you want to do that, those who want to go out must be under the command of the military to ensure the best interests of the military.

This time it was Chang Ji Chang who was frowning.He believes that the Han army is already a monster, and the war cannot be completely stopped in the year of catastrophe. Even if it enters the stage of internal affairs, it will still continue to fight abroad. No matter how you look at it, the monster will not be fed for a day.

What now?The military wants to take this opportunity to reach out to the local people, and it is speechless. In some respects, it is even a kind of due diligence, but the military's hand is too far.

"The big man has a national policy of training troops in summer and winter." Xu Zheng also knew that the military's hand was too long. It could ignore the dissatisfaction of the civil affairs system, but it couldn't ignore Liu Yan. Unnecessary casualties can be avoided, and then the strategy can be continued to open up the frontiers for the great Han."

In the summer and winter of the Han Dynasty, young adults and women in the countryside needed to participate in military training on the spot, which was a habit Liu Yan had when he only had one county in Changguang.At that time, the Han people were at a critical moment of life and death. Not only the soldiers had to fight the Hu people at any time, but the common people were also always ready to take up arms for self-defense, and the habit was preserved.

Military training is hosted by the military. If the military reaches out to the civilians, it has existed for a long time, and there has been no trouble since then.And Xu Zheng's intention of mentioning that point was very clear, and he was afraid that Liu Yan would think too much.

The military is a monster in the Han state, but the generals in command do not have their own troops directly under them. The Han army implements a rotation system, which prevents a certain army from becoming the private army of any general. Liu Yan has absolutely no influence on the military. It is impossible to be afraid, but it is not too much to be afraid of.

Liu Yan had to figure out what kind of impact it would have if he was allowed to go out to plunder and be regarded as military merit.

"The land in the northwest is a helpless move..." Ji Chang's voice was a little louder: "At an extraordinary time, do extraordinary things, but they must not be promoted."

Being able to farm with swords and guns, no one is willing to work hard to get it as long as they have the ability.With its face facing the loess and its back turned to the sky all year round, it is not as good as someone going out to rob it once. What kind of country should the Han Dynasty become at that time?
(End of this chapter)