sweeping the world

Chapter 794 Where is my army
Grassland is a general term. The grassland referred to by Zhu Xia is generally beyond Yanmen Pass, and often includes Guanzhong and the north of Liaodong.

For a nation that has been threatened by the grassland for a long time, no matter what the name of the country was before, I don’t know how many generations have been thinking day and night to cut off the threat from the grassland.

In fact, like the Central Plains, the rulers of the grassland have changed crop after crop. In the long years, due to the environment of the grassland and the productivity of the nomads, the total population of the grassland rarely exceeds 300 million. when.

Obviously there are 3000 to 3000 million people, or more than [-] to [-] million people, and the productivity is also completely suppressed, but the Central Plains Dynasty has been living under the shadow of being harassed and even invaded by grassland nomads. factor.

"In any period, as long as the emperor of the Central Plains has made up his mind, the nomads on the grassland are no match. Unfortunately, there are very few emperors with great determination in the Central Plains."

Naturally, Liu Yan would not go out of the grassland with a few people. The accompanying army reached 2000, and there were more than [-] necessary attendants, court ladies and the like.He didn't do it for ostentation, it was definitely not a safe trip to the grassland.

Junji Mountain refers to a widely distributed area. In fact, not all of them are mountainous areas. There are quite large flat grasslands, and there are also some places that can be called valleys.To the south of it is the territory of the Han Dynasty, adjacent to the northwest and Hetao.To the north of it is a swampy terrain, which belongs to the territory of Xigaoche dominated by Dingling people.To the northeast of it is an area of ​​mountains. The peaks are not the kind of mountains in the Central Plains, but a kind of generally bare hills.

Of course, there are mountains in the grassland, and what I want to say is that there are not too few mountains, but they are located at high altitudes. A piece of uplift like a short hill, and the mountain will not have any steepness. In fact, most of them are hills with flat slopes.

The journey from Guzang to Junji Mountain is not short, and it will pass through some towns along the way. The Northwest is at a special moment. Most of the towns have been abandoned due to the outbreak of drought. Even if there are still people in some towns, they will be the original ones. Less than two or three out of ten.

In the years of natural disasters, especially droughts, anyone with a bit of energy will go out to seek a living, and only some people who have a serious rural complex or are too old will stay.Whether they can survive depends on when the drought will end. If the drought lasts for more than two years, at least half of the people left behind must lose at least half of them, and the other half will suffer from various problems.

When the inspection team passed through those towns, many local people surrounded them. Some of them even didn't know that the dynasty had changed. They thought it was the Zhang family who ruled the northwest land who was out on patrol and caused some embarrassment. It would be even more embarrassing to deal with.

In the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty was discussed by the people. He chose not to pursue the ignorant people, and extended the Han law that "the people talk about the innocence of officials and state affairs".Since Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, in the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, there have been no cases in which people discussed state affairs and were dealt with, but scholars and officials did not have this "privilege".

Of course, Liu Yan would not care about the people who were uninformed. In fact, any wise ruler would not be "true" with the people. If he wanted to target, he would also target some special classes, and he would generally be more tolerant of the people.

Every time the patrol team passes through some place, something like this will happen. It is often caused by local officials to welcome them.Continuing from the rules of previous dynasties, they do not need to fund the ruler's patrols. The purpose of welcoming the patrol team is actually more to seek "policy."

What is it?That is, the local government will seize the opportunity to vomit bitterness, tearfully describe the difficulties encountered, and beg the emperor to give some preferential policies, usually tax exemption and the like.

In the past history, there were not many emperors who often made tours. The first emperor repeatedly toured the world to promote his prestige, and the Han Wudi toured the world selectively as a boy of good fortune.

Needless to say, Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was an out-and-out good-natured boy. When he visited a certain place many times, the local government would often announce that the local government would exempt the local tax after a little crying, and at the same time he would give out big rewards.So, if you want to say what the people at that time were looking forward to the most, it was when Liu Che, a boy who spread money, would come to inspect his hometown and enjoy the kindness of the emperor.

Liu Yan's tour to the northwest is actually a continuation of the practice of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Cheguang Bu Enze. When he arrives in a place, he will appropriately give some preferential policies to the local area, but he will not make a move to exempt from taxes.

It's not that Liu Yan is stingy, but Han has its own special national conditions.

The "tax" of the Han Dynasty is of course part of the corvee, but most people only need to complete the "share" to go out to the corvee, and the next labor is paid. If he exempts the "tax" of a certain place, it will harm the interests of the people.

Let's talk about "taxes". The taxes in the Han Dynasty are no different from any previous dynasties, but it doesn't mean that the work is over after collecting the taxes. There will also be certain policy feedback based on the amount of taxes collected, such as arranging engineering teams to pay taxes. Construction or maintenance of roads or water conservancy facilities.

Is there more feedback than Hyundai?However, Liu Yan did not do it.

In fact, the Central Plains Dynasty had relevant "feedback policies" long ago. Corvettes and tax collection in any period will be directly fed back to the local area, but it is the same as some modern "feedback policies". There is such a policy. But whether you can enjoy that policy is another matter.

Under normal circumstances, times and dynasties have been changing, but most of the time the groups that can get the state’s feedback have not changed, such as certain groups that have been fattened by the tax rebate policy, and then some people have used their power for personal gain in building roads and water conservancy. of.

Yangguan needs to go through Yiwu to go to Junji Mountain. Today’s Yiwu and later generations have not changed much in terms of mountains and rivers. At least Liu Yan, who has been to this place, did not see any changes. There were no white-skinned compatriots in the group of 56 ethnic groups, or even no one at all.

"This place has been the habitat of the Huns and Qiang people for a long time. They graze here and go hunting in the mountains and forests." Li Tan must study this place, after all, it belongs to the military jurisdiction of General Zhengbei. Scope: "At the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Huns went south in large numbers, and the Qiang people also went to the Central Plains. For a period of time, they were occupied by the Dingling people. The Han regained the Central Plains and deterred the Dingling people from fleeing to Xigaoche, and the remaining part was repeatedly used by Huqi The general cleared up and was either killed or captured."

Li Tan was originally waiting in Yiwu, and after welcoming Liu Yan, he must have something to say. If he didn’t know the local situation in advance, he would have to find out if he didn’t know the local situation. It's a question of embarrassment.

Drought is breaking out in the northwest. The Yiwu that Liu Yan sees will not be a blue grassland. In fact, as the water level of Juyanze continues to drop, the vast area that depends on the extension of Juyanze and the water system is also desiccated. increasingly serious.

Liu Yan raised his hand to block the glare of the sun, looked at the north and asked, "Did you find a swarm of locusts in the north?"

Li Tan's expression became very serious, and he said in a worried tone: "The first time the locust swarms were discovered was in the river system north of Juyanze. After those rivers dried up, the locust swarms suddenly appeared."

It’s not that the locust swarms suddenly appeared. They already existed, but they lived scattered when the water source was sufficient. After the river lost its water source, it was driven by the instinct of survival to go south, and then completed the “reunion” in the process of finding a new habitat, waiting to be discovered. The time is dense.

Liu Yan knew that a locust plague would definitely break out after the drought. He had discussed this with his ministers more than once. Prevention was impossible at all. He had plans on what to do, but he was not sure whether those plans would be useful.

"The chickens, ducks, and geese that can be collected have been concentrated in Juyanze." Li Tan was talking about one of the countermeasures against the locust plague. He said with an exaggerated expression and tone: "Depending on your majesty, they are indeed Feed on locusts."

What has to be said is that Liu Yanhui knew that chickens, ducks, and geese can resist locust plagues from novels. More than one historical novel uses this method to resist locust plagues. It is indeed an effective way to check it out of curiosity. It makes no sense. Do not follow suit.

The Han Kingdom has been established for nine years. It is a joke to say that it has fully recovered from the war, but some areas have indeed recovered from the war. Shandong, where Liu Yan started his family, is the best.

Liu Yan set up a "cooperative commune" at the beginning. In addition to joint labor, he would definitely not let go of poultry farms.At that time, he actually had long thought of relying on an army of chickens, ducks, and geese to deal with the inevitable locust plague.

This time, the order from the central center was conveyed to the counties and counties, mainly to mobilize chickens, ducks, and geese to the north. The counties and counties in Shandong had the largest number, and some of the counties and counties in Juyanze came from counties and counties in Shandong.

"The poultry army is the most useful." Liu Yan knew it would be useful, but he didn't relax at all. He warned: "Don't relax your vigilance. Not only the poultry army wants to eliminate locusts, but the army and civilians should also be fully mobilized."

One thing is certain, poultry that eat a lot of locusts will definitely grow fat and lay eggs. If the locust plague does not cause serious losses to the country, in some ways it will be a tonic for poultry.

"Already trying to capture." What Li Tan knows is that the number of soldiers and civilians who have arrived is not less than [-], and they are all over the mountains and fields every day to catch locusts: "The captured locusts are gathered after they are killed. I heard that they are piled up like hills. Like that."

There are 12 soldiers and civilians. The civilians are basically natives of the Northwest, but the army is not a standing army. The army is the local county and county soldiers in the Northwest.They were born and raised here, and they might not be very happy emotionally if they were asked to fight against someone, but if they were to deal with the locust plague, they would definitely have [-] points of passion. Otherwise, if the locusts were allowed to go deep into the hinterland of the Northwest, wouldn't they still be Northwesterners?
Liu Yan came to take Ju Yanze not long after.

When the inspection team came over, they were greeted by the sound of "long live" from the mountains. The soldiers and civilians were excited and moved by Liu Yan's arrival in person.

After all, the outbreak of a locust plague is something that can be seen with the eyes. The emperor came here in person at such a time. In addition to showing that the country attaches great importance to it, there is a little bit of meaning to share the suffering with the people.

Liu Yan didn't do the "grassroots" thing, not because he didn't want to, but because of many reasons.He saw with his own eyes the so-called scene of locusts piling up into mountains, and he also saw people, chickens, ducks, and geese all over the mountains, and the distribution definitely exceeded thirty square miles.

"Is this the powder made by locusts?" Liu Yan held some earthy-looking powder in his hand. It didn't smell fishy, ​​but had a meaty smell on the contrary. He dipped some and ate it, tasting: "If Didn't know it was made of locusts, it tasted like chicken."

The emperor ate it all, and the officials present felt disgusted, so they wanted to eat some?They didn't dare to show their disgusting side, no matter how far-fetched they were, they had to act as if they were eating some kind of delicacy.

In fact, if you don't know what it is made of, although the locust powder is not delicious, the taste is not much worse.The nutrition it contains is actually very sufficient, and it can also be used as a medicine, which has a good effect on relieving cough and asthma, and has a good effect on whooping cough and bronchitis.

Looking north from the camp, the farther away the place is, the more barren it will be. If you don't know that it was originally a grassland, you will definitely think that it was originally a desert.

"Where swarms of locusts pass by, not a single blade of grass grows." Li Tan didn't know whether he should gloat: "General Hussar sent back a message that the locusts in Xigaoche are very serious."

By the way, Ran Min went to Xigaoche to find Ding Lingren's displeasure again. The reason was that Liu Yan was touring northern Xinjiang and wanted to use practical actions to "offer victory" for Liu Yan, but the reason was that he couldn't stay at all.

The locusts are not specifically targeting the Han area, they are raging everywhere because of the climate. It is true that it is a natural disaster for the Han people who are mainly farming, but it is also a natural disaster for the nomads who are extremely dependent on aquatic plants!
According to the information sent back by Ran Min, there are locusts raging everywhere in Xigaoche. Facing the outbreak of locust plague, Ding Lingren asked the wizard to ask the gods for help. on the run.

"There is a memorial from Rouran's Colonel's Department." Liu Yan confirmed from multiple sources that the locust plague broke out from north to south, and the grassland was the first area to be affected: "The locust plague also broke out in Rouran."

Those who say that the outbreak of drought and locust plagues are the result of God’s unwillingness to let Liu Yan rule can shut up. Not only is the Han Kingdom experiencing natural disasters, but one of the surrounding countries has all suffered from a sudden climate change. Countries whose main means of survival is grazing are less resistant to natural disasters than countries with at least a stable output (farming).

Liu Yan has reason to believe one thing: "Yu Jiulu Bati will not wait for the widow to approach the border of Rouran before welcoming him, he will come all the way."

Also affected by natural disasters, the Han ruling class, including Liu Yan, was thinking that maybe this was their opportunity to fully control the grassland.

(End of this chapter)