At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

"It is my duty to serve His Majesty."

Tian Feng quickly expressed his excitement and gratitude, and said that he would continue to work hard for the future of the Wei Empire.

He tried his best to please the emperor, and personally participated in the design and detail improvement of this car. He spent a lot of energy for this, but finally got the emperor's praise. Tian Feng suddenly felt that he had been busy for a while, and it was worth it.

The march of the army is naturally not a simple matter.

In the past, some troops with poor military discipline marched like locusts crossing the border, eating wherever they went, grabbing wherever they went, and daring to do anything.

As a result, in order to protect the environment and the people, some local officials put military supplies outside the city when the army crossed the border.

If they really want to rush in and loot them, the local officials really want to cry but have no tears.

Wei Jun's march did not have these troubles. They all walked according to the prescribed route, without disturbing the people, and basically never approaching the city.

These routes have the Weizhi Road, which was repaired a long time ago. The road is flat and wide, and the ground is firm and easy to walk.

When marching in the past, it was fine on sunny days, but when it rained, the rainwater mixed with the land, and the muddy road could quickly reduce the marching speed of the army to a snail level.

Not only is it troublesome to walk, but it is even more troublesome with carriages and horses. The roads will also become potholes due to the driving of a large number of carriages and horses. It is extremely difficult to walk and it is very easy to make mistakes.

Wei Zhidao took these issues into consideration when designing.

The straight road surface is repeatedly compacted and leveled, and waterproof treatment is done.

If something like a road collapse occurs due to heavy rain and affects the march of the army, then the officials in charge of the road conditions will not be able to solve the problem simply by apologizing.

Because of these homework beforehand, Wei Jun's march was relatively convenient.

In case of heavy rain, the whole army can cope well with the heavy rain by wearing bamboo hats, coir raincoats, and straw sandals, and then change into normal attire when the weather clears up.

The road surface is smooth, and there will be no potholes that will affect the progress of the entire army, and of course it will not affect Guo who is sitting in the car.

Every time they arrive at a post station, there will naturally be responsible personnel in the post station to connect with the quartermaster to take away the food and supplies needed by the army. Everything will follow the procedures and there will be no problems.

The army also stopped to eat, and buried pots and rice on both sides of the road. The soldiers gathered around to eat, rested for a while after eating, dug holes to solve personal problems, and then assembled to continue marching.

Such an orderly, fast and orderly march to Yanmen County, Bingzhou.

chapter 1088 one thousand ninety-eight

From Luoyang to Yanmen County, the entire march took [-] days.

The speed is not too fast, but it is safe to win. There is no problem in the march of the army, and everything is in order.

The materials consumed are indeed huge, and the food eaten by a team of 10,000+ people is an astronomical figure every day.

Not only people eat, but also horses chew, not only grain, but also beans and firewood.

It can be said that every step is money. Every time the army as a whole advances by one meter, the logistics officials can calculate the specific cost, and then submit this data to someone in Guo for review and approval.

Of course, Guo also knows how much his army needs to spend during the period from the start of the army to the actual battle.

But this is a necessary expense and cannot be saved.

Guo Peng handles important government affairs sent by Luoyang in the car every day, and also handles military affairs.

Then he summoned the accompanying ministers of civil and military affairs in the car, gave them face-to-face instructions and issued orders.

It was the first time for him to lead the army and govern the country at the same time.

When doing this in the past, the scale of the territory was not large, there were not so many things to do, it was quite simple.

After the territory has grown, there is no need to personally lead troops to go out.

It wasn't until this imperial conquest that he felt the difficulty of being a military commander and a political leader at the same time.

It's no wonder that in history, it is often difficult for emperors who conquered by themselves to win wars.

Of course, those who are particularly awesome are another matter, their talents themselves are very high.

Guo is naturally in this category.

Although the work intensity increased suddenly, he also quickly adapted to this high-intensity work mode. While leading the army, he handled the government affairs at the same time and remotely controlled the country's political situation.

Someone Guo firmly grasped the key power in his hands, and never let go of it.

On the way in the car, he also gave some guidance on the development of Jiangnan, the local war in Yizhou and the situation in the Western Regions, telling them what to do.

Then, it gave guidance to Yangzhou to cross the strait to find Taiwan Island.

On the tenth day of June, Guo Peng received Zhang Liao's request for instructions from Yangzhou to Youzhou by sea, and then from Youzhou.

Zhang Liao said that he was ready to go to sea to find the big island of Taiwan, and asked Guo Peng whether to set off immediately to cross the strait to find the big island of Taiwan.

Of course, we cannot slack off this kind of thing that has left future generations with excuses from ancient times.

Moreover, there must be people on such a big island. It's hard to say how many there are, but first take it down and put it under the territory, and we'll talk about the rest later.

In short, to get rid of such excuses as [Since ancient times], we must make it clear and clear, and we cannot dig holes for future generations.

Guo Peng ordered Zhang Liao to join forces with Tai Shici to start crossing the sea, land on Taiwan Island, and explore the whole island.

Three days after this, on June [-]th, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived at the attack position in Yanmen County, Bingzhou two days ahead of schedule, and began preparations for the attack.

Xia Houdun, governor of Bingzhou, and a group of bureaucrats rushed to Yanmen County to pay homage to the emperor and accept further instructions from the emperor.

After Guo Peng made some simple arrangements for their last series of work before the war, he asked the group of officials to go back to perform their duties, then called Xiahou Dun into his special car alone, and poured him a glass of juice , Let him relieve the summer heat.

Xiahou Dun hurriedly knelt down to thank him, but Guo Peng immediately helped him up.

"It's just a glass of juice, don't be so excited, Yuan Rang, you and I are not only the emperor and minister, but also relatives. There are only you and me in this car, so don't be so rigid about the etiquette of the emperor and minister."

Xiahou Dun hastily said he did not dare.

"Your Majesty is His Majesty at all times, and my ministers are always my ministers, so I dare not presume."

"..."

Guo Peng was very happy in his heart, but he still had to feel sorry for his face. He sighed a little and waved his hand: "It's up to you."

After all, Guo Peng sat down and said slowly: "Yuan Rang, I am sure to win this Northern Expedition. I will definitely wipe out the Xianbei people. By the way, I will wipe out all the tribes that can be seen." And empty, not one left, the entire prairie, I want to empty it, do you think it's okay?"

"Although the grassland is huge, if Your Majesty has the determination, why not? My Wei army is invincible, and the tribes on the grassland are all the ones who sell their heads."

Xiahou Dun replied immediately.

"Since it is possible, then think about what to do after the grassland is pacified."

Guo Peng picked up the cup and took a sip of the sweet and sour juice: "After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Xuan defeated the Xiongnu in successive Northern Expeditions, due to various factors, they failed to fully occupy the grassland. Consider it a scourge.

I think this kind of behavior is incorrect. Horses can be raised on the grassland, and cattle and sheep can also be raised on the grassland. The Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Karasuma were all powerful because of the grassland. This is enough to prove that there is also the possibility of a powerful country on the grassland. .

If a country wants to be strong, it is impossible to have no production. The Xiongnu and Xianbei rely on cattle, sheep and horses for their livelihood. There are indeed many people on the grassland that can support them. So, isn’t the grassland a treasure land? "

What Guo Peng said surprised Xiahou Dun.

"What Your Majesty said is that you want to manage the grassland after the war and raise cattle, sheep and horses?"

"Yes, since the fight has been made, you can't fight in vain, and you can't just let it go without interfering. Yuan Rang, you should know how much this expedition will cost."

Xiahou Dun nodded.

"This expedition will cost so much that it must be worth tens of millions of dollars."

"That's right, the cost is so high, if you can't earn it back from the grassland, isn't it tantamount to fighting for nothing? If you don't earn it back, isn't it pointless to waste the state money?"

Guo Peng took a deep breath: "Han Wu defeated the Xiongnu and did not occupy the grassland, so the Xiongnu could not be wiped out. After Dou Xian's Northern Expedition to the Northern Xiongnu, he failed to occupy the grassland, so the Xianbei fisherman benefited, and finally became a big problem 30 years later.

If I conquer Xianbei in the north without occupying the grassland, owning the grassland, and not working hard to manage it, then who knows what tribe will appear after Xianbei, grow stronger again, and control 30 or 50 people. By then, for me Isn't it a catastrophe?

It doesn't matter when I'm alive, people with evil intentions dare not act rashly, but once I'm gone, it's hard to say what those people with evil intentions will do. "

Xiahoudun felt that what Guo Peng said made sense.

"Your Majesty's words are indeed very reasonable, and I deeply agree with them. Without Xianbei, after decades, I will not be alive. I don't know if there will be other tribes on the grassland, even stronger than the Xiongnu and Xianbei. .”

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about, so no matter what, after winning this time, we can't stop here, but enter the grassland."

Guo Peng strengthened his policy.

Xiahou Dun was a little worried.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, before Your Majesty, there was no precedent for successfully managing the grasslands. The grasslands are different from the land in the Central Plains. The soil in the Central Plains is fertile, and you can settle down by farming. After gradually increasing the scale, you can live for a long time and rule. .

However, it is difficult to cultivate land on the grassland, and it is not easy to settle down. The residents of the Central Plains are not good at grazing, and they have no experience before, so I don’t know what the result will be. Moreover, if they want to operate livestock, at least 30 million people are needed. The rations of these 30 million people are How to solve it? "

It's not that Guo Peng didn't think about the question Xiahou Dun raised.

However, the development of any new economic model always requires input and expenditure, and it also costs money to reclaim wasteland.

Therefore, in Guo Peng's eyes, there is no difference between the expenditure of reclaiming wasteland and the expenditure of developing animal husbandry.

"Yuan Rang, you can't think of things like this. You must know that we need to spend money to arrange for the people to open up wasteland. How is this cost different from trying to raise livestock on the grassland?"

chapter 1089 one thousand and ninety nine

The question Guo Peng asked made Xia Houdun stunned for a moment.

Thinking about it carefully, Xiahou Dun felt that what he said was true.

Cultivating wasteland to grow food is not something that can be harvested tomorrow. It also takes a long time, ranging from one year to two or three years.

Leveling the land, digging ditches, doing drainage work, weeding, logging, building settlements, etc., after a set of procedures, a lot of money must be spent on supporting people before growing food.

During the period of reclaiming the wasteland, the food must always be prepared for those people. We can’t let people go hungry to reclaim the wasteland, right?

This is also money, and the expenditure is still very large. The expenditure on wasteland reclamation in the three states in the south of the Yangtze River is an absolute bulk of the financial expenditure of the Wei Empire.

The money Guo Peng spends on this every year is definitely an astronomical figure.

For this reason, courtiers continued to suggest that the emperor could slow down the efficiency of operations a little bit, not to spread out so much, and to shrink it a little, which could save a lot of money.

The treasury can be filled a little bit.

But every time Guo Peng refused, Guo Peng strictly ordered the land reclamation activities in the three states in the south of the Yangtze River to continue as usual without stopping, and repeatedly reprimanded those officials for not having a long-term vision and only seeing immediate benefits, not long-term benefits.

Meat eaters despicable!

Xiahou Dun was a supporter of this policy, because Guo Peng not only reclaimed wasteland in the three states in the south of the Yangtze River, but also reclaimed wasteland in the border states, and he was also one of the responsible persons.

Comparing the two situations, Xiahou Dun found that there was no difference between the two.

"I want grasslands to raise livestock, because it's really not worthwhile to raise livestock on the cultivated land in the Central Plains. Without so much pasture, the rations spent on raising a horse can feed 50 to [-] people. What's the deal? Not worth it.

With the grassland, it is different. The cost is reduced. Not only can horses be raised, but also a lot of sheep and cattle can be raised. In addition to transportation, a large amount of meat can be added. If it is supplied to the Central Plains, it will greatly improve our Wei Zimin. The amount of meat you eat. "

Guo Peng smiled and said, "Eating only food makes it difficult to eat enough, and it is also difficult to be strong. If you want to be strong, you have to eat meat. Look at the elites in our army, which one does not eat meat?" From eating meat?

When I was a farmer before, all of them were yellow and thin, but when they came to the army, the food improved, and all of them had lumps. They all came out of eating pork and duck, and with pork and duck, they were eaten in the army. Isn't the amount of food also decreasing? "

This is true, Xiahou Dun can confirm.

Judging from the news from various sources, after the increase of meat and beans, the army's demand for rice grains has dropped steadily. reduce.

That's why Guo Peng had the confidence to use grain to play a trade war with Liaodong and destroy Liaodong. That's why Guo Peng was able to equate grain with Wei Wuzhu money and use grain as a general equivalent.

The main reason is that they are many, stable, and have a large storage capacity, so they are affordable.

As far as Xiahou Dun himself is concerned, the amount of grain eaten has indeed decreased after the increase in non-staple food. Generally, farmers can eat four or five bowls of grain for a meal. After adding some non-staple food, they can eat almost two or three bowls of food. up.

The production of grain is constantly increasing, but after increasing non-staple food, the consumption of grain is reduced, so the grain naturally increases.

"What His Majesty said, I also know."

"Not only that, on the grassland in the north of your Bingzhou, not only horses have been raised these years, but I have also asked the government to come forward to organize border villagers to raise sheep. Although the number of people is not large, hundreds of thousands of sheep have been raised. This time, these The sheep followed the army, how much logistical trouble was saved?"

Guo Peng said with a smile: "Dong Zhao, Minister of the Ministry of War, was so happy when he heard about this, he can imagine how much burden these sheep that can run by themselves have lightened for him, and for the people of Hebei.

And think about it carefully, when Yuan Rang and the Huns and Xianbei went south to kowtow to the border, didn't they just follow the army with cattle, sheep and horses?Grab food and eat food, and eat cattle and sheep if there is no food. How good are the physiques of each one? "

Xiahou Dun didn't know how to object anymore, so he nodded.

"Your Majesty has far-reaching thoughts, and I bow to you."

"Don't rush to worship, I will leave this matter to you, Yuan Rang."