Wait, please don’t call me Emperor Zhaolie
Chapter 254 I Make Them All Kyoto Citizens
Chapter 254 I Make Them All Kyoto Citizens
“Sir, the land of Guanzhong and Heluo has been hit by Liangzhou bandits rampaging around, killing people and burning their houses. The people’s livelihood has been devastated and few people have come here within a thousand miles.”
“It would be better to defeat Yuan Shao in the future and then move the many noble families in Hebei to Sili to increase the population.”
Guo Jia suggested with a cupped hand.
Unexpectedly, Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand, saying, “When Emperor Gaozu pacified the world, Liu Jing suggested that the Xiongnu Baiyang and Loufan kings could reach Guanzhong in one day and one night with light cavalry. Guanzhong was just conquered, with few people and fertile land. We should replenish the population. Looking at the nobles of the countries in the world, they are no match for the fields of Qi. Chu Zhao, Qu, and Jing are capable of rebellion. Now we are close to the Hu invaders in the north and the remnants of the six countries in the east. If there is a change, the Han family cannot rest easy.”
“Liu Jing proposed that Emperor Gaozu move all the great families of Qi, Zhao, Qu, and Jing in Chu, as well as the descendants of Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei, and the heroes and famous families to settle in Guanzhong. If there is no need, they can guard against the Hu people. If there is a need, they can lead the army to fight. This is a strategy to strengthen the foundation and weaken the end.”
Liu Bei looked at Guo Jia, Dian Wei, and Xu Chu, and stood up and said with emotion: “According to what I have learned, after many years of war in Jizhou, the nobles in various counties have privately built forts, no less than 616 forts, and all of them have troops stationed there.”
“The local nobles have as few as a thousand soldiers, and as many as five thousand soldiers. Especially when Gongsun Bogui and the Black Mountain Bandits joined forces to attack Jizhou, these nobles were able to practice actual combat.”
As he spoke, Liu Bei pointed to the documents and secret letters on the table, and then smiled and said, “Fengxiao, did you see it? This is their confidence. With soldiers and money and food in hand, even if I defeat Yuan Shao, I am sure he will not dare to do anything to them.”
“They are not like the nobles in Xuzhou who have built hundreds of forts and whose troops have never seen blood. Even if these bold nobles in Jizhou are boars, they are stupid pigs with fangs. Except for a few who can’t hold back, the rest are not afraid of my army at all.”
“So I am waiting for Yuan Shao to gather these powerful troops and turn Pingyuan County into a chopping block, and his soldiers into hammers. If I don’t let them extend their fangs, how can I smash Yuan’s army and the powerful troops into powder?
How can we crush their tortoise shells if we don’t kill them until they are terrified and tremble in fear when they see the red flag of Han?!”
“The purpose of relocating people to Sili is to curb the local nobles and powerful families from becoming too powerful to be controlled. It is not a place for illegal powerful people to reside. I have already said that anyone who dares to take up arms and resist the Han army will only die. Compared with exile, it is a better choice.”
Any descendants of the noble families who dared to rise up in arms to rebel against the Han Dynasty were all illegal and powerful people.
Liu Bei clapped his hands and chuckled, then he continued, “As for replenishing the population in Guanzhong and Heluo, we will wait until we unify the country, then order all states and counties to move all the prestigious families, and transfer more than 100,000 households to several counties in Sili. At the same time, we will also change the household registration to Sili.”
“Let me, Liu Xuande, do what Guangwu is so afraid of doing.”
After these words were spoken, even Guo Jia couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
The envoy has the style of Emperor Gaozu, and the relocation of the nobles and aristocratic families was also learned from Emperor Gaozu. Now that there is an old precedent, there is no doubt that the scholars who advocate Confucianism have nothing to say.
Guanzhong was also in decline, and faced the same threat from the Hu people. Four hundred years ago, noble families from all over the country were able to move away, so why can’t you?
With so many nobles and powerful families and their clans gathering in Sili, Chang’an and Luoyang will be bustling. I’m afraid that their prosperity will surpass that of Luoyang before.
Guo Jia felt a lot of emotion in his heart.
Liu Bei patted Guo Fengxiao on the shoulder to comfort him.
Don’t be ungrateful. It will be difficult for many people in the future to become Kyoto citizens. Isn’t it worth cherishing the opportunity we have right now?
At worst, after the civil service examination is implemented nationwide, we can change it to a scoring system and give a few more points to candidates with Sili household registration.
……
At the same time, the streets of Nanpi County in Bohai County, Jizhou, were crowded with people. After Liu Xuande defeated Qu Yi, except for some troops stationed in Dongguang, Chonghe, Gaocheng, and Yangxin counties to guard against the Qingzhou army, the rest were transferred to Nanpi by Yuan Shao, fearing that the generals would be tricked by Liu Bei to attack again.
Tens of thousands of troops were stationed near Nanpi, consuming countless supplies every day. Where there were many people, there were merchants selling goods. Among the many merchants in Jizhou, the Zhen family of Zhongshan had the most sensitive sense of smell.
Early in the morning, a caravan brought in a lot of food, cloth, pork, fish, daily necessities, clothes, etc., and the sound of shouting was endless in the vegetable market.
Although the local people were afraid of war, they could not help but take out the wild vegetables, fruits, and some harvested sunflowers and onions they had picked when they saw the merchant caravans hawking their wares inside and outside Nanpi City.
Lay these common entrees out on the floor for sale or barter.
The military supervisor Ju Su walked onto the street with his entourage and guards. He could not help but frown when he saw that more and more people had begun to boldly follow Zhen to do business here.
If these people hawk their wares here for too long, it will undoubtedly affect the morale of the army, but if they are driven away, it will also cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers.
Right now, Yuan Zheng is mobilizing a large army in Jizhou. The food and fodder for each army has been calculated long ago. The food is not bad, but it is not much better either.
In the military camp, meat soup could only be eaten once every few days, and usually bean soup, pickled vegetables and wheat were cooked together.
At this moment, it was the time of the decisive battle with Qingzhou. Lord Yuan temporarily increased the military salaries, so the soldiers could use the bonus money to buy fruits, vegetables and meat to slightly improve their meals.
You can also buy some cloth and mail it back home to make clothes. Otherwise, if you are unlucky and die in battle, all the money you have will be gone.
In this situation, in addition to being afraid of affecting the morale of the army, Ju Su also couldn’t bear it. He stroked his beard and looked at the noisy crowds on the streets with people coming and going, and he sighed secretly.
Even when the soldiers were taking turns to rest, the streets were still crowded with people.
Then he thought of something and turned to his followers and asked, “Wuji Zhen’s ship is full of grain and is selling to Nanpi. In addition to the caravan staying in Fuyang for more than ten days, are they staying anywhere else?”
The attendant thought for a moment, shook his head and said, “No, Zhen has always been abiding by the rules and obligations, and has also donated tens of millions of coins and hundreds of thousands of bushels of millet to Yuan Gong for military expenses. Even if they had contacts before, I think she has no intention of serving Liu Xuande.”
“Even if you want to surrender to Qingzhou, what can a mere noble family accomplish? Why should the military supervisor learn to be a pessimistic person?”
The attendant thought to himself, “If he and the military supervisor were not from the same clan, he might not have persuaded him.”
Ju Shou became suspicious ever since he came back from Dian County. He thought any noble or powerful family was planning to surrender to the enemy.
Especially those who had previous dealings with Qingzhou, and even wrote a letter to Yuan Gong asking him to pay attention to the powerful families who had connections with Liu Xuande.
Liu Bei was good at winning people’s hearts and could make them work for him with just a few words. Anyone who met him was most likely to defect to the enemy.
Unfortunately, Lord Yuan didn’t listen and still allowed Wuji Zhen to sell goods everywhere.
Ju Su couldn’t help shaking his head when he thought of this. In the end, Lord Yuan still refused to listen to the advice.
(End of this chapter)