Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 118 Investigation ([-])

"Actually, Yinzhou is suitable for animal husbandry and farming. It's a pity that the imperial court set up a pasture here and occupied the land." Pei Shang said: "The envoy of the Song Dynasty has been here for some time. You should know that this is not nonsense."

"There are many good fields and fertile soil. There are always [-] to [-] hectares." Song Le said.

In fact, Yinzhou in later generations was also an important agricultural area that the Northern Song Dynasty and Xixia repeatedly competed for, especially Xixia, which was very important.Lu Huiqing once mentioned in "Ying Tianshu": "Jialu (now Jiaxian County, Shaanxi Province) and Mizhi's fertile fields are worth [-] to [-] hectares. Xia people call them 'Zhenzhu Mountain' and 'Qibao Mountain'. It is said that there is a lot of grain and millet. If half of it is cultivated, the military expenses of the two new villages will not be enough to fund the interior, how can it be fully rebuilt?"

The 1085 to [-] hectares of fertile land in Yinzhou, the wealthy Song people felt that it was a pity not to cultivate them, and felt that they could support two soldiers.In the seventh year of Yuanfeng ([-]), Lu Huiqing mobilized [-] soldiers and more than [-] horses, hired cattle from five inland counties, guarded [-] farmers, and forcibly cultivated a piece of land. , more than nine thousand dendrobiums were obtained.

To be honest, this cost-effective ratio is a bit low.Nearly 2 horses, guarding [-] households farming, is a bit of a grudge against Xixia.Both sides come and go, repeatedly stealing, protecting and robbing farming, and in the end they all suffered a lot.So four years later, after negotiations, the Song people ceded Jialu, Mizhi, Futu, Anjiang Four Villages and their land, in exchange for a small number of soldiers captured by Xixia in the Battle of Yongle, and this ended the war farce.

Now Yinzhou is in the hands of Datang, and there are no enemies around. Of course, there is no need to be so troublesome, but it can be cultivated and developed.Moreover, at this time, the population of the four counties in the whole prefecture is not large, but more than 4 people, and they still do not occupy the land of the racecourse.If there is sufficient manpower, it will be another important grain production base in Xiasui.

"The governor of Song Dynasty has been in charge of Suizhou for three years. It's been hard work." Seeing Song Le with a frosty face, Shao Shude was a little moved, and said, "After taking care of the affairs of Yinzhou, we can take a rest for a while."

"Yinzhou is over, and there is Xiazhou." Song Le is in good spirits, and he said with a smile: "It's rare to meet a general who cares about people's livelihood and is willing to do things. Song can't wait to sleep in the yamen all day long." .”

"You have to combine work and rest." Shao Shude said: "Xiazhou doesn't have much business, and Yinzhou has completed the land reclamation work, so I'm going to start running a ranch. Xiazhou is different from Suizhou and Yinzhou after all."

"The matter of the ranch..." Pei Shang said from the side: "It is really not suitable for the Yinchuan ranch to continue to expand. However, there is still a lot to do in the northern borders of Xia and Youzhou."

Youzhou, of course not all in Tuoba Sigong's hands.Yudole City, where the Jinglue Army is stationed, is in the border of Youzhou.In the northern part of Xia and You prefectures, there are vast grasslands and deserts, which is the Ordos pastoral area within Hetao in later generations.In the warm, humid and rainy Tang Dynasty, this place has abundant water and grass, and it faces the Alxa pastoral area across the Yellow River, so it is very suitable for grazing.

"To the west of Linzhou, to the east of the Dahe River, and to the north of Hengshan Mountain, there are many people and mixed captives. The most numerous people are the Dangxiang, who gather together as the wilderness. The Zhejia of Linzhou and the Tuoba family of Youzhou compete fiercely here. It falls with the wind, like grass on the wall, and whoever is strong will listen to whoever is strong." Pei Shang continued: "There is no farming in his business, but livestock horses, cattle, sheep, and camels. Well, Yanzhou in the southwest is also an upper echelon. It is a good pasture, but it is in the hands of the Shuofang Army, so let’s not mention it for now. Going north from Youzhou City, you will find a sandy land (the Mu Us Desert in later generations), but there are aquatic plants, which can be used to herd cattle and sheep. There is a place in the sand called Tiejinze, also known as Dijinze is good for water and grass, so it is convenient for animal husbandry and can be used as pasture.”

"Let's talk about Yanzhou." Pei Shang looked at Shao Shude with a half-smile, and said, "Yanzhou and Youzhou are close to each other, but in fact they are one. There is a small salt pond in Yanzhou, but this is a small profit. The big profit is the Tiezhu Spring, and the water gushes dry. Lie, drinking tens of thousands of horses a day, is surrounded by fertile and arable land, which is suitable for animal husbandry and farming."

Shao Shude still knows about the Mu Us Desert in the north of Youzhou.Environmental damage mainly began in the Ming Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, the desert area was small, and even if there were, they were fixed or semi-fixed sand dunes, and the water resources were far more abundant than in later generations.This fellow Li Jiqian fled here, married wives from tribe to tribe, estimated to have married tens or hundreds of wives, and then counterattacked the Song Dynasty and gradually gained momentum.

"After many years of observation, there are more than 30 captives in the northern grasslands of Xia and You prefectures. It is not a problem to raise [-] million cattle and more than a million alpacas. Your Majesty, can you solve the problem?" Pei Shang smiled road.

In terms of area, the Ordos pastoral area can indeed raise millions of cattle and sheep, and at this time the water and grass are abundant, and since there are more than [-] miscellaneous captives, there are indeed millions of cattle and sheep.However, the matter involving the Tuoba family and the Zhe family is relatively complicated, and it is necessary to communicate with the Linzhou side first. It is best to solve the matter of Tuoba Sigong together to avoid future troubles.

If Li Jiqian went to Dijinze to develop like the Northern Song Dynasty, it would be a joke, and it would be better once and for all.Moreover, it is good to send out a large army for a short period of time. If it lasts for a long time, it will also destroy the fragile local ecology.At this time, Ordos still has a considerable area of ​​forests. If the army arrives and they stay at each other for more than a year, they will be cut down for you.

Without forests, how can we prevent wind, fix sand, and conserve water and soil?
"Your Majesty, would you like to hear about the Lingzhou Ranch?" Pei Shang asked again.

"I am willing."

"On the west side of Lingzhou, there is Helan Mountain, which is named Alxa Mountain in Tibet. It blocks the cold wind and sand dunes. From north to south, there are Luo Mountain and Tiandu Mountain. On Luo Mountain, the water is sweet and the soil is alive. ) captives invaded the bandits and lived here to graze. Tiandu Mountain has lush vegetation, and there are springs in the valley, which can drink horses and irrigate the farmland below the mountain. There is also Weishan Mountain, with rich water and grass, many trees, and fertile land. There are many wild horses, wild boars, eagles, and falcons. Not to mention the many mountains, anyway, the old man didn’t go all the way, they were all seen when he was guarding one side in the past, the king should check it out.” Pei Shang said.

"General Pei is helping me a lot!" Shao Shude got up, saluted solemnly, and said.

"Your Majesty is a noble man, please don't do that." Pei Shang hurriedly stood up and avoided, saying: "In the future, if the commander-in-chief uses troops, although Pei can't fight in battle, he can still make suggestions from the sidelines. If this is the case, the trust of Your Majesty will not be in vain."

"It's useful to General Pei."

After sending Pei Shang away, Shao Shude continued to chat with Song Le.

"Mr. Song, these three years have all depended on you." Shao Shude said, "All the prosperity in Suizhou today are all thanks to Mr."

"My lord has great ambitions, and Song can't get used to this chaotic world, so I should do my best." Song Le said: "My lord, how do you know that Song is not enjoying it?"

"Hehe, Mr. Song's contribution, Shao will remember." Shao Shude said: "Yinzhou must reclaim the land as soon as possible, and some people will come to find a way."

"My lord, what should I do with the Tuoba Party?" Song Le asked.

"Someone wants to call Tuoba Sigong into Xiazhou, if he refuses to come, he has a different intention, and he should get rid of it." Shao Shude said without hesitation: "However, he has been in Youzhou for many years, and it is not easy to attack by force, and it is very troublesome."

"Why don't you cut off the wings first?" Song Le suggested.

"Mr. Song's intention is to attack the grassland first?" Shao Shude asked.

"Yes." Song Le said: "The Tuoba clan has two wings, one is the Hengshan Dangxiang, and the other is the grassland. The Hengshan is vast, the terrain is dangerous and solid, and the attack is protracted. With the help of the Zhe family, the attack will get twice the result with half the effort, and it will not make them join the Tuoba family."

Shao Shude thought about it.

With the help of Linzhou's Zhe family, it is certainly not difficult to attack the grassland miscellaneous captives.But will this make Zhejia bigger?Although it is the Yue family and has a close relationship, from the perspective of the superior, it seems that it is not a good thing to let the power of the Zhe family expand rapidly.The Zhe family was loyal to the Central Plains imperial court in the history of later generations, but who knows if it was because the Tuoba Party won the territory of the Dingnan Army and its power rose sharply?The two families are feuds, and it is impossible for the Zhe family to invest in the Tuoba family. In order to resist the influence of the Tuoba family, they can only choose to attach themselves to the Central Plains Dynasty.

But what if he destroyed the Tuoba family by himself?The situation is different again.

Shao Shude didn't want another powerful party chief to appear in this area, not even his own Yue's family.How to deal with this matter needs to be carefully considered, but as far as it is concerned, it seems to be a deadlock.Unless, those prairie miscellaneous captives can be made to surrender to him instead of Linzhou Zhejia, but this kind of operation is too difficult to control.

It is a test of my political skills!

(End of this chapter)