Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1608 The Final Arrangement and Leaving
In Xizhou in May, there is a scene of harvest.

The wheat planted in late autumn last year has been harvested since the end of April.

The barley planted at the end of the first month is about to be harvested.

After harvesting, millet, millet or sorghum will be planted immediately, and they will mature in September and October.

As for the wheat planted this spring, it will not be until July and August.

The fertility of each field is different. Under the two-year three-cropping system, it is not repeated every year, so the planting and harvesting time is more complicated.

But the harvest is ultimately a pleasure.

In the past month, Shao Shude straightened out the structure of the Beiya, and the second reform has begun to bear fruit.

By the 15th year of the founding of the pole, after recapturing a large number of slaves and recruiting a group of newcomers, there were already 11 tribes in Beiting and north of Tianshan Mountain, each with its own hereditary native officials, Yi Lijin, and divided their own pastures (subdivided into summer and winter), with a total population of more than [-].

This population figure is actually a bit small, and has a lot to do with the perennial war.

Before the Junggar Mongols conquered the Yarkand Khanate in the Qing Dynasty, northern Xinjiang, which was at the core of its rule, had a population of about 70, and there was still a lot of room for improvement.

But Shao Shude didn't intend to give these grassland tribes the opportunity to continue to explode their population. He didn't allocate a lot of land suitable for reclamation at all.

He can do these things because he has great prestige and has the ability to kill these grassland tribes—give you these grasslands, just keep them. If there is any dissatisfaction, he doesn't mind killing people.

But if a hundred years later, if it is replaced by other emperors, things will not be so easy to handle.

On the third day of May, under the retinue of Yin Anzhi and court guards, he led a large number of officials and palace people through Jiaohe, crossed Jinlingkou, and moved into Tingzhou Summer Palace in mid-May.

Yi and Xizhou, he is not worried.These two places are close to the Central Plains, and they are mainly farming. There is not much difference in culture and system from the Central Plains. This can be seen from the differences between the Gaochang Uyghur and the Great Uyghur Kingdom.

The former is very "Tang". The official documents are written in Chinese characters, and the armor is also Tang-style. There are even Han officials with official positions such as governor, general, and doctor Yinqing Guanglu. The official seal of the prime minister is also printed in Chinese characters: The seals of the prime ministers of Jiasi are under Shuxing's door."

In history, the Karahan Dynasty moved eastward, and the Creator could not be spread in Gaochang and Khotan at all, because their civilization level was not superior.After Khotan was destroyed through a 40-year war of attrition, the Creator was passed on.But because Gaochang was not captured, that area was still dominated by Buddhism and supplemented by Manichaeism until the advent of the Mongol era—missionary, either had an advantage in the dimension of civilization and could infiltrate through peaceful means, or seized power and converted by force. Just like when Shule changed hands between Khotan and Karahan, the local people converted repeatedly.

But Tingzhou is different.

The overall level of civilization in this area is very low, and it is possible to be infiltrated by people. The first thing to do is to improve the level of civilization.

On May [-]th, Shao Shude came to the outskirts of Jinman County (now Jimsar) in Lisuo, Tingzhou.

"Among the 2200 households in Tingzhou, how many are immigrants from the Central Plains?" Shao Shude asked looking at the tall wheat seedlings.

"Five hundred and eight households, mostly from Henan." Tingzhou has ended military control, and the first governor is Yan Keqiu, and this is exactly what he is answering.

This gentleman is a descendant from Huainan, and played a key role in the process of Xu and Zhang's uprising.For his merits, Shao Shude would not lose sight of him. He first served as Sima of Chuzhou, and then was promoted to governor of Tingzhou.

Yan Keqiu, as a representative of the descendants of Huainan, his official career is still favored by some people.Especially after being transferred to Tingzhou, the chances of further promotion in the future suddenly increased infinitely.

"I heard that Yan Qing brought his family to Tingzhou?" Shao Shude asked.

"Exactly." Yan Keqiu replied: "It's not just the minister's family. The minister also writes to friends. If there are sons and nephews who are willing to come to the Western Regions to make contributions, the whole family can come. Those who follow the township party can also apply for real border."

"Will the people of Jianghuai come?" Shao Shude was a little curious.

"Your Majesty, the overall household registration in the south is not abundant, but the land of Wuyue has become densely populated after years of development. In the Taihu Lake area, the poor only have a few acres of Susukida." Yan Keqiu replied.

"At Tang Dezong's time, he was still exiling Tibetan captives in Wuyue. I didn't expect that after more than a hundred years, it would be here." Shao Shude was a little emotional.

If there are more than 2000 million people in the north of Daxia, there are only more than [-] million in the south.

Compare it with other dynasties in later history.

When the Northern Song Dynasty was founded, there were about 200 million in the north and 2000 million in the south.

When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, there were tens of millions in the north and more than 5000 million in the south.

When the Qing Dynasty was founded, it had a population of about 7000 million, most of which were in the south.

The more than 70 years from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty was a period in history when a large number of people moved south and the south developed greatly. Now this process has been greatly weakened.

One person's actions actually changed the course of history.

No, to be precise, it should be a delay, because this is a general trend. Sooner or later, after more than a hundred years, the population will still move south to find a new living space.

Take Hunan under Ma Yin's rule as an example. At that time, the population was only one million, but during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, the population exceeded 2000 million.

The situation in Hubei is similar, all of this scale, less than a fraction of what it was in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

"There are few wars in the south of the Yangtze River. In the past 40 years, there have only been two wars between Huang Chao and Sun Ru." Yan Keqiu said.

In fact, there are more than that. There are also many warlords in the south of the Yangtze River. After all, they are all in the "startup period" and the territory has not yet stabilized.Only after their respective boundaries are clear and they find that they cannot annex each other can they achieve stable development.But generally speaking, except for the Sun Ru Rebellion, the intensity, breadth, and depth are indeed not as good as those in the north.

"I welcome those who come voluntarily. It's better than forcing people to relocate and complaining." Shao Shude smiled and said, "What do you plan to do in Tingzhou?"

"Your Majesty, please return to Xihai County." Yan Keqiu said.

Tingzhou has jurisdiction over four counties, namely Jinman (Lisuo, now Jimsar), Luntai (now Fukang), Houting (now Qitai, originally Tangpulei County, which was renamed in the first year of Baoying, and the old name of Pulei was restored in Gaochang. , and now it is changed to Houting to distinguish Pulei Sea) and Xihai.

Xihai County is near Qing Town, but it has long existed in name only, existing only on paper.

Shao Shude asked someone to bring a hand-drawn map and handed it to Yan Keqiu.

After Yan Keqiu took it, he settled down a bit.It turns out that the word "Xihai" already exists near Qingzhen.

There are many swamps and plenty of water in the north of Qing Town. In fact, it is an excellent land reclamation area. At present, there are already tens of thousands of people, mainly the families of Fubing and their tribes. They are managed by the Privy Council and have nothing to do with the locality.

Since today agreed to restore Xihai County, it is natural to emigrate there, but there is no way to move too much.

To the south of Xihai and Luntai, Dihua County (now Urumqi) was located.

Dushan Shouzhuo City (now Mulei County) to the east of Pulei County was newly established as Dushan County.

In this way, Tingzhou will govern six counties, and the governance will be full.

"Your Majesty's plan is far-reaching, and I admire you." Yan Keqiu said.

"Don't be in a hurry to flatter." Shao Shude said with a smile: "The six counties of Tingzhou, this year and next two years, there will be very few immigrants, just a few hundred households, no more than a thousand households at most. A considerable part of them may require you to find a way. Court You know better than me how many families the state has and how many immigrants it can accept."

"Your Majesty, didn't you seize a large amount of cattle, sheep, food, and grass during the western expedition last year?" Yan Keqiu said: "Please allocate some of it, so I can resettle more people from the Central Plains."

"With so many soldiers and horses stationed in Beiting, don't they need to consume cattle, sheep, food and grass?" Shao Shude asked back: "Zhao Feng Shangshu of Yizhou mentioned the strategy of 'commercial village', you may think of a way. Don't worry, this The Qian court will pay in Luoyang, and Tingzhou can provide some convenience."

"Shangtun?" Yan Keqiu didn't open his mind, and didn't know why.

Shao Shude waved his hand and asked someone to show Yan Keqiu Zhao Feng's memorabilia.

He himself came to the foot of the mountain and looked at the gurgling stream.

These are seasonal rivers.After the warmth of spring and the blooming of flowers, the alpine ice and snow melted, converging into rivers and flowing down, providing water for the growth of crops.

In fact, until later generations, this has been an extremely important source of agricultural water in Xinjiang.

The places suitable for reclamation in Beiting are mainly concentrated at the foot of Tianshan Mountain, which can be seen from the fact that the military towns and Shouzhuo of the Tang Dynasty lined up along the foot of the mountain.

In his plan, the incorporated tribes grazed in the north, and the incorporated households farmed near the Tianshan Mountains, complementing each other and serving as the two foundations of the imperial court in Beiting.

Without tribes, farming areas would be on the front line to face the invasion of nomadic tribes.

Without farming, tribal areas would not have sufficient supplies when facing northern nomadic tribes.

Both are indispensable.

Just now Yan Keqiu mentioned that a large amount of livestock and food were looted last year, which is indeed true.And not only these, last year Shao Shude also collected hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep in Qibei and Qinan grasslands. After fattening, he sent a batch to southern Xinjiang, but there was no shortage of food for the time being, so the transportation was stopped. Most of them are raised on the Beiting Grassland, under the custody of Fu Cunshen.

The grain, cattle and sheep in the hands of the Beiting camp are still sufficient, and it can even be said to be very sufficient.After all, this is a place where 70 people could live in the Junggar era, but now there are only more than [-] people, and the resources are far from the limit.

Based on the existing resources in southern Xinjiang, if no new oases are developed and agricultural facilities (such as repairing wells and canals) are not improved, there will probably only be a population of more than 50, with a limit of 80 million.

The entire Xinjiang will not add up to more than 150 million people, which is based on the population carrying capacity based on the current infrastructure, development level, security situation and other factors.

Of course, the times are developing step by step.

During the Western Han Dynasty, there were 126 million people in the area under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, of which less than half, or about 60 people, were located in present-day China.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xinjiang experienced great development.Especially because Zhu Liang is located in a remote corner, he attaches great importance to the Western Regions, invests a lot of resources, and utilizes the originally unusable land.

When Lu Guang led an army of 15 in the former Qin Dynasty to pacify the Western Regions, Qiuci and other places could dispatch 20 troops, and the population should be between [-] and [-].The population of Xinjiang as a whole had exceeded one million at that time.

After Tianbao, there were frequent wars and the population of Xinjiang dropped sharply.

大夏接手的这副烂摊子，疏勒、姑墨、龟兹三军镇下辖约29700户、不足12万口；焉耆、高昌、伊吾、北庭四正州，不足33000户，16万400余口；北庭诸部落，加起来11万余口；另有府兵极其部曲将近1.6万户、7.7万余口。

A total of 47 people is the entire family. If Khotan is included, the population will exceed 60, but it is still very small.

The most important thing is that the proportion of ethnic composition is very unbalanced, and there are very few Han people.Even if all yellow races are counted, whites are still the majority population.

"Have you finished watching?" Shao Shude asked after turning around.

"After reading it, I think it is feasible." Yan Keqiu said.

"Then start a trial." Shao Shude said: "Don't make up your mind about the cattle and sheep camping in Beiting, I will be of great use. But Tingzhou, you should cultivate it well. This is a fertile land. You don't need many people to make it easy." Grain and beans can be widely harvested."

"Observe the order." Yan Keqiu responded, but judging from his expression, it seemed that he was not very sure.

Shao Shude smiled without saying a word.The agricultural potential of the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains should not be underestimated.

He originally thought that Xinjiang could not place as many government soldiers as Liaodong. Looking at it in the past two years, it seems a bit stereotyped. At least northern Xinjiang can place a certain number of government soldiers.

Frowning and thinking hard, he didn't recall how many fields were cultivated in northern Xinjiang in the Qing Dynasty in history——

When this place was acquired in the early Qing Dynasty, there were almost no people there because of the excessive killing.

The Junggar Basin has become a geographical term, which can be seen.

In the 53rd year of Qianlong (1788), after years of development, Jimusa (now Jimsar) and Hutubi (now Hutubi) collected grain during festivals and donated to prisons for a total of 88 The remaining stones are supplied and supported every year, there should be more than enough new grain, and the storage is old.Over the years, more than 8 stones of wheat beans have been stored for more than ten years, and the imperial court ordered that they be sold in three years to avoid mildew.

In the 56th year of Qianlong (1791), all of Urumqi played together. Because the storage was full, they asked the Jimusa Green Battalion to return to the camp to perform and withdraw from the military camp.

The Qing court made a compromise on this, and ordered the number of green battalions in the village to decrease year by year. At the same time, merchants and private households were recruited to take over the fields after the troops were withdrawn, and began to immigrate.

Jimusa withdrew 14451 mu of military land and returned it to civilian land.

Eight places including Dihua Prefecture, Changji County, Jimusa, and Hutubi have already been reclaimed and the land to be reclaimed has been measured. The commercial, civilian, and military settlements total 987789.3 mu, which is close to 100 million mu!
In the Dao and Xian years, there were 34 people in Urumqi and Balikun, and each person cultivated more than [-] mu of land.

After the arrival of Agubai, the number suddenly decreased to 10. Jimusa changed hands several times, and the population was very small.

Even so, when Zuo Zongtang regained Xinjiang, northern Xinjiang was still his base camp, otherwise he would not even have a foothold.

Shao Shude didn't know the data of the Qing Dynasty, but after two years of observation, he found that the land and water sources in northern Xinjiang were relatively abundant, and it seemed that more government soldiers could be recruited.At present, there are only 2000 people in Qingzhen, which is really too small.

In the first year of Tongguang, Tingzhou will recruit a thousand new soldiers from the Luoyan Army, and each soldier will be granted a hundred acres of land.

In addition to the Fubing, about 2000 professional warriors will also be stationed in Heishui Shouzhuo City (now Wusu) and Xilin Shouzhuo City (now Jinghe) as part of the Shuanghe Town Army—this is The first military town in northern Xinjiang, the fifth town in Anxi.

All of the above can be done slowly, don't worry too much.

Set up a batch every year and persevere. Over time, there will always be results.

In the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions could support 60 million people. In the Northern Dynasty, it could support a million people. In the Tang Dynasty, it could support more than one million people. Every generation is developing and making progress. There was a Xia Dynasty, and it was always necessary to do something on the basis of the predecessors. what?His requirements are not high. When the Great Xia perished, the Western Regions could have a population of more than 150 million, and the culture was highly Xia-oriented, and the historical mission would be fulfilled.

On May [-]th, Shao Shude met with the chiefs and Ding Zhuang from various tribes in the grassland north of Tingzhou. After passing Luo Manshan, he arrived in Yizhou in the middle and late June.

It was hot in summer, so he didn't stay here much. He ordered the Yiwu army to set up Pulei County (now Barkol County) as the fourth county under the jurisdiction of Yizhou, and then went to Dunhuang, officially embarking on the return journey. .

(End of this chapter)