Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 1136
The Liao region is bitterly cold, especially in this year.Nearly half of the year is filled with heavy snow, frost and frozen soil, the real suitable time for farming is only three or four months, and some crops with too long growth cycle cannot survive at all.

The people currently living in this area are mainly the eastern Xianbei such as Duan, Yuwen and Murong, the so-called hometown of Wuhuan.For example, Murong Xianbei among the three tribes was able to gain a foothold in Liaodong because he followed Xuan Wang Sima Yi to crusade against Gongsun Yuan as a follower of the Hu tribe during the Cao Wei period.

For quite a long time thereafter, Murong Xianbei was the weakest of the three tribes, struggling to survive.The tribe's real strength lies in the previous generation of Liaodong Gong Murongxin.

Murongxin is indeed a rare and talented person among the Donghu in the frontier, especially when he moved the tribe from the remote Liaodong to Dathorn City, which is closer to the Jin border, and carried out fruitful Sinicization reforms here. Following the example of China and North Korea in terms of system, production has gradually developed from fishing and hunting to farming and mulberry.

During the Murongxin period, it was the chaotic situation between China and North Korea, and the two Zhaos fought against each other. The Xianbei, which was originally stronger than it, was inevitably involved in it. In addition, there were continuous internal struggles among the clan, and a large number of Jin people fled to Liao. , and then attached to the Murong tribe's wings.

In the early years of Murongxin, Xianbei Murong had only a few tens of thousands of households, but in his later years, the number of people under his rule reached tens of thousands of households.In particular, the Great Thorn City, where the core of the tribe is located, has tens of thousands of households. It can be said that it is one of the largest cities in Liao since Sima Yi scorched the land.

Among them, naturally most of them are Jinmin who fled north and many miscellaneous people who were annexed by the Murong family.The reason why the Jin people chose to attach themselves to the Murong clan was not only because of Murong's liberal policy, but also because the tribe was deeply Sinicized, which naturally gave the Jin people a sense of intimacy that other Donghu tribes could not.

There is even an anecdote about Murong's surname. It is said that Mo Hubaxi, the leader who followed Sima Yi in his campaign against Liao Dynasty, wore a Bu Yao crown, but Bu Yao's surname is Murong, because he got the surname.Mo Huba is Murongxin's great-grandfather, and his deeds can no longer be traced, but it can also be seen that the Murong family has a long history of adhering to the tradition of Zhuxia's clothing.

After Murong Xin's death, his son Murong Hao succeeded to the throne, and then Murong tribe's most common brother Yanqiang of the Donghu tribe had an internal strife. Murongren occupied the original gathering place of the old clan in Liaodong, and the entire Murong tribe was split into two parts.

Originally, this should be a major crisis related to the survival of the entire tribe. No matter before or since, many Donghu tribes have turned from prosperity to decline because of this reason, and finally died out, including Duan and Yuwen.

However, the foundation left by Murong Xin is very strong. Even if they have split and are hostile to each other, the respective strengths of the two parties are not enough for some small tribes in the vicinity to provoke at will.

And at this time, there was also turmoil in Shizhao of the Central Plains. Shihu assembled a large number of troops to encircle and suppress Zahu in Liaodi, and took his tribe as his driving force.Among the ministries of Xianbei, Duanbu and Yuwenbu both had the power to provoke Murongbu, and even part of the internal strife in Murongbu was due to Duanbu's instigation, Murong Hao's brother Murong Han defected and joined Duanbu.

However, under Shi Hu's aggressive attack, the head of the Duan clan was one of them. His leader, Duan Liao, was defeated and fled eastward, but was betrayed by Murong Han, who had been taken in before, and together with Murong Hao, swallowed most of the rest of the Duan clan.

As for the Yuwen Department, whose sphere of influence is more northeastern, the leader of this term, Yuwen Yidougui, is also the tyrant. , can only choose to surrender.

Therefore, in today's Liao land, apart from Shi Zhao's army guarding Duan's hometown, the Murong tribe is still the strongest.And after Murong Hao swallowed the remnants of Duanbu, his momentum gradually recovered, offsetting the bad influence of the division to a certain extent.

However, without the buffer of the Liaoxi Section Department, Murong Hao had to face Shi Zhao Bingfeng's accusations directly, and also had to face the frequent harassment from the Northern Department of Yuwen.

Originally, when Duanbu first died, Murong Hao's forces had already reached the west of Liaoning, but as Shihu continued to advance and other forces in Liao added fuel to the flames, Murong Hao spit out all the land in West Liaoning that he had swallowed, and even one of the base camps All of Changli was threatened by Shi Zhao Bingfeng, forcing Murong Hao to retreat to Dathorn City.

It is true that Murong Hao is a rare hero in the Hu, but the opponent he faces is no longer a regional enemy like Liaodi Zahu, but Shi Zhao, who once ruled the north.Although Shi Zhao also experienced civil strife, and the northern expedition of the Jin army in the south took all the south of the Yellow River, only the territory of Hebei was retained.

But even so, Shi Zhao's background and the ability to assemble wars are definitely not comparable to the Murong family who is still trapped in internal strife and division.

Because of such a compelling situation, even Murong Hao was tempted by Shi Hu's position earlier and chose to vote for Shi Zhao, but was turned back by Shi Hu and lost a considerable part of his elite troops, even his son. are all abolished.

If it weren't for the harsh geographical and climatic conditions in Liao, Shi Zhao could only launch an offensive within a fixed and limited time, and Murong Ren, who stood on his own in Liaodong, did not take the opportunity to make trouble, Murong Hao could keep the area of ​​Dathorn City. As for following in Duan Liao's footsteps.

The Great Thorn City right now is where the nominal headquarters of the Murong Clan is located, as well as where the Ancestral Temple is located.

Thanks to the decades-long management of the Murong family, especially Murong Xin, the location of Dathorn City can be said to be the most prosperous area in the Liao Dynasty. The original dense forest wilderness has reclaimed a large area of ​​farmland and mulberry gardens, amounting to tens of thousands of people. Shengmin live here, and the city of big thorns is located in the center of this area.

If you come here in the midsummer, you can often see the peaceful scenes of men farming and women weaving, and chickens and dogs hearing each other. It is not much different from some cities in the Central Plains. It is impossible to tell that it is a tribe of Hu people. Settlements.

And the fact is true, although it was Murong Xianbei who ruled this area, it was the large number of Jin people who had fled from the area who had truly created and maintained this piece of paradise on the Liao frontier for a long time.Farming and weaving is the main business of the Jin people. Although the Xianbei Murong tribe, known as the Bailu, settled here a long time ago, they have had little effect in terms of construction.

The arrival of a large number of Jin people brought advanced farming and weaving skills and experience, and the Murong Department benefited from this, and gradually got rid of the previous main business of fishing and hunting.

The Liao land is not well developed, and there are almost unique farmland and mulberry gardens like the ones around Dathorn City.If there is no stable farming operation and only rely on fishing and hunting, the materials produced in the unit area are really not enough to feed too many tribes, so the original Murong family is like other miscellaneous Hus, the whole tribe is broken up into pieces, Forage in small groups among the mountains and rivers.

From this point of view, it is of great significance to the entire Murong tribe that Murongxin led his tribe to move to Big Thorn City and officially settle down to make a living by farming and weaving. Since then, it has been possible to establish a stable and effective rule.

Otherwise, the Murong tribe will inevitably be like other Zahu tribes, or they will not be able to gather together in a piece of scattered sand, or they can only gather to survive through frequent looting and food, and then lose their strength due to the death of a large number of young and strong, and eventually be killed by other tribes. More powerful tribes merge and assimilate.

But even so, the Murong tribe has not completely transformed into farming, and still retains the original tribal habits to a considerable extent.Murong Hao inherited the greatest legacy of the city of thorns, and his other brothers also had their own tribes, with their own leaders and troops.

It is precisely because of this that internal strife will become the norm in the transfer of power.Murong Xin's other sons all retained considerable independence. For example, the powerful Murong Ren could choose to be independent directly, while the concubine sons like Murong Han who had a humble matrilineal line were also attracted by other tribes because of their outstanding talents.

Now it is July, which is the most suitable time of the year for farming, so the fields around Dathorn City are full of farmers working, and there are a lot of crops such as bean and millet growing in the fields.

Murong Ministry's decrees on land reclamation can be described as lenient and simple. All people who reclaim land by themselves, no matter how much they reclaim, will be included in their names, and there is almost no tax.

But this does not mean that these Jin people are satisfied with happiness and live in a paradise-like world.The Liao border has been lacking in reclamation for a long time, dense forests are everywhere, and the season suitable for farming is too short every year, so it is very difficult to reclaim wasteland.It often takes four to five years or even longer for a piece of farmland to be turned into a tree field from wasteland.

During this period of reclamation, the income in the field is not enough to make ends meet, and other labor is needed to supplement it.Even if the land under the name has grown into a mature field, it does not mean that there will be a stable output. After deducting the harsh weather conditions such as drought and severe cold, there are still a large number of wild animals in the countryside, and tigers and wolves wandering and hurting people frequently occur.

Although there was almost no taxation under the Murong Ministry, it was because of the lack of means of tax collection.They have another method of exploiting the people, that is, every autumn, especially at the beginning of the autumn harvest, they hunt the countryside on a large scale.

Most of the people's annual harvest must be handed over to the army during this period, otherwise it means that they will be completely exposed to tigers and wolves, and no one will protect their personal and property.

Moreover, the Murong family is not only lenient to the common people, but also almost indulgent to the dignitaries in the headquarters.More than half of the farmlands around Big Thorn City are the private estates of the powerful, and the working farmers belong to their property serfs.Embezzling fertile land and taking private households arbitrarily, this is not restricted at all.

On the grass near a river ditch in the countryside, a group of knights were galloping and hunting, chasing a group of deer and beasts fleeing in panic. The leader was a teenager, wearing a hood made of white wolf skin, and his whole body was in awe. Looked high-spirited.

Although he is not very old, he is very skilled in bow and horse, holding two strong bows with two stones, every time he pulls the string and shoots an arrow, the prey will fall to the ground.Such superb riding and archery skills are far behind even the crowd of followers around him.

And this young man is Murong Ba, the beloved son of Murong Hao, Duke of Liaodong.

　I feel like I haven't updated for a long time, everyone has been waiting for a long time, sorry and sorry. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)