The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 219 Fang Xuanling's Viciousness
At this time, Yang Tong led the Xuanjia Army to patrol the 'world', with Fang Xuanling, Luo Shixin, and Shui Tianji in his entourage.Huining County is the focus of this inspection.

Huining County, later known as the Baiyin area, now has a very small jurisdiction, and there is only one county within the jurisdiction. It is also the seat of the county, and the county name is Liangchuan County.

In the Sui Dynasty, the climate here was mild, the rainfall was abundant, the vegetation was lush, the land was fertile, and the population was relatively dense.It is close to the Yellow River. Since the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, it has always been one of the important towns from the Central Plains to the Western Regions. It is known as the "Qinlong Cardinal" and "Longshang Famous City".

However, the population of Huining is mainly concentrated in the northern region east of the Yellow River, while the western part of the southern half, due to overlapping mountains and less arable land, is mostly distributed in Gobi and grasslands. Qiang, Di and other ethnic minorities are mainly distributed in this area.

The biggest wealth in Huining County is still the huge reserves of gold, silver and copper mines. Since the Han Dynasty, silver and brass have been produced here.

At this time, Yang Tong and others, accompanied by county governor Xue Wanjun and other local officials, walked along a mountain range for about [-] miles. What appeared before them was a mountain range covered with dots of silver-gray and khaki. It is obvious that there are copper ore and silver ore exposed outside the rock, and now, numerous Turkic officials and slaves are mining in full swing.

On the left side of the mountain range is a river named Zulichuanshui. It is several feet wide and flows directly into the Yellow River. Since it is already downstream, the river is deep enough for large ships with thousands of stones to pass.

"How far is this river from the Yellow River?"

"Returning to Your Highness, here is about [-] miles away from the Yellow River. After leaving this valley, go further to Liangchuan County. The county is built where the water of Zuli River flows into the Yellow River. The ore is sorted here and sent by the water of Wuli River. It was smelted in Lingwu County and finally sent to Yecheng."

"Why don't you do it all at once here? Wouldn't it reduce a lot of weight?" Shui Tianji asked.

Xue Wanjun said: "Back to Concubine Wu, there is a large amount of coal in Lingwu County, but Huining does not. Of course, it is changing now, because the boats going to and from Huining and Lingwu will not be empty. While transporting the ore, after unloading in Lingwu, it will come back with coal. Some of them will go back and forth between the official roads by horse-drawn carriage. With the strong support of land road coal, the ore is now smelted in Huining, and then put The rough silver bricks and copper bricks are sent to Lingwu for refining."

"Is there a finished product?"

"Yes, Your Highness, please follow me!" Xue Wanjun led everyone to a heavily guarded dock warehouse.Thousands of square rough silver bricks and copper bricks are stacked inside.

Yang Tong, Fang Xuanling, Luo Shixin, Shui Tianji and others observed carefully and couldn't help but praise.

Yang Tong casually picked up a silver ingot, weighing about three hundred catties, but it was just a rough silver brick and needed to be refined.

Xue Wanjun introduced: "The rough silver bricks and copper bricks weigh three hundred catties each, and are cast by a fixed mold. After refining, the weight will be reduced by [-] to [-]%. Refining, and then sending it to Lingwu for refining, the accounts of both parties will be matched, and an accurate number will be obtained."

Smelting in two places, although it is a bit troublesome.But first, the supply of coal is insufficient; second, it can also prevent criminals from profiting from it, because after the crude product is refined, a fixed amount will be produced. Once the account is checked, it will be found whether the refining process has been stolen, although there is no guarantee that 100 %, but [-]% of the finished products will eventually fall into the pockets of the court, and the Sui Dynasty can only be traded in coins, so even if someone steals them, they can only be used as collections and cannot absorb the wealth of the world. Warehouses and copper wares were sold, but overall, the impact was not significant.However, it also needs a loyal and cautious person to sit in the ring of Lingwu, and it is very possible to ensure that the silver and copper will not be lost.

Looking at the crude silver bricks and copper bricks that were waiting to be moved to Lingwu for refining, Yang Tong also felt a heartfelt joy. He seemed to see that all the resources in the world were continuously flowing to the heyday of the Sui Dynasty.He knew very well what it means to have capital with the ability to issue money.Although he was very happy in his heart, he still forcibly restrained the excitement in his heart, and said to Tongshou Zhou Can: "General Xue is in charge of military affairs, and he doesn't have much time to spend here! Lord Zhou wants to take over Huining's government affairs. Next, we will Increase mining and smelting efforts."

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, this matter will be handled properly. It's just that there are still some shortages of miners, otherwise, more ore will be mined!" Zhou Can said.

"Just don't worry about this. In the future, if there are prisoners of war, Huining will be given priority."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Yang Tong nodded, and said to Xue Wanjun: "Huining is a treasure land, and the wealth it contains is far inferior to that of the entire Guannei Road combined. General Xue is responsible for a great deal."

Xue Wanjun nodded and said: "The last general hoarded troops in Huishou City and Dingxi City in the south of Huining, and set up fortresses and beacons between the two cities to strictly prevent the entry of Tang troops. It's just that Jincheng County, the capital of Liangshi, has fallen into the Under the hands of Li Tang, Huining is now bordered by Tianshui to the south and Longxi to the west, if the Tang army attacks from both sides, the general will probably be unable to defend against it."

"If you have any demands, just ask." Yang Tong understands Xue Wanjun's worries very well. This place is too close to Guanzhong. If a war breaks out, Li Yuan can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops and countless good generals within a few days. Xue Wanjun wants to hold the meeting. Ning this treasure is really difficult.

"The final general hopes that the three counties of Wuwei, Pingliang, and Honghua can share part of the pressure."

This is also a big problem. With Huining's wealth and Li Yuan's urgency, when the contract period comes, maybe he will really attack Huining. Yang Tong pondered for a moment, then said: "Go back to Liangchuan County first."

Five hundred Xuanjia soldiers escorted Yang Tong and others to Liangchuan County, dozens of miles away. When they arrived at the county government, Yang Tong immediately gathered with Fang Xuanling and Xue Wanjun to discuss matters. He had already made a decision along the way. , Directly said to Fang Xuanling: "Yang Yuanhong was transferred to be the governor of Lingwu, Wang Fubao, the former governor of Lingwu inspection school, was transferred to be the governor of Pingliang, Pei Xingyan, the governor of Shuofang, was transferred to be the governor of Honghua, and Jin, the governor of Shuofang County, was appointed the governor of Pingliang. .”

"Here!" Fang Xuanling wrote down four appointments, and Xinying took them to various places.

These letter eagles originating from Sumo Mohe have been tested hundreds of times, and none of them has made any mistakes, so they can be used for a long time. Now, every county in the Sui Dynasty has a letter eagle collection point, which has the existence of letter eagle. , will greatly reduce the time of summons, and the express delivery of eight hundred miles is directly compared to the speed of a turtle.

Not long after the three eagles flew away here, a goshawk screamed suddenly from the sky. Yang Tong looked up and saw a goshawk hovering. The black tube, his face turned black all of a sudden: "Xinying, it's back!"

"It seems that this thing is unreliable, and we still have to expedite it by [-] miles." Fang Xuanling also sighed.If Xinying could send a message, how many fighters would it have won for Tai Sui, what a pity!

At this time, a Mohe eagle slave ran out of the yard. He shouted and waved to the goshawk. The eagle folded its wings and landed on his shoulder. Take out a piece of fresh meat to reward Xinying.

The soldiers rushed forward and handed the letter to Yang Tong, "Your Highness, this is the Eagle letter from Wuyuan."

"Not just now?"

Yang Tong and Fang Xuanling glanced at each other, they both saw this sentence in each other's eyes, and then became happy at the same time, Yang Tong said with a smile: "It seems that Xinying is still reliable, it's just too coincidental, which caused us to misunderstand .”

Fang Xuanling nodded vigorously!

The word 'Wuyuan' was engraved on the letter tube. Yang Tong took out the letter and read it hastily, with surprise in his eyes. He turned his head and said to Fang Xuanling who looked expectant: "Shubao is in the wild horse river north of the Great Wall. The 100-strong army of Jieli Khan was defeated, more than 17 enemies were wiped out in this battle, more than 9000 people were captured, and more than 20 horses were captured! There were also more than [-] sheep used by the Turks as military rations. Some meat and barley."

Fang Xuanling was overjoyed, and quickly asked: "Where is Ashina Simo? How much did you lose?"

Yang Tong talked about Qin Qiong's tactics, and then said with a speechless face: "Ashina Simo has killed more than [-] people. Poor Ashina Simo actually wants Shubao to be handsome!"

"Shubao is amazing! He usually looks like a very honest person, but he can't be picky when he cheats on his teammates..." Fang Xuanling was so excited that he patted his forehead. Ashina Simo lost half of the battle. For the Sui, the strength of the troops no longer poses a threat for the time being.But after a while, he said again: "But one must be the same! This time, people can't be picky, and next time it will be hard to say! And Ashina Simo will definitely go out to plunder people, which also means that his army is still there. It will be a big battle, and it will threaten Da Sui!"

Now Ashina Simo is biting people like a mad dog in order to ascend to the throne of the Turkic Khan. Outside Baicheng, north of the New Great Wall, and the distance of three or four hundred miles to the north after bypassing the Yin Mountain, he has been harmed again and again Once, there were very few Turkic people, and it was this kind of crazy plunder that led to the rapid development of Ashina Simo's strength.Although he sacrificed half of his troops this time, within a year, he can still grow up through plundering.

"What's Xuanling's idea?" Yang Tong saw Fang Xuanling's strange gaze, and knew that this guy had an idea.

Fang Xuanling said: "The huge mine in Huining is quite good in quality, but it requires a lot of manpower to mine it. If you hire people, you will naturally need to pay wages and food. This is a huge expense, and mining is very dangerous. There will be accidents like landslides, if the miners are all foreign prisoners of war and slaves, not only will they save wages, but even if they die, they will not need to pay compensation!"

"So..." Yang Tong looked at Fang Xuanling and said with a smile, "Next, are you going to start the slave trade?"

"Your Highness knows me!" Fang Xuanling nodded with a smile: "I traveled in Turkic in the past and found that they sold slaves as cattle and sheep. The price depends on ability. Animals like that! Every time we go out, we seize a large number of sheep. Instead of keeping a headache, it is better to use them for slaves. In this way, we have free miners, and after Ashina Simo and the others get benefits, they will It is even more crazy to plunder Mobei, which intensifies the conflict between the two sides, and if there is a little way, the soldiers will sell the prisoners and slaves in their hands. This not only delays the battle of Ashina Simo's army, but also consumes his strength. war potential."

"Women are equivalent to goods among the Turkic people. They have always been traded as slaves. They don't have much belonging to their own clan. They can marry Han people and have a stable home. They have a fatal temptation. But adult men , it is very difficult to eradicate the hatred for us Han people, and gather these people together to mine, I am worried that these people will kill officials and rebel!" Having said this, Yang Tong looked at Fang Xuanling with some hesitation, frowned and said: "The Turks used to be The slaves of the Rouran Khanate, they turned against Rouran under the leadership of Ashina Tumen because they did the hardest and most tiring work!"

"I've also considered this!" Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "The reason why Ashina Tumen was able to stir up Turkic anti-Rouran is that he is very charismatic and born to be a leader. However, such people are rare. Second, Rouran people only know about oppression and did not give the Turks a shred of hope, so everyone followed the Ashina Tumen. We might as well be gentler and give a certain number of official places every six months, from among the many miners Pick out those who have performed well, and let them join us in the Sui Dynasty, and enjoy the same treatment as the people of the Sui Dynasty, and they will work harder for us if they have hope."

Yang Tong was amazed, Lao Fang's method was almost the same as the method used by the little devil to absorb the second devil, but the effect was indeed good.And after all, this is in the mainland of the Sui Dynasty. Turkic people have a natural sense of fear, and it is much easier to tame than little devils: "Is there any more?"

"During siege battles, all dynasties have used death row prisoners to form daredevils to replace the army and consume the enemy's defenses. As long as those who survived are lucky enough to die, they will be executed by the revolutionary squad and returned to their status as civilians!" Fang Xuanling said: "In future civil wars, siege is a hurdle that cannot be overcome, and siege battles often represent a large number of casualties! We might as well learn from the method of death row siege, to praise the meritorious Turkic miners, and give them official status There are often only one out of ten people alive, and out of 1 people, there are only 2000 or [-] people who can survive. After these people are incorporated into the army, they will be consumed again and again, and those who survived by luck will be broken up. Go to the counties and counties, and there will be no disturbances!"

"Turkic and other nomadic peoples, thirteen or fourteen-year-old half-grown men all went to battle and killed the enemy. This type of people can be classified as prisoners of war and slaves; Turkic children under the age of 12 can be placed in free schools to study. Learning Han culture and instilling the concept of Han supremacy, within ten years, they will be proud of Han and ashamed of being a foreigner."

Yang Tong looked at Fang Xuanling again and again, and he couldn't help but accept that this political player really had a dark heart, on the surface he looked like a compassionate saint, and when he did immoral things, he didn't change his face.

When it comes to black hearts, Yang Tong asks himself that he is not as good as Fang Xuanling. This guy is so dark, no wonder he has been the prime minister for decades in history. If Fang Xuanling was not black, he would have been killed by his political opponents long ago. How can it last that long?

"That's it! But let's change the routine and set the price of Turkic women as the highest!"

"But why?"

Yang Tong noticed that Fang Xuanling's eyes were a bit strange, and said with a dark face: "The child mortality rate on the grassland is much higher than that of the Sui Dynasty. If we lose a lot of women, how can the Turkic people survive? This can be regarded as a direct reduction. The reproduction speed of the Turkic population has been greatly reduced! Select the better-looking ones and betroth them to the bachelor soldiers of our army, and the rest can be betrothed to the bachelor ordinary people to make contributions to the population reproduction of the Sui Dynasty...Old Fang, what are you thinking? Why are thoughts so dirty!"

"Haha!" Fang Xuanling laughed awkwardly. After thinking about it carefully, Yang Tong was indeed not that kind of lustful person, so he shook his head and said, "I'm thinking, in this way, I'm afraid that within five years, the Turks will It begins to weaken, and then it will perish..."

Yang Tong sneered and said: "Of course, the premise is that Ashina Simo will be more competitive. At the same time, we not only need to set up the slave trade, but also need a city to complete the transaction. Yongfeng County in Wuyuan County is actually good, with a population of Few, the city is strong, so I decided to use Yongfeng County as a trading city for the slave trade, with [-] soldiers and horses permanently stationed to maintain law and order."

Yongfeng County is located in the west of Wuyuan, surrounded by the Yellow River on three sides, only the east side can go to Wuyuan County, and there is a mountain range in the middle, but there are official roads to go, the location is very good!
"I also think Yongfeng is more suitable, but the matter of trade..."

"Let's leave it to the Ministry of Commerce! In short, this matter must be deployed as soon as possible! In order to prevent the Turkic people from flooding the country, it can only be operated by the government, and the private purchase of slaves is not allowed. Violators will be killed without mercy! "

"Here!"

Fang Xuanling complied. Although the slave trade market has not been established and the system is even less established, it can draw on the policies of the mutual market, and there is no problem with Ashina Simo. As long as the officials and supervisors are in place, everything will come naturally.

Although Yang Tong has tried his best to stabilize the governance and has the strength to expand new territory, in less than two years, he has successively annexed Bingzhou and eleven counties in Guanbei, and the territory has doubled in size. Dong plans to focus on improving people's livelihood. After the three and a half prefectures are consolidated, they will start to build a complete economic system, centered on their own regions, radiating the entire Central Plains to the south, and radiating the huge economic network of the Western Regions to the west. Use this economic network to plunder the surrounding countries to absorb wealth in order to meet the rapid economic development under the rule. This is also an important reason for retaining Wuwei County, because Wuwei County is the eastern section of the Hexi Corridor leading to the Western Regions. The geographical location is very important. Keep this county , It is tantamount to keeping an economic lifeline, and at the same time, it also curbs Li Tang's business routes.If Li Tang wanted to open the Silk Road, he could only defeat Liang Shidu and Xue Renyue brothers who had already formed an alliance.

As for the grasslands in the north, it is not in Yang Tong's imagination. The main reason is that the development value of Mobei is not great. This will be the key area of ​​assimilation. Of course, the process will inevitably be full of blood and cruelty.

(End of this chapter)