Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 155 The Way of Excrement and Drowning
Guoheng died with weakness, and Du Han died with strength.

The demise of the Han Dynasty is a very complicated matter, which cannot be summed up in this simple sentence.

But this sentence also reveals a truth. The military system of the Han Dynasty is a double-edged sword, which also caused a lot of harm to the Han Dynasty itself.

Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the peace of the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years in one fell swoop, the huge military expenditure also led to the emptiness of the national treasury.

In fact, the rule of Wenjing had planted hidden dangers before, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took all the blame.

At that time, the Han Dynasty was first established, and the world was extremely poor. The Han court was unable to collect taxes from the land, so they simply reduced taxes by a large amount, but in order to maintain fiscal revenue, they turned to poll tax.

This has led to a significant reduction in the price of buying land. Because of the tax reduction, the land tax to be paid is very low, [-]% of the tax, and there are even tax-free for many years.

This certainly stimulated production, but those rich bureaucratic landlords, rich businessmen and big businessmen all began to buy land in large quantities.

Compared with the wealth brought by the fields, the poll tax is negligible. At the same time, the land is concealed, tax evasion, black households, etc. emerge as the times require. The actual population of a household is often several times the registered number, and they are all attached to the big landlords.

In addition to the currency used for taxation and the system of selecting officials linked to the currency, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the farms of the big landlords "fish and livestock in the pond, and they will be given if they ask for it", and they built barriers to the outside world, and even had their own armed forces.

So the powerful gentry rose.

But in contrast, the common people of the lower classes were unable to live and survive, and finally triggered the Yellow Turban Uprising. However, behind the Yellow Turban Uprising, there were the shadows of the gentry, just like Liu Xiu's Red Eyebrow Army, which was also full of big landlords.

Therefore, the vast majority of peasant uprisings ended in tragedy. Either they made wedding dresses for the big landlords, or they became big landlords themselves, and they never found the key to break out of the cycle.

Yuan Xi didn't know if he could resist foreigners with the power of a state, but he definitely couldn't learn the way of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was almost dragged down, let alone a mere Youzhou?
That's why Yuan Xicai came up with the idea of ​​digging ditches for the whole people, and taking advantage of the opportunity to wipe out Gongsun Zan and reshuffle Youzhou, he tried his best to turn the fields into military and official farms and righteous fields, so as to minimize the influence of the gentry.

Between the cities, most of the fields are blocked and protected by camps, so that it is difficult for the enemy to plunder.

Of course, this set of ideas cannot be completed within a few years, but Yuan Xi believes that as long as it continues to operate, in ten years, decades, or a hundred years, Youzhou will be full of fertile fields, rivers and fish ponds, instead of becoming The land of Longxing of the nomads.

Before Zhao Yun left, Yuan Xi said: "This matter involves a long-term plan, and it cannot be disclosed to the public for the time being, so as not to be taken advantage of by others."

"As for training the cavalry, it can only be farther away, near the enemy's territory, and it happens to be able to scout along the way."

Zhao Yun nodded when he heard the words, and then heard Yuan Xi say, "In the next few days, I will take Sun Li to patrol Yijing on horseback."

"I'll be wearing a different helmet so that within a few days, anyone who cares will find out."

Zhao Yun was startled for a moment, then understood, and said, "It's a little dangerous."

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "If you can't let go of a child, you can't let go of a wolf."

Zhao Yun immediately understood and said, "I will send someone to notify Dezhou and Ziyi."

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "It's better that you understand me, otherwise I really wouldn't have the confidence to take this risky move."

Sending Zhao Yun away, the two women heard the conversation between the two and knew that Yuan Xi was going to put himself in danger again, they couldn't help but look worried, and the atmosphere became depressed.

Yuan Xi joked with a smile: "Compared to the countless things that bother me, it's already easy enough to have three generals help me this time. I can't lose my strength."

"It's the fact that the method of retting manure has not progressed for a long time, which makes me worry."

For some reason, Cao Xian thought of the embarrassment he had been in for several days when he first came here, and said, "Can that dirty thing really become the fertilizer of the land as the young master said?"

Yuan Xi nodded: "Sure, it just needs to be explored, and some key things are missing."

The invention of manure retting technology in the Song Dynasty was one of the landmark events that made Jiangnan a land of fish and rice.

The earliest definite records that can be found are Chen Yan's "Nongshu" and Lou Xuan's "Poetry on Farming and Weaving", which record that human dung was used as fertilizer in Jiangnan in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Wang Zhen's "Nong Shu" and "Liao Fan Za Zhu" recorded that in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the farmhouses in the south of the Yangtze River "every family has a pit toilet, and if it is indiscriminate, it will be out of the cellar. If the family cannot set up a cellar, the head of the field can also set up a cellar." , picked up the messy bricks and built it, and hid the dung in it."

Since then, the dung and smell that everyone hates has become the gold in the land that everyone is fighting for.

The treatment of manure requires long-term accumulation of experience, and how to decompose without damaging the land also requires certain methods.

Yuan Xi never planted the land himself in his previous life, but he heard that most of the septic tanks in the later generations used chemical reactions, which is obviously impossible now, so he can only use traditional methods.

If it is naturally fermented, water manure often needs to be stored for more than half a year before it can be turned into usable cooked manure, and the time interval is too long.

To speed up this speed is the method of steaming manure in the Yuan Dynasty.

Yuan Xi only remembered that when the earth's atmosphere warmed up, he dug deep pools to collect manure, closed it for retting, or built thatched huts in the open space, where all manure, dust, garbage, chaff, stalks, and fallen leaves were piled up and covered with soil so that they could be kept in place. If the house is heated and rotted, if it is not enough, a fire can be lit around the bottom, in other words, it is heated.

In addition to this method, there were later "simmering manure method" and "pit manure method", both of which gathered the wisdom of the working people.

However, the idea is simple, but there are some difficulties in operation. Even farmers who have been farming for many years can't tell when the manure is most effective, and the fertility depends on the farmer's harvest.

So after Yuan Xi made a request to the Sinonong officials in Beixin City, those people were also at a loss.

When Yuan Xi saw the bamboo slips that Wu Zhao had brought out from several officials, he said that the progress was very slow, but he thought that farming was not an easy task.

At this time, he missed Chen Denglai who was proficient in farming even more. If the other party was not in Xuzhou now, making him beyond his reach, sometimes Yuan Xi even wanted to find someone to tie him over.

Right now, I can only hope that the officials under my command will make a breakthrough. As long as this method becomes popular, the people will scramble to collect excrement. It can also greatly improve the situation of littering excrement and urine, and it will also greatly improve the sanitation and epidemic prevention in the city.

Ancient China paid great attention to sanitation. It is recorded in "Zuo Zhuan" that in the sixth year of Chenggong, some people have discovered that sewage may bring diseases to people, so it is necessary to protect people's health through sewage discharge.

The "Tang Law Discussion" clearly stipulates that residents are allowed to splash water on the streets, but if they throw excrement and garbage on the streets, they will be punished, and the most serious one will be fined [-] boards.

In contrast, until the development of chemical technology in Europe, there was almost no good treatment method for feces. The British special envoy who went to meet with Qianlong also made a special record when he saw the method of retting manure in the south of the Yangtze River.

Especially in medieval Europe, even in big cities like London and Paris, feces and urine were dumped everywhere, and there was never a shortage of surprises falling from the sky, forming a beautiful landscape.

In order to prevent stepping on feces, people invented high-heeled shoes, and in order to prevent being hit by feces falling from the sky, people opened umbrellas or used cloaks to cover them.

According to the historians of Charles II, the study, bedroom, cellar, and chimney of the British Royal Palace were full of excrement.

In many castles at that time, a deep pit was dug in the basement to hold the excrement, and when it was full, it was filled with planks and soil, and then filled up one by one.

According to records, the cause of Jin Jinggong's death was "feeding, rising, going to the toilet, and sinking." It is said that he fell into a cesspit and drowned.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, similar famous events also occurred, but with more people.

In Germany at that time, a fierce conflict erupted between Duke Louis III of Thuringia and Conrad I, Archbishop of Mainz, over territory.

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I was busy conquering Italy. In order to avoid a fire in the backyard, he sent the crown prince Henry VI to mediate the grievances between the two.

The bishop of Erfurt also dedicated his castle as a meeting place for Henry VI to mediate between the two sides. .

Because of the noble status of both parties, many great nobles of the empire also came uninvited. As a result, there were too many people, causing the floor on the second floor to be trampled down by everyone, and the falling crowd smashed through the floor of the first floor, and then fell into the castle. In the basement.

The basement of this castle is a cesspit, with countless feces accumulated in it, so at least more than 60 nobles were drowned in this way.

This incident was called "Erfurt's toilet tragedy" in later generations. It is said that this castle was later the famous St. Peter's Cathedral.

When Yuan Xi read this period of history, he couldn't figure out one thing.

Let’s say that because of the raging diseases in Europe, doctors think that not taking a bath can prevent diseases, so it’s okay to not pay attention to hygiene, but what about the urban drainage system?

The earliest and earliest sewers in Europe are said to date back to Paris in the [-]th century after the Renaissance, and London and the like are even later.

But it is said that the ancient Romans invented an important urban drainage system long ago, and the city of Rome was clean and tidy, but their descendants gave up all these things?
On the Chinese side, unearthed cultural relics from the Warring States period show that there were drainage system pipes at that time.

However, since the Tang Dynasty, China's sewer system has not been fully developed due to various reasons, and it has even regressed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, resulting in being overtaken by latecomers.

A considerable part of the reason for the relocation of the old Chang'an capital was the low-lying terrain. Although there was a drainage system, it could not flow out, causing the groundwater to deteriorate. "Taste everything is salty".

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi not only shook his head, no matter what, to make some changes in life, not only breakthroughs in technology, but also economic, knowledge, and even living habits go hand in hand, it is a long way to go. .

The West has finally caught up with the industrial revolution. The soil and birth of science are both accidental and inevitable. Yuan Xi does not think that the scientific system can be born in the current era by himself. He can only try to reclaim the wasteland first. step.

Literacy is to open up people's wisdom.

At the very least, craftsmen and artists can get the status and treatment they deserve, and ordinary people can read and write, so that the distinction between scholars, farmers, businessmen and commerce will not be so clear.

In the long thousands of years, only one percent of people can read and write. If the other 90.00% of people can read, acquire knowledge, and start thinking, how much faster will the progress of this society be than before?

As for changing the social system, Yuan Xi gave up. This is not something he can do alone. He is not a savior, he is just an ordinary person.

He would be content to end the troubled times as soon as possible, bring peace to the world, restore social order, and use the criminal law.

He asked Wu Zhao to find a pair of red tassels and tie it on his helmet, then went to call Sun Li and prepared to take the scouts out of the city.

When Sun Li came over, Yuan Xi saw the unconcealable look on his face, and wanted to kick him.

Within half a year after he left, Sun Li's daughter-in-law was already pregnant!

Yuan Xi's mentality is out of balance, I didn't get married, but you are lucky, you will have a next generation before you are 15 years old!

The two got on their horses and led dozens of scouts to Rongcheng, which was dozens of miles away, which was the closest to Yijing among the three cities.

Wu Zhao and Cao Xian sent Yuan Xi out and did not return to the mansion until he was no longer in sight.

Cao Xian looked disappointed, and said, "Young master has only been back for a long time, and now I have to leave again."

Wu Zhao said softly: "Young Master is destined to change the world, he belongs to everyone, not any of us."

(End of this chapter)