Ji Han Liu Zhang

The first year of Jian'an, Guanzhong, the suburbs of Chang'an.

Although it is the end of September and the cool autumn wind is blowing, the sun is still extremely hot at noon due to the power of the "autumn tiger". Above the sky, the bright and scorching sun shines its heat on every inch of Guanzhong land, scorching the people of Guanzhong without a trace of mercy.

Among them was Grand Marshal Liu Zhang, who was wearing calf-nose pants and holding a hoe-like farm tool in his hand. The scorching sun made Liu Zhang, who had just been hoeing the fields for a short time, already have sweat on his forehead. The sweat beads kept gathering along his cheeks to his chin, and then dripping down.

Soon, Liu Zhang got tired of the way sweat dripped. He leaned on the hoe, stood up, pulled up his sleeves and wiped the sweat from his forehead. After that, he felt a lot more refreshed.

After wiping the sweat off his face, Liu Zhang did not continue to hoe the ground. He just looked around and saw that around him, countless Shu soldiers were doing the same thing as him, busy plowing the land, revealing a thriving scene.

This was the plan discussed by Liu Zhang and Xun You - to establish military farms in Guanzhong.

As for the main force of military farming, due to years of war and the sparse population in Guanzhong, the main force of military farming was provided by the soldiers from Shu under Liu Zhang. Before joining the army, most of the soldiers from Shu were farmers and were familiar with farming, so they were good military farmers.

Of course, Liu Zhang did not let these soldiers do free labor, and did not give them any compensation.

After a discussion with Xun You, Liu Zhang issued an order to give soldiers different amounts of land according to their status. These fields would be registered in the name of the corresponding soldiers, and would belong to the soldiers to cultivate as long as they were alive.

The output of the fields was divided into 50:50, with the government getting 50% and the soldiers getting 50%. This was a relatively fair ratio, especially in today's world where the powerful are becoming more and more powerful and farmers can only get 20:30 of the output from their crops.

This was also a strategy, using the granted land to lock the hearts of the soldiers from Shu. As the war in Guanzhong lasted for a long time, the soldiers from Shu had already complained a lot and wanted to return to Shu to be with their wives and children.

Granting land to soldiers from Shu and relocating their wives and children to Guanzhong would allow the soldiers to stay safely in Guanzhong and increase its population. At a time when Guanzhong's population was sparse, this would be a good thing for Liu Zhang, who wanted to revitalize Guanzhong.

In addition, this policy has some shadows of the Fubing. The most important feature of the Fubing is the integration of soldiers and farmers. In peacetime, they are farmers who cultivate the land, train during the slack seasons, and join the army to fight in wars. This not only saves the country's military expenditure, but also ensures economic and agricultural development. It can be said to be a good policy in times of military and national turmoil.

If Liu Zhang just wants to train real household soldiers, he still needs to proceed step by step and slowly implement policies and train them. As for whether they are the same as the household soldiers in history, there are also some points worth discussing. After all, the times are different and the policies are also different, so it is impossible to be completely consistent.

"My lord, would you like to take a break?" Wu Ban, the commander of Liu Zhang's personal guards who was from the Wu family, was also wearing calf-nose trousers and holding a hoe. He was busy standing beside Liu Zhang. At this moment, he asked Liu Zhang, who was sweating profusely, with concern.

Speaking of which, Wu Ban had some doubts before. Why should the Grand Marshal Liu Zhang personally take the lead in such matters as military farming? It would be enough to have officials to supervise him. It was somewhat beneath the status of a Grand Marshal to farm in the fields.

It was only when Liu Zhang personally took the lead and saw the soldiers enthusiastically farming and tirelessly reclaiming the abandoned land in Guanzhong that Wu Ban realized why Liu Zhang personally farmed. As a wise man, Liu Zhang personally farmed, which had a strong appeal to the soldiers in Shu. However, as a personal guard, Wu Ban was more concerned about Liu Zhang's health besides farming. In Wu Ban's heart, Liu Zhang's life was above everything else. He would stand in front of Liu Zhang and bear the damage for him if anything endangered or harmful to Liu Zhang.

Listening to Wu Ban's concerned words, Liu Zhang shook his head, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then pointed to the land under his feet and said, "Guanzhong has suffered from war for a long time, and farming is not possible. The farmland has been abandoned for a long time and is occupied by weeds and trees. It needs to be plowed early. It is not time for us to rest."

Through Wu Ban's concerned words, Liu Zhang expressed his inner thoughts. After several generations of cultivation in the Qin, Western Han, and Eastern Han dynasties, the quality of the original Guanzhong land was considered to be the best, and it was a vast fertile land.

But in recent times, the harassment of Qiang and Di tribes, and the troubles of Li and Guo have caused the population of Guanzhong to be displaced. The sparse population has led to the abandonment of land. The land that no one cultivates will soon be occupied by weeds and trees, and become barren land. The soil is no longer fertile, and Guanzhong’s name as the land of abundance is no longer valid.

In addition, the decline in soil fertility is only a minor problem. What worries Liu Zhang more is the farmland water conservancy project in Guanzhong.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the capital was established in Guanzhong. The agricultural water conservancy in the Guanzhong region was comprehensively developed, ranking first in the country in terms of scale and efficiency.

At that time, the Jing, Wei, Luo and other water systems were developed, and large-scale water conservancy projects such as Longshou Canal, Baiqu Canal and Liupu Canal were built one after another.

Relying on these large-scale water conservancy projects led by the Western Han government, problems such as drought and soil salinization in agricultural development in the Guanzhong region were solved, greatly promoting the development of agriculture in the Guanzhong region.

However, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, due to the Wang Mang Rebellion, the population of the capital Chang'an dropped sharply due to the war, agricultural production was severely damaged, and the water conservancy projects in Guanzhong were not well maintained and repaired.

In addition, in modern times, the Eastern Han Dynasty established its capital in Luoyang, and the importance attached to Guanzhong declined. The recent Dong Zhuo Rebellion and the Li-Guo dispute caused great damage to Guanzhong, causing the water conservancy projects in Guanzhong to be unattended and dilapidated.

Sima Qian wrote: "How powerful water is!"

In the agricultural era, people relied on the weather for their livelihood, and water conservancy projects that could escape the control of God were so important that they were almost related to the survival of a regime. As Liu Zhang was going to establish himself in Guanzhong and plot to rule the world, he naturally attached great importance to this.

Therefore, reclaiming and cultivating abandoned land and repairing and maintaining dilapidated water conservancy projects are the two things that Liu Zhang currently pays most attention to. This is why he personally leads the team to farm in the fields. When it comes to his lifeline in dominating the world, he must take the lead.

Farm, farm, and create a new world.

Liu Zhang seemed to be the protagonist of a novel about farming and hegemony at this moment. He devoted himself to the land and, together with thousands of Shu soldiers, started the great cause of farming and hegemony in Guanzhong. (End of this chapter)