Ji Han Liu Zhang

There is Zhang Lu in Shangyong and Sun Ce in Jiangdong, and Liu Biao is just a self-protective thief by nature.

After Liu Zhang thought about it, he felt that he didn't have to worry about Jingzhou anymore.

In the past, in order to maintain peace with Liu Biao and prevent Liu Biao from interfering with his military activities to pacify Nanzhong, expel Zhang Lu, and advance north into Guanzhong, he had no choice but to form an alliance with Liu Biao and pretend to be nice to Liu Biao, a famous figure in the world, in order to ensure peace in the east of Yizhou.

But now, as Liu Biao of Jingzhou has made enemies on many sides, he has no spare energy to threaten Yizhou. Liu Biao needs to focus more on the east of Jingzhou - Jiangxia County, the bridgehead against Sun Ce in Jiangdong.

In addition, the soldiers and naval forces of Jingzhou may have one or two good points, but the land army is of little use. This can be seen from the fact that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun commanded Jing soldiers who were twice as many as Zhang Lu's, but failed to capture Shangyong.

Furthermore, Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, was only able to hold his position with the support of the aristocratic families in the northern part of Jingzhou. He did not have in-depth control over most of southern Jingzhou. The people in southern Jingzhou were only nominally subject to Liu Biao.

Liu Biao had nothing to worry about as far as internal and external troubles were concerned.

Yitu has no worries in the east.

However, although Liu Biao was weak, Liu Zhang did not have any big ideas about Jingzhou. After all, in this era, the north was the main battlefield for hegemony, and the south was a remote place in terms of population and land, with not much to recommend it.

The South was not truly developed by the Han people until the Tang Dynasty, when the country was known as "Yang Yi Yi Er". However, it was not until the Song Dynasty that the reputation of "Suzhou and Huzhou are mature and the world is sufficient" emerged. At that time, Jiangnan could serve as a foundation for competing for hegemony over the world, and Zhu Yuanzhang, the first fierce man in Chinese history who rose up from the south and fought his way through the north to unify the world, appeared.

And in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when the north was unified, the overlord who unified the north did not become like Cao Cao, who was complacent and lost his mind when he was invincible, and caused a great defeat like the Battle of Chibi. The forces in the south would never be able to secede.

Just leaving Liu Biao to the east of Yizhou as a weak and incompetent neighbor was more or less a good thing for Liu Zhang. At least Liu Zhang did not have to worry about what plans and plots his fellow clan member had. Liu Biao was just a self-defensive thief, and his ambitions could not be realized.

After a while of thinking, Liu Zhang summoned Peng Ying, the military officer. He dictated and Peng Ying recorded: "Send a letter to Gong Heng (Huang Quan), saying that there is no need to rush to plot against Zhang Lu in Shangyong. Just keep Zhang Lu as a barrier to separate Hanzhong and Jingzhou. Besides, the rice thief Zhang Lu is rampant in Shangyong. It is Liu Jingzhou who should be worried, and we don't need to care."

"Yes, what you said is absolutely right." Peng Ying nodded in response, and at the same time praised: "To attack Hanzhong from Shangyong, the mountains are high and the roads are dangerous. It is necessary to go up the Han River. Zhang Lu, with only Shangyong and more than 10,000 soldiers, can't do it... But from Shangyong, following the Han River, the terrain is convenient, and it will arrive in Xiangyang in the evening. Although Zhang Lu's strength is not strong enough, it is enough to worry Liu Jingzhou."

After gently flattering him, Peng Ying sat down in front of the desk and spread out a piece of silk cloth. He did not write immediately, but thought for a while with the ink pen. After a while, he finished his thoughts and started writing.

As a famous scholar in Shu County and having had some contacts with learned scholars like the scholar Qin Mi, Peng Ying's literary talent was naturally outstanding. However, when it came to military exchanges, he did not need to consider any embellishments. He simply wrote a letter in a straightforward manner, and then, after the ink had dried, he handed it to Liu Zhang for review.

Liu Zhang took the document from Peng Ying, glanced through it, nodded with satisfaction, and sent it to Hanzhong. Soon it was October, and Liu Zhang drove out of Chang'an and came to Longyuan in Guanzhong to observe the planting and growth of winter wheat. He got off the carriage and stood on the ridge, looking thoughtful.

At first, millet was the staple food in Guanzhong. This can be seen from the rule of paying millet to obtain a title during Shang Yang's reform. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the people in Guanzhong did not have the habit of growing wheat.

It was not until the time of Emperor Wu of Han that Chang'an, as the imperial capital, became increasingly prosperous and a gathering place of culturally diverse people, which led to a rapid population growth, and the supply of food for officials and civilians gradually became a problem.

There are two ways to solve the food supply problem. One is to reclaim the wasteland in Guanzhong and increase food production, and the other is to transport food from Guandong to Guanzhong. However, water transportation is long, the Yellow River is dangerous, and the Wei River is tortuous, making transportation quite difficult and the loss on the road enormous.

Therefore, in order to solve the problem of insufficient food and grass in Guanzhong, the only way was to rely on the local area, with Sanfu as the center, that is, to focus on agriculture in the Guanzhong area, to maintain the large amount of food and massive material consumption needed by the imperial capital Chang'an.

At this time, winter wheat, which is planted in autumn and harvested in summer, received attention and promotion from the government. Under the government's promotion, people in Guanzhong began to plant winter wheat, so that it could be rotated with millet or soybeans, alleviating the dilemma of the gap between the old and the new when only millet was planted.

At that time, an official named Fan Shengzhi compiled the planting experience of the five staple grains and thirteen crops including melons, gourds, taro, and mulberry into a book. The book's meticulous use of land and careful care of each crop was used to teach and urge the people in Guanzhong to grow wheat.

Since then, wheat has gradually replaced millet and become the main food crop in the Guanzhong region. In addition, wheat has a high yield per mu, and after large-scale planting, the food supply in the Guanzhong region will be greatly increased, which will also bring about optimization of planting structure, farming technology and other aspects.

Liu Zhang looked at the green wheat fields in front of him. He felt that wheat alone was not enough to support his hegemony. Only by obtaining high-quality rice seeds, practicing rice-wheat rotation, combining winter wheat and rice, and obtaining more grain output, could his hegemony be considered secure. After all, the output of rice fields is better than that of crops such as millet and wheat.

In the feudal era, when people were fighting for supremacy in the world, food and fodder were of paramount importance. Only with sufficient food and fodder could more full-time soldiers be trained, and full-time soldiers were an indispensable weapon in war.

When he thought of this, he remembered Zhang Yi, who was sent by him to Jiaozhou. Zhang Yi was sent by him to Jiaozhou in the first year of Xingping to look for rice seeds and cotton. It has been almost two years now. Although there has been occasional news, there is still no sign of the high-quality rice seeds and the cotton that Liu Zhang was thinking about. He didn't know what the situation is now.

Rice seeds, especially Champa rice, are early to plant, early maturing, drought-resistant, and have fine grains. They are suitable for high fields and can be combined with late rice to become a double-season rice, greatly increasing grain yields. They can also be rotated with winter wheat, making them a powerful weapon for the country.

And cotton, at a time when the Little Ice Age is approaching, can provide sufficient warmth to prevent the common people from dying of hunger and cold after a severe winter, causing a sharp decline in the Han population in the north and allowing the Five Barbarians to take the opportunity to invade and run rampant in China.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhang squatted on the ridge of the field, looking far away to the south, hoping to see Zhang Yi's return. (End of this chapter)