Traveling through the Three Kingdoms: She brings unlimited supplies to build infrastructure

Chapter 88 The culprit
After Gongsun Xuan left, only Gongsun Jing, who was sitting like a wooden body and clay sculpture, was left in the hall.

He was obviously already in his fifties, the age to have grandchildren, and he was already the governor of a county.

However, under his father's suppression, he had no right to speak even to his niece and junior like Gongsun Yan.

Gongsun Yan didn't know whether this was the normal behavior of the Gongsun family or if Gongsun Jing wanted to punish him and deliberately make him lose face.

At this time, he looked at this uncle who was very polite and elegant in every move he made.

Without Gongsun Xuan's company, he sat alone in the hall, becoming a dull spectator, and his loneliness revealed a bit of pity.

Gongsun Yan couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips.

She is not a person who is good at observation and analysis, but she paid a lot of attention to Gongsun Jing.

People who are good at self-deception and self-indulgence, have superficial thinking, are extremely selfish, and hope to win the admiration of others with their performances, even if their poor performances are full of flaws. Such people will be called performative personalities in later generations.

How should we care for such people?
Naturally ignore him!

The more immersed you are in the performance, the more uncomfortable it will be when you are ignored.

Thinking about it this way, her grandpa is really a top domestic violence player, and he has completely mastered the method of causing pain to his eldest son.

Thinking in his mind, Gongsun Yan ignored Gongsun Jing even more completely, just pretending that half of the hall did not exist.

She stood up, thinking, and rested her slightly numb legs.

"What I just said makes sense." She nodded and shook her head, "But it's not enough."

“I wonder what the current population of Lulong County is?”

Gongsun Yan originally thought that Gongsun Jing would ask Gongsun Jing or call Cao Yu from the prefect's house to get the slips and check them.

Unexpectedly, Gongsun Jing only squinted his eyes to recall, and then reported a number: "At the beginning of this year, the national registration was calculated, with more than [-] households and more than [-] people."

Gongsun Yan was stunned. She was not only surprised by the old man's amazing memory, but she was even more surprised by his control over Liaoxi County.

If I remember correctly, her grandfather has resigned from the post of governor of western Liaoning for nearly 20 years, but he is still so familiar with government affairs. This is such a terrifying desire for control.

"There are more than [-] households and [-] people. The population is too small. If we want to resist the Wuhuan Xianbei who are marching south, we need qualified and stable troops and logistics."

It was Tian Kai who spoke at this time. He didn't know Gongsun Yan's attitude for the time being, but lowering the price during negotiations was normal practice.

"I dare to ask the owner, how many of the Lulong County border guards currently carry armor? What about ordnance, equipment, and horse administration?"

Zhao Yun also leaned forward slightly, cupped his hands and asked.

Gongsun Jing rubbed the beard on his chin with his skinny fingertips. It wasn't that he didn't know the answer and was embarrassed by this question, it was just a bit hard to say.

After pausing for two breaths, he said: "The Lulong border garrison has been abandoned for a long time. According to records, there are more than [-] armored soldiers and the weapons are lax."

Gongsun Yan couldn't hear anything wrong with this answer, but Tian Kai sneered and Zhao Yun frowned tightly.

"Anyone who has a record?" Tian Kai asked back, "The head of the family should not trick the young lady into not knowing military affairs."

It has been a common practice for the army to eat empty pay in all dynasties. There is a record of this, and the person who can actually save half of it is considered to be a non-greedy general.

It was normal practice for soldiers recruited into the army to be sold privately to the salt mines.

The generals who commanded the troops only retained military status and falsely signed up for military rations. However, the actual soldiers deserted, died in battle, deserted, and were sold by their superiors to become apprentices and subordinates. Incidents such as this occurred frequently.

Even though the Han code has strict laws and regulations, there is collusion between the local military and the government, and no one cares about it unless it is punished or corrected.

"I heard that when Aduna was entrenched in Qian'an and Lulong, he used salt and iron trade to control the Wuhuan tribe outside the Great Wall, and controlled them not to enter the customs through Lulong. He seemed to regard Qian'an and Lulong as his own territory." "It was also because of Aduna. Because of this shock, Lulong was rarely invaded by tribes outside the Great Wall, which caused Lulong's military preparedness to be inactive for many years."

Speaking of this, Tian Kai's face showed a sneer, "If it weren't for Aduna's character of being a barbarian warrior, with poor military discipline, and often harassing the Han people, his ability to resist the barbarian invasion would be higher than that of many wineskins and ricebags in Lulong County. .”

Tian Kai's words were really heartbreaking, and Gongsun Jing's hand stroking his beard stopped.

However, Gongsun Jing is a tough guy after all, and this little embarrassment will not make him change his expression.

"Lulong County is indeed sparsely populated and poorly armed." Gongsun Jing asked leisurely, "Does Mr. Tian know where the large population and registered soldiers in the county have gone?"

How could he know this?

Tian Kai didn't know why Gongsun Jing asked such a question, so he sneered and was about to answer.

He suddenly thought of something, coughed slightly, and swallowed all the words he was about to blurt out.

Gongsun Yan and Zhao Yun were stunned at the same time, wondering why Tian Kai stopped talking.

"Haha." Gongsun Jing laughed, "Ayan, do you know where the thousands of shady households in Guzhu Manor come from?"

Where did it come from?

Gongsun Yan thought about it for a moment, and suddenly his face darkened.

Yes, Zhou Xing introduced that there are a large number of households and armed groups in Lone Bamboo Manor.

She turned her head and glanced at Zhou Xing, who was standing next to the pillar in the lobby. He seemed to be tired of standing and found a pillar to lean against.

Seeing Gongsun Yan looking at him, Zhou Xing immediately stood up straight, straightened his thin hair, and then lowered his head with a guilty conscience.

For a moment, Gongsun Yan wanted to raise his sleeves to cover his face.

No wonder Tian Kai stopped talking.

I ate the melon and ate it on my own head. It turned out that the moth was actually me!

In the Han Dynasty, local governments relied on population for taxes, labor, and military resources. The local population directly affected the strength of the local military and administration to a certain extent.

The operation of powerful landowners' large estates requires a large amount of labor, and tribes, shadow households, and child servants are all related to population.

The powerful landowners all have tax privileges. The people robbed by them become shadow households and can no longer provide taxes and soldiers for the local area.

As a result, local governments and various landlords competed for the population.

Guzhu Manor is the largest manor in the Lulong area, and its owner is Gongsun Zan of the family of Gongsun, the local overlord in western Liaoning.

Naturally, the production of so many fields and treasury depended on seizing a large number of people, negotiating peace with the border army generals, and buying and selling soldiers as armed troops or labor force.

If you don't do it right, [-] out of [-] soldiers registered in the army can be named from the military roster of Lone Bamboo Manor.

In the place where Aduna has caused harm, the refugees who managed to escape but lost their homes were also absorbed and became nutrients for the lush branches of Lone Bamboo Manor.

The local population has been plundered by local powerful people, and the local finances are naturally tight, and the government is in ruins and the people are suffering.

If Aduna is a scourge on the surface, the decline of Lulong County is not unrelated to the efforts of the family manor to poach people.

Among them, the entrenched behemoth--Lone Bamboo Manor is the first to bear the brunt.

"Ayan, have you figured it out?" Gongsun Jing looked at his granddaughter with a faint smile and a blush on her fair face.

(End of this chapter)