At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 366, Huge Logistical Demands and the Han Version of the Homestead Act
On April 20, the eighth year of the Han Dynasty, in the Taiwei Mansion, Chang'an City.

After Xu Fan returned to Chang'an City, he summoned all the senior officials of the Han Dynasty to gather at the Taiwei Mansion to discuss matters.

Xu Fan was the first to look at Prime Minister Zhou Zhang and said: "The imperial court will not start formulating a plan to attack the Huns until next year. Why did the Monan Governor's Mansion move ahead of schedule?"

Although the track from Chang'an City to Jiuyuan County has been completed ahead of schedule, preparing for the Northern Expedition with hundreds of thousands of people requires an extremely large amount of granary materials. This track has only been in operation for three months, and the Han border counties have not yet stocked up enough. A lot of food and equipment.

Zhou Zhang smiled bitterly and said: "A new situation has arisen. There is a small and medium-sized tribe under the Aries tribe in Monan, called the Bailu tribe. Their leader wanted to go south to join our Han people, but was intercepted by the Aries King.

So they sent envoys to ask for help from our Han Dynasty. Han Xin, the governor of Monan, happened to be in Zhenning Fort. He thought this was a good opportunity, so he attacked the Aries tribe at night, including all the main forces of the Aries tribe, and captured the Aries King. , the Governor of Monan simply took advantage of the fact that the Aries tribe was leaderless and completely annexed the Aries tribe. "

"This battle went extremely smoothly. The Monan Governor's Mansion captured more than 7 Aries tribesmen and millions of cattle and sheep were seized. The Aries tribe of the Huns can be considered destroyed. The results of the battle were extremely brilliant." Then Zhou Zhang gave the details. The battle report was handed over to Xu Fan, who watched it carefully.

Wu Sheng, the general who joined the army, laughed and said: "Judging from the situation of the Monan Governor's attack on the Huns, the strength of the Huns has not improved much in recent years. Why don't your Majesty make up for the mistake and launch an attack on the Huns in advance and occupy Monan first?" , after the rainy season in the north, launch the Mobei War after August, and completely eliminate the hidden danger of the Huns. "

But Zhang Liang shook his head and said: "Such a surprise attack cannot truly represent the strength of the Huns. In the past two years, Mao Dun built a large arsenal in the desert. In order to expand his armaments, he also levied an unprecedented cattle and horse tax in the desert. The tax obtained All the talent is used to make weapons and armor. Now the number of Huns' armor is increasing rapidly, and our combat effectiveness with the Huns should be closer. "

"Moreover, the desert is the territory of the Huns. They have a geographical advantage. If our army is not fully prepared and returns without success, it will be small. The worst is to lose troops and generals. By then, the Monan territory occupied by my Han Dynasty may be destroyed again. Captured by the Huns."

Xu Fan looked at Zhou Zhang and asked: "How much grain, weapons, equipment and other materials has the imperial court hoarded on the border now?"

Zhou Zhang looked at Zhang Cang.

Zhang Cang thought for a moment and then said: "Now the imperial court has 300 million shi of grain in Yunzhong County, 200 million shi in Yanmen County, 5 sets of iron armor, 8 sets of various leather armors, swords, guns, swords and halberds in the arsenal of Yunzhong County. 10 weapons, 2 crossbows, 500 million long arrows, 500 Wuhan Iron and Steel carts, 1200 baggage carts, and 100 million kilograms of raw materials such as iron wire and iron ingots.”

"The Yanmen arsenal contains 4 sets of iron armor, 10 sets of various leather armors, 12 long and short swords, guns, swords and halberds, 2.5 crossbows, and 600 million long arrows. 400 Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicles, 1000 baggage vehicles, iron wire 200 million kilograms of raw materials such as nails.”

"As for the Liaodong Protectorate, the imperial court found a way to transport millions of stones of grain to Liaodong. I don't know much about the remaining war preparations."

The Liaodong Protectorate was mainly composed of the feudal armies of the Han Dynasty, and Zhang Cang did not have much information about them. Xu Fan didn't have high requirements for them, as long as they could contain the Huns. The main force attacking the Huns was the Zhenbei General's Mansion and the Monan Governor's Mansion.

Xu Fan said: "With 500 million shi of food, the imperial court dispatched 60 shi of troops, including 10 cavalry for the expedition to Mobei. I don't even count the food and grass consumed by the baggage horses. The Guang army consumes more than 200 million shi of food every month. This amount of food is only enough for two and a half months?"

Xu Fan looked at Wu Sheng and said, "Do you think the Huns can't even resist for two and a half months?"

Wu Shengye thought it was impossible, but said: "The imperial court can capture Monan first, drive the Huns completely to Mobei, then stock up on food and grass for a year, set out from Monan, and attack the royal court of the Huns."

Chen Ping shook his head and said: "Maodun is a grassland hero. It is impossible for him to watch my big man approaching Mobei step by step. Even if our army captures Monan, Maodun will definitely resist fiercely. The Huns cannot wait. We regain our strength.

Unless we can directly cripple the main force of the Huns in Monan, which is impossible, Mao Dun has already moved the main force of the Huns to Mobei. This determined that the main battlefield of the Han-Hungarian War could only be in Mobei. "

Xu Fan also shook his head and said: "When planning before the war, you should not only consider things that are beneficial to you, nor should you take it for granted to make decisions for the enemy. You should not anticipate all situations, especially the worst things, which are often the consequences of war. What is most likely to happen during the period.”

Only calculating things that are beneficial to oneself, not taking into account variables, and formulating turn-based strategies, this is not a Showa consultant.

Xu Fan said: "If I were Mao Dun, when the Han army attacked Monan, I would find a way to move the tribe to Mobei and leave the army in Monan. I would not fight the Han army head-on and disperse the army to fight guerrillas with the Han army. , when fighting against the Han army's logistics troops, I will attack if there is an advantage and run away if there is no advantage. When I encounter a large group of Han army, I will disperse and flee. When I encounter a small group of Han army, I will assemble and annihilate them. I can even attack the big Han army. Inland city.”

Xu Fan looked at Wu Sheng and said: "Given the vastness of Monan, if the Huns want to fight guerrilla warfare with us, how can we capture the main force of the Huns? What if our army is dragged in Monan? You must know that Monan is June-July. During the rainy season, we can’t march and fight at all.”

Wu Sheng thought for a while and said: "The only way is to build a fort near the water source in Monan and set up a beacon tower. As soon as the Huns' position is discovered, the beacon will be lit immediately, and then the army will surround them. Now there are only Lou Fan and Zhelan in Monan. These two groups have a combined population of about 30 and can recruit 3 cavalry. As long as our army kills these effective forces, the power of the Huns will soon decline.

In order to limit the activity space of the Huns, our army can move herders from other tribes to Monan. They will be our best hawks and dogs. If they find the Huns, they will bite them fiercely. "

Xu Fan looked at Wu Sheng in surprise. Putting aside everything else, the last point was a stroke of genius.

"How much money and time do you think this man will have to spend to completely drive the Huns out of Monan?"

Wu Shengdao: "It may take more than half a year or even a year, and the money spent may exceed one million gold."

Xu Fan shook his head and said: "Now my Han Dynasty has not prepared food and grass, various weapons and equipment materials, and even major domestic projects have not been completed. This is not the time to start a war."

Since the year before last, the Han Dynasty has been preparing for a war with the Huns. In the past two years, the Han Dynasty's financial balance has been used to build weapons and equipment, purchase various goods, including food, clothing, housing and transportation, and then transport these huge supplies to border counties. go.

Now the border counties of the Han Dynasty are not only full of grain warehouses, but also full of weapons and armors. The warehouses are also filled with various kinds of cloth, salt, sugar, iron ingots and other military supplies. Even coal for briquette furnaces has begun to be prepared. Coal from Yanmen is even Several hills were piled up.

A war involving nearly a million people requires extremely huge supplies. According to calculations by the Shangjifu, just transporting grain and grass logistics requires more than 15 baggage trucks, more than horses of various types, as well as salt, sugar, cloth, and various other materials. Various iron tools. Everything from food, clothing, housing and transportation to firewood, rice, oil, salt and other supplies must be prepared, and the quantities are extremely large.

The large orders brought unprecedented prosperity to the Han's handicraft business community, and horse-drawn carriages transporting supplies drove to the border counties in an endless stream. However, the Han's finances limited the time for hoarding supplies.

The battle in Mobei requires hoarding various goods worth more than a million gold. Xu Fan can even use millions of gold to defeat them, and Xu Fan will make a profit. However, Dahan's financial balance, even if it is pieced together, can only leave a balance of 200,000 gold per year. At this time, Dahan's equipment and materials are less than a quarter of the original plan.

Zhang Liangdao: "It's not impossible to advance. Your Majesty's Monan Trading Company is willing to provide 10 gold to support the imperial court in the war. They only ask that the imperial court allocate a piece of hectares of pasture to them after the war."

"How dare they say one hundred thousand hectares?" Shusuntong said in disbelief. If the First Emperor was still there, none of the nine tribes of these people could be saved.

This needs to be replaced by a feudal household of the Han Dynasty. The Monan Trading Co., Ltd. is equivalent to a 100,000-household prince. This level of feudal prince is equivalent to the Duke of the Han Dynasty.

Deng Zong snorted coldly and said: "Monan Trading Company wants to use money to buy military honors! If merchants use purchases to occupy my title in the future, who else will be willing to bleed and sacrifice for me? Monan Trading Company His heart can be killed!”

Wu Sheng also said angrily: "Your Majesty should rebuke Monan Trading Company. They want to shake the foundation of my great nation."

For the military nobles of the Han Dynasty, anyone who wanted to break their system was their enemy, and obtaining titles through war was the most important interest of all the nobles of the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Liangdao: "What they want is the grassland of the desert, not the title, and Mobei is still in the territory of the Huns. For the court, it is equivalent to using the enemy's land to enrich its own strength. This will be very important for the upcoming Northern Expedition." It’s extremely beneficial.”

Tian Zang said: "Although the desert is desolate, the land they want is too big, one hundred thousand hectares of land. Do they want to build a country within a country in my Han Dynasty!"

Xu Fan said: "Which one of you is willing to go to Mobei to establish a feudal state?" Wu Sheng and others did not understand what Tianzi meant, but Wu Sheng said: "If we really want to establish a feudal state, brothers would still prefer to establish a kingdom in Monan."

In recent years, the Han military has sent countless spies to understand the situation in the desert. Therefore, the generals of the Han Dynasty still knew the situation in the desert relatively well.

The richest place in the desert is the Hetao area. These areas have been occupied by the Han Dynasty and have become ancestral lands without enfeoffment.

The next point is the land of Monan. It is extremely poor compared to the Han Nei County, but it is still rich in water and grass. The price of wool has been getting higher and higher in recent years. It is not a loss to establish a vassal state and raise some cattle and sheep.

But Mobei is so poor that even grass doesn't grow very much. It's full of Gobi desert, and water can drip into ice in winter. It doesn't look like a place where people can survive.

They all couldn't figure out how the Huns could survive in such a harsh place. In such a bad place, the nobles of the Han Dynasty naturally did not want to establish a country in Mobei.

Xu Fan said: "You don't want to go to Mobei to establish the country. Could it be that after the imperial court destroyed the Huns, they just left Mobei Kong and waited for new Hu people to grow on this land again?"

"If you are willing to go to Mobei, I can entrust you to go there, but if you are not willing to go, selling to Monan Trading Company is the best option at the moment."

The rich water should not flow to outsiders' land. For Xu Fan, as long as this land is ruled by the Han people, he doesn't care whether it is a prince or a merchant. Even if they create a merchant country, Xu Fan is happy to see it. At least it is a variable. It gives Dahan one more choice for the future path.

Xu Fan thought for a while and said: "The Prime Minister can summon the merchants from all over the world and tell them that the court is willing to sell the land in Mobei and buy the land in Mobei for 100 yuan per mu. They can have the right to operate it for 50 years. After 50 years, Then discuss with the court and all the money from the sales will be used to purchase goods needed for the war."

The civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty were all stunned after hearing this. The proposal of Monan Trading Company was exaggerated enough. The emperor not only agreed, but also came up with an enhanced version.

But Xu Fan disagreed. Isn't this just a variant of the Homestead Law? The land in Mobei is not allowed to be occupied by merchants. Could it be that they will create a tribe of barbarians again?

Moreover, there is another advantage of creating a Chinese version of the Homestead Act, that is, it is possible. Attract the Han's idle funds to Mobei.

With the development of Han industry in recent years, many people have made a fortune by taking advantage of this east wind. Some people continue to expand production capacity, but more people continue their old habits and believe that land is the foundation. Annex land in your hometown.

Ordinary farmers will always face three disasters, including natural and man-made disasters. Land has become the only life-saving thing in their hands. There are already many farmers selling their land in the black market.

Officials at all levels in the Han Dynasty investigated and dealt with such matters very strictly. When they were found to deal with them together, they always considered the land as national, canceled the sales contract, and fined the landowners ten times the money.

But this kind of thing is still banned repeatedly, and various variant clauses are even made to escape the law and cannot be bought or sold. Then I will rent the land to the head office. The court cannot control someone who has rented the land for 100 years.

Xu Fan was shocked to learn about this situation. The landlord rented land from farmers. This scene had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Faced with this kind of thing, the court's strong suppression will only make the rebound bigger and bigger. If the money of these landlords and old wealth can be directed to Mobei, this can be said to be three birds with one stone for the Han Dynasty.

Zhou Zhang immediately recovered from his surprise and said: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. Although I believe that the Huns are not my opponent, the war has not yet begun, and no one can guarantee that they will be victorious. If there is an accident in the war, the court will If we don’t capture Mobei, how can we face the world’s opinions?”

Xu Fandao: "What the Prime Minister said is reasonable. The imperial court issued ranch tickets in the name of war bonds. One ranch ticket is worth 100 million yuan. With one ranch ticket, anyone can obtain 1 acres of grassland in Mobei.

At the same time, the prime minister can also tell them about the risks involved. Only when the imperial court occupies Mobei will their ranch tickets be effective, and let them think clearly before purchasing at their own risk. "

"People who can spend 100 million are not ordinary people. They should be able to bear this risk, and it will not cause any harm to the people."

"As for those businesses, there will be profits and losses when doing business. One acre of land costs 100 yuan, even if it is pasture, it is extremely cheap. Even if it is 10 times the profit, it is not enough. You should take some risks."

Wu Sheng said with a smile: "You can buy an acre of land for 100 yuan, so it doesn't matter if you take some risks, not to mention that I, the Han, are victorious in every battle, and the Huns' chance of winning is less than one-tenth. These merchants didn't take much risk at all."

They like to see the emperor raising military expenses with nothing. As long as these people do not enter the military merit system, it is equivalent to them spending businessmen's money to build their own merits. Of course they are happy with such a good thing.

Zhou Zhang could only show a smile that was uglier than crying: "No!"

Xu Fan said to Wu Sheng: "Send Ji Xin, Han Xin, and Lu Chen to the court."

Wu Sheng said: "No!"

On April 4, Dahan's ranch ticket began to spread throughout Chang'an. In less than three days, all the merchants in Guanzhong knew about it. A month later, all the merchants in the world knew about it, which immediately caused a sensation in the entire world.

For ordinary people, 100 yuan per acre of land is really cheap, just like picking it up for free. You must know that one acre of land in Guanzhong costs more than 2 yuan (on the black market).

But these lands are both grassland and located in Mobei. For ordinary people, they are just fun to watch.

The most they gossiped about was: "The emperor is so powerful. Before the Huns conquered the territory, the land was sold first. This business ability is truly unparalleled in the world."

But for merchants in Han Dynasty, especially textile owners, this news is like rain from heaven.

These textile owners have been struggling with insufficient raw materials for a long time. For them, the growth rate of raw materials can never keep up with the increase in the number of their own textile machines. They are always in a state of shortage of raw materials. In order to get more wool these years, they have to make more wool. When they order some silk, they really beg their father to sue their grandma, and even their grandsons have done enough.

Now, as long as they spend 100 million yuan, they can get a 100-acre pasture, raise hundreds of cattle and sheep, improve their own industrial chain, and obtain the most generous profits. For them, million yuan is not enough. Calculate matters.

On the first day when the ranch ticket came out, Jing Yi went to Zhou Zhang and said: "My son is a general of the Han Dynasty, and my family is a loyal man of the Han Dynasty. The court lacks military spending, so I am willing to give 1 gold to support the court."

Zhou Zhang was shocked and said, "Are you crazy? This is hundreds of millions of dollars? Are you not afraid of losing all the Jing family's fortune?"

Jing Yi said: "I believe in the strength of the imperial court. The imperial court has never been defeated in so many years. Why are the Huns an exception?"

"Old friend, you haven't allowed some favoritism and perverting the law to take advantage of the court for so many years. Now that the court is issuing ranch tickets, I fully support you. Is it still wrong? You don't want to stop me again, do you?"

Zhou Zhang said angrily: "If you want to go crazy, don't blame me for not persuading you."

After saying that, he got 100 ranch tickets for Jing Yi.

(End of this chapter)